This paper focuses on the effect of liner component Fe content on cladding corrosion, hydriding and Pellet-Cladding Interaction (PCI) resistance. A multitude of experimental techniques is used to evaluate the various properties. The PCI resistance is evaluated through mandrel testing of un-irradiated claddings as well as by ramp tests of pre-irradiated fuel segments in the Studsvik R2 reactor. The results from the mandrel testing indicate that an increase of the iron concentration from 0.05 to 0.21 wt% has a rather small impact on the PCI properties. The ramp data, on the other hand, show a clear decrease in the PCI resistance as the Fe content approaches and exceeds 0.19 wt%. The phenomena involved in secondary degradation are complex, and separate tests are used to evaluate the corrosion resistance in steam as well as the hydriding resistance in pure hydrogen. The corrosion test includes cladding tubes with ZrSn-liner components with iron concentrations from 0.025 to 0.21 wt%. The results show that the corrosion resistance is dramatically increased as the Fe content is increased from 0.025 to 0.05–0.06 wt%, but that a further increase of the Fe concentration only has a minor impact on the corrosion resistance. However, increasing the Fe content from 0.05 to 0.21 wt% increases the hydrogen pick-up rate. The 0.21 wt% Fe liner has a significantly higher density of Secondary Phase Particles (SPPs) as well as slightly larger SPPs than the 0.05 wt% Fe liner. Consequently, it is believed that the SPPs offer sites where hydrogen can easily be absorbed into the Zr-based material, and the frequency of these sites is important for the hydrogen pick-up rate. It is finally concluded that even though the optimization of the Fe concentration in the liner is complex, an iron level regime exists that provides a good balance of resistance against PCI, corrosion, and hydriding.


BACKGROUND
Patients with physical disabilities more often have median neuropathies of the wrist and more than 70% of wheelchair users are overweight or obese.

AIM
To explore the effects of body composition on the occurrence of distal median neuropathy and to search for the best probabilistic cutoff value of indicators to predict the likelihood of developing distal median neuropathy in patients with physical disabilities.

DESIGN
A prospective study.

SETTING
A 1-day annual physical checkup program for employees of a social welfare organization.

POPULATION
In total, 72 patients with a physical disability (mean age ± SD, 40.0 ± 8.8 years; 40 women).

METHODS
Using electrophysiologic testing to assess distal median nerve function and using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry examination to assess body composition. The formula for leg exercise burden index (EBI) was: leg EBI = body fat mass of both legs/lean tissue mass of both legs.

RESULTS
The risk of developing a low median sensory nerve conduction velocity in the wrist-to-palm segment (< 43 m/s) was greater for patients with a higher leg EBI, yielding an adjusted odds ratio of 6.88 (P < 0.005). The body mass index (BMI) and being a wheelchair user were predictors of developing long median distal motor latency (> 4 ms). Using receiver operating characteristic analyses, we determined that patients with a physical disability were likely to develop distal median sensory neuropathy if they had a leg EBI of ≥ 0.943 and were likely to develop distal median motor neuropathy if they had a BMI of ≥ 24.5 kg/m2.

CONCLUSION
The leg EBI is a predictor of having distal median sensory neuropathy among patients with a physical disability.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT
The value of the leg EBI can be useful information for identifying risk of distal median sensory neuropathy in patients with a physical disability.


Advice and technical information from extension services are critical in promoting new technologies and their adoption by farmers. This study determined extension personnel's awareness of GM maize technology and the associated extension services they provide to smallholder GM maize farmers in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with extension staff of the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) in the province. Results indicated that inadequate training of extension personnel on GM maize technology influenced their perceptions of GM maize technology and awareness of its stewardship requirements. Generally, personnel had a low level of awareness of GM maize technology as a pest control strategy. Awareness of GM maize stewardship requirements amongst extension personnel was also low. These extension personnel disseminated GM maize technology, which they generally perceived as a high-yield technology, to smallholder farmers using non-participatory approaches and media sourced from GM seed companies. The findings of this study suggest that ensuring safe and sustainable adoption of GM maize technology on smallholder farms will require a more participatory extension approach that emphasizes smallholder farmers' access to information as well as the training of extension personnel on the stewardship requirements and dissemination practices associated with GM maize cultivation.


Nesting populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Atlantic and western Indian Oceans are increasing or stable while those in the Pacific are declining. It has been suggested that leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific may be resource limited due to environmental variability derived from the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but this has yet to be tested. Here we explored bottom-up forcing and the responding reproductive output of nesting leatherbacks worldwide. We achieved this through an extensive review of leatherback nesting and migration data and by analyzing the spatial, temporal, and quantitative nature of resources as indicated by net primary production at post-nesting female migration and foraging areas. Leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific were the smallest in body size and had the lowest reproductive output due to less productive and inconsistent resources within their migration and foraging areas. This derived from natural interannual and multidecadal climate variability together with an influence of anthropogenic climate warming that is possibly affecting these natural cycles. The reproductive output of leatherbacks in the Atlantic and western Indian Oceans was nearly twice that of turtles in the eastern Pacific. The inconsistent nature of the Pacific Ocean may also render western Pacific leatherbacks susceptible to a more variable reproductive output; however, it appears that egg harvesting on nesting beaches is their major threat. We suggest that the eastern Pacific leatherback population is more sensitive to anthropogenic mortality due to recruitment rates that are lower and more variable, thus accounting for much of the population differences compared to Atlantic and western Indian turtles.


In this study, we considered earthquakes with a maximum observed intensity (MOI) Io≥V that occurred throughout the Portuguese mainland and its adjacent Atlantic region to produce the map of maximum intensities of Portugal. This map is based on a wide variety of historical and recent sources, including 175 earthquakes, over the period of 1300–2014. This MOI map allows the regions of high, medium, and low levels of seismic hazard to be highlighted. The entirety of Portugal has been affected by major seismic events, some of which have caused serious damage. In addition, offshore earthquakes have had significant impacts on the coastal cities located in the central and southern regions of the country. Because the southern region of mainland Portugal is more active than the northern region, the largest concentrations of events with Io≥VI are in the southern region, especially on the mainland near the city of Evora, in the Lisbon region, in the Lower Tagus Valley region, and along the Algarve coast, especially in the southwest region in Cape of Sao Vicente and the Gorringe Bank.


The important normalized maximum likelihood (NML) distribution is obtained via a normalization over all sequences of given length. It has two short-comings: the resulting model is usually not a random process, and in many cases, the normalizing integral or sum is hard to compute. In contrast, the recently proposed s quentially normalized maximum likelihood (SNML) models always comprise a random process and are often much easier to compute. We present some results on SNML type models in the Markovian and linear–Gaussian model classes. In the linear–Gaussian case, the resulting sequentially normalized least squares (SNLS) model is particularly interesting. The associated sequentially minimized squared deviations are smaller than both the usual least squares and the squared prediction errors used in the so called pr dictive least squares (PLS) criterion. The SNLS model is asymptotically optimal within the given class of distributions by reaching the lower bound on the logarithmic prediction errors, given by the stochastic complexity, up to lower-order terms.


Electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries take advantages for urban transportation. However, the safety of lithium-ion battery needs to be improved. Self-induced internal short circuit of lithium-ion batteries is a serious problem which may cause battery thermal runaway. Accurate and fast identification of internal short circuit is critical, while difficult for lithium-ion battery management system. In this study, the influences of the parameters of significance test on the performance of an algorithm for internal short circuit identification are evaluated experimentally. The designed identification is based on the mean-difference model and the recursive least square algorithm. First, the identification method is presented. Then, two characteristic parameters are determined. Subsequently, the parameters of the significance calculation are optimized based on the measured data. Finally, the effectiveness of the method for the early stage internal short circuit detection is studied by an equivalent experiment. The results indicate that the detection time can be shortened significantly via a proper configuration of the parameters for the significance test.


FOXO3a-dependent induction of Pink1 helps protect lymphocytes from apoptosis after IL-2 deprivation. Various lines of evidence suggest that Pink1 (PTEN-induced kinase 1), a mitochondrial protein mutated in some forms of Parkinson's disease, promotes cell survival under conditions of oxidative stress. Thus, Mei et al. were intrigued when microarray analyses identified Pink1 as a potential target of forkhead box, subgroup O (FOXO) transcription factors, which have also been implicated in mediating responses to oxidative stress. Induction of a FOXO3a transgene in a mouse embryo fibroblast line led to increased abundance of Pink1 mRNA, and experiments in mouse T cells and T cell–derived CTLL-2 cells indicated that Pink1 mRNA expression inversely correlated with Akt signaling (which inhibits FOXO). Notably, stimulation of Akt signaling by interleukin-2 (IL-2) decreased Pink1 mRNA abundance, whereas IL-2 deprivation increased it. Moreover, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis indicated that IL-2 withdrawal promoted FOXO3a association with the Pink1 promoter, and FOXO3a knockdown reduced the increase in Pink1 mRNA abundance produced by IL-2 withdrawal. Sequence analysis revealed that the mouse Pink1 promoter contained putative FOXO-binding elements (FBE), and experiments with luciferase reporter genes confirmed that FOXO3a stimulated transcription through Pink1 promoter FBEs. Similar analyses indicated that the human Pink1 gene, which contained an FBE, was also regulated by Akt-FOXO3a signaling. Pink1 knockdown in CTLL-2 cells increased caspase-3 activation and apoptosis in response to IL-2 withdrawal. Pink1 knockdown also accelerated the decrease in endogenous reduced glutathione (GSH) produced by IL-2 withdrawal, whereas exogenous GSH protected against apoptosis in IL-2–deprived cells regardless of Pink1 knockdown. The authors thus conclude that FOXO3a-dependent induction of Pink1 helps protect lymphocytes from apoptosis after IL-2 deprivation—a role that they speculate may be generalizable to other tissues with growth factor–dependent Akt-FOXO signaling. Y. Mei, Y. Zhang, K. Yamamoto, W. Xie, T. W. Mak, H. You, FOXO3a-dependent regulation of Pink1 (Park6) mediates survival signaling in response to cytokine deprivation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 5153–5158 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Importance
Asthma is a major public health problem worldwide and is associated with excess morbidity, mortality, and economic costs associated with lost productivity. The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program has released the 2020 Asthma Guideline Update with updated evidence-based recommendations for treatment of patients with asthma.

