Background We sought to examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and incidence of type 2 diabetes considering the follow-up period in a cohort of Japanese men with a maximum follow-up period of 23 years. Methods This study enrolled 7,804 male workers free of diabetes in 1986. CRF was measured using a cycle ergometer, and maximal oxygen uptake was estimated. During 1986–2009, participants were followed for development of type 2 diabetes, which was diagnosed using fasting blood tests, self-administered questionnaires, or oral glucose tolerance tests after urinary tests from annual health checkups. Hazard ratios for the incidence of type 2 diabetes were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results During the follow-up period, 1,047 men developed type 2 diabetes. In analyses by follow-up periods (1986–1993, 1994–2001, and 2002–2009), there was an inverse dose-response relationship between CRF and the development of type 2 diabetes for all three follow-up periods (P for trend 0.019, <0.001, and 0.001, respectively), and the association between CRF at baseline and the incidence of type 2 diabetes did not weaken with longer follow-up period. Compared with the lowest CRF group, hazard ratios of developing type 2 diabetes were 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49–0.97) for the highest CRF group in 1986–1993, 0.57 (95% CI, 0.42–0.79) for the highest CRF in 1994–2001, and 0.47 (95% CI, 0.30–0.74) for the highest CRF in 2002–2009. Conclusion High CRF is associated with a lower risk of the incidence of type 2 diabetes over an extended period of >20 years among men.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the long-term efficacy of both fear-inducing arguments and HIV counseling and testing at encouraging and maintaining knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention, as well as condom use.

DESIGN
Analyses were conducted with a sample of 150 treatment groups and 34 controls and included measures of change at an immediate follow-up and a delayed follow-up.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The main outcome measures were perceived risk of HIV infection, knowledge about HIV, and condom use.

RESULTS
Results indicated that receiving fear-inducing arguments increased perceptions of risk at the immediate follow-up but decreased knowledge and condom use, whereas resolving fear via HIV counseling and testing decreased perceptions of risk and increased knowledge and condom use at both the immediate and delayed follow-ups. The effects on perceived risk [corrected] decreased over time, but the effects on knowledge [corrected] condom use became more pronounced.

CONCLUSION
Inducing fear is not an effective way to promote HIV-relevant learning or condom use either immediately following the intervention or later on. However, HIV counseling and testing can provide an outlet for HIV-related anxiety and, subsequently, gains in both knowledge and behavior change immediately and longitudinally.


Natural goethite, hematite and siderite were analysed with 57Fe Mossbauer, XRD and FT-IR. FE SEM images of samples were also taken. The Mossbauer spectra of limonite (α-FeOOH · nH2O) from Budapest (Hungary), Ljubija (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Korcё (Albania) showed the same type of spectrum, indicating low crystallinity and broad particle size distribution. All goethite particles from these three locations were one-dimensional (1D), but with different nano/microstructures. A very early precursor of limonite from Budapest and Ljubija locations was assigned to FeS2 (pyrite and/or marcasite) which oxidised upon ventilation (oxygenation) under hydrogeothermal conditions, thus producing FeSO4 and Fe2(SO4)3. In the next step limonite deposits were formed. The similarity between this limonite formation under hydrogeothermal conditions and the chemical precipitation of goethite from FeSO4 or Fe2(SO4)3 solutions at laboratory level was briefly discussed. The deposition of lateritic goethite at the Korce location is presumed to be due to the chemical weathering (tropical conditions) of ultramafic rocks. Under the same conditions and a proper pH the transformation of goethite to hematite is possible. Alternatively, the oxidation of Fe2+ in magnetite and its transformation to hematite via maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) as an intermediate could have taken place. The Mossbauer spectrum of siderite from the Ljubija location showed a quadrupole doublet with asymmetric spectral lines. This asymmetry could be assigned to the Goldanskii-Karyagin effect, however, the contribution of the crystallite texture to this asymmetry cannot be excluded. Hematite and a small fraction of siderite at the Vares location (Bosnia-Herzegovina) are of metasomatic origin deposited in limestone that now form a series of greatly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. Hematite particles were deposited in the form of laminates (2D).


A thick succession of early Lower Old Red Sandstone (ORS) conglomerates and subordinate sandstones are preserved in a small fault-bounded basin in the NE Midland Valley of Scotland. The conglomerates associated with the northern margin of this basin are distinguished by a complex provenance which involved both reworking of existing gravels and addition of contemporary volcanic and plutonic detritus. This may explain their characteristic bimodal texture. Deposition was in large, probably permanent, low sinuosity channels with evidence for both periods of uniform high stage flow and repeated flow stage fluctuations. Variable palaeoflows in the basal part of the succession suggest deposition on wet-type alluvial fans supplied by feeder channels with a high sediment and water discharge. The thickness of the succession, the poorly developed cyclothems (despite active syndepositional faulting), evidence for rapid aggradation, and the inferred scale of channel bars and coarsening-upward units produced by bar migration suggest the basin may have been externally drained. Transverse antecedent streams are invoked to account for the structure of alluvium. During the early Devonian, central Scotland lay close to the boundary between regions suffering Scandian orthogonal shortening and Acadian strike-slip shear. The tectonic controls which governed the preservation of early Lower ORS sediments may have been largely uncoupled from those determining the supply and dispersal of the sediment.


The current situation at Wollongong University regarding the phototypesetting of documents has two main inadequacies. Firstly the average time between the submission of a job and the receipt of a finished document is probably greater than a week. This is an unacceptably long time if one or more error correcting stages is required before an accurate document is produced. Secondly the cost of phototypesetting is high currently sixty cents per (A4) page. The correction of errors can therefore be expensive as well as time consuming. A solution to these problems would be an easy method for accurately previewing output before it is submitted for setting. The graphics facilities required for such a previewer are provided by t~e I.C.L. Perq computer. This document gives the specifications of a phototypesetter previewer designed to run on the Perq.


We report spectroscopic and photometric observations of the Type IIb SN 2011dh obtained between 4 and 34 days after the estimated date of explosion (May 31.5 UT). The data cover a wide wavelength range from 2000 Å in the ultraviolet (UV) to 2.4 μm in the near-infrared (NIR). Optical spectra provide line profiles and velocity measurements of H i, He i, Ca ii, and Fe ii that trace the composition and kinematics of the supernova (SN). NIR spectra show that helium is present in the atmosphere as early as 11 days after the explosion. A UV spectrum obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph reveals that the UV flux for SN 2011dh is low compared to other SN IIb. Modeling the spectrum with SYNOW suggests that the UV deficit is due to line blanketing from Ti ii and Co ii. The H i and He i velocities in SN 2011dh are separated by about 4000 km s−1 at all phases. A velocity gap is consistent with models for a preexplosion structure in which a hydrogen-rich shell surrounds the progenitor. We estimate that the H shell of SN 2011dh is ≈8 times less massive than the shell of SN 1993J and ≈3 times more massive than the shell of SN 2008ax. Light curves (LCs) for 12 passbands are presented: UVW2, UVM2, UVW1, U, u′, B, V, r′, i′, J, H, and Ks. In the B band, SN 2011dh reached peak brightness of 13.17 mag at 20.0 ± 0.5 after the explosion. The maximum bolometric luminosity of 1.8 ± 0.2 × 1042 erg s−1 occurred ≈22 days after the explosion. NIR emission provides more than 30% of the total bolometric flux at the beginning of our observations, and the NIR contribution increases to nearly 50% of the total by day 34. The UV produces 16% of the total flux on day 4, 5% on day 9, and 1% on day 34. We compare the bolometric LCs of SN 2011dh, SN 2008ax, and SN 1993J. The LC are very different for the first 12 days after the explosions, but all three SN IIb display similar peak luminosities, times of peak, decline rates, and colors after maximum. This suggests that the progenitors of these SN IIb may have had similar compositions and masses, but they exploded inside hydrogen shells that have a wide range of masses. SN 2011dh was well observed, and a likely progenitor star has been identified in preexplosion images. The detailed observations presented here will help evaluate theoretical models for this SN and lead to a better understanding of SN IIb.


ABSTRACT This study considers a production cell consisting of two machines and a material handling robot. The robot has a buffer space that moves with it. Identical parts are to be produced repetitively in this flowshop environment. The problem is to determine the cyclic schedule of the robot moves that maximizes the throughput rate. After developing the necessary framework to analyze such cells, we separately consider the single-, double-, and infinite-capacity buffer cases. For single- and double-capacity cases, consistent with the literature, we consider one-unit cycles that produce a single part in one repetition. We compare these cycles with each other and determine the set of undominated cycles. For the single-capacity case, we determine the parameter regions where each cycle is optimal, whereas for the double-capacity case, we determine efficient cycles and their worst-case performance bounds. For the infinite-capacity buffer case, we define a new class of cycles that better utilizes the benefits of the buffer space. We derive all such cycles and determine the set of undominated ones.We perform a computational study where we investigate the benefits of robots with a buffer space and the effects of the size of the buffer space on the performance. We compare the performances of self-buffered robots, dual-gripper robots, and robots with swap ability.


