Introduction Speech is a complex process requiring intellectual and physical capabilities. At times, this process can become compromised making the verbalization of thoughts difficult, therefore other methods of communication may be required. Alternative and augmentative forms of communication (often known as AAC) can help individuals with a wide range of speech and language such as Autism, Downs' Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Aphasia. Examples of alternative means of communication include the use of symbols to convey a message often with synthesized text to speech. This has proven to be an effective alternative and can allow people to hold conversations, participate (Light & McNaughton, 2012) and enhance their quality of life (Hill, 2012). However, there have been some challenges in achieving this in the Arab region due to the lack of Arabic symbol inventories and reliance on Westernized symbols (Hock & Lafi, 2011), and as a result, uptake and the positive outcomes of using AAC have been limited. The Arabic symbol dictionary research team has endeavored to create a new freely available resource that will be the first of its kind and is focused on creating culturally, environmentally, religiously and linguistically appropriate symbols for the Arab AAC community. Through engagement with AAC users, teachers, therapists and parents using a participatory approach, the team have found that current Westernized symbols are not appropriate for the region's culture and lifestyle. This paper aims to discuss what factors the team has taken into account to ensure the symbols are appropriate for the Arabic AAC population. Considerations to be discussed include; cultural adaptations, religious sensitivities, linguistic factors and suitable portrayal of the environment. Method At the outset of the project an expert group of advisors advised against the creation of a brand new symbol set and suggested the development of symbols that could complement existing symbol sets. As the research team adopted a participatory approach to solve design and developmental processes, a self-selecting AAC forum of teachers, therapists and parents was introduced to a choice of freely available symbol sets to compare to those they already used. Their choice would form the basis for the symbol dictionary development. The choice having been made, it was then essential to develop a set of criteria in collaboration with the AAC forum that would inform the adaptations made to any symbols that were felt to be culturally inappropriate or lacking in linguistic correctness. Criteria used to review the symbols included; flipping symbols especially those with arrows to follow Arabic sentence orientation from right to left, adapting dress to be modest and in line with Qatari and the modern general Arab dress code, adding darker physical features to characters, changing symbols which contained affection and/or mixing with the opposite gender, reducing greenery in the environment, consideration of social hierarchy, including nanny/maid in symbols related to the family unit, the inclusion of religious holidays and customs, local landmarks and food. Based on these criteria, the graphic designer would adapt the symbols and post them to the team's closed Google+ group for internal review. Once the symbol was reviewed by 3 team members, the symbol was uploaded to the Arabic Symbol Dictionary Symbol Manger where the AAC forum would later vote on a batch of adapted symbols. Symbols accepted as culturally suitable were then uploaded to the 'Tawasol' website for download for free by the public. Comments were analyzed and adaptations were made accordingly to the symbols that were voted as culturally inappropriate by the AAC forum and were re-voted on with the next batch of symbols. Results In the first round of voting where participants were asked to select their preferred symbol set, the ARASSAC symbol set was chosen. However only 3.4% of symbols were marked as 'good' due to the symbols being culturally sensitive. A number of symbols ('batch 1') were then adapted by the graphic designer and were voted on by 63 voters. The symbols' cultural acceptability increased to an average scoring of 4.14 out of 5 due to the cultural, religious, linguistic and environmental changes. 16.5% of comments were in relation to changes that needed to be made to the representation of culture (6.8%), religion (7.2%), language (2.4%) and environment (0.1%). A much smaller group of 21 voters voted on the second batch of newly developed symbols and the symbols' average cultural acceptability rating was 4.03 out of 5. 16.8% of comments were in relation to changes that needed to be made to the representation of culture (14%), religion (1.4%), language (1.4%) and environment (0%). The main comments regarding culture included ensuring women were wearing a black Abaya and Shayla and if they were in colored clothing that they did not "look like a maid". There were mixed comments about whether children should be represented in the symbols as wearing traditional Qatari dress or non-traditional dress. Physical features also were commonly commented on with requests for darker skin tones and facial hair for older male Figs. (e.g. father). Concerns were also raised about some hand gestures used in the symbols that did not agree with the Qatari culture (e.g. hand over chest to indicate 'thank you' is not used in Qatari culture). Symbols with Qatari foods such as those with rice and meat/chicken needed to have whole joints of lamb/chicken on the rice rather than small pieces. In terms of religious feedback this included ensuring women's hair was covered, symbols related to eating showed the character eating with the right hand, the five daily prayers showed the correct position for the sun and that women's feet were covered during prayer. Linguistic feedback suggested that symbols for pronouns needed to include the dual form as well as including male and female versions of each symbol, both features of the Arabic language. Environmental feedback included reducing greenery. Discussion The results showed a steady improvement in voters' rating of the cultural appropriateness of the symbols. The majority of comments were related to the representation of attire in the symbols and this has been discussed in detail internally within the team and also with participants. Many therapists and teachers requested that characters should be dressed in traditional Qatari dress and many others suggested this would only serve the needs of the Arabic Gulf AAC users and would not appeal to the general Arab population. Through conducting a survey the team came to the conclusion that it was best to create symbols with general Arab clothing and traditional Qatari dress to serve the needs of the widest Arabic AAC population. The differences in results between voting session two and three could be attributed to a number of factors. In the third session, voters were strongly encouraged to provide detailed comments about the suitability of the symbols and this may have caused them to be more critical in their feedback. Furthermore, the second round of voting was primarily on symbols of nouns where their representation tended to be universally accepted compared to those voted on in the third round of voting, which were predominantly actions, interactions and concepts that were less concrete and difficult to convey. It is also possible that voters were more confident with the voting process in the third round of voting and this affected the way they voted, giving them the confidence to be open with their opinions. Conclusion The contribution of the AAC forum and AAC users to this project has yielded ample feedback that is essential to making the Arabic Symbol Dictionary relevant and useful. The Arabic Symbol Dictionary team has made an active effort to maintain open communication lines with participants to guarantee, where possible, that the symbols are culturally, religiously, linguistically and environmentally appropriate. It is for this reason, and the lack of freely available culturally appropriate symbols, that participants have requested access to these symbols much earlier than their official release date. Participants also regularly contact the team with lists of words which they require adapted symbols for, that do not exist in available symbols sets or are inappropriate for the Qatari setting. Any symbols that have been designed and voted on have been added to the Tawasol website on a share alike creative commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0 license)[1] so they can be used by the community and companies providing communication devices. The team is also concurrently seeking feedback from other GCC and Arabic speaking countries to ensure this resource is utilized and made available to a widespread audience. With the majority of Arab countries having between 4–5% of disabilities attributed to speech impairments and numerous Arab countries showing between 13 and 15% of all disabilities related to communication, (Disability in the Arab Region, 2014) the need for such a resource is becoming increasingly apparent. References Hill, K. (2010). Advances in augmentative and alternative communication as quality-of-life technology. Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America, 21(1), 43–58. Hock, B. S. & Lafi, S., M. (2011). Assistive Communication Technologies for Augmentative Communication in Arab Countries: Research Issues. UNITAR e-Journal, 7(1), 57–66. Light, J., & McNaughton, D. (2012). Supporting the communication, language, and literacy development of children with complex communication needs: State of the science and future research priorities. Assistive Technology, 24(1), 34–44. Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA) League of Arab States, (2014). DISABILITY IN THE ARAB REGION AN OVERVIEW. Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


For the ViewCorrect project, an x-y plotter is built. This is a research setup for testing concurrent
real-time software. The context of the ViewCorrect project is to bring different disciplines,
involved in a mechatronic system project, in a structured way together and therefore making
the traditional gap between them smaller.
One way of bringing different disciplines together is co-simulation. This project has researched
the possibilities to co-simulate the CT-based plotter software written in gCSP with the
20-sim model that describes the behaviour of the ViewCorrect Plotter setup.
The existing model of the ViewCorrect Plotter setup has been adjusted and validated. The
difference between simulated and measured model is less than five percent. Next a 3D animation
model and controllers have been designed. The controllers are capable of controlling the position
of the pen.
The plotter software has been made in gCSP. A workflow is presented which allows the user
to make a drawing in a CAD drawing package and plot this drawing with the plotter. The
controllers, designed in 20-Sim, and the safety layer are embedded in the plotter software.
Co-simulation has been analysed in the scope of heterogeneous system design. A flexible
framework is designed to handle the requirements for and challenges related to co-simulation.
This framework has been evaluated in a case study. In this case study, the plotter software is
tested together with the model that describes the behaviour of the plant and the I/O of the
ViewCorrect Plotter setup. Co-simulation is a powerful tool for verification in a model-driven
design approach for embedded control systems, which brings engineers from different disciplines
in a natural way together. However the success of co-simulation depends on the quality of
models used for testing, like the model used for testing the software, and whether the design
environments allow for cooperation.
A systematic workflow is presented to isolate and solve causes of unexpected behaviour. It
uses parts of an existing approach, but is translated to a workflow for failure analyses at small
mechatronic setups. It is valuable to evaluate the workflow for a new research setup during
system engineering.
The ViewCorrect Plotter setup has been improved. The pen mechanism is redesigned and a
new configuration file is written for the FPGA board, which allows for generating multiple PWM
signals at different frequencies to be able to control the pen height. Linear encoders have been
implemented to the setup and a PCB is designed to process the plotter I/O. The PCB has the
same form factor and is stackable with the existing CE H-bridge PCB to a complete electronic
circuit to control a DC motor with an I/O board. A demonstration button, an emergency stop
button and a brake stop button can now be connected.


