Contemporary youth conflict often plays out through social media like Facebook and Twitter. 'Drama' is an emergent concept describing performative, interpersonal conflict that takes place in front of an active, engaged audience, often on social media. Using ethnographic data, this paper examines how American teenagers conceptualize the term drama; the relationship between drama and social media; and the implications drama has for understanding contemporary teenage conflict. The emic use of drama distances teens from practices conceptualized by adults as bullying or relational aggression, while acknowledging the role of the audience in social media interactions. Drama also serves to reinforce the conventional gendered norms of high school, perpetrating the systemic undervaluing of feminine subjects and re-inscribing heteronormativity. Understanding how drama operates helps illuminate how widespread use of social media among teenagers has altered dynamics of aggression and conflict.


Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide remains an enigmatic and controversial figure both in Haiti and in the outside world. In this definitive study of the international crisis caused by Aristide's overthrow by the Haitian military on September 30, 1991, Roland Perusse analyzes and critiques the events that led up to the military coup as well as the aftershocks of that action. Beginning with a biographical sketch of Aristide and his rise to power, Perusse details the major events during the first eight months of his presidency and factors that led up to his overthrow. He then focuses on early attempts to restore Aristide to power by the Organization of American States, the impediments to that goal resulting from both U.S. and OAS policy, the United Nations involvement in the issue, and the problems caused by the outpouring of refugees and ineffective embargos. Perusse also describes the Carter mission to Haiti which successfully negotiated the departure of the three principal Haitian military leaders and arranged for a peaceful rather than hostile entry of U.S. military forces in a U.N.-sanctioned intervention. Co-published with the Inter American Institute.


The Online Romance Scam is a very successful scam which causes considerable financial and emotional damage to its victims. It is based on building a relationship which establishes a deep trust that causes victims to voluntarily transfer funds to the scammer. The aim of this research is to explore online dating scams as a type of e-Living which initially creates happiness for the victim in a virtual romantic relationship, but tragically then causes the victim to be separated from his or her savings. Using narrative research methodology, this research will establish a model of the romance scam structure and its variations regarding human romantic attitudes, and will develop a theory which explains how the victim is moved through the phases of the scam. Findings of this research will contribute to the knowledge of the Online Romance Scam as e-Crime and provide information about the structure and the development of the modus operandi which can be used to identify an online relationship as a scam at an early phase in order to prevent significant harm to the victim.


The quality of global sea level pressure patterns has been assessed for simulations by 23 coupled climate models. Most models showed high pattern correlations. With respect to the explained spatial variance, many models showed serious large-scale deficiencies, especially at mid-latitudes. Five models performed well at all latitudes and for each month of the year. Three models had a reasonable skill. We selected the five models with the best pressure patterns for a more detailed assessment of their simulations of the climate in Central Europe. We analysed observations and simulations of monthly mean geostrophic flow indices and of monthly mean temperature and precipitation. We used three geostrophic flow indices: the west component and south component of the geostrophic wind at the surface and the geostrophic vorticity. We found that circulation biases were important, and affected precipitation in particular. Apart from these circulation biases, the models showed other biases in temperature and precipitation, which were for some models larger than the circulation induced biases. For the 21st century the five models simulated quite different changes in circulation, precipitation and temperature. Precipitation changes appear to be primarily caused by circulation changes. Since the models show widely different circulation changes, especially in late summer, precipitation changes vary widely between the models as well. Some models simulate severe drying in late summer, while one model simulates significant precipitation increases in late summer. With respect to the mean temperature the circulation changes were important, but not dominant. However, changes in the distribution of monthly mean temperatures, do show large indirect influences of circulation changes. Especially in late summer, two models simulate very strong warming of warm months, which can be attributed to severe summer drying in the simulations by these models. The models differ also significantly in the simulated warming of cold winter months. Finally, the models simulate rather different changes in North Atlantic sea surface temperature, which is likely to impact on changes in temperature and precipitation. These results imply that several important aspects of climate change in Central Europe are highly uncertain. Other aspects of the simulated climate change appear to be more robust. All models simulate significant warming all year round and an increase in precipitation in the winter half-year.


Summary

Understanding the extent to which organisms are affected by climate change and are capable of adapting to warming is essential for managing biodiversity. Recent macrophysiological analyses suggest that range-related responses to warming may be more coherent (less variable) and predictable in marine than in terrestrial systems.

To examine this generalization, we investigate basal upper thermal tolerances (measured as CTmax), the extent of their phenotypic plasticity and the impacts of different rates of temperature change on these tolerances, in five species of intertidal crustaceans from three distinct thermal regimes, incorporating South African (RSA) shores and sub-Antarctic Marion Island (MI).

For all species, lower rates of change resulted in lower CTmax, while acclimation resulted in varied responses depending on the rate of temperature change. At fast rates of temperature change, higher temperature acclimation resulted in elevated CTmax, while at slow rates of change, acclimation had no effect or resulted in a decline in CTmax.

Maximum habitat temperatures recorded at the organisms' microsites were lower than the CTmax for the MI populations but were above CTmax at slow rates of change for RSA populations. Thus, populations from more equatorward locations have a lower tolerance of extremes than those from cooler regions. In addition to reduced warming tolerance, RSA populations had a lower acclimation capacity than their sub-Antarctic counterparts.

We find substantial differences in long-term responses among groups in different areas as a consequence of spatial variation in the interactions among basal tolerance, phenotypic plasticity and thermal environments. These outcomes emphasize the significance of examining forecasts using a range of data and approaches so that their certainty can be established to inform key policy decisions in a spatially appropriate context.


Engineering process model: Detection of cycles and determination of paths M. Cronje Department of Civil Engineering University of Stellenbosch Private Bag X1, 7602 Matieland, South Africa Thesis: MScEng (Civil) April 2006 In order to plan the engineering work of large construction projects efficiently, a model of the engineering process is required. An engineering process can be modelled by sets of persons, tasks, datasets and tools, as well as the relationships between the elements of these sets. Tasks are more often than not dependent on other tasks in the engineering process. In large projects these dependencies are not easily recognised, and if tasks are not executed in the correct sequence, costly delays may occur. The homogeneous binary relation "has to be executed before" in the set of tasks can be used to determine the logical sequence of tasks algebraically. The relation can be described by a directed graph in the set of tasks, and the logical sequence of tasks can be determined by sorting the graph topologically, if the graph is acyclic. However, in an engineering process, this graph is not necessarily acyclic since certain tasks have to be executed in parallel, causing cycles in the graph. After generating the graph in the set of tasks, it is important to fuse all the cycles. This is achieved by finding the strongly connected components of the graph. The reduced graph, in which each strongly connected component is represented by a vertex, is a directed acyclic graph. The strongly connected components may be determined by different methods, including Kosaraju's, Tarjan's and Gabow's methods. Considering the "has to be executed before" graph in the set of tasks, elementary paths through the graph, i.e. paths which do not contain any vertex more than once, are useful to investigate the influence of tasks on other tasks. For example, the longest elementary path of the graph is the logical critical path. The solution of such path problems in a network may be reduced to the solution of systems of equations using path algebras. The solution of the system of equations may be determined directly, i.e. through Gauss elimination, or iteratively, through Jacobi's or Gauss-Seidel's methods or the forward and back substitution method. The vertex sequence of an acyclic graph can be assigned in such a way that the coefficient matrix of the system of equations is reduced to staggered form, after which the solution is found by a simple back substitution. Since an engineering process has a start and an end, it is more acyclic than cyclic. Consequently we can usually reduce a substantial part of the coefficient matrix to staggered form. Using this technique, modifications of the solution methods mentioned above were implemented, and the efficiency of the technique is determined and compared between the various methods.


Emotion self-regulation relies both on cognitive and behavioral strategies implemented to modulate the subjective experience and/or the behavioral expression of a given emotion. While it is known that a network encompassing fronto-cingulate and parietal brain areas is engaged during successful emotion regulation, the functional mechanisms underlying failures in emotion suppression are still unclear. In order to investigate this issue, we analyzed video and high-density EEG recordings of nineteen healthy adult subjects during an emotion suppression (ES) and a free expression (FE) task performed on two consecutive days. Changes in facial expression during ES, but not FE, were preceded by local increases in sleep-like activity (1-4Hz) in in brain areas responsible for emotional suppression, including bilateral anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, and in right middle/inferior frontal gyrus (p<0.05, corrected). Moreover, shorter sleep duration the night prior to the ES experiment correlated with the number of behavioral errors (p=0.01) and tended to be associated with higher frontal sleep-like activity during emotion suppression failures (p=0.05). These results indicate that local sleep-like activity may represent the cause of emotion suppression failures in humans, and may offer a functional explanation for previous observations linking lack of sleep, changes in frontal activity and emotional dysregulation.


In this paper we provide an approximation \`a la Ambrosio-Tortorelli of some classical minimization problems involving the length of an unknown one-dimensional set, with an additional connectedness constraint, in dimension two. We introduce a term of new type relying on a weighted geodesic distance that forces the minimizers to be connected at the limit. We apply this approach to approximate the so-called Steiner Problem, but also the average distance problem, and finally a problem relying on the p-compliance energy. The proof of convergence of the approximating functional, which is stated in terms of Gamma-convergence relies on technical tools from geometric measure theory, as for instance a uniform lower bound for a sort of average directional Minkowski content of a family of compact connected sets.


