Innovative glazing, which combines polycarbonate and thin glass to composite panels, ensures a slighter alternative to glass laminates with a high resistance against manual attack. Due to experimental studies, these thin glass-polycarbonate composite panels are classified as laminated safety glass and security glazing. The study describes analytical models to analyse their structural behaviour for static short time loads. In accordance to the geometrical boundary conditions of the four-point bending test, the composite panel can be described by the beam theory. A multi-layered system is calculated with the sandwich beam theory with a bending and shear deformation. Additionally, an extended approximate solution based on Wolfel is compared to the classical theory of sandwich elements as well as with experimental results.


Giant cell tumors (GCTs) developing from the cranial bones are rare. Occurrence of these tumors in the vicinity of eloquent areas precludes complete excision. Fractionated external beam radiotherapy (FEBRT) has been used for those cases, but with inconsistent outcomes. The authors report a case of a patient with a GCT involving the left occiput which was successfully treated by CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery (CK RS). There was improvement in the neurological deficit and occipital pain without adjunctive treatment. This is the first report of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) adopted as a primary treatment modality for a cranial GCT.


Winters, Kari-Lynn. Gift Days . Illus. Stephen Taylor. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012. Print. A young Ugandan girl, Nassali, watches her brother go to school every day, and wishes she could go too.  She wants to learn to read but her time is filled with taking care of her family, her responsibility since the death of her mother.  How her life changes, and how she learns to read is told through this picture book. The author, Kari-Lynn Winters, is a Canadian author and literacy researcher and a faculty member in Teacher Education at Brock University.  She is a well-known author of numerous picture books. The book is illustrated by Stephen Taylor, a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and frequent Illustrator of children's books.  The illustrations are charming and add a great deal of depth to the story.  They do an excellent job of conveying how alone and left out Nassali feels as her brother goes to school every day, and her joy and sense of pride when she learns to read. The story unfortunately, is not as engaging as the illustrations.  The language is quite dry and somewhat didactic, seemingly at odds with the picture book format.  There are some disconnections in the story. It is unclear, for example, why the brother decides to teach Nassali to read.  For this reason it is difficult to determine the intended audience.  The format suggests primary school students, but the content suggests an older audience. This book would be useful as an instructional resource in an elementary school setting for a unit on gender issues or development. It is not, however, likely to engage a self-directed reader of any age. Reviewer:  Margaret Law Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 stars Margaret Law is the Associate University Librarian (International Relations) at the University of Alberta, responsible for developing international library partnerships.  Previously, she was a public librarian, primarily involved with the development of rural libraries in Alberta.


This is the "Penguin English Library Edition" of "The Five Orange Pips and Other Cases" by Arthur Conan Doyle. 'He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson...He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them'. Sherlock Holmes, scourge of criminals everywhere, whether they be lurking in London's foggy backstreets or plotting behind the walls of an idyllic country mansion, and his faithful colleague Dr Watson, solve these breathtaking and perplexing mysteries. In Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Five Orange Pips and Other Cases" we encounter some of his most famous and devilishly difficult problems. "The Penguin English Library" - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.


Practitioners' Forum provides health promotion practitioners with concepts and skills to better plan, implement, justify, market, and evaluate their health promotion programs. Readers will see summaries of landmark research, preliminary research findings, brief case studies, and practical tips. Submissions from our readers are invited and should be sent to Editor, Practitioners' Forum, American Journal of Health Promotion, 1812 S. Rochester Road, Suite 200, Rochester Hills, Michigan 48307-3532. Practitioners' Forum is sponsored by the Association for Fitness in Business.


This article discusses a disturbing development in tort litigation in which defendants use deterministic, genetics-based ideas about individuals and their families to undercut and deflect attention from personal injury claims. Lead exposure litigation involving cognitive injuries claimed on behalf of children who have ingested lead paint is the context of this development. The most extreme manifestation to date has been the efforts in several states to compel relatives of lead-exposed children (usually mothers) to have IQ and psychological testing, even though they are not parties to the litigation. Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and its state counterparts clearly only allows testing of parties. Yet, judges in several states have actually ordered IQ and psychological testing of mothers of lead-exposed children, although the mothers were not parties to the litigation and although they objected to the tests. The article argues that these efforts to seek sensitive information about non-parties through the discovery process run counter to the long-established history of plaintiff-centered discovery in civil litigation. These efforts also raise race and gender issues, in view of the targeting of African-American mothers in particular for these invasive efforts. Part I briefly discusses the effects of lead exposure. Part II focuses on several ideas involved in the shift away from the plaintiff-centered discovery framework, including "genetic essentialism" and "maternal determinism." Part III shows how the history of intelligence research is steeped in race, gender, religious, and class prejudice and reviews the controversy about the 1994 bestseller THE BELL CURVE. Part IV shows how the invasive lead exposure discovery reflects the confluence of genetic essentialism, maternal determinism and IQ, resulting in a huge, yet thus far unnoticed shift away from the plaintiff-centered discovery framework in tort cases. Finally, the article suggests that the trend to broaden discovery beyond plaintiffs is likely to continue and suggests a preliminary framework to address the various interests involved.


Current clinical methods for the assessment of Parkinson's disease (PD) suffer from inconvenience, infrequency, and subjectivity. WiiPD is an approach for the objective home-based assessment of PD which utilizes the intuitive and sensor-rich Nintendo Wii remote. Combined with an electronic patient diary, a suite of minigames, a metric analyzer, and a visualization engine, we propose that this system can complement existing clinical practice by providing objective metrics gathered frequently over extended periods of time. In this paper, we detail the approach and introduce a series of metrics deemed capable of quantifying the severity of tremor and bradykinesia in those with PD. The system has been tested on a 71-year-old participant with PD over a period of 15 days, a 72-year-old control user without PD, and a group of eight young adults. Results indicate a clear correlation between patient self-rating scores of tremor severity and metric values obtained, in addition to clear differences in metrics obtained from each user group. These results suggest that this approach is capable of indicating the presence and severity of the motor symptoms of PD that affect arm motor control.


The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends the use of dual-chamber pacemakers for all bradycardic patients except in a few situations. We aimed to compare our performance to the then new national guidelines. We retrospectively studied the data of all 200 patients who received single-chamber ventricular pacemakers and dual-chamber pacemakers between January 2003 and December 2005 inclusive. Pacemakers were selected based on local opinions prior to the formal adoption of NICE guidelines. In retrospect, our compliance to the guidance was 72%. Of this 72% of patients, 12% were symptomatic at one year, compared with 21% from the non- compliant group (p=0.12). In terms of mortality, 2% of the patients from the compliant group died, compared with 5% from the non-compliant group (p=0.36). Multiple factors influence clinical judgements in selecting a pacing modality. Stringent compliance with the current NICE recommendations may not necessarily reduce mortality and morbidity.


Many scholars believe that the framers of the Constitution intended Congress to be the preeminent branch of government. Indeed, no other legislature in the world approaches its power. Yet most Americans have only a murky idea of how it works. In The U.S. Congress, Donald A. Ritchie, a congressional historian for more than thirty years, takes readers on a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill-pointing out the key players, explaining their behavior, and translating parliamentary language into plain English. No mere civics lesson, this eye-opening book provides an insider's perspective on Congress, matched with a professional historian's analytical insight. After a swift survey of the creation of Congress by the constitutional convention, he begins to unscrew the nuts and pull out the bolts. What is it like to campaign for congress? To attract large donors? To enter either house with no seniority? He answers these questions and more, explaining committee assignments (and committee work), the role of staffers and lobbyists, floor proceedings, parliamentary rules, and coalition building. Ritchie explores the great effort put into constituent service-as representatives and senators respond to requests from groups and individuals-as well as media relations and news coverage. He also explores how the grand concepts we all know from civics class-checks and balances, advise and consent, congressional oversight-work in practice, in an age of strong presidents and a muscular Senate minority (no matter which party is in that position). In this sparkling addition to Oxford's Very Short Introduction series, Donald Ritchie moves beyond the cynicism and the platitudes to provide a gem of a portrait of how Congress really works. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


As histology patterns vary depending on different tissue types, it is typically necessary to adapt and optimize segmentation algorithms to these tissue type-specific applications. Here we present an unsupervised method that utilizes cell shape cues to achieve this task-specific optimization by introducing a shape ranking function. The proposed algorithm is part of our Layers™ toolkit for image and data analysis for multiplexed immunohistopathology images. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that this type of methodology is proposed for segmentation and ranking in cell tissue samples. Our new cell ranking scheme takes into account both shape and scale information and provides information about the quality of the segmentation. First, we introduce cell-shape descriptor that can effectively discriminate the cell-type's morphology. Secondly, we formulate a hierarchical-segmentation as a dynamic optimization problem, where cells are subdivided if they improve a segmentation quality criteria. Third, we propose a numerically efficient algorithm to solve this dynamic optimization problem. Our approach is generic, since we don't assume any particular cell morphology and can be applied to different segmentation problems. We show results in segmenting and ranking thousands of cells from multiplexing images and we compare our method with well established segmentation techniques, obtaining very encouraging results.


