In the history of the mining sector in Zimbabwe, one occupational disaster that evokes sad memories is the 6June 1972 Kamandama incident at Hwange Colliery Company that claimed 427 miners. One of the challengesconfronting the mining sector is capacity to prepare for such uncertainties and complexities. Events such as therescue of trapped miners in Chile, and the recent Zimbabwean Platinum mine case in which 78 workers weretrapped underground although successfully rescued are one of the few cases that have brought about aheightened global consciousness of the need for effective disaster and crisis management practices. This paperexplores the nature and extent of the emergency or disaster preparedness of mining sector in Zimbabwe usingthe case of ABC mine's (not its real name) experiences and practices. The study which is influenced bypostmodernism, adopts a predominantly qualitative research design. It uses a mixture of both primary andsecondary data. The paper's central argument is that contemporary pro-active planning processes havelimitations in as far as helping companies cope with the complex challenges such as disasters or emergencies.Emergencies and disasters are relatively 'wicked' problems which may only be managed by use of 'post-normal'planning strategies. In a world of such complex and shadowy possibilities organizations do not know if theirstrategies are appropriate or what consequences might be. The idea of 'pro-active' planning is a mirage that onlyserves to perpetuate the illusion that risk to workplace disasters is controllable or manageable. Overall, most ofthe prevention, response and post- recovery initiatives, are effectively managerial devices or representations toenhance the reputation of the organization.


Imperialism is the domination of one state by another. This paper sketches a nonrepublican account of domination that buttresses this definition of imperialism. It then defends the following claims. First, there is a useful and defensible distinction between colonial and liberal imperialism, which maps on to a distinction between what I will call coercive and liberal domination. Second, the main institutions of contemporary globalization, such as the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, etc., are largely the instruments of liberal imperialism; they are a reincarnation of what Karl Kautsky once called 'ultraimperialism'. Third, resistance to imperialism can no longer be founded on a fundamental right to national self-determination. Such a right is conditional upon and derivative of a more general right to resist domination.


In modern nuclear technology, integral reactor parameter uncertainty evaluation plays a crucial role for both economic and safety purposes. Target accuracies for operating and future nuclear facilities can be obtained only if the available simulation tools, such that computational platforms and nuclear data, are precise enough to produce reduced biases and uncertainties on target reactor parameters.
The quality of any engineering parameter uncertainty quantification analysis strongly depends on the reliability related to the covariance information contained in evaluated libraries. To propagate properly nuclear data uncertainty on nuclear reactor parameters, science-based variance-covariance matrices are then indispensable.
The present work is devoted to nuclear data covariance matrices generation for reactivity loss uncertainty estimations regarding the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR), a material testing facility under construction at CEA-Cadarache (France). During depletion, in fact, various fission products appear and the related nuclear data are often barely known. In particular, the strenuous and worldwide recognized problem of generating fission product yields covariances has been mainly considered. Present nuclear data libraries such as JEFF or ENDF/B do not have complete uncertainty information on fission yields, which is limited to only variances. The main goal of this work is to generate science-based and physically consistent fission yields covariances to be associated to the existing European library JEFF-3.1.1. Variance-covariance matrices have been evaluated using CONRAD (COde for Nuclear Reaction Analysis and Data assimilation, developed at CEA-Cadarache) for the most significant fissioning systems.


Did modernity begin with the Renaissance and end with post-modernity? In this book a distinguished scholar challenges both these assumptions. Louis Dupre discusses the roots, development, and impact of modern thought, tracing the fundamental principles of modernity to the late fourteenth century and affirming that modernity is still an influential force in contemporary culture. The combination of late medieval theology and early Italian humanism shattered the traditional synthesis that had united cosmic, human, and transcendent components in a comprehensive idea of nature. Early Italian humanism transformed the traditional worldview by its unprecedented emphasis on human creativity. The person emerged as the sole source of meaning while nature was reduced to an object and transcendence withdrew into a "supernatural" realm. Dupre analyzes this fragmentation as well as the writings of those who reacted against it-philosophers like Cusanus and Bruno, humanists like Ficino and Erasmus, theologians like Baius and Jansenius, mystics like Ignatius Loyola and Francis de Sales, and theosophists like Weigel and Boehme. Baroque culture briefly reunited the human, cosmic, and transcendent components, but since that time the disintegrating forces have increased in strength. Despite post-modern criticism, the principles of early modernity continue to dominate the climate of our time. Passage to Modernity is not so much a critique as a search for the philosophical meaning of the epochal change achieved by those principles.


Abstract. This study aims to determine the mineral contribution to PM10 in the central Mediterranean Sea, based on 7 yr of daily PM10 samplings made on the island of Lampedusa (35.5° N, 12.6° E). The chemical composition of the PM10 samples was determined by ion chromatography for the main ions, and, on selected samples, by particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) for the total content of crustal markers. Aerosol optical depth measurements were carried out in parallel to the PM10 sampling. The average PM10 concentration at Lampedusa over the period June 2004–December 2010 is 31.5 μg m−3, with low interannual variability. The annual means are below the EU annual standard for PM10, but 9.9% of the total number of daily data exceeds the daily threshold value established by the European Commission for PM (50 μg m−3, European Community, EC/30/1999). The Saharan dust contribution to PM10 was derived by calculating the contribution of Al, Si, Fe, Ti, non-sea-salt (nss) Ca, nssNa, and nssK oxides in samples in which PIXE data were available. Cases in which crustal content exceeded the 75th percentile of the crustal oxide content distribution were identified as elevated dust events. Using this threshold, we obtained 175 events. Fifty-five elevated dust events (31.6%) displayed PM10 higher than 50 μg m−3, with dust contributing by 33% on average. The crustal contribution to PM10 has an annual average value of 5.42 μg m−3, and reaches a value as high as 67.9 μg m−3 (corresponding to 49% of PM10) during an intense Saharan dust event. The crustal content estimated from a single tracer, such as Al or Ca, is in good agreement with the one calculated as the sum of the metal oxides. Conversely, larger crustal contents are derived by applying the EU guidelines for demonstration and subtraction of exceedances in PM10 levels due to high background of natural aerosol. The crustal aerosol amount and contribution to PM10 showed a very small seasonal dependence; conversely, the dust columnar burden displays an evident annual cycle, with a strong summer maximum (monthly average aerosol optical depth at 500 nm up to 0.28 in June–August). We found that 71.3% of the dust events identified from optical properties over the atmospheric column display a high dust content at the ground level. Conversely, the remaining 28.7% of cases present a negligible or small impact on the surface aerosol composition due to the transport processes over the Mediterranean Sea, where dust frequently travels above the marine boundary layer, especially in summer. Based on backward trajectories, two regions, one in Algeria–Tunisia, and one in Libya, are identified as main source areas for intense dust episodes occurring mainly in autumn and winter. Data on the bulk composition of mineral aerosol arising from these two source areas are scarce; results on characteristic ratios between elements show somewhat higher values of Ca / Al and (Ca + Mg) / Fe (2.5 ± 1.0, and 4.7 ± 2.0, respectively) for Algeria–Tunisia than for Libyan origin (Ca / Al = 1.9 ± 0.7 and (Ca + Mg) / Fe = 3.3 ± 1.1).


The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution brings together a sweeping range of expert and innovative contributions to offer engaging and thought-provoking insights into the history and historiography of this epochal event. Each chapter presents the foremost summations of academic thinking on key topics, along with stimulating and provocative interpretations and suggestions for future research directions. Placing core dimensions of the history of the French Revolution in their transnational and global contexts, the contributors demonstrate that revolutionary times demand close analysis of sometimes tiny groups of key political actors - whether the king and his ministers or the besieged leaders of the Jacobin republic - and attention to the deeply local politics of both rural and urban populations. Identities of class, gender and ethnicity are interrogated, but so too are conceptions and practices linked to citizenship, community, order, security, and freedom: each in their way just as central to revolutionary experiences, and equally amenable to critical analysis and reflection. This volume covers the structural and political contexts that build up to give new views on the classic question of the 'origins of revolution'; the different dimensions of personal and social experience that illuminate the political moment of 1789 itself; the goals and dilemmas of the period of constitutional monarchy; the processes of destabilisation and ongoing conflict that ended that experiment; the key issues surrounding the emergence and experience of 'terror'; and the short- and long-term legacies, for both good and ill, of the revolutionary trauma - for France, and for global politics.


This article examines two different measures of wages as predicators of prices in a Vector Error-Correction (VEC) framework using quarterly data for the United States for the period from 1947Q1 to 2008Q1. Based on cointegration and a series of exogeneity tests, it is found that (i) there is a stable, long-run relationship between the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Deflator (PCED) on the one hand and Unit Labour Cost (ULC) and Average Hourly Earnings per Unit of Output (AHE) on the other; (ii) ULC is weakly exogenous for both price indices while the two price indices are weakly exogenous for AHE; (iii) ULC is strongly exogenous for CPI but not for AHE; and (iv) ULC is super exogenous for CPI. Taken together, these findings lead to the conclusion that ULC is a reliable indicator of price inflation but productivity-adjusted hourly earnings is not. Thus, monetary policymakers are justified in using information about the behaviour of ULC in formulating policy actions for achieving the goal of price stability.


