Starch composition and grain quality of rice is greatly influenced by genotype and environmental factors. The detrimental effects of high nighttime temperatures on rice yield and quality has recently become apparent, with some of the warmest average nighttime temperatures being recorded in the past few years. One of the most notable effects of this stress, an increase in grain chalk formation, correlates with a decrease in quality. This effect varies greatly between cultivars as some show less temperature-sensitive quality reduction than others. The goal of this research is to elucidate fundamental changes that occur in developing plants and grains as they respond to high nighttime temperatures. Two cultivars were used: Cypress, considered to have greater tolerance to high temperatures, and LaGrue, considered more susceptible. To assess physiological differences between cultivars, gas exchange measurements were collected from field-grown plants to determine photosynthetic rates. Gene expression analysis was carried out using DNA gene strip arrays using endosperm tissue isolated from plants grown in temperaturecontrolled conditions, identified genes differentially expressed in these cultivars. Differential gene expression was seen between cultivars regardless of nighttime temperature. There were however, few genes showing differential expression in response to temperature treatment within a cultivar. Among the genes differentially expressed between cultivars, no differences were observed in genes encoding enzymes in the starch biosynthesis pathway. Furthermore, no significant differences were found among genes encoding enzymes involved in amyloplast packaging or starch breakdown. Cypress endosperm had higher levels of expression in many genes involved in cell wall organization. LaGrue had a significantly higher photosynthetic rate during grain filling stages of development. The increased rate of photosynthesis may be related to the larger panicle on LaGrue leading to a stronger sink demand for carbon. This work adds to understanding the combined effects that genotype and environment have on rice quality. There were few differences observed in endosperm gene expression but a difference was seen in physiological measurements, therefore future research can focus on what influence these physiological differences play in rice quality.


The United States needs a Defender General—a public official charged with representing the collective interests of criminal defendants before the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court is effectively our nation's chief regulator of criminal justice. But in the battle to influence the Court's rulemaking, government interests have substantial structural advantages. As compared to counsel for defendants, government lawyers—and particularly those from the U.S. Solicitor General's office—tend to be more experienced advocates who have more credibility with the Court. Most importantly, government lawyers can act strategically to play for bigger long-term victories, while defense lawyers must zealously advocate for the interests of their clients—even when they conflict with the interests of criminal defendants as a whole. The prosecution's advantages likely distort the law on the margins.

If designed carefully, staffed with the right personnel, and given time to develop institutional credibility, a new Office of the Defender General could level the playing field, making the Court a more effective regulator of criminal justice. In some cases—where the interests of a particular defendant and those of defendants as a class align—the Defender General would appear as counsel for a defendant. In cases where the defendant's interests diverge from the collective interests of defendants, the Defender General might urge the Court not to grant certiorari, or it might even argue against the defendant's position on the merits. In all cases, the Defender General would take the broad view, strategically seeking to move the doctrine in defendant-friendly directions and counteracting the government's structural advantages.


Native title continues to be one of the most controversial political, legal and indeed moral issues in contemporary Australia. Ever since the High Court's Mabo decision of 1992, the attempt to understand and adapt native title to different contexts and claims has been an ongoing concern for that broad range of people involved with claims. In this book, Peter Sutton sets out fundamental anthropological issues to do with customary rights, kinship, identity, spirituality and so on that are highly relevant for lawyers and others working on title claims. Sutton offers a critical discussion of anthropological findings in the field of Aboriginal traditional interests in land and waters, focusing on the kinds of customary rights that are 'held' in Aboriginal 'countries', the types of groups whose members have been found to enjoy those rights, and how such groups have fared over the last 200 years of Australian history.


We propose a method of adaptive estimation of a regression function and which is near optimal in the classical sense of the mean integrated error At the same time the estimator is shown to be very sensitive to discontinuities or change points of the underlying function f or its derivatives For instance in the case of a jump of a regression function beyond the interval of length in order n logn around change points the quality of estimation is essentially the same as if locations of jumps were known The method is fully adaptive and no assumptions are imposed on the design number and size of jumps The results are formulated in a non asymptotic way and can be therefore applied for an arbitrary sample size


BACKGROUND
An investigation of a Serratia marcescens outbreak in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) suggested that understaffing or overcrowding might have been underlying risk factors.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the effect of fluctuations in CICU nurse staffing levels and patient census on CICU nosocomial infection rate (NIR).

METHODS
The monthly CICU nursing hours, patient days and nosocomial infections were obtained from retrospective review of administrative, patient and microbiology records during December, 1994, through December, 1995 (study period). The NIR and nursing hours:patient day ratio were then calculated. The correlations between NIR vs. nursing hours, patient days and nursing hours:patient day ratio were determined.

RESULTS
The median monthly CICU NIR was 6.9 (range, 0 to 15.2) infections per 1000 patient days; the median number of hours worked per month by CICU registered nurses was 7754 (range, 7133 to 8452) hours; the median number of patient days treated per month was 507 (range, 381 to 590) patient days; and the median monthly nursing hours:patient day ratio was 15.2:1 (range, 13.2:1 to 19.9:1). The strongest linear correlation was observed between the monthly NIR and patient days (r = 0.89, P = 0.0001). There was an inverse correlation between the monthly NIR and nursing hours:patient day ratio (r = -0.77, P = 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS
The NIR was most strongly correlated with patient census but also was strongly associated with the nursing hours:patient day ratio. These factors may influence the infection rate because of breaks in health care worker aseptic technique or decreased hand washing. Increased patient census alone may increase the risk of cross-transmission of nosocomial infections. As hospitals proceed with cost containment efforts the effect of fluctuations in patient census and nurse staffing on patient outcomes needs evaluation.


In this study, we assess how the anthropogenically induced increase in greenhouse gas concentrations affects the climate of central and southern South America. We utilise two regional climate simulations for present day (PD) and pre-industrial (PI) times. These simulations are compared to historical reconstructions in order to investigate the driving processes responsible for climatic changes between the different periods. The regional climate model is validated against observations for both re-analysis data and GCM-driven regional simulations for the second half of the 20th century. Model biases are also taken into account for the interpretation of the model results. The added value of the regional simulation over global-scale modelling relates to a better representation of hydrological processes that are particularly evident in the proximity of the Andes Mountains. Climatic differences between the simulated PD minus PI period agree qualitatively well with proxy-based temperature reconstructions, albeit the regional model overestimates the amplitude of the temperature increase. For precipitation the most important changes between the PD and PI simulation relate to a dipole pattern along the Andes Mountains with increased precipitation over the southern parts and reduced precipitation over the central parts. Here only a few regions show robust similarity with studies based on empirical evidence. However, from a dynamical point-of-view, atmospheric circulation changes related to an increase in high-latitude zonal wind speed simulated by the regional climate model are consistent with numerical modelling studies addressing changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. Our results indicate that besides the direct effect of greenhouse gas changes, large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperatures also exert an influence on temperature and precipitation changes in southern South America. These combined changes in turn affect the relationship between climate and atmospheric circulation between PD and PI times and should be considered for the statistical reconstruction of climate indices calibrated within present-day climate data.


Describes a decision theoretic approach to real-time obstacle avoidance and path planning for a mobile robot. The mobile robot navigates in a semi-structured environment in which unexpected obstacles may appear at random locations. Twelve sonar sensors are currently used to report the presence and location of the obstacles. To handle the uncertainty of an obstacle's appearance, the authors adopt a Bayesian approach by assuming a prior distribution for the presence of unknown obstacles. The distribution is changed dynamically according to the information accumulated by sensors. When searching for an optimal path using dynamic programming, the authors take the probability into account in making a decision. Based on prior information and sensor data, they show that the proposed method allows the mobile robot to avoid unexpected obstacles and finds an optimal path to the goal in real time.<<ETX>>


The thesis presents series of laboratory studies of aggregates containing mica minerals obtained from aggregate producers located throughout Sweden. The main idea of the research was to study physical properties and behaviour of free mica particles in unbound granular products of crushed rock materials. Another objective was to highlight the detrimental properties of mica occurrence in aggregates used for road construction industry and determine the applicable methods for quantitative determination of mica minerals presence. Due to the lack of previous investigations looking at this or similar subject, the current research can have international importance, especially for countries with crystalline, mica rich bedrock and temperate, subarctic climates. Recently a number of cases involving road construction failures and decrease in service life have been observed in northern parts of Sweden. One of the major reasons for the structural deterioration was enrichment of free mica particles in aggregates and their interaction with water. Due to this reason first paper of this thesis represents a study of the behaviour of free mica grains in crushed rock aggregates of metamorphic origin and recognition of any trend of enrichment of free mica grains aggregates. As a result two general trends of enrichment of mica were obtained: Type I (isotropic source rock) and Type A (anisotropic source rock). Type I is exemplified by a general increase of free mica towards finer grain fractions, with or without a peak for "coarser" grain fractions. Type A represents an increase of free mica up to a certain grain fraction, thereafter no increase occurs towards finer grain fractions. Second part of the thesis focuses on the determination of the possible analytical methods which are susceptible to mica content and could be used as indicating technique for quantitative determination of free mica particles in unbound granular materials. Two standard methods: Sand equivalent test and Methylene blue test were assumed as the most sensitive to mica presence. Both methods showed susceptibility to mica content and gave strong correlation in terms of mica content. The third paper enhances knowledge of the behaviour of mica rich aggregates in interaction with water in terms of fraction sizes and free mica content. During the experiment several aggregates with different content of free mica and pure mica material consisting of commercial biotite were studied. Two major parameters were investigated during the research: water storage capacity and specific water saturation value. With the aid of consecutive analytical and statistical analyses a more precise mica presence threshold value for certain unbound applications was indicated, resulting in recommendations for industry, authorities and for future experiments. (A). http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1757/2008/26/index.html