Urban flood risk assessment requires quantification of uncertainty that is spatially and temporally variable. This paper presents a new approach to urban flood risk assessment by: (a) integrating objective and subjective uncertainties and (b) providing full insight into spatial and temporal change of flood risk. A 1-D storm sewer model and a 2-D surface flow model are integrated to describe the dynamic interactions between overland flow on the streets and flow through the storm sewer network. The fuzzy set theory approach is used to assess spatial and temporal variability of urban flood damage, and the acceptable level of partial flood damage. The spatial and temporal variability of fuzzy performance indices: (i) combined reliability-vulnerability; (ii) robustness and (iii) resiliency, are generated as the outcome of the urban flood risk analysis. The methodology is illustrated using the residential community of Cedar Hollow (London, Ontario, Canada) as a case study.


This paper presents a new Monte-Carlo search algorithm for very large sequential decision-making problems. We apply non-linear regression within Monte-Carlo search, online, to estimate a state-action value function from the outcomes of random roll-outs. This value function generalizes between related states and actions, and can therefore provide more accurate evaluations after fewer rollouts. A further significant advantage of this approach is its ability to automatically extract and leverage domain knowledge from external sources such as game manuals. We apply our algorithm to the game of Civilization II, a challenging multiagent strategy game with an enormous state space and around 1021 joint actions. We approximate the value function by a neural network, augmented by linguistic knowledge that is extracted automatically from the official game manual. We show that this non-linear value function is significantly more efficient than a linear value function, which is itself more efficient than Monte-Carlo tree search. Our non-linear Monte-Carlo search wins over 78% of games against the built-in AI of Civilization II.


Rankings of different research bodies are of particular interest for academia and bibliometrics is used to measure the quality of these research bodies. Different factors affecting this quality have been proposed. In this paper, we have demonstrated a new approach based on fuzzy models and taken into account different proposed factors to access the overall quality. Our model actually refines the ranking by adding more factors which affects this quality. Thus, improving the information retrieval system based on human reasoning. A dimensionless index called Fuzzy Index (FI) has been proposed and used to shuffle the previously ranked research bodies. We have successfully demonstrated the application of our FI in ranking journals, conferences and authors in the field of computer graphics in particular and computer science in general.


Among chromatin remodeling factors, the ISWI family displays a nucleosome-enhanced ATPase activity coupled to DNA translocation. While these enzymes are known to bind to DNA, their activity has not been fully characterized. Here we use TEM imaging and single molecule manipulation to investigate the interaction between DNA and yeast Isw1a. We show that Isw1a displays a highly cooperative ATP-independent binding to and bridging between DNA segments. Under appropriate tension, rare single nucleation events can sometimes be observed and loop DNA with a regular step. These nucleation events are often followed by binding of successive complexes bridging between nearby DNA segments in a zipper-like fashion, as confirmed by TEM observations. On nucleosomal substrates, we show that the specific ATP-dependent remodeling activity occurs in the context of cooperative Isw1a complexes bridging extranucleosomal DNA. Our results are interpreted in the context of the recently published partial structure of Isw1a and support its acting as a "protein ruler" (with possibly more than one tick).


About one-third of the world's population currently lives under pluri-legal systems where governments hold individuals subject to the purview of ethno-religious rather than national norms in respect to family law. How does the state-enforcement of these religious family laws impact fundamental rights and liberties? What resistance strategies do people employ in order to overcome the disabilities and limitations these religious laws impose upon their rights? Based on archival research, court observations and interviews with individuals from three countries, Yuksel Sezgin shows that governments have often intervened in order to impress a particular image of subjectivity upon a society, while people have constantly challenged the interpretive monopoly of courts and state-sanctioned religious institutions, re-negotiated their rights and duties under the law, and changed the system from within. He also identifies key lessons and best practices for the integration of universal human rights principles into religious legal systems.


An n-type semiconducting copolymer of perylene diimide and dithienothiophene (PPDIDTT) is used as a dual function interfacial layer to modify the surface of perovskite films in inverted perovskite solar cells. The PPDIDTT layer can remarkably passivate the surface trap states of perovskite through the formation of a Lewis adduct between the under-coordinated Pb in perovskite and S in the dithienothiophene unit of PPDIDTT, and also shows efficient charge extraction and transfer properties. The PPDIDTT modified devices exhibit a maximum power conversion efficiency of 16.5%, superior to that of the control devices without PPDIDTT (15.3%). In addition, the device stability and hysteresis in J–V curves of the modified devices are also improved compared to those of the control devices.


Abstract:In Indonesia's third national elections since democratization in 1999, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono easily won reelection, while his Democratic Party tripled its vote from the previous 2004 election. Voters in the parliamentary and presidential contests, held in April and July 2009, were motivated, according to two author-conducted nationwide opinion surveys, by support for individual leaders and candidates, the influence of media campaigns, perceptions of the state of the economy, evaluations of governmental performance, and (though declining) identification with political parties. Effects include a strengthened and more responsive presidency at the cost of a more fragmented and volatile party system.


In this paper, we suggest a new 6-DoF velocity estimation algorithm using RGB and depth images. Autonomous control of mobile robots requires their velocity information. There exist numerous researches on estimating and measuring the velocity. However, more investigations are needed related to vision sensors and depth image. In this work, we propose an algorithm for velocity estimation with an RGB-D sensor based on image jacobian matrix usually used in image-based visual servoing. We validate the performance of the proposed estimation algorithm in various environments with the RGB-D benchmark dataset. The velocity estimation results show the high quality of estimated 6-DoF velocity compared to the ground truth velocity.


Antibody to carbonic anhydrase II, an enzyme abundantly present in biliary epithelium, has been proposed as a diagnostic marker for antimitochondrial antibody‐negative PBC. In this study we determine its prevalence and clinical significance in a large series of patients with antimitochondrial antibody‐positive and ‐negative PBC. Reactivity to carbonic anhydrase II was sought by Western immunoblotting in sera from 215 consecutive patients with PBC (26 antimitochondrial antibody‐negative), 13 with autoimmune hepatitis, 25 with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), 12 with systemic sclerosis, 19 with systemic lupus erythematosus and 73 healthy subjects. The prevalence of antibody to carbonic anhydrase II (titre 1:100) in PBC was 8%. No specific reactivity to carbonic anhydrase II was found in antimitochondrial antibody‐negative PBC (7% versus 8% in antimitochondrial antibody‐positive PBC). Ascites (P = 0.006) and Sjögren's syndrome (SS) (P = 0.022) in PBC were significantly associated with presence of the antibody. In patients with SS associated with PBC, the prevalence (19%) was similar to that observed in pSS (16%). At a serum dilution of 1:40, the prevalence of positive sera in PBC rose to 27% but disease specificity was reduced. Our findings in a large population of PBC patients rule out a relation between presence of antibody to carbonic anhydrase II and lack of antimitochondrial antibody. The higher prevalence of ascites found in positive patients warrants further evaluation.


For many traits and common human diseases, causal loci uncovered by genetic association studies account for little of the known heritable variation. Such 'missing heritability' may be due to the effect of non-additive interactions between multiple loci, but this has been little explored and difficult to test using existing parametric approaches. We propose a Bayesian non-parametric Gaussian Process Regression model, for identifying associated loci in the presence of interactions of arbitrary order. We analysed 46 quantitative yeast phenotypes and found that over 70% of the total known missing heritability could be explained using common genetic variants, many without significant marginal effects. Additional analysis of an immunological rat phenotype identified a three SNP interaction model providing a significantly better fit (p-value 9.0e-11) than the null model incorporating only the single marginally significant SNP. This new approach, called GPMM, represents a significant advance in approaches to understanding the missing heritability problem with potentially important implications for studies of complex, quantitative traits.


The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date summary of the evidence surrounding glycemic index (GI) and endurance performance. Athletes are commonly instructed to consume low-GI (LGI) carbohydrate (CHO) before exercise, but this recommendation appears to be based on the results of only a few studies, whereas others have found that the GI of CHO ingested before exercise has no impact on performance. Only 1 study was designed to directly investigate the impact of the GI of CHO ingested during exercise on endurance performance. Although the results indicate that GI is not as important as consuming CHO itself, more research in this area is clearly needed. Initial research investigating the impact of GI on postexercise recovery indicated consuming high-GI (HGI) CHO increased muscle glycogen resynthesis. However, recent studies indicate an interaction between LGI CHO and fat oxidation, which may play a role in enhancing performance in subsequent exercise. Despite the fact that the relationship between GI and sporting performance has been a topic of research for more than 15 yr, there is no consensus on whether consuming CHO of differing GI improves endurance performance. Until further well-designed research is carried out, athletes are encouraged to follow standard recommendations for CHO consumption and let practical issues and individual experience dictate the use of HGI or LGI meals and supplements before, during, and after exercise.


The 'Mixed Game Model' represents a holistic theory of dialogue which starts from human beings' competence-in-performance and describes how language is integrated in a general theory of human action and behaviour. Human beings are able to adapt to changing conditions and to pursue their interests by the integrated use of various communicative means, mainly verbal, perceptual and cognitive. The core unit is the dialogic action game or 'the mixed game' with human beings at the centre acting and reacting in cultural surroundings. The key to opening up the complex whole is human beings' nature. The Mixed Game Model demonstrates how the different disciplines of the natural and social sciences and the humanities are mutually interconnected. After a detailed overview of the state of the art, the fundamentals of the theory are laid down. They include a typology of action games which ranges from minimal games to complex institutional games. The description is illustrated by analyses of authentic games.