Management of supply network risks is a critical competency for today's global enterprises. Current practices and tools, however, have limited capabilities and do not allow for systemic exploration of alternate risk strategies. We develop a computational model of risk diffusion in global supply networks that is grounded in techniques from complex systems, network analysis, and epidemiological risk modeling. We draw on a unique, curated dataset of firms, their supply networks, and financial risk in the global electronics industry. Specifically, we assess and visualize the impact of network structure on risk diffusion and supply network health, and determine the impact of visibility on reduction and potential mitigation of cascading risks. Our approach enables decision makers to identify risks and determine potential paths of their diffusion. In doing so, we advance our understanding of the design and development of computational risk management tools in a global supply network context.


Title of Dissertation: BRIDGE PIER SCOUR IN TIDAL ENVIRONMENTS Donald R. Demetrius, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Dissertation directed by: Professor Richard H. McCuen Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Scour depths in estuaries are often estimated using imprecise models that were developed for riverine systems and do not consider the various processes responsible for the removal of sediment in a tidal system. In a tidal or estuarine environment, the flow changes directions with the tide resulting in scour patterns that are quite different from those in upland rivers. At the other end of the spectrum of models used to determine pier scour are the multi-dimensional hydrodynamic models that include the tidal processes; however, these models are unattractive because they require extensive and costly data inputs and are characteristically computationally intensive and very complex. Also, not much accuracy is added to the process by the use of hydrodynamic models as the results they produce are used as inputs to less accurate empirical local scour equations. In order to efficiently enhance the safety of bridges spanning tidal waterways, a multi-component continuous model (WAVES) was developed to predict bridge pier scour in tidal estuaries and facilitate a risk-based design approach for bridges. The WAVES program is the result of the application of accepted theories regarding the mechanism of bridge pier scour in general, along with the combination of tidal and riverine hydraulics. The basis of the model is the novel approach used in the quantification of the effects of the downflow and horseshoe vortex that most experts in the field identify as the agents responsible for scour around bridge piers. Through the performance of this study, several conclusions were drawn. First, a number of scour models and equations currently in use may be inappropriate for bridge pier design and analysis in tidal environments. Second, a temporal model for tidal environments that provides a time history of scour significantly improves the usefulness of scour predictions over single-event models. The methodology employed by the WAVES program provides these improvements at reasonable costs. Third, the WAVES program facilitates a risk-based design approach by yielding estimates of the probability of scour depths over time and will help policy makers and designers to make important decisions regarding the design of safer new bridges and the safe use of existing bridges. BRIDGE PIER SCOUR IN TIDAL ENVIRONMENTS


Purpose: We aimed to describe the association between prehospital frailty (PHF), acute organ dysfunction (AOD), and posthospital disability (PHD) outcome in older adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: In a prospective observational cohort study, we assessed PHF using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and assessed the level of AOD using Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores on ICU day 1. We assessed Activities of Daily Living disability levels through to 6 months after discharge and used generalized estimating equations (log link and negative binomial family) to determine the independent association of PHF and AOD with PHD. Results: Of the 302 patients enrolled, 221 (73.1%) survived the hospitalization. Prehospital frailty was associated with PHD (adjusted incident rate ratio [aIRR] 95% confidence interval [95% CI] per unit increase in CFS 1.38 [1.15-1.67], P = .001). Total day 1 SOFA score was weakly associated with PHD, (aIRR [95% CI] 1.05 [1.00-1.10], P = .037) while day 1 SOFA neurologic score was strongly associated with PHD (aIRR [95% CI] 1.42 [1.24-1.62] per unit increase in SOFA neurologic score, P < .001), and these effects were independent of PHF and other premorbid factors. Conclusions: Both PHF and early acute brain dysfunction are important factors associated with increasing PHD in older adults who survive critical illness.


Purpose: This study aims to determine the influence of liquidity, leverage, asset-size on company's value through the ownership structure of manufacturing companies in Indonesia. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses an explanatory design using secondary data in the form of financial statement data obtained from manufacturing companirs in the Indonesia Stock Exchange for seven years, the period 2010 2016 which was published in Indonesian Capital Market Directory. Samples were taken by purposive sampling, 46 companies for seven years using the path analysis method. Findings: The results showed that leverage did not influence the ownership structure, while the asset size had a positive influence on the ownership structure. Liquidity does not influence the value of the company, asset size has a positive and significant influence on company value while leverage a significant negative influence, on company value. Practical/Implication: Various ways can be taken to increase the value of the company, among others, by maintaining and paying attention to the liquidity variables. Asset size can be increased while the company's leverage can be pressed. For future research external factors need to be considered for inclusion in the model, in order to produce a better model. The existence of several findings that are not in accordance with previous researches may be due to the characteristics, behavior and culture of capital market actors in Indonesia that are different from the characteristics and culture of the capital market actors in developed countries. Originality/Value: The study implies a recommendation for manufacturing companies to considered to include behavioral and cultural aspects in the model in a way to perform better.


Niobium is an important strengthening element in Fe-base, Ni-Fe-base and Ni-base superalloys. China has paid special attention on Nb in development and improvement of superalloys. An iron-base superalloy GH 4871, a modification of A-286 with 0.5~0.6%Nb, can be used as blade or disk material at 600~650C. A systematic research and development has been conducted in China for improving the temperature capability of Nb-containing (5~5.5%Nb) Ni-Fe-base superalloy Inconel 718 (Chinese designation GH4169) from 650 to 700C. A Ni-base superalloy GH4133 contains 1.5%Nb with 2.5~3.0%Ti and 0.7~1.2%Al, it has been got wide application at 700C for variety of disks in Chinese jet-engines. For economical reason the replacement of Nb for Ta is also discussed from viewpoint of strengthening in B1900 Ni-base superalloy.


Three generations of selection for lean growth in Landrace pigs using culling levels and migration has been practiced. Two traits were under selection; 168-day weight and ultrasound backfat thickness at 105 kg. Replicated select and control lines were developed from two base populations in 1990. Adjusted weight at 168 days of age was the first culling criterion. After boars and gilts with unacceptable 168-day weights were eliminated as selection candidates, the leanest seven boars and 24 gilts were kept to produce the next generation of select line pigs. A control line boar was randomly chosen from each of eight control sire lines. One replacement gilt was randomly chosen from each control line litter. Matings were made within each line and replicate to minimize the level of inbreeding in the next generation. In the select line each generation, four o f the 24 gilts selected were randomly chosen and artificially inseminated using semen from one Landrace boar which was available at a commercial boar stud. There were no overlapping generations. Different boars were selected from the boar stud each generation. Growth rates and backfat thicknesses were recorded on 1,331 boars and gilts. Longissimus area and l(P-rib backfat thickness were collected on 170 carcasses from barrows slaughtered at 102 kg. A multiple-trait DFREML algorithm was used to analyze growth rates, backfat thickness and the carcass traits. The multiple-trait model for growth rate and ultrasound backfat thickness included fixed effects for replicate, generation and sex and random animal and litter effects. The carcass traits were analyzed with a multiple-trait model with fixed effects for replicate, generation and a hot carcass weight linear covariate and random animal effects. The inverse of the numerator relationship matrix was included in all analyses. After three generations of selection, differences between average breeding values in the select and control lines were 5.37 kg for 168-day weight and -0.26 cm o f backfat thickness. Differences in average breeding values between the two lines were -0.37 cm for lO^-rib backfat thickness and 2.3 cm2 for longissimus area.


What better way to celebrate, commemorate, critically reflect on, and think through Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth fifty years after its publication with a new North African syndrome: Revolution—or at least a series of revolts that continue to rock regimes across North Africa and the region.  Fanon begins The Wretched writing of decolonization as a program of complete disorder, an overturning of order—often against the odds— willed from the bottom up. Without time or space for a transition, there is instead an absolute replacement of one "species" of humanity by another. In periods of revolution, like the one we are experiencing today, such absolutes appear quite normal. Indeed, radical change becomes the "new normal" and the idea that revolutionary change is impossible is simply the rantings and ravings of the conservatives and reactionaries of the ancient regime. Too long buried under the weight of the tomes of academic discourse, Fanon has been resuscitated by the new dawn of North African revolutions. To celebrate Fanon, the revolutionary, all of a sudden seems contemporary and pertinent, while the musings of the critics who consigned him to postcolonial oblivion seem out of touch. But rather than continuing the painstaking work of exhuming Fanon from the postcolonial burial site, let us turn a commemoration of Fanon into an event. Indeed, why assume that a commemoration of Fanon after fifty years is not critical? Moreover why begin a contemporary engagement with Fanon assuming a priori the limits of his thought? Indeed, where to begin is a philosophic question. It is a question of "intention" as Edward Said puts it in one of his most radical and Vicoian works. Beginnings are revolutionary, implying return and repetition and, following Said, "a sort of historical dialectic that changes its character and meaning." Vico, Said argues "said that the word human comes from root to bury " suggesting that "his humanistic philosophy" contained "elements of its own negation."