textabstractIn 2009, a paper estimated that 85% of our global health research investment is wasted each year. It recommended to reduce this waste by basing study design and reporting on meta-analyses, involving decision making (which issues to research and how) and interpretation (how new trial results relate to previous research). However, conventional meta-analysis reporting – p-values and confidence intervals – is neither suitable for such decisions nor straightforwardly interpretable. As a decision procedure, it treats a sequence of trials as an independent sample, while in reality both (1) whether additional trials are performed and how many and (2) the timing of the meta-analysis ('stopping rule') often depend on previous trial results. Ignoring this introduces (1) 'Accumulation Bias' and (2) optional stopping problems, while the existence of such dependencies has been empirically demonstrated, e.g. 'Proteus effect' and 'citation bias'. To solve both (1) and (2), we propose 'Safe Tests' and a reporting framework. Which tests are 'Safe' (e.g. Bayesian t-test) and which are not (both Bayesian and frequentist tests) is intuitively discussed in the meta-analysis context, but mathematical detail is postponed to a forthcoming paper. The reporting framework is also focused on the meta-analysis context, but is based on an individual study setup put forward by Bayarri et al. (2016) as 'Rejection Odds and Rejection Ratios'. Apart from decision making, our proposal also improves meta-analysis interpretation: reported values are related to gambling earnings, frequentist and Bayesian analyses and thus, apart from reducing waste, also contribute to the recently revived p-value debate.


Species distribution models (SDMs) were applied to predict the distribution of benthic species in the North Sea. An understanding of species distribution patterns is essential to gain insight into ecological processes in marine ecosystems and to guide ecosystem management strategies. Therefore, we compared 9 different SDM methods, including GLM, GBM, FDA, SVM, RF, MAXENT, BIOCLIM, GARP and MARS, by using 10 environmental variables to model the distribution of 20 marine benthic species. Most of the models showed good or very good performance in terms of predictive power and accuracy, with highest mean area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.845 and 0.840, obtained for the MAXENT and GBM models, respectively. The poorest performance was shown by the BIOCLIM model, which had a mean AUC of 0.708. Nevertheless, the mapped distribution patterns varied remarkably depending on the model used, with up to 32.5% differences in predictions between models. For species with a narrow distribution range, the models showed a better performance based on the AUC than for species with a broad distribution range, which can most likely be attributed to the restricted spatial scale and the model evaluation procedure. Of the environmental variables, bottom water temperature and depth had the greatest effect on the distribution of 14 benthic species, based on MAXENT results. We examine the potential utility of this strategy for predicting future distribution of benthic species in response to climate change.


The United States Supreme Court dealt a serious blow to workers' rights in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 584 U.S. __ (May 21, 2018) when it held that employers may require employees to waive their rights to class or collective action. Employees had hoped the Court would find that mandatory individual arbitration provisions are illegal because Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act guarantees employees the right to engage in concerted activities for mutual aid or protection. The Court, however, held that the Federal Arbitration Act requires arbitration provisions to be enforced as written. While the three cases before the Court involved wage and hour claims, the Court's Epic decision impacts many other types of employment disputes that are diverted from courts to individual arbitration – including workplace discrimination and sexual harassment, as well as in consumer agreements. In the #MeToo era, employers may consider exempting sexual harassment claims from mandatory arbitration agreements and thereby allowing claimants their full statutory rights. Employer-mandated arbitration provisions cover 60 million U.S. workers, and those requiring class waiver in arbitration keep labor and employment claims hidden, and foreclose full vindication of employees' rights with appropriate remedies. This research paper discusses the Court's decision in Epic Systems, what workers' rights remain after the decision, and what steps employee advocates and Congress might take to remedy the negative impact of the Court's decision on workers' rights to act collectively.


Background: WHO and UNICEF supported Ghana to conduct Effective Vaccine Management (EVM) assessments in September 2010 and October 2014 respectively with the view to strengthening vaccine and logistics management for immunization at all levels in the country. In both assessments, temperature monitoring, which is a critical indicator for vaccine potency and immunization programme effectiveness, got very low scores of 50% (2010) and 67% (2014) respectively at the national level and even lower at the regional level. The low scores of temperature monitoring at the national and regional levels in both assessments generated concern and interest for review of the results of the two assessments to determine some of the contributing factors considering Ghana's advancement in immunization with support of the Gavi Alliance and also with twelve antigens in the routine immunization programme. Objective: The main objective of the review was to determine causes of the poor performance of the temperature monitoring and to devise strategies to improve on it. Methods: Desk review of relevant documents including 2010 and 2014 EVM assessment reports, the report of the 2012 comprehensive EPI Review and the status of implementation of recommendations of the 2010 EVM assessment and the 2012 EPI Review was conducted. Results: The documents review revealed that the 2010 EVM assessment and the 2012 EPI Review recommended installation of continuous electronic temperature monitoring devices in the national and regional vaccine stores but it has not been implemented. The same recommendation has again been made from the 2014 EVM assessment. Conclusions: There was no significant improvement in the scores of temperature monitoring between the 2010 (50%) and 2014 (67%) assessment because of the failure of the Immunization Programme to implement the recommendations of the previous assessment (2010) and the EPI Review (2012) which called for installation of the continuous electronic temperature monitoring devices in the national and regional vaccine stores. Not until the continuous electronic temperature monitoring devices are installed, the scores of temperature monitoring will forever remain low in any future assessment. The question is why use limited resources to conduct EVM assessment if the recommendations to address key challenges of the immunization programme are not to be implemented? Countries conducting EVM in future should make plans to implement the recommendations from the outcome. This is the only way there can be improvement in the immunization programme. Periodic EVM assessment is essential to keep the supply chain system at the required standard.


Silencing key neurons with botulinum toxin conjugates exerts long-lasting pain relief in mouse models of chronic pain. Relieving pain with botox Chronic pain affects more than 25 million Americans and is associated with reduced life span, anxiety, and depression. Opioid administration is often effective in relieving pain but, unfortunately, opioids have serious side effects, including risk of addiction and overdose. In a new study, Maiarù et al. have leveraged the inhibitory effects of botulinum toxin on neuronal activity. They developed two botulinum-conjugated molecules (SP-BOT and Derm-BOT) that were able to silence subpopulations of pain-related spinal neurons in several mouse models of chronic pain. Intrathecal administration of one dose of SP-BOT or Derm-BOT produced long-term pain relief in the mouse models that was comparable to the effects of opioid treatment. The results suggest that botulinum-conjugated molecules could be an opioid-free alternative for treating chronic pain. Chronic pain is a widespread debilitating condition affecting millions of people worldwide. Although several pharmacological treatments for relieving chronic pain have been developed, they require frequent chronic administration and are often associated with severe adverse events, including overdose and addiction. Persistent increased sensitization of neuronal subpopulations of the peripheral and central nervous system has been recognized as a central mechanism mediating chronic pain, suggesting that inhibition of specific neuronal subpopulations might produce antinociceptive effects. We leveraged the neurotoxic properties of the botulinum toxin to specifically silence key pain-processing neurons in the spinal cords of mice. We show that a single intrathecal injection of botulinum toxin conjugates produced long-lasting pain relief in mouse models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain without toxic side effects. Our results suggest that this strategy might be a safe and effective approach for relieving chronic pain while avoiding the adverse events associated with repeated chronic drug administration.


Twelve healthy male subjects each undertook two bouts of moderate exercise (70% VO2max for 30 minutes) in the morning (08:00) and late afternoon (18:00) at least 4 days apart. Measurements were made of heart rate, core (rectal) temperature, sternum skin temperature, and forearm skin blood flow during baseline conditions, during the bout of exercise, and throughout a 30-minute recovery period. Comparisons were made of the changes of heart rate, temperature, and skin blood flow produced by the exercise at the two times of day. Student t tests indicated that baseline values for core temperature (37.15°C ±. 06°C vs. 36.77°C ± 0.06°C) and sternum temperature (33.60°C ± 0.29°C vs. 32.70°C ± 0.38°C) were significantly (p <. 05) higher in the late afternoon than the early morning. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the increases in core and sternum temperatures during exercise were significantly less (p =. 0039 and. 0421, respectively) during the afternoon bout of exercise compared with the morning, even though the work loads, as determined by changes in heart rate, were not significantly different (p =. 798) at the two times of testing. There were also tendencies for resting forearm skin blood flow to be higher in the afternoon than in the morning and for exercise to produce a more rapid rise in this variable in the afternoon. The possible mechanisms producing these responses to exercise are discussed in terms of those that are responsible for the normal circadian rhythm of core temperature. It is concluded that the body's ability to remove a heat load is less in the early morning, when the circadian system is in a "heat gain" mode, than in the late afternoon, when heat gain and "heat loss" modes are balanced more evenly. (Chronobiology International, 17(2), 197–207, 2000)


Building on the seminal work of Thomas J. Allen, we contribute to the emerging microlevel theory of knowledge recombination by examining how individual-level characteristics of inventors affect the breadth of their technological recombinations. Our data set combines information from 30,550 European patents with matched survey data obtained from 1,880 inventors. The analysis supports the view that inventors with a scientific education are more likely to generate patents that span technological boundaries in our case, 30 broad, top-level technological domains than inventors with an engineering degree. A doctoral degree is associated with increased recombination breadth for all groups of inventors. The breadth of an inventor's technological recombinations diminishes with increasing temporal distance to his education, but the differences between scientists and engineers persist over time. Our findings provide several new insights for research on inventors, the literature on organizational learning and innovation, and strategy research.

