Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was studied with respect to stream habitat type in four low-order Patagonian streams (Argentina). Seven habitat types were sampled during high and low water periods in each river. Boulders cobbles, pebbles and gravels were sampled in run/riffle sections, whereas sand, leaf packs and macrophytes were sampled in pools. Run-riffles supported higher densities and biomasses of invertebrates than sand in pools but had densities similar to those in macrophytes. Benthic organic matter was highest in leaf packs in pools (4.21 g DM/ 0.1 m 2 ) and was composed of leaf fragments, wood and entire leaves. The dry weight of organic matter among boulders, cobbles and pebbles in riffles areas ranged from 0.69 to 0.85 g DM/0.1 m 2 . Detrended correspondence analysis showed that species assemblages differed seasonally, and that species associations differed markedly among substrata and rivers. Proportions of five functional feeding groups differed among habitats, although gatherers were dominant in most habitat types. Shredders and collector-gatherers co-dominated numerically in leaf packs but shredder bioglass was highest among boulders and gravels. Filterers were numerically dominant on macrophytes and gravels, whereas scrapers were common on all riffle substrata. At the habitat scale, current velocity, water temperature and organic matter availability appear to be major factors affecting the distribution and abundance of Patagonian stream invertebrates. Our results provide baseline data on poorly studied rivet systems whose integrity is threatened by sediment inputs from forestry and agriculture.


The area of computing is seeing parallelism increasingly being incorporated at various levels: from the lowest levels of vector processing units following Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) processing, Simultaneous Multi-threading (SMT) architectures, and multi/many-cores with thread-level shared memory and SIMT parallelism, to the higher levels of distributed memory parallelism as in supercomputers and clusters, and scaling them to large distributed systems as server farms and clouds. All together these form a large hierarchy of parallelism. Developing high-performance parallel algorithms and efficient software tools, which make use of the available parallelism, is inevitable in order to harness the raw computational power these emerging systems have to offer. In the work presented in this thesis, we develop architecture-aware parallel techniques on such emerging paradigms in parallel computing, specifically, parallelism offered by the emerging multi- and many-core architectures, as well as the emerging area of cloud computing, to target large scientific applications.
First, we develop efficient parallel algorithms to compute optimal pairwise alignments of genomic sequences on heterogeneous multi-core processors, and demonstrate them on the IBM Cell Broadband Engine. Then, we develop parallel techniques for scheduling all-pairs computations on heterogeneous systems, including clusters of Cell processors, and NVIDIA graphics processors. We compare the performance of our strategies on Cell, GPU and Intel Nehalem multi-core processors. Further, we apply our algorithms to specific applications taken from the areas of systems biology, fluid dynamics and materials science: pairwise Mutual Information computations for reconstruction of gene regulatory networks; pairwise Lp-norm distance computations for coherent structures discovery in the design of flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicles, and construction of stochastic models for a set of properties of heterogeneous materials.
Lastly, in the area of cloud computing, we propose and develop an abstract framework to enable computations in parallel on large tree structures, to facilitate easy development of a class of scientific applications based on trees. Our framework, in the style of Google's MapReduce paradigm, is based on two generic user-defined functions through which a user writes an application. We implement our framework as a generic programming library for a large cluster of homogeneous multi-core processor, and demonstrate its applicability through two applications: all-k-nearest neighbors computations, and Fast Multipole Method (FMM) based simulations.


Child sexual exploitation encompasses a broad spectrum of types of child abuse. For purposes of this article, the type of child sexual exploitation that will be primarily dealt with is computer-facilitated child pornography. However, other types of child sexual exploitation cases, such as prostituting children, on-line luring and abduction, and trafficking, will also certainly generate computer evidence. (1) Child pornography is the permanent recording of the sexual abuse and exploitation of a minor. The best approach to combating this crime is a multi-disciplinary one, in which the investigator, prosecutor, and all other allied criminal justice professionals involved work together to best ensure that sexually exploited children are assisted by the criminal justice system. Working together as a team also ensures the best chance for bringing to justice the perpetrators of this crime. One of the most important areas of multi-disciplinary collaboration is in the drafting and execution of search warrants. This article will initially focus on what components should be found in a search warrant, then address the exceptions to the search warrant requirement, specifically concentrating on the topics of plain view, consent, private searches, exigent circumstances and parole and probation considerations, and conclude with an overview of federal privacy statutes that may impact on search warrant issuance and execution. I. COMPUTER SEARCH AND SEIZURE ISSUES (2) With the advent of computer technology, the production and storage of child pornography has changed radically. In the past, production and storage were expensive, technically difficult and often left a readily discernible trail for law enforcement to follow. With current computer technology, the creation of child pornography has been reduced to an easy-to-accomplish exercise, needing only common video cameras, video capture boards, digital cameras, or scanners and software tools to inexpensively and easily record and edit the product. The computer's capacity to store images in digital form makes it an ideal repository for child pornography. A single CD-R can store hundreds to thousands of images and thousands of pages of text. Hard drives can store hundreds of thousands of images at very high resolution. Thumb drives, Smart Cards, DVDs, CD-RWs, zip disks, and jazz disks, which can be easily hidden due to their small size and shipped anywhere in the world, can also store thousands of images. The communication between pedophiles engaging in the business of child pornography has also been revolutionized by the nearly universal access to computers now enjoyed in the United States. (3) This communication allows contact to be made around the world quickly, privately, and anonymously. These advantages to computer interaction are well known and serve as a foundation of trade among pedophiles. The ability to produce child pornography easily, reproduce it inexpensively, and market it anonymously (through electronic communications) has drastically changed the method of distribution. Child pornography can now be electronically mailed to anyone with access to a computer and a modem. With the proliferation of commercial services that provide electronic mail, anonymous re-mailing, chat rooms, and off-site storage facilities, computers have become a favored medium among child pornographers. (4) In view of the advancing technological aspects available to those who traffic in child pornography, traditional tools used in criminal investigations, such as the search warrant, must be adapted to respond to the new and emerging facets of this crime and to the unique issues that arise within a child abuse/sexual exploitation case. II. SEARCH WARRANTS The Constitution requires law enforcement to establish "probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation," and must "particularly describ[e] the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. …


This CD-ROM is a practical guide to applications of ultrasound. It contains the full text and illustrations of McGahan's and Goldberg's book, "Diagnostic Ultrasound: A Logical Approach", plus 30 minutes of narrated videoclips of real-time ultrasound scans and colour Doppler ultrasound scans. Coverage encompasses ultrasound of all anatomic regions, as well as obstetric, gynaecologic and paediatric ultrasound, Doppler, endoscopic ultrasound, ultrasound-guided invasive procedures, intraoperative ultrasound, three-dimensional ultrasound, and newer adaptations of ultrasound. The presentation guides the user systematically through the examination, differential diagnosis and diagnosis. Users have instant access to more than 2400 images, including full-colour scans, as well as to possible diagnoses, lists of differential diagnostic points, and flow diagrams of key steps in the diagnostic decision-making process. Interactive questions for each topic are also included.


Many regionally declining populations of prairie and shrubland birds breed in the Edwards Plateau ecoregion of Central Texas. Additionally, Central Texas supports a wintering bird community rich in ground foraging sparrow species. Livestock grazing can have species specific and mixed results for local bird communities and other wildlife. I examined the degree to which grazing influences bird foraging frequency and bird abundance, richness, diversity, and evenness relative to herbaceous vegetative ground cover at Freeman Center, a 1,701 ha working cattle ranch in the Balcones Canyonlands subregion of the Edwards Plateau. For one year, I conducted avian surveys and herbaceous ground cover surveys on two grazed and two ungrazed pastures using twenty, 100 meter fixed radius point count sites and twenty, 100 meter transects extending from each site. I included a total of 383 Daubenmire frame surveys, 135 point count surveys, and 184 avian walking transect surveys in various analyses. I used General Linear Models (GLMs) to analyze herbaceous ground cover surveys in grazed and ungrazed sites. I incorporated significant herbaceous vegetation predictors into General Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) to analyze breeding and wintering bird abundance, richness, diversity, and evenness. I also included site as an intercepts-only random factor. I built an additional GLMM to analyze avian winter ground foraging counts. I identified a total of 138 avian species from Freeman Center between January 2014 and May 2015. All breeding bird indices were significantly different among breeding seasons. Breeding bird richness positively correlated with forb cover (β = 0.187, Z = 3.000, P = 0.003). Breeding bird diversity was positively correlated with tallest green grass (β = 0.631, Z = 2.400, P = 0.016) and forb cover (β = 0.171, Z = 2.710, P = 0.007). Except foraging counts, no wintering bird indices were significantly correlated with herbaceous ground cover predictors. Wintering bird foraging counts were positively correlated with forb cover (β = 0.809, Z = 3.070, P = 0.002). Breeding and wintering bird abundance, richness, diversity, and ground foraging counts were all higher in grazed sites than ungrazed sites. Results suggest that moderate grazing pressure promotes forb production and native forbs are important for breeding and wintering birds in the Texas hill country. Future studies should analyze herbaceous plant diversity and the dominant herbaceous plants in study sites throughout the Edwards Plateau. Judgment deferred rotational grazing should be appropriate when ranch managers have the knowledge, experience, resources, and prudence to make best-management decisions based on climate, rainfall, and sustainability. A multi-year study is necessary to assess long-term cattle use and the affects of climate and rainfall on the health and future of ranch operations and wildlife diversity at Freeman Center.


