The idea of a neoliberal subject has become prevalent within critical debates about changes to higher education. This neoliberal subject is framed as an entrepreneur of the self and an investor in their human capital (Foucault: 2010). Students are urged by political policy and sector discourses to think of themselves as investors in their own futures. This manifests itself in the fetishisation of league tables and market rhetoric in the name of student choice; a concern for future employability and earnings; but also in the everyday practices of university life. This thesis aims to redress a gap in the literature on neoliberalism in higher education concerning this neoliberal subject by examining students' experiences of higher education across different stages, subjects and universities. Drawing on Foucault (1978, 1985, 1986, 2010), Archer (2003, 2007) and Bourdieu (1986, 1988, 1990, 1991), the thesis explores how neoliberalism within higher education may affect students' processes of self-work. In defining these narratives, it draws on broader critiques of the neoliberal project, particularly Philip Mirowski's (2013) concept of 'everyday neoliberalism'. In capturing students' experiences of higher education, the thesis uses interview data alongside identity portfolios, consisting of biographical data and examples of different presentations of the self students enact during their higher education studies. The students' narratives are analysed against the theoretical background of subject formation and neoliberalism.


Ecologists, like other scientist, have for decades debated their role in society. While some have argued that ecologists should participate in environmental politics, others have focused their attention strictly on scientific issues. In this book, Stephen Bocking explores the context of this debate by recounting the history of ecology in Great Britain, the United States, and Canada since the 1940s. Bocking tells this history through four case studies: the origins and early research of the nature conservancy in Great Britain; the development of ecology at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennesee; the work of the Hubbard Brook ecosystem study in New Hampshire; and research in fisheries ecology at the University of Toronto and the Ontario provincial government in Canada. In each institution, ecologists influenced the development of their discipline, and Bocking explains their work. By comparing these case studies, Bocking demonstrates how the places of contemporary science - laboratories, landscapes, and funding agencies - and its purposes, as expressed through the political roles of expertise and specific managerial and regulatory responsibilities, have shaped contemporary ecology and its application to pressing environmental problems.


The project consists of a live performance taking the 2005 IKEA riot as the starting point for a speculative history of a fictional future, culminating in a choreographed re-enactment of the original event. It is accompanied by a film series explores the possibility of collective action emerging from the capitalist relations inherent in the consumer riot. The performance, staged at the Berlin Biennale, continues this research into re-enactment and post-1989 politics, using a stage set made of flatpack furniture. Using the aesthetics of Modernism and the avant garde, the project transposes early twentieth century utopian ideology to a present day setting where mass uprisings are motivated by cheap commodities.

By re-evaluating biomechanics and Bauhaus theatre theory, these explorations of consumerism and revolution propose that the mechanized movement developed in conjunction with industrial labour survives as a historical re-enactment in the wake of manufacturing work in the west. In the absence of a visual language apt to the contemporary, No Haus Like Bau uses re-enactment as a retrogarde tactic. Its purpose on the one hand is to invoke trajectories for alternate futures that never materialized at an originary moment. On the other hand, the clash of past forms with present content serves to accentuate the historical changes that have thrown into question these forms. Rather than reflecting the present, the projection of the past into a fictional future aims to destabilize the dominant narrative that suggests the current configuration of art, politics and human nature has always been this way. The project has been widely exhibited internationally and supported by Film London and Arts Council England. A theoretical essay on re-enactment as a strategy for performance has been published in Art Papers and in Memory [MIT]. The project also formed the basis of a solo exhibition at Te Tuhi Art Centre, Auckland.


This article investigates development of intraindustry trade among the Baltic States in the context of the EU integration. It was determined that in recent years the share of Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian intra-industry trade has raised. This article analyses the basic theories and methods of intra-industry trade measurement; the influence of this form of trade on the changes of international trade structure. For measurement of intra-industry trade among the Baltic States two approaches have been adopted in the article. The Grubel-Lloyd index has been used to calculate the intensity of intra-industry trade. Secondly, changes in trade over time have been examined using an index of marginal intra-industry trade. Using these methods of measurement and Combined Nomenclature of commodities (CN) the main directions of nature and pattern of Baltic States foreign trade development have been calculated.


In Africa, we experienced a long history of patriarchal leadership not only in the spheres of politics, economics and culture but specifically also in the sphere of religion. In this regard many women aspiring for religious leadership experience the proverbial "hitting of the glass ceiling". Many factors are influencing the current state of religious leadership and the accompanying identity formation. The purpose of this article is to do a descriptive-empirical investigation into some of these processes of leadership from feedback of female post-graduate students studying theology at the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The empirical results will be read through the lenses of Social Identity Theory. This will be done with a keen interest to see if the concepts we are using are still adequate and to search for the possibility of new understandings of religious leadership identities that might emerge and ways in which it can become part of curriculum development.


This PhD Thesis includes five main parts on diverse topics. The first two parts deal with the trophic ecology of wolves in Italy consequently to a recent increase of wild ungulates abundance. Data on wolf diet across time highlighted how wild ungulates are important food resource for wolves in Italy. Increasing wolf population, increasing numbers of wild ungulates and decreasing livestock consume are mitigating wolf-man conflicts in Italy in the near future.
In the third part, non-invasive genetic sampling techniques were used to obtain genotypes and genders of about 400 wolves. Thus, wolf packs were genetically reconstructed using diverse population genetic and parentage software. Combining the results on pack structure and genetic relatedness with sampling locations, home ranges of wolf packs and dispersal patterns were identified. These results, particularly important for the conservation management of wolves in Italy, illustrated detailed information that can be retrieved from genetic identification of individuals.
In the fourth part, wolf locations were combined with environmental information obtained as GIS-layers. Modern species distribution models (niche models) were applied to infer potential wolf distribution and predation risk. From the resulting distribution maps, information pastures with the highest risk of depredation were derived. This is particularly relevant as it allows identifying those areas under danger of carnivore attack on livestock.
Finally, in the fifth part, habitat suitability models were combined with landscape genetic analysis. On one side landscape genetic analyses on the Italian wolves provided new information on the dynamics and connectivity of the population and, on the other side, a profound analysis of the effects that habitat suitability methods had on the parameterization of landscape genetic analyses was carried out to contributed significantly to landscape genetic theory.


This brief paper critically addresses a recent approach by researchers that use voluntary self-exclusion (VSE) by gamblers as a proxy measure for problem gambling. By using tracking data from online gamblers or data from player cards, such research derives typical behavioral patterns of past voluntary self-excluders and uses their data to predict and identify problem gamblers. We argue that this approach is flawed and is unlikely to help in developing harm-minimization measures. We argue that using personalized feedback is a much better approach
to the prevention of problem gambling than using data from those that self-exclude from gambling.


Abstract This paper explores the political factors that determine the price of loans offered to borrowing countries by multilateral development banks (MDBs). The reasons why MDBs set their prices at a given level and why those prices might vary from one MDB to another has received scant attention in academia, even though inexpensive loan costs are the primary reason countries borrow from MDBs. The paper explores these issues in three MDBs, each with a different composition of shareholding countries – the World Bank (controlled by wealthy non-borrowing countries), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) (more evenly balanced between non-borrowing and borrowing countries) and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) (controlled by borrowing countries). Evidence indicates that MDB shareholder composition has a major impact on loan prices, in sometimes unexpected ways. While the backing of wealthy countries allows the World Bank and IADB to raise resources on capital markets more cheaply than the CAF, the interests of those same non-borrowing countries in using MDB net income make loan costs significantly higher at those MDBs – especially the World Bank – than they would be otherwise. These results provide support to an institutionalist approach in focusing on the importance of shareholding and voting rules to better understand MDB activities.


Introduction Normal and malignant breast tissue contains a rare population of multi-potent cells with the capacity to self-renew, referred to as stem cells, or tumor initiating cells (TIC). These cells can be enriched by growth as "mammospheres" in three-dimensional cultures. Objective We tested the hypothesis that human bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), which are known to support tumor growth and metastasis, increase mammosphere formation. Results We found that MSC increased human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) mammosphere formation in a dose-dependent manner. A similar increase in sphere formation was seen in human inflammatory (SUM149) and non-inflammatory breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) but not in primary inflammatory breast cancer cells (MDA-IBC-3). We determined that increased mammosphere formation can be mediated by secreted factors as MSC conditioned media from MSC spheroids significantly increased HMEC, MCF-7 and SUM149 mammosphere formation by 6.4 to 21-fold. Mammospheres grown in MSC conditioned media had lower levels of the cell adhesion protein, E-cadherin, and increased expression of N-cadherin in SUM149 and HMEC cells, characteristic of a pro-invasive mesenchymal phenotype. Co-injection with MSC in vivo resulted in a reduced latency time to develop detectable MCF-7 and MDA-IBC-3 tumors and increased the growth of MDA-IBC-3 tumors. Furthermore, E-cadherin expression was decreased in MDA-IBC-3 xenografts with co-injection of MSC. Conclusions MSC increase the efficiency of primary mammosphere formation in normal and malignant breast cells and decrease E-cadherin expression, a biologic event associated with breast cancer progression and resistance to therapy.