The Dawn of the Eye: The History of Film and TV News. Princeton, NJ.: FiIms for the Humanities & Sciences, 1997. Six volumes: average run time 48 minutes each. Volumes: I. History Through a Lens (Born Among Clowns): 1894-1919; II. Eyes of the World: 1919-1945; III. Inventing Television News: 1946-1959; IV. The Powers That Be (The Power and the Image): 196S1975; V. The Electronic Battalions: 1975-1988; VI. The Global Eye (Embattled Witness): 1989-1997. (Volumes 4-6 not available for review.) Near the end of the nineteenth century, two devices were invented that changed the way people would think about the world around them. In 1894, Thomas A. Edison invented the motion picture, and a year later the Lumiere brothers in France developed a portable movie camera and projector. The Dawn of the Eye is an ambitious project co-produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Company and the BBC in association with the History Channel that traces the development of the visual medium from a bulky box carried on horseback to real-time satellite images. More importantly, this series critically examines the way this new technology impacted on society, specifically as it relates to the evolution of news. Within that framework, the first three volumes explore many of the moral and ethical questions about how this new medium would be used, who would control it, and what it should contain. Volume I describes how, from the beginning, motion pictures were presented to the public as entertainment, a novelty that brought images of exotic, faraway places to the people through the familiar venue of the traveling carnival. While entertainment was the primary motive, a few photographers also sought to provide a visual record of the events of the world. The first real "news" event that was covered was the coronation of the Tsar of Russia in 1896. During the ceremony, a grandstand collapsed and more than 3,000 people were killed in the ensuing panic. The tragedy was filmed, but the Tsarist government confiscated the film and it was never seen. Just two years later, the United States was involved in a war with Spain and as the public clamored for news of the conflict the newsreel was more than willing to oblige. The images of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders and the broken hulk of the U.S.S. Maine certainly aroused public opinion, but the problem was that much of the footage was fake. The "exclusive footage" of the battle of Manila Bay was staged by a pair of vaudeville players in New York using a large tub, model ships, and tiny packets of gunpowder to simulate the big guns. Even Edison got on board with Rough Rider battles recreated in the New Jersey countryside. During World War I, the camera was there and, for the first time, the public got to see real images of that conflict, but again, the real footage was interspersed with staged footage. War, tragedy, and disaster became staples of the newsreels. Not all the early film shot was staged. Excellent footage of the Toronto Fire and the San Francisco earthquake was shot, but by far the most popular footage was a staged recreation of the quake. The film was so good, even the mayor of San Francisco thought it was real. Volume II shows the newsreels of the 1920s and 1930s as Hollywood produced entertainment news. The basic credo again was sheer entertainment with the newsreel becoming the carnival sideshow of the news. Coverage included race car crashes, the Hindenburg, the search for the world's fattest man, the Dion quints, and a baby smoking a cigar. The more tragic, bizarre, or exotic the story was, the better film did. The public knew it could count on seeing ga series of catastrophes followed by a fashion show"-a format not unlike the news programs of today. Because they were essentially an entertainment medium, the newsreels purposefully ignored the reality of the Depression. There were no newsreels showing Hoovervilles, bread lines, or soup kitchens. …


As part of a celebration of the work of Claudia Tate, I am going to discuss the two terms that figure prominently in the titles of her books: allegory and psychoanalysis. How are these two terms related? Almost a quarter-century ago, Roy Schafer created some ripples in psychoanalytic theory by protesting against what he called its "anthropomorphisms." In an essay called "The Mover of the Mental Apparatus," he wrote that "In this chapter I focus on the anthropomorphism that both pervades and artificially sustains Freudian metapsychology. I identify the manifestations of this anthropomorphism and argue that it is an inescapable consequence or correlate of Freud's mechanistic and organismic mode of theorizing." (1) Protesting against the tendency to transfer agency away from the responsible subject to another psychic entity ("my unconscious made me do it"), Schafer sees such anthropomorphisms as "artificial" and "mechanical" abuses of rhetorical fictions. Interestingly, these are the same qualities that led William Wordsworth to argue against the "gaudiness and inane phraseology" associated with the "personification of abstract ideas." In his 1802 Preface to his lyrical ballads, he wrote, "My purpose was to imitate, and, as far as possible, to adopt the very language of men; and assuredly such personifications do not make any natural or regular part of that language. They are, indeed, a figure of speech occasionally prompted by passion, and I have made use of them as such; but have endeavoured utterly to reject them as a mechanical device of style." Wordsworth rejected personification as a mechanical device of style in his quest for the "real language of men." Schafer rejected anthropomorphism as a disavowal of agency in Freudian theory. In both cases, they find that an artifice of rhetoric has taken the place of, and obscured, the real. Telling the truth about the real requires a stripping away of rhetoric similar to that called for by W. E. B. Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk. He writes: We are compelled daily to turn more and more to a conscientious study of the phenomena of race-contact,--to a study frank and fair, and not falsified and colored by our wishes or our fears. And we have in the South as fine a field for such a study as the world affords.... What are the actual relations of whites and blacks in the South? and we must be answered, not by apology or fault-finding, but by a plain, unvarnished tale. Du Bois thus undertakes to tell the truth about segregation at the start of the twentieth century. The tale will be "unvarnished" by wishes or fears--just the facts, Ma'am, neither embellished nor rhetorically skewed. Yet the word that promises a lack of rhetoric is itself a rhetorical marker: the word "unvarnished" is taken from Othello's explanation of his winning of Desdemona. Claiming that he is "rude of speech," he tells the Duke of Venice: "I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver." But of course, lack of rhetoric is what is most powerfully simulated by both Othello and Du Bois--rhetorically. Both use lack of rhetoric as a consummate rhetorical move. "Unvarnished" is a varnish designed to be invisible, as of course the most effective varnishes try to be. A classical varnish calls attention to the painting it highlights, not to itself. What would the function of a varnish be that called attention to itself at the expense of what is depicted in the painting? A varnish can only be seen to the extent that it fails to disappear. Some indication of the complexity of the task Du Bois has set for himself can be gleaned from his use of the word "colored": the study of race relations will not be "colored by our wishes and fears." But since the object of study is precisely the "color line," it seems that the object of study excludes itself. In studying color, one must strip away color. Color can only be studied by those who have neither wishes nor fears--that is, those who have no color. …


In this paper attention is first focused on a comparative analysis of three hydraulic models for overland flow simulations. In particular, the overland flow was considered as a 2D unsteady flow and was mathematically described using three approaches (fully dynamic, diffusive and kinematic waves). Numerical results highlighted that the differences among the simulations were not very important when the simulations referred to commonly used ideal tests found in the literature in which the topography is reduced to plane surface. Significant differences were observed in more complicated tests for which only the fully dynamic model was able to provide a good prediction of the observed discharges and water depths. Then, attention is focused on the fully dynamic model and in particular on the analysis of two numerical schemes (TVD-MacCormack and HLL) and the influence of the grid size. Numerical tests carried out on irregular topography show that, as the grid size decreases, the performance of the HLL scheme becomes closer to that of the TVD-MacCormack scheme in shorter computational times at least for high rainfall intensity.


The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) is a large, forest-dwelling raptor generally associated with mature deciduous, coniferous, or mixed forests (Siders and Kennedy 1996, Bright-Smith and Mannan 1994, Beier and Drennan 1997, Squires and Reynolds 1997). In the western Great Lakes Region (WGLR), the species is currently listed as a migratory nongame bird of management concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Region 3), and as a sensitive species by the U.S. Forest Service (Region 9). Although region-specific information on habitat use and productivity is essential for the development of sound management guidelines, active management of the species in the WGLR has been hampered by a lack of information specific to the region (Estabrook 1999, Kennedy and Andersen 1999). We assessed productivity of
breeding goshawks in Minnesota, and used radio telemetry to estimate breeding season home range sizes and characterize foraging habitat of 19 male goshawks. Project cooperators located 15 occupied breeding areas in 1998, seven additional areas in 1999, and nine additional areas in 2000, for a total of 31 breeding areas occupied at least one year during the three year period of the study. Mean fledging success was 1.14 ± 0.17 fledglings per all nesting attempts (n = 42) and 1.85 ± 0.14 per successful nesting attempt (n = 26). We radio-tagged 33 (18 male, 15 female) of 36 goshawks that were captured. The mean range estimate for male goshawks was 2,676 ha using the minimum convex polygon estimator and 3,953 ha using the 95% fixed kernel contour estimator. Foraging male goshawks demonstrated a clear preference to forage in old (>50 yrs) early successional upland hardwood (e.g., aspen, birch) stands, mature (> 50 yrs) late successional upland conifers (e.g., red pine, white pine), and mature (> 25 yrs) early successional upland conifer (e.g., balsam fir, jack pine). Young (< 25 yrs) early successional upland hardwood and young (< 50 yrs) late successional lowland conifer (e.g., black spruce, tamarack) stands were clearly avoided. Foraging stands, regardless of stand type, were consistent in having high stem densities (570 – 1030 stems/ha) of tall, large canopy trees, with horizontal open spaces of 1.1 to 3.5 m between the bottom of the overstory and top of the understory trees, and up to 1 m between the bottom of the understory canopy and top of the shrub layer. These relatively unobstructed spaces between vegetation layers may serve as important flight paths through forest stands, and the heights in which they occurred was consistent among stand types. Mean canopy closure was high among all stand types (53-70%). Goshawks foraged in stands that, regardless of tree species, were remarkably similar in terms of diameter and heights of the canopy trees, canopy closure, and high stem density.