Carbon-water cycle of terrestrial ecosystem is the important process of energy and mass exchanges, which is greatly influenced by changes of wet/dry conditions. Recently, China is experiencing frequent extreme weather events. Many concerns have been raised to explore how and to what extent dryness/wetness have influenced the carbon-water cycle in China on the regional scale. In this study, we examined the effects of changes of dryness/wetness on gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), and water use efficiency (WUE) in terrestrial ecosystems of China during 2001 - 2013 using standardized wet/dry anomaly index and Mann-Kendall method. Our analysis indicated that droughts hit extensively in 2001, 2006, 2009, and 2011, in contrast, extremely severe floods occurred in 2002, 2003, and 2010. Spatially, droughts increased obviously in south China but were alleviated in north China from 2001 to 2013. On average, GPP and WUE of China exhibited increasing trends but ET exhibited a decreasing trend. Severe dry/wet conditions (|SPEI| > 1) decreased GPP, ET, and WUE. Furthermore, the effect of dry stress on GPP, ET, and WUE was much more serious than the effect of wet stress. It was implied that the trends of GPP, ET, and WUE would not change greatly on the long-term scale, but extreme dry/wet events would enhance their change amplitudes in future.


Current approaches to supporting real-time communication allocate network resources either to individual connections, or to aggregates of connections, based on type of traac, protocol, or performance requirements. The rst approach provides well-deened performance guarantees that are independent of other network traac. The second approach may achieve higher utilization of network resources, but the expected performance is less well-deened since it is dependent on the behavior of unrelated (possibly unknown) connections. Resource sharing is a new approach that exploits known relationships between related connections to allow network resources to be shared without sacriicing well-deened guarantees. Most importantly, for large conferences with a bounded number of concurrent speakers, resource requirements do not increase with the number of potential speakers. Therefore, resource sharing is an important tool for providing real-time performance guarantees for large conferences. This paper presents a fully distributed technique for using resource sharing to provide real-time guarantees in a general internetworking environment. The technique is described in the context of its implementation in the next generation of the Tenet real-time protocols. However, the underlying principles are equally applicable to other communication paradigms and techniques. A companion report presents the results of simulation experiments; the simulations show that resource sharing leads to large gains in connection acceptance rates and a signiicant reduction in computational overhead associated with admission control for real-time communication.


The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of the ideal ruler as seen through the eyes of the members of late medieval societies. Throughout the study, main features attributed to the ideal ruler in various cultures have been pursued. Comparing the concepts and attributes apparent in these cultures, it has become possible to talk about a single ideal of kingship as far as the "Christian" and "Muslim" realms of the late medieval era is concerned. The early Ottoman enterprise has been taken as a case reflecting this ideal in practice. Attributes of the ideal king as reflected in the works of the medieval theorists in both "Islamic" and "Medieval European" lands have been examined. The characteristics apparent in these works have been traced in early Ottoman chronicles. Their expression and evaluation of the events reflect certain approaches to these characteristics and individual rulers. Combining theoratical work with practice and focusing on the similarities between the ideals of "Islamic" and "Christian" ideals rather than the differences, a sketch of the ideal ruler in the late medieval era has been drawn as a result of this study.


Retinoic acid is a known morphogen in regulating animal growth and development. Planaria are a key model system for regeneration and their eyes are a morphological marker of anterior differentiation. We explored the requirement for retinoic acid signaling in the regeneration of body parts in the planaria S. mediterranea using an inhibitor of retinoic acid synthesis, diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB). Whole planaria, soaked in DEAB for three days prior to and five days following amputation, produced trunk and tail fragments with defective anterior regeneration. Following regeneration, up to 80% of posterior fragments developed abnormal eyes. The abnormalities included animals without eyes, with only a single eye, with one enlarged eye, or two eyes of different sizes. Eyes were considered to be functional because animals responded to blue laser light with turning behavior. No abnormalities in eye regeneration were observed in side by side vehicle controls. These results suggest that retinoic acid is necessary for normal eye regeneration following injury and supports a previously undocumented signaling role in planaria eye development.


This paper describes an analysis framework for estimating the effects of Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic (DIME) activities in the context of a theater of operations. We evaluate and recommend a set of candidate models of the flow and evolution of population beliefs and intentions as the starting point for developing a DIME Effects Modeling System (DEMS) for tactical commanders. We identified the needs as: (1) understanding and representing the underlying causality within the population, (2) formulating models that are both sensitive and computable, and (3) validating the predictions of population beliefs, intentions, and behaviors by model. The following objectives were established as a path to closing the identified gaps.


Robust visual tracking is a challenging problem, especially when a target undergoes complete occlusion or leaves and later re-enters the camera view. The mean-shift tracker is an efficient appearance-based tracking algorithm that has become very popular in recent years. Many researchers have developed extensions to the algorithm that improve the appearance model used in target localization. We approach the problem from a slightly different angle and seek to improve the robustness of the mean-shift tracker by integrating an efficient failure recovery mechanism. The proposed method uses a novel application of the STAGE algorithm to efficiently recover a target in the event of tracking failure. The STAGE algorithm boosts the performance of a local search algorithm by iteratively learning an evaluation function to predict good states for initiating searches. STAGE can be viewed as a random-restart algorithm that chooses promising restart states based on the shape of the state space, as estimated using the search trajectories from previous iterations. In the proposed method, an adapted version of STAGE is applied to the mean-shift target localization algorithm (Bhattacharyya coefficient maximization using the mean-shift procedure) to efficiently recover the lost target. Experiments indicate that the proposed method is viable as a technique for recovering from failure caused by complete occlusion or departure from the camera view.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Proton MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MR spectroscopy) is a potentially useful adjunct to anatomic MR imaging in the characterization of brain tumors. We performed an updated systematic review of the evidence.

METHODS
We employed a standardized search strategy to find studies published during 2002-2004. We reviewed studies measuring diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic, therapeutic, or health impact of (1)H-MR spectroscopy. We abstracted information on study design, (1)H-MR spectroscopy technique, and methodologic quality. We categorized studies into 5 subgroups: (1) metastasis versus high-grade tumor; (2) high-versus low-grade tumor; (3) recurrent tumor versus radiation necrosis; (4) tumor extent; and (5) tumor versus non-neoplastic lesion.

RESULTS
We identified 26 studies evaluating diagnostic performance, diagnostic impact, or therapeutic impact. No articles evaluated patient health or cost-effectiveness. Methodologic quality was mixed; most used histopathology as the reference standard but did not specify blinded interpretation of histopathology. One large study demonstrated a statistically significant increase in diagnostic accuracy for indeterminate brain lesions from 55%, based on MR imaging, to 71% after analysis of (1)H-MR spectroscopy. Several studies have found that (1)H-MR spectroscopy is highly accurate for distinguishing high- and low-grade gliomas, though the incremental benefit of (1)H-MR spectroscopy in this setting is less clear. Interpretation for the other clinical subgroups is limited by the small number of studies.

CONCLUSION
The current evidence on the accuracy of (1)H-MR spectroscopy in the characterization of brain tumors is promising. However, additional high-quality studies are needed to convince policy makers. We present guidelines to help focus future research in this area.


Static energy due to subthreshold leakage current is projected to become a major component of the total energy in high performance microprocessors. Many studies so far have examined and proposed techniques to reduce leakage in on-chip storage structures. In this study, static energy is reduced in the integer functional units by leveraging the unique qualities of dual threshold voltage domino logic. Domino logic has desirable properties that greatly reduce leakage current while providing fast propagation times. However due to the energy cost of entering the low leakage current state (sleep mode), domino logic has thus far been used only for leakage reduction in the longterm standby mode. We examine the utility of the sleep mode (while considering the aforementioned costs) when idle times are relatively short, one to a few hundred cycles, as is often the case for functional units. Using an analytical energy model suitable for architecture-level analysis, we explore the interaction of the application and technology, and the effect on energy and performance as the underlying parameters are varied, on a set of benchmarks. Our results show that if the leakage approaches the magnitude as projected in the literature, even for short idle intervals as few as ten cycles, an aggressive policy of activating the sleep mode at every idle period performs well and a more complex control strategy may not be warranted. We also propose a simple design, called Gradual Sleep, to reduce the energy impact of using the sleep mode for smaller idle periods.


