We describe the odorant binding proteins (OBPs) of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, obtained from analyses of an EST library and separate 454 sequencing runs of two normalized cDNA libraries. We identified a total of 18 putative functional OBPs in this ant. A third of the fire ant OBPs are orthologs to honey bee OBPs. Another third of the OBPs belong to a lineage-specific expansion, which is a common feature of insect OBP evolution. Like other OBPs, the different fire ant OBPs share little sequence similarity (∼20%), rendering evolutionary analyses difficult. We discuss the resulting problems with sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis, and tests of selection. As previously suggested, our results underscore the importance for careful exploration of the sensitivity to the effects of alignment methods for data comprising widely divergent sequences.


[Spoiler alert:] On January 18, 2000, a meteoroid 4 meters in diameter hit the Earth's atmosphere and exploded over the Yukon Territory in northern Canada. The size of the fireball and the contrail that it left behind caught the attention of meteoriticists, who suspected it was a carbonaceous chondrite. Amongst the public, however, reactions to the event were varied, and conspiracy theorists emerged, claiming that the meteor had been a failed weapons test conducted by the United States military. A week after the fall, outdoorsman Jim Brook discovered black meteorites on the frozen surface of Tagish Lake, in northern British Columbia. He kept the stones pristine: frozen and untouched-a first for any meteorite fall. He made his discovery known to a few scientists only after they agreed to confidentiality, and those scientists confirmed that he had found a carbonaceous chondrite. Alan Hildebrand and Peter Brown put together an expedition to recover more fragments of the rare meteorite, interviewing eyewitnesses to reconstruct the trajectory of the bolide, but recovery efforts were hampered by deep snow. A second expedition returned in the spring when, for a short window, the fragile chondrites were exposed on the melting lake ice, and collection was successful. The secrecy surrounding these expeditions contributed to the idea that a cover-up was taking place; that the meteorite was not real. But scientific analysis, conducted by Mike Zolensky and many others, has proven otherwise. The Tagish Lake Meteorite appears to be a new type of meteorite, with ties to CI and CM type chondrites, possibly from the D type asteroids. It has the highest concentrations of carbon observed in any extraterrestrial sample, and an abundance of presolar grains. Rich in extraterrestrial organic compounds and containing distinct hollow organic globules, the primitive meteorite has brought a minirevolution to the field of meteoritics. It may help us understand the beginnings of the solar system and the origins of life on Earth. The story of the fall, recovery and the study of this meteorite highlights the necessary uncertainties of the scientific method, and the relationship between science and the general public. Thesis Supervisor: Thomas Levenson Title: Professor of Science Writing


The current Internet infrastructure must be architected to handle future media-rich, and content rich applications. The success of applications such as video-on-demand, multicast and content distribution depends on Quality of Service and bandwidth guarantees. Over the years, the Internet has encompassed many changes in traffic profiles and applications, in bandwidths and utilization, but the future Internet infrastructure necessitates a very different architecture supporting Quality of Service (QoS). A satellite, distinguished by features such as global coverage, bandwidth flexibility, broadcast, multicast, and reliability, is an excellent candidate to provide broadband integrated Internet access. The aim of this thesis is to explore suitability of satellite technologies for broadband Internet services with significant emphasis on the question of defining, assessing, and developing QoS models for satellite ATM and IP broadband networks with and without onboard processing. For the satellite Internet, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) performance is degraded due to long propagation delays, link errors, and bandwidth asymmetry. In this thesis, for satellite ATM, fundamental questions such as buffer requirements, TCP/ATM efficiency, fairness, and multiple access are addressed through extensive simulations in a quantitative way. Buffer designs for TCP over satellite ATM Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) service are performed. A buffer size equal to half the round trip delay-bandwidth product of the TCP connections provides high efficiency for TCP over satellite UBR. An extensive TCP analysis via simulation study for various TCP mechanisms and end system policies show that for satellite environment end system policies are more important than switch drop policies in terms of efficiency and fairness for World Wide Web traffic. A bandwidth allocation scheme is proposed and analytical model for supporting voice and video service over a broadband satellite network is developed. The study results demonstrate that non-contiguous allocation can afford higher gain in uplink utilizations. In this thesis, for the first time, Integrated Services and Differentiated Services based QoS architectures for broadband satellite IP networks are proposed and analyzed. In multimedia applications where User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used along with TCP, a fair excess bandwidth allocation is not possible because TCP is congestion sensitive whereas UDP is congestion insensitive. An extensive simulation model is developed to study the effect of precedence levels for reserved rate utilization and fairness with different buffer management policies. The simulation results indicate that three levels of precedence are required for better utilization. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) over Satellite network has been proposed and a simulation model developed to study the throughput performance impacts for TCP and UDP. The traffic engineering of MPLS facilitates efficient and reliable network design to optimize the utilization of network resources and enhance the network QoS. A novel Code Division Multiple Access based Spread ALOHA single code multiple access scheme for broadband satellite return channel is proposed as an alternative to Multifrequency-Time Division Multiple Access based Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel via Satellite protocol. It is shown through Monte Carlo simulations that throughput for Spread ALOHA One Long Code equivalent to packet length, is better than Spread ALOHA One Code in which spreading sequence repeats every symbol. The reduction of throughput due to multi-user interference for different number of users is shown. Further research on QoS architectures, performance models for TCP enhancements, interworking functions, interoperability, and standardization efforts is included.


