The Waisoi porphyry copper/gold deposits at Namosi, in the Republic of Fiji, are
hosted by several units of strongly faulted, fractured and altered volcanic rocks.
The lower host volcanic unit consists of coherent and autobrecciated basaltic
andesite lavas of the Late Oligocene to Late Miocene (32 to 10 Ma), Wainimala
basement (early island arc magmatic affinities), whereas the upper host volcanic
unit is dominated by Late Miocene (8 to 5.5 Ma), calc-alkaline andesitic dacite
lavas and volcaniclastics of the Namosi Andesite (mature island arc magmatic
affinities). These two units are separated by a +5my time break, with a mass
flow conglomerate unit (Basal Namosi Conglomerate) marking the beginning of
the calc-alkaline volcanism. These rocks are intruded (at 5.5 - 6.0 Ma) by dacitic
quartz diorites of similar chemistry to the Namosi Andesite volcanics. Fluids
associated with these intrusives caused extensive alteration in the Namosi area
and led to formation of the 930 million tonne Waisoi porphyry mineralisation,
averaging 0.43% copper and 0.14 ppm gold.
Petrological, mineralogical, alteration and fluid inclusion investigations,
combined with field observations of temporal relationships between geological
features, demonstrated that the paragenetic sequence consists of early,
regional, greenschist facies, burial metamorphism and albitisation followed by
porphyry-related alteration. The latter (porphyry-related alteration) consists of
early sericitisation, followed by silicification, before the main mineralising fluids
were introduced. These resulted in a potassic alteration event, during which
most of the copper and gold was deposited, followed by a chloritisation event,
also with significant copper mineralisation. The variable phase mineralising
event was followed by several carbonate-rich alteration events.
Minor copper mineralisation was deposited as chalcopyrite during the
silicification event, but most of the copper and gold was introduced and
deposited as chalcopyrite and bornite during the subsequent main
mineralisation episode. This involved a series of events, from those with highly
saline fluids at temperatures in excess of 500°C, to high salinity (+45 wt.% NaCI
equivalent) fluids at temperatures above 380°C, to fluids with lower salinities (10 wt.% NaCI equivalent) and temperatures around 300°C. Minor copper was also
deposited as chalcopyrite during the early stages of the carbonate alteration
event.
Mineralisation distribution is controlled by lithology and structure. Regional
structure controlled the location of the mineralising porphyries, the fluid
pathways and the porosity/permeability of the host rocks, whereas the
lithologies controlled the degree of chemical reaction and the style of
mineralisation. The dominant structures controlling the emplacement of the
porphyries are northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast trending corridors,
with lesser influence of east-west zones. East-west and north-south structures
tended to occur later, and disrupt the mineralisation on a series of block faults.
The high erosion rate of the Waisoi area has resulted in the exposure of the
Waisoi mineralisation, but lower erosion at nearby Waivaka has only exposed
the top of a similarly mineralised system.


AIM
To identify strategies that older adults use to adapt to live in long-term care.

BACKGROUND
The use of long-term care services has risen and this trend is expected to continue as the population reaches old age. Moving into a long-term care setting has been documented internationally as an overwhelming life change for many older adults. It has been observed that residents adjust differently over time, but the basis for these differences needs further exploration.

DESIGN
A qualitative design using grounded theory method was employed.

METHODS
A total of in-depth interviews were conducted in October 2008-February 2009 with a sample of 21 participants. Participants ranged in age from 65-93 years, 81% women and 19% men; mainly Caucasian with one African American and one Hispanic. Length of stay ranged from 3 days to over 9 years living in long-term care so that all stages of adjustment were included in the study. Ground theory method was used to analyse the data.

FINDINGS
The results of this study yielded 21 facilitative strategies. The core category identified was personal resiliency, which served as the underpinning for the strategies used by the participants. Strategies were identified in making the decision to move into long-term care and in day-to-day living.

CONCLUSION
Understanding the strategies that facilitate residents to make a successful transition to long-term care life will assist nurses to intervene in ways that are supportive. The strategies identified in this study may be used to develop interventions for residents that are having difficulty living in long-term care. Further exploration of how resiliency has an impact on strategies used by residents is clinically relevant, but further research is needed.


INTRODUCTION I. LEGAL BACKGROUND: OVERLAPS AND DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND UNITED STATES ANTITRUST SYSTEMS II. COMPARING THE ANTITRUST CASE LAW AND POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE UNITED STATES A. The European Approach 1. The Historic al Hostility Towards IP 2. Antitrust Liability for Refusal to License in "Exceptional Circumstances" and Essential Facility Argument 3. The 2005 Discussion Paper on the Application of Article 82 of the EC Treaty B. The American Approach 1. The Cycles of Antitrust Applied to Intellectual Property 2. IP Rights as Shield from Antitrust, but a Shifting Test Applies to Patents 3. The 2007 DOJ--FTC Report on Antitrust Enforcement and IP Rights III. OPEN ISSUES AND THE INTERNATIONAL SETTING A. The European and American Systems: A Summary B. Open Issues C. The International Setting CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION Cyclically, with different ups and downs in time, antitrust and intellectual property ("IP") are perceived as complementary, rather than inconsistent, bodies of laws which share the same goals of promoting innovation and enhancing consumer welfare. Whether this is true or not, potential for conflicts does exist, such as when unilateral refusals to license, sell, use, or share IP rights by dominant firms affect the dynamics of competition. Yet, if and under what conditions this might happen is one of the thorniest facets of the IP and antitrust interface, even though it is crucial in the knowledge-driven economy and global trade in a time of exorbitant IP growth. On the one hand, the legal monopoly based upon IP laws gives the owner the right to exclude third parties from the protected asset, subject only to the exceptions established for various purposes by the relevant domestic and international laws (e.g., experimental use). On the other hand, when the legal monopoly impacts on market competition, antitrust enforcement can outlaw or limit the exclusivity and serve as the grounds for a compulsory license order. Three outcomes may result from these conflicting situations: 1) antitrust trumps per se intellectual property, giving ground to an exception to the exclusivity based upon IP laws; 2) IP trumps per se antitrust, justifying anticompetitive behaviors and shielding them from antitrust scrutiny; or 3) antitrust and IP are balanced, the exclusivity being limited depending on specific circumstances to be ascertained case-by-case. A comparative analysis of the current European and American systems--the two most mature for both antitrust and IP--shows that the former tends to downplay IP rights in favor of competition, whereas the latter tends to curtail the imperative of competition to preserve the exclusivity based upon IP rights. Yet these are only trends, and on the whole the two systems are still largely unsettled on the matter. The underlying dilemma is that a broad antitrust intervention, also through a high rate of compulsory licensing orders, may reduce the incentives to invest and thus chill the scientific and technological innovation (a risk apparently more clear in the United States). At the same time, failure to scrutinize anticompetitive behaviors can result in foreclosure of markets to the detriment of consumers, competitors, and the efficiency of the economic system (a risk apparently more clear in the European Union). Broadening the view to the international dimension, so far rather neglected, gives the occasion to wonder whether there is any bias for the one or the other solution, or simply to figure out alternative options to the classical ex-post antitrust enforcement. Part I of this Article accounts for the legal background on monopolization claims involving IP rights. Part II provides an overview of the European and American case law and policy. …


Summaries Poverty reduction lies at the heart of development discourses and practice. Yet it is a notion which is rooted in Enlightenment thought, and increasingly questioned by the intellectual currents which deny universalist ideas of progress and well‐being. Similarly, much western feminism also invokes the promise of modernity, and faces postist challenges. This article looks at postmodernist arguements which critique the universalising character of current poverty reduction approaches – Sen's capabilities framework in particular – for what they signify for GAD's own emerging agenda on poverty: gender relationships. It attempts to indicate a way through what can be experienced as a disempowering critique. It does this by bringing together 'materialist' and 'culturalist' perspectives on poverty in the idea of the embodied subjectivity of women which transcends physical/mental dualism. The article draws on the work of Nancy Fraser and Seyla Benhabib towards a more discursively oriented way of thinking about gendered poverty and development. It also argues for the validity of universalist concepts of gender justice, and envisages a role for development intervention.


Dryland degradation rarely translates into linear, declining trends in vegetation cover due to interannual climatic variability. Appropriate indicators of land-cover modifications need to be defined for semi-arid regions. Our hypothesis is that degradation can be measured by: (1) a decrease in the resilience of vegetation to droughts; (2) a decrease in rain-use efficiency; and (3) a modification of floristic composition. The objective of this paper is to test the relationships between a remotely sensed indicator of vegetation, rainfall data and field measurements of biomass and floristic composition. The study was based on field measurements of vegetation conditions covering a period of 10 years, in the semi-arid region of the Ferlo in Senegal. Our results indicate that land-cover modifications in the Ferlo are best measured by changes in rain-use efficiency. No consistent trend in the relative abundance of grass species was visible at the scale of the decade, even on the two sites affected by degradation. Just after a drought, a given increase in rainfall results in less biomass production than is the case for normal years. (C) 2001 Academic Press.


Conditional stochastic optimization covers a variety of applications ranging from invariant learning and causal inference to meta-learning. However, constructing unbiased gradient estimators for such problems is challenging due to the composition structure. As an alternative, we propose a biased stochastic gradient descent (BSGD) algorithm and study the bias-variance tradeoff under different structural assumptions. We establish the sample complexities of BSGD for strongly convex, convex, and weakly convex objectives under smooth and non-smooth conditions. Our lower bound analysis shows that the sample complexities of BSGD cannot be improved for general convex objectives and nonconvex objectives except for smooth nonconvex objectives with Lipschitz continuous gradient estimator. For this special setting, we propose an accelerated algorithm called biased SpiderBoost (BSpiderBoost) that matches the lower bound complexity. We further conduct numerical experiments on invariant logistic regression and model-agnostic meta-learning to illustrate the performance of BSGD and BSpiderBoost.


