Sharks play critical roles in the marine ecosystem, and they face serious threats due to overfishing. Conservation efforts have focused on the consumption of shark fins, especially the "finning" practice that removes the fins of a shark and discards the carcass at sea. This article reviews the shark fin legislation in the United States, including the "finning ban" which outlaws finning practices and the "fin ban" that prohibits the use of shark fins entirely. Our case study specifically focuses on the animal welfare, cultural, and policy debates surrounding these bans. We discuss how and why shark finning is regarded as a cruel practice and whether shark fin bans discriminate against Chinese Americans. At the policy level, there is an ongoing policy debate whether a ban on shark fins in the United States would lead to increased protection of sharks or it would have little effect on the global trade. Due to the lack of detailed information on shark fisheries, the policy discussion is likely to persist. Although this case study focuses only on regulations on shark fins, we would like to emphasize that shark fin industry is not the only threat to sharks. Conservationists also need to consider other issues such as bycatch, habitat destruction, and a wider array of policy tools to protect sharks.


As the main cash crop in Southern China, coconut enjoys a high commercial value. However, coconut flesh suffers a high loss from the difficulty in dehusking process, and thus reducing the dehusking efficiency and value. This paper gives an ANSYS analysis of the newly designed coconut dehusking machine to testing its stability and reliability.


Todays superconductor integrated circuits are increasingly taking part in various fields, such as processors, detector read-out systems and communication systems. As the circuit complexities increase, importance of robust and practical simulation software increases. However, at the moment, the tools used for circuit design are mostly made up by modifying the software used in the semiconductor technology. These tools generally doesn't consider the effects that may cause timing variances such as fabrication spread over design values and the thermal noise. Earlier studies show that timing variances become comparable with cell timings due to accumulation of timing jitter over long data transmission paths. It is possible to estimate these effects with analog simulators such as Jsim. However, due the number of simulations and simulation durations, it is not practical to use them for large circuits. At the moment, such large circuits are simulated with Verilog or similar simulators and each gate is modelled with only deterministic delay and interval values. Hence, these simulators only give an idea of the circuit operation with the assumption that all the timings are at the design value. In this work, we are developing a digital simulation tool for that can be used for large SFQ circuits with the assumption that the constituting gates have probabilistic, mainly Gaussian, output distributions. Our simulator also gives the output probabilities for the circuits and individual gates.


This report argues that the strength of the Commission of Audit's conclusions is not supported by the depth of its evidence. Overview Governments are not like businesses. They provide services because the citizens demand them, not because delivering them is profitable. They collect taxes from citizens, not charge prices from customers. While a business has a legal responsibility to maximise the dividends it pays its shareholders, it makes no sense for a government to generate a surplus from its own citizens. Tony Shepherd's National Commission of Audit is a deeply flawed document, but its deepest flaw is its authors' belief that a government should systematically seek to collect more tax each year than it spends. That is, while the report talks about intergenerational equity, the most inequitable thing a government could do would be to collect surplus tax revenue from one generation in order to leave a subsequent generation lower levels of education and infrastructure and a slightly larger bank balance. The Commission focusses on the need for the government to sustain public finances but barely discusses the role of government in sustaining the health of Australia's citizens, its communities and its environment. There is no doubt that governments must make sustainable long-run decisions about tax and expenditure. There is also no doubt that the decisions it makes about how to improve the sustainability of our finances can have significant impacts on the sustainability of the broader systems on which our economy is built.


The UK government has expressed a desire to increase social mobility, with policies to help achieve this aim focused on reducing inequalities in educational attainment. This paper draws together established and new information about the contribution that higher education can make to social mobility using a life-course approach, considering differences by family background in terms of university attendance and achievement, as well as occupation and earnings following graduation. We find substantial socio-economic differences at each stage. Young people from poorer backgrounds are, on average, less likely to go to university than their richer peers. Even among the selected group who do go to university, they are less likely to attend the highest status institutions, less likely to graduate, and less likely to achieve the highest degree classes. These differences in degree outcomes contribute to the lower average earnings of graduates from poorer families, but earnings differentials go well beyond those driven purely by degree attainment or institution attended. The evidence strongly suggests that, even after taking these factors into account, graduates from affluent families are more likely to obtain a professional job and to see higher earnings growth in the labour market. We discuss the implications of these findings for the prospects of higher education as a route to greater social mobility.


Few ancient Christian authors attempted anything like a complete commentary on the "Gospel of John", among them Origen, John Chrysostom and Augustine. Of these, Augustine's must count as the greatest. Unlike Origen's, it has come down to us in its entirety, and of the others that remain it is certainly the most theologically profound. John's gospel allows Augustine to range broadly over themes that were his life's work - "the Trinity", the person of Christ, the nature of the Church and its sacraments, the fulfillment of the divine plan. The 124 homilies that constitute Augustine's commentary, however, are masterpieces not only of theological profundity but also of pastoral engagement. In the question-and-answer style that he frequently employs, for example, one can sense Augustine's real awareness of his congregation's struggles with the gospel text. And the congregation's response to Augustine, which he frequently alludes to, is an indication of the success of his dialogical preaching style. The Johannine literature drew out the best in Augustine. "The Homilies on the Gospel of John" are the indispensable complement to "The Homilies on The First Epistle of John", recently published in this series, and they should be a part of any serious theological library.


The objective through my PhD has been to investigate radiation damage effects in materials related to fusion and to safe encapsulation of nuclear waste, using Molecular Dynamics (MD) methods. Particularly, using MD, we acquire essential information about the multi-scale phenomena that take place during irradiation of materials, and gain access at length and time-scales not possible to access experimentally. Computer simulations provide information at the microscopic level, acting as a bridge to the experimental observations and giving insights into processes that take place at small time and length-scales. The increasing computer capabilities in combination with recently developed scalable codes, and the availability of realistic potentials set the stage to perform large scale simulations, approaching phenomena that take place at the atomistic and mesoscopic scale (fractions of μm for the first time) in a more realistic way. High-energy radiation damage effects have not been studied previously, yet it is important to simulate and reveal information about the properties of the materials under extreme irradiation conditions. Large scale MD simulations provide a detailed description of microstructural changes. Understanding of the primary stage of damage and short term annealing (scale of tens of picoseconds) will lead to better understanding of the materials properties, best possible long-term use of the materials and, importantly, new routes of optimization of their use. Systems of interest in my research are candidate fusion reactor structural materials (iron and tungsten) and materials related to the radioactive waste management (zirconia). High-energy events require large simulation box length in order for the damage to be contained in the system. This was a limitation for previous simulations, which was recently shifted with my radiation damage MD simulations. For the first time high-energy radiation damage effects were simulated, approaching new energy and length scales, giving a more realistic view of processes related to fusion and to high-energy ion irradiation of materials.


Maglev is Google's network load balancer. It is a large distributed software system that runs on commodity Linux servers. Unlike traditional hardware network load balancers, it does not require a specialized physical rack deployment, and its capacity can be easily adjusted by adding or removing servers. Network routers distribute packets evenly to the Maglev machines via Equal Cost Multipath (ECMP); each Maglev machine then matches the packets to their corresponding services and spreads them evenly to the service endpoints. To accommodate high and ever-increasing traffic, Maglev is specifically optimized for packet processing performance. A single Maglev machine is able to saturate a 10Gbps link with small packets. Maglev is also equipped with consistent hashing and connection tracking features, to minimize the negative impact of unexpected faults and failures on connection-oriented protocols. Maglev has been serving Google's traffic since 2008. It has sustained the rapid global growth of Google services, and it also provides network load balancing for Google Cloud Platform.


The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer performed its first autonomous, X-ray follow-up to a newly detected GRB on 2005 January 17, within 193 s of the burst trigger by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. While the burst was still in progress, the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) obtained a position and an image for an uncataloged X-ray source simultaneously with the gamma-ray observation. The XRT observed flux during the prompt emission was 1.1 × 10-8 ergs cm-2 s-1 in the 0.5-10 keV energy band. The emission in the X-ray band decreased by 3 orders of magnitude within 700 s, following the prompt emission. This is found to be consistent with the gamma-ray decay when extrapolated into the XRT energy band. During the following 6.3 hr, the XRT observed the afterglow in an automated sequence for an additional 947 s, until the burst became fully obscured by the Earth limb. A faint, extremely slowly decaying afterglow, α = -0.21, was detected. Finally, a break in the light curve occurred and the flux decayed with α < -1.2. The X-ray position triggered many follow-up observations: no optical afterglow could be confirmed, although a candidate was identified 3'' from the XRT position.


The discovery at the LHC of a scalar particle with properties that are so far consistent with the SM Higgs boson is one of the most important advances in the history of particle physics. The challenge of future collider experiments is to determine whether its couplings will show deviations from the SM Higgs, as this would indicate new physics at the TeV scale, and also to probe the flavor structure of the Yukawa couplings. As a benchmark alternative to the SM Higgs, we consider a generic two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) and analyze the precision to which the LHC14, an ILC250, 500, 1000 GeV and a 125 GeV Muon Collider (MC) can determine the gauge and Yukawa couplings. We allow for correlations among the couplings. We include the impact of a Higgs total width measurement, indirectly at the LHC and ILC and by a direct scan at the MC. We also discuss pattern relations among the couplings that can test for singlet or doublet Higgs extensions of 2HDMs.