This paper analyzes the existence of an inflation tax Laffer curve (ITLC) in the context of two standard optimizing monetary models: a cash-in-advance model and a money in the utility function model. Agents' preferences are characterized in the two models by a constant relative risk aversion utility function. Explosive hyperinflation rules out the presence of an ITLC. In the context of a cash-in-advance economy, this paper shows that explosive hyperinflation is feasible and thus an ITLC is ruled out whenever the relative risk aversion parameter is greater than one. In the context of an optimizing model with money in the utility function, this paper firstly shows that an ITLC is ruled out. Moreover, it is shown that explosive hyperinflations are more likely when the transactions role of money is more important. However, hyperinflationary paths are not feasible in this context unless certain restrictions are imposed.


We aimed to know the family health professionals' perception on health promotion; identify the practices adopted to promote health; and identify the easiness and difficulties to carry out such practices. This is a qualitative research, carried out in four Family Health Units in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. 11 nursing professionals of the teams were subjects of study; the data were collected by interviews and analyzed through the Discourse of Collective Subject – DCS. According to the collected speeches, health promotion means the transmission of knowledge in educational sessions, the prevention and treatment of diseases, improving the quality of life. The used practices followed the programs recommended by the Health Department. Among the difficulties we verified the lack of interest both from the patients as well as from the nursing professionals.


After the East Asian crisis, there has been a renewed interest in both academic and policy circles about the role that bank weaknesses play in contributing to systemic banking crisis. Even though, it has been recognized in the recent theoretical literature on banking crises that both macroeconomic and bank-level fundamentals have to be taken into account in the explanation of systemic banking crisis, to date, there is little crosscountry empirical evidence for emerging markets on the role of bank weaknesses in contributing to both sudden deposit withdrawals and bank failures. In this context, my thesis analyzes the episodes of systemic 1997) using bank-level data in order to answer the following questions. First, to what extent, did financial conditions of individual banks explain bank failures? Did only the weakest banks, in terms of their fundamentals, fail in the crisis countries? Second, did depositors in crisis countries discipline riskier banks by withdrawing their deposits in such a way that deposit withdrawals could be considered an act of market discipline? The results for East Asia and Latin America show that bank-level fundamentals both affect significantly the likelihood of failure and explain a high proportion of the likelihood of failure of failed banks (around fifty percent). In East Asian crisis countries, there was little overlap in the distribution of logit propensity scores between failed and non-failed banks, implying that mainly the weakest banks failed. However, in Latin American crisis countries, there was a much clear overlap in the distribution of logit propensity scores, implying that banking system and macroeconomic shocks are relatively much more important in Latin America. Regarding market discipline, a stable model of bank-level fundamentals explains the growth rate of deposits in both regions even during the peak of the crisis periods. However, in both regions, the relative contribution of bank level fundamentals during the peak of the crisis periods declined. In this context, to some degree, the observed deposit withdrawals represented an informed market response to observable bank weaknesses.


Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. In the United States alone, it accounts for 31% of new cancer cases, and is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of deaths in American women. More than 184,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year resulting in approximately 41,000 deaths. Early detection and intervention is one of the most significant factors in improving the survival rates and quality of life experienced by breast cancer sufferers, since this is the time when treatment is most effective. One of the most promising breast imaging modalities is microwave imaging. The physical basis of active microwave imaging is the dielectric contrast between normal and malignant breast tissue that exists at microwave frequencies. The dielectric contrast is mainly due to the increased water content present in the cancerous tissue. Microwave imaging is non-ionizing, does not require breast compression, is less invasive than X-ray mammography, and is potentially low cost. While several prototype microwave breast imaging systems are currently in various stages of development, the design and fabrication of anatomically and dielectrically representative breast phantoms to evaluate these systems is often problematic. While some existing phantoms are composed of dielectrically representative materials, they rarely accurately represent the shape and size of a typical breast. Conversely, several phantoms have been developed to accurately model the shape of the human breast, but have inappropriate dielectric properties. This study will brie y review existing phantoms before describing the development of a more accurate and practical breast phantom for the evaluation of microwave breast imaging systems.


We report the results of the observation of the nearby satellite galaxy Segue 1 performed by the MAGIC-I ground-based gamma-ray telescope between November 2008 and March 2009 for a total of 43.2 hours. No significant gamma-ray emission was found above the background. Differential upper limits on the gamma-ray flux are derived assuming various power-law slopes for the possible emission spectrum. Integral upper limits are also calculated for several power-law spectra and for different energy thresholds. The values are of the order of 10−11 ph cm−2 s−1 above 100 GeV and 10−12 ph cm−2 s−1 above 200 GeV. Segue 1 is currently considered one of the most interesting targets for indirect dark matter searches. In these terms, the upper limits have been also interpreted in the context of annihilating dark matter particles. For such purpose, we performed a grid scan over a reasonable portion of the parameter space for the minimal SuperGravity model and computed the flux upper limit for each point separately, taking fully into account the peculiar spectral features of each model. We found that in order to match the experimental upper limits with the model predictions, a minimum flux boost of 103 is required, and that the upper limits are quite dependent on the shape of the gamma-ray energy spectrum predicted by each specific model. Finally we compared the upper limits with the predictions of some dark matter models able to explain the PAMELA rise in the positron ratio, finding that Segue 1 data are in tension with the dark matter explanation of the PAMELA spectrum in the case of a dark matter candidate annihilating into τ+τ−. A complete exclusion however is not possible due to the uncertainties in the Segue 1 astrophysical factor.


Malignant hyperthermia susceptibility remains the commonest cause of death owing to general anaesthesia. This is despite the availability of presymptomatic testing, admittedly by a highly invasive method, and a recognised treatment for implementation immediately a patient shows signs of developing a crisis. Recently the finding of linkage to markers from chromosome 19q13.1-13.2 and the identification of mutations in a candidate gene held out hope of genetic diagnosis being available. However, it is likely that only about 50% of families have a mutation of the skeletal muscle calcium release channel gene. With this degree of genetic heterogeneity, presymptomatic testing based on DNA markers can only be offered at present to a limited number of families where linkage to markers from 19q13.1-13.2 has been clearly shown.


Education of the hearing impaired in Nigeria had gone through stages of "Darkness", "Twilight", and "Dawn" as in other countries of the world. Superstitious beliefs about hearing impaired people exercise strong influence on public attitudes toward then and their subsequent education. The advent of the missionaries into the area of education of special needs children had been the forerunner of public awareness of the possibility of training and educating them in Nigeria. A great improvement has been made since the first attempt. The increased interest in the establishment of institutions for the hearing impaired individuals is a mark of the success already achieved and a portrayer of future trend toward delivery of sound and quality education for the hearing impaired in Niger.ia.


School quality and resources vary dramatically across school district boundary lines. Students who live mere miles apart have access to disparate educational opportunities based on which side of a school district boundary line their home is located. Owing in large part to metropolitan fragmentation, most school districts and the larger localities in which they are situated are segregated by race and class. Further, because of a strong ideological preference for localism in public education, local government law structures in most states do not require or even encourage collaboration between school districts in order to address disparities between them. As a result, the combination of metropolitan fragmentation and localism in public education leads to the exclusion of poor and minority students from access to high-quality school districts, which are largely clustered in more affluent and predominately white localities. This Article contends that, given the raceand class-based exclusionary effects that metropolitan fragmentation and localism have on public education, the time has come to reconsider the wholesale commitment to localism in public education. It suggests that in some instances, the dissemination of public education should be made on a regional basis rather than a local basis. It examines how enacting regionalism—a theoretical framework, which advocates for the installment of regional governance structures—might occur in public education. Borrowing from two specific theories of regionalism, equitable regionalism and federated regionalism, it proposes a framework entitled "Equitable Federated Regionalism" for disseminating public education on a regional basis. It suggests that enacting Equitable Federated Regionalism as a form of state law reform would help to ameliorate current disparities in public education that occur along the basis of race and class.


Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the ear represents a high-risk tumor location with an increased risk of
metastasis and local tissue invasion. However, a metastatic carcinoma of the conjunctiva is uncommon. We present
an unusual case of an 80-year-old man who underwent a tumorectomy of a squamous cell carcinoma of the lobule of
both ears, and present a bilateral ocular squamous neoplasia pathologically confirmed. Medical examination revealed a
tumor recurrence in the right ear. A cervico-thoraco-abdomino-pelvic CT showed suspicious pulmonary nodular lesion
with deep lymphadenopathy, and an iliac bone lysis. The patient declined adjuvant chemo-radiation therapy.


This study considered the measurement properties of two indigenous constructs assessing Chinese parenting and parent–child relationships. The study also examined whether the relationships between guanjiao, xiao, and adolescent psychosocial adjustment, as theorized in previous scholarly work, hold for contemporary families in mainland China. Data were collected from a sample of 144 early adolescents in a southern Chinese city. Results suggested that guanjiao was best represented by two indicators: guan, which assessed parental monitoring, and jiao, which assessed parental teaching and expectations. Moreover, only jiao was associated with adolescent depressive symptoms and misconduct. Xiao appeared to be an important mediator between parenting behaviors and adolescent outcomes and may play a key role in predicting Chinese early adolescents' adjustment.


