Recently, IoT has greatly influenced our daily lives through various applications. One of the most promising application is smart city that leverages IoT devices to manage cities without any human intervention. The high possibility of sensing and publishing sensitive data in this smart environment leads to three significant issues: (1) privacy-preserving (2) heterogeneity, and (3) real-time services. We observe that current studies are in lack of addressing these challenges. In this paper, we propose a new privacy-preserving architecture for IoT devices in the smart city by leveraging ontology, a data model, at the edge of the network. At first, we propose an ontology that consists of privacy information of devices. Then, we mount a real-time privacy-preserving method on top of it that is achieved by providing a dynamic environment from the privacy-preserving point of view. Based on the simulation results using Protege and Visual Studio on a synthetic dataset, we find that our solution provides privacy at real-time while addressing heterogeneity issue so that many IoT devices can afford it. Thus, our proposed solution can be widely used for smart cities.


The objective of this study is to analyze the interaction between trade and non-trade cooperation in some of the today's major regional initiatives, particularly those between developing and industrialized countries. The study suggests a framework to explore what the paper calls a "trade and cooperation nexus". The modalities of this nexus can take different forms. For instance, non-trade cooperation may be an integral part of a formal trade or integration agreement, or may take place independently of such an agreement, as an ex-ante, ex-post or parallel agreement. This paper analyzes the EU approach, which proposes an unusually tight trade and cooperation nexus based on a three-pillar approach uniting political, economic and trade cooperation under a single umbrella agreement. Theoretically this approach should be attractive, especially in North-South agreements, because the promise of linking free trade with cooperation programs could enhance the benefits of the former for both parties. However, while innovative, the nexus is challenging in its construction and delivery. The paper will explore EU efforts in this area in the broader context of what is happening in other North-South initiatives.


The purpose of this article is to analyze how knowledge creation within production process verification units within companies and knowledge transfer between product development and production units are affected by the use of virtual prototypes. The analysis shows that the use of virtual prototypes has a negative effect on knowledge creation and transfer. However, increased degrees of acceptance regarding the new method combined with improved technical level are anticipated to reduce these negative effects.


In the perspective of the production of energy and the satisfaction of different forms of energy requirements (electricity, thermal power, fuels), the possibility of using biomass in different forms is yet to be largely applied, but in the future there are very significant possibilities that this solution can be utilized a lot more. In fact it is important to consider these new possibilities in relation to the conversion of marginal agricultural areas to the production of energy crops, the destination of residues for treatment by conversion in energy factors (biogas, thermal gasification) or in energy (thermoelectric plants, co-generation, boilers), and new solutions for biofuels. With the aim to verify these aspects it is important to define the inventories of biomass that are at our disposition or that could be produced in the future, in connection with different hypotheses of development within this field. From these inventories it is possible to establish a potential percentage of the required energy that could be obtained from this type of feedstock. Besides the energy aspect, it is also necessary to evaluate the meaning, the positive aspects and the potential criticisms of these forms of energy production: these evaluations concern an assessment of the requirement for feedstock production, transport and transformation, the positive aspects of the right destination for residues, the effect on greenhouse production and climate change, the potential definition of environmental impacts originating from atmospheric emissions and residuals destination. It is also important to consider the consequences in terms of social and employment aspects; and obviously also aspects concerning the industrial costs, political prices for feedstock and fuels and carbon taxes. On the basis of the defined potential feedstock, it is necessary to evaluate the different technological schemes that can be utilised. In the present paper, all the previously indicated aspects will be reviewed, with reference to the actual and future situations in developed countries and in emerging economies.


A method for the evaluation of the shape of fast conical surfaces based on the null-screen method is presented. The proposed method is based on randomized algorithms, where instead of integration as is usually performed, the shape of the surface is recovered in a direct and random way. This is done by proposing a new test surface; the surface parameters are randomly generated and the calculated null-screen is compared against the originally designed one. The coefficients that generate the null-screen closest to the reference null-screen are taken as the final values that describe the surface under test. The algorithm validation was done in the theoretical and experimental way. For the theoretical way, a convex parabolic surface with 21.36 mm radius of curvature and f/0.178 was simulated and analyzed; in the experimental way, a convex spherical surface f/0.33 and a concave ellipsoidal mirror f/0.2381 were evaluated. The results obtained with our algorithm in the evaluation of the ellipsoidal surface were compared against the results obtained with traditional methods. We found that the radius of curvature, conic constant, and the decentering coefficients that were used to generate each surface were retrieved in a good manner with our algorithm. The results show that these parameters can be recovered with a percent error smaller than 1% in the case of simulations, and smaller than 2% in the two experimental cases.


Background: This study purposed to assess the health risks of heavy metals including nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) in three widely-consumed fish from the coast of Bandar Abbas (Persian Gulf) and to determine the maximum amounts allowed for consumption according to the degree of contamination. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the summer and fall of 2013. Thunnus tonggol and Liza klunzingeri were selected from the Bandar Abbas market, and Pleuronectiformes were caught from the sea. Heavy metal concentrations were determined by atomic absorption. Risk assessment and allowable consumption levels were determined according to methods provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Results: The highest average levels of Ni and Cr in Thunnus tonggol were 0.059 and 0.234 (µg/g dry weight), respectively. The highest average level of Hg in Pleuronectiformes was 0.095 (µg/g dry weight), and the highest average level of Pb in Liza klunzingeri was 0.006 (µg/g dry weight). The target hazard quotient (THQ) for all analyses of metals in the studied species and the hazard index (HI) were less than 1 for all three species. Conclusion: The results showed that despite Ni, Cr, Hg, and Pb pollution, the consumption of up to 4 (kg/d) of Thunnus tonggol by adults and up to 2.2 (kg/d) by children does not cause health problems in terms of the tested heavy metals. For Liza klunzingeri, these levels are 7.32 and 4.02 (kg/d), respectively.


The commerce faculty at the University of Cape Town (UCT) offers a 1-year, postgraduate management diploma that is regarded as a mini-MBA. It appeals to a wide variety of mainly English-as-second language (ESL) students.
In the past, core course diploma lecturers in marketing, tourism and leisure, enterprise management and sport management 'did their own thing', with little collaboration in terms of group formation, assignment topics and workload. A brutal timetable and crunch hand-in times created unnecessary tensions. As our communication course, viewed as a soft option, bore the brunt, we took the lead in devising an integrated and collaborative teaching / learning model involving the major course convenors. Business groups remained intact across various diplomas and large focus areas, which would act as a pivot for the major group assignments, were forged using scenarios from three core courses. Each general topic thus included at least three separate yet complementary portfolio assignments that differed in genre, purpose, and target audience.
The quality of the work and mood of all concerned improved tremendously. Students found the course 'realistic', 'daunting but exciting', 'relevant' and 'powerful'. Although this approach requires careful co-ordination, the improved results and collegiality are well worth the effort. This article will describe the model used and provide examples. It will also speculate on its relevance to higher education, in particular the needs of ESL students.


The current study was conducted to investigate sex and age differences in various
,
aspects of social support in a sample of 579 participants. The study also addressed
possible links between particular forms of support, different support providers and
psychological distress. Participants aged 18-71 all completed the Network of
Relationships Inventory Social Provisions Version as well as the Depression, Anxiety
and Stress Scale. It was revealed by a chi-square test that overall, the sample ranked
their romantic partners, followed closely by their mothers, as the preferred support
provider. Consistent with previous research, results of t-tests indicated that females
reported higher levels of overall support than did males. Despite this, similar levels of
support were reported by both males and females for their romantic partners, other sex
friends and for most forms of support from fathers. When age differences were
explored using a series of mixed model ANOVA's, younger participants were found to
report higher levels of support from all providers, except romantic partners. Instead,
older participants reported the highest mean level of support from their romantic
partner for both instrumental and overall support types. Regression analyses involving
possible links between support and psychological functioning, uncovered that males
appeared to be more impacted by their support systems. This was indicated by support
from multiple providers which were found to negatively and positively predict males
levels of wellbeing. In comparison, only one provider was found to predict levels of
psychological wellbeing in females. Despite significant amounts of research indicating
the positive impacts of social support, the current study found that this relationship may
be influenced by sex, support type and particular support provider. Humans are described as innately social beings with a strong desire to belong and be
in the company of others (Tuomela, 1995). Therefore, the role of social support in the lives of
humans has been extensively discussed and researched. The definition of what social support
consists of and how it should be measured has been a source of debate in relevant literature.
This is because social support can be provided in various ways by one's support network and
can be measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. Social support can also be provided in
various forms such as physical, mental and emotional (Heitzman & Kaplan, 1988). Despite
the complexity of defining this construct, researchers have been able to agree on the positive
links that exist between having social support networks and overall psychological wellbeing.
This has been demonstrated by a negative correlation between high levels of social support
and negative affect such as depression, self-esteem and loneliness found consistently by
numerous studies (e.g. Elliott, Marmarosh, & Pickelman, 1994; Lara, Leader, & Klein, 1997;
White, Bruce, Farrell, & Kliewer, 1998). These results have all indicated that higher levels of
support likely acts as a buffer against some forms of psychological distress, particularly in
times of increased stress or crisis (Flannery & Wieman, 1989; Holahan & Moos, 1981; Matt
& Dean, 1993).
There may, however, be other factors which mediate the relationship between social
support and psychological well-being. These factors might include the actual individuals who
make up one's support network and the level or type of support received from them. It has
been suggested that this support also differs between sexes and age groups (Coventry,
Gillespie, Heath, & Martin, 2004). Despite this, research in the area has lacked and further
investigation has been required to determine just how the people who make up the support
network were utilised differently by males and females, and if this differed throughout the
lifespan. Not only has it been identified that these aspects of social support required further
investigation, but that there may also be possible links between particular types of support
and psychological distress. Despite the clear findings regarding the protective nature of social
supports on psychological wellbeing, emerging findings on its links with psychological
distress identified an area that too required addressing (Avioli, 1989; Chen & Feeley, 2012;
Fisher, Nadler, & Whitcher-Alagna, 1982; Merz, Consedine-Schulze, & Schuengel , 2010;
Searcy & Eisenberg, 1992). These researchers indicated that previously held beliefs with
regard to social support generally being a positive influence in one's life, were unfounded
and that careful consideration should be given to the specific support provider and support
type before predicting its level of usefulness.
The focus of much of the research in this area was conducted in the 1980's and
1990's with a large percentage of recent works shifting direction to topics such as the impact
of support on health (Bennett et al" 2001; DiMatteo, 2004; Everard, Lach, Fisher, & Baum,
2000; Uchino, 2006; Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003; . One such example of this was recent
works by Jetten, Haslam and Haslam (2011). This book provided an in-depth overview of
social identity theory including points regarding just how essential social contact and
belonging can be for human beings, to the extent that is can act as protective factor both from
illness itself and to also aid a better recovery from illness.
In the literature review presented below the conceptualisation and measurement of the
construct social support is firstly explored. The literature on the following areas of interest
are then reviewed: sex and age differences in social support, and the relationship between
social support and psychological distress. Aims and hypothesis for the current study are then
outlined.