For managing and settling ethnic conflicts, power-sharing arrangements often seem an appropriate solution. The former antagonists are forced to work together and make decisions by consensus; the ultimate goal is to turn opponents into partners. Obviously, this concept can only be successful under specific conditions and by specific arrangements. Based on a comparative analysis of six cases of power-sharing, the article aims (1) to identify favourable conditions as well as (2) to evaluate the quality of regulations. For successful conflict regulation, both aspects have to be taken into account: if the most favourable conditions are missing or will not be attained over time, then the `best' power-sharing constitution will fail. If, in turn, `bad' or insufficient rules and procedures prevail, then even the presence of comparatively beneficial factors will probably not avoid failure. Success will be understood as achievement and sustainability of a particular solution. The article is subdivided into four sections. First, the concept of power-sharing (or consociationalism) will be mapped out. Second, successful and failed European cases of power-sharing will be briefly presented. Third, by comparing these cases, the relevance of a set of conditions - usually assumed to be favourable for success - will be examined. Fourth, the quality of the institutional design of power-sharing regimes will be evaluated in order to distinguish `better' regulations from more problematic or even counterproductive ones. In concluding, the author points to the crucial role of political elites in sustaining shared rule, but stresses at the same time that in most cases their behaviour is shaped by the institutional arrangements themselves. These have to be designed in a way that supports and fosters learning processes among decisionmakers.


The present study concerns the simulation of a continuous annealing line (CAL), using dilatometry. Simulations of CAL have been performed on four commercial steel grades with different chemical compositions in order to investigate how the alloying elements C, Mn, Si and B affect the microstructure and hardness of dual phase (DP) and martensitic steels. Three annealing cycles corresponding to those used in a CAL have been applied. When annealing intercritically, as is the case in DP‐steel production, the materials do not reach equilibrium during soaking. Mn and C increase the austenite content and consequently the hardness of the materials. Higher levels of Si (0.4 wt %) are required to retard the formation of new ferrite during cooling in the gas jet section, prior to quenching. B increases hardenability effectively when annealing in the austenite region but is not as efficient during intercritical annealing, which implies that boron restrains ferrite nucleation rather than impeding ferrite growth. Results from DICTRA calculations show that it is possible to simulate the phase transformations during soaking, gasjet cooling and quenching.


This study was aimed to observe the performance of Bali cattle given additional feed of tofu waste, solid and liquid waste of  bio-ethanol  made from cassava. Six male Bali cattle with body weight of 190- 230 kg were used. The design of this study was a 3x3 Latinsquare with cross over pattern. The 3 treatments were included feeding DM 3% of the body weight, consist of treatment A : forage and additional feed from tofu wastes 2 kg, 200 g of solid waste and liquid wastes given 100 ml per day, treatment B : forage given daily and additional feed was given once every two days, and treatment C : only forage. The measured variables were (1) feed consumption, (2) daily weight gain (ADG), (3) feed conversion. The results are that the effect of provision of additional feed highly a real and tangible feed intake (P<0.05), ADG (P<0.01), and feed conversion (P<0.01). Average of feed consumption (kg DM - 1 day -1 )  for A, B, C were 6.97; 6.92; 6.12, respectively. Average of ADG (kg  head -1 day -1 )  for A, B, C were 0.64, 0.50, and 0.10, respectively. Average of feed conversion for treatment A, B, and C were 10.94, 14.00, and 64.00, respectively. We conclueded that additional feed can increase feed consumption, body weight and give high feed conversion. It can be suggested there should be more research on additional levels of solid waste and waste liquid  bio-ethanol.


Abstract. In this paper, a method is proposed for solving relative translations of 3D point clouds collected by Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) techniques. The proposed approach uses the attributes of the 3D points to generate and match 2D-projections, by employing a simple correlation technique instead of matching in 3D. As a result, the developed method depends more on the number of pixels in the 2D-projections and less on the number of points in the point clouds. This leads to a more cost-efficient method in contrast to 3D registration techniques. The method uses this benefit to provide redundant translation parameters for each point cloud pair. With the utilization of image-based evaluation criteria the reliable translation parameters are detected and only those are used to compute the final solution. Consequently, the confidence levels of each final estimation can be computed. In addition, an indication of robustness showing how many estimations where included for the computation of the final solution is included. It is shown that the method performs fast due to its simplicity especially when medium image resolution's such as 0.15 m are used. Reliable matches can be produced even when the overlap of the point cloud sets is small or the initial offset large as long as the offsets are distinguishable in the projections. Furthermore, a technique is proposed to obtain capabilities for sub-pixel accuracy estimations, as the accuracy of the estimations is restricted to the grid cell size. The technique seems promising, but further improvement is necessary.


This thesis aspires to advance understanding of how actor choices relate to embedded structures of rules in communicative planning practice, using insights from the institutional literature developed in organizational science, economics, sociology and planning. Specifically, the thesis argues that a spatial institutional perspective can help planners understand the complex patterns of interaction among actors, and between actors and rules. Actors interact in the spaces created by the interplay between actor choices and rule structures: the institutional environment.The thesis comprises five papers: two case studies, a literature review and a theoretical paper. A review of the institutional literature reveals insights from other disciplines not yet fully explored in planning, including transaction cost analysis to explain individual decisions and collective action approaches to understanding micro behaviour and macro outcomes. These insights, together with the results of the case studies, suggest that planning theory needs to better understand how individual actors make choices within rule structures and based on the expected behaviour of others.To address this, the thesis offers the concept of relational rewards, which incorporates theories of social capital and communication externalities into a rational actor approach. This may provide an explanation for why self-interested actors make choices about whether or not to participate in interactive forums designed to meet communicative goals. This approach can also explain how boundedly rational actors without communicative norms may over time develop a propensity to collaborate.In a practical sense, this thesis challenges planners to think about what selective incentives they offer actors to participate in communicative planning. It encourages planners to identify and characterize the many institutional environments for planning and decisionmaking in transaction cost terms. Planning theorists and practitioners are experienced and adept in understanding and applying a spatial perspective, and can develop a spatial-institutional approach to coordinating actors both across physical space and within institutional environments.


Alliances within construction have increased significantly in number and in the volume
of activity they undertake in recent years. Further, communications technologies have
progressed to a degree where they can support collaborations across geographic
borders. The prevailing literature generally notes that alliances are effective
collaborative 'vehicles', which facilitate 'automatic' knowledge sharing. Although
writers in the field highlight benefits of developing knowledge sharing as a core
capability to create and maintain sustained collaboration and sustainable competitive
advantage, a majority of the alliances engage in short-term orientated work processes
targeting short-term commercial advantages. This research contextualised this
phenomenon within construction alliances and investigated the business logic of
developing knowledge sharing as a core capability.
First, a conceptual model was developed from a review and synthesis of the relevant
literature. The four variables in the conceptual model were:
(i) Alliance strategic direction;
(ii) Alliance Climate;
(iii) Task relatedness of messages communicated through knowledge
transfer mechanisms; and
(iv) Media richness of knowledge transfer mechanisms.
The conceptual model comprised the framework for five interrelated hypotheses. Then,
the hypotheses were tested utilising two construction alliance case studies: HN alliance
was a project based joint venture alliance between two large international construction
contractors and XY alliance is a long-term strategic partnering alliance between a
petroleum retailer and a construction project management company. The principal data
collection methods used were semi structured interviews for senior executives and
structured interviews for the project managers. The principal method used for data
analysis was cognitive mapping.
The empirical testing of hypotheses revealed that the alliances concentrated on shortterm
commercial advantages to the detriment of longer term sustainable competitive
advantages. Therefore, initiatives taken to improve high quality interactions among
alliance participants and thereby sustain inter-firm relationships have not yielded the
anticipated benefits. The study comments on the diagnostic robustness of the initial


A method is presented utilizing networks of lamina emergent joints, known as lamina emergent arrays, to accommodate large-curvature developable structures suited to deployable applications. By exploiting the ruling lines in developable surfaces, this method enables developable structures and mechanisms that can be manufactured with two-dimensional geometry and yet have a greater range of elastic motion than is possible with a solid sheet of material. Aligning the joints to the ruling lines also biases the structure to a specific deployment path. A mathematical model is developed to describe the resulting stiffness of the structure employing the lamina emergent arrays and equations are derived to facilitate stress analysis of the structure. Finite element results show the sensitivity of alignment of the elements in the array to the stress present in the developed structure. A specific technique for creating an array pattern for conical developable surfaces is described. Examples of developable structures and mechanisms, including curved-fold origami models transitioned to thick materials and two origami-inspired mechanisms, are examined. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4031901]


In order to shed lights on the cognitive representations likely to underlie early vocal imitation, we tried to simulate Kuhl and Meltzoff's experiment (1996), using Bayesian robotics and a statistical model of the vocal tract that had been fitted to pre-babblers' actual vocalizations. It was shown that audition is compulsory to account for infants' early vocal imitation performance, inasmuch as the simulation of purely visual imitation failed to reproduce infants' score and pattern of imitation. Further, a small number of vocalizations (less than 100!) appeared to be enough for a learning process to provide scores at least as high as those of pre-babblers. Thus, early vocal imitation lies in the reach of a baby robot, with only a few assumptions about learning and imitation.