Background: Pelvic floor dyssynergia is an inability to relax the pelvic floor muscles during defecation. Successful defecation requires increased intra‐abdominal pressure combined with relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles. An inability to coordinate this action often results in chronic constipation, painful bowel movements, and excessive straining. The purpose of the case report is to describe the successful physical therapy treatment of a patient with long‐standing constipation caused by pelvic floor dyssynergia. Study Design: This is a case report revealing the physical therapy interventions used to treat the patient, the outcome of the treatment, and discussion and implications for current and future physical therapy management of constipation caused by pelvic floor dyssynergia. Case Description: The patient was a 56‐year‐old male complaining of chronic constipation existing greater than 10 years. The physical therapy interventions included neuromuscular re‐education using electromyographic biofeedback, tactile biofeedback, and instruction regarding coordination of abdominal muscle contraction for increased intra‐abdominal pressure combined with pelvic floor muscle relaxation. Outcomes: The patient attended 5 physical therapy sessions over a 5‐week time frame followed by 2 phone consultations. At time of discharge the patient was having normal bowel movements 80% of the time, was not using laxatives or enemas, reported no pain with bowel movements, improved his Obstructed Defecation Syndrome Score by 11 points and had returned to work. Discussion: This case report discusses the physical therapy management of a man with pelvic floor dyssynergia causing chronic constipation. Interventions included biofeedback therapy and muscle retraining resulting in normal defecation.


In the United States, the history of sexual assault in the first half of the 20th century involves multiple contradictions between the ordinary, almost invisible accounts of women of all colors who were raped by fathers, husbands, neighbors, boarders, bosses, hired hands, and other known individuals versus the sensational myths that involved rapacious black men, sly white slavers, libertine elites, and virginal white female victims. Much of the debate about sexual assault revolved around the "unwritten law" that justified "honorable" white men avenging the "defilement" of their women. Both North and South, white people defended lynching and the murder of presumed rapists as "honor killings." In courtrooms, defense attorneys linked the unwritten law to insanity pleas, arguing that after hearing women tell about their assault, husbands and fathers experienced an irresistible compulsion to avenge the rape of their women. Over time, however, notorious court cases from New York to San Francisco, Indianapolis and Honolulu, to Scottsboro, Alabama, shifted the discourse away from the unwritten law and extralegal "justice" to a more complicated script that demonized unreliable women and absolved imperfect men. National coverage of these cases, made possible by wire services and the Hearst newspaper empire, spurred heated debates concerning the proper roles of men and women. Blockbuster movies like The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind and Book of the Month Club selections such as John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Richard Wright's Native Son joined the sensationalized media coverage of high-profile court cases to create new national stereotypes about sexual violence and its causes and culprits. During the 1930s, journalists, novelists, playwrights, and moviemakers increasingly emphasized the culpability of women who, according to this narrative, made themselves vulnerable to assault by stepping outside of their appropriate sphere and tempting men into harming them.


This paper aims at examining the impact of productive-based zakat program distributed by BAZNAS to the Mustahik in the central regions of Indonesia; i.e. Tabanan (Bali), East Kutai (East Kalimantan), and Gorontalo. The poverty statistics of the regions are commonly higher than that in the average of the nation, requiring a form of intervention that is not always dependent on government social programs. This has been done through designing the productive-based zakat program that will assist Mustahik in establishing a business, or upgrading the scale of economies for their existing business. By using the National Zakat Index framework, this research provides an actual data on how far the achievement of the productive-based zakat program in improving the welfare of Mustahik. In doing so, a direct survey to Mustahik in three regions in Indonesia was conducted between October and November 2016. Our results show that the productive-based zakat distribution managed by BAZNAS in those regions is positively correlated to the alleviation of poverty of Mustahik, and thus improves the welfare both materially and spiritually.
Keywords: Zakat, Mustahik, Productive-based Program, National Zakat Index
JEL Classification: O15, O53, P36


This paper presents a performance driven computational design methodology through introducing a case on parametric structural design. The paper describes the process of design technology development and frames a design methodology through which engineering, -in this case structural- aspects of architectural design could become more understandable, traceable and implementable by designers for dynamic and valid performance measurements and estimations. The research further embeds and customizes the process of topology optimization for specific design problems, in this case applied to the design of truss structures, for testing how the discretized results of Finite Elements Analysis in topology optimization can become the inputs for designing optimal trussed beams or cantilevers alternatives. The procedures of design information exchange between generative, simulative and evaluative modules for approaching the abovementioned engineering and design deliverables are developed and discussed in this paper.


Herodotus's history is the earliest continuous prose narrative in Western literature. His long narrative-longer than either of the Homeric epics-continues to hold us spellbound because of the author's storytelling powers and intelligent curiosity. The perfect introduction to Herodotus, this Norton Critical Edition includes the complete text of The Histories. The translation is fully annotated and is accompanied by an introduction, a chronology of events, and a note on the Persian Wars. Seven maps-all new to the Second Edition-give readers a visual understanding of events and places, 490-479 B.C.E. "Backgrounds" includes a rich collection of historical works by Aeschylus, Bacchylides, Thucydides, Aristotle, and Plutarch. New to the Second Edition are contrasting accounts, by Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo, of the Amazons who were believed to be living in the mountainous regions. "Commentaries" is divided into two sections. Early modern interpretations are represented by Isaac Taylor, John Stuart Mill, and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Seventeen modern assessments-three of them new to the Second Edition-focus on historical origins and backgrounds, Herodotus's place in history, and central issues concerning both the Persian Wars and Herodotus's reckoning of them. The new contributors are Francois Hartog, James Redfield, and Siep Stuurman. A Glossary, Selected Bibliography, and Index are also included.


This paper presents a mass customisation co-design tool for knitted fashion garments, and how this tool could reduce time both in programming of the knitting machine, and in the co-design process between the customer and the company. Initial results in this paper shows that it is possibly to customise and design the fashion product with much less help than before from a shop assistant. Customer information is transformed and transferred into program code automatically, and the garment can be knitted without time consuming programming of the knitting machine. The work is based on literature study, company visits and interviews


The reaction of 5,59-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) with rabbit muscle glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase [D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate: NAD + oxidoreductase (phosphorylating), EC 22.214.171.124] consists of an initial burst of reaction over several minutes, corresponding to 2 thiols/subunit, followed by a further slow reaction of the 2 remaining groups. The initial fast release of 2 thionitrobenzoate anions per subunit is shown to be due to reaction of two sulphydryl groups with DTNB. One of these reacts very fast, with consequent inactivation of the enzyme, and is therefore assumed to be the active site thiol, Cys-149. A mechanism involving reaction of DTNB with Cys-149, followed by formation of an intramolecular disulphide bridge between Cys-149 and a second thiol, is shown to be unlikely. Incubation of the enzyme with ethacrynic acid abolishes the initial fast reaction with DTNB of 2 groups/subunit, and 2 ethacrynic acid residues/subunit remain attached to the enzyme after thorough dialysis. Ethacrynic acid treatment results in inactivation of the enzyme, which is not reversed by dilution or by addition of 2-mercaptoethanol. Furthermore, the reactivity of the 2 sulphydryl groups blocked by ethacrynic acid is not restored by denaturation or by exhaustive dialysis. One thiol per subunit reacts rapidly with ethacrynic acid, and one more slowly. The rate of inactivation of the enzyme correlates with the rate of reaction of the fast group, which is assumed to be the active site thiol. Increasing the extent of saturation of the enzyme with NAD + results in protection against inactivation by ethacrynic acid. The data suggest that ethacrynic acid reacts with 2 thiols/ enzyme subunit and that inactivation of the enzyme by the drug results from modification of the active site thiol.


Biogeographic processes have led to different evolutionary taxa occurring in the northern and southern edges of the Alpine Mountains in Western Europe. The integrity of this diversity is being challenged by frequent human-mediated trans-alpine translocations, sometimes leading to biological invasions. Several alien terrestrial vertebrates of south Alpine origins (Italy, Swiss Ticino) are causing damages to native north Alpine fauna. In this paper, we used molecular tools to characterize the understudied case of the Mediterranean smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris meridionalis) expanding in the outskirts of Geneva since its introduction before 1975. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequencing suggest that these exotic populations are a mixture between two diverged L. v. meridionalis lineages from central Italy, and traces of potential hybridization with the native L. v. vulgaris was detected. This situation echoes many other trans-alpine alien introductions. We review all comparable cases of southern to northern Alps introductions in vertebrates, including seven reptiles and four amphibians. The majority of south alpine alien lineages were presumably imported voluntarily by enthusiasts and appear to perform better in the disturbed habitats found in the anthropogenic landscapes of Western Europe compared to their native north Alpine counterparts. Most pose serious threats to related species of similar ecology, through direct competition, predation and introgressive hybridization. Difficulties to detect alien species on time lead to significant conservation costs. Better education together with more appropriate and reactive management plans will be necessary to limit the impact of future alien introductions.