Understanding sources of judicial bias is essential for establishing due process. To date, theories of judicial decision making are rooted in ranked societies with majority–minority group cleavages, leaving unanswered which groups are more prone to express bias and whether it is motivated by in-group favoritism or out-group hostility. We examine judicial bias in Kenya, a diverse society that features a more complex ethnic landscape. While research in comparative and African politics emphasizes instrumental motivations underpinning ethnic identity, we examine the psychological, implicit biases driving judicial outcomes. Using data from Kenyan criminal appeals and the conditional random assignment of judges to cases, we show that judges are 3 to 5 percentage points more likely to grant coethnic appeals than non-coethnic appeals. To understand mechanisms, we use word embeddings to analyze the sentiment of written judgments. Judges use more trust-related terms writing for coethnics, suggesting that in-group favoritism motivates coethnic bias in this context.


Pinpointing the mechanisms behind function in biological macromolecules is essential for understanding the emerging and evolving nature of life. Biological macromolecules have evolved over billions of years to function efficiently in the highly heterogeneous, crowded environment of a cell. In particular, non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs) and deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs) are omnipresent in cells, preforming both regulatory and catalytic functions by virtue of their structure. One class of such nucleic acids, ironically termed "junk DNA,"1 is significantly involved in orchestrating gene regulation. The RNA subunits of the ribosome2 are an integral part of the translational machinery for protein synthesis. Many ribozymes and other viral RNAs such as the hammerhead ribozyme and the canonical internal ribosome entry site3 exhibit enzymatic activity. Although the exact mechanisms remain unclear, the uniting theme in these non-coding nucleic acids is that their tertiary (spatial) structure yields specific chemical activities and functions. While existing techniques (e.g. nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray crystallography) provide detailed structural information, inherent drawbacks such as ensemble averaging errors, crystallization artifacts, low time resolutions, and the need for ample amounts of material limit the availability and relevancy of the obtained structural information. Bioinformatics-based tools aim to bridge the gap in knowledge by proposing a homology-based approach to structural prediction, although viable experimental techniques are required in order to unequivocally support and improve such predictions. In this talk, I will present our group's efforts to fabricate nanoscale pore devices for extracting useful structural information about nucleic acids that display in vivo function. Electron-beam irradiation of various thin freestanding membranes affords nanopores with controlled dimensions and interfacial properties, to a quality level that allows highly sensitive analysis of individual nucleic acids in solution at high-throughput. I will describe the properties of our nanopores, as well as some of our recent explorations that have permitted the analysis of DNA and RNA structures.


A series of experiments were conducted to isolate and characterize suitable
intestinal microbes as direct-fed microbials and to investigate their effects on broiler.
and the mechanisms associated with their utilization.
The major types of bacteria found in the duodenum and jeju-ileum of chicken
were Lactobacillus, Streptococcus and E. coli. In the cecum, ten groups of bacteria,
namely, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Lactobacillus, E. coli, anaerobic coccus,
Eubacterium, Propiombacterium, Clostridium, Fusobacterium and Bacteroides were
isolated and identified. The main Lactobacillus species in chicken intestine were L.
acidophilus, L. fermentum and L. brevis
In vitro adhesion study demonstrated that 1 2 out of the 46 intestinal
Lactobacillus isolates showed moderate to good ability to adhere to the ileal epithelial cell of chicken. Temperature (between 4°C and 42°C) did not have an effect on the
attachment of the Lactobacillus isolates to the ileal epithelial cell. Incubation (contact)
time of 30 min was found to be insufficient for the attachment of bacterial to the ileal
epithelial cell, but contact time extended beyond 1 h did not improve the ability of the
bacteria to adhere to the ileal epithelial cell. The pH values of suspending buffer for the
Lactobacillus strains, ranging from 4 to 7, did not have any significant effect on the
attachment of the bacteria to the ileal epithelial cell, but pH 8 reduced significantly
(p<0.05) the attachment of bacteria. The growth of the 12 adherent Lactobacillus
isolates was inhibited only slightly by the inclusion of 0.3% chicken bile in the culture
medium, and they all showed a tolerance (in varying degrees) to low pH values ( 1.0 or
2.0).


We explore the impact of Open Access (OA) on stem cell research through a comparison of research reported in OA and in non-OA publications. Using an author co-citation analysis method, we find that (a) OA and non-OA publications cover similar major research areas in the stem cell field, but (b) a more diverse range of basic and medical research is reported in OA publications, while (c) biomedical technology areas appear biased towards non-OA publications. It appears that OA helps maintain diversity of research in this highly interdisciplinary field, and hence contributes to a healthy balance of scientific advancement.


We present a new version of a shear-wave splitting ( SWS ) database for the western and central United States (WCUS) using broadband seismic data recorded up to the end of 2014 to update a previous version that used data recorded prior to the end of 2012, when the USArray Transportable Array stations were still recording in the easternmost region of the WCUS. A total of 7452 pairs of additional measurements recorded by 1202 digital broadband seismic stations are obtained, and all the measurements in the previous database are rechecked. The resulting uniform SWS database contains a total of 23,448 pairs of well-defined SKS , SKKS , and PKS splitting parameters. Relative to the previous version of the database, the additional measurements notably improved the spatial and azimuthal coverages of the measurements, providing an improved dataset for constraining geodynamic models related to lithospheric deformation and asthenospheric flow, as well as for complex anisotropy recognition and characterization.


4.6 million people in Poland live in energy poverty. In order to significantly reduce the scale of this problem, more effective and better addressed public policy instruments are needed. We propose three new instruments. First, targeted fuel allowance, aimed at alleviating the symptoms of energy poverty. Second, advisory services and energy saving improvements. Third, thermal retrofit coupled with professional energy counselling. The latter two instruments are meant to eliminate the causes of energy poverty. Thermal retrofit is the most expensive but the most effective tool. Developing a mechanism for practical identification of energy poor households is a major challenge. It is to be tackled by local governments, especially social assistance centres.