Multifunctional Structures for Attitude Control (MSAC) is a new spacecraft attitude control system that utilizes deployable panels as multifunctional intelligent structures to provide both fine pointing and large slew attitude control. Previous studies introduced MSAC design and operation concepts, simulation-based design studies, and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) validation of a simplified prototype. In this article, we expand the scope of design studies to include individual compliant piezo-electric actuators and associated power electronics. This advance is a step toward high-fidelity MSAC system operation, and reveals new design insights for further performance enhancement. Actuators are designed using pseudo rigid body dynamic models (PRBDMs), and are validated for steady-state and step responses against Finite Element Analysis. The drive electronics model consists of a few distinct topologies that will be used to evaluate system performance for given mechanical and control system designs. Subsequently, a high-fidelity multiphysics multibody MSAC system model, based on the validated compliant actuators and drive electronics, is developed to support implementation of MSAC Control Co-design optimization studies. This model will be used to demonstrate the impact of including the power electronics design in the Optimal Control Co-Design domain. The different control trajectories are compared for slew rates and the vibrational jitter introduced to the satellite. The results from this work will be used to realize closed-loop control trajectories that have minimal jitter introduction while providing high slew rates.


Abstract Some factors, such as environmental actions and load increases, can cause a necessity to restore a structural element. An efficient method typically used is to reinforce the structure with a high mechanical property´s material. In this study, a numerical approach of glued laminated timber beams reinforced with the following synthetic fibers: Vectran®, carbon and glass fibers was developed. Vectran® fibers have high performance and are employed in various areas, but not yet as a structural reinforcement. The beam models were designed on Ansys software-version 12 and the results were analyzed regarding the maximum stresses and displacements. When compared to unreinforced beam, the fiber reinforcement absorbed a great part of the acting stresses, reducing the tensile stress and the displacement maximum values. Considering mechanical properties and the material cost, Vectran® fiber is an interesting alternative for structural reinforcement, fitting its mechanical performance at an intermediate level between carbon fiber and glass fiber.


Globally, frequent flooding causes higher magnitude of disaster among the developing and developed nations. Particularly, the Indian subcontinent is considered as highly vulnerable area for natural disaster and is affected most because of limited resources and coping strategies for post-disaster rehabilitation. Apart from the great impact on human health, floods have considerable impact on mental health. The most frequently diagnosed psychological illness in flood affected population is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In India, the incidence of PTSD in major natural disasters varies considerably depending upon the magnitude of event, with the highest rates reported of around 70%. Studies conducted during initial few months post-disaster, showed a higher occurrence of psychiatric manifestations. On the other hand, some reports suggested contrary results under similar circumstances. Notably, extreme age (children and elderly), female gender, socioeconomic status, pre-existing mental health issues and financial crisis post-disaster are the potential predisposing factors influencing the vulnerability of PTSD. In Indian context, the variability in the magnitude of psychiatric illness is mainly attributed to the ethnic diversity (vulnerable population), severity and type of flood event and social support. Still there is more to explore regarding the long-term sequelae of catastrophic floods on physical and mental trauma on disaster-affected populations.


In this paper the authors present an overview of techniques and tools that enable the effective evaluation and refactoring of a Web application's conceptual schema. Moreover, based on the introduction of the notion of model clones (in a previous work), as partial conceptual schemas that are repeated within a broader application model and the notion of model smells, as certain blocks in the Web applications model that imply the possibility of refactoring, this paper illustrates a methodology and a tool for detecting and evaluating the existence of potential model clones, in order to identify problems in an application's conceptual schema by means of efficiency, consistency, usability and overall quality. The methodology can be deployed either in the process of designing an application or in the process of reengineering it. Evaluation is performed according to a number of inspection steps. At first level the compositions used in the hypertext design are evaluated, followed by a second level evaluation concerning data manipulation and presentation to the user.


Abstract Hydraulic fracturing and oil and natural gas development are possibly the most contentious energy and environmental issues to face the USA in the twenty-first century. One point of contention is the disclosure of fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing process. This paper analyses the Colorado 2011 policy requiring disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluid information, considered one of the first comprehensive hydraulic fracturing disclosure policies in the country. We conduct an institutional analysis of the disclosure policy to understand how the policy establishes information flows and grants and restricts choices by targeted actors. We then analyse the opinions of people actively involved in hydraulic fracturing debates in Colorado to assess whether they view the disclosure policy as resolving problems. The institutional analysis illustrates how the policy allocates responsibilities in sending and receiving information and the opinion survey shows divergence in perceptions of its potential to resolve problems associated with chemical use or disclosure. Most respondents are in agreement that the new policy failed to build public trust of the hydraulic fracturing process.


Objective: To evaluate how effective was the conserva-tive treatment in managing congenital talipes equinovarus deformity. Methods: This is a retrospective study of 25 children treated with manipulation, casting followed by percutane-ous tenotomy at the age of thee months with casting till age of walking with a follow-up between 2-5 years 25 pa-tients 18 males 7females M\F (2.6-1), 19 bilateral (15 My 4 F), 6 unilateral (3 M, 3 F) total of 44 feet. Result: The first three months offer the skilled and knowledgeable surgeon a golden opportunity to correct the deformity by manipulation and casting. Proper manipula-tive techniques followed by the applications of well-molded plaster casts offer the best and safest correction of most clubfeet in infants. Failures of manipulative treatment usually occur when the surgeon lacks a thorough knowledge of the kinematics and pathological anatomy of the deformity. Conclusion: CTEV can be treated by manipulation, casting and ETA in about 70% of cases with good results if managed early and by skilled orthopedic surgeon. Some feet are unpredictable and in spite of the severity of the deformity, respond well to conservative treatment.


We describe the development of laser optics utilizing liquid crystals. Devices discussed constitute passive optical elements for both low-power and high-power laser systems, operating in either the pulsed or cw mode. Designs and fabrication methods are given in detail for wave plates, circular polarizers, optical isolators, laser-blocking notch filters, and soft apertures. Performance data in the visible to near infrared show these devices to be useful alternatives to other technologies based on conventional glasses, crystals, or thin films. The issue of laser damage is examined on the basis of off-line threshold testing and daily use in OMEGA, the 24-beam Nd:glass laser system at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Results demonstrate that long-term survivability has been achieved.


ABSTRACT This article retraces the history of a FIAT factory located in a greenfield site in the South of Italy through representations of industrial work that have evolved over time. Relying on ethnographic research that I conducted in the towns of Melfi and Potenza, I describe how different forms of understanding the work done there oppose, affect and modify each other. The factory's history from the early 1990s to recent years is divided into three main phases. The first section shows that external and self-produced representations of work were widely opposed in the first decade following the opening of the factory. The second section focuses on a strike that broke out in 2004, and its consequences in terms of collective memory. Finally, the third section demonstrates how some images shared by workers and local community have evolved from negative to positive, in a context of economic crisis. For each of the phases of the history of the factory, this article highlights local, national and global factors that determine the frames of reference within which perceptions of work are built.


In this study, a new approach to design biosensors based on selective thermal emitters is developed. This approach allows the detection of biological molecules or chemical compounds in solution using the unique thermal emissivity spectra of each molecule. However in the last decades the applied and developed biosensors mainly use changes in electrical properties such as current or voltage or changes in optical characteristics caused by surface Plasmon resonance or fluorescence. After years of research, these sensors still show disadvantages such as high cost and timeconsumptions. Biosensors based on selective thermal emitter provide an opportunity to avoid these weaknesses while they show a high selectivity and sensitivity, if the emission spectrum matches with the analyte(s) of interest. Therefore, various different designs of selective emitters are simulated. The physical principles of radiation heat transfer are transferred into a MATLAB code in order to analyze and compare the different emissivity spectra with certain molecules and chemical compounds. The investigated designs are thin film applications (single and multilayer) as well as polymers doped with nanoparticles. The needed optical properties, defined by the permittivity of the materials are implemented, as well. The results show that selective thermal emitter can serve as biosensors e.g. for DNA due to their unique spectrum of emissivity.


Aerosols produced from different metal samples with the aid of a high-repetition-rate spark (400 s−1) at medium voltage were investigated with an automated electron microprobe. Particles produced from different aluminium-alloy, brass, and iron samples were mostly spherical in shape, with a mean particle diameter between 1 and 2 μm. The composition of the particles well matches the bulk composition, but elemental redistribution over the different particle size classes occurs. It is postulated from the data obtained that analyte evaporation from a liquid phase in the burning crater and sputtering of material that only partly remelts when passing through the spark channel could be responsible for the aerosol production.


Potential-based reward shaping provides an approach for designing good reward functions, with the purpose of speeding up learning. However, automatically finding potential functions for complex environments is a difficult problem (in fact, of the same difficulty as learning a value function from scratch). We propose a new framework for learning potential functions by leveraging ideas from graph representation learning. Our approach relies on Graph Convolutional Networks which we use as a key ingredient in combination with the probabilistic inference view of reinforcement learning. More precisely, we leverage Graph Convolutional Networks to perform message passing from rewarding states. The propagated messages can then be used as potential functions for reward shaping to accelerate learning. We verify empirically that our approach can achieve considerable improvements in both small and high-dimensional control problems.


The minimalist program, with its clear separation between constituency, relevant to LF, and linear order, relevant to PF, makes it possible and, I would claim, natural to pursue an approach to 'free' word order as the result of underspecification.In contrast with the prevailing tradition that identifies one basic order and derives the rest by different 'movement' operations, I will suggest that it is the lack of ordering stipulations that allows the free permutations of major sentence constituents in languages like Warlpiri (Hale 1983) and the different subject positions in languages like Spanish. This proposal is not equivalent to the postulation of 'flat' structures for certain languages. The structures delivered to LF are necessarily hierarchical, given the properties of Merge, which combines two elements at a time. In this respect, Warlpiri and English are alike. It is only the PF structures that can differ with respect to how much stipulation is needed.