Abstract Increasing demand for cooking oil and biofuels has made palm oil, > 80% of which is grown in South-east Asia, the dominant globally traded vegetable oil. However, this region is host to some of the world's most biodiverse and threatened tropical forests. Strategic engagement with commercial operations is increasingly recognized to be an essential part of the solution for raising funds for conservation initiatives, raising consumer consciousness and potentially stemming environmental degradation. Linking market incentives towards conservation is also of critical importance because it is becoming widely recognized that conservation needs to begin to address the wider countryside (outside protected areas) where human–wildlife interactions are frequent and impacts are large. Using the Sumatran tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae as both a threatened species in its own right and emblematic for wider species diversity, we show that western consumers are willing to pay a significant premium for products using palm oil grown in a manner that reduces impacts on such species. Results suggest that the price premium associated with a 'tiger-friendly' accreditation may provide a useful additional tool to raise conservation funds and, within the right institutional context, serve as an inducement to address the problem of habitat and species loss.


Hurricanes and, more generally, tropical cyclones (TCs) are rare, complex natural phenomena of both scientific and public interest. The importance of understanding TCs in a changing climate has increased as recent TCs have had devastating impacts on human lives and communities. Moreover, good prediction and understanding about the complex nature of TCs can mitigate some of these human and property losses. Though TCs have been studied from many different angles, more work is needed from a statistical approach of providing prediction regions. The current state-of-the-art in TC prediction bands comes from the National Hurricane Center of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose proprietary model provides "cones of uncertainty" for TCs through an analysis of historical forecast errors.
The contribution of this paper is twofold. We introduce a new pipeline that encourages transparent and adaptable prediction band development by streamlining cyclone track simulation and prediction band generation. We also provide updates to existing models and novel statistical methodologies in both areas of the pipeline, respectively.


Thailand allegedly broke the International Investment Agreement (IIA) because it did not protect the host state, and investment arbitration in the country was negatively affected by the decision in the case of Walter Bau AG versus Thailand. The country should prepare itself to understand international investment law in the IIA, particularly with regard to the environment. This article aims to explain the problem of environmental protection in Thailand in relation to Thailand's model IIA. Furthermore, it is necessary to establish general principles regarding the protection of the environment in terms of international investment law and legal problems in the interpretation of IIAs. De lege ferenda is also recommended for Thailand's model IIA to be amended in order to add a clause about the protection of the environment, which may be applicable under international law and the IIA as an interpretation mechanism. This is to amend the obligations and social responsibilities of foreign investors to protect the environment in Thailand as the host state.


OBJECTIVES
Although circulating CD14brightCD16+ monocyte subsets are increased in inflammatory disease, the pathogenesis of the increase in the inflammatory condition of the cells is still unclear and the relationship to cytokines is unknown particularly in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence anti-cytokine treatment has on CD14brightCD16+ monocytes in patients with RA.

METHODS
Thirty-two RA patients and 14 healthy volunteers (HV) were enrolled in this study. All the patients had never been treated with methotrexate (MTX) or biological agents. Peripheral blood samples and clinical information of the patients were obtained at the time of 0, 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. Peripheral blood samples were also obtained from the HV. The expression levels of CD14 and CD16 on monocytes were measured by flow cytometry (FCM).

RESULTS
Eight patients received anti-interleukin (IL)-6 receptor antibody, tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment alone, 12 patients received anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α antibody, adalimumab (ADA) with MTX treatment and the others received only MTX treatment. FCM analysis revealed that the proportion of CD14brightCD16+ monocytes significantly increased in patients at baseline compared with HV. The proportion of CD14brightCD16+ monocytes significantly decreased after TCZ, and ADA with MTX treatment. The proportion of intermediate monocytes was significantly and positively correlated with disease activity and it improved in accordance with the proportion of CD14brightCD16+ monocytes after inhibition of signal transduction of inflammatory cytokines.

CONCLUSIONS
We showed that the population of CD14brightCD16+ monocytes significantly decreased with the change of disease activity by key cytokines, IL-6 or TNF-α signal blockade in RA. This result indicates that the proportion of those monocytes is important for reflecting disease activity in RA.


This research sought to assess the reliability and validity of Raylu and Oei's (2004) widely used Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS). Two samples were used in this study. In the 'teenage sample,' 2,000 teenagers, aged 15-19, completed a web-based survey containing questions related to a host of gambling-related issues, including GRCS. The 'university sample' comprised of 764 international students and 836 domestic students sampled from three universities in Australia. Our research used the same items as those utilized by Raylu and Oei (2004). After our exploratory factor analysis of the scale items yielded two factors for both samples, we tried to fit the five-factor model of GRCS to both datasets. Despite trying various approaches to achieve model fit, our data did not provide any evidence of the five factors underlying GRCS. However, the scale exhibited excellent concurrent validity and internal reliability across both samples. This research corroborates Taylor et al.'s (2013) suggestion that external independent validation of the GRCS is needed before it can be applied for diagnosis or treatment purposes, particularly among younger people.


This report presents the findings of a project undertaken by the AHURI Southern Research Centre to review current practices and develop appropriate exit strategy models for housing regeneration programmes. Exit strategies can provide a planning implementation framework for State Housing Authorities to sustain the benefits of housing regeneration expenditure once renewal programmes have formally ended. From the review undertaken for the Positioning Paper, it is evident that community empowerment is the most favoured strategy deployed by Australian State and Territory Housing Authorities to sustain the benefits of regeneration investment. Only in Queensland has the housing authority begun to develop explicit exit strategies including project management arrangements to manage housing estates for the period after the regeneration project has been completed. Australian State Housing Authorities' policies can be contrasted with strategies developed by local housing authorities in the UK where exit strategies are an established tool in the management of housing regeneration projects. However, there is a paucity of research exploring deployment of exit strategies and the problems that can arise at the end of a regeneration project, largely because most renewal programmes are long term and few have been completed to date.
The aim of the research was to look in close detail at specific policy innovations and gauge the perceptions of key housing and regeneration professionals, tenant activists and policy-makers. The specific research questions were:
1. What practices are being deployed by State Housing Authorities to secure sustainability on housing regeneration projects?
2. What are the external and structural factors that can impede the efficacy of housing renewal programmes?
3. What are the key issues that should be considered from the outset in relation to a limited time renewal/regeneration program?
4. How can residents be involved in the development of an exit strategy?
5. What agencies need to be involved in the formulation of an exit strategy?
6. What institutional capacity is required to implement exit strategies?
7. How should exit strategies be evaluated?
8. What are the implications for state housing authorities in not employing exit strategies for renewal programmes?
Five housing regeneration initiatives (all at different stages of development and spread across three jurisdictions) were selected as case studies. The South Australian case studies (Salisbury North and the Parks) are well-established projects at a pre-exit strategy stage. The Tasmanian case study (Bridgewater) typifies a mature project where the regeneration programme has formally ended and a community-based agency (Bridgewater Urban Renewal Project) has been established to maintain the achievements of the programme. The New South Wales case studies are the Minto project, which has not completed the initial master planning stage and has no exit strategy, and Windale community renewal scheme (which involves community initiatives only, not physical renewal as in the other estates), where there is a clear exit strategy, namely to transfer the effective ownership of the regeneration process to the community. The findings of the research are structured around three thematic areas: exit strategies and objectives; the management of exit strategies; and evaluation issues.


Flush with a handful of money he had just won at a bowling tournament, Joe Koslowski invited some friends to celebrate with him at the nearby Atlantic City casinos. Joe, then 16, and all his buddies were allowed in despite the age limit of 21. Once inside, Joe's good fortune continued; he parlayed his bowling winnings into a couple of thousand dollars. After his initial success, Joe returned to the casinos frequently. His winning streak eventually ended, but his taste for the thrill of gambling did not. Once out of cash, he opened credit accounts under family members' names, using cash advances from the credit cards to gamble. The whole scheme finally came crashing in on Joe last year, after he had amassed $20,000 in debt. Now at age 20, Joe, who had no prior criminal record, is serving time in a Pennsylvania federal prison for credit-card fraud. Joe is one of tens of thousands of young people who fall victim to America's gambling obsession every year. At least three-quarters of the nation's teens engage in some form of gambling. Much of it, of course, is fairly innocuous and occurs among peers: weekend poker games, betting on football, the annual NCAA basketball tournament pool. Adolescents have become increasingly adept, however, at gaining access to state-sanctioned gambling--lotteries, casinos, electronic poker--which often becomes a bridge to compulsive or addictive behavior. In 1995, University of Minnesota researchers reported that more than half of underage Minnesota teens surveyed had participated in some form of legalized gambling. An earlier survey of Atlantic City high-school students revealed that nearly two-thirds had gambled at the city's casinos. It is becoming painfully apparent that the only jackpot awaiting many of these young people is a life out of control: More than a million adolescents are already addicted to gambling, according to Durand Jacobs, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Loma Linda University Medical School and an expert on youth gambling. Further, Jacobs says, the gambling addiction rate among teens is three times that among adults. In a recent review of major youth-gambling studies in North America, Howard Shaffer, director of the Center for Addiction Studies at Harvard Medical School, concluded that roughly one in six teens experiences gambling-related problems, while about 6 percent are actually addicted, or pathological, gamblers. The New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling, which operates a national toll-free hotline (1-800-GAMBLER),4,300 times in 1994, accounting for 11 percent of total calls. Ed Looney, the council's executive director, says many of these young people find themselves in desperate straits. He tells of a call regarding a 16-year- old who had slit his wrists after losing $6,000--four years of newspaper delivery earnings--on the lottery in a single day. He tells of the college student from the Midwest who dropped out of school because he lost his tuition money gambling; of the 19-year-old New Jersey youth who sold his car for a fraction of its value so he could get back into the casinos; of the numerous calls from kids too scared to go back to school because they can't pay back their bookies. The phenomenon of youth gambling is not entirely new, but its rapid growth and startling magnitude is alarming. Says Valerie Lorenz, head of Baltimore's Center for Compulsive Gambling, "We never saw a teenage gambler 10 years ago. Now we see them regularly."Moreover, the most addictive forms of gambling--eagerly promoted by more and more state governments in search of tax revenue--can produce ripple effects in young lives that undermine families, communities, and civic order. As we move into the next century, Shaffer says, "We're going to have major issues with youth gambling that will equal or eclipse the problems that we have with substance abuse." A Slippery Slope? Experts draw a distinction between the "problem" gambler and the "pathological" gambler. …