The behaviour of labour productivity in the United Kingdom since the onset of the recessionin early 2008 constitutes a puzzle. Over four years after the recession began labourproductivity is still below its previous peak level. This paper considers the hypothesis thateconomic capacity can be permanently damaged by financial crises. A model which allows afinancial crisis to have both a short-run effect on the growth rate of labour productivity and along-run effect on its level is estimated on a panel of 61 countries over 1955-2010. The mainfinding is that a banking crisis as defined by Reinhart and Rogoff on average reduces theshort-run growth rate of labour productivity by between 0.6 and 0.7 per year and thelong-run level by between 0.84 and 1.1 (depending on the method of estimation), foreach year that the crisis lasts. A banking crisis also reduces the long-run level of capital perworker by an average of about 1. The effect on GDP per capita is about double the effecton GDP per worker since there is a long-run, negative effect on the employment ratio.


Economists across the political spectrum argue that a carbon tax is the most effective and economically efficient policy for addressing climate change. Voters, however, strongly oppose the carbon tax and instead favor "green�? subsidies and command-and-control regulations. If carefully designed, these policies might complement a carbon tax, but by themselves, they will make global warming mitigation incredibly expensive and perhaps even infeasible. Moreover, if poorly designed, subsidies and regulations can be counterproductive. This Article argues that the public dislikes the carbon tax because the tax possesses attributes that make it psychologically unappealing relative to other climate policy instruments. The Article also argues that even if carbon tax proponents eventually persuade voters to accept a carbon tax, voters are biased in favor of particular design features that would make the tax less efficient. The Article discusses ways to overcome the problems that voter psychology creates. These include a communications strategy designed to combat voter bias and the controversial proposition that bureaucrats, who are somewhat insulated from public pressure, might adopt a carbon tax administratively. The Article also contributes to the burgeoning literature on how voter psychology affects the law and public policy.


ABSTRACT H/ACA small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein particles (snoRNPs) are essential for the maturation and pseudouridylation of the precursor of rRNAs and other stable RNAs. Although the RNA and protein components of these RNPs have been identified, the mechanisms by which they are assembled in vivo are poorly understood. Here we show that the RNA binding protein Naf1p, which is required for H/ACA snoRNPs stability, associates with RNA polymerase II-associated proteins Spt16p, Tfg1p, and Sub1p and with H/ACA snoRNP proteins. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments show that Naf1p and the pseudouridylsynthetase Cbf5p cross-link specifically with the chromatin of H/ACA small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) genes. Naf1p and Cbf5p cross-link predominantly with the 3′ end of these genes, in a pattern similar to that observed for transcription elongation factor Spt16p. Cross-linking of Naf1p to H/ACA snoRNA genes requires active transcription and intact H/ACA snoRNA sequences but does not require the RNA polymerase II CTD kinase Ctk1p. These results suggest that Naf1p and Cbf5p are recruited in a cotranscriptional manner during H/ACA snoRNP assembly, possibly by binding to the nascent H/ACA snoRNA transcript during elongation or termination of transcription of H/ACA snoRNA genes.


Although Stanovich & West (S&W) are likely to be criticized for not proposing a process model, results of such a model (fuzzy-trace theory) support many of their conclusions. However, arguments concerning evolution and Gricean intelligence are weak. Finally, developmental data are relevant to rationality, but contradictory results suggest a dual-processes approach that differs from S&W's based on fuzzy-trace theory.


In the late 60's, in Novosibirsk, a secondary school utilizing new teaching methods was opened by the local Academy of Science. The school specialized in physics and mathematics, with the notable advantage of drawing on the scholars of the academy for its teaching staff. The school employed progressive teaching methods, and a number of followers quickly emerged. Cooperation between these new schools developed into student competitions in mathematics and physics. Shockingly, however, a gold medal student, winner of many physics and mathematics competitions, FLUNKED the university entrance exams. Representatives of the Novosibirsk Academy of Science, the Russian Academy of Pedagogy and the Russian Ministry of Education were involved in the appeal process, which grew from the examination of one young man into an examination of the two opposing pedagogical methods -- the conflict between the old school represented by the entrance exams, and the new methods employed by the secondary school. Three Sources of Incompatibility The old school insisted that the quality of education was inseparable from the quantity of information. The more acquired information, the better the education. The new school emphasizes the domination of educational habits, focuses on the most important knowledge thereby streamlining cognition, and stresses activity and hands-on experience in instruction. The primary characteristic of the old school was the didactic method, the basis of reproductive education. The new school was nondidactic, emphasizing generative, productive intellectual activity. The old school placed priority on the socialization of cognition, leading to the sublimation of the student's personality. The new school focuses on the socialization of the particular knowledge of each individual. The role of cognition and education is expansive, not only the accumulation of information but the generation of a highly educated, creative society -- the society of personalities. Despite these essential differences, the two schools were really dealing with the same problem - the transmission of knowledge. And in the 60's, everything was explained by trifling divergences in methodics, neglecting the fact that the difference in the pedagogies was profound. It took twenty years for the new school to emerge, differing in both the quality and the form of education. The Novosibirsk alternative school was but the first step. The New Higher Education -- The Social Necessity for Intellectual Formation. Society was discovering the need for a new type of intelligentsia, creative and free. Epochal scientific and social progress was in the offing. The established schools could not fulfill this need; creativity, innovation and democracy were incompatible with the classical authoritarian school. The established schools fostered a vicious cycle of training people to understand problems, but not to solve them. Creativity is realized freedom; the classical school student acquired facts, but had no freedom, and consequently was incapable of creativity. This is the immediate crisis in classical education: current events make it imperative that we produce innovative, creative problem solvers, but the established system is designed to produce conformists. Necessity is the mother of invention, and society's critical necessity led to the formation of the Authorized school, emphasizing innovative, democratic education, authorizing the creative activity of the student. Pedagogical Discovery, Pedagogical Revolution The birth of new knowledge takes place in the school -- the hearth of knowledge. The chain of discovery and revelation begins with the school, the first link. As noted above, the recognition of the necessity for a new school did not immediately lead to the solution. The problem was initially conceived as a matter of cognition; that is, a problem of teaching and understanding, stimulating the wish to study, to remember, and to acquire knowledge. …


Biocontrol efficiency of Trichoderma in surface mulches together with conidial drenches on disease suppression of basal stem rot (BSR) caused by Ganoderma boninense in oil palm seedlings was investigated. Surface mulches used were from palm press fibre (PPF). Two isolates of Trichoderma (T. asperellum T9 and T. virens T29) were selected based on the in vitro antagonistic assessment via dual culture followed by poison food agar test. In vivo results indicated disease development was lowest in plants treated with Trichoderma T29 and Trichoderma T9 compared to plants treated with mixed inocula of Trichoderma (T9 and T29), PPF alone and water. Disease development in the plants was assessed using disease severity (DS) and subjected to further analysis with area under the disease progression curve (AUDPC) and epidemic rate (RL). Disease development was delayed by eight weeks in plants treated with Trichoderma T29 and Trichoderma T9 compared to control treatment. The study also suggests that the potential use of PPF, a biowaste product of palm oil mill as surface mulch, enriched with single Trichoderma species (T9/T29) effectively delayed disease onset in oil palm seedlings.


Banana (Musaceae family) has a complex genetic history and includes a genus Musa with a variety of cultivated clones with edible fruits, Ensete species that are grown for their edible corm, and monospecific Musella whose generic status has been questioned. The most commonly exported banana cultivars belong to Cavendish, a subgroup of Musa triploid cultivars, which is under threat by fungal pathogens, though there are also related species M. balbisiana Colla (B genome), M. textilis Née (T genome), and M. schizocarpa N. W. Simmonds (S genome), along with hybrids of these genomes, which potentially host genes of agronomic interest. Here we present the first cross‐genus pangenome of banana, which contains representatives of the Musa and Ensete genera. Clusters based on gene presence–absence variation (PAV) clearly separate Musa and Ensete, while Musa is split further based on species. These results present the first pangenome study across genus boundaries and identifies genes that differentiate between Musaceae species, information that may support breeding programs in these crops.