In order to study the effects of planting date on the phonological and morphological features, the seed yield, and the components of yield of the spring cultivars of open pollinating oilseed rape, an experiment was conducted in the form of split plots based on the completely randomized complete block design in four replications in the Baiekola Agronomic Research Station in the years 2009-2010. In this study, the five planting dates at: Sep 23, Oct 7, Oct 22, Nov 6, Nov 21 (the first, the fifteenth, and the thirtieth of the first month; and the fifteenth and the thirtieth of the second month of the fall, respectively) were the main factor, and the open pollinating cultivars of RW008911, RAS-3/99, and RGS003 were the subordinate factor. Results of the analysis of the variance on the basis of the split plot design showed that the means of the squares of the planting dates were significant for all the features studied, which indicates the major effect of the planting date on these features. The cultivars were also significantly different for most of the features studied, except for the percentage seed oil content. The interaction effects of the planting date and the cultivar were not significant for most of the features, which shows similar trends of change in these cultivars in response to different planting dates. In all of the cultivars, there was considerable deterioration in most of the features as a result of delays in planting dates. Among the main components of seed yield, the number of pods per plant had a positive and significant correlation with seed yield, which indicates these two features are affected in the same way by different planting dates. In general, the highest seed yield in this study (4003 Kg.h) was observed in the cultivar RW0089 when planted at the earliest planting date.


Pressure for Indian independence had been building up throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, initially through the efforts of the Indian National Congress, but also later, when matters were complicated by an increasingly vocal Muslim League. When, in May 1940, Leo Amery was appointed by Winston Churchill as Secretary of State for India, an already difficult assignment had been made more challenging by the demands of war.

This thesis evaluates the extent to which Amery's ultimate failure to move India towards self-government was due to factors beyond his control, or derived from his personal shortcomings and errors of judgment. Although there has to be some analysis of politics in wartime India, the study is primarily of Amery's attempts at managing an increasingly insurgent dependency, entirely from his metropolitan base. Much of the research is concentrated on his success, or otherwise, in influencing Churchill and diehard Conservatives, who wanted Britain to retain India at any cost, but also Labour colleagues in the coalition, who were much more closely aligned with Congress.

Inevitably, Amery's relationships with his two Viceroys, Lord Linlithgow and Viscount Wavell are central to this investigation. In different ways, his dealings with the dour, inflexible Linlithgow and the surprisingly radical, if irritable, Wavell varied between the cordial and the frosty, yet in both cases he regarded them with a considerable degree of intellectual snobbery. That said, the thesis demonstrates that he was unable to convince these colleagues in Delhi that the man on the spot did not always know best.

For many years Amery had been irked by American opposition to his cherished principle of imperial preference, and their overall dislike of the perceived colonialism implicit in the British Empire. Once the USA had entered the war, transatlantic attempts to interfere in matters in India increased, further damaging Amery's efforts to promote constitutional reform. It was all the more painful for him that his desire to counter these ideas was compromised by the need to appease American public opinion in the interests of the war effort.

In making a balanced judgment on Amery at the India Office it is unwise to look only at his efforts to broker a constitutional settlement that ultimately foundered with the failure of the Simla conference in the summer of 1945. There is ample evidence of better outcomes in administrative and practical areas. From his early achievement in moderating the terms in which Congress could be prosecuted until his later successes in obtaining grain to alleviate famine he revealed a tenacity, and courage that could, on occasion, overcome the suspicion that he often generated amongst his peers.


The role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), particularly broadband, in boosting economic growth and national competitiveness is now widely recognized. The ICT infrastructure is today both a vital national asset and an investment in a nation's future competitiveness in the growing global digital economy. In developed countries, mobiles and smartphones are used for entertainment, browsing the web, and business interactions. In developing countries, mobile phones very often are the primary drivers of business. In the absence of fully developed and established infrastructure, mobiles are now used in a host of different ways for education, healthcare, cash transfers and--literally--to save lives. Mobile phones are empowering people to access information and make informed choices. It took mobile phones 21 years to achieve the milestone of one billion subscriptions in 2002, compared to 125 years for fixed lines. Today, there are well over six billion mobile cellular subscriptions and mobile phones outnumber fixed lines by five to one, with half the world's subscriptions now located in low-income countries (Figure 1). Why is mobile so popular? For consumers, mobiles are personal, customized, and increasingly powerful in the absence of fixed line alternatives. Mobiles are converging with tablets and notebooks in functionality and Internet access. For operators, a mobile access network is cheap with fewer sunk costs and a faster payback horizon of 18 to 24 months compared to fixed access networks (although the backbone network may be based on fibre-optic technologies to handle growth in data traffic). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Mobiles for Development Today, mobiles are help provide access to basic education to millions of families with schoolchildren. They can help pregnant mothers monitor the progress of their pregnancy or track symptoms of illness. They are also enabling migrant workers to make cash payments to support families back home or farmers and fishermen to find the best price for their products (Box 1). Some commentators have argued that mobile phones played a significant role in facilitating citizen participation in the Arab Spring, mostly through convergence with social media, enabling the real-time organization of meetings to make the voices of ordinary people heard. According to the work of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, of which I am Vice-Chair, mobile technologies--and mobile broadband in particular--can also help boost progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In many developing countries today, the mobile sector is predominantly operated by privately-owned companies. For example, the rise of large pan-regional conglomerates such as Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN), Celtel or Digicel, has proven that selling to lower income customers can still be profitable and commercially viable. These companies approach their markets with strong commercial incentives to do business; today, mobile business models and ecosystems are evolving, which are boosting socio-economic development, spawning an entire mobile ecosystem of business and entrepreneurs, as well as meeting commercial profit motives. Indeed, mass-market approaches to the sale of mobile services to lower-income customers (for example, through micro-recharge cards) have fuelled the growth of mobile companies and conglomerates. Mobile networks are relatively easy to deploy, with rapid payback horizons and tried-and-tested business models that have been used elsewhere. Indeed, a growing body of evidence suggests that broadband can boost GDP and income, helping combat poverty and hunger. Cross-country regression work by the World Bank suggests that a 10 percent increase in mobile penetration could boost GDP by 0.81 percent in low-and middle-income countries. County case studies suggest that mobile broadband has had a significant impact in some countries; in the Philippines, for example, mobile broadband adoption was found to add an estimated 0. …


Sessile communities provide an ideal opportunity to understand how population interactions are structured in space, and in turn, how this structure influences population dynamics. The yellow tube sponge, Aplysina fistularis is common on Caribbean coral reefs and is involved in four main types of ecological interactions: symbiosis, predation, disease, and competition. We used spatial and multivariate analysis to describe the population structure of A. fistularis on the Belizean barrier reef, and consequently, how the observed spatial structure influenced sponge morphology and the frequency of population interactions. We found that sponges were non-randomly distributed across the reef, with both local density and tendency towards a clustered spatial distribution increasing with depth. Sponge morphology also varied with depth; deeper sponges were larger and had fewer tubes then their shallower conspecifics. Local density and spatial autocorrelational patterns were not significant predictors of population interactions. The frequency of symbiosis, characterized by the presence of the fish Elacatinus lori, v increased with depth, sponge size, and number of sponge tubes. The incidence of predation increased with depth, number of tubes, and the interaction between these two variables. The chance of disease decreased with increasing sponge size. Lastly, the frequency of spatial competition decreased with depth. These results highlight the unexpected finding that in this system, symbiosis, predation, disease, and competition, are density independent, specifically they are not predicted by local density or spatial autocorrelational patterns. Overall, this study provides an essential framework that will greatly enhance our knowledge of sponge ecology on coral reefs.


The direct hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol using hydrogen is regarded as a potential technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the dependence on fossil fuels. For this technology to become feasible, highly selective and productive catalysts that can operate under a wide range of reaction conditions near thermodynamic conversion are required. Here we combine a CO-producing In oxide catalyst with a methane-producing Co catalyst to obtain an In/Co catalyst for CO2 reduction to methanol. Density functional (DFT) simulations demonstrate that the charge transfer between the Co support and the In oxide film leads to enrichment of the surface of indium oxide with O vacancies, which serve as active sites for selective conversion of CO2 to methanol. Moreover, our simulations suggest that CO2 reduction on Co-supported In2O3–x films will preferentially yield methanol, rather than CO and methane. As a result, the prepared In@Co catalysts produce methanol from CO2 with high selectivity (>80%) and productivity ...


t>:'-"1:;_,..~11, ~~~,~~~)~I ~t:; ABSTRACT The present stuoy aims at assessing the effect of fertilizer application (with monofactorial deficiency of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and lime) on the diversity and production of weeds in cultivated but crop-less fields. The biomass production of the weeds is highly affected by the nutrient application, particularly that of nitrogen. The weed vegetation after cultivation in autumn is characterized by a low species diversity and strong dominance of Apera spica-venti. However, there is an affinity for increasing species diversity and decreasing dominance in the treatment with full added nutrients. The dynamics of interaction between the dominant species (Apera spica-venti) with other frequent species (Matricaria recutita and Poa annua) is discussed in the view of their competitive abilities.


