On 23 June 2016, the British electorate voted to leave the European Union. We analyse vote and turnout shares across 380 local authority areas in the United Kingdom. We find that exposure to the EU in terms of immigration and trade provides relatively little explanatory power for the referendum vote. Instead, we find that fundamental characteristics of the voting population were key drivers of the Vote Leave share, in particular their education profiles, their historical dependence on manufacturing employment as well as low income and high unemployment. At the much finer level of wards within cities, we find that areas with deprivation in terms of education, income and employment were more likely to vote Leave. Our results indicate that a higher turnout of younger voters, who were more likely to vote Remain, would not have overturned the referendum result.


Recent scholarship about women and science is a good source of material for addressing the under-representation of women in science. This review is the result of an interdisciplinary fusion of science and women's studies to critically assess teaching tools in undergraduate ecology education. We examine: (1) the representation of women and the coverage of social and cultural context in introductory ecology textbooks, and (2) student learning about women's contributions to ecology. Discipline demographics reveal that women are presented in textbooks less often than expected, and that explicit discussions of the social and cultural context of science are rare. When course content is enriched with material about women's contributions, student's awareness of women scientists improves. Such knowledge can play a critical role in proactively challenging students' perceptions of ecology and ecologists, creating a more positive classroom climate for all students, and introducing novel avenues of questioning and dis...


This thesis explores monastic definition and identity and how it was realised through the
entrance complex of English Benedictine, Cluniac and Cistercian monasteries. This includes
the main gatehouse, but also associated buildings such as guesthouses, hospitals and
almshouses. It explores these buildings physically but also functionally and symbolically;
questioning why these buildings were placed in this zone, and what this placement meant for
the monastic institution.
The approach taken is very broad and interdisciplinary and traces monasticism back to its
roots in the fourth century, through to the dissolution in England. This approach means that
developments in monasticism, and the motivations for change, can be identified and analysed
in reference to how monastic communities perceived themselves.
This self-perception was realised in their entrance complex, their 'public face' to the rest of
the world. This thesis, using a range of evidence and an interdisciplinary approach, argues
that monastic communities were consciously manipulating their entrance complexes in the
Middle Ages. Through the buildings themselves, and the functions they located in this zone,
monastic communities created and expressed their changing identity to the world outside their
monastery.


Metabolic costs of pursuit and attack for early larval Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) feeding on 2 different prey types, a protozoan (Balanion sp.) and a copepod nauplius (Pseudodiaptomis sp.) were estimated from 5 to 20 d post-hatch. Parameters describing feeding patterns were determined from 3-dimensional observations using 2 orthogonal cameras. Feeding parameters were calculated using a digital image-analysis system for larvae in 3 size classes, and included pursuit duration, distance and speed for both burst and glide components, and attack duration, distance and speed. Metabolic rates were estimated for each component of pursuit and attack from the relationship between specific metabolic rate and swimming speed from previous respirometry studies on cod larvae. Estimated specific metabolic rates were used in a new model to determine specific and total energy expenditures, which incorporated each of the components of pursuit and attack. Values of total energy expenditure were used in a model to determine relative net energy gain during pursuit and attack of a larva on a protozoan and a copepod nauplius in 3 larval size classes. In Size Class 1 (5 to 6 mm total length, TL) first-feeding larval cod were small and poorly developed, had long pursuit and attack times and distances, and slow swimming speeds. In Size Classes 2 (6 to 7 mm TL) and 3 (7 to 8 mm TL) larger larvae were better developed, had shorter pursuit and attack times and distances, and faster swimming speeds. Specific metabolic rates during pursuit of a protozoan increased with increasing larval size, while specific energy expenditure decreased due to shorter pursuit times. Results from net energy gain equations showed that a cod larva gained 3 orders of magnitude more energy from consumption of a nauplius than a protozoan even though its energy expenditure during pursuit of a nauplius was 2 to 3 times that during pursuit of a protozoan.


This article, by providing an overall assessment of the relations between Africa and the EU since the adoption of the Joint Africa Europe Strategy in Lisbon in 2007, tests the hypothesis of a 'continental drift'. It looks in particular at four key variables in the relationship: economy, development, governance and politics, and multilateralism. A continental drift is in the making, associated with widening cracks in economic blocks: most of the trade between the two continents is concentrated on a dozen countries on each side. Although the EU has lost some of its leadership in development policies, its funding capacities are still attractive for countries in need: the donor–recipient relation is largely maintained. Both sides have agreed to disagree or to remain quiet about their reciprocal political inconsistencies: the management of governance and political dialogue is thus carried out in a pragmatic manner. The continent-to-continent relationship remains largely a vision.


Abstract Nonprofit scientific societies hope that their activities advance their particular mission and impact their profession and, in the broadest sense, humanity in positive ways. The digital age has provided unprecedented mechanisms to enhance the delivery of science to the world. The marketplace of scientific publishing is a rapidly shifting mosaic of challenges and opportunities, and the responses of nonprofit and commercial publishers vary widely, but their outcomes are still uncertain. The response of the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) provides an example of how a relatively small society has altered its scientific delivery to enhance member benefits while attempting to sustain its economic viability. Since 2000, ASM has moved from a self-publishing, break-even, print-only model to a copublishing agreement with a commercial publisher (Alliance Communications Group, a division of Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas), which now offers members various print and electronic options and generates a shared royalty. Although it is too early to gauge the economic impact of these changes, the ASM leadership clearly attempted to signal its desire for members to view their society as a package of opportunities for edification and involvement rather than just a provider of serial subscriptions. Future challenges facing nonprofit scientific societies include open access, fiscal realities, archiving of publications, and scientific and societal impact; future opportunities include a strengthening of member responsibilities and professionalism, development of data registries to enhance scientific progress, and bundling of like societies. The manner in which nonprofit scientific societies respond to these challenges and opportunities will no doubt affect their sustainability and future impact.


This article considers the role that the implementation of peace agreements has on the prospects for fostering a durable peace following the negotiated resolution of civil wars. Focusing on the 16 peace agreements between 1980 and 1996 that have included provisions for the sharing or dividing of military power among former combatants, the authors find that the complete implementation of this aspect of settlements significantly improves the prospects for maintaining peace. They suggest that this proves to be the case because of the important and credible signals of conciliatory intent among former enemies that are made through the process of implementation. They find that implementation serves as a concrete signal of a genuine commitment to peace as signatories to an agreement prove willing to endure the costs associated with both compromising their original war aims and withstanding potential challenges from within their own groups. Based on these results, the authors offer policy recommendations focusing on the role that third-party actors and aid donors might play in facilitating the successful implementation of negotiated peace agreements.


Online and face-to-face harassment in schools requires a coordinated response from the school, parents, students, and government. In this Article, I address a particular subset of online and face-to-face harassment, or identity-based harassment. Identity-based aggressors highlight a quality intrinsic to someone's personhood and demean it, deprive it of value, and use it as a weapon. They attack women, racial minorities, religious minorities, and other traditionally victimized groups. And, as such, they attack not only their particular victims but also their victims' communities. Identity-based aggressors com- mit a constitutional evil not only because their behavior interferes with victims' access to education, their liberty to express who they are, and their right to participate in our body politic, but also because aggressors perpetuate the legitimacy of a malodorous social stigma attached to any given minority. This Article argues that identity-based aggression need not be conflated with identity-affirming speech, both as a matter of its social effects and the First Amendment. Only a limiting liberal/libertarian approach to free speech would prevent schools from disciplining identity cyberbullies and face-to-face harassers and simultaneously force schools to silence speech that is necessary to make minorities full and equal players in education and in society as a whole. Implications of this theory are discussed.


The Swiss Alpine Fish indoor salmon farm uses a recirculating aquaculture system that combines optimal resource management, respect for the environment and a high-quality product for the end customer. In the village of Lostallo in the Swiss Alps, the salmon are grown in a controlled environment, using no antibiotics or chemicals, in full compliance with sanitary standards. This sustainable and economically viable farming model could be used in urban settings where there is suitable infrastructure and access to good quality water, making this an encouraging prospect for private investors and consumers alike.


All over the U.S. and in over twenty countries around the world, Touchpoints has become required reading for anxious parents of babies and small children. T. Berry Brazelton's great empathy for the universal concerns of parenthood, and honesty about the complex feelings it engenders, as well as his uncanny insight into the predictable leaps and regressions of early childhood, have comforted and supported families since its publication in 1992. In this completely revised edition Dr. Brazelton introduces new information on physical, emotional, and behavioral development. He also addresses the new stresses on families and fears of children, with a fresh focus on the role of fathers and other caregivers. This updated volume also offers new insights on prematurity, sleep patterns, early communication, toilet training, co-sleeping, play and learning, SIDS, cognitive development and signs of developmental delay, childcare, asthma, a child's immune system, and safety. Dr. Sparrow, Brazelton's co-author on several other books, brings a child psychiatrist's insights into the many perennial childhood issues covered in this comprehensive book. No parent should be without the reassurance and wisdom Touchpoints provides.