Damage to DNA in cells (like that produced by some anticancer drugs) is sensed by the cell and causes cellular responses that determine whether a cell lives or dies. Wu et al. (see the Perspective by Bartek and Lukas) provide a new link by which this signal can be conveyed from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The protein kinase ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is activated in response to DNA damage and directly phosphorylates NEMO, one of the proteins in the IκB kinase (IKK) complex that regulates the activity of the transcription factor NF-κB. NF-κB in turn mediates signals that promote cell survival. After DNA damage, ATM was exported from the nucleus and then interacted in the cytoplasm with another protein in the IKK complex, ELKS. Activated IKK then caused activation of NF-κB-dependent transcription. Z.-H. Wu, Y. Shi, R. S. Tibbetts, S. Miyamoto, Molecular linkage between the kinase ATM and NF-κB signaling in response to genotoxic stimuli. Science 311, 1141-1146 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text] J. Bartek, J. Lukas, The stress of finding NEMO. Science 311, 1110-1111 (2006). [Summary] [Full Text]


Ferroalloys are commonly used in the steel industry to alloy or deoxidize the steel during the secondary steelmaking process before casting. Depending upon the ferroalloy quality, the addition can also lead to a supply of deleterious inclusions to the liquid steel. Thus, the number, morphology, size and composition of inclusions in six different ferroalloys (FeTi, FeNb, FeSi, SiMn LCFeCr and HCFeCr) were investigated. This was done in three dimensions (3D) by using SEM in combination with EDS after electrolytic extraction of the ferroalloy samples. Moreover, statistics of extreme values (SEV) were used to determine the largest size of inclusions.


Purpose: Children's low interest in food and 'lack of appetite' are of serious concern for parents and in consequently for the professionals. This study aimed to examine parental feeding strategies, effects of meal time environment, describe family functioning, and clarify general parental attitudes of the children with poor appetite from a developing country without any physical health problem that might affect growth, cause pain or discomfort during feeding. Methods: Fifty-two mothers and their children were interviewed for data collection on sociodemographic characteristics, meal time structure, parental feeding strategies used by mothers, and child eating response to these strategies. Mothers completed Family Assessment Device (FAD) and Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI) for the evaluation of general parental attitudes, and family functioning. Results: Parents most oftenly tended to use praise, offers of food rewards, threats to withhold food/play rewards. In response to parental control strategies, parents reported that 44.2% (n=22) of children ate a few more bites, and 9.6% (n=5) ate no more than they otherwise might have. PARI-I (over-parenting; implying an over controlling, anxious and over-demanding parental attitude) is the most frequent parental attitude in families of child with low interest in food. FAD 5, implying affective involvement in the family, and FAD 7, implying behavioral control in the family are the prominent family functioning dimensions of children whose mothers are concerned about their low interest in food. Conclusion: The results of the study are in accordance with data from developed countries implying little cultural differences.


This article reviews, illustrated by two case studies, how struggles around scales play out in three globally hegemonic trends in river governance: (1) stakeholder participation for (2) integrated water resources management (IWRM), conceived at (3) the watershed or river basin level. This 'holy trinity' has found blanket acceptance and support both in top‐down (donors, governments) and bottom‐up [nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)] directions as a way of democratizing water management, rationalizing water resource use, and managing conflict between water users in river basins. The precepts underlying these trends however have largely gone unquestioned, and the basin scale has become 'naturalized'. This continuing hegemonic frame tends to obfuscate how boundaries are often manipulated for political ends and how different stakeholders frame the 'natural' scale in quite different ways. In this article we notably question the way boundaries get drawn and scales framed in light of water infrastructure, such as dams, canals, locks, and pipelines, which not only act as 'pipelines of power' but also seemingly impose management scale, 'naturalizing' water management in a different, semi‐deterministic way. Rather than providing a full‐fledged literature review, we build our argument drawing from cases from Ecuador and Turkey, each in its own way showing that depoliticizing discourse hides a political reality that may be better captured by 'polycentricity'. WIREs Water 2014, 1:469–481. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1035


Due to new possibilities for using sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) trash for electricity generation, and the production of 2nd generation ethanol and others chemicals, the interest for its recovery has increased. However, the question of how much trash can be removed from sugarcane field still needs to be clarified. This study evaluated the amount of dry matter, nutrients content, structural compounds and efficiency of the enzymatic hydrolysis of the hydrothermal pretreated materials for tops and dry leaves in samples from sugarcane varieties. Tops and dry leaves present differences in nutrients content and moisture. Therefore, the amount of trash to be collected should not be simply based on percentages, but also should take into account the different fractions of the crop residues. For instance, around 80 % of N, P and K were derived from tops. Therein, the environmental indicators of the entire chain of sugarcane could be benefited because more nutrients would be recycled and less mineral fertilizers might be used for sugarcane production if tops are left on the field. Further, the tops have seven times more moisture than dry leaves and higher amounts of extractives (organic compounds of low molecular weight). Moreover, as the result of yield obtained in the pretreatment steps for dry leaves were superior to the tops and the glucose yields obtained in the enzymatic hydrolysis step were similar, it can be predicted that for second generation ethanol production, it is more viable to recover parts of the dry leaves fraction, leaving the tops on the field.


Over the course of the last ten years, the urban population in the Global South has grown at a rate of 1.2 million people per week, putting the developing countries at the center of the urban development in 21st century. This rapid urbanization resulted in the emergence of serious challenges, such as provision of decent mobility, requiring innovative solutions. Currently, many northern cities use Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for answering urban challenges, but there are certain doubts about their transferability to southern cities. This paper aims at studying the transferability of IoT solutions from urban north to urban south. We firstly discuss the impacts of one prominent example of IoT solutions in urban transportation sector, by presenting the ability of Seoul to manage the complexity of its public transportation system with the introduction of a Smart Transportation card. Then, we examine the key factors that enabled Bogota to benefit from the same technology, originally designed for Seoul, for resolving the challenges they were facing in their Transportation system. This case study, we hope, sheds more light on the impact of IoT solutions for cities, which usually have origins in north, on addressing the challenges of urban south and reaching the development goals.


It has been claimed that olfactory memory is distinct from memory in other modalities. This study investigated the effectiveness of visual and verbal tasks in interfering with olfactory memory and included methodological changes from other recent studies. Subjects were allocated to one of four experimental conditions involving interference tasks [no interference task; visual task; verbal task; visual-plus-verbal task] and presented 15 target odours. Either recognition of the odours or free recall of the odour names was tested on one occasion, either within 15 minutes of presentation or one week later. Recognition and recall performance both showed effects of interference of visual and verbal tasks but there was no effect for time of testing. While the results may be accommodated within a dual coding framework, further work is indicated to resolve theoretical issues relating to task complexity.


The discovery of exceptionally well-preserved fossil wood revealed that extensive forests existed north of the Arctic Circle during the Eocene (ca. 45–55 Ma). Subsequent paleobotanical studies led researchers to suggest eastern Asia as a modern analog, based on the distribution of nearest living relatives. During the last decade, proxy-based reconstructions of mean annual paleoprecipitation, productivity, and relative humidity have led workers to characterize the climate of the Arctic forests as similar to today9s temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest. Using a new model, we reconstructed the seasonal timing of paleoprecipitation from high-resolution intra-ring carbon isotope measurements of fossil wood. We showed that the Eocene Arctic forests experienced, on average, 3.1 times more precipitation during summer than winter, entirely dissimilar to the Pacific Northwest where summer precipitation is only one-half to one-sixth of the winter precipitation. This new result shows that although mean annual climate conditions may have been similar to the mean annual conditions the Pacific Northwest, consideration of seasonality implies that the temperate forests of eastern Asia represent the best overall modern analog for the Eocene Arctic forests.


We evaluated mandibular rehabilitation using vascularized bone graft and osseointegrated implants. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the masticatory function, and we measured the occlusal force in each patient. In addition, we measured the height of grafted bone to assess the possible relationship between masticatory rehabilitation and the change in bony height. Five of 13 patients showed over 12.0% increase in bony height after superstructure fabrication. Most of the patients who underwent tongue resection scored low points on the questionnaire. Also, most patients with resection, including resection of the angles of the mandible, showed a lower occlusal force than those without.


This paper cross-culturally tests an extended version of the planned behavior theory. Using cross-sectional surveys of 801 university students from four different cultures (high vs. low individualism, and English- vs. Spanish-speaking), we expected anticipated feelings of guilt to predict behavioral intention in cultures high on individualism, whereas anticipated feelings of embarrassment would be predictive of intention in cultures low on individualism. Results from a series of structural equation models showed that anticipated embarrassment had virtually the same effect as guilt across all four cultures. Although technically distinct, anticipated guilt and embarrassment were nearly indistinguishable from an individual perspective so that either concept is able to increase the explanatory power of the planned behavior theory for environmental conservation.


