Estimating spectral plane-of-array (POA) solar irradiance on inclined surfaces is an important step in the design and performance evaluation of both photovoltaic and concentrated solar plants. This work introduces a fast, line-by-line spectral, Monte Carlo (MC) radiative transfer model approach to simulate anisotropic distributions of shortwave radiation through the atmosphere as photon bundles impinge on inclined surfaces. This fast Monte Carlo approach reproduces the angular distribution of solar irradiance without the undesirable effects of spatial discretization and thus computes detailed POA irradiance values on surfaces at any orientation and also when surfaces are subjected to the anisotropic ground and atmospheric scattering. Polarization effects are also easily incorporated into this approach that can be considered as direct numerical simulation of the physics involved. Here, we compare our Monte Carlo radiative transfer model with the most widely used empirical transposition model, Perez4, under various conditions. The results show that the Perez4 model reproduces the more detailed Monte Carlo simulations with less than 10% deviation under clear skies for all relevant surface tilt and azimuth angles. When optically thin clouds are present, observed deviations are larger, especially when the receiving surface is strongly tilted. Deviations are also observed for large azimuth angle differences between the receiving surface and the solar position. When optically thick clouds are present, the two models agree within 15% deviation for nearly all surface orientation and tilt angles. The overall deviations are smaller when compared with cases for optically thin clouds. The Perez4 model performs very well (∼6.0% deviation) in comparison with the detailed MC simulations for all cases, thus validating its widespread use for practical solar applications. When detailed atmospheric profiles and cloud optical properties are available, the proposed fast Monte Carlo radiative model reproduces accurate spectral and angular POA irradiance levels for various atmospheric and cloud cover conditions, surface orientations, and different surface and ground properties.


Abstract Despite much effort to promote the conservation and recovery of threatened species, the extent of the current list of threatened vertebrates (> 7,600 species) underscores the need to develop novel communication and marketing tools to raise awareness and funding for their conservation. Although flagship species have been widely used in conservation marketing, the flagship role of extinct species has been largely overlooked and the status of lost species is rarely associated with the status of extant species facing a high risk of extinction. Some extinct species (e.g. the dodo Raphus cucullatus and the thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus) are cultural and commercial icons and therefore familiar, and may appeal to the public as conservation flagships. We propose a wider use of extinct flagships to raise awareness for the conservation of threatened species by making a direct link between already extinct species and extant species at risk of extinction. We present examples of publicly recognized and iconic extinct species that could be used in marketing for the conservation of threatened species. These extinct species are familiar and may be readily linked to threatened species or species groups. We outline a roadmap for testing their appeal under the extinct flagship concept, through market research. If research identifies that a cognitive link is made between the fate of an extinct species (i.e. they went extinct from human causes) and what may happen to threatened species (i.e. they are at risk of extinction from human causes), extinct species may well have a wider role to play as conservation flagships.


Purpose: Purpose of this article is the economic crisis. This topic is actually very actual and interesting. Results of the crisis induced not only activities of enterprises worldwide, but also most of the nation economics of individual states. The economic crisis is a problem for state, companies and people, which have to be solved urgently. Especially in the Czech Republic there is lower buying power (no money among the people), companies have problems with financing of their activities (buying materials, labor costs, fixed costs of their activities), and lot of companies had to ended their activities.
 Scientific aim: Scientific aim of this article is summarization and overview of the crisis, which had already taken place in 1929 and the current economic crisis, with the consequences that the companies have to cope with.
 Methodology/methods: Methodology and methods which we used are following. This article includes theoretical information about the crisis in the history and its impact on activities of the states. Consequently there is information about the actual crisis which includes theoretical data, statistical data and our research of small and medium-sized enterprises (family enterprises). The research focuses on perceptions of the crisis. In the article is used method of the questionnaire research, which is analyzed and presented using graphical methods.
 Findings: Findings of this article are new information in this area, which can be interesting and useful for another research. Within the frame of new information we deduced results, which are concerned with this issue. Most of results include explaining of the facts – new information.
 Conclusions: Conclusion of this article is the compact review of the size of the small and mediumsized enterprises in the Czech Republic, which were affected due to the economic crisis. In the time of crisis there is (on the market) a rule to reduce the income of the population and thus to lower purchasing power. Companies must choose different options, which should lead to the continuation of business as well as to optimize resources (e.g. production).


Modern Media, Elections and Democracy explores how the modern media functions in a democracy,
especially during elections, when it performs the crucial role of educating people and moulding public
opinion. At such times, it becomes an arena for public debate and sometimes even a check against the
abuse of power.
The book analyses the constraints that curb the immense power of the media. It takes up issues that
restrict free political debate and, in response, studies the statutory provisions that defend and protect
freedom of expression. In this context, the author refers to many legal suits, case studies, jurisprudence
governing election coverage, international standards for media practices, and so on. The book identifies
ways in which various forms of media exert influence on politics and argues that the modern media—in all
its forms—is expanding the scope of political pluralism.


In contemporary America, myths find expression primarily in film. What's more, many of the highest-grossing American movies of the past several decades have been rooted in one of the most fundamental mythic narratives, the hero quest. Why is the hero quest so persistently renewed and retold? In what ways does this universal myth manifest itself in American cinema? And what is the significance of the popularity of these modern myths?The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film by Susan Mackey-Kallis is an exploration of the appeal of films that re-create and reinterpret this mythic structure. She closely analyzes such films as E.T., the Star Wars trilogy, It's a Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz, The Lion King, Field of Dreams, The Piano, Thelma and Louise, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Elements of the quest mythology made popular by Joseph Campbell, Homer's Odyssey, the perennial philosophy of Aldous Huxley, and Jungian psychology all contribute to the compelling interpretive framework in which Mackey-Kallis crafts her study. She argues that the purpose of the hero quest is not limited to the discovery of some boon or holy grail, but also involves finding oneself and finding a home in the universe. The home that is sought is simultaneously the literal home from which the hero sets out and the terminus of the personal growth he or she undergoes during the journey back. Thus the quest, Mackey-Kallis asserts, is an outward journey into the world of action and events which eventually requires a journey inward if the hero is to grow, and ultimately necessitates a journey homeward if the hero is to understand the grail and share it with the culture at large. Finally, she examinesthe value of mythic criticism and addresses questions about myth currently being debated in the field of communication studies.


Bittergourd yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV) is one of the virus affecting the bittergourd (Momordica charantia). It is transmitted by whitefly Bemisia tabaci Genn. Minimum of five whiteflies were required to transmit the virus. However, hundred per cent transmission of BGYMV disease was obtained when 45 whiteflies were released per plant. Twelve hours of acquisition access feeding period (AAFP) and inoculation access feeding period (IAFP) were required for the whiteflies to transmit the disease. The percentage of transmission increased with increase in both acquisition and inoculation feeding period. A pre-acquisition starvation period of 3.5 h ensured hundred per cent transmission, while post-acquisition starvation period affected the transmission.


In recent years, the discipline of computing has matured to the point of having distinct sub elements, each of which is developing curriculum recommendations, accreditation criteria, conferences, professional societies and publications. In particular, five distinct curriculum projects range in status from completed some time ago Computing Curricula 2001: Computer Science (CS-2001)[4] and IS 2002 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems (IS-2002)[1]), through almost completed as of the writing of this special session proposal, and very likely to be published by the time of SIGCSE 2005 Computing Curricula 2004: Software Engineering [2] and Computing Curricula: Computer Engineering [5]) to one that will likely be finished in late 2005 or early 2006 Computing Curricula: Information Technology). More broadly, recent work in the UK to identify the variety of computing related programs currently offered in British universities identified 2,400 distinct program names [3].We are making an interim report on, and seeking input into, a project to keep the family of computing related disciplines together. This project is partially funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF grant 0338546, Special Project: All in the Family: A unified representation of the computing and information related disciplines), and is being run by a joint task force from several professional societies, with ACM taking the lead.Very roughly, the goals of the project are to provide a synthesis of all that is computing, and various ways of organizing and visualizing that synthesis. This project began in late 2003, and got started in earnest in early 2004. We anticipate completing the work late in 2005 or early in 2006. Thus SIGCSE 2005 is the perfect time for us both to report on our work to date, and to get valuable feedback from the community.


1950s America was an America wrought with strict stereotypical gender roles, leading to an increase in the diagnoses for anxiety and depression in women. In 1980, Borderline Personality Disorder, a diagnosis which focusses more on the absence of identity, was coined, and better encompassed the experiences of 1950s women. Using Joyce Johnson's "Come and Join the Dance", this thesis breaks down the criteria of Borderline Personality Disorder and analyzes how the diagnosis closely intersects with the circumstances 1950s women underwent. In Johnson's account, she flips the narrative to work in her favor, exercising catharsis, rather than become plagued or victimized by her involuntary disposition. Thus, Johnson's unique approach to gender roles and, arguably, mental illness highlights the truth of the 1950s by rejecting the norm rather than fall prey to the compliance that plausibly warranted the demise of many of her contemporaries.


We report calculations and experimental results on intracavity second-harmonic generation (SHG) using a mixture of an active lasing dye and a nonlinear optical chromophore. By applying a high-voltage electric field across the solution, synchronized with the dye laser emission, the chromophore molecules can be oriented as the laser emission develops, providing SHG of the laser beam. Compared to other approaches, this configuration does not require two separate optical components for the amplification and SHG, simplifying the design and realization of compact near-UV laser sources.