The paper reports on two new species of calcareous sponges (Porifera, Calcarea) from the Antarctic Weddell Sea, Clathrina brandtae sp. nov. and Leucetta delicata sp. nov., collected at 600 m depth during the ANT XXIV/2-SYSTCO expedition in January 2008. The new species are described based on a combination of morphological and molecular data. With these new additions the number of species of calcareous sponges reported from south of 50°S (~south of the Polar Front) reaches 50 species. We report an exceptionally high degree of endemism within the group, and as many as 44 out of the 50 species of calcareous sponges are solely confined to Antarctic waters. An updated list of species of calcareous sponges from the area is provided.


Abstract Although spanking of children is almost universal in U.S. society, its effects are not well understood. We examined the longitudinal relation between parental spanking and other physical punishment of preschool children and children's aggressive behavior toward peers later in kindergarten. A total of 273 boys and girls from diverse backgrounds served as subjects. The findings were consistent with a socialization model in which higher levels of severity in parental punishment practices are associated with higher levels of children's subsequent aggression toward peers. Findings indicated that children who had been spanked evidenced levels of aggression that were higher than those who had not been spanked, and children who had been the objects of violent discipline became the most aggressive of all groups. Patterns were qualified by the sexes of the parent and child and subtypes of child aggression (reactive, bullying, and instrumental). The findings suggest that in spite of parents' goals, spanking fails to promote prosocial development and, instead, is associated with higher rates of aggression toward peers.


Medical ethics has had a rich and complex history over the past 40 years. It has been transformed from a rather clear and straightforward set of rules and attitudes, shaped largely by the medical profession itself, into a major field of academic and social inquiry. Contemporary work in medical ethics can be divided into three parts: ethical analysis and arguments of large-scale issues in science, practice and policy (such as consideration of the ethical issues concerning cloning or resource allocation); theoretical inquiry into the foundations of medical ethics; and practical analysis of particular dilemmas in clinical practice. This last area in medical ethics is normally referred to as clinical ethics, and is in many respects the most important and vibrant part of medical ethics today. It lives through its intimate connection with clinical practice and medical and healthcare education, the ways in which suggestions made by practitioners of clinical ethics are rapidly tested in clinical reality, and the growth of a practical field of work in which 'ethicists' support patients, professionals and ethics committees in making good decisions in difficult circumstances. For all this vibrant growth, there has been some unease with the way clinical ethics has developed. Healthcare professionals are sometimes baffled by the argumentative curlicues of the philosophers; patients and activists are often suspicious that all this 'ethics' is just a way of reinforcing existing professional attitudes and authority, and that ethicists are just as blind to patients' concerns as the medical professionals; and philosophers are generally infuriated by the apparent laziness and lack of rigour of their 'applied' colleagues.


In Memoriam: Dr. Starzl, first successful pediatric liver transplant surgery, and more by Trisha Korioth, Staff Writer Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP (Hon.), who performed the first human liver transplant and first successful pediatric liver transplant, died in his sleep March 4. He was 90. Board-certified in general surgery and thoracic surgery, Dr. Starzl received the William E. Ladd Medal, the AAP Section on Surgery's highest honor, in 1993. Reflecting on the honor in a 2007 AAP Oral History, he said that among his more than 200 awards and honors, the Ladd Medal was one of his most cherished. "The children have been so important in the whole story, all the time, from the beginning to the end" (http://bit.ly/2nsOrVh). Dr. Starzl studied at Northwestern University, earned his doctorate in neurophysiology and medical degree at Johns Hopkins. He dedicated his research to understanding immunosuppression and solving how to prevent organ rejection. He joined the University of Colorado as associate professor, then professor and chair of surgery. There, he conducted the first and first successful human liver transplants in 1963 and 1967. Seeing potential to expand his focus in liver transplantation research, Dr. Starzl moved to University of Pittsburgh in 1981. Soon after, the first liver transplant program in the nation was launched. In 1996, the University of Pittsburgh created the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, and he served as director. The institute later researched the feasibility of xenotransplantation as a solution to organ shortage. His research also contributed to the understanding of renal failure and short-gut syndrome. Dr. Starzl was founding president of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and Transplant Recipients International Organization and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Starzl is survived by his wife, Joy, one son and one grandchild. He is preceded in death by one daughter and one son. Other recent deaths Agnes B. Cabatu, M.D., FAAP, of Visalia, Calif., died Feb. 4 at age 48. Gene Caldwell, M.D., FAAP, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., died of congestive heart failure March 4 at age 84. Cynthia L. Ferrell, M.D., M.S.Ed., FAAP, of Portland, Ore., died Feb. 24 of complications from synovial cell sarcoma at age 50. Richard C. Mitchell, M.D., FAAP, of Iowa City, Iowa, died Dec. 11 at age 93. Margaret Q. Prevette, M.D., FAAP, of Twinsburg, Ohio, died suddenly on Feb. 18 at age 45. Lynne M. Schoonover, M.D., FAAP, of Falls Church, Va., died Feb. 20 at age 66. Jay Veltman, M.D., FAAP, of Holland, Mich., died March 16 at age 87. Edward R. Westmark, M.D., FAAP, of Pensacola, Fla., died March 5 at age 87.


Quantum dots are of growing interest as emissive materials in light-emitting devices. Here first we report the formation of highly luminescent organic capped colloidal cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles having the highest photoluminescence quantum yield of 69% in solutions and 34% in neat thin films in the near-infrared range. Second, we also show efficient electroluminescence in the near-infrared from solution processed hybrid light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on such colloidal CdS quantum dots embedded in an organic semiconductor matrix forming a nanocomposite active layer. We also discuss the device structure and role of the doped active layer in efficiency improvement. With optimized active layer thickness and concentration of QDs, the device exhibits an external electroluminescence quantum efficiency of 0.62% at a peak emission wavelength of 760 nm, providing a route to solution processable flexible light sources for biosensors and medicine.


The class II molecules of the diabetes-prone NOD mice, I-Ag7, showed very limited amounts of stable form when analyzed by SDS-PAGE. We included the analysis of spleen B cells and B lymphoma cells transfected with I-Ag7 genes. Early during bio-synthesis there was invariant chain binding to the alpha beta-chains. Examination of APCs from F1 mice (NOD x C57BL/6) indicated that the same APC expressed high levels of unstable I-Ag7 and normal amounts of stable class II molecules compared with the other haplotype (I-Ab). The half-life of I-Ag7-peptide complexes on the cell surface of APC was significantly shorter than that of other class II haplotypes. Direct biochemical demonstration of peptide interactions with I-Ag7 was difficult to demonstrate. In T cell assays, the immunogenic peptides, including the diabetogenic Ag, were rapidly lost when peptide-pulsed APCs were washed free of peptide. We hypothesize that the weak and unstable peptide-binding property of I-Ag7 molecules does not favor the elimination or inactivation of autoreactive T cells.


Abstract. Computer models, in combination with Geographic Information Sciences (GIS), play an important role in up-to-date studies of travel distance, impact area, velocity or energy of granular flows (e.g. snow or rock avalanches, flows of debris or mud). Simple empirical-statistical relationships or mass point models are frequently applied in GIS-based modelling environments. However, they are only appropriate for rough overviews at the regional scale. In detail, granular flows are highly complex processes and physically-based, distributed models are required for detailed studies of travel distance, velocity, and energy of such phenomena. One of the most advanced theories for understanding and modelling granular flows is the Savage-Hutter type model, a system of differential equations based on the conservation of mass and momentum. The equations have been solved for a number of idealized topographies, but only few attempts to find a solution for arbitrary topography or to integrate the model with GIS are known up to now. The work presented is understood as an initiative to integrate a fully physically-based model for the motion of granular flows, based on the extended Savage-Hutter theory, with GRASS, an Open Source GIS software package. The potentials of the model are highlighted, employing the Val Pola Rock Avalanche (Northern Italy, 1987) as the test event, and the limitations as well as the most urging needs for further research are discussed.


Introduction Remotely sensed data are most useful if calibrated to spectral reflectance of known features. One simple method of calibration is regression of remote data on the reflectance of several ground targets as measured in the field, the so called empirical line method (ELM). The ideal situation would be one where a range of ground targets representing all the features of interest in the remote image were available for ground measurements (Lawless et al., 1998). The identification of suitable ground targets is constrained by several limitations, such as their size (to minimise edge effects), their absolute reflectance (to represent spectral characteristics of the image) and their effective spatial variability (to extract reflectance characteristics representative of the target). The size of a ground target is dependent on the spatial resolution of the image that must be calibrated (Justice & Townshend, 1981) and the number of observations needed to represent features in the image has been suggested to depend upon the spatial resolution of the remotely sensed image (Justice & Townshend, 1981) and on the spatial variability of the ground target (Harlan et al., 1979; Curran & Williamson, 1986). Although ground targets used for calibration should be spectrally "bland" and spatially uniform by definition (Clark et al., 1999), it is sometimes very difficult to find such places available for calibrating remotely sensed images. When surfaces that apparently satisfy these conditions are available in suitable size, their sampling needs to be designed to optimise representation of the whole surface and available resources (e.g., effort and time). Surfaces that look spatially uniform by eye may actually contain spatial variation, and this spatial variation may depends on wavelength (Atkinson & Emery, 1999). Such variability can be detected using geostatistics, which is concerned with issues such as spatial correlation and analyses of spatial data. Geostatistical tools have been used in a variety of studies and the variogram has been applied in remote sensing and ecology to design optimal sampling strategies for variables sampled in space (Atkinson, 1991; Rossi et al., 1992) and time (Salvatori et al., 1999). This study investigates the spatial variability of potentially suitable ground calibration targets (GCT) using a geostatistical approach, which gives results that can be used to design optimal sampling strategies for such surfaces. The targets were selected from an area where an Itres Instruments Compact Airborne Spectral Imager (casi) with ground resolution of about 1.5 metres was flown at the same time as ground data were acquired.