A study was conducted to determine the baseline qualities of Malaysian export-grade strafruits. The study is focused on the B10 cultivar of starfruits for the range of colour indexes between 2 and 4, targeted for the export market. A total of 123 commercially-graded, B10 cultivar starfruits were selected randomly and their properties namely length, diameter, mass, volume, the five colours values (L, a*, b*, C, ho), firmness, TSS (Total Soluble Solids), TA (Titratable Acidity) and pH were measured directly. From these properties, further properties were derived by calculation to make up a total of 31 properties investigated. Outlier analysis was conducted and four outliers identified by samples number 94, 95, 97, and 109 were eliminated. Therefore, the remaining samples for further analyses became 119. Studies on these 119 samples show that the properties length, diameter, mass and hue have low coefficient of variation (CV) levels. The fact that the starfruits were the actual marketable products indicates that mass and hue are sufficient element for quality indicators. Mass and hue were 15th and 3rd respectively in ranking by CV. Correlation studies revealed that mass has a very strong correlation with volume while hue has strong correlation with firmness. The property, pH, could be predicted moderately by b*. Since the study was conducted on export-grade starfruits, the minimum values can be taken as baseline values for acceptance of export-grade starfruits.


The Romanch½ transform offsets the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) axis by about 950 km in the equatorial Atlantic. Multibeam and high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection surveys as well as rock sampling were carried out on the eastern part of the transform with the RIV Akademik Strakhov as part of the Russian-Italian Mid-Atlantic Ridge Project (PRIMAR). Morphobathymetric data show the existence on the northern side of the transform of a major 800-kin-long aseismic valley oriented 10 o to 15 o from the active valley; it disappears about 150 km from the western MAR segment. The aseismic valley marks probably the former location of the Romanche transform ("PaleoRomanche") that was active up to roughly 8-10 Ma, when the transform boundary migrated to its present position. A temporary microplate developed during the migration and reorientation of the transform. This microplate changed its sense of motion as it was transferred from the South American to the African plate. A prominent transverse ridge extends for several hundred kilometers parallel to the transform on its northern side, reaching its shallowest part (shallower by over 4 km than the predicted thermal contraction depth) in a zone opposite the eastern MAR axis/transform intersection (RTI). Flat-top peaks on the summit of the transverse ridge are capped by acoustically transparent, weakly stratified, shallow water platform/lagunal/reef limestones. This limestone unit is a few hundred meters thick and overlies igneous basement. Evaluation of the seismic reflection data as well as study of samples of carbonates, ventifact basaltic pebbles and gabbroic, peridofitic and basaltic rocks recovered at different sites on the transverse ridge, suggest that (1) the summit of the transverse ridge was above sea level at and before about 5 Ma; (2) the transverse ridge subsided since then at an average rate 1 order of magnitude faster than the predicted thermal contraction rate; its summit was flattened by erosion at sea level during subsidence; (3) the transverse ridge is an uplifted sliver of lithosphere and not a volcanic construcfional feature; and (4) transtensional and transpressional tectonics have affected the transverse ridge. Hypotheses on the origin of the Romanche transverse ridge include (1) lateral heat conduction across the RTI; (2) shear heating; (3) lithospheric flexure due to thermal stresses in the cooling lithosphere; (4) viscoelastic deformation of the lithosphere; (5) hydration/dehydration of mantle peridotites; and (6) longitudinal flow of melt and igneous activity across the RTI. These processes cannot by themselves explain the transverse ridge, although some of them could contribute to its formation to a small extent. Vertical tectonics due to transpressional and transtensional events related to a nonstraight transform boundary and to regional changes in ridge/transform geometry is probably the primary process that gave rise to the uplift of the transverse ridge and to its recent subsidence. Uplift may have been caused primarily by thrust faulting induced by transpression related to the oblique impact of the lithospheric plate against the former (PaleoRomanche) and the younger transform boundaries, before and during the transition to the present boundary. After migration of the transform boundary to its present position, transpression was replaced by transtension and by subsidence of the transverse ridge. An aseismic axial rift valley impacting against the transform valley about 80 km west of the present RTI suggests eastward ridge jumping that probably followed transform migration. Localized transtension or transpression due to bends in the orientation of the transform may have caused intense although localized vertical movements, such as those that formed an ultradeep (>7800 m) pull-apart basin along the transform valley.


ABSTRACT While extensive empirical and theoretical literature has been developed on organizational adaptation, especially in strategic management, the broad application of the environment-organization has not been applied adequately to the growing global e-commerce research realm. In this paper, we apply the concept of "adaptive strategies" [Kraatz 1998] to e-commerce practices in the global arena to address the localization-standardization paradigm, which continues to be a healthy debate. Bringing two areas of research together, the global e-commerce and institutional theory perspectives of organizational change and adaptation, adds a new dimension to the literature of global e-commerce, and conforms with institutional theorists that organizations are adaptive systems attempting to match the complexities of their environments [Meyer and Rowan 1977]. This paper offers strategic insights about the localization-standardization debate in international business and its strategic implications on global e-commerce strategies. Key words: global, e-commerce, standardization, globalization, localization 1. Introduction Since the mid-1990s, global e-commerce has been expanding rapidly; based on industry estimates several trillion dollars are being exchanged annually over the web. The global online population is also increasing substantially and by 2012, Jupiter Research [2008] estimates that there will be 1.8 billion internet users worldwide. The highest growth in internet usage is anticipated in countries like China, India, Russia and Brazil. According to Internet World Stats as of 2008, North America only accounts for 17.5 percent of global Internet users. Asia now has the largest number of internet users, accounting for almost 37 percent of the global online population, followed by Europe with 27 percent [Internet World Stats 2008]. By the end of 2010, U.S. retail e-commerce will be about $182.5 billion [Grau 2008a]. On the other hand, European B2C e-commerce is expected to reach almost $234 billion by 2010 [Grau 2006].According to e-marketer estimates, by 2010 the British market share will fall to 44.5% as France and Germany ramp up their online sales. Asia will also see significant growth in B2C e-commerce with a 23.3 percent annual growth rate reaching almost $168.7 billion in 2011 [Grau 2008b]. Japan and South Korea currently lead the B2C e-commerce sales in Asia but by 2011 they will be overtaken by China and India [Grau 2008b]. From these numbers, it is evident that e-commerce is now a truly global phenomenon that has initiated an enormous business revolution and that has affected the process of globalization tremendously [Cyr and Lew 2003] One of the very crucial international business decisions surrounding the global e-commerce is whether to use a standardized approach to marketing and communications or a localized approach. On one hand, the debate on the appropriateness of standardization versus localization in international marketing continues to receive considerable attention among scholars and practitioners in the international marketing realm [Ohmae 1989]. Within the context of the World Wide Web, the debate takes another level of complexity. The Web constitutes a global communication medium, where technology makes mass customization or adaptation possible, while forces of global integration and the emergence of transnational web style [Sackmary and Scalia 1999] justify the use of a standardized web marketing and communication strategy. The central purpose of this paper is to explain the changes that B2C e-commerce practices of multinational firms undergo when external variations in the environment exist. The main objective of this paper is to look at global e-commerce within the context of the localization-globalization debate and to offer strategic insights for best practices in this domain of marketing and international business as multinational firms tap into worldwide consumer markets. …


In discussions of English fiction, Hardy and Conrad are only occasionally considered together, and generally as being different exemplars of a late Victorian pessimism who give human dimension to the cosmic ironies of a world bereft of Providence. This study argues for a more vital connection than a coincidence of intellectual outlook, one that finds their fiction is generated by similar conceptions of how human beings experience and gain knowledge of the world in which they live. An epistemology of sense impressions underlies the invention of 'fictional worlds', the construction of characters, and the literary style of the otherwise very different novels considered here. As such, it is illuminating to explore both of these novelists in the light of the empirical scientific investigations of the nineteenth century which accorded such prominence to the function and evidence of the senses. While both authors have been the subject of several excellent studies of their relation to Darwin, such studies have tended to concentrate on biology in the case of Hardy, and have seen Conrad more in the province of metaphysics than empirical science. The originality of my study lies in its attention to physics and physiology as informing realms for fiction, not as a matter of direct influence upon the writers, but rather as conceptually and historically complementary modes of apprehending the world within which human experience takes place. Consequently, some of the work of contemporary scientists, as well as modern theorists in the fields of sensation, vision and sound, are seen to be as helpful in elucidating the sensory effects achieved in Hardy's and Conrad's novels as the many contemporary and modern literary critics whose work also informs this study.
After an Introduction which locates Hardy and Conrad in relation to each other in terms of critical estimation, and which establishes the importance of the senses to their fiction and to their theoretical outlook as novelists, the study closely examines the modes of writing found in three sets of paired novels, exploring their individual treatment of a shared epistemology. In taking Desperate Remedies and The Rescue as often disregarded yet, in my view, foundational texts for each author, the focus is upon the phenomenology of sensation itself, with a distinction made between the outer-directed sensory field established in these novels as opposed to the inner mental world characteristic of Walter Pater which was so influential for Modernism. Both Hardy and Conrad are renowned for their visual evocations, and I take Far From the Madding Crowd and Lord Jim in order to explore each novelist's extraordinary attention to light, and what it reveals to the eye. I argue that, unlike the later Modernists, the scenic construction of Hardy and Conrad creates occasions that exceed the perceptions of individual consciousness, which it renders as participating in a larger process of the 'event'. Attending to the sound-world of these novels yields a different inflection of this account: The Return of the Native and 'Heart of Darkness' show characters surrounded by an active universe which penetrates to that which is hidden within, and the subject for portrayal is the attempt to give a human accent to phenomena that retain a mystery in their location and transmission. Throughout, both novelists are seen to have a united interest in the medium that surrounds human action and perception, but each novel examined is allowed its individuality and is not coerced into being a mere representative for a theoretical position. This is a study centred upon the early fiction, but the Conclusion proposes that Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Nostromo explore in very different ways an end-point for the novel of sensation, in which the identity of the individual self is open to absorption by the sensory qualities of the circumambient universe that it apprehends.


