As the #MeToo movement has exposed, workplace harassment is prevalent, underreporting likely contributes to its prevalence, and fears of retaliation underlie underreporting. Thus, the cycle of harassment continues. Yet we still know very little about the prevalence of retaliation or how employers respond to harassment. This Article highlights retaliation following workplace harassment as a unique and prevalent problem and examines the characteristics of harassment that affect an employer's response. This data supports a reversal of the trend toward narrowing employer liability for harassment and retaliation that has occurred over the previous twenty years.

Upwards of 70% of harassment claims filed with the EEOC include a retaliation charge, and as this Article reveals for the first time, harassment charges are more than 90% more likely to include a retaliation charge than any other type of discrimination claim filed with the EEOC. These statistics are striking, but also predictable. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's defining of the standards for harassment liability, courts have lowered the bar for employer liability for harassment and retaliation. Courts have also created a conundrum where harassment victims are required to internally report harassment before filing a formal charge, but those reports are not always protected by retaliation law.

Absent legal liability, unique characteristics of an employer's response to harassment increase the likelihood that an employer will act against a harassment victim. Unlike many forms of discrimination, when an employer learns of harassment, the victim and harasser are still employed and the employer may believe that if it separates the two employees, the harassment will stop. The employer may be more likely to act against the victim if the harasser is more valuable to the company. Current liability standards, which make an employer more likely to be liable for supervisor harassment and harassment that is reported, should decrease an employer's incentives to act against a victim. But an empirical analysis of the 2016 Merit Systems Protection Board harassment survey of federal employees illustrates show that being harassed by a supervisor and reporting harassment greatly increases the likelihood that a victim experiences an adverse employment action as a result of the harassment. These results support a call to broaden employer liability standards for harassment and retaliation in order to combat an employer's incentives to act against the victim, lessen retaliation, encourage reporting, and decrease the prevalence of workplace harassment.


A reliable and efficient communication and networking infrastructure will connect the functional elements within the smart grid. Different physical data communication technologies for the smart grid will empower the legacy power grid with the capability to support two-way energy and information flow. The smart grid will rely on several existing and future wired and wireless communication technologies (e.g., power line communication, cellular network, internet protocol networks, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, etc.). Also, advanced techniques for accessing the network and routing the information to the different nodes of the network will be required. In this chapter, we discuss smart-grid communication network and divide it into three tiers, i.e., home area network, neighborhood area network, and wide-area network. We present smart-grid communication technologies, standards, and protocols for the physical layer operations. We next discuss the medium access control (MAC) and network layer protocols of the smart-grid communication technologies. In the end, we present a case study for the implementation and performance evaluation of various smart-grid algorithms and communication infrastructure.


The Belt and Road Initiative, due to its diverse and extensive infrastructure investments, poses a wide range of environmental risks. Some projects have easily identifiable and measurable impacts, such as energy projects' greenhouse gas emissions. Others, such as transportation infrastructure, due to their vast geographic reach, generate more complex and potentially more extensive environmental risks. The proposed Belt and Road Initiative rail and road investments have stimulated concerns because of the history of significant negative environmental impacts from large-scale transportation projects across the globe. This paper studies environmental risks -- direct and indirect -- from Belt and Road Initiative transportation projects and the mitigation strategies and policies to address them. The paper concludes with a recommendation on how to take advantage of the scale of the Belt and Road Initiative to address these concerns in a way not typically available to stand-alone projects. In short, this scale motivates and permits early integrated development and conservation planning.


Female rats are more resistant to blood pressure increases induced by high salt (HS) intake or angiotensin (Ang) II infusion. Because endothelin ETB receptors on endothelial and epithelial cells mediate tonic vasodilation and sodium excretion, we hypothesized that ETB receptors limit the hypertensive response and renal injury induced by HS diet alone or with chronic AngII infusion (AngII/HS) in female compared with male rats. A 4 week HS diet (4% NaCl) did not significantly change blood pressure (measured by telemetry) in either male or female Sprague‐Dawley rats. Administration of the ETB receptor antagonist A‐192621 (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg per day in food) during HS feeding caused a dose‐dependent increase in blood pressure in both sexes. In AngII/HS rats, males had a larger increase in blood pressure than females. The increase in blood pressure produced by ETB receptor blockade in male AngII/HS rats was not significant. However, A‐192621 treatment resulted in a significant further increase in blood pressure in female AngII/HS rats. Male rats had consistently higher protein excretion rates before and during AngII/HS, but this was not significantly affected by ETB receptor blockade in either sex. In conclusion, ETB receptors play a significantly greater beneficial role in protecting female compared with male rats against AngII‐induced hypertension and may contribute to the sex differences in AngII‐induced hypertension.


Around 96 percent of children with hearing loss are born to parents with intact hearing, who may initially know little about deafness or sign language. Therefore, such parents will need information and support in making decisions about the medical, linguistic, and educational management of their child. Some of these decisions are time-sensitive and irreversible and come at a moment of emotional turmoil and vulnerability (when some parents grieve the loss of a normally hearing child). Clinical research indicates that a deaf child's poor communication skills can be made worse by increased level of parental depression. Given this, the importance of reliable and up-to-date support for parents' decisions is critical to the overall well-being of their child. In raising and educating a child, parents are often offered an exclusive choice between an oral environment (including assistive technology, speech reading, and voicing) and a signing environment. A heated controversy surrounds this choice, and has since at least the late 19th century, beginning with the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf in Milan, held in 1880. While families seek advice from many sources, including, increasingly, the internet, the primary care physician (PCP) is the professional medical figure the family interacts with repeatedly. The present article aims to help family advisors, particularly the PCP and other medical advisors in this regard. We argue that deaf children need to be exposed regularly and frequently to good language models in both visual and auditory modalities from the time hearing loss is detected and continued throughout their education to ensure proper cognitive, psychological, and educational development. Since there is, unfortunately, a dearth of empirical studies on many of the issues families must confront, professional opinions, backed by what studies do exist, are the only option. We here give our strongly held professional opinions and stress the need for improved research studies in these areas.


Abstract Tall morningglory is an annual broadleaf vine and a problem weed in many annual and perennial crops in several countries including the United States. A better understanding of the germination biology of tall morningglory would facilitate the development of better control strategies for this weed. Experiments were conducted under greenhouse and laboratory conditions to evaluate the effects of various environmental factors, such as temperature, light, planting depth, pH, osmotic and salt stress, and flooding duration, on the germination of tall morningglory. The results suggested that the optimum day/night temperature range for the germination of tall morningglory was 20/12.5 to 35/25 C and maximum germination (89%) was observed at 30/20 C. Temperature higher and lower than the optimum range significantly reduced germination. Alternate light and dark did not have any adverse effect on the germination of tall morningglory seeds. The germination was 10% at an osmotic stress of −0.3 and −0.4 MPa, and above that, no germination was observed. Tall morningglory showed some tolerance to salt stress. The germination was 40% and 12% at salt concentrations of 50 mM and 200 mM, respectively. Germination was affected by pH levels, and maximum germination occurred at pH 6, whereas above or below that level, germination was significantly reduced. Maximum germination of seeds was 83 and 94% when sown at 0 and 2 cm depth in soil, within a week of sowing; however, germination was significantly reduced to 76% when placed at a depth of 4 cm or deeper. Under no flooding treatment, 87% of seed germinated, but flooding delayed and inhibited the germination of tall morningglory seeds. It is concluded that several environmental factors affected the germination of tall morningglory, and this information could help to predict the spread of tall morningglory in new areas such as Florida. Nomenclature: Tall morningglory, Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth, PHBPU.


We consider the possibility that the primordial curvature perturbation is direction-dependent. To first order this is parameterised by a quadrupolar modulation of the power spectrum and results in statistical anisotropy of the CMB, which can be quantified using `bipolar spherical harmonics'. We compute these for the Planck DR2-2015 SMICA map and estimate the noise covariance from Planck Full Focal Plane 9 simulations. A constant quadrupolar modulation is detected with 2.2 σ significance, dropping to 2σ when the primordial power is assumed to scale with wave number k as a power law. Going beyond previous work we now allow the spectrum to have arbitrary scale-dependence. Our non-parametric reconstruction then suggests several spectral features, the most prominent at k ∼ 0.006 Mpc−1. When a constant quadrupolar modulation is fitted to data in the range 0.005 ⩽ k/Mpc−1 ⩽ 0.008, its preferred directions are found to be related to the cosmic hemispherical asymmetry and the CMB dipole. To determine the significance we apply two test statistics to our reconstructions of the quadrupolar modulation from data, against reconstructions of realisations of noise only. With a test statistic sensitive only to the amplitude of the modulation, the reconstructions from the multipole range 30 ⩽ ℓ ⩽ 1200 are unusual with 2.1σ significance. With the second test statistic, sensitive also to the direction, the significance rises to 6.9σ. Our approach is easily generalised to include other data sets such as polarisation, large-scale structure and forthcoming 21-cm line observations which will enable these anomalies to be investigated further.


Unprecedented optical control of the surface plasmon polariton assisted transmission of terahertz radiation through subwavelength apertures is rendered possible by carrier-induced changes to the dielectric properties of a semiconductor grating. Although the study presented is static, the extension of our approach to dynamic switching and tuning is deemed straightforward, opening the way for the realization of ultrafast surface plasmon based devices.