This paper investigates the effects of monetary policy on the risk-taking behavior of fixed-income mutual funds in Canada. We consider different measures of the stance of monetary policy and investigate active variation in mutual funds' risk exposure in response to monetary policy. We find evidence in support of a systematic link between monetary conditions and intertemporal variation in the risk-taking behavior of mutual funds. Specifically, following an expansionary monetary shift, funds actively increase default-risk exposure (i.e., search-for-yield). This is particularly evident in the post-crisis period where interest rates were kept low for a prolonged period of time.


Purpose: We examined the presence of the pregnane X receptor (PXR) and its effects on ovarian cancer cells after activation by its cognate ligand. Experimental Design: SKOV-3 and OVCAR-8 ovarian carcinoma cells were analyzed for expression of PXR by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot. Human ovarian cancer tissue was also analyzed for PXR expression by immunochemistry. Ligand (agonist)–induced PXR target genes were analyzed in SKOV-3 cells by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. SKOV-3 cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay. In vivo confirmation of in vitro effects of PXR ligands were done in NOD.SCID mice carrying SKOV-3 xenografts. Results: PXR is expressed in ovarian cancer cells. In SKOV-3 cells, PXR is functional and its activation by cognate ligands induces PXR target genes (CYP2B6, CYP3A4, and UGT1A1) but not MDR1 and MRP2. PXR activation in SKOV-3 cells induces cell proliferation and drug resistance. In mice harboring SKOV-3 xenografts, rifampicin (PXR agonist) induces cell proliferation and tumor growth. Conclusion: PXR activation, regardless of the type of ligand agonist present, promotes the "malignant" phenotype of cancer cells. These data serve as the basis for finding novel nontoxic inhibitors of PXR activation as a method to control cell growth and prevent induction of drug resistance.


The Vindhyan Supergroup of central India, the focus of many paleontological studies, has been reported to contain Cambrian small shelly fossils, Ediacaran fossils, trace fossils, and Proterozoic microfossils and carbonaceous megafossils. New U-Pb zircon and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic data from the Lower Vindhyan Supergroup require that the rocks are latest Paleoproterozoic to earliest Mesoproterozoic in age. Two rhyolitic volcanic horizons from the Deonar Formation, between the Kajrahat and Rohtasgarh Limestones and below the unit containing trace fossils, yield U-Pb zircon ages of 1631 ± 5 Ma and 1631 ± 1 Ma. The Kajrahat and Rohtasgarh Limestones of the Semri Group that are below and above the reported Mesoproterozoic trace fossils have 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of 0.70460 and 0.70479, respectively. The Bhander Limestone from the Upper Vindhyan Supergroup has an 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio of 0.70599, consistent with a Neoproterozoic age for this formation. These results indicate that the Kajrahat Limestone is of latest Paleoproterozoic age and the Rohtasgarh Limestone is of probable Mesoproterozoic age. These findings are in conflict with the report of Cambrian small shelly fossils and fossils of articulate brachiopods in the Rohtasgarh Limestone and argue for a Mesoproterozoic age for the formation that contains the alleged trace fossils. Reports of an Ediacaran fossil Spriggina (?) from the Lower Vindhyan Supergroup from the northern margin of the Vindhyan Basin suggest either incorrect stratigraphic correlation of units or misidentification of this fossil.


What is the role of family planning interventions on fertility, savings, human capital investment and development? To examine this, endogenous unwanted fertility is embedded in an otherwise standard quantity–quality overlapping generations model of fertility and growth. The model features costly fertility control and families can (partially) insure against a fertility risk by using costly modern contraceptives. In the event of unexpected pregnancies, households can also opt to abort some pregnancies, at a cost. Given the number of children born, parents decide how much education to provide and how much to save out of their income. We fit the model to Kenyan data, implement several family planning policies and decompose their aggregate effects. Our results suggest that with a small government budget (say, up to 0.5% of GDP), family planning interventions might be more cost-effective in improving long-run living standards than policies that subsidise basic education.


Spectroscopic measurements of ion/neutral density ratio profiles are made inside the high-current, low-pressure discharge of a coaxial magnetoplasmadynamic thruster and show the existence of a thin ionization front, upstream in the discharge, that effectively ionizes the incoming gas to ionization levels above 50%. The measurements allow an estimate of the width of this ionization front to be on the order of a few millimeters. Due to the known existence of microturbulence in the plasma, which can produce suprathermal electrons, an explanation of the measurements based on the existence of a suprathermal tail in the electron energy distribution function is sought. A theoretical model for the width of the ionization front is combined with a multilevel excitation model for argon and shows that a Maxwellian electron distribution function cannot account for the small length scale of the ionization front, and that the latter is more consistent with an electron distribution function having a suprathermal population, the magnitude of which is estimated by comparing the model to the experiments.


We present and analyse in this paper a novel cell-centered colocated finite volume scheme for incompressible flows. Its definition involves a partition of the set of control volumes; each element of this partition is called a cluster and consists in a few neighbouring control volumes. Under a simple geometrical assumption for the clusters, we obtain that the pair of discrete spaces associating the classical cell-centered approximation for the velocities and cluster-wide constant pressures is {\it inf-sup} stable; in addition, we prove that a stabilization involving pressure jumps only across the internal edges of the clusters yields a stable scheme with the usual colocated discretization (\ie, in particular, with control-volume-wide constant pressures), for the Stokes and the Navier-Stokes problem. An analysis of this stabilized scheme yields the existence of the discrete solution (and uniqueness for the Stokes problem). The convergence of the approximate solution to the solution of the continuous problem as the mesh size tends to zero is proven, provided, in particular, that the approximation of the mass balance flux is second order accurate; this condition imposes some geometrical conditions on the mesh. Under the same assumption, an error analysis is provided for the Stokes problem: it yields first-order estimates in energy norms. Numerical experiments confirm the theory and show, in addition, a second order convergence for the velocity in a discrete $\xLtwo$ norm.


Determinations have been made of the amounts of HCN in bracken at various stages of maturity and of the apparent retention of cyanide by animals fed on fresh bracken, dried bracken and hay plus sodium cyanide.

Newly emerging bracken shoots contained up to 50 mg. HCN per 100 g. dry matter but the mean value for early-summer bracken (18 June to 16 July) was only 3·35 mg. per 100 g. dry matter and that for early-autumn plants (18 Aug. to 27 Sept.) only 1·81 mg. per 100 g. A young second-growth in October contained an average of 7·35 mg. per 100 g. There were considerable day-to-day fluctuations in the HCN content of bracken.

As it was difficult to arrive at valid figures for normal urinary cyanide and thiocyanate no attempt was made to correct the urinary excretion values obtained for bracken-fed animals but the apparent retention of HCN was nevertheless high in nearly all cases. HCN destroyed in the digestive tract or excreted through the lungs could not be measured, these fractions being included in the figures for apparent retention; the high apparent retention of HCN by bracken-fed animals is therefore not regarded as sufficient evidence to indicate the cyanogenetic principle as a causative factor in ruminant bracken 'poisoning.' The relatively low HCN content of bracken during most of the season, the insignificant amounts of cyanide found in the liver and rumen contents of bracken 'poisoned' animals and the failure of thiosulphate injections to promote recovery suggest that danger arising from the cyanogenetic principle of bracken is likely to be slight. The administration of sodium cyanide did not lead to any increase in the combined urinary excretion of cyanide and thiocyanate, indicating a difference from the metabolism of the cyanogenetic principle of bracken.


Professional ethics involve statements by a professional organization to guide the behavior of its members, and to help them determine acceptable and unacceptable behavior in a given situation. Most, if not all, natural resource organizations have Code of Ethics. How to incorporate them across the curriculum and in individual courses of a natural resources program is a current challenge to faculty and administrators alike. We propose to capitalize on the role that professional ethics play in the daily activities of forestry and wildlife professionals engaged in hardwood resources management. Many hardwood stands today are subject to "selective harvesting" whereby trees of choice species and of the best quality are removed with little or no thought towards the future development of the stand or the benefits that landowners will derive from it (after Helms 1998). They are simply mined of the standing timber to the detriment of hardwood resource sustainability. A case study example relevant to the appropriateness of diameter-limit harvesting in a southern bottomland hardwood stand is presented as one way to integrate discussion of technical issues in forestry and wildlife management and professional ethics related to this practice. We propose its use in college and continuing education courses. Questions presented after the case study will help participants integrate knowledge of the ecology, silviculture, and management of bottomland hardwoods with the Code of Ethics of several professional organizations, including the Society of American Foresters and The Wildlife Society. Discussion of the issue will also help them to better appreciate the options for sustainable management of the bottomland hardwood resource.