The international relations literature on internationalism in foreign policy has not
taken account of the internationalist methods and motives of countries of the
developing world. This thesis aims to correct this absence through an analysis of
Southern internationalism, as evidenced by the foreign policy approaches of South
Africa and Brazil in the first decade of the 21st century. By utilising a neoclassical
realist approach to the study of the emergence of new powers, the use of
internationalism as a foreign policy tool is interrogated as a response both to
domestic imperatives, such as perception and identity, and systemic constraints and
opportunities. Central to the analysis is an examination of the role of governing
parties in foreign policymaking, both as key actors in determining policy, and as the
sources of ideational constructs, in this case 'internationalism', that have a bearing
on foreign policy.
Foreign policymakers are limited in their perceptions and responses to external
threats and opportunities by the domestic institutional structure, as well as by
external threats and opportunities. In South Africa, responses are often limited to
rhetoric, owing to limited resource extraction capacity, in spite of the highly
centralised foreign policymaking structure under Mbeki. In Brazil, constitutional
checks and balances also limited the state's responses to external stimuli under Lula;
yet, these responses, when they are implemented, can be more forceful owing to
greater resource capacity. The 'new Southern internationalism', propounded by both
South Africa and Brazil, is a function of domestic politics and external pressures, as
evidenced by the Haiti case. These findings make a contribution to advancing the
analysis of emerging powers, their trajectory and intentions in international
relations, as well as the extent to which governing parties can influence foreign
policy outcomes, and under which conditions


The complexity of computing conventional matrix multiply wave-front reconstructors scales as O(n3) for most adaptive optical (AO) systems, where n is the number of deformable mirror (DM) actuators. This is impractical for proposed systems with extremely large n. It is known that sparse matrix methods improve this scaling for least-squares reconstructors, but sparse techniques are not immediately applicable to the minimum-variance reconstructors now favored for multiconjugate adaptive optical (MCAO) systems with multiple wave-front sensors (WFSs) and DMs. Complications arise from the nonsparse statistics of atmospheric turbulence, and the global tip/tilt WFS measurement errors associated with laser guide star (LGS) position uncertainty. A description is given of how sparse matrix methods can still be applied by use of a sparse approximation for turbulence statistics and by recognizing that the nonsparse matrix terms arising from LGS position uncertainty are low-rank adjustments that can be evaluated by using the matrix inversion lemma. Sample numerical results for AO and MCAO systems illustrate that the approximation made to turbulence statistics has negligible effect on estimation accuracy, the time to compute the sparse minimum-variance reconstructor for a conventional natural guide star AO system scales as O(n3/2) and is only a few seconds for n = 3500, and sparse techniques reduce the reconstructor computations by a factor of 8 for sample MCAO systems with 2417 DM actuators and 4280 WFS subapertures. With extrapolation to 9700 actuators and 17,120 subapertures, a reduction by a factor of approximately 30 or 40 to 1 is predicted.


The overall aim of this paper is to outline the major methodological and conceptual challenges to understanding poverty from a gender perspective. The paper is divided into three main sections. Section one reviews the ways in which the frontiers of poverty analysis have been pushed forward and progressively 'engendered' during three decades of dedicated feminist research and activism in Latin America and other parts of the South. This includes discussion of past deficiencies and cumulative improvements in data on women's poverty, of the ways in which burgeoning research on gender has contributed to evolving conceptual approaches to poverty, and of key factors signalled as leading to gender-differentiated burdens of poverty. In section two, the discussion turns to outstanding barriers to understanding poverty from a gender perspective. The principal challenges identified include varying forms of gender exclusion in mainstream analytical and methodological approaches, continued inadequacies in data on gender and poverty, and the ways in which advocacy for directing resources to women has given rise to certain stereotypes which narrow the optic through which poverty is conceptualised and addressed. The third and final section offers thoughts on future directions in research and policy. How might gender and poverty investigation move forward in the 21st century so as to sharpen our instruments for measurement, and to better inform and influence policy interventions? In turn, to which areas might policy be most usefully directed? While Latin America is the main focus of analysis throughout the paper, given the global reach of discourses on gender and poverty, insights are also drawn from academic and policy discussions outside the region.


This evaluation examines the IDB's Country Program with Haiti for the 2007-2011 period. IDB's strategic positioning in Haiti during this period was affected by the materialization of risks identified in the 2007 Country Strategy. The 2007 Country Strategy called for the continuation of support to Haiti's nascent recovery, noting political fragility, macroeconomic instability and natural disasters as the main potential risks. IDB's response to the 2010 earthquake was timely and relevant in operational and financial terms, although it lacked a clearly articulated long-term strategy. OVE concludes that the IDB's future strategy in Haiti can be more relevant and effective if it: (i) maps out a consensus-based strategy with the country that is realistic, supports rebuilding the country's institutions, and targets poverty reduction; (ii) overcomes the coordination weaknesses among donor agencies and promotes the leadership of the Government of Haiti in the coordination of development aid; (iii) builds the analysis of risks associated with institutional, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities and appropriate mitigation measures into the design of each operation; and (iv) intensifies efforts to ensure program monitoring and reporting, including improvements in the quality of information available in the country.


Several European countries endured severe and costly banking collapses in the past decade. Central banks (both within the euro area and outside) provided extensive liquidity to keep the payments system running smoothly in most—but not all—of these countries. The policy approaches to resolve the banking crises across European countries were remarkably different, reflecting the lack of administrative and legislative preparation for bank resolution. As banking systems that had been allowed to enlarge suffered in the face of the global downturn, the scale of bank failures that swept Europe overwhelmed existing policy structures. Not all the policy choices made seem wise in retrospect; a new policy approach was clearly needed. Along with new institutional arrangements for early warning of systemic instability and a single bank supervisor in the euro area, the European Union has adopted a new policy framework for managing and resolving banking crises in euro area countries. Honohan examines the new regime, which has been in operation since the beginning of 2016, and concludes that despite improvements, more needs to be done to ensure the safety of European financial institutions and prevent future banking crises.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To investigate the tension between individual and organisational responses to contemporary demands for compassionate interactions in health care.

BACKGROUND
Health care is often said to need more compassion among its practitioners. However, this represents a rather simplistic view of the issue, situating the problem with individual practitioners rather than focusing on the overall design of care and healthcare organisations, which have often adopted a production-line approach.

DESIGN
This is a position paper informed by a narrative literature review.

METHODS
A search of the PubMed, Science Direct and CINAHL databases for the terms compassion, care and design was conducted in the research literature published from 2000 through to mid-2013.

RESULTS
There is a relatively large literature on compassion in health care, where authors discuss the value of imbuing a variety of aspects of health services with compassion including nurses, other practitioners and, ultimately, among patients. This contrasts with the rather limited attention that compassionate practice has received in healthcare curricula and the lack of attention to how compassion is informed by organisational structures and processes. We discuss how making the clinic more welcoming for patients and promoting bidirectional compassion and compassion formation in nursing education can be part of an overall approach to the design of compassionate care.

CONCLUSIONS
We discuss a number of ways in which compassion can be enhanced through training, educational and organisational design, through exploiting the potential of brief opportunities for communication and through initiatives involving patients and service users, as well as practitioners and service leaders.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
The development of contemporary healthcare systems could usefully address the overall design of compassionate care rather than blame individual practitioners for a lack of compassion.


A Low-Voltage Low-Dropout(LDO) Voltage Regulator that can operate with a very small Input-Output Differential Voltage with nm CMOS technology in turn increasing the Packing Density, provides for the new approaches towards power management is proposed. A Simple Symmetric Operational Trans-Conductance Amplifier is used as the Error Amplifier (EA), with a current splitting technique adopted to boost the gain. This also enhances the closed-loop bandwidth of the LDO Regulator. In the rail-to-rail output stage of the EA, a Power Noise Cancellation Mechanism is formed, minimizing the size of the Power MOS transistor. These advantages allow the proposed LDO Regulator to operate over a wide range of operating conditions while achieving maximum current efficiency, less output variation for a variable load transient, and effectively appreciable Power Supply Rejection Ratio. The compact area of the proposed LDO regulator leads to a chip area efficient low drop-out Voltage Regulator which finds its applications for portable electronics, i.e. cellular phones, pagers, laptops, etc.


This book contains a wealth of inequalities used in linear analysis, and explains in detail how they are used. The book begins with Cauchy's inequality and ends with Grothendieck's inequality, in between one finds the Loomis-Whitney inequality, maximal inequalities, inequalities of Hardy and of Hilbert, hypercontractive and logarithmic Sobolev inequalities, Beckner's inequality, and many, many more. The inequalities are used to obtain properties of function spaces, linear operators between them, and of special classes of operators such as absolutely summing operators. This textbook complements and fills out standard treatments, providing many diverse applications: for example, the Lebesgue decomposition theorem and the Lebesgue density theorem, the Hilbert transform and other singular integral operators, the martingale convergence theorem, eigenvalue distributions, Lidskii's trace formula, Mercer's theorem and Littlewood's 4/3 theorem. It will broaden the knowledge of postgraduate and research students, and should also appeal to their teachers, and all who work in linear analysis.