ABSTRACT Citing webpages has been a common practice in scholarly publications for nearly two decades as the Web evolved into a major information source. But over the years, more and more bibliographies have suffered from "reference rot": Cited URLs are broken links or point to a page that no longer contains the content the author originally cited. In this column, I look at several studies showing how reference rot has affected different academic disciplines. I also examine citation styles' approach to citing Web sources. I then turn to emerging Web citation practices: Perma, a "freemium" Web archiving service specifically for citation; and the Internet Archive, the largest Web archive.


Recent increases in cycling have led to many media articles highlighting concerns about interactions between cyclists and pedestrians on footpaths and off-road paths. Under the Australian Road Rules, adults are not allowed to ride on footpaths unless accompanying a child 12 years of age or younger. However, this rule does not apply in Queensland. This paper reviews international studies that examine the safety of footpath cycling for both cyclists and pedestrians, and relevant Australian crash and injury data. The results of a survey of more than 2,500 Queensland adult cyclists are presented in terms of the frequency of footpath cycling, the characteristics of those cyclists and the characteristics of self-reported footpath crashes. A third of the respondents reported riding on the footpath and, of those, about two-thirds did so reluctantly. Riding on the footpath was more common for utilitarian trips and for new riders, although the average distance ridden on footpaths was greater for experienced riders. About 5 per cent of distance ridden and a similar percentage of self-reported crashes occurred on footpaths. These data are discussed in terms of the Safe Systems principle of separating road users with vastly different levels of kinetic energy. The paper concludes that footpaths are important facilities for both inexperienced and experienced riders and for utilitarian riding, especially in locations riders consider do not provide a safe system for cycling.


: Halotherapy was used for sanatorium rehabilitation in 29 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (chronic bronchitis and asthma). Significant positive effects of this method resulted in the improvement of the flow-volume parameters curve of lung function and in hypotensive effects on blood pressure. Halotherapy is recommended for use in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases with hypertension or coronary heart disease.


Canopy stomatal conductance is a key physiological factor controlling transpiration from plant canopies, but it is extremely difficult to determine in field environments. The objective of this study was to develop a radiometric method for calculating canopy stomatal conductance for two plant species—wheat and soybean from direct measurements of bulk surface conductance to water vapor and the canopy aerodynamic conductance in controlled-environment chambers. The chamber provides constant net radiation, temperature, humidity, and ventilation rate to the plant canopy. In this method, stepwise changes in chamber CO2 alter canopy temperature, latent heat, and sensible heat fluxes simultaneously. Sensible heat and the radiometric canopy-to-air temperature difference are computed from direct measurements of net radiation, canopy transpiration, photosynthesis, radiometric temperature, and air temperature. The canopy aerodynamic conductance to the transfer of water vapor is then determined from a plot of sensible heat versus radiometric canopy-to-air temperature difference. Finally, canopy stomatal conductance is calculated from canopy surface and aerodynamic conductances. The canopy aerodynamic conductance was 5.5 mol m−2 s−1 in wheat and 2.5 mol m−2 s−1 in soybean canopies. At 400 umol mol−1 of CO2 and 86 kPa atmospheric pressure, canopy stomatal conductances were 2.1 mol m−2 s−1 for wheat and 1.1 mol m−2 s−1 for soybean, comparable to canopy stomatal conductances reported in field studies. This method measures canopy aerodynamic conductance in controlled-environment chambers where the log-wind profile approximation does not apply and provides an improved technique for measuring canopy-level responses of canopy stomatal conductance and the decoupling coefficient. The method was used to determine the response of canopy stomatal conductance to increased CO2 concentration and to determine the sensitivity of canopy transpiration to changes in canopy stomatal conductance. These responses are useful for improving the prediction of ecosystem-level water fluxes in response to climatic variables.


In insects essential physiological processes such as muscle activity or water balance are controlled by neuropeptides. However, owing to their metabolic instability and adverse physicochemical properties peptides are unsuited as crop protection agents. Helicokinin I, a diuretic neuropeptide of cotton pest Helicoverpa zea represents a most promising target for the design of neuropeptide mimetics. Several helicokinin analogues containing scaffolds with varying rigidity and different orientations of the N- and C-terminal peptide chains were synthesized and tested for receptor binding. Additional conformational analyses by NMR spectroscopy in a membrane-mimicking environment together with MD simulations provide a deeper insight into the structural requirements for receptor binding and explain the remarkable activity of a macrocyclic helicokinin I derivative.


Characterizing fracture networks in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (NFR) is a major challenge for hydrocarbon exploration and production. The fracture organization is: i) a key parameter for fluid flow understanding in carbonates (in a general sense) and ii) the key parameter in tight, non-porous carbonates. However, at present-day, the fracture parameters from subsurface data are not sufficient to define the 3D distribution of a fracture network. Moreover, in carbonate reservoirs, fracture occurrence strongly depends on the mechanical properties of the host rock such that characterizing fractures is only possible through the close study of the host rock heterogeneities. Studying fractures in outcrop analogues allows accessing to 3D fracture patterns, determining the host rock mechanical properties and their impact on fracture distribution. In this paper, we trace the conditions for the fracturing process through the geodynamic history of the reservoir. We aim at determining the sedimentary and diagenetic controls on fracture patterns and the genetic correlation with tectonic and burial history.To this purpose, we have targeted two formations made of platform carbonates from the Murge Plateau. We analyzed the fracture patterns and sedimentary facies as well as the tectonic, diagenetic and burial history for each studied site. Fracture patterns are characterized from geometrical, kinematic and diagenetic criteria based on field and laboratory measurements. Fracture sequences are defined based on cross-cutting and abutting relationships and compared with geodynamic history.Fractures are bed-perpendicular joints and veins, and numerous bed-parallel stylolites. We observe a stage of fracturing synchronous with shallow burial and prior to major tectonic events. Carbonates have undergone early diagenesis during fast and shallow burial, conferring early brittle behavior. Fracture development, mechanical and petrophysical properties are acquired during early burial.


Initial value representations are constructed to avoid the search for trajectories that are only defined in semiclassical approximations by their boundary conditions. We show how to incorporate these procedures within the full Weyl representation, so that quantum expectation values are given by phase space integrals over the evolving Wigner function. Spurious semiclassical singularities at caustics are cancelled, even though there is no increase in the number of trajectories, as compared to usual semiclassical formulae. The whole construction remains exact in the case of quadratic Hamiltonians. The evolution of (density) operators depends on either a forward and backward trajectory, given by an initial value, or else on a pair of trajectories, propagating backwards from their final value. The latter option reduces numerical errors in the computation of trajectories. The general scheme also leads to analogous algorithms for evolving the quantum fidelity, which can be approximated perturbatively with a single trajectory, reducing to the 'dephasing representation' for small times. The theory is developed within a generalized 'Maslov method', based on semiclassical Fourier transforms, in order to avoid singularities in the limit of small times.


With the explosive data growth arise from internet of things, how to ensure information security is facing unprecedented challenges. In this paper, a joint PHY/MAC layer security scheme with artificial noise design in singular value decomposition (SVD) based multiple input multiple output hybrid automatic retransmission request (MIMO HARQ) system is proposed to resolve the problem of low data rates in existing cross-layer security design and further adapt to the high data rate requirement of 5G. First, the SVD was applied to simplify MIMO systems into several parallel sub-channels employing HARQ protocol. Then, different from traditional null space based artificial noise design, the artificial noise design, which is dependent on the characteristics of channel states and transmission rounds, is detailed presented. Finally, the analytical and simulation results proved that with the help of the proposed artificial noise, both the information security and data rate performance can be significantly improved compared with that in single input single output (SISO) system.