Objective
To report updated recommendations for 6 topics for clinical management of adolescents and adults with asthma: (1) intermittent inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs); (2) add-on long-acting muscarinic antagonists; (3) fractional exhaled nitric oxide; (4) indoor allergen mitigation; (5) immunotherapy; and (6) bronchial thermoplasty.

Evidence Review
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council chose 6 topics to update the 2007 asthma guidelines based on results from a 2014 needs assessment. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality conducted systematic reviews of these 6 topics based on literature searches up to March-April 2017. Reviews were updated through October 2018 and used by an expert panel (n = 19) that included asthma content experts, primary care clinicians, dissemination and implementation experts, and health policy experts to develop 19 new recommendations using the GRADE method. The 17 recommendations for individuals aged 12 years or older are reported in this Special Communication.

Findings
From 20 572 identified references, 475 were included in the 6 systematic reviews to form the evidence basis for these recommendations. Compared with the 2007 guideline, there was no recommended change in step 1 (intermittent asthma) therapy (as-needed short-acting β2-agonists [SABAs] for rescue therapy). In step 2 (mild persistent asthma), either daily low-dose ICS plus as-needed SABA therapy or as-needed concomitant ICS and SABA therapy are recommended. Formoterol in combination with an ICS in a single inhaler (single maintenance and reliever therapy) is recommended as the preferred therapy for moderate persistent asthma in step 3 (low-dose ICS-formoterol therapy) and step 4 (medium-dose ICS-formoterol therapy) for both daily and as-needed therapy. A short-term increase in the ICS dose alone for worsening of asthma symptoms is not recommended. Add-on long-acting muscarinic antagonists are recommended in individuals whose asthma is not controlled by ICS-formoterol therapy for step 5 (moderate-severe persistent asthma). Fractional exhaled nitric oxide testing is recommended to assist in diagnosis and monitoring of symptoms, but not alone to diagnose or monitor asthma. Allergen mitigation is recommended only in individuals with exposure and relevant sensitivity or symptoms. When used, allergen mitigation should be allergen specific and include multiple allergen-specific mitigation strategies. Subcutaneous immunotherapy is recommended as an adjunct to standard pharmacotherapy for individuals with symptoms and sensitization to specific allergens. Sublingual immunotherapy is not recommended specifically for asthma. Bronchial thermoplasty is not recommended as part of standard care; if used, it should be part of an ongoing research effort.

Conclusions and Relevance
Asthma is a common disease with substantial human and economic costs globally. Although there is no cure or established means of prevention, effective treatment is available. Use of the recommendations in the 2020 Asthma Guideline Update should improve the health of individuals with asthma.


This paper discusses a new dynamic sensing system capable of detecting the contact point between a flexible beam and an object. The proposed sensing system, named dynamic antenna, is simply composed of an insensitive flexible beam, a torque sensor, a joint position sensor, an actuator, and a payload at the tip end of the beam. The contact point can be detected through estimation of the oscillation frequencies of the beam in contact with the object. First, a dynamic model of the sensor is derived. Next, it is shown that information of the fundamental and the second natural frequencies is sufficient for unique determining of the contact point if the beam has uniform mass and stiffness distribution. In practical realization, the fundamental and the second natural frequencies of the beam in contact with the object are extracted from the torque sensor measurements with the use of the maximum entropy method. Then, the frequencies are mapped into the contact-point coordinate. Extraction of the frequencies and mapping them into the contact point constitute a sensing strategy which is tested under experiment.


First published under the auspices of The London Institute of World Affairs in1950. With a supplement, Recent Trends in the Law of the United Nations [1951]."[A] number of reasons why this book is bound to appeal to delegates asa source of quotation. One such reason obviously is the internationalreputation of its author, particularly his prestige in European and LatinAmerican countries. Another is the comprehensive and systematiccharacter of the book, which covers almost all of the basic legal problemspresented by the Charter. Most important, perhaps, is the fact thatdelegates and other readers are likely to be impressed with thefundamental approach of the book: its close analysis of the structureof rules and their inter-relationships; the eschewing of political andideological considerations; the emphasis on legal duties rather thanpurpose and functions; the awareness of the creative role played bythe law-applying organs. These guiding principles (which are derivedfrom, though not logically dependent on, Kelsen's pure theory) arewelcome elements in a study of this kind; they promise objectivity, toughmindedness and technical skill, attributes which in a legal treatisewill command more respect than idealism or imagination. For thesereasons, the book may exert a significant influence of developments inthe United Nations." --Oscar Schachter, 60 Yale Law Journal 1951, 189-190.Possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century, HANSKELSEN [1881-1973] was legal adviser to Austria's last emperor and its firstrepublican government, the founder and permanent advisor of the SupremeConstitutional Court of Austria, and the author of Austria's Constitution, whichwas enacted in 1920, abolished during the Anschluss, and restored in 1945. He was the author of more than forty books on law and legal philosophy. Active as a teacher in Europe and the United States, he was dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna and taught at the Universities of Cologne and Prague, the Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Harvard, Wellesley, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Naval War College.


Iranian New Wave Cinema (1969 to present) has risen to international fame, especially in post-revolutionary years, for its social realist themes and contribution to national identity. This film movement boasts a number of successful women directors, whose films have impressed audiences and film festivals worldwide. This study examines the works of three Iranian women directors, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Tamineh Milani, and Samira Makhmalbaf, for their films' social, political, and cultural themes and commentary while also investigating the directors' techniques in managing censorship codes that regulate their production and content. Importantly, these women directors must also navigate the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance's censorship laws, which dictate that challenging the government's law or Islamic law is illegal and punishable.

These women directors make films that highlight the issues and social status of Iranian women, the working class, and the under-privileged; they touch upon motherhood, love, marriage, abuse, war, and more. Moreover, they are social films that compose the genre of "women's films," though the characters and filmmakers are both men and women.

While scholars have looked at the way Iranian women directors challenging both the traditional, one-dimensional representations of women in cinema, such as those in filmfarsi, this research draws upon feminist theory to argue that women directors utilize a number of strategies to elude or challenge censorship codes, which range from creative shooting to simply skipping the censorship review process altogether. Films by Iranian women directors reject the Orientalist conception of Iranian women as Muslim women who are prisoners of their culture and society.


In this paper we study the tone reservation technique for the reduction of the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) in code division multiple access (CDMA) systems that employ the Walsh functions. In the tone reservation method, the available carriers are partitioned into two sets, the information set, which carries the information, and the compensation set, which is used to reduce the PAPR. Central questions are: What is the best possible reduction of the PAPR? What is the optimal information set that achieves this reduction, and how can it be found? What is the general structure of the information set? So far, the answers were unknown. In this paper we completely solve these questions for CDMA systems that employ the Walsh functions. Interestingly, using the first $N$ Rademacher functions is optimal under all sets of size $N$.


Assessment is one of the most important elements of student life and significantly shapes their learning. Consequently, tutors need to ensure that student awareness regarding assessment is promoted. Students should get the opportunity to practise assessing work and receive tutor feedback so that they might improve on both the work and their assessment of it. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how student engagement with criteria, exemplars, self-assessment, and feedback influenced students' performance, their assessment capacity, and also how students experienced the process. A mixed methods approach was used. Students' performance and assessments were established using a rubric that included 5 criteria each evaluated using 5 point likert scale linked to descriptors. A thematic analysis of the focus group resulted in two themes. The findings show that overall students' performance in the assignment significantly improved between draft and final submissions. Students' assessment of their work significantly differed to the tutor's on some criteria at both submissions but in opposite directions on one criterion between both submissions. The focus group found that the rubric guided students to produce their draft while tutor feedback guided them to improve on it. However, these findings require further investigation. The following recommendations ensue from the research and should assist student development concerning assessment. Tutors should give students an opportunity to assess work and also see tutor's assessment of that work using the same criteria. Also, tutors should provide constructive feedback during an assignment.