The present research displays the results obtained after the digging of holes for planting saplings in a previously unprepared soil, following the steps to carry them out according to some physical-mechanical properties of the soil. The research was carried out on a horizontal ground in the Forest District Iuliu Moldovan, in two forest compartments 31 C and 32 A, in a previously unprepared ground, on two types of soil: gley-soil (the muddy subtype) and alluvial soil (the vertical-gleyed subtype), and in Forest District Radna, forest compartment 74, on a brown typically luvic soil, using the Stihl BT 121 mottoborer with a 200 mm drill. The objectives of the research were to make a comparative determination, on different types of soil, of the qualitative parameters, among which the most important ones are: degree of loosening of the soil taken and left in the hole, resistance to penetration, resistance to shearing, degree of scattering of the soil taken out from the hole, degree of evacuation of the soil from the hole, gas consumption for the drilling of the hole, using the Stihl BT 121 mottoborer in order to establish its technical efficiency. In order to observe the influence which the drilling of holes has on its walls, we measured the resistance to penetration and resistance to shearing every 10 cm at a 30 cm depth, the proper depth for planting small-sized saplings, on two opposing sides, so that we could get the most probable values of these physical-mechanical properties of the soil. After taking the measures in order to establish the compaction degree of the wall and of the bottom of the hole by the borer in that interval, it was judged that in conditions of normal humidity, if the borers have sharp knives and are well conceived and executed from a technical point of view, there are no big values of the resistance to penetration which could affect the subsequent development of the saplings. The usefulness of the present paper stays in the research data collected, processed, analyzed and valorized in order to offer a pertinent study material, which could indeed be used by specialists in designing the process for obtaining, through a mechanized means, the holes for planting small-sized saplings on a horizontal ground, using the Stihl BT 121 motto-borer.


Modal wave-front reconstruction by use of Zernike polynomials and Karhunen–Loeve functions from average slope measurements with circular and annular apertures is discussed because of its practical applications in astronomy. A new error source, referred to as the remaining error, is formulated theoretically and evaluated numerically. The total reconstruction error is found to be the sum of the uncompensated wave-front residual error, the measurement error, and the remaining error. Numerical calculation shows that modal wave-front reconstruction with atmospheric Karhunen–Loeve functions results in a smaller residual error than with Zernike polynomials.


Mechanism Design with Creo Elements/Pro 5.0 is designed to help you become familiar with Mechanism Design, a module in the Creo Elements/Pro (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) software family, which supports modeling and analysis (or simulation) of mechanisms in a virtual (computer) environment. Capabilities in Mechanism Design allow users to simulate and visualize mechanism performance. Using Mechanism Design early in the product development stage could prevent costly redesign due to design defects found in the physical testing phase; therefore, contributing to a more cost effective, reliable, and efficient product development process. The book is written following a project-based learning approach and covers the major concepts and frequently used commands required to advance readers from a novice to an intermediate level. Basic concepts discussed include: model creation, such as body and joint definitions; analysis type selection, such as static (assembly) analysis, kinematics and dynamics; and results visualization. The concepts are introduced using simple, yet realistic, examples. Verifying the results obtained from computer simulation is extremely important. One of the unique features of this textbook is the incorporation of theoretical discussions for kinematic and dynamic analyses in conjunction with simulation results obtained using Mechanism Design. The theoretical discussions simply support the verification of simulation results rather than providing an in-depth discussion on the subjects of kinematics and dynamics. Table of Contents 1. Introduction to Mechanism Design 2. The Ball Throwing Example 3. A Spring Mass System 4. A Simple Pendulum 5. A Slider-Crank Mechanism - Static and Motion Analysis 6. A Compound Spur Gear Train 7. Planetary Gear Train Systems 8. Cam and Follower 9. Assistive Device for Wheelchair Soccer Game 10. Kinematic Analysis for Racecar Suspension Appendix A: Defining Joints Appendix B: Defining Measures Appendix C: The Default Unit System Appendix D: The Magnitude Settings


Social responsibility should be embedded into all phases of the mining project cycle. This paper presents an account of recent policy and legislation for mine closure planning in Western Australia focusing on how social responsibility is accommodated. Policy and legal provisions are reviewed along with secondary accounts from government sources. Mine closure in Western Australia is regulated in two main ways: mine closure planning and mining proponent contributions to a mining rehabilitation fund. Mine closure plans must be prepared within mining and/or environmental assessments. Proponents must regularly review them for the duration of mining with increasing level of detail as the life of mine advances. Financial provisioning for mine closure is also included. Key stakeholders must be consulted by mining proponents to determine post-mining land uses and these are incorporated into mine closure plans before new mining projects will be approved. In addition to biophysical specifications in mining authorisations, the stakeholder consultation process likely will give rise to social responsibility measures in mine closure plans. Under the new mining rehabilitation legislation which was developed in consultation with mining industry stakeholders, proponents will be levied annually at one per cent of the rehabilitation liability estimate per mining tenement. The money collected goes into a central fund. Interest earned will be used to rehabilitate legacy abandoned mines while the capital will be used to rehabilitate any abandoned mine sites covered by the fund. The fund overcomes limitations of the former individual performance bonds system. Rehabilitation must be in accordance with mining authorisations which will invoke the mine closure plan framework and its implicit social responsibility provisions. The new Western Australian mine closure policy and regulatory framework offers a means for effectively managing both planned and unintended mine closure including implicit consideration of social responsibilities by mining proponents and government alike.


This chapter discusses patterns of use and variation in selected sports-related idiomatic expressions based on conceptual metaphors in five national varieties of English. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the pervasiveness of sports metaphors and their linguistic realization in American English, while the use of such metaphorical expressions in other varieties of English has been much less studied. In general, cognitive-linguistic research on linguistic and conceptual variation to date has predominantly examined cross-cultural differences in metaphorical mappings, while language-internal variation along sociolinguistic parameters that may affect metaphor usage have remained an under-researched topic. The present study shows how the types and aspects of (cross-cultural) metaphor variation can be fruitfully applied to different varieties of only one language. It investigates differences in the prominence of specific source domains across the varieties under study by taking into account metaphorical transparency and idiom variation based on a cognitive linguistic-model of idiom representation.


Background The integrated approach to malaria prevention, which advocates for the use of several malaria prevention methods at households, is being explored to complement other existing strategies. We implemented a pilot project that promoted the integrated approach to malaria prevention in two rural communities in Wakiso district, Uganda. Objectives This paper presents the impact evaluation findings of the project carried out 2 years after implementation with a focus on changes in knowledge and practices on malaria prevention. Methods The project evaluation was cross-sectional in design and employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The quantitative survey was conducted among 540 households (household heads being participants) while the qualitative component involved 4 focus group discussions among community health workers (CHWs). Chi-square test was used to compare quantitative results from the evaluation with those of the baseline while thematic analysis was employed for qualitative data. Results There was a statistically significant positive change in malaria prevention practices in the evaluation compared with the baseline regarding indoor residual spraying (χ2 = 7.9, p = 0.019), mosquito screening of windows and ventilators (χ2 = 62.3, p = 0.001), and closing windows of houses before 6:00 pm (χ2 = 60.2, p < 0.001). The CHWs trained during the project were found to be highly knowledgeable on the various malaria prevention methods in the integrated approach, and continued to promote their use in the community. Conclusion Findings of the impact evaluation give promise that utilisation of integrated malaria prevention can be enhanced if use of multiple methods is promoted in communities.


Background: Inflammation is an intricate biological process that commonly occurs in response to pathologic stimuli, and natural products have potential in healing inflammation. However, the anti-inflammatory of Momordica cymbalaria is not evaluated yet. Objectives: The anti-inflammatory mechanism of saponin of M. cymbalaria (SMC) was investigated in bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cell line. Methods: The cytotoxicity of SMC on RAW264.7 cells was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay at 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.625, 7.812, 3.906, and 1.953 μg/mL. For anti-inflammatory activity, RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with Escherichia coli LPS (1 μg/ml) in the presence or absence of SMC (50 μg/ml) for 16–24 h. Western blotting was carried to comprehend the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) whereas expressions of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). NO production was estimated by Griess's method. Salicylic acid, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, was used as a standard. Results: The saponin did not exert significant cytotoxicity on RAW264.7 cells. Western blot analysis revealed reduction in COX-2 and iNOS expression on SMC treatment. Production of PGE2, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α was also found to be reduced when analyzed by ELISA. NO levels were also lowered. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the SMC possesses potential anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing the expression of inflammatory mediators, COX-2, iNOS, PGE2, and NO, and the cytokines in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Abbreviations Used: IL-6: Interleukin-6; IL-1β: Interleukin-1 beta; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; NO: Nitric oxide; COX-2: Cycloxygenase-2; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide; HPTLC: High-performance thin layer chromatography; TLC: Thin layer chromatography; HPLC: High-performance liquid chromatography; SMC: Saponin of Momordica cymbalaria; DMSO: Dimethylsulfoxide; EDTA: Ethylenediaminetetraacetate; SDS-PAGE: Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; TBST: Tris buffer saline tween; IgG-HRP: Immunoglobulin G-horse radish peroxidase; H2O2: Hydrogen peroxide; ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


We develop a model in which people experience standard consumption utility, as well as anticipatory utility defined as the weighted sum of independently anticipated consumption "episodes" or "dimensions". The weights on these dimensions correspond to the attention that the person pays to the dimension. We assume attention on a dimension increases when expected consumption utility in the dimension differs from expected consumption utility under the default action or the prior belief. We show that the decision maker will pay more for information about dimensions with high expected consumption utility, and the willingness to pay may be negative when expected consumption utility is low. Additionally, when expected consumption utility is sufficiently low, but not when it is high, the decision maker will follow the default action even if it is suboptimal from a consumption standpoint. Furthermore, given the decision maker's current beliefs and preferences in a dimension, he will consume more in that dimension if he just received information. We then consider an advertisement application in which a monopolist decides whether to certifiably reveal the quality of various exogenous attributes of a good to a consumer who may choose to buy or not. There exists a sequential equilibrium for which the monopolist will not disclose information for attributes in which the consumer's utility with the highest quality good is sufficiently worse than not buying the good. Competition increases disclosure.