Background Clinical outcome of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is highly variable. This study aims to identify and validate a prognostic protein signature for TNBC patients to reduce unnecessary adjuvant systemic therapy. Methods Frozen primary tumors were collected from 126 lymph node–negative and adjuvant therapy–naive TNBC patients. These samples were used for global proteome profiling in two series: an in-house training (n = 63) and a multicenter test (n = 63) set. Patients who remained free of distant metastasis for a minimum of 5 years after surgery were defined as having good prognosis. Cox regression analysis was performed to develop a prognostic signature, which was independently validated. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results An 11-protein signature was developed in the training set (median follow-up for good-prognosis patients = 117 months) and subsequently validated in the test set (median follow-up for good-prognosis patients = 108 months) showing 89.5% sensitivity (95% confidence interval [CI] = 69.2% to 98.1%), 70.5% specificity (95% CI = 61.7% to 74.2%), 56.7% positive predictive value (95% CI = 43.8% to 62.1%), and 93.9% negative predictive value (95% CI = 82.3% to 98.9%) for poor-prognosis patients. The predicted poor-prognosis patients had higher risk to develop distant metastasis than the predicted good-prognosis patients in univariate (hazard ratio [HR] = 13.15; 95% CI = 3.03 to 57.07; P = .001) and multivariable (HR = 12.45; 95% CI = 2.67 to 58.11; P = .001) analysis. Furthermore, the predicted poor-prognosis group had statistically significantly more breast cancer–specific mortality. Using our signature as guidance, more than 60% of patients would have been exempted from unnecessary adjuvant chemotherapy compared with conventional prognostic guidelines. Conclusions We report the first validated proteomic signature to assess the natural course of clinical TNBC.


Abstract. Improving sensor performance, combined with better affordability, provides better object space observability, resulting in new applications. Remote sensing systems are primarily concerned with acquiring data of the static components of our environment, such as the topographic surface of the earth, transportation infrastructure, city models, etc. Observing the dynamic component of the object space is still rather rare in the geospatial application field; vehicle extraction and traffic flow monitoring are a few examples of using remote sensing to detect and model moving objects. Deploying a network of inexpensive LiDAR sensors along taxiways and runways can provide both geometrically and temporally rich geospatial data that aircraft body can be extracted from the point cloud, and then, based on consecutive point clouds motion parameters can be estimated. Acquiring accurate aircraft trajectory data is essential to improve aviation safety at airports. This paper reports about the initial experiences obtained by using a network of four Velodyne VLP- 16 sensors to acquire data along a runway segment.


Abstract. Ecosystems are important and dynamic components of the global carbon cycle, and terrestrial biospheric models (TBMs) are crucial tools in further understanding of how terrestrial carbon is stored and exchanged with the atmosphere across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Improving TBM skills, and quantifying and reducing their estimation uncertainties, pose significant challenges. The Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP) is a formal multi-scale and multi-model intercomparison effort set up to tackle these challenges. The MsTMIP protocol prescribes standardized environmental driver data that are shared among model teams to facilitate model–model and model–observation comparisons. This paper describes the global and North American environmental driver data sets prepared for the MsTMIP activity to both support their use in MsTMIP and make these data, along with the processes used in selecting/processing these data, accessible to a broader audience. Based on project needs and lessons learned from past model intercomparison activities, we compiled climate, atmospheric CO2 concentrations, nitrogen deposition, land use and land cover change (LULCC), C3 / C4 grasses fractions, major crops, phenology and soil data into a standard format for global (0.5° × 0.5° resolution) and regional (North American: 0.25° × 0.25° resolution) simulations. In order to meet the needs of MsTMIP, improvements were made to several of the original environmental data sets, by improving the quality, and/or changing their spatial and temporal coverage, and resolution. The resulting standardized model driver data sets are being used by over 20 different models participating in MsTMIP. The data are archived at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC, http://daac.ornl.gov ) to provide long-term data management and distribution.


A longitudinal approach is used to describe and explain processes of social inclusion and exclusion among different groups of migrants in Antwerp and Stockholm (1846–1926), in terms of access to marriage and reproduction. In this way we want to get a better idea about the factors which facilitated or hampered the social inclusion of migrants upon arrival in two different Western European port cities. The results of the discrete time event history analyses show that social inclusion of migrants was easier in Antwerp and became easier over time, while in Stockholm it was more difficult and became even more complicated over time. This finding might be interpreted as the result of greater societal openness in Antwerp, as the Belgian port-city's economic success depended largely upon foreigners and international trade. Higher odds for social inclusion in Antwerp might also have been related to differences in the chances of finding an urban niche, which in turn might have been a result of disparities in economic and demographic growth. Most likely it was a combination of differences in the local opportunity structure and the level of societal openness. Furthermore, it was found that region and place of birth, age at arrival, historical time period, and, in the case of Stockholm, gender and social class had an important impact on the chances of successful inclusion.


The application of business intelligence (BI) techniques for knowledge discovery and decision support empowers organizations in different functions. This article examines the impacts of BI on customer relationship management (CRM) functions (marketing, sales and customer services) in the telecommunications sector. The literature found that BI application in CRM in a telecommunications context is limited but necessary due to the high rate of competition between service providers and the massive data generated by subscribers. This study surveyed employees' perspectives from telecommunications companies in Oman, and results demonstrated mixed impacts. First, the results showed that implementing BI in marketing has a positive impact on business processes values, customer values, but a negative impact on employees' values. Second, implementing BI in sales has a positive impact on financial values and employees' values, but a negative impact on business processes values, and customers' values. Finally, implementing BI in customer service has a positive impact on employees' values. The study provides valuable guidelines for practitioners in the area of CRM, BI, and telecommunications to help understand why to invest in BI in specific CRM functions.


While prominent corporate portfolio analysis tools such as the BCG Growth-Share Matrix took centre stage in the field of strategic management from the 1960s to the mid‐1980s, this review of the literature shows that they have since then largely disappeared from the academic agenda, despite their practical relevance and widespread application. There may be two independent reasons for this apparent scholarly disdain: corporate portfolio analysis tools (a) may have been recognized as unsuitable owing to inherent flaws or superior alternative concepts or (b) may have become obsolete because of proof that corporate diversification is inferior to market diversification. Thus, this assessment is based on an extensive review of the most relevant academic literature on corporate portfolio analysis tools and on the constitutive diversification – performance link published in leading management journals over the past five decades. The review reveals that research to date has not produced advanced tools based on an objective criticism of the original matrices, nor has corporate diversification – as a precondition for corporate portfolio analysis – proved to be inferior to market‐based co‐ordination mechanisms. Thus, this literature review constitutes a call for further academic research in the field of corporate portfolio analysis tools as well as corporate diversification.


by Angela Wentz Faulconer In this dissertation I seek to answer the question, "What are the virtues of the excellent citizen in a liberal democracy?" This question is important on three levels. First, if civic virtue is as important to the perpetuation of liberal democratic community as neoliberal and communitarian thinkers have argued, then curiosity alone should motivate us. Second, if projects to foster the virtues are critical, then we must understand the virtues in order to foster them effectively and appropriately. Third, those who wish to attain greater excellence in citizenship need to know what the virtues are so that they may pursue them. In Chapters One and Two, I argue that current accounts of civic virtue are deficient because they fail to explore its basis, nature, and constituents. To better understand civic virtue, we must explore specific citizen virtues. To fulfill this aim, we require a citizen virtue catalog structured by an explanatory framework that is anchored in the role-based nature of citizen virtue. Such a framework provides the rationale for determining which virtues should be included in the catalog and which should not as well as a basis for comparing competing catalogs. As the role of citizen is to assist his state, Angela Wentz Faulconer the citizen virtues are those qualities that enable the citizen to assist the state in achieving its aims—in protecting, promoting, and realizing the liberal democratic ideals (namely, freedom, equality, self-government, collective cooperation, and stability). In the remaining chapters, I survey neo-liberal accounts of citizen virtue proposed by Richard Dagger, William Galston, David Jones, Mark Kingwell, Stephen Macedo, and Thomas Spragens, Jr. I apply the Chapter Two framework to assess the virtue candidates they propose. These chapters share a common format but differ in focus. Chapter Three takes up the citizen virtues that treat political community: cooperation, participation, vigilance, deliberative excellence, and obedience to law. Chapter Four, the liberal citizen virtues: allegiance to liberal democratic community, tolerance, and respect for rights. And Chapter Five, the citizen virtues relating to self-governance: autonomy, responsibility, and restraint. Chapter Six concludes.


This article was prepared for the St. Louis University Law Journal's "Teaching Trusts & Estates" issue. Many law students take a course in Trusts & Estates, but comparatively few enroll in a class devoted to the federal wealth transfer taxes. For most law students, the Trusts & Estates course provides the only opportunity for exposure to some of the basic features of the estate tax, the gift tax, the generation-skipping transfer tax, and some related features of the income tax. The coverage demands of the typical Trusts & Estates course do not allow for intensive discussion of these issues, but there are numerous opportunities to introduce relevant tax considerations while teaching the substantive law of wills and trusts. Using the Dukeminier & Sitkoff casebook as an example, this article explores the opportunities for interstitial recognition of the tax issues often lying just beneath the surface of private law disputes. Seizing the opportunities that these cases present to introduce some basic tax concepts and planning strategies can alert students to simple methods of tax savings and help them to avoid costly potential estate planning errors.