This paper investigates sentiment in the online conversation about the Ukrainian Euromaidan protests across a range of English- and Russian-language social and traditional media sources. Results from this exploratory research show more support for the Euromaidan protests in Russian-language sources, including among sources and users based in Russia, than originally expected. Sentiment in English-language sources, including those located in the United States and United Kingdom, is more negative than anticipated given the rhetorical support among western governments for the Euromaidan protests. However, social media content in Ukraine, the US, and the UK is more positive than traditional media outlets in those countries.


In one of the works previously reported by our research team [J. Fluor. Chem. 128 (2007)], we used a DFT-B3LYP method in order to study the structural and electronic properties of the oligomers including the dimer, trimer, and tetramer of fluoromethylpyrroles (FMPs), NC4H4-CX3 (where - CX3 stands for -CH2F, -CHF2 and -CF3), and their radical cations. In the work mentioned above, FMPs were proposed as candidate monomers for conducting polymers with modified characteristics compared to polypyrrole and polymethylpyrrole. In the present work, the method mentioned above is applied to predict the vibrational frequencies and NMR properties of FMPs and their corresponding oligomers. The optimized structural parameters of these compounds are used in the vibrational spectra and chemical shift calculations. Analysis of the vibrational frequencies and NMR chemical shifts for the mono-, di-, tri-, and tetramer of FMPs supports their structural and electronic properties. The results obtained from the computational studies carried out confirm that selectivity of the configuration of FMP oligomers in the polymerization process ismost affected by characteristics of the CX3-substitutedmonomer ring. The chemical shift data obtained show that the nucleation of FMP monomers occurs most probably at the a'-position, far away from the group substituted on themonomer ring, while growth of the corresponding oligomers progresses more from the a–position of the oligomer chain, close to the substitution position. Also the results obtained from the spectroscopic studies carried out show that FMP oligomers consist of Py-CF3 compared with other FMP monomers, and that they have the most potential for electropolymerization.


Ninety-eight percent of all U.S. government communications travel over civilian-owned-and-operated networks. Additionally, the government relies almost completely on civilian providers for computer software and hardware products, services, and maintenance. This near-complete intermixing of civilian and military computer infrastructure makes many of those civilian objects and providers legitimate targets under the law of armed conflict. Other civilian networks, services, and communications may suffer collateral damage from legitimate attacks on government targets. To protect those civilian objects and providers from the effects of attacks, the law of armed conflict requires a state to segregate its military assets from the civilian population and civilian objects to the maximum extent feasible. Where segregation is not feasible, the government must protect the civilian entities and communications from the effects of attacks. The current integration of U.S. government assets with civilian systems makes segregation impossible and therefore creates a responsibility for the United States to protect those civilian networks, services, and communications. The U.S. government is already taking some steps in that direction, as illustrated by a number of plans and policies initiated over the past decade. However, the current actions do not go far enough. This Article identifies six vital actions the government must take to comply with the law of armed conflict and to ensure not only the survivability of military communication capabilities during times of armed conflict, but also the protection of the civilian populace and civilian objects.


Eusebius of Caesarea, ca. 260340 CE, born in Palestine, was a student of the presbyter Pamphilus whom he loyally supported during Diocletian's persecution. He was himself imprisoned in Egypt, but became Bishop of Caesarea about 314. At the Council of Nicaea in 325 he sat by the emperor, led a party of moderates, and made the first draft of the famous creed. Of Eusebius's many learned publications we have "Martyrs of Palestine" and "Life of Constantine;" several apologetic and polemic works; parts of his commentaries on the Psalms and Isaiah; and the Chronographia, known chiefly in Armenian and Syriac versions of the original Greek. But Eusebius's chief fame rests on the "History of the Christian Church" in ten books published in 324325, the most important ecclesiastical history of ancient times, a great treasury of knowledge about the early Church.


Talent identification (TID) is a pertinent component of the sports science discipline given the considerable influence it may have within the pursuit of excellence. Thus, research has attempted to identify the determinants of a talented performance through the use of objective testing procedures. However, many of these 'traditional' approaches have been operationalised by mono-dimensional objective physical performance tests that do not inherently account for the multi-dimensional requisites of game-play, particularly within a team sporting context. This is problematic when attempting to identify talent, as a successful performance in team sports is often the combination of physical, technical and tactical elements. For example, a physically inferior junior may still succeed against their physically superior counterparts given additional technical and tactical skills; commonly referred to as a compensation phenomenon. Hence, forecasting longitudinal performance based upon one element of effective play (e.g. physical) will likely lead to an unsubstantiated and biased identification.

Despite the aforementioned, TID practices in junior Australian football (AF) are predominately facilitated by physically biased objective performance tests. Given the combative nature of game-play, physicality is an important attribute, but solely basing identification and selection on isolated physical attributes can be misleading given the previously mentioned compensation phenomenon. This mono-dimensionality is somewhat expected as to date there is a scarcity of objective tests measuring the multidimensional characteristics of AF game-play. Thus, through the consolidation of a number of theoretical concepts and recommendations proposed within the literature, this thesis aimed to develop a multi-dimensional objective approach to TID in junior AF, and in doing so, identify the determinants of a talented performance.

To address this aim, objective physical, technical and tactical measurements were taken on both talent identified and non-talent identified junior AF players through the use of representative performance tests. Indeed, this reflected the first stage of the Expert Performance Approach (Ericsson & Williams, 1991; Williams & Ericsson, 2005) and the Model of a Skilful Player (Launder, 2001). Throughout each research study, talent identified players were defined through participation within the West Australian Football League (WAFL) State Under 18 (U18) Academy (an elite talent development program), whilst non-talent identified players were randomly chosen from the remaining cohort of WAFL U18 players not participating in the State Academy program. Thus, a cross-sectional observational research design was employed for each experimental procedure used throughout this thesis. It is of note that the first three studies utilised players from the 2013 sample, whilst the fourth research study utilised players from the 2014 sample.

In the first of four research studies, a range of sport specific physical characteristics were found to differ between talent identified and non-talent identified junior AF players. However, a binary logistic regression model indicated that it was the measurements of standing height, lower body power and maximal aerobic capacity that provided the greatest prediction of talent, and thus important physical determinants of talent in AF at an U18 level.

The second study investigated if measurements of technical skill could be used to accurately identify talent in junior AF. Despite the range of technical skills required in AF, the two modes of ball disposal (kicking and handballing) have been deemed critical for success based upon recent research (Parrington, Ball, MacMahon, 2013; Sullivan et al., 2014). Consequently, two representative skill tests were described; the Australian Football Kicking (AFK) test and the Australian Football Handballing (AFHB) test. Results indicated that the majority of the talent identified players possessed superior ball disposal skills in comparison to their non-talent identified counterparts. Specifically, measures of accuracy and ball speed on both the dominant and non-dominant sides reflected the strongest prediction of talent for the AFK test, and measures of accuracy on both dominant and non-dominant sides reflected the strongest prediction of talent for the AFHB test. These results reinforced the construct of each test, and highlighted their effectiveness for use as an objective TID tool in AF.

Research had yet to investigate if decision-making skill was predictive of talent in junior AF despite its suggested importance for the exhibition of an expert performance in the game. The third study in this research series attempted to fill this remaining gap and objectively quantify decision-making skill through the use of a video-based decision-making task. In order to construct such a task, video footage was obtained from the Australian Football League (AFL) using an aerial behind-the-goal camera perspective. Through the use of an expert coaching panel, 26 clips out of an initial sample of 52 were deemed applicable, as each consisted of approximately three to five possible decision-making options. Results indicated that the talent identified players performed the task more accurately in comparison to their non-talent identified counterparts, and was thus a valuable objective tool for identifying talent at an U18 level.

The fourth and final study in this research series investigated if the application of a multi-dimensional battery of objective performance tests provided more accurate TID in AF when compared to isolated performance measures. The construction of this test battery was informed by the results of studies one, two and three, but to ensure the translation of this test battery, it was applied to the 2014 U18 cohort, not the 2013 cohort which was done in the previous studies. However, the definition of talent identified and non-talent identified remained consistent with the previous studies. Results indicated that the majority of the talent identified players possessed a superior combination of physical, technical and tactical characteristics in comparison to their non-talent identified counterparts. Specifically, a receiver operating curve indicated a classification accuracy of 95% when summating the total scores obtained for each physical, technical and tactical test. This classification accuracy supports the implementation of multi-dimensional objective designs over the traditional monodimensional designs when attempting to identify talent in team sporting contexts.

This thesis was motivated by the need to enhance the accuracy and reliability of current TID practices in AF by developing an objective multi-dimensional approach. In doing so, it contributes an important body of research to the study of TID by providing a conceptually translatable means in which the development of such an approach can be undertaken in other team sports.


Summary.  Stability selection was recently introduced by Meinshausen and Bühlmann as a very general technique designed to improve the performance of a variable selection algorithm. It is based on aggregating the results of applying a selection procedure to subsamples of the data. We introduce a variant, called complementary pairs stability selection, and derive bounds both on the expected number of variables included by complementary pairs stability selection that have low selection probability under the original procedure, and on the expected number of high selection probability variables that are excluded. These results require no (e.g. exchangeability) assumptions on the underlying model or on the quality of the original selection procedure. Under reasonable shape restrictions, the bounds can be further tightened, yielding improved error control, and therefore increasing the applicability of the methodology.