Measurements of the stable carbon isotope composition of leaf tissue were made on Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P trees from four full-sib families grown on three different field sites at the Petawawa National Forestry Institute, Ontario, Canada. The four families chosen exhibited genetic variation for growth characteristics. Genetic variation was also observed for carbon isotopic discrimination (Δ) among the families of P. mariana. In addition, a strong correlation occurred between Δ values measured on trees in 1991 and 1992, two years that had very different precipitation and temperature conditions during the growing season, indicating that the ranking of individual trees remained almost constant between years. A strong, negative correlation was observed between average carbon isotope discrimination and average tree height for the four families on the driest, least productive site, as was expected based on leaf photosynthetic characteristics. There was no significant correlation, however, between Δ values an...


In the present study, spherical microspheres of theophylline (TP) using sodium alginate as the hydrophilic carrier were prepared to prolong the release. The shape, surface and size characteristics were determined by scanning electron microscopy. The microspheres were found to be discreet and spherical in shape and had a smoother surface. The mean diameter of seven alginate microspheres formulations were between 7.6 ± 0.52 and 22.35 ±0.31 μm. It was observed that mean particle size of the microspheres increased with an increase in the concentration of polymer. The entrapment efficiency was found to be in the range of 70–93%. Optimized alginate microspheres were found to possess good sphericity, size and adequate entrapment efficiency. The in vitro release studies were carried out in pH progression media (pH 1.2, 2.5, 4.5, 7 and 7.4 solutions). Results indicated that percent drug release decreased with an increased alginate concentration. TP-loaded Alginate microspheres showed extended in vitro drug release thus use of microspheres potentially offers sustained release profile along with improved delivery of TP. Keywords: Extended drug delivery; Sodium alginate; Microspheres; Bronchial asthma


This paper proposes a service-oriented software reliability model that dynamically evaluates the reliability of Web services. There are two kinds of Web services: atomic services without the structural information and the composite services consisting of atomic services. The model first evaluates the reliability of atomic services based on group testing and majority voting. Group testing is the key technique proposed in this paper to support the service-oriented reliability model. Then, the reliability model evaluates the overall reliability of composite services using an architecture-based model and based on reliabilities of the atomic services, execution scenarios, and operational profiles. The reliability model is dynamic and the reliabilities of the services are evaluated in the actual operational environment. A case study is designed, implemented, and analyzed using the design of experiment technique. The results show the significances of the model and its components.


Female entrepreneurship plays a significant role in the improvement of the country's social policies and makes positive changes in the field of gender equality and women economic empowerment. Despite the fact that participation of women in innovation, information technology and social business development is a priority area in the political agenda for women's empowerment in Lithuania and in the European Union, women still face greater barriers to establishing new enterprices, access funds and loans, and be an equal player in the business sector. The principle study areas of this issue are social and economic indicators in Lithuania and across the European Union, social gender roles in family and labour market, innovation policy, social and legal policies. Women entrepreneurs as a research subject are perceived as women innovators, creating successful businesses, leading innovative commercial projects, addressing economic and social situations of major importance to the society. An integrated and inclusive gender equality policy in the business sector should include equal access to business funding and busness networks, improve social security system and legal frameworks, achieve equality in family roles and childcare, and promote women participation in inovative business activitites through improving business skills and level of confidence.


Activity Based Costing (ABC) has come to light in an era where there was worldwide attention for Japanese management systems and management accounting practices. Despite the worldwide hype for ABC as a method capable of producing more accurate product costs, ABC gathered very little interest from the business community in Japan. However, in contrast, Japanese management and cost accounting researchers took a positive view on the concept and attempted to discuss its applicability to Japanese companies as a viable alternative for their existing cost systems. Although, the collapse of the Japanese bubble economy in early 1990s provided some impetus for Japanese companies to show interest in ABC, there was no evidence of them adopting the practice, nor any serious attempt to do so. This paper seeks to examine the response of the Japanese business community and academics with respect to ABC and to summarise the reasons for ABCs' lack of popularity in Japan as a viable cost accounting system for Japanese companies. This has been done predominantly via a review of Japanese academic literature, which has revealed that the main objective of the researchers was to introduce the concept of ABC and to open up discussion about its merits for Japanese businesses rather than to promote its adoption by them. The fact that Japanese companies already have good cost management systems, which are either effective or somewhat similar to the concept of ABC, and their interest lies on long term growth rather than short term profitability, are among the main reasons for the lack of popularity of this concept in Japan. Despite the lack of popularity of ABC in Japan as a useful costing system and the doubt about its usefulness for Japanese businesses, the academic discussions on the ABC have certainly provided Japanese companies a useful reference for assessing the strength and weakness of their own costing systems.


Credit scores have become a near-universal financial passport for Americans to meet common personal needs including employment, loans, insurance, and home and car purchases or leases. At the same time, Elizabeth Warren and others have documented the horrific economic, emotional, and health consequences of low creditworthiness for score-bearers and their families. Individuals with psychosocial disabilities (previously called mental disabilities or mental illnesses) can make disastrously poor financial decisions during the active phases of their conditions; during inactive phases they are as capable as others of making sound or poor financial decisions. Yet, in computing credit scores and selling credit reports, national and transnational credit-reporting agencies (like Equifax) do not account for the implications of psychosocial disability. Worse, evidence shows that businesses rely on these reports to predatorily target borrowers with psychosocial disabilities — and especially those who are also women and racial minorities — in deciding terms of lending, employment, and housing. In theory but not in practice, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act each prohibit discriminatory financial decisions arising from disability status, while also requiring reasonable accommodations to equalize opportunities for disabled persons. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (which the United States has signed) further mandates enabling the financial decision making of these individuals, but does not provide guidance on achieving this obligation. Further, despite the crucial and direct implications this situation also raises for vast numbers of Americans without psychosocial disabilities who likewise make poor credit decisions, it has not undergone legal analysis. We engage this significant gap by suggesting schemes drawn from historical and comparative contexts that could enable the creditworthiness of persons with psychosocial disabilities, and then critiquing the costs and benefits of each. In doing so, we proffer the first analysis of this issue in the legal literature and seek to stimulate future dialogue among academics and policymakers. The Article concludes with thoughts on the implications of its analyses for the broader issue of credit scoring.


Policies introduced to address one environmental objective can often have the side-benefit of also addressing other environmental objectives. This analysis uses a whole farm bioeconomic model to explore the farm level implications, economic and environmental, of a policy initially designed to reduce greenhouse emissions. We model a regulatory policy which imposes an upper limit on farm greenhouse emissions but allows trees to be used as carbon sinks to offset emissions. The implementation of this policy causes a reduction in whole farm profit, but in addition to decreasing emissions it also decreases groundwater recharge from the farming system and therefore contributes to the prevention of dryland salinity. The analysis compares this approach with using a recharge restriction policy to achieve recharge and emissions reductions. The analysis finds that the position of trees in the landscape affects the extent to which groundwater recharge can be reduced for a given reduction in emissions and that there is a three-way trade-off between profit, emissions reduction and recharge.


The view that Russia has taken a decisive shift towards authoritarianism may be premature, but there is no doubt that its democracy is in crisis. In this original and dynamic analysis of the fundamental processes shaping contemporary Russian politics, Richard Sakwa applies a new model based on the concept of Russia as a dual state. Russia's constitutional state is challenged by an administrative regime that subverts the rule of law and genuine electoral competitiveness. This has created a situation of permanent stalemate: the country is unable to move towards genuine pluralist democracy but, equally, its shift towards full-scale authoritarianism is inhibited. Sakwa argues that the dual state could be transcended either by strengthening the democratic state or by the consolidation of the arbitrary power of the administrative system. The future of the country remains open.


Bent functions are maximally nonlinear Boolean functions with an even number of variables. They were introduced by Rothaus in 1976. For their own sake as interesting combinatorial objects, but also because of their relations to coding theory (Reed-Muller codes) and applications in cryptography (design of stream ciphers), they have attracted a lot of research, specially in the last 15 years. The class of bent functions contains a subclass of functions, introduced by Youssef and Gong in 2001, the so-called hyper-bent functions, whose properties are still stronger and whose elements are still rarer than bent functions. Bent and hyper-bent functions are not classified. A complete classification of these functions is elusive and looks hopeless. So, it is important to design constructions in order to know as many of (hyper)-bent functions as possible. This paper is devoted to the constructions of bent and hyper-bent Boolean functions in polynomial forms. We survey and present an overview of the constructions discovered recently. We extensively investigate the link between the bentness property of such functions and some exponential sums (involving Dickson polynomials) and give some conjectures that lead to constructions of new hyper-bent functions.