The ecosystem significance of crayfishes (Orconectes nais (Faxon) and O. neglectus (Faxon)) and central stoneroller minnows (Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque)), was examined in a tallgrass prairie stream by estimating the trophic basis of production and consumption for each species. Annual ash-free dry mass production and production to biomass ratios of C. anomalum (260 mg m−2 y−1, 1.3) were lower than that of O. nais (719 mg m−2 y−1, 2.4) and O. neglectus (508 mg m−2 y−1, 2.1). Gut content analysis revealed no significant differences in the percentages of the various food items ingested by O. nais and O. neglectus, indicating they were functionally similar with respect to the types of organic matter processed in this system. We found a significant difference among seasons in the % of invertebrates in C. anomalum guts (p = 0.0001) and the % of algae in Orconectes spp. guts (p = 0.005), indicating the importance of measuring resource use throughout the growing season. Leaves contributed most to Orconectes spp. annual production (45%) followed by animal matter (30%), algae (19%), and amorphous detritus (6%). Algae contributed most to C. anomalum production (47%) followed by amorphous detritus (30%), animal matter (21%), and leaves (2%). Orconectes spp. consumed more leaf litter, filamentous green algae, and macroinvertebrates than C. anomalum, whereas C. anomalum consumed more diatoms. Crayfish and central stonerollers are both omnivores that function as important consumers and processors of algae and detritus in this tallgrass prairie stream, but each focuses on slightly different types of similar resources.


This paper is a discussion and analysis of Red Scare propaganda from two different time periods: 1918-1921 and the 1940-50's. Six examples of propaganda have been chosen and analyzed both visually and rhetorically. The paper also contains a discussion of the historical context and times surrounding the images, helping to place the texts within a proper framework for discussion. The six images are analyzed through Aristotle's traditional rhetorical devices – ethos, pathos, and logos. Seven logical fallacies and drawn from this discussion of rhetoric and applied to the images as well. The images are visually analyzed in terms of stereotypes they uphold as well as the American ideology of "Americanism" that they allegedly support. INDEX WORDS: Propaganda, Red Scare, Rhetoric, Visual, Americanism, Ideology, Analysis, Communism, Red, Radical RED SCARE PROPAGANDA IN THE UNITED STATES: A VISUAL AND RHETORICAL ANALYSIS


The field evaporation behavior of c-axis GaN nanowires was explored in two different laser-pulsed atom probe tomography (APT) instruments. Transmission electron microscopy imaging before and after atom probe tomography analysis was used to assist in reconstructing the data and assess the observed evaporation behavior. It was found that the ionic species exhibited preferential locations for evaporation related to the underlying crystal structure of the GaN and that the species which evaporated from these locations was dependent on the pulsed laser energy. Additionally, the overall stoichiometry measured by APT was significantly correlated with the energy of the laser pulses. At the lowest laser energies, the apparent composition was nitrogen-rich, while higher laser energies resulted in measurements of predominantly gallium compositions. The percent of ions detected (detection efficiency) for these specimens was found to be considerably below that shown for other materials, even for laser energies which produced the expected Ga:N ratio. The apparent stoichiometry variation and low detection efficiency appear to be a result of evaporation of Ga ions between laser pulses at the lowest laser energies and evaporation of neutral N2 species at higher laser energies. All of these behaviors are tied to the formation of nitrogen-nitrogen bonds on the tip surface, which occurred under all analysis conditions. Similar field evaporation behaviors are therefore expected for other materials where the anionic species readily form a strong diatomic bond.


In our previous work of lapped solid textures [Takayama et al. 2008], layered (or 'type 1-b') texture exemplars were used to create solid textured models such as strata and cakes. However, no methods have been proposed so far to synthesize this kind of texture automatically. This poster proposes an extension of Kopf et al.'s method [2007] to synthesize such layered solid textures from single 2D exemplars.


There is mounting evidence that the established paradigm of nitric oxide (NO) biochemistry, from formation through NO synthases, over interaction with soluble guanylyl cyclase, to eventual disposal as nitrite/nitrate, represents only part of a richer chemistry through which NO elicits biological signaling. Additional pathways have been suggested that include interaction of NO-derived metabolites with thiols and metals to form S-nitrosothiols (RSNOs) and metal nitrosyls. Despite the overwhelming attention paid in this regard to RSNOs, little is known about the stability of these species, their significance outside the circulation, and whether other nitros(yl)ation products are of equal importance. We here show that N-nitrosation and heme-nitrosylation are indeed as ubiquitous as S-nitrosation in vivo and that the products of these reactions are constitutively present throughout the organ system. Our study further reveals that all NO-derived products are highly dynamic, have fairly short lifetimes, and are linked to tissue oxygenation and redox state. Experimental evidence further suggests that nitroso formation occurs substantially by means of oxidative nitrosylation rather than NO autoxidation, explaining why S-nitrosation can compete effectively with nitrosylation. Moreover, tissue nitrite can serve as a significant extravascular pool of NO during brief periods of hypoxia, and tissue nitrate/nitrite ratios can serve as indicators of the balance between local oxidative and nitrosative stress. These findings vastly expand our understanding of the fate of NO in vivo and provide a framework for further exploration of the significance of nitrosative events in redox sensing and signaling. The findings also raise the intriguing possibility that N-nitrosation is directly involved in the modulation of protein function.


Abstract : The purposes of this research are to determine whether it is financially feasible and attractive to install sea water air conditioning (SWAC) at Naval Base (NB) Guam, which the Naval Facilities Engineering Command currently deems to be true; to develop an acquisition strategy that NB Guam would be able to use to procure a SWAC system; and to identify any environmental obstacles associated with installing a SWAC system at NB Guam. This includes environmental impact studies and potential long-term schedule effects of environmental research. This research provides the analytic underpinning for the SWAC-driven reduction of electricity consumption at a significant number of naval facilities, and it provides a significant contribution towards meeting the Secretary of the Navy s renewable energy goals.


Courts and conferences emphasize varying elements of procedural justice to ensure that outcomes are fair and invoke moral regret or shame among offenders. How procedural justice relates to the various ways shame is experienced or managed is, however, not clear. Using data from the Australian Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE), we examine how four types of shame management—shame acknowledgment, shame displacement, shame avoidance, and internalizing shame—operate within the context of traditional court processing and the restorative justice conference. Results indicate that the type of treatment offenders receive (court vs. conference) and perceptions of procedural justice affect shame management, highlighting important implications for understanding how shame management influences recidivism within court and conference.


In the last two decades, Latin American countries including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Uruguay, among others have designed and adopted Freedom of Information Acts (FOIAs). These FOIAs have increased transparency of government actions, ensured citizens' right to request and access public information, and enhanced overall accountability. This Brief describes and analyses critical features of these Latin American legal frameworks, highlighting their originality, design, preliminary outcomes, and the contextual factors that enabled their adoption. The lessons coming out of Latin American countries' experiences in designing their FOIAs will likely be of use to countries in other regions that are looking to either create or strengthen their own legal framework supporting access to information. sUMMAry


The antioxidative effect of phenolipids was evaluated in fish oil enriched milk emulsions as a model for a complex food system. Two different phenolipids modified from dihydrocaffeic acid (with C8 or C18:1) and rutin (with C12 or C16) were evaluated. Both dihydrocaffeate esters and rutin laurate showed significantly better antioxidant properties in milk emulsion compared with the original phenolics. However, rutin palmitate only performed slightly better as antioxidant than rutin. The results with rutin indicated that a cut-off effect exists in relation to the alkyl chain length with respect to optimal antioxidant activity in milk emulsions. Thus, the optimal alkyl chain length is at least below 16 carbon atoms, and maybe even less for rutin esters. For dihydrocaffeate esters it was not possible to conclude on a cut-off effect in relation to alkyl chain length and antioxidative effect due to the almost similar antioxidant effect of the two phenolipids. However, there was a tendency towards octyl dihydrocaffeate being slightly more efficient than oleyl dihydrocaffeate.

Practical application: The finding that phenolipids are better antioxidants in milk emulsions than the original phenolic acid provides new knowledge that can be used to develop new antioxidant strategies to protect foods against lipid oxidation. However, the results indicate that both optimization of alkyl chain length for each type of phenolic, and optimization for each type of emulsion will be necessary in order to get the best oxidative stability of an emulsion with these phenolipids. Use of efficient antioxidants may lower the amount of antioxidant needed to protect against lipid oxidation and may in addition decrease the costs.


Advances in Equine Upper Respiratory Surgery is a comprehensive, up-to-date reference on surgical techniques in the upper respiratory tract in the horse, presenting theory and background as well as detailed procedures information. Part of the Advances in Veterinary Surgery series copublished with the ACVS Foundation, the book covers the most common upper respiratory diseases, with in-depth information on laryngeal hemiplegia and dorsal displacement of the soft palate. Providing a complete resource, the book reflects the current state of the art, offering a significant update on disorders of the nasal septum, nasal passage, paranasal sinuses, hard and soft palate, epiglottis, arytenoids, guttural pouch, and trachea in the horse. The book includes 200 images illustrating key points of each surgical procedure. Potential complications and expectation management are discussed alongside the technique information. Advances in Equine Upper Respiratory Surgery is a useful reference for those in clinical practice and surgical residents.