The Present research was conducted on five clones of ramie ( Boehmeria nivea L.Gaud.) found in West Sumatra and several other clones from Java. The research objective was to compare the growth,  number of fibers per bundles, length and the time until fibers are matured enough for harvesting. The ramie planting was done in Andalas University's Padang experimental field station from June to October 2016. Microscopic investigation and fiber analysis were carried out in the laboratory of Plant Development and Structure, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia. The clones investigated were Bandung A, Indochina, Lembang A, Padang 3, and Ramindo.  The numbers of fibers per fiber bundle were highest in the Ramindo clone at 69 cell/bundle and the least in Bandung A clone at 40 cell/bundle. The type of fiber  was 48% type I, 36% type II and 16% type III. The patterns of fiber-shape in each fiber bundle from the cambium to the outside increases in diameter with the centre being dominantly type I, the middle region type II, and the outer region type III. The length of fiber found in the present study (longest 70 mm) is shorter than in previous reports. Length, diameter, and thickness of cell wall of clone ramie fiber cells grew at similar rates throughout the maturation process. Fastest fiber growth was obtained from Padang 3 clones at 132 μm/day, while the slowest was in Ramindo clones at 48 μm/day. The fastest fiber growth for all clones occured at 2-3 weeks of age. Based on fiber growth, Padang clones should be harvested after six weeks, clones of Indochina, Lembang A, and Ramindo harvested after eight weeks and Lembang A clone after the eighth week. This is sooner than harvesting based on morphological characteristics, which would be between the age of 10-11 weeks. The clones of Padang A were considered superior to the other clones.


There has been a rapid expansion in the literature on the measurement of multidimensional poverty in recent years. This paper focuses on the longitudinal aspects of multidimensional poverty and its link to dynamic income poverty measurement. Using panel household survey data in Thailand from 2007, 2008, and 2010, the paper analyses the prevalence and dynamics of both multidimensional and monetary poverty from the same dataset. The results show that the monetary poor (or non-poor) are not always multidimensionally poor (or non-poor) indeed the overlap between the two measures is much less than 50 percent. Additionally, monetary poverty shows faster progress as well as a higher level of fluctuation than multidimensional poverty. I suggest that rapid economic growth as experienced by Thailand has a larger and more immediate impact on monetary than on multidimensional poverty.


Since the mid-1980s, trade liberalisation has encouraged the growth of Australia's international trade. The Australian wine industry has been successful in the world wine market, achieving a significant growth in production and export sales since the 1990s. In this context, this thesis attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the patterns and determinants of Australia's international trade in wines for the period 1980-2004. The general aim of this thesis is to analyse the Australian wine industry based on the economic theories of inter-industry trade and intra-industry trade and to model wine export and import relationships.
Indicators of Australia's trade performance in wines in terms of trade specialisation index, export propensity, import penetration, and the ratio of exports to imports indicate that Australia has become a net-exporter and has experienced a specialisation in wine trade since 1987. This signifies a high degree of international trade competitiveness in Australia's wines. The results of Balassa's revealed comparative advantage index and Vollrath's revealed competitive advantage indexes suggest that, among the wine producing countries, Australia has a comparative advantage and competitive advantage in wines. The significant year was 1987 when Australia first experienced comparative and competitive advantage. The important explanation for this turning point is Australia's trade liberalisation policy in the mid-1980s.
Based on econometric concepts of unit root and cointegration, the unrestricted error correction model is applied to analyse the determinants of Australia's wine exports and imports separately in the models of export supply, export demand, and import demand. The results suggest that the relative price of wine exports and the long-run production capacity have had a positive influence on the supply of wine exports. However, Australia's wine exports are not very responsive to changes in export price. Although the trade liberalisation shows a positive impact on the supply of wine exports, it is not statistically significant. Foreign demand for Australia's wine exports has had a significant negative response to changes in the relative price of exports and a significant positive response to the depreciation of the Australian dollar in both the short run and long run. A low value of the price elasticity of foreign demand may reveal that Australia has some market power in relation to its exports of differentiated or unique wines to the world market. The demand for wine imports by Australia is inelastic with respect to the relative price of wine imports but more elastic to Australia's income.
The standard Grubel-Lloyd index is used to examine the extent of intra-industry trade of Australia and major world-wine trading countries. The index is also applied to Australia's bilateral intra-industry trade in wines with its major trading countries. To measure the growth of intra-industry trade for Australia's wines, the concept of marginal intra-industry trade is applied, together with Menon-Dixon's approach. The results indicate that the world wine industry is more likely to be characterised by inter-industry trade which is based on the significance of comparative advantage and factor endowments rather than intra-industry trade. Australia has a relatively small intra-industry trade in wines. This is due to the fact that the values of Australia's wine exports are very much higher than those of its imports. The extent of bilateral intra-industry trade in wines between Australia and its major trading partners is also small. However, the levels of bilateral intra-industry trade between Australia and New Zealand are relatively high. The growth of intra-industry trade in wines between Australia and most of the major wine-producing countries is due to the contributions of export growth to the growth in intra-industry trade, which imply that Australia is a net importer of wines from these countries. On the other hand, the percentage growth of intra-industry trade in wines between Australia and Germany, the U.S., the U.K., New Zealand, Canada, and Japan is due to the contributions of import growth to the growth in intra-industry trade, which imply that Australia is a net exporter of wines to these countries.
The extent of Australia's intra-industry trade with the rest of the world will be higher when the industry gains more scale economies. Contrary to the theoretical suggestions, product differentiations, degree of trade openness, and exchange rate have had negative relationships with Australia's intra-industry trade in wines. With regard to Australia's bilateral intra-industry trade with its nine major wine trading partners (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the U.S., South Africa, New Zealand, the U.K. and Japan), the intensity of intra-industry trade in wines is statistically and positively related to the ratio of capital to labour, trade openness, common culture, and the regional trade arrangements.
The policy implications of the analysis of the determinants of Australia's intra-industry trade in wines are that the government policy should be oriented towards increases in the production capacity of the Australian wine industry in order to achieve higher economies of scale. In addition, the Australian government should promote regional economic integration and trade liberalisation involving wine trade between close and economically similar economies.