The role of cyber forensics in criminal investigations has greatly increased in recent years due to the wealth of data that is collected and available to investigators. Physical forensics has also experienced a data volume and fidelity revolution due to advances in methods for DNA and trace evidence analysis. Key to extracting insight is the ability to correlate across multi-modal data, which depends critically on identifying a touch-point connecting the separate data streams. Separate data sources may be connected because they refer to the same individual, entity or event. In this paper we present a data source classification system tailored to facilitate the investigation of potential terrorist activity. This taxonomy is structured to illuminate the defining characteristics of a particular terrorist effort and designed to guide reporting to decision makers that is complete, concise, and evidence-based. The classification system has been validated and empirically utilized in the forensic analysis of a simulated terrorist activity. Next-generation analysts can use this schema to label and correlate across existing data streams, assess which critical information may be missing from the data, and identify options for collecting additional data streams to fill information gaps.


Manukau City is the most language-rich area in New Zealand, yet it has to date not been the subject of any detailed sociolinguistic study. This paper reports on pilot work for a major project on the languages of Manukau, and addresses the question of whether linguists can contribute to language maintenance efforts. It consists of an analysis of New Zealand census data on language use in the area, supported by qualitative data collected from eight pilot interviews. The 1996 New Zealand census was the first to contain a language question, and we show how this provides background information on language use and language shift in Manukau. The census results depict the use of both ethnic languages and English in the four main Pasifika communities--Samoan, Cook Islands, Tongan, and Niuean. Age grading of self-reported proficiency in the Pasifika languages indicates the differing degrees to which they are undergoing shift or maintaining their standing. Qualitative data gathered in interviews with community members p rovide some possible explanations of how these Pasifika languages are shifting to English. The final section of the paper looks at the issue of whether and what linguists can contribute to language maintenance. INTRODUCTION There are two sections to this paper: section I reports on a project that is currently investigating the state of health of the Samoan, Cook Islands Maori, Tongan, and Niuean languages in Manukau City. We present the findings from the pilot study that preceded the main project. It consists of the analysis of the 1996 New Zealand census data on language use in these four Pasifika communities, supplemented by qualitative comments from one older and one younger member from each community. Section 2 of the paper addresses the basis of one of the stated goals of the Languages of Manukau project. The project has as its twin aims "to investigate the use of and attitudes to the four main Pasifika languages in the Manukau region, and to contribute to their maintenance." We examine the assumptions behind the second goal by asking what linguists can do, if anything, to help the language maintenance efforts. The question becomes all the more important in situations where linguists are not native speakers of the languages to be maintained. In such situations, communities have been known to question the authority and qualifications of foreign linguists to effectively carry out research on, and make informed statements and recommendations about, the endangered language. In cases where linguists have not been seen to be of substantial help, it is taken as confirmation that they indeed lack the qualifications to intervene successfully in language maintenance efforts. There is also the view that issues of l anguage survival may be peripheral to--or even lie outside the scope of--theoretical linguistics as it is currently formulated. In the Pacific this has probably led to a decrease in the number of linguists concerned with language maintenance, or at least fewer presentations and publications on language endangerment issues. 1. THE PASIFIKA PEOPLES IN NEW ZEALAND In this paper, Pasifika people refers to Polynesian communities other than New Zealand Maori. The four largest Pasifika communities in New Zealand are the Samoan, Cook Islands, Tongan, and Niuean peoples. Together they make up only 5 percent of the New Zealand population, but in Manukau, they make up 20 percent (see figure 1). (2) Manukau City lies to the south of Auckland, which is New Zealand's largest city. Manukau has more people of different cultures and languages than any other part of New Zealand. These four communities are the largest Pasifika groups in Manukau, and represent a substantial proportion of the total New Zealand population of the groups. For this reason it is likely that trends we note in Manukau will apply to other regions of the country. …


Social Virtual Reality (VR) invites multiple users to "interact" in a shared immersive environment, which creates new opportunities for remote communication, and can potentially be a new tool for remote medical consultations. Using knee osteoarthritis consultation as a use case, this paper presents a social VR clinic that allows patients to consult a nurse represented as a virtual avatar with head, upper body and hands visible. We started with an ethnographic study at a hospital with three medical professionals and observed three patient consultation sessions to map the patient treatment journey (PTJ) and distill design requirements for social VR consultation. Based on the results of the study, we designed and implemented a social VR clinic to meet the identified requirements. Our work expands on the potential of social VR to help reshape patient treatment by reducing the workload of medical staff and the travel time of patients. In the future, we plan to conduct user studies to compare face-to-face (F2F) with social VR consultations.


Longwall-roof behavior is characterized by strata displacements in both the face-to-waste (horizontal) and roof-to-floor (vertical) directions. The roof-support structure provides resistance to this motion by translation of these displacements into vertical and horizontal support loading. Observations indicate that the shield reacts with both a vertical and horizontal force to uniaxial convergence (displacement). However, there are different magnitudes depending on whether the displacement is vertical or horizontal. This makes it possible to use supports as monitors of strata activity and loading. The Bureau of Mines examined this behavior using a linear elastic model of the support structure with two degrees of freedom. Vertical and horizontal load reactions were related to associated displacement actions of the strata. This was done by determining the stiffness of the shield under controlled vertical and horizontal displacement motions in the Bureau's mine roof simulator. The report provides example predictions of strata convergence and isolation of horizontal support loading due to vertical roof convergence using the linear elastic shield model. The report also examines efforts to determine strata behavior by direct measurement of support displacement.


This memo is targeted towards the EDI community that is unfamiliar
with the Internet, including EDI software developers, users, and
service providers. The memo introduces the Internet and assumes a
basic knowledge of EDI. This memo provides information for the
Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of
any kind.


Trademarks consist of language. Trademark law regulates certain uses of trademarked language to communicate information or ideas, yet few courts subject trademark law to First Amendment scrutiny. This Article argues that more courts should. Not every infringing use of a trademark is misleading commercial speech. The Supreme Court has struck down other nonmisleading commercial speech regulations using intermediate constitutional scrutiny. Moreover, the Court's First Amendment jurisprudence dictates that content-based trademark laws regulating noncommercial speech should be subject to strict scrutiny analysis. This Article provides a detailed framework for understanding how trademark law can raise serious First Amendment concerns and sets forth the options for courts who acknowledge this conflict. Most courts protect speech by narrowly construing trademark claims and broadly interpreting defenses. This doctrinal approach protects expression in individual cases, but protected speech is still harmed by trademark law in the real world. It is often difficult to predict the outcome of trademark law's multi-factor balancing tests. Those who cannot afford to litigate will self-censor rather than fight for their right of free expression. Trademark law will better serve First Amendment interests if it contains more speech-protective trademark rules or categorical safe harbors for certain uses of trademarks. Among other benefits, categorical rules create more predictability and make it easier for courts to dispose of frivolous trademark disputes early. Finally, when trademark laws suppress or chill protected expression, courts should not hesitate to apply First Amendment scrutiny and find that law unconstitutional.


Budbreak came very late in 2006 due to cold, rainy weather that continued well into spring. By early June, the sun finally came out and the vines began to bloom and set fruit. Even, cool weather from August through a very late harvest for a nearly perfect ripening season. Layered aromas of ripe blackberries, black cherries, plum compote, cassis and cedar are made even more complex by chocolate, nutmeg, and peppermint notes. The juicy fruit aromas follow through in the flavors. The texture is velvet. Classic.


The purposes of this paper are to evaluate the standard and scope of appellate evidentiary review of fact findings made by juries and trial judges under Texas law, and to describe and to criticize the recent treatment of the duty and causation issues in tort litigation by the Texas Supreme Court. The court has not acknowledged that the standards of evidentiary review applied to jury findings have been changed and one prominent scholar has concluded otherwise, but an examination of the court's recent jurisprudence reveals that significant changes have been made in the application of the no-evidence standard of review traditionally applied by Texas courts in assessing the probative value of evidence to support jury findings. During roughly the same ten-year period, the Texas Supreme Court has otherwise modified the respective roles of judges, juries, and reviewing courts in Texas by revising its treatment of the duty and causation issues in tort cases. These companion developments have shifted the locus of the decision-making process away from juries and ultimately toward the appellate courts. Both the methods for deciding the duty and causation issues in civil litigation and the standards of review applied by reviewing courts to jury verdicts are of fundamental importance to the operation of the litigation process because these subjects control the division of adjudicative power among trial judges, juries, and reviewing courts. This paper explores and explains these important matters.


The search for mitochondria-targeted drugs has dramatically risen over the last decade. Mitochondria are essential organelles serving not only as a powerhouse of the cell but also as a key player in cell proliferation and cell death. Their central role in the energetic metabolism, calcium homeostasis and apoptosis makes them an intriguing field of interest for cancer pharmacology. In cancer cells, many mitochondrial signaling and metabolic pathways are altered. These changes contribute to cancer development and progression. Due to changes in the mitochondrial metabolism and changes in a membrane potential, cancer cells are more susceptible to mitochondria-targeted therapy and the loss of functional mitochondria leads to arrest of cancer progression and/or a cancer cell death. Identification of mitochondrial changes specific for tumor growth and progression, a rational development of new mitochondria-targeted drugs and research on delivery agents led to the advance of this promising area. This review will highlight the current findings in mitochondrial biology which are important for cancer initiation, progression and resistance and discuss approaches of cancer pharmacology with a special focus to the anti-cancer drugs referred to as 'mitocans'.