The article explores the evolution of competing approaches to the religious law of Muslim minorities (fiqh al-aqalliyyāt al-muslima): the wasatī and the salafī. Both approaches are grounded in a similar triumphalist and revivalist contextualization of Muslim presence in the West. The wasatī approach, led by al-Azhar graduates and Islamist activists, presents two objectives: making the lives of Muslim minorities easier in order to preserve their Islamic identity, and endorsing efforts to Islamize the West. To promote these objectives wasatīs emphasize a systematic search in all four religiolegal schools and beyond them and the liberal application of maslaha (public or individual interest). Some of the results achieved by this methodology demonstrate the potential of maslaha to revise any religious law relating to mu'āmalāt (social transactions). The stricter salafī approach associated with conservative elements in Saudi Arabia's religious establishment emphasizes the concept of al-walā' wa'l-barā' (loyalty and disavowal). Its juristic interpretations are based on opposition to perceived innovations, imitation of infidels and cooperation with them. I examine the two approaches through a systematic analysis of three issues that are central to the religious law of Muslim minorities: non-Muslim holidays, mortgages and service in non-Muslim militaries.


The regenerative chatter during milling is a consequence of the machine tool dynamic compliance and the specific setting of the cutting process. The basic request on the machine structure is to enable a stable cut with dominant portion of the installed spindle power. In order to improve the dynamic properties of newly-designed machine tools, the machine tool structures are optimized using various advanced simulation methods and are made of various advanced materials. The final design should be tested experimentally. The test of usable spindle power provides important feedback on the machine tool design. The testing of large machine tools is time consuming due to the significantly varying machine dynamic compliance dependent on the working space. Due to the installed high power and large diameter tools used, the occurrence of chatter might be dangerous with a high risk of machine tool damage. The article presents a method for the safe and time-effective experimental testing of the machine tool usable spindle power. The method is based on the experimental identification of the cutting force coefficients and the experimental identification of machine tool behavior with the support of extrapolation models based on identified experimental data. The dynamic compliance is measured within a rough network of measurement points in the machine working space. The measured dynamic compliance results are characterized by a model based on modal identification data. Only a few cutting tests are done for the cutting force coefficient identification. Finally, a map of the usable spindle power is calculated. This approach makes it possible to calculate the results with respect to the real machining process and the current machine tool conditions across the whole working space in an acceptable time. The approach is demonstrated on a real case study.


The crises in the last two decades underlined the importance of prudential and independent supervision, especially in emerging markets with inadequate legal, judicial and financial infrastructure. The 2000?2001 crises in Turkey showed that ineffective regulation, weak supervision and political interference aggravated the cost of the banking crisis. The aim of this paper is to discuss the efficacy of bank regulations and supervisory practices during the deregulation, pre-crisis and crisis periods in the Turkish banking sector. Turkey, the biggest candidate country in the EU, gives prime importance to the integration and adoption of both EU and international banking regulatory standards.


Kentucky, Rising: Democracy, Slavery, and Culture from the Early Republic to the Civil War. By James A. Ramage and Andrea S. Watkins. (Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2011. Pp. 445. Cloth, $40.00.)Reviewed by William A. StoneIn Kentucky Rising, James A. Ramage and Andrea S. Watkins present a well-crafted and diverse overview of Kentucky from the late eighteenth century through the 1860s. The authors assert that the state strove for "greatness in a global sense" (336) from its inception. Through an analysis of culture, politics, and society, they document how Kentuckians came to be a leading nationalist force in the early West and in the antebellum United States. After the Civil War, Kentucky became thoroughly identified with the Lost Cause ethos, despite never officially joining the Confederacy. Ramage and Watkins point to Henry Clay's theory of Union, wherein only states had the constitutional right to legislate slavery internally, as the cause behind this phenomenon. When the Union was not restored "as it was" and the federal government outlawed slavery completely, many in the state felt betrayed and sympathized with the defeated Confederacy. Ramage and Watkins rely mainly on the vast array of existing secondary literature, while only occasionally using primary resources, mostly newspapers, to enhance the narrative. The reader is often alerted to previous historians' arguments, but these are rarely challenged. This lack of contention is not necessarily a weakness; it is simply not the authors' objective. Instead, they focus on presenting a diversity of topics to demonstrate the forward-looking culture that existed in antebellum Kentucky and the effects of slavery and Civil War on the state's perception of its place within the nation.A variety of detailed chapters on cultural and social development support the argument that Kentuckians actively worked toward a "rising globally oriented society" (16). In particular, many accomplished artists and architects provided Kentucky's upper class with quality pieces of work. Portrait painter Matthew Harris Jouett, wildlife artist John James Audubon, and the renowned architect Benjamin Latrobe are just a few individuals highlighted to show the demand for artistic cultivation in the state. The fostering of education, science, and medicine is central to the theme of advancement put forth by Ramage and Watkins. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Ephraim McDowell and Benjamin W. Dudley were pioneers in surgery, while medical botanist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque roamed the wilderness identifying plants still used in medicine to this day. Transylvania University, with its Medical Department, became the West's premier institute under the tutelage of Horace Holley, and even eastern families sent their sons west to be educated.Ramage and Watkins also examine popular culture and society through the lens of everyday citizens in Kentucky. The growing diffusion of newspapers and stump speaking marked a growth of participatory politics in the state. The increased presence of theatres, musical troupes, and the fascination with steamboat racing show the full range of entertainment pursued by Kentuckians of all classes. Social stratification itself, the authors maintain, was softened in this environment but not eliminated. They argue that economic opportunity was available in this West, but Atlantic desires and mindsets were brought and reestablished in Kentucky. This frontier was a democratizing force, not because class was eliminated, but because of the economic policies pursued by its leaders. …


Beginning in June 1984, the Tennessee Valley region entered the most severe, extended period of drought since record keeping began in 1890. The historical annual average rainfall across the Tennessee Valley is 52 inches per year, and the deficit rainfall between 1980 and 1988 was 83 inches. The deficit between 1984 and 1988 was 64 inches. During the first ten months of 1988, precipitation was 63% of normal and runoff was only 41% of normal, indicating increased evapotranspiration and infiltration to depressed groundwater acquifers. For the four year period 1985 through 1988 streamflow available for refilling reservoirs during the mid-March to June springfill period averaged only 51% of normal, resulting in low summer levels particularly in the tributary impoundments. Water in storage in the tributary reservoirs east of Chattanooga - water available to supplement downstream flows in the Tennessee River mainstem reservoir projects - packed at only 62% of normal in 1988. This paper will describe the effects of the drought during the 1980's on (1) dissolved oxygen in the releases from TVA hydropower projects, (2) hydrogen sulfide occurrence in the releases from power projects, and (3) decreases in sauger reproduction due to reductions in power generation.


Part I discusses the treatment of domestic violence as a human rights issue under international law, focusing on the shift in the conceptualization of violence against women from a private matter to a human rights issue. By framing gender-based violence as a means to perpetuate the social, economic, and political inequality of women, the international community has imposed positive obligations upon the state to not only punish but to prevent gender-based violence and to eliminate its root causes. In Parts II and III, I contrast the approaches of the highest courts of the United States and South Africa. Part II analyzes the conceptualization of domestic violence as a private crime by the U.S. Supreme Court and its refusal to constitutionalize a right to be free of genderbased violence. By framing gender-based violence within the framework of formal equality, the Supreme Court erases the relationship between intimate violence and women's full and equal enjoyment of their fundamental constitutional rights and benefits. The refusal of the Supreme Court to conceptualize intimate violence as an issue of equality threatens the potential of criminal justice reforms to obligate the state to eradicate gender-based violence. The criminalization of intimate violence sends a strong normative message that such conduct violates important social norms and will not be tolerated by the state. Focusing on criminal justice reforms that punish perpetrators, however, can reinforce the traditional notion that intimate violence is the result of individual deviance rather than the systematic subordination of women in society. Part III analyzes the approach of the South African Constitutional Court, which has explicitly conceptualized intimate violence as a means of gender subordination that denies women equality, self-determination, and access to fundamental rights and liberties. The Court has held that the South African Constitution imposes affirmative obligations on the state to prevent and rectify intimate violence. In construing violence against women as a violation of the right to equality, the Court repeatedly has emphasized that the Constitution guarantees substantive rather than formal equality. The Court also has recognized the inter-relatedness of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, holding that rights to equality, liberty, and dignity are meaningless in the absence of the fulfillment of basic socioeconomic rights. The Court's jurisprudence, therefore, has tremendous potential to transform both the legal and the socioeconomic subordination of women that reflect and perpetuate violence against women. CONCEPTUALIZING INTIMATE VIOLENCE AND GENDER EQUALITY: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH


This paper explores the affordances of augmented reality content in a mobile augmented reality application. A user study was conducted by performing a multi-camera video recording of seven think aloud sessions. The think aloud sessions consisted of individual users performing tasks, exploring and experiencing a mobile augmented reality (MAR) application we developed for the iOS platform named ARad. We discuss the instrumental affordances we observed when users interacted with augmented reality content, as well as more complex affordances rising from conventions from media content, AR and the traditional WIMP paradigm. We find that remediation of traditional newspaper content through the MAR medium can provide engaging, pleasing and exciting user experiences. However, the some of the content still suffers from being shoveled onto the MAR platform without adapting it properly. Finally, we discuss what content was most successfully mediated to the user and how the content impacts the user experience.