Abstract Cardis, E., Vrijheid, M., Blettner, M., Gilbert, E., Hakama, M., Hill, C., Howe, G., Kaldor, J., Muirhead, C. R., Schubauer-Berigan, M., Yoshimura, T., Bermann, F., Cowper, G., Fix, J., Hacker, C., Heinmiller, B., Marshall, M., Thierry-Chef, I., Utterback, D., Ahn, Y-O., Amoros, E., Ashmore, P., Auvinen, A., Bae, J-M., Bernar, J. S., Biau, A., Combalot, E., Deboodt, P., Diez Sacristan, A., Eklöf, M., Engels, H., Engholm, G., Gulis, G., Habib, R. R., Holan, K., Hyvonen, H., Kerekes, A., Kurtinaitis, J., Malker, H., Martuzzi, M., Mastauskas, A., Monnet, A., Moser, M., Pearce, M. S., Richardson, D. B., Rodriguez-Artalejo, F., Rogel, A., Tardy, H., Telle-Lamberton, M., Turai, I., Usel, M. and Veress, K. The 15-Country Collaborative Study of Cancer Risk among Radiation Workers in the Nuclear Industry: Estimates of Radiation-Related Cancer Risks. Radiat. Res. 167, 396– 416 (2007). A 15-Country collaborative cohort study was conducted to provide direct estimates of cancer risk following protracted low doses of ionizing radiation. Analyses included 407,391 nuclear industry workers monitored individually for external radiation and 5.2 million person-years of follow-up. A significant association was seen between radiation dose and all-cause mortality [excess relative risk (ERR) 0.42 per Sv, 90% CI 0.07, 0.79; 18,993 deaths]. This was mainly attributable to a dose-related increase in all cancer mortality (ERR/Sv 0.97, 90% CI 0.28, 1.77; 5233 deaths). Among 31 specific types of malignancies studied, a significant association was found for lung cancer (ERR/Sv 1.86, 90% CI 0.49, 3.63; 1457 deaths) and a borderline significant (P = 0.06) association for multiple myeloma (ERR/Sv 6.15, 90% CI <0, 20.6; 83 deaths) and ill-defined and secondary cancers (ERR/Sv 1.96, 90% CI −0.26, 5.90; 328 deaths). Stratification on duration of employment had a large effect on the ERR/Sv, reflecting a strong healthy worker survivor effect in these cohorts. This is the largest analytical epidemiological study of the effects of low-dose protracted exposures to ionizing radiation to date. Further studies will be important to better assess the role of tobacco and other occupational exposures in our risk estimates.


We have applied a moment-method-based simulation code to perform a detailed parametric study of the bandwidth, cross-polarization level, and the feed location characteristics of the matched Hilbert antenna. It is shown that a properly chosen off-center near-the-end feed point may provide an approximate 50 /spl Omega/ real input impedance at the fundamental resonant frequency. The role of different iteration orders for Hilbert antennas, approximately matched to the 50 /spl Omega/ line, on the bandwidth and cross-polarization level of such antennas is investigated numerically. As was shown by K.J. Vinoy et al., the radiation patterns resemble those of a linear dipole and, for a fixed-area-matched Hilbert antenna, the resonant frequency can be lowered by increasing the iteration order n. However, for such matched antennas, the bandwidth for VSWR<2 is decreased and the cross-polarization level may be different for the higher iteration-order antennas.