Must is a graphical tracer for the Or-parallel Prolog language
Muse. Its purpose is to aid development and evaluation of Muse. The program can also
be used for demonstration purposes. Must runs under UNIX and X-windows. Our
goal was to make it simple to use but still expressive. This report will
describe the background, design and implementation of Must. It will be
concluded by an evaluation of the Must impact on the development of Muse
algorithms. The report will also include a description of Stat, a tool for
evaluating potential Or-parallelism in Prolog programs.


This method measures cross relaxation rates in highly resolving NMR spectroscopy, where the sample substance is dissolved in a liq. and has nuclei A and X which have different chem. shifts WA and WX in a homogeneous static magnetic field Bo in the direction of the z-axis. The orientation of the longitudinal components I2A and I2X bring about the magnetization vectors IA and IX of the nuclei A and X during a time interval tan and irradn. with a constructed high-frequency field. Subsequently a longitudinal magnetization is conducted through a suitable high-frequency pulse sequence in a transverse magnetization which produces a high-frequency signal which is sensed by a detector. The constructed high-frequency field is formed from >=2 weak selective partial fields which have selected frequencies such that the magnetization vectors IA and IX are mixed in a synchronous mutation motion for all remaining nuclear spin remaining unaffected for the sample substance. Through the difference of the decay rates, the cross relaxation rates are detd. and from this the internuclear distance between the chosen nuclei. [on SciFinder (R)]


Defining what constitutes myth and history has been an ongoing debate among historians for over a century. The debate centers as to whether there can truly ever be such a thing as an objective historical account. Given that all historical inquiries grow out of the respective historian's ideological mind, it is argued the writing of history is not so much about truth-seeking as it is about the ideological leanings of the respective historian. In other words, critics of objective history frequently claim that one historian's truth is another's falsity. In any case there is an argument to be made that all history is myth and all myth is history. No matter how much of the evidentiary record is uncovered, no historian can ever fully reconstruct the past as it was. In their totality, those moments in history are lost forever. The best any historian can do is build upon those evidentiary remnants which remain. Still, at one level or another, historians will have to make a number of assumptions about the past. In some instances the assumptions will be small or minute because the evidentiary record is rich with information about the past, allowing the respective historian to recreate an event or time period in excruciating detail. In other instances the assumptions can be substantial, especially when the evidentiary record is barren, requiring the respective historian to fill the evidentiary gaps. But whenever historians make any assumptions about the past — whether they be minor or substantial — they are perpetuating myth in some form or another. Given these problems, this article builds upon a previous work — "Historicism, Originalism and the Constitution" — and argues that history is much better suited as a philosophical and moral guide towards understanding the law's development. This in turn minimizes mythmaking and the creation of poor constitutional constructs. This does not mean, however, that to legally reason from subjective historical accounts or myth can never be a legitimate enterprise. As this article outlines, there is at least two scenarios (and perhaps others) where the acceptance of myth is constitutionally legitimate.


On September 19, 2007, the board of the United Network for Organ Sharing deferred a decision to adopt uniform medical guidelines to protect the safety of living kidney donors. There is disagreement about what the guidelines should say, primarily because there is a lack of definitive data about the long-term health outcomes for living organ donors. The UNOS decision came the same week that the journal Transplantation published a study by E.M. Gibney and colleagues documenting that, between 1993 and 2005, at least 102 (0.2 percent) of the 63,000 living kidney donors in the United States developed kidney failure and were listed for transplant themselves. Given the prevalence of kidney disease in the United States, this data might be taken to mean that living kidney donation is safe. After all, the risk of kidney disease increases with age for all of us. But the data are incomplete. The number of individuals on the transplant waiting list represents only a fraction of the total who have end stage renal disease (ESRD), and we have no reason to suspect that all former donors with ESRD are on the list. Some are excluded from transplantation because of comorbidities; others have seriously impaired kidney function or other health conditions but do not yet qualify for dialysis or transplant. Possibly the risk is better illuminated by data from Sweden (published in Transplantation in 2006), where researchers found that six (0.5 percent) of 1,112 living kidney donors had developed ESRD—a rate 2.5 times what Gibney and colleagues found. The risk of developing ESRD after living kidney donation is apparently not evenly distributed. The Gibney article shows that of the 102 U.S. living kidney donors who were listed for transplant postdonation, most were male (64 percent) and the average age was fifty. (In Sweden, 83 percent were male and the average age was fifty-three.) Many in the United States were ethnic minorities: 44 percent were African Americans, and 12 percent were Hispanic. Since only 14 percent of all living donors are African Americans, African American donors appear to run an increased risk of ESRD, which mirrors the increased frequency of ESRD in the African American community at large. What is disconcerting, however, is that though the average length of time between donation and kidney failure was over fifteen years, ten U.S. donors—nine of them African American—were listed for transplant less than five years after donating. This is troubling because the screening process has been thought to ensure that donors are healthier than the average citizen. Does this mean that African Americans should be excluded as living donors on grounds that we do not know how to identify those at increased risk of developing kidney disease themselves? Our answer is emphatically no. Most African American living donors do very well. What all prospective donors need is an accurate estimate of the risks of donation in order to make an informed decision. The Gibney data underscore the need for a national registry that prospectively follows living kidney donors. Long-term data are needed about all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, blood pressure changes, the development of proteinuria or reduced creatinine clearance, and ESRD. The epidemic levels of obesity, with its risks for diabetes and kidney failure, and the growing acceptance in some transplant programs of less than ideal living donors (for example, individuals with some degree of hypertension), amplify both the risks of ESRD to donors and the need for better data. Recent UNOS regulations require a transplant center to follow living donors for two years, but there is no funding for transplant centers to systematically follow these individuals. Instead, donors are referred back to their own physicians and lost to follow-up by the transplant community. Unfortunately, some are lost only until they return needing their own transplant. Living donors deserve better. The lack of support for a prospective large-scale living donor registry is morally inexcusable. We Need a Registry of Living Kidney Donors


Abstract: This article verifies empirically whether there is a positive correlation between presidential term limits and the quality of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. It uses two data sets. The first offers an overview of presidential term limits from 1990 to 2015. The quantitative data are corrected by a qualitative reality check, leading to a significant reduction of what can be found in constitutional texts. The second data set is based on a composite index of proxies of democratic quality. The calculation shows a strong correlation between effective term limits and democratic quality. The article then investigates the more difficult question of causality: Does democracy enhance (respect for) term limits or do term limits engender (more) democracy? The data strongly suggest that existing democratic quality has a determining impact on the maintenance of term limits, in other words that democracy is the cause rather than term limits. However, there may be reciprocal causality and relations may run in both ways. The article concludes with a plea for thick case studies mapping out the sequence "democracy, term limits, democracy." Held against the large-N data presented here, this would allow to better understand divergent country trajectories and the reasons for these diversities.


Gum arabic is used throughout the world for various purposes including food additive and pharmaceutical excipient. The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of gum arabic on gastric ulcers in rats. The influence of gum arabic on the antiulcer activity of ranitidine, a known antiulcer drug was also evaluated. The antiulcer study was carried out in acetic acid induced chronic gastric, pylorus ligation induced gastric, ethanol induced gastric, stress induced gastric, and indomethacin induced gastric ulcers. Gum arabic was administered at two different doses of 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg orally. Gum arabic increased the healing of gastric ulcers at both the tested doses. It also produced a significant protection in the development of the gastric ulcers in other gastric ulcer models and also potentiated the antiulcer effect of ranitidine. It was concluded that gum arabic have beneficial effect in preventing and healing of gastric ulcers due to both gastric antisecretory and cytoprotective effects.


This Biographical Dictionary seeks to put the world of technology in the context of those who have made the most important contribution to it. For the first time information has been gathered on the people who have made the most significant advances in technology. From ancient times to the present day, the major inventors, discoverers and entrepreneurs from around the world are profiled, and their contribution to society explained and assessed. Structure The Dictionary presents descriptive and analytical biographies of its subjects in alphabetical order for ease of reference. Each entry provides detailed information on the individual's life, work and relevance to their particular field. * in the first part of the entry, the information will include the dates and places of the subject's birth and death, together with their nationality and their field of activity * in the main body of the entry there follows an account of their principal achievements and their significance in the history of technology, along with full details of appointments and honours * finally an annotated bibliography will direct the reader to the subject's principal writings and publications and to the most important secondary works which the reader can consult for further information. Special Features: * The first work in existence to examine technologists in detail * Contains over 1,500 entries giving detailed information * Extensive cross-references enable the reader to compare subjects and build up a picture of technological advance^ * Figures drawn from fields such as Aeronautics, Telecommunications, Architecture, Photography and Textiles


(Mis)communication between people in couple relationships often results in arguments. Psychological research on this phenomenon has often relied on essentialist accounts of gender, offering little room for social or personal change. This study has used feminist poststructuralist theory to investigate the discourses that constitute couple relationships and enable (mis)communications in the form of arguments. From my reading of this theory and my experience of couple relationships I formulated three research questions: What discourses may be identified in young adults' talk about their couple relationships? How do these discourses specify the various obligations and entitlements of Boyfriends and Girlfriends? How are young adults' positions within these discourses implicated in their accounts of arguments? The transcripts of semi-structured interviews with young adults talking about their couple relationships provided the texts for analysis. I conducted interviews with six men and six women aged between 22 and 30. Four themes emerged from participants' talk: division of labour, relationship work, spending time, and arguments. I used analytic resources from Parker's (1992) and Baxter's (2003) interpretations of poststructuralist discourse analysis to identify five discourses that constitute these thematics. I have named these discourses egalitarian, traditional, togetherness, reciprocity, and men-need-space. Analyses address the ways in which these discourses position boyfriends and girlfriends. The implications of contradictory positioning for enabling arguments are discussed.