This paper was accepted by Lee Fleming, entrepreneurship and innovation.


This paper presents a type of scheduling blackboard called whiteboards. Blackboards can simplify construction of systems with large numbers of heterogeneous components requiring a high number of fine-grained interactions. An increase in systems integration, for example in humanoid robotics and intelligent environments, has called for better solutions to support multi-module integration. Whiteboards extend the blackboard model in a number of significant ways that allow them to fill this role. Chief among their features are: an explicit temporal model; quality of service; both publish-subscribe and querying for data; both discrete and streaming data using the same API; explicit data wrappers; programming language independence; as well as a number of solutions to practical issues for improving development effort and runtime performance. Whiteboards consist of (i) a general-purpose message type format, (ii) ontologically-defined message and data stream types, and (iii) specifications for routing between system components. Whiteboards thus provide a development tool especially relevant for simulations of complex natural systems where symbolic data meets raw numerical data; systems with illdefined boundaries between sub-systems; and systems where the number of component states and interactions is considered to be relatively large. Examples include computer vision, speech recognition and robotics, ecosystems and biological systems. This paper describes the main constituents of whiteboards and their use.


Cloud computing is rapidly diffusing among individuals for personal use. By reviewing extant literature on individual adoption and use of information technology, this research develops a theoretical model to explicate the use of cloud computing for personal use. The proposed research model is empirically evaluated using a nationally drawn sample of 960 individuals. Partial Least Squares, a variance-based structural equation modeling technique, is used to analyze the research model. We discuss the results and identify areas for future research.


What has happened to the project of 'symmetrical anthropology' in the last twenty years? What difference does it make to consider a multiplicity of cultures over the background of a unified nature, or a multiplicity of natures in addition to a multiplicity of cultures? In which way does it open up another type of scientific anthropology, no longer based on comparison but on 'diplomacy'? Can modernity, as an interpretation of the former West, be recalled?Translated by Stephen Muecke.


A population of agents recurrently plays a two-strategy population game. When an agent receives a revision opportunity, he chooses a new strategy using a noisy best response rule that satisfies mild regularity conditions; best response with mutations, logit choice, and probit choice are all permitted. We study the long run behavior of the resulting Markov process when the noise level $\eta$ is small and the population size $N$ is large. We obtain a precise characterization of the asymptotics of the stationary distributions $\mu^{N,\eta}$ as $\eta$ approaches zero and $N$ approaches infinity, and we establish that these asymptotics are the same for either order of limits and for all simultaneous limits. In general, different noisy best response rules can generate different stochastically stable states. To obtain a robust selection result, we introduce a refinement of risk dominance called \emph{stochastic dominance}, and we prove that coordination on a given strategy is stochastically stable under every noisy best response rule if and only if that strategy is stochastically dominant.


Red-shifted dispersive waves (DWs) at the mid-infrared wavelengths are generated for the first time by pumping a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with two zero dispersion wavelengths specially designed and fabricated in our laboratory, and the central wavelength of the soliton generated lies on the negative slope of the PCF dispersion profile. The experimental result shows that the conversion efficiency η of red-shifted DWs increases from 5 to 15% as the input power changes from 100 to 300 mW with the pump wavelength of 810 nm. By adjusting both the pump wavelength and power, the tunable range of the wavelength generated by red-shifted DWs can be over 100 nm.


Biological engineers often find it useful to communicate using diagrams. These diagrams can include information both about the structure of the nucleic acid sequences they are engineering and about the functional relationships between features of these sequences and/or other molecular species. A number of conventions and practices have begun to emerge within synthetic biology for creating such diagrams, and the Synthetic Biology Open Language Visual (SBOL Visual) has been developed as a standard to organize, systematize, and extend such conventions in order to produce a coherent visual language. Here, we describe SBOL Visual version 2, which expands previous diagram standards to include new functional interactions, categories of molecular species, support for families of glyph variants, and the ability to indicate modular structure and mappings between elements of a system. SBOL Visual 2 also clarifies a number of requirements and best practices, significantly expands the collection of glyphs available to describe genetic features, and can be readily applied using a wide variety of software tools, both general and bespoke.


Two years have passed since the events of The Amulet of Samarkand and the young magician Nathaniel is rising fast through the government ranks. But his career is suddenly threatened by a series of terrifying crises. A dangerous golem makes random attacks on London and other raids, even more threatening, are perpetrated by the Resistance. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus travel to Prague, enemy city of ancient magic, but while they are there uproar breaks out at home and Nathaniel returns to find his reputation in tatters. Can he rescue it from his Machiavellian adversaries in the government bent on his destruction? This title is a thrilling sequel in which the relationship between the young magician and the djinni remains as teasing and complex as ever.


The aim of this study is to determine the view of students in the Near East University regarding the use of Google applications on mobile learning. A data col-lection tool consisting of 20 items developed by the researchers were used in the study. The cronbach's alpha rate of the data collection tool was found to be .942 as a result of the applications. General information is provided in the abstract section of the study. In the methods section the age and gender of the students and faculties in which the students are educated in is shown in tables.  The data collected throughout the research is given in the results and discussion section and evaluated by the researcher in the conclusion section. As a result of the research it was concluded that the students have a positive view about the Google Applications in Mobil Education. When the data analyzed statistically it has found that using using Google Applications for students makes the most of the tasks easier to complete. Thus, students saves more time and energy by using this applications. Providing education on using these applications and benefitting from these applications will be good. With the data collected from this study it is aimed to guide other researchers from different universities and countries working on this subject.


The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have not kept pace with the ways in which some lawyers are representing low-income litigants. For example, in its current form, Rule 11 only recognizes traditional full scope representation and purely pro se representation, without addressing the ever-increasing possibility that lawyers may represent civil litigants for mere portions of the trial process - the phenomenon known as limited scope representation. The failure of the Federal Rules to address this newer representational model is one of several likely causes of an increase in ghostwriting, the practice in which attorneys draft court documents for putative pro se litigants without disclosing their assistance. This Note first outlines the ethical and procedural problems ghostwriting poses, paying particular attention to the potential unfairness and inefficiency of the practice, as well as concerns that ghostwriting violates Rule 11. Because previous discussions of ghostwriting have largely focused on ethical implications of the practice, this Note analyzes criticisms of and justifications for ghostwriting from a purely procedural perspective. This procedural analysis reveals that none of the previous discussions of ghostwriting fully resolves fairness and efficiency concerns implicated by the practice. As a result, this Note proposes revising Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 to address the practice. Such a solution would, for the first time, address limited scope representation in the litigation context, and provide concrete incentives for attorneys to disclose their assistance to putative pro se litigants.


Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB) is one of the most common health problems encountered by women. It affects about 20% women of reproductive age, and accounts for almost two thirds of all hysterectomies. Gynaecologists are often unable to identify the cause of abnormal bleeding even after a thorough history and physical examination. Diagnostic evaluations and treatment modalities have been evolving over time. The onus in AUB management is to exclude complex endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer. From D and C + EUA under general anesthesia the shift to more accurate procedures like hysteroscopy and vision directed biopsy was welcome. But the current minimally invasive procedures like sonohysterography, office vacuum aspiration (Pipelle) and the use of office hysteroscopy have revolutionized the management of AUB. We have tried to review the current literature and guidelines for evaluation of endometrium with the twin goals of finding an accurate reason causing the AUB and to rule out endometrial cancer or a potential for the cancer in future. We have also attempted to compare the current procedures and their present perspective vis-à-vis each other. Histological assessment is the final word, but obtaining a sample for histology makes it more accurate, and we have reviewed these techniques to enhance accuracy in diagnosis. Hysteroscopy and directed biopsy is the 'gold standard' approach for most accurate evaluation of endometrium to rule out focal endometrial Ca. Blind endometrial biopsies should no longer be performed as the sole diagnostic strategy in perimenopausal as well as in postmenopausal women with AUB. A single-stop approach, especially in high risk women (Obesity, diabetes, family history of endometrial, ovarian or breast cancer) as well as in women with endometrial hyperplasia of combining the office hysteroscopy, directed biopsy in presence of a focal lesion, and vacuum sampling of endometrium in normal looking endometrium, all without anesthesia is the most minimally invasive and yet accurate approach in current practice.


The potential of cold active lipase from Pseudomonas sp. VITCLP4 in degreasing of greasy skin has been investigated. Degreasing efficacy has been studied at four different stages (liming, deliming, pickling and depickling) of the pre-tanning process. Being alkaline, expectedly the enzyme at 10% concentration on pelt weight performed well at deliming stage, resulting in acceptable residual fat content of 3.5%. The more desired residual fat and free fatty acid content (FFA) of less than 2% and 0.5% has been achieved when the enzyme (10%) is used along with a commercial degreasing formulation (0.5%) at depickling stage, cutting short the concentration of degreasing agent from 3% to 0.5%. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies and physical properties testing reveal that the enzyme treatment imparts desirable properties to finished leather. The results indicate that the enzyme alone or along with a chemical degreasing agent can be used at deliming or depickling stage to produce leathers with acceptable or desirable fat content as per the need of finished leathers.