If assessment is influential in driving student learning, then interesting and challenging assessments should enhance the learning process. This paper describes how we have tried to implement this philosophy in our introduction of computer-based assessment (CBA) using TRIADS (Tripartite Interactive Assessment Delivery System) in Chemical and Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham. Our aims in using CBA in Engineering are to encourage students to be independent learners, to foster a deep approach to learning, whilst maintaining high quality teaching with reducing staff-student ratios. To achieve these aims it was decided that we needed software that met two main needs: first, to contain a wide range of question styles that could support higher learning outcomes consistent with Bloom's taxonomy of learning objectives and secondly could be used for formative assessment in which the feedback could be configured to direct student learning. TRIADS was selected as it meets these criteria and allows the tutor a high degree of flexibility in configuring the questions. To demonstrate the ability of TRIADS to meet these criteria this paper describes our development and implementation of formative assessments in Chemical and Civil Engineering. In Chemical Engineering a tutorial based on CBA was held with a first-year class of 38 students. The results of the assessment were recorded in order to evaluate question design; initial results and feedback from the students implied that a high level of independent learning took place. In Civil Engineering the CBA was for taught MSc students. The focus was on designing varied and challenging questions to test higher level learning outcomes and to give answer-specific feedback to direct further student learning.


Monetary aggregates continue to play an important role in the ECB's policy strategy. This paper revisits the case for money, surveying the ongoing theoretical and empirical debate. The key conclusion is that an exclusive focus on non-monetary factors alone may leave the ECB with an incomplete picture of the economy. However, treating monetary factors as a separate matter is a second-best solution. Instead, a general-equilibrium inspired analytical framework that merges the economic and monetary "pillars" of the ECB's policy strategy appears the most promising way forward. The role played by monetary aggregates in such unified framework may be rather limited. However, an integrated framework would facilitate the presentation of policy decisions by providing a clearer narrative of the relative role of money in the interaction with other economic and financial sector variables, including asset prices, and their impact on consumer prices.


The radiance received by the sensor is influenced by the atmospheric interaction including the effects of absorption and scattering. Based on the analysis of the radiance along the transmission path, we propose an image degradation model and a recovery method for remote sensing and bad weather condition in which the effect of multiple scattering cannot be ignored. Several real outdoor images are restored to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and method. The results turn out to be significantly improved in contrast and sharpness.


I. INTRODUCTION Herbert Hovenkamp discusses the relationship between antitrust laws and intellectual property (IP) laws. He points out that the conflict between the two "is explained by deep uncertainty about the optimal amount and scope of IP protection. As long as that uncertainty remains there will always be tension between IP and antitrust."1 In this Article we study a particular sort of IP protection, laws that help firms to impose barriers on employee mobility, such as covenants not to compete (CNC). Our goal is to analyze, in a simple economic model, the role that the scope of these IP laws have on the degree of competition. We see this analysis as a necessary step toward understanding the complicated interactions underlying the optimal scope of IP protection. In practice, the degree of protection afforded employers suggests that the issue is an important one. States differ significantly in their policies toward the intellectual property of employers, and have seen different histories as a result. In Massachusetts, where the legal system is based on the English system, employment contracts with CNCs are enforceable by the courts. In California, the law, written in the mid-1800s, is codified and does not specifically allow for the enforcement of such contracts.2 There are some states, such as Texas, where CNCs are typically not enforced.3 The differential enforcement of these clauses has been constant for more than a century in Massachusetts and California, and the results are strikingly different.4 There is evidence of hyper-mobility between high-tech firms in California, which is not evident in Massachusetts.5 In the hard drive industry, more than a quarter of the startups in California were spin-outs, firms started by former employees of incumbent firms, while almost all of the start-ups in Massachusetts were de novo firms.6 In addition, the number of firms in Massachusetts in the electronics industry, and more specifically in the hard drive industry, was initially higher. By the mid-1980s, however, the number of firms in California was significantly higher and continued to grow, while the number in Massachusetts was in significant decline.7 We are motivated to study this form of IP law because of the great uncertainty about the optimal scope of such regulations. As a first step toward understanding optimal policy, we seek to understand these laws' implications for competition. History suggests that these policies clearly affect the number of firms in an industry, and therefore are relevant to an antitrust authority concerned with the level of competition. There are at least two ways that these rules might affect the number of firms. On the one hand, to the extent that these policies reduce start-ups by employees, they thwart competition. On the other hand, to the extent that they protect IP, they encourage firms to enter with new ideas when the protection is better. The purpose of this paper is to put forward a simple model of the two effects, in order to determine under what conditions one or the other might dominate. The model is intended as a starting point for discussing the role of these policies on the level of competition in industries where employee turnover is an important source of new firms. As such, our intent is to provide a guide by including a few key economic ingredients necessary in the construction of such a model. Our results suggest that, in this case, IP protection and competition need not be in conflict. In fact, in some cases, more competition results from greater IP protection, since it encourages entry by entrepreneurs with new ideas. We find this to be the case when either additional competition reduces profits greatly, or when additional competition has nearly no effect on a firm's profits. The conflict between IP protection and antitrust is most likely to arise in the intermediate cases. There, strong IP protection for employers will tend to foster fewer firms in the long run. …


This paper considers the setting of jointly matching and clustering multiple graphs belonging to different groups, which naturally rises in many realistic problems. Both graph matching and clustering are challenging (NP-hard) and a joint solution is appealing due to the natural connection of the two tasks. In this paper, we resort to a graduated assignment procedure for soft matching and clustering over iterations, whereby the two-way constraint and clustering confidence are modulated by two separate annealing parameters, respectively. Our technique can be further utilized for end-to-end learning whose loss refers to the cross-entropy between two lines of matching pipelines, as such the keypoint feature extraction CNNs can be learned without ground-truth supervision. Experimental results on real-world benchmarks show our method outperforms learning-free algorithms and performs comparatively against two-graph based supervised graph matching approaches.


Deployment of new technologies is vital to climate change policy but invariably poses difficult tradeoffs. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), which involves the capture and permanent burial of CO2 emissions, exemplifies this truth. CCS lacks the green appeal of renewable sources of power, and disbelief is an all too common response of laypeople when told that billions of tons of CO2 can be stored underground for centuries. Yet its low (relative) cost and enormous capacity to mitigate CO2 emissions have attracted a broad range of prominent stakeholders, who assert that avoiding climate change will be impossible without CCS. The legal debate over CCS mirrors these fault lines. The issues of greatest concern have centered on the risks of CO2 leakage and the merits of long-term liability. These fears reflect misapprehensions about the nature of the risks involved and a neglect of operational factors that simplify application of tort liability. Put in perspective, we show that the risks are remarkably small given the huge volumes of CO2 involved. We conclude that common law liability is likely to play a modest role in promoting safe geologic sequestration of CO2. The combination of risks with different temporal profiles will limit the deterrence value of liability, and long-term liability in particular will have only a nominal effect. The Article closes by proposing a hybrid legal framework that combines a traditional regulatory regime with a novel two-tiered system of liability that is calibrated to objective site characteristics.


This paper explores some basic economics of the climate change issue and how government response may impact the petroleum industry. Possible economic aspects are addressed by examining past and projected fossil fuel production numbers, calculating their resulting emissions, and then projecting how regulations or taxes might affect energy prices and production. Nine medium to major petroleum companies, which do business in the USA, are currently factoring in some kind of carbon emission restrictions into their long-range business plans. A driver for these plans is that the vast majority of countries, including the world's largest emitters, have formally agreed to limit their emissions to avoid a 2°C (3.6°F) rise in global temperatures. Because there is no agreement yet on a set number of allowable emissions, this paper utilizes estimated carbon budgets from one paper, Meinshausen et al. (2009). Some pertinent results derived herein are the following: 1) oil and natural gas only comprise 33.3% of potential emissions from fossil fuels; 2) under a probability scenario of exceeding 2°C (3.6°F), all proven reserves of oil and natural gas (as of 2012) could be consumed, whereas only 56% could be utilized with continued coal consumption. To demonstrate how a market approach might limit carbon emissions, a simple model shows how an annually increasing carbon tax affects the relative price of fossil fuels and alternative energy. The objective of this paper is to present arguments that there are economic reasons for American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) to address the issue of climate change.


Democracy is not in steady state and democratizations are open-ended processes; they depend on structures and functions in systemic contexts that idiosyncratically evolve in tone, tenor, direction, and pace. They affect and are affected by scores of determinants, both perceived and hypothetical. In interlinked chapters that span a number of disciplines, this volume reexamines the basic traits, the comparable outcomes, and the self-defining dynamics of some of the more widely attempted versions of democracy across the world. It discusses some of the controversies that can speed up or slow democratizations (depending on systemic structures, functions, processes, and contexts at play inside, outside, and across political boundaries). The crucial question these chapters address is whether democratization is possible without an understanding of what is expected from a mode of citizenship inseparable from an ethic of freedom.