This paper deals with the issues and concepts involved in defining and measuring quality in higher education. Quality in higher education has a number of distinct meanings. It is a complex and multidimensional concept, for which it is difficult to develop objective proxy measures. The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) introduced a system of teaching quality assessment (TQA) in 1992/93. The TQA framework identified 11 key aspects covering 63 elements and adopted a process of self-assessment followed by peer review. The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality framework used in the TQA assessment exercise and provide a textual analysis of the published assessment reports. The provision of accounting and finance by 11 Scottish universities was assessed in 1995/96. The results of a content analysis of the resulting 11 published TQA assessments, scoring each comment as either positive or negative are presented. Based on this analysis, an objective quality index (QI) is derived and compared to the quality grades awarded. Key findings regarding the distribution pattern of comments across TQA dimensions are that: (i) one in three elements attract no comment; (ii) there is wide variation in the number of comments relating to each aspect and element; (iii) some important issues are not in the TQA framework. This suggests that the 63 TQA elements are not viewed as being of equal importance and gives an indication of the implicit weights assigned. The ranking of universities based on the QI index is in line with the quality grades actually awarded, providing a degree of external validation of the research method adopted. Suggestions for improving the TQA framework are made. These findings could assist the newly-formed Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) in the development of the new quality assurance framework.


Plans and decisions in many real-world scenarios are made under uncertainty and to satisfy multiple, possibly conflicting, objectives. In this work, we contribute the multi-reward partially-observable Markov decision process (MR-POMDP) as a general modelling framework. To solve MR-POMDPs, we present two hybrid (memetic) multi-objective evolutionary algorithms that generate non-dominated sets of policies (in the form of stochastic finite state controllers). Performance comparisons between the methods on multi-objective problems in robotics (with 2, 3 and 5 objectives), web-advertising (with 3, 4 and 5 objectives) and infectious disease control (with 3 objectives), revealed that memetic variants outperformed their original counterparts. We anticipate that the MR-POMDP along with multi-objective evolutionary solvers will prove useful in a variety of theoretical and real-world applications.


In 1898 Koorders and Valeton ¹) considered the three species of Miquel's genus then known as Aphanomyrtus rostrata Miq. Sumatra (and Java?), A. octandra Koord. & Val., Java, and A. camphorata Val., the latter described from a plant cultivated in the Botanical Garden at Buitenzorg, its origin unknown. The three recognized species were well illustrated. They gave an amplified description of Miquel's genus, calling attention to the fact that it had been erroneously reduced to the very different Baeckea. They did not then realize that the genus Pseudoeugenia Soort. (1885) was a synonym of Aphanomyrtus Miq. Nine years later Valeton ²) again considered the genus, having recognized the identity of Pseudoeugenia Scortechini (1885) with Aphanomyrthus Miquel (1855), and making the reduction of the former. He recognized four species, A. rostrata Miq. (Pseudoeugenia singaporensis King), Sumatra, Banka, and the Malay Peninsula; A. tetraquetra (Miq.) Val. (Jambosa tetraquetra Miq., Aphanomyrtus octandra Koord. & Val., A. octandra var. tetraquetra Koord. & Val.); A. skiophila (Duthie) Val. (Eugenia skiophila Duthie, Pseudoeugenia perakiana Soort.), Penang and the Malay Peninsula, but of which he saw no material (credited also to Sumatra by Ridley); and A. camphorata Val. cultivated at Buitenzorg, Java. Valeton reconsidered the genus in 1907 because of his belief that the Koorders & Valeton paper of 1898 was not generally available to botanists, for in the meantime King (1901) had redescribed Aphanomyrtus rostrata Miq. as Pseudoeugenia singaporensis. Both papers were apparently overlooked by Ridley, for in his Flora of the Malay Peninsula (1922) he still retained the two Malay Peninsula species under Pseudoeugenia, as P. perakiana Scort. and P. singaporensis King; and in 1927 described a third species, P. tenuifolia Ridl., from the Peninsula. In the meantime Greves had recognized Miquel's genus and described A. Forbesii Greves from Sumatra, which seems to be a synonym of A. tetraquetra (Miq.) Val., and Lauterbach described another species, Aphanomyrtus alata Lauterb., from New Guinea; the last species probably belongs in some other genus.


The purpose of this article is to investigate how memory activists from 2008 onwards used the past in their advocacy work for the restoration of the university church in Leipzig. The Paulinerkirche was built as a Dominican monastery church in the first half of the thirteenth century. In 1545, shortly after the Reformation had reached Leipzig, it was reconsecrated by Martin Luther and became the first Protestant university church in Germany. Following the demands of the GDR state, it was destroyed in 1968. In writings, demonstrations and speeches, advocates of church rebuilding made use of the Reformation, but also of other tropes in the local history to draw attention to their cause. The goal was not to create a new Reformation site; rather, the aim was to compel the university leadership to abandon its goal to build a multi-purpose value-neutral assembly hall and instead honour its cultural and religious heritage, undo some of the damage done in 1968 and allow the return of the university church.


Background. Upper limb function plays a significant role in enhancing independence for individuals with tetraplegia. However, there is limited knowledge about the specific input of sensorimotor deficits on upper limb function. Thus the theoretical framework designed to develop the Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength Sensibility and Prehension (GRASSP) was used as a hypothetical model to analyze the impact of impairment on function. Objective. To define the association of impairment (sensation, strength, and prehension measured by the GRASSP) to upper limb function as defined by functional measures (Capabilities of Upper Extremity Questionnaire, Spinal Cord Independence Measure). Methods. A hypothetical model representing relationships by applying structural equation modeling was used to estimate the effect of the impairment domains in GRASSP on upper limb function. Data collected on 72 chronic individuals with tetraplegia was used to test the hypothetical model. Results. Structural equation modeling confirmed strong associations between sensation, strength, and prehension with upper limb function, and determined 72% of the variance in "sensorimotor upper limb function" was explained by the model. Statistics of fit showed the data did fit the hypothesized model. Sensation and strength influence upper limb function directly and indirectly with prehension as the mediator. Conclusions. The GRASSP is a sensitive diagnostic tool in distinguishing the relative contribution of strength, sensation and prehension to function. Thus, the impact of interventions on specific domains of impairment and related contribution on clinical recovery of the upper limb can be detailed to optimize rehabilitation programs.


The present article proposes a taxonomy of features to describe the grammar of natural landscapes with the parameters that can account for the preferences of speakers in the description of nature. The taxonomy is the theoretical foundation designed for the Corpus of Language and Nature (CLAN Corpus),1 compiled worldwide, whose aim is to describe the cognitive and emotional preferences in the observation of nature by speakers of different languages. For this purpose, we have delineated the basic visual features deemed essential to read natural landscapes in order to create a network of cognitive variables in the perception of nature with its various components and features. These features of landscapes are complemented with a description of the cognitive variables that mould the individual's perception of nature and the emotions enacted after its contemplation.


A consumer's prior evaluation of an advertised brand is hypothesized to moderate the effectiveness of humor in advertising. Further, cognitive responses are hypothesized as mediators of the impact of humorous ads on brand attitude. The results support the hypothesized moderator role of prior brand evaluation: when prior evaluation of the advertised brand is positive, a humorous ad is more effective than its nonhumorous counterpart in changing consumer attitudes and choice behavior. When consumers have a negative prior attitude, the opposite is true: a humorous ad is less effective in changing consumer attitudes and choice behavior than its nonhumorous counterpart. The results also support the conceptualization of cognitive responses as mediators of the impact of humorous advertisements on brand attitude.


OBJECTIVE: This report examines the response of families to the American Academy of Pediatrics June 1992 recommendation that healthy term infants be put to sleep on their back or side to decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Parents at two clinics and private practices were interviewed to ascertain sleep position practices. METHODS: Parents of infants from 1 to 6 months of age who were in the waiting room for a well-child visit were eligible for study. A total of 760 interviews were conducted using a closed-ended questionnaire. Parents were asked about sleep position, positional changes during sleep, and factors that influenced their decision to position their infant prone, side, or supine. Interviews were conducted from September 1993 through April 1994. This interval was divided into two equal, 4-month time intervals. Sleep practices were compared during the first and second time periods. Differences between practice and clinic groups were measured. Groups were compared using the chi-square test, with results considered significant at P < .05. RESULTS: The number of infants placed side or supine for sleep increased significantly since the inception of the study, from 38.1% to 59.1%. Despite this increase, parents reported that the impetus for changing position came from family or the media, rather than from health professionals. Initially, the proportion of infants in private practices placed side or supine was greater than that of clinic patients. That difference disappeared by the end of the study. Prone positioning continued to be more prevalent in the 3- to 6-month-old infants than in the 1- to 3-month-old group. The majority of infants at all ages awoke in the same position that they were put to sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Side and supine positioning for sleep increased in all socioeconomic groups. A small number of infants placed side or supine for sleep are found prone on awakening. Health professionals need to increase their role in providing sleep position guidance. As the proportion of the population positioning their infants side or supine for sleep increases, it should be possible to examine the effect on the sudden infant death syndrome rate.