Criminal law frequently requires all-or-nothing determinations. A defendant who reasonably believed his companion consented to sex may have no criminal liability, while one who fell just short of being reasonable may spend several years in prison for rape. Though their levels of culpability vary slightly, their legal treatment differs dramatically. True, the law must draw difficult lines, but the lines need not have such dramatic effects. We can precisely adjust fines and prison sentences along a spectrum.Leading theories of punishment generally demand smooth relationships between their most important inputs and outputs. An input and output have a smooth relationship when a gradual change to the input causes a gradual change to the output. By contrast, actual criminal laws are often quite bumpy: a gradual change to the input sometimes has no effect on the output and sometimes has dramatic effects. Such bumpiness pervades much of the criminal law, going well beyond familiar complaints about statutory minima and mandatory enhancements. While some of the bumpiness of the criminal law may be justified by interests in reducing adjudication costs, limiting allocations of discretion, and providing adequate notice, I will argue that the criminal law is likely bumpier than necessary and suggest ways to make it smoother.


Abu-Dhabi (AD) is the largest of the seven Emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates. Abu-Dhabi, the capital of the UAE with 1,493,000 inhabitants, accounts for 86.7% of the total surface area of the state. The emirate of Abu-Dhabi, through its Policy Agenda 2007-2008, the strategic Plan 2008-2012 and the Plan Vision Abu-Dhabi 2030 has recently re-branded itself and has made a series of assertive moves in order to boost the tourism and hospitality sectors as a means to a more diversified economy. The proposed study aims to examine the scope of accommodating alternative forms of hotel developments in the Abu Dhabi Emirate. Ultimately, the goal of the study is to evaluate consumers' decision making process with respect to the emirate's effort to tap into new markets by investing in various types of accommodation establishments.

A major part of my research has concentrated in the use of stated preference discrete choice modelling (SPDCM) in the area of hospitality management. This is because understanding the basic drivers of tourists' choice patterns in terms of their vacation accommodation is at the heart of consumer behaviour in the hospitality sector (Mattila 2004). In practice, the empirical investigation has revealed that price, aversion to risk and quality matters are probably the 3 most significant factors driving individual preference patterns for the hospitality sector currently. When evaluating respondents' stated preferences for future or hypothetical managerial initiatives in the hospitality sector, the analysis identified particularly strong preferences towards more integrated and holistic types of advertisement and communication. At the same time, it appears that respondents value quite significantly their privacy and security of their personal space. This piece of finding from the elicitation of their stated preferences is a way confirms earlier findings regarding aversion to hotel security risk from the analysis of respondents' revealed preferences.

The analysis of respondents' stated preferences also identified very strong and positive preferences towards superior 5* hotel developments in AD. This point alone could suggest a number of things. First, this piece of evidence, similar to the case presented above, confirms respondents revealed preferences from the descriptive analysis as far as the significance of quality matters on travellers' choice patterns. Second, it rather indicates that respondents have already developed an image of top – class destination (or probably a luxury type of destination) for the Emirate as a whole. In turn, this could imply that policy makers at a destination level, as opposed to a resort or a hotel level should make sure that the Abu Dhabi Emirate does not lose this comparative advantage. Compared to neighbouring Dubai that has not been promoted as a luxury but affordable destination but where one visits mainly for shopping destination, Abu Dhabi is perceived as the luxury destination alternative that offers a 'once – in – the – lifetime' experience.

Finally, further analysis also focuses on the examination of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travellers in Abu Dhabi Emirate, as a separate case of tourism demand at the destination. The empirical results indicate that VFR travellers to Abu Dhabi illustrate considerable heterogeneity as far as their duration of stay, their gender, their age structure, their educational attainment and the income classification. The empirical results suggest that policy makers and planners should take advantage of the current scale of values (culture and religion) as well as economic reasons in order to attract more VFR visitors at the destination. This is mainly due to the large European and Asian communities currently established in Abu Dhabi.


Mycotoxin contamination is a leading cause of food spoilage around the world. Among one of the top mycotoxins of global concern is patulin, which is found in processed apple products (e.g. juice, sauce, and butter). Produced mainly by Penicillium and Aspergillus species, patulin is a lactone polyketide that has cytotoxic effects in humans, survives pasteurization, and is not destroyed following fermentation. While much has been discovered regarding the impact of patulin on human health, there are significant knowledge gaps for how it impacts the host and other fungi. Here, we have utilized purified patulin to determine if the toxin could mimic blue mold symptoms. Directly inoculating apple fruit with different amounts of patulin revealed a cultivar-independent susceptibility, as well as a dose response where blue mold symptoms and toxin concentration coincided. Patulin biosynthesis was recently discovered to be produced outside of the fungal cell, so understanding how it impacts other phytopathogenic fungi was investigated


Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has been accumulated. It is most commonly caused by imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure (lack of physical activity and lower metabolic rate, etc.). The control of energy metabolism involves multiple tissues and signalling pathways and there is a great need for further understanding of these different interactions.In this study, I use Caenorhabditis elegans to study these complex pathways at the level of a whole organism. The downstream target of mTOR, p70 S6 kinase (S6K), has been implicated in the phosphorylation of multiple substrates and the regulation of growth and metabolism. In this study the worm homolog of S6K, rsks-1, found to be important for fat metabolism. Previous work in our lab found that RSKS-1::GFP is expressed at high levels in a set of sensory neurons and upregulated in ASJ, ASE and BAG sensory neurons in starved worms or mutants with low insulin activity. In this study, I found that the upregulation of rsks-1 expression was affected by serotonin, but not by the other neurotransmitters. Combined with the result that rsks-1 is required for the expression of TGFβ and insulin in ASI, rsks-1 may control dietary sensing by affecting insulin and TGFβ signalling within nervous system. Quantification of fat accumulation by TLC/GC revealed that in comparison to wild type worms, rsks-1 mutants have more than two-fold higher levels of triglycerides. This was confirmed by FT-IR microspectroscopy analysis. rsks-1 mutants also contain disproportionately high levels of C16:1n9 and C18:1n9 lipids compared with wild type worms. Genetic analysis has shown that rsks-1 acts either downstream of, or in parallel to the insulin and TGFβ pathways to affect fat levels. My studies showed that rsks-1 affects fat metabolism by influencing mRNA levels of genes encoding proteins in the β-oxidation pathway. Combined with defects in dietary sensing, fatty acid absorption, fertility and mitochondria function, the loss of rsks-1 activity induced much more energy storage than wild type by making a profound metabolic shift. These results are consistent with the metabolomics data analysis. Tissue specific RNAi showed that rsks-1 was required in many different tissues to regulate fat metabolism. Taken together, it can be concluded that RSKS-1 activity is needed for co-ordination of metabolic states in C. elegans. In order to understand more about the physiology behind fat accumulation, I analysed a mutant, aex-5, that has significantly lowered lipid levels. I found that this defect is associated with a significant reduction in the rate at which dietary fatty acids are taken up from the intestinal lumen. The aex-5 gene, which encodes a Kex2/subtilisin-family, Ca2+-sensitive proprotein convertase, is required for a discrete step in an ultraradian rhythmic phenomenon called the defecation motor program (DMP). Combined with other results, we conclude that aex-5 and other defecation genes may affect fat uptake by promoting the correct distribution of acidity within the intestinal lumen.This dissertation also described how to use Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy to detect lipids, proteins and carbohydrates directly in single worm. In conclusion, in this thesis I have uncovered several components that play roles in dietary sensing, fatty acid synthesis, adiposity regulation and fatty acid absorption in C. elegans.


Recent years have seen a surge in the use of automotive telematics. Telematics is the integration of telecommunications and informatics technologies. Using telematics in cars enables transmission of data communications between the car and other systems or devices. This opens up a wide range of possibilities, including the prospect of conducting remote diagnostics based on real-time access to the vehicle. Yet, as with any new technology, alongside its potential benefits, the use of automotive telematics could also have potential downsides. This Article explores the significant negative impact that the growing reliance on telematics systems could have on competition in the market for repair services.

Our analysis highlights two main areas where the use of telematics for vehicle diagnostics may pose a threat to competition and consumer choice. First, we focus on the manner by which manufacturers communicate with their customers via the telematics system. Due to the special relationship between car manufacturers and their consumers, which is often based on trust and loyalty, alongside the "captive audience" status of drivers, we argue that communications emanating from the car's telematics system could be deceptive. Second, we explore the negative impact that the shift away from on-board diagnostics to telematics could have on independent repair shops' access to diagnostic information.

Fortunately, the law can adapt to keep pace with these new technological and commercial developments. This Article articulates the combined multi-prong, multi-agency policy approach needed to maintain an effective right to repair cars in the new age of telematics. Among other things, our analysis supports an update of state consumer protection legislation and an increased policing by the Federal Trade Commission of practices employed by car manufacturers. In addition, we highlight the need to consider certain amendments to intellectual property laws that effectively aid car manufacturers in maintaining exclusive control over their telematics systems and diagnostic data.