Abstract Accurate critical experiments have been performed for the validation of total fission (Ftot) and 238U-capture (C8) reaction rate distributions obtained with CASMO-4, HELIOS, BOXER, and MCNP4B for the lower axial region of a real Westinghouse SVEA-96+ fuel assembly. The assembly comprised fresh fuel with an average 235U enrichment of 4.02 wt%, a maximum enrichment of 4.74 wt%, 14 burnable-absorber fuel pins, and full-density water moderation. The experimental configuration investigated was core 1A of the LWR-PROTEUS Phase I project, where 61 different fuel pins, representing ~64% of the assembly, were gamma-scanned individually. Calculated (C) and measured (E) values have been compared in terms of C/E distributions. For Ftot, the standard deviations are 1.2% for HELIOS, 0.9% for CASMO-4, 0.8% for MCNP4B, and 1.7% for BOXER. Standard deviations of 1.1% for HELIOS, CASMO-4, and MCNP4B and 1.2% for BOXER were obtained in the case of C8. Despite the high degree of accuracy observed on the average, it was found that the five burnable-absorber fuel pins investigated showed a noticeable underprediction of Ftot, quite systematically, for the deterministic codes evaluated (average C/E for the burnable-absorber fuel pins in the range 0.974 to 0.988, depending on the code).


This purpose of this study was to examine and understand the leadership practices of four individuals who were serving in the capacity of superintendent leading to or at the time of their respective districts receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The study explored how certain leadership practices transcended the four identified superintendents. The qualitative case-study approach, including the use of site visits to each of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient districts, document reviews, and in-depth interviews with four superintendents and four identified informants, resulted in discovering two leadership themes that were found in common among these award winning senior educational leaders. The first theme, a commitment to continuous improvement, had three supporting factors which included personal accountability by the superintendent, the use of data in the district to make decisions, and a process for improvement. The second overarching theme this research identified was the practice of collaborative leadership. Two supporting factors of this second theme included the superintendent's willingness to share leadership responsibilities and the superintendent's focus on empowering others in the school organization. These findings suggest that common practices of leadership exist among superintendents of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient school districts. Furthermore, analyzing these findings through the lens of Bolman and Deal's (2008) four frames suggests that educational leadership by senior leaders involves a blend of multiple frames, with no singular method for effectiveness. Thus, these superintendents, their leadership practices, and the mulitframe analysis of their common leadership practices may serve to represent successful leadership practices for other senior educational leaders considering pursuit of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.


This paper surveys the existing literature on diffusion of environmentally beneficial technology. Overall, it confirms many of the lessons of the larger literature on technology diffusion: diffusion often appears slow when viewed from the outside; the flow of information is an important factor in the diffusion process; networks and organisations can matter; behavioural factors such as values and cognitive biases also play a role. With respect to policy instruments, there is some evidence that the flexibility of market-based instruments can have a beneficial impact on technology diffusion, but there are also numerous cases in which regulations have forced the adoption of new technologies. There would be significant benefit to increased investment in studies that look at questions such as the role of information provision, networks and framing issues in households' and firms' adoption decisions.


A discussion between Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Artists, Berlin; Angela Dimitrakaki, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art History and Theory, University of Edinburgh, and author of books including Gender, artwork and the Global Imperative: A Materialist Feminist Critique (Manchester); Kerryn Greenberg, Curator, International Art, Tate Modern, London; Koyo Kouoh, Artistic Director, RAW Material Company, Dakar, and curator of exhibitions including Body Talk: Feminism, Sexuality and the Body in the Work of Six African Women Artists (WIELS); Camille Morineau, Independent Curator, Co-Founder and President of AWARE, Archive of Women Artists, Research and Exhibition, and former Curator at the Centre Pompidou where she curated exhibitions including elles@centrepompidou; Helena Reckitt, Senior Lecturer in Curating, Department of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, and former Senior Curator of Programmes at the Power Plant, Toronto; Mirjam Westen, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum for Modern Art, Arnhem, the Netherlands, whose exhibitions include rebelle. Art & Feminism, 1979–2009, and Female Power. Matriarchy, Spirituality and Utopia

This roundtable discussion considers how female artists are incorporated into dominant as well as feminist canons and under what terms. Women artists have been and continue to be excluded from or marginalized within almost all artistic canons to date. The situation is even more extreme for female artists who work in non-Western locations, who are frequently treated as exotic outsiders if not ignored altogether. Meanwhile, resistance to and backlash against feminist ideas and values are underway throughout the world, at the same time as many archives devoted to women's and feminist work face closure. There is therefore a pronounced need for scholars, curators, and institutions to contest the absence of women artists from and devaluation within dominant narratives by researching and foregrounding artists who were close to existing canons but marginalized because of their gender, as well as artists who contested mainstream movements and developed their own collective as well as personal paths. This effort also calls for the development of institutions that support this art and guard against its future erasure.

Yet while contributors are clear that existing canons have not served female artists well, they find the question of how to expand canons less easy to answer. As the discussion highlights, it is not a simple matter of inserting forgotten women artists into existing traditions, especially when those traditions were predicated upon excluding them in the first place. Incorporating artists into histories that they were never part of has violent connotations. Such tactics can end up validating dominant canons, refreshing them with material from the "margins," which is removed from its original context and leaves prevailing values and dominance intact. These practices also risk tokenism, especially when the appearance of one or two "exceptional" women in dominant narratives is seen as evidence that sexism no longer exists in the art world and feminist struggle is no longer needed.

Challenging the idea that canons can be straightforwardly expanded, in their contribution to the discussion artists Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz propose the concept of "troubling canons." Tactics of troubling canons draw attention to the ideologies, inclusions, and exclusions that underpin canon formation, including canons of feminist art. To trouble canons means to pinpoint the logic of competition (between artists and mediums, genres and regions) that canons both symptomize and perform. Artworks from the past cannot be easily recuperated, the practice of troubling canons reminds us, as all acts of translation entail processes of misunderstanding and incorporation, identification and desire. Based in intersectional politics, this approach does not separate critiques of masculinity from those of whiteness, heteronormativity, cis-gender superiority, and other dominant value and classification systems.

The discussion goes on to argue that to understand why women artists have been systemically denigrated and ignored, we also need to look beyond canon formation to the historical circumstances in which male artists and masculinist values came to dominate. Women, after all, have historically been designated secondary roles in the art world: as lovers and wives, models and muses, and, more recently, gallery owners, collectors, curators, and critics. That women still carry the responsibility for childcare, as well as the socially reproductive labor that maintains life, profoundly impacts how their work is recognized and valued. If we are to reverse the endemic dismissal of women's work, we don't just need better, more diverse publications, exhibitions, collections, and institutions devoted to their art. The discussion highlights the need for changes on infrastructural level that reflect feminist ethics, promote feminist values, and sustain feminist futures.


Comparisons were made among Douglas‐fir forest, aspen (broad leaf deciduous) forest and wheatgrass (C3) grassland for ecosystem‐level water‐use efficiency (WUE). WUE was defined as the ratio of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation rate and evapotranspiration (ET) rate. The ET data measured by eddy covariance were screened so that they overwhelmingly represented transpiration. The three sites used in this comparison spanned a range of vegetation (plant functional) types and environmental conditions within western Canada. When compared in the relative order Douglas‐fir (located on Vancouver Island, BC), aspen (northern Saskatchewan), grassland (southern Alberta), the sites demonstrated a progressive decline in precipitation and a general increase in maximum air temperature and atmospheric saturation deficit (Dmax) during the mid‐summer. The average (±SD) WUE at the grassland site was 2.6±0.7 mmol mol−1, which was much lower than the average values observed for the two other sites (aspen: 5.4±2.3, Douglas‐fir: 8.1±2.4). The differences in WUE among sites were primarily because of variation in ET. The highest maximum ET rates were approximately 5, 3.2 and 2.7 mm day−1 for the grassland, aspen and Douglas‐fir sites, respectively. There was a strong negative correlation between WUE and Dmax for all sites. We also made seasonal measurements of the carbon isotope ratio of ecosystem respired CO2 (δR) in order to test for the expected correlation between shifts in environmental conditions and changes to the ecosystem‐integrated ratio of leaf intercellular to ambient CO2 concentration (ci/ca). There was a consistent increase in δR values in the grassland, aspen forest and Douglas‐fir forest associated with a seasonal reduction in soil moisture. Comparisons were made between WUE measured using eddy covariance with that calculated based on D and δR measurements. There was excellent agreement between WUE values calculated using the two techniques. Our δR measurements indicated that ci/ca values were quite similar among the Douglas‐fir, aspen and grassland sites, despite large variation in environmental conditions among sites. This implied that the shorter‐lived grass species had relatively high ci/ca values for the D of their habitat. By contrast, the longer‐lived Douglas‐fir trees were more conservative in water‐use with lower ci/ca values relative to their habitat D. This illustrates the interaction between biological and environmental characteristics influencing ecosystem‐level WUE. The strong correlation we observed between the two independent measurements of WUE, indicates that the stable isotope composition of respired CO2 is a useful ecosystem‐scale tool to help study constraints to photosynthesis and acclimation of ecosystems to environmental stress.