Summary Decades of research have shown that the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance is modest in magnitude, yet lay people are thought to believe strongly that satisfied or 'happy' employees are more productive at work. This paper first documents the strength and pervasiveness of belief in several versions of the happy–productive worker hypothesis (Study 1), then proposes and explores potential substantive explanations for these beliefs (Study 2). It is possible that lay people base their beliefs on genuinely stronger relationships that occur at a different level of analysis than usually studied by researchers, and/or that exist between satisfaction-like and performance-like variables other than the constructs typically investigated by scholars. Study 2 provides data relevant to several of these possibilities. The most compelling findings were at the within-person level of analysis. The average within-person correlation between momentary task satisfaction and concurrent perceived task performance was 0.57. Individuals feel more satisfied than usual when they believe they are performing better than usual for them. If lay persons mistakenly generalize from their own within-person experiences of satisfaction–performance covariation to the between-persons level, this relationship may be the basis for the strong lay belief that satisfied workers perform better. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A study has been made of the incidence and character of objections to bus licence applications which are based on environmental grounds. All traffic areas in Great Britain were included, the period covered by the study being October 1980 to February 1983. It was found that hearings before the traffic courts in which environmental objections were made represented less than half a percent of the total bus licence applications received by the traffic arms offices. Residents' groups were predominant among those making objections, being present in approximately 60 percent of the hearings. The most frequently cited grounds for objections were safety, traffic and parking congestion, noise and unsuitability of the roads to be used by the proposed bus services. It was considered that the overall process worked satisfactorily, that objectors obtained a full and fair hearing and that there would not be any benefit from attempting to specify more precisely the admissable grounds for objections to licence applications. (TRRL)


The relationship quality can be used to assess the effectiveness of
relationship marketing (Hennig-Thurau, et aI., 2002). By adopting Nordic
approach, relationship quality in this study consists of two levels of
interaction, i.e. interpersonal and organizational levels. In addition, since the
relationship quality is not tied down to any standardized dimension, the study
aims to investigate the dimensions of relationship quality in services sector,
using two types of services, i.e. credence and experience services.
The data was collected using personal interview on the selected residents of
Putrajaya. For this purpose, two sets of questionnaire were developed for the
two services studied (credence & experience services). The study gathered
421 completed questionnaires. The data were then analyzed using factor
analysis, multiple regression and discriminant analysis to fulfill the research
objectives. The findings showed that both levels were empirically important for service
sector. However, the findings tend to differ slightly according to the type of
service. At interpersonal level, closeness factor was significant for credence
services but not for experience services. Communication and special care
were significant for both service types, whereas a new dimension
(communication quality), that emerged from the study, was not significant for
both service types. At organizational level, trust was significant for
experience services but not for credence services. Nonetheless, commitment
and satisfaction showed significant findings for both service types.
Based on the study, it is recommended that credence service firms can
exploit 'closeness' through friendliness, trustworthiness, responsiveness,
competency, and empathy in service to build relationship with customers.
Contrary to that of credence service firms, experience service firms might
focus on developing customers trust on the organization by delivering highly
skilled services along with strong support from the organization.


Social work has a long history of engagement with immigrants and refugees. However, the demographic profile of immigrants to Canada and their needs are changing. The past few decades have seen an increase in the numbers of highly educated professional immigrants from non-traditional countries of immigration. Though not typically thought of in the social work profession as a vulnerable population, this group faces multiple oppressions in Canada. This article reports on the findings of 20 in-depth interviews with internationally trained engineers and their experiences of discrimination either while searching for work, or in the workplace after employment was secured. Two key findings that emerge from this paper have important insights for social work practice. The first indicates internationally trained engineers experience discrimination on multiple axes pertaining to their social identities. The second reveals that a few participants did not view themselves as victims of discrimination, even though they acknowledged discrimination to be at play when others like them were unable to secure jobs as engineers. The findings challenge traditional views of who constitute vulnerable populations and disrupt notions of immigrant populations needing social work intervention only at the point when they are unable to cope with their cultural and social adaptations. The findings highlight the need for social work education to train students in the areas of advocacy, anti-racism, and anti-oppressive practice in order to better meet the needs of these groups.


An investigation was performed to study the relationships between properties of slurries used in drilled shaft construction. Slurries with different bentonite and attapulgite concentrations, densities, and sand contents were prepared. The Marsh Funnel viscosity, Brookfield viscosity, and electrical conductivity of each prepared sample of slurry were measured. Tests on slurries containing no sand showed that the Marsh Funnel viscosity, the Brookfield viscosity, and the density correlated very well to electrical conductivity because properties of slurries are acquired due to the presence of suspended clay particles, which can be directly correlated to electrical conductivity. The effects of sand content on viscosity and electrical conductivity were investigated. Marsh Funnel viscosity increased slightly with increased sand content. The Brookfield viscosity also showed some variation with sand content. The electrical conductivity increased with increasing clay content. As sand is added to the slurry, the electrical conductivity decreased slowly since the sand particles are inert as compared to the clay particles. The response of electrical conductivity to clay content and sand content was used to develop calibration curves to estimate Marsh Funnel viscosity and sand content as a function of density and electrical conductivity. Few techniques are now available to measure the density of slurry as it varies in the trench. If electrical conductivity is also measured, the viscosity and the sand content at any location of the trench can be estimated. This will improve the QA/QC of slurry construction.


The question of how much deference courts should accord agency interpretations of statutes is a high-profile and important issue that affects both rulemaking and case outcomes. What level of deference should courts accord an agency regulation or other rule that an agency has issued opportunistically, during the course of related litigation? This important question has arisen in numerous cases, including the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. United States, a case involving a Treasury regulation. To answer the question, the Article analyzes the law on judicial deference to tax authorities generally, as well as specific to the context of pending litigation. It concludes that deference under the famous case of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. applies to all Treasury regulations issued in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. It further argues that Revenue Rulings - formal guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service - should receive deference under Skidmore v. Swift & Co. Following an analysis of the literature and applicable case law, the Article proposes that rulings issued during the controversy receive the applicable level of deference (Chevron or Skidmore), but that the deference inquiry take into account the retroactivity and surprise issues raised by the timing of the agency's guidance.


The thesis examines the development of road communications within a relatively self-contained area of hills and valleys; their relationship with the local relief and geology, and their response to changes in the settlement pattern and local economy, from late medieval times to the latter part of the 19th century. By the 18th century a 3-tier pattern had developed: through-routes on the plateau or ridge tops, 'contour' tracks linking hill-side settlements, and 'vertical' tracks from valley floor to plateau top. The inadequacies of the parish road repair system led to the creation of toll-roads. Three such phases may here be distinguished. Firstly, the amendment of roads from the Severn to the edge of the Cotswolds; secondly, the development of long-distance routes across the plateau; thirdly, the construction of completely new alignments along, or close to, the valley bottom, reaching the plateau by sweeping sinuous curves. This last phase starts with the creation of the Nailsworth Turnpike Trust in 1780, though the example was not followed in the other valleys until the period 1800-1825. In each phase a close look is taken at the financing of a particular road, or group of roads. The first such is the audit of the Stroud Turnpike, which took place in 1734 as a result of public discontent over the newly-imposed tolls. The financial theme is central to the whole history of turnpikes and in fact it was not the coming of the railways that brought about the crisis in the system. The trusts had been in grave financial trouble by at least the 1820s, and numerous Parliamentary enquiries had tried to resolve the problem of debt but without success. In the Stroudwater area an attempt was made in the early 1850s to introduce many of the suggested remedies: how and why this attempt failed is discussed. But while the competition from railways certainly caused the extinction of long-distance coaching and allied services, the turnpike system itself continued for at least another 30 years, though with a diminished revenue in most trusts. The long-drawn-out process of unravelling the affairs of a turnpike until final dispiking is examined through the records of the Nailsworth Trust. From 1780 to the 1870s this trust is the exemplar for the area. Examined in detail are: the inception and inauguration of this new road, and the employment of a professional engineer, with competent road specificiations pre-dating the better-known work of McAdam by 30 years. Also examined are: problems of constructing a completely new road; the work of the various officials, the composition of the committee and the trust's administration; the raising of the initial capital and the collection of toll revenue, including a detailed examination of toll-farming in the later years. Allied matters are also looked at. At each change in the pattern of turnpike communications an appropriate financial problem is examined. Use is made throughout of numerous reproductions of contemporary maps and of original documents.


Ice and snow particles play a key role in the atmosphere of the Earth and affect—among others—cloud physics and radiative properties, precipitation, and surface albedo. As a consequence, ice and snow have major impact on weather and climate. However, in situ observations of ice clouds and snowfall are difficult and sparse. This leads to a great potential of remote sensing, which can provide observations at high temporal and spatial resolutions. Among the various types of remote sensing instruments, ground-based vertically pointing Doppler radars are one of the most promising concepts: Doppler radars are the only instruments which can penetrate also optically thick clouds and, at the same time, are capable of measuring the fall velocity of hydrometeors. However, the observables of Doppler radars are only indirectly linked to cloud and precipitation properties. The required transfer functions are not uniquely defined resulting in substantial uncertainties of radar-based ice cloud and snowfall retrievals.

In the context of studying ice and snow with radars, this study investigates two key issues:
(I) the need for additional snowfall measurements with radar and (II) the potential of higher moments of the radar Doppler spectrum for observing ice cloud properties.