COST-EFFECTIVE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS TO ENHANCE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES By Leah Harris Palm-Forster Conservation programs promote voluntary adoption of agricultural management practices that can mitigate nutrient runoff and generate ecosystem services (ES) in working landscapes. However, despite billions of dollars spent on conservation programs annually, agricultural pollution remains a persistent problem. Using experimental auctions and behavioral models that integrate economic and ecological information, the first two essays of this dissertation identify how conservation programs can be designed to cost-effectively improve aquatic ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. The third essay estimates some of the benefits from successful conservation programs in terms of averted welfare loss when beach closures are caused by harmful algal blooms resulting from agricultural nutrient runoff. Essay one analyzes farmer preferences for different types of conservation incentives, including payments, green insurance, tax credits, and price premiums. I estimate how the type of incentive offered affects farmer willingness to adopt agricultural management practices that reduce nutrient runoff from cropland in the Maumee watershed to help abate damaging algal blooms in western Lake Erie. I evaluate how the cost-effectiveness of various incentive types depends on farmer willingness to enroll in the program and the level of payment or other financial incentive they require. In general, the most cost-effective contracts are ones that spatially target high priority areas of the watershed and offer financial incentives with low transaction costs for farmers such as payments and tax credits. Essay two identifies barriers and deterrents to participation in conservation auctions and explores how participation affects cost-effectiveness. Outcomes are reported from two conservation auctions that were implemented in two counties in NW Ohio as part of an ongoing effort to reduce harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Bids were evaluated based on their expected environmental benefits -specifically their estimated reductions in bioavailable phosphorus loadings to Lake Erie as predicted by biophysical models. Only 1% of landowners submitted bids. A follow-up survey revealed three barriers to bidding: knowledge about the auction program, ineligibility, and transaction costs of participation. Three policy scenarios are simulated using a mathematical programming model to demonstrate how transaction costs reduce farmer participation and erode cost-effectiveness of conservation auctions relative to uniform payment programs. Cost-effectiveness is greatest in policies with low transaction costs that can spatially target environmentally vulnerable parcels. Essay three uses two benefit transfer approaches to estimate welfare losses from beach closures in Lake Erie caused by harmful algal blooms. I identify how estimates differ between the two transfer approaches – value transfer and function transfer – and evaluate conditions under which the more time-consuming and data-intensive function transfer is worth the effort compared to a simple value transfer. In this study, benefit function transfer was essential to estimate beach demand (trips) and demand elasticity (change in trips), but when evaluating individual beach closures with known trip demand, the function transfer and value transfer yielded similar results for individual beach closures. Results from the two transfer methods deviated (up to 106%) when multiple beaches closed because value transfer did not account for the loss of beach substitutes. This result emphasizes the importance of using transfer methods that account for changes in trip demand to estimate welfare loss from regional beach closures.


This thesis is on the Archaea and Bacteria from a hypersaline hyperalkaline lake sediment of a meteorite impact crater named Lonar. We have surveyed the active and the total biodiversity of the sediment from Lonar. We have detected biogeochemically related important taxa and functional genes from the sediment. We have constructed and screened metagenomic libraries for industrially relevant enzymes. We have also investigated this communities' ability to engineer its microenvironment in terms of pH.
The study site, Lonar crater lake represents a unique environment. As per its origin, Lonar is a meteorite impact crater and as per physicochemical parameters, it is hypersaline and hyperalkaline. This meteorite crater soda lake is located in the southern peninsula of Indian subcontinent known as Lonar lake. Main objectives were to investigate the total (DNA-based) and the active (RNA-based) biodiversity of Archaea and Bacteria, the presence of different taxa and genes (metagenome-based) with their role in biogeochemical cycles, and the ability of the microbial community to engineer their microenvironmental pH.
A total of 85,668 high-quality partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of archaeal and 182,137 sequences of bacterial origin were recovered and analyzed. In Archaea, the total and the active community diversity, a coverage of 74.21 % and 84.07% was observed. The total and the active community diversity of Bacteria showed a coverage of 59.78% and 88.98% respectively. Among the Archaea at the order level, most dominant taxa was Halobacteriales. Halobacteriales is mostly represented by Natronococcus, which was also the most dominant genera both in the total and the active community diversity. In the case of Bacteria most dominant phyla was Firmicutes and the genera were Alkaliphilus and Bacillus. Both of these genera represents Firmicutes. Upon comparison of all the previous studies on Lonar lake and this investigation, more than 67 % of all bacterial and archaeal genera are unique to this study and were not observed in previous investigations.
In our study, we have observed 24 genera, for example, Methanosaeta and Methylobacterium, which may have been involved in methane cycle. In Archaea, they contribute to an average of 39.24 % relative abundance in the active community. In the case of Bacteria, they contribute to an average of 0.50 % relative abundance in the active community. A total of 16 genera, for example, Ammonifex and Nitratireductor, were found which may have been involved in the nitrogen cycle. Among Archaea, they contribute to an average of 1.37 % relative abundance in the active community. In the case of Bacteria, they contribute to an average of 2.87 % relative abundance in the active community. A significantly high diversity of bacterial genera, totaling 36, involved in the sulfur cycle were recorded, for example, Desulfococcus and Thioalkalivibrio. They represent an average relative abundance of 0.93 % relative abundance in the active community.
A total of 32 million paired-end reads were obtained from direct metagenome sequencing. Analysis of the metagenome resulted in 588,668 contigs, with a total number of base of 371 Mb (371,120,372 bases). Several ORFs involved in these biogeochemical cycles were detected. The predicted relative abundance of ORFs in relation to methane metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, and sulfur metabolism pathways were found to be 1.49 %, 0.50 %, and 0.68 %. Experimental data mapped on the reference pathways provides a comprehensive overall view of methane, nitrogen and sulfur metabolism in the sediments of Lonar crater lake.
A total of 235,943 archaeal and 1,657,168 bacterial partial 16S rRNA gene sequences were recovered from the different time point of the nonoptimal pH exposure of the sediments. The microbial community, from the Lonar meteorite crater soda lake sediments, was exposed to suboptimal and superoptimal pH conditions. The change of pH of the culture filtrate was monitored. Community dynamics was also measured at a resolution of 5 days for a total of 25 days using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene analysis. We observed an average coverage of 71.04 % in Archaea and 85.56 % in Bacteria. We have seen a 10-fold change in the initial hydrogen ion concentration difference to a point between suboptimal and superoptimal pH. Several archaeal and bacterial taxa at phylum (Bacteria) or order (Archaea) level and genus (both Archaea and Bacteria) level have been identified to modulate significantly upon exposure to nonoptimal pH. Several of them regained their original or extremely close to their original relative abundance with the progression of time. Also, from HPLC analysis, it is evident that metabolism of ammonia and hydroxyproline have a function in this community dynamics and eventual microenvironmental pH homeostasis. However, we were not able to confirm if this observation is due to correlation or causality. It was also observed, that the dynamics of several archaeal and bacterial genera can be grouped in to different types of dynamic groups based on their changing relative abundances. We found two types of dynamic groups in Archaea and four types of dynamic groups in Bacteria. Considering, all these observations, it might be safe to speculate that this microbial community can change their microenvironment to a more favorable (hypothetical optimal) one in terms of pH at the same time resisting permanent change in its community structure.


Theoretical and experimental work on the vertical position control system on the COMPASS-D tokamak is described. An analog proportional + derivative (P + D) system is currently used, and two important sources of disturbance are observed in the system. One source is 600-Hz noise from thyristor power supplies, and the other is impulselike disturbances due to edge-localized modes (ELMs). A high-order controller is developed using the H-infinity technique to reduce the effect of the 600-Hz noise. This initial design is based on a model of the plasma position system obtained from system identification. The controller is implemented on a digital signal processor and tested on COMPASS-D. The controller synthesis procedure and the experimental results are presented. Large, separated ELMs on COMPASS-D cause impulselike responses to be observed in the power amplifier and position signals. Closed formulas are given for the minimum possible peak of the impulse response of the system, which is used to find the limit of performance.


Billions of dollars are being spent in the United States to restore rivers to a desired, yet often unknown, reference condition. In lieu of a known reference, practitioners typically assume the paradigm of a connected watercourse. Geological and ecological processes, however, create patchy and discontinuous fluvial systems. One of these processes, dam building by North American beavers (Castor canadensis), generated discontinuities throughout precolonial river systems of northern North America. Under modern conditions, beaver dams create dynamic sequences of ponds and wet meadows among free-flowing segments. One beaver impoundment alone can exceed 1000 meters along the river, flood the valley laterally, and fundamentally alter biogeochemical cycles and ecological structures. In this article, we use hierarchical patch dynamics to investigate beaver-mediated discontinuity across spatial and temporal scales. We then use this conceptual model to generate testable hypotheses addressing channel geomorphology, natural flow regime, water quality, and biota, given the importance of these factors in river restoration.


This essay deals with the recent history of the disputes about the relation between history and philosophy of science and the merits and prospects of HPS as an intellectual endeavor. I begin with a brief outline of the debates in the late 1960s and 1970s. At that time, several philosophers of science argued that philosophical analysis was interpretive and that understanding a concept or practice involved understanding how it came about. More recently, however, philosophical studies of science have been likened to scientific theory construction. One basic idea permeates recent debates, namely, that pursuing HPS means confronting general philosophical frameworks with historical data. I argue that this "confrontation model" of HPS is highly problematic and should be abandoned. Instead, we should appreciate (again) that philosophical reflection on science is interpretive, and that historicist analyses of scientific, methodological, and epistemological concepts augment our understanding of science.


In 2004, we introduced the related-key boomerang/ rectangle attacks, which allow us to enjoy the benefits of the boomerang attack and the related-key technique, simultaneously. The new attacks were used since then to attack numerous block ciphers. While the claimed applications are significant, most of them have a major drawback. Their validity cannot be verified experimentally due to their high complexity. Together with the lack of rigorous justification of the probabilistic assumptions underlying the technique, this lead Murphy to claim that attacks using the related-key boomerang/rectangle technique are not legitimate. This paper contains two contributions. The first is a rigorous analysis of the related-key boomerang/rectangle attacks, including devising provably optimal distinguishers and computing their success rate, and discussing the underlying independence assumptions. The second contribution is an extensive experimental verification of the related-key boomerang attack against the GSM block cipher, KASUMI. Our experiments reveal that the success probability of the distinguisher, when averaged over different choices of the keys, is close to the theoretical prediction. However, the exact probability depends on the key, such that for some por- tion of the keys, the distinguisher holds with a higher probability than expected, while for the rest of the keys, the distinguisher fails completely.