This research aims to understand the natural and human influences on erosion in three tributary watersheds to the Mekong River, Yunnan Province, China and to assess the utility of a novel application of isotopic indicators of erosion. It explores how erosion varies through time and space as a function of physical characteristics of the landscape, tectonic forces, and human alteration of the landscape for forestry and agriculture. To accomplish these goals, I use four sediment-associated radionuclides: in situ Be, meteoric Be, Pbex, and Cs. These isotopes accumulate in or on sediment grains, and each accumulates to a different depth on the landscape and has a different half-life. Thus, the isotopes can be used to track sediment as it moves across Earth's surface, each providing unique insight into processes occurring over a certain time period (from ~50 to 50,000 years) or eroding to a certain depth on the landscape. The studied watersheds range from 22° to 27° N latitude, and from 200 to 2500 km in area. I collected 54 samples of river-borne sediment within the three study watersheds, and measured the concentration of each isotope in every sample. In addition to the measured isotopic concentrations, I utilize on over 20 years of daily sediment yield data at the outlet of each watershed, hillslope steepness, normalized channel steepness (ksn), contemporary land-use data, elevation, and 56 years of mean annual precipitation data (MAP). Long-term erosion rates scale with topographic parameters in two of the three study basins, indicating that topography, or the underlying tectonic forces responsible for topography, control erosion rates over the past 6,000 to 50,000 years. Isotopic data also show that contemporary erosion is higher in cultivated areas than un-cultivated areas, a direct result of agricultural practices. Contemporary sediment yield, however, has not increased notably due to land-use change; however, under-representation of large stochastic events and sediment trapped by agriculture have reduced sediment yield relative to the long-term average in two of the studied watersheds. Overall, the data imply changes in contemporary erosion that are consistent with Chinese policies that promoted deforestation from the 1950's to the late 1980's and conservation from the late 1990's to present. This proves to be a significant finding, as the result of the top-down approach China has taken with conservation policy has been widely called into question in previous studies. While each isotope has the potential to provide unique information regarding erosional processes, in situ Be and Pbex proved to be the most useful, while meteoric Be was the most challenging to utilize. Though interpretation is complex, measuring all four isotopes on the same sediment samples helps to fully realize the potential of in situ Be to estimate background erosion by simultaneously allowing for assessment of contemporary and human induced erosion.


The Maasai/Kikuyu agro-pastoral borderlands of Maiella and Enoosupukia, located in the hinterlands of Lake Naivasha's agro-industrial hub, are particularly notorious in the history of ethnicised violence in the Kenya's Rift Valley. In October 1993, an organised assault perpetrated by hundreds of Maasai vigilantes, with the assistance of game wardens and administration police, killed more than 20 farmers of Kikuyu descent. Consequently, thousands of migrant farmers were violently evicted from Enoosupukia at the instigation of leading local politicians.
Nowadays, however, intercommunity relations are surprisingly peaceful and the cooperative use of natural resources is the rule rather than the exception. There seems to be a form of reorganization. Violence seems to be contained and the local economy has since recovered. This does not mean that there is no conflict, but people seem to have the facility to solve them peacefully. How did formerly violent conflicts develop into peaceful relations? How did competition turn into cooperation, facilitating changing land use?
This dissertation explores the value of cross-cutting ties and local institutions in peaceful relationships and the non-violent resolution of conflicts across previously violently contested community boundaries. It mainly relies on ethnographic data collected between 2014 and 2015. The discussion therefore builds on several theoretical approaches in anthropology and the social sciences – that is, violent conflicts, cross-cutting ties and conflicting loyalties, joking relationships, peace and nonviolence, and institutions, in order to understand shared spaces that are experiencing fairly rapid social and economic changes, and characterised by conflict and coexistence.
In the researched communities, cross-cutting ties and the split allegiances associated with them result from intermarriages, land transactions, trade, and friendship. By institutions, I refer to local peace committees, an attempt to standardise an aspect of customary law, and Nyumba Kumi, a strategy of anchoring community policing at the household level. In 2010, the state "implanted" these grassroots-level institutions and conferred on them the rights to handle specific conflicts and to prevent crime.
I argue that the studied groups utilise diverse networks of relationships as adaptive responses to landlessness, poverty, and socio-political dynamics at the local level. Material and non-material exchanges and transfers accompany these social and economic ties and networks.
In addition to being instrumental in nurturing a cohesive social fabric, I argue that such alliances could be thought of as strategies of appropriation of resources in the frontiers – areas that are considered to have immense agricultural potential and to be conducive to economic enterprise. Consequently, these areas are continuously changed and shaped through immigration, population growth, and agricultural intensification.
However, cross-cutting ties and intergroup alliances may not necessarily prevent the occurrence or escalation of conflicts. Nevertheless, disputes and conflicts, which form part of the social order in the studied area, create the opportunities for locally contextualised systems of peace and non-violence that inculcate the values of cooperation, coexistence, and restraint from violence. Although the neo-traditional institutions (local peace committees and Nyumba Kumi) face massive complexities and lack the capacity to handle serious conflicts, their application of informal constraints in dispute resolution provides room for some optimism.
Notably, the formation of ties and alliances between the studied groups, and the use of local norms and values to resolve disputes, are not new phenomena – they are reminiscent of historical patterns. Their persistence, particularly in the context of Kenya, indicates a form of historical continuity, which remains rather "undisturbed" despite the prevalence of ethnicised political economies. Indeed, the formation of alliances, which are driven by mutual pursuit of commodities (livestock, rental land, and agricultural produce), markets, and diversification, tends to override other identities.
While the major thrust of social science literature in East Africa has focused on the search for root causes of violence, very little has been said about the conditions and practices of cooperation and non-violent conflict resolution. In addition, situations where prior violence turned into peaceful interaction have attracted little attention, though the analysis of such transitional phases holds the promise of contributing to applicable knowledge on conflict resolution.
This study is part of a larger multidisciplinary project, "Resilience in East African Landscapes" (REAL), which is a Marie Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks (ITN) project. The principal focus of this multidisciplinary project is to study past, present, and future thresholds and sustainable trajectories in human-landscape interactions in East Africa over the last millennia. While other individual projects focus on long-term ecosystem dynamics and societal interactions, my project examines human-landscape interactions in the present and the very recent past (i.e. the period in which events and processes were witnessed or can still be recalled by today's population).
The transition from conflict to coexistence and from competition to cooperative use of previously violently contested land resources is understood here as enhancing adaptation in the face of social-political, economic, environmental, and climatic changes. This dissertation is therefore a contribution to new modes of resilience in human-landscape interactions after a collapse situation.


Diffusion in metals is an important phenomenon, which has many applications, for example in all kinds of steel and aluminum production, and in alloy formation (technical applications e.g. in superconductivity and semiconductor science). In this book the data on diffusion in metals are shown, both in graphs and in equations. Reliable data on diffusion in metals are required by researchers who try to make sense of results from all kinds of metallurgical experiments, and they are equally needed by theorists and computer modelers. The previous compilation dates from 1990, and measurements relying on the electron microprobe and the recent Rutherford backscattering technique were hardly taken into account there. This reference book, containing all results on self-diffusion and impurity diffusion in pure metals with an indication of their reliability, will be useful to everyone in this field for the theory, fundamental research and industrial applications covered. . Up-to-date and complete (including EPMA and RBS investigations) . Indication of reliability of the measurements . Reassessment of many early results . Data can easily be extracted from Tables and Graphs


This paper revisits the question raised by Kishimoto (1996): what determines the unergative-unaccusative split in the behavior of the V1 in a Japanese deverbal nominal construction (V1-V2- gen N) (e.g., toke-kake-no yuki "the snow, almost melted"). While previous accounts (e.g., Tsujimura & Iida 1999) relied on purely semantic treatments, this paper takes a fresh look at the construction, turning to syntax. This analysis crucially points out that the modifier subsumes two distinct units, "adjectival" and "reduced clausal," and that the V1s split differently in each type on the basis of lexical aspect (i.e., the former requires the V1 to be telic and the latter, non-state). Construction-specific requirements which further affect the distribution of the elements are also delineated.


While work in recent years has demonstrated that wavelets can be efficiently used to compress large quantities of data and provide fast and fairly accurate answers to queries, little emphasis has been placed on using wavelets in approximating datasets containing multiple measures. Existing decomposition approaches will either operate on each measure individually, or treat all measures as a vector of values and process them simultaneously. We show in this paper that the resulting individual or combined storage approaches for the wavelet coefficients of different measures that stem from these existing algorithms may lead to suboptimal storage utilization, which results to reduced accuracy to queries. To alleviate this problem, we introduce in this work the notion of an extended wavelet coefficient as a flexible storage method for the wavelet coefficients, and propose novel algorithms for selecting which extended wavelet coefficients to retain under a given storage constraint. Experimental results with both real and synthetic datasets demonstrate that our approach achieves improved accuracy to queries when compared to existing techniques.