To address Key Issue I, an improved spectral processing scheme for the MRR, a compact precipitation Doppler radar, is introduced. The scheme significantly enhances the radar sensitivity and allows observations of snowfall profiles (Publication I). One year of MRR observations from three polar sites in East Antarctica and Svalbard are investigated with respect to changes of snowfall within the vertical column (Publication II). The transformation found is used for assessing the snowfall measurement uncertainties of the radar onboard the CloudSat satellite which is the only source of global snowfall estimates. However, the lowest 1200 m above the surface are contaminated by ground clutter so that the measurements cannot be exploited (blind zone). The analysis shows that snowfall amount is underestimated when using CloudSat. Also, a blind zone reduced by 50% does not improve the snowfall estimation in all aspects.

For Key Issue II, the potential of higher moments for observations of ice cloud properties, an advanced radar simulator capable of simulating the full Doppler radar spectrum is developed (Additional Study I). The radar simulator is used to forward model in situ aircraft observations of stratocumulus ice clouds obtained during the ISDAC campaign in Alaska (Publication III). The combination of in situ data and ground-based radar observations with the 35 GHz MMCR radar in Barrow, Alaska, is used to develop a novel method for deriving temperature-dependent particle mass-size relations. Subsequently, the impact of replacing measurements by various parameterizations is investigated for projected particle area and particle size distribution. For this, moments of the radar Doppler spectrum of the MMCR are statistically compared to forward modeled ISDAC data. It is found that the use of higher moments of the Doppler spectrum such as skewness and kurtosis as well as the slopes of the Doppler peak gives additional information when identifying the parameterization methods which lead to most consistent results. Radar-based ice cloud retrievals are often underdetermined and additional observables are desirable. The potential of increasing the number of observables using higher moments and slopes is evaluated based on the developed forward model, parameterizations, and coefficients (Additional Study II). An idealized retrieval based on simulated measurements is successfully developed for moderate turbulence levels. Retrieved are parameters describing particle mass, area, and size distribution. It is shown that a retrieval including higher moments and the slopes provides a higher number of degrees of freedom for signal than a dual-frequency retrieval based on the conventional moments such as radar reflectivity factor and mean Doppler velocity. This highlights the great potential for enhancing observations of ice clouds with higher radar moments.


When a meteor shot through the dawn sky over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on 15 February, people rushed to watch the contrail streak past at 18 kilometers a second. But what came next were shattered windows, blown down walls, shock waves that set off magnitude-2.7 tremors, and about 1500 injuries. Now, scientists are crafting proposals for an air-burst warning system in the hopes of spotting threats hours before they reach Earth.


Blood is the main biological fluid of humans and most animals. Understanding the effects of the biotransformation of nanomaterials in blood plasma on their interactions with cells is fundamental for the evaluation of their health risks and applications. However, there is a lack of related information. The present work found that free radicals and biological molecules in human blood plasma simultaneously drive the formation of a biological corona on biodegraded graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Importantly, the above biotransformation affected the interactions of GO with cells. For example, the biotransformed GO induced lower levels of reactive oxygen species and cell ultrastructure damage than did the pristine GO. In addition to the well-known protein corona, the small-molecule corona on the biodegraded GO also plays a critical role in the reduction of GO cytotoxicity through quenching excessive free radical generation. Metabolomic analysis revealed that the biotransformation reduced the oxidative stress induced by GO mainly via upregulation of the fatty acid metabolism and downregulation of the galactose metabolism. Overall, the present work clearly shows that the biotransformation of GO in blood plasma influences the nanotoxicity of GO. Compared with pristine nanomaterials, biotransformed materials are more biologically relevant to assessments of their environmental health risks.


The indictment and subsequent conviction of Arthur Andersen & Co. (1) has recently focused much attention on the previously little-known subject of document retention. The government charged that Andersen's auditors willfully obstructed justice when they destroyed thousands of Enron work papers as an SEC investigation loomed, but had not yet commenced. (2) In defense, the accounting firm's representatives claimed that it was merely "good housekeeping" to inform employees of the need to eliminate reams of unnecessary paper. (3) Because the jury evidently based its ultimate decision on an altered memorandum rather than on the wholesale shredding, (4) important questions about the legality of Andersen's policy were not fully resolved. The resulting uncertainty seems likely to yield confusion, as this short essay will demonstrate. It is surely impossible for a large firm, or even an individual, to retain every piece of paper generated in a professional practice. But when must documents be saved and stored, and when may they be destroyed? And most importantly, what constitutes guilty knowledge when documents are in fact being discarded? Every company in the United States is probably reviewing its own policies, at one level or another, in view of Andersen partner David Duncan's statement that he did not initially believe he had done anything wrong, but after much "soul searching" came to conclude that he had "committed a crime." (5) The courts, however, have provided little guidance on this issue, (6) which will likely remain unaddressed when the Fifth Circuit reviews the Arthur Andersen case. (7) Given the relative dearth of case law, the Ohio Supreme Court's opinion in Ohio ex rel. Corn v. Russo (8) is potentially quite important, since it is one of the relatively few appellate court decisions to address the general question of document retention outside the context of discovery abuse. (9) Many corporate executives, consultants, and especially expert witnesses, will find much cause for alarm in this case, as it appears to set an exceptionally high standard for maintaining documents, even in the absence of an investigation or discovery request. Moreover, the court evidently predicated its decision on a single line of transcript--a flaw not unknown elsewhere in appellate court review, but especially problematic in this context. The significance of the decision is somewhat obscured by the arcana of Ohio appellate practice. The case involves a contempt proceeding against an expert witness, but much of the opinion is devoted to such technicalities as the difference between a writ of prohibition and a writ of mandamus, the distinction between civil and criminal contempt, and the trial court's jurisdiction over witnesses following dismissal of the underlying case. These questions are procedurally meaningful, of course, but they do not have much extrinsic impact. The ultimate issue in the case, however, could end up having tremendous consequences for record keeping, by businesses and expert witnesses, in Ohio and elsewhere. In brief, these were the facts in Corn: Dr. Corn is an orthopedic surgeon frequently retained as an expert witness by defense counsel in personal injury cases. He testified for the defense in this case, and in an attempt to establish his pro-defense biases, the plaintiff's lawyers subpoenaed his tax and office records, hoping that they would reveal Dr. Corn's receipt of great amounts of money from insurance companies. Most importantly, the plaintiffs wanted all of Dr. Corn's appointment calendars for the previous eight years and all of his Independent Medical Examination (IME) reports for the same period. (10) Dr. Corn produced one appointment calendar and about one hundred IME reports, claiming that the balance of the requested material had been discarded according to his office policy. (11) Faced with this response, most courts would either accept the witness's excuse (12) or, at most, bar his testimony for failure to comply with a valid discovery request. …


The effort to create a serious Hebrew literature in the United States in the years around World War I is one of the best kept secrets of American Jewish history. Hebrew had been revived as a modern literary language in nineteenth-century Russia and then taken to Palestine as part of the Zionist revolution. But the overwhelming majority of Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe settled in America, and a passionate kernel among them believed that Hebrew provided the vehicle for modernizing the Jewish people while maintaining their connection to Zion. These American Hebraists created schools, journals, newspapers, and, most of all, a high literary culture focused on producing poetry. Sanctuary in the Wilderness is a critical introduction to American Hebrew poetry, focusing on a dozen key poets. This secular poetry began with a preoccupation with the situation of the individual in a disenchanted world and then moved outward to engage American vistas and Jewish fate and hope in midcentury. American Hebrew poets hoped to be read in both Palestine and America, but were disappointed on both scores. Several moved to Israel and connected with the vital literary scene there, but most stayed and persisted in the cause of American Hebraism.


We present a medium scale small-open DSGE model for an euro-area economy that encompasses a financial accelerator mechanism and a well-developed fiscal block coupled to an overlapping generations scheme. This setup endogenously triggers myopia in households' decisions, breaking the traditional Ricardian equivalence in asset holders. We use Bayesian methods to estimate the model for the Portuguese economy and compute several byproducts of interest - namely historical and variance decompositions and key Bayesian impulse response functions. Finally, we carry out parameter stability tests.


CONTEXT
Timely adoption of clinical practice guidelines is more likely to happen when the guidelines are used in combination with adjuvant educational strategies that address social as well as rational influences.

OBJECTIVE
To implement the conservative, evidence-based approach to low-back pain recommended in national guidelines, with the anticipated effect of reducing population-based rates of surgery.

DESIGN
A randomized, controlled trial.

SETTING
Ten communities in western Washington State with annual rates of back surgery above the 1990 national average (158 operations per 100,000 adults).

PARTICIPANTS
Spine surgeons, primary care physicians, patients who were surgical candidates, and hospital administrators.

INTERVENTION
The five communities randomized to the intervention group received a package of six educational activities tailored to local needs by community planning groups. Surgeon study groups, primary care continuing medical education conferences, administrative consensus processes, videodisc-aided patient decision making, surgical outcomes management, and generalist academic detailing were serially implemented over a 30-month intervention period.

OUTCOME MEASURE
Quarterly observations of surgical rates.

RESULTS
After implementation of the intervention, surgery rates declined in the intervention communities but increased slightly in the control communities. The net effect of the intervention is estimated to be a decline of 20.9 operations per 100,000, a relative reduction of 8.9% (P = 0.01).

CONCLUSION
We were able to use scientific evidence to engender voluntary change in back pain practice patterns across entire communities.