We propose a community area network (CAN), which is an all-wireless network connecting a community or a metropolitan area. This is a multihop network consisting of many Wi-Fi supernodes, each of them serving a number of resident homes and/or mobile users. Users in the covered area are able to communicate with each other through the Wi-Fi network while connecting to the Internet. This provides an independent community network that connects every household to local government and organizations.


This thesis examines the political economy of the Sudan to reveal the nature and causes of the 1973-85 particular crisis in that country. The 1973-85 crisis is placed within the historical context of recurrent crises which have characterised the independent Sudan. It is argued that political and economic crises have occurred over the period 1956-1985 and several common features of these crises can be identified to constitute general political and economic trends. In their turn, they have characterized the general crisis since independence in 1956.

The general crisis facing the Sudan is an organic crisis of transformation. Twenty nine years have elapsed between the Sudan becoming independent and 1985, the end of the period under study. The problems of transforming the inherited
colonial economy and structures have remained on the national agenda since then, without resolution.
The study of the colonial political and economic legacy provided an important component of the thesis as it reflected on the process of the articulation of the capitalist mode of production and the pre-capitalist modes of production which had prevailed in the country
before the re-conquest of the Sudan in 1898. Political, institutional and market interrelationship affected the nature of the Sudanese economy, class structure and class
struggle. The nature of the colonial state as an authoritarian and relatively autonomous state left its features in the political economy of the country.

In trying to understand the crisis both in its particular and general manifestations the thesis examines the nature of the post-colonial state and its historical development. The colonial heritage of the country and the concrete class struggle gave the post-colonial state its nature and constituted its crisis. In revealing the nature of the post-colonial state a ruling power bloc is identified. That power bloc was composed of the religious and
tribal aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the military and civilian bureaucracy. The thesis argues that the crisis of the post-colonial state is a crisis of hegemony. The
failure of the dominant power bloc, a fraction or a class of it to establish its hegemony is the main cause of the crisis of the state and the particular form of that crisis: the military civilian governments alterance in power.

The post-colonial state's ability to use coercion was legitimately limited and its tendency towards authoritarianism was challenged by the urban democratic movement and the effective regional forces, especiallyt he Southern Sudanese. The politics of ethnic conflicts
were closely related to the composition of the ruling power bloc as Northern, and of Arab Islamic culture. It was in the politics of ethnic conflicts that coercion was widely used against the Southern people. The civil war which struck the country twice contributed to the crisis of the post-colonial state.

The essence of crisis of the economy is found in the crisis of agricultural production both in its irrigated and rain-fed sub-sectors. Though the nature of the crisis in both sectors is found in the process of articulation of capitalist and pre-capitalist modes, the result of the
articulation process is different in both sub-sectors.

Within this context the particular 1973-85 crisis is studied. The particular crisis is a continuation of the general post-colonial-crisis, yet distinguishable. The military bureaucratic fraction of the new petty bourgeoisie which dominated the state during the 1973-1985 period failed to establish its hegemony and ruled the country through an authoritarian state. The failure to build an alliance with the urban democratic movement in the North between 1969 and the July 1971 coup d'etat was a turning point in the history of the Nimeiri regime. The National Reconciliation of 1977 did not reach its logical conclusion by widening the base of the regime. The promulgation of Islamic Sharia Law in 1983 did not promote the regime's quest for legitimacy and remained to be an additional tool of repression.

The study of the economic crisis of 1973-85 revealed that it was a continuation of the general crisis, as well as a particular crisis of simple and extended reproduction that
resulted from specific policies of the regime. The regime failed to transform the structure of the economy. Despite the expansion, the economy remained unevenly developed,
export-oriented, with weak inter-sector and inter-regional linkages; liable to be severely affected by intemational crises and moderately benefiting from international booms.


What is it like to "feel historical"? In Foundlings Christopher Nealon analyzes texts produced by American gay men and lesbians in the first half of the twentieth century—poems by Hart Crane, novels by Willa Cather, gay male physique magazines, and lesbian pulp fiction. Nealon brings these diverse works together by highlighting a coming-of-age narrative he calls "foundling"—a term for queer disaffiliation from and desire for family, nation, and history.

The young runaways in Cather's novels, the way critics conflated Crane's homosexual body with his verse, the suggestive poses and utopian captions of muscle magazines, and Beebo Brinker, the aging butch heroine from Ann Bannon's pulp novels—all embody for Nealon the uncertain space between two models of lesbian and gay sexuality. The "inversion" model dominant in the first half of the century held that homosexuals are souls of one gender trapped in the body of another, while the more contemporary "ethnic" model refers to the existence of a distinct and collective culture among gay men and lesbians. Nealon's unique readings, however, reveal a constant movement between these two discursive poles, and not, as is widely theorized, a linear progress from one to the other.

This startlingly original study will interest those working on gay and lesbian studies, American literature and culture, and twentieth-century history.


The four research articles in this issue address various traditions in Islamic inquiry. Andrew F. March's "Islamic Constitutionalism Before Sovereignty" explores an important moment in Islamic modernity for the purposes of drawing a contrast with twentieth-century, post-caliphal Islamist thought. He argues that although the debates of the 1860s and Ottoman constitutionalism do not lead directly to a non-sovereigntist political vision, they are representative of a pre-colonial (and thus, to a certain extent, pre-apologetic) Islamic thought that centralizes the public interest, the varieties of political judgment, and the compatibility of distinct kinds of expertise with a desacralized centralized authority. Atif Suhail Siddiqui's "Theological and Intellectual Roots in Deobandi Thought" focuses on Muḥammad Qāsim Nānawtawī and his Ḥujjat al-Islām. This text's polemical methodology (critiquing and refuting Christian theological anthropology and Hindu mythology) presents a unique approach to philosophical dialectics, as based on propositional logic and pragmatic philosophy. Emad Hamdeh's "Shaykh Google as Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿAṣr" argues that autodidactism in the traditional domains of hadith and fiqh, enabled by print media, is perceived by the ʿulamāʾ to be a threat to what they consider to be the "proper" understanding of religion, in that it constitutes a threat to traditional scholarly authority. He concludes: "This technological transformation creates competition over religious authority between ʿulamāʾ, who are trained in Islamic sciences, and religious activists, whose authority is based upon persuasion and the interpretation of texts they primarily access through print and the internet." Finally, Akhmad Akbar Susamto's "Toward a New Framework of Islamic Economic Analysis" proposes new conditions under which an economics can be considered "Islamic", and then defines the scope of Islamic economics and its methods. He seeks to reinvigorate the field of Islamic economics and to build its body of knowledge.


The results of the research re-ported in this work show that tunable gap flux qubits have a potential for building quantum registers. Cavities coupled to flux qubits can be used for in-formation storage and transfer between qubits. SFS π-shifters provide a simple approach to bias multi-qubit circuits. A possibility to change the qubit resonance frequency while preserving qubit coherence enables implementation of switchable coupling between qubits and cavities.


1. Peatlands are a significant store of global carbon (C) and may be particularly sensitive to climate change. Understanding the drivers of C cycling in peatlands is therefore important for predicting feedbacks to climate change. One such driver may be the identity of component plant species.

2. Moss species contribute significantly to peatland vegetation, yet we understand comparatively little of their role in short-term C cycling and whether that role is consistent regardless of environmental context.

3. We examined the impact of three dominant, co-occurring moss species (Hypnum jutlandicum, Sphagnum capillifolium and Plagiothecium undulatum) on C cycling across a long-term fire frequency experiment, where plots have been burnt every 10 years, every 20 years or have not been burnt since 1954. We measured species effects on in situ net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and decomposition environments, and moss species litter decomposition rates in a laboratory experiment. The fire experiment also provided an ideal opportunity to test whether moss species effects were consistent regardless of context.

4. Moss-dominated patches were on average net sources of CO2 over the main growing period, with Sphagnum-dominated patches showing the lowest NEE. The presence of mosses reduced peat temperature, but this was insufficient to cause differences in the decomposition rate of a standard substrate. Sphagnum and Hypnum litter decomposed more slowly (17 and 16% mass loss, respectively) than Plagiothecium litter (64% mass loss) over a 42-week incubation period.

5. Fire frequency treatments had few effects on measures of C cycling. Moss effects were generally consistent regardless of fire frequency treatment, but Plagiothecium and Sphagnum litter collected from the no-fire plots had higher rates of decomposition than litter collected from the plots burnt more frequently.

6. In summary, postfire, both inter- and intraspecific differences in mosses had significant effects on short-term C cycling. Consequently, changes in both moss species composition and variation within species may need to be taken into account to accurately predict C cycling in peatland ecosystems subject to fire.