Background. Few data exist on the incidence and risk factors of Staphylococcus aureus colonization and skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) among patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Methods. Over a 2-year period, we prospectively evaluated adults infected with HIV for incident S aureus colonization at 5 body sites and SSTIs. Cox proportional hazard models using time-updated covariates were performed. Results. Three hundred twenty-two participants had a median age of 42 years (interquartile range, 32–49), an HIV duration of 9.4 years (2.7–17.4), and 58% were on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Overall, 102 patients (32%) became colonized with S aureus with an incidence rate of 20.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.8–25.0) per 100 person-years [PYs]. Predictors of colonization in the final multivariable model included illicit drug use (hazard ratios [HR], 4.26; 95% CI, 1.33–13.69) and public gym use (HR 1.66, 95% CI, 1.04–2.66), whereas antibacterial soap use was protective (HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.32–0.78). In a separate model, perigenital colonization was associated with recent syphilis infection (HR, 4.63; 95% CI, 1.01–21.42). Fifteen percent of participants developed an SSTI (incidence rate of 9.4 cases [95% CI, 6.8–12.7] per 100 PYs). Risk factors for an SSTI included incident S aureus colonization (HR 2.52; 95% CI, 1.35–4.69), public shower use (HR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.48–4.56), and hospitalization (HR 3.54; 95% CI, 1.67–7.53). The perigenital location for S aureus colonization was predictive of SSTIs. Human immunodeficiency virus-related factors (CD4 count, HIV RNA level, and HAART) were not associated with colonization or SSTIs. Conclusions. Specific behaviors, but not HIV-related factors, are predictors of colonization and SSTIs. Behavioral modifications may be the most important strategies in preventing S aureus colonization and SSTIs among persons infected with HIV.


Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy at any one time. This paper presents an Intelligent Diagnostic System for Epilepsy using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Neuro-Fuzzy technique. In this approach the feed-forward neural network has been trained using Back propagation algorithm (BPA) and by Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). First, all the data (from UCI machine learning repository) has been normalized so that the value of every attribute is between 0 and 1. Out of 265 instances, 200 instances have been used for training the system and 65 have been used for testing purposes. The simulator has been developed using MATLAB and performance is compared by considering the metrics like accuracy of diagnosis, training time, number of neurons, number of epochs etc. The results obtained clearly shows that the presented methods have improved the inference procedures and are advantageous over the conventional architectures on both efficiency and accuracy.


In a compartment fire, Externally Venting Flames (EVF) may significantly increase the risk of fire spreading to adjacent floors or buildings, especially now-a-days that there is an ever-increasing trend of using combustible insulation materials in building façades. The main scope of this work is to investigate the fundamental physical phenomena governing EVF development. In this frame, a series of medium-scale fire compartment experiments is performed, utilizing a 1⁄4 scale model of the ISO 9705 compartment, equipped with an extended façade. Recording of the dynamic behaviour of EVF is carried out using a selectively installed sensor network that allows measurement of important physical parameters, such as flame envelope geometry, gas and wall surface temperatures, façade heat flux, fuel mass loss and gas species concentrations. A dedicated image-processing tool is developed, aiming to record the dynamic development of the flame envelope (e.g. height, width, volume). A range of realistic fire scenarios, relevant to building fires, is implemented as part of the experimental campaign. An "expendable" fuel source (n-hexane liquid pool fire) is utilized to effectively simulate realistic building fire conditions. A parametric study is performed by varying two important physical parameters, i.e. fire load and opening dimensions. Experimental results suggest that the flame geometry and EVF duration are mainly affected by the opening dimensions, whereas the fuel load has a significant impact on the heat flux to the façade. An increasing number of recent reports suggest that existing fire engineering design methodologies cannot describe with sufficient accuracy the characteristics of EVF under realistic fire load conditions. In this context, the obtained experimental data are used to assess a range of fire engineering design correlations, commonly used to estimate the centreline temperature of the EVF plume and the heat flux to the adjacent façade surface. The obtained extensive set of experimental data can be used to validate CFD fire models or to evaluate the accuracy of available fire engineering design correlations.


We present an electromechanical stability analysis of passivated parallel-plate electrostatic actuators in conductive dielectric media and show that the pull-in instability can be eliminated by tuning the applied frequency below a design-dependent stability limit. A partial instability region is also obtained, where the actuator jumps from the pull-in displacement to another stable position within the gap. The results predict that the stability limit is always greater than the critical actuation frequency, and therefore any device that is feasible to actuate in a conductive fluid can be operated with stability over the full range of motion.


The Philippines had two types of cigarette excise taxes in the past three decades: an ad valorem tax under the 1986 Tax Reform Program (TRP) and a specific tax under the 1997 Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP). Ad valorem taxes, according to economic theory, are desirable since these are flexible in that tax revenues automatically adjust to price changes. However, economic theory also recognizes the difficulty in implementing ad valorem taxes because of the challenge in identifying the appropriate tax base (e.g., price). The alternative, a specific tax is easier to implement but is not flexible, requiring regular adjustments in taxes to inflation. In practice, this characteristic of flexibility is even more important if the political or institutional environment make it difficult to increase existing or pass new tax laws. Empirically, Philippine cigarette excise tax revenues—in real terms—declined in the period after the shift to a specific tax. This study examines the effect of a shift from an ad valorem to a specific cigarette excise tax on Philippine cigarette excise tax collections during the period 1988 to 2005. The results showed a significant negative relationship between cigarette excise tax revenue effort and the period when a specific excise tax was in effect. Though the results cannot entirely attribute the decline in cigarette excise tax effort to the 1997 CTRP shift to specific taxes because of politico-institutional reasons (e.g., not implementing the provisions of the law), the results showed that Philippine cigarette excise tax effort is negatively related to the 1997 CTRP.


It is planned to operate the Pierre Auger Observatory until at least the end of 2024. An upgrade of the experiment has been proposed in order to provide additional measurements to allow one to elucidate the mass composition and the origin of the flux suppression at the highest energies, to search for a flux contribution of protons up to the highest energies and to reach a sensitivity to a contribution as small as 10% in the flux suppression region, to study extensive air showers and hadronic multi-particle production. With operation planned until 2024, event statistics will more than double compared with the existing Auger data set, with the critical added advantage that every event will now have mass information. Obtaining additional composition-sensitive information will not only help to better reconstruct the properties of the primary particles at the highest energies, but also improve the measurements in the energy range just above the ankle. Furthermore, measurements with the new detectors will help to reduce systematic uncertainties related to the modelling hadronic showers and to limitations in the reconstruction algorithms.A description of the principal proposed Auger upgrade will be presented. The Auger upgrade promises high-quality future data, and real scope for new physics.


This document presents the developed work performed, under HEMAV company support, focused on the creation of a new UAV platform. So, the main problem suffered by drone related companies is the flight autonomy of the multi rotored platforms. Though they are able to carry heavy loads and perform stationary flights, they own more rotors on board in front of other aircrafts which suppose a higher power consumption which, as consequence, produce a notable flight time reduction that affect services as high areas mapping. One of the main purposes of this project has been the proper design, building, testing and optimizing of a new low cost fixed wing UAV platform which will be used of high terrains mapping as well as for precision agriculture issues. So, the creation of this UAV platform has been optimally achieved and it is to fly over 28 minutes at 15m/s cruise speed and, is also able to scan a wide area up to 100ha with three different configurations as function of the onboard sensors. On the other hand, the second working line of this project has been the design, selection, test and integration in the designed drone of a new RTK low cost system. It has been achieved its optimal functioning in HEMAV multi rotored UAV at real time data processing. Then, it has been integrated on the designed drone and it has been achieved an optimal performance in ground post processing phase. These means during the flight, as the aircraft flies faster than multi rotors, the RTK system is not prepared to work at these speeds. However, as the main purpose of this working line is to set these modems totally operative for terrain mapping purposes, it is considered the main objectives here have been successfully achieved as this processing must be done after flight. Finally, in this document has also been performed the required documents a Spanish RPAS operator needs to certify a drone for commercial purposes as stipulated in current Spanish normative, the Real Decreto 8/2014 Art 50. Eventually, it must be said all requirements and objectives stipulated by HEMAV company and the project authors have been successfully achieve in the way a new quality, low cost and accurate tool has been developed for commercial agriculture and mapping purposes with the possibility to integer a RTK system which will give the positioning GPS coordinates with an accuracy of cm.


We have investigated different surface functionalization methods to immobilize CD19 antibody on gold surface to capture B lymphoblast cells associated with the acute lymphoblastic leukemia disease. Quartz Crystal Microbalance measurements were performed to analyze the binding kinetics of each layer and determine the optimum method, which results in higher cell capture rates. The random orientation of antibody and oriented antibody through protein G was investigated and protein G presence resulted in 15,2 Hz frequency shift for 10 cells/mL. The 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and 11-Mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) coatings of gold surface together with 4-(N-Maleimidomethyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid 3-sulfo-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester sodium salt (Sulfo-SMCC) and N-Ethyl-N'-(3dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC)/N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (NHS) linker layers were tested on QCM for protein G and antibody binding. The results indicate that MUA, EDC/NHS, protein G, antibody CD19 is the optimum surface modification among the tested combinations. By using the optimum surface functionalization method, minimum 10 cell per mL was measured as 1.9 Hz frequency shift.