In this paper we analyze a mass transportation problem in a bounded domain with the possibility to transport mass to/from the boundary, paying the transport cost, that is given by the Euclidean distance plus an extra cost depending on the exit/entrance point. This problem appears in import/export model, as well as in some shape optimization problems. We study the L^p summability of the transport density which does not follow from standard theorems, as the target measures are not absolutely continuous but they have some parts of them which are concentrated on the boundary. We also provide the relevant duality arguments to connect the corresponding Beckmann and Kantorovich problems to a formulation with Kantorovich potentials with Dirichlet boundary conditions.


Introduction Minilaparotomy hysterectomy (MLH) relies on the simplicity of the traditional open technique of abdominal hysterectomy, imparts cosmesis and faster recovery of laparoscopic hysterectomy yet avoids the long learning curve and cost of expensive setup and instrumentation associated with the minimally invasive approaches, namely, laparoscopy and robotics. In the present study, we tried to ascertain whether the results obtained with MLH can be compared to LAVH in terms of its feasibility, intraoperative variables, and complications. The null hypothesis was that both MLH and LAVH are comparable techniques; thus, where cost and surgeon's experience are the confining issues, patients can be reassured that MLH gives comparable results. Materials and Methods This was a prospective observational study done over a period of two years at a university teaching hospital. A total of 65 patients were recruited, but only 52 (MLH: 27; LAVH: 25) could be included in final analysis. All surgeries were performed by one of the two gynecologists with almost equal surgical competence, and outcomes were compared. Results MLH is a feasible option for benign gynecological pathologies as none of the patients required increase in the initial incision (4–6 cm). MLH could be done for larger uteri (MLH: 501.30 ± 327.96 g versus LAVH: 216.60 ± 160.01 g; p < 0.001), in shorter duration (MLH: 115.00 ± 21.43 min versus LAVH 172.00 ± 27.91 min; p < 0.001), with comparable blood loss (MLH: 354.63 ±227.96 ml; LAVH: 402.40 ± 224.02 ml; p=0.334), without serious complications when compared to LAVH. Conclusion The technique of MLH should be mastered and encouraged to be used in low-resource setting to get results comparable to laparoscopic surgery. This trial is registered with NCT03548831.


An introduction to the economics of the environment, it provides a coherent chain of theoretical and empirical reasoning on environmental problems and measures to control them and reduce their severity. It equips the reader with the basic tools needed to assess the economic damage caused by materials discharged to air, water, and other environmental media. The all-new Chapter 2 in this edition makes the text more accessible by applying the basic elements of microeconomics analysis to environmental issues: supply and demand for ordinary and environmental goods, emphasizing both similarities and differences; also market failure, public goods, property rights, the "free rider" problem, and externalities. A section on hazardous substances has been added along with a discussion of the latest environmental alternative reforms. The book now ends with a new chapter on the prospects for environmental economics. In Part I, the authors establish a theoretical base for the material in subsequent sections. They review key elements of microeconomic theory and extend them to include polluting discharges. Principles of welfare economics, of market failure from externalities, and of benefit-cost analysis receive careful exposition. They are then applied to alternative government programs such as effluent fees, subsidies, and regulation designed to optimize resource allocation in the presence of externalities. Part II draws together technical data on water, air, and solid-waste discharges. Sources, amounts, damages, abatement techniques, and benefit-cost calculations are pollutants. The final section deals with pollution-control programs now in effect, proposals for new policies, and future role of environmental economics.


We present the results of an optical spectroscopic monitoring program targeting NGC 5548 as part of a larger multiwavelength reverberation mapping campaign. The campaign spanned 6 months and achieved an almost daily cadence with observations from five ground-based telescopes. The Hβ and He ii λ4686 broad emission-line light curves lag that of the 5100 Å optical continuum by and , respectively. The Hβ lag relative to the 1158 Å ultraviolet continuum light curve measured by the Hubble Space Telescope is ∼50% longer than that measured against the optical continuum, and the lag difference is consistent with the observed lag between the optical and ultraviolet continua. This suggests that the characteristic radius of the broad-line region is ∼50% larger than the value inferred from optical data alone. We also measured velocity-resolved emission-line lags for Hβ and found a complex velocity-lag structure with shorter lags in the line wings, indicative of a broad-line region dominated by Keplerian motion. The responses of both the Hβ and He ii emission lines to the driving continuum changed significantly halfway through the campaign, a phenomenon also observed for C iv, Lyα, He ii(+O iii]), and Si iv(+O iv]) during the same monitoring period. Finally, given the optical luminosity of NGC 5548 during our campaign, the measured Hβ lag is a factor of five shorter than the expected value implied by the RBLR–LAGN relation based on the past behavior of NGC 5548.


We describe an optical system for detecting the movement of a surface with subnanosecond temporal and nanometer vertical displacement resolution. The system is fielded on an experiment to determine the distortion of a laser-ablated metal layer and compare the results with hydrodynamic simulations. We also discuss errors that can arise and potential means to mitigate them. The resultant data show one can examine dynamic changes to a reflective surface with accuracy down to tens of nanometers at hundreds of picoseconds time resolution.


This paper seeks to extend the unidimensional notion of Lorenz dominance to the multidimensional context. It formulates a definition of a multidimensional Lorenz dominance relation (MLDR) on the set of alternative distributions of well-being in an economy by incorporating generalizations of the well-known Pigou-Dalton condition of unidimensional theory. Besides the definitional requirements, an MLDR is also desired to satisfy two other conditions which seem to be intuitively reasonable. The paper notes that the existing literature does not seem to contain an example of an MLDR with these characteristics and seeks to close this gap.


Active participation in the liturgy, which should be primarily internal and fostered by external participation, is the primary concern of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the sacred liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. Having investigated the historical effects of the Council and the ensuing liturgical reform on the music in the liturgies of St Peter and St Paul's, Wolverhampton, this experiment gradually introduced the liturgical music envisaged by Sacrosanctum Concilium into a weekly Mass and uses ethnographic techniques to investigate whether the active participation of the people increased. This paper examines attitudes to active participation, to congregational singing and listening, and the construction of liturgical atmosphere. This experiment in reforming the post-conciliar liturgical reform shows that it is possible and desirable to provide music that is in continuity with the liturgical tradition of the Church and which, therefore, does not sever the chain of collective memory which that tradition has established over centuries. The results concerning whether the internal participation of the people was heighted by the experiment are inconclusive, but the atmosphere was perceived to have improved, and people were willing to sing their parts of the Mass and to listen to a cantor.


The term 'frailty' has often been used—by clinicians and researchers alike—to characterize the most vulnerable and weak amongst the elderly. The treatment and care of this subgroup of older individuals presents the most challenge to clinicians and other health care professionals. Although there is no clear consensus on the issue of definition of frailty, most definitions emphasize the multi-system functional impairment and increased vulnerability to stressors. In order to intervene early and reverse or delay the decline in functional (physical and mental) capacity, it is of utmost importance to diagnose and objectively quantify the degree of functional deficit. This article aims to take an holistic approach by reviewing current and emerging tools and technologies available to assess multi-system functional impairment in older adults. Several widely-used indices of frailty, tests of physical function, and questionnaires to assess quality of daily life, nutritional status and mental and emotional functioning in older adults will be discussed in brief. Finally one emerging technology, accelerometry, which may enable the early diagnosis of loss of functional capacity as well as provide the ability to objectively quantify the degree of deficit in both clinical and non-clinical environments, will be described.


Recently, Kempf and Koodli have proposed a security protocol for Fast Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6). Through the SEcure Neighbor Discovery (SEND) protocol, it achieves secure distribution of a handover key, and consequently becomes a security standard for FMIPv6. However, it is still vulnerable to redirection attacks. In addition, due to the SEND protocol, it suffers from denial of service attacks and expensive computational cost. In this paper, we present a security protocol, which enhances Kempf-Koodli's one with the help of the AAA infrastructure.


An age-dependent association between variation at the FTO locus and BMI in children has been suggested. We meta-analyzed associations between the FTO locus (rs9939609) and BMI in samples, aged from early infancy to 13 years, from 8 cohorts of European ancestry. We found a positive association between additional minor (A) alleles and BMI from 5.5 years onwards, but an inverse association below age 2.5 years. Modelling median BMI curves for each genotype using the LMS method, we found that carriers of minor alleles showed lower BMI in infancy, earlier adiposity rebound (AR), and higher BMI later in childhood. Differences by allele were consistent with two independent processes: earlier AR equivalent to accelerating developmental age by 2.37% (95% CI 1.87, 2.87, p = 10−20) per A allele and a positive age by genotype interaction such that BMI increased faster with age (p = 10−23). We also fitted a linear mixed effects model to relate genotype to the BMI curve inflection points adiposity peak (AP) in infancy and AR. Carriage of two minor alleles at rs9939609 was associated with lower BMI at AP (−0.40% (95% CI: −0.74, −0.06), p = 0.02), higher BMI at AR (0.93% (95% CI: 0.22, 1.64), p = 0.01), and earlier AR (−4.72% (−5.81, −3.63), p = 10−17), supporting cross-sectional results. Overall, we confirm the expected association between variation at rs9939609 and BMI in childhood, but only after an inverse association between the same variant and BMI in infancy. Patterns are consistent with a shift on the developmental scale, which is reflected in association with the timing of AR rather than just a global increase in BMI. Results provide important information about longitudinal gene effects and about the role of FTO in adiposity. The associated shifts in developmental timing have clinical importance with respect to known relationships between AR and both later-life BMI and metabolic disease risk.


In May 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance entitled 'Challenging behaviour and learning disabilities: prevention and interventions for people with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges'.1 The guideline concerns children (aged 12 years or younger) and young adults (13–17 years) covering principles of management.