The problem of writing software for multicore processors is greatly simplified if we could automatically parallelize sequential programs. Although auto-parallelization has been studied for many decades, it has succeeded only in a few application areas such as dense matrix computations. In particular, auto-parallelization of irregular programs, which are organized around large, pointer-based data structures like graphs, has seemed intractable.
 The Galois project is taking a fresh look at autoparallelization. Rather than attempt to parallelize all programs no matter how obscurely they are written, we are designing programming abstractions that permit programmers to highlight opportunities for exploiting parallelism in sequential programs, and building a runtime system that uses these hints to execute the program in parallel. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a system based on these ideas. Experimental results for two real-world irregular applications, a Delaunay mesh refinement application and a graphics application that performs agglomerative clustering, demonstrate that this approach is promising.


Place-based policies commonly target underperforming areas, such as deteriorating downtown business districts and disadvantaged regions. Principal examples include enterprise zones, European Union Structural Funds, and industrial cluster policies. Place-based policies are rationalized by various hypotheses in urban and labor economics, such as agglomeration economies and spatial mismatch – hypotheses that entail market failures and often predict overlap between poor economic performance and disadvantaged residents. The evidence on enterprise zones is very mixed. We need to know more about what features of enterprise zone policies make them more effective or less effective, who gains and who loses from these policies, and how we can reconcile the existing findings. Some evidence points to positive benefits of infrastructure expenditure, and also investment in higher education and university research – likely because of the public-goods nature of these policies. However, to better guide policy, we need to know more about what policies create self-sustaining longer-run gains.


The potential failure evaluation of river embankment structures such as ripraps, resulting from erosion or over-flows during flood events, is the main issue of their stability and safety assessment. Moreover, a changed sediment transport in rivers as a possible result of climate change influences the failure risk of riprap. This bank failure can lead to uncontrolled erosion and flooding with disastrous consequences in residential areas or damage of infrastructures. Thus, probabilistic analysis of failure mechanisms of ripraps due to flood events and sediment transport is a principal step to assess embankment stability. In this article, the concept of a probabilistic assessment model based on Monte Carlo simulation is presented to define the failure risk of bank protection by ripraps. This probabilistic simulation estimates the resistance of ripraps regarding the varied flood and sediment transport in future. The probability of failure in different modes such as direct block erosion, toe scouring and overtopping has been defined by taking into account the changed bed-load transport due to a probabilistic function of the design discharge. A sensitivity analysis was performed by varying slope, block size, bed-load characteristics, geometry of the cross section and hydraulic parameters. The failure probability of ripraps is assessed by a probabilistic function of the design safety factor.


Abstract: Are advanced democracies converging on a liberalized economic model, revolving around increasing penetration of markets and the decline of egalitarian institutions? The literature has tended to polarize between proponents of convergence and scholars who emphasize of the resilience of the distinct models of welfare capitalism. This article argues that although there is no strong evidence of convergence, the distribution of income in advanced democracies is becoming more unequal, suggesting significant change in a liberalizing direction. The article develops this argument by charting changes to the political economy of labour in two large European democracies: Italy and the United Kingdom. Despite belonging to entirely distinct 'families' of welfare capitalism, they have both undergone extensive changes to their political economy in the past three decades. We find that Italy and the UK were very different political economies in the 1970s, and remain very different today, but they have both undertaken reforms which have weakened egalitarian institutions and led to dramatic increases in poverty and inequality. This suggests that a focus on the diversity of institutional legacies and the distinct reform paths that we observe in advanced democracies should not distract from the conclusion that marketfocused economic reforms in very different institutional contexts can still lead to the same outcome: the privatization of economic risk and increased income inequality. Key Words: Welfare capitalism, inequality, Italy, United Kingdom, Economic reform.


Don't ask your customers, "How is OUR service doing?" Ask them, "How are YOU doing?" Advance praise for Service Innovation: "To the CEOs of all service companies I deal with: READ THIS BOOK!" -- Dave Wascha, senior director, Bing Product Management, Microsoft Corporation "Lance Bettencourt deftly blends his academic and consulting experience to provide an example-rich, readable, practical, and innovative discussion of service innovation." -- Leonard Berry, coauthor of Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic "Provides the robust framework to design services that unlock growth opportunities for every business." -- Lance Reschke, vice president, Ceridian Corporation "The tools and guidance in this book will inspire companies, small and large, to create effective and innovative services that are desperately needed." -- Mary Jo Bitner, Ph.D., W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, and coauthor of Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm "Cracks the code from the fuzzy front end through the complete life cycle of Service Innovation." -- Angelo Rago, division vice president, Global Customer Services, Abbott Medical Optics "Filled with rich examples of how firms can innovate service through helping customers get jobs done." -- Stephen W. Brown, Ph.D., W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University "Any leader intent on providing distinctive value to customers must read Service Innovation." -- Michael Reynolds, staff vice president, Commercial Marketing, WellPoint, Inc. If there's one truism about the service sector, it'sthat businesses don't succeed by inventing a better mousetrap; they succeed by finding the best, most cost-effective way to get rid of their customers' mice. In industries ranging from heavy machinery to health care to financial services to consumer goods, service innovation is helping businesses find new revenue streams--and enhance existing ones--by satisfying their customer's need to get things done. Few understand this better than Lance Bettencourt,a strategy adviser at Strategyn and a leading educatorin management innovation consulting. And in Service Innovation, Bettencourt gives a master's class on the art and science of creating breakthrough service products. True service innovation demands that you shift the focus away from the solution and back to the customer. To achieve this shift in your business--one that takes you from making educated guesses to building a clear model to guide service innovation--Bettencourt instructs on the finer points of how to rethink your approach to the customer's needs: how the customer defines value in a product or service. Bettencourt mines nearly 20 years' experience in teaching and advising clients with service- and product-dominant businesses to demonstrate proven ways you can build, streamline, and focus your company's service product innovation processes. Among the numerous key ideas and practices are: Insight on understanding the different types of clients you serve-and how your products deliver value to them Ways to design specific frameworks for discoveringservice innovation opportunities for new, improved, and supplementary service products Practical guidance on staying focused on the "fuzzy front end" of service innovation The fundamental elements of a winning service strategy Finding new ways to help people solve problems and get things done is why there are goods and services in the first place. And in Service Innovation, Lance Bettencourt fills a vital need by delivering the essential guide that can put your business on the latest frontier of value creation. Lance A. Bettencourt (Bloomington, IN) is a strategy adviser with Strategyn, Inc., the pioneer of outcomedriven innovation. Prior to joining Strategyn, he served on the marketing faculties at Arizona State University and Indiana University.


In this study, development and validation of a high performance liquid chromatographic method without an internal standard, for simultaneous determination of acetaminophen and caffeine in tablets was reported. This analysis was carried using a LaChrom Elite chromatograph and diode array detector. The separation was carried out in a RP column (C18), at room temperature, 275 nm detection, 1.5 ml/min flow, and water-methanol-acetic acid (69:28:3, v/v/v) as the mobile phase. No chromatographic interference was found. The linearity of the method proposed was assessed in the range 60-140 µg/ml and 7.9-18 µg/ml for acetaminophen and caffeine, respectively, being linear relationships in these ranges and validated the correlation coefficient (r2=0.9989 acetaminophen; r2=0.9982 caffeine), the slope and the intercept. Precision, measured as repeatability and as intermediate precision, and assessed through the coefficient of variation was less than 2.0% for both analytes. Recovery percentages were 99.53% and 99.12% for acetaminophen and caffeine, respectively. Reproducibility of this method was proven through an interlaboratory assay. Elimination of the internal standard for this method does not affect the quantification of the active principles significantly in finished product batches against the method using such internal standard. The outcome of this assay proves that proposed methodology is simple, fast, precise, accurate, and it may be confidently used for the determination of acetaminophen and caffeine in tablets.