Background Evidence on the adiposity-mental health associations is mixed, with studies finding positive, negative or no associations, and less is known about how these associations may vary by age. Objective To examine the association of adiposity -body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and percentage body fat (BF%)- with mental health functioning across the adult lifespan. Methods Data from 11,257 participants (aged 18+) of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (waves 2 and 3, 5/2010-7/2013) were employed. Regressions of mental health functioning, assessed by the Mental Component Summary (MCS-12) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), on adiposity measures (continuous or dichotomous indicators) were estimated adjusted for covariates. Polynomial age-adiposity interactions were estimated. Results Higher adiposity was associated with poorer mental health functioning. This emerged in the 30s, increased up to mid-40s (all central adiposity and obesity-BF% measures) or early 50s (all BMI measures) and then decreased with age. Underlying physical health generally accounted for these associations except for central adiposity, where associations remained statistically significant from the mid-30s to50s. Cardiovascular, followed by arthritis and endocrine, conditions played the greatest role in attenuating the associations under investigation. Conclusions We found strong age-specific patterns in the adiposity-mental health functioning association that varied across adiposity measures. Underlying physical health had the dominant role in attenuating these associations. Policy makers and health professionals should target increased adiposity, mainly central adiposity, as it is a risk factor for poor mental health functioning in those aged between mid-30s to 50 years.


As our landscape of wearable technologies proliferates, we find more devices situated on our heads. However, many challenges hinder them from widespread adoption - from their awkward, bulky form factor (today's AR and VR goggles) to their socially stigmatized designs (Google Glass) and a lack of a well-developed head-based interaction design language. In this paper, we explore a socially acceptable, large, head-worn interactive wearable - a hat. We report results from a gesture elicitation study with 17 participants, extract a taxonomy of gestures, and define a set of design concerns for interactive hats. Through this lens, we detail the design and fabrication of three hat prototypes capable of sensing touch, head movements, and gestures, and including ambient displays of several types. Finally, we report an evaluation of our hat prototype and insights to inform the design of future hat technologies.


Vapor bubbles can be formed in liquids by increasing the temperature over the boiling threshold (evaporation) or by reducing the pressure below its vapor pressure threshold (cavitation). The liquid can be held in these tensile conditions (metastable states) for a long time without any bubble formation. The bubble nucleation is indeed an activated process, in fact a given amount of energy is needed to bring the liquid from that local stable condition into a more stable one, where a vapor bubble is formed. Crucial question in this field is how to correctly estimate the bubble nucleation rate, i.e. the amount of vapor bubbles formed in a given time and in a given volume of liquid, in different thermodynamic conditions. Several theoretical models have been proposed, ranging from classical nucleation theory, to density functional theory. These theories can give good estimate of the energy barriers but lack of a precise estimate of the nucleation rate, especially in complex systems. Molecular dynamics simulations can give more precise results, but the computational cost of this technique makes it unfeasible to be applied on systems larger than few tenth of nanometers. In this work the approach of fluctuating hydrodynamics has been embedded into a continuum diffuse interface modeling of the two-phase fluid. The resulting model provides a complete description of both the thermodynamic and fluid dynamic fields enabling the description of vapor-liquid phase change through stochastic fluctuations. The continuum model has been exploited to investigate the bubble nucleation rate in different metastable conditions. Such an approach has a huge impact since it reduces the computational cost and allows to investigate longer time scales and larger spatial scales with respect to more conventional techniques.


The static spherically symmetric solutions of Einstein's unified field equations previously given refer to an electric field alone or to a magnetic field alone. The general solutions in the case where both types of field exist together are now derived. After appropriate boundary conditions have been applied, the solutions may be interpreted to represent a magnetic field arising from a point pole, and an electric field arising from a dispersed charge distribution, but tending asymptotically to that of a point charge. The solutions have an infinity of singular surfaces, contain no arbitrary constant corresponding to the mass of the system, and in them the charge distributions contain both positive and negative electricity at different places. It appears that the only static spherically symmetric solutions likely to have any physical significance are certain of those referring to an electric field alone.


Reliably detecting objects in broad-area overhead or satellite images has become an increasingly pressing need, as the capabilities for image acquisition are growing rapidly. The problem is particularly difficult in the presence of large intraclass variability, e.g., finding "boats" or "buildings," where model-based approaches tend to fail because no good model or template can be defined for the highly variable targets. This paper explores an automatic approach to detect and classify targets in high-resolution broad-area satellite images, which relies on detecting statistical signatures of targets, in terms of a set of biologically-inspired low-level visual features. Broad-area images are cut into small image chips, analyzed in two complementary ways: "attention/saliency" analysis exploits local features and their interactions across space, while "gist" analysis focuses on global nonspatial features and their statistics. Both feature sets are used to classify each chip as containing target(s) or not, using a support vector machine. Four experiments were performed to find "boats" (Experiments 1 and 2), "buildings" (Experiment 3) and "airplanes" (Experiment 4). In experiment 1, 14 416 image chips were randomly divided into training (300 boat, 300 nonboat) and test sets (13 816), and classification was performed on the test set (ROC area: 0.977 ±0.003). In experiment 2, classification was performed on another test set of 11 385 chips from another broad-area image, keeping the same training set as in experiment 1 (ROC area: 0.952 ±0.006). In experiment 3, 600 training chips (300 for each type) were randomly selected from 108 885 chips, and classification was conducted (ROC area: 0.922 ±0.005). In experiment 4, 20 training chips (10 for each type) were randomly selected to classify the remaining 2581 chips (ROC area: 0.976 ±0.003). The proposed algorithm outperformed the state-of-the-art SIFT, HMAX, and hidden-scale salient structure methods, and previous gist-only features in all four experiments. This study shows that the proposed target search method can reliably and effectively detect highly variable target objects in large image datasets.


Traditional optical projection tomography requires the use of low numerical aperture objectives in order to achieve a large depth of field and approximate parallel projection geometry. However, low NA objectives suffer from poor resolution, resulting in blur in the reconstructed image. In this paper, we present a modified filtered backprojection method suitable for focal-plane-scanning optical projection tomography (FPS-OPT), where each projection is obtained by scanning through focal planes during collection. We show that FPS-OPT has an exact inversion formula akin to a filtered backprojection, but that incorporates the system's point-spread-function to recover a deblurred 3D volume. With simulations, we demonstrate that FPS-OPT permits the use of high numerical aperture objectives that lead to more accurate images. We further illustrate the technique on experimentally acquired data from a fluorescently-labeled zebrafish larva, which shows that our approach reduces out-of-focus blur.


Increasingly, there has been a focus on creating democratic standards and norms in order to best facilitate open exchange of information and communication online―a goal that fits neatly within the feminist aim to democratize content creation and community. Collaborative websites, such as blogs, social networks, and, as focused on in this Article, Wikipedia, represent both a cyberspace community entirely outside the strictures of the traditional (intellectual) proprietary paradigm and one that professes to truly embody the philosophy of a completely open, free, and democratic resource for all. In theory, collaborative websites are the solution for which social activists, intellectual property opponents, and feminist theorists have been waiting. Unfortunately, we are now realizing that this utopian dream does not exist as anticipated: the Internet is neither neutral nor open to everyone. More importantly, these websites are not egalitarian; rather, they facilitate new ways to exclude and subordinate women. This Article innovatively argues that the virtual world excludes women in two stages: first, by controlling websites and filtering out women; and second, by exposing women who survived the first stage to a hostile environment. Wikipedia, as well as other cyber-space environments, demonstrates the execution of the model, which results in the exclusion of women from the virtual sphere with all the implications thereof.


The adsorption of the drug 5-Flourouracil (5-FU) on Hydroxyapatite (HAP) particles having different surface conditions is studied at 37°C. Commercial HAP particles, either as received or soaked in citrate solutions are used as drug adsorbents and compared to a third category of HAP particles which consists of granules obtained by spray drying suspensions of HAP nanoparticles previously precipitated in citrate solutions. The adsorbed amount of 5-FU on the HAP particles surface is conditioned by the existing pre-adsorbed citrate ions which contribute to modify the particle surface charge and thus decrease the drug adsorption. However the obtained results also demonstrate that the particle surface charge is not the unique factor to govern the 5-FU adsorption on the HAP particles surface.


The metabolism of fats in the lysosome signals the nucleus to control aging. Folick et al. propose a mechanism by which a lysosomal enzyme influences nuclear events that control longevity in the worm (see the Perspective by Han and Brunet). Increased expression of the gene encoding the lysosomal acid lipase LIPL-4 increased longevity, and this effect depended on the presence of the lysosomal lipid-binding protein LBP-8. LBP-8 acts as a chaperone that helps carry lipids to the nucleus. The authors identified the fatty acid oleoylethanolamide (OEA) as a potential signaling molecule that when transported to the nucleus could activate nuclear hormone receptors and transcription factors NHR-49 and NHR-80. The transcriptional targets of NHR-49 and NHR-80 in turn regulate longevity. A. Folick, H. D. Oakley, Y. Yu, E. H. Armstrong, M. Kumari, L. Sanor, D. D. Moore, E. A. Ortlund, R. Zechner, M. C. Wang, Lysosomal signaling molecules regulate longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Science 347, 83–86 (2015). [Abstract] [Full Text] S. Han, A. Brunet, Lysosomal lipid lengthens life span. Science 347, 32–33 (2015). [Summary] [Full Text]


Utilization of DNA vaccines in aquaculture has been gaining interest and recent efforts have been focused on methods of delivering DNA vaccines to fish. In the present study, a methodology was sought that could protect DNA vaccines such that they could be orally administered. The main objective of the study was to determine if a DNA vaccine could be effectively compounded into an orally administrable formulation with chitosan or polylactide-co-glycolide (PLG). The immune response of hybrid striped bass (Morone saxatilis x Morone chrysops) following oral delivery of a DNA vaccine containing Mycobacterium marinum Ag85A plasmid in either chitosan or PLG nanoparticle encapsulation was evaluated. Hybrid striped bass were divided into four experimental groups: IM immunization of the DNA vaccine as a positive control, oral delivery of uncomplexed DNA vaccine, oral delivery of chitosan or PLG alone as a negative control, and oral delivery of complexed chitosan or complexed PLG DNA vaccine. Fish were bled at regular intervals and an ELISA was used to evaluate antibody levels in individual fish. While the chitosan /plasmid DNA complex containing the Mycobacterium marinum Ag85A gene failed to produce a significant antibody response, the PLG/plasmid DNA matrix stimulated humoral immune response in the fish.