Background Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with wide-ranging effects on motor, cognitive and behavioural effects and a great impact on patient's health- related quality of life (HRQoL). HRQoL measures are increasingly used in clinical assessment to evaluate intervention effectiveness. Such assessments allow decision makers to consider patient and caregiver perspectives. Aims The aim of the study was to evaluate the HRQoL of Spanish HD patients and to compare results provided by EQ-5D and H-QoL-I instruments. Methods This was an observational, cross-sectional study conducted in Spain on the burden of disease (BoD) and HRQoL of HD patients and caregivers. HD Patients were recruited through a neurologist in a clinical setting. Several clinical, functional, BoD and HRQoL measures were collected (we present only HRQoL data). The EuroQOL five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D) and Huntington Quality of Life Instrument (H-QoL-I: a new validated HD specific HRQoL scale) were voluntarily self-completed. Pearson's correlation tests were computed. Results 55 patients were recruited. The mean ± SD age was 50 ±14 years. 51% were female. Results from H-QoL-I indicated that the psychological dimension was the most altered dimension, slightly greater than the motor dimension (scores: 58.06 and 56.96 respectively) whereas social dimension was not altered (score 80.93). Usual activities and anxiety/depression were the most altered dimensions based on the EQ-5D whereas pain was the least altered dimension. All Pearson's correlations between the H-QoL-I and EQ-5D were statistically significant (p < 0.01). Conclusion The quality of life of the Spanish HD patients included in this study was seriously affected by the disease. Motor and psychological dimensions were the most affected whereas pain and social dimensions were less affected. Better therapeutic options to improve motor function, and hence, HRQoL are needed.


The current fast-growing Internet traffic is demanding more and more network capacity every day. The concept of wavelength-division multiplexing has provided us an opportunity to multiply network capacity. Current optical switching technologies allow us to rapidly deliver the enormous bandwidth of WDM networks. Photonic packet switching offers high-speed, data rate/format transparency, and configurability, which are some of the important characteristics needed in future networks supporting different forms of data. In this article we present some of the critical issues involved in designing and implementing all-optical packet-switched networks.


Swallenia alexandrae, Eureka Valley dune grass (Poaceae, Chloridoideae), is a narrow endemic known only from three localities in the Eureka Valley and adjoining Saline Range in the northern portion of Death Valley National Park (Inyo County, California). This monotypic genus is listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and as rare by the California Department of Fish and Game. Genetic diversity within and among populations of S. alexandrae was studied with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA. A single polymorphic band was detected in approximately one quarter of all individuals sampled. This result indicates very low genetic diversity in S. alexandrae. There is no evidence of private alleles and very little partitioning of genetic diversity between populations. These results are discussed in relation to conservation concerns for S. alexandrae.


The energy of the goddess fills every facet of Indian life. To her devotees, the goddess appears in myriad forms: mother, boon-giver, destroyer of evil, divine lover, protector and/or bloodthirsty ogress. The more that is discovered about her, the more teasingly complex and multivalent the Devi appears. She is both constant and changing, loved and feared, worshipped and forgotten, only to be re-discovered and worshiped again. In this book, for the first time, ten Australian researchers, working on many aspects of the Devi, have come together and offered, in a single collection, new research on the divine female. This book begins a renewed quest for the iconic Devi who continues to emerge in her many, unpredictably powerful forms.


Introduction The allostatic load (AL) index is a multi-systemic measure of physiologic dysregulation known to be associated with chronic exposure to stress and adverse health outcomes. We examined the relationship between AL and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration in non-institutionalized US adults. Methods Data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988–94) were used to calculate two versions of AL including 9 biomarkers and another two with 14 biomarkers (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, serum cholesterol, serum HDL-cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin, sex-specific waist-to-hip ratio, serum albumin, and serum C-reactive protein for AL1, and, additionally body mass index, serum triglyceride, serum creatinine, and serum herpes I & II antibodies for AL2), each set defined by predefined cut-offs or by quartiles. Serum vitamin D concentration was ranked into quartiles. Logistic regression, Poisson regression and linear regression were used to examine the association of serum 25(OH)D concentrations on AL, after adjusting for biological, physiological, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health variables. Results Odds Ratios (OR) for high AL of the lowest 25(OH)D serum quartile were between 1.45 (95% CI: 1.28, 1.67) and 1.79 (95% CI: 1.39, 2.32) for the fully adjusted model, depending on AL version. Inverse relationships between vitamin D serum concentrations were observed for all AL versions and every adjustment. This relationship was consistent after stratification by sex, age or ethnic background. Sensitivity to low 25(OH)D concentrations was highest among the youngest group (20–39 years) with an OR of 2.11 (95% CI: 1.63, 2.73) for the lowest vitamin D quartile Q1. Conclusions Vitamin D had a consistent and statistically significant inverse association with all tested models of high AL, which remained consistent after adjusting for biological, socioeconomic, lifestyle and health variables. Our study adds evidence linking low 25(OH)D concentrations with poorer health, further-reaching than bone health.


Antibiotics have been used globally to manage the bacterial plant diseases irrespective of the expense involved. Although plant pathogenesis by bacteria is far lower than fungal counterparts, disrupted monitoring and surveillance for drug resistance with respect to human health raise serious concerns. The resistance derived by the plant as the host by the antibiotics used for many generations has now posed as a problem in phyto-systems. Although we currently lack the molecular understanding of the pathogens rendering antibiotic resistance to plants, robust resistance management strategies are critical to ensure management of critically important diseases that specifically target crops of high value and/or global agrarian importance. This chapter discusses evolution of plant-pathogenic bacteria, application of antibiotics and its repercussions on the microbiome of plant agricultural systems, and sustainable crop disease management by genetic engineering.


Background and Objective: Diabetes Mellitus is associated with a higher incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) and poor prognosis in affected individuals; however, treatment with the oral hypoglycemic drug, metformin, is associated with a reduction in cardiovascula r morbidity and mortality. A MI reduces oxygen delivery and results in nutrient/gluc ose starvation (GS) with micro-vascular endothelial cells (MECs) receiving the initial impact, the effect being more profound in a diabetic individual as glucose levels drop from hyperglycemia to GS. It is, however, not known whether GS triggers endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy in MECs and whether metformin has any effect on GS associated ER stress and autophagy. Thus, protocols were designed to determine whether GS-induced ER stress and autophagic events could be rescued. Methods— Mouse Microvasuclar Endothelial Cells (MMECs) were subjected to GS for 24h in the presence and absence of sodium-4phenylbutyrate (chemical chaperone, 4PBA, 10mM) or metformin (50μM and 2mM) and western blot analysis was performed to assess the induction of ER stress and autophagy. Immunofluorescence staining was also done to assess LC3B punctae staining in cells, indicating autophagy. Results- GS caused ER stress as evidenced by significant increase in the levels of ER stress markers such as GRP78, ATF4 and CHOP. Significant increases in the levels of LC3A-II and LC3B-II and an increase in the level of LC3B punctae staining in glucose starved cells confirmed autophagic activation. Treatment with 10mM 4PBA significantly reversed GS induced ER stress and subsequent autophagy. The effects of varying concentrations of metformin (10μM-2mM) were studied. Metformin (2mM) significantly reversed ER stress and autophagy in glucose starved endothelial cells while lower concentrations that were in the therapeutic range had no effect. Markedly decreased LC3B punctae staining in metformin treated glucose deprived cells also ascertained the reversal of autophagy. Conclusions— This study demonstrates for the first time that GS induced ER stress and autophagy in the microvascular endothelium can be reversed by metformin, albeit only at mM concentrations. This work has been supported by QNRF grants JSREP- 3- 016-3-009 and NPRP 4-910-3-244.


Magnetite nanoparticles are ubiquitous in soils, sediments and mine wastes, and are also used in nanotechnological applications. We studied the influence of synthesis conditions on the size and shape of magnetite nanoparticles that were produced in inorganic co-precipitation processes. Variable parameters included the types of reagents and their concentrations, the pH, the temperature (from 9 to 90 °C) and the atmosphere (O2 and N2). The mineral phases, the morphologies, size and shape distributions of the resulting magnetite particles were characterised using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. We managed to produce magnetite nanoparticles between ~11 and 120 nm and to control the mean sizes of the crystals within this range. The morphologies of the magnetite nanocrystals were also affected by the synthesis conditions and varied according to grain size. Crystals with diameters between 10 and 25 nm have irregular or round morphologies, whereas crystals larger than 50 nm are octahedral. Various nucleation and growth processes are invoked to explain the influence of synthesis conditions on the sizes and shapes of the product magnetite nanoparticles.