A new animal model for concussion of the type seen in professional football was developed, since current animal models did not simulate these conditions. The model is characterized by a high velocity-low mass impact to the head of a freely moving object. Structural damages and functional effects of the model have been investigated. Paper I describes the rat model. A pneumatically driven projectile impacted the temporal region of the head. A 50 g projectile matches the concussions in football players scaled to the rat. Exposures were also performed with a 100 g impactor. The pressure accelerated the projectile to velocities of 7.4 m/s, 9.3 m/s and 11.2 m/s. The head was protected with a padded aluminum helmet. A small accelerometer was attached on the opposite side of the head, inline with the impact, for recording the acceleration of the head. Rats were exposed to a single or repeated (3, with 6 hour intervals) impacts and were sacrificed 1, 4 or 10 days later. Peak head acceleration, EV, duration and energy transfer were determined. Brains were perfused and surface injuries identified. Skull fractures were never found. Impact velocity and head EV and acceleration were within 1% and 3% of the target. In paper II , neuronal injury was assessed with immunohistochemistry for NF-200, the heaviest neurofilament subunit, and GFAP, an intermediate filament protein in astrocytes. Hemorrhages were visualized with unspecific peroxidase. NF-200 immunoreactivity was accumulated in neuronal perikarya and was reduced in the axons 10 days after impact. Reactive astrocytes were found in the midline regions of the cerebral cortex and periventricularly. Erythrocyte-loaded blood capillaries indicated brain edema in regions of the cerebral cortex, brain stem and cerebellum. A single impact at 7.4 and 9.3 m/s with the 50 g projectile resulted in minimal neuronal injury and astrocytosis. Repeated impacts with the 100 g projectile at 11.2 m/s and 9.3 m/s led to injury bilaterally in the cerebral cortex, subcortical white matter, hippocampus CA1, corpus callosum and the striatum. The pattern of injury is suggestive of Diffuse Neuronal Injury (DAI). In paper III , cognitive function and exploratory behavior were investigated following repeated head impacts. Rats were trained daily for 6 days in the Morris Water Maze. The time of latency to find a hidden platform was reduced from 50 secs on day 1 to 15 secs on day 6. They were then exposed with the 50 g or the 100 g projectile at 9.3 or 11.2 m/s. Spontaneous exploratory activity was assessed with the open field test 2-4 days and 1 and 2 weeks after impacts with the 50 g projectile at 9.3 and 11.2 m/s. The results showed that rats exposed at 11.2 m/s (x3) with the 50 g projectile or 9.3 m/s (x3) and 11.2 m/s (x2) with the 100 g projectile had a significantly increased time of latency to the platform, while those exposed with the 50 g at 9.3 m/s did not differ from the controls. Rats impacted with 50 g (x3) at 9.3 or 11.2 m/s showed a significant decrease in spontaneous exploratory activity. In conclusion, the model fulfilled the conditions of concussion in the freely moving animal, without preparatory surgery, still with good reproducibility. Some aspects of the neuropathology and functional effects were investigated and both showed dose-response effects. The functional changes were cognitive deficits and reduced exploratory activity.


Solar blind detectors have been fabricated based on AlGaN heterostructures grown on sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy or chemical vapour deposition. MSM and Schottky detectors were investigated. High performance devices have been obtained thanks to an optimization of the material crystalline quality (including the suppression of cracks) and of the process. We show that the spectral limitations of MSM detectors are dictated by intrinsic phenomena that are analysed in details while the responsivity and detectivity also depends on the technological process with a special emphasis on the geometry of finger and contact pads. One and two dimensional arrays have been fabricated and preliminary results are given. (c) 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH S Co. KGaA, Weinheim.


To overcome shortcomings of traditional linear discriminant analysis such as failing to extract features of data with complex distributions, a new LDA approach is proposed in this paper. This approach is based on the following perspective: for a sample, the sample that is from the same class and is the farthest away from this sample, is typical intra-class sample of this sample. On the other hand, for the same sample, the nearest neighbor from each of other classes is called typical inter-class sample. In practice "typical samples" of a sample have indicative meaning for the space relation between this sample and the others. The new LDA approach bases definitions of between-class and within-class scatter matrices on these typical samples. As a result, the linear transform associated with our approach is able to maximize the distances between a sample and the corresponding typical inter-class samples, while minimizing the distance between the same sample and the typical intra-class sample. The proposed new approach is able to extract features of not only data with simple distributions but also the data with complex distributions, which means that the new LDA approach has wider applicability than traditional LDA.


A framework is proposed for demand-side load management (DSLM) of manufacturers participating in demand response (DR) programs. Utilities are increasingly focused on enticing their portfolios of energy end-users to adjust their energy use patterns in a mutually beneficial manner such as with DR programs. DR programs allow the utility to receive bulk peak load reduction and the participating end-user to receive credit towards their electricity bills. Once an end-user is enrolled in a DR program, they receive periodic requests for some amount of load reduction, typically the day before. Failing to respond to a DR signal will usually cost the end-user handsomely. The end-user is often left to their own discretion on how to attain the level of load reduction requested by the utility. For a manufacturer, this means if the request in load reduction is high enough, they will need to figure out how to curtail production. On the other hand, if the load reduction requested is small enough to need no disruption to production, the utility may be missing out on untapped DR capabilities that could be offered from the ability of the manufacturer to reschedule their production. In either case, the availability of an optimal plan for the manufacturer to best schedule its production in response to a DR event can maximize the benefits for both parties. Most of the research found in literature addresses production scheduling with minimal energy use or cost with respect to a time-of-use price tariff. A system that communicates the desires of the utility to the end-user for a DR event and provides the end-user with support in the decision-making process remains to be developed. The framework proposed addresses these shortcomings, considering the introduction of IoT capabilities and the physical constraints of the manufacturer.


PURPOSE
We evaluated the green tea derivative epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) as an intravesical agent for the prevention of transitional cell tumor implantation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In vitro studies were performed in the AY-27 rat transitional cell cancer and the L1210 mouse leukemia cell lines. Cells were exposed to increasing concentrations of EGCG for 30 minutes to 48 hours. Surviving cell colonies were then determined. A DNA ladder assay was performed in the 2 cell lines. Fisher 344 rats were used for in vivo studies with an intravesical tumor implantation model. Group 1 (12 rats) served as a control (tumor implantation and medium wash only). In group 2 (28 rats) 200 microM EGCG were instilled intravesically 30 minutes after tumor implantation. Rats were sacrificed 3 weeks following treatment. Gross and histological analyses were then performed on the bladders.

RESULTS
At 6.0 x 104 cells per 100 mm dish a time dose dependent response was observed. After 2 hours of treatment with EGCG 100% cell lethality of the AY-27 cell line occurred at concentrations greater than 100 microM. Strong banding on the DNA ladder assay was seen with the L1210 mouse leukemia cell line. Only weak banding patterns were found in the AY-27 cell line treated with EGCG (100 and 200 microM) for 24 hours. All 12 controls were successfully implanted with tumors. In group 2 (EGCG instillation) 18 of the 28 animals (64%) were free of tumor (Fisher's exact test p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
The clonal assays showed a time dose related response to EGCG. Intravesical instillation of EGCG inhibits the growth of AY-27 rat transitional cells implanted in this model.


British Secretary of State for Defense Penny Mordaunt recently described Iran's activities in the region as "causing tension", adding that London will be supporting Washington. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has also announced that the United States will respond to any activity that threatens its "interests" in the region. Hunt has claimed that the best way to resolve the Middle East conflict is by making Iran stop what he called its destabilizing activities in the region. Apart from such statements, it is said that the United Kingdom has sent out some special military forces in order to help American forces to settle what they claim to be "Iran's threat" in the region. This shows that U.K., once again, has adopted a mixed strategy so that it can derive the most benefit out of every situation. U.K. goals can be interpreted from its activities. The country has not fulfilled its commitments to the Iran nuclear deal; instead it has tried to guard its own interests by keeping U.S. as a traditional ally. At the same time, the U.K. has kept selling weapons to countries in the region and showed itslef as an active member in international arena so that it can cover up its own problems with Brexit. By analyzing the factors affecting the region, the British are well aware that war might be an unlikely consequence, but they still try to create an atmosphere of fear and imply that "an impending war" might be ahead of us, so that they can reach the four goals that we mentioned above. Apart from such actions, the U.K. is aiming to maintain its relations with main players in the region, such as Iran, so that it can establish a favorable atmosphere for itself in media and reap its benefits in political and economic, as well as security fields. The British should have learned by now, that such actions might help them squeeze money out of tycoons of Middle East or have U.S. make some political concessions to them, but such actions will not have any effect on the Islamic Republic of Iran, as it had not over the last 40 years. From Bazaar to Bourse


Previous research suggests that there is a shift in the perceived balance of interpersonal power in the second half of life in favor of older women, towards equality between men and women. To see if this age shift in power is universal, a study of women in two cultures, the United States and Kenya, examined the effect of status on the shift. As an indirect measure of interpersonal power, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories were collected from 60 U.S. and 60 Kenyan women and rated by trained judges for aspects of the interpersonal power of the characters in the stories. In each country there were two groups of 15 women under age 36 and 15 women over age 44, one of higher and one of lower status. In both countries, only the higher status women showed the shift in power with age. That status modulated the shift in power with age in two different cultures is discussed in terms of the necessity for a resource base for power.


A cross sectional study of 115 patients admitted at the Department of Orthopedics, Kenyatta Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya was carried out to determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from infected wounds. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus was 33.0 %. The drugs tested and their corresponding sensitivity were amoxycillin (13.2 %), co-amoxiclav (39.5 %), oxacillin (55.3 %), erythromycin (44.7 %), gentamicin (60.5 %), ciprofloxacin (62.2 %) minocycline (86.8 %), cefuroxime (57.9 %) and clindamycin (84.2 %). These results show the sensitivity profile of Staphylococcus aureus and can be used to choose suitable drugs in the management of wounds for hospitalized patients. Keywords : Prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, Staphylococcus aureus The East and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 9 (3) 2006: pp. 71-73


To realize the full potential of machine learning in diverse real-world domains, it is necessary for model predictions to be readily interpretable and actionable for the human in the loop. Analysts, who are the users but not the developers of machine learning models, often do not trust a model because of the lack of transparency in associating predictions with the underlying data space. To address this problem, we propose Rivelo, a visual analytics interface that enables analysts to understand the causes behind predictions of binary classifiers by interactively exploring a set of instance-level explanations. These explanations are model-agnostic, treating a model as a black box, and they help analysts in interactively probing the high-dimensional binary data space for detecting features relevant to predictions. We demonstrate the utility of the interface with a case study analyzing a random forest model on the sentiment of Yelp reviews about doctors.