?The European Youth Guarantee (YG) is an innovative labour market policies of recent years. ? It arrived at a time when an urgent and radical response was needed to address the detrimental long-lasting consequences of long-term unemployment. This article examines empirical evidence on the effectiveness of past youth guarantee experiences, as well as the few existing evaluations of the YG, to identify the factors that are key to their success. We then assess whether the key success factors are embedded into the implementation plans published by the European countries and the extent to which these objectives have been met in practice. Our analysis shows that while most of countries have established clear eligibility criteria and appropriate institutional frameworks, and are providing a comprehensive package of measures, many of them are still facing challenges when meeting the objectives of early intervention and effective enforcement mechanisms. Finally, although countries? initial spending in the national YG schemes has often outpaced planned expenditures, in many instances resource allocations have not been sufficient to match the recommendations.


1. Contained communities in tropical Africa Graham Connah 2. Palisaded settlements in prehistoric Eastern North America George R. Milner 3. To wall or not to wall: evidence from Medieval Germany James D. Tracy 4. Medieval walled space: urban development vs. defence Kathryn L. Reyerson 5. A world without walls: city and town in colonial Spanish America Richard L. Kagan 6. The fortifications of Epaminondas and the rise of the monumental Greek city Frederick A. Cooper 7. Imperial walled cities in the West and their early medieval Nachleben Bernard S. Bachrach 8. Delhi walled: changing boundaries Catherine B. Asher 9. Walled cities in Islamic North Africa and Egypt (with particular reference to the Fatamids, 909-1171) Jonathan Bloom 10. Ottoman military architecture in the early gunpowder era: a reassessment Simon Pepper 11. Walled towns during the French wars of religion, 1560-1630 Michael Wolfe 12. Portuguese urban fortifications in Morocco: borrowing, adaptation, and innovation along a military frontier Martin M. Elbl 13. The artillery fortress as an engine of European overseas expansion, 1480-1750 Geoffrey Parker 14. Representations of Chinese walled cities in the pictorial and graphic arts Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt 15. The hierarchy of Ming city walls Edward L. Farmer 16. Decoration of city walls in Medieval Islam: the epigraphic message Sheila S. Blair 17. Medieval French representations of city and other walls Wolfgang G. van Emden 18. Siege law, siege ritual, and the symbolism of city walls in Renaissance Europe Simon Pepper 19. Representations of the city in siege views of the seventeenth century: the war of military images and their production Martha Pollak.


Preliminery screening for anti-inflammatory activity using 5-lipoxygenase assay has been carried out on 31 species of plant. From the results obtained, Euphorbia hirta and Phyllanthus watsonii two species of the Euphorbiaceae family showed high inhibition against enzyme 5-lipoxygenase. Based on this results, the phytochemical studies on both plants were carried out. Separation, isolation and purification of compounds from both species were done using solvent-solvent partitioning and chromatography techniques such as normal phase, gel filtration on sephadex LH-20 and reverse phase column chromatography. Two flavonoid O-gylcosides known as quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside [34] and myricetin 3-O-rhamnoside [35] were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of Euphorbia hirta. The compounds 26-nor-D:A-friedoolean-14-en-3β-ol [30] and glochidonol [36] have been isolated from Phyllanthus watsonii. All the compounds were tested for their inhibitory effect against 5-lipoxygenase enzyme and antioxidants activity using the ferric thiocyanate (FTC), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), free radical scavenging activity (DPPH) methods. Although the methanolic crude extracts of both plants showed potent inhibition of more than 65% on the 5-lipoxygenase assay, all the compounds isolated showed inhibition below this value. Quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside and myricetin 3-O-rhamnoside gave 19.0% and 16.0% inhibition against 5-lipoxygenase at the test concentration of 2.5mM. The compounds 26-nor-D:A-friedoolean-14-en-3β-ol [30] and glochidonol [36] showed 17.2% and 17.1% inhibition at the test concentrations of 0.24 and 0.22mM, respectively. Meanwhile, quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside [34] and glochidonol [36] showed strong antioxidant activity, giving 97.7% and 95.5% inhibition in the ferric thiocyanate (FTC) method. In the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) experiment both compounds also showed strong antioxidant activity, giving 92.8% and 92.5% inhibition. Finally the DPPH free radical scavenging activity experiment, quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside [34] gave 85.8 % inhibition at the test concentration of 100μM. The IC50 was calculated to 23.40μM.


Abstract The classical dynamics of non-relativistic particles are described by the Schrödinger wave equation, perturbed by quantum potential nonlinearity. Quantization of this dispersionless equation, implemented by deformation of the potential strength, recovers the standard Schrödinger equation. In addition, the classically forbidden region corresponds to the Planck constant analytically continued to pure imaginary values. We apply the same procedure to the NLS and DNLS equations, constructing first the corresponding dispersionless limits and then adding quantum deformations. All these deformations admit the Lax representation as well as the Hirota bilinear form. In the classically forbidden region we find soliton resonances and black hole phenomena. For deformed DNLS the chiral solitons with single event horizon and resonance dynamics are constructed.


Nanoparticles are regarded as attractive candidates for heterogeneous catalysis in various imperative catalytic processes as they are now easy to prepare with a desired size, structure, morphology and composition. Advanced integrated nanocatalysts (INCs) are considered to be a new class of heterogeneous catalysts distinctly different from the conventional ones. INCs are multicomponent materials with a nanoarchitecture typically designed by incorporating nanoparticles into a defined matrix. Thus, INCs can exhibit various morphologies depending on the targeted catalytic process and the type of the immobilized catalyst. In this highlight, we would like to demonstrate the sophisticated nanoarchitecture, synthetic approaches and unique catalytic properties of specifically selected INCs.


Inhibitory neurons shape signaling in the dorsal horn by helping to regulate responses to external stimuli. Glycine and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), two inhibitory neurotransmitters, are released from presynaptic vesicles. GABA binds to postsynaptic GABA receptors of the A subtype (GABAA) to mediate inhibition of signals. However, GABA also binds to GABAB receptors on the presynaptic membrane, which, in a process involving negative feedback, leads to the inhibition of GABA release from the presynaptic membrane. Kainate receptors (KARs), which make up one class of receptors that bind the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, can regulate the activity of excitatory and inhibitory signaling, as measured by changes in miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs). Now, Kerchner et al. show that activation of presynaptic KARs increases the frequency of mIPSCs and decreases the release of GABA and glycine from the presynaptic membrane. This KAR-dependent process required the entry of Na+, most likely through the KAR, the opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels on the presynaptic membrane, and vesicle fusion. In cultured neurons, prolonged kainate treatment first resulted in KAR activation-dependent GABA and glycine release, followed by kainate-dependent suppression of inhibitory signaling through the activation of autoregulatory GABAB receptors on the presynaptic membrane. Importantly, synaptically released glutamate activated KARs and promoted the GABAB-dependent suppression of the GABA and glycine inhibitory signaling. Because GABA and glycine signaling are important in inhibiting the perception of noxious stimuli (and pain), it is possible that further research into KAR antagonists might yield beneficial drugs for pain relief. MacDermott provides an excellent Preview of the article. G. A. Kerchner, G.-D. Wang, C.-S. Qiu, J. E. Huettner, M. Zhuo, Direct presynaptic regulation of GABA/Glycine release by kainate receptors in the dorsal horn: An ionotropic mechanism. Neuron 32, 477-488 (2001). [Online Journal] A. B. MacDermott, Glutamate and GABA: A painful combination. Neuron 32, 376-378 (2001). [Online Journal]


Orbital cellulitis and abscess are emergencies which might compromise sight and in the extreme, even life. This usually occurs secondary to sinusitis, orthodontic infections, trauma to surrounding regions and intracranial infections. We are describing a rare case of orbital cellulitis which occur 1 month post trauma in a patient with no prior history of sinusitis. This 21 year old gentleman had a fall from height and sustained left infraorbital fracture and anterior maxillary fracture. He defaulted on his follow up.1 month after his fall, he presented with left eye swelling, fever and blurring of vision. He had foul smelling discharge from his nose for 1 week prior to his eye swelling. Ophthalmology assessment showed left eye proptosis, reduced movement in all directions, chemosis and raised intraorbital pressure. Ct scan confirmed the diagnosis of left periorbital abscess. Emergency endoscopic orbital decompression was done. Pus was drained from the maxillary sinus. The inferior rectus muscle herniated into the maxillary cavity. Muscle was reduced and orbital floor defect was splinted with a inflated Foley catheter. Post operatively patient intraocular pressure normalized and proptosis resolved. Patient recovered well with broad spectrum antibiotics for 2 weeks


Revision cases of total hip implants are complicated by the significant amount of bone loss. New materials and/or approaches are needed to provide stability to the site, stimulate bone formation, and ultimately lead to fully functional bone tissue. Porous bioactive glasses (prepared from 45S5 granules, 45% SiO2, 24.5% Na2O, 24.5% CaO, and 6% P2O5) have been developed as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering and have been studied in vitro. In this study, we investigated the incorporation of tissue-engineered constructs utilizing these scaffolds in large, cortical bone defects in the rat simulating revision conditions. With implantation times of 2, 4, and 12 weeks the results were compared to those using the bioactive ceramic scaffold alone. Two tissue-engineered constructs were studied: osteoprogenitor cells that were either seeded onto the scaffold prior to implantation ("primary") or those that were culture expanded to form bonelike tissue on the scaffold prior to implantation ("hybrid"). Defects treated with the hybrid had the greatest amount of bone in the available pore space of the defect over all other groups at 2 weeks (p < 0.05). For both the primary and hybrid groups, woven and lamellar bone was present along the interface of the scaffold and the host cortex and within the porous space of the scaffold at 2 weeks. By 4 weeks, very uniform, lamellar bone was present throughout the scaffold for both tissue-engineered groups. The amount of bone significantly increased over time for all groups while the bioactive ceramic gradually resorbed by 40% at 12 weeks (p < 0.05). Structural properties of the treated long bones improved over time. Long bones treated with the hybrid had an early return in torsional stiffness by 2 weeks. Both tissue-engineered constructs achieved normal torsional strength and stiffness by 4 weeks as compared to the scaffold alone, which achieved this by 12 weeks. Porous, surface modified bioactive ceramic is a promising scaffold material for tissue-engineered bone repair.