Understanding which hand a user holds a smartphone with can help improve the mobile interaction experience. For instance, the layout of the user interface (UI) can be adapted to the holding hand. In this paper, we present HandyTrak, an AI-powered software system that recognizes the holding hand on a commodity smartphone using body silhouette images captured by the front-facing camera. The silhouette images are processed and sent to a customized user-dependent deep learning model (CNN) to infer how the user holds the smartphone (left, right, or both hands). We evaluated our system on each participant's smartphone at five possible front camera positions in a user study with ten participants under two hand positions (in the middle and skewed) and three common usage cases (standing, sitting, and resting against a desk). The results showed that HandyTrak was able to continuously recognize the holding hand with an average accuracy of 89.03% (SD: 8.98%) at a 2 Hz sampling rate. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities to deploy HandyTrak on different commodity smartphones and potential applications in real-world scenarios.


Discourses of intensive mothering now seem to dominate European and American parenting cultures. This is a problem for those mothers who do not currently possess the resources to match up. In a study of Italian and British mothers who are experiencing low or reduced incomes, we observe the ways in which they internalize intensive mothering discourses through a process of ethical self-formation. This mode of self-formation involves detailed self-surveillance and self-discipline and abnegation of their own needs in place of other individual family members, and the family as a whole. We find a series of contradictory emotional effects which generate both pride and self-worth but also stress and anxiety. We advance the theory that mothers operate within an optimistic affective regime to make sense of these contradictory effects and retain a sense of agency and control over their lives and those of their families. However, drawing on Berlant's concept of cruel optimism, we argue that such affective regimes may be very pernicious in their effects, only serving to hold mothers in a relation that is ultimately impassable and often unfulfilling.


This is a technical study of the extant murals of the 17th Capilla de la Virgen del Rosario located within Iglesia San José, San Juan, Puerto Rico. The primary objectives of this investigation were to: document existing mural campaigns, establish a chronology of mural painting through analysis of materials and techniques, evaluate the conditions of the paintings and to determine possible deterioration mechanisms, and propose recommendations for their conservation and interpretation. In-situ documentation including color digital photography, extensive field notes, and mapping of visible painting campaigns were conducted. This was followed by a materials analysis of select campaigns' substrate, binders, and pigments. Test methods included gravimetric analysis and XRD of substrate plasters, examination of cross-sections and pigment dispersions, EDS analysis of pigments, and FTIR analysis of binders. The results of this study found six distinct mural campaigns and established a chronology which attributed painting phases to the Dominican, Jesuit, and Vincention orders of the Catholic Church. Notable iconography include the 17th century mer creatures (la serena), and the mid-19th century depiction of the Battle of Lepanto. Substrate analysis revealed a lean plaster mix in the enfoscado as an intrinsic cause of failure, further aggravated by continued water infiltration. Water ingress has created an environment supporting threatening deterioration mechanisms including abundant chloride salts, and biological growth contributing to failing paint layers and plasters. The Rosario Chapel murals are highly significant and warrant a comprehensive strategy for their conservation and interpretation through a collaborative process involving all stakeholders. Disciplines Historic Preservation and Conservation Comments Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Historic Preservation 2006. Advisor: Frank G. Matero This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/16 A TECHNICAL STUDY OF THE MURAL PAINTINGS ON THE INTERIOR DOME OF THE CAPILLA DE LA VIRGEN DEL ROSARIO, IGLESIA SAN JOSÉ, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO


Bayesian inference is known to provide a general framework for incorporating prior knowledge or specific properties into machine learning models via carefully choosing a prior distribution. In this work, we propose a new type of prior distributions for convolutional neural networks, deep weight prior, that in contrast to previously published techniques, favors empirically estimated structure of convolutional filters e.g., spatial correlations of weights. We define deep weight prior as an implicit distribution and propose a method for variational inference with such type of implicit priors. In experiments, we show that deep weight priors can improve the performance of Bayesian neural networks on several problems when training data are limited. Also, we found that initialization of weights of conventional networks with samples from deep weight prior leads to faster training.


Abstract Objective We aimed to assess cancer risk in congenital heart defect patients, with and without Down's syndrome, compared with the general population. Methods We identified all patients born and diagnosed with congenital heart defects from 1977 to 2008 using the Danish National Registry of Patients, covering all Danish hospitals. We compared cancer incidence in the congenital heart defect cohort with that expected in the general population (∼5.5 million) using the Danish Cancer Registry, and computed age- and gender-standardised incidence ratios. Results We identified 15,905 congenital heart defect patients, contributing a total of 151,172 person-years at risk; the maximum length of follow-up was 31 years (median 8 years). In all, 53 patients were diagnosed with cancer, including 30 female and 23 male patients (standardised incidence ratio = 1.63; 95% confidence interval: 1.22–2.13). Risks were increased for leukaemia, brain tumours, and basal cell carcinoma. After excluding 801 patients with Down's syndrome, the standardised incidence ratio was 1.19 (95% confidence interval: 0.84–1.64). In the subgroup of 5660 non-Down's syndrome patients undergoing cardiac surgery or catheter-based interventions, the standardised incidence ratio was 1.45 (95% confidence interval: 0.86–2.29). Conclusion The overall risk of cancer among congenital heart defect patients without Down's syndrome was not statistically significantly elevated. Cancer risk in the congenital heart defect cohort as a whole, including patients with Down's syndrome, was increased compared with the general population, although the absolute risk was low. Studies with longer follow-up and more information on radiation doses are needed to further examine a potential cancer risk associated with diagnostic radiation exposure.


How genetic information is modified to generate phenotypic variation within a species is one of the central questions in evolutionary biology. Here we focus on the striking intraspecific diversity of more than 200 aposematic elytral (forewing) colour patterns of the multicoloured Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis, which is regulated by a tightly linked genetic locus h. Our loss-of-function analyses, genetic association studies, de novo genome assemblies, and gene expression data reveal that the GATA transcription factor gene pannier is the major regulatory gene located at the h locus, and suggest that repeated inversions and cis-regulatory modifications at pannier led to the expansion of colour pattern variation in H. axyridis. Moreover, we show that the colour patterning function of pannier is conserved in the seven spotted ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata, suggesting that H. axyridis' extraordinary intra-specific variation may have arisen from ancient modifications in a conserved elytral colour patterning mechanisms in ladybird beetles.


The workshop will deploy a process of 'Assisted Articulation' where participants will engage in critical interrogation of work in redesigning Outcomes Based Education (OBE) curricula at the University of Johannesburg. Learning outcomes will include engagement of participants and workshop leaders with issues related to professional development of colleagues designing for OBE. Importantly the dialogue and experiences of participants will also be used as a vehicle to 'ground out' a set of 10 guiding principles to inform and enhance international collaborations. The genesis of this workshop was collaborative work undertaken with Edge Hill University, UK. This focused on professional development and support for redesign of the University of Johannesburg's curricula to confirm alignment with national standards legislation and to benchmark internationally. Collaboration involved workshop delivery by UK colleagues which is being followed up by research and evaluation of the process of 're-curriculation'; the experiences of participants and notions of 'impact' and development needs. Early analyses indicate the efficacy of collaboration and the richness of mutual learning. The collaborators offer this workshop to the community as a vehicle for further generation of ideas and opportunities for collaboration. A 10 minute input will explain perceptions and experiences of stakeholders and the approach adopted in 're-curriculation'. A chair and scribe will be appointed from the attendees and a supportive 'interrogation' and dialogue will commence with the collaborators, with attendees adding their own experiences. The chair will encourage engagement using the following questions: What worked and why? How do you know? What may you have done differently? What works and why from experiences of others' international collaborations? What principles are emerging that may contribute to success? What else have we or are we learning about international collaboration? What foci could stimulate international collaborations in the future? The event will be a vehicle for deliberation on current good practices in curriculum development in a period of rapid change in SA.


In order to permit a brain computer efficient communication, it is important to dispose of an efficient algorithm to decode the brain electrical activity. We will focus our attention on an algorithm based on microstates segmentation of the brain electrical activity. First of all, we are going to use electroencephalogram measurements (EEG, 10/20 international system) to collect the electrical activity of the brain. Each sixteen electrodes of the EEG will sample the data at the same rate, forming a matrix of measures. The algorithm is based on the hypothesis that a particular mental activity will generate momentary detectable potential scalp maps (Event Related Potentials, ERP). A mental activity can therefore be seen as a sequential organization of scalp maps, called microstates. To find the best microstates representing a particular mental activity is an exiting challenge. We are going to express the sets of data obtained through EEG as time series of nonoverlapping microstates with different intensities. The algorithm will then converge to a set of microstates representing the data with minimum error. Another inherent problem is that of the ideal number of microstate. How many scalp maps should we use to represent our set of data? The cross validation method is the more adequate for resolving this kind of problems. Applying this method to the data will give us an approximate number of states with a certain error. Improvements of the algorithm are also introduced. There were necessary to guarantee better results and more efficiency. Results are presented in the Comparison section, in which the qualities of the algorithm are underlined by some results analysis. We also compute its complexity and have created an indicator to improve our utilisation of the algorithm. The appendix provides the mathematical demonstrations of the algorithm formulas and focuses its attention on trying to explain all the difficult to understand concepts.