1. A new method for the determination of cobalt in blood. The author proposed a new method for the determination of cobalt in blood by means of paper-chromatography. The procedure is follows. In a Kjeldahl colben, 5 m!. of blood is taken, and turned into wet ash with 3 ml. of HNO(3), 0.5 ml. of H(2)SO(4) and 1.5 ml. of HClO(4) and the ash aqueus solution is then neutralized with ammonium hydroxid, the neutralization being indicated by the development of color of 0.1% of p-nitrophenol (one drop) added to the solution. After addition of 2 ml. of 40% ammonium citrate, 0.5 ml. of 20% Na(2)S(2)O(3), 3~5 drops of H(2)O(2) and 1 ml. of o-nitrosoresorcine monomethyl ether (hereafter N.R.M.E.), the mixture is left for at least 15 minutes and the aqueus solution is taken in a stoppered test tube (inside diameter: 1.3 cm., hight: 16.5 cm.). The mixture is shaken with 2 ml. of carbon tetrachloride. Carbon tetrachloride is shaken with 5 ml. of 20% Na(2)CO(3) solution. Then the excess of N.R.M.E. is removed and carbon tetrachloride is concentrated on water bath to 0.3~0.5 ml. and all CCl(4) is used for a determination sample. The sample is placed on the paper (Toyo-filter paper No. 50 or 51A) in a thin line at a distance of 3 cm. from the edge, and the spot is developed with a mixture of 20 ml. of CCl(4) and 1 ml. of 90% ethylalcohoI. After development for 30~40 min., an orange-colored linear spot appears at a distance of 9~10 em. from the origin point. Spot intensity is measured at 460 mμ with Natsume's densitometer and quantitative estimation is made comparing with the standard graph. 2. Effects of radioactive thermal spring bathing and internal use of vitriol water upon cobalt levels in blood. As the author's method above-mentioned is able to determine the cobalt level in a small amount of blood, it is very convenient in investigating cobalt metabolism in the field of balneology. The author examined the changes of cobalt levels in blood after radioactive thermal bathing as well as after internal use of acid vitriol water. a. By the author's method cobalt in normal human blood was 0.4~3.6γ/100ml. in man (average: 1.6±0.4γ/100ml.) and 0.2~2.2γ/100ml. in woman (average: 0.7±0.3γ/100ml.). b. The cobalt levels in blood were measured by the author's method before and 5, 30, 60 minutes after the radioactive thermal single bathing, and before and
1, 2, 3, 4 weeks after a series of radioactive thermal baths (Rn-content: 10~30 Mache, 42~3°C., for 10 minutes). The cobalt levels in the blood of healthy subjects showed no significant change after the thermal single bathing, but those of patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a slight increase on 3rd or 7th day and a fall on 2nd week of a series of radioactive thermal baths and then tended to return to the initial levels during the 3rd and 4th weeks of spa treatment. c. Thirty ml. of Yanahara mineral water (an acid vitriol water, pH: 2.2) was diluted with plain water to 200 ml. (Co(++)content: ca.3γ) and administered to healthy fasting subjects orally. Blood samples were taken from the cubital vein before and 1, 3, 6 hours after the intake of the vitriol water. The cobalt levels in the blood showed an increase of 14% of the initial levels at 1 and 3 hours and a decrease of 22% at 6 hours after the drinking of Yanahara mineral water.


Strategies for the Promotion of Household Water Treatment in Ica, Peru Kristen Heitzinger Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Associate Professor Stephen E. Hawes Department of Epidemiology Boiling is the most common method of household water treatment in lowand middle-income countries, however, it is not always effectively practiced. We examined factors associated with Escherichia coli contamination of improved water supplies among 207 households in a rural population in Peru that practiced boiling. We subsequently conducted a randomized controlled trial among these households to assess the effectiveness of water pasteurization and safe storage interventions in reducing Escherichia coli contamination of household drinking water. Households were randomized to three study groups: two intervention groups that received either a safe storage container or a safe storage container plus water pasteurization indicator and a control group that continued usual practices. Although over 90% of households used an improved water source at baseline, 47% of source and 43% of stored water samples were contaminated with E. coli. Pouring or using a spigot to obtain water from the storage container instead of dipping a hand or object was associated with decreased risk of contamination of stored water (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)=0.58, 95% CI=0.42, 0.80). Container cleanliness (aPR=0.67, 95% CI= 0.45, 1.00) and correct handwashing technique (aPR=0.62, 95% CI=0.42, 0.90) were also associated with decreased contamination risk. During a 13-week follow-up period, households that received a safe storage container and water pasteurization indicator had a higher prevalence of stored drinking water contamination relative to the control group, although the difference was not statistically significant (Prevalence Ratio (PR): 1.20, 95% CI: 0.94, 1.52). Receipt of only a safe storage container had no effect on the contamination of stored drinking water (PR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.31). Although use of low-cost water pasteurization indicators and locally available storage containers did not significantly increase the safety of household drinking water in this study, future research could help illuminate factors that facilitate the use of these interventions to effectively improve water quality and reduce the risk of waterborne disease in populations that boil drinking water. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: 'Improved' but not necessarily safe: an assessment of fecal contamination of household drinking water in rural Peru.....................................................................


We are considering distributed network computing, in which computing entities are connected by a network modeled as a connected graph. These entities are located at the nodes of the graph, and they exchange information by message-passing along its edges. In this context, we are adopting the classical framework for local distributed decision, in which nodes must collectively decide whether their network configuration satisfies some given boolean predicate, by having each node interacting with the nodes in its vicinity only. A network configuration is accepted if and only if every node individually accepts. It is folklore that not every Turing-decidable network property (e.g., whether the network is planar) can be decided locally whenever the computing entities are Turing machines (TM). On the other hand, it is known that every Turing-decidable network property can be decided locally if nodes are running non-deterministic Turing machines (NTM). However, this holds only if the nodes have the ability to guess the identities of the nodes currently in the network. That is, for different sets of identities assigned to the nodes, the correct guesses of the nodes might be different. If one asks the nodes to use the same guess in the same network configuration even with different identity assignments, i.e., to perform identity-oblivious guesses, then it is known that not every Turing-decidable network property can be decided locally.

In this paper, we show that every Turing-decidable network property can be decided locally if nodes are running alternating Turing machines (ATM), and this holds even if nodes are bounded to perform identity-oblivious guesses. More specifically, we show that, for every network property, there is a local algorithm for ATMs, with at most 2 alternations, that decides that property. To this aim, we define a hierarchy of classes of decision tasks where the lowest level contains tasks solvable with TMs, the first level those solvable with NTMs, and level k contains those tasks solvable with ATMs with k alternations. We characterize the entire hierarchy, and show that it collapses in the second level. In addition, we show separation results between the classes of network properties that are locally decidable with TMs, NTMs, and ATMs. Finally, we establish the existence of completeness results for each of these classes, using novel notions of local reduction.