In this book, Laura Marks examines one of the world's most impressive, and affecting, bodies of independent and experimental cinema from the last twenty-five years: film and video works from the Arabic-speaking world. Some of these works' creative strategies are shared by filmmakers around the world; others arise from the particular economic, social, political, and historical circumstances of Arab countries, whose urgency, Marks argues, seems to demand experiment and invention. Grounded in a study of infrastructures for independent and experimental media art in the Arab world and a broad knowledge of hundreds of films and videos, Hanan al-Cinema approaches these works thematically. Topics include the nomadism of the highway, nostalgia for '70s radicalism, a romance with the archive, algorithmic and glitch media, haptic and networked space, and cinema of the body. Marks develops an aesthetic of enfolding and unfolding to elucidate the different ways that cinema can make events perceptible, seek connections among them, and unfold in the bodies and thoughts of audiences. The phrase Hanan al-cinema expresses the way movies sympathize with the world and the way audiences feel affection for, and are affected by, them. Marks's clear and expressive writing conveys these affections in works by such internationally recognized artists and filmmakers as Akram Zaatari, Elia Suleiman, Hassan Khan, Mounir Fatmi, and Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, and others who should be better known.


Abstract Far from having faded away, ten years after its formal adoption, the responsibility to protect (R2P), is arguably more relevant than ever. In the current overall context of protection crises, heightened in severity by the emergence of violent extremists, R2P has changed the way in which the international community characterises situations that involve protection failures, and has raised expectations about what should occur when atrocity crimes have been committed or are imminent. UN member states now agree that prevention is at the core of R2P, that international action should employ the full range of diplomatic, political and humanitarian measures, and that military force should only be considered as a measure of last resort. While there is continued contestation about particular aspects of R2P – as there is over much older normative advancements, such as human rights – R2P has helped to forge political consensus and build new institutional capacity to prevent and respond to atrocity crimes.


The paper concerns the relation between argumentative and narrative features of legal texts and the question whether legal texts can be perceived as narrative texts. A narrative text is understood as transferring a story to the recipient through a given medium. The story, being the content of a narrative text, constitutes a specific way of manifesting the plot. The latter is a sort of internal logic of the story. The very same plot might be told in many different ways. Hence, the narrative text does not depict events directly, but through a story that requires a storytelling agent – the narrator. Certainly, there are different kinds of narrators, who can be more or less exposed within the text. In consequence, there are at least five positions concerning the relation between argumentation and narration in law: 1) sceptic – narration is a negation of the reasonableness of law; 2) narration is a structure of presentation of facts; 3) narration is a means of rhetoric persuasion; 4) narration is a meta-argumentative structure; 5) narration is a subject of critical analysis as it reveals the identity of an author. The theory of narration is applied to a particular problem of participation of professional self-governments in law-making.


The exponential increase of English Language Learners (ELL) in the United States has resulted in the implementation of effective instructional programs addressing language acquisition and academic content in local school systems. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of professional development on five ESL teachers' lesson design and delivery as they converted the knowledge and skills gained in their professional development specific to the area of Writing. A phenomenological case study was used to gain insight into teachers' perspectives of their experiences as participants in ESL professional development and how the knowledge and skills acquired during the professional development translated to the lesson design and delivery impacting student outcomes. Data were gathered during individual interviews and group professional development sessions and aggregated student data. Analysis of the data resulted in the multiple conclusions. When teachers used appropriate and a wide variety of instructional strategies that were based in the research-proven framework, Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), students typically experienced positive growth in Writing. Writing cannot be taught in isolation because it is a component of Literacy. Therefore, through systemic approaches to Writing and writing in each content area, students gain the skills and knowledge to write as a way to communicate their content understanding. Teachers' instruction improved based on the professional development in which teachers participated addressing their individual areas of development. This systematic approach to differentiated professional development influenced the ESL teachers' lesson delivery and ultimately student outcomes.


Focus groups and opinion polls in Russia over the past three years have revealed substantial discontent with Russia's political system—discontent that was instrumental in the outbreak of mass protests in December 2011 after Russia's parliamentary elections were marred by widespread fraud. The scale of the protests caught most observers by surprise. Even though electoral fraud has been a catalyst of anti-regime unrest in several other post-Soviet states in the recent past, neither the Russian authorities nor even many of the protesters themselves expected that the same phenomenon would occur in Russia. The size of the demonstrations and the hostility that was openly voiced toward Vladimir Putin once would have been inconceivable in Russia, but Putin's announcement in September 2011 that he would be returning as Russian president (and his claim that he had decided several years earlier to return in 2012 and had, by implication, merely been stringing people along) sparked dismay not only among the remnants of Russia's political opposition but also among many other Russians who sensed that the political system was becoming stale and needed to be replaced by a less opaque and more accountable structure. Even though only a year-and-a-half has passed, those protests now seem a distant memory. This policy memo will explain what went wrong and what might happen in the future.


Having significant role in the storing, delivering and conversion of the energy, the permanent magnets are key elements in the actual technology. In many applications, the gap between ferrites and rare earths (RE) based sintered permanent magnets is nowadays filled by RE bonded magnets, used in more applications, below their magnetic performances. Therewith, the recent trends in the RE market concerning their scarcity, impose EU to consider alternative magnets (without RE) to fill such gap. The paper presents the chemical synthesis of the exchange coupled SrFe12O19/CoFe2O4 nanocomposites, based on nanoferrites. The appropriate annealing leads to the increasing of the main magnetic characteristics, saturation magnetization MS and intrinsic coercivity Hc, in the range of 49 – 53 emu/g, respectively 126.5 – 306 kA/m. The value reached for the ratio between remanent magnetization and saturation magnetization is higher than 0.5, fact that proved that between the two magnetic phases occurred exchange interaction.


Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical used in numerous consumer products, resulting in universal exposure in the United States. Prenatal exposure to BPA is associated with numerous reproductive and developmental effects in animals. However, little is known about human fetal exposure or metabolism of BPA during midgestation. In the present study, we present a new liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to directly measure concentrations of BPA and two predominant metabolic conjugates-BPA glucuronide and BPA sulfate-in umbilical cord serum collected from elective second trimester pregnancy terminations. We detected at least one form of BPA in all umbilical cord serum samples: BPA (GM 0.16, range <LOD-52.26 ng/mL), BPA glucuronide (GM 0.14, range <LOD-5.41 ng/mL) and BPA sulfate (GM 0.32, range <LOD-12.65 ng/mL). Levels of BPA ranged from less than 1/100th to over 400 times higher than levels of BPA in conjugated form. Although levels of BPA in conjugated form exceeded BPA levels in about 3/4 of the samples, BPA levels were higher in samples with total BPA above the median. Our findings suggest universal fetal exposure to BPA in our study population, with some at relatively high levels, and we provide the first evidence of detectable BPA sulfate in midgestation fetuses.


To most Western eyes, all Islamic movements look alike, and the central conflict in the Middle East is one between religion and secularism. Shockingly little has been written about the bitter divide between Shia and Sunni. Yet without understanding their ancient conflict - and its modern embodiment in the power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia for political and spiritual leadership of the Muslim world - it is impossible to comprehend events across the so-called Shia Crescent, from East Africa through Iraq and Pakistan to India. In "The Shia Revival Vali", Nasr explains the provocative rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Saudi pressure on the United States not to unseat Saddam Hussein in 1991, the critical role of the Ayatollah Sistani and the religious establishment in Najaf, the volatility of Pakistan today, and the consequences of the shift toward Shia power through American intervention.


© 2019 The Zoological Society of London Many predators specialize on one or several prey species that they select from the range of potential prey. Predator specialization on primary versus alternative prey is driven in part by encounter rates with prey and a predator's habitat selection. Although habitat selection changes with behavioural state, this has not been well-recognized in the resource selection function (RSF) literature to date, often because auxiliary data on the predator's behavioural states (e.g. hunting) are absent. We monitored habitat selection of pumas Puma concolor in a multi-prey system in northern California, where pumas specialized on black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus columbianus. We employed multiple RSF analyses on different datasets to test the following three hypotheses: (1) Pumas utilize habitats in proportion to their availability; (2) Pumas select specific habitat features when killing black-tailed deer, their primary prey; (3) Pumas do not select distinct habitats from those identified under hypothesis 1 when killing alternative prey. We found that pumas in our study selected for specific habitats and habitat features in general, but that their selection was more pronounced when killing black-tailed deer. In summer, kill sites of deer were associated with rugged terrain, but gentle slopes and northerly aspects. In winter, pumas killed deer at low elevations, on gentle slopes and on northerly and westerly aspects. Overall, evidence suggested that pumas tracked their primary prey across seasonal migrations, which were short in distance but resulted in pronounced changes in elevation. When killing alternative prey, pumas showed little evidence of habitat selection, suggesting they may kill alternative prey opportunistically. Our results hold implications for how data should be partitioned when modelling baseline habitat selection of predators, hunting habitat selection and predation risk for prey species, as well as for how we model ecological processes such as apparent competition.