Much has been written about the Caribbean immigrant, mostly those of Anglophone ancestry in recent years. Most of these studies are sociological, but they deal with the sociology of politics, identity and ethnicity. Calvin B. Holder, for example, in his "The Rise of the West Indian Politician in New York City, 1900-1952," gives a brief overview of Caribbean immigrant political activity, but his article is brief and incomplete.2 Similarly, Constance R. Sutton and Elsa M. Cheney, (eds.), in their Caribbean Life in New York City: Socio-cultural Dimensions, deal with immigrants from all parts of the Caribbean, but partisan politics is not part of this otherwise informative mosaic of Caribbean immigration and intercultural complexities.3 There are also an increasing number of recent books and articles. Philip Kasinitz's book Caribbean New York: Black Immigrants and the Politics of Race4 is excellent, but this work emphasizes race relations and questions of ethnicity. Party politics, that is, politics within the party structure, which usually propels the successful individual to a very good material life without ever having to run for public office, is given only brief look in this book. Neither does Winston James' excellent book Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth Century America deal with the subject of party politics.5 Most recently, Mary C. Waters book, Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities is a compelling socio-anthropological description and discussion of the Caribbean immigrant struggle to find safe harbor in America, but political struggle finds no place in this work. 6 For a more comprehensive understanding of the Caribbean immigrant experience in the United States it is necessary to examine also, how West Indian immigrant populations infiltrated, supported, and abandoned as necessary, the major political parties in the pivotal city of New York, rising through the ranks of these organizations to positions of power, prestige and influence. Within the American population today, it is not well understood that leaders of political organizations in any city or state are power and patronage givers. The Borough President of Manhattan, that is New York County, though an elected official, was not as powerful as the Chief of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Organization of New York County. In effect, the Borough President served at the indulgence of the Tammany Hall organization, where its "chief" wielded enormous power. It was the same with the mayor if he were a Democrat, since the New York County Democratic organization, Tammany Hall, decided who would run for mayor. The successful candidate understood that Tammany Hall could always desert her/him at the next election if she/he did not behave as a good Democrat. Even the governor was beholden to Tammany Hall, because its influence in New York City and indeed, throughout the state, was formidable. Tammany Hall, representative of the northern wing of the Democratic Party, was by the beginning of the 20th century a very useful home receptacle for the significant wave of Anglophone Caribbean immigrants that began after the Spanish American War. THE CARIBBEAN IMMIGRANT AND THE LURE OF PARTY POLITICS Many of these immigrants had worked on the Panama Canal where they had come in contact with Americans, and from this association a significant number concluded that the United States would be a much more fruitful place than their homelands for their personal advancement. So they came. Others were drawn by tales of great financial wealth available to the enterprising. Others merely wanted to be employed. But the 1917 Immigration Act slowed the pace of Caribbean immigration, as did the 1924 Act. Interestingly both acts, though racist, preferring persons from Great Britain and northern Europe, insured that the successful Caribbean immigrant would now be, at the least, a literate one. …


The optical field in a weakly guiding homogeneous waveguide satisfies scalar Helmholtz equations in both the core and the cladding and the transmission conditions on the boundary. Two different systems of boundary integral equations are derived for numerical solutions of the discrete propagation constants of the optical field; one of them is in the form of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind, and the other is a mixed first and second kind. The Nystrom method is used to solve the boundary integral equations numerically. The numerical results show that the two boundary integral formulations are both very efficient in the numerical simulations of homogeneous waveguides but that the second kind is superior because it controls spurious modes better.


Voltage sags are one of major concerns in power quality, as they cause serious malfunction of a large number of apparatuses. There are a number of reasons for voltage sags in distribution networks: there is some evidence, however, that in electrical systems located in regions with high value of isokeraunic level, lightning can cause the majority of voltage sags. Data from lightning location systems, which provide an estimation of both lightning flash location and return-stroke current amplitude, can then be used to understand whether lightning is indeed the real cause of circuit breaker operation during thunderstorms-which means, in turn, of voltage sags-or not. Due to the complexity of the problem, the information coming from LLS (lighting location and estimate of lighting current amplitude) are, in general, not enough to infer the origin for voltage sags. It is necessary to suitably integrate them with data from system monitoring, e.g. relevant to the intervention of circuit breakers in primary substations, and with simulation results from of accurate models for computing lighting-induced voltages on complex power networks.


[Abstract]:
Strategic thinking is a popular research topic in management and business fields and mental models are studied extensively in the area of cognitive psychology. However, there is a dearth of research focused on mental models of strategic thinking. Limited empirical research and paucity in assessment or exploration of mental models of strategic thinking result in a theoretical gap that this study addresses. Although it is well noted in the strategic management theory that finding a competitive strategy is essential in achieving sustainable competitive advantage, few models include strategic thinking as a specific aspect in the strategy development process. Because strategic thinking relies on the mental models of strategic thinking, the cognitive aspects of strategic thinkers need to be investigated. This study specifically addresses the gap in investigating strategy development from a business and psychology perspective. Furthermore, limited research on strategy development in Australian local government and the newly-established regional councils in Queensland creates an opportunity to conduct a study focussing on organisational strategy in these councils to assist councils in achieving the aims of the local government reform. In this context, the aim of this dissertation study is to investigate the role of shared mental models of strategic thinking in the development of organisational strategy.

This investigation of shared mental models includes the content of task mental models and group-functioning mental models of individual group members and also the content of the strategy groups' shared mental models of the task of strategic thinking and group-functioning. The levels of agreement of these mental models are investigated within specific strategy groups and among strategy groups on various organisational levels.

Within the three Queensland regional councils which participated in the study, three levels of strategy groups are studied. The first level strategy group includes the mayors, councillors and chief executive officers. The second level strategy group includes the chief executive officers and directors of the council departments. The third level strategy group includes the directors of those departments or directorates that are responsible for developing corporate plans, plus other employees on operational levels involved in strategy development. Nine strategy groups are investigated—three on each level—and the results of the study are presented according to the level of strategy groups and not according to individual regional councils.

Primarily, a qualitative approach is applied, although the survey section of the interview protocol includes a secondary quantitative approach. Multiple sources of data gathering are applied, including the interview protocol, a scenario exercise and documentation. Multiple data analysis methods are incorporated, including qualitative content analysis, scenarios, documentary analysis and Leximancer analysis. Triangulation is applied to compare the results obtained from the different methodologies, to seek for similarities and to integrate the different sets of results.

The results of the study indicate that strategy group members applied strategic thinking in their involvement in developing organisational strategy. The content of their task mental models of strategic thinking includes the four elements of strategic thinking, namely to think about sustainable competitive advantage, thinking holistically, thinking creatively and analytically and thinking long-term about the future when they consider the long-term direction for their organisation. Medium to high levels of agreement about the task of strategic thinking occurs within and across strategy groups but this does not reflect identical mental models because individual characteristics influence individual mental models. High levels of agreement refer to similarity about strategic thinking although individual mental models ensure distinctiveness in thinking. Furthermore, the results indicate that although strategic thinking occurs in all three levels of strategy groups, employees on various levels contribute differently towards strategy development. A high degree of strategic thinking is required for first level strategy groups and this decrease progressively on the second and third level strategy group.

Perceptions of strategy group members about the functioning of their strategy groups are investigated and the findings show that group members share perceptions about the roles and responsibilities of fellow group members and the knowledge and skills of fellow group members, but they do not share perceptions about how the groups interact. When the strategy groups were investigated, they were only recently established and in the initial stages of development. The results suggest that individual mental models develop in the initial phases of group development and that shared mental models only start to develop when groups mature. Regarding the levels of agreement within and among strategy groups about group-functioning mental models, the results indicate varied levels of agreement within strategy groups and overall medium levels of agreement across the groups.

This study predominantly contributes to bridging the gap in the theory between strategic thinking literature and mental models literature by investigating mental models of strategic thinking. It also addresses strategy making within various organisational levels and develops a set of strategic thinking elements that include aspects of sustainability that do not feature prominently in current literature about strategic thinking.

Finally, the study contributes to the development of methodology to investigate mental models of strategic thinking and the research methods was applied to real employees in real organisations, as opposed to studies in laboratory settings. The research methods can be applied in local government to assess strategic thinking as part of their internal analysis of competencies or in selection and assessment processes in the appointment of new staff. More specifically, this study contributes to learning and development of the regional councils that were investigated through the feedback provided to these councils about strategic thinking in their strategy groups.