A species of ostrich is identified among the vertebrate faunal assemblage from the Pliocene locality of Calta, Turkey. This taxon referred to as Struthio sp. is of a more robust type than the recent species Struthio camelus as based on the dimensions of the posterior limb bones, and particularly the femur. This species represents one of the struthioniformes that evolved in Eurasia and is close in its morphological features to Struthio asiaticus Brodkorb, 1963.


Background and Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world and patients with advanced HCC face a dismal prognosis due to lack of effective therapy. Survivin, a member of the family of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins, is highly upregulated in HCC as well as in experimentally induced intrahepatic tumors. Doxorubicin, the only known chemotherapeutic agent for HCC, is cardiotoxic in addition to several well known side effects. Methods: Survivin gene deletion was established in HepG2, Hep3B, and PLC/PRF/5 human HCC cells using CRISPR/Cas9 system. All the three HCC cells in culture were treated with doxorubicin at various concentrations before and after survivin gene knockout upto 72 hr. TUNEL assay and FACS analysis were performed to demonstrate the induction of apoptosis after doxorubicin treatment. Western blotting was carried out for cleaved fragments of caspase-9 and caspase-3 as well as major apoptotic executioner molecules. Results: Cell viability studies depicted around 20% cell death at 24 h, 50% at 48 h, and 80% at 72 h after treatment with doxorubicin at 1 µM (final concentration in the media). Among the three cell lines studied, Hep3B cells were more susceptible to doxorubicin compared to HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells. After deletion of survivin gene, the dosage of doxorubicin could reduce to five fold (200 nM, final concentration in the media) with the same cytotoxic effect before the knockout of survivin gene. HCC cells treated with reduced doses of doxorubicin depicted induction of apoptosis that was proved with TUNEL assay and FACS analysis as wells as increased levels of cleaved caspases and major apoptotic executioner molecules. Conclusions: Our studies demonstrated that blocking of survivin molecule with effective methods would be a successful approach to treat primary hepatic tumors with low and safe doses of doxorubicin and other anticancer agents. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Joseph George, Nobuhiko Hayashi, Takashi Saito, Kazuaki Ozaki, Nobuyuki Toshikuni, Mutsumi Tsuchishima, Mikihiro Tsutsumi. Deletion of survivin sensitize human hepatocellular carcinoma cells to low dose of doxorubicin and induce apoptosis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2165. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2165


Extracted from text ... SA Fam Pract 2005;47(2) 4
Glucose levels after a meal- how important are they?
To the Editor: The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial1
and the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study2 convincingly
demonstrated the benefit of blood glucose control in type 1 and
type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients respectively. Following the
findings of the aforementioned landmark trials, clinicians have
focused the management of DM on the stringent control of blood
glucose, i.e., attaining near-normoglycaemia.
The vast majority of clinicians base pharmacotherapy of
hyperglycaemia on the objective parameters of fasting blood
glucose, fructosamine and HbA1c. However, there is increasing
evidence supporting ..


This article argues that the WTO's past environmental record is much better than critics would have it. Its jurisprudence has become increasingly environmentally friendly and many charges against the dispute settlement process are based on misunderstandings. WTO rules have, so far at least, not deterred any multilateral environmental agreements. The lack of ambitious environmental protection measures is not the fault of the WTO, but the responsibility of policy-makers from its member states. At the same time, the WTO has done little to actually promote environmental protection and the treatment of the precautionary principle in WTO rules is highly unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change in the future. The reason for this is that there is not enough support among member countries, particularly those from the developing world, to render the multilateral trade regime more environmentally friendly. The challenge is to green WTO rules in a way that is beneficial and therefore acceptable to developing countries.


Parabolic systems are governed by time dependent partial differential equations. To obtain a high simulation quality that captures important features of a parabolic system requires solving the governing equation to an adequate accuracy, which necessitates a large sampling size in the spatial and temporal dimensions, and hence a large amount of simulation data and high computing cost. Domain decomposition is an effective method of divide-and-conquer paradigm that divides the problem domain into several subdomains, reducing the original problem into several smaller interdependent problems which can be solved in parallel.
In this dissertation, we propose a class of stabilized explicit-implicit time marching (SEITM) domain decomposition algorithms for parabolic equations. Explicit-implicit time marching (EITM) algorithms are globally non-iterative nonoverlapping domain decomposition methods, which, when compared with Schwartz algorithm based parabolic solvers, are both computationally and communicationally efficient for each time step simulation but suffer from small time step size restrictions due to conditional stability. The proposed stabilization techniques in the SEITM algorithms retain the time-stepwise efficiency in computation and communication of the EITM algorithms but free the algorithms from small time step size restrictions, rendering SEITM algorithms excellent candidates for large scale parallel simulation problems. Three algorithms of the SEITM class are presented in this dissertation, which are mathematically analyzed and experimentally tested to show excellent numerical stability, computation and communication efficiencies, and high parallel speedup and scalability.


The synthesis of isomeric benzothienopyran-4-ones has been investigated. 2-Methoxybenzo[b}thiophene has been used to prepare 2,2-dimethyl-2,3-dihydrobenzothieno[2,3-b] pyran-4-one via acylation with 3,3-dimethylacryloyl chloride.
2-Acetyl-3-hydroxybenzo[bjthiophene, readily available in a single step from thiosalicylic acid, has been used to obtain a range of 2,2-disubstituted 2,3-dihydrobenzothieno[3,2-bjpyran-4-ones by direct condensation with an aliphatic or alicyclic
ketone under pyrrolidine catalysis. A greatly improved route was developed which relied upon formation of the dianion of 2-acetyl-3-hydroxybenzo[b]thiophene. The dianion was intercepted with a wide range of ketones to give the corresponding
/3-hydroxy ketones. Cyclisation to the benzothieno[3,2-b]pyranones results on treatment with acid.
Reaction of the dianion with tetraphenylcyclopentadienone gave a fulvene derivative that was resistant to cyclisation. With 2,5-diethyl-3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone, stereospecific 1,6-addition occurred. The structure of the product was
elucidated using X-ray crystallography.
Reduction of the benzothienopyranones follows the expected course, as does their reaction with Grignard reagents. However, with PhMgBr, 2,2-diphenyl-3-methyl-2,3-dihydrobenzothieno[3,2-b]pyran-4-one underwent a novel reaction sequence to give a 3-phenylbenzo[b]thiophene derivative, the structure of which was established by X-ray crystallography. The benzothienopyranones are readily cleaved by alkoxide under mild conditions. Reactions of the resulting 2-alkenoyl-3-
hydroxybenzo[b] thiophenes with hydrazine derivatives afford novel pyrazolidines. The preparation of 2,2-disubstituted benzothieno[2,3-b]- and [3,2-b]- pyrans has been investigated. The [2,3-b] isomers exist preferentially as their dienone
valence tautomers. In the latter series, the pyran form predominates and the compounds exhibit photochromism providing that an aryl substituent is present at C-4.
Attempts to effect acid catalysed dehydration of the benzothieno[3,2-b]pyran-4-ols failed. However, treatment with N,N-dimethylcarbamyl chloride effects a novel acylative ring cleavage to give 2-(alka- 1 ,3-dien- I -yl)-3(dimethylaminocarbamyloxy) benzo[b]thiophenes. Electrocyclisation of these carbamates has been accomplished and developed as a new approach to dibenzothiophenes and fused-ring derivatives.
The synthesis of chroman-4-ones possessing C-2 spiro-annulated 9-(9Hfluorene), 1 '-indane, 3'-(2,3-dihydrobenzofuran), and 3'-(2,3-dihydrobenzo-[b]thiophene) units has been accomplished and their oxidative ring expansion by organoiodine(Ill) reagents e.g. PhI(OH)OTs has been investigated. The indane derivative afforded 1 2H-benzo[a]xanthen- 12-one and its 5,6-dihydro derivative together with 5,6-dihydro-7H-benzo[c]xanthen-7-one, whilst the benzofuran affords a ring cleaved product together with the tetracyclic rotenoid core, rotoxen-12(611)-one.
Conjugate reduction of these systems provided both the cis and trans tetrahydrobenzoxanthones, and the trans-B/C fused rotenoid, respectively. Treatment of the spiro benzo[b]thiophene derivative with PhI(OH)OTs in methanol initiated a novel Pummerer-type reaction and rearrangement products were not observed.


This paper investigates the conditional correlations and volatility spillovers between crude oil returns and stock index returns. Daily returns from 2 January 1998 to 4 November 2009 of the crude oil spot, forward and futures prices from the WTI and Brent markets, and the FTSE100, NYSE, Dow Jones and S&P500 index returns, are analysed using the CCC model of Bollerslev (1990), VARMA-GARCH model of Ling and McAleer (2003), VARMA-AGARCH model of McAleer, Hoti and Chan (2008), and DCC model of Engle (2002). Based on the CCC model, the estimates of conditional correlations for returns across markets are very low, and some are not statistically significant, which means the conditional shocks are correlated only in the same market and not across markets. However, the DCC estimates of the conditional correlations are always significant. This result makes it clear that the assumption of constant conditional correlations is not supported empirically. Surprisingly, the empirical results from the VARMA-GARCH and VARMA-AGARCH models provide little evidence of volatility spillovers between the crude oil and financial markets. The evidence of asymmetric effects of negative and positive shocks of equal magnitude on the conditional variances suggests that VARMA-AGARCH is superior to VARMA-GARCH and CCC.