This article shows how concrete materials can be used in the context of partitions of integers to develop recursive definitions of concepts amenable to spreadsheet modeling. It demonstrates how numerical evidence made possible by the representational power of a spreadsheet when combined with other computational tools such as Maple allows for the conjecturing of rather sophisticated relationships among different types of integer partitions. A spreadsheet is then used to confirm these relations in special cases yet at a higher cognitive level than at the beginning of partitioning experiments. Finally, concrete materials are used again to demonstrate the correctness of computations. It is argued that whereas a spreadsheet is powerful enough to be used as a single computational tool in various mathematical contexts, its joint use with other tools, both digital and physical, is worth exploring in education.


The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) makes provision for affirmative action of 'suitably qualified' people from designated groups. The merit principle is therefore relevant. Factors to establish suitable qualifications include formal qualifications, prior learning, relevant experience and the capacity to acquire, within reasonable time, the ability to do the job. As none of these are defined in the EEA, their meaning is unclear. In the US, the merit principle has been used by both opponents and proponents of affirmative action for almost forty years. US legislation, guidelines and regulations are examined to assist SA in more adequately defining the concept of merit at an early stage. Generally, in the US, standardised tests are used in determining 'ability'. Strong arguments have, however, been made for a broader recognition of merit beyond test scores, grades and statistics. It turns out that the US are agreed neither on the definition of merit, nor on the context to which it is desirable, nor (if it is desirable) on how to use it effectively. But some pointers can be taken fromthe US. A few recommendations are made to assist with the development of merit in South Africa.


ABSTRACT
 Flooding exposes terrestrial organisms to severe hypoxia. Among the best- studied insects that are frequently exposed to flooding are tiger beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) larvae. In previous studies with a limited number of species, a correlation was found between habitat and hypoxia tolerance. In the current study, we examined hypoxia tolerance among third instars of six Cicindela species that vary in habitat association; we also tested adult survival of these species. We found that larvae of the different species survived an average of between 60 and 120 h of submersion in severely hypoxic water at 20°C, with larvae that occur in dry sand having somewhat lower survival times. However, among larvae, there was no correlation between survival times and habitat risk of flooding. We found surprisingly high survival times among adult tiger beetles with a range of 10 h to 46 h. Adult Cicindela formosa formosa Say that are associated with dry sand and are active in the spring and fall survived submersion for >40 h, longer than any previously reported adult terrestrial insect exposed to hypoxia at moderate environmental temperatures. The lengthy survival times of adult tiger beetles are likely a result of adaptations to immersion during periods of inactivity. Our study suggests that additional insect species and life stages should be examined for hypoxia tolerance regardless of perceived threat of immersion.


Background: Therapy-resistant lichen planus (LP) can be a challenging condition for dermatologists. There are some case reports about successful treatments with alitretinoin of cutaneous and oral, but not of esophageal LP. Objective: We present the unique case of a patient with cutaneous, oral and esophageal LP which was refractory to classical treatment options (topical clobetasol propionate and pimecrolimus, intramuscular triamcinolone acetonide); because of systemic side effects the patient did not tolerate systemic acitretin dosed up to 25 mg daily. Methods: Oral alitretinoin was used at a dose of 30 mg daily. Results: Both oral and skin changes as well as dysphagia completely resolved within 4 weeks without any severe side effects and the drug was used for 6 months. No papules, intraoral striae or dysphagia recurred during the 6 months of treatment. After 4 months the patient relapsed with mucosal patches so that a second cycle was initiated for 6 months where oral LP lesions resolved after 4 weeks also (with sporadic mild headache). Conclusion: Further studies are needed to better understand the impact of alitretinoin in LP. Our observation suggests alitretinoin as a new, well-tolerated treatment option for esophageal LP after failed response to conventional treatments.


This paper describes three strategies for realisation of time sub optimal learning algorithm applied for position servomechanism control. This servomechanism was realised in laboratory and its control was realised in real time. The necessity of learning algorithm usage results from demand of time sub optimal control of position servomechanism even its loads is changed in large range. Instantaneous value of moment of inertia is not known, so it is not possible to use deterministic time optimal control with switching curved line. Author derived three different learning strategies for "recovery" time sub optimal trajectory. The effectiveness (algorithm learning time) is different for every strategy. Strategies of time sub optimal switching curved line finding are based on sliding mode control. It is combined with: 1.) progressive search of suitable slope of switching line, 2) real time continuous identification of servo mechanism parameters and computing of switching curved line, 3) off line computing of servo mechanism inverse neurons model with switching curved line computing followed by real time classification with time suboptimal control.


textabstractIn this paper we focus on the implementation and management of work-life policies in the workplace and the key role of managers in this context. We review the existing literature, enabling us to set a research agenda focused on explaining managerial attitudes and behaviour toward work-life policies in different organisational and national contexts. The evidence found in several studies suggests that managers often receive mixed messages about the implementation of work/life policies because these policies are not embedded in the workplace; managers are often unaware of such policies and lack training in them, leading to inconsistency in implementation and short-term thinking rather than a long-term perspective that cherishes human capital. Our review points to the need for more research allowing a full understanding of managerial attitudes and behaviour in different organisational and national contexts. Although a few interesting studies do exist, research in the field is still in its infancy. More research is needed, in particular systematic studies with well-developed theoretical frameworks.

Keywords

Line managers, work-life policies, allowance decisions, European workplace


We demonstrate and analyze data modulation of terahertz (THz) signals in the 1 Mbit/s range. THz pulse trains are phase and amplitude encoded with pseudorandom binary data, transmitted over a short distance, and detected. Different modulation formats are generated. Bit error measurements characterize the communication channel. We estimate from experimental results the maximum data rates for an optimized system.


This thesis deals with the applications of organopalladium and organochromium chemistry to the functionalisation of the benzopyran ring system, at a variety of oxidation levels. Section I demonstrates the functionalisation of 3-, 6-, and 8-bromochromones via palladium (0) insertion into the C-Br bond. The resultant arylpalladium species are shown to undergo addition to the least substituted end of a variety of olefins including methyl acrylate, acrylonitrile and styrene. Subsequent palladium-hydride elimination leads to overall palladium catalysed vinylation of the chromone and the synthesis of a number of novel compounds. Vinylation occurs regiospecifically at the site of chromone bromination and is shown to allow clean substituent introduction into each of the three sites. The palladium catalysed reaction of 3,6-dibromo-chromone with methyl acrylate leads to vinylation at both the C3 and C6 positions. Carbonylation of the 6-bromochromone in ethanol or butanol leads to the 6-ethyl or 6-butyl esters respectively. The palladium catalysed vinylation of the 6-bromochromone with ethyl vinyl ether leads to a mixture of products from addition of the chromone to either end of the olefin. With p -bromophenol or p -bromo- N , N -dimethylaniline the reaction gives exclusively the acetylated product arising from addition to the more substituted end of the olefin. This change in orientation is rationalised by considering the polarisation of the olefin and the arylpalladium species. Section II demonstrates the functionalisation of chroman and 4-chromanol via coordination to the Cr(CO) 3 moiety. (η 6 -Chroman)Cr(CO) 3 is synthesised and is shown to undergo regiospecific ring deprotonation at C8 under kinetic conditions or regiospecific benzylic deprotonation at C4 under thermodynamic conditions. The resultant anions are quenched with alkyl halides, aldehydes, Eschenmoser's salt and methyl disulphide resulting in selective functionalisation of either site. No mixed products are observed. The uncomplexed arene is shown to be totally unreactive under identical conditions. (η 6 -4-Chromanol)Cr(CO) 3 is synthesised and is shown to undergo regiospecific C8 ring deprotonation by comparison with authentic samples of the C5 and C8 methylated alcohols. Protection of the hydroxyl group as its methyl, t -butyldimethylsilyl or methoxymethyl ethers is found not to alter the regiochemistry of deprotonation. The 4-chromanol t -butyldimethylsilyl and tri- i -propylsilyl ethers are synthesised and coordinated to the metal unit. Cleavage of the silyl ethers is shown to proceed with loss of stereochemistry, indicating C-0 bond cleavage.


This thesis concerns the source of modal truth. I aim to answer the question: what is it in virtue of which there are truths concerning what must have been the case as a matter of necessity, or could have been the case but isn't. I begin by looking at a dilemma put forward by Simon Blackburn which attempts to show that any realist answer to this question must fail, and I conclude that either horn of his dilemma can be resisted. I then move on to clarify the nature of the propositions whose truth I am aiming to find the source of. I distinguish necessity de re from necessity de dicto, and argue for a counterpart theoretic treatment of necessity de reo As a result, I argue that there is no special problem concerning the source of de re modal facts. The problem is simply to account for what it is in virtue of which there are qualitative ways the world could have been, and qualitative ways it couldn't have been. I look at two ways to answer this question: by appealing to truthmakers in the actual world, or by appealing to non-actual ontology. I develop a theory oftruthmakers, but argue that it is unlikely that there are truthmakers for modal truths among the ontology of the actual. I look at the main possibilist ontology, David Lewis' modal realism, but argue that warrant for that ontology is unobtainable, and that we shouldn't admit non-actual possibilia into our ontology. I end by sketching a quasi-conventionalist approach to modality which denies that there are modal facts, but nevertheless allows that we can speak truly when we use modal language. I, Ross Cameron, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 75500 words in length, has been written by me, that it is a record of the work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree.