Despite the spectacular rise of interdisciplinarity in literary studies, the representation of music and musicians in literature has been an under-theorized topic. Work about the relationship between music and literature has sometimes, as Stephen Benson points out, been dogged by unconvincing comparisons between literary and musical form (5-6). However, Benson's recent work points to fruitful developments in "musico-literary discourse," an area in which "musicology is newly attentive to literature and literary studies is newly cognizant of musicology" (4). (1) In this essay, I suggest that musico-literary discourse can usefully extend beyond even literary studies and musicology into psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, and cultural analysis of the musical profession. To this end, I employ an unorthodox mix of cultural and psychoanalytic theory, music cognition, and recent musicology to examine the way Vikram Seth, in An Equal Music, narrativizes musical meaning and its repression through "normalization" in professional music-making. An Equal Music is unusual for the dedication with which it raises questions about the meaning of classical music and its performance in Europe in the late twentieth century. The novel, through a potent mixture of realism and allegory, creates a dynamic interplay between the two opposite faces of musical meaning: its apparent autonomy, and its social mediation. It evokes the subjective and affective experience of playing and listening to music, but also explores the degree to which the power structures and socio-economic arrangements of the musical profession in London in the late twentieth century--with their attendant pressures towards normalization--enable or deflect that experience. The novel can be read as a reworking of the Orpheus and Eurydice legend in that it celebrates the power of music but also warns of the dangers of looking back. The plot centres on a love affair between the pianist Julia and the violinist Michael, who is a member of a string quartet, the Maggiore. The two had formerly been lovers in Vienna, where they were both music students, but their relationship subsequently broke up. When they are reunited ten years later in London, it is gradually revealed that Julia, now married with a child, is turning deaf. Despite this, Julia and Michael become lovers again, and Julia plays with Michael's quartet on a European tour. When they separate for the second time, Michael, the narrative's focalizer, suffers severe psychological trauma but is ultimately rehabilitated by the power of Julia's playing in a public concert. Through this narrative trajectory. An Equal Music suggests that, while musical meaning can seem to be hermetic, it is always mediated and modified by the social and political contexts within which it is composed, performed, or received. The novel projects these ideas about musical meaning and production partly by throwing them into relief through its focus on two kinds of disability that are the "others" of musical meaning and the musical profession: deafness and neurosis. Therefore, while An Equal Music might seem to romanticize the imagination, I argue that it actually intercepts the private with the social aspects of musical production and reception. To make my case, I apply to the novel a confluence of theoretical approaches that shift the concept of musical imagination to that of musical imaginary. This shift makes a fitting connection with respect to musical experience between the Lacanian concept of the imaginary (Lennon) and the widely disseminated idea of national or social imaginaries. The term musical imaginary has also been employed by Georgina Born and David Hesmondhalgh to convey the way in which music can anticipate or retrospectively capture socio-cultural identities (35-36). Here I employ the term musical imaginary more broadly, to link three distinct aspects of music and music-making: the psychology of playing and listening to music; the discourses, histories, and ideologies that surround those experiences; and the relationship between these and their broader social context. …


Intraoperative administration of the proteinase Inhibitor aprotinin causes reduction in blood loss and homologous blood requirement in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. To ascertain the blood-saving effect of aprotinin and to obtain further information about the mode of action, 40 patients undergoing primary myocardial revascularization were randomly assigned to receive either aprotinin or placebo treatment. Aprotinin was given as a bolus of 2 X 105 kallikrein inactivator units (KIU) before surgery followed by a continuous infusion of 5 X 105 KIU/h during surgery. Additionally, 2 X 105 KIU were added to the pump prime. Strict criteria were used to obtain a homogeneous patient selection. Total blood loss was reduced from 1,431 +/- 760 ml in the control group to 738 +/- 411 ml in the aprotinin group (P < 0.05) and the homologous blood requirement from 838 +/- 963 ml to 163 +/- 308 ml (P < 0.05). In the control group, 2.3 +/- 2.2 U of homologous blood or blood products were given, and in the aprotinin group, 0.63 +/- 0.96 U were given (P < 0.05). Twenty-five percent of patients in the control group and 63% in the aprotinin group did not receive banked blood or homologous blood products. The activated clotting time as an indicator of inhibition of the contact phase of coagulation was significantly Increased before heparinization in the aprotinin group (141 +/- 13 s vs. 122 +/- 25 s) and remained significantly Increased until heparin was neutralized after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The concentration of the thrombin-antithrombin III complex was significantly decreased at the end of CPB in the aprotinin group, indicating less thrombin generation in the aprotinin-treated group. The total concentration of the fibrinogen-fibrin split products (FSP) and the split products of the cross-linked fibrin (D-dimers) were also significantly reduced due to attenuated proteolytic activities of thrombin and plasmin. The results of the fibrin plate assay revealed higher fibrinolytic activity during CPB in the control group. The results demonstrate the beneficial effect of high-dose aprotinin treatment on blood loss and homologous blood requirement. This effect can be attributed to the inhibition of the contact phase of coagulation and the consequently reduced thrombotic and fibrionolytic activity during and after CPB.


This thesis comprises of four essays that seek to advance understanding of the role that climatic constraints have on agricultural productivity in India and Pakistan. This work emphasises that the constraints posed to agricultural production must be understood within the context of an evolving set of environmental and technological conditions. The thesis employs empirical methods to understand these relationships, where particular emphasis is placed on methods suitable for learning about the challenges agriculture will face in the future. The first chapter studies the impact of climate change on rice yields in India by modelling the inter-annual distribution of yield conditional on projected temperature increases. The results suggest a decrease in average yield and a substantial increase in the probability of low yields. It is also shown that yields have become increasingly resilient to heat over time. The second chapter studies the e↵ect of drought on cereal production in India by estimating thresholds of drought impact. By examining thresholds over time, evidence is found of decreasing average impacts, but with evidence of an abrupt increase in average drought impacts in more recent years. Thresholds of precipitation are also estimated, indicating substantial heterogeneity in resilience to drought across crop types and regions of India. The third chapter examines how changes in agricultural technology brought about by the Green Revolution a↵ected the relative importance of agro-climatic factors in determining crop yields. Using a detailed measure of crop suitability it is found that yields increased relatively more in areas of higher suitability, indicating complementarity between agricultural technologies and favourable agro-climatic characteristics. The final chapter uses farm-level data from a specifically-designed survey to assess the impact and determinants of climate change adaptation strategies on crop productivity in Pakistan. Adaptation has a beneficial e↵ect on rice yields, but not on wheat yields. This chapter also finds that a number of household and institutional factors are strongly related to whether households have adapted to climate change.


Despite recent advances in oncology and extensive research efforts, gliomas remain essentially incurable. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM, WHO grade IV) is the most common glioma and may arise de novo or progress from a lower-grade lesion. GBM is characterized by invasive growth, aberrant angiogenesis and necrosis. The heterogeneity of GBM is further complicated by the contribution of the inflammation that is facilitated by immune cells that reside in and infiltrate this immuno-privileged organ.One of the cells types present in the tumor microenvironment are mast cells (MC) that accumulate in the tumor in a grade-dependent manner. GBM cells secrete a plethora of cytokines acting as chemoattractants in MC recruitment and to a lesser degree induce MC proliferation in situ. Expression of one of the cytokines secreted by GBM cells - macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) - correlates with MC accumulation in vivo.GBM cells invade the surrounding parenchyma making complete resection impossible. Here, migration was studied with the focus on RAP1 and its negative regulator RAP1GAP. Activation of RAP1 signaling by lentiviral silencing of RAP1GAP lead to decrease in cell migration and a shift in expression of SOX2 and GFAP, presumably enhancing stem cell phenotype.MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs known to regulate the mRNA network. miR-21 is highly overexpressed in the majority of cancers including GBM. Its expression is strictly regulated during embryonic development of the brain. SOX2 is co-regulated with miR-21 demarcating a cell population with neural/glial progenitor/stem cell properties. In an experimental mouse model, expression of miR-21 can be sustained by forced expression of PDGF-BB leading to gliomagenesis. GBM cells seem to be addicted to oncogenic properties of miR-21 as its knockdown leads to extensive apoptosis. This observation combined with the fact that miR-21 is absent in the normal adult mammalian brain suggest miR-21 to be an excellent therapeutic target.Effects of conventional therapy (surgery combined with radiochemotherapy) on prolonging patient survival have reached a plateau. New effective personalized therapeutic modalities need to be designed and implemented. Targeting the tumor microenvironment as well as cell intrinsic properties like invasive potential, stemness and onco-miR addiction studied in this thesis will hopefully lead to efficient disruption of GBM's aberrant ecosystem.


Background : recent research shows that severe/very severe post-migration living difficulties (PMLD) have a negative impact on the mental health and social integration of refugees and asylum seekers. This study focuses on the role of PMLD in primary care "ordinary" immigrants. Methods : 443 primary care immigrants were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire measuring the number and severity of pre-migratory potentially traumatic events (PTE), PMLD, and the current prevalence of a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The frequency of PMLD was assessed in the whole sample and compared in patients with and without PTSD. The effect of the number of PMLD on the risk of having a PTSD was studied by means of a regression analysis, adjusted by the number of PTE. Results : 391 patients completed the questionnaire and were enrolled into the study. The prevalence of PTSD was 10.2%. In the whole sample the most frequent PMLD were "no permission to work" (38.6%) and "poverty" (34.5%). All PMLD (except "communication difficulties") were more frequent in patients with a PTSD. The number of PMLD significantly increased the likelihood to have a PTSD independently from PTE. Conclusions: severe/very severe post-migration living difficulties (PMLD) increase significantly the risk of PTSD in primary care "ordinary" migrants. Our hypothesis is that they have a retraumatizing effect on individuals who are already vulnerable and with a low capacity to handle resettlement stress due to their previous traumatic history. The implications in clinical practice and for immigration policies are discussed.