In recent years the coupling of two or more analytical techniques to take advantage of their individual benefits has become quite popular. Among these resultant tools is gas chromatography-infrared spectroscopy (GC-IR). In this merger the separation capability of gas chromatography is paired with the identification advantages of the infrared technique. In order to utilize fully the comparative value of infrared in the qualitative identification of GC effluents, a spectral collection of compounds in the vapor phase is necessary. The vast majority of reference spectra presently available are of the condensed phases with only a couple of compilations treating the vapor phase separately. The infrared spectra of compounds in the gaseous state at elevated temperatures are often considerably different than those taken of the same compounds in the condensed phases at ambient temperatures due primarily to intermolecular interactions that occur in the condensed states. Therefore, comparison of spectra between the gaseous and liquid or solid states can be very misleading. In order to fill the need for an infrared spectra collection for use in identifying GC effluents, Sadtler has recently introduced a continuing vapor phase spectra compendium.


Current, commercial, electrode micro-drives that allow independent positioning of multiple electrodes are expensive. Custom designed solutions developed by individual laboratories require fabrication by experienced machinists working in well equipped machine shops and are therefore difficult to disseminate into widespread use. Here, we present an easy to assemble modular micro-drive system for acute primate neurophysiology (PriED) that utilizes rapid prototyping (3-d printing) and readily available off the shelf-parts. The use of 3-d printed parts drastically reduces the cost of the device, making it available to labs without the resources of sophisticated machine shops. The direct transfer of designs from electronic files to physical parts also gives researchers opportunities to easily modify and implement custom solutions to specific recording needs. We also demonstrate a novel model of data sharing for the scientific community: a publicly available repository of drive designs. Researchers can download the drive part designs from the repository, print, assemble and then use the drives. Importantly, users can upload their modified designs with annotations making them easily available for others to use.


We investigate numerically and analytically the propagation characteristics of gain-guided modes in index-antiguided planar waveguides. We show that the gain-guided mode has modal confinement proportional to the modal gain, and single-transverse mode propagation is very robust in such waveguides. The power evolution of the fundamental mode can be described analytically with very good accuracy. Limiting power and optimum length of the waveguide amplifiers can also be obtained analytically.


'The authors make excellent use of illustrative examples' - "Reference Reviews". The "SAGE Dictionary of Statistics" provides students and researchers with an accessible and definitive resource to use when studying statistics in the social sciences, reading research reports and undertaking data analysis. Written by leading academics in the field of methodology and statistics, the Dictionary will be an essential study guide for the first-time researcher as well as a primary resource for more advanced study. This is a practical and concise dictionary that serves the everyday uses of statistics across the whole range of social science disciplines.It offers basic and straightforward definitions of key concepts, followed by more detailed step-by-step explanations of situating specific methods and techniques. It also contains lists of related concepts to help the user to draw connections across various fields and increase their overall understand of a specific technique. A list of key readings helps to reinforce the aim of the Dictionary as an invaluable learning resource. Designed specifically for students and those new to research, and written in a lively and engaging manner, this Dictionary is an essential reference work for students and researchers across the social sciences.


Noise parameter measurements of submicrometer scaled-CMOS devices are error prone. These errors can propagate to a device model affecting the performance of low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) designed with them. In this paper, measurement errors in noise parameters of submicrometer scaled-CMOS devices are quantified. The sensitivity of different noise parameters to measurement and modeling errors is examined, showing that some parameters (NFmin,Rn) are more immune to such errors than others (Gopt,Bopt). We propose a modeling and design approach (desensitization by Rn-optimization) that can greatly alleviate the impact of such errors on the noise figure of LNAs. Measured results from a 90-nm LNA show substantial (ges 2.5 dB) improvement in its noise figure as a result of desensitization


We analyze some of the main approaches in the literature to the method of 'adequality' with which Fermat approached the problems of the calculus, as well as its source in the παρισότης of Diophantus, and propose a novel reading thereof. Adequality is a crucial step in Fermat's method of finding maxima, minima, tangents, and solving other problems that a modern mathematician would solve using infinitesimal calculus. The method is presented in a series of short articles in Fermat's collected works (62, pp. 133–172). We show that at least some of the manifestations of adequality amount to variational techniques exploiting a small, or infinitesimal, variation e. Fermat's treatment of geometric and physical applications suggests that an aspect of approximation is inherent in adequality, as well as an aspect of smallness on the part of e. We question the relevance to understanding Fermat of 19th century dictionary definitions of παρισότης and adaequare, cited by Breger, and take issue with his interpretation of adequality, including his novel reading of Diophantus, and his hypothesis concerning alleged tampering with Fermat's texts by Carcavy. We argue that Fermat relied on Bachet's reading of Diophantus. Diophantus coined the term παρισότης for mathematical purposes and used it to refer to the way in which 1321/711 is approximately equal to 11/6. Bachet performed a semantic calque in passing from parisoo to adaequo. We note the similar role of, respectively, adequality and the Transcendental Law of Homogeneity in the work of, respectively, Fermat (1896) and Leibniz (1858) on the problem of maxima and minima.


Nowadays several water recipients have been suffering of contamination due to sources such as urban and industrial stormwater runoff, port and harbour activities, and leakage from old contaminated masses. Many of these recipients are located in coastal areas and discharge their waters to the sea/oceans such as the Baltic Sea. Besides contamination, our planet has been overexploited and our natural resources, such as phosphate-rocks and metals are being depleted in a tremendous high speed which has been raising serious concerns. There is an urgent need for remediation, preventive actions and also the development of technologies that can transform any type of waste, such as dredged sediments as raw material for different end-users to phase out the pressure over our planet. However how is this done in the real world? Is this feasible? If feasible what are the main barriers to be overcome? Can we use bottom sediments for civil engineering purposes, agriculture and forestry activities and energy production? This is a concept that goes beyond the circular economy and these questions are being currently taken at a large-scale project implemented in Kalmar, Sweden called LIFE SURE. The project has the main objectives of: 1) demonstrating an innovative dredging technology that does not cause any resuspension, release and pose risks to environmental and human health and 2) developing treatment techniques that make it possible the beneficial use of dredged sediments and 3) developing cost-effective techniques for recovery of valuables such as nitrogen, phosphorus and different metals such as copper, zinc and lead. It is expected that by the end the project 70% of the total amount of dredged sediments (approx. 30,000 m3) are recovered and used as secondary material for end-users. Furthermore, the project has the mission to spread and disseminate the possibilities of implementing a cost-effective dredging technique and treatment system to recover the environmental and ecological status of coastal waters that suffer from eutrophication and metal contamination within the EU.


Objective : Technology has changed our world; changed the way we communicate, the way we do business and the way education is delivered. As a result, undergraduate student cohorts come to university equipped with new technology, and educators need to transform the delivery of the curricula to satisfy a variety of learning styles. Nursing education, in particular, is developing and transforming to incorporate technology into the learning environment. Clinical placement opportunities are often sparse and alternative experiences need to be considered. Across nursing curricula, it has been recognised that technology has the capacity to provide real-life learning experiences that promote student engagement and meet the learning needs of a diverse student cohort. Methods : This paper will discuss the development of a "Virtual World" in an undergraduate nursing program in Western Australia.  The Virtual World initiative is designed to support students to understand the holistic, health-centred intent of the curriculum. Results : Initial results have shown that the Virtual World and humanising the curriculum, has increased learner engagement, improved critical thinking and decision-making. It has enhanced and maintained a high level of student satisfaction and self-efficacy as well as assisting the development of graduate nurses who perceive themselves as health advocates, problem-solvers and organisers of care. Research will continue to follow the use of the Virtual World model, incorporating a virtual family and its integration into the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Conclusions : In the current climate of nurse education and due to a reduction in availability of clinical placements, alternative authentic experiences need to be offered. The development of the Virtual World has enabled meaningful participation in a safe and supportive learning environment.


Despite striking similarities, the adoption and implementation of policy shifts regarding higher education governance vary considerably across the globe, suggesting a mixed picture of diversification and isomorphism both within and across national higher education systems. By unpacking one particular structural reform process, this paper focuses on mergers as both a governance tool and a governance result in higher education. The paper analyzes the strategic decisions taken by Norwegian higher education institutions during 2014 in the light of a proposed national reform to merge institutions in order to enhance quality in higher education. The empirical basis of the paper consists of analyses of the commissioned self-evaluations of the higher education institutions, and the strategic choices and dilemmas they expressed. The process can be seen as organizational engineering in the sense that it emerges from the selfevaluation process, but is also subject to governancing on the part of the ministry.