In the deep ocean, the depth profile of suspended particles (SPM), mostly measured as beam attenuation, usually shows a minimum at mid-depth. Below this clear water minimum, SPM load gradually increases and often a dramatic increase is observed close to the seafloor, the benthic nepheloid layer (BNL). In the deep water and especially in this BNL, particles can be transported over very large distances. Thus, the BNL is affected by horizontal advection, fresh new particle rain and exchange with the surface sediment by the resuspension-settling cycle. Reversible particle-water exchange (scavenging and release) and grain size sorting will continue to adjust the distribution of trace elements and their isotopic composition over the particulate and dissolved phases. We want to discuss how this interaction between vertical and horizontal transports affects the tracer signals recorded in the surface sediments.


Non-glaciated Arctic lowlands in north-east Siberia were subjected to extensive landscape and environmental changes during the Late Quaternary. Coastal cliffs along the Arctic shelf seas expose terrestrial archives containing numerous palaeoenvironmental indicators (e.g., pollen, plant macro-fossils and mammal fossils) preserved in the permafrost. The presented sedimentological (grain size, magnetic susceptibility and biogeochemical parameters), cryolithological, geochronological (radiocarbon, accelerator mass spectrometry and infrared-stimulated luminescence), heavy mineral and palaeoecological records from Cape Mamontov Klyk record the environmental dynamics of an Arctic shelf lowland east of the Taymyr Peninsula, and thus, near the eastern edge of the Eurasian ice sheet, over the last 60 Ky. This region is also considered to be the westernmost part of Beringia, the non-glaciated landmass that lay between the Eurasian and the Laurentian ice caps during the Late Pleistocene. Several units and subunits of sand deposits, peat–sand alternations, ice-rich palaeocryosol sequences (Ice Complex) and peaty fillings of thermokarst depressions and valleys were presented. The recorded proxy data sets reflect cold stadial climate conditions between 60 and 50 Kya, moderate inderstadial conditions between 50 and 25 Kya and cold stadial conditions from 25 to 15 Kya. The Late Pleistocene to Holocene transition, including the Allerød warm period, the early to middle Holocene thermal optimum and the late Holocene cooling, are also recorded. Three phases of landscape dynamic (fluvial/alluvial, irregular slope run-off and thermokarst) were presented in a schematic model, and were subsequently correlated with the supraregional environmental history between the Early Weichselian and the Holocene.


A chip implementing the coordinate rotation digital computer (CORDIC) algorithm is described. It contains a 10-MHz 16-b fixed-point CORDIC arithmetic unit, 2-kb RAM, a controller, and input/output (I/O) registers. A modified data-path architecture allows cross-wire free data flow. The chip design involved development of optimized carry-select adders and a modified programmable-logic-array (PLA) cell layout, which allows speed increase in single-layer metal technology. The authors designed, fabricated, and tested a general-purpose fully parallel programmable CORDIC chip in CMOS technology and developed optimal iteration sequences. >


Both the texts and music of Bach's St Matthew and St John Passions portray the Jews in deeply negative ways, baying for the blood of Christ. While there are strong arguments against seeing these works as having any kind of positive influence on Jewish–Christian relations, there is also an argument for examining the different layers of texts – from the Gospels to contemporary Lutheran poetry – as well as diverse musical expression in both works in order to elicit and understand profound, universal themes of sin and repentance, confession and forgiveness, life and death. Public performances of the Passions need to be undertaken responsibly with detailed programme notes and talks that draw out the journey of the individual worshipper and tackle the difficult problems of the Gospel texts and the music.


This chapter will introduce children of parents with mental illness (COPMI) as a group and explain the impact and risk factors of parental mental illness on children. We will provide examples of approaches that can help children in this situation, using the KidsTime Workshop model as a case study. We will describe the approaches and methods of the KidsTime practice model and explain how a combination of family therapy and systemic therapy influences, together with drama, can create an effective multi-family therapy intervention. It will describe the impact of the KidsTime model, including testimonials from children and families, and highlight the evidence in support of preventative approaches, as well as the barriers to securing investment for these interventions. The chapter will conclude with recommendations for practice.


The Portuguese in West Africa, 1415–1670, brings together a collection of documents – the majority in new English translation – that illustrate aspects of the encounters between the Portuguese and the peoples of north and west Africa. This period witnessed the diaspora of the Sephardic Jews, the emigration of Portuguese to west Africa and the islands, and the beginnings of the black diaspora associated with the slave trade. The documents show how the Portuguese tried to understand the societies with which they came into contact, and to reconcile their experience with the myths and legends inherited from classical and medieval learning. They also show how Africans reacted to the coming of Europeans, adapting Christian ideas to local beliefs and making use of exotic imports and European technologies. The documents also describe the evolution of the black Portuguese communities in Guinea and the islands, as well as the slave trade and the way that it was organized, understood and justified.


CDS is a multifarious field constantly developing different methodological frameworks for analysing dynamically evolving aspects of language in a broad range of socio-political and institutional contexts. This volume is a cutting edge, interdisciplinary account of these theoretical and empirical developments. It presents an up-to-date survey of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), covering both the theoretical landscape and the analytical territories that it extends over. It is intended for critical scholars and students who wish to keep abreast of the current state of the art. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, the chapters are organised around different methodological perspectives for CDS (history, cognition, multimodality and corpora, among others). In the second part, the chapters are organised around particular discourse types and topics investigated in CDS, both traditionally (e.g. issues of racism and gender inequality) and only more recently (e.g. issues of health, public policy, and the environment). This is, altogether, an essential new reference work for all CDS practitioners.


Stress corrosion cracking has become the critical issue that dominates the lifetime of various metallic materials such as stainless steels used under harsh operating conditions. In the EAC process, chemical reaction of the metal surface at crack tip such as oxidation and/or anodic dissolution, and subsequent formation of an oxide film plays an important role for crack propagation. In this study, tight-binding quantum chemical molecular dynamics simulations were employed to understand the chemical reactions caused by water molecules on Fe-Cr alloy surfaces in nano-scale. The main targeted temperature was boiling water nuclear reactor (BWR) condition which is 561 K. Water molecules were dissociated on the Fe-Cr surfaces at 561 K. The chromium atoms at the top layer segregated from the surface to bond with the dissociated oxygen atoms. Oxygen concentration around the chromium atoms gradually increased to preferentially form Cr-O bonds during the simulation, which resulted in clustering of oxygen and chromium atoms on the surface. The clustering of oxygen and chromium is thought to bring about Cr-based oxide nucleation and therefore, the preferential formation of Cr-O bonds is considered to be the initial process of the formation of oxide films on the Fe-Cr surface.


In dense electronic warfare environments, numerous emitters can be active simultaneously and an interleaved stream of pulses in natural time of arrival order is received by the Electronic Support Measures (ESM) receiver. It is the task of the ESM system to de-interleave this mixed pulse sequence and thus to identify the surrounding threatening emitters. In this processing, pulse repetition interval (PRI) modulation recognition has a significant role due to the fact that it can reveal the hidden patterns inside pulse repetition intervals and thus help identify the emission source and its functional purpose. In this paper, we propose new wavelet-based features for the recognition of jittered and stagger PRI modulation types. The recognition of these types are heavily based on histogram features. Experimental results show that the proposed feature set have very high recognition rates and outperform histogram based methods.


The invention is an effort to utilize the advantages offered by renewable resources for the development of composite materials based on polymer and particles of natural fibers for Conservation of natural resources. In this research, natural fibers like Sisal (Agave sisalana), Banana (Musa sepientum) and Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), Sisal and banana (hybrid), Roselle and banana (hybrid) and Roselle and sisal (hybrid) are fabricated with bio epoxy resin using molding method. The applications of these materials require a sustainable approach to creating green products. Green materials are very important to form environment friendly from renewable resources and decrease the use of petroleum based chemicals. Nowadays natural fibers form an interesting alternative for the most widely applied fibre in the composite technology, glass. The use of fibers like sisal, Roselle and banana in this industry so far is small since availability of a durable semi-finished product with constant quality is often a problem. Recent research and development have shown that these aspects can be improved considerably. Knowing that natural fibers are cheap and have a better stiffness per weight than glass, which results in lighter components, the grown interest in natural fibers is clear. Secondly, the environmental impact is smaller since the natural fibre can be thermally recycled and fibers come from a renewable resource. Their moderate mechanical properties restrain the fibers from using them in high-tech applications, but for many reasons they can compete with glass fibers. In this paper the optimum mixing of fiber and resin is achieved by using Taguchi method. In this work, tensile and hardness of Sisal and banana (hybrid), Roselle and banana (hybrid and Roselle and sisal (hybrid) composite at dry and wet conditions were studied. Hardness test were conducted using Brinell hardness testing machine. In this work micro structure of the specimens are scanned by the Scanning Electron Microscope. The disclosure includes the process to make the composite and also the variety of products in automobile accessories.


A model-free approach is presented, based on the Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) algorithm, for the control of mixed traffic flow of human-driven vehicles (HDV) and connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV), named MCTS-MTF, on a one-lane roadway with signalized intersection control. Previous research has often simplified the problem with certain assumptions to reduce computational burden, such as dividing a vehicle trajectory into several segments with constant speed or linear acceleration/deceleration, which was rather unrealistic. This study departs from the existing research in that minimum constraints on CAV trajectory control were required, as long as the basic rules such as safety considerations and vehicular performance limits were followed. Modeling efforts were made to improve the algorithm solution quality and the run time efficiency over the naïve MCTS algorithm. This was achieved by an exploration-exploitation balance calibration module, and a tree expansion determination module to expand the tree more effectively along the desired direction. Results of a case study found that the proposed algorithm was able to achieve a travel time saving of 3.5% and a fuel consumption saving of 6.5%. It was also demonstrated to run at eight times the speed of a naïve MCTS model, suggesting a promising potential for real-time or near real-time applications.