Malaria burden continues to increase in the tropical developing countries of the world such as Kenya. In Kenya, it is blamed on climatic influences on the environment. The historically high rainfall, temperature and relative humidity encourage prevalence in Western Kenya especially around Lake Victoria. This study investigated the effect of seasonal variation of selected climatic elements on malaria morbidity and mortality in Awendo Division, Rongo District, Migori County, Kenya. It was based on the Kate's basic impact and the MARA/ARMA world models. Awendo Division is in the transition zone between the lake region endemic and the epidemic Kisii Highlands, an altitude of between 1450m and1700m above sea level. This means that it must have characteristics independent of the two areas yet it is categorized under the endemic lake region. Using a case study design, the study relied on secondary data obtained from Sonysugar meteorological station and Awendo Division Health facilities from 2001-2010. The target population was the at-risk population of Awendo Division (108,913). A flooded sampling was done consisting of all recorded malaria morbidity and mortality cases from the health facilities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Pearson's moment correlation coefficient was used to investigate the strength of the relationship between malaria cases and the selected climatic elements, ANOVA was used to study the variation of malaria morbidity within and over the years. The selected climatic elements and malaria morbidity did not show clear patterns during the surveillance period. The elements however formed two seasons within the years. They also showed insignificantly positive trends during the ten-year period. Malaria on the other hand had a significantly positive trend during the same period. Although all the selected climatic elements correlated negatively with malaria morbidity, they constantly offer optimal malaria transmission windows throughout the year except rainfall which drops below the optimal ranges. The study further revealed both endemic and epidemic characteristics of malaria in Awendo. Although malaria was found to be persistently present in Awendo, it annually peaks in the months of July and January. In summary although malaria was seen to be present throughout the year, its occurrences patterned with the selected climatic elements. The study recommends that intervention measures be in place throughout the year. The medical personnel and the meteorologists should hold frequent consultative forums to lay early strategies against epidemics. There is need for further research to unearth more information on the pereniality and the positive significant trends of malaria in the study area. If no action is taken to control the significant growth, then malaria will have worse consequences in future. This study will provide the latest information on the malaria situation in Awendo which will be very useful to the National Malaria Control Programmes and the epidemiological service providers in formulating policies that may promote the mitigation of malaria in Awendo Division and the rest of the country.


A low rank matrix X has been contaminated by uniformly distributed noise, missing values, outliers and corrupt entries. Reconstruction of X from the singular values and singular vectors of the contaminated matrix Y is a key problem in machine learning, computer vision and data science. In this paper we show that common contamination models (including arbitrary combinations of uniform noise,missing values, outliers and corrupt entries) can be described efficiently using a single framework. We develop an asymptotically optimal algorithm that estimates X by manipulation of the singular values of Y , which applies to any of the contamination models considered. Finally, we find an explicit signal-to-noise cutoff, below which estimation of X from the singular value decomposition of Y must fail, in a well-defined sense.


This paper tests for the presence of downward nominal wage rigidity in Canadian wage data for 26 occupations in 38 cities from the first half of the 20th century. The sample is of particular interest as it contains periods with average inflation rates that are close to zero as well as two sharp deflations. Results from a variety of different tests indicate that wage change distributions are consistent with the presence of downward nominal wage rigidity. However, for two subsamples containing sharp declines in output and prices, estimates of the extent of downward nominal wage rigidity are much lower. This suggests that downwards adjustments did occur during times of severe depression and deflation.


Covering: 2000 up to late 2017This review is focussed upon the acyl-quinic acids, the most studied group within the ca. 400 chlorogenic acids so far reported. The acyl-quinic acids, the first of which was characterised in 1846, are a diverse group of plant-derived compounds produced principally through esterification of an hydroxycinnamic acid and 1l-(-)-quinic acid. Topics addressed in this review include the confusing nomenclature, quantification and characterisation by NMR and MS, biosynthesis and role in planta, and the occurrence of acyl-quinic acids in coffee, their transformation during roasting and delivery to the beverage. Coffee is the major human dietary source world-wide of acyl-quinic acids and consideration is given to their absorption and metabolism in the upper gastrointestinal tract, and the colon where the microbiota play a key role in the formation of catabolites. Evidence on the potential of the in vivo metabolites and catabolites of acyl-quinic acids to promote the consumer's health is evaluated.


Abstract. Daily moderate rainfall events, which constitute a major portion of seasonal summer monsoon rainfall over central India, have decreased significantly during the period 1951 through 2005. On the other hand, mean and extreme near-surface daily temperature during the monsoon season have increased by a maximum of 1–1.5 °C. Using simulations made with a high-resolution regional climate model (RegCM4) and prescribed land cover of years 1950 and 2005, it is demonstrated that part of the changes in moderate rainfall events and temperature have been caused by land-use/land-cover change (LULCC), which is mostly anthropogenic. Model simulations show that the increase in seasonal mean and extreme temperature over central India coincides with the region of decrease in forest and increase in crop cover. Our results also show that LULCC alone causes warming in the extremes of daily mean and maximum temperatures by a maximum of 1–1.2 °C, which is comparable with the observed increasing trend in the extremes. Decrease in forest cover and simultaneous increase in crops not only reduces the evapotranspiration over land and large-scale convective instability, but also contributes toward decrease in moisture convergence through reduced surface roughness. These factors act together in reducing significantly the moderate rainfall events and the amount of rainfall in that category over central India. Additionally, the model simulations are repeated by removing the warming trend in sea surface temperatures over the Indian Ocean. As a result, enhanced warming at the surface and greater decrease in moderate rainfall events over central India compared to the earlier set of simulations are noticed. Results from these additional experiments corroborate our initial findings and confirm the contribution of LULCC in the decrease in moderate rainfall events and increase in daily mean and extreme temperature over India. Therefore, this study demonstrates the important implications of LULCC over India during the monsoon season. Although, the regional climate model helps in better resolving land–atmosphere feedbacks over the Indian region, the inferences do depend on the fidelity of the model in capturing the features of Indian monsoon realistically. It is proposed that similar studies using a suite of climate models will further enrich our understanding about the role of LULCC in the Indian monsoon climate.


Summary
A rat ectoparasite survey of the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was made from 7 December 1956 to 31 December 1960. Data obtained from 964 rats collected from 15 April 1957 to 4 May 1958, 747 rats collected in 1958–59, and 573 in 1959–60 were compared with similar data obtained in 1946–47 and 1954–55. In 1946–47 54% of the rats were infested with Xenopsylla cheopis; in 1954–55, 16%; in 1957–58, 6.0%; in 1958–59, 3.3%; and 1959–60, 2.6%. Other common rat ectoparasites, Laelaps nuttalli, Ornithonyssus bacoti, Listrophoroides expansus, and Polyplax spinulosa increased in abundance. In particular, L. nuttalli showed marked increases. Ornithodoros puertoricensis which affected 26.8% of the rats in 1946–47 infested only 5.4% in 1959–60. Designed rat flea insecticidal control measures have never been applied in Puerto Rico. The rat population has always been high. Fleas were uncommon in poorly sanitated areas and more often found in well sanitated places subject to other pest control activities. Weather Bureau records indicated that precipitation, humidity or temperature could not account for the rat flea reduction. Of 998 rat sera subjected to the complement fixation test with U. S. Army group specific typhus antigen at 1:10 dilution, 804 were negative and 194 were anticomplementary. In 1954 and succeeding years including 1960 there were no cases of murine typhus fever reported from the City of San Juan and in 1958, 1959, and 1960 none in Puerto Rico as a whole. Since a great reduction in rat flea population occurred and no infection in rats was found, there is no reason to doubt the reported morbidity or to postulate that the use of antibiotics had anything to do with the rate. It was concluded that investigations on the ecological circumstances of the association of arthropods, particularly mites, with rat fleas are necessary, if the question of why the rat flea population was decimated is to be answered.