Good state image ensures smooth integration into global market and international political system, helps to attract more foreign direct investments, tourists. It secures that country will gain the support of foreign countries and international organizations in solving various economic, political and security issues. In XXI century even small states are used to set a strategic goal of image forming in their national strategies and achieve this goal by using public diplomacy and nation branding. This paper aims to analyze the issues of contemprorary small states image forming by using public diplomacy and developing nation brand. Also main problems of Lithuania image forming are identified on the basis of comparative analysis of the cases of Lithuania, Estonia, Finland. The paper also contains the model of image forming and development of public diplomacy for Lithuania which was created on the basis of the comparative analysis of these three cases.


The economic nexus standard has gained significant support during the last decade as the proper standard for determining the scope of states' taxing powers under the Dormant Commerce Clause. Unfortunately, however, despite the widespread acceptance of that standard in the abstract, there is no uniform understanding of what economic nexus actually means. State courts that have adopted that standard have generally failed to explain its parameters, and those few courts that have actually addressed the scope of economic nexus have adopted artificially high standards that severely restrict its reach. Actions by state legislatures and revenue authorities have been much the same. Uncertainty reigns, yet those disparate approaches to the same constitutional standard have yet to receive scholarly attention. This Article seeks to fill that void by analyzing state actions in this area and by evaluating how states' different formulations for economic nexus will likely develop over time. Such an analysis shows that states' economic nexus formulations have little theoretical or jurisprudential grounding and will necessarily change and deteriorate over time. As a result, states' actions in this area will be non-uniform and will maintain the significant uncertainty that currently exists. Federal attention to economic nexus is thus warranted to prevent state actions from undermining the goals of the Dormant Commerce Clause. This Article analyzes several potential federal responses and concludes that Congress should intervene and adopt a federal factor nexus standard based on the Multistate Tax Commission's model formulation.


By the end of XX century in the structure of humanity some changes have been provoked: a new ethnos Ethnos of Intellect is formed and is still being formed, beside the historical types of ethnoses: open ethnos, closed ethnos, wandering ethnos, dead ethnos, and this event was caused by the technical progress, development of informational and transport communications, especially by creation of Internet. The Ethnos of Intellect is something very close to the "Information Society" described by J. Ellule and Y. Masuda that was regarded as the culture of XXI century, being an antithesis for technical and technicistical civilizations, but it's necessary to indicate also the essential difference between these concepts: the Ethnos of Intellect is the antithesis of Socium. The existence of such an ethnos within human society that has already become an Information Society itself is extremely important in observing legally and informatically a new kind of reins in the hands of the political power, revealing every attempt to violate the human rights of simple citizens. A concrete example of some conjunction points of legal informatics and informatical law in a certain kind of ambiental studies of the project ''State Registre of Population'' in Russia is very eloquent. Keywords—Culturology, Legal Informatics, Sociology of


Spreading broadly refers to the notion of an entity propagating throughout a networked system via its interacting components. Evidence of its ubiquity and severity can be seen in a range of phenomena, from disease epidemics to financial systemic risk. In order to understand the dynamics of these critical phenomena, computational models map the probability of propagation as a function of direct exposure, typically in the form of pairwise interactions between components. By doing so, the important role of indirect interactions remains unexplored. In response, we develop a simple model that accounts for the effect of both direct and subsequent exposure, which we deploy in the novel context of failure propagation within a real-world engineering project. We show that subsequent exposure has a significant effect in key aspects, including the: (a) final spreading event size, (b) propagation rate, and (c) spreading event structure. In addition, we demonstrate the existence of 'hidden influentials' in large-scale spreading events, and evaluate the role of direct and subsequent exposure in their emergence. Given the evidence of the importance of subsequent exposure, our findings offer new insight on particular aspects that need to be included when modelling network dynamics in general, and spreading processes specifically. modelling


The coastal area of Klang at the eastern of Malaysia contains different types of land covers that are surrounded by the urban and mangroves areas. These areas are significant for environmental biodiversity. This article focuses on the erosion along the Kapar to Jeram coastal areas. The purpose of this study is to monitor the 41 years of shoreline changes using satellite imageries from 1974 to 2015 (Landsat TM and ETM+). The coastline is delineated by using the histogram slicing technique. One hundred transects were sampled at 200 meter intervals along the shoreline. The transects were obtained by calculating the rate of change of mangrove shorelines and distance. Finding shows that an average for the shoreline rate of change was 5 m/year . The results of this study will be translated to propose a policy for environmental mitigation. The outcome of this study will introduce the proposed environmental mitigation for future planning in the specific sectors of coastline.


This article suggests the role of social networks for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an element of path creation. While past choices and past behavior influence the present, ESD helps to create new opportunities by promoting processes of learning related to sustainable development. To better understand how path creation takes place, the article emphasizes that a further elaboration of Social Network Analysis (SNA) is essential for Futures Studies and suggests an alternative methodological approach which bridges the gap between intervention and scientific analysis. On this note, a case study research design is introduced which addresses networks in five communities that have been distinguished by the United Nations Decade of ESD (2005-2014) in Germany.


This paper describes the non-marine Mollusca of the Pleistocene terrace deposits of Barnfield pit, Swanscombe, and discusses their ecological and climatic significance. Biostratigraphical relationships with Hoxnian deposits at Clacton-on-Sea and at certain other sites in the lower Thames basin are examined. It is suggested that the Lower Gravel and Lower Loam of Barnfield pit were formed in the early-temperate substage of the Hoxnian interglacial (zone Ho II), whereas the Middle Gravels began to accumulate not before the end of the late-temperate substage (zone Ho III), and probably extend into the early-glacial substage of the succeeding glaciation. New evidence bearing on the dating of the Clacton Channel deposits is contained in the appendix. The Clactonian flint industry at the type site is shown to belong at least partly in subzone Ho IIb of the interglacial.


This study aims to determine the process and counseling services performed by guidance and counseling (BK) teachers in coaching the students' character, with the method descriptive qualitative approach. Guidance and counseling are services of assistance given to students to develop their potential, alleviate the problems, and shape the character of the students in accordance with the norms that exist in the neighborhood. The character building of students can be done through guidance and counseling services that are prevention, alleviation and development. The results showed that the process of guidance and counseling was done not in accordance with established procedures and the implementation of observation and data identification to understand the needs within the framework of the preparation of BK program. Besides, the prevention activities were carried out by providing knowledge about the character of the students through information services, content mastery and group counseling as well as involving students in religious activities at school.


Solid groundstrokes, a confident net game, a dictating serve, a sharp return game, and specialty shots for every situation–build your game from the ground up with the techniques and shots that are essential for success in today's versatile and powerful game. Combine that with winning tactics for singles and doubles, and Tennis Skills & Drills is your blueprint for taking your game to the next level.
 Start with assessing the basic techniques for the various strokes and see how you can improve your footwork, grip choices, and swing patterns. Then increase your options with spins, angles, and depth. Complete instruction for all of the strokes along with over 110 practice drills is like having your own personal coach.
 Since your technique is only as effective as your tactics, the book also covers the key tactical principles and game plans for maximizing your strengths while minimizing your opponent's. You'll learn to prepare for, adapt to, and counter every style of play.
 Whether your goal is to beat your favorite playing partner or to win the next league, state, or national title, Tennis Skills & Drills is your guide to mastering the game.


Abstract The seaweed flora of Bras d'Or Lake, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia is compared with those of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe and five Northwest Atlantic embayments ranging from Pomquet Harbour, Nova Scotia to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Both Bras d'Or Lake and the Baltic Sea have experienced extensive geological and hydrographic changes during the past 15,000 years, which have resulted in limited connections to the open sea, negligible tides, low salinities, and reduced floras. The ecology of these two unique saltwater bodies differs from true estuaries like the York River of Maine, the Great Bay Estuary System of New Hampshire/Maine, and the Merrimack River of Massachusetts, which experience extreme hydrographic and tidal variability. Of the 309 total seaweed taxa recorded from the six Northwest Atlantic embayments, Bras d'Or Lake had the lowest number of red, brown, and green algae (i.e., 83) and shared taxa (mean 61.2 ± 4.9 SE), whereas Narragansett Bay had the highest numbers of total (203) and shared taxa (mean 111.6 ± 20.1 SE). Several taxa were restricted to single embayments, with a few glacial and limnic relicts occurring in Bras d'Or Lake and the Baltic Sea. Nine disjunct warm-water taxa were present in Bras d'Or Lake, with this representing the second highest numbers found in four embayments located north of Cape Cod, Massachusetts; this pattern reflects the characteristics of a shallow inland lake. Eleven introduced taxa were recorded from the various Northwest Atlantic embayments, ranging from two in Bras d'Or Lake to 3–10 in the other five embayments. The absence of an intertidal fucoid zone in the Lake (and the Baltic Sea) is probably associated with several physical factors, including a lack of tides, extensive ice-scouring, long-lasting atmospheric reductions of sea level, and reduced salinities. By contrast, the occurrence of subtidal fucoid algae within both brackish water habitats is probably due to a lack of strong competition from perennial kelp populations, which have limited tolerances to low salinities. Morphological features of attached submerged fucoids are analogous to those of loose-lying or entangled salt marsh forms, which are usually small, thin, profusely branched, and have extensive vegetative fragmentation. Unique aegagropilous (detached, ball-shaped) populations of Gracilaria tikvahiae also were found at some inland Bras d'Or Lake sites, presumably resulting from ice scouring and detachment.