The aim of this paper is to account for nominalization processes in Ojibwe including agent and non-agent nominalizations. I make two main claims: (1) in Ojibwe (even) simple nouns (result nominals, cf. Grimshaw 1990) have internal (verbal) structure; (2) agent nominals in Ojibwe are not exactly nominalizations: they are more like full clauses (with no nominal projection on top of the CP). Theoretically, I address for Ojibwe the puzzle mentioned by Harley (2009) for English nominalizations: meaning shifts from event to result readings do not affect the internal morphological structure of the nominalization. In Ojibwe, it will be argued that, although many nominalizations have transitive morphology, the transitive verb that is imported into the nominalization process is devoid of an internal and of an external argument, creating result nominalization rather than event nominalization.


Organizations of all sizes are finding it necessary to expand their operations across geographic boundaries in a phenomenon that has been referred to as the globally distributed team. While this trend is typically a response to business opportunity, it is not without challenges. One of those challenges is how to maintain organizational culture as teams become globally distributed. The goal of the research detailed in this chapter was to examine a single organization that has been utilizing distributed teams to facilitate product development. A single case study method was used. Data was gathered through a series of semistructured interviews with employees who participated in a distributed product development team. The chapter includes a review of the organization's approach to orienting employees to the organizational culture, maintaining focus on the culture over a period of years, and extending the culture to support globalization while maintaining the integration of distributed teams into the overall organization.


Tip lines are one of the most effective tools organizations possess for detecting and preventing fraud. Fifty-nine percent of forensic and valuation CPAs participating in the AICPA's 2011 Forensic and Valuation Services Trend Survey said internal whistleblower hotlines would lead to improvements in preventing fraud in the next two to five years. Internal tips were cited by business and industry CPAs participating in the same survey as the most common detection method for frauds that occurred at their organizations. Because tip lines encourage and facilitate anonymous reporting, they are a proven fraud deterrent that can be successfully implemented without burdensome effort or expense. This article lays out a path for maintaining a tip line, including key features and best practices learned by public companies. It concludes with a description of different levels of service provided by web-based tip line providers, including features and estimated costs. TIP LINES AND A CODE OF CONDUCT Tip lines help enforce corporate codes of conduct that, at a minimum, help ensure compliance with standards, laws, and regulations. Best practices are derived from public companies that have been required to provide fraud reporting mechanisms as part of compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In evaluating compliance and ethics programs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and SEC are looking for programs that are thoughtfully constructed and well-implemented to help prevent, detect, and report fraud. In formulating sentences after adjudication, the DOJ and SEC review company ethics and compliance programs. A thoughtfully designed, good-faith effort can mitigate sentences. Tip lines reinforce company policies, making it clear that unethical conduct is unacceptable, and help set a tone of control for an organization. Codes of conduct can be conceptual and values-based, or rules-based and specific. Ethics training is important to ensure that employees are clear on expectations. Training should be part of the new employee orientation process and also should be regularly reinforced along with the company code of conduct at meetings. Codes of conduct are implemented with guidance on what to do should an employee observe a violation of the code. This is where a company tip line provides support. TIP LINE CHARACTERISTICS Tip line design or contracting requires thoughtful planning and consideration of company operations. Does the company require multilingual services or 24-hour access 365 days per year? The following characteristics are key considerations in tip line implementation, monitoring, and governance: * Tip input. The input process must serve the needs of employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Tip lines can accept input by mail, email, web-based systems, and fax; in person; and via toll-free operators. * Anonymity. Anonymity and continued confidentiality are critical tip line features. Just over 50% of tips come from employees. Any risk of identity disclosure could negatively affect employees' willingness to report. * Availability. Tip lines are generally available 365 days per year, 7 days per week, and 24 hours per day. If a company operates globally, around-the-clock access is a necessity. * Multilingual. Multilingual capability is necessary for employees as well as customers, vendors, and others. * Case management. Case management functions allow the company to track a report from initiation through resolution. Lack of follow-up can increase vulnerability in the event of prosecution. Case management systems allow online access to filings; assignment of the case to the appropriate person for follow-up; assignment of priority level; actions taken and resolution; report generation; file attachment; and anonymous follow-up dialogue with the complainant for additional information. …


The aim of this work was to apply quality by Design approach for development of modified release tablets containing morphine sulfate. As a holistic approach, quality by design assembles predermined goals, product/formulation and process/process parameters understanding. Quality by design is science and risk assessment based. Variability is reduced by product and process understanding which translates into quality improvement, risk reduction and productivity enhancement. After the referent product evaluation, the primary goal was quality target product profile to be defined for modified release tablet containing morphine sulfate. The product is pharmaceutically equivalent to the referent product. The quality target product profile was used to guide the development of the product. Critical quality attributes of the product were defined based on prior knowledge and literature evaluation considering the type of products. The active substance – morphine sulfate pentahydrate was evaluated considering the physical characteristics: appearance, solubility, melting point, morphology of the particles, particle size distribution and the flowability. The crystals of morphine sulfate pentahydrate have prismatic to rhomboid form with affinity towards creating agglomerates. High SPAN values indicate wide size distribution and high degree of polydispersity of the particles. Considering the flowability, the active supstance has poor flowability. The characterization of the active supstance structure performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, Termogravimetric analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry and termogravimetric analysis curve confirms the presence of crystal water in the molecule structure. The experimental results of the Fourier-transform infrared spectrum were in correlation with the theoretical results calculation using molecular modelling approach. In order to identify critical material attributes and critical process parameters, Failure Mode Effects Analysis was used as a risk assessment tool. Formulation and process development were in the direction to mitigate the level of risk of critical material attributes and critical process parameters. Formulation development was performed in two phases: design, formulation development and manufacturing process selections and formulation and manufacturing process optimisation. In the first phase, the selected manufacturing process was wet granulation with alcohol; and controlled release polymers were: hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K100 as intragranular polymer and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K15 and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K4 as extragranular excipients. The experimental design was performed using the software Design-Expert ® V7 (Stat-Ease, Inc., Minneapolis, USA). The formulation ‖design space" was obtained, and the few optimal formulations were characterized in aspect of flowability, assay of AS, release dissolution profile and the similarity with the RF was calculated. Manufacturing process development resulted in setting the Proven acceptable range (PAR) for the critical process parameters of the selected operation. The chopper speed was set in a range of 500 to 1500 rpm, granulation wet massing time to 1 to 5 min, mixing time with rate controlling polimer to 1 to 20 min., and mixing time with lubricant to 1 to 20 min.


Manipulating Optical Topology Phase transitions in solid-state systems are often associated with a drastic change in the properties of that system. For example, metal-to-insulator transition or magnetic-to-nonmagnetic states find wide application in memory storage technology. An exotic electronic phase transition is the Lifshitz transition, whereby the Fermi surface undergoes a change in topology and a drastic change in the electronic density of states. Krishnamoorthy et al. (p. 205) now show that the notion of such a phase transition can be carried over to the optical regime by the suitable design of a metamaterial structure. This effect could be used to control the interaction between light and matter. Metamaterials can undergo an optical analog of electronic phase transitions that impacts local light-matter interactions. Light-matter interactions can be controlled by manipulating the photonic environment. We uncovered an optical topological transition in strongly anisotropic metamaterials that results in a dramatic increase in the photon density of states—an effect that can be used to engineer this interaction. We describe a transition in the topology of the iso-frequency surface from a closed ellipsoid to an open hyperboloid by use of artificially nanostructured metamaterials. We show that this topological transition manifests itself in increased rates of spontaneous emission of emitters positioned near the metamaterial. Altering the topology of the iso-frequency surface by using metamaterials provides a fundamentally new route to manipulating light-matter interactions.


During a 12-year period (1984-1996), 118 maxillary inlay autogenous bone grafts and 248 commercially pure titanium threaded root-form endosseous implants were placed in 54 consecutively treated patients with compromised maxillary bone. In this retrospective clinical study, 3 groups of patients were reviewed, group selection being based on anatomic location and surgical access to the recipient site. Group 1 included patients with bone grafts placed in the antrum floor via an intraoral antrostomy exposure, group 2 included patients with bone grafts placed in the nasal floor via an anterior intraoral nasotomy exposure, and group 3 included patients with bone grafts placed in the antral and nasal floor via an intraoral Le Fort I osteotomy downfracture exposure. Each patient received an implant-supported dental prosthesis. For the combined 3 groups, survival rates were 87% for endosseous implants and 100% for autogenous bone grafts. The success rate for the dental prostheses in the 3 groups was 95%. Sixty-nine dental prostheses functioned a mean of 57.1 months, whereas 3 prostheses required remaking because of implant loss. Of the medical and mechanical risk factors tabulated in this study, current use of nicotine, history of sinusitis, molar site implant placement, and shorter implant lengths had the most influence on implant failure.