The inhibitive effect of Curry leaves extract (CLE) on the corrosion behavior of aluminum in sulfuric acid (pH = 3) was
investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques in the temperature range of 30 °C to 50 °C. The study was done by varying the concentrations of inhibitor from 0.05 g L−1 to 0.4 g L −1. The surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy- dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Inhibition efficiency was found to increase with increase in inhibitor concentration and decrease with increase in temperature. CLE acted as an anodic type inhibitor at lower concentrations of inhibitor and behaved as a mixed type at higher concentrations
of inhibitor and underwent both physisorption and chemisorption on the surface of the metal and
followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm


Research on the correlation of trunk muscles' endurance with other outcome measures in patients with long-term low-back pain (LBP) is scarce. This study assessed the relationship between pain intensity, activity limitation, and static and dynamic back extensors endurance in patients with non-specific long-term LBP. Sixty-seven patients screened using the McKenzie Institute's Lumbar Spine Assessment Format participated in this study. Quadruple visual analog scale and the Roland-Morris disability questionnaire were used to assess pain and activity limitation respectively. Modified Biering-Sorensen test of muscular endurance and repetitive arch-up test were used to assess static endurance (SE) and dynamic endurance (SE) respectively. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, range, Pearson's product moment correlation and stepwise regression at 0.05 Alpha level. Mean present pain, Roland-Morris score (RMS), SE and DE were 6.55 ± 1.75, 9.22 ± 0.75, 37.64 ± 14.0 secs and 11.43 ± 3.03 repetitions respectively. Significant correlation was found between present pain and each of SE (r=-0.306; p=0.012) and RMS (r--0.862; p=0.001). SE and DE showed a direct moderate significant correlation with each other (r=0.519; p=0.001). Regression analysis showed that age (p=0.012) and sex (p=0.051) were significantly related to SE, age was significantly related to DE (p=0.003) while pain intensity was significantly related to RMS (p=0.001). It is concluded that increase in pain intensity is associated with decreased static back extensors endurance and activity limitation. Static and dynamic back endurance was significantly positively correlated while age was a significant predictor of static and dynamic endurance. It is recommended that management focus of non-specific long-term LBP should address deficit in static and dynamic back muscles endurance beside pain and activity limitations.


It is generally accepted that self-similar (or fractal) processes may provide better models for teletraffic in modern telecommunication networks than Poisson Processes. If this is not taken into account, it can lead to inaccurate conclusions about performance of telecommunication networks. Thus, an important requirement for conducting simulation studies of telecommunication networks is the ability to generate long synthetic stochastic self-similar sequences. Three generators of pseudo-random self-similar sequences, based on the FFT〔20〕, RMD〔12〕 and SRA methods〔5, 10〕, are compared and analysed in this paper. Properties of these generators were experimentally studied in the sense of their statistical accuracy and times required to produce sequences of a given (long) length. While all three generators show similar levels of accuracy of the output data (in the sense of relative accuracy of the Horst parameter), the RMD- and SRA-based generators appear to be much faster than the generator based on FFT. Our results also show that a robust method for comparative studies of self-similarity in pseudo-random sequences is needed.


This study deals with investigation of existence of monetary policy risk channel in the economy of Iran. For the same purpose, the seasonal data of macroeconomic variables are used in such a manner that changes in interest rate as an indicator of monetary policy and bank leverage ratio as an indicator of risk are considered. Using VAR approach and Impulse response functions, the experimental test of channel of monetary policy risk in the economy of Iran was examined. The results showed that an expansionary monetary policy which occurs by decrease in interest rates causes that risk of bank system to be increased. In addition, it should be stated that inflation had positive impacts and economic growth had negative impacts on the risk of bank system.


This week's articles highlight the destruction of paternal mitochondria, antitumor immunity in medulloblastoma, strategies for curing HIV-1 infection, and a synthetic biological circuit for monitoring cell states over time. MITOCHONDRIA Eliminating paternal mitochondria A mitochondrial enzyme promotes the destruction and removal of sperm-derived mitochondria in nematode worm embryos. Q. Zhou, H. Li, H. Li, A. Nakagawa, J. L. J. Lin, E.-S. Lee, B. L. Harry, R. R. Skeen-Gaar, Y. Suehiro, D. William, S. Mitani, H. S. Yuan, B.-H. Kang, D. Xue, Mitochondrial endonuclease G mediates breakdown of paternal mitochondria upon fertilization. Science 353, 394–399 (2016). [Abstract] CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY Cyclin suppresses antitumor immunity Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 expression by tumors inhibits antitumor immunity in human and mouse medulloblastoma. R. D. Dorand, J. Nthale, J. T. Myers, D. S. Barkauskas, S. Avril, S. M. Chirieleison, T. K. Pareek, D. W. Abbott, D. S. Stearns, J. J. Letterio, A. Y. Huang, A. Petrosiute, Cdk5 disruption attenuates tumor PD-L1 expression and promotes antitumor immunity. Science 353, 399–403 (2016). [Abstract] HIV-1 CURE Next steps toward curing HIV-1 A review describes the next steps needed to help to develop a cure for AIDS. D. M. Margolis, J. V. Garcia, D. J. Hazuda, B. F. Haynes, Latency reversal and viral clearance to cure HIV-1. Science 353, aaf6517 (2016). [Abstract] SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY Building a computing system in bacteria Designed circuits in bacteria can record input events and alter gene expression output. N. Roquet, A. P. Soleimany, A. C. Ferris, S. Aaronson, T. K. Lu, Synthetic recombinase-based state machines in living cells. Science 353, aad8559 (2016). [Abstract]


How to write a chapter that ostensibly has no end? Who is the author when anyone can edit? Does dialogue occur on listerves and blogs? How do we make meaning of trends? I look at the emergence of nonlinear narrative (1940 – 2006), using the mathematical terms scalar, vector and flow as conceptual or visual metaphors that describe structure, transmission, and social patterns. Scalar examines the set, non-linear narratives of hypermedia and the indeterminate narratives of Wikis; vector, the dialogic narratives of listserves and blogs; and artistic visualizations that seek to reveal patterns as flows of information in networked cultures increase. These modes of representation, and the artists who exemplify them in this chapter, illustrate the transition from linear to non-linear narrative, the emergence of indeterminate notions of authorship and readership, and the problematic nature of communication and representation in open networks. Consideration is given to pioneers of interactive and networked systems, Vannevar Bush and Douglas Engelbart, without whom contemporary hypermedia would not exist. To edit or translate a page, simply click on the "Edit Page" or "Translate Page" link at the top/bottom of every page. » Read | Write This Chapter › BIOGRAPHY: Patrick Lichty (b.1962) is a technologically-based conceptual artist, writer, independent curator, animator for the activist group, The Yes Men, and Executive Editor of Intelligent Agent Magazine. He began showing technological media art in 1989, and deals with works and writing that explore the social relations between us and media. Venues in which Lichty has been involved with solo and collaborative works include the Whitney & Turin Biennials, Maribor Triennial, Performa Performance Biennial, Ars Electronica, and the International Symposium on the Electronic Arts (ISEA). He also works extensively with virtual worlds, including Second Life, and his work, both solo and with his performance art group, Second Front, has been featured in Flash Art, Eikon Milan, and ArtNews. He is also an Assistant Professor of Interactive Arts & Media at Columbia College Chicago, and resides in Baton Rouge, LA. To edit or translate a page, simply click on the "Edit Page" or "Translate Page" link at the top/bottom of every page. » Read | Write This Chapter › Art in the Age of DataFlow: Narrative, Authorship, and Indeterminacy In addition to your comments and translations, you are invited to edit this chapter.


Due to the importance of plants in the Earth's ecosystem, their photobiological responses have become the subject of extensive research in life sciences. Leaf optical models have been developed to assist in the analysis of remotely sensed data to derive information on leaf biochemistry and anatomy from foliar spectral curves (transmittance and reflectance). In this paper, we investigate the implications of using in vitro pigment absorption spectra to model foliar optical properties in the visible domain. Typically pigment absorption spectra have been determined using light absorption spectroscopy or by applying a data fitting approach. Alternatively, we propose the use of photoacoustic absorption spectroscopy, which despite being available in the literature has not been used in the modeling of foliar optical properties before. We also perform computational experiments in which foliar modeled reflectance and transmittance spectral curves generated using these different absorption data sets are compared with actual measured data. Our findings indicate that the proposed alternative not only allows key pigments to be individually incorporated into the models, which, in turn, increases the predictability of the simulations, but also enables the generation of modeled leaf spectra that are closer approximations to measured leaf spectra than those obtained using absorption data derived from standard absorption spectroscopy procedures.


We analyze 377 takeovers that occurred in Japan between 2000 and 2007. Our focus is on the choice of payment method between cash and shares, the bidding premium, the market valuation of a bidder and a target, and the share price reaction. We relate the findings to the two complimentary theories of takeover motives; the Q-theory and the misvaluation theory. We have found that in Japan cash offers tend to occur when an acquirer and a target are highly valued on B/P basis, and when target's size in terms of market cap. is smaller relative to bidder's size. The bidding premium tends to be higher when a bidder's valuation is higher, when a target's valuation is lower, and when target's market cap. is smaller relative to bidder's market cap. The choice of payment method (cash or stock) does not affect the bidding premium. Buyer's CARs are higher when target's market cap. is larger relative to bidder's market cap. Target's CARs are higher when a bidder's valuation is higher, when a target's valuation is lower, and when cash is used to pay for a takeover. Japanese takeover market was very small before the late 1990s and then quickly expanded in the 21st century, so that we are among the first to explore it. Our findings under the recent merger wave in Japan are in contrast with Dong et al. (2006), and are consistent with the Q-theory. We believe that the Japanese management has so far conducted a takeover based on managerial and strategic objectives. Our results also provide an explanation for the finding of Kang et al. (2000) and others who report that that on average a takeover announcement in Japan is greeted with positive share price reaction of both a bidder and a target..