Many efforts have been made to exploit the properties of graphical notations to support argument construction and communication. In the context of design rationale capture, we are interested in graphical argumentation structures as cognitive tools to support individual and collaborative design in real time. This context of use requires a detailed understanding of how a new representational structure integrates into the cognitive and discursive flow of design, that is, whether it provides supportive or intrusive structure. This article presents a use-oriented analysis of a graphical argumentation notation known as QOC (Questions, Options, and Criteria). Through a series of empirical studies, we show that it provides most support when elaborating poorly understood design spaces, but is a distraction when evaluating well-constrained design spaces. This is explained in terms of the cognitive compatibility between argumentative reasoning and the demands of different modes of designing. We then provide an account based on the collaborative affordances of QOC in group design meetings, and extend this to discuss the evolution of QOC argumentation from short term working memory to long term group memory.


This article focuses on the ways in which anti-colonialism, anti-racism, and anti-fascism were intertwined within the Third Period, and the extent to which these ideals were already being drawn together in the preceding era of the United Front. Drawing heavily on the articles and imagery
 of Willi Münzenberg's Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung, the piece demonstrates the ways in which communist anti-fascist campaigning around the world facilitated the development of sophisticated anti-racist arguments which aimed at undermining the ideological basis of fascist movements
 and colonial rulers alike. It evidences the extent to which communists felt that countering the pseudoscience of race could play an important role in numerous facets of their campaigning. Furthermore, it highlights the attempts by activists and writers to develop a conception of anti-fascism
 and anti-colonialism as mutually-reinforcing strategies which could be deployed in tandem, and the ways that this ideological interweaving was drawn into campaigns both against the Nazis' use of racial science to justify anti-Semitic policy, and fascist Italy's invasion of Ethiopia based on
 Social Darwinist precepts.


The thesis, empirically investigates issues pertinent to the partial privatization of Chinese initial public offerings at home and abroad, especially on issues relating to Chinese enterprises' seeking overseas listings. Based on the asymmetric information hypotheses on initial public offerings (IPOs) and cross-border flotation literature, the proposed research includes both short-run and long-run methods, and covers the entire offering process of Chinese firms' going public in overseas markets.
The investigation begins with an overview of Hong Kong's and China mainland's financial markets in Chapter II. The limitation of development in the domestic capital market, the desire of bringing Chinese SOEs into the international market, and the appropriate conditions in Hong Kong encourage Chinese companies to issue new shares in Hong Kong.
Chapter III provides a comparative analysis on underpricing of Chinese and non-Chinese firms in Hong Kong, in order to discover the influence of asymmetric information on overseas listing and the correspondent offering strategies of Chinese companies and their underwriters. They are normally underwritten by highly reputable bankers, and the overwhelming majority of Chinese firms went public via bookbuilding when the market is on an optimal evaluation base. The average price range seems to be relatively conservative for promoting subscription demands. The potential loss can be partially mitigated by a positive price revision and carefully market timing.
Chapter IV focuses on information disclosure and earnings forecasting accuracy in IPO prospectuses with their subsequent effects on aftermarket performance, since the accuracy of information becomes important in influencing IPOs offerings and after-market performance. The IPO profit forecasts errors represent a pessimistic bias on average, but it can be a crucial information resource for their investment decisions. The magnitude of forecasting errors is higher for China-related companies than local shares, indicating a higher asymmetric information level. The forecasts are not rational in the sense that managers correctly incorporate all available information, especially historical profits, in their forecasting. Also, the magnitude of forecasting errors can systematically affect the one-year trading performance. Due to the initial overvaluation, firms with higher initial returns actually underperform in the long run.
And Chapter V, in order to discover the ultimate meanings and motives of such overseas listing, directly questions why and how the Chinese government takes so many many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) public in the international market. It concludes Chinese SOEs' overseas primary listing takes on the formidable tasks of macroeconomic partial privatization, home market protection, and domestic infantile market development. Large and ‗healthy' state-owned enterprises (SOEs) within the government's supporting industries are more likely to issue their shares on foreign, open, and well-developed stock exchanges when the target market is in good time of pricing and offering, in order to raise more capital, to operate under international standards, to send a positive signal of Chinese economic reform, and to indirectly protect the development of domestic financial market. Consequently, the partial privatization through an overseas primary listing approach is indeed a feasible way to facilitate domestic financial market growth, particularly for countries with a large economy but lack of a well-developed home capital market and a mature trading platform.


Responses of hazelnut hybrids (88BS, BOX1, Gl7, and GEL502) to water availability (watered and nonwatered) were examined in the field. The study site received 35% of long-term average precipitation between July and September. Photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (gs), water potential (qt), and specific leaf area were generally lower in the nonwatered than in the watered treatment and exhibited significant seasonal decline, which was accompanied by an increase in water use efficiency (WUE) under both water treatments. Hybrids exhibited different strategies to cope with water availability. The hybrid 88BS was more water conserv ing, with the most decline in g" the least gradient in qt, and the lowest discrimination against l3e than in the remaining hybrids, indicating that 88BS responded to drought by increasing WUE and conserving water. BOXl was more of a water spender, maintaining both higher gs and A, low sensitivity of gs to vapor pressure deficit (VPD) increase, largest gradient in qt, and the most negative carbon isotope ratio, indicating a higher capacity to absorb soil water and reach limited resources. GEL502 and G 17 were more affected by water stress than were 88BS or BOXl. We conclude that relatively drought-resistant hazelnut hybrids suitable for the Great Plains can be identified for successful plantations.


During the eighteenth century, Edo (today's Tokyo) became the world's largest city, quickly surpassing London and Paris. Its rapidly expanding population and flourishing economy encouraged the development of a thriving popular culture. Innovative and ambitious young authors and artists soon began to look beyond the established categories of poetry, drama, and prose, banding together to invent completely new literary forms that focused on the fun and charm of Edo. Their writings were sometimes witty, wild, and bawdy, and other times sensitive, wise, and polished. Now some of these high spirited works, celebrating the rapid changes, extraordinary events, and scandalous news of the day, have been collected in an accessible volume highlighting the city life of Edo. Edo's urban consumers demanded visual presentations and performances in all genres. Novelties such as books with text and art on the same page were highly sought after, as were kabuki plays and the polychrome prints that often shared the same themes, characters, and even jokes. Popular interest in sex and entertainment focused attention on the theatre district and "pleasure quarters," which became the chief backdrops for the literature and arts of the period. Gesaku, or "playful writing," invented in the mid-eighteenth century, satirised the government and samurai behaviour while parodying the classics. These entertaining new styles bred genres that appealed to the masses. Among the bestsellers were lengthy serialised heroic epics, revenge dramas, ghost and monster stories, romantic melodramas, and comedies that featured common folk. An Edo Anthology offers distinctive and engaging examples of this broad range of genres and media. It includes both well-known masterpieces and unusual examples from the city's counterculture, some popular with intellectuals, others with wider appeal. Some of the translations presented here are the first available in English and many are based on first editions. In bringing together these important and expertly translated Edo texts in a single volume, this collection will be warmly welcomed by students and interested readers of Japanese literature and popular culture.


This paper reports on the pee power urinal field trials, which are using microbial fuel cells for internal lighting. The first trial was conducted on Frenchay Campus (UWE, Bristol) from February–May 2015 and demonstrated the feasibility of modular MFCs for lighting, with University staff and students as the users; the next phase of this trial is ongoing. The second trial was carried out during the Glastonbury Music Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton in June 2015, and demonstrated the capability of the MFCs to reliably generate power for internal lighting, from a large festival audience (∼1000 users per day). The power output recorded for individual MFCs is 1–2 mW, and the power output of one 36-MFC-module, was commensurate of this level of power. Similarly, the real-time electrical output of both the pee power urinals was proportional to the number of MFCs used, subject to temperature and flow rate: the campus urinal consisted of 288 MFCs, generating 75 mW (mean), 160 mW (max) with 400 mW when the lights were connected directly (no supercapacitors); the Glastonbury urinal consisted of 432 MFCs, generating 300 mW (mean), 400 mW (max) with 800 mW when the lights were connected directly (no supercapacitors). The COD removal was >95% for the campus urinal and on average 30% for the Glastonbury urinal. The variance in both power and urine treatment was due to environmental conditions such as temperature and number of users. This is the first time that urinal field trials have demonstrated the feasibility of MFCs for both electricity generation and direct urine treatment. In the context of sanitation and public health, an independent power source utilising waste is essential in terms of both developing and developed world.


Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, enables users to publish personal information on timeline to communicate and interact with other users. Both social networking sites and search engines are being used as a tool for screening candidates during the recruitment process, because of its easy accessibility of information about candidates. Employers can be tempted to view candidate's personal information on social networking sites, however performing such practice can lead to legal, ethical and privacy implications. Many of the reports on social networking sites in the workplace are internationally but the Irish workplace has not been extensively reviewed. According to Mark Stankard from the employee-screening firm RecruitSafe.ie that is based in Galway "Employee screening is a very big thing in the US, but it is becoming more and more the norm here too" (Costello, 2013, para. 22). The study done in the Irish workplace shows employers would be influenced by the evidence on social media of behaviour for instance discriminatory views and bad language when it comes to job candidates. William Fry Employment Report on Irish workplace indicates that 86% of employers said the use of bad language on a candidate's social networks profile would affect their decision to that candidate. 82% of employment would negatively influenced by discriminatory views on a candidate social networks profile. While, 81% of employers said they would be negatively influenced by inappropriate pictures/videos on candidate's social networks profile. William Fry Report (2013) stated "there is no Irish Legislation prohibiting an employer requesting login details". In the US some businesses are demanding candidate's password, Robert Collins who was required to give out his personal password in order to be considered for a job. This left him feeling violated of his privacy. The law in Maryland were later passed that prohibit employers from demanding personal social networks password, rather it should be voluntary. Although there is no specific legal restriction regarding the searching of candidate's information online, because anything online is considered to be publically accessible. However, there are some equality legislation in place to ensure that when employer or recruiters carries such social networks checks on candidates, they do not interfere with candidate's right to privacy, neither their decision on not to hire the individual should be based on information found on social networking profile.