Extracted from text ... Unisa Latin American Report vol 20 no 1 2004 97
BOOK NEWS
Why some countries are poorer than others
Geography can be the explanation as well as the solution
Reviewed by: Roger Hamilton
Development experts are vexed when their
prescriptions for prosperity fail to produce
results. Is the problem bad advice? Bad
management? Bad timing?
Or is it partly just bad luck?
Undeniably, some countries have been dealt
a worse hand than others merely because of
where they are. Factors such as climate, natural
resource endowment, location, and topography
have an enormous effect on the ability of a nation
to ..


I have no idea why I've agreed to do this piece. I'm writing in response to a request for my recollections about the experience (better characterized, perhaps, as the ordeal) of my first, and immediately ensuing second, oral arguments before the Supreme Court. As the title suggests, however, it is either because I've forgotten the stress of it all or, more likely, because having grandchildren has put things into perspective. I won't bother you with all of the jockeying and wrangling that went on leading up to the arguments. The angling and cajoling regarding the writing of the briefs, who would moot court the arguments, and who would end up making the formal oral presentation were ... interesting. Suffice it to say that a lot of people who served in the Arizona Attorney General's Office back then were good enough to repose confidence in a mere assistant attorney general, and I thank them, especially then-serving Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin, for it. Right off the bat, know this: Mere words cannot adequately convey all of the aspects swirling around the effort to prepare for your first, let alone immediately following second, oral argument before the Supreme Court. This is particularly so if you are a state assistant attorney general dispatched, solo, to the banks of the Potomac in the dead of winter to argue two Indian tax cases where tribal certiorari petitions have been granted and the United States of America, through the Solicitor General, has been invited by the Court to "express its views." And George Washington thought he had it tough that winter. Hey, at least Washington won. Since there are far too many facets of the experience to go into anything approaching an in-depth dissertation, and because any attempt to do so would be both boring and contrary to the objective of presenting the highlights, I've decided to share with you a few of the more ... let's just say ... memorable events. First, full disclosure. I still think I was right. You expected something else? The two cases, Central Machinery Company v. Arizona State Tax Commission (1) and White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, (2) involved issues of state taxation of non-Indian activities taking place both within and beyond the boundaries of Indian reservations in Arizona. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote the opinions, with Central Machinery decided five to four and Bracker decided six to three. My contention, as you might guess, is that the disputes if presented to the Court today could well be decided differently. (3) That potential aside, I thought in my naivete that the fact that the two cases were scheduled for oral argument in tandem on Monday, January 14, 1980--Central Machinery first, Bracker second--was more of a challenge than a sentence. Relatively new to the practice of law (I'd been admitted only in 1971), I thought that the opportunity to appear before the Court and actually argue two cases was, to understate the matter, exhilarating. With the vast majority of attorneys never having even a remote chance of actually arguing one case to the Court, let alone their first two on the same day, the enormity of the opportunity relegated other logical concerns to, let us say, a state of secondary importance. This leads me to my second point and Words of Wisdom. There are two Immutable Rules that a first-time Supreme Court oral presenter should observe. Rule 1: Never voluntarily undertake the briefing and oral argument of two separate, unconsolidated Supreme Court Indian tax cases set to be heard in tandem, in only one of which you were lower court record counsel, unless you are the Solicitor General of the United States. Rule 2: Always refer to Rule 1. All kidding aside, I have no idea what I was thinking. In order to adequately prepare for all of the complicated and unanticipated twists and turns--the state of the record aside--that will invariably emerge as the briefing and preparation for oral argument progress, there is simply no time to do everything necessary, let alone do it well. …


Image segmentation and registration have been the two major areas of research in the medical imaging community for decades and still are. In the context of radiation oncology, segmentation and registration methods are widely used for target structure definition such as prostate or head and neck lymph node areas. In the past two years, 45% of all articles published in the most important medical imaging journals and conferences have presented either segmentation or registration methods. In the literature, both categories are treated rather separately even though they have much in common. Registration techniques are used to solve segmentation tasks (e.g. atlas based methods) and vice versa (e.g. segmentation of structures used in a landmark based registration). This article reviews the literature on image segmentation methods by introducing a novel taxonomy based on the amount of shape knowledge being incorporated in the segmentation process. Based on that, we argue that all global shape prior segmentation methods are identical to image registration methods and that such methods thus cannot be characterized as either image segmentation or registration methods. Therefore we propose a new class of methods that are able solve both segmentation and registration tasks. We call it regmentation. Quantified on a survey of the current state of the art medical imaging literature, it turns out that 25% of the methods are pure registration methods, 46% are pure segmentation methods and 29% are regmentation methods. The new view on image segmentation and registration provides a consistent taxonomy in this context and emphasizes the importance of regmentation in current medical image processing research and radiation oncology image-guided applications.


The 'protein traffic hypothesis' suggests that the inflammation associated with autoimmune disease, trauma and disturbances of blood circulation is the result of misguided protein trafficking. The hypothesis divides the antigen spectrum into an intracellular component and an extracellular component. While the intracellular component is recognised by MHC class-I molecules and is presented to CD8 T-lymphocytes, the extracellular component is recognised by MHC class-II molecules and is presented to CD4 T-lymphocytes. To test this hypothesis, CD4 and CD8 T-cell counts of 271 HIV-negative patients of the University Hospital, Mainz, Germany were examined retrospectively. The results corroborate the observation that patients with autoimmune disease have a low CD4/CD8-ratio (0.5-1), while patients with acute infarction have a higher CD4/CD8-ratio (3-5). The normal CD4/CD8-ratio is 1.2-1.4. The results of this study confirm previous reports on the protein traffic hypothesis. Our data suggests that the CD4/CD8-ratio has broad clinical applications.