This paper briefly takes stock of two decades of e-participation initiatives based on a limited review of the academic literature. The purpose of the paper is to complement the results of the e-government Survey 2020. As such, the emphasis is on aspects that the e-government survey (based on analysis of e-government portals and on quantitative indicators) does not capture directly. Among those are the challenges faced by e-participation initiatives and key areas of attention for governments. The paper maps the field of e-participation and related activities, as well as its relationships with other governance concepts. Areas of recent development in terms of e-participation applications are briefly reviewed. The paper selectively highlights conclusions from the literature on different participation tools, as well as a list of key problematic areas for policy makers. The paper concludes that while e-participation platforms using new technologies have spread rapidly in developed countries in the first decade of the 2000s and in developing countries during the last 10 years, it is not clear that their multiplication has translated into broader or deeper citizen participation. Beyond reasons related to technology access and digital skills, factors such as lack of understanding of citizens' motivations to participate and the reluctance of public institutions to genuinely share agenda setting and decision-making power seem to play an important role in the observed limited progress. JEL Classification: D73, D78, O17


This book collects ten essays from the five volumes of Subaltern Studies that have so far appeared. The aim of the studies is to 'promote a systematic and informed discussion of subaltern themes in the field of South Asian studies, and thus help to rectify the elitist bias characteristic of much research and academic work in this particular area. The contributors...focus attention on what Gramsci called the subaltern classes and their condition, and also re-examine well-known events and themes in the new, more rounded perspective. The contributors encompass history, politics, economics and sociology; attitudes, ideologies, and belief systems.' Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's essay 'Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography' introduces the volume and Edward Said, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia has provided a foreword.


Abstract. The mesoscale variability of water vapour (WV) in the troposphere is a highly complex phenomenon and modelling and monitoring the WV distribution is a very important but challenging task. Any observation technique that can reliably provide WV distribution is essential for both monitoring and predicting weather. The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) tomography technique is a powerful tool that builds upon the critical ground-based GNSS infrastructure (e.g. Continuous Operating Reference Station – CORS – networks) that can be used to sense the amount of WV. Previous research shows that the 3-D WV field from GNSS tomography has an uncertainty of 1 hPa. However, all the models used in GNSS tomography heavily rely on a priori information and constraints from non-GNSS measurements. In this study, 3-D GNSS tomography models are investigated based on a limited constrained approach – i.e. horizontal and vertical correlations between voxels were not introduced, instead various a priori information were added into the system. A case study is designed and the results show that proposed solutions are feasible by using a robust Kalman filtering technique and effective removal of linearly dependent observations and parameters. Discrepancies between reference wet refractivity data derived from the Australian Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model (ACCESS) and the GNSS tomography model using both simulated and real data are 4.2 ppm (mm km−1) and 6.2 ppm (mm km−1), respectively, which are essentially in the same order of accuracy.


A near-ring N is called a δ-Near – Ring if it is left simple and N0 is the smallest non-zero ideal of N and a δ-Near – Ring is a non-constant near ring. A Commutative ring N with identity is a Noetherian Regular δ-Near Ring if it is Semi Prime in which every non-unit is a zero divisor and the Zero ideal is Product of a finite number of principle ideals generated by semi prime elements and N is left simple which has N0 = N, Ne = N. In this paper, we introduce the generalized ideal-based zero divisor graph structure of Noetherian Regular δ- near-ring N, denoted byI(N). It is shown that if  is a completely reflexive ideal of N, then every two vertices in  I(N) are connected by a path of length at most 3, and if I(N) contains a cycle, then the core K of I(N) is a union of triangles and rectangles. We have shown that if  I(N) is a bipartite graph for a completely semi-prime ideal I of N, then N has two prime ideals whose intersection is I.


Every company in running a business aims to maximize profits to improve the welfare of its owners or shareholders. Decisions in the management of the company are an important aspect in obtaining maximum profits. This study aims to determine the effect of company size, asset structure, and debt to total assets ratio (DAR) to profitability. The exchange financial institutions listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the 2014-2018 period. This type of research is quantitative. The unit of analysis in this study is the issuer of the financial sector with the banking sub sector consisting of 38 banks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The research methodology used is a statistical analysis method through multiple linear regression and classical assumption tests. Testing the hypothesis by looking at the calculated F value and the calculated t value in the regression test. The results of this study indicate that variable firm size, asset structure, and debt to total assets ratio (DAR) partially or simultaneously have a significant effect on the profitability of stock exchange sector issuers found in the index of the Indonesia Stock Exchange.


PURPOSE
To analyze the effect of a resolvin D1 (RvD1) analogue (RvD1a) on dendritic cell maturation, T-cell sensitization, and allograft rejection in corneal allotransplantation.

METHODS
The receptor expression of RvD1 (ALX/FPR2) on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDC) was measured using quantitative real-time PCR. We determined BMDC maturation after treatment with RvD1a using ELISA to measure interleukin (IL)-12 protein expression and flow cytometry to assess the expression of CD40, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II, CD80, and CD86. After corneal transplantation in BALB/c mice, we analyzed T-cell infiltration in the cornea and the draining lymph nodes using flow cytometry. The enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay was used to measure T-cell sensitization via the direct and indirect pathway. Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in the cornea after transplantation were measured using immunohistochemistry. Graft opacity and survival were evaluated by slit lamp biomicroscopy.

RESULTS
The receptor for RvD1, lipoxin A4/formyl peptide receptor 2 (ALX/FPR2), was expressed at a significantly lower level on immature than mature dendritic cells (DCs), and RvD1a reduced DC expression of MHC II, CD40, and IL-12 following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Using a murine model of corneal transplantation, RvD1a-treated hosts exhibited significantly reduced allosensitization as demonstrated by decreased frequencies of interferon-gamma-secreting T cells in the draining lymph nodes, and reduced T-cell infiltration into the grafts. Graft survival was significantly enhanced and angiogenesis at the graft site was suppressed in RvD1a-treated hosts compared with vehicle-treated hosts.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that RvD1 inhibits DC maturation and reduces alloimmune sensitization following transplantation, thereby establishing a novel connection between resolvin D1 and the regulation of DC-mediated, antigen-specific immunity.


PURPOSE Most published descriptions of organizations providing or improving quality of care concern large medical groups or systems; however, 90% of the medical care in the United States is provided by groups of no more than 20 physicians. We studied one such group to determine the organizational and cultural attributes that seem related to its achievements in care quality. METHODS A 15–family physician medical group was identified from comparative public performance scores of 27 medical groups providing most of the primary care in our metropolitan area. Semistructured interviews were conducted with diverse personnel in this group, operations were observed, and written documents were reviewed. Four primary care physician researchers and a consultant then reviewed transcriptions, field notes, and materials during semistructured sessions to identify the main attributes of this group and their probable origins. RESULTS This medical group ranked first in a composite measure of preventive services and fourth and sixth, respectively, in composite scores for coronary artery disease and diabetes care. Our analysis identified 12 attributes of this group that seemed to be associated with its good care quality, with patient-centeredness being the foundational attribute for most of the others. Historical factors important to most of these attributes included small size, physician ownership, and a high value on practice consistency among the clinicians in the group. CONCLUSIONS The identified 12 attributes of this medical group seem to be associated with its superior care quality, and most of them might be replicable by other small groups if they choose to work toward that end.


Our upbringing and education influence not only how we present and distinguish ourselves in the social world but also how we perceive others. We apply this central sociological idea to the social media context. We conduct a large-scale online study to investigate whether observers can correctly guess the education of others from their Facebook profile pictures. Using the binomial test and cross-classified mixed-effects models, we show that observers can assess the education of depicted persons better than chance, especially when they share the same educational background and have experience with the social media. We also find that posting pictures of outdoor activities is a strong signal of having higher education, while professional photographs can obscure education signals. The findings expand our knowledge of social interaction and self-expression online and offer new insights for understanding social influence on social media.


This paper begins with a review of the fundamental mechanism by which speckle noise is generated in Laser Vibrometry before describing a new numerical simulation of speckle behavior for prediction of noise level in a real measurement. The simulation data provides real insight into the phase and amplitude modulation of the Doppler signal as a result of speckle changes. The paper also includes experimental data looking at the influence of speckle noise in measurements on rotors with a selection of surface treatments and in scanning and tracking configurations.


We describe and validate a metric for estimating multi-class classifier performance based on cross-validation and adapted for improvement of small, unbalanced natural-language datasets used in chatbot design. Our experiences draw upon building recruitment chatbots that mediate communication between job-seekers and recruiters by exposing the ML/NLP dataset to the recruiting team. Evaluation approaches must be understandable to various stakeholders, and useful for improving chatbot performance. The metric, nex-cv, uses negative examples in the evaluation of text classification, and fulfils three requirements. First, it is actionable: it can be used by non-developer staff. Second, it is not overly optimistic compared to human ratings, making it a fast method for comparing classifiers. Third, it allows model-agnostic comparison, making it useful for comparing systems despite implementation differences. We validate the metric based on seven recruitment-domain datasets in English and German over the course of one year.