1. Why Not Data Base Query? The undisputed favorite application for natural language interfaces has been data base query. Why? The reasons range from the relative simplicity of the task, including shallow semantic processing, to the potential real-world utility of the resultant system. Because of such reasons, the data base query task was an excellent paradigmatic problem for computational linguistics, and for the very same reasons it is now time for the field to abandon its protective cocoon and progress beyond this rather limiting task. But, one may ask, what task shall then become the new paradigmatic problem? Alas, such question presupposes that a single, universally acceptable, syntactically and semantically challenging task exists. I will argue that better progress can be made by diversification and focusing on different theoretically meaningful problems, with some research groups opting to investigate issues arisinq from the development of integrated multi-purpose systems.


SUMMARY In treadwheel walking, the front and middle legs of the stick insect {Carausius morosus) propel the wheel, while the hind legs exert very little force and can even decelerate the wheel. This result is compared with observations on the function of the legs in different walking situations. Several hypotheses assuming different types of position servo-mechanisms have been proposed in the literature on the control of leg movement during walking in insects. The experimental results support none of these hypotheses. Instead, they indicate that velocity rather than position is the variable controlled during the stance phase.


: The current study investigated the leadership styles of principals and organizational climate as predictors of teacher effectiveness in secondary schools of Malawi. Descriptive survey method was employed. The sample comprised 150 teachers from both government and private schools in Chikwawa district in the South West Education Division which was selected using simple one stage cluster sampling. The results of the study were: a) teachers of both government and private schools had similar perception of leadership styles of principals'; b) teacher effectiveness of school teachers in government and private schools as perceived by principals' was similar; c) organizational climate of government schools was similar to that of private schools; d) the leadership styles adopted by principals, organizational climate and teacher effectiveness of school teachers were significantly and positively related to each other and e) leadership styles adopted by principals' and organizational climate were significant joint predictors of teacher effectiveness of school teachers. Transactional style made a significant contribution in predicting teacher effectiveness, followed by passive avoidant style.


Serving in the UK Armed Forces demands discipline, professionalism, bravery, personal sacrifice and a commitment to serving the nation. Family stability is essential to the ability of serving personnel to do their duty effectively, yet the contribution and sacrifice their spouses/partners and children make are not always understood or valued.

This review illustrates the impacts of repeated relocations on children's education and partners' employment, long periods of family separation while serving personnel are on deployment, disruptions in healthcare and the many challenges UK Armed Forces families cope with every day. These can include social isolation, loneliness and mental health issues.

The review, undertaken in 2019, challenges some long-held military traditions and makes recommendations for change which would improve the support for UK Armed Forces families and ensure greater recognition for the sacrifices they make to keep the nation safe. The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation to treat armed forces personnel and their families with fairness and respect, and to make sure that they face no disadvantage compared to other citizens. The Covenant and the Families Strategy should be strengthened to promote resilient, empowered, thriving service families who are treated fairly and have increased choice in the communities in which they live, and who are valued by the nation.

The full report includes a number of case studies of support for military families, and describes what it is like to live in their shoes. It provides detailed evidence for the recommendations from the review.

The Summary Report highlights the main themes and lists the recommendations for change.


Despite well-intentioned efforts, the supply of women into senior management roles has changed little. Radical ideas are apparently needed. This paper is an attempt to suggest one. It is to use a form of random selection of candidates – drawn from a pre-selected and properly qualified pool – to increase the supply of women into management positions. The background rationale is that while most gender studies have focused on the demand side (direct and indirect discrimination), we think about how to improve the supply side, and in particular how to find ways to reduce negative self-stereotypes and stereotype threats. Evidence suggests, for example, that women shy away from competition, and are especially averse to rejection. We argue that a random-draw method would offer women a type of 'rejection insurance', lessen the 'chosen one' factor associated with leadership, prevent the desire for a 'safe pair of hands' (i.e. a man), and foster genuine equality.


The microenvironment of the nucleus pulposus is hyperosmotic and fluctuates diurnally due to mechanical loading. Changes in extracellular osmolality result in cell volume alterations, responsiveness to such changes is essential for cellular homeostasis. Aquaporins allow movement of water across cell membranes and control water permeability in response to osmotic gradients. Furthermore, transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 has been shown to sense osmotic and mechanical stimuli resulting in changes to intracellular Ca2+. It has been shown previously that aquaporin 1 and 4 expression decreases during disc degeneration. Here, the expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 by human nucleus pulposus cells during disc degeneration, and the roles of aquaporin 1, 4 and transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 in regulating responses to osmotic gradients was investigated. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 was expressed by the majority of human nucleus pulposus cells and not affected by disc degeneration. Aquaporin 4 staining co-localised with primary cilia. Nucleus pulposus cells modulated their rate of volume change, water permeability and Ca2+ influx in response to extracellular osmolality. These responses were inhibited by chemical inhibition of aquaporin 4, transient receptor potential vanilloid 4, and to a lesser extent aquaporin 1; suggesting that both aquaporins and transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 play important roles in the fundamental adaptation of nucleus pulposus cells to their osmotic environment. Co-localisation with primary cilia indicates these proteins may function synergistically to achieve adaptation, which may be lost during disc degeneration, when aquaporin 1 and 4 expression is reduced.


Distributed Intrusion Detection Systems (DIDS) offer an alternative to centralized intrusion detection. Current research indicates that a distributed intrusion detection paradigm may afford greater coverage, consequently providing an increase in security. In some cases, DIDS offer an alternative to centralized analysis, consequently improving scalabity. SHOMAR, the distributed architecture presented in this paper, provides an open framework that enables secure access to heterogeneous software and hardware components of a distributed intrusion detection system. SHOMAR is built upon a simplified Public Key Infrastructure that provides for authentication, non-repudiation, anti-playback, and access control. This framework supports a broad spectrum of approaches, ranging from hierarchical to peer-to-peer. The system topology and rules governing access to intrusion detection services is based solely upon policy, which is enforced through the use of a capability manager. The protoype system uses Java. The Extensible Markup Language is the sole medium for data exchange between intrusion detection components. SHOMAR provides a distributed service infrastructure independent of the underlying communications network.


In this paper, we propose a fast image deconvolution algorithm that combines adaptive block thresholding and Vaguelet-Wavelet Decomposition. The approach consists in first denoising the observed image using a wavelet-domain Stein block thresholding, and then inverting the convolution operator in the Fourier domain. Our main theoretical result investigates the minimax rates over Besov smoothness spaces, and shows that our block estimator can achieve the optimal minimax rate, or is at least nearlyminimax in the least favorable situation. The resulting algorithm is simple to implement and fast. Its computational complexity is dominated by that of the FFT in the Fourier-domain inversion step. We report a simulation study to support our theoretical findings. The practical performance of our block vaguelet-wavelet deconvolution compares very favorably to existing competitors on a large set of test images.


Summary Despite near stagnation in the euro area and the negative impact of the Ukraine crisis, in most of the NMS economies and some of the Western Balkan countries growth prospects are viewed as positive. While the NMS economies will preserve their positive growth differential vis-a-vis the EU-28, Russia and Ukraine are facing a deterioration of their economic performance. External factors have had a major impact on growth performance in the CESEE region. Financial transfers from the EU have lent essential support to economic growth in the European Union's new Member States (NMS). Investment and operational costs funded via those transfers have become an integral and increasingly important part of aggregate demand in the NMS economies. 2013 and 2014 have been among the strongest years in terms of transfers in the framework of the EU cohesion policy. Their impact is comparable to that of fiscal stimuli, albeit better inasmuch as they do not give rise to new debt. A possible disadvantage compared to classic fiscal stimuli is that transfers have no steerable relation to business cycles. In the eastern part of the CESEE region, the Ukraine conflict has had a pronounced negative impact on economic growth. 25 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the current crisis in relations between Russia and the West is evolving into a dangerous geopolitical conflict. In Ukraine, the main victim of the conflict, the economy may decline by 8% over the current year. In Russia, the costs of the conflict are estimated to be to the tune of about 1% of GDP, primarily on account of increased investment risks and the financial sanctions. The impact on the individual EU countries differs according to their exposure to the Russian market. The Baltic States and some other NMS will be those most affected on account of their trade channels with estimated losses in the order of up to 0.4% of GDP. The global financial crisis has shattered the rapid expansion of financial intermediation in nearly all of the countries in the region; recovery of crediting activities is still fragmentary and weak. High levels of non-performing loans are a major concern throughout much of the region. There seems to be a justified concern over the region having entered a period of 'creditless recovery' which threatens to be much slower than a recovery with strong credit growth. The outlook for GDP growth in the CESEE region is again fairly diversified. Compared to 2013, the growth performance is expected to improve in twelve and deteriorate in nine of the twenty-one countries in the region in 2014. The general medium-term trend for the NMS as a whole is seen to be positive in most of these countries, we expect a gradual acceleration of GDP growth; exceptions are Hungary and Slovenia where a deceleration is forecast, and Poland where the relatively high GDP growth rate will remain practically unchanged. For the current year, the assumption is that the NMS will grow by 1.8 percentage points higher than expansion in the euro area and 1.3 pp above the EU-28 average. In 2015, the gap in favour of NMS growth performance will become somewhat narrower 1.5 pp relative to the euro area and 1.1 pp to the EU-28 average. For some of the countries in the Western Balkans, growth prospects will only improve over the period 2015-2016, closely related to the damage caused by the floods this summer. Turkey will continue to register remarkable economic growth. Growth performance in Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine will worsen in the current year compared to 2013; the medium-term outlook in Russia and Ukraine is, depending on the evolution of the political crisis, fairly uncertain with considerable downward risks. As for our forecasts for 2015 and 2016, a further weakening of performance in the euro area poses a downward risk, while a longer lasting drop in oil prices will represent an upward risk, except for energy exporters Russia and Kazakhstan.