The British Psychological Society published a report entitled 'Challenging behaviour: a unified approach' in 2007.2 This guideline was developed for clinical psychologists working mainly within the child and adolescent mental health services. To our knowledge, the NICE guideline1 is the first to provide guidance to paediatricians and general practitioners working in this field.

Learning disability : This guideline highlights that 'Learning disability' is the most widely and accepted term in the UK — defined by three core criteria:

1. Lower intellectual ability (IQ <70)

2. Significant impairment of social adaptive functioning

3. Onset in childhood

'Behaviour that challenges' is not a diagnosis and is used in this guideline to indicate that although difficult behaviour may be a challenge to services, family members or carers, it may serve a purpose for the person with a learning disability and often indicates an unmet need.

The terminology in intellectual disability is a contentious issue. In this guideline, the term 'Behaviour that challenges' is used rather than 'challenging behaviour' to highlight that an individual with challenging behaviour is not the only one requiring treatment and to therefore ensure that other elements such as the environment, skills, attitudes of carers/staff and service capabilities are simultaneously assessed and are also the focus of intervention.

It is relatively common for people with a learning disability to develop behaviour that challenges (5%–15%), acknowledging that objective assessment is often difficult.

### Assessment

1. Pre-assessment : Early identification of behaviour that challenges is the key. Everyone involved in caring for and supporting children and young adults …


Book synopsis: "The New Handbook of Second Language Acquisition" is a thoroughly revised, re-organized, and re-worked edition of Ritchie and Bhatia's 1996 handbook. The work is divided into six parts, each devoted to a different aspect of the study of SLA. Part I includes a recent history of methods used in SLA research and an overview of currently used methods. Part II contains chapters on Universal Grammar, emergentism, variationism, information-processing, sociocultural, and cognitive-linguistic. Part III is devoted to overviews of SLA research on lexicon, morphosyntax, phonology, pragmatics, sentence processing, and the distinction between implicit and explicit knowledge. Part IV examines neuropsycholgy of SLA, another on child SLA, and the effects of age on second language acquisition and use. Part V is concerned with the contribution of the linguistic environment to SLA, including work on acquisition in different environments, through the Internet, and by deaf learners. Finally, Part VI treats social factors in SLA, including research on acquisition in contact circumstances, on social identity in SLA, on individual differences in SLA, and on the final state of SLA, bilingualism.


This working paper provides a general overview of the corporate governance infrastructure in Ireland. Part I of the paper examines the legal infrastructure. Although corporate governance in Ireland, as in many other jurisdictions, involves a self regulatory code, this code operates in the context of a highly regulated, if not always strictly enforced, statutory environment. The legal infrastructure refers to the relevant laws and regulations which address corporate governance including most importantly company law and securities law. In addition to examining the rights and responsibilities prescribed for stakeholders, this section also involves a review of law enforcement in the event that stakeholder rights are abused. Part II examines Ireland's regulatory infrastructure which is intertwined with its legal infrastructure and which involves the bodies charged with regulating the marketplace. Although their remit and their regulatory status vary, the objective of these bodies is to ensure compliance with the relevant corporate governance regulations. Part III examines the informational infrastructure in Ireland which allows the disclosure of relevant material to corporate stakeholders in a timely fashion. Finally, part IV examines Ireland's market infrastructure. This includes a review of ownership structures, the functioning of public markets, approaches to public and private capital markets and the existence of a market for corporate control. In reviewing the corporate governance infrastructures, the paper acknowledges the many corporate governance failings which contributed to the recent banking crisis in Ireland and describes the various reforms which have been proposed as a result.


This book is the first to evaluate the development of feminist scholarship in various fields within Jewish studies. Eminent scholars in biblical studies, rabbinics, theology, history, literature, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and film studies assess the state of knowledge about women in each field, analyze how this knowledge has affected the mainstream of the discipline, and propose new questions and concepts to pursue. The authors-Joyce Antler, Lynn Davidman, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Judith Hauptman, Paula E. Hyman, Sonya Michel, Judith Plaskow, Susan Starr Sered, Naomi Sokoloff, Shelly Tenenbaum, and Hava Tirosh-Rothschild-consider a range of fascinating issues. Among them are: whether Jewish culture is as patriarchal as is typically assumed; how gender arrangements in Jewish life are shaped by the structures and culture of the larger societies in which Jews live; the different ways in which changes in Jewish families over time and place are experienced by women and by men; whether women or men have been more reluctant to assimilate; and how segregation of the sexes has affected women's autonomy in different periods and locations in Jewish history. Together, the articles present a strong argument for the inclusion of gender as a category of analysis in all fields of Jewish studies.


Epidemiologic, preclinical, and clinical trials suggest that green tea consumption may prevent prostate cancer through the action of green tea polyphenols including (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). To study the metabolism and bioactivity of green tea polyphenols in human prostate tissue, men with clinically localized prostate cancer consumed six cups of green tea (n = 8) daily or water (n = 9) for 3 to 6 weeks before undergoing radical prostatectomy. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, 4″-O-methyl EGCG (4″-MeEGCG) and EGCG were identified in comparable amounts, and (−)-epicatechin-3-gallate was identified in lower amounts in prostatectomy tissue from men consuming green tea (38.9 ± 19.5, 42.1 ± 32.4, and 17.8 ± 10.1 pmol/g tissue, respectively). The majority of EGCG and other green tea polyphenols were not conjugated. Green tea polyphenols were not detected in prostate tissue or urine from men consuming water preoperatively. In the urine of men consuming green tea, 50% to 60% of both (−)-epigallocatechin and (−)-epicatechin were present in methylated form with 4′-O-MeEGC being the major methylated form of (−)-epigallocatechin. When incubated with EGCG, LNCaP prostate cancer cells were able to methylate EGCG to 4″-MeEGCG. The capacity of 4″-MeEGCG to inhibit proliferation and NF-κB activation and induce apoptosis in LNCaP cells was decreased significantly compared with EGCG. In summary, methylated and nonmethylated forms of EGCG are detectable in prostate tissue following a short-term green tea intervention, and the methylation status of EGCG may potentially modulate its preventive effect on prostate cancer, possibly based on genetic polymorphisms of catechol O-methyltransferase. Cancer Prev Res; 3(8); 985–93. ©2010 AACR.


Due to its potential to improve programmer productivity and software quality, automated program repair has been an active topic of research. Newer techniques harness neural networks to learn directly from examples of buggy programs and their fixes. In this work, we consider a recently identified class of bugs called variable-misuse bugs. The state-of-the-art solution for variable misuse enumerates potential fixes for all possible bug locations in a program, before selecting the best prediction. We show that it is beneficial to train a model that jointly and directly localizes and repairs variable-misuse bugs. We present multi-headed pointer networks for this purpose, with one head each for localization and repair. The experimental results show that the joint model significantly outperforms an enumerative solution that uses a pointer based model for repair alone.


Coarse chop tomato puree was spiked with two levels of glucose, fructose, glucose/fructose, or sucrose and presented to a trained descriptive panel for flavor analysis. The resulting sugar levels of the tomato puree were increased 0, 2 or 3 percent, respectively. Six to eight panelists rated 5 aroma, 6 taste, and 3 aftertaste descriptors on a 15 cm unstructured line scale. Panelists detected significant differences (P< 0.15) for overall aroma, sweetness and sourness intensities. Overall aroma intensity was higher and overall taste generally lower in unspiked controls and samples with elevated glucose. Sweetness intensity in samples with elevated sucrose or fructose was rated higher, and sourness rated lower, than controls or samples with added glucose. Tomato samples spiked with fructose or sucrose were perceived by the panelists to be similar in sweetness and both were rated sweeter than controls or samples with added glucose. Samples with the higher concen trations of sugars were generally perceived to be sweeter and less sour than those with less sugar. In view of these results, breeding or engineering tomatoes to have higher levels of sucrose at the expense of fructose and glucose would not seem to improve flavor quality.


Background Elevated levels of circulating liver enzymes have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Their possible association with atrial fibrillation (AF) has received little attention. Methods We studied 9333 men and women, aged 53–75 years, free of AF, participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study followed-up from 1996 to 2010. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and γ glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) were measured in stored plasma samples. Incident AF was ascertained from hospitalisations and death certificates. Associations between liver enzymes and AF incidence were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results During a mean follow-up of 12 years, 1021 incident AF events were identified. Levels of AST, and to a lesser extent ALT, showed a U-shaped association with AF risk, with higher AF risk among individuals in the two extremes of the distribution in minimally adjusted models. The associations were weakened after adjustment for potential confounders. By contrast, GGT, modelled as log base 2, was linearly associated with AF risk after multivariable adjustment: a doubling of GGT levels was associated with a 20% increased risk of AF (95% CI 10% to 30%). Additional adjustment for inflammatory markers did not appreciably affect the results. Associations were not different in men and women, in whites and blacks, among never drinkers of alcohol, and among those without prevalent heart failure. Conclusions In this community-based prospective study, higher levels of liver enzymes, mainly GGT, were associated with an increased risk of AF. The mechanisms underlying this association deserve further scrutiny.