The electricity consumption of miscellaneous electronic loads (MELs) in the home has grown in recent years, and is expected to continue rising. Consumer electronics, in particular, are characterized by swift technological innovation, with varying impacts on energy use. Desktop and laptop computers make up a significant share of MELs electricity consumption, but their national energy use is difficult to estimate, given uncertainties around shifting user behavior. This report analyzes usage data from 64 computers (45 desktop, 11 laptop, and 8 unknown) collected in 2012 as part of a larger field monitoring effort of 880 households in the San Francisco Bay Area, and compares our results to recent values from the literature. We find that desktop computers are used for an average of 7.3 hours per day (median = 4.2 h/d), while laptops are used for a mean 4.8 hours per day (median = 2.1 h/d). The results for laptops are likely underestimated since they can be charged in other, unmetered outlets. Average unit annual energy consumption (AEC) for desktops is estimated to be 194 kWh/yr (median = 125 kWh/yr), and for laptops 75 kWh/yr (median = 31 kWh/yr). We estimate national annual energy consumption for desktop computers to be 20more » TWh. National annual energy use for laptops is estimated to be 11 TWh, markedly higher than previous estimates, likely reflective of laptops drawing more power in On mode in addition to greater market penetration. This result for laptops, however, carries relatively higher uncertainty compared to desktops. Different study methodologies and definitions, changing usage patterns, and uncertainty about how consumers use computers must be considered when interpreting our results with respect to existing analyses. Finally, as energy consumption in On mode is predominant, we outline several energy savings opportunities: improved power management (defaulting to low-power modes after periods of inactivity as well as power scaling), matching the rated power of power supplies to computing needs, and improving the efficiency of individual components.« less


INTRODUCTION: Robotic surgery allows minimally invasive procedures to be performed with greater precision, higher dexterity, and ergonomic comfort. The widely used daVinci surgical robot (Intuitive Surgical, California, USA) consists of a central stereoscopic camera and three robotic surgical arms controlled by the surgeon using a console. Though the stereoscopic camera provides superior visualization of the surgical site, it faces problems in certain surgical scenarios. These include visual problems with depth perception along view direction, occlusion by tissues, and low resolution at farther distance. One possible solution is to augment the understanding of the surgical site by addition of an extra visualization channel during the surgery. This could be achieved by inclusion of an additional camera probe. In this paper, we explore the preliminary design of an actuated probe with a camera alongside instruments to be used in a robotic surgery and demonstrate its functionality in three modes of operation. DESIGN METHODOLOGY: The probe consists of three tubular segments in tandem: telescopic arm, actuated spring, and camera (Figure-1). The probe is inserted along with the surgical instrument through a trocar. The design of the trocar is modified to have an additional insertion port alongside the instrument. Although this requires shifting of remote-centre-of-motion for the surgical-robot, it could be implemented in the robot control software as an additional feature without any change in the hardware. The telescopic arm allows insertion and retraction of the probe. The actuated spring is used to control the angulation of the probe. The angulation is achieved using a cable driven active system that combines pull and release action inside the spring. At the distal end of the probe, a camera is fixed to visualize the surgical site. Earlier prototypes used a straight camera that looked directly in front relative to the probe. This required two angulations in the spring: first to make the probe move away from the surgical instrument, and second to redirect the camera onto the surgical instrument. To simplify the mechanism while achieving the same results, we used an orthogonal camera in lieu of a straight camera. The video-stream captured through the camera is rendered to the surgeon's console. PRELIMINARY RESULTS: The preliminary design of the probe was implemented in CAD software. The probe design exhibited two-degree of freedom resulting in three modes of operation during the surgery (Figure-2). Mode 1: The 'insertion and retraction mode' would be used to insert and retract the tool. Mode 2: The 'endoscopic mode' would allow close visualization of the tool-tip (Figure-3a). Since this mode increases the field-of-view of the tissue to be operated, it could be use for surgical subtasks requiring higher level of precision such as clipping, stapling, or making a cut with vital tissues in the vicinity. Mode 3: The 'exploration mode' is used to explore hard-to-reach and occluded anatomies inside the patient's body, for example exploring through abdominal adhesion during a robotic abdominal surgery (Figure-3b). The future work will focus on fabrication of the probe and testing the modes in a clinical setting.


Abstract Existing literature on the City of London has tended to focus on its 'structural power', while neglecting political and narrative agency. This paper acts as a corrective by presenting evidence to show that since the financial crash of 2008 the political terrain the City operates on has become more contested, crowded and noisier. The contribution develops a middle course between a positive assessment of the role of civil society in relation to global finance, and a more pessimistic reading. We demonstrate how macro-narratives and public story-telling both construct and contest City and financial sector power. In a new pattern since the financial crash, NGOs have moved from campaigns of limited duration and narrow focus, to a more sustained presence on macro-structural issues. Adopting a supply–demand framework for assessing governance and regulatory change, we look at the emergence of TheCityUK as a new advocacy arm and the strategies of three of the more prominent and focused NGOs that have mobilized in the aftermath of the crash: the Tax Justice Network's (TJN) use of the 'finance curse'; Positive Money on private endogenous money creation; and Finance Watch counterweight strategies at the level of the European Union. We suggest these mobilizations highlight the need for a more concerted and orchestrated construction of a global institutional civil society infrastructure in finance (a global financial public sphere) to achieve greater access, resources, scrutiny and oversight for a range of specialist expert NGOs.


SIFCON in our country in the construction of several structures that demand high standards of strength coupled with superior performance and durability. SIFCON possesses several desirable properties such as high strength and ductility. It also reveals a very high degree of ductility as a result of which it has superior stability under dynamic, fatigue and repeated loading. The main objective of this study is to determine the effect of silica fume in slurry infiltrated fibrous concrete on compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength and toughness. Experimental programme was carried out to study the performance of SIFCON containing 10% of fibre content with different percentage of silica fume (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) partially replaced by cement on compressive strength and split tensile strength. From the test results 15% of silica fume showed that optimum value in compression and tension. Compared to all other replacement level and FRC mix. Flexural test of reinforced SIFCON beam specimen of size 1.2 x 0.1 x 0.2 m containing optimum 15% of silica fume with various percentage of fibre content (6%, 8% and 10%) were tested under flexure to enhance the performance of silica fume based slurry infiltrated fibrous concrete. The results showed that SIFCON beam contains 10% fibre content exhibits excellent energy absorption and ductility characteristics among all other SIFCON and FRC specimens.


Notwithstanding the presence of three women on the United States Supreme Court, in terms of gender equality, surprisingly little has changed in the legal profession over the past twenty years. This stagnation is particularly apparent in the highest paying and most prestigious sectors, such as the Supreme Court bar, the top echelons of the top law firms, the judiciary, and the general-counsel's office. Even where objective facts suggest that female lawyers should be hired, billed out, or compensated at the same or higher rate than their male peers, subjective decisions informed, in part, by bias and stereotype drive a different result. This Article proposes that, until we stop indoctrinating law students that a "good lawyer" looks, sounds, and presents like the Classical warrior — that is, a male — these barriers will persist. For many law students, the first place they get to model what it means to look, sound, and act like a lawyer is in moot court or other oral-argument exercises. Especially in light of an overall law-school culture that reinforces the significance of inborn abilities, it is not hard to see how moot court's frequent emphasis on "natural" oral-advocacy talent, and its implicit connection of that talent to traits traditionally associated with men, can influence how students — and later lawyers — develop rigid conceptions of what a good lawyer looks, sounds, and acts like. And continuing to uncritically teach the values of Classical rhetoric — values inherited from a culture that silenced women's voices in the public sphere — exacerbates the problem. This Article explores the dynamics and consequences of reinforcing the male paradigm in the way we coach and judge moot court and other oral-advocacy exercises, highlights some barriers to change, and proposes concrete steps legal educators, practitioners, and judges can take to help change what the voice of authority sounds like in the legal profession.


It is well established that small-scale structures have an important effect on the overall hydrodynamic behaviour of dense and circulating fluidized bed. Due to computational constraints, the numerical simulations of practical applications with Euler-Euler two-phase approach are usually performed with relatively coarse mesh with respect to the local segregation of solid. These simulations cancel out the small-scale solid structures. All previous studied attempted to take into account the effect of unresolved structures on the drag force in the case where the particulate phase is monodisperse. This paper is dedicated to analyse the unresolved structures effects on polydisperse gas-solid flow by multi-fluid Eulerian approach. In this study, the binary mixture is conducted by gas at an ambient condition in a 3D periodic circulating fluidized bed. The aim is first to obtain mesh independent results where further mesh refinement is not necessary. Then these results are used to investigate the unresolved structures effects on resolved field by following a priori methodology. In particular, the role of small-scale structures on the momentum transfer by inter-particle collisions is pointed out.


This paper proposes a grid impedance monitoring system for distributed power generation electronic interfaces and informs the same to authorized person via smart phones using Bluetooth technology. Thus the grid can be monitored remotely using Bluetooth. The system estimates the grid equivalent impedance, voltage source from the voltage measurements and also frequency by using different sensors performed at the point of common coupling. Simultaneously, the system evaluates the quality of the estimation, minimizing its influence on the grid and detecting islanding situations. The proposed system performance has been evaluated under experimental testing.


Sustaining and improving production efficiency of resource poor smallholder farmers under the existing credit constraint conditions require the improvement of access to credit facilities and other factors involved. The study examined the factors influencing credit constraint (CC) and production efficiency of farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data was randomly collected using structured questionnaire from 120 mixed farmers in the study area. Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, probit regression and stochastic frontier analysis. The results shows that 79.2 percent of the respondents were credit constrained and this has negative influence on their production efficiency as credit constrained farming households (CCFH) were found to be less efficient with mean efficiency of 0.721 than unconstrained farming households with 0.913. Age, gender, education, and dependency ratio of farmers are significant variables that influenced credit constraint conditions of the farmers while the maximum likelihood estimate of the production frontier revealed that farm size, labour and quantity of agro-chemical used are positively and significantly related to the production efficiency of farmers. Given the largest proportion of CCFHs among farming population in South-Western Nigerian, this gap implies considerable potential loss in output due to inefficient production. Improving credit access of farming households in general but more particularly the CCFHs is desirable for higher production efficiency.


There are multiple areas in knowledge management research, including an interest in the area of language development from a social networking perspective, but this is often ignored in favor of a strictly structured ontological model. This poster brings together perspectives on the linkage between the social theory of language development and that of ontology development, sketching out an approach that links user contributions, historical data from the candidate domain and information retrieved via automated machine learning and pattern recognition across the candidate domain in an iterative design process . To facilitate evaluation of this model, we describe its use via a case study demonstrating ontology development and evolution across a dataset of e-prints, examining and evaluating how social and contextual backgrounds play into ontological development.