The effects of lateral water flow on the spatial distribution of the thaw depth in permafrost terrain have rarely been investigated with models. The GEOtop model, which solves the soil energy and water budgets in a coupled way and accounts for phase change, has been used to better understand how soil moisture spatial differences in the unfrozen upper part of the ground affect the thawing soil energy balance in idealized hillslope topography. Results show that, in terrains with thermal conductivity highly variable with soil moisture such as organic soils, wetter areas exhibit deeper thaw than drier areas. Conversely, if thermal conductivity depends less on soil moisture, as in mineral soils, the result is the opposite since the effect of the higher thermal capacity resulting from higher soil moisture prevails.


The Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend takes the main religion of India and provides an unrivalled insight into all aspects of Hindu life, both past and present. Some thousand entries act as a key to topics including the history of Hinduism, its mythology, art, architecture, religion, laws and folklore. Based on the most recent scholarly research, the development of Hinduism is presented from its ancient manifestations in local cults and epic poems to modern-day festivals and customs worldwide. The complex relationship between the multitude of gods, goddesses and semi-divine beings is brought to light in the articles on religion and mythology, while its rich imagery is revealed in the entries on architecture, sculpture, painting, dance and theatre, including works of art illustrated here for the first time. Food and etiquette, the caste system, Ayurvedic medicine, love and marriage, and contemporary practices are just a few of the topics to explore. The maps and entries on the principal cities and places of pilgrimage in India contained in this volume, as well as the concise chronology and list of principal dynasties, allow the reader to gain a clear overview of the geography, his


The internationalization of markets, i.e., globalization, has resulted in a number of transnational mergers during the past few years, which require ex ante notification filings in multiple jurisdictions. This requirement is costly for both the merging companies and regulators and creates uncertainty. Responding to this phenomenon, commentators have argued for the establishment of a global merger control policy administered by a global agency. I argue against this proposal for two reasons. First, I evaluate procedural concerns that include the requirement to give reasons and the third parties' and the merging parties' right to appeal the national regulators' decision. Second, I explore the debate as to what the goals of antitrust law should be and examine their biased application to particular facts. I illustrate my argument against the adoption of a global merger law applied by a single agency using the three recent mergers between US Airways and American Airlines, between Universal and EMI and between Microsoft and Skype. Lastly, I examine different solutions offered by commentators and propose a modest solution which would mitigate the problem of duplicative review of transnational mergers by the EU and the US To conclude, I advocate the desirability of EU-US convergence in merger control.


ABSTRACT Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have become a popular research venue due to their transitioning into market based economies. For international business scholars this represents a unique opportunity, as one of the key driving forces is the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Due to the market's great potential, many multinational enterprises are entering CEE countries and realizing that a transfer of market knowledge (i.e., customer tastes, distribution methods/channels, etc.) from the host country to the multinational, as well as from the multinational to the host country (i.e. technology, management/marketing capabilities, etc.), is essential. The lack of host country skills have made knowledge transfer difficult. Also, the tacit nature of some of the most important knowledge embedded within the host country's organization and the multinational makes knowledge diffusion a daunting task to manage. However, successful knowledge management will assist in positive performance measures so researchers are examining knowledge management and its constructs (acquisition, transfer, conversion, and application). Our research explores the linkage between knowledge management and performance in host country firms in a CEE country, Croatia. We also explored antecedents of successful knowledge management that of networks and human resources (boundary spanners). Finally we explored whether cultural distance moderates these relationships in the knowledge management process.


SUMMARY Water erosion has been a major environmental problem associated to forest harvesting operations in humid and temperate climates. The incorporation of this factor in the decision making process has been complex due to the high variability observed in rainfall intensity and magnitude. This paper presents a methodology for incorporating the temporal variability of rainfall in the planning of forest operations. We used a monthly index based on the R-RUSLE erosivity factor. This index allows knowing the most likely value of soil loss and associating a confidence level. Thus, the forest planner has an estimate of erosion rates related to the operations, and an index that reflects the rainfall variability. With this methodology it is possible to identify, for a given level of soil loss, those months in which there is a higher uncertainty. This methodology was applied to a pine plantation in Santa Barbara, Biobio Region, Chile, where the rainfall erosivity ranges from 16 MJ mm ha -1 h -1 to 271 MJ mm ha -1 h -1 depending on the month of the year.


Refactoring is a widespread practice that helps developers to improve the maintainability and readability of their code. However, there is a limited number of studies empirically investigating the actual motivations behind specific refactoring operations applied by developers. To fill this gap, we monitored Java projects hosted on GitHub to detect recently applied refactorings, and asked the developers to explain the reasons behind their decision to refactor the code. By applying thematic analysis on the collected responses, we compiled a catalogue of 44 distinct motivations for 12 well-known refactoring types. We found that refactoring activity is mainly driven by changes in the requirements and much less by code smells. Extract Method is the most versatile refactoring operation serving 11 different purposes. Finally, we found evidence that the IDE used by the developers affects the adoption of automated refactoring tools.


In the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, the National Security Agency (NSA) responded to fears about warrantless domestic surveillance programs by emphasizing that it was collecting only the metadata, and not the content, of communications. When justifying its activities, the NSA offered the following rationale: because data involves content and metadata does not, a reasonable expectation of privacy extends only to the former but not the latter. Our paper questions the soundness of this argument. More specifically, we argue that privacy is defined not only by the types of information at hand, but also by the context in which the information is collected. This context has changed dramatically. Defining privacy as contextual integrity we are able, in the first place, to explain why the bulk telephony metadata collection program violated expectations of privacy and, in the second, to evaluate whether the benefits to national security provided by the program can be justified in light of the program's material costs, on the one hand, and its infringements on civil liberties, on the other hand.