This paper concerns a simple extension of Lord Kelvin's observation that energy decays in a dissipative mechanical system. The global limit behavior ofsuch systems can be made essentially equivalent to that of much simpler gradient systems by the introduction of a "navigationfunction" in the role of an artificial field. This recourse to the mechanical system's natural motion helps transform the open-ended problem of autonomous machine design into the more structured problem of finding an appropriate "cost function" in the many situations that the goal may be encoded as a setpoint problem with configuration constraints. This paper offers a unified exposition of some recent results [13, 12, 15] heretofore scattered throughout a more mathematically oriented literature that strengthen our original suggestion [8, 9] concerning the utility of controlling natural motion as a means of simultaneously encoding, planning and effecting tasks in mechanical systems. The chief theoretical insight, Theorem 2, is a global global version of Lord Kelvin's century old result on the dissipation of total energy. Establishing this extension yields a rather general design principlethe notion of a navigation function-that seems to have useful application in a variety of settings. Roughly speaking, it offers a checklist of criteria for achieving the strongest possible convergence properties allowed on a configuration space by a smooth and bounded force/torque control strategy. Some simple examples introduced here may aid the exposition of these ideas. A sequel [10] to this paper illustrates how the ideas may be applied in more realistic settings. This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/470


This dissertation posits that a new form of material literacy emerged in the United States between 1890 and 1925, in tandem with the modern advertising profession. A nation recalibrating the way it valued economic and cultural mass consumption demanded, among other things, new signage – new ways to announce, and through those announcements, to produce its commitment to consumer society. What I call material literacy emerged as a set of interpretive skills wielded by both the creators and audiences of advertising material, whose paths crossed via representations of goods. These historically situated ways of reading and writing not only invited Americans to interpret a world full of representations of products, but also to understand – to read – themselves within that context. Commercial texts became sites for posing questions about reading behavior more generally, and they connected members of a various professions who stood to benefit from that knowledge. In this dissertation, I explore how reading and consumption converged for advertising experts, printers, typographers, and experimental psychologists. Despite their different occupational vantage points, their work intersected around efforts to understand how modern Americans decoded printed texts, and how this behavior might be known and guided. To establish their professional reputations, the authors I study positioned themselves as being uniquely capable of observing and interpreting the behavior of readers. The body served as a key site, and metaphor, for their inquiries – a means of making both literacy and legibility material.


Through teaching, pupils are given the opportunity based on their personal experiences and current events to express and consider their views in relation to others who hold different views. As a result, pupils should be encouraged to get involved and participate in an open exchange of views on societal issues (Skolverket, 2011d, s. 189). To assess pupils orally in the subject of civics in primary education is an unexplored field, which makes this field relevant to explore. There are numerous researchers' who with the help of deliberative methods, formative feedback, formative assessment and studies regarding classroom climates whom all speak positive about using discussion/dialogue in education to upraise and develop learning among pupils. Not all pupils have the qualifications to write, which can neglect them with the gift of speech. Therefore, it is important not to let these be silenced in education rather appraised and given the opportunity among their peers to develop this ability. This in its essence is problematic, which is why the field of the study is relevant to be explored. What the following study explores are the possibilities of oral assessment in primary education. With the help of participant observation and interviews, I came to research and find that the teaching of social studies can be designed in various ways. In terms of assessment of pupils' oral abilities I would say is a problematic area of assessment. Teachers are not experienced or aware of the oral potential among pupils, in which my research also came to show. My focus for the study was to see how teachers look at assessment and assess pupils' oral abilities. In addition, what surrounding research tells about the possibilities in this area of research.


We present a linear programming based method to design time varying routing strategies for positive conservative compartmental systems to satisfy piecewise constant capacity constraints. Such systems can be used to describe the flow of material through a network of interconnected reservoirs and have become a popular method of modeling air traffic flows. While most dynamic models for such systems use flow rates which depend linearly on the amount of material present in each reservoir, we focus on flow rates which are nonlinear in the amount of material. Nonlinear, saturating outflow rates can more accurately describe air traffic flow in the limit of dense traffic than linear outflow models.


Devic's disease or syndrome also known as Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) which is a demyelinating central nervous system (immune-mediated) ailment that predominantly targets the optic nerves and spinal cord. NMO-IgG seropositivity & longitudinally extensive spinal-cord lesions typically represents the Devic's disease & differentiates it from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).Treatment for NMO is based upon its presentation such as for acute phase(steroids, IVIG etc), prevention of relapse (steroid sparing immunosuppression etc) and symptom based therapy (e.g spasticity etc). Here, we present a case of NMO in a young female (26 years old), married patient who presented to us with total vision loss, urinary & fecal incontinence & paraplegia. She was being treated as a case of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) several years ago but we further investigated & found NMO-IgG seropositivity and other findings in the history that conforms the diagnostic criteria of NMOSD for this patient. Furthermore, the patient was treated with IV glucocorticoids for its acute phase of disease & sent home when symptoms of transverse myelitis improved.


Background: Latent Epstein- Barr virus (EBV) genomes are found in the malignant cells of approximately one-third of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) cases. Detection of EBV viral DNA could potentially be used as a biomarker of disease activity. Our goal was to compare of EBV DNA detection in samples obtained from lymphoma patients versus controls. Methods: One milliliter uncoagulated and 1ml coagulated blood sample for DNA extraction and serum analysis using ELISA for I g G anti EBNA-1 were obtained from 44 lymphoma patients and from 44 normal controls, respectively. EBV genome, EBNA-2 , was examined from DNA extracts of paraffin embedded and blood samples using Nested PCR with type specific inner primers. Results: Positive results for ELISA , Blood and biopsy PCR in study group were, 84.1% , 27.3% and 13.6% , respectively. However, these results in control group were 47.7% and 16% for ELISA and Blood PCR assays, respectively. Positive results in ELISA , Blood PCR and Biopsy PCR in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin patients were found in 21(84%) , 6(24%) , 4(16%) and 16(84.2%) , 6(31.6%) , 2(10.5%) of specimens, respectively. No significant differences in EBV detection were found between these two patient groups (p values for ELISA , Blood PCR and Biopsy PCR were 0.26 , 0.73 and 0.68 , respectively). Conclusion: Comparison of ELISA and Blood PCR results in children and adult patients with the same age of controls have showed difference in ELISA results of children, only. None of the test results have showed statistically significant difference between Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin patients. However, the mean of ELISA results in Hodgkin patients was higher as compared with controls. Blood PCR assay cannot be recommended as a biomarker of disease activity in EBV positive Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. Abstract


To address inequitable access to health services of indigenous communities in the Bolivian highlands, the Bolivian Ministry of Health, with the support of Save the Children-Saving Newborn Lives, conducted operational research to identify, implement and test a package of maternal and newborn interventions using locally recruited, volunteer Community Health Workers (vCHW) between 2008 and 2010. The additional annual economic and financial costs of the intervention were estimated from the perspective of the Bolivian Ministry of Health in two municipalities. The cost of intervention-stimulated increases in facility attendance was estimated with national surveillance data using a pre-post comparison, adjusted for secular trends in facility attendance. Three scale-up scenarios were modelled by varying the levels of coverage and the number (per mother and child pair) and frequency of home visits. Average cost per mother and average cost per home visit are presented in constant 2015 US$. Eighteen per cent of expectant mothers in the catchment area were visited at least once. The annualized additional financial cost of the community-based intervention across both municipalities was $43 449 of which 3% ($1324) was intervention design, 20% ($8474) set-up and 77% ($33 651) implementation. Drivers of additional costs were additional paid staff (68%), 81% of which was for management and support by local implementing partner and 19% of which was for vCHW supervision. The annual financial cost per vCHW was $595. Modelled scale-up scenarios highlight potential efficiency gains. Recognizing local imperatives to reduce inequalities by targeting underserved populations, the observed low coverage by vCHWs resulted in a high cost per mother and child pair ($296). This evaluation raises important questions about this model's ability to achieve its ultimate goals of reducing neonatal mortality and inequalities through behaviour change and increased care seeking and has served to inform innovative alternative models, better equipped to tackle stagnant inequitable access to care.


Amniocentesis (AC) and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) are the principal methods for fetal karyotyping. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate psychological reactions and risks associated with the procedures.A semi-randomised study was made on 321 women, where AC (147) and CVS (174) at 10-13 weeks' gestation were done trans-abdominally. Spontaneous fetal loss occurred in 6.8% and 1.7% of the women in the AC and CVS groups, respectively. Repeat testing was required more often in the AC (19.0%) than in the CVS (5.2%) group.A subgroup of 94 women answered a questionnaire prior to the procedure. Anxiety was stated as reason for invasive testing in 38% of the women. Mean scores according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for anxiety and depression were low. Likewise, mean scores for the Impact of Event Scale, evaluating the psychological distress evoked by the procedure, were low. Yet, a number of women had higher scores, indicating a risk of clinical anxiety and depression or psychological distress. The women worried most about miscarriage, fetal injury by the procedure and waiting for the result.Fetal, infant and maternal outcomes were evaluated in a cohort of 71 586 women aged 35 to 49 years old, with single births in Sweden during 1991 to 1996. Altogether, 21 748 were exposed to AC and 1984 to CVS. Women exposed to AC and CVS were compared with non-exposed. Outcomes were extracted from the Swedish Medical Birth Register, the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register, and the Swedish Malformation Register. An increased risk of musculo-skeletal deformities, such as club foot (OR=1.45) and hip dislocation (OR=1.22), and respiratory disturbances such as neonatal pneumonia (OR=1.29), was found for infants born in the AC group. Risk increased with earlier gestation at the procedure. Fewer women in the AC group had a normal delivery and more had a Caesarean section. Complications related to the amniotic cavity and membranes (OR=1.15), hypotonic uterine dysfunction (OR=1.12) and instrumental vaginal deliveries (OR=1.11) were more common in the AC group. No significant differences were found for the CVS group.CVS is the method of choice for prenatal karyotyping in the first trimester. AC should not be performed before 15 weeks' gestation. Further research to develop methods to better identify women at increased risk of chromosomal abnormal pregnancies and to develop non-invasive tests for prenatal diagnosis is needed. Thereby, the number of women exposed to invasive procedures and the adverse effects caused by these procedures can be minimised.