Geographical information system (GIS)-based cluster analyses and comparative ecological approaches were applied to unravel the hitherto controversially discussed role of the Mekong River as a biogeographical barrier to the amphibian fauna in Indochina. Referring to the unique and independent history of the Lower Mekong, south of the Lao–Cambodian border, this approach focused on the amphibians of southern Indochina and adjacent parts of eastern Thailand. To date, 131 amphibian species have been recorded from this region. In concordance with previous studies, our GIS-based analyses revealed that the amphibian fauna of the Cardamom Mountains, west of the Mekong, possessed no closer affinity to the herpetofauna of the Southern Annamites. In addition, a statistical comparison of ecological characters showed an occurrence of ecological differentiation among amphibians across the Lower Mekong. Our results suggest that the Lower Mekong serves as, or at least coincides with, a biogeographical barrier in southern Indochina. Here, we discuss this hypothesis, together with selected species spatial distribution patterns, their species-specific ecological traits and the palaeogeographical background of the region. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 114, 905–914.


This article investigates the third level of agenda setting during the anti–Moral and National Education movement in Hong Kong—a Chinese society—in the summer of 2012. Our content and network analyses focus on 532 newspaper articles and 342 public surveys describing the event. Evidence reveals a strong correlation between the media and online and off-line public attribute network agendas. Results also demonstrate that, at the third level, the media agenda can lose its influence on the setting of the off-line public agenda. Several contingent factors include the political stance and news media credibility. In addition, Hong Kong activists' young age may influence the agenda-setting effects. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.


This research explores the impact of mentoring relationships on student mentors at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). More specifically, it looks at student experiences, personal and professional development from mentoring in the community over one academic year. This interpretive, methodological approach incorporated both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to draw comparisons and detailed insight into the interactions of all parties involved in the mentoring programme, including the mentor, the mentee and the community organisation. The findings revealed that mentors receive an 'invisible gift' that is not formally acknowledged. The 'gift' is manifested as key skills for lifelong learning and employability. Also, the findings highlighted that mentoring has a significant impact on the mentee regarding enhancing confidence, self esteem, skill development and engagement in pro-social behavior; thus, identifying 'hard' and 'soft' outcomes from UCLan Students engaging with the community in a mentoring capacity. This research concludes that the mentoring process utilises a 'mentee-centred approach.' A balance of both 'instrumental and 'expressive' processes in order to support, encourage and guide mentees to achieve their full potential.


Technical paper issued by the Bureau of Mines with instructions for coal sampling for shipment. As stated in the introduction, "this paper deals with the sampling of coal after it has been mined" (p. 5). This paper includes illustrations.


Using a large transaction level dataset, we find that institutional investors can make economically insignificant -4 to 9 basis points net profit on their marked-to-market portfolio of buy – sell transactions over 1-day to 4-week holding period. The negative net marked-to-market profit comes exclusively from trades with 1-day holding period. We find no evidence of overconfidence, biased self-attribution, or disposition effect among institutional investors. Pension fund managers outperform money managers. Institutions engage in short-term trades despite earning net zero return for liquidity, tax-minimization, risk-management, and window-dressing reasons. Among these non-profit maximizing rational motives for trading, liquidity trading motive is the strongest.


In order to effectively fight criminal organizations, governments require support from significant segments of society. If citizens have a positive assessment of the executive's job, the likelihood that they will report crimes, and act as allies in the fight, increases. This provides important leverage for incumbents, and allows them to continue their policies. Yet, winning the hearts and minds of citizens is not an easy endeavor. Crime and violence affect citizens' most valuable assets: life and property. Thus, one would expect a close relationship between presidential approval and public security. What exactly is the relationship between public security and presidential approval? To generate robust answers to this question, and its multiple implications, we use Mexico as case study, and use data at both the aggregate and at the individual level. We find that approval levels are indeed affected by crime, but not by all crimes. Perhaps surprisingly, they are not affected by the most serious of crimes: homicide. At the individual level, we find that support for the mere act of fighting organized crime has a stronger effect on approval than actual performance on public security. We also find no effect of crime victimization on approval at the individual level.


Henry David Thoreau is remembered as a foremost nature writer. He was an ecologist before the term was invented. A man of many parts, including social critic, he is known to have had an influence on such internationally recognized leaders as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. "Victor Carl Friesen, author of The Spirit of the Huckleberry, an astute analysis of Henry David Thoreau's prose, again demonstrates his affinity for the Walden sage with this unique volume of poems and photographs. Taking a series of quotations demonstrating Thoreau's sensuousness, he writes a poem for each and then illustrates them with outstanding colour photographs. The poems, mostly written in the blank verse form, have sturdy strength and remarkable insight into both Thoreau and nature."- Walter Harding, Founding Secretary, The Thoreau Society Inc., State University of New York, Genesco "Friesen is particularly qualified as a Thoreau scholar, for his personal interests extend well beyond literature to include natural history, a subject very much at the centre of Thoreau's writings."- Canadian Book Review Annual


Should boxing be banned? Do the ever-so-obvious risks outweigh everyone's freedom to choose whether to expose oneself to these risks by taking up the sport? On an official level, the RCN in the UK has taken its stand--it does not! So has also the British Medical Association (BMA)--it does! With few exceptions, the responding nurses from Europe, America, and Australia in this month's column seem to agree with the official nursing standpoint in the UK, also emphasizing the importance that any person's choice not only should be free, but also informed. In the United States, where boxing perhaps has its strongest tradition and deepest roots, the whole issue hardly seems to be one of much realistic debate at all. In Australia, however, the debate seems to be similar to that in the UK. What would a total ban on boxing lead to? No more boxing and no more neurological consequences due to boxing? Doubtfully, boxing would probably continue anywhere where there is an interest for it, and a ban might actually increase the attraction to the sport for some people. In this scenario there is also a risk that the safety precautions would be seriously compromised. This month's question exemplifies an area in which it is very important for nurses to make a stand, on a personal as well as on a collective level. As indicated by several of this month's replies, the issue is probably not merely about boxing but also about to what extent people's choices should be controlled by bans and where the line should be drawn. To what extent are people competent to make their own decisions and where/when/how should "big brother" (in this case as represented by, among others, nursing as a profession) be allowed to step in? Anyone who has any further contributions or comments on this issue is welcome to contact me!


The idea of an International Criminal Court has captured the international legal imagination for over a century. In 1998 it became a reality with the adoption of the Rome Statute. This book critically examines the fundamental legal and policy issues involved in the establishment and functioning of the Permanent International Criminal Court. Detailed consideration is given to the history of war crimes trials and their place in the system of international law,the legal and political significance of a permanent ICC, the legality and legitimacy of war crimes trials, the tensions and conflicts involved in negotiating the ICC Statute, the general principles of legality, the scope of defences, evidential dilemmas, the perspective of victims, the nature and scope of the offences within the ICC's jurisdiction - aggression, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, questions of admissibility and theories of jurisdiction, the principle of complementarity, national implementation of the Statute in a range of jurisdictions, and national and international responses to the ICC. The expert contributors are drawn from a range of national jurisdictions - UK, Sweden, Canada, and Australia. The book blends detailed legal analysis with practical and policy perspectives and offers an authoritative complement to the extensive commentaries on the ICC Statute.


The effects of posture and sleep on the pharmaco-kinetics of five drugs (benzylpenicillin, gentamicin, sulphamethoxazole, trimethoprim and paracetamol) especially chosen for their disposition characteristics, were studied. To assess these effects, the drugs were administered, on separate occasions, to healthy young adults during ambulation, daytime bedrest and, with the exception of benzyl-penicillin, sleep. In addition, benzylpenicillin pharmacokinetics were determined following both intra-venous and intramuscular administration to the same subjects.
New or improved high-performance liquid chromatography assays were developed for the determination of these drugs in biological fluids. Pharmacokinetic analysis of the drug concentration-time data was performed using traditional compartmental methods as well as a non-compartmental method using statistical moment theory.
Generally, the results showed that posture had the greatest influence on the disposition of drugs with low renal extraction ratios and that sleep appears to have the same effects as bedrest on pharmacokinetics.
With gentamicin, a highly polar compound with a low renal extraction ratio, ambulant subjects exhibited a larger volume of distribution and clearance than supine subjects. These findings may be due to posture-induced alterations in tissue perfusion and extracellular fluid distribution rather than to changes in renal function. These results may be clinically important; especially the finding that gentamicin C2 had a longer mean residence time than the other major components since it has been suggested, recently, that gentamicin C2 is the most nephrotoxic of the components.
Sulphamethoxazole, a weak acid, was found to have a shorter half-life and greater urinary excretion rate during bedrest than during ambulation and a direct relationship was shown between the urinary excretion rate of the drug and both urinary pH and urine flow. Both these factors had higher values during bedrest. Trimethoprim, a weak base, is less sensitive to urine pH changes over the range observed and, consequently, the disposition of this drug was unaffected by posture or sleep.
Unlike gentamicin and sulphamethoxazole, the pharmaco-kinetics of benzylpenicillin and paracetamol were unaffected by posture. Although the mean plasma benzylpenicillin levels were lower for bedrest than for ambulation, there were no significant differences between ambulation and bedrest for any of the derived pharmacokinetic parameters and thus it is suggested that the posture-dependent changes in the disposition of the penicillins reported by other workers may be related to the level of exercise undertaken in those studies.
Paracetamol elimination was affected by neither change of posture nor sleep but the rate of absorption appeared to be slowest during sleep. These findings are in accordance with the low hepatic extraction ratio of paracetamol and the slower gastric emptying in supine and sleeping subjects.
Overall, therefore, these studies show that change of posture can cause significant changes in the pharmaco-kinetics of certain drugs, especially polar compounds with low renal clearance and weak acids whose elimination is sensitive to changes in urine pH and urine flow. In conclusion, it is recommended that the posture of the patient should be taken into account in the design of pharmacokinetic studies and dosage regimes.