Despite the apparent opposition between the two concepts, human rights protection and international investment law in fact share many common features, the most important being the weak or vulnerable position of both individuals and foreign investors in relation to the state, which can take decisions affecting their rights and obligations without their participation. This reality has been one of the main justifications behind the grant of rights and protection to both individuals and foreign investors. The protection of foreign investment is a relatively old concept in international law and relations but has in the past decades evolved and developed rapidly. Globalisation of the world economy and the weakening of the barriers traditionally faced by investors in broadening their field of activity in foreign states has resulted in an expansion of foreign commercial activity in states. At the same time, states have privatised many areas of the public sector, such as such water, sewage, gas and the management of (hazardous) waste sites. This privatisation has often been done by relying on foreign investors, and has thus led to the involvement of non-state entities in functions usually exercised by state organs or entities. Privatisation is of course not problematic in se, since it can improve public health and human rights generally, but it can also result in a decreased respect for human rights. The involvement of foreign investors has only been possible by giving them far-reaching protection from unilateral interference by the host state. Such protection is often materialized through the signature of investment treaties between the host state and the home state of the investors. The protection offered to investors in investment law is done via different 'standards', and most often includes the direct access of individuals and corporations to international arbitration. As a result of privatisation and the involvement of foreign investor in public sectors however, host states which are bound by international human rights norms and obligations under international investment agreements can be faced with a conflict of obligations. Indeed, the investment agreements between the host state and the foreign investor can amount to violation of the obligation for the host state to protect or to ensure the protection of the human rights within its territory, especially when the privatisation has resulted in the endangerment of human rights relating to health. But any action by the host state to remedy this violation might then be considered as a breach of the state's obligation under international investment agreements and/or investment contracts. In this chapter I will assess the rules relating to the conflict between human rights and investment obligations, and the way in which human rights considerations, raised as defences to 'justify' alleged breaches of international investment treaties could be and have been dealt with by investment tribunals. I will particularly zoom in on human rights considerations invoked by the host state and non-disputing third parties. The first section will briefly depict the specificities of international investment arbitration in order to better grasp the reasoning of investment tribunals with respect to human rights considerations. I will next address the human rights obligations of foreign corporations and host states. This responsibility will be addressed both from the perspective of the host state and from the perspective of the corporation. I will then discuss the potential conflict between those human rights responsibilities and the responsibility of states with reference to their obligations under investment treaties, and the way in which investment tribunals have dealt with human rights considerations raised by the host state. Finally, I will discuss the role played by NGOs in bringing human rights considerations before investment dispute settlement proceedings as 'friends of the court'.


Abstract
In this research, based on socio-spatiality as the starting point, it has conducted extensive city space analysis to advance a new urban social space theory. Resting upon the basis of traditional continent philosophy, this social space theory has adopted the structuration methods, at the same time trying to build certain combination between theoretical frame work establishment and empirical observations. Therefore, the socio-spatial transition study is neither a macro theory of traditional structuralism nor a typology of urban planning theory, or a positivism social geography, but an operative theory on practical purpose. Firstly, what's distinct from the traditional structuralism is that this study examines the endless transiting structural relations, not macroscopic narrations of absolute definition and structure. In fact, any city and space are always co-existed in their structurational transiting relationship, thus research in transition has become the main body of this study. And case study is a must for research in transition, as part of efforts to apply the structuration concept into practice reason. Secondly, this study first establishes the fundamental structuration concept of socio-spatial transition, which, as an operative tool, is applied to conduct transition analysis on specific case about the City of Beijing. Therefore, as a social space theory, referring to as science, remains criticism of traditional continent philosophy. However, this criticism did not working on the level of ideology or conceptions, but on transiting under structural relations, keeping it from incompetent ideology criticism of continental critical theory. Unfortunately contemporary urban and space development have now gone extremely unbalanced under a background of globalization; yet traditional macro theories are incapable of either producing significant impact on practice or helping people identify practical problems. While facing general issues, particularly the Chinese urban issue category established on a meta-structured city mode, the micro-case study has plunged into dilemma for unknowing either to ask questions or to answer questions. Therefore, this study is set to identify dilemma and find direction for future relevant research. In this dissertation, Beijing is used as a model, and structuration methods as tools. It has extensively analyzed the social-spatial transition of the city space of Beijing, acquiring brand-new knowledge of its urban space development. It is helpful to an in-depth understanding of the city space development not only in Beijing, but also in many other cities that were influenced by the capital model of Beijing. Since the start of reform and opening-up, China has created a unique development mode of the new-styled metropolitan and urbanization in history. This research is expected to analyze or decode what China's urban development in between communal space and associative space.


Moving into the 21st century, the landscape of the traditional higher education institution has changed, including its model of conducting business. Students in the millennial generation see higher education as a commodity, where learning can be acquired through different delivery systems. It is imperative that organizational leaders, like those in colleges and universities, improve, effectively responding to changing environments at their institutions. Double-loop learning (Rahim, 2011; Senge, 2013) is a formative method of organizational effectiveness that allows top managers to focus on the underpinning of conflicts like commodification of higher education and use strategic decision-making processes to recognize and accept the commodification trends and determine a course of action to improve their campus for the long-term. Force field analysis (Lewin, 1943) determined the driving and restraining forces of whether or not top leaders at colleges and universities throughout traditional higher education should view their institutions as commodities and concluded that the driving forces were more than the restraining forces, and change process was needed to re-establish equilibrium.


JCSPre is a highly reduced version of the JCSP (Communicating Sequential Processes for Java) parallel programming environment. JCSPre has been implemented on a LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick using the LeJOS Java runtime environment. The LeJOS environment provides an abstraction for the NXT Robot in terms of Sensors, Sensor Ports and Motors, amongst others. In the implementation described these abstractions have been converted into the equivalent active component that is much easier to incorporate into a parallel robot controller. Their use in a simple line following robot is described, thereby demonstrating the ease with which robot controllers can be built using parallel programming principles. As a further demonstration we show how the line following robot controls a slave robot by means of Bluetooth communications.


Abstract Non-Western countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil, and Turkey have all started to take part in global humanitarian action. Their engagement raises a number of fundamental questions: how will the diversification of government donors affect humanitarian activities and principles; and how will it affect the people and governments of crisis-affected countries or humanitarian organizations? This article finds that the rise of non-Western donors involves both risks, such as normative conflicts, and great potential, such as increased access and more resources. It also finds that non-Western humanitarian engagement has become too substantial to ignore and that opportunities can only be seized and risks mitigated if traditional actors actively engage with non-Western donors on a level playing field.


Through an examination and analysis of references to the Ryukyuan polities as contained in the Ming shi-lu (Ming reign annals), this study explores the emergence of a unified Ryukyu state by the 1430s, and its relationship with the Ming empire and Southeast Asian trade ports. It also assesses the importance of the formal Ming tribute system for Ryukyu's political consolidation, and examines both the development of Ryukyu's maritime trade and regional influence and the decline of this role as a result of the Ming formally licensing trading ships to trade directly between China and Southeast Asian ports in the 1570s, and the invasion of the Ryukyuan islands by troops of the daimyō Shimazu in 1609. The study also examines the degree to which, over the period from the mid-14th century to the mid-16th century, Ryukyu can be seen to have been part of a Northeast Asian "Age of Commerce." In Ryukyu, we do see that, during the late 14th century, Naha emerged as a commercial hub - as an entrepot port - serving the booming commerce of the period, including the Southeast Asia-China trade in aromatics which marked Southeast Asian ports, but many of the other characteristics of the Age of Commerce in Southeast Asia were not seen during Ryukyu's efflorescence. The article concludes with an English translation of the Ryukyuan references contained in the Ming shi-lu from the 1370s to the 1430s.


This short Essay explores the Supreme Court's suggestion in Kelo v. New London that public, participatory planning may be a constitutional safe harbor that separates impermissible private takings from presumptively valid public ones. After briefly reviewing the Court's discussion of the planning that preceded the Kelo litigation, the Essay examines how Kelo's emphasis on planning departs from standard rational basis review of economic policies and asks what such a departure means for future public-use litigants. The Essay then explores three possible practical benefits of a constitutional rule that encourages the government to engage in detailed planning before exercising the power of eminent domain: First, can public, participatory planning help legitimize so-called economic-development takings? Second, was the Court correct to assume that planning will limit pretextual takings, i.e., the taking of private property in the name of economic development but for the true purpose of benefiting a private individual? And third, will careful planning by the government lead to more successful projects?


Random matrix theory is used to model a two-level quantum system driven by a laser and coupled to a reservoir with N degrees of freedom in both Markovian and non-Markovian regimes. Decoherence is naturally included in this model. The effect of reservoir dimension and coupling strength between the system and reservoir is explored.


As it is well known in statistical physics the stationary distribution can be obtained by maximizing entropy. We show how one can reconstruct the formula for entropy knowing the formula for the stationary distribution. A general case is discussed and some concrete physical examples are considered.


We describe the three-dimensional holographic optical disc system for application as read-only memory. Several systems design issues are discussed including imaging optics, storage density, readout rate, and the alignment servo system. We demonstrate 40 bits=lm surface density and pixel-matched holographic data readout from a 12 cm disc spinning at 600 RPM.