This article addresses some of the effects of political transformations and conflicts on the identity of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. It illustrates the gradual "Islamization" of space by Saddam Hussein's regime, which reflected a sectarian bias as it denied Shi'a religious identity the level of visibility given to Sunni religious identity. After the fall of the regime, there was an upsurge in Shi'a symbolism and rituals in Baghdad, which further de-secularized and sectarianized the public space. The article also addresses some of the cultural consequences for the sectarian segregation in Baghdad, especially by looking into the mosques and worship places, their sectarian distribution and the contesting claims regarding some of them. The rise of sub-national cultures and the competition between Shi'as and Sunnis have further fragmented Baghdad's identity and downgraded the cross-sectarian representations. This has been mirrored in the conflict of narratives about the city which is discussed in the last part of this article.


The increasing use of digital images has led to the growing problem of how to organize these images efficiently for search and retrieval. Interpretation of what we see in images is hard to characterize, and even more so to teach a machine such that any automated organization can be possible. Due to this, both keyword-based Internet image search systems and content-based image retrieval systems are not capable of searching images according to the human high-level semantics of images. In this paper we propose a new image search system using keyword annotations, low-level visual metadata and semantic inter-image relationships. The semantic relationships are learned exclusively from the human users' interaction with the image search system. Our system can be used to search huge (web-based) image sets more efficiently. However, the most important advantage of the new system is that it can be used to generate semi-automatically semantic relationships between the images


Abstract This paper is equal parts methodological recommendation and an empirical investigation of the time dimensions of linguistic change. It is increasingly common in the sociolinguistic literature for researchers to utilize speech data that was collected over the course of many decades. These kinds of datasets contain three different time dimensions that researchers can utilize to investigate language change: (i) the speakers' dates of birth, (ii) the speakers' ages at the time of the recording, and (iii) the date of the recording. Proper investigation of all three time dimensions is crucial for a theoretical understanding of the dynamics of language change. I recommend utilizing two-dimensional tensor product smooths, fit over speakers' date of birth and the year of the recording, to analyze the contribution of these three time dimensions to linguistic changes. I apply this method to five language changes, based on data drawn from the Philadelphia Neighborhood Corpus. I find relatively weak evidence for lifespan effects in these changes, robust generational effects, and in one case, evidence of a zeitgeist effect.


The United States has been epitomized as a land of opportunity, where hard work and skill can bring personal success and economic well-being. The American Dream has captured the imagination of people from all walks of life, and to many, it represents the heart and soul of the country. But there is another, darker side to the bargain that America strikes with its people -- it is the price we pay for our individual pursuit of the American Dream. That price can be found in the economic hardship present in the lives of millions of Americans. In Chasing the American Dream, leading social scientists Mark Robert Rank, Thomas A. Hirschl, and Kirk A. Foster provide a new and innovative look into a curious dynamic -- the tension between the promise of economic opportunities and rewards and the amount of turmoil that Americans encounter in their quest for those rewards. The authors explore questions such as: -What percentage of Americans achieve affluence, and how much income mobility do we actually have? -Are most Americans able to own a home, and at what age? -How is it that nearly 80 percent of us will experience significant economic insecurity at some point between ages 25 and 60? -How can access to the American Dream be increased? Combining personal interviews with dozens of Americans and a longitudinal study covering 40 years of income data, the authors tell the story of the American Dream and reveal a number of surprises. The risk of economic vulnerability has increased substantially over the past four decades, and the American Dream is becoming harder to reach and harder to keep. Yet for most Americans, the Dream lies not in wealth, but in economic security, pursuing one's passions, and looking toward the future. Chasing the American Dream provides us with a new understanding into the dynamics that shape our fortunes and a deeper insight into the importance of the American Dream for the future of the country.


This paper presents a model in which the realizations of stochastic tax and depreciation rates determine both the level and growth rate of output: externalities to investment - learning by watching - are characterized by diminishing returns, yielding a nonlinear "technical progress function". This results in multiple steady-state growth rates. History matters. It is possible that two economies with identical "deep" parameters and initial capital stocks may cycle around different trend growth rates, depending upon the historical path of fiscal shocks. Growth and cycles interact, and the nonlinearity means that output changes cannot be decomposed into a stochastic trend and a trend-stationary process.


To observe whether cannabinoid receptor (CB1R) agonist improve neurological function accompanied by an increase in Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), mediated by C-FOS and a decrease in PKA C-â in cerebrum cortex after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in rats. Intracerebral hemorrhagemodel of ratwasmade byVII Collagenase,which was killed for brain tissue as specimens with 24 hours. The mRNA levels of PKAC-â, C-FOS and BDNF expression were detected by semiquantitative RT-PCR. The expression of PKAC-â, C-FOS and BDNF proteins were determined byWestern blotting and immunohistochemistry. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection ofWIN55-212-2 could obviously improve some nervous deficit symptoms and increased the mRNA and protein levels of BDNF. Increased BDNF synthesis was accompanied by increased activation of C-FOS and downregulation of PKA in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex prepared from WIN55-212-2 rats. PKAC-â, C-FOS, and BDNF proteins are expressed on membrane of neuron, nucleus of neuron or the cytoplasm of glial cells respectively. The expression of BDNF is induced not only by activation of C-FOS, but also by inhibiton of PKA through stimulation ofMAP kinase inWIN55, 212-2 rats


The most important difficulty facing a Rechtsstaat  idea when it comes to the realization of "sustainable development", lies in the structural differences between the constitutional order based on the Rechtsstaat on the one hand, and the dynamics of political and economic planning on the order.  "Sustainable development" is development that links ecology and economy in such a way that ecological harm is minimized.  Development should therefore be in the interest of future generations. There is, however, not yet much legislation concerning environmental protection, because the Rechtsstaat finds itself in a position where it cannot take sides.  In no circumstances can the state legalize the ecological aspect, for this will presuppose state interference in the economic system,  therefore violation a principle of the Rechsstaat.  Environmental protection could thus easily be misused as the basis for allowing the state to directly manipulate the economic process. The state has the duty to invoke which measures which could help to regulate environmental harm and to create a legal basis for future economic and technological developments which are compatible with environmental protection.  The German Constitutional amendment of 1994 deliberately did not take up environmental protection in the catalogue of fundamental rights.  In terms of German constitutional law, state goals bind the legislature and should be translated into legislation.  Article 20a GG formulates environmental protection as a state goal. It would be seem to be fair to suggest that the most important contribution towards getting to grips with the responsibilities of the Rechsstaat in promoting environmental protection has been made by legislative bodies in European as well as in German environmental law.  The legislative measures require that precautionary measures should be taken by those who cause the environmental damage or risk.  Environmental protection and economic development are inseparable in state politics.  While planning economic policy the state has to take into account the environmental impact of such policy in order to give effect to the precautionary principle.  The precautionary principle thus has a regulatory character and a planning law dimension. In a Rechtsstaat the state can regulate environmental protection only through the precautionary principle so as not to interfere in economic policy.  Only in this manner can "sustainable development" be maintained.


This authoritative edition was originally published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Milton's poetry and prose - all the English verse together with a generous selection from the major prose writings - to give the essence of his work and thinking. Milton's influence on English poetry and criticism has been incalculable, and this edition covers the full range of his poetic and political output. It includes Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes as well as major prose works such as Areopagitica and The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. As well as all the English and Italian verse, the volume includes most of the Latin and Greek verse in parallel translation. Spelling has been modernized, and the poems are arranged in order of publication, essential to an understanding of the progress of Milton's career in relation to the political and religious upheavals of his time. The extensive notes cover syntax, vocabulary, historical context, and biblical and classical allusions. The introduction traces both Milton's changing conception of his own vocation, and the critical reception his work has received over the past four centuries. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


The Sete Cidades volcano (Sao Miguel, Azores) is situated at the eastern end of the ultraslow spreading Terceira rift axis. The volcano comprises several dominantly basaltic pre-caldera eruptions, a trachytic caldera-forming stage and a post-caldera stage consisting of alternating trachytic and basaltic eruptions. The post-caldera flank lavas are more primitive (> 5 wt % MgO) than the pre-caldera lavas, implying extended fractional crystallization and longer crustal residence times for the pre-caldera, shield-building lavas. Thermobarometric estimates show that the ascending alkali basaltic magmas stagnated and crystallized at the crust-mantle boundary (similar to 15 km depth), whereas the more evolved magmas mainly fractionated in the upper crust (similar to 3 km depth). The caldera-forming eruption was triggered by a basaltic injection into a shallow trachytic magma chamber. Lavas from all stages follow a single, continuous liquid line of descent from alkali basalt to trachyte, although slight differences in incompatible element (e.g. Ba/Nb, La/Nb) and Sr isotope ratios imply some heterogeneity of the mantle source. Major and trace element data suggest similar partial melting processes throughout the evolution of the volcano. Slight geochemical differences between post- and pre-caldera stage lavas from the Sete Cidades volcanic system indicate a variation in the mantle source composition with time. The oxygen fugacity increased from the pre-caldera to the post-caldera stage lavas, probably as a result of the assimilation of crustal rocks; this is supported by the presence of crustal xenoliths in the lavas of the flank vents. The lavas from the Sete Cidades volcano generally have low Sr isotope ratios; however, rocks from one post-caldera vent on the western flank indicate mixing with magmas resembling the lavas from the neighbouring Agua de Pau volcano, having higher Sr isotope ratios. The different magma sources at Sete Cidades and the adjacent Agua de Pau volcano imply that, despite their close proximity, there is only limited interaction between them.