The Faculty of Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Mining Technology Division of the CSIR have co-operated to define the problems associated with deep level mining and in this paper they will identify what they consider to be the critical areas requiring technological solutions. This perspective will then be applied to work currently being carried out by both the organizations and gaps for additional development will be identified. Finally the Co-operative Research Centre methodology operating in Australia is descriptionbed. The purpose of this CRC is to provide a vehicle for R&D co-operation to develop and implement technologies which will increase the competitiveness of the mining industry. A further objective is to develop an appropriately skilled human resource base.


Study Design. Observational study with 3 examiners. Objective. The aim of this study was to enhance the reproducibility and reliability of coronal curvature measurements in early-onset scoliosis. Summary of Background Data. Previous reports show high variability of the Cobb method, especially on the measurement of the immature spine. Methods. A total of 115 whole-spine posteroanterior radiographs were collected to compare the reliability of the Cobb, lateral tangent, pedicle, and centroid methods in early-onset scoliosis. Radiographs were measured twice by each of the 3 examiners using the 4 measurement methods. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the inter- and intraobserver reliability. Results. In this study, total inter- and intraobserver inter- and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) in 115 radiographs were excellent in all methods (ICCs >0.961). However, mean absolute differences (MADs) in the lateral tangent method were less than 3.78°, which was higher than other methods (MADs <2.95°). In analysis of different severity groups (<15°, 15°–30°, and >30°), total inter- and intraobserver ICCs gradually increased with increasing the severity of the deformity, whereas MADs of each severity group were similar despite their increased measurement scale. Particularly, interobserver ICCs and MADs of lateral tangent method were more than 0.474 and less than 3.76° with poor reliability, which showed high variability in the less deformed spine group (<15°). However, intraobserver ICCs and MADs of pedicle method were more than 0.853 and less than 2.61°, interobserver ICCs and MADs were more than 0.729 and less than 2.86° with excellent reliability, which showed constantly high reliability regardless of coronal curvature severity. Conclusion. In this study, the pedicle method showed constantly higher ICCs and lower MAD values in the early-onset scoliosis regardless of severity. However, the other 3 methods showed lower ICCs and higher MAD values, which showed lowest reliability in the lateral tangent method. For improved treatment of early-onset scoliosis, we recommend the pedicle method for measuring curvature regardless of severity.


The metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) belongs to the family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). However, this group of GPCRs has a fundamental difference in the manner in which ligand binds compared with the well-characterized rhodopsin-like GPCRs. The ligand-binding domain, which is comprised of the LB1 and LB2 domains, is part of the extracellular domain in the mGluR, whereas in rhodopsin the ligand-binding domain is in a pocket created by the transmembrane helices. Kunishima et al. crystallized the ligand-binding region of the mGluR and found three stable crystal structures: two unliganded forms (free forms I and II) and one liganded form (complex). Similar to mGluR in cells, all of the crystals are dimers of two molecules connected by a disulfide bridge. The complex form and free form II have very similar overall conformations in which the two LB2 domains are close together, whereas the free form I is substantially different, with the two LB2 domains farther apart. The data suggest that the receptor exists in multiple conformations and that glutamate binding stabilizes the closed conformation found in the complex form and free form II, which constitutes the active state of the receptor. These results have implications for understanding the mechanism of activation of other receptors that bind small ligands in extracellular ligand-binding domains. Kunishima, N., Shimada, Y., Tsuji, Y., Sato, T., Yamamoto, M., Kumasaka, T., Nakanishi, S., Jingami, H., and Morikawa, K. (2000) Structural basis of glutamate recognition by a dimeric metabotropic glutamate receptor. Nature 407: 971-977. [Online Journal]


Abstract. Created in 2000 in the United States of America, Geocaching has become a major phenomenon all around the world, counting actually with millions of Geocaches (or caches) that work as a recreational motivation for millions of users, called Geocachers. During the last 30 days over 5,000,000 new logs have been submitted worldwide, disseminating individual experiences, motivations, emotions and photos through the official Geocaching website ( www.geocaching.com ), and several official or informal national web forums. The activity itself can be compared with modern treasure hunting that uses handheld GPS, Smartphones or Tablets, WEB 2.0, wiki features and technologies to keep Geocachers engaged with their activity, in a strong social-network. All these characteristics make Geocaching an activity with a strong geographic component that deals closely with the surrounding environment where each cache has been hidden. From previous work, significance correlation has been found regarding hides and natural/rural environments, but metropolitan and urban areas like Lisbon municipality (that holds 3.23% of the total 27534 Portuguese caches), still registers the higher density of Geocaches, and logs numbers. Lacking "natural/rural" environment, Geocaching in cities tend to happen in symbolic areas, like public parks and places, sightseeing spots and historical neighborhoods. The present study looks to Geocaching within the city of Lisbon, in order to understand how it works, and if this activity reflects the city itself, promoting its image and cultural heritage. From a freely available dataset that includes all Geocaches that have been placed in Lisbon since February 2001, spatial analysis has been conducted, showing the informal preferences of this activity. Results show a non-random distribution of caches within the study area, similar to the land use distribution. Preferable locations tend to be in iconic places of the city, usually close to the Tagus River, that concentrates 25% of the total caches. Since most of these places are known to be touristic destinations, the TOP15 logged Caches were also analyzed regarding their description and logs in order to understand if Geocaching reflects tourism and if it works as a tourist promotion tool within urban environments. Final results also reflect the Geocaching performance and major trends within urban environments providing new insights regarding this activity impacts and implications.


We propose an all-optical logical gate based in a triple-core photonic fiber crystal operating with two ultrashort fundamental soliton pulses of 100 fs, with pulse amplitude modulation in the modality of amplitude shift keying (PAM-ASK) with binary amplitude modulation. In particular, we examine the performance of a triple-core PCF coupler to execute two-input logical functions. The pulse propagation is modelled by an extended nonlinear Schroedinger equation including the terms associated with the anomalous group-velocity dispersion (GVD) and the third-order dispersion (β3), as well as the nonlinear effects of self-phase modulation (SPM), cross-phase modulation (XPM), self-steepening, and intrapulse Raman scattering (IRS) in a lossless configuration. Our results indicate the possibility of getting logical operations by controlling the phase difference between the input pulses.


This Article evaluates the implications of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the securities markets of the future and their regulation. DLT is an integral part of the larger revolution in computing, communication and data storage capacity that has transformed securities markets over the last few decades and promises further radical change in the years to come. The potential of DLT, if it can be realized, could improve the functioning of our securities markets while at the same time sharply reducing costs. Based on an interview survey of about 100 persons who play prominent roles in actually making these markets work or in regulating them, this Article reports on the most important topics and themes that have emerged from the wide range of interviewees' opinions about the extent to which DLT will affect the future of securities markets and their regulation. A significant number saw the potential for DLT to transform securities markets and market structure, from the possibility of stock trading on DLT to the potential impact on intermediaries, the ordinary retail investor, and on preventing wrongdoing in the stock market. However, key questions remain about implementation and the appetite for making DLT-based changes among both market participants and regulators.


One aspect that separates real planning problems from toy problems is that solutions to real problems must be not only correct but also efficient and high quality. In this paper, we will describe the Least Commitment Operator Selection (LCOS) strategy which enables planners to construct globally optimal plans. The LCOS was developed from studies of human expert planners solving complex problems. Producing efficient, high quality plans is difficult because in most complex domains, some operators may share cost or between them. It is necessary to take a global view of the plan in order to make globally optimal operator choices resulting in a high quality plan. The LCOS strategy structures search in such a way that global considerations can be utilized, and and more efficient plans can be produced.


Timely and accurate accounting of positive cases has been an important part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While most positive cases within Veterans Affairs (VA) are identified through structured laboratory results, some patients are tested or diagnosed outside VA so their clinical status is documented only in free-text narratives. We developed a Natural Language Processing pipeline for identifying positively diagnosed COVID19 patients and deployed this system to accelerate chart review. As part of the VA national response to COVID-19, this process identified 6,360 positive cases which did not have corresponding laboratory data. These cases accounted for 36.1% of total confirmed positive cases in VA to date. With available data, performance of the system is estimated as 82.4% precision and 94.2% recall. A public-facing implementation is released as open source and available to the community.


This study investigates defections from the Al-Shabaab insurgency in Somalia. Thirty-two disengaged Al-Shabaab combatants were interviewed about their motivations, grievances, needs, and challenges in relation to the recruitment, defection, and post-defection phases. This paper focuses on post-defection challenges, where we found the primary concern to be lack of personal security. Without adequate security, disengaged combatants are vulnerable to being hunted and killed by Al-Shabaab. This significant threat discourages further mass and individual defections. We also found that disengaged combatants joined and defected out of religious zeal, to fight for what they believed to be a holy Islamic cause. This same zeal led them to defect, as they came to believe Al-Shabaab was not obeying the true Islamic faith. Indiscriminate killing by Al-Shabaab disenchants its religiously pious members, creating an opportunity to encourage mass and individual defections. However, if disengaged combatants are not protected from retribution, defection will lose its appeal.