Focusing on the ways in which women writers from across the political spectrum engage with and adapt Wollstonecraft's political philosophy in order to advocate feminist reform, Andrew McInnes explores the aftermath of Wollstonecraft's death, the controversial publication of William Godwin's memoir of his wife, and Wollstonecraft's reception in the early nineteenth century. McInnes positions Wollstonecraft within the context of the eighteenth-century female philosopher figure as a literary archetype used in plays, poetry, polemic and especially novels, to represent the thinking woman and address anxieties about political, religious, and sexual heterodoxy. He provides detailed analyses of the ways in which women writers such as Mary Hays, Elizabeth Hamilton, Amelia Opie, and Maria Edgeworth negotiate Wollstonecraft's reputation as personal, political, and sexual pariah to reformulate her radical politics for a post-revolutionary Britain in urgent need of reform. Frances Burney's The Wanderer and Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, McInnes suggests, work as state-of-the-nation novels, drawing on Wollstonecraft's ideas to explore a changing England. McInnes concludes with an examination of Mary Shelley's engagement with her mother throughout her career as a novelist, arguing that Shelley gradually overcomes her anxiety over her mother's stature to address Wollstonecraft's ideas with increasing confidence.


Three-dimensional numerical models are needed to investigate the role of nonvertical strike-slip fault segments on the deformation within restraining bends. Numerical models simulate geologic deformation of two alternative three-dimensional present-day configurations for the San Andreas fault through the restraining bend within the San Gorgonio Pass region (SGPR) in Southern California. Both models produce decreasing strike-slip rates southward along the San Bernardino strand of the San Andreas fault, similar to geologic data. The north-dipping San Andreas fault model better matches the available strike-slip data as well as the geologic uplift data for the southern San Bernardino Mountains than the vertical San Andreas fault model. We conclude that a north-dipping fault configuration is preferred for models of the San Andreas fault in the SGPR. The complexity of the active fault geometry at the SGPR promotes the transfer of strike slip from the San Andreas fault to the nearby but unconnected San Jacinto fault. Slip rates and uplift patterns are sensitive to fault geometry within strike-slip restraining bends.


Uttarakhand state comes under special category state where approximately 69.45% population lived in rural area under the population density with varied range of 37 to 607 persons per sq.km. Although Uttarakhand is having per capita consumption of 1112.29 kWh which is higher than national average per capita consumption of 779 kWh as till date, but remote communities, villages are not able to access clean, cheep and good quality of energy due to uneven terrain, lack of proper transmission & distribution lines [1]. 100% villages are electrified under the RGGVY scheme as per the Ministry of Power Government of India, but due to poor loading of transformer, lack of grid infrastructure and natural calamities, remote house owners are not able to get good quality of power thus affect the livelihood and source of income generation in various means [2]. As Uttarakhand state having future plans to be make state energy sufficient and energy access to all by year 2016-2017, so major ground level initiative have been taken by Government of Uttarakhand. The government of Uttarakhand has incorporated innovative business model to provide good quality of power with non-conventional energy source. Under the initiative invlovement of local people and village level, panchayats have ownership and responsibility to operate these clean energy business model to improve livelihood in remote hilly places of Uttarakhand. Under this analysis, five different type of community models are categorized as Community 1, Community 2, Community 3, Standalone 1 & Standalone 2 for rural &remote communities based on number of unclustered households with the distance covered between 200 m to 20 km, and electrical loads i.e. lighting, fan, mobile chargers, television along with time of day energy consumption patterns. These community models are for remote hilly location where grid integration and distribution lines are not feasible to built due to hilly terrain, low soil strength and huge expenses for expanding power cables for supplying good quality power. The preliminary studies and simulations has been done in HOMER tool by considering the various composite source of power, i.e. Solar PV with battery bank, Solar PV with battery Bank & Generator, and Solar PV along with DG. These three hybrid source of power generation with Solar PV as base source under five different community models, the techno-commercial feasibility has been analyzed in terms of load sharing proposition with Solar PV and battery, DG, Energy production through PV, load consumption per year, Excess and unmet energy monitoring, battery sizing to meet the load during nights, DG operation when the solar energy not available due to weather condition and non availability of sunshine in night. Financial feasibility has been examined in terms of levelized cost of energy, cost summary and O&M cost per year of three integrated sources of energy generation with Solar PV under each community model. Solar PV power plant , which is the best renewable source of energy to cater energy access issue in remote hilly places. The Uttarakhand receives good amout of daily average radiation level of 5.14 - 5.50 kWh/m2/day. Financial feasible community models for different hilly region based on their energy consumption need to be implemented with the help of local community by providing ownership to local people, panchayat, for it not only caters energy access issue but also provides clean, cheep, uninterruptable energy and improves livelihood standard to locals by engaging them into operation maintenance and tariff or rent collection. The study shows that Solar PV power plant with battery bank is the optimal solution considering life cycle cost of hybrid system. It is feasible due to low operation and maintenance cost, price declination of battery and Solar PV module, battery prices at time of replacement.


Background The use of enteral nutrition (EN) algorithm optimizes nutrition by increasing the intake of calories in critically ill patients, but it does not compensate for loss of feeding time due to frequent interruptions as during fasting for operation or investigation.Aims were to compare implementation of enteral feeding support algorithm based on the SCCM/A.S.P.E.N guidelines and modifications to this algorithm (using a protocol that shifted from an hourly rate target goal to a twenty four hour volume goal). Settings and Design Case control study in the surgical ICU of zagazig university hospital. Methods and Material Patients of group1 were given caloric requirements as five bolus meals, patients of group 2 were given Fresubin by continuous infusion with hourly rate target goal and in Group 3 there was a Shift from hourly rate target goal to 24 hour volume goal and metoclopramide 10 mg I.V. q. 6 hours with the start of EN. Results There were statistically significant differences between groups regarding adequacy of caloric intake in 2nd, 3rd days and the overall adequacy of calories in all four days, where Group 2 provided more EN adequacy than Group 1 (P=0.02, 0.001, 0.01) respectively, and Group 3 provided more calories adequacy than Group1in 3rd day and overall adequacy (P=0.008 and 0.007) respectively. Also Patients in Group 2and 3 started accommodating EN earlier and had less episodes of vomiting than patients in group 1, (P value=0.043 and0.003 respectively). Conclusion The use of EN protocol provides more adequacy of calories and proteins from EN in comparison to bolus meals.


It is unknown to what degree single-gender classrooms relate to the overall student performance, when compared to the performance of students coming from co-educational school setting. It is thus imperative for educators and parents alike to note whether or not the single-gender classrooms have an effect on academic performance, in order to close the gender gap. This study investigated whether there is any difference between the academic performances (exam results) of: the students coming from the co-educational classrooms, and the students from the same-gender classrooms. In order to examine this objective, eight schools of Karachi (Pakistan) were selected, among which four schools are co-educational while the other four are singlegender. For this research, Classes 1 till Class 10 were taken into consideration, and the average results are selected for the analysis in order to determine the relation between the results of the single-gender setting and the coeducational setting. The statistical technique of the Independent Sample Ttest was used in order to examine any significant differences between the academic performances (exam results) of the students coming from the two settings. The findings of this research indicated that there are statistically significant differences in the academic performances (exam results); suggesting that on average, students from the single-gender classrooms have a significantly higher mean of exam-performance than do students from the coeducation classrooms. To conclude, the said phenomenon is observed among students, which shows that academic performance can be gauged by the level of involvement students have in the class rooms.


A new aberrant species of the planorbid genus Gyraulus, Gyraulus luguhuensis n. sp., is described from Lake Lugu (Lugu-hu, in Chinese), Southwest China. The generic assignment with Gyraulus is based on features of the genital anatomy that are characteristic for members of that genus, in particular the presence of a chitinized penial stylet. Gyraulus luguhuensis n. sp. differs from most other congeners by its large, thick shell with an elevated spire. Similarly, aberrant shells are known from congeners in other Ancient Lakes worldwide indicating a potentially convergent evolution of shell characteristics in exclusively lacustrine species. Gyraulus luguhuensis differs from other lacustrine Gyraulus species with similarly large shells in having a sub-terminal penis pore and an unkeeled shell.


The purpose of the VIRGO experiment is to detect gravitational waves produced by astrophysical sources in a frequency range between 10 Hz and some KHz.
VIRGO is the unique interferometric detector devoted to detect signals below 50 Hz and one of its main goals is to extend the low frequency detection threshold down to a few Hz (to enlarge the potentially detectable sources number). In this frequency range, the seismic noise limits the detector sensitivity. One of the most efficient Seismic Attenuation System (SAS) for gravitational waves interferometers is a chain of pendula suspended from a very low-frequency stage called Inverted Pendulum (IP). Each interferometer optical component is supported by means of this particular suspension system. In the Naples VIRGO laboratory a simplified prototype of this interferometric detector is building. Thanks to this prototype interferometer it will be possible to develop and test new sensors as monolithic accelerometers and optical position sensors, new actuation systems to employ in the mirror control (electrostatic actuators) and designing new control system for the interferometer.
Besides the vibration isolation offered by the IP, residual motion of the mirror and of the pendula chain stages have to be damped. For this purpose a feedback system, using inertial sensors (accelerometers) and position sensors (LVDT) has been designed.
An original experimental procedure for determining the IP feedback control has been defined and tested on the system.
To improve feedback control system performance, new monolithic accelerometers has been developed in collaboration with the University of Salerno. Such a kind of new inertial sensors seems to be very promising and their use is not limited on inertial control but they can find employ as very low frequency seismometers. The accelerometers, shaped with precision machining and electric-discharge machining, are a very compact instrument, very sensitive in the low-frequency seismic noise band, with a very good immunity to environmental noises.
A characterization of this new inertial sensors has been performed. One of the most important parameter to determine the performance of this sensor is the mechanical quality factor. To this purpose, a vacuum chamber has been set up and mechanical quality factor measurements has been performed on different accelerometers model. In particular, one of the model tested has shown exceptional quality factor. Another parameter which determines the overall performance is the frequency resonance. The accelerometers are expressly designed to change this frequency because of the presence of a tuning mass. The measurements have shown very low frequency resonance values.
Additional research activity was related to the characterization of an alternate biased electrostatic actuator to be employed for the control of the suspended mirror. Electrostatic actuators (EA) are the most promising devices for mirror control for next generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors.
Characterization of electrostatic actuation force in air and in vacuum has been performed. The measures has been compared with a theoretical model. An efficient technique to investigate the spurious charge presence on the mass has been determined. This original procedure shows that, by driving the EA with a modulated bias, it is possible to minimize the unwanted additional force generated by the spurious charges.