Prions cause various transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. They are highly resistant to the chemical and physical decontamination and sterilization procedures routinely used in healthcare facilities. The decontamination procedures recommended for the inactivation of prions are often incompatible with the materials used in medical devices. In this study, we evaluated the use of low-temperature hydrogen peroxide gas plasma sterilization systems and other instrument-processing procedures for inactivating human and animal prions. We provide new data concerning the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide against prions from in vitro or in vivo tests, focusing on the following: the efficiency of hydrogen peroxide sterilization and possible interactions with enzymatic or alkaline detergents, differences in the efficiency of this treatment against different prion strains, and the influence of contaminating lipids. We found that gaseous hydrogen peroxide decreased the infectivity of prions and/or the level of the protease-resistant form of the prion protein on different surface materials. However, the efficiency of this treatment depended strongly on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and the delivery system used in medical devices, because these effects were more pronounced for the new generation of Sterrad technology. The Sterrad NX sterilizer is 100% efficient (0% transmission and no protease-resistant form of the prion protein signal detected on the surface of the material for the mouse-adapted bovine spongiform encephalopathy 6PB1 strain and a variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease strain). Thus, gaseous or vaporized hydrogen peroxide efficiently inactivates prions on the surfaces of medical devices.


The acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase) hydrolyses the membrane lipid sphingomyelin into ceramide and phosporylcholine. ASMase localises to phagosomes, endosomes, lysosomes and the plasma membrane, i.e. those subcellular sites which are at the crossroads of many immunological processes. One of these is granule-mediated cytotoxicity as the major effector mechanism of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Cytotoxic granules have been characterized previously as secretory lysosomes. This raised the question, whether ASMase contributes to granule-mediated cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells. In my diploma project, I have already shown that ASMase is required for the effective control of the acute infection with the Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV) in mice. More specifically, ASMase-deficient (ASMase-/-) CTL were shown to be severely impaired in their virus-specific cytotoxicity. This project aimed at elucidating the ASMase-dependent mechanism contributing to effective cytotoxicity of CD8+ CTL. Analysis of ASMase-/- CD8+ T cells revealed that the transcription, translation, intracellular storage and processing of cytotoxic effector molecules proceed without defects. Moreover, in ASMase-/- CD8+ T cells no hints for the accumulation of sphingomyelin were detected. These findings excluded excessive sphingomyelin as the cause for impaired cytotoxicity. The specificity of the ASMase-dependent mechanism was shown by a strongly reduced T cell receptor-triggered release of cytotoxic effector molecules while secretion of the chemokine RANTES was not impaired in ASMase-/- CTL. In ASMase-/- T cells, cytotoxic granules were shown to fuse properly with the plasma membrane at the immunological synapse. The very last step of granule exocytosis, i.e. the extrusion of granular contents, is impaired by deficiency in ASMase. Even in CTL unable to generate high molecular weight granule matrix, the secretion of low molecular weight granule contents was strongly impaired by ASMase-deficiency. Biomorphometry revealed that cytotoxic granules are of identical size in wt and ASMase-/- CTL prior to fusion with the plasma membrane. However, after fusion with the plasma membrane, in ASMase-/- CD8+ T cells the granules remain significantly larger than in wt cells. This phenomenon can be explained by the biophysical consequences of ASMase activity: Generation of ceramide in wt cells increases the surface tension within the inner leaflet of cytotoxic granules. According to Laplace�s law this facilitates the collapse of the fused granule, thus leading to effective extrusion of the granules contents.


1. Freshwater systems are subject to multiple stressors that include changing climate, changing land use, changing demands on water resources and changing nutrient cycles. Global trends suggest these stressors that impact on water availability will increase over the coming decades, and - without action - will constrain opportunities to sustain ecosystem services to deliver the Millennium Development Goals. 2. Although a key 'service' freshwaters provide is buffering inputs from the land system, predicting ecosystem response through observation and modelling is complex because nonlinear and dynamic interactions amongst a large number of constituents operate to regulate biogeochemical transformations in freshwater systems. 3. Reductionist approaches have been successful at unravelling many of the processes and some of the interactions in freshwater systems. However, reductionist approaches cannot provide the concepts or methods to understand how system properties will emerge in response to a changing climate (particularly the changing spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation); to the consequent change in water availability and water quality in the context of social drivers on the demand for water; and to feedbacks arising from nutrient cycling across a range of scales. 4. This study presents a review of the evidence for landscape-scale filtering of nutrient delivery to receiving waters and examines the role of the internal processing of nutrients at critical interfaces such as the hyporheic in attenuating nutrient loads. Analysis of research on the spatial scales and time step appropriate for catchment and water quality observations indicates the importance of small scale and short time step data for unravelling nutrient cycling in freshwater ecosystems. 5. Thematic implications: leading work in the catchment and aquatic sciences on the importance of diffuse nutrient losses from land, and on nutrient cycling in freshwaters, in governing water quality and protecting water availability, is making an increasing contribution to mainstream environmental science. Critically, the evidence base is starting to grow to inform policy-related debates with respect to food security, to climate change adaptation and for sustaining ecosystem services in freshwater environments.


This article calls for a reappraisal of the tribal sovereignty doctrine, one which looks within - to the "cultural sovereignty" of Indian Nations - for the core of its meaning rather than to an externally defined notion of tribal "political sovereignty." Part I of the article examines the limitations of the political sovereignty doctrine as it has been applied to Indian nations. In Part II, the article attempts to construct a doctrine of cultural sovereignty, premised on the central components of sovereignty as it is exercised and understood within tribal communities. Part III of the article suggests that cultural sovereignty is a process of reclaiming culture and of building nations. Using the metaphor of "repatriation," we discuss the key features of that process. Part IV concludes the article by offering a vision of what the future of Indian nations might be under a reconceptualized and integrated notion of political and cultural sovereignty.


The main criterion that determines the quality of durum wheat is the degree of suitability for pasta production (pasta-processing quality). In this regard, pigment content and the quantity of oxidative enzymes of durum wheat play important roles in the quality of pasta. It is now possible to examine these features and specify their effects using recently developed genetic markers and spectrophotometric measurement techniques. In the present study, LOX enzyme activity and pigment content are determined using molecular and biochemical scanning. According to the obtained results, Gediz-75, Gdem-12, Line-19, Zenit, Line-7 and Line-20 were determined as the most suitable lines or varieties for the production of quality pasta with regard to LOX enzyme activity. As for pigment content, Kyle, Zenit, Gdem-12, Gdem-2, TMB-1 and TMB-3 showed the highest potential for the production of yellow pasta. When pigment content and LOX enzyme activity were evaluated together, the potential of the Gediz-75, Gdem-12 and Zenit durum wheat varieties and lines to produce yellow pasta products was shown to be very high.


The authorial preface to works of fiction provides a unique space for exploration of authorial self-fashioning and author-reader mediation. This article argues that, when works of fiction are translated and new prefaces written for a new readership, these prefaces can provide extra insights into the perceptions, expectations, and constrictions of both producing and consuming literature in a global era. Recent debates on world literature have centered mainly on issues of reception and circulation, preferring to define its scope in terms of the reader and the reading context rather than by the author or production process. This study considers the changing role of authors who consciously attempt to locate themselves within this contested and reconfigured field and how they construct a persona to address a newly defined world readership. This article explores the changes throughout the twentieth century by analyzing a selection of authorial prefaces to translated editions of three influential authors: Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881–1936), Ba Jin 巴金 (1906–2005), and Yu Hua 余華 (1960–). All prolific preface writers, they each have, in different ways, in different periods, engaged with the concept of a global literary readership and marketplace and negotiated their respective places within it.


Feature Issue on Photonics in SwitchingA type of optical cross connect that is new to the best of our knowledge is introduced, which employs tunable dispersion compensating devices as switching elements. Such an architecture is used to impose the optimum balance between chromatic dispersion and nonlinearity in a core optical network, wherein each link carries signals coming from several different paths, with dissimilar transmission characteristics. Two scenarios are shown: one with 80km spans followed by dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) and one with 40km spans without any DCF. The overall process not only facilitates wavelength switching but also considerably improves the physical performance.


The plant parts of jute are composed of highly viscous substances and phenolic compounds which make nuisance to extract good quality genomic DNA (gDNA). Here different methods viz., phenol chloroform isoamylalcohol extraction and ethanol precipitation method; potassium acetate method and Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) method were applied for isolating the jute gDNA from leaves of 14 and 40 day's plants. All of these methods were unable to extract good quality gDNA from jute leaves. That is why, in this experiment, the concentration and chemical compositions of CTAB method were modified for obtaining good quality jute gDNA. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was added in the CTAB extraction buffer and β mercaptoethanol was used while grinding the leaf tissues with CTAB extraction buffer. It was found that good quality gDNA was obtained using modified CTAB method from 14 day's plant's leaves but low quality gDNA was obtained from 40 day's plant's leaves. These were confirmed by 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis. Considering the visual quality of the banding patterns and their reproducibly MHR24 (5-TTCCCTCCCA-3) and MHR21 (5-CCCGAAGCGA-3) primers were selected out of 8 Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers for PCR. A total number of 11 loci were identified by these RAPD primers. Popgen32 software was used for analyzing the RAPD data. The number of polymorphic loci was one and the percentage was 9.09 which stated that a low level of genetic variations was existed among the jute accessions. In the dendrogram, jute accession CC875 (C. capsularis) was grouped in one cluster while CC894 (C. capsularis) and CC896 (C. capsularis) accessions were grouped in another cluster.