When an individual goes online and makes a comment that causes offense it can be framed in a variety of ways. It can be framed as hate speech, defamatory speech, an invasion of privacy, terrorism supporting speech, or bullying, obscene, or offensive speech. The common defence of such posts is that it was just a silly joke. The question for speech regulation is how to treat such purported jokes. Are these jokes simply pushing boundaries; distasteful, but the price we pay for our freedom of expression? The banter and jokes that take place on social media are often spontaneous and imperfectly executed. The problem is that some of these jokes can cause serious harm, particularly to traditionally marginalised groups which tend to be the targets. The response of Western countries is varied, with the United Kingdom, for example, struggling with over-criminalization of such comments, while that is not the case in Canada or the United States of America. Most complaints about content fall to be privately regulated through the hosts. Through the lens of what is a joke, this chapter maps the path of a complaint about speech on social networks, focusing on the ways that the law, industry measures and voluntary policies by the hosts interwork and intersect. This mapping will then be used to highlight the difficulty in drawing a line between offensive speech requiring regulation and jokes.


Cycling is an effective solution for making urban transport more sustainable. However, bicycle networks are typically developed in a slow, piecewise process that leaves open a large number of gaps, even in well developed cycling cities like Copenhagen. Here, we develop the IPDC procedure (Identify, Prioritize, Decluster, Classify) for finding the most important missing links in urban bicycle networks, using data from OpenStreetMap. In this procedure we first identify all possible gaps following a multiplex network approach, prioritize them according to a flow-based metric, decluster emerging gap clusters, and manually classify the types of gaps. We apply the IPDC procedure to Copenhagen and report the 105 top priority gaps. For evaluation, we compare these gaps with the city's most recent Cycle Path Prioritization Plan and find considerable overlaps. Our results show how network analysis with minimal data requirements can serve as a cost-efficient support tool for bicycle network planning. By taking into account the whole city network for consolidating urban bicycle infrastructure, our data-driven framework can complement localized, manual planning processes for more effective, city-wide decision-making.


Background: Verrucous carcinoma (VC) should be considered a distinct clinicopathologic entity different from the more common oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) because of its unique biological behavior. Best way to understand the behavior of these carcinomas is to study them by means of molecular methods, especially in tumor progression tests and Bcl-X is an important antiapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family and is one of the newest and most useful markers to determine the aggressiveness of many carcinomas. The relationship between this Bcl-X protein and carcinomatous behavior toward it is not studied extensively, which we attempted to evaluate using immunohistochemical analysis in selected carcinomas of the head and neck region. Method: We studied Bcl-X protein expression in sections of thirty OSCC and ten VC samples and correlated this with tumor differentiation. Results: There was a significant difference in cytoplasmic staining of Bcl-X expression with statistical analysis (P < 0.005) for VC and OSCC when compared as a group. No significance was seen among the different histological grades of OSCC and when compared with VC individually. Conclusion: The significant result between OSCC and VC suggests that their biologic course is comparable and can be helpful in differentiating them with each other for establishment of a better treatment protocol.


Apparently, a few people have become rich over Bitcoin. But there is no way to verify that claim and no one will really ever know if it is anything less than hype. But hype or no hype, the Bitcoin saga appears to have convinced thousands of people to "invest" or make purchases using this currency alternative through cyberspace. Financial technology (FinTech) engulfs modernity. FinTech is found in global financial hubs, institutions, markets and government agencies, FinTech is required to provide a wide range of services from mobile apps and ATM cash dispensers to stock markets and hedge funds in London, New York and Paris. Uncertainly is removed and reliability and predictability are enhanced when FinTech is adroitly applied. In Singapore the central bank also known as the Monetary Authority of Singapore encourages innovation and experimentation using FinTech under a controlled and restricted environment. The direct government regulation of FinTech in the financial industry proves that the political authorities are keen to ensure that the use of FinTech does not destabilize or weaken financial norms or encourage overt risk as seen in the Bitcoin saga.Bitcoin are digital coins that can be sent directly from one person to another without going through a central regulatory agency or state political apparatus. There is no need to go through a bank and hence it reduces the cost of bank fees or companies like PayPal to zero. The issues that one might have with PayPal or credit cards from banks evaporate. More importantly, almost every country has Bitcoin machines and accounts cannot be frozen. Anyone can open a bit without showing proof of identity or any other condition that a bank might impose. Therefore, Bitcoin is changing the financial landscape in a way that digital watches changes the price and cost as well as consumer tastes that were monopolized by Swiss watches [1]. The radicalization of the wristwatch market forced Swiss watchmakers to rethink, reduce and innovate in order to survive. How does Bitcoin work? Bitcoin uses miners to verify financial transactions without the controls imposed by a central authority or a private or commercial bank. Bitcoin uses open source FinTech so that in the end no one really owns or controls Bitcoin or written another way, everyone owns and controls Bitcoin. Bitcoin is therefore taking the world by storm because it provides an alternative to the currency system that is controlled by a few countries (that made use of political violence and force to ensure the survival of their political economies) [2]. There are also other advantages to the use of Bitcoin because unlike currencies which are subjected to inflation, devaluation, or even counterfeiting. Because Bitcoin is a crypto currency and hence virtual, it does not take on a physical form and cannot be physically carried around. Immigration and customs officials cannot inspect how much Bitcoin you have in your virtual wallet. This can be avoided if one uses Tor or other apps that are accessible through the Dark Web People should be aware of the serious drawbacks to Bitcoin. No one knows if Bitcoin has or is or will be used for terrorist financing [3]. Everyone knows how much a given account number has, the level of transactions and volume as well as the amounts paid and received. Bitcoin is not completely independent of the banking and currency system. Bitcoin is based on mutual trust and hence payments made cannot be refunded. You cannot get cash from Bitcoin "dispensing" machines but you can buy and sell Bitcoin as well as other products on such machines. You need to pay in cash for Bitcoin and that involves interfacing with a bank. So it isn't that great an invention. In Singapore, the state police and regulatory authorities have a tight control over the people because of the small size of the population as well as the small size of the entire country. For example, in late 2017 fraudulent Bitcoin dispensing machines in Singapore were shut down. The price of Bitcoin was valued at US$0.39 in 2010 but is now worth US$12,000 as of January 2018 [4]. Bitcoin and Block Chain Block chain is the main innovation of Bitcoin. Block chain is a digital database of every transaction, address and wallet since Satoshi Nakamoto invented it. Satoshi Nakamoto is a fake name that is used to mask the authentic owner(s) of Bitcoin. The smallest amount of a Bitcoin is known as a Satoshi and is one-millionth of a Bitcoin. Bitcoin uses a simple node to propagate the blocks of transactions and automatically looks up relevant IP addresses to add to its database. Each block is connected together to form a ledger of all the transactions that occur at the precise date and time. Bitcoin miners are paid a small fee for notarizing a given transaction and for maintaining the Bitcoin ledgers. If anyone miner does not authenticate a transaction, then the transaction is not approved. Bitcoin is made up of mathematically complex algorithms and protocols. It should not be used without carefully studying its impact on. your money [5]. Bitcoin and its main innovative feature, Block Chain, is not merely a kind of crypto currency but may represent other common objects in the Internet of Things. A Bitcoin for example may represent or symbolize 10 million barrels of oil, the face used in a cosmetic product, 88GB of RAM or a basket of fruit. Bitcoin can be programmed, it is "programmable currency", and hence can be controlled by the programmer. The representation can be verified through its history of its transactions that have been notarized by the Bitcoin miners. This is why many think that Bitcoin appears to provide transparency, reliability and efficiency by removing the middleman. An expert on financial matters Ravi Menon, who happens to be the chairman of the MAS, warned people of the hype over Bitcoin. In my own view, Bitcoin is indeed the flavor of the month and the hype will evaporate at some point. Also, Bitcoin miners cannot keep increasing the number of coins in circulation as it has been capped at a specific amount. This amount can be seen at the official website that claims to be, the official Bitcoin website. Bitcoin can be accessed from any part of the world that has access to such technology. Having explored the limits of the physical world and the limits of the human body to go beyond our planet, human beings are now looking deeper into virtual space and exploring and expanding those frontiers [6]. Conclusion: The Politics of Finance in Cryptocurrency There is a politics of finance in Cryptocurrency because of the imbalance of power across the Internet. There are many different Cryptocurrencies that compete for customers with different virtual financial goods and products. Some experts believe that it is a clever technological scam that makes use of fancy mathematical logic and algorithms to perhaps delude and mislead people into parting with their money. While there are many people who claim to have made unproblematic transactions, there does not appear to be any reliable evidence of people actually making physically convertible profits from transacting in Bitcoin. The fact that the governments and their agencies cannot or have not interfered in a big way to prevent Bitcoin or other currencies from setting up shop does not mean that there will be no political intervention in the future. The levels of uncertainty and risk in purchasing and selling Bitcoin appear to be about the same as one might have buying the state lottery or making a 4D bet on the Singapore governmentowned betting company named Singapore Pools. But there is also a politics of Bitcoin because it adds to the financial hype that has engulfed academics teaching FinTech in their undergraduate classrooms. FinTech is just a catchall phrase for technology used for financial products and services. It is not something really new or fancy. Bitcoin and Block Chain however are original innovations that are different from FinTech because the former is both new and innovative like a "strawberry" while the latter is just a category like "fruit". The future of Bitcoin is limited and unknown and the bubble will eventually burst if not sooner than later. But what if it doesn't burst and what if it stabilizes and provides a genuine alternative to immoral and ridiculous credit card interest rates, housing loans


The forward testing effect is an indirect benefit of retrieval practice. It refers to the finding that retrieval practice of previously studied information enhances learning and retention of subsequently studied other information in episodic memory tasks. Here, two experiments were conducted that investigated whether retrieval practice influences participants' performance in other tasks, i.e., arithmetic tasks. Participants studied three lists of words in anticipation of a final recall test. In the testing condition, participants were immediately tested on lists 1 and 2 after study of each list, whereas in the restudy condition, they restudied lists 1 and 2 after initial study. Before and after study of list 3, participants did an arithmetic task. Finally, participants were tested on list 3, list 2, and list 1. Different arithmetic tasks were used in the two experiments. Participants did a modular arithmetic task in Experiment 1a and a single-digit multiplication task in Experiment 1b. The results of both experiments showed a forward testing effect with interim testing of lists 1 and 2 enhancing list 3 recall in the list 3 recall test, but no effects of recall testing of lists 1 and 2 for participants' performance in the arithmetic tasks. The findings are discussed with respect to cognitive load theory and current theories of the forward testing effect.