ABSTRACT Background: Family caregivers of people living with dementia can have both positive and negative experiences of caregiving. Despite this, existing outcome measures predominately focus on negative aspects of caregiving such as burden and depression. This review aimed to evaluate the development and psychometric properties of existing positive psychology measures for family caregivers of people living with dementia to determine their potential utility in research and practice. Method: A systematic review of positive psychology outcome measures for family caregivers of people with dementia was conducted. The databases searched were as follows: PsychINFO, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed. Scale development papers were subject to a quality assessment to appraise psychometric properties. Results: Twelve positive outcome measures and six validation papers of these scales were identified. The emerging constructs of self-efficacy, spirituality, resilience, rewards, gain, and meaning are in line with positive psychology theory. Conclusions: There are some robust positive measures in existence for family caregivers of people living with dementia. However, lack of reporting of the psychometric properties hindered the quality assessment of some outcome measures identified in this review. Future research should aim to include positive outcome measures in interventional research to facilitate a greater understanding of the positive aspects of caregiving and how these contribute to well-being.


Background : Deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) is a debilitating disease that affects women's quality of life and reproductive function. In clinical practice women with deep infiltrating endometriosis are often misdiagnosed or have several surgeries with suboptimal outcomes. This might be explained by several factors, lack of awareness of the disease, underestimation of the extent of the disease pre-operatively and lack of experience in surgical skill. Treatment and diagnosis of DIE is done by laparoscopy. Surgery is complication prone. There seems to be an ongoing debate in the literature on the best technique in managing rectovaginal endometriosis.
Objective : Firstly, to review the literature on pre-operative modalities in mapping out the extent of the endometriosis, and plan surgery. And secondly, to look at the literature regarding what best surgical technique to use for optimal symptom relief and a lower complication rates.
Conclusion : There seems to be a shift to more conservative surgery, with similar symptom relief and lower complication rates. There needs to be greater awareness of RVE among gynaecologist. Surgical experience, not ego should dictate the surgical intervention of a surgeon. At best these patients should be managed at specialized units.


Discretion is at the center of most accounts of bureaucracy. Legal scholars in particular have called for agency supervisors, such as Congress, the courts, or the President, to tame that agency discretion. Strangely absent from these accounts is a ubiquitous phenomenon: administrative agencies routinely limit their own discretion when no source of authority requires them to do so. This Article aims to create a category of such "self-regulation" and argue that scholars have been mistaken to ignore it. It first defines the category of self-regulation, including the feature of administrative law that makes the category interesting, which is that courts will under certain conditions force agencies to follow their self-regulatory measures. That feature of administrative law gives agencies some capacity - albeit limited - to credibly commit to the stability of their self-regulatory measures. The Article next identifies what an agency can accomplish by self-regulating. That includes controlling delegation within the agency, inducing reliance by outside parties, protecting agencies' policy choices into the future and from political interference today, and producing public goods like information or reputation. Finally, the Article concludes by demonstrating that serious study of self-regulation could change the way we understand agencies and the need for and utility and wisdom of various controls on their behavior.


Last September, 150 writers, translators, critics, editors, and of course, publishers, descended on Lipica, Slovenia (home of the Lippizaner horses and the anatomically correct horse sculptures) for the the 15th annual Vilenica International Writers' Gathering. The festival was originally intended as a gathering for dissident Central European writers during the repressive 1980s, but turned even more international several years ago. In 2000, the festival included distinguished guests from as far as Israel, India, and Norway in addition to young and veteran attendees from Central and Eastern Europe. The official programme consisted of two round-table discussions, readings by invited authors, presentation of prizes, and a book fair. Events were graciously hosted once again by the Slovene Writers' Association, and organized by Iztok Osojnik; the official languages were Slovene, English, French, and German. Renowned Slovene poet, Dane Zajc--a furry, sentimental lyricist who (unimaginably) under Communism was reviled as a dissident and bitter writer--opened the festival with a presentation of his popular traveling performance piece, which involved Zajc reciting his poetry interspersed with his co-performer playing the accordion and singing Zajc's verses--an early indication of the distinguished status accorded poetry in Slovenia and, arguably, Central Europe as a whole. This distinct popular literary interest and reception, (the first indication that I wasn't in the West anymore), was further evinced over the weekend by the turnout of interested Slovene citizens at every reading, round table, and event--and not just for the free (and might I add, exquisite) food. Vilenica is (in)famous for the profusion of alcoholic beverages supplied--and consumed--and the ensuing heated debates, deterioration in communication, and cars driven over cliffs. (One unnamed Austrian editor holds the unchallenged title in this latter category.) But as the political situation has changed and stabilized in the Alpine Slovenia, so has the festival and its participants. The round-table discussions proved the least successful events, though participants admirably persisted (through UN-style translation headphones) in attempts to discuss the two topics: "The Meaning and Role of Literature Today," and "Literature and the Media' In fact, the most lively and relevant discussions did not take place at the scheduled events at all--which seems partly the point of putting up 150 literati from around the world in a fancy hotel in the middle of the countryside with lots of wine and Lippzaner horses: to encourage true dialogue about the state of literature today, rather than merely presenting the topic a la conference paper. Vilenica functions now less as a sanctuary (although it did serve as such for 26-year old Serbian attendee Nune Milorad Popovic, who had just fled his home country in fear of arrest), and is more of a forum for discussion across boundaries that one might not otherwise have the opportunity to cross. The discussions over Slovene wine, olives, and meat soups proved the most frequent and productive. …


The Soviet system of centralized control and order has collapsed, yet what remains is centralized rule itself. Authority narrowly and more often illegitimately exercised remains a steady feature of the political landscape against the background of unprecedented levels of globalization, economic and financial interdependence the world has ever witnessed. Indeed it is puzzling why, given the present era of democratization and globalization, authoritarian rule is proving its resilience and persistence. To a large extent, political science field has not been able to fully explain, let along anticipate, why it is so.
The central research questions of the present analysis are: why authoritarianism in Russia remains resilient in the age of democratization? How is being an authoritarian regime
impacts on its international behavior and international system as a whole? My hypotheses are: a.) Russia is by and large a stable authoritarian regime, b.) Authoritarian regime stability in Russia is brought about by the prevalence of both domestic and external factors and c.) Domestic political setting under the Putin regime strongly influences foreign policy aims and capabilities of Russia.
The research conducted has largely relied on qualitative research method, based as it is on theories and findings in the relevant literature and involves a case-study on Russia.
Understanding the essence of authoritarian rule is crucial in order to comprehend regime dynamics, causes, consequences and possibilities of change, if any, towards democracy.
Assessing the more recent political regime dynamics in Russia in detail is necessitated in order to shed more light on the widespread scholarly speculation about the role and influence of leading authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes such as Russia on the international politics.
A number of branches of literature were taken into account in addressing the issue of authoritarian politics, namely scholarship on current democratization trends and on
contemporary authoritarian regimes, and role of regime type in international politics. The study highlighted sources of resilience of authoritarian type of rule, stressing both domestic and international variables. We have seen how under certain conditions authoritarian regimes can last – they are not merely diminished forms of democracy – mutating into a new form of authoritarian rule that combines formal democratic institutions with autocratic practices.
The most distinctive features of contemporary authoritarians are that they adopt basic institutional forms of democracy, allow some degree of political pluralism, yet systematically
violate basic democratic standards, primarily by anipulating electoral outcomes in order to sustain their rule.
On the domestic level, authoritarianism is primarily protracted by the ruling elite's capacity to maintaining elite cohesion by the means of policy concessions, distribution of patronage and privileges, manipulation of political institutions such as legislature and parties
to maintain elite unity, and the effectiveness of state coercive capacity. At the same time it was argued that international factors are quite significant in
sustaining and prolonging authoritarian rule as well, amongst the most decisive are the undermined legitimacy of international democracy promotion campaign, level of linkage with the West, and the ruling elite's active campaign of barring external forces that strengthen and sustain regime opposition. At the same time the discussion on the phenomenon of authoritarianism is taken to the international level of analysis and an equally important question has been posed relating to authoritarian states' international behavior in relation to their internal dynamics. In
particular, considerable attention has been paid to the notion of a plausible 'authoritarian backlash' against democracy promotion at the international level.
The case-study on Russia has supported generally the major theoretical claims of the present analysis and has sought to unravel how and which internal and external factors
influence the political situation in the country and at the same time examine further how Russia's political system influences its foreign policy course.
The centralized power vested in the Putin regime holds together a quite cohesive state apparatus, a firm grip on the economy, while at the same time paying much attention to
disguising authoritarian personalized rule as democracy to the Russian public.
Russia's foreign policy was and remains 'domestic' in a sense that it is substantially subordinated to the goals of domestic agenda of consolidating the state and undertaking
economic reforms. The intellectual disposition to portray Russia as a great power is an everpresent ambition among the ruling elite. However, Russia's lingering problems such as
population health, demographic dynamics, and point to its internal weakness that stands to impede significantly on the ruling elite's aspiration to remain one of the major global powers.