We present the first marker-less approach for temporally coherent 3D performance capture of a human with general clothing from monocular video. Our approach reconstructs articulated human skeleton motion as well as medium-scale non-rigid surface deformations in general scenes. Human performance capture is a challenging problem due to the large range of articulation, potentially fast motion, and considerable non-rigid deformations, even from multi-view data. Reconstruction from monocular video alone is drastically more challenging, since strong occlusions and the inherent depth ambiguity lead to a highly ill-posed reconstruction problem. We tackle these challenges by a novel approach that employs sparse 2D and 3D human pose detections from a convolutional neural network using a batch-based pose estimation strategy. Joint recovery of per-batch motion allows to resolve the ambiguities of the monocular reconstruction problem based on a low dimensional trajectory subspace. In addition, we propose refinement of the surface geometry based on fully automatically extracted silhouettes to enable medium-scale non-rigid alignment. We demonstrate state-of-the-art performance capture results that enable exciting applications such as video editing and free viewpoint video, previously infeasible from monocular video. Our qualitative and quantitative evaluation demonstrates that our approach significantly outperforms previous monocular methods in terms of accuracy, robustness and scene complexity that can be handled.


The thermal reactivation of granular activated carbon is a substantial ecological and economic benefit in the process of drinking water treatment. A significant amount of abraded carbon, which is similar to powdered activated carbon (PAC), is produced that can be brought to application at wastewater treatment plant level for the removal of micropollutants in a powdered activated carbon-activated sludge (PAC-AS) system. This excess carbon derived as a by-product from the reactivation process in a waterworks was applied directly into the activated sludge tank and has been elevated in this study by monitoring the removal efficiencies for benzotriazole, carbamazepine, diclofenac, metoprolol and sulfamethoxazole in the effluent of a semi-technical wastewater treatment plant of 39 m3. A simulation-derived sampling strategy was applied to optimize the recovery rates of the micropollutants. Flow-proportional, 72-hour composite sampling was considered best. The elimination rates obtained for a 10 g PAC·m-3 dosage were 73% for benzotriazole, 59% for carbamazepine, 60% for diclofenac, 67% for metoprolol and 48% for sulfamethoxazole. The obtained results underline the importance of appropriate sampling strategies, which can be derived from hydraulic modeling.


Abstract The notion of decoupling thinking has been well established in the manufacturing operations and supply chain management literature. This paper explores how this decoupling thinking can be applied in service operations and in particular in health care. It first reviews the relevant literature on decoupling fundamentals, the front- and back-office distinction, and new emerging decoupling thinking in service operations. Subsequently, a flow-based framework including content and process is developed for decoupling thinking in service operations. The framework provides an integrated perspective on customer contact, flow driver and flow differentiation (level of customisation). The framework hence, through flow differentiation, introduces the concept of standardisation versus customisation in a service context. This is followed by a health care case example to illustrate how the framework can be applied. The managerial implications are primarily in terms of a modularised approach to system design and management. The framework offers potential for benchmarking with other service systems as well as with manufacturing systems based on the shared foundation in decoupling thinking. Finally, suggestions are provided for further research opportunities derived from this research.


The Dumut languages Mandobo, South Wambon and North Wambon are a subgroup of the Awyu-Dumut family. They form a dialect chain that represents stages of the development from clause conjoining with independent verb forms to clause chaining with dependent verb forms that express switch-reference. South Wambon represents the first stage in which there is coordination reduction of tense and subject person-number suffixes in thematic continuity conditions. This process created three verb types: fully finite verbs; semi-finite verbs and non-finite verbs. Coordination reduction leaves the coordinating conjunctions intact and this explains the presence of coordinators with all verb types, including dependent verbs. Coordination reduction creates verb forms that signal subject continuity but it does not create subject discontinuity forms and there is no switch-reference in South Wambon. However, the introduction of dependent subject continuity forms gives South Wambon speakers a choice in subject continuity conditions between dependent forms and independent verb forms. Since speakers prefer dependent forms under these conditions, a frequency pattern emerges that associates independent forms with subject discontinuity conditions and that sets the stage for the development of medial verb forms and switch-reference. North Wambon and Mandobo represent the second stage in which subject discontinuity forms develop. North Wambon transforms conjoined semi-finite independent verbs into two types of special medial verb forms that express switch-reference. In Mandobo any medially occurring independent verb form is reinterpreted as a Different Subject form. The two-stage hypothesis revives the coordination reduction theory of Haiman (1983a) as an explanation for the origin of (certain) switch-reference systems by viewing coordination reduction as an explanation of SS forms only. In this way, the two-stage theory overcomes the problems of limited applicability that Roberts (1997: 190) noted for the original theory of Haiman (1983a).


The aim of this paper is to discuss the substance of macroeconomic aggregates that are commonly used in empirical research to express the size of government. Although public sector aggregates normally provide a basis for the assessment of the size of government, there are broader aggregates that capture the scope of government more realistically. This paper presents the relevant statistical concepts, the current state of methodology, as well as discusses the degree of instability in existing methodology and its effect on the robustness of empirical research findings and recommendations. In addition, this paper, on the basis of currently available data, demonstrates the extent of the differences between these statistical concepts in terms of monetary values as well as numbers of employees. The results not only show that the size of government is much larger than estimated, but that it can also have far-reaching consequences for both economic policy and economic research.


Karst is ubiquitous on the peninsula of Qatar, including depressions, sinkholes, and caves. Faulting and fractures play a major role in the development of karst, where fluids find pathways through limestone and dissolve the host rock. The resulting fissures may grow larger as more surface water is funneled through to form cavities or karst. Sinkholes may also form, when cavern roofs collapse, and it is this last characteristic that is of concern to rapidly growing metropolitan areas, that expand in heretofore unexplored regions. Qatar has seen a recent boom in construction, including the planning and development of complete new sub-sections of metropolitan areas. Before planning and construction can commence, the development areas need to be investigated to determine their suitability for the planned project. Of particular concern are ubiquitous karst features that are prone to collapse, particularly when surface loading is increased due to the construction of new buildings. In this paper, we present the results of a study to demonstrate a variety of seismic techniques to detect the presence of a karst analog in form of a vertical water-collection shaft located on the campus of Qatar University, Doha, Qatar. Seismic waves are well suited for karst detection and characterization. Voids represent high-contrast seismic objects that exhibit strong responses due to incident seismic waves. However, the complex geometry of karst, including shape and size, makes their imaging nontrivial. While karst detection can be reduced to the simple problem of detecting an anomaly, karst characterization can be complicated by the 3D nature of the problem of unknown scale, where irregular surfaces can generate diffracted waves of different kind. In our current paper we build upon previous results (Gritto et al, 2015) and employ a variety of seismic techniques to demonstrate the detection and characterization of a vertical water collection shaft analyzing the phase, amplitude and spectral information of seismic waves that have been scattered by the object. The experiment consisted of seismic transmission and reflection surveys, using a 10 kg sledge hammer as a source and three-component 10 Hz geophones to record the data. We used the reduction in seismic wave amplitudes and the delay in phase arrival times in the geometrical shadow of the vertical shaft to independently detect and locate the object in space. Additionally, we use narrow band-pass filtered data combining two orthogonal transmission surveys to detect and locate the object. Our analysis showed that ambient noise recordings may generate data with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio to successfully detect and locate subsurface voids. This is a result of the low intrinsic attenuation of seismic waves by the limestone and dolomite rocks that are ubiquitous throughout Qatar. Being able to use ambient noise recordings would eliminate the need to employ active seismic sources that are time consuming and more expensive to operate.


This paper follows my attempted correlation of the Pleistocene
glacial epochs (Lewis, 1934).
Further study of the raised beaches and river terraces in the
Derwent, Coal, and Huon River valleys has made possible a tentative
statement of the late Tertiary and Pleistocene succession in Southern
Tasmania. The whole problem has by no means been solved, but
sufficient data are forthcoming to warrant recording as a basis for
future work. This is the phase of Tasmanian geology which has
received the least attention in the past, and it was not until the
effect of the waxing and waning of the four Pleistocene Ice Sheets
on the level of the ocean was fully understood that the various
apparently contradictory features of our coastal plains was decipherable.
The


In this paper we investigate periodic FPU chains with an even number of particles. We show that near the equilibrium point, any such chain admits a \emph{resonant} Birkhoff normal form of order four which is \emph{completely integrable} - an important fact which helps explain the numerical experiments of Fermi, Pasta, and Ulam. We analyze the moment map of the integrable approximation of an even FPU chain. Unlike in the case of odd FPU chains these integrable systems (generically) exhibit hyperbolic dynamics. As an application we prove that any FPU chain with Dirichlet boundary conditions admits a Birkhoff normal form up to order four and show that a KAM theorem applies.