Take action and become a participant in public administration with PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: AN ACTION ORIENTATION. You'll learn how to influence the operations of public agencies--helping them learn to affect positive changes, regardless of whether they are working outside the agency as citizens or within the agency as managers. With a strong emphasis on ethics, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION increases your chances of being effective by developing such personal and interpersonal skills as personal management, communication, delegation, motivation, and decision making. Important topics such as nonprofit management, the global dimensions of public administration as well as organizational theory are covered.


IMalaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide particularly for children under five years of age. The World Health Organization recommends prompt diagnosis and treatment with effective antimalarial medicines within 24 hours of the onset of fever. Delays in treatment can have fatal consequences particularly if the infection is severe but few studies systematically assess these delays among children under five years of age in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study examined the extent to which children under five years of age across SSA received an antimalarial treatment within 24 hours of the reported onset of fever. The study also investigated children under five years of age who received a first-line artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) within 24 hours of the reported onset of fever. Finally the study identified predictors of prompt treatment with ACT and describes profiles of children who received this recommended treatment. The study focuses on the following countries prioritized by the United States' President's Malaria Initiative (PMI): Angola Benin Ethiopia Ghana Kenya Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mozambique Rwanda Senegal Tanzania mainland Uganda Zambia and Zanzibar.


This paper presents a case study that addresses factors that influence unlearning at the individual level. These factors were studied in a public sector organization located in a country characterized by high power distance. The case organization went through a change process of a daily routine caused by the introduction of a new technology. Data were collected through semi structured face-to-face interviews with shop floor agents in the state of Santa Catarina/Brazil. The results highlight the strong influence of the support of formal leaders on the unlearning process of individuals, suggesting that managers operating in a high power distance environment have to make bigger efforts compared to their counterparts in small power distance settings to promote unlearning processes of employees. The study advances the limited body of knowledge regarding unlearning in general and unlearning at the individual level in particular. It also stresses the influence of the national cultural dimension on the unlearning process of individuals.


The worldwide acreage of genetically modified (GM) plants is growing year by year and amounted to 90 million hectares in 2005. Therefore, the European Union implemented a series of legal requirements and regulations which are related to R&D, commercial use and labelling of genetically modified organism (GMO). The food and feed industry is mainly affected by Regulations (EC) No 1829/2003 and 1830/2003 and thus this study aims to analyse the effects of those regulations on the German food and feed industry. The empirical basis was a comprehensive written survey in 2005 with a total of 1.700 filled in questionnaires. According to this survey the German food and feed industry is affected by the increasing use of GM plants and the corresponding GMO legislation although no GM plants are commercially grown in Germany. Around two third of the German feed industry already use GM raw materials while 100 % of the food factories mentioned to avoid GMOs with labelling obligation. Efforts of complying with the requirements of Regulations (EC) No 1829/2003 and 1830/2003 in food and feed industry mainly result in higher personnel efforts, higher costs of raw materials and additional costs of GMO analytics. In total they can rise up to 1.8 % of the turnover in the food industry, while generally they are below 1 % of the turnover in the food industry. The labelling requirements concerning GMOs are mainly fulfilled in the German food and feed industry according to test results of competent German authorities.


We propose a model for the formation of chromatin loops based on the diffusive sliding of a DNA-bound factor which can dimerise to form a molecular slip-link. Our slip-links mimic the behaviour of cohesin-like molecules, which, along with the CTCF protein, stabilize loops which organize the genome. By combining 3D Brownian dynamics simulations and 1D exactly solvable non-equilibrium models, we show that diffusive sliding is sufficient to account for the strong bias in favour of convergent CTCF-mediated chromosome loops observed experimentally. Importantly, our model does not require any underlying, and energetically costly, motor activity of cohesin. We also find that the diffusive motion of multiple slip-links along chromatin may be rectified by an intriguing ratchet effect that arises if slip-links bind to the chromatin at a preferred "loading site". This emergent collective behaviour is driven by a 1D osmotic pressure which is set up near the loading point, and favours the extrusion of loops which are much larger than the ones formed by single slip-links.


The National Register of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (NRMAP) was put together in the year 2000 to assist His Majesty's Government of Nepal in building up a national register of biological diversity. It provided a format to integrate taxonomic information with details of medicinal properties and uses documented in Nepal's Ayurvedic texts and ethnobotanical literature. The conservation status of species was indicated in terms of legal protection accorded to it by the government and the CITES appendices. National evaluation of species status was indicated using criteria set by the IUCN Species Survival Commission. However, they do not necessarily find mention in the global Red List of Threatened Species. Nepal's wealth of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant species has been estimated at 700 to 1,600species based on various sources of information. The NRMAP included 150 species of medicinal/aromatic plants as an initial step to encourage further work in the national registration process. After some deletions and additions this revision has a total 187 species of Plants.


Learn how to create more realistic and believable characters for video games using AI programming techniques.Written for novice to experienced game developers, Emotion Notions: Modeling Personality in Game Character AI shows you how to model human personality, mood, and emotion into your video game characters. Adding personality to game characters allows them to portray intention, a necessary component of believability. Youll examine the theory and concepts behind video game artificial intelligence, such as believability, interaction, engagement, and immersion. Using 2D sprite-based games created with Microsoft XNA, youll explore these game AI concepts in a simple game environenment and learn how to apply them to all games. Youll learn how to model individuality, emotion, mood, and more to make your game characters more convincing and human-like as you work step-by-step through hands-on projects. All the source code and assets needed to complete the projects is included on the accompanying CD-ROM.


Abstract HELIOS, CASMO-4, and MCNP4B calculations of reaction rate distributions in a modern, fresh 10 × 10 boiling water reactor fuel element have been validated using the experimental results of the LWR-PROTEUS Phase I project corresponding to full-density water moderation conditions (core 1B). The reaction rate distributions measured with a special gamma-scanning machine employing twin germanium detectors consisted of total fission Ftot and 238U-capture C8. The average statistical errors for the gamma scans were better than 0.5% for Ftot and 0.9% for C8. The rod-by-rod measurements were performed on 60 different fuel rods selected from the central part of a test zone consisting of actual, fresh SVEA-96+ fuel elements, thus gaining in realism by departing from conventional fuel rod mockups. In the case of Ftot, the root-mean-square (rms) of the rod-by-rod distribution of differences between calculational and experimental (C-E) values has been found to be 1.1% for HELIOS and for CASMO-4, and 1.3% for MCNP4B. For C8, the rms values of the (C-E) distributions are 1.0, 1.3, and 1.4% as obtained with HELIOS, CASMO-4, and MCNP4B, respectively. The effects of using different data libraries (ENDF/B-V, ENDF/B-VI, and JEF-2.2) with MCNP4B were also studied and have been found to be small.


This study aimed to investigate the effects of wearing a whole body compression garment on recovery from a typical heavy resistance training workout in resistance trained men and women. Fourteen men (mean ± SD: age, 23.0 ± 2.9 years) and fourteen women (mean ± SD: age 23.1 ± 2.2 years) who were highly resistance trained gave informed consent to participate in the study. A within-group (each subject acted as their own control), balanced, and randomized treatment design was used. Nutritional intakes, activity, and behavioral patterns (e.g., no pain medications, ice, or long showers over the 24 hours) were replicated 2 days before each test separated by 72 hours. An 6-exercise whole body heavy resistance exercise protocol using barbells (10 repetition of 3 sets at 70% of one- repetition maximum, 2.0 minute rest) was performed after which the subject showered and put on a specific whole body compression garment one designed for women and one for men (CG) or just wore his/her normal noncompression clothing (CON). Subjects were then tested after 24 hours. Dependent measures included sleep quality, vitality rating, resting fatigue rating, muscle soreness, muscle swelling via ultrasound, reaction movement times, bench throw power, countermovement vertical jump power, and serum concentrations of creatine kinase (CK) measured from a blood sample obtained via venipuncture of an arm vein. We observed significant (p≤ 0.05) differences between CG and CON conditions in both men and women for vitality (CG , CON), resting fatigue ratings (CG , CON), muscle soreness (CG , CON), ultrasound measure swelling (CG , CON), bench press throw (CG .CON), and CK (CG, CON). A whole body compression garment worn during the 24-hour recovery period after an intense heavy resistance training workout enhances various psychological, physiological, and a few performance markers of recovery compared with noncompressive control garment conditions. Wearing a CG appears to help in the recovery process after intense heavy resistance training in men and women.


Editors and peer reviewers of scientific journals favor manuscripts from authors of their gender or nationality, a study concludes. In an analysis posted on the preprint server bioRxiv, a team led by Dakota Murray of the University of Indiana, Bloomington, examined thousands of papers submitted to the biosciences journal eLife between 2012 and 2017 (bioRxiv 2018, DOI: 10.1101/400515). Murray and his colleagues found that women and authors from outside North America and Europe were underrepresented as editors and peer reviewers and as authors listed last on papers. They note that previous work shows the underrepresentation of these two groups as editors and peer reviewers is common at international scientific journals and not just eLife. When the researchers evaluated the gender balance of editors and peer reviewers for individual papers, they found that participation of men and women led to more diversity in authors of published papers. Murray and colleagues note


Design of shading systems is essential, since they plays an important role in the modulation of
daylight and solar gains. Yet, current simulation tools are not capable of providing accurate
results for both daylighting and energy performance simultaneously, especially when complex
geometries are present. This work investigates whether shading coefficients (SC) can be
applied to evaluate the performance of thin screens, and it compares the results to those
obtained through other methods, such as the use of a fixed transmittance value over the whole
year. Results showed that hourly SC can take into account the variability of total transmitted
solar radiation throughout the year. As a result, the cooling energy reached reductions of up to
22 % in comparison to the use of a fixed transmittance value. SC also enabled the assessment
of inter-reflections within the PS-glazing system, especially those resulted from varying the
distance between the PS and glazing.