Everyone has ideas that they believe will form the subject matter of the next great movie. Only a few of us, however, have the energy and determination to set those ideas down in writing actually to create a script or novel. Once the novel is created, the author of the novel wishes to appoint someone to turn the novel into a movie and to ensure that he/she receives reasonable remuneration for his/her creative effort. Most authors believe that they are going to make millions from the release of the movie.


Social influence in the form of social norms has been widely used to transform behaviors, and is argued to be especially efficacious in the context of health related activities. However, can such externally induced compliance produce negative outcomes? When individuals feel compelled to conform to the behavior of the majority, does it lead to an unexpected backfire effect? We conducted a randomized field experiment of more than 10,000 individuals for a two-month period on an online physical activity community to examine if there is a dark side to social influence. We studied the effect of social norms on users' goal setting and goal achievement behavior. While social influence increases the rate of goal setting, strikingly, we also observe a dark side to social influence in that such influence yields lower rates of goal achievement. Our findings have important implications for the design of interventions in the context of mHealth technologies. Keyword: Social norms; goal setting; self-determination theory; goal commitment


Recruitment patterns of Baltic Sea sprat (Sprattus sprattus) were correlated to time series of (i) month- and depth-specific temperature conditions and (ii) larval drift patterns inferred from long-term Lagrangian particle simula- tions. From the latter, we derived an index that likely reflected the variable degree of annual larval transport from the central, deep spawning basins to the shallow coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. The drift index was significantly (P < 0.001) correlated to sprat recruitment success and explained, together with sprat spawning stock biomass, 82% of the overall variability between 1979 and 2003. Years of strong larval displacement towards southern and eastern Baltic coasts corresponded to relative recruitment failure, while years of retention within the deep basins were associated with relative recruitment success. The strongest correlation between temperature and recruitment occurred during August in surface waters, explaining 73% of the overall variability. Together, the two approaches advocate that new year classes of Baltic sprat are predominantly composed of individuals born late in the season and are determined in strength mainly by processes acting during the late larval and early juvenile stages. However, prior to be included in recruit- ment predictions, the biological mechanisms underlying these strong correlations may need to be better resolved.


We extend organizational research on racial†minority social and economic inequality by developing a mixed embeddedness perspective to investigate whether and why certain racial†minority entrepreneurs become discouraged with important entrepreneurial tasks – namely, seeking capital from financial institutions. Concretely, we examine borrowing discouragement among three predominant racial†minority entrepreneur groups in the United States – African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans – using two independent samples from the US Federal Reserve Board. Our findings indicate that African Americans and Hispanic Americans are more likely to be discouraged than White Americans, while Asian Americans are less likely to be discouraged than African Americans. Our theory and findings suggest that for certain racial minorities, socio†historical experiences and shared knowledge of inequalities may influence individual behaviour through increasing discouragement toward important opportunities and entrepreneurial tasks.


3D printers have become popular in recent years and enable fabrication of custom objects for home users. However, the cost of the material used in printing remains high. In this paper, we present an automatic solution to design a skin-frame structure for the purpose of reducing the material cost in printing a given 3D object. The frame structure is designed by an optimization scheme which significantly reduces material volume and is guaranteed to be physically stable, geometrically approximate, and printable. Furthermore, the number of struts is minimized by solving an l0 sparsity optimization. We formulate it as a multi-objective programming problem and an iterative extension of the preemptive algorithm is developed to find a compromise solution. We demonstrate the applicability and practicability of our solution by printing various objects using both powder-type and extrusion-type 3D printers. Our method is shown to be more cost-effective than previous works.


We introduce MiningZinc, a general framework for constraint-based pattern mining, one of the most popular tasks in data mining. MiningZinc consists of two key components: a language component and a toolchain component.

The language allows for high-level and natural modeling of mining problems, such that MiningZinc models closely resemble definitions found in the data mining literature. It is inspired by the Zinc family of languages and systems and supports user-defined constraints and optimization criteria.

The toolchain allows for finding solutions to the models. It ensures the solver independence of the language and supports both standard constraint solvers and specialized data mining systems. Automatic model transformations enable the efficient use of different solvers and systems.

The combination of both components allows one to rapidly model constraint-based mining problems and execute these with a wide variety of methods. We demonstrate this experimentally for a number of well-known solvers and data mining tasks.


The study of second order ordinary differential equations is vital given their proliferation in mechanics. The group theoretic approach devised by Lie is one of the most successful techniques available for solving these equations. However, many second order equations cannot be reduced to quadratures due to the lack of a sufficient number of point symmetries. We observe that increasing the order will result in a third order differential equation which, when reduced via an alternate symmetry, may result in a solvable second order equation. Thus the original second order equation can be solved. In this dissertation we will attempt to classify second order differential equations that can be solved in this manner. We also provide the nonlocal transformations between the original second order equations and the new solvable second order equations. Our starting point is third order differential equations. Here we concentrate on those invariant under twoand three-dimensional Lie algebras.


In this paper we consider a class of stochastic processes based on binomial observations of continuous-time, Markovian population models. We derive the conditional probability mass function of the next binomial observation given a set of binomial observations. For this purpose, we first find the conditional probability mass function of the underlying continuous-time Markovian population model, given a set of binomial observations, by exploiting a conditional Bayes' theorem from filtering, and then use the law of total probability to find the former. This result paves the way for further study of the stochastic process introduced by the binomial observations. We utilize our results to show that binomial observations of the simple birth process are non-Markovian.


The paper introduces an extension to the method of p-cycles for network protection. The p-cycle concept is generalized to protect path segments of contiguous working flow, not only spans that lie on the cycle or directly straddle the p-cycle. The original span protecting use of the p-cycle technique is extend to include path protection or protection of any flow segment along a path. It also gives an inherent means of protecting working flows that transit a failed node. We use integer linear programming to study the new concept and determine its inherent capacity requirements relative to prior p-cycle designs and other types of efficient mesh-survivable networks. Results show that path-segment-protecting p-cycles ("flow p-cycles") have capacity efficiency near that of the shared backup path-protection (SBPP) scheme currently favored for optical networking. Because its protection paths are fully preconnected and because it protects path segments (not entire paths), it has the potential for both higher speed and higher availability than SBPP. We also develop capacity optimization models to support 100% restoration of transiting flows through failed nodes. Only a very small additional spare capacity is needed to achieve both 100% span and intermediate node-failure restorabilities, and a very high transiting traffic restorability can be accomplished for node failure restorability given spare capacity only for span-failure protection. An immediate practical application is to suggest the use of flow p-cycles to protect transparent optical express flows through a regional network.


BACKGROUND
Limited data is available on the use of a polyester graft limb with a helical stent configuration deployed in the external iliac artery (EIA) during endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), so we prospectively analyzed the efficacy of the Zenith Spiral-Z limb deployed in the EIA.Methods and Results:Patients undergoing EVAR using a Zenith stent-graft and Spiral-Z limb deployed in the EIA were prospectively registered in 24 Japanese institutions from June 2017 to November 2017. In total, 65 patients (74 limbs) (mean age: 77.1±8.0 years, 87.7% men, mean abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) diameter: 51.9±7.2 mm, mean iliac artery aneurysm (IAA) diameter: 38.3±10.0 mm) were registered and followed up. The most common reason for deployment in the EIA was a common IAA (43 limbs, 58.1%), and 8 limbs (10.8%) had a bare nitinol stent placed at the Spiral-Z limb. A total of 61 patients (70 limbs) completed a 24-month follow-up. There were 2 Spiral-Z limb stenoses and 1 occlusion, leading to a primary patency of 95.5% and a secondary patency of 100%, at 24 months. Buttock claudication occurred in 24.3% of the limbs treated at 1 month but decreased to 4.3% at 24 months.

CONCLUSIONS
Our multicenter prospective study showed that Spiral-Z limb deployed in the EIA was associated with satisfactory results and seems to be a durable option, even in the era of iliac branch devices.