Global concern over rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations has led to a proliferation of studies of carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Associated with this has been widespread adoption of the eddy covariance method to provide direct estimates of mass and energy exchange between vegetation surfaces and the atmosphere. With the eddy covariance method, fast-response instruments (10–20Hz) are typically mounted above plant canopies and the fluxes are calculated by correlating turbulent fluctuations in vertical velocity with fluctuations in various scalars such as CO2, water vapour and temperature. These techniques allow the direct and non-destructive measurement of the net exchange of CO2 owing to uptake via photosynthesis and loss owing to respiration, evapotranspiration and sensible heat. Eddy covariance measurements have a high temporal resolution, with fluxes typically calculated at 30-min intervals and can provide daily, monthly or annual estimates of carbon uptake or loss from ecosystems. Such measurements provide a bridge between 'bottom-up' (e.g. leaf, soil and whole plant measures of carbon fluxes) and 'top-down' approaches (e.g. satellite remote sensing, air sampling networks, inverse numerical methods) to understanding carbon cycling. Eddy covariance data also provide key measurements to calibrate and validate canopy- and regional-scale carbon balance models. Limitations of the method include high establishment costs, site requirements of flat and relatively uniform vegetation and problems estimating fluxes accurately at low wind speeds. Advantages include spatial averaging over 10–100ha and near-continuous measurements. The utility of the method is illustrated in current flux studies at ideal sites in northern Australia. Flux measurements spanning 3years have been made at a mesic savanna site (Howard Springs, Northern Territory) and semi-arid savanna (Virginia Park, northern Queensland). Patterns of CO2 and water vapour exchange at diurnal, seasonal and annual scales are detailed. Carbon dynamics at these sites are significantly different and reflect differences in climate and land management (impacts of frequent fire and grazing). Such studies illustrate the utility of the eddy covariance method and its potential to provide accurate data for carbon accounting purposes. If full carbon accounting is implemented, for ideal sites, the eddy covariance method provides annual estimates of carbon sink strength accurate to within 10%. The impact of land-use change on carbon sink strength could be monitored on a long-term basis and provide a valuable validation tool if carbon trading schemes were implemented.


We design the first efficient algorithms and prove new combinatorial bounds for list decoding tensor products of codes and interleaved codes. (1) We show that for every code, the ratio of its list decoding radius to its minimum distance stays unchanged under the tensor product operation (rather than squaring, as one might expect). This gives the first efficient list decoders and new combinatorial bounds for some natural codes including multivariate polynomials where the degree in each variable is bounded. (2) We show that for every code, its list decoding radius remains unchanged under m-wise interleaving for an integer m. This generalizes a recent result of Dinur.et.al, who proved such a result for interleaved Hadamard codes (equivalently, linear transformations). (3)Using the notion of generalized Hamming weights, we give better list size bounds for both tensoring and interleaving of binary linear codes. By analyzing the weight distribution of these codes, we reduce the task of bounding the list size to bounding the number of close-by low-rank codewords. For decoding linear transformations, using rank-reduction together with other ideas, we obtain tight list size bounds for small fields.
 Our results give better bounds on the list decoding radius than what is obtained from the Johnson bound, and yield rather general families of codes decodable beyond the Johnson bound.


Abstract The processes of deepening economic integration and regional development contribute to the intensification of inter-regional disparities. The EU's efforts to achieve cohesion are intended to contribute to lifting the level of socio-economic development, improving the quality of life of residents, and also solving emerging problems, including social ones, so that the benefits of growth spread evenly across the EU. This inevitably has the implication, in the name of solidarity principle, of the need to provide support to countries and regions at a disadvantage to achieve cohesion within the EU. The Union promotes economic, social and territorial cohesion among Member States (MS) through grants of financial assistance and in the many benefits achieved from the implementation of EU policies. One of these policies is the cohesion policy, the aim of which is to achieve a social, economic and territorial cohesion within the Union. This paper aims to identify current perceptions of cohesion in the EU. Here we will argue that there is no conflictual relationship between economic and social cohesion; that both dimensions are self-reinforcing, and economic cohesion presupposes social cohesion. The paper also discusses the socio-economic cohesion of Poland and its regions against the background of the new EU MS. It will also assess the contribution of EU cohesion policy in the socio-economic development of Polish regions.


The production of gold ornaments and artifacts is a local and national industry. Isfahan is one of the major metropolises which it has the first rank of gold industry, jewelry and silver in Iran. Obtained value added in this industry is not in a good position than other industries in Isfahan, however. Thus, more attention to this valuable industry will result in more development and growth and economic progress in Isfahan as well. Hence, the researcher tried to present an integrated framework in order to develop appropriate strategies in this metropolis which will help the growth and survival of the industry. For presenting a comprehensive framework strategy, SWOT has been used for determining the factors in this study. Major factors have been selected by using fuzzy linguistic variables and multi criteria decision making method. Using these factors, necessary conditions for enhancing value added obtained from this industry may be enhanced and more share of global markets will be gained.


This paper examines the distribution of income in Pakistan, and in each of its four provinces, from an explicit and formal Islamic perspective. A cardinally significant Atkinson-Kolm-Sen relative index of inequality reflecting that perspective is proposed and computed from the full HIES data series for the years 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, and 1987-88. There is evidence of a significant decline in overall inequality in Pakistan from 1984-85 to 1987-88, but the level of inequality remains very high. Inter-province and inter-urban/rural differences in inequality profiles within Pakistan and each of its provinces are found to be generally less, significant than intra-province and intraurban/rural differences.


The novel aerobic granular sludge technology is attractive for intensified biological nutrient removal from wastewater. This process is based on self-granulated flocs forming fast-settling mobile biofilms with a gel-like consistence, called "granules". Mechanisms of bacterial selection and self-immobilisation as spherical biofilms have risen fundamental interest. Investigations were conducted on the relationship between the bacterial populations involved and the resulting internal granular architectures. Bacterial and structural dynamics from flocs to granules were followed in anaerobic-aerobic sequencing batch reactors operated under different conditions selecting for fast-growing heterotrophic organisms (floc-forming Zoogloea and filamentous Burkholderiales affiliates), for slower-growing polyphosphate-accumulating organisms ("Ca. Accumulibacter") and their glycogen-accumulating competitors ("Ca. Competibacter"), as well as for nitrifying organisms. Dynamics of bacterial community compositions were analyzed using a novel PyroTRF-ID bioinformatics methodology combining T-RFLP and pyrosequencing targeting the 16S rRNA gene pool. Structural times series were followed by CLSM combined with overall biomass staining with Rhodamine 6G, with fluorescence lectin-binding analysis (FLBA) of glycoconjugate matrices, and with 16S rRNA targeted FISH to monitor the spatial dynamics of phylotypes within granules. Under wash-out conditions, initial predominance of fast-growing Zoogloea spp. resulted in the formation of smooth and homogeneous granular biofilms by swelling and outgrowth of Zoogloea colonies around flocs. These continuous zoogloeal biofilm matrices were then embedding the proliferation of dense clusters of Accumulibacter, Competibacter, and nitrifiers from the granule core outwards. This led to the formation of heterogeneous multispecies mature granular biofilms. Granules cultivated in enrichment cultures of Accumulibacter and Competibacter resulted from the heterogeneous development of compact microcolonies around flocs. Under unfavorable conditions, filamentous Burkholderiales structures proliferated by penetrating outside granules leading to impaired settling performances. In conclusion, biofilm granulation mechanisms depend on the predominant organisms involved, and on their physiological properties. According to FLBA, the structural gelling agent is likely to exhibit a complex exopolysaccharide composition.


Background— Hemodynamic assessment after volume challenge has been proposed as a way to identify heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. However, the normal hemodynamic response to a volume challenge and how age and sex affect this relationship remain unknown. Methods and Results— Sixty healthy subjects underwent right heart catheterization to measure age- and sex-related normative responses of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and mean pulmonary arterial pressure to volume loading with rapid saline infusion (100–200 mL/min). Hemodynamic responses to saline infusion in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (n=11) were then compared with those of healthy young (<50 years of age) and older (≥50 years of age) subjects. In healthy subjects, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure increased from 10±2 to 16±3 mm Hg after ~1 L and to 20±3 mm Hg after ~2 L of saline infusion. Older women displayed a steeper increase in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure relative to volume infused (16±4 mm Hg·L−1·m2) than the other 3 groups (P⩽0.019). Saline infusion resulted in a greater increase in mean pulmonary arterial pressure relative to cardiac output in women compared with men regardless of age. Subjects with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction exhibited a steeper increase in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure relative to infused volume (25±12 mm Hg·L−1·m2) than healthy young and older subjects (P⩽0.005). Conclusions— Filling pressures rise significantly with volume loading, even in healthy volunteers. Older women and patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction exhibit the largest increases in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and mean pulmonary arterial pressure.