Mangrove at Bintuni bay offers various services to indigenous communities from ecology, social, and economic. Mangrove also could be harvested accordingly to optimize contributions to indigenous communities welfares. This paper highlights implementation of customary right compensation (CRC), and Forest Villages Development programs (FVDP) of mangrove company at Bintuni Bay, Papua Barat. Company reports and documents related to CRC and FVDP from 1988 to June 2013 were reviewed and analyzed. Field works were conducted to examine the implementation of both programs at four villages of two districts. Sustained mangrove harvest for chipwood production in Bintuni bay for more than 25 years is the most outstanding achievement of mangrove utilization and management in Indonesia. Huge amount of expenditure have been spent out, and given to indigenous communities through the CRC and FVDP programs, respectively. These cover from economic, social, and environmental related programs, manufactured public facilities, scholarships, and others. However, the indigenous communities are remained poor, and failed of being self-sufficient community. It clearly impresses that the main goals to improve the welfare, prosperity of indigenous people are considerable failed. It is presumably that social culture systems, and subsistence agriculture practices contribute to the failing these programs. Mostly, forest communities in Papua are practicing subsistence agriculture, hunting, heavily relying on their surrounding natural resources, and spending all their cash or money instantly for consumption, not for saving, investments or even productive activities. Therefore, several program could be initiated to improve in achieving the CRC and FVDP missions, such as building capacity, providing counselors and strengthen local community governance, which could accelerate of being self-reliant community.


Silicon photonics is currently a very active and progressive area of research, as silicon optical circuits have emerged as the replacement technology for copper-based circuits in communication and broadband networks. The demand for ever improving communications and computing performance continues, and this in turn means that photonic circuits are finding ever increasing application areas. This text provides an important and timely overview of the hot topics in the field, covering the various aspects of the technology that form the research area of silicon photonics. With contributions from some of the worlds leading researchers in silicon photonics, this book collates the latest advances in the technology. Silicon Photonics: the State of the Art opens with a highly informative foreword, and continues to feature: the integrated photonic circuit; silicon photonic waveguides; photonic bandgap waveguides; mechanisms for optical modulation in silicon; silicon based light sources; optical detection technologies for silicon photonics; passive silicon photonic devices; photonic and electronic integration approaches; applications in communications and sensors. Silicon Photonics: the State of the Art covers the essential elements of the entire field that is silicon photonics and is therefore an invaluable text for photonics engineers and professionals working in the fields of optical networks, optical communications, and semiconductor electronics. It is also an informative reference for graduate students studying for PhD in fibre optics, integrated optics, optical networking, microelectronics, or telecommunications.


Mayaro (MAYV) and chikungunya viruses (CHIKV) are vector-borne arthritogenic alphaviruses that cause acute febrile illnesses. CHIKV is widespread and has recently caused large urban outbreaks, whereas the distribution of MAYV is restricted to tropical areas in South America with small and sporadic outbreaks. Because MAYV and CHIKV are closely related and have high amino acid similarity, we investigated whether vaccination against one could provide cross-protection against the other. We vaccinated A129 mice (IFNAR −/−) with vaccines based on chimpanzee adenoviral vectors encoding the structural proteins of either MAYV or CHIKV. ChAdOx1 May is a novel vaccine against MAYV, whereas ChAdOx1 Chik is a vaccine against CHIKV already undergoing early phase I clinical trials. We demonstrate that ChAdOx1 May was able to afford full protection against MAYV challenge in mice, with most samples yielding neutralizing PRNT80 antibody titers of 1:258. ChAdOx1 May also provided partial cross-protection against CHIKV, with protection being assessed using the following parameters: survival, weight loss, foot swelling and viremia. Reciprocally, ChAdOx1 Chik vaccination reduced MAYV viral load, as well as morbidity and lethality caused by this virus, but did not protect against foot swelling. The cross-protection observed is likely to be, at least in part, secondary to cross-neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccines. In summary, our findings suggest that ChAdOx1 Chik and ChAdOx1 May vaccines are not only efficacious against CHIKV and MAYV, respectively, but also afford partial heterologous cross-protection.


This Master thesis is, in a sense, a continuation and expansion of my Bachelor thesis. The Bachelor thesis was focused on analysing and discussing how landscape architects weigh different factors against each other in a design situation. This thesis is instead focused on actual on-site and trans-areal site exploration using a specified method chosen through a formulated theoretical standpoint and by using the harbour area of Nyhamnen in Malmo as a chosen site. The main theoretical contributors are Andrea Kahn and Carol Burns for their definition of site as a dynamic relational construct (2005), Lisa Diedrich's PhD thesis on site-specificity and harbour transformation (2013), the geographer Doreen Massey for her theory on space and place (2005), the land artist Robert Smithson (here analysed by Nick Kaye) with his thoughts on site and non-site (Kaye 2000), and the French art-theoretician Nicolas Bourriaud for his theories on the characteristics of the alter-modern, what he proposes is our current time (2009).
The chosen design method for the thesis is that of the deviant transect, an experiment originally constructed by the researchers Ellen Braae, Lisa Diedrich and Gini Lee (2014). The method of the deviant transect aims to combine pre-gained site knowledge with actual trans-areal site exploration, and in so doing reveal previously unseen or perhaps overlooked material or immaterial information and relations. The deviant transect carried out in Nyhamnen and its surrounds investigates and explores the spaces and places of the area and looks for material, dynamic and relational aspects. The findings from the transects are presented using a series of maps and images divided into the two themes transitional waterscapes and emerging foodscapes.
The thesis aims to, on one hand, analyse Nyhamnen and make a contribution to the already ongoing discussion about the area, but on the other hand also to explore possible ways of apprehending and understanding urban sites using Nyhamnen as a test subject. Therefore it does not aim to create an all encompassing design solution for the coming development of Nyhamnen or a design solution for a certain part, but rather to highlight or pinpoint aspects which could serve as a starting point for site specific design in Nyhamnen or as a way of showing what the open space in Nyhamnen could be conceived as.


Purpose
This paper aims to explore the performance implications of supply chain integration (SCI) taking a strategic perspective. Thus, this paper is set to provide answers to the following research questions: Does a higher degree of SCI always lead to greater firm performance improvements? As the answer to this question is likely to be no, the authors explore the performance implications from a strategic perspective: Is the SCI–performance relationship contingent on a company's competitive priorities (i.e. operations strategy)?

Design/methodology/approach
The authors explore their questions through multiple quasi-independent data sets to test the impact of SCI on firm performance. Furthermore, the authors provide a more nuanced conceptual and empirical view to explore the previously uncovered contradictory results and contingent relationship challenging the "more integration equals higher firm performance" proposition.

Findings
The results only provide partial support for the proposition that more integration is always beneficial in the supply chain context. The authors also identified that the impact of SCI on financial performance is contingent on a company's competitive priorities.

Originality/value
This study provides a much-needed comprehensive assessment of the SCI–performance relationship through critically re-evaluating one of the most popular propositions in the field of supply chain management. The results can be extrapolated beyond the dyad, as the authors conceptualise integration simultaneously from an upstream and downstream perspective.


We show theoretically and experimentally that, in phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation, an effective group-velocity dispersion is induced at the second-harmonic frequency. Experimental results agree quite well with the theoretical predictions. Although large phase mismatch is required to induce appreciable group-velocity dispersion in birefringent nonlinear crystals, similar effects can be observed in quasi-phase-matched structures at much lower phase mismatch. Some implications of the induced dispersion for pulse propagation in quadratic media are discussed.


This study assesses the information literacy (IL) perceptions of instructors at a technical college in the Middle East, the College of the North Atlantic - Qatar. Students at this college are instructed in four areas of study – engineering technology, information technology, business studies and health sciences – which takes place exclusively in English and uses a Canadian curriculum. A web-based survey sent to instructors asked questions in two general areas on their perceptions of student information literacy based on the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) definition. Initially, over half of the respondents believed that their students were information literate. However when asked a series of questions about each of the seven IL skills identified by SCONUL, there was a large discrepancy between what skills instructors wished their students achieved, versus what was actually achieved by the end of their programme. Students' inability to critically evaluate sources of information was seen as the weakest skill by instructors and was considerably lower than the skill level reported by university professors in similar studies. Instructors also conveyed their belief that students lacked strategies when searching for information. When compared to faculty perceptions of students in universities, overall perceptions of IL competency of college students in this study are lower. The study reinforced the need to provide students with tools/strategies to cope with large volumes of information and, when searching, to select appropriate and credible sources of information for both academic and personal uses.


We develop a novel modeling framework for Boltzmann machines, augmenting each hidden unit with a latent transformation assignment variable which describes the selection of the transformed view of the canonical connection weights associated with the unit. This enables the inferences of the model to transform in response to transformed input data in a stable and predictable way, and avoids learning multiple features differing only with respect to the set of transformations. Extending prior work on translation equivariant (convolutional) models, we develop translation and rotation equivariant restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) and deep belief nets (DBNs), and demonstrate their effectiveness in learning frequently occurring statistical structure from artificial and natural images.