[Abstract] The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of the value creation efficiency on investors' capital gains on shares. To investigate the impact of corporate value creation efficiency on investors' capital gains, the author used the data collected from listed companies in Thailand's stock market and Pulic's (1998) Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC TM) as the measure of intellectual capital and a developed multiple regression model. The empirical research found that firms' intellectual capital has a significant positive relationship with its investors' capital gains on shares. The findings enhance the knowledge base of intellectual capital and develop a concept of intellectual capital in achieving competitive advantages in emerging economies such as Thailand's. [Keywords] Intellectual capital; Capital gain; banking; finance and insurance sector Introduction An extensive research has been carried out on Intellectual capital, since the financial accounting does not explain the increasing gap between a firm's market value and its book value (e.g. Lev and Zarowin, 1999; Lev, 2001; Lev and Radhakrishnan, 2003). Simply, a firm's market value exceeding its book value has been defined as intellectual capital (Edvinsson and Mal one, 1997). The intellectual capital of a firm plays a significant role in the modern approach of value creation. Especially, firms in technology and service industries recognize intellectual capital as the major knowledge base that contributes to the creation of a competitive advantage for the firm (Huei-Jen Shiu, 2006). The determinants of intellectual capital, such as human capital and structural capital created in customers, process, databases, brands, and systems (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997), have been recognized as the factors that determine corporate well being (Bornemann 1999; Pulic 2000; Firer & Williams 2003; Mavridis 2004). The theory of stakeholder view (Donaldson and Preston, 1995), which demonstrates that stakeholder relationship constitutes all the forms of relationship of a firm with its stakeholders, such as investors, government, customers, employees, suppliers and general public etc., is similar to the concept of intellectual capital. Even though intellectual capital is recognized as a major corporate asset capable of generating sustainable competitive advantages and superior financial performance (Barney, 1991), it is still difficult to find an appropriate measure of intellectual capital. Pulic (2000a, b) proposed Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) as an indirect measure of efficiency of value added by corporate Intellectual Capital. The VAIC method provides the information about the efficiency of tangible and intangible assets that can be used to generate value to a firm (Pulic, 2000a, b). Financial capital (monetary and physical), human capital, and structural capital have been recognized as major components of VAIC. A higher value for VAIC shows a greater efficiency in the use of firm capital, since VAIC is calculated as the sum of capital employed efficiency, human capital efficiency, and structural capital efficiency. The composition of these three components of capital, which are similar to the concept of Skandia Navigator (Bontis, 1999), vary from industry to industry and from firm to firm, depending on their nature of business and strategy. These three components of capital determine the degree of value added by each product and/or service. The research is based on the banking, finance, and insurance industries in Thailand. The dividend policy of most of the companies in these industries is to pay no dividend or a very small amount. Thus, the research examines the capital gain (instead of market return, which includes both capital gain and dividend yield) in relation to VAIC and its components. Capital gain refers to the profit earned by investors by selling shares in the secondary market (Ross, Western eld, Jaffe, 2005). …


In the realm of smart cities, telecommunication companies (telcos) are expected to play a protagonistic role as these can capture a variety of natural phenomena on an ongoing basis, e.g., traffic in a city, mobility patterns for emergency response or city planning. The key challenges for telcos in this era is to ingest in the most compact manner huge amounts of network logs, perform big data exploration and analytics on the generated data within a tolerable elapsed time. This paper introduces SPATE, an innovative telco big data exploration framework whose objectives are two-fold: (i) minimizing the storage space needed to incrementally retain data over time, and (ii) minimizing the response time for spatiotemporal data exploration queries over recent data. The storage layer of our framework uses lossless data compression to ingest recent streams of telco big data in the most compact manner retaining full resolution for data exploration tasks. The indexing layer of our system then takes care of the progressive loss of detail in information, coined decaying, as data ages with time. The exploration layer provides visual means to explore the generated spatio-temporal information space. We measure the efficiency of the proposed framework using a 5GB anonymized real telco network trace and a variety of telco-specific tasks, such as OLAP and OLTP querying, privacy-aware data sharing, multivariate statistics, clustering and regression. We show that out framework can achieve comparable response times to the state-of-the-art using an order of magnitude less storage space.


Physiotherapy is a specialist branch of medicine that helps remediate impairments in movement and promote patients' quality of life. Furthermore, Physiotherapy plays a crucial role in helping people who have lost their mobility or suffer from movement disorders. Educational criteria for physiotherapy providers vary from state to state and from country to country, and among various levels of professional responsibility. The purpose of the study to assess the impact and effectiveness of the educational process in physiotherapy in Libya, and to provide an overview of education and training at the University of Zawia in Libya including the graduate students, staff members, and demonstrators from 2002-2012. The data was conducted from the department documents and from the staff in the Physiotherapy Department at the University of Zawia. As a result, during 2002-2009, the mean number of graduate students was 5.43. While from 2009-2012 a visible increase in the number of graduate students was reported and the mean reached 18, owing to the rise in the knowledge of physiotherapy importance and the raise of awareness that has been shown that between the society and association of students. On the other hand, the percentage of the national and foreign teachers' members was reported 46% and 36% respectively, while the assistant staff members were 18%. In addition, during 2002-2010, the demonstrators were 5 while in 2010-2012 there were 12, this increase was associated with the rising number of graduate students.


AIM
Astrocytes and extracellular matrix molecules have important roles in regulating synaptic functions between neurons in the central nervous system. However, under pathological conditions, these constituents are activated to form glial scar that is thought to be harmful for neuronal regeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression pattern of ADAMTS1, -4, -5 and -9 in IL-1 stimulated astrocyte cultures obtained from postnatal day zero mouse brains.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Real time PCR analyses were performed.

RESULTS
An overexpression of ADAMTS1, -4, -5 and -9 at the 3-h time point after IL-1 stimulation was found. IL-1 stimulation induced aggrecaneses and this effect was time dependent. Maximum increase was detected at 3-h (six fold increase). Interestingly the expression of ADAMTS1 and -4 appeared to be at the highest expression level but the ADAMTS5 and ADAMTS9 expression level was much weaker (three times and two times respectively).

CONCLUSION
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating induction of ADAMTS in IL-1 induced astrocytes. Aggrecanases may play a role in tissue destruction in the progression of central nervous system (CNS) injury and they are differentially expressed in mouse CNS, suggesting a critical role in the pathogenesis of CNS injury. This can be a very crucial aetiologic factor for some neuropsychiatric disorders.


[1] The cirrus clouds of the upper troposphere are globally widespread and are important regulators of the radiative balance, and hence climate, of the Earth-atmosphere system. Despite their wide distribution, however, cirrus are difficult to study from satellite radiance measurements or from scattered ground observing sites because they can occur as part of multilayered cloud systems and are characteristically optically thin. The need to better characterize the global distribution of cirrus clouds was therefore a major justification for the formation flying of the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites, which support a cloud radar and polarization lidar, respectively. Measurements by these active remote sensors, when analyzed by appropriate algorithms, have the ability to identify and accurately measure the locations and heights of this category of clouds. The combined CloudSat/ Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) data cirrus cloud algorithm used in this study is aimed at identifying those clouds that would likely be classified as cirrus by a surface weather observer: it is based on previous experience with multiple remote sensor approaches and knowledge gleaned from extensive surface lidar and radar observations of visually identified cirrus clouds with a minimum of a priori assumptions. We report on the global and seasonal frequencies of cirrus clouds, and on their heights and thicknesses obtained over the initial 1 year of data collected. We find a global average frequency of cirrus cloud occurrence of 16.7%. These new results are compared with other cirrus cloud climatologies and are interpreted in terms of local cirrus cloud formation mechanisms and the responsible global weather phenomena.


Background Access to "safe" water and "adequate" sanitation are emphasized as important measures for schistosomiasis control. Indeed, the schistosomes' lifecycles suggest that their transmission may be reduced through safe water and adequate sanitation. However, the evidence has not previously been compiled in a systematic review. Methodology We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting schistosome infection rates in people who do or do not have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to 31 December 2013, without restrictions on year of publication or language. Studies' titles and abstracts were screened by two independent assessors. Papers deemed of interest were read in full and appropriate studies included in the meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed through the visual inspection of funnel plots and through Egger's test. Heterogeneity of datasets within the meta-analysis was quantified using Higgins' I2. Principal Findings Safe water supplies were associated with significantly lower odds of schistosomiasis (odds ratio (OR) = 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47–0.61). Adequate sanitation was associated with lower odds of Schistosoma mansoni, (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47–0.73) and Schistosoma haematobium (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.57–0.84). Included studies were mainly cross-sectional and quality was largely poor. Conclusions/Significance Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that increasing access to safe water and adequate sanitation are important measures to reduce the odds of schistosome infection. However, most of the studies were observational and quality was poor. Hence, there is a pressing need for adequately powered cluster randomized trials comparing schistosome infection risk with access to safe water and adequate sanitation, more studies which rigorously define water and sanitation, and new research on the relationships between water, sanitation, hygiene, human behavior, and schistosome transmission.


Results of theoretical investigation of optical activity influence on incoherent interaction of soliton-like light beams in cubic photorefractive crystal are presented. Interaction of two one-dimensional Gaussian beams in BSO crystal is numerically simulated in cases of parallel and orthogonal input linear polarizations. It is shown that under influence of the optical activity the distance between the points of beam fusion increases and the first fusion point is shifted from input face of the crystal. The account of optical activity in case of interaction of coherent light beams leads to appearance of the breathing effect. When incoherent interaction of light beams takes place, the breathing effect is practically absent.