The constitutional rationale of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins has remained elusive for almost seventy years. Three decades ago, Paul Mishkin argued in a brief but influential article that Erie rests on "constitutional principles which restrain the power of the federal courts to intrude upon the states' determination of substantive policy in areas which the Constitution and Congress have left to state competence." Professor Mishkin wrote his article in response to John Hart Ely's insightful analysis of Erie published earlier the same year. Mishkin understood Erie as imposing a constitutional restraint on the federal courts, but read Ely as treating "the Constitution as relevant only in terms of Congress' power to displace state substantive law" and not as an independent restriction on "the power of the federal courts to do so." Mishkin grounded his contrary understanding "on the structure established by the Constitution whereby the states, and their interests as such, are represented in the Congress but not in the federal courts." Invoking the separation of powers, Mishkin concluded that "the Constitution bears not only on congressional power but also imposes a distinctive, independently significant limit on the authority of the federal courts to displace state law." Professor Mishkin's article remains a key reference in the field because scholars continue to debate the precise contours - and even the existence - of the constitutional basis for the Supreme Court's decision in Erie. Mishkin's unique contribution was to link federalism with the constitutional separation of powers. This account of Erie's constitutional rationale is insightful and, in my view, correct. It may be fortified, however, by an additional structural argument that ties Erie directly to the Supremacy Clause. That Clause recognizes only the "Constitution," "Laws," and "Treaties" as "the supreme Law of the Land," and thus incorporates three distinct sets of federal lawmaking procedures found elsewhere in the Constitution. By design, all of these procedures safeguard federalism by requiring the participation and assent of the states or their representatives in the Senate. Accordingly, the constitutional structure strongly suggests that the Supremacy Clause establishes the exclusive basis for disregarding state law, and that more expansive judicial doctrines like Swift are unconstitutional. Reliance on these features of the constitutional structure is implicit in the Erie opinion and provides formal substantiation of Professor Mishkin's sound intuitions about Erie, the separation of powers, and federalism.


I. INTRODUCTION The landscape of the United States' political elections has been marked by many dramatic changes in the past century. While many are quick to point to several changes in political campaigning or the shift from a voting base predominated by white males to one that embraces women, minorities, and the youth vote, one largely unnoticed political trend that has grown substantially in recent decades is the use of the ballot initiative and referendum. (1) Ballot initiatives enable citizens to bypass their state legislatures by proposing a new or amended law to be placed on the ballot in the next election. (2) Referenda, on the other hand, are typically measures that originate with state legislatures and are placed on the ballot by the legislative body to allow citizens to vote on the legislation. (3) Having existed in some form in the United States since the 1600s, (4) the ballot initiative and referendum have served as two of the few remaining strongholds of direct democracy in the United States. Today, all but one state require a citizen vote before the state constitution can be amended. (5) Even while many states, including Missouri, (6) offer the ballot initiative and referendum, procedural blights hinder the initiative process. Missouri's initiative procedure, (7) much like the procedures found in several other initiative states, vests a significant amount of authority in the secretary of state by allowing her to draft the summaries of the submitted initiatives that appear directly on the ballot. (8) Given that these ballot summaries are typically the last, if not the only, material that many voters will read prior to casting their vote, (9) the summaries are often the subject of litigation due to perceived unfairness or insufficiency. Part II of this Comment begins by detailing the history of the ballot initiative and referendum in the United States. Part III next details the different types of initiatives and referenda commonly used in the United States. Part IV discusses the merits of the ballot initiative, discussing both benefits and disadvantages. Part V gives an overview of various state approaches to initiative procedures. Part VI introduces some of the various procedural shortfalls in the initiative process. Part VII discusses Missouri common law and how the courts have helped shape Missouri's law in the initiative process. Part VIII examines Brown v. Carnahan, a case handed down by the Supreme Court of Missouri in 2012 that clarified many aspects of ballot initiative procedures. Part IX concludes by discussing the future of the ballot initiative in Missouri and detailing steps that could be taken by the Missouri General Assembly to slow the large increase in the number of ballot title challenges in recent years. II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF BALLOT INITIATIVES AND REFERENDA A. National History of Ballot Initiatives and Referenda Although the use of initiatives and referenda has greatly increased in recent decades, the initiative and referendum have existed in some form in the United States since the 1600s when citizens of colonial New England placed ordinances and other issues on town meeting agendas to bring the issues to a vote. (10) Thomas Jefferson first proposed the referendum process for inclusion in the 1775 Virginia State Constitution. (11) In 1778, Massachusetts became the first state to hold a statewide referendum for its citizens to ratify its constitution. (12) And in 1792, New Hampshire became the second state to do so. (13) Congress subsequently required that all new states admitted to the Union after 1857 employ referenda procedures for proposed changes to the states' constitutions. (14) However, while initiative and referendum procedures are very common at the state level, there is not a procedure for either initiatives or referenda at the federal level. (15) Although constitutional referendum vested the power of direct democracy in the people, in the late 1800s Americans began to realize that they lacked the "ability to reign in an out-of-touch government or a government [marked] by inaction. …


The regional expression of millennial-scale climate variability during the last glacial is examined with particular reference to the vegetation response in Greece. Inspection of three pollen records from contrasting bioclimatic areas suggests that differences in the magnitude of cold events as recognized in the North Atlantic and western Mediterranean are expressed in terms of tree population changes only in areas with a range of favorable habitats. By contrast, records from sites where populations approach their tolerance threshold do not appear to resolve differences in the amplitude of the climate oscillations. Understanding the importance of local factors in modulating the biological response to climate change is critical when attempting to establish the spatial pattern of millennial variability.


Bovine pulmonary artery smooth muscle (SM) cells express a novel 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) (5-HT4-like) receptor coupled to cAMP accumulation. cAMP radioimmunoassay established the agonist and antagonist profiles of this receptor. 5-HT (EC50 = 91 +/- 33 nM) and 5-methoxytryptamine were equipotent at the SM cell 5-HT receptor and both were more potent than 5-carboxamidotryptamine. Other tryptamine derivatives were less potent but remained full agonists. These findings are consistent with previous reports regarding 5-HT4 and 5-HT4-like receptors in the central nervous system. The most potent antagonists were the antidepressant compounds nortriptyline (IC50 = 177 +/- 153 nM) and zimelidine (IC50 = 202 +/- 101 nM). The 5-HT3 and 5-HT4 antagonist 3-tropanyl-indole-3-carboxylate (ICS 205-930) was also a competitive antagonist at this 5-HT4-like receptor (pA2 = 6.3). Antagonist affinities differed slightly at the SM cell receptor, compared with other 5-HT4 and 5-HT4-like receptors in the central nervous system. Nonetheless, the SM cell 5-HT4-like receptor displayed the same differential antagonist potencies as reported for these other receptors (ICS 205-930 > MDL 72222 and mianserin > ketanserin). 8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) was the most potent agonist for this 5-HT4-like receptor (EC50 = 6.4 +/- 3.4 nM). 8-OH-DPAT-induced cAMP accumulation could be blocked by ICS 205-930 but not by the 5-HT1A antagonist 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-4-[4-(2-pthalimido)butyl]piperazine hydrobromide, distinguishing the SM cell 5-HT receptor from 5-HT1A receptors. The mechanism of 5-HT-stimulated cAMP production was also investigated. First, GTP augmented basal and 5-HT-stimulated cAMP accumulation. Second, antisera to the carboxyl terminus of the alpha subunit of Gs, attenuated 5-HT-mediated adenylate cyclase activation. This established that 5-HT-stimulated cAMP accumulation in SM cells required GS. These findings suggest that SM cells express a novel 5-HT4-like receptor positively coupled to adenylate cyclase. An unexpected finding was that 8-OH-DPAT is a potent partial agonist. These studies suggest that there may be heterogeneity among 5-HT4-like receptors.


A large amount of the litigation based on written instruments?whether statute, contract, will, conveyance or regulation?can be traced to the draftsman's failure to convey his meaning clearly. Frequently, of course, certain items may purposely be left ambiguous, but often the question in issue is due to an inadvertent ambiguity that could have been avoided had the draftsman clearly expressed what he intended to say. In this Article it is suggested that a new approach to drafting, using certain elementary notions of symbolic logic, can go a long way towards eliminating such inadvertent ambiguity. This new approach makes available to draftsmen a technique that achieves some of the clarity, precision and efficiency of analysis that symbolic logic provides. In addition, it can be a valuable aid in moving towards a more comprehensive and systematic method of interpretation,1 as well as drafting. This approach is a compromise between expression in ordinary prose and expression in the mathematical notation of symbolic logic?enough like ordi? nary prose to be understood easily by any careful reader, enough like sym? bolic logic to achieve some of its important advantages. It represents an effort to adapt some of the techniques of symbolic logic to make more systematic what is now best described as the "art" of drafting. The first section will explain six elementary logical connectives: implication, conjunction, coimplication, exclusive disjunction, inclusive disjunction and negation. In order to simplify this exposition, trivial examples will be used for purposes of illustration. In the second section the proposed system will be applied to actual legal problems of drafting, interpretation, simplification and comparison. Six Elementary Logical Connectives 2 1.0 Implication The development of a more systematic method of drafting will enable the lawyer to communicate his intended meaning more effectively. That is the basic proposition to which this Article is addressed. This same proposition can be stated in a different form:


The tumor-immune interactive dynamics is an evergreen subject that continues to draw attention from applied mathematicians and oncologists, especially so due to the unpredictable growth of tumor cells. In this respect, mathematical modeling promises insights that might help us to better understand this harmful aspect of our biology. With this goal, we here present and study a mathematical model that describes how tumor cells evolve and survive the brief encounter with the immune system, mediated by effector cells and host cells. We focus on the distribution of eigenvalues of the resulting ordinary differential equations, the local stability of the biologically feasible singular points, and the existence of Hopf bifurcations, whereby the time lag is used as the bifurcation parameter. We estimate analytically the length of the time delay to preserve the stability of the period-1 limit cycle, which arises at the Hopf bifurcation point. We also perform numerical simulations, which reveal the rich dynamics of the studied system. We show that the delayed model exhibits periodic oscillations as well as chaotic behavior, which are often indicators of long-term tumor relapse.


Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how Woolworths, a South African retail chain, evaluates and controls its sustainable business practices using economic, environmental and social indicators.

Design/methodology/approach

– A content analysis of Woolworths' comprehensive 2008‐2011 sustainability and annual reports examined how this retail chain evaluates and implements its sustainable business practices.

Findings

– The results indicate that such indicators play a significant role in evaluating and implementing various Woolworths' business practices aimed at sustainability. In addition, Woolworths' comprehensive governance system ensures that its sustainable business practices are implemented and targets achieved.

Research limitations/implications

– The case study demonstrates that businesses can remain profitable, while at the same time protecting the natural environment and striving for sustainable business practices.

Practical implications

– This example demonstrates how government influence, institutional mechanisms and senior management commitment to a project ultimately has gone some way to minimise barriers to the adoption of sustainable practices.

Originality/value

– The example provides not only a seed of knowledge for others in retailing, but also guidance to both practice in general and theory in the field of sustainable business practices. It demonstrates how an organization has taken strategic action, extended this beyond the firm's boundaries and into the supply chain. The case study illustrates how one organization can act as the change agent in the network.


Modification of the spontaneous-emission lifetime in photonic crystal single-defect resonant modes is studied with the finite-difference time domain method. We investigate spontaneous-emission enhancement from the monopole and the dipole modes of a hexagonal lattice cavity, considering the effects of the finite emitter linewidth and spectral detuning. Large spontaneous-emission enhancement of > 50 is achieved numerically from the high-quality-factor monopole mode when the emitter linewidth is comparable with the resonant-mode linewidth. However, if broad-linewidth material is used and a detuning effect is included, the dipole mode with a low quality factor and a smaller mode volume could be more advantageous for spontaneous-emission enhancement.


An original and innovative sampling system called AirCore was presented by NOAA in 2010 (Karion et al., 2010). It consists of a long (> 100 m) and narrow (< 1 cm) stainless steel tube that can retain a profile of atmospheric air. The captured air sample has then to be analyzed with a gas analyzer for trace mole fraction. In this study, we introduce a new AirCore aiming to improve resolution along the vertical with the objectives to (i) better capture the vertical distribution of CO2 and CH4, (ii) provide a tool to compare AirCores and validate the estimated vertical resolution achieved by AirCores. This (high-resolution) AirCore-HR consists of a 300 m tube, combining 200 m of 0.125 in. (3.175 mm) tube and a 100 m of 0.25 in. (6.35 mm) tube. This new configuration allows us to achieve a vertical resolution of 300 m up to 15 km and better than 500 m up to 22 km (if analysis of the retained sample is performed within 3 h). The AirCore-HR was flown for the first time during the annual StratoScience campaign from CNES in August 2014 from Timmins (Ontario, Canada). High-resolution vertical profiles of CO2 and CH4 up to 25 km were successfully retrieved. These profiles revealed well-defined transport structures in the troposphere (also seen in CAMS-ECMWF high-resolution forecasts of CO2 and CH4 profiles) and captured the decrease of CO2 and CH4 in the stratosphere. The multi-instrument gondola also carried two other low-resolution AirCore-GUF that allowed us to perform direct comparisons and study the underlying processing method used to convert the sample of air to greenhouse gases vertical profiles. In particular, degrading the AirCore-HR derived profiles to the low resolution of AirCore-GUF yields an excellent match between both sets of CH4 profiles and shows a good consistency in terms of vertical structures. This fully validates the theoretical vertical resolution achievable by AirCores. Concerning CO2 although a good agreement is found in terms of vertical structure, the comparison between the various AirCores yields a large and variable bias (up to almost 3 ppm in some parts of the profiles). The reasons of this bias, possibly related to the drying agent used to dry the air, are still being investigated. Finally, the uncertainties associated with the measurements are assessed, yielding an average uncertainty below 3 ppb for CH4 and 0.25 ppm for CO2 with the major source of uncertainty coming from the potential loss of air sample on the ground and the choice of the starting and ending point of the collected air sample inside the tube. In an ideal case where the sample would be fully retained, it would be possible to know precisely the pressure at which air was sampled last and thus to improve the overall uncertainty to about 0.1 ppm for CO2 and 2 ppb for CH4. Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 2164 O. Membrive et al.: AirCore-HR: a high-resolution column measurement


Recent successful efforts to increase protection for manta rays has highlighted the lack of basic ecological information, including vertical and horizontal movement patterns, available for these species. We deployed pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags on nine reef manta rays, Manta alfredi, to determine diving behaviors and vertical habitat use. Transmitted and archived data were obtained from seven tagged mantas over deployment periods of 102–188 days, including three recovered tags containing 2.6 million depth, temperature, and light level data points collected every 10 or 15 seconds. Mantas frequented the upper 10 m during daylight hours and tended to occupy deeper water throughout the night. Six of the seven individuals performed a cumulative 76 deep dives (>150 m) with one individual reaching 432 m, extending the known depth range of this coastal, reef-oriented species and confirming its role as an ecological link between epipelagic and mesopelagic habitats. Mean vertical velocities calculated from high-resolution dive data (62 dives >150 m) from three individuals suggested that mantas may use gliding behavior during travel and that this behavior may prove more efficient than continuous horizontal swimming. The behaviors in this study indicate manta rays provide a previously unknown link between the epi- and mesopelagic layers of an extremely oligotrophic marine environment and provide evidence of a third marine species that utilizes gliding to maximize movement efficiency.


Despite the prevalence of government surveillance systems around the world, causal evidence on their social and economic consequences is lacking. Using county-level variation in the number of Stasi informers within Socialist East Germany during the 1980s and accounting for potential endogeneity, we show that more intense regional surveillance led to lower levels of trust and reduced social activity in post-reunification Germany. We also find substantial and long-lasting economic effects of Stasi spying, resulting in lower self-employment, higher unemployment and larger out-migration throughout the 1990s and 2000s. We further show that these effects are due to surveillance and not alternative mechanisms. We argue that our findings have important implications for contemporary surveillance systems.


Background. South African society is undergoing rapid changes, and includes people from different cultures, beliefs and social backgrounds. Research suggests that these contextual influences have an important bearing on how patients present and relate to healthcare providers. Medical students, too, have a life-world based on their own backgrounds and cultures, and may find relating to a patient with a different life-world challenging. Objectives. To explore students' awareness and perceptions of how psychosociocultural factors in a multicultural society influence the consultation, and to suggest adaptations for teaching. Methods. Focus group discussions were conducted with final-year medical students in the Family Medicine rotation. Some of the students had viewed a video of a consultation with an isiZulu-speaking patient, and completed a self-reflection learning task. Audio recordings were transcribed and analysed thematically. Results. Exposure to patients in the clinical years had made students aware of the challenges of cultural diversity, although they felt under-prepared to deal with this. Students alluded to the influences of their own cultures, of cultural similarities as well as differences, the roles and behaviours of doctors and patients in cross-cultural consultations, the potential knowledge and experience gap that exists across cultures, and an awareness of the need for patient-centredness. Conclusion. Students should be assisted to improve their cultural competence. Recommendations are made for using various methods, including critical incidents and visual learning to provide opportunities for reflexive practice and transformative learning. Educators must be equipped to address learning objectives relating to cultural competence.