Irrigation reduces risks involved in agriculture and enables farming throughout the year. Improved irrigation systems enhance access to irrigation water. However, most smallholder farmers continue to use traditional irrigation schemes as if the difference in water use and crop yields between the two is insignificant. It seems essential to assess the paddy crop yield difference and its contribution to household incomes between traditional and semi-improved Farmer-Managed Irrigation Schemes (FMISs) in Iringa Rural and Kilombero districts in Tanzania. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study involving 48 key informants and 172 randomly selected households. Household survey using a structured questionnaire was the major method for data collection. Data from focus group discussions and key informants supplemented the information collected using household survey. The data were analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS). Results indicate that yield of paddy was higher in semi-improved schemes (2.5-3.6 tons/ha) compared to traditional irrigation schemes (2.2-2.9 tons/ha). This was attributed to the presence of improved water intake structures and existence of main canals, which facilitated an improved water supply to the irrigation fields. In spite of the poor and incomplete irrigation infrastructure, the paddy production contributed very significantly (73-80%) to the total annual household income of smallholder irrigators and somewhat more in the improved system than the traditional system. Other income sources are quite marginal in the study areas. The study recommends that the government should invest in irrigation infrastructure development to increase irrigation water use efficiency and increase agricultural values added.


High linear energy transfer (LET) α particles are important with respect to the carcinogenic risk associated with human exposure to ionizing radiation, most notably to radon and its progeny. Additionally, the potential use of alpha-particle-emitting radionuclides in radiotherapy is increasingly being explored. Within the body the emitted alpha particles slow down, traversing a number of cells with a range of energies and therefore with varying efficiencies at inducing biological response. The LET of the particle typically rises from between ~70–90 keV μm−1 at the start of the track (depending on initial energy) to a peak of ~237 keV μm−1 towards the end of the track, before falling again at the very end of its range. To investigate the variation in biological response with incident energy, a plutonium-238 alpha-particle irradiator was calibrated to enable studies with incident energies ranging from 4.0 MeV down to 1.1 MeV. The variation in clonogenic survival of V79-4 cells was determined as a function of incident energy, along with the relative variation in the initial yields of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) measured using the FAR assay. The clonogenic survival data also extends previously published data obtained at the Medical Research Council (MRC), Harwell using the same cells irradiated with helium ions, with energies ranging from 34.9 MeV to 5.85 MeV. These studies were performed in conjunction with cell morphology measurements on live cells enabling the determination of absorbed dose and calculation of the average LET in the cell. The results show an increase in relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for cell inactivation with decreasing helium ion energy (increasing LET), reaching a maximum for incident energies of ~3.2 MeV and corresponding average LET of 131 keV μm−1, above which the RBE is observed to fall at lower energies (higher LETs). The effectiveness of single alpha-particle traversals (relevant to low-dose exposure) at inducing cell inactivation was observed to increase with decreasing energy to a peak of ~68% survival probability for incident energies of ~1.8 MeV (average LET of 190 keV μm−1) producing ~0.39 lethal lesions per track. However, the efficiency of a single traversal will also vary significantly with cell morphology and angle of incidence, as well as cell type.


In this comprehensive and objective reference to America's criminal past, the author offers 2000 A-to-Z entires covering significant crimes, criminals and law enforcement figures and techniques. Entries are chosen based on their symbolic or historical relevance and consist of biographies, definitions and detailed accounts of criminal activities. The second edition features new and updated entries on such figures, topics and events as the Oklahoma City bombing; Lee Harvey Oswald; bank robberies; serial killers, such as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Andrew Cunanan, as well as female serial killers; the O.J. Simpson case; the World Trade Centre bombing; the Unabomber/Theodore Kaczynski; the Hillside Stranglers; Jean Harris and the Scarsdale Diet Doctor; the Sunset Slayer; the treatment of sex criminals; white collar criminals, such as Charles Keating and Michael Milken; and wrongful convictions.


The logistic normal distribution has recently been adapted via the transformation of multivariate Gaus- sian variables to model the topical distribution of documents in the presence of correlations among topics. In this paper, we propose a probit normal alternative approach to modelling correlated topical structures. Our use of the probit model in the context of topic discovery is novel, as many authors have so far con- centrated solely of the logistic model partly due to the formidable inefficiency of the multinomial probit model even in the case of very small topical spaces. We herein circumvent the inefficiency of multinomial probit estimation by using an adaptation of the diagonal orthant multinomial probit in the topic models context, resulting in the ability of our topic modelling scheme to handle corpuses with a large number of latent topics. An additional and very important benefit of our method lies in the fact that unlike with the logistic normal model whose non-conjugacy leads to the need for sophisticated sampling schemes, our ap- proach exploits the natural conjugacy inherent in the auxiliary formulation of the probit model to achieve greater simplicity. The application of our proposed scheme to a well known Associated Press corpus not only helps discover a large number of meaningful topics but also reveals the capturing of compellingly intuitive correlations among certain topics. Besides, our proposed approach lends itself to even further scalability thanks to various existing high performance algorithms and architectures capable of handling millions of documents.


A large fraction (roughly half) of X-ray binaries observed in early type galaxies are associated with globular clusters. As in the Milky Way dynamical processes in globular clusters appear to be especially efficient at creating low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) with a LMXB formation rate that is at least two orders of magnitude larger than in the field. The large population of globular clusters around early type galaxies and the range of properties spanned by these objects enable us to better understand the formation of LMXBs in clusters. Studies of the LMXB-globular cluster connection also allow us to test the intriguing possibility that most of the field LMXBs in early type galaxies may also have been formed in clusters. We present the results of our study of the LMXB-globular cluster link in a large sample of early type galaxies and the implications on LMXB formation both within and outside globular clusters.


Abstract Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia that can cause problems with human memory, thinking and behavior. This disease causes cell death and nerve tissue damage in the brain. The brain damage can be detected using brain volume, whole brain form, and genetic testing. In this research, we propose texture analysis of the brain and genomic analysis to detect Alzheimer's disease. 3D MRI images were chosen to analyze the texture of the brain, and microarray data were chosen to analyze gene expression. We classified Alzheimer's disease into three types: Alzheimer's, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Normal. In this study, texture analysis was carried out by using the Advanced Local Binary Pattern (ALBP) and the Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM). We also propose the bi-clustering method to analyze microarray data. The experimental results from texture analysis show that ALBP had better performance than GLCM in classification of Alzheimer's disease. The ALBP method achieved an average value of accuracy of between 75% - 100% for binary classification of the whole brain data. Furthermore, Biclustering method with microarray data shows good performance gene expression, where this information show influence Alzheimer's disease with total of bi-cluster is 6.


A detailed work of reference and scholarship, this one volume Encyclopedia includes discussions of all the fundamental issues in Tolkien scholarship written by the leading scholars in the field. Coverage not only presents the most recent scholarship on J. R. R. Tolkien, but also introduces and explores the author and scholar's life and work within their historical and cultural contexts. Tolkien's fiction and his sources of influence are examined along with his artistic and academic achievements- including his translations of medieval texts- teaching posts, linguistic works, and the languages he created. The 550 alphabetically arranged entries fall within the following categories of topics: adaptations; art and illustrations; characters in Tolkien's work; critical history and scholarship; influence of Tolkien; languages; biography; literary sources; literature; creatures and peoples of Middle-earth; objects in Tolkien's work; places in Tolkien's work; reception of Tolkien; medieval scholars; scholarship by Tolkien; medieval literature; stylistic elements; themes in Tolkien's works; Theological/ philosophical concepts and philosophers; Tolkien's contemporary history and culture; works of literature.


UVBR (ultraviolet-B radiation: 280 to 315 nm)-induced DNA damage, measured as cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), was determined in size fractions of natural populations of bacterio- and phytoplankton collected in marine tropical waters. Mean biologically effective UVBR doses in the wind-mixed layer were calculated from DNA dosimeter data. Phytoplankton species composition in these waters was monitored using flow cytometry and pigment analyses. In terms of (divinyl-)chlorophyll a concentrations, prochlorophytes and cyanobacteria comprised the largest fraction of the phytoplankton, except in a eutrophic bay at Curacao an island located in the southern Caribbean. In terms of cell numbers and amount of DNA, small prochlorophytes and marine bacteria dominated. Small but detectable levels of UVBR-induced DNA damage were found at all locations. In general, more DNA damage was found in the small size fraction (0.2 to 1 mu m) than in the larger size fraction (1 to 10 mu m). The greatest amount of damage was found in the small size fraction collected in the central Atlantic Ocean (20 CPDs/10(6) nucleotides), despite the fact that UVBR doses were much higher at other locations. The calculated mean biologically effective UVBR doses in the wind-mixed layer were 2 to 17 times lower as compared with incident UVBR doses. CPD levels determined in cultures of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp, subjected to UVBR doses similar to those in the wind-mixed layer corresponded with CPD levels measured in the 1 to 10 mu m fraction in the field. Our results indicate that UVBR vulnerability is size dependent. Furthermore, the low CPD levels observed in these field communities may be explained by the low mean biologically effective doses received by the cells as a result of wind-induced mixing.