Seasonal fluctuations in forage availability in African drylands significantly affect the body condition of pastoral livestock. The result is lean animals that, besides falling short of market requirements, often fetch low prices for producers. In Kenya's pastoral areas, stratified cattle production (SCP) systems in which animals are transferred from arid to semi-arid areas with better production conditions are emerging as an option to improve animal body condition prior to sale. These practices are gaining popularity against a backdrop of scarce information to guide both the development and up-scaling of the systems. Using qualitative data collected through face-to-face interviews, this study describes the existing forms of SCP, their driving factors and management practices for coping with production and market challenges. Results reveal three forms of SCP that involve fattening of Borana cattle, small East African Zebu and their crosses. The forms were practised by ranchers, traders and agro-pastoralists, who exhibit differences with respect to access to grazing resources, herd sizes and fattening periods. Ranchers owned grazing resources and fatten 100-120 cattle for 612 months while traders leased grazing resources to fatten 80-100 cattle for 6-8 months. Agro-pastoralists supplemented pastures with crop residues to fatten 20-30 cattle for 3-4 months. The adoption of SCP systems were driven by changes in socio-economic and ecological conditions in the drylands of Kenya including an occurrence of drought and demand in terminal markets. Practitioners challenges included high costs of animal purchase and production, disease outbreaks and high marketing costs. In order to minimize costs associated with these challenges and maximize profits, animals are purchased during the dry season when prices are low, sale agents are used to source animals and bargain for prices, mature animals that requires a shorter fattening period are purchased, flexible grazing lease arrangements are followed and fattening periods are shortened when there is impending drought. This information could guide the development and promotion of SCP in Kenya and other drylands of Africa. ________________________________________________________________________________________________


We conjecture that the distribution of the time-reversed residuals of a causal linear process is closer to a Gaussian than the distribution of the noise used to generate the process in the forward direction. This property is demonstrated for causal AR(1) processes assuming that all the cumulants of the distribution of the noise are defined. Based on this observation, it is possible to design a decision rule for detecting the direction of time series that can be described as linear processes: The correct direction (forward in time) is the one in which the residuals from a linear fit to the time series are less Gaussian. A series of experiments with simulated and real-world data illustrate the superior results of the proposed rule when compared with other state-of-the-art methods based on independence tests.


This essay examines three twentieth-century practitioners of the Los Angeles variant of Noir nonfiction: the radical historian and architectural critic Mike Davis; the fiction writer, screenwriter, and journalist Joan Didion; and the novelist, reporter, and memoirist John Gregory Dunne. "Noir nonfiction" is meant to refer to a crossover mode that exports elements from the Noir tradition—particularly, an ethos of suspicion that often expresses populist anger at public corruption, elite hypocrisy, and suburban ennui—into an experimental mode of reportage that challenges the predominantly realist norms of mainstream journalism. The essay begins by examining Dunne's fictional True Confessions (1977) and his report on Cesar Chavez's farmworkers' campaign, Delano (1967); moves to Davis's history of Los Angeles, City of Quartz (1992); and closes with Didion's "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream" (1966).


The ADM1 is applied to simulate the behaviour of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB) treating blood powder (spray dried blood meal) wastewater. Considering a completely mixed liquid phase, the model is defined by a set of differential equations which can be numerically solved. Experimental data allows validating the output of the model which is then used for performing numerous simulations. A single reactor is compared to a series of two identical reactors of half the volume each. For the same total hydraulic retention time, the series reaches an outlet concentration 74% inferior to that of the single reactor. Furthermore, for the same total conversion the volume required by the series is 43% of that of the single reactor.


We present Scratch Input, an acoustic-based input technique that relies on the unique sound produced when a fingernail is dragged over the surface of a textured material, such as wood, fabric, or wall paint. We employ a simple sensor that can be easily coupled with existing surfaces, such as walls and tables, turning them into large, unpowered and ad hoc finger input surfaces. Our sensor is sufficiently small that it could be incorporated into a mobile device, allowing any suitable surface on which it rests to be appropriated as a gestural input surface. Several example applications were developed to demonstrate possible interactions. We conclude with a study that shows users can perform six Scratch Input gestures at about 90% accuracy with less than five minutes of training and on wide variety of surfaces.


This thesis comprises tribological studies of extremely well-defined surfaces of different designs. Both low-friction and high-friction surfaces were manufactured and experimentally evaluated.In the low-friction studies, lithography and anisotropic etching of silicon was first used as a texturing technique. The textured surfaces were subsequently PVD coated with TiN or DLC to achieve tribologically relevant interfaces. The results showed that under starved lubricated conditions, fine surface textures lowered the coefficient of friction and the wear rate. It was shown that also the orientation of the texture is of major importance for the lubricating function.Further, a novel embossing technique was developed, permitting texturing of steel and other materials. A micro mechanically designed diamond tool was used to emboss steel surfaces. The roller/piston contact from a hydraulic motor was simulated and introduction of an embossed texture on the piston decreased the level and the fluctuation of the friction. The effect of the texture was here similar to the effect of an additional polish step. However, in general it is not an easy task to substantially improve a boundary lubricated contact by introducing a texture. Studies of high friction surfaces were performed on micro mechanically designed diamond surfaces equipped with sharp pyramids or ridges. Just as theory predicts, the coefficient of friction was dependent on the shape of the ploughing bodies, but not on the counter material or the load. The tested surfaces resulted in static coefficients of friction between 1.1 and 1.6, depending on surface design and orientation. These are extremely high values, and therefore very interesting for practical applications requiring a high static friction.Conclusively, the present thesis shows that it is possible to design and produce surfaces both for improved lubrication in sliding contact and for substantially improved high friction performance in static contacts.


Current predictions regarding the ecological consequences of climate change on animal populations are generally autecological and species-specific, and/or non-mechanistic extrapolations of recent short-term patterns. To better understand and predict the effects of climate change on the distribution of species and the abundance of populations we offer a novel, broad theoretical framework. Climate-induced changes in trophic structure may actually be more predictable than effects on individual species. The logic is that there are general differences in climatic sensitivity among trophic levels ― specifically, that as one moves up trophic levels, there is an increase in the temperature sensitivity of vital rates. More precisely, we provide: (1) a formal mathematical definition of distribution limits that is both operational and conceptual, introducing the concept DL 50 , defined as the geographic and climatic isoline representing an equilibrium occupancy of half of the suitable habitats; (2) a matrix of the possible changes in trophic structure from climate change and the general theoretical consequences; and (3) a new idea that predicts broad effects of climatic warming on trophic systems. Our intention is to help meet the challenge of developing and testing general theoretical models that can predict which species will be winners and losers in ecological time, which evolutionary traits will be favoured or selected against, and what will be consequences for ecosystem structure and function.


The subventricular zone (SVZ) of the postnatal brain continuously generates olfactory bulb (OB) interneurons. We show that calretinin+, calbindin+, and dopaminergic (TH+) periglomerular OB interneurons correspond to distinct subtypes of GABAergic cells; all were produced in the postnatal mouse brain, but they matured and were eliminated at different rates. The embryonic lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE) is thought to be the site of origin of postnatal SVZ neural progenitors. Consistently, grafts of the embryonic LGE into the adult brain SVZ generated many OB interneurons, including TH+ and calbindin+ periglomerular interneurons. However, calretinin+ cells were not produced from these LGE grafts. Surprisingly, pallial and septal embryonic progenitors transplanted into the adult brain SVZ also resulted in the generation of OB interneurons, including calretinin+ cells. A subset of Dlx2+ OB interneurons was derived from cells expressing Emx1, a transcription factor largely restricted to the pallium during development. Emx1 lineage-derived cells contributed a substantial portion of GABAergic cells in the OB, including calretinin+ interneurons. This is in contrast to cortex, in which Emx1 lineage-derived cells do not differentiate into GABAergic neurons. Our results suggest that some OB interneurons are derived from progenitors outside the LGE and that precursors expressing what has classically been considered a pallial transcription factor generate GABAergic interneurons.


Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in large size, high gain Yb(3+):YAG slabs severely impacts the gain/energy storage capability. We will discuss numerical simulations and experimental results obtained on large size Yb(3+):YAG slabs. The spatial distribution and temporal evolution is shown under different conditions.


The Early Cretaceous Ontong Java Plateau was emplaced at almost the same time as marine biotic changes that culminated in oceanic anoxic event 1 (OAE1a). A causative link between these events has been suggested, but direct evidence has been lacking until now. New Os isotope measurements across the Lower Aptian "Selli Level" black shale deposited during OAE1a in central Italy reveal two negative excursions in marine 187 Os/ 188 Os ratios within a period of 2 Ma starting above the Barremian-Aptian boundary and ending just above the Selli Level horizon, suggesting an order-of-magnitude increase in the global fl ux of unradiogenic Os. The results are consistent with early and major phases of eruption of the Ontong Java Plateau. The latter phase is estimated to have been as short as ~1 Ma and may have induced widespread oceanic stratifi cation that triggered OAE1a.