The relationship between structure, ionic radius and electronegativity and solubility of the various rare-earth elements in Mg was studied. It is found that light RE(La-Sm, Eu, Yb) have more complicated phase relation with Mg but the heavy RE(Gd-Lu, Sc) have the similar crystal structure with magnesium. Also it is found that the less electronegativity difference between Mg and RE is, the more solubility limit of RE in Mg is. The fact of the RE solubility decreased in magnesium with lowering temperature suggests that there is a possibility of Mg supersaturated solid solution formation and it will decomposition during aging. According to the rule, an megnesium alloy with higher strength feature was developed. Their mechanical properties are UTS 347MPa, YTS 290MPa and elongation 12.5% at room temperature.


The "Black" Church organize, sort, and select members of their congregation based on the leadership's understanding of spirituality, morality, and traditional socialization of religious practices within faith communities. The "Black" Church doctrine: homosexuality is immoral, creates a crisis for lesbian and gay Christians and many other members with multiple gender identities. I use the phrase "the black church" as a phrase to encapsulate seven historically black church denominations in the United States: the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church; the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church; the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church; the National Baptist Convention, USA., Incorporated (NBC); the National Baptist Convention of America, Unincorporated (NBCA); the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC); and the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). Using critical ethnography, as a minister of music and a long standing member of several black churches, I investigate, why the black church, an institution of liberation for the black community especially during the Civil Rights movement, continue to engage in oppressive practices with regard to members of the black gay and lesbian community. I provide a historical overview and critical analysis as a part of this inquiry. Black church leadership who once refused to accept white church leaders' use of the Bible to justify oppressing them during the periods of slavery and segregation, presently utilize the Bible in a similar fashion to justify oppressing lesbians and gays. Historically and traditionally membership in the "black" church was often due to the parents and/or grandparents membership. Attending church was an expected role within the black community. It was a way to socialize with friends, engage in political activity and often times conduct business. This was especially true when it came to the different denominations. Often times I would hear members stating, "You can't join in it, you got to be born in it." For African American lesbians and gays being born into families with strong religious church affiliations, as a rite of passage must endure pain while their humanity, sexuality, and love relationships are denigrated. As a counter-narrative to these negative teachings, I offer new approaches to understanding scripture and homosexuality through black liberation theology.


Meaningful access to sacred sites is among the most important principles to the religious exercise of indigenous peoples, yet tribes have been repeatedly thwarted by the federal government in their efforts to vindicate this practice of their religion. The colonial, state, and federal governments of this Nation have been desecrating and destroying Native American sacred sites since before the Republic was formed. Unfortunately, the callous destruction of indigenous sacred sites is not just a troubling relic of the past. Rather, the threat to sacred sites and cultural resources continues today in the form of spoliation from development, as well as in the significant barriers to meaningful access indigenous peoples face.

Scholars concerned about government failure to protect indigenous sacred sites have generally agreed that the problem stems from the unique nature of indigenous spiritual traditions as being too distinct from non-indigenous religious traditions familiar to courts and legislators and therefore eluding protection afforded to other traditions. By contrast, this Article approaches the problem from an entirely different angle: we focus instead on the similarities between government coercion with respect to indigenous religious exercise and other non-indigenous religious practices. We illustrate how the debate about sacred sites unwittingly partakes of longstanding philosophical debates about the nature of coercion itself—a phenomenon that has previously gone unnoticed by scholars. This Article argues that whether or not one formally labels the government's actions as "coercive," the important question is whether the government is bringing to bear its sovereign power in a way that inhibits the important ideal of religious voluntarism—the ability of individuals to voluntarily practice their religious exercise consistent with their own free self-development. Indeed, this is precisely the sort of question courts ask when evaluating government burdens on non-indigenous religious exercise. The failure to ask this same question about voluntarism for indigenous religious practices has created a double standard, wherein the law recognizes a much more expansive notion of coercion for contexts impacting non-indigenous religious practices, and a much narrower conception of coercion, in the tradition of Robert Nozick, when it comes to indigenous sacred sites.

This egregious double standard in the law ought to be revisited. Doing so would have two important implications. First, when coercion is viewed clearly, tribal members and indigenous practitioners should be able to prove a prima facie case under statutes like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) much more easily. Second, this Article makes the novel claim that clearer understanding of the coercive control government exercises over sacred sites should animate a strong obligation under the government's trust responsibility and plenary power doctrine to provide more—rather than less—robust protection of indigenous sacred sites.


The statistical assessment of the empirical comparison of algorithms is an essential step in heuristic optimization. Classically, researchers have relied on the use of statistical tests. However, recently, concerns about their use have arisen and, in many fields, other (Bayesian) alternatives are being considered. For a proper analysis, different aspects should be considered. In this work we focus on the question: what is the probability of a given algorithm being the best? To tackle this question, we propose a Bayesian analysis based on the Plackett-Luce model over rankings that allows several algorithms to be considered at the same time.


The mobile phone market in the Philippines is an interesting proposition.  While the very extensive usage of mobile phone communications has earned the country a reputation of being the "texting capital" of the world, the emergence of next generation mobile communication devices and communication technology platforms has yet to be fully understood.  This study aims to determine the particular levels of involvement Filipino mobile phone users place on such next generation mobile phone products and services.  This study compares the levels of involvement on five mobile phone services across two different demographic factors – regular mobile phone vs. smart phone users and postpaid vs. prepaid subscribers.  The study shows that being technologically more complex, smart phone users place higher levels of involvement on the services available through their devices.  The same is true with higher-priced items.  This implies that marketers and advertisers should seriously reconsider their allocation of resources to enable consumers to know and learn about mobile phone products and services with respect to the levels of involvement that users place on each one.


Current pharmacological therapies fail to address the final end-point of cardiac ischaemia — the death and dysfunction of cardiomyocytes. Advances in stem cell biology have provided hope, for the first time, of addressing this underlying pathology. The work performed here was designed to further understanding of the mechanisms by which bone marrow derived cells improve damaged myocardium. In situ hybridisation was used to detect sex chromosomes within ex-planted, human, sex-mismatch hearts. Host derived cells were found at low frequency in donor hearts, suggesting ongoing post-natal cardiac tissue repair. Human mesenchymal stem cells were examined in vitro and in a rat model of ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Cardiomyocytes were not formed when cultured with either 5-azacytidine or ascorbic acid, and the cells failed to home to the ischaemic heart or improve cardiac function. In the same model, rat mononuclear cells significantly reduced infarct size when administered immediately upon reperfusion. Cells were rarely identified within the myocardium. No functional improvement was seen acutely, but at seven days cardiac function had improved. The low frequency of cells retained in the heart suggested that a process other than transdifferentiation accounted for the observations. Hence, evidence for paracrine actions was sought. In the same model, apoptosis and necrosis in cardiomyocytes were found to be significantly reduced. Western blots demonstrated activation of the reperfusion salvage kinase pathway, analogous to that seen in ischaemic preand post-conditioning. Blocking this pathway abolished the infarct size reduction. Global proteomic analysis confirmed alterations in protein expression consistent with known cardioprotective pathways. In conclusion, endogenous myocardial repair processes are inadequate to compensate for pathological insults. Supplementation with mononuclear cells in an ischaemia-reperfusion model produced significant benefit to infarct size and cardiac function. The mechanism of benefit appears to be induced by paracrine effects activating pro-survival pathways.


The categories of ethnicity, homogeneity and the nation partially contradict each other, but they also overlap. In order to examine this tension, this article will consider these terms in the context of the question that mediates their relationship, namely, the stability and instability of political orders. My aim is to articulate a conceptual framework that makes it possible to discuss this relationship of tension and sketch it from a theoretical perspective.


: Fifteen patients with severe active Crohn's disease, refraccory to con ventional therapy, were given a 16 week course of cyclosporine ar an initial oral daily dose of 10 mg/kg, adjusted to maintain cyclosporine scrum trough levels between 100 and 200 ng/ml. Five patients withdrew early because of side effects, poor absorption or noncompliance. The remaining 10 patients all improved within four weeks as measured by three different clinical indices: Crohn's Disease Activity Index, Simple Index of Crohn's Disease Activity and Mean Score of Therapeutic Goals (MSTG). Seven patients maintained this initial improvement and prcdnisone was either reduced or discontinued. Four of these seven patients relapsed within four wceb of stopping cyclosporine, and three remain in remission after 75 ± 2 weeks. Side effects were minor and easily reversible. When the various clinical and laboratory indices were compared, MSTG was found to be the most useful index for the assessment of therapy. Cyclosporine appears to be a safe and effective therapy in patients with severe active Crohn's disease refractory to conventional therapy. Can J Gastroenterol


The spaces and tensions between races, ethnic groups, and communities in late Apartheid and post-1994 South African society, and the co-existence of different languages, religions and cultures, generated a society so fractured that cultural translation became a formidably difficult task. The concept of translation in a transforming society is examined through an analysis of two-dimensional language as a means of translating political events and experiences into visual forms, which attempt to communicate across cultural gaps. Iconic documentary photographs by Sam Nzima (1976) and Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) photographers (1997), struggle posters by co-operatives and formally trained designers, and artworks by Kevin Brand, Sue Williamson and Marion Arnold are discussed. The images reveal that different forms of visual representation encode different relationships of signifying content and aesthetic form to offer alternatives to speech and writing in communicating some implications of Apartheid politics, leaving a legacy that validates art and design as tools of political activism.