Market participants recognize two opposing effects of money supply growth on interest rates: a temporary liquidity effect and a permanent expectations effect. That the latter dominates in the long run is clear — a sustained increase in money growth causes proportionally higher interest rates due to a rise in inflationary expectations. In the short run, however, this interest-raising expectations effect is to some degree offset by the interest-lowering liquidity effect as monetary acceleration initially gluts the market for money balances. Depending on the relative strengths of these two opposing forces, increased money growth may lower interest rates for a while.In the second article in this Review, "Inflationary Expectations, Money Growth, and the Vanishing Liquidity Effect of Money on Interest: A Further Investigation," Yash Mehra examines the historical response of interest rates to changes in money growth and finds that the pattern of response has changed substantially over time. During the '50s and '60s, accelerations in money growth significantly lowered interest rates in the short run through the liquidity effect. In the '70s, however, the liquidity effect was no longer significant. Triggered by high and variable rates of inflation, inflationary expectations became more responsive to changes in money growth and the expectations effect began to dominate the liquidity effect even in the short run. As a result, the temporary lowering of interest rates following an acceleration of money growth is now shorter lived and less pronounced than it was during the '50s and '60s.


The results are described of the Rake Airflow Gage Experiment (RAGE), which was designed and fabricated to support the flight test of a new supersonic inlet design using Dryden's Propulsion Flight Test Fixture (PFTF) and F-15B testbed airplane (see figure). The PFTF is a unique pylon that was developed for flight-testing propulsion-related experiments such as inlets, nozzles, and combustors over a range of subsonic and supersonic flight conditions. The objective of the RAGE program was to quantify the local flowfield at the aerodynamic interface plane of the Channeled Centerbody Inlet Experiment (CCIE). The CCIE is a fixed representation of a conceptual mixed-compression supersonic inlet with a translating biconic centerbody. The primary goal of RAGE was to identify the relationship between free-stream and local Mach number in the low supersonic regime, with emphasis on the identification of the particular free-stream Mach number that produced a local Mach number of 1.5. Measurements of the local flow angularity, total pressure distortion, and dynamic pressure over the interface plane were also desired. The experimental data for the RAGE program were obtained during two separate research flights. During both flights, local flowfield data were obtained during straight and level acceleration segments out to steady-state test points. The data obtained from the two flights showed small variations in Mach number, flow angularity, and dynamic pressure across the interface plane at all flight conditions. The data show that a free-stream Mach number of 1.65 will produce the desired local Mach number of 1.5 for CCIE. The local total pressure distortion over the interface plane at this condition was approximately 1.5%. At this condition, there was an average of nearly 2 of downwash over the interface plane. This small amount of downwash is not expected to adversely affect the performance of the CCIE inlet.


Abstract Many developed countries are placing resources to combat the growing threats in cyberspace, and emerging nations are no different. Since 2016, the Dominican Republic is undergoing massive changes within the current government to prioritize cybersecurity through laws, policies, and doctrine. This initiative is causing politicians, industry, and even government entities such as the national police to start the journey to begin to fully understand what are the issues in cybersecurity as they apply to the nation. It is essential that the security challenges and problems identified are addressed through a process of discovery while mitigating risks. This paper is to present those challenges and offer solutions that can be used to achieve an acceptable level of cyber risk.


This paper examines one aspect of human interaction with computer-integrated systems, that of fault diagnosis or troubleshooting. The complexity (and attendant unreliability) of the new manufacturing systems has meant that fault diagnosis has become an increasing proportion and an integral part of operators' jobs. Establishing and maintaining high levels of diagnostic accuracy and efficiency is important for a variety of reasons. One is that equipment downtime is expensive, another is that errors of diagnosis might, under some circumstances, be a threat to both safety and quality. As yet there has been little research into human fault diagnosis in CIM. This paper draws on research from other industries, such as power generation and chemical production and explores the application of that work to fault-finding in computer-integrated discrete production systems. The focus is on the factors that influence individual fault-finding behaviors and efficiencies. Where possible, the aim is to identify critical human-machine interaction design principles and to highlight research questions yet to be addressed in contemporary manufacturing environments, with respect to the diagnosis of system failures. >


The hedgehog signalling pathway plays a crucial role during regulation of hair cycle and homeostasis of mammalian skin. Furthermore, misregulation of this pathway is attributed to a range of skin diseases and cancers. In previous studies Indian hedgehog was identified to be the only Hedgehog ligand expressed in sebaceous glands. Moreover, modulation of hedgehog pathway activity was shown to affect size and number of sebaceous glands in the skin. Thereby, local inactivation of the canonical Wnt pathway seems to be prerequisite for correct sebaceous gland development. However, the underlying molecular mechanism has not been clarified, yet.
Therefore, we hypothesise that Indian hedgehog signalling regulates proliferation and/or differentiation in human sebocytes. Thereby, activation of Hedgehog pathway and inactivation of canonical Wnt signalling might be cross-linked.
To test this, we applied the human sebocyte cell line SZ95 as in vitro model by comparing three distinct sebocyte populations depending on their differentiation state: "undifferentiated", "differentiating" and "terminally differentiated" after induction by arachidonic acid treatment.
Terminally differentiated sebocytes displayed increased expression of IHH without endogenous pathway activation. In contrast, undifferentiated sebocyte displayed increased proliferation rate upon pathway activation by GLI1 and GLI2 expression. Additionally, our findings point to a role of the lipid metabolism in regulating these processes as shown by modulation of gene expression by addition of arachidonic acid.
Importantly, overexpression of GLI1, GLI2 and GLI3 also revealed that each GLI transcription factors preferentially activates a distinct set of established and potentially new Hedgehog target genes in human sebocytes.
Additionally, we identified a new mechanism of mutual regulation between Hedgehog and Wnt pathways on protein level in human sebocytes. More precisely, overexpression of GLI3 and GLI2 transcription factors resulted in accumulation of non-phosphorylated, active β-CATENIN, although Wnt pathway activity was not increased. Conversely, augmented levels of β-CATENIN in combination with GLI1 activator dramatically increased Gli reporter activity.
In summary, we propose the following model where undifferentiated sebocytes are the target cells of Hedgehog signals originating from mature sebocytes and GLI repressors might block endogenous Wnt pathway by interference with β-CATENIN.


In this paper, outcomes from an investigation of plausible climate futures over the next century, and the potential impacts on water services including water resource management and disaster risk reduction, such as flash flooding in Ekurhuleni (EMM), are presented. Four key aspects are examined: (i) the extent to which the frequency of extreme rainfall events may change in South Africa as a result of climate change; (ii) the identification of some of the implications of extreme rainfall events for local government (iii) the identification of some of the challenges communities most at risk of flooding as a result of extreme rainfall events face, finally, (iv) the opportunities for future co-production of design methods and approaches to reduce current and future climate risks in EMM and elsewhere. Climate modelling conducted for this research indicates that it is plausible for an increase in the number of extreme rainfall events to occur over central and eastern South Africa over the next century. Over EMM, for example, an increase in extreme rainfall events is likely to be accompanied by flash flooding and a range of deleterious impacts, if planning and maintenance of the water services infrastructure is not improved – a result that is likely to be valid for all large metropolitan municipalities in the country. The paper provides some lessons learnt when trying to include a climate risk reduction approach into the planning of urban development.


In this work we present five axioms for a risk-order relation defined over (monetary) gambles. We then characterize an index that satisfies all these axioms – the probability of losing money in a gamble multiplied by the expected value of such an outcome – and prove its uniqueness. We propose to use this function as the risk of a gamble. This index is continuous, homogeneous, monotonic with respect to first- and second-order stochastic dominance, and simple to calculate. We also compare our index with some other risk indices mentioned in the literature.