The Coastal Volcanic belt in easternmost Maine consists of Silurian–Devonian volcanic rocks related to the convergence of Avalonia with the leading edge of composite Laurentia just before and during early stages of the Acadian orogeny. New major- and trace-element analyses from the Machias-Eastport area indicate that the Early to Late Silurian volcanic rocks in the Dennys, Edmunds, and Leighton Formations formed in a continental arc environment, in contrast to some earlier interpretations. These rocks have a continuous compositional range from basalt, through andesite, to rhyolite. The mafic rocks in these formations are calc-alkaline and show subduction-related geochemical signatures on various discrimination diagrams, whereas the felsic rocks have geochemical characteristics of volcanic arc granites. In contrast, the thick volcanic deposits of the younger Late Silurian Eastport Formation are bimodal and tholeiitic and have transitional to within-plate geochemical signatures. Thus, the transition over time, as the Acadian seaway closed, from subduction and arc settings to continental extension can been seen in this rock sequence, and it constrains the time of Avalonia's docking. Regionally, volcanic rocks in the Kingston terrane of southern New Brunswick are likely correlatives of the earlier arc-volcanic rocks (Dennys, Edmunds, and Leighton Formations), while Eastport Formation analogues are found in the coastal Maine magmatic province, Cranberry Island series, and probably the Passamaquoddy Bay volcanic series, which similarly appear to have formed after the transition to an extensional environment occurred, although other extensional settings cannot be entirely ruled out. Basalts in the post-Acadian Perry Formation indicate continental extension was also active in the Late Devonian.


The production of facial expressions is important for social communication, and has been described for many primate species. The perception of facial expressions, however, has received considerably less attention. This study reports the results of two experiments that investigated the ability of chimpanzees to discriminate five of their species-typical facial expressions: bared-teeth display, hoot face, relaxed-lip face, relaxed open mouth face, and scream face. Unfamiliar con-specifics' facial expressions were presented as black and white, digitized images using a computerized joystick-testing apparatus and matching-to-sample paradigm. Subjects were first presented with a sample facial expression, and were then required to choose between two comparison, one of which showed the same expression as the sample. The first task demonstrated that all expressions except the relaxed-lip face were discriminated from a neutral face significantly above chance, several on the first day. The second task showed impaired discrimination when the sample and nonmatching comparison expressions shared similar features, supporting the hypothesis that facial expressions were categorized using distinctive features. The overall correlation between the number of shared features and performance was only weakly negative, suggesting that additional discrimination strategies may be involved.


White lupin (Lupinus albus L.) is a legume that produces seeds recognized for their high protein content and good nutritional value (lowest glycemic index of all grains, high dietary fiber content, and zero gluten or starch)1–5. White lupin can form nitrogen-fixing nodules but has lost the ability to form mycorrhizal symbiosis with fungi6. Nevertheless, its root system is well adapted to poor soils: it produces cluster roots, constituted of dozens of determinate lateral roots that improve soil exploration and phosphate remobilization7. As phosphate is a limited resource that comes from rock reserves8, the production of cluster roots is a trait of interest to improve fertilizers efficiency. Using long reads sequencing technologies, we provide a high-quality genome sequence of a modern variety of white lupin (2n=50, 451 Mb), as well as de novo assemblies of a landrace and a wild relative. We describe how domestication impacted soil exploration capacity through the early establishment of lateral and cluster roots. We identify the APETALA2 transcription factor LaPUCHI-1, homolog of the Arabidopsis morphogenesis coordinator9, as a potential regulator of this trait. Our high-quality genome and companion genomic and transcriptomic resources enable the development of modern breeding strategies to increase and stabilize yield and to develop new varieties with reduced allergenic properties (caused by conglutins10), which would favor the deployment of this promising culture.


Aims. We investigate the effects of radiative shocks on the observed X-ray emission from the type II supernova SN 1993J. To this end, the X-ray emission is modeled as a result of the interaction between the supernova ejecta and a dense circumstellar medium at an age of 8 years. Methods. The circumstances under which the reverse shock is radiative are discussed and the observed X-ray emission is analyzed using the numerical code described in Nymark et al. (2006, A&A, 449, 171). We argue that the original analysis of the X-ray observations suffered from the lack of self-consistent models for cooling shocks with high density and velocity, leading to questionable conclusions about the temperatures and elemental abundances. We reanalyze the spectra with our numerical model, and discuss the expected spectra for different explosion models for the progenitors. Results. We find that the spectra of SN 1993J are compatible with a CNO-enriched composition and that the X-ray flux is dominated by the reverse shock.


Distributed denial of service (DDoS) is one of the most difficult security problems to address. While many existing techniques (e.g., IP traceback) focus on tracking the location of the attackers after-the-fact, little is done to mitigate the effect of an attack while it is raging on. We present a novel technique that can effectively filter out the majority of DDoS traffic, thus improving the overall throughput of the legitimate traffic. The proposed scheme leverages on and generalizes the IP traceback schemes to obtain the information concerning whether a network edge is on the attacking path of an attacker ("infected") or not ("clean"). We observe that while an attacker will have all the edges on its path marked as "infected", edges on the path of a legitimate client will mostly be "clean". By preferentially filtering out packets that are inscribed with the marks of "infected" edges, the proposed scheme removes most of the DDoS traffic while affecting legitimate traffic only slightly. Simulation results based on real-world network topologies (e.g., Skitter) all demonstrate that the proposed technique can improve the throughput of legitimate traffic by 3 to 7 times during DDoS attacks.


As relatively recent works of science fiction, Elizabeth Moon's The Speed of Dark (2002) and C.S. Friedman's This Alien Shore (1998) both contain characters with forms of cognitive difference. The article considers how the borders of community are described by the two authors and how medical, social, and complexly embodied models of disability affect how those borders are reinscribed or expanded. The argument is that The Speed of Dark utilizes a medical model of disability in a way that does not expand the borders of community, while This Alien Shore employs a complexly embodied model of disability that does expand borders.


Worldwide, the employment of people with disabilities has been challenged by the slow development of 'workplace specific' disability employment policies. The focus has been on formulating legislation to overcome barriers and the implementation of national disability policies without ensuring that workplaces formulate such policies. While laws regarding disability have been on the statute books for two decades in South Africa, little is known about how effective they have been and their impact in the workplace. This article examines whether South African government departments have developed or reviewed employment policies for the benefit of people with disabilities, and determines whether policy makers were aware of the existence of the Disability Code (Republic of South Africa, 2002) and the Technical Assistance Manual (Republic of South Africa, 2005) when the policies were developed or reviewed. Human Resource Managers from 16 government departments in KwaZulu-Natal Province were interviewed. It was found that although HR policies were in place and some were being developed, very little has been done in terms of reviewing and/or developing disability employment policies. Furthermore, the existing prescripts were not extensively used as a resource during the development of disability-related employment policies. This has negatively affected the employment of people with disabilities in the public service. It is hoped that the results will assist management, HR practitioners as policy makers, and line managers to develop disability employment policies in order to attract and retain people with disabilities. The research also contributes to the existing body of literature on disability.


The primary aim of this study is to gain important new insights into e-commerce success,
by empirically exploring how approaches to e-service quality, when coupled with levels of
e-commerce adoption, might affect the overall success of retailers' on-line operations.
This study is governed by positivist epistemological perspective, and therefore, it was
undertaken using a quantitative research methodology, based upon questionnaires. The
primary data collection generated a total of 225 useable questionnaires, completed by
senior managers, working within the UK's on-line retail sector. Factor analysis and
multiple regression analysis were then used to thoroughly explore the relationships
between the various constructs, which comprised the research model. The results of the
statistical analysis demonstrate that internal factors (e.g. as management strategy and
resources) - are a stronger determinant, than external factors, of both. Perhaps more
importantly, it has been shown that the perceived success of a retailer's e-commerce
operations is also strongly associated with the management approaches to e-service
quality and the level of e-commerce adoption. Finally, a mediation analysis provides
interesting new insights into the relationship between adoption levels, e-service quality
and success: the management approaches to e-service quality significantly mediates the
relationship between the level of e-commerce adoption and the perceived e-commerce
success.
Given the central role that e-service quality plays in this study, a customer focused study
of e-service quality was also conducted, to provide a more complete and holistic view of
this complex phenomenon. This supplementary study sought to explore how customers'
perceptions of e-service quality, particularly in terms of identifying those elements of
service quality that influence their use of the retailers' on-line services. An on-line
questionnaire survey was designed and pre-tested before targeting it at 800 students, of
whom over 25% responded. An 'importance-performance' analysis of this data was
conducted to explore whether there were significant differences in customers' perception
of the importance against the performance of retailers' ability to manage e-service
quality. By and large, the results of this analysis should provide some reassurance to the
on-line retailers, as the customers generally believed that the retailers were performing
well in the areas that were most important to them. However, when the results of the
customer and retailer studies were compared, some interesting imbalances were
revealed. For example, the retailers perceived the provision of privacy policies to be
extremely important, whilst generally; the customers weren't too concerned with this
aspect of e-service quality. The thesis concludes by highlighting its contribution to the
body of current knowledge, reviewing the limitations of the research and exploring the
implications for practice of the many interesting new insights generated through this
empirical study.


Purpose: The landscape of physical education has shifted in the 30 years since Metzler and Freedman's seminal study examining the demographics of physical education teacher education faculty. Changes in the structure of physical education and academia justify an updated investigation, with particular emphasis on the gender and institutional affiliation of faculty.Methods: An expanded and validated version of Metzler and Freedman's survey was e-mailed to 908 physical education teacher education faculty from 505 U.S. institutions. A response rate of 46.21% was achieved. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to examine differences based on gender and institutional affiliation.Results: Gender salary disparities have decreased, whereas teaching experience and qualifications of faculty have increased. Corresponding increases in research productivity were notably evident.Discussion/Conclusion: Faculty members remain predominately European American, publication output has increased, more institutions are hiring nontenure-track faculty, and perceptions of support for physical education are lower than in 1985.