: Acute postoperative pain remains undertreated despite the dramatic increase in opioid prescribing in the United States over the past 20 years. Inadequately relieved postoperative pain may be a risk factor for persistent postoperative pain, chronic pain, and disability. In an effort to promote evidence-based strategies for optimal postoperative pain management, the American Pain Society published a new postoperative pain management guideline in 2016. Its 32 recommendations for interdisciplinary and multimodal postoperative pain management are stratified according to risks and benefits, based on varying levels of evidence. This article aims to help nurses translate the recommendations into clinical practice, while providing the historical context in which the guidelines emerged and describing current events that may affect guideline implementation.


Relevance: The CSP Physiotherapy Framework (CSP, 2011) highlights the values, knowledge, skills, and behaviours associated with proficient physiotherapy practice. Students develop learning in the practice setting by bringing together theoretical knowledge and real world client situations within contemporary physiotherapy practice.
The pre-registration programmes at Northumbria University integrate learning derived from University and practice-based settings and, in partnership with practice-based stakeholders, has embedded approximately one third of study within the practice environment, amounting to a minimum of 1000 hours of practice-based-learning as required by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP, 2015). Due to the diversity and complexity of healthcare and the profession, even within this period of time it is not possible for students to experience all possible clinical environments during pre-registration education. This, along with the global nature of the profession (WCPT, 2015) and a desire to offer choice in clinical experience for students has led to the continuing development of an elective placement, organised and funded by students, as a successful part of the programmes for a period of over 30 years.
Purpose: An elective placement offers a number of academic, personal, social benefits and a wealth of opportunities for students. They can be life affirming, learning experiences but can also become organisational nightmares. Empowering students to set their own requirement for the placement within a prescribed framework engages students in the process and allows them to determine their own area of need. Students are challenged by the possible opportunities offered and the decisions they need to take, as they consider the location of the placement.
In recent years, particularly since the global financial crisis in 2008 and resultant austerity measures, ever increasing concerns for personal safety related to areas of unrest or conflict and associated insurance requirements have added to the complexity in arranging elective placements both internationally and within the UK.
Approach: Attempting to address such complex issues, we have sought to explore students' experiences and perceptions of the value of the elective placement to their professional development and identity, and to consider difficulties and barriers encountered in the planning and undertaking of their placement.
Evaluation: A nominal group technique was used to explore issues around the elective placement, from which students developed their 'Top Tips' for Elective success; whilst free drawing and free writing was used to help the students' individual reflection.
Outcomes: Resultant networks and strategies grouped around major themes of 'Walls' and Windows' have been disseminated to assist future students in planning for their elective experience. ´Walls´ are viewed as obstructions to the elective experience, whilst ´Windows´ provide a view of available opportunities.
Conclusions: A participatory, situational approach has been implemented to address an ever changing challenge and ensure that the potential of the elective placement is fully realised as an opportunity contributing to students continuing professional development.
Impact and Implications: The elective placement is a consistent ´selling point´ for our programmes. In a continually changing professional education environment the project has proven impact for students both in terms of CPD and general life experience that provides choice within a supportive framework.


Fictive motion expressions blur the distinction between stativity and dynamicity. The paper presents a corpus-based exploration of the variable ways in which structural and procedural knowledge merge in Spanish fictive motion expressions with oriented-motion verbs and manner-of-motion verbs. The metaphorical projection from motion to stativity does not necessarily conform to the aspectual restrictions associated with state descriptions. In addition to the verb's semantics and the profile of the depicted entity, the degree of dynamicity of the blend is further determined by a range of lexical and grammatical choices. Among them figure the kind of spatial coordinates, grammatical aspect, quantifying and temporal adverbial modifiers, as well as viewing perspective. Per parameter, some factors reinforce the bias towards dynamism, whereas others downgrade it.


This paper discusses Juri Lotman's concept of autocommunication and explores its applicability by referring to Roland Barthes's representations of Self and Other. The texts to be discussed include Barthes's writings on Japan and China, an excerpt from his rewriting of Balzac's "Sarrasine" in S/Z , and his autobiography and Rousseau's Confessions . The paper contrasts two cultural communication cases in terms of analysing two kinds of a-semantic codes: (1) the positive a-semantic code of Japan, and (2) the negative a-semantic code of China. With reference to "Sarrasine" and S/Z , the paper discusses two specific codes, cultural memory and imagination, which lead to the addressee's reformulations. Finally, the paper examines how different modes of autocommunication are put into practice in Barthes's autobiographical and Rousseau's confessional writings.


Visualizations have a potentially enormous influence on how data are used to make decisions across all areas of human endeavor. However, it is not clear how this power connects to ethical duties: what obligations do we have when it comes to visualizations and visual analytics systems, beyond our duties as scientists and engineers? Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, I address the moral components of the design and use of visualizations, identify some ongoing areas of visualization research with ethical dilemmas, and propose a set of additional moral obligations that we have as designers, builders, and researchers of visualizations.


The problem of a stationary crack in functionally graded materials (FGM), subjected to a combination of thermal and mechanical loading is considered. An asymptotic analysis coupled with Westergaard's stress function approach is used to characterize the stress field around the crack tip. Thermal and mechanical properties (e.g., elastic modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity) are assumed to vary exponentially. The crack is assumed to be inclined to the direction of the property gradation. The thermal loading is taken to be a uniform heat flow in a direction inclined to the crack. The principal of superposition from linear elasticity is used to solve the problem, whereby the problem is divided into a number of subproblems. The first four terms in the expansion of the stress field are derived to explicitly bring out the influence of nonhomogeneity on the structure of the stress field. It is observed that the presence of heat flow produced no additional singularity and hence the classical inverse square root singularity still prevails around the crack tip. Using these stress field contours of constant maximum shear stress are generated and the effect of thermal loading on the crack-tip stress field is discussed.


Banking law and bankruptcy law clash. This is most evident when a bank holding company (parent company) becomes insolvent after it has made an asset transfer to its financially troubled bank subsidiary.The Bankruptcy Code (Code) governs the insolvency proceedings of the bank holding company. Predictably, the parent company's trustee, appointed for the protection of all the creditors of the bankrupt entity, uses the fraudulent conveyance provision of the Code to have any asset transfers that were made to the bank subsidiary returned to the debtor's estate. The good faith exception to that provision will protect the asset transfer only if the parent company made the transfer for "good and fair consideration."The banking laws govern the regulation of the entire banking industry, including the insolvency of a financial institution. The banking laws, arguably, provide preferential treatment for the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund as a failed financial institution's potentially largest unsecured creditor. Banking law allows the parent company to make an asset transfer to avoid the threat of mandated restrictions. It also gives an unfulfilled payment a priority status in bankruptcy. The rules do not state, however, under what circumstances an unfunded capital obligation ought to be allowed. The legality of the asset transfer when a parent company seeks bankruptcy protection is a crucial question for the banking industry.Part II of the article identifies the statutory basis for the dormant conflict between Titles 11 and 12. Specifically, this section lists the broad array of somewhat identical discretionary powers that both the bankruptcy court and the banking regulatory agencies have as trustee and receiver for insolvent corporations and financial institutions, respectively. Part II concludes with an analysis of the cases in which these discretionary powers of the trustee and the receiver have come into conflict.Part III discusses the bankruptcy of the Bank of New England Corporation (BNEC). The factual history of this case provides an example of the types of legal issues that an insolvent holding company faces under the banking laws when it files for protection under the Bankruptcy Code. The section ends by specifying post-BNE legislative reforms designed to address issues raised during the liquidation of that failed enterprise.Part IV identifies the statutory rights that creditors have under the fraudulent conveyance law, including the good faith exception. Finally, Part V proposes an amendment to the current regulatory scheme that would require asset transfers from an insolvent holding company. It posits that the policies supporting the good faith exception are not compromised by the concomitant goal of protecting the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund. The banking enterprise exception establishes a procedure for regulatory assets transfers that is reviewable by the bankruptcy court, and operates as a credit against cross-guarantee liability. The proposed change will more closely merge the policies and purposes of the two schemes that converge when a bank holding company becomes insolvent.


This research assesses the effects of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards in international trade by introducing a new concept, bridge to cross (BTC), with product standards. The BTC in this paper is the regulatory gap between the exporting and importing countries with regard to any particular SPS measure. Assuming that each country's standard is binding in its own domestic markets, the standard of the importing country emerges as an effective trade barrier only when it exceeds the standard in the domestic market of the exporting country. Given the need to account for unobserved heterogeneity (multilateral resistance) in empirical trade models, if SPS regulations do not vary significantly over time, the effect of the regulation cannot be identified. However, the effect of BTC can still be identified because it varies by the pair of countries involved in the trade. As an application we apply the method to an SPS regulation relating to aflatoxin contamination in maize. In our empirical analysis we find that the effect of BTC varies by the size of the exporter and that the effect is stronger for poorer countries.