At first it appears that nothing could be easier than seeing. We just focus our eyes and take in whatever it is before us. This ability seems detached, efficient, and rational--as if the eyes were competent machines telling us everything about the world without distorting it in any way. Using drawings, paintings, diagrams, and photographs to illustrate his points, Elkins raises intriguing questions and offers astonishing perception about the nature of vision.


The study of free-surface flows involves the solution of hyperbolic partial differential equations. A numerical solution methodes described, in which the partial derivatives are replaced by finite differences so that, for a function f (x, t) : ∂f/∂x = 0 f (x + Δx,t + Δt) - f (x, t + Δt) / Δx + (1 - 0) f (x + Δx, t) - f (x, t) / Δx ∂f/∂x = f (x + Δx, t + Δt) + f (x, t + Δt) / 2 Δt - f (x + Δx, t) + f (x, t)/ 2 Δt where 0 is a weighting factor such that 1/2 < 0 ≤ 1. Furthemore, by assuming a linear relationship between level and velocity increases in the time increment and by using an algorism described by Richtmyer [2], the authors succeed in solving a system of concatenated linear equations clearly defined by the boundary conditions. The derivation and solution of the formulae are described for the first time in detail for the application of this implicit scheme of finite differences to hyperbolic equations. This method obviously requires electronic computing equipment for its application. In view of the completely satisfactory results obtained for river and canal wave problems, it was thought worth applying it to the problem of composite tunnel flow as well (i.e. varying between pressurised and free-surface flows), of which numerous cases occur in practice. For this, the authors use an artifice first thought of by Preissmann [4] to reduce pressurized flow to free-surface flow, in which a very narrow slot is provided in the upper part of the tunnel to act as a piezometer without affecting the tunnel cross-sectional area. This method is then used to calculate the rapid tail race tunnel and surge tank filling conditions produced when the turbines at Wettingen power station are opened up fully in five seconds. A comparison of the author's results with those of model tests at the Zurich Hydraulic Research Laboratory [ 8] and data calculated by Calame [7] gives the following figures for the two most important factors concerned : MODEL CALAME CALCULATION SOGREAH CALCULATION Time taken by the wave to arrive (seconds)... 30 28 32 Maximum water level in the surge tank (metres)... 4.05 3.93 3.96 The calculations are thus seen to be adequately representative of the phenomenon, certain differences being due to the fact that the boundary conditions chosen were not the same in all three cases, especially as regards the tunnel outlet level.


This paper addresses the problem of object detection by means of the Generalised Hough transform paradigm. The Implicit Shape Model (ISM) is a well-known approach based on this idea. It made this paradigm popular and has been adopted many times. Although the algorithm exhibits robust detection performance, its description, i.e. its probabilistic model, involves arguments which are unsatisfactory from a probabilistic standpoint. We propose a framework which overcomes these problems and gives a sound justification to the voting procedure. Furthermore, our framework allows for a formal understanding of the heuristic of soft-matching commonly used in visual vocabulary systems. We show that it is sufficient to use soft-matching during learning only and to perform fast nearest neighbour matching at recognition time (where speed is of prime importance). Our implementation is based on Gaussian Mixture Models (instead of kernel density estimators as with ISM) which lead to a fast gradient-based object detector.


Structural coloration underpins communication strategies in many extant insects but its evolution is poorly understood. This stems, in part, from limited data on how color alters during fossilization. We resolve this by using elevated pressures and temperatures to simulate the effects of burial on structurally colored cuticles of modern beetles. Our experiments show that the color generated by multilayer reflectors changes due to alteration of the refractive index and periodicity of the cuticle layers. Three-dimensional photonic crystals are equally resistant to degradation and thus their absence in fossil insects is not a function of limited preservation potential but implies that these color-producing nanostructures evolved recently. Structural colors alter directly to black above a threshold temperature in experiments, identifying burial temperature as the primary control on their preservation in fossils. Color-producing nanostructures can, however, survive in experimentally treated and fossil cuticles that now are black. An extensive cryptic record is thus available in fossil insects to illuminate the evolution of structural color.


An interview with Helen Lang, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Helen Lang was born in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia. Following the Hungarian annexation of the area, Helen went to work in Budapest to help support her family. While visiting her family during Pesach in 1944, the Germans came into the city and shipped Helen and her family to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a month in Birkenau, Helen and her sister were transferred to Stutthof, where Helen was made a Blockaltester. Helen and her sister were then shipped to Praust, a brand new camp, where she was a maid for the SS guards, and secured her sister as a Blockaltester as well. When the Russians neared Praust the camp was evacuated and Helen, her sister, and a friend escaped the march,posing as Hungarian Gentiles. They met a group of SS doctors who took them to Denmark to stay for the duration of the war. After the war, Helen stayed in the Lubeck DP camp in Germany and moved to Prague to reunite with her family.


Abstract. China implemented systematic air pollution control measures during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and Paralympics to improve air quality. This study used a versatile mobile laboratory to conduct in situ monitoring of on-road air pollutants along Beijing's Fourth Ring Road on 31 selected days before, during, and after the Olympics air pollution control period. A suite of instruments with response times of less than 30 s was used to measure temporal and spatial variations in traffic-related air pollutants, including NOx, CO, PM1.0 surface area (S(PM1)), black carbon (BC), and benzene, toluene, the sum of ethylbenzene, and m-, p-, and o-xylene (BTEX). During the Olympics (8–23 August, 2008), on-road air pollutant concentrations decreased significantly, by up to 54% for CO, 41% for NOx, 70% for SO2, 66% for BTEX, 12% for BC, and 18% for SPM1, compared with the pre-control period (before 20 July). Concentrations increased again after the control period ended (after 20 September), with average increases of 33% for CO, 42% for NOx, 60% for SO2, 40% for BTEX, 26% for BC, and 37% for S(PM1), relative to the control period. Variations in pollutants concentrations were correlated with changes in traffic speed and the number and types of vehicles on the road. Throughout the measurement periods, the concentrations of NOx, CO, and BTEX varied markedly with the numbers of light- and medium-duty vehicles (LDVs and MDVs, respectively) on the road. Only after 8 August was a noticeable relationship found between BC and S(PM1) and the number of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). Additionally, BC and S(PM1) showed a strong correlation with SO2 before the Olympics, indicating possible industrial sources from local emissions as well as regional transport activities in the Beijing area. Such factors were identified in measurements conducted on 6 August in an area southwest of Beijing. The ratio of benzene to toluene, a good indicator of traffic emissions, shifted suddenly from about 0.26 before the Olympics to approximately 0.48 after the Olympics began. This finding suggests that regulations on traffic volume and restrictions on the use of painting solvents were effective after the Olympics began. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of air pollution control measures and identified local and regional pollution sources within and surrounding the city of Beijing. The findings will be invaluable for emission inventory evaluations and model verifications.


In this paper it is analysed the relationships between work organisation and quality systems in firms that uses some forms of advanced automation. Are characterised the existing quality control structures in the Portuguese industry, and the main factors that hidden or fosters the development of sociotechnical methods of quality control organisation strategies. Are analysed some industrial cases that explains more clearly the critical issues of the implementation of quality systems and work organisation systems. A few recommendations are given about the possibilities for the development of new forms of work organisation and the quality systems associated to automated manufacturing systems.


The relationship between the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution of 1996 and the common law is analyzed in this paper. "Common law" is understood broadly to include not only the Roman-Dutch law, but also the wide variety of legal sources and traditions which make up South African law, including African tradition, Muslim practice and the English law heritage. Firstly an exposition of the chief characteristics of the hybrid system of South African common law is given. It is shown that the common law is not codified; that it is a living and organic system of law constantly under legislative and judicial review; that its sources vary from judicial precedent to civilian authorities, English, indigenous customary and Muslim law; that the style of litigation and adjudication is English rather than Continental in Character and that when a common law rule is modified, it is done retrospectively in conflict with principles of legal certainty. Secondly the chief constitutional provisions relating to the relationship between the Constitution and the common law are considered. The supremacy clause (section 2) renders a common law rule which is inconsistent with the Constitution invalid from the date of the Constitution unless a court gives a different ruling in accordance with justice and equity. Courts have the inherent power to develop the common law, but the Constitutional Court may do so only in constitutional matters. Two forms of constitutional normative effects may be distinguished: direct (as in sections 2 and 8(1)) and indirect (as in section 39(2)). In terms of the latter the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights are to guide the development of the common law. Thirdly the interaction between the common law and the Constitution is thoroughly explored with reference to common law rules that are in conflict with the Constitution as well as where the common law already provides protection for the rights provided by the Bill of Rights. These matters are explored with reference to a number of recent judgments of the Constitutional Court, in some of which the common law was effectively developed. It is concluded that the firm normative thrust of the Constitution may well prove to be a rich source of principle for the development of the common law and that the flexibility of the common law may facilitate a cross-pollination between it and the Constitution.


We present a computer-oriented method of producing pictures of Bers embeddings of the Teichmüller space of once-punctured tori. The coordinate plane is chosen in such a way that the accessory parameter is hidden in the relative position of the origin. Our algorithm consists of two steps. For each point in the coordinate plane, we first compute the corresponding monodromy representation by numerical integration along certain loops. Then we decide whether the representation is discrete by applying Jørgensen's theory on the quasi-Fuchsian space of once-punctured tori.