The SHERPA project (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) has been set up to encourage change in the scholarly communication process by creating open-access institutional "e-print" repositories for the dissemination of research findings. This article looks at the terminology involved with such repositories and at the issues that such repositories raise for their construction and use. It reviews the advantages of having an institutional basis for a repository and identifies the key issues that have arisen so far in project work.


Bromine radicals (Br + BrO) are important atmospheric species owing to their ability to catalytically destroy ozone as well as their potential impacts on the oxidative pathways of many trace gases, including dimethylsulfide and mercury. Using space‐based observations of BrO, recent studies have reported rapid enhancements of tropospheric BrO over large areas (so called "BrO explosions") connected to near‐surface ozone depletion occurring in polar spring. However, the source(s) of reactive bromine and mechanism(s) that initiate these BrO explosions are uncertain. In this study, we investigate the relationships between Arctic BrO explosions and two of the proposed sources of reactive bromine: sea‐salt aerosol (SSA) generated from blowing snow and first‐year (seasonal) sea ice. We use tropospheric column BrO derived from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) in conjunction with the Goddard Earth Observing System Version 5 (GEOS‐5) data assimilation system provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Global Modeling and Assimilation Office. Case studies demonstrate a strong association between the temporal and spatial extent of OMI‐observed BrO explosions and the GEOS‐5 simulated blowing snow‐generated SSA during Arctic spring. Furthermore, the frequency of BrO explosion events observed over the 11‐year record of OMI exhibits significant correlation with a time series of the simulated SSA emission flux in the Arctic and little to no correlation with a time series of satellite‐based first‐year sea ice area. Therefore, we conclude that SSA generated by blowing snow is an important factor in the formation of the BrO explosion observed from space during Arctic spring.


Abstract Peromyscus furvus Allen and Chapman, 1897 is a cricetid rodent commonly called the blackish deermouse because of its characteristically dark pelage coloration. It is 1 of 56 species in the genus Peromyscus and is of large size compared with the majority of its congeners. Its distribution is restricted to moderate- to high-elevation cloud forests along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' status was recently reassessed and set to "Data Deficient," although P. furvus has lost the majority of its natural habitat to deforestation. Sequence data indicate that P. furvus may be a composite taxon, with the southern population forming an independent evolutionary lineage.


Pathogen infection and cancer are the two major human health problems. In this work, we achieved an organic salt photosensitizer (PS), called 4TPA-BQ with aggregation-induced emission feature via one-step reaction. Owing to the aggregation-induced reactive oxygen species generation effect and sufficient small ΔE ST , 4TPA-BQ shows a satisfactorily high 1 O 2 generation efficiency of 97.8%. In vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed that 4TPA-BQ exhibited potent photodynamic antibacterial performance against ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli with good biocompatibility in a short time (15 min). When the incubation time persisted long enough (12 h), cancer cells were ablated efficiently, leaving normal cells essentially unaffected. This is the first reported time-dependent fluorescence-guided photodynamic therapy in one individual PS for ordered and multiple targeting by varying the external conditions. This can update the design principle of efficient PSs in potential clinical applications.


This paper presents a new charging scheme for cost distribution along a point-to-multipoint connection when destination nodes are responsible for the cost. The scheme focus on QoS considerations and a complete range of choices is presented. These choices go from a safe scheme for the network operator to a fair scheme to the customer. The in-between cases are also covered. Specific and general problems, like the incidence of users disconnecting dynamically is also discussed. The aim of this scheme is to encourage the users to disperse the resource demand instead of having a large number of direct connections to the source of the data, which would result in a higher than necessary bandwidth use from the source. This would benefit the overall performance of the network. The implementation of this task must balance between the necessity to offer a competitive service and the risk of not recovering such service cost for the network operator. Throughout this paper reference to multicast charging is made without making any reference to any specific category of service. The proposed scheme is also evaluated with the criteria set proposed in the European ATM charging project CANCAN.


Establishing background levels for biological parameters is necessary in assessing the ecological risks from harbor sediment contaminated with toxic chemicals. For chemicals in sediment, the term contaminated is defined as having concentrations above background and significant human health or ecological risk levels. For biological parameters, a site could be considered contaminated if levels of the parameter are either more or less than the background level, depending on the specific parameter. Biological parameters can include tissue chemical concentrations in ecological receptors, bioassay responses, bioaccumulation levels, and benthic community metrics. Chemical parameters can include sediment concentrations of a variety of potentially toxic chemicals. Indirectly, contaminated harbor sediment can impact shellfish, fish, birds, and marine mammals, and human populations. This paper summarizes the methods used to define background levels for chemical and biological parameters from a survey of ecological risk investigations of marine harbor sediment at California Navy bases. Background levels for regional biological indices used to quantify ecological risks for benthic communities are also described. Generally, background stations are positioned in relatively clean areas exhibiting the same physical and general chemical characteristics as nearby areas with contaminated harbor sediment. The number of background stations and the number of sample replicates per background station depend on the statistical design of the sediment ecological risk investigation, developed through the data quality objective (DQO) process. Biological data from the background stations can be compared to data from a contaminated site by using minimum or maximum background levels or comparative statistics. In Navy ecological risk assessments (ERA's), calculated background levels and appropriate ecological risk screening criteria are used to identify sampling stations and sites with contaminated sediments.


During the 2011 wave of protests millions of citizens around the globe employed a vast range of digital media to demand greater democratic freedoms and social justice. Although mobile phones were widely used in all these protests, their significance remains unclear. This chapter draws from both qualitative and quantitative research to shed light on the recent uses of mobile technologies for social protest, with Spain's Indignados (or 15M) movement as the case study. The chapter argues for the importance of processual analyses of the new protests that situate the uniqueness of each mobile technology and 'mobile ensemble' within a particular moment in the collective biography of a movement. This approach reveals the importance of smartphones as new articulators of online spaces and occupied physical spaces, especially via Twitter and live streaming.


Food allergies are caused by immunological reactions in individuals sensitized to normal protein components of foods. For any given sensitized individual, the severity of a reaction is generally assumed to be proportional to the dose of allergenic protein. There is substantial clinical evidence that "threshold" doses exist for the elicitation of an allergic reaction; however, the threshold (i.e., lowest dose that elicits a reaction) varies substantially across the sensitized population. Current approaches to protecting sensitized individuals from exposure to food allergens are highly qualitative (i.e., they rely on food avoidance). The Key Events Dose-Response Framework is an analytical approach for refining understanding of the biological basis of the dose-response. Application of this approach to food allergy provides a foundation for a more rigorous quantitative understanding of variability in allergic response. This study reviews the allergic disease process and the current approaches to identifying thresholds for food allergens. The pathway of key biological events occurring between food intake and allergic response is considered, along with factors that may determine the nature and severity of response to food allergens. Data needs, as well as implications for identifying thresholds, and for characterizing variability in thresholds, are also discussed.


It is well documented that individuals in couples tend to retire around the same time. But because women tend to marry older men, this means many married women retire at younger ages than their husbands. This fact is somewhat at odds with lifecycle theory that suggests women might otherwise retire at later ages than men because they have longer life expectancies, and often have had shorter careers on account of childrearing. As a result, the opportunity cost of retirement—in terms of foregone potential earnings and accruals to Social Security wealth—may be larger for married women than for their husbands. Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), I find evidence that the returns to additional work beyond mid-life are greater for married women than for married men. The potential gain in Social Security wealth alone is enough to place married women on nearly equal footing with married men in terms of Social Security wealth at age 70.


The probability of perfection becomes of interest as the realization of its role in the reliability assessment of software-based systems. It is not only important on its own, but also in the reliability assessment of 1-out-of-2 diverse systems. By "perfection", it means that thesoftware will never fail in a specific operating environment. If we assume that failures of a software system can occur if and only if it contains faults, then it means that the system is "fault-free". Such perfection is possible for sufficiently simple software. While the perfection can never be certain, so the interest lies in claims for the probability of perfection.