A recent paper (Nehrt et al., PLoS Comput. Biol. 7:e1002073, 2011) has proposed a metric for the "functional similarity" between two genes that uses only the Gene Ontology (GO) annotations directly derived from published experimental results. Applying this metric, the authors concluded that paralogous genes within the mouse genome or the human genome are more functionally similar on average than orthologous genes between these genomes, an unexpected result with broad implications if true. We suggest, based on both theoretical and empirical considerations, that this proposed metric should not be interpreted as a functional similarity, and therefore cannot be used to support any conclusions about the "ortholog conjecture" (or, more properly, the "ortholog functional conservation hypothesis"). First, we reexamine the case studies presented by Nehrt et al. as examples of orthologs with divergent functions, and come to a very different conclusion: they actually exemplify how GO annotations for orthologous genes provide complementary information about conserved biological functions. We then show that there is a global ascertainment bias in the experiment-based GO annotations for human and mouse genes: particular types of experiments tend to be performed in different model organisms. We conclude that the reported statistical differences in annotations between pairs of orthologous genes do not reflect differences in biological function, but rather complementarity in experimental approaches. Our results underscore two general considerations for researchers proposing novel types of analysis based on the GO: 1) that GO annotations are often incomplete, potentially in a biased manner, and subject to an "open world assumption" (absence of an annotation does not imply absence of a function), and 2) that conclusions drawn from a novel, large-scale GO analysis should whenever possible be supported by careful, in-depth examination of examples, to help ensure the conclusions have a justifiable biological basis.


Small-volume rhyolitic lava flows and domes erupted through thin ice at Hrafntinnuhryggur, Krafla, Iceland[1] display remarkable textural heterogeneity over a range of spatial scales from microns to metres. As textures in the exposed feeder dyke are uniform and the aphyric magma was originally compositionally homogeneous, this heterogeneity must have emerged through strong spatial variations in deformation, vesiculation and crystallization within the lava bodies themselves. Metre-scale textural zonations occur between the margin and the interior of lava bodies. Spherulitic lava interiors are enveloped by concentric zones of lithophysae-rich obsidian, coarsely-vesicular obsidian in various stages of collapse and flow-banded, faulted obsidian[1]. These zonations reflect divergent pathways of lava evolution at different background cooling rates, which allow differing extents of late-stage crystallization and secondary vesiculation. The liberation of latent heat during spherulite crystallization[2] is an example of a feedback that can magnify the resultant textural diversity, as heat release can trigger both accelerated crystallization and vesiculation of the lava. Striking textural heterogeneities also occur on much smaller spatial scales within the lava. The flow-banded obsidian displays a broad spectrum of colours on a millimetre scale and different-coloured bands have distinct magnetic properties. This indicates that contrasting populations of sub-micron magnetite, haematite and clinoferrosilite grains are present in adjacent flow bands. Some flow bands contain remnants of now-collapsed vesicles, indicating that heterogeneous degassing may have led to highly-localised melt dehydration, redox conditions and resultant crystal nucleation. Strain localization is another feedback that can play a major role in emphasizing differences between neighbouring flow bands. Two other types of textural heterogeneity occur on still-smaller spatial scales. Firstly, individual spherulites are surrounded by a sub-millimetre halo of glass that is enriched in OH-groups due to their expulsion during crystal growth[3]. Ferric iron within this zone is reduced, which is attributed to hydrogen diffusion and demonstrates that late-stage crystallization can result in micro-scale redox disequilibrium within glassy lavas. Secondly, in some instances micron-scale magnetite and clinoferrosilite crystals have nucleated exclusively on the walls of partially or totally-collapsed vesicles. This has created films of crystal enrichment whose form records the three-dimensional geometry of late-stage foams and their subsequent deformation. Subtle compositional heterogeneities also exist, which point towards limited major-element mobility during lava evolution. Calcium depletion in melt adjacent to zones of late-stage vesiculation may indicate scavenging by a sulphur-rich fluid phase. The textures at Hrafntinnuhryggur illustrate how numerous interrelated processes can lead to the spontaneous generation of heterogeneity within rhyolitic lava. Distinct trajectories of textural evolution are controlled by boundary conditions (e.g. strain rate and background cooling rate), initiated by thresholds (e.g. brittle or ductile behaviour, conditions for bubble and crystal nucleation) and amplified by positive feedbacks related to the mutual triggering of crystal and bubble growth. [1]Tuffen, H., Castro, J.M. (2009) The emplacement of an obsidian dyke through thin ice : Hrafntinnuhryggur, Krafla Iceland. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 185, 352-366.


In criminal intelligence analysis to complement the information entailed and to enhance transparency of the operations, it demands logs of the individual processing activities within an automated processing system. Management and tracing of such security sensitive analytical information flow originated from tightly coupled visualizations into visual analytic system for criminal intelligence that triggers huge amount of analytical information on a single click, involves design and development challenges. To lead to a believable story by using scientific methods, reasoning for getting explicit knowledge of series of events, sequences and time surrounding interrelationships with available relevant information by using human perception, cognition, reasoning with database operations and computational methods, an analytic visual judgmental support is obvious for criminal intelligence. Our research outlines the requirements and development challenges of such system as well as proposes a generic way of capturing different complex visual analytical states and processes known as analytic provenance. The proposed technique has been tested into a large heterogeneous event-driven visual analytic modular analyst's user interface (AUI) of the project VALCRI (Visual Analytics for Sensemaking in Criminal Intelligence) and evaluated by the police intelligence analysts through it's visual state capturing and retracing interfaces. We have conducted several prototype evaluation sessions with the groups of end-users (police intelligence analysts) and found very positive feedback. Our approach provides a generic support for visual judgmental process into a large complex event-driven AUI system for criminal intelligence analysis.


The sensing of blood gas tensions and/or pH is an evolutionarily conserved, homeostatic mechanism, observable in almost all species studied from invertebrates to man. In vertebrates, a shift from the peripheral O(2)-oriented sensing in fish, to the central CO(2)/pH sensing in most tetrapods reflects the specific behavioral requirements of these two groups whereby, in teleost fish, a highly O(2)-oriented control of breathing matches the ever-changing and low oxygen levels in water, whilst the transition to air-breathing increased the importance of acid-base regulation and O(2)-related drive, although retained, became relatively less important. The South American lungfish and tetrapods are probably sister groups, a conclusion backed up by many similar features of respiratory control. For example, the relative roles of peripheral and central chemoreceptors are present both in the lungfish and in land vertebrates. In both groups, the central CO(2)/pH receptors dominate the ventilatory response to hypercarbia (60-80%), while the peripheral CO(2)/pH receptors account for 20-30%. Some basic components of respiratory control have changed little during evolution. This review presents studies that reflect the current trends in the field of chemoreceptor function, and several laboratories are involved. An exhaustive review on the previous literature, however, is beyond the intended scope of the article. Rather, we present examples of current trends in respiratory function in vertebrates, ranging from fish to humans, and focus on both O(2) sensing and CO(2) sensing. As well, we consider the impact of chronic levels of hypoxia-a physiological condition in fish and in land vertebrates resident at high elevations or suffering from one of the many cardiorespiratory disease states that predispose an animal to impaired ventilation or cardiac output. This provides a basis for a comparative physiology that is informative about the evolution of respiratory functions in vertebrates and about human disease. Currently, most detail is known for mammals, for which molecular biology and respiratory physiology have combined in the discovery of the mechanisms underlying the responses of respiratory chemoreceptors. Our review includes new data on nonmammalian vertebrates, which stresses that some chemoreceptor sites are of ancient origin.


2 foi o que melhor se correlacionou com o diagnostico de ICFEN, demonstrando sensibilidade de 83%, especificidade de 83% e acuracia de 83%. Ja o ponto de corte do diâmetro ântero-posterior do AE indexado (DAE-I) de 2,4 cm/m 2 apresentava sensibilidade de 71%, especificidade de 66% e acuracia de 67%. Abstract Background: The pathophysiological model of heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) focuses on the presence of diastolic dysfunction, which causes left atrial (LA) structural and functional changes. The LA size, an indicator of the chronic elevation of the left ventricular (LV) filling pressure, can be used as a marker of the presence of HFPEF, and it is easily obtained. Objective: To estimate the accuracy of measuring the LA size by using indexed LA volume and diameter (ILAV and ILAD, respectively) for diagnosing HFPEF in ambulatory patients. Methods: This study assessed 142 patients (mean age, 67.3 ± 11.4 years; 75% of the female sex) suspected of having HF, divided into two groups: with HFPEF (n = 35) and without HFPEF (n = 107). Results: The diastolic function, assessed by use of Doppler echocardiography, showed a significant difference between the groups regarding the parameters assessing ventricular relaxation (E': 6.9 ± 2.0 cm/s vs. 9.3 ± 2.5 cm/s; p < 0.0001) and LV filling pressure (E/E' ratio: 15.2 ± 6.4 vs. 7.6 ± 2.2; p < 0.0001). The ILAV cutoff point of 35 mL/m 2 best correlated with the diagnosis of HFPEF, showing sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 83%. The ILAD cutoff point of 2.4 cm/m2 showed sensitivity of 71%, specificity of 66%, and accuracy of 67%.


Recent nonparametric estimation studies pioneered by Ait-Sahalia document that the diffusion of the short rate is similar to the parametric function, r[superscript 1.5], estimated by Chan et al., whereas the drift is substantially nonlinear in the short rate. These empirical properties call into question the efficacy of the existing affine term structure models and beg for alternative models which admit the observed behavior. This article presents such a model. Our model delivers closed-form solutions for bond prices and a concave relationship between the interest rate and the yields. We show that in empirical analyses, our model outperforms the one-factor affine models in both time-series as well as cross-sectional tests. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.