Microglia are the innate immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They are capable of sensing
infection and damage through various receptors and consequently trigger an appropriate immune
response. This includes the production of several cytokines and chemokines that modulate immune
functions and can lead to the recruitment of peripheral immune cells into the CNS. Among these, the
neutrophil chemoattractant CXCL1 and the monocyte chemoattractant CCL2 are released in response
to activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) as sensors of highly conserved structures on foreign as well
as host molecules. Apart from that, microglia have been demonstrated to secrete interferons (IFNs),
which are crucial cytokines for fighting viral and also bacterial infections.
Here we show that the production of type I interferons can be induced by activation of microglial TLRs. In
response to double-stranded RNA associated with viral infections detected by TLR3, microglia are able
to produce IFNα as well as IFNβ. Furthermore, activation of TLR4 by bacterial ligands and damage-related
factors triggers IFNβ release. In contrast to that, bacterial ligands of TLR2 fail to induce any type
I interferon. These differences in interferon production can be attributed to the differential involvement
of the major TLR signaling routes. We demonstrate that the release of IFNβ exclusively depends on
the presence of the TIR-domain-containing adapter-inducing IFNβ (TRIF), which is only recruited upon
activation of TLR3 and TLR4. Within the TLR4 system, TRIF-dependent signaling further requires the
TLR4 co-receptor CD14 and accordingly, we could show that CD14 enables IFNβ production.
Following their release, type I interferons exert a variety of functions. In addition to their role in host
defenses against infections, several immunomodulatory effects have been identified, which can be either
beneficial or detrimental depending on the disease context. Here we show, how IFNβ differentially
regulates microglial responses to CNS infection and damage. We demonstrate that the production of
CXCL1 and CCL2 in response to TLR activation is controlled by an IFNβ-mediated feedback mechanism.
While CCL2 is positively regulated, CXCL1 is under negative control of type I interferon signaling.
This mechanism is individually organized within different TLR systems. In response to TLR4 activation,
both subunits of the interferon-α/β receptor (IFNAR) cooperatively regulate chemokine production. This
effect is mediated by the canonical type I interferon signaling pathway, which includes janus kinases and
the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1 and STAT2. In contrast to that, only IFNAR1
and IFNAR2 regulate TLR2-induced chemokine production independent of downstream components of
the canonical type I interferon signaling pathway.
These different regulatory mechanisms of chemokine production also translate into in vivo control of
immune cell infiltration during CNS infection. In a model of gram-negative meningitis, we demonstrate
protective effects of IFNAR1 by prevention of excessive neutrophil infiltration into the brain. This correlates
with the IFNβ-mediated negative control of microglial CXCL1 production. In contrast to that,
neutrophil infiltration in models of gram-positive meningitis and the autoimmune disease neuromyelitis
optica is not controlled by type I interferon signaling. This underlines that immunomodulatory effects of
type I interferons are very specific and highlights the importance of understanding their mode of action.


Second moments of asset returns are important for risk management and portfolio selection. The problem of estimating second moments can be approached from two angles: time series and the cross-section. In time series, the key is to account for conditional heteroscedasticity; a favored model is Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC), derived from the ARCH/GARCH family started by Engle (1982). In the cross-section, the key is to correct in-sample biases of sample covariance matrix eigenvalues; a favored model is nonlinear shrinkage, derived from Random Matrix Theory (RMT). The present article marries these two strands of literature to deliver improved estimation of large dynamic covariance matrices. Supplementary material for this article is available online.


After two years of fragile recovery from the global recession, as a group the six South East European countries (SEE6) – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia – are experiencing a double-dip recession in 2012. Deteriorating external conditions, the impact of the severe winter on economic activity, and a continuing rise in unemployment early in the year took a toll on consumption, investments, and exports. The risks noted in the June report have materialized. Credit recovery and fiscal consolidation are under threat. Nonperforming loans (NPLs) – thought to be stabilizing only a few months ago – are again on the rise. As a result, both within and outside the region the environment has become much more difficult to navigate, and the policy trade-offs necessary to stabilize economies and reignite growth are tougher. After growing by about 2 percent annually in 2010-11, the combined real GDP of SEE6 will shrink -0.6 percent in 2012, with real output in Serbia declining by as much as 2 percent. Also, it is now clear that even in the best of circumstances, the road to sustained recovery will be arduous: growth in 2013 is now expected to average 1.6 percent and the risks may be formidable. Among the clouds on the horizon for 2013 are the global impact of the U.S. "fiscal cliff," the uncertain recovery of the Eurozone, and high commodity prices – risks to which all the SEE6 countries are highly vulnerable. Also worrisome for its households is the risk of a new food price shock, which could exacerbate poverty and put pressure on the middle class. In this fragile environment, Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro in particular will need to persevere in reducing fiscal deficits and bringing down debt, even as they must continue to improve the investment climate and reform labor markets and the public sector. In all SEE6 countries, public sector arrears pose special challenges to fiscal management and the private sector, and there are unfinished, structural reforms agendas. After two years of deep crisis, a sluggish recovery, rising unemployment and poverty, and a continuing recession – even with the best efforts on fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, which must continue – there is a danger that SEE6 countries are caught in a vicious circle that reinforces the cycle of long-term austerity, low if not negative growth, high debt, and even higher risks of social upheaval. To prevent this outcome, this report argues, SEE6 governments need to redouble their efforts to accelerate fiscal and structural reforms. These countries have largely exhausted their fiscal space and reduced public investment (except Kosovo, an outlier) to a fraction of what is needed to maintain public capital stock in critical infrastructure. Private investment is suppressed by the lack of productive, complementary public investments, slow credit recovery, and depressed domestic demand. External demand is minimal, and exports are not only too few, they are prevented from becoming an immediate, new engine of growth by infrastructure, finance, and other deficiencies. What is needed first and foremost, this report argues, is more intensive policy reform to reduce public debt and accelerate structural reforms, especially in public sector governance, the investment climate, and labor markets. Given their vulnerabilities, the SEE6 countries could also better prepare for new food price shocks. If such accelerated reforms materialize, external support – well-coordinated and targeting the region as a whole, not just individual countries – from the EU and global international financial institutions (IFIs) could help ease the transition to a more sustained growth in medium term. In November 2012, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank announced €30 billion in financing for Central and South East European countries over the next two years. In SEE6 countries, this timely initiative would likely be delivered via the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) and other IFI resources. IPA resources will also be important, especially in supporting institutional reform and rural development. By focusing on major infrastructure of regional significance (rail, highways, energy, and gas) and on jobs and small and medium enterprises, the efficiency of investments, growth, and employment could be substantially heightened. However, additional financing for growth and jobs could prove effective only if accompanied by intensified fiscal and structural reforms, especially in the areas of investment climate, labor markets, and governance.


The purpose of this thesis was to test the hypothesis that multiple-listing of equity options leads to lower bid-ask spreads because of increased competition. This competition can come in two forms, actual or potential, both of which are theorized to have the same effect on spreads. A model of the determinants of the bid-ask spread was formulated. Separate tests were conducted on 1985 and on 1992 CBOE data. The first test arose from the fact that in 1985, only a certain number of options were multiple-listed, or eligible to be multiple-listed. Spreads for multiple-listed options were conjectured to be below spreads for single-listed options across low levels of volume, and equal to single-listed option spreads at higher levels of volume. The evidence for this was mixed based on several regressions with different functional forms. The second test arose from the fact that in 1992, because of an SEC rule change, all options were eligible to be multiple-listed but still only a few were. Spreads for multiple-listed options were conjectured to be equal to spreads for single-listed options because the single-listed options had the potential to become multiple-listed. Again, the evidence for this was mixed. It appears that the actual and potential competitive effects from multiple-listing had yet to come to fruition as of 1992. Further testing revealed that, on an option-by-option basis, spreads generally rose from 1985 to 1992. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


In this paper, a new small-scale lithium bromide (LiBr)-water absorption system consisting water-cooled absorber and air-cooled condenser is experimentally studied. For compactness, the heat exchangers for evaporator, absorber, and generator are made helical-coiled type, whereas based on the water availability and load requirements, condenser is air-cooled. Accurate empirical correlations for thermal load and evaporator temperature against the concerning system driving factors have been reported. Response surface analyses of the performance parameters are studied with respect to LiBr concentration, temperature of generator, and mass flowrate of hot water. Using experimental data, the estimation of overall heat transfer coefficient (U) and its variation with system driving factors is quantified. The error margin between theoretical and actual pressure loss is limited within 5%. Next, a multi-objective inverse analysis of the developed system is done to simultaneously retrieve the required LiBr concentration, mass flowrate of hot water, and vapor generator temperature to derive a desired cooling performance demand from the system. The physics related to salt concentration and generator temperature in governing U values are reported. It can be established that the necessary operational parameters can be predicted by the present multi-objective inverse method to meet the necessary thermal load and temperature demands within an accuracy level of 6% and 5%, respectively.


Despite the increasing popularity of Results Based Financing, there is little evidence or documentation of different verification strategies and how strategies relate to the verification results. Documentation of implementation processes including those pertaining to verification of outputs/results is lacking in World Bank-financed RBF projects in the health sector. The overall objective of this cross-case analysis is to expand knowledge about verification processes andpractices to address the design and implementation needs of RBF projects. This study adds toavailable knowledge by comparing the characteristics of verification strategies as well as available data on costs (using level of effort as a proxy), savings, and verification results to date in six countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Burundi, Panama, Rwanda, and the UK. These case studies were purposively selected to explore a number of factors, including: how a variety of results are verified; how the verification strategy is being implemented at different levels in the health system; and the implications of having different types of actors (that is, third-party versus internal verifiers) involved in the verification process. In this cross-case analysis, the discussion of similarities and differences in verification methods across the six cases as well as the analysis of findings is guided by a conceptual framework developed for this study. This study presents seventeen key findings, and nine recommendations.