Master programming Arduino with this hands-on guide Arduino Sketches is a practical guide to programming the increasingly popular microcontroller that brings gadgets to life. Accessible to tech-lovers at any level, this book provides expert instruction on Arduino programming and hands-on practice to test your skills. You'll find coverage of the various Arduino boards, detailed explanations of each standard library, and guidance on creating libraries from scratch plus practical examples that demonstrate the everyday use of the skills you're learning. Work on increasingly advanced programming projects, and gain more control as you learn about hardware-specific libraries and how to build your own. Take full advantage of the Arduino API, and learn the tips and tricks that will broaden your skillset. The Arduino development board comes with an embedded processor and sockets that allow you to quickly attach peripherals without tools or solders. It's easy to build, easy to program, and requires no specialized hardware. For the hobbyist, it's a dream come true especially as the popularity of this open-source project inspires even the major tech companies to develop compatible products. Arduino Sketches is a practical, comprehensive guide to getting the most out of your Arduino setup. You'll learn to: Communicate through Ethernet, WiFi, USB, Firmata, and Xbee Find, import, and update user libraries, and learn to create your own Master the Arduino Due, Esplora, Yun, and Robot boards for enhanced communication, signal-sending, and peripherals Play audio files, send keystrokes to a computer, control LED and cursor movement, and more This book presents the Arduino fundamentals in a way that helps you apply future additions to the Arduino language, providing a great foundation in this rapidly-growing project. If you're looking to explore Arduino programming, Arduino Sketches is the toolbox you need to get started.


The study of patient's waiting time reduction have been receiving attention since the implementation of recent changes in the healthcare quality indicators. However, there is still many areas of improvement the healthcare industry could implement to improve waiting time and positively affect patient satisfaction. This is especially crucial for private healthcare organizations since it has a direct effect on their bottom-line. In this study, we examine the patient waiting time between the registration stage and the vital sign stage at a private hospital in the Middle East country of United Arab Emirates. By retrieving the data logs from the EHR system used at the hospital, we can identify the time difference between the logs of each stage. The data then is evaluated and analyzed to calculate the average waiting time at the facility. The process flow of patients is also evaluated to identify possible bottlenecks in the process and recommend changes to alleviate such issues. Then the data logs of the system are take again after the change has been implemented to evaluate the impact of the change on the process. An Analysis of waiting time reduction in a private Hospital in the Middle East 3


CLEVELAND WORKS INC., located at 812 Huron Rd., is a comprehensive training program to prepare welfare recipients for permanent employment. The organization began as Ohio Works, established in 1984 as a division of America Works, Inc., of Boston--a for-profit company with the goal of placing jobless poor in full-time jobs. When the State of Ohio refused to continue funding Ohio Works in 1986, citing its high per-person placement cost, Cleveland Works was immediately organized as a nonprofit agency under local control to continue the work. In 1994 the agency, under Executive Director David B. Roth, received about $2 million a year from Cuyahoga County and private foundations and corporations to offer education, job training, and work-related expenses to its clients, who must be heads of households on welfare and have minimum skills for the job they seek. Under the concentrated program, which costs about $4,500 per person, clients are enrolled in a job-readiness workshop, as well as 4 other classes where they improve their English, math, and basic job skills; attendance is mandatory. The agency also provides them with child care, health care, counseling, legal services, and clothing and transportation allowances. After completing the program, clients are sent out on job interviews. Cleveland Works prods its employers to pay decent wages and provide adequate health benefits; in return employers receive a temporary worker paid by the agency, who they evaluate before offering a full-time job. A program counselor monitors the employment to resolve any problems that arise. According to a 1990 study, about 75% of its placements were still working after one year. By 1992 Cleveland Works had placed more that 1,800 clients with 400 companies.


The dry adhesive wear behavior of 1 060 and 1095 steels using pin on wheel wear test rig at room temperature under different wear conditions has been studied. The prepared specimens were normalized to m ake sure that all specimens are in the same conditions. 'The objective of this rese arch is to study the effect of operating parameters such a s rotating s peed , normal load and sliding time and their interaction on the wear behavior using regression analysis. Detailed data obtained was used to develop equations to describe the wear rate of steels. The wear losses of the specimens were expressed in term s of simultaneous contribution from the effects of rotating speed , normal load , sliding time and t heir interaction. By applying the parameters such as rotating speed , normal load , and sliding time,observed a certain effects on the wear behavior of two types steel , the 1060 steel , sliding time is the m a in factor, followed by normal load and rotating speed . However ,for the 1095 steel , rotating s peed i s the main factor, followed by normal load and sliding time. From results, it was concluded that the wear behavior of these steel s and the effects of this parameters on the wear depend on the physical and mechanical properties of this types of steels.


Health insurance has fallen notoriously short of protecting Americans from financial insecurity caused by health care spending. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") attempted to ameliorate this shortcoming by regulating health insurance. The ACA offers a new policy vision of how health insurance will (and perhaps should) serve to promote financial security in the face of health care spending. Yet, the ACA's policy vision applies differently among insured, based on the type of insurance they have, resulting in inconsistent types and levels of financial protection among Americans.To examine this picture of inconsistent financial protection, this Article offers a taxonomy to describe ways in which health insurance regulation can promote financial