Introduction My memories of my first contact with the Bible go back to my days as a toddler in a typical Nigerian Igbo village. My father could not read or write, yet he owned a Bible. In fact, he owned the only Bible in the village, an enormous red-edged book. Nobody ever read this Bible. It was not acquired to be read like ordinary books. My father's Bible was carefully wrapped in white cloth and kept under lock and key in a wooden cabinet in which my father kept things he particularly treasured. Whenever you saw him open the cabinet and bring out the Bible, you knew there was to be a big palaver in the village: some kind of dispute was defying the ingenuity of the village elders which could only be settled by one of the contending parties swearing an oath. Taking an oath on my father's Bible was the most reliable way of solving such protracted disputes. For those first generation Christians, then, this Bible had replaced the sacred staff (ofo) of the traditional religion as an object for oath taking, thanks to the example of colonial court-room formalities. This bizarre personal recollection is meant as an invitation to leave familiar territory. It can be compared to the "once upon a time" openings of traditional folk tales, and I hope it serves to prepare you to follow me to the world of first and second generation Christianity as it is to be found in present-day Africa.(1) Africa is on record as the continent with the highest numerical Christian growth rate in the world.(2) And the Bible has been identified as "a major contributor" to this phenomenal growth.(3) The Bible is certainly very much valued and used by African Christians. Given the oral tradition that forms the background of African Christians, and given the literary tradition that the Bible represents, the question of the relationship between the Bible and culture in African Christianity becomes an intriguing one. How is the Bible used in the cultural environment of Africa by recent-generation African Christians? Here we shall not content ourselves with simply describing the present situation of the interaction of Bible and culture in Africa. We need to go further and ask more probing and critical questions with the aim of assessing the appropriateness of the relationship we discover. If we find the present model of the relationship between the Bible and culture in African Christianity to be inadequate, as well we may, then we will be compelled to suggest another model which we believe will prove more appropriate for the realization of the mission of African Christianity. Definition of Terms St Louis University historian Thomas P. Neill is quoted as saying, "How can you have a good fight if you define your terms?"(4) Since the purpose of this paper is to provoke not a good fight but a good reflection, it might be necessary to offer a working definition of some of the main terms utilized in this article. Bible The term "Bible" in this article is used in two closely related yet distinct ways: to refer to the "book" as well as to the "message". As book, suffice it to say that it refers to the books of the Old and New Testaments held by Christians as the inspired Word of God.(5) As message, it refers to the teaching to be found in this collection of books, and as such could be synonymous with the terms "gospel," "good news," "biblical tradition," "biblical revelation," etc. Culture To expect a human person to define culture is like expecting a fish to define the water in which it lives. For, "As water is to the fish, so culture is to the human person."(6) We are best served by a broad description of this all-encompassing reality, such as the one proposed by Orthodox Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios Yannoulatos, who has isolated seven "constant elements" found in every culture. These are: formation of a system of contact, of a code of understanding, that is of a language; solutions given to the very first needs for humankind's survival, concerning shelter and maintenance, that is, developing of an elementary technical skill and economics; regulation of the living together of the basic human unity, many-woman, for the perpetuation of the human species; organization of a clan, race, nation, which means a regulation of social relations; definition of what is good or bad, in other words, making social rules; artistic expressions of the beliefs and problematics of the individual and of society; experience of the "Holy," of what is beyond everyday reality, through a form of religious beliefs. …


To assess the influence of epoxy coating on the bond characteristics of reinforcing bars, a series of tests was conducted to determine differences in stress transfer between coated and uncoated bars using different diameter bars, various bar deformation patterns, different concrete strengths, and different levels of restraint to splitting. One series of tests involved pullout specimens, and another series involved beams with splices and with different amounts of transverse reinforcement. The results provide a direct comparison between the anchorage characteristics of coated and uncoated bars with all other parameters remaining constant in each case. The objective of the program is to develop recommendations for the design of splices and anchorage of epoxy-coated reinforcement.


: We calculate the probability that a Milky-Way (MW)-like halo in the standard cosmological model has the observed number of Magellanic Clouds (MCs). The statistics of the number of MCs in the lambda cold dark matter model are in good agreement with observations of a large sample of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies. Under the subhalo abundance matching assumption of a relationship with small scatter between galaxy r-band luminosities and halo internal velocities v max, we make detailed comparisons to similar measurements using SDSS Data Release 7 data by Liu et al. Models and observational data give very similar probabilities for having zero, one, and two MC-like satellites. In both cases, MW luminosity hosts have just a 10% chance of hosting two satellites similar to the MCs. In addition, we present a prediction for the probability for a host galaxy to have N sats satellite galaxies as a function of the magnitudes of both the host and satellite. This probability and its scaling with host properties is significantly different from that of mass-selected objects because of scatter in the mass-luminosity relation and because of variations in the star formation efficiency with halo mass. ABSTRACT We calculate the probability that a Milky-Way-like halo in the standard cosmological model has the observed number of Magellanic Clouds (MCs). The statistics of the number of MCs in the Λ CDM model are in good agreement with observations of a large sample of SDSS galaxies. Under the sub-halo abundance matching assumption of a relationship with small scatter between galaxy r -band luminosities and halo internal velocities v max , we make detailed comparisons to similar measurements using SDSS DR7 data by Liu et al. (2010). Models and observational data give very similar probabilities for having zero, one, and two MC-like satellites. In both cases, Milky Way-luminosity hosts have just a ∼ 10% chance of hosting two satellites similar to the Magellanic Clouds. In addition, we present a prediction for the probability for a host galaxy to have N sats satellite galaxies as a function of the magnitudes of both the host and satellite. This probability and its scaling with host properties is significantly different from that of mass-selected objects because of scatter in the mass-luminosity relation and because of variations in the star formation efficiency with halo mass.


We initiate the study of low-distortion finite metric embeddings in multi-class (and multi-label) classification where (i) both the space of input instances and the space of output classes have combinatorial metric structure, and (ii) the concepts we wish to learn are low-distortion embeddings. We develop new geometric techniques and prove strong learning lower bounds. These provable limits hold even when we allow learners and classifiers to get advice by one or more experts. Our study overwhelmingly indicates that post-geometry assumptions are necessary in multi-class classification, as in natural language processing (NLP). Technically, the mathematical tools we developed in this work could be of independent interest to NLP. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work which formally studies classification problems in combinatorial spaces and where the concepts are low-distortion embeddings.


n ABSTRACT: In the introduction to this special section of Religion and Society, we discuss existing and potentially new intersections of border theories and religious studies in relation to two contested regions—US-Mexico and Israel-Palestine (as part of the history of the Levant)—respectively. We argue for a recentering of borderland studies through an analysis of political theologies, affective labor, and differing configurations of religious heritage, traces, and materiality. We thus define 'borderlands' as translocal phenomena that emerge due to situated political/economic and affective junctures and that amplify not only translocal but also transnational prisms. To explore these issues, we put into dialogue studies on religion, borderlands, walls, and historical/contemporary conditions in the context of US-Mexico and Israel-Palestine borders. In particular, we argue for recentering analyses in light of intensifications of state control and growing militarization in contested areas.


Abstract. Global wetlands are believed to be climate sensitive, and are the largest natural emitters of methane (CH4). Increased wetland CH4 emissions could act as a positive feedback to future warming. The Wetland and Wetland CH4 Inter-comparison of Models Project (WETCHIMP) investigated our present ability to simulate large-scale wetland characteristics and corresponding CH4 emissions. To ensure inter-comparability, we used a common experimental protocol driving all models with the same climate and carbon dioxide (CO2) forcing datasets. The WETCHIMP experiments were conducted for model equilibrium states as well as transient simulations covering the last century. Sensitivity experiments investigated model response to changes in selected forcing inputs (precipitation, temperature, and atmospheric CO2 concentration). Ten models participated, covering the spectrum from simple to relatively complex, including models tailored either for regional or global simulations. The models also varied in methods to calculate wetland size and location, with some models simulating wetland area prognostically, while other models relied on remotely sensed inundation datasets, or an approach intermediate between the two. Four major conclusions emerged from the project. First, the suite of models demonstrate extensive disagreement in their simulations of wetland areal extent and CH4 emissions, in both space and time. Simple metrics of wetland area, such as the latitudinal gradient, show large variability, principally between models that use inundation dataset information and those that independently determine wetland area. Agreement between the models improves for zonally summed CH4 emissions, but large variation between the models remains. For annual global CH4 emissions, the models vary by ±40% of the all-model mean (190 Tg CH4 yr−1). Second, all models show a strong positive response to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations (857 ppm) in both CH4 emissions and wetland area. In response to increasing global temperatures (+3.4 °C globally spatially uniform), on average, the models decreased wetland area and CH4 fluxes, primarily in the tropics, but the magnitude and sign of the response varied greatly. Models were least sensitive to increased global precipitation (+3.9 % globally spatially uniform) with a consistent small positive response in CH4 fluxes and wetland area. Results from the 20th century transient simulation show that interactions between climate forcings could have strong non-linear effects. Third, we presently do not have sufficient wetland methane observation datasets adequate to evaluate model fluxes at a spatial scale comparable to model grid cells (commonly 0.5°). This limitation severely restricts our ability to model global wetland CH4 emissions with confidence. Our simulated wetland extents are also difficult to evaluate due to extensive disagreements between wetland mapping and remotely sensed inundation datasets. Fourth, the large range in predicted CH4 emission rates leads to the conclusion that there is both substantial parameter and structural uncertainty in large-scale CH4 emission models, even after uncertainties in wetland areas are accounted for.


Preuschoft et al. ([1993] in H. Preuschoft and D. Chivers (eds): Hands of Primates. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 245-256) used a theoretical biomechanical analysis to generate several predictions relating subordinal differences in primate hand proportions to differences in carpal morphology. This study tests these predictions using quantitative analyses of carpal morphology between extant haplorhine and strepsirhine primates. Results show that living strepsirhines have a significantly larger hamate hamulus than do haplorhines, supporting a Preuschoft et al.'s (1993) predictions. Extant strepsirhines also have a significantly shorter pisiform body than do haplorhines and arboreal nonprimate eutherians and a larger scaphoid tubercle than new and Old World monkeys. These results contrast markedly with those expected under Preuschoft et al.'s (1993) model. Furthermore, strepsirhines and haplorhines do not differ significantly in the relative size of their radiocarpal articulations. These morphometric observations do not match the predicted morphological patterns because the kinematic assumptions upon which the biomechanical models are based are incorrect. Living strepsirhines appear to be derived in having very deep radial and ulnar margins of the carpal tunnel for well-developed extrinsic digital flexors. Moreover, tooth-combed prosimians differ from most haplorhines, early Tertiary adapiforms, and arboreal nonprimate eutherians in having a relatively short pisiform body, which gives the flexor carpi ulnaris less power to flex the wrist from extended (= dorsiflexed) positions. These structural observations suggest that powerful manual grasping and an emphasis on leaping and climbing, rather than palmigrade quadrupedal walking and running, are morphotypic for extant Strepsirhini.