Physicians and family members alike have long been curious about the historical origins of Huntington's disease. Despite the fact that families with "hereditary chorea" were described in medical literature for the first time in the 1840s, most authors agree that the genetic abnormality and most likely the panoply of symptoms we know today as Huntington's disease were present centuries earlier in Europe and the Americas, and probably in other parts of the world as well. Twentieth century medical writers have tried to link modern Huntington's disease with the great European dance epidemics of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries known as St. Vitus's dance or danse de St. Guy. They have cited as possible precedents the descriptions of chorea Sancti Viti by the Renaissance physician Paracelsus of Basel, the witch trials of the 17th century in northern Europe and New England, and the accounts of post-rheumatic chorea in children in the late 17th and 18th centuries, written by the English physician Thomas Sydenham and others. They have


This paper discusses the highlights of the EU-funded "Assimilation of Envisat data" (ASSET) project, which has involved assimilation of Envisat atmospheric constituent and temperature data into systems based on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models and chemical transport models (CTMs). Envisat was launched in 2002 and is one of the largest Earth Observation (EO) satellites ever built. It carries several sophisticated EO instruments providing insights into chemistry and dynamics of the atmosphere. In this paper we focus on the assimilation of temperature and constituents from Envisat. The overarching theme of the ASSET project has been to bring together experts from all aspects of the data assimilation problem. This has allowed ASSET to address several themes comprehensively: enhancement of NWP analyses by assimilation of research satellite data; studies of the distribution of stratospheric chemical species by assimilation of research satellite data into CTM systems; objective assessment of the quality of ozone analyses; studies of the spatial and temporal evolution of tropospheric pollutants; enhanced retrievals of Envisat data; and data archival and dissemination. Among the results from the ASSET project, many of which are firsts in their field, we can mention: a positive impact on NWP analyses from assimilation of height-resolved stratospheric humidity and temperature data, and assimilation of limb radiances; the extraction of temperature information from the assimilation of chemical species into CTMs; a first intercomparison between ozone assimilation systems; the extraction of information on tropospheric pollution from assimilation of Envisat data; and the large potential of the Envisat MIPAS dataset. This paper discusses these, often novel, developments and results. Finally, achievements of, and recommendations from, the ASSET project are presented.


Taking the example of two 1960s popular spy films this paper explores how social semiotics can make a contribution to the analysis of film music. Following other scholars who have sought to create inventories of sound meanings to help us break down the way that music communicates, this paper explores how we can draw on the principles of Hallidayan functional grammar to present an inventory of meaning potentials in sound. This provides one useful way to describe the semiotic resources available to composers to allow them to communicate quite specific ideas, attitudes and identities through combinations of different sounds and sound qualities, by presenting them as systems of meaning rather than as lists of connotations. Here we apply this to the different uses of music and sound in Dr No and The Ipcress Files which allows us to show how we can reveal different ideologies of spying.


Genetically Modified Language Guy Cook 2004-11-04 The GM debate is as much a war of words as of facts. Food and farming are being changed forever yet whether for good or bad is the subject of an increasingly bitter argument. Those promoting GM have mounted an intense campaign, characterising their opponents as terrorists and Luddites, governed by ignorance, irrationality and hysteria. Yet public opinion remains unconvinced and antagonistic. As the argument intensifies and the voices on all sides get louder, Genetically Modified Language cuts through the confusion and controversy to the issues and ideology at the heart of the disagreement. Guy Cook subjects the language of the case for GM to a careful and detailed examination. He looks in turn at the persuasive strategies used by politicians, scientists, the media, biotechnology corporations, and supermarkets, showing how their arguments mix together scientific, commercial, ethical and political criteria, and are seldom as factual and straightforward as they claim. Through analyses of recurrent words and phrases, and of the constant comparisons made with other international issues, he shows how the GM debate has become inseparable from the wider political conflicts of our time. In a final chapter he turns to public reactions to all of the arguments. Throughout this analysis, the campaign for GM is seen as exemplifying disturbing trends in the contemporary use of language for public information. Language which purports to seek clarity and neutrality, and to be a vehicle for informed democratic debate, is in fact achieving the opposite effects: obscuring the issues and manipulating opinion. Written in a clear, accessible style and drawing on illustrative examples, Genetically Modified Language is an insightful look at how language shapes our opinions.


Overview of Genome Wide Association Studies and study designs

The second of a series of seven online lectures for Genome Wide
Association Studies (GWAS) will provide a basic overview on genome-wide
association studies (GWAS). This is timely with the H3Africa genotyping
data becoming available for several of the H3Africa research groups. To
enable genomic research, the H3Africa Consortium had to build some of
its own resources. This has involved sequencing whole genomes from
selected under-represented African populations, analyzing the data to
identify common genetic variation across major groups and developing a
unique GWAS array, enriched for common African variation. The H3Africa
SNP genotyping array, is currently the best-suited array available for
African genome-wide association studies.

What does it take to develop a genome study to understand genetic and
 environmental contributions to complex disease traits? This GWAS
lecture will cover the research process from protocol development to
data quality control and GWAS analysis approaches. It will include the
two main study designs:Case : control (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease)Continuous trait (e.g. LDL-Cholesterol, body mass index, height) GWAS.

I will discuss the basic building blocks of a GWAS study, the
different study designs, power of a study to detect genetic association
(based in sample size, allele frequency and expected effect size), and
replication studies. The advantages and disadvantages of doing GWAS in
African populations will be discussed.


A new international climate agreement for the post 2020 period is scheduled to be adopted at the 2015 Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The most likely outcome is a hybrid system combining "bottom-up" and "top-down" aspects. The future climate regime is taking shape as a patchwork of different policies, including market-based mechanisms (such as emissions trading, carbon taxes, credit systems) as well as traditional command-and-control instruments. In this fragmented scenario, carbon markets are sprouting. As the establishment of an international carbon market appears implausible, linkage between carbon pricing systems has come to the fore as a key tool for ensuring a cost-effective and environmentally meaningful strategy.
Market-based mechanisms were experimented for the first time in the US, became a fundamental component of the international climate regime through the Kyoto Protocol flexibility mechanisms, are a cornerstone of EU climate policies and are at the core of many sub-federal initiatives in the US. A transnational linkage between the EU and US carbon markets could act as a catalyst for the development of a robust interlinked international system.
Existing legal literature on emissions trading tends to overlook the legal issues that arise from the complex regulatory structures that create carbon markets. The methodology employed in the present paper is based on the idea that emissions trading schemes can only be understood against the background of the legal context in which they operate. In light of this, this work analyses and compares the regulatory structures of EU and US emissions trading schemes in light of the respective legal orders, considers interactions between these systems and international law and suggests avenues for further research.
Section 1 sets the stage for this analysis, discussing the theoretical foundations and the first applications of market-based environmental regulation, as well as the Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanisms. Section 2 focuses on the EU ETS, devoting attention in particular to the evolution of the system and to the question of competence allocation. Section 3 gives an overview of the current emissions trading systems in the US and highlights some legal issues, with a particular focus on the constitutionality of linkages between sub-federal entities and foreign systems. Section 4 compares EU and US approaches to climate change strategies, with a reflection on their roles in the global scenario.


There is a vast amount of existing literature that has empirically scrutinized whether or not community water projects have the ability to mitigate diarrheal disease. A strong and persistent belief thinks that community water projects do have the means, however, over the decades empirical work commonly finds this to simply not be true. This study expands the research question to the Solomon Islands. The research tests the hypothesis using a differences-indifferences identification strategy by utilizing the government's staggered timing rollout of community water subprojects with whether or not a village received a community water subproject to test for a program effect. The research does not, however, find a statistically significant RDP water subproject effect on child diarrhea. Instead rather only a statistically significant correlation can be suggested. Alternatively, the research then explores plausible outcomes that could have also been affected by RDP water subprojects that are correlated and controlled for in the child diarrhea model to try and gain traction on explaining the non-effect child diarrhea results. The analysis on the sub-outcomes also concludes little significant effects. The results find suggest that households living in villages that received a water subproject are 27 percent more likely to consume water from an improved water source in the dry season, and that the time to fetch water could have been cut by nearly half. Although the results suggest that RDP water subprojects affected these two outcomes the analysis overall struggles to find statistical significance to be able to identify changes and determinants of child diarrhea.


Purpose: This article highlights the complexity of accountability issues associated with one charter school from the charter application process, operation, and functioning of the external mechanism and the internal mechanism to hold the charter school accountable, closure of the school, and consequences of the charter school's closure on its constituents. Research Design: Utilizing retrospective case study design, 11 interviews from 6 participants, school documents, school district data, court proceedings, and newspaper accounts reconstruct the narrative of one charter school from its inception to closure and its community's lived experience. Findings: In this case study, a charter school board's quality of governance played a significant role in a charter school's success or failure. Charter school board, charter school leadership, and local school authorizer played important roles in the school's closing. Charter school authorizers, charter school boards, and charter school leaders are accountable and responsible actors in a charter school's functioning, and negligence in fulfilling these roles can lead to a school's closing. Teachers' complaints are signals of a school in distress. According to teachers and parents, the school's closure had a devastating impact on the students, teachers, and parents. Conclusions: The dual governance mechanism of charter schools can work if the charter school board, charter school leaders, and authorizers fulfill their governance roles. However, the theory does not account for human behavior in policy implementation. Charter school governing boards are well positioned to ensure accountability for individual charter schools. Charter school authorizers need to establish clear guidelines on board selection and membership.