Background COVID 19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented change in the way of life of the individual as well as of the society globally. Medical and healthcare education has become virtual, complex, and challenging with minimal real-time experience. Dental education has faced major impacts affecting the skills and preparedness of the graduates. This study aimed to assess the overall impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on graduating dental interns. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted among the graduating dental interns from various states across India. A specially designed questionnaire was used in our study which consisted of multiple-choice, Likert scale, dichotomous response, open-ended response questions. The 15 item questionnaire focused on 5 domains (i) demographic details (ii) perceptions regarding disrupted academic schedule and switch to E-education (iii) perceptions on its impact on the career (iv) items concerning the mental health and stress (v) potential solutions suggested by the interns. Results 316 dental interns responded to this survey. Only 13.6% of them felt that the e-platforms were useful tools for learning. The dental interns felt that Conservative Dentistry and Oral Surgery postings had the maximum impact on clinical skills. Less than one-fourth (23.1%) of them agreed with the fact that they were under parental pressure; 43.4% agreed that the pandemic had affected the confidence and preparedness to start their clinical practice. Conclusion It was observed that the interns faced major challenges due to the missed hours of clinical practice, which affected them in terms of preparedness and confidence in facing their future.


Abstract. Since the discovery of ice ages in the 19th century, a central question of climate science has been to understand the respective role of the astronomical forcing and of greenhouse gases, in particular changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. Glacial–interglacial cycles have been shown to be paced by the astronomy with a dominant periodicity of 100 ka over the last million years, and a periodicity of 41 ka between roughly 1 and 3 million years before present (Myr BP). But the role and dynamics of the carbon cycle over the last 4 million years remain poorly understood. In particular, the transition into the Pleistocene about 2.8 Myr BP or the transition towards larger glaciations about 0.8 Myr BP (sometimes referred to as the mid-Pleistocene transition, or MPT) are not easily explained as direct consequences of the astronomical forcing. Some recent atmospheric CO2 reconstructions suggest slightly higher pCO2 levels before 1 Myr BP and a slow decrease over the last few million years (Bartoli et al., 2011; Seki et al., 2010). But the dynamics and the climatic role of the carbon cycle during the Plio-Pleistocene period remain unclear. Interestingly, the δ13C marine records provide some critical information on the evolution of sources and sinks of carbon. In particular, a clear 400 kyr oscillation has been found at many different time periods and appears to be a robust feature of the carbon cycle throughout at least the last 100 Myr (e.g. Paillard and Donnadieu, 2014). This oscillation is also visible over the last 4 Myr but its relationship with the eccentricity appears less obvious, with the occurrence of longer cycles at the end of the record, and a periodicity which therefore appears shifted towards 500 kyr (see Wang et al., 2004). In the following we present a simple dynamical model that provides an explanation for these carbon cycle variations, and how they relate to the climatic evolution over the last 4 Myr. It also gives an explanation for the lowest pCO2 values observed in the Antarctic ice core around 600–700 kyr BP. More generally, the model predicts a two-step decrease in pCO2 levels associated with the 2.4 Myr modulation of the eccentricity forcing. These two steps occur respectively at the Plio-Pleistocene transition and at the MPT, which strongly suggests that these transitions are astronomically forced through the dynamics of the carbon cycle.


Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) is a cost-effective technique able to produce ordered nanopatterns on the surfaces of different materials. To date, most theoretical studies of this process have focused on systems which become amorphous under irradiation, e.g. semiconductors at room temperature. Thus, in spite of the large amount of experimental work on metals, or more recently on semiconductors at high temperatures, such experimental contexts have received relatively little theoretical attention. These systems are characterized by transport mechanisms, e.g. surface diffusion, which are anisotropic as a reflection of the crystalline structure not being overruled by the irradiation. Here, we generalize a previous continuum theory of IBS at normal incidence, in order to account for anisotropic surface diffusion. We explore systematically our generalized model in order to understand the role of anisotropy in the space ordering properties of the resulting patterns. In particular, we derive a height equation which predicts morphological transitions among hexagonal and rectangular patterns as a function of system parameters and employ an angular correlation function to assess these pattern symmetries. By suitably choosing experimental conditions, it is found that one might be able to experimentally control the type of order displayed by the patterns produced.


Mentha spicata Labiatae, known as spearmint and Mentha piperita Labiatae, known as peppermint can be used for various kinds of illnesses in herbal medicine and flavoring in industry. M. spicata Labiatae grows on the Anamas plateau of Yeniþarbademli town of Isparta, located in southwest part of Turkey. In this town, clinicians thought that consumption of tea steeped with M. spicata or M. piperita caused a diminished libido. Because antiandrogenic effects of spearmint and peppermint were found previously in rats, it was decided to observe the effect of this herbal tea on the androgen levels in hirsute women.


Most of full-range techniques for Frequency Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (FD-OCT) reported to date utilize the phase relation between consecutive axial lines to reconstruct a complex interference signal and hence may exhibit degradation in either mirror image suppression performance or detectable velocity dynamic range or both when monitoring a moving sample such as flow activity. We have previously reported a technique of mirror image removal by simultaneous detection of the quadrature components of a complex spectral interference called a Dual-Detection Frequency Domain OCT (DD-FD-OCT) [Opt. Lett. 35, 1058-1060 (2010)]. The technique enables full range imaging without any loss of acquisition speed and is intrinsically less sensitive to phase errors generated by involuntary movements of the subject. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of the DD-FD-OCT to a phase-resolved Doppler imaging without degradation in either mirror image suppression performance or detectable velocity dynamic range that were observed in other full-range Doppler methods. In order to accommodate for Doppler imaging, we have developed a fiber-based DD-FD-OCT that more efficiently utilizes the source power compared with the previous free-space DD-FD-OCT. In addition, the velocity sensitivity of the phase-resolved DD-FD-OCT was investigated, and the relation between the measured Doppler phase shift and set flow velocity of a flow phantom was verified. Finally, we demonstrate the Doppler imaging using the DD-FD-OCT in a biological sample.


Abstract
It has often been pointed out in the literature that a symbiotic relationship exists between terrorist groups and the media. As yet, however, no formal model has been built based on this issue and only very little empirical research has been done in this field. The present contribution builds a simple game theoretic model, focussing on the strategic interactions between terrorists and the media. The model has features of a common-interest-game and results in multiple equilibria. After a discussion of the policy implications of the model, an empirical analysis is performed. Using newspaper coverage, terror incidents and terror fatalities data, it is shown that media attention and terrorism do mutually Granger cause each other, as predicted by the model. Moreover, it is explained why terror attacks tend to be "bloodier" in developing countries than in Europe and the United States.


The Princess Nun" tells the story of Bunchi (1619-1697), daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo and founder of Ensh ji. Bunchi advocated strict adherence to monastic precepts while devoting herself to the posthumous welfare of her family. As the first full-length biographical study of a premodern Japanese nun, this book incorporates issues of gender and social status into its discussion of Bunchi's ascetic practice and religious reforms to rewrite the history of Buddhist reform and Tokugawa religion.Gina Cogan's approach moves beyond the dichotomy of oppression and liberation that dogs the study of non-Western and premodern women to show how Bunchi's aristocratic status enabled her to carry out reforms despite her gender, while simultaneously acknowledging how that same status contributed to their conservative nature. Cogan's analysis of how Bunchi used her prestigious position to further her goals places the book in conversation with other works on powerful religious women, like Hildegard of Bingen and Teresa of Avila. Through its illumination of the relationship between the court and the shogunate and its analysis of the practice of courtly Buddhism from a female perspective, this study brings historical depth and fresh theoretical insight into the role of gender and class in early Edo Buddhism."


Background: Nowadays Bulgarian population is facing a number of challenges: economic crisis, demographic ageing and bad general health status. The global burden of mental disorders can be assessed in four ways: prevalence, burden, inequities in the distribution and their impact on other health conditions. Drug use is a significant health and social problems for the world population. The European Union has more than 2 million problem drug users. The incidence of HIV/AIDS among this contingent represents a major challenge to the public health. Purpose: To examine the social and economic reasons for drug abuse and its impact on the society; to suggest how problems of drug abuse prevention and control can be addressed in a constructive, coordinated manner. A study of injecting drug users is conducted in 8 large and medium cities during 5 years period. Results and discussion: Authors study the socio-economic conditions and analyze their impact on the mental health and drug addiction. About 5% of Bulgarians have tried any drug. There are a large number of heroin addicts and some existing treatment programs. The implementation of a comprehensive new treatment program for heroin addicts is indispensable. Interdependence between life standard, level of education and health status is found out. Conclusion: Serious obstacles to access to health care are the reduced incomes and the increased economic vulnerability of the population. Bad economic and health status are bound into a vicious circle where unemployed people remain out of the health aid scope. As a result poor people's health limits their access to the labor market, increases their poverty and social isolation. The limited financial resource for the health system has to be allocated and spent more effectively. Treatment of Addiction is insufficiently accessible and effective. Many of the existing treatment programs are private and are therefore financially inaccessible to users.