This trend raises concerns about ethics and fairness when social networks are used as a tool to gather information about job candidate during screening process. The purpose of this research study was to explore the Irish perspective on the use of Social Networking Sites as a tool for employer in screening job candidates during the recruiting process and the ethical dilemma it can present. The findings from this study revealed that not only the international employers who are using social networking sites to screen candidates but the Irish employers are doing the same. However, the employment law attorney O'Flynn said employers are not talking about it and the only reported cased involved existing employees. The majority of respondents said they are aware of employer's ability to find information about candidates on social networking sites. 30.3% of respondents approve the idea of screening effort in order to be considered for a job. 78.8% of respondents said no, they would not give out their social networking profile password just to be considered for a job.


ABSTRACT: Alkylglycerols (AG) are glyceryl ether lipids and are present in human and cow's milk and the hematopoietic organs such as bone marrow, spleen, and liver. The bio-logic effects of AG include stimulation of blood leukocyte and thrombocyte production and activation of macrophage and anti-tumor activity. The present study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary AG in lactating rats on AG levels in milk and development of certain immune responses in the pups. Lactating rats were fed diets supplemented with various levels of AG. Milk samples were expressed from the dams and blood was collected from the pups on postpartum d 8, 16, and 24. Concentrations of AG in milk from the dams fed AG were significantly greater than those of the controls (p < 0.05). Peripheral blood granulocytes were significantly elevated in pups from the dams fed AG, but there were no differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte numbers. Plasma levels of immunoglobulins were significantly greater for IgG (p < 0.01) and IgM (p < 0.001) in pups from the dams fed AG than in the control pups. The supplementation of AG in the diets of lactating dams significantly elevated AG levels in the milk, and the increased AG in the milk subsequently stimulated certain immune responses in the pups.


Pygmy sperm whales are the second most commonly stranded marine mammal in the Southeastern Unites States (SEUS). They most often strand alive and the causes of these events remain largely unknown. Generalized linear models were built to identify potential relationships among environmental factors and the occurrence of pygmy sperm whale strandings in the SEUS. Two methods were used to model environmental parameters depending on the nature of the data. One method used data from NOAA buoys compiled over a week before a stranding event. Predictor variables included hourly wind direction and speed, wave height, average wave period, barometric pressure, and water temperature. The other method used Sea Surface Temperature data from satellite images compiled monthly, monthly Multivariate El Nino Southern Oscillation Index (MEI), and bathymetric data. Frontal features were extracted from the images using ArcMap Geographic Information System and landscape metrics were computed on these images in FRAGSTATS. The model compiled from buoy data was relatively stronger (AIC = 497.5) at predicting strandings. It indicated that more strandings occurred when there were sustained high wind speeds, low barometric pressures, and swell waves in the week before stranding events. While the other model was relatively weaker (AIC = 718.7), it showed that less numerous fronts and high MEI index were generally associated with a higher number of strandings. This study is a step toward appreciating which environmental factors may contribute to the observed marine mammal stranding patterns as well as the distribution of pygmy sperm whales. It is an attempt at building predictive statistical models that could be useful for the management of cetaceans.


As the world's population is set to increase to an estimated 9.6 billion people, the greater the strain becomes on the food system to meet people's food and nutrition needs (United Nations, 2013). The MENA region is expected to increase in population by double by 2050 further straining their water and food resources (IFPRI, 2010). Improved innovations to increase production have been encouraged to address those issues. Fertigation, and in particular the more effective hydraulic injector, was introduced in the Jordan Valley to help manage the amount of fertilizer application, reduce run-off in irrigated agriculture, and improve water use efficiency. However, despite its advantages, the hydraulic injector fertigation technology has not been widely adopted. This study sought to better understand this phenomena through the use of mixed methods research on the impact of innovation characteristics, as defined by Rogers (2003), on adoption of the technology. Results found complexity to have a statistically significant impact on adoption and to be a significant predictor of adoption. While not specifically a component of Roger's innovation characteristics, affordability was a key factor in non-adoption.


Balancing the active and the reactive power in a stand-alone micro-grid is a critical task. A micro-grid without energy storage capability is even more vulnerable to stability issues. This paper investigates a distributed secondary control to maintain the rated voltage in a stand-alone micro-grid. Here multiple machine learning algorithms have been implemented to provide the secondary control where a primary control scheme is insufficient to maintain a stable voltage after a sudden change in the load. The performance of the secondary control is monitored by a centralized system and in most of the cases it does not interfere. Based on different contingencies the proposed method would suggest different machine learning algorithms which are previously trained with similar data. The contingencies are based on an imbalance either in the active or in the reactive power in the system. It is considered that the distributed generators such as the wind and solar plants as well as the residential loads have some degree of randomness. The secondary control is invoked only in the events when primary droop control is insufficient to address the stability issue and maintain a desired voltage in the system.


This research looks at blockchain technology's impact on enterprise strategy and the role of the chief strategy officer. It discusses new elements of strategic design and delivery — shared ledgers, smart contracts, and tokenized assets — and develops the concept of strategic liquidity, the degree to which an enterprise can maneuver in a competitive environment and dynamically reallocate resources and access capabilities. It frames implementation challenges as areas for further research and opportunities to participate in blockchain standards development. Finally, it suggests ways for companies to cultivate blockchain knowledge and expertise. Research sponsored by the Blockchain Research Institute and the Brightline Initiative.


This qualitative case study is intended to examine the early socialisation experience of New Principals in national secondary schools in Penang. Socialisation means the familiarisation of new appointees to the demands and challenges of their role, including the structure, culture and work climate where they are appointed. The socialisation is expected to enable new appointees to form an understanding towards their role and vision in the position. In this study the Parkay and Hall (1992) and Tuttle (2002) socialisation model is modified for study context. The subjects were chosen using the purposive sampling method. Eight new principal participants were interviewed, each within the first three years of their appointment. Data were collected using the semi-structured interview method. Data triangulations were compiled by interviewing several teachers at the new principal's school, and also by examining relevant documents. The findings of the study exhibited the maturity of new principals in carrying out administrative, professional and instructional roles, although all experienced initial cultural shock in their new roles. The appointment or promotion of new principals based on seniority and experience obviously has its benefits, but many new principals were still uncertain on how to respond to the seemingly unsupervised delegation of responsibilities they received from the State Education Department. While a few new principals welcomed the Management by Exception principle practiced by the departments, there were others who hail for more visible support from the department to schools. This study has made a number of suggestions on how the new principals could be assisted.


A large body of research work demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of adapting a learning game to its players. This process is driven by understanding the differences between individuals in terms of abilities and preferences. One of the rather interesting but least explored approaches for understanding individual differences among learners is Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI). Gardner suggests that people exhibit multiple dimensions of intelligence or abilities. In the literature, it is suggested that people with different types of intellectual strengths (intelligences) often exhibit clear preferences toward specific modalities and types of interaction and content in relation to learning. This raises the question whether this knowledge could be transferred and employed in adapting learning games to players, more in particular for the purpose of improving the game and/or learning experience, as well as the learning outcome of the players. Although various claims regarding the existence of a relationship between MI and games have been made, none of them are substantiated with empirical evidence. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that has led to evidence-based mappings between the different dimensions of intelligences proposed in MI and the fundamental building blocks of games, i.e. game mechanics. These mappings indicate which game mechanics suit which MI dimensions, and can therefore act as design guidelines when designing games targeting people exhibiting dominance for specific MI dimensions. A tool that visualizes these mappings and facilitates their use in the design of such player-centred (learning) games is also presented.