A new edition of Barbara Taylor's classic book, with a new introduction. In the early nineteenth century, radicals all over Europe and America began to conceive of a 'New Moral World', and struggled to create their own utopias, with collective family life, communal property, free love and birth control. In Britain, the visionary ideals of the Utopian Socialist, Robert Owen, attracted thousands of followers, who for more than a quarter of a century attempted to put theory into practice in their own local societies, at rousing public meetings, in trade unions and in their new Communities of Mutual Association. Barbara Taylor's brilliant study of this visionary challenge recovers the crucial connections between socialist aims and feminist aspirations. In doing so, it opens the way to an important re-interpretation of the socialist tradition as a whole, and contributes to the reforging of some of those early links between feminism and socialism.


Many animal populations continue to decline despite occurring in protected areas or on sympathetically managed sites. Frequently, this is because a specific habitat patch may not fulfil all the niche requirements of a threatened species. For instance, species often move between, and make use of, multiple habitat types for breeding, roosting and feeding within the same landscape. These cross-habitat interactions present a challenge for conservation. Here we quantify how the habitat associations of individual species and assemblages occurring within two distinct but adjacent habitat types (moorland and farmland) determine a suite of density and richness indicators, using the bird community of the English uplands as a case study. There was a clear association between onsite avian density and richness and offsite habitat structure (e.g. vegetation height, percent cover of dominant plant species, land management practices). Although such effects are not universal across all species and assemblages, where present (for five farmland and three moorland indicators) the increase in explanatory power offered by including offsite habitat structure can be large. By constructing scenarios of possible changes to management practice on both moorland and farmland, we demonstrate a real conservation benefit can be obtained by altering management in offsite habitats. For example, reducing burning intensity on moorland can result in a five-fold increase in snipe Gallinago gallinago density on farmland, without an alteration in farmland habitat. For one species (Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata), we demonstrate the frequency with which birds move between and utilise farmland and moorland during the breeding season, and therefore the importance of both habitat types to maintaining population densities. The multiple habitat dependency phenomenon quantified here is common and not restricted to birds. The successful conservation of many threatened species will thus depend on coordinated cross-habitat management.


Founded with the mission to "advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide", the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has served both the social and commercial sectors for over 50 years. Many of our programs across corporate, government, philanthropic, and social (e.g., NGOS, nonprofits, K12 institutions, higher education institutions, and population health organizations) sectors have the goal of improving outcomes for individual leaders and groups, and extending those outcomes to create impact at the organizational, community, or societal level. Our clients often aspire for large and transformational impact. They are interested in telling stories of impact – both immediate and sustained – that trace the power of their investment and its ability to result in improved outcomes for individuals, organizations, and communities. However, it's often difficult or impossible to represent such impact without intentional planning and measurement. Using the idea of levers as a metaphor, we present a pathway for how leadership development across contexts can lead to larger scale impact, with examples from some of our current efforts to demonstrate this impact. We also provide a typology of stories that can be useful for communicating complex impact pathways. The typology provides metaphors for understanding the variety of layers of impact that contribute to societal change. Our work in support of this framework is continuously evolving, as we are learning, improving our measures, and identifying opportunities for increased evaluation efforts.


Protein was found significantly more frequently in single urine samples from 504 patients with malignancy (290; 58%) than in 529 controls (119; 22%) (p<0·001). Median protein concentration was greater (p<0·001) in patients with neoplasia (0·14 g/l) than in controls (0·07 g/l). Actuarial analysis showed a median survival of 4·5 months in patients with proteinuria compared with 10 months in those without (p<0·001). The association between proteinuria and shorter survival was statistically significant for patients with gut tumours, lung tumours, and tumours at other sites analysed as a group. Patients with myeloma or urinary tract tumours were not studied. In many patients with malignancy the presence of proteinuria may be associated with a substantially reduced survival time.


Abstract High resolution ocean general circulation model experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of a midocean ridge on the eddy field and the mean circulation on the basin scale. A quasigeostrphic two-layer model was used. Long term statistics were computed for a detailed comparison with the flat bottom case. An eddy-driven anticyclonic gyre, locked over the topography, appears as a new feature of the deep circulation pattern. The eddy energy radiation in both layers is strongly constrained by the topography. Insofar as surface currents are concerned, the ridge acts, to a limited extent, as a new western boundary for the eastern basin.


The commitment to inclusiveness in Scottish education has not come about by chance and marks a substantial change in many of the long-standing traditions and practices of Scottish schooling, as Mr. MacBride explains. It is a truism to state that school systems develop within the structures of the societies they serve. It may be less generally accepted that educational development should not be a passive response to the pressures imposed by other structures within society but must actively contribute to determining the nature of society. If it is to do so, a school system must have a clear rationale, and those who participate in it must have a clear view of the nature of the society they wish to live in. However, educational development involves, both formally and informally, many agents and social organizations; reality is messy, and many participants in the education system may not have clearly specified their aims in a coherent statement. Further, educational development must build on the existing structures and practices of education and schools: none of us can escape from history. In this article I will argue that the Scottish school system provides an example both of such purposeful development and of the incoherence or messiness within which it is situated. If there is one theme, one concept, even one single word that characterizes Scottish education today, it is "inclusiveness." While the implementation and realization of this concept take a number of forms, its importance has been formally recognized by nearly all the participants in the world of Scottish education; the body least committed to the principle is probably the current government. (It should be noted that the present Conservative government of the United Kingdom enjoys little support within Scotland, whether this is defined in terms of the number of members of Parliament, elected local councilors, or opinion polls.) However, this commitment to inclusiveness has not come about by chance and marks a substantial change in many of the long-standing traditions and practices of Scottish schooling. It is a fundamental and legally recognized principle in Scottish education that all children are educable. This statement appears to be almost trivially self-evident, but it must be borne in mind that it was only in 1974 that this concept was recognized by legislation; before that date a very small number of children with profound learning difficulties were considered ineducable and were therefore cared for, not educated. But this formal statement has been developed into a real recognition that, if all children are educable, then all children are entitled to a curriculum that is founded on the same qualities, which are summarized within the 5-14 Programme as breadth, balance, coherence, continuity, and progression.(1) There can be no suggestion that some children should be offered a curriculum that is narrow or limited because of their difficulty in learning. This inclusive approach has major implications for practice in schools and classrooms. It would be a simplistic response to this recognition of the right of all pupils to a curriculum built on common principles to provide identical learning experiences for all children. Within Scotland, it is agreed that an inclusive system must recognize the individuality of each child and, therefore, each child's particular needs must be addressed. In this context the core concept is that of differentiation: the practice of ensuring that each child's experiences in school recognize his or her prior knowledge, interests, personal characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, and the variety of supports he or she will require to learn successfully within and outside the school. This commitment to the individuality of each child could be interpreted as an acceptance of inequality. However, it is a fundamental principle accepted by almost all stakeholders in Scottish education that all children are of equal worth and importance and that consequently their individual needs must be given equal priority. …


I have written a chapter in this book about visual photographic research supported by my own images.
This ground-breaking book situates research at the heart of photographic practice, asking the key question: What does research mean for photographers? Illuminating the nature and scope of research and its practical application to photography, the book explores how research provides a critical framework to help develop awareness, extend subject knowledge, and inform the development of photographic work. The authors consider research as integral to the creative process and, through interviews with leading photographers, explore how photographers have embedded research strategies into their creative practice.


Coalescing binaries of neutron stars and black holes are one of the most important sources of gravitational waves for the upcoming network of ground-based detectors. Detection and extraction of astrophysical information from gravitational-wave signals requires accurate waveform models. The effective-one-body and other phenomenological models interpolate between analytic results and numerical relativity simulations, that typically span O(10) orbits before coalescence. In this paper we study the faithfulness of these models for neutron star-black hole binaries. We investigate their accuracy using new numerical relativity (NR) simulations that span 36–88 orbits, with mass ratios q and black hole spins χ_(BH) of (q,χ_(BH))=(7,±0.4),(7,±0.6), and (5,−0.9). These simulations were performed treating the neutron star as a low-mass black hole, ignoring its matter effects. We find that (i) the recently published SEOBNRv1 and SEOBNRv2 models of the effective-one-body family disagree with each other (mismatches of a few percent) for black hole spins χ_(BH)≥0.5 or χ_(BH)≤−0.3, with waveform mismatch accumulating during early inspiral; (ii) comparison with numerical waveforms indicates that this disagreement is due to phasing errors of SEOBNRv1, with SEOBNRv2 in good agreement with all of our simulations; (iii) phenomenological waveforms agree with SEOBNRv2 only for comparable-mass low-spin binaries, with overlaps below 0.7 elsewhere in the neutron star-black hole binary parameter space; (iv) comparison with numerical waveforms shows that most of this model's dephasing accumulates near the frequency interval where it switches to a phenomenological phasing prescription; and finally (v) both SEOBNR and post-Newtonian models are effectual for neutron star-black hole systems, but post-Newtonian waveforms will give a significant bias in parameter recovery. Our results suggest that future gravitational-wave detection searches and parameter estimation efforts would benefit from using SEOBNRv2 waveform templates when focused on neutron star-black hole systems with q≲7 and χ_(BH)≈[−0.9,+0.6]. For larger black hole spins and/or binary mass ratios, we recommend the models be further investigated as NR simulations in that region of the parameter space become available.