In this thesis, firstly two different probabilities of perfection – an objective parameter characterizing a population property and a subjective confidence in the perfection of the specific software of interest – are distinguished and discussed. Then a conservative Bayesian method is used to claim about probability of perfection from various types of evidence, i.e. failure-free testing evidence, process evidence and formal proof evidence. Also, a "quasiperfection" notion is realized as a potentially useful approach to cover some shortages of perfection models. A possible framework to incorporate the various models is discussed at the end. There are generally two themes in this thesis: tackling the failure dependence issue in the reliability assessment of 1-out-of-2 diverse systems at both aleatory and epistemic levels; and degrading the well-known difficulty of specifying complete Bayesian priors into reasoning with only partial priors. Both of them are solved at the price of conservatism.

In summary, this thesis provides 3 parallel sets of (quasi-)perfection models which could be used individually as a conservative end-to-end argument that reasoning from various types of evidence to the reliability of a software-based system. Although in some cases models here are providing very conservative results, some ways are proposed of dealing with the excessive conservatism. In other cases, the very conservative results could serve as warnings/support to safety engineers/regulators in the face of claims based on reasoning that is less rigorous than the reasoning in this thesis.


Patent claims traditionally have been freely amendable to overcome a finding of unpatentability. For that reason, the Patent Office's restrictive approach to amendments in new post-issuance review proceedings created by the America Invents Act provoked strident criticism; generated administrative, statutory, and constitutional challenges; and fractured the Federal Circuit. This Article supplies the comprehensive evaluation of the costs and benefits of patent claim
amendments, both in examination and post-issuance, surprisingly missing in the literature.

The results are mixed. Amendments in initial examination are less clearly warranted than commonly thought, with the costs – primarily problematic drafting incentives – often overlooked and the benefits often overstated given other tools to protect patentees' legitimate claim scope. Conversely, post-issuance amendments are more justified than often thought, with competitors' reliance interests overstated, patentees' reliance interests understated, and strategic behavior possible on both sides. Resolving the ambiguity in the optimality of claim amendments depends on a normative view of where to place the risk of error – hindering protection and incentives for inventors when warranted amendments are denied or hindering competition and follow-on innovation when unwarranted amendments are allowed.

This provides important policy insights. First, because claim amendments invoke the patent system's basic trade-off between innovation and competition, they offer a promising, but underutilized, tool for Congress to adjust this balance. Second, given the ambiguity in the justifications for claim amendments, the long-standing liberality towards amendments, and the Patent Office's historically-limited role, the Patent Office probably should not adopt an overly restrictive approach to post-issuance amendments without clearer direction from Congress, despite having the power to do so. Third, the best policy for post-issuance amendments may be a discretionary, case-by-case approach rather than a "one-size-fits-all" approach that is likely to generate significant errors.


Copper (Cu) concentrations were measured in Australian vineyard soils to assess the extent and magnitude of Cu accumulation resulting from the use of Cu-based fungicides and to indicate the likely risks to long-term soil fertility. Soil samples were collected from 98 vineyards across 10 grape-growing regions of Australia and analyzed for total Cu concentrations. Ninety-six percent of vineyards surveyed had elevated Cu concentrations in soil compared to the background Cu concentrations in nearby soil in its native state. Concentrations of total B, Co, Cr, Pb, and Zn were similar to background concentrations and below reported toxicity guideline values. Cu concentrations in Australian vineyard soils were generally much lower (6-150 mg kg (-1)) than those reported in the soils of vineyards in parts of Europe (i.e., 130-1280 mg kg (-1)). Concentrations of total Cu were generally below those concentrations reported to cause lethal effects to soil invertebrates; however, Cu exceeded concentrations known to cause sublethal effects (i.e., inhibit growth, affect reproduction, induce avoidance behavior) to those (or related) invertebrates.


SELECTIVE MISSIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BUNKHUN FOR MINISTRY AMONG THE KHON MUANG Thomas Lowell Bohnert, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Chair: Dr. George H. Martin The purpose of this dissertation is to examine a socio-cultural barrier to the gospel among the Khon Muang of Northern Thailand. The thesis of this dissertation is that bunkhun is an essential cultural factor that missionaries must understand to build and maintain healthy relationships among the Khon Muang. Chapter 1 introduces the problem and the methodology for analyzing the problem was described. Chapter 2 contains an ethnographic description of the Khon Muang people along with an examined of the salient literature about bunkhun. The examination of the salient literature revealed that bunkhun relationships are established by two means: they are established either because a client recognizes the ascribed status of a patron, or because individual acts of graciousness overwhelm the client with gratitude. Chapter 3 examines the function of bunkhun among the Khon Muang. A matrix for characterizing bunkhun relationships was developed and presented. A theory for understanding bunkhun was described. Bunkhun is a cultural system that maintains social smoothing values and skills, reinforces traditional ideas about the ideal character qualities of both a patron and a client, and regulates the relationships between a patron and a client among the Khon Muang. Chapter 4 surveys the Bible to define and describe the patron titles of God. The obligations of the client were also presented. Finally, a short survey outlining the biblical concept of grace was detailed. Bunkhun has similarities to grace, but the two are different. Chapter 5 deals with several missiological implications of bunkhun. First, bunkhun is a form of patron-client system thus, it is incumbent upon missionaries to understand the cultural context so that clear communication occurs. Second, honor and shame themes are embedded in the bunkhun system. Learning to utilize skills good intercultural communications skills is necessary for missionaries serving in Northern Thailand. Finally, several suggestions were offered to address implications related to evangelism, discipleship, fellowship and leadership development. These thoughts are all offered tentatively as more research is needed to verify their veracity. Chapter 6 provides an overall summary for the project.


Abstract As part of the renovation project of the Phénix plant, the modular-type steam generators were the subject of an expert evaluation program in order to verify their condition after ~100 000 h of power operation and demonstrate their ability to continue operation for the planned lifetime extension (30 000 h). This evaluation, based on the destructive examination of several modules, showed that some parts of the superheater and reheater were affected by some delayed reheat cracking of 321 H stainless steel. Thus, the extension of the operation of the units for the prolonged lifetime of the plant could not be justified. A major repair operation was undertaken. Every superheater and reheater module was disassembled. A cleaning process was developed for removal of residual sodium inside the modules, based on the water vapor nitrogen method, and adapted to the special geometry of the component. The potentially defective parts were replaced by new ones. A specific procedure was used for welding of aged to new materials. The nonreplaced parts were controlled by a specially developed ultrasonic technique; 47 modules were successfully repaired within 1 yr.


This paper has the objective to provide the innovation in information technology in both theoretical and empirical study. Precisely, both aspects relate to the Shortage Mispacking Quality Report (SMQR) Claims in Export and Import in Automotive Industry. This paper discusses the major aspects of Innovation, Information Technology, Performance and Competitive Advantage. Furthermore, In the empirical study of PT. Astra Honda Motor (AHM) refers to SMQR Claims, Communication Systems, Analysis and Design Systems. Briefly both aspects of the major aspects and its empirical study are discussed in the Introduction Session. Furthermore, the more detail discussion is conducted in the related aspects in other sessions of this paper, in particular in Literature Review in term classical and updated reference of current research. The increases of SMQR claim and communication problem at PT. Astra Daihatsu Motor (PT. ADM) which still using the email cause the time of claim settlement become longer and finally it causes the rejected of SMQR claim by supplier. With presence of this problem then performed to design the integrated communication system to manage the communication process of SMQR claim between PT. ADM with supplier. The systems was analyzed and designed is expected to facilitate the claim communication process so that can be run in accordance with the procedure and fulfill the target of claim settlement time and also eliminate the difficulties and problems on the previous manual communication system with the email. The design process of the system using the approach of system development life cycle method by Kendall & Kendall (2006)which design process covers the SMQR problem communication process, judgment process by the supplier, claim process, claim payment process and claim monitoring process. After getting the appropriate system designs for managing the SMQR claim, furthermore performed the system implementation and can be seen the improvement in claim communication process and settlement time become faster and achieve the target. The conclusion in this paper comprises two major aspects. The first one refers to the conclusion in term of theory and concept. The second one refers to the conclusion in term of the empirical study of one of automotive industries in Indonesia. Both of them are expected to have contribution in current and future research of related aspects that are discussed in this paper.


This paper examines the spatial dimension of marginal willingness to pay (MWP) for reduction of nuclear risks through increased insurance coverage. The effect of distance from a nuclear power plant on individualsi?½ MWP is ambiguous. MWP is expected to decrease with distance because the risk of being affected by an accident decreases. However, if individuals choose their residential location taking the operational risk into account, MWP is predicted to first increase and later decrease with distance from the nuclear power plant. On the other hand, there are risks associated with transportation and disposal of nuclear waste where distance should matter only in the vicinity of the plant. These theoretical predictions are tested with data collected using a stated choice experiment. The predictions are largely confirmed by the evidence.


A longitudinal study (N = 774) explored the short and longer term impacts of anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) hate crime experienced directly, indirectly, and through the media. In the short term, being a victim (direct) or personally knowing of a hate crime victim (indirect) was positively associated with vulnerability, emotional responses, and behavioral intentions after reading about a hate crime. Direct victims were also less empathic toward other victims and engaged in more victim-blaming. A structural equation model showed direct experiences (via personal vulnerability and empathy) and media experiences (via group-threat and victim-blaming) to be cross-sectionally associated with behavioral intentions. Media experiences also had lasting demobilizing impacts on actual behaviors, again serially mediated by group-threat and victim-blaming. The findings highlight the emotional and behavioral impacts of hate crimes on both direct victims and on the wider LGBT community. They also raise questions about media reporting of hate crimes and the role of victim-blaming.