Now in its thoroughly updated Third Edition, this classic work is the most comprehensive reference ever published on surgical flaps for reconstructing defects in the torso, pelvis, and lower extremities. In clearly organized chapters, internationally recognized surgeons describe and illustrate every clinically proven flap option available for repairing every routine and unusual defect. Complementing the text are hundreds of clinical photographs and diagrams of anatomy, blood supply, flap design, and operative procedures. The Third Edition features new chapters by the original experts who have made landmark contributions to the recent literature. Many chapters from the previous edition have been completely revised. Wherever appropriate, the editors have added editorial comments to guide the reader in selection of flaps. The volume is extensively indexed and organized by anatomic region, and chapters follow a uniform format that clearly presents all the information needed on each flap--indications, anatomy, blood supply, surgical techniques, complications, safeguards to keep in mind, and advantages and disadvantages of the flap. From this remarkably complete collection of clinical information, surgeons can select with confidence the best flap for safe, predictable, and aesthetically acceptable results.


Inflammation induced by infectious and noninfectious triggers in the kidney may lead to end stage renal disease (ESRD). Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9) a receptor for CpG DNA is involved in activation of immune cells in renal disease and may contribute to chronic inflammatory disease progression through an interleukin-6 (IL-6) dependent pathway. Previous studies indicate that -1237T/C confers regulatory effects on TLR-9 transcription. To date the effect of TLR-9 polymorphisms on ESRD remains unknown. We performed a case-control study and genotyped 630 ESRD patients and 415 controls for - 1237T/C, -1486T/C and 1635G/A by real-time PCR assays and assessed plasma concentration of IL-6 by ELISA. Haplotype association analysis was performed using the Haploview package. A luciferase reporter assay and real-time PCR were used to test the function of the -1237T/C promoter polymorphism. A significant association between -1237T/C in TLR-9 and ESRD was identified. The TCA, TTA and CCA haplotype of TLR-9 were associated with ESRD. ESRD patients carrying -1237TC had a higher mean plasma IL-6 level when compared with -1237TT. The TLR-9 transcriptional activity of the variant -1237CC allele is higher than the -1237TT allele. The results indicate that in a Han Chinese population the presence of the C allele of - 1237T/C in the TLR-9 gene increases susceptibility towards development of ESRD. In vitro studies demonstrate that -1237T/ C may be involved in the development of ESRD through transcriptional modulation of TLR-9.


Taking advantage of the xenobiotic nature of bacterial infections, we tested whether the cytotoxicity of protein aggregation can be targeted to bacterial pathogens without affecting their mammalian hosts. In particular, we examined if peptides encoding aggregation‐prone sequence segments of bacterial proteins can display antimicrobial activity by initiating toxic protein aggregation in bacteria, but not in mammalian cells. Unbiased in vitro screening of aggregating peptide sequences from bacterial genomes lead to the identification of several peptides that are strongly bactericidal against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Upon parenteral administration in vivo, the peptides cured mice from bacterial sepsis without apparent toxic side effects as judged from histological and hematological evaluation. We found that the peptides enter and accumulate in the bacterial cytosol where they cause aggregation of bacterial polypeptides. Although the precise chain of events that leads to cell death remains to be elucidated, the ability to tap into aggregation‐prone sequences of bacterial proteomes to elicit antimicrobial activity represents a rich and unexplored chemical space to be mined in search of novel therapeutic strategies to fight infectious diseases.


APE1/Ref-1 is thought to be a multifunctional protein involved in reduction-oxidation (redox) regulation and base excision DNA repair, and is required for early embryonic development in mice. APE1/Ref-1 has redox activity and AP endonuclease activity, and is able to enhance DNA-binding activity of several transcription factors, including NF-kappaB, AP-1 and p53, through reduction of their critical cysteine residues. However, it remains elusive exactly how APE1/Ref-1 carries out its essential functions in vivo. Here, we show that APE1/Ref-1 not only reduces target transcription factors directly but also facilitates their reduction by other reducing molecules such as glutathione or thioredoxin. The new activity of APE1/Ref-1, termed redox chaperone activity, is exerted at concentration significantly lower than that required for its redox activity and is neither dependent on its redox activity nor on its AP endonuclease activity. We also show evidence that redox chaperone activity of APE1/Ref-1 is critical to NF-kappaB-mediated gene expression in human cells and is mediated through its physical association with target transcription factors. Thus, APE1/Ref-1 may play multiple roles in an antioxidative stress response pathway through its different biochemical activities. These findings also provide new insight into the mechanism of intracellular redox regulation.


Recent years have seen a large amount of empirical studies related to "embodied cognition." While interesting and valuable, there is something dissatisfying with the current state of affairs in this research domain. Hypotheses tend to be underspecified, testing in general terms for embodied versus disembodied processing. The lack of specificity of current hypotheses can easily lead to an erosion of the embodiment concept, and result in a situation in which essentially any effect is taken as positive evidence. Such erosion is not helpful to the field and does not do justice to the importance of embodiment. Here we want to take stock, and formulate directions for how it can be studied in a more fruitful fashion. As an example we will describe few example studies that have investigated the role of sensori-motor systems in the coding of meaning ("embodied semantics"). Instead of focusing on the dichotomy between embodied and disembodied theories, we suggest that the field move forward and ask how and when sensori-motor systems and behavior are involved in cognition.


The tritium bred in a deuterium-tritium fusion reactor is removed from its blanket by using helium sweep gas mixed with some amount of hydrogen to promote the release rate. From the viewpoint of uptake capacity at the partial pressure of tritium and ease of tritium transfer to the main fuel cycle, a cryosorption bed, which uses molecular sieves or activated carbon at the liquid nitrogen temperature, is attractive for recovery of bred tritium in the blanket sweep gas. The cryosorption bed is also applicable as a transfer pump of tritium in the fuel-handling process. Tritium cryosorbedfrom a certain subunit of the fuel-handling system is transferred to other subunits by an increase in temperature and the operation of valves. It is necessary to know the adsorption isotherm and the mass transfer coefficient of each hydrogen isotope for estimation of breakthrough performances of tritium in a cryosorption bed because the mixture of tritium with other hydrogen isotopes must be treated. It is observed that the isotope effects in adsorption capacity and surface diffusivity have a close connection with the quantum effect that is represented by the reduced molecular weight. The correlative equation between Langmuir constants in the adsorption isotherm with reduced molecular weight of hydrogen isotopes is proposed. The correlative equation between surface diffusivity and reduced molecular weight is also presented.


VEGF-A promotes angiogenesis in many tissues. Here we report that choroidal neovascularization (CNV) incited by injury was increased by excess VEGF-A before injury but was suppressed by VEGF-A after injury. This unorthodox antiangiogenic effect was mediated via VEGFR-1 activation and VEGFR-2 deactivation, the latter via Src homology domain 2-containing (SH2-containing) tyrosine phosphatase-1 (SHP-1). The VEGFR-1-specific ligand placental growth factor-1 (PlGF-1), but not VEGF-E, which selectively binds VEGFR-2, mimicked these responses. Excess VEGF-A increased CNV before injury because VEGFR-1 activation was silenced by secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC). The transient decline of SPARC after injury revealed a temporal window in which VEGF-A signaling was routed principally through VEGFR-1. These observations indicate that therapeutic design of VEGF-A inhibition should include consideration of the level and activity of SPARC.


Although the activated sludge models for waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) offer comprehensive description of their involved biochemical and physical processes, it is a challenging task to calibrate the model for the operational plant. The article first presents a systematic calibrating procedure applied to the Activated Sludge Model No.1 (ASM 1), showing its potential to be extended to other WWTPs. It particularly addresses cases when comprehensive knowledge on the WWTP influent composition does not exist. An optimisation‐based approach is used for the WWTP model calibration and for finding the partially unknown influent composition. Dynamic model validation shows good match between model predicted values and WWTP measured data. Second, a new feed‐forward control strategy is designed for the WWTP and compared with the conventional nitrate‐nitrite nitrogen and dissolved oxygen control. The evaluation based on the effluent quality index, pumping and aeration energy and the number of effluent violations assessment tools, demonstrates incentives for the proposed control approach.


The transporter associated with Ag processing (TAP) translocates cytosolic peptides into the endoplasmic reticulum, where they can bind to MHC class I molecules. TAP does not translocate all peptides with equal efficiency, but selects peptides with regard to both their length and their sequence and, in this manner, affects the pool of peptides available for binding to MHC class I molecules. It has been demonstrated that peptide selection by TAP predominantly occurs during the first step in the translocation process, namely the association of the peptide with a binding site present on the TAP molecule. In this study, we identify four regions, two on the TAP1 and two on the TAP2 subunit, that make major contributions to this binding site. For both TAP1 and TAP2, the identified regions overlap with the cytosol-membrane boundaries of the two transmembrane segments closest to the ATP binding site. Our data are consistent with a model in which the transmembrane segments of TAP form a pore in the membrane, with the peptide binding site being formed by the cytosolic mouth of this pore.