. The aim of this paper is to discuss the reasons for the rapid growth in the Chinese economy over the last three decades. China has been growing fastest in human history, which has an impact on the global economy and also various challenges that the country faces. It is seen as heralding a major shift in the international division of labour through changes in its output and employment pattern. China is described as becoming the "work-shop" of the world as a result of the expansion of its manufacturing production. Its impact on other Asian economies and also on the world economy has the potential to be enormous. Market reforms and opening up of the Chinese economy to trade and foreign capital since the early 1980s, have unleashed entrepreneurial energies. China's development policies can be best understood if these are looked at from an institutional economic perspective. This article is based on a review of published papers in the field of economic policies, focusing on the debate concerning the respective roles of the state and the market. A wide range of data sources are presented, including statistics compiled and generated by wide range of organisations such as IMF, World Bank and WTO that are non-governmental agencies. Secondary data of this type provides greater potential for addressing the research questions than statistics produced by the national government. This study finds that corporate debt has risen in recent years in China, a large part of these loans having been financed with investment in trust products issued by the banks. In addition, a huge amount of credit has been channelled into the real estate sector, and seems to be heading towards the housing and estate sectors, meaning that most of this is speculative. Investments are financed by credit; which clearly needs to be repaid. If these levels of debt become unsustainable this could pose a major challenge for the Chinese economy.


ABSTRACT In this study, we collected 226 shrew specimens originating from 16 localities on the Guinean and Liberian sides of Mount Nimba. We surveyed all major vegetation zones from 400 to 1600 m above sea level (asl), including forest and savannah habitats. We recorded 11 species, whose identifications were confirmed by genetic analyses and classical morphometrics. Furthermore, we provide cytogenetic data for five of these species. The shrew community at Mount Nimba is composed of a mix of both savannah- and forest-dependent species, which is related to the peculiar position of Mount Nimba situated at the transition between lowland rainforest to the south and Guinean woodlands to the north. We recorded 11 species of shrews in syntopy in lowland rainforest, seven in edaphic savannah and mountain forest, and five in high-altitude savannah at 1600 m asl. Based on morphometric analyses, we show that these syntopic species separate along a size axis, allowing species to occupy different ecological niches, which we speculate allows them to access different food resources. We also highlight that Crocidura theresae Heim de Balsac, 1968 from Mount Nimba has a different karyotype from that described in Côte d'Ivoire. Finally, we develop a novel identification key for shrews from Mount Nimba using external characters and standard body measurements, allowing it to be used in the field on live specimens. In total 12 shrew species are now known from Mount Nimba, which highlights its exceptional position as a tropical African biodiversity hotspot.


This thesis presents a collection of new novel techniques using the bulk-driven approach,
which can lead to performance enhancement in the field of CMOS analogue amplifier design
under the very low-supply voltage constraints. In this thesis, three application areas of the
bulk-driven approach are focused – at the input-stage of differential pairs, at the source
followers, and at the cascode devices.
For the input stage of differential pairs, this thesis proposes two new novel circuit design
techniques. One of them utilises the concept of the replica-biased scheme in order to solve the
non-linearity and latch-up issues, which are the potential problems that come along with the
bulk-driven approach. The other proposed circuit design technique utilises the flipped voltage
scheme and the Quasi-Floating Gate technique in order to achieve low-power high-speed
performances, and furthermore the reversed-biased diode concept to overcome the issue of
degraded input impedance characteristics that come along with the bulk-driven approach.
Applying the bulk-driven approach in source followers is a new type of circuit blocks in
CMOS analogue field, in which to the author's best knowledge has not been proposed at any
literatures in the past. This thesis presents the bulk-driven version of the flipped voltage
followers and super source followers, which can lead to eliminating the DC level shift.
Furthermore, a technique for programming the DC level shift less than the threshold voltage
of a MOSFET, which cannot be achieved by conventional types of source followers, is
presented.
The effectiveness of the cascode device using the bulk-driven approach is validated by
implementing it in a complete schematics design of a fully differential bulk-driven
operational transcoductance amplifier (OTA). This proposal leads to solving the lowtranconductance
problem of a bulk-driven differential pair, and in effect the open loop gain of
the OTA exceeds 60dB using a 0.35?m CMOS technology.
The final part of this thesis provides the study result of the input capacitance of a bulk-driven
buffer. To verify the use of the BSIM3 MOSFET model in the simulation for predicting the
input capacitance, the measurement data of the fabricated device are compared with the postlayout
simulation results.


Under mowing conditions in the absence of the animal, ultra-simple swards based either on ryegrass or cocksfoot gave large increases in yield of dry matter and nitrogen from the inclusion of white clover in the seeds mixture. Raising the clover seed rate from 1 to 3 lb./acre gave a further response in yield.

As the swards aged, the continuing effect of increased clover seed rate was dependent on applied nitrogen.

The rate of transference of nitrogen from clover to the soil depended upon the species of the associated grass, the clover seed rate, the age of the sward and the degree of reduction of the clover in the sward.

Suppression of clover led to an increase in soil nitrogen, particularly with high seed rates of clover.

Dry matter response to applied nitrogen (69 lb./acre/annum) was greater in cocksfoot than in ryegrass. Fertilizer nitrogen had little effect on the yield of nitrogen from the sward except where the high seed rate of clover had been used.


Stakeholder dialogue, participation, and partnership have become mainstream concepts in international development policy, in particular in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, the accountability of multi-stakeholder initiatives on CSR to their intended beneficiaries in the global South is increasingly questioned. This paper looks at how the agendas of some initiatives in the areas of ethical trade and sustainability reporting are driven by what Western NGOs push for, what large companies consider feasible, and what consultants and accountants seek to provide. It describes how the resulting practices and discourse restrict change and marginalise alternative approaches developed by Southern stakeholders. It is argued that enthusiasm for stakeholder dialogue, participation, and partnership in CSR matters, and beyond, needs to be reconceived with democratic principles in mind. 'Stakeholder democracy' is offered as a conceptual framework for this endeavour, and some recommendations are made for NGOs, companies, and governments.


The research reported on in this article explores the use of social media for work-related or professional purposes. In particular, it focuses on the perceptions and use of social media by academics in the UK. The purpose of the research was to explore the potential social media has to facilitate the changing landscape of higher education and support the individual academic in their role. Of particular interest is how specific social media tools are being used to enhance networking opportunities and contribute to career progression. The use of social media was explored in detail through interviews and a survey. Typical activities that are currently being undertaken were identified and user group profiles developed that articulate different levels of engagement with these tools and the motivations that each group of users have for using social media. The study found that, with increasing levels of activity, the number of motivations for using social media increase, as does the perceived number of successful outcomes, including contributions towards career progression. The main barriers to using social media were identified as a lack of time and skills to undertake these activities, as well as a negative perception of social media. Recommendations for increasing participation are to provide practical training, including the sharing of good practice, and to initiate dialogues within institutions regarding the potential career progression opportunities that social media may afford.


Particle-based delivery systems are a promising approach to enhance antigen-specific immunity for use in vaccines. Chitosan, a natural polysaccharide derived from the exoskeletons of crustaceans, shows great potential as a vaccine carrier due to its favorable properties as a biomaterial, including biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this study, the intracellular uptake of chitosan nanoparticles is explored and compared to that of other commonly used particle-based delivery vehicles, such as poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) was used as a model protein antigen and encapsulated in both chitosan particles via precipitationcoacervation and PLGA particles via double emulsion solvent evaporation. Fluorescence microscopy images showed that, when co-incubated with dendritic cells, all cells were found to internalize FITC-BSA-chitosan nanoparticles. Additionally, punctate fluorescence in the cytoplasm indicated that at least some of the particles were within endosomes at early (less than 24 hour) time points. Furthermore, flow cytometry results showed chitosan particles to have a greater uptake (74%) by dendritic cells compared to PLGA particles (32%) or soluble protein (43%) at early time points (1 hour).


A temporally abstract action, or an option, is specified by a policy and a termination condition: the policy guides the option behavior, and the termination condition roughly determines its length. Generally, learning with longer options (like learning with multi-step returns) is known to be more efficient. However, if the option set for the task is not ideal, and cannot express the primitive optimal policy well, shorter options offer more flexibility and can yield a better solution. Thus, the termination condition puts learning efficiency at odds with solution quality. We propose to resolve this dilemma by decoupling the behavior and target terminations, just like it is done with policies in off-policy learning. To this end, we give a new algorithm, Q(beta), that learns the solution with respect to any termination condition, regardless of how the options actually terminate. We derive Q(beta) by casting learning with options into a common framework with well-studied multi-step off policy learning. We validate our algorithm empirically, and show that it holds up to its motivating claims.