In this paper, some results of existence and uniqueness of solution of a semi-linear parabolic problem describing the evolution of a population subjected to a disease are presented. The population is structured into two compartments the healthy individuals and the infected individuals who interact between them. A continuous variable representing a behavioral risk is introduced. The asymptotic in time of the problem is studied, and the existence of a non zero stationary state is proved. The question we would like to investigate is does it exist a segmentation of the population (here a safety group and a risky group) in the same way as in food models with two nutriments. To answer this question, some numerical results concerning the distribution of the population according to the variable representing a behavioral risk are presented within the disease of the HIV-AIDS in Mali.


This chapter makes three fundamental points about law and economics. First, although some people feel strong, negative emotional reactions to utilizing microeconomics to analyze non-business areas of law, others feel no such emotional reactions. This chapter advances the hypothesis that people who do not view the world exclusively through an economics lens are likely to experience negative feelings toward applying microeconomics to non-business law areas, while people who view the world primarily through an economics lens are unlikely to experience such emotional reactions. Second, although law and economics remains an uncontroversial subfield of applied microeconomics; it has become a dominant, yet still controversial field of scholarship in legal academia. This chapter proposes that differences in how most academic and professional economists perceive law and economics versus how most academic and professional lawyers perceive law and economics are due primarily to differences in how familiar they are with microeconomics presented in a mathematically rigorous fashion. Third, much research considerably and significantly qualifies many well-known and often quoted alleged benefits of competitive markets and unbounded rationality. People who are familiar with this research appreciate that the extent to which markets and rationality are socially desirable is more complicated than people do not understand this research suggest. This research involves not only traditional microeconomics, but also behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and neuroeconomics.


We determine the parton distributions of the pion from a consistent next-to-leading order analysis of several high statistics π±N experiments including both Drell-Yan and prompt photon production. The results are compared with earlier distributions and with the predictions of lattice QCD. We study the general behaviour of parton distributions at small x and, in particular, the predictions of the Lipatov equation. The very-small-a; behaviour of the gluon distribution in a proton is obtained by solving this equation with a suitable nonlinear shadowing term incorporated. We find, with decreasing x, the emergence of an x(^- λ) behaviour one? the eventual taming of this singular behaviour by the shadowing term. We compare our dynamically generated gluon distribution with (i) the results of a recent next-to-leading order QCD structure function analysis which incorporated both a singular behaviour and shadowing corrections, (ii) the double-leading-leading logarithm approximation (DLLA) and (iii) the semiclassical approximation of the DLLA. Finally, we examine the proposal that deep-inelastic scattering events which contain an identified jet, with transverse momentum squared k(^2) ~Q(^2) allow an ideal determination of the QCD behaviour at very small x. We solve the relevant Lipatov equation to predict the shape of the jet spectrum in such events and discuss whether it will be possible to observe such jets at the HERA collider.


The question of nation-building has always been a central issue in Malaysian politics. Whilst the country has been able to sustain a relatively stable politics since the 1969
tragedy, and hence spawn a rapid economic development (at least until the 1997 Asian economic crisis), the project of nation-building remained a basic national agenda yet
to be fully resolved. This study investigates the delicate process of nation-building in Malaysia in the post 1970s, especially in the context of the vision of constructing the
Bangsa Malaysia or 'a united Malaysian nation' enshrined in Mahathir's Vision 2020 project which was introduced in 1991. The aim of the study is firstly, to examine the
underlying socio-political parameters that shaped and influenced the politics of nation-building in the country, and secondly, to explore the viability of the project of
Bangsa Malaysia in the context of the daunting challenges involved in the process of nation-building. Drawing from a range of theoretical frameworks as well as from
both primary and secondary data, the study contends that, based on the Malaysian experience, the potent interplay between the forces of ethnicity and nationalism
constitute the crux of the problems in the politics of nation-building in Malaysia. This dialectic it is argued, stems from the prevalence of the varying perceptions of 'nation-of-intent' within and across ethnic groups. These phenomena have not only shaped the pattern of ethnic political mobilisation in the country, but above all, laid the most complex set of obstacles in the path of the project of nation-building. This study argues that the project of constructing the Bangsa Malaysia therefore, can be seen as a significant attempt by the state to reconcile the varying ethnic ideologies of nation-of-intent.
It can also be considered as an attempt to consolidate Malay nationalism and cultural pluralism, thus, depicting 'the nation' as a 'mosaic of cultures', or reflecting a creation of 'a supra-ethnic' national identity. However, the viability of the envisaged
project is yet to be tested. The concept itself is still vague to many people and the challenges ahead are enormous, involving political, economic, socio-cultural and
religious issues. Indeed, the project risks becoming the 'latest' in the series of competing notions of nation-of-intent circulating in Malaysia. This study contends
that whilst, to some extent, the socio-political landscape of Malaysian society has been rapidly changing, especially under the eighteen years of Mahathir's reign,ethnicity still pervades Malaysian political life. This study differs from many previous studies on nation-building in Malaysia which have mainly focused on either the historical dimensions or those which have examined the impact of key national policies. As such, it is hoped that this study would be able to provide an alternative perspective in the analysis of ethnic relations and nation-building in Malaysia, thus broadening the understanding of Malaysian politics and society.


The paper proposes a ground moving target detection and estimation method aiming at Ultra Wide Band and -Beam (UWB) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems. The method is developed on the moving target detection by focusing technique and requires a SAR system flying with two different speeds during the integration time. The method allows us to detect ground moving target, even hidden by clutter, and to estimate the target parameters, i.e. speed and direction of motion. The accuracy of the estimations depends strongly on the computational cost and can therefore be controlled. The proposal is tested with the simulated CARABAS data.


Study Objectives: Sleep bruxism (SB) is common in children and is associated with somatic symptoms and sleep disturbance. Etiological theories posit the role of anxiety, suggesting youth with anxiety disorders may be at high-risk for SB, but empirical data are lacking. Furthermore, parent report rather than polysomnography (PSG) has been used to examine SB-anxiety relationships in children. We examined rates of PSG-detected compared to parent-reported SB in children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and healthy controls. Associations among SB, somatic complaints, and sleep disturbance were also examined. Methods: Thirty-one children, aged 7-11 years, completed one night of PSG monitoring and 7 daily reports of somatic symptoms. Bruxism events were scored during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep stages 1 and 2. Results: Almost one-third of children showed evidence of SB based on PSG. No associations were identified between parent-reported and PSG-detected SB. Rates of SB did not differ between anxious and control groups, though children with GAD showed more tonic bruxisms during REM sleep. Presence of SB predicted more muscle aches and stomach aches, and children with SB had more awake time after sleep onset than non-bruxers. Conclusions: Results indicate poor concordance between PSG-detected and parent-reported SB in children, suggesting that parent report alone is not a reliable method for detection. The lack of association between SB and anxiety status suggests that stress sensitivity rather than anxiety per se, may be predictive of SB. Associations between SB, somatic symptoms, and sleep disturbance are congruent with the broader literature.


Reinsurance is a vital financial device for enhancing underwriting capacity, ceding risks, and mitigating financial distress. By supplying financial resources and services, reinsurance can facilitate growth and expansion in the insurance business. Focusing on the insurance sector in the emerging Spanish economy and using a novel dataset on fire insurance companies, this article examines the role of fire insurance in the national capital formation, the importance of reinsurance as a vehicle for expanding the country's domestic underwriting capacity, and how the import of capital impacted on the balance of payment, from the introduction of the first comprehensive legislation regarding insurance in 1908 to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936. Considering the situation of undercapitalization, the singularities of the insurance market, and the changes in regulatory schemes, we find that foreign reinsurance became a key financial vehicle for increasing underwriting capacity in Spain. We also show the struggle of an emerging market to find ways to keep the balance of current accounts and raise capital when financial infrastructure was underdeveloped. The diffusion of reinsurance networks from the core of industrial western countries towards emerging economies was one of the mechanisms for financial modernization on a global scale.


Peacekeeping operations have unintended consequences —a fact long ignored by both practitioners and researchers. The deployment of a large number of soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel inevitably has various effects on the host society and economy. These consequences are especially serious when they cause harm to the local community, as in the case of sexual abuse and exploitation, corruption, or the creation of a false economy. Unintended side effects can also negatively affect the ability of a peacekeeping mission to achieve its mandate. Bringing together field experiences and academic analyses, this book investigates the unintended consequences of peacekeeping operations on individuals and groups, on the host society and economy, and on the troop-contributing countries. It also analyzes the degree to which the United Nations has tried to manage some of these side effects, as well as the UN's accountability in the context of the international legal framework. The aim of the book is not to discredit peace operations but to improve the ways in which they are planned and managed. The contributors identify the need to develop a culture of accountability —one that includes procedures to anticipate unintended consequences and to monitor any side effects during the operation, so that steps can be taken to prevent and manage negative consequences as early as possible.