As North Carolina regulators begins to recognize the untapped economic, social, and environmental benefits of meeting increased electricity demand through energy efficiency, it has become clear that traditional electricity rate-making creates a disincentive to invest in energy efficiency. To encourage the use of energy efficiency, the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) is investigating Duke Energy"s proposed energy efficiency financing mechanism called Save-a-Watt (SaW). Through SaW, Duke Energy can subsidize energy efficiency measures for individual ratepayers. These energy efficiency measures reduce the amount of electricity sold to the individual ratepayers. To recover subsidy costs and opportunity costs from reduced electricity sales, Duke Energy spreads 90% of the cost that it would have taken for the utility to generate the saved electricity to all ratepayers. This paper provides an analysis of the quantitative effect of Duke Energy"s proposed Save-a-Watt (SaW) mechanism. Although Duke Energy has proposed SaW in many states, this analysis will focus on Duke Energy"s North Carolina service territory. To evaluate SaW, a cost benefit analysis of SaW was generated from a financial model of Duke Energy"s operations. The financial model of Duke Energy was built from information gathered from reports, financial and accounting statements, and North Carolina Public Utilities documents. For the cost benefit analysis, two cases were simulated over a 25 year period: the base case includes the construction of two 800 Megawatt coal power plants and the SaW case includes one 800 Megawatt coal power plant and the rest of electricity demand is met with energy efficiency investments. The outcomes from the cost benefit analysis indicate that ratepayers, utilities, and society would realize a positive net present value by implementing the SaW case rather than the base case. In addition, minimal impacts to electricity rates were observed. Due to the confidential nature of information related to the cost of electricity production, some assumptions were made in order to complete the analysis. Future research by individuals with access to Duke Energy"s confidential information should be done to verify the findings in this report. Table of


The present guidelines aim to provide comprehensive information regarding laboratory diagnosis of Mycoplasma genitalium infections in East European countries. These guidelines are intended primarily for laboratory professionals testing specimens from patients at sexual health care clinics, but may also be useful for community-based screening programmes. Diagnosis of M. genitalium infection is performed exclusively using nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), owing to the poor and slow growth of the bacterium in culture. Because no internationally validated and approved commercial NAAT for M. genitalium detection is presently available, it is necessary that laboratories performing M. genitalium diagnostics not only carefully evaluate and validate their in-house PCRs before using them routinely, but also use comprehensive internal controls and take part in external quality assessment programmes. The guidelines were elaborated as a consensus document of the Eastern European Sexual and Reproductive Health (EE SRH) Network, and comprise one element of a series of guidelines aimed at optimizing, standardizing, and providing guidance on quality laboratory testing for reproductive tract infections.


While much of the growth in the popularity of virtual schooling has involved at-risk students, little research exists on the experiences of these students in this largely independent setting. This paper describes a case study of an at-risk student in a rural school in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who was enrolled in an online course as a means to graduate on time. Data from interviews and video observations were analyzed to reveal several themes. The student was good at prioritizing and understood what students needed to do to succeed in an online environment, yet he often did only the minimum needed to pass the course, and his productivity during synchronous and asynchronous sessions declined as the hour progressed. We also found that the student was limited by the lack of proper technology at home. Based on a single case, we are unable to generalize beyond this one student. However, since the attitude of taking the path of least resistance may have taken hold in earlier grades for this particular student, research into improving virtual schooling for at-risk students may be ineffective or counterproductive by reinforcing rather than reducing those attributes; at least in this instance.


We report a case of a 21-year-old male patient who underwent corneal cross-linking (CXL) due to bilateral progressive keratoconus. Topographical screening of his family members was performed for the detection of possible familial keratoconus and showed abnormal topographical patterns resembling to Forme Fruste Keratoconus (FFK) in all the members of his family. The reported keratoconic patient that underwent CXL was the only individual of this family that referred eye rubbing in his personal ocular history; ocular and medical history of the other family members was clear. Eye rubbing could be a possible adjuvant risk factor that contributes to conversion of FFK to clinical progressive keratoconus.


ABSTRACT Much evidence suggests that the processing of emotions is lateralized to the right hemisphere of the brain. However, under some circumstances the left hemisphere might play a role, particularly for positive emotions and emotional experiences. We explored whether emotion contagion was right-lateralized, lateralized valence-specifically, or potentially left-lateralized. In two experiments, right-handed female listeners rated to what extent emotionally intoned pseudo-sentences evoked target emotions in them. These sound stimuli had a 7 ms ear lead in the left or right channel, leading to stronger stimulation of the contralateral hemisphere. In both experiments, the results revealed that right ear lead stimuli received subtly but significantly higher evocation scores, suggesting a left hemisphere dominance for emotion contagion. A control experiment using an emotion identification task showed no effect of ear lead. The findings are discussed in relation to prior findings that have linked the processing of emotional prosody to left-hemisphere brain regions that regulate emotions, control orofacial musculature, are involved in affective empathy processing areas, or have an affinity for processing emotions socially. Future work is needed to eliminate alternative interpretations and understand the mechanisms involved. Our novel binaural asynchrony method may be useful in future work in auditory laterality.


The articles in this special issue contribute to the scholarly engagement with the deliberative qualities of communication, its antecedents and consequences in relation to these developments. They are guided by a common core understanding of what constitutes deliberative communication while carefully considering the particular contexts they investigate, and the specific goals deliberative communication has. The articles also display methodological pluralism. This introduction provides a condensed overview of the main insights provided by contributions to this special issue and highlights the various questions and perspectives that form the umbrella for the contributions. Overall, these contributions look to a readership both interested in specific instances of deliberative communication and reflecting on theoretical and empirical advances from an integrative perspective.


There exist situations where the transportation cost is better estimated as a function of the number of vehicles required for transporting a load, rather than a linear function of the load. This provides a stepwise cost function, which defines the so-called Modular Hub Location Problem (MHLP, or HLP with modular capacities) that has received increasing attention in the last decade. In this paper, we consider formulations to be solved by exact methods. We show that by choosing a specific generalized linear cost function with slope and intercept depending on problem data, one minimizes the measurement deviation between the two cost functions and obtains solutions close to those found with the stepwise cost function, while avoiding the higher computational complexity of the latter. As a side contribution, we look at the savings induced by using direct shipments in a hub and spoke network, given the better ability of a stepwise cost function to incorporate direct transportation. Numerical experiments are conducted over benchmark HLP instances of the OR-library.


Pronoun resolution is part of coreference resolution, the task of pairing an expression to its referring entity. This is an important task for natural language understanding and a necessary component of machine translation systems, chat bots and assistants. Neural machine learning systems perform far from ideally in this task, reaching as low as 73% F1 scores on modern benchmark datasets. Moreover, they tend to perform better for masculine pronouns than for feminine ones. Thus, the problem is both challenging and important for NLP researchers and practitioners. In this project, we describe our BERT-based approach to solving the problem of gender-balanced pronoun resolution. We are able to reach 92% F1 score and a much lower gender bias on the benchmark dataset shared by Google AI Language team.


In 1949 the Australian Football League (AFL) introduced a distinctive father–son rule, which allows its member teams to prioritize the recruitment of the sons of former players who had played in a minimum number of games with that team. This paper reveals that some teams have been able to access a statistically significant advantage via this rule, confirming and quantifying that this unique exception compromised the AFL's reverseorder player draft. In more recent times, through complex reforms, this advantage has been significantly dissipated. Discussion presents this rule as a conundrum for managers as despite potentially compromising the draft, it provides opportunities for off-field marketing communications strategies.


Optical waveguide is the fundamental element that interconnects the various devices of an optical integrated circuit. In this paper, the propagation characteristics of ridge and buried waveguides have been investigated on light intensity distribution within the structure. The analysis has been done by varying the thickness and also the width of both ridge and buried optical waveguide. The normalized propagation constant and effective refractive index conditions have been simulated in order to find the most suitable optical waveguide for backbone optical communication. The analysis and results are analyzed using numerical method based on finite difference method approach.


Simulating the transport of multi-species plasma and neutral species in the edge region of a tokamak magnetic fusion energy device is computationally intensive and difficult due to coupling among various components, strong nonlinearities and a broad range of temporal scales. In addition to providing boundary conditions for the core plasma, such models aid in the understanding and control of the associated plasma/material–wall interactions, a topic that is essential for the development of a viable fusion power plant. The governing partial differential equations are discretized to form a large nonlinear system that typically must be evolved in time to obtain steady-state solutions. Fully implicit techniques using preconditioned Jacobian-free Newton–Krylov methods with parallel domain-based preconditioners are shown to be robust and efficient for the plasma components. Inclusion of neutral gas components, however, increases the condition number of the system to the point where improved parallel preconditioning is needed. Standard algebraic preconditioners that provide sufficient coupling throughout the global domain to handle the neutrals are not generally scalable. We present a new preconditioner, termed FieldSplit, which exploits the character of the neutral equations to improve the scalability of the combined plasma/neutral system.


[1] The permeability of the Antarctic polar vortex is investigated in late austral winter and spring by comparing isentropic and three-dimensional (3-D) trajectories. Trajectory computations were performed with the help of the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) trajectory model, using data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) from August to November 1998. Large numbers of air parcels were initially released inside and outside the polar vortex on the 350, 450, and 550 K isentropic surfaces. They were integrated 4 months forward in time in an isentropic mode, as well as in a 3-D mode that uses all three wind components from the ECMWF and takes into account diabatic heating and cooling effects. For the isentropic trajectory calculations, very little transport (0.37%/week) was found for August and September, while October and November gave somewhat higher transport rates (1.95%/week). The 3-D trajectory calculations for October gave much more exchange between the vortex and midlatitudes than the isentropic ones owing to a significant number of parcels that descended inside the vortex. Descent rates were calculated for 350 K (October), 450 K (August–October) and 550 K (October). Overall, the results show that 3-D trajectories will provide more accurate leakage rates than the isentropic ones. Also, despite the large-scale mixing in the polar vortex or in midlatitudes, little ozone-depleted air leaks from the ozone hole into the midlatitude stratosphere.