This paper investigates the relationship between changes in accounting estimates and subsequent restatements. Theory suggests that depending on the underlying reason for an estimate change, this relationship can be either negative (for changes in estimates made in response to new developments or management having obtaining new information) or positive (for changes in accounting estimates made with an objective of managing earnings or changes that are not reliably estimated and are poorly audited). We hypothesize and find a positive relationship between changes in estimates and restatements. There is also support for the prediction that the presence of a change in accounting estimate(s) is associated with an increased likelihood of subsequent restatement to correct intentional misstatement. The findings of the study are of interest to accounting academics, regulators, and audit practitioners.


The modern empirical legal studies movement has well-known antecedents in the law and society and law and economics traditions of the latter half of the 20th century. Less well known is the body of empirical research on legal phenomena from the period prior to World War II. This paper considers that earlier work with discussions of what accounts for the burst of such research in the 1920s and 30s, methodological and funding issues confronting that research, why the research seemed to come to an end in the latter part of the 1930s (to begin to reappear in the 1950s), and some of the continuities in findings between that research and more recent empirical research on law.


Migration studies is an area of increasing significance in musicology as in other disciplines. How do migrants express and imagine themselves through musical practice? How does music help them to construct social imaginaries and to cope with longings and belongings? In this study of migration music in postsocialist Albania, Eckehard Pistrick identifies links between sound, space, emotionality and mobility in performance, provides new insights into the controversial relationship between sound and migration, and sheds light on the cultural effects of migration processes. Central to Pistrick's approach is the essential role of emotionality for musical creativity which is highlighted throughout the volume: pain and longing are discussed not as a traumatising end point, but as a driving force for human action and as a source for cultural creativity. In addition, the study provides a fascinating overview about the current state of a rarely documented vocal tradition in Europe that is a part of the mosaic of Mediterranean singing traditions. It refers to the challenges imposed onto this practice by heritage politics, the dynamics of retraditionalisation and musical globalisation. In this sense the book constitutes an important study to the dynamics of postsocialism as seen from a musicological perspective. Contents


Objective: In this world of advanced technology, satellite communication is the basis for all data communications. TCP was designed to be flexible and robust but it cannot perform efficiently over the satellite links with long delay. The major objective of our work is to propose a novel flow control algorithm for satellite network to prevent the heavy degradation in the network performance due to long propagation delay, high bit error rate and bandwidth asymmetry. Methods: A strong flow control mechanism is necessary to eliminate the network performance degradation due to the satellite link characteristics like long propagation delay, high bit error rate and bandwidth asymmetry. Satellite-TCP is a flow control mechanism based on the negative acknowledgement strategy and connection splitting. The satellite link utilization is monitored and the active connections are assigned with the window values. The window values were considered as it can easily reflect the available bandwidth in the satellite links. Findings: The major problems affecting the performance in satellite links are long propagation delay, high bit error rate and bandwidth asymmetry. The proposed Flow Control Algorithm called Satellite-TCP is based on controlling the flow of Negative Acknowledgement packets (NACK), according to the level of congestion at the network. The two main modules in the proposed system include an enhanced TCP flow control mechanism and a data loss recovery mechanism. Among this the flow control is based on link utilization measurements and throughput calculation techniques. Data loss recovery strategy is based on Negative Acknowledgements coming from the receiver side. In this way, we can decrease the amount of packet loss in the network and even eliminate the packet loss, sometimes. Satellite-TCP adopts a window growth strategy to accelerate the speed of increase in the size of congestion window. The flow control mechanism not only enhanced the throughput of forward link but also greatly reduced the bandwidth occupancy rate in back-ward link in the satellite network. This in turn increases the overall performance of the satellite link. Improvements: If we add a priority based strategy to the new flow control mechanism, it can judge the network performance according to the data loss. Moreover we are expecting that, if we add a priority bit based strategy to the new flow control mechanism, it will help to distinguish the specific reasons for data loss and can take corresponding flow control strategies. While considering the throughput and loss rate, Satellite –TCP is showing excellent performance in the case of forward link but it performs poor in the case of backward link. So we are planning to extend our work in such a way that it will perform well in the case of backward link also.


The understanding of the concept of happiness brings light to a multiple theoretical framework composed of different approaches that are not always rightly considered or well known. This chapter aims at resuming the differentiation in happiness studies and proposes the identification of subjective and objective indicators of happiness that maintain the multiple distinction existing in theory. The conclusion highlights the necessity for a coexistence of approaches to happiness in order to foster a more solid and complete knowledge on this particular subject.


allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. New drugs such as the echinocandins (caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin) and the extended-spectrum azoles (itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole) offer more effective and safer options today. Although these potent antifungal agents make treatment prospects better, there still is considerable risk for death from Candida, Aspergillus, and other mold infections. Accordingly, considerable interest resides in figuring out what is the most effective strategy in using antifungal agents to optimize patient outcomes. Identification of risk factors allows greater focus on patients and transplantation complications that warrant a higher degree of vigilance for fungal infections. New imaging techniques and rapid diagnostic assays allow earlier institution of therapy. The success of fluconazole in dramatically reducing Candida infections has led to hope that similar approaches to prevent Aspergillus and other mold infections may also be successful. In this issue of BMTR, the subject of how best to mitigate the threat of invasive fungal infections is addressed in the proceedings of a satellite symposium presented at the 2007 BMT Tandem Meetings in Keystone, Colorado. In the first presentation, Dr. Richard Champlin presents an overview of the problem and describes historical treatment approaches. In the second presentation, Dr. John Wingard discusses the rationale for prophylaxis and reviews the results of the various clinical trials that have tested this approach with different antifungal agents. In the third presentation, Dr. Dimitrios Kontoyiannis discusses the basis for and the data to support empiric and preemptive therapy approaches. Enormous strides have been made in refining treatment options for invasive fungal infections. These are gradually chipping away at the threat. Yet, much work remains. Testing of which strategy optimizes patient outcomes has been started but greater understanding of what works best for whom is needed. New Strategies for Fungal Infections after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Prevention or Preemption?


©2017 Frans A. Oliehoek, Matthijs T. J. Spaan, Bas Terwijn, Philipp Robbel and Joao V. Messias. This article describes the Multiagent Decision Process (MADP) Toolbox, a software library to support planning and learning for intelligent agents and multiagent systems in uncertain environments. Key features are that it supports partially observable environments and stochastic transition models; has unified support for single- and multiagent systems; provides a large number of models for decision-theoretic decision making, including one-shot and sequential decision making under various assumptions of observability and cooperation, such as Dec-POMDPs and POSGs; provides tools and parsers to quickly prototype new problems; provides an extensive range of planning and learning algorithms for single- and multiagent systems; is released under the GNU GPL v3 license; and is written in C++ and designed to be extensible via the object-oriented paradigm.


We consider the hp-version of the discontinuous Galerkin finite element method (DGFEM) for second-order elliptic reaction-diffusion equations with mixed Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. For simplicity of the presentation, we only consider boundary-value problems defined on an axiparallel polygonal domain whose solutions are approximated on subdivisions consisting of axiparallel elements. Our main concern is the generalisation of the error analysis of the hp-DGFEM for the case when shape-irregular (anisotropic) meshes and anisotropic polynomial degrees for the element basis functions are used. We shall present a general framework for deriving error bounds for the approximation error and we shall consider two important special cases. In the first of these we derive an error bound that is simultaneously optimal in h and p, for shape-regular elements and isotropic polynomial degrees, provided that the solution belongs to a certain anisotropic Sobolev space. The second result deals with the case where we have a uniform polynomial degree in every space direction and a shape-irregular mesh. Again we derive an error bound that is optimal both in h and in p. For element-wise analytic solutions the method exhibits exponential rates of convergence under p-refinement, in both cases considered. Finally, numerical experiments using shape-regular and shape-irregular elements are presented.


Building on a recent suite of work that has demonstrated theoretical feasibility and operational readiness of a satellite altimeter based flood forecasting system, we recently put a progressively designed altimeter based transboundary flood forecasting system to the ultimate test of real-time operational delivery in Bangladesh. The JASON-2 satellite altimeter, which was in orbit at the time of writing this manuscript, was used as the flagship altimeter mission. This paper summarizes the entire process of designing the system, customizing the workflow, and putting the system in place for complete ownership by the Bangladesh stakeholder agency for a 100 day operational skill test spanning the period of June 1 2013 through Sept. 9, 2013. Correlation for most of the flood warning stations ranged between 0.95 to 0.80 during the 1 day to 8 days lead time range. The RMSE of forecast typically ranged between 0.75m to 1.5m at locations where the danger level relative to the river bed was more than an order higher (i.e., >20m). The RMSE of forecast at the 8 days lead time did not exceed 2m for upstream and mid-stream rivers inside Bangladesh. The RMSE of forecast at the 8 days lead time exceeded 2m at a few estuarine river locations affected by tidal effects, where danger level relative to river bed was smaller (i.e., <;20m). Such a satellite altimeter system, such as one based on the JASON-2 altimeter, is now poised to serve the entire inhabitants of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basins as well as 30 or more flood-prone downstream nations currently deprived of real-time flow data from upstream nations.