Failure detectors are fundamental building blocks in distributed systems. Multi-node failure detectors, where the detector is tasked with monitoring N other nodes, play a critical role in overlay networks and peer-to-peer systems. In such networks, failures need to be detected quickly and with low overhead. Achieving these properties simultaneously poses a difficult tradeoff between detection latency and resource consumption. In this paper, we examine this central tradeoff, formalize it as an optimization problem and analytically derive the optimal closed form formulas for multi-node failure detectors. We provide two variants of the optimal solution for optimality metrics appropriate for two different deployment scenarios. The latency-minimizing failure detector (LM-OFD) achieves the lowest average failure detection latency given a fixed bandwidth constraint for system maintenance. The bandwidth-minimizing failure detector (BM-OFD) will meet a desired detection latency target with the least amount of bandwidth consumed. We evaluate our optimal results with node lifetimes chosen from bimodal and power-law distributions, as well as real-world trace data from PlanetLab hosts that spans five months. Compared to standard failure detectors in wide use, our approach reduces failure detection latencies by 40% on average for the same bandwidth consumption, or conversely, reduce the amount of bandwidth consumed by 30% for the same failure detection latency.


The thesis explores the learning experiences of East Asian masters students in dealing with Western academic norms of critical thinking and evaluation in classroom debate and
assignment writing. This is a relatively new area of research, which is becoming increasingly important as the numbers of international postgraduate students in the U. K. continue to grow. Previous research has shown that differences in expectations have resulted in misunderstanding and some confusion for both lecturers and students. However, little research has yet been done in the U. K. on the process of adjustment during this learning
experience. A grounded theory, case study approach is followed, as one of the aims is for students to tell
their own stories, and for theoretical concepts to be developed which reflect the perceptions and interpretations of the students. Sixty seven in-depth interviews were conducted with East Asian students across three case sites: two universities in the U. K. and a third university in
China. Eleven British lecturers, five Chinese lecturers and six British students were also interviewed, for triangulation purposes. Although there is no claim to generalisation, the potential for transferability of the findings is increased by also including a vignette
questionnaire, involving a further 268 students across the three sites. The thesis takes a cultural approach, and a theoretical model is developed which identifies five learning stages, with various entry and exit routes. The data suggest that the majority of East Asian students reject full academic acculturation into Western norms of argumentation, which is characterised by rigorous, `strong' critical thinking, polarised, linear logic, and `wrestling debate'. Instead, many of them opt for a `Middle Way', which synthesises those elements of Western academic norms that are perceived to be culturally acceptable, with the
traditional cultural academic values held by many East Asian students. The Middle Way emphasises a more holistic, empathetic `constructive reasoning', which bridges U. K. and
East Asian traditions of academic argumentation and debate.
The thesis offers a significant contribution to conventional literature on the academic experiences of East Asian masters students, as it draws attention to the complexity of the adaptation process.


This article analyses the early years of the operation of copyright legislation in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The Copyright Act 1869 (Vic) was introduced into a thriving but volatile colonial literary marketplace. The law was based almost wholly on the UK law at the time, existing in a very different environment. This article notes that despite the rhetoric of the protection of the right of authors as an aim of the law, the effect was something quite different. We examine the use of copyright by some key players in that colonial market, both publishers and authors. That analysis reveals that the prophetic words of George Higinbotham, that the law was not for the protection of the author, but the publisher, can be demonstrated to be true. This is evident both in the implementation of the law itself and in a number of inconsistencies in its operation. We conclude that, despite public and parliamentary rhetoric drawing on the romantic conception of the author as creator, the law's conception of the author as proprietor offered little protection to local Australian authors writing new literature for a new country.


Background: Inhibition of the Na,K-ATPase by ouabain results in decreased intraocular pressure (IOP), by mechanisms that are not completely understood. Cellular mechanisms that regulate aqueous humour outflow through the trabecular meshwork (TM) include changes in the TM cytoskeleton. Because inhibition of the Na,K-ATPase by ouabain alters the cell's cytoskeleton, the role of the ouabain in regulating aqueous humour outflow and TM cytoskeleton was investigated. Method: Porcine anterior eye segment and low-passage porcine TM cells were used. Outflow facility was measured using perfused anterior eye segment organ culture. Changes in TM cytoskeleton were assessed by rhodamine-phalloidin and anti-paxillin antibody staining and imaged with confocal microscopy. Results: Ouabain (30 nM to 300 μM) increased outflow facility in perfused eye anterior segments. The time course for ouabain-induced changes in outflow facility correlated with morphological changes in the cytoskeleton of TM cells exposed to ouabain (30 nM to 300 μM). Morphological changes in TM cells include changes in actin filaments and focal adhesions. Conclusions: These data suggest that ouabain, at non-toxic concentrations, increases aqueous humour outflow facility possibly by altering the TM cell cytoskeleton.


Due to recent advances, constraint solvers have become efficient tools for synthesizing optimum Boolean circuits. We take advantage of this by showing how SAT based exact synthesis may be used as a method for finding minimum length Boolean chains. As opposed to other exact synthesis methods, ours may be easily parallelized, which we use to obtain a speedup of approximately 48 times. By combining our method with NPN canonization, we find for the first time the minimum length chains for all 4- and 5-input functions in terms of 3-input Boolean operators. Finally, we propose a hardware acceleration method for NPN canonization. It can be used to speed up NPN canonization in existing algorithms, and we believe it will allow us to find all 6-input NPN classes as well.


The rainwater retention and peak flow reduction effect of seven extensive green roof (EGR) modules were studied in Beijing under natural rainfall events from May to September 2015. Monitored EGR modules had a layer of vegetation widely planted in northern China and a substrate layer with a thickness of 20 or 50 or 100 mm. The EGRs effectively retained rainwater, and regression equations of the potential retention capacity as a function of rainfall depth were developed for five EGR modules, which show that generally the capacity decreased as rainfall depth increased. The EGR with Sedum lineare Thunb and 100 mm improved soil had relatively higher average retention capacity (61.8%) than others, but all EGR modules had similar retention for an extraordinary rainfall event of 114.4 mm. For rainfall events less than 15 mm, EGR modules had 100% rainfall retention most of the time. The reduction in peak runoff rate ranged from 30.8% to 85.4%. The EGRs with Sedum lineare Thunb using 20 mm improved soil and 50 mm either pastoral soil or ultra-low weight substrates have similar peak reduction (51.3–58.2%). The EGRs with Sedum lineare Thunb have better rainfall retention and peak reduction than EGRs with Angiospermae or Sedum aizoon L.


Abstract Hobbseus yalobushensis, the Yalobusha rivulet crayfish, is a species of conservation concern because it is known from only six localities in parts of three central Mississippi counties. No studies have focused on the species since its description in 1989. Our objectives were to: (1) identify additional H. yalobushensis localities within a landscape managed intensively for loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) production, (2) relate stream size, water quality variables, and flow permanence to species presence or density, (3) characterize the aquatic community in relation to H. yalobushensis, (4) better define elements of the species' life history, and (5) compile unpublished H. yalobushensis localities from post-1989 collection records. During February and March 2011–2013, we made 56 samples in 24 reaches of 16 streams in Calhoun County, Mississippi. We documented captured crayfishes, fishes, and amphibians and measured habitat and water quality variables. Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE, number per 100 s electrofished) of H. yalobushensis was significantly higher in intermittent than perennial stream reaches. Predatory fishes were the best indicator of H. yalobushensis absence, and the CPUE of all fishes had the strongest negative correlations with H. yalobushensis CPUE. Hobbseus yalobushensis CPUE was also negatively correlated with that of three other crayfishes. At least three age classes were evident based on length-frequency charts. Hobbseus yalobushensis has persisted in a landscape of intensively managed loblolly pine where streamside management zones were maintained according to Mississippi forestry best management practices. Future research needs include: evaluating the species' persistence under other land management practices (e.g., row crop agriculture); examining whether predatory fishes and other crayfishes influence the species' distribution; extending sampling to additional intermittent streams to clarify the species' range and distribution; and monitoring long-term population trends.