We compared planktonic primary and secondary production across twenty meltwater ponds on the surface of the McMurdo Ice Shelf in January 2007, including some ponds with basal brines created by meromictic stratification. Primary production ranged from 1.07 to 65.72 mgC m−3 h−1 in surface waters. In stratified ponds primary production was always more than ten times higher in basal brines than in the corresponding mixolimnion. Regression tree analysis (r2 = 0.80) identified inorganic nitrogen (as NH 4 + ?> ) as the main factor limiting planktonic primary production. However, there was also evidence of inorganic carbon co-limitation of photosynthesis in some of the more oligotrophic waters. Neither C nor N limited carbon fixation at [NH4–N] > 50 mg m−3, with photoinhibition the factor most likely limiting photosynthesis under such conditions. Primary production was the only factor significantly correlated to bacterial production and the relationship (r2 = 0.56) was non-linear. Nitrogen limitation and tight coupling of planktonic primary and bacterial production is surprising in these ponds, as all have large pools of dissolved organic carbon (1.2–260 g m−3) and organic nitrogen (all >130 mg m−3). The dissolved pools of organic carbon and nitrogen appear to be recalcitrant and bacterial production to be constrained by limited release of labile organics from phytoplankton.


Background and Hypothesis: Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is an effective therapy approaching a 90% success rate for recurrent and severe CDI. However, patients with liver cirrhosis are generally excluded from FMT trials due to concerns of infectious complications. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of FMT in these patients.
Project Methods: Electronic medical records (Cerner) and an institutional FMT database (REDCap) were utilized to gather data on patient demographics, medical history, and follow-up. Inclusion criteria were the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and FMT to treat CDI. The primary outcomes were FMT success at 8 weeks and adverse events within 12 weeks post-FMT.
Results: Among the 267 patients in the database, 15 had liver cirrhosis. Among these, 47% (N=7) were female. The average age was 61 years (range 28-83) and they received FMT between 2014 and 2017. There were 12 (80%) patients with recurrent CDI and 3 (20%) with severe CDI. Eleven patients had decompensated cirrhosis; Child-Pough scores were A: N=4, B: N=8, and C: N=3. Five (33%) failed before 8 weeks and needed 1-3 additional FMTs for cure. Fourteen (93.3%) patients experienced adverse events. Five patients experienced unrelated SAEs (Table).
Conclusion: Patients with liver cirrhosis failed FMT more often than non-cirrhotic historical controls. While numerous AEs and SAEs were reported, few of the AEs were possibly related to the FMT and none of the SAEs were FMT-related. Importantly, no infectious complications were observed. Larger, multicenter studies are needed to establish efficacy and safety of FMT in cirrhotics before it can be recommended for widespread use.


With this chapter, we want to open up the debate whether neurodiversity might be the next step of diversity. The term neurodiversity was first established in the online autism community in the 1990s and has since spread both off‐ and online. It describes the idea that, throughout the human population, different brain developments and structures exist. Neuronal variances such as Autism are therefore not to be seen as disorders but as variations different from the neurotypical brain. Instead of being considered ill and cure‐worthy, neurodiverse people should be included and integrated into society. In our current research, we follow the neurodiversity approach and focus on the subject of autism in the work context. We found that certain strengths and abilities are most prominent in autistic people (such as logical reasoning, visual perception) and that autistic people are able to find different effective solutions to overcome the barriers detaining them from entering the job market. Furthermore, while many autistic individuals are employed in regular competitive jobs, more focus on autism‐specific job environments is needed. These findings lead us to the conclusion that autistic individuals have potential that is beneficial for society.


We study from first principles the magnetism in graphene induced by single carbon atom defects. For two types of defects considered in our study, the hydrogen chemisorption defect and the vacancy defect, the itinerant magnetism due to the defect-induced extended states has been observed. Calculated magnetic moments are equal to 1µB per hydrogen chemisorption defect and 1.12–1.53µB per vacancy defect depending on the defect concentration. The coupling between the magnetic moments is either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic, depending on whether the defects correspond to the same or to different hexagonal sublattices of the graphene lattice, respectively. The relevance of itinerant magnetism in graphene to the high-TC magnetic ordering is discussed.


In recent years there has been significant progress in the field of 3D learning on classification, detection and segmentation problems. The vast majority of the existing studies focus on canonical closed-set conditions, neglecting the intrinsic open nature of the real-world. This limits the abilities of robots and autonomous systems involved in safety-critical applications that require managing novel and unknown signals. In this context exploiting 3D data can be a valuable asset since it provides rich information about the geometry of perceived objects and scenes. With this paper we provide the first broad study on 3D Open Set learning. We introduce 3DOS: a novel testbed for semantic novelty detection that considers several settings with increasing difficulties in terms of semantic (category) shift, and covers both in-domain (synthetic-to-synthetic, real-to-real) and cross-domain (synthetic-to-real) scenarios. Moreover, we investigate the related 2D Open Set literature to understand if and how its recent improvements are effective on 3D data. Our extensive benchmark positions several algorithms in the same coherent picture, revealing their strengths and limitations. The results of our analysis may serve as a reliable foothold for future tailored 3D Open Set methods.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate canine erythrocyte concentrates (ECs) for the presence of procoagulant phospholipid (PPL), determine whether PPL concentration changes during the course of storage of ECs, and ascertain whether prestorage leukoreduction (removal of leukocytes via gravity filtration) reduces the development of PPL.

SAMPLE
10 whole blood units (420 g each) collected from 10 random-source, clinically normal dogs (1 U/dog).

PROCEDURES
The dogs were randomized to 1 of 2 groups. Of the 10 whole blood units collected, 5 were processed through a standard method, and 5 underwent leukoreduction. Whole blood units were processed to generate ECs, from which aliquots were aseptically collected from each unit weekly for 5 weeks. Supernatants from the concentrates were evaluated for procoagulant activity, which was converted to PPL concentration, by use of an automated assay and by measurement of real-time thrombin generation.

RESULTS
Supernatants from stored canine ECs contained procoagulant activity as measured by both assays. In general, the PPL concentration gradually increased during the storage period, but leukoreduction reduced the development of increased procoagulant activity over time.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
The presence of PPL in canine ECs may be associated with procoagulant and proinflammatory effects in vivo, which could have adverse consequences for dogs treated with ECs.


The aim of the present research is to quantify the maximum feasible accuracy (location and size) for the transient-based blockage detection in a water supply pipeline. Owing to the randomness of transient measurements, a performance bound for the extended blockage detection exists which estimated parameters cannot exceed. The Cramér–Rao lower bound (CRLB) theorem is utilized to compute the lower bound variance of noise-induced estimation errors. It gives the minimum mean square error of any estimator according to information obtained from measurements and quantified by Fisher information. The Fisher information matrix is computed using direct differentiation of the compatibility equations obtained by the method of characteristics. The influence of relevant physical parameters including valve closure time, measurement time length and noise level on the best possible localization of blockage is investigated. The connection between the signal bandwidth, noise level and the performance limit is quantified for a typical case study. The results demonstrate trade-off between the size and the location/length of blockage estimates subject to different maneuver times, roughly offering half the wave speed times maneuver duration as the resolution limit.


This paper examines the impact of capital market integration on higher education and the link to economic growth. The analysis takes into account that participation in higher education is non-compulsory and depends on individual choice. Due to capital–skill complementarity, integration increases (reduces) the incentives to participate in higher education in capital-importing (-exporting) economies, all other things equal. From a national policy point of view, public education expenditure should increase after integration of similar economies in order to attract mobile capital. Using foreign direct investment as a measure of capital flows, we present empirical evidence which largely confirms our main hypothesis: an increase in net capital inflows in response to capital market integration raises participation in higher education. In addition, we show that the adjustment in educational attainment is an empirically relevant channel through which capital inflows foster economic growth.


This Article outlines and compares the corporate governance structures of the United States, Japan, Germany, and France. This outline and comparison is made with respect to past, present, and future characteristics and trends. As a cross-national study, it recognizes that the varying natures of differing legal, business, social, and cultural structures significantly affect the degree to which a country can implement changes to its corporate governance systems. This study includes the possibility that one country's corporate model might be inapplicable to another country. Some aspects of American capitalism, nevertheless, are slowly being adopted as improvements in Germany, France, and Japan. Likewise, the U.S. is importing, to some extent, features of other countries' systems.This Article also analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of corporate governance systems in Japan, Germany, and France. By doing so, a better understanding can be gained of the nature and limitations of America's corporate governance system, its potential for exportation, and its capacity for importing foreign improvements. Likewise, a better grasp can be gained of the nature and limitations of other countries' corporate governance systems, their potentials for exportation, and their capacities for importing foreign improvements. The recent bankruptcies of Enron and Global Crossing are used to illustrate these points.