After the occurrence of a natural disaster, the reconstruction can be financed with catastrophic bonds (CAT bonds) or reinsurance. For insurers, reinsurers and other corporations CAT bonds provide multi year protection without the credit risk present in reinsurance. For investors CAT bonds offer attractive returns and reduction of portfolio risk, since CAT bonds defaults are uncorrelated with defaults of other securities. As the study of natural catastrophe models plays an important role in the prevention and mitigation of disasters, the main motivation of this thesis is the pricing of CAT bonds for earthquakes in Mexico. This thesis examines the calibration of a real parametric CAT bond for earthquakes that was sponsored by the Mexican government. This thesis also derives the price of a hypothetical modeled loss CAT bond for earthquakes, which is based on the compound doubly stochastic Poisson pricing methodology from Baryshnikov et al. (1998) and Burnecki and Kukla (2003).


A new hierarchical optical path network design algorithm that incorporates restrictions on waveband add/drop ratios at nodes is proposed. We evaluate its effectiveness by conducting extensive numerical experiments. The effects of the network parameters, which include network size, link distance, and network topology, on total network cost are elucidated. The results show that the proposed algorithm, which considers restrictions on the waveband add/drop ratio, yields almost the same cost as an algorithm that does not consider the add/drop ratio when the ratio is not so stringent, say, greater than 0.3. It is also demonstrated that choosing the waveband capacity properly is critical in minimizing total network cost.


Marketing is a tool that must always be sharpened to meet the market needs. In a world of constant evolution, marketers are looking for new ways to attract and capture the attention of consumers. The emergence of new forms of marketing makes sales experience increasingly rich and increasingly difficult. The points of sale must offer originality to rival and beat the competition in all aspects. The use and stimulation of the senses through sensory marketing makes more satisfactory consumer experience and allows to differentiate in the market. Different theories say that music is an atmospheric element that influences consumer behavior. However, these writings do not take into account demographic factors. Nevertheless a difference between generation is present in the way of consuming. The study is focused on Generation Y in order to know the specificities of this one. In fact, generation Y has evolved in a very intense musical framework and it would be interesting to observe their behavior in-store face a stimulus in order to analyze the influence.


The introduction of the current Common European Agricultural Policy in ten new member states in central and eastern Europe will be a major financial challenge for the European Union. On the basis of the partial equilibrium model ESIM this article analyses potential consequences of different options for a reformed CAP. While the impact on agricultural markets will be relatively small, the financial burden of a harmonisation of agricultural policies and an introduction of direct payments in the new member states has to be carried mainly by the old member states of the EU-15. The burden of the main net-payers, especially Germany, would be significantly lower, if CAP were reformed according to the proposals of the EU-Commission's Mid-term Report. However, the remaining negative impacts on world agricultural trade and on world market prices for agricultural products, clearly show the necessity of a further reform of the CAP.


The shape of the bounding contour of a smooth object is known to constrain the local shape of the 3D object at its rim: convex points on the contour must project from convex points on the surface, while concave points project from saddle points (Koenderink 1984). While mathematically the bounding contour does not strictly constrain solid shape at points interior to the contour, the fact that silhouettes can convey a compelling sense of 3D shape suggests that the contour may carry useful statistical cues to surface shape some distance from the rim. Here, we use a novel psychophysical method to quantify the effect of the bounding contour on 3D surface shape interior to the bounding contour of an object. Subjects viewed smooth, random 'potato' objects, illuminated primarily by a single point light source positioned on one side of the object. We partially occluded the potato shape on the side opposite the lighting direction, and a cutaway in the occluder revealed a silhouetted surface and bounding contour. We manipulated both curvature sign and magnitude of this contour section across trials. The subject's task was to orient a gauge figure to indicate perceived surface attitude at interior locations over a range of distances from the windowed bounding contour. We found that locations near the boundary were perceived to have larger slant values relative to interior points. Additionally, perceived surface attitude was modulated by both sign and magnitude of contour curvature. We discuss these results in the context of the joint ecological statistics of bounding contour and surface shape. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


The first quarter of 2020 saw the positive Russia's balance of trade to plunge on the back of contraction of exports value amid plummeting crude oil prices with stabilized imports volumes. Due to the decline in foreign liabilities and growth of assets in foreign banks and enterprises, net capital outflow was observed in the private sector. In the contexts of negative external shocks, ruble's exchange rate against dollar plunged by more than 20%.


While many people have heard of Bitcoin, far fewer understand it. In short, Bitcoin is a digital currency that allows transactions independent of the banking system. Lately, many people are buying Bitcoin purely as a financial investment, hoping it will appreciate. So which is it—currency or financial asset?


Topic models are widely used to thematically describe a collection of text documents and have become an important technique for systems that measure document similarity for classification, clustering, segmentation, entity linking and more. While they have been applied to some non-text domains, their use for semi-structured graph data, such as RDF, has been less explored. We present a framework for applying topic modeling to RDF graph data and describe how it can be used in a number of linked data tasks. Since topic modeling builds abstract topics using the co-occurrence of document terms, sparse documents can be problematic, presenting challenges for RDF data. We outline techniques to overcome this problem and the results of experiments in using them. Finally, we show preliminary results of using Latent Dirichlet Allocation generative topic modeling for several linked data use cases.


Chaney, Joseph Rashon. Ph.D., Purdue University, May 2015. Biochemical Investigation of the Ubiquitin Carboxyl-Terminal Hydrolase Family Major Professor: Chittaranjan Das. The proteasome is the machinery in eukaryotic cells that degrades protein and recycles the amino acids. Protein degradation is a highly regulated process which starts by the attachment of chains of ubiquitin, which serves as a tag that marks a protein for degradation. This function involves the work of several proteins at the proteasome that work either as ubiquitin chaperones, ubiquitin binders or cleave ubiquitin from the protein that is to be degraded. As this is a highly regulated process, various irregularities can have deleterious effects including the onset of disease, including cardiovascular, cancer, and neurological. The focus of this dissertation is to study how residues located within and outside the active site of Ubiquitin Carboxyl Terminal Hydrolase (UCH) deubiquinating enzymes (DUBS) help regulate these enzymes interaction with the ubiquitin. I will provide evidence that the putative oxyanion glutamine does function contribute to stabilization of the oxyanion intermediate. Secondly, I will show that evidence that glutamine may also serve another function within the active site by providing a CHO hydrogen bond that was previously thought not to exist within the active sites of cysteine proteases. Lastly, I will show that a conserved tryptophan in UCH37 has an effect on its catalytic viability.


This article compares the socio-economic determinants of welfare attitudes in the Czech Republic to those in Sweden, using survey data from the 1996 ISSP survey 'The Role of Governments'. Many theorists of the transition have claimed that the post-communist countries have a different political dynamic that their west European neighbors. For example, David Ost claims that that citizens of post-communist countries during the 1990s were not sure of which class they would belong to and therefore, were not sure of their class interests. Similarly, Zagorski claims that in post-communist countries educational level becomes one of the most important determinants of welfare and socioeconomic attitudes, because the reform process is very complicated. Those with higher levels of education can better understand the complexities of the reforms and are more willing to accept short-term disadvantages for long-term gains. However, many experts have also claimed that the Czech Republic presents an exception to these trends. It is the one country in which party-competition is based on socioeconomic issues and voting is class-based. This study tests these three hypotheses, to determine whether the Czech Republic really does provide an exception to the general post-communist development.


In this article, we track how consumption in the United States, a highly developed "core" country, triggers value added and carbon inequalities around the globe. We consider these two sources of inequality for all commodities and services consumed in the United States, and then for three specific sectors, these being electronics, motor vehicles, and wearing apparel. Our findings show how the production of commodities for U.S. consumption tends to reify inequalities between countries. Larger shares of value added (in comparison to shares of carbon emissions) are generally experienced by more‐developed, more‐integrated countries, whereas the opposite tendency is experienced in less‐developed, less‐integrated regions. We note how these between‐country differences can depend on the product chains that are analyzed. Our article makes use of a novel combination of social network analysis and multiregional input‐output analysis to better capture some intuitive ideas of global trade and its consequences.


It was recognized early on that the agent responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as scrapie in sheep or kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease (GSS), and fatal familial insomnia (FFI) in man had quite extraordinary properties, such as unusually long incubation periods (measured in months to years) and uncommon resistance to high temperature, formaldehyde treatment, and UV irradiation. The agent has been designated as "prion" (see glossary, Table 1) to distinguish it from conventional pathogens such as bacteria and viruses (Prusiner 1982).

In recent years, a new form of prion disease emerged in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other European countries, namely, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease, which has been attributed to the consumption by cattle of feed supplements derived from scrapie-contaminated sheep and later from cattle offal (Wilesmith et al. 1992). It is, however, quite possible that BSE originated as a sporadic.