Background The identification of new complementary diagnostic markers to RF and anti-CCP is a clinical imperative since a substantial proportion of patients are seronegative, especially in early disease when access to prompt, effective therapy can significantly improve patient outcomes. We have reported that one such marker, serum 14-3-3eta, increases the diagnostic sensitivity of RF and anti-CCP by 20-30%. Since 14-3-3eta is normally intracellular and is externalized through mechanisms related to the pathophysiology of RA, this may lead to a specific 14-3-3eta auto-antibody response. Objectives We examined 1) whether 14-3-3eta auto-antibodies have diagnostic utility for RA 2) if 14-3-3eta represents a novel citrullination target and 3) whether auto-antibodies to the native (anti-14-3-3eta) and citrullinated (anti-cit-14-3-3eta) forms, alone or in combination, identify anti-CCP -ve RA patients. Methods In silico modeling and epitope mapping were performed to identify putative 14-3-3eta auto-antibody immunogenic and citrullination sites. To develop a specific auto-antibody assay to native 14-3-3eta, 11 sites were used for screening in 30 healthy and 58 RA patients with a rheumatologist-confirmed diagnosis (28 anti-CCP +ve and 30 -ve). A composite score was generated for complementary peptides with specificity set at 100% for RA with sensitivities ranging from 34-62%. To develop a specific anti-cit 14-3-3eta assay, full-length recombinant human 14-3-3eta was enzymatically citrullinated (cit) with purified peptidylarginine deiminase. Reactivity to both cit and non-cit-14-3-3eta was measured in 30 anti-CCP -ve RA patients and 30 anti-CCP -ve healthy controls to evaluate their differential expression. Mean and median fluorescence intensity [1 MFI = 1 unit (U)] was determined and corresponding t-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to examine differences within and between groups. Diagnostic utility was assessed by area under the ROC curve (AUC) and likelihood ratios (LR) were determined for optimal cut-offs of anti-14-3-3eta and anti-cit-14-3-3eta. The expression of these two markers alone and together in anti-CCP -ve RA patients was assessed. Results Median anti-14-3-3eta and anti-cit-14-3-3eta autoantibody expression was higher in RA patients (681U and 306U) versus healthy controls (371U and 100U), respectively; p<0.0001. Means were also significantly higher (p<0.001). ROC analysis for anti-14-3-3eta and anti-cit-14-3-3eta versus healthy controls gave an AUC of 0.93 (95% CI 0.88-0.98; p<0.0001) and 0.79 (95% CI 0.68-0.91; p<0.0001), respectively. For anti-14-3-3eta, the best cut-off of 476U had specificity and sensitivity of 90% and 80%, respectively, with a LR+ of 7.9 and LR- of 0.22. For anti-cit-14-3-3eta, the optimal cut-off of 320U had specificity and sensitivity of 90% and 50%, respectively, with a LR+ of 5 and LR- of 0.56. At these cut-offs, anti-14-3-3eta and anti-cit-14-3-3eta together identify 83% of anti-CCP -ve RA patient. Conclusions Auto-antibodies to 14-3-3eta are differentially expressed in RA patients versus healthy controls. 14-3-3eta is also a novel citrullination target and auto-antibodies to its native and citrullinated forms combine to capture a substantial portion of anti-CCP negative RA patients. Disclosure of Interest W. Maksymowych: None Declared, V. Bykerk: None Declared, D. van der Heijde: None Declared, R. Landewé: None Declared, M. Murphy: None Declared, A. Marotta Employee of: Augurex Life Sciences Corp


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequent and aggressive neoplasms. It is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States and is a significant overall health problem. Tumor markers are substances synthesized and excreted by tumor tissues that can be detected in abnormal concentrations in serum, urine, and other body fluids. Two such markers, Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), are useful in the diagnosis, prognosis and management of colorectal carcinoma. This study attempted to evaluate the clinical and prognostic value of the two markers using forty patients with CRC and ten healthy persons as a control group. All patients with CRC showed highly significant increases in CEA and CA-19-9 compared to the control group (p < 0.001), and there was a highly significant increase in the level of CEA in more advanced tumor stages, (p < 0.01). Regression analysis showed a significant correlation between CEA and CA-19-9 (p < 0.05; r = 0.35) and significant increases in CEA in rectal tumors compared to those located in the colon; in males compared to females (p < 0.05); and also a highly significant increase in patients over 60 years of age (p < 0.01) but no relation between CA 19-9 level and age, sex, and site of tumor. These data suggest that serum levels of CEA and CA-19-9 can be clinically useful in the diagnosis and staging of colorectal carcinoma.


Background: Partners of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) have first-hand knowledge relevant to the management of the person with Parkinson's (PwP). If captured, this knowledge may improve effective care for the PwP. However, there is a lack of research focusing primarily on partners' experiences of engagement with health professionals working in PD (HPPs). Methods: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to investigate the meaning of partners' experiences of engagement with HPPs. Semi-structured interviews with 15 partners of PwP provided primary data. Each interview was digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed for emerging themes. Results: Three themes emerged: (i) partners' lack of entitlement for their own needs to be met; (ii) submersion of self in the partnership and (iii) health professionals as agents of support. Additionally, sub-themes were identified, such as barriers to feeling entitled, setting up a premise for entitlement, and lost identity. Together, these themes highlight the current lack of focus on the partners of PwP. A process model was developed to describe partners' cyclic progression through the various stages of their experience, and in the process, identifying initiatives for intervention. Conclusion: Given a lack of focus on the needs of partners of PwP, these preliminary insights could inform the delivery of improved services that support partners. This will ultimately benefit the PwP.


A systematic study was carried out in order to investigate the effect of bismuth concentration, precipitating agent concentration, and type of precipitating agent on the microstructural properties of Bi2O3. The formation and properties of the precursors and Bi2O3 were monitored by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and temperature programmed reduction of hydrogen (H2-TPR). Monoclinic β-phase Bi2O3 was precipitated as a single phase in high purity form directly from synthetic route. Upon heat treatment, the morphology shows non-agglomerated small needles in size between 10.8 and 30.5 µm. This was obtained when using NaOH as precipitating agent. Whereas, tetragonal β-phase Bi2O3 was obtained when using NH3 solution as precipitating agent. Nevertheless, this was only successful when using low concentration of bismuth, i.e. 0.1 M, because above that β-phase transformed into β-phase. Metastable β-phase was achieved through multiphase precursors, which upon calcinations at 723 K managed to eliminate all of the unwanted species. From SEM images β-phase Bi2O3 was revealed as plate like particles organised into rosette clusters.
The surface area measurement indicated that NH3 solution series of samples give higher value than NaOH series of samples. These values which in accordance to the materials particle size that have an influence on reduction activity. Higher reducing reactivity was displayed by NH3 solution samples due to smaller particle size which activity as an induction factor. Total amount of oxygen removed are about the same in all samples with more than a monolayer oxygen has been removed. Thus, with high reduction activity suggested that the oxygen may originate from sublattice or lattice of the oxide.


Around 5000 deaths and more than 8300 injuries are attributed to Thailand's ongoing "southern fire" (fai tai). A range of explanations for this violence in the southernmost provinces of Thailand have been offered by academics, journalists and other analysts. Terrorism, insurgency and gangsterism have all been introduced as labels for components of the violence. This article is motivated by the need to re-examine the empirical foundations of these explanations. We focus on two case study districts that illustrate some of the key trends, ambiguities and inconsistencies. We are particularly concerned to illuminate interactions between criminal violence, violence generated by personal disputes, and violence motivated by retribution. Based on the available evidence, our estimation is that a relatively modest proportion of the violence in Thailand's deep south over the past ten years can be directly linked to insurgent or terrorist activities. To conclude, we pose challenging questions about the nature of criminality, insurgency and politics not just in Thailand's deep south but in the country as a whole.


This thesis explores responses to the cultural construction in the developing identity of the English Lakes from 1735 to 1845, through studies of three landowners. The principal focus is Derwentwater. The Greenwich Hospital held estates from 1735 to 1832, Lord William Gordon from 1781 to 1823, and John Marshall of Leeds, the flax spinner, from 1810 and 1845. The study classifies the identity of the English Lakes and its inhabitants with Regions of Romance, as a territory increasingly occupied by the romantic antithesis of the dominant thesis within the modern age. The cultural identity of the English Lakes is considered as a construction of Throsby's cultural values, established through discourse and overlaid upon economic values. This anthropological approach to culture recognises both aesthetic and social cultural assets. The acquisition, management and disposal of landowners estates are examined to evidence the materialisation of cultural values, whether through the agency of discourse, the influence of others, or personal experience. During the eighteenth century the Hospital responded to criticism minimally, by planting the Derwentwater shore. Lord William Gordon responded strongly to discourse by creating a picturesque park which demonstrated his taste and values, and by completing the picturesque occupation of Derwentwater by 1787. Wordsworth influenced the choice and management of John Marshall's extensive estates from 1811, providing an early materialisation of the principles in Wordsworth's Guide. In the early nineteenth century the Hospital protected their Keswick woods, before selling the estate in 1832 at auction to John Marshall at a low price. The study demonstrates a significant and growing intervention by these landowners to materialise aesthetic cultural value, but with little response to social cultural values, though cultural landscape was preserved. An early private path of intervention in the English Lakes is demonstrated, which feeds into the later and better known public path.


Cardiovascular diseases continue to be the first cause of death in Brazil -- responsible for almost 32% of all deaths. In addition, they are the third major cause of admission in the country. Among them, acute myocardial infarction is still one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality. Despite of the last decade's therapeutic advances, acute myocardial infarction still shows remarkable rates of mortality, and great part of the patients do not receive the adequate treatment. The opening of the Coronary Care Units and the introduction of reperfusion treatment with fibrinolytics or primary angioplasty were fundamental to reduce mortality and complications related to myocardial infarction. Important beneficial effects to the current treatment include less ventricular dysfunction and better control of ventricular arrhythmias. The need of early reperfusion is crucial for the good prognosis after a myocardial infarction. The objective of this review is to emphasize the modern basic concepts of the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of acute myocardial infarction, according to national and international guidelines.