Population drift from rural to urban areas has increased the demand ready to eat traditional processed food. Thus, there is a great need for better ways of preparing this food at both domestic and factory scale. Cassava ranks fourth in crops importance in the world and various types of traditional foods are locally made from it especially in the tropics. However, cassava is low in vitamins and minerals content. In addition, it contains cyanogenic glycosides which are known to be toxic because the glycosides yield hydrogen cyanide (HCN) when enzymically degraded. Thus, the most important requirement in the processing of cassava roots is its detoxification by the reduction of the total cyanide content (bound and free) to acceptable levels. Furthermore, the conventional methods used previously have not necessarily detoxified the final products sufficiently for safe consumption. The field of study is process development and the research issue is the development of safe processes to for the manufacture of indigenous food containing toxins. The development of new processes to reduce cyanogen from cassava flour using fermentation and drying processes can be easily done in a well equipped laboratory. The process in the present study adopted the conventional gari (most popular traditional food for Nigerians) making process with some modifications. The new process consists of fermentation in a bioreactor, drying using a fluidized bed dryer and fortification by carotene oil in order to reduce the cyanide content of the final product of cassava flour and at the same time, fortifying it with s-carotene. It was found that the overall process flow sheet is improved, and the processing time is reduced. The cassava flour obtained was free from cyanide content and successfully fortified with s-carotene. Fermentation time was improved during which the sour flavor and desired aroma was achieved within 20 h as compared to 2 days under conventional technique. Removal of hydrogen cyanide was facilitated by drying for 15 minutes at 80 oC, while reducing moisture content to acceptable level. Drying step had also improved the process flow sheet with shorter duration and ease of handling continuously. The fortification of the fermented cassava flour with s-carotene was also successful. On the other hand, with the present methods used to produce cassava flour, risks associated with conventional and some industrial scale of cassava processing techniques and its products were removed. With a better control over processing conditions such as time and temperature, higher quality of cassava flour may be guaranteed.


The heating and evaporation of automotive fuel droplets are crucial to the design of internal combustion engines and to ensuring their good performance. Accurate modelling is essential to the understanding of these processes and ultimately improving engine design. The interest in fossil-biodiesel fuel blends has been mainly stimulated by depletion of fossil fuels and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute towards climate change. This paper presents an analytical investigation into the application of discrete component model for the heating and evaporation of multi-component fuel droplets to several blended diesel-biodiesel fuels. The model considers the contribution of all groups of hydrocarbons in diesel fuel and methyl esters in biodiesel fuels. The main features of new application to the analysis of blended-fuel droplets in engine-like conditions is described. The model is applied to several blends of diesel, combining 98 components of hydrocarbons, and 19 types biodiesel fuels, combining up to 17 species of methyl ester, considering the differences in their chemical levels of saturation, and thermodynamic and transport properties. One important finding is that some fuel blends, e.g. B5 (5% biodiesel fuel and 95% diesel fuel), can give almost identical droplet lifetimes to the one predicted for pure diesel fuel; i.e. such mixtures can be directly used in conventional diesel engines with minimal, or no, modification to the droplet break-up process. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ILASS2017.2017.4644


The Baltic Sea is one of the world's busiest waterways. An estimated 9 % of the world's trade and 11 % of the world's oil transportation passes through Baltic waters. It is estimated that this will increase by 64 % between 2003 and 2020. For example, the oil transportation has increased by 133 % between 1997 and 2008 and is now over 250 million tonnes per year. Plenty of shallows and narrow passages make parts of the Baltic Sea difficult to navigate. There are around 130 accidents each year, with 10 of these leading to pollution, mostly of oil. The brackish water of the Baltic Sea coupled with a long residence time of water, makes the flora and fauna particularly sensitive to pollution. The Baltic Sea countries are fortunate to never have had a larger oil spill. The largest one, the Globe Asimi in Lithuania in 1981 spilled 16 000 tonnes of oil. Compared to the larger oils spills in other parts of the world, for example the Prestige, that spilled 63 000 tonnes, this is a small amount. In the Baltic Sea region, several bilateral agreements and international conventions exist to strengthen the cross border cooperation in case of an oil spill. Annual exercises are held by the respective countries' Navy and Coast Guard on combatting oil spills at sea. These have held multiple joint response operations during the HELCOM Balex Delta exercises for several years. However, this spirit of international cooperation and capacity building has not been the case with the land based oil spill response. The organisation of the on land oil spill response in the Baltic Sea countries varies. Certain countries have a centralised system, with a federal authority in charge of the response and aided by local resources. Other countries have the local authorities in charge, who are aided by the governmental authorities and resources. Different countries have worked with contingency planning to a varying degree. Poland for example have had no larger spills at all, but have invested much time and money into response preparedness. Sweden has had several smaller to medium sized spills, but there is large variation between the municipalities concerning the preparedness level. Different nations have set different goals for their oil spill response as well, for example Finland is prepared for an oil spill of 30 000 tonnes, Germany for 15 000 tonnes, Sweden 10 000 tonnes and the Russian Federation for 5 000 tonnes. The two Baltic Master projects have highlighted the changing patterns related to shipping in the Baltic Sea and the corresponding need to continuously re-assess the threats to coastal environments and communities. One of the important conclusions from Baltic Master II is that the preparedness to deal effectively with oil spills at the local and regional level in most of the Baltic Sea countries is poorly developed. Important aspects are related to the need for updated and well rehearsed contingency plans. The need to test these plans in real exercises with regular intervals must be emphasised in particular. Such practices will test the collaboration between different agencies locally, the cooperation between central and local agencies, and the collaboration across borders. To cover the cost for such an improved preparedness various funding mechanisms can be discussed, one example highlighted in the present report is the development of a fund similar to the Finnish model.


Covalent organic Imine polymers with intrinsic meso-porosity were synthesized by condensation reaction between 4,4-diamino diphenyl methane and (para/meta/ortho)phthaladehyde. Even though these polymers were synthesized from precursors of bis-bis covalent link mode, the bulk materials were micrometer size particles with intrinsic mesoporous enables nitrogen as well as carbon dioxide adsorption in the void spaces. These polymers were showed stability up to 260 centigrade. Nitrogen gas adsorption capacity up to 250 cc/g in the ambient pressure was observed with type III adsorption characteristic nature. Carbon dioxide adsorption experiments reveal the possible terminal amine functional group to carbamate with CO2 gas molecule to the polymers. One of the imine polymers, COP-3 showed more carbon dioxide sorption capacity and isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) than COP-1 and COP-2 at 273 K even though COP-3 had lower porosity for nitrogen gas than COP-1 and COP-2. We explained the trends in gas adsorption capacities and Qst values as a consequence of the intra molecular interactions confirmed by Density Functional Theory computational experiments on small molecular fragments.


In this paper we respond to Daniel Klein, Benjamin Powell, and Evgeny Vorotnikov's (henceforth KPV) critique of our 2009 Journal of Law and Economics paper on the effects of occupational regulation on the employment of female and black workers. Our view is that KPV have not successfully made the case that our study is "rife with problems," that our findings are "simply spurious correlations," and that our conclusions are "highly doubtful." In our reply we take on each of KPV's criticisms. Specifically, we demonstrate that neither (1) our use of census data; nor (2) the problem of uneven enforcement of licensing laws; nor (3) measurement error in the timing and stringency of licensing laws; nor (4) the omitted variables that KPV identify systematically bias our estimates in favor of finding positive effects. In each of these instances, we show that the problems that KPV have identified would either bias our estimates toward zero or in the opposite direction of what we do find. Additionally, we argue that KPV's falsification tests do not clearly show that our empirical methodology is biased. Finally, we estimate new regressions in light of KPV's suggestions and find results that are consistent with our original conclusions. Accordingly, KPV have failed to mount a persuasive critique of our original paper.


Abstract : Organizations that operate in austere environments at the end of long logistics chains face significant energy challenges which often represent financial and security vulnerabilities. Reducing fuel consumption in these operations causes a proportional fuel reduction throughout the supply system as the need for transportation of fuel is reduced. Accordingly, the total fuel reduction across the supply system should be considered to capture the fully burdened cost savings when conducting economic analysis of energy reduction initiatives. This research examined the energy savings potential of improving the thermal properties of expeditionary shelters, and then evaluated these measures using a fully burdened cost savings technique. Geographic Information Systems, Radiant Time Series cooling load analysis, and fully burdened concepts were applied to develop a model that analyzes the economic effectiveness of various shelter improvements in any climate and location in the world. Specifically, solar flies developed through Solar Integrated Power Shelter System (SIPSS) program for installation on fabric shelters were examined. The model was validated against test data provided by the SIPSS program, and then it was applied to two case studies. Results indicated that the energy savings in transportation associated with point-of-use energy reduction initiatives can represent a substantial portion of the overall fuels savings, which validates the idea that cost savings should be evaluated on a fully-burdened basis. Additionally, the SIPSS solar flies were overwhelming economically justified in most regions studied, but a lack of effectiveness in certain regions validated the need for the developed methodology.


This study seeks to examine the relationship between the liquidity and the profitability of commercial Banks in Nepal. In this connection, 14 Nepalese commercial banks were selected as study samples and their financial data were gathered from
 the annual reports of concerned banks for the period of 2008-2017. In this study, Return on assets and net profit margin were used as indicator of profitability while liquidity ratio, investment ratio and capital ratio were used as a proxy of
 liquidity measures. This study used inferential statistics to explain the main features of a collection of data in quantitative terms while correlation and linear regression analysis are used for analyzing the data. Results showed that more than 49
 percent bank profitability measured by return on assets and net profit margin is predicted by the liquidity variables. This empirical analysis reveals that there is insignificant positive relationship between liquidity ratio and return on assets.
 Similarly, there is insignificant negative relationship between investment ratio and capital ratio with return on assets. It is also found that there is insignificant positive relationship of net profit margin with liquidity ratio and investment
 ratio. However the net profit margin is significantly negatively related with capital ratio. Based on the results it is concluded that the liquidity measure are not statistically significant in determining the profitability of commercial banks in
 Nepal except the capital ratio.