This study explores William Blake's engagement with eighteenth-century antiquarian discourse as a means of critiquing the political and religious institutions of his era. In his shorter epic, Milton a Poem, Blake suggests a model for national regeneration rooted in a view of British antiquity that is marked by an original liberty based on brotherhood and forgiveness. The first chapter demonstrates that Blake presents the Druids as Satanic missionaries spreading his message of submission to his moral law, which also disguises itself as natural law. Blake depicts Satan and the Druids in this manner in order to critique eighteenth-century notions of natural and state religion. The second chapter examines Blake's particular engagement with the work of the antiquary William Stukeley. Stukeley's dual role as antiquary and Anglican clergyman reveals that antiquarianism was an important force in the contemporary political landscape. His vision of the Druids as proto-Anglicans and national religionists provides Blake with an avenue for the critique of natural and state religion he presents in Milton. The third chapter demonstrates how Blake uses the poetic and prophetic figure of the bard in opposition to the priestly Druids in order to provide an alternative locus for concerns of national identity and a model for social change through poetry. Communicative acts between individuals inspire the broader spread of the call to self-annihilation and the combination of individuals in brotherhood and forgiveness to join the body of Jesus.


Using Monte Carlo experiments, I address two issues in demand analysis. The first relates to the performance of local flexible functional forms in recovering the time-varying elasticities of a true model, and in correctly identifying goods as complements, substitutes, normal or inferior. The problem is illustrated with the nonlinear almost ideal demand system (NLAI) and the Rotterdam model (RM). For the AIDS, I also consider two versions of its linear approximation: one with simple formulas (LAISF) and the other with corrected formulas (LAICF). The second issue concerns the ability of the flexible functional structures to satisfy theoretical regularity in terms of the Slutsky matrix being negative semi-definite at each time period of time. I tackle these issues in the framework of structural time series models, computing the relevant time-varying elasticities by means of Kalman filtered and smoothed coefficients. The estimated time-varying coefficients are obtained under the pure random walk and the local trend hypotheses. I find that both the NLAI and the RM qualitatively perform well in approximating the signs of the time-varying income and substitution elasticities. Quantitatively, the RM tends to produce values of the time-varying elasticity of substitution close to the true ones within separable utility branches while the NLAI tends to produce overestimating values. On the other hand, the RM produces time-varying income elasticities with values close to the true ones while the NLAI tends to produce constant values over time. The LAISF model qualitatively performs similarly to the NLAI, but the LAICF does not. Finally, the NLAI achieves higher levels of the regularity index under the local trend specification while the RM achieves higher regularity levels under the random walk specification. In contrast, the LAISF and the LAICF models achieve lower levels of regularity under both specifications of the time-varying coefficients. Globally, the LAICF which widely adopted in applied work performs poorly compared to the RM and the NLAI. These findings are robust to different values of the time-varying parameters in the utility function. Two implications emerge from this research. First, the LAICF model should be considered as a model on its own rather than as an approximation of the NLAI. Second, the choice between an AIDS-type model and the RM should be motivated by their performance with respect to the properties a hypothesized true model for the data at hand, especially when working with real data.


The rules on how the rings exercises in male gymnastics are composed, rely on different body movements based on controlled alternation between the dynamic and isometric muscular contraction. The main factors that determine the accuracy of executions in male artistic gymnastics rings are the balance control, the quality of processes that coordinate muscle activity, and the level of relative muscle strength. Specific training involves muscle and joint efforts of maximum intensity. The objective of this study was to design a training methodology that would allow effort volume and intensity to be adjusted according to individual features, and in the same time, to be able to avoid maximum intensity demands. The methodology we proposed has been developed and applied in laboratory conditions, based on a Force Control System, in isometric contraction conditions, consisting of a hardware and a software component. This system ensures both controlled effort dosing and pausing between repetitions, as well as the subject's performance in terms of force variations and training task viewing on a monitor, in real time, under a graphical representation. The system provides information on the athlete's execution in real time, with a precision of 1 ms, and displays the information to the athlete in a graphical form every 10 ms. The study has been conducted in Bio-motricity laboratory of the National Institute for Sport Science with the participation of six elite gymnasts. The progress gained by athletes after following the application of this methodology demonstrates the benefits of the use of the technology, allowing accurate measurement of the effort and providing real-time information on the quality of sports performance.


A method of evaluating the two-dimensional Fourier transform of the point image intensity distribution for an annular aperture is presented. Since all three integrals involved are of the same basic form, it is shown that an analytic solution can be obtained by integrating the general expression with respect to a parameter. The result agrees with Steel's expression obtained by convolving the aperture function with its complex conjugate. A family of transfer functions is then plotted with the ratio of inner to outer radius of the annulus as a parameter.


In this paper, we focus on the use of random projections as a dimensionality reduction tool for sampled manifolds in high- dimensional Euclidean spaces. We show that geodesic paths approximations from nearest neighbors Euclidean distances are well-preserved by Gaussian projections and we characterize the distribution of geodesic lengths in the reduced dimensional point cloud. A stylized application to a real-world data set of human faces is presented to validate our theoretical findings.


Floods continue to pose the greatest threat to the property and safety of human communities among all natural hazards in the United States. While the link between urbanization and flooding is established, the degree to which specific characteristics of the built environment affect the level of damage sustained by a community has never been thoroughly investigated at the regional scale. Our study addresses this lack of research by examining the relationship between the built environment and flood impacts in Texas, which consistently sustains the most damage from flooding of any other state in the country. Specifically, we calculate property damage resulting from 423 flood events over a five year period from 1997 and 2001 at the county level. We identify the impact of several built environment measures, including wetland alteration, impervious surface, and dams on reported property damage while controlling for biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics. Statistical results suggest that naturally occurring wetlands play a particularly important role in mitigating flood damage. These findings provide guidance to planners and flood managers on how to most


Chorea gravidarum is the term given to chorea occurring during pregnancy. It is not an etiologically or pathologically distinct morbid entity, but a generic term for chorea of any etiology. We report a case of Chorea Gravidarum who doesn't have the past h/o Rheumatic fever, Sydenham's chorea in childhood. Factors associated with recurrence of chorea, their aggrevating factors during pregnancy and its management have been discussed.


A porous graphene paper was prepared by pressing a graphene cryogel, followed by thermal reduction at 220 °C. The cryogel was formed by freeze-drying a solution containing chemically reduced graphene and graphene oxide (CRG/GO). The formed graphene cryogel papers deliver a much higher discharge capacity and rate capability than that from conventional graphene papers fabricated by filtration. These new structures have a discharge capacity higher than 400 mA h g−1 at a current density of 2000 mA g−1 in sharp contrast to 229 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1 obtained from conventional graphene papers. These greatly improved electrochemical properties may be attributed to the porous structure and the concomitant high surface area. The mechanical properties may be tuned with the CRG/GO ratio. At a CRG/GO mass ratio of 2:1 the graphene paper has a Young's modulus nearly 9 times greater than an equivalent paper made from pure GO.


SUMMARY This paper describes a classroom teaching experiment, concerning the concept of probability, with children aged 5 in a kindergarten school. The teaching experiment was based on constructivist and interactionist theories about the learning of school mathematics and lasted one month. The collection of the information was based on the tape-recorded interviews with the children (each child was interviewed prior to the research program, at the end of the program and one month later) and the videotaped teaching sessions. During the program, we identified three critical steps in the development of the children's probabilistic thinking: a) the interpretation of the "different" outcomes in a two stage experiment, b) the acceptance of the realization of the experiment for resolving their conflicting viewpoints, and c) estimating the outcomes in a problem. At the end of the program the majority of the children managed to overcome their subjective interpretations and seemed to develop a primitive quantitative reasoning in probabilistic tasks.


The significance of sparse representations has been highlighted in numerous signal processing applications ranging from denoising to source separation and the emerging field of compressed sensing has provided new theoretical insights into the problem of inverse systems with sparsity constraints. In this thesis, these advances are exploited in order to tackle the problem of directionof-arrival (DOA) estimation in sensor arrays. Assuming spatial sparsity e.g. few sources impinging on the array, the problem of DOA estimation is formulated as a sparse representation problem in an overcomplete basis. The resulting inverse problem can be solved using typical sparse recovery methods based on convex optimization i.e. `1 minimization. However, in this work a suite of novel sparse recovery algorithms is initially developed, which reduce the computational cost and yield approximate solutions. Moreover, the proposed algorithms of Polytope Faces Pursuits (PFP) allow for the induction of structured sparsity models on the signal of interest, which can be quite beneficial when dealing with multi-channel data acquired by sensor arrays, as it further reduces the complexity and provides performance gain under certain conditions. Regarding the DOA estimation problem, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methods outperform popular subspace based methods such as the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm in the case of rank-deficient data (e.g. presence of highly correlated sources or limited amount of data) for both narrowband and wideband sources. In the wideband scenario, they can also suppress the undesirable effects of spatial aliasing. However, DOA estimation with sparsity constraints has its limitations. The compressed sensing requirement of incoherent dictionaries for robust recovery sets limits to the resolution capabilities of the proposed method. On the other hand, the unknown parameters are continuous and therefore if the true DOAs do not belong to the predefined discrete set of potential locations the algorithms' performance will degrade due to errors caused by mismatches. To overcome this limitation, an iterative alternating descent algorithm for the problem of off-grid DOA estimation is proposed that alternates between sparse recovery and dictionary update estimates. Simulations clearly illustrate the performance gain of the algorithm over the conventional sparsity approach and other existing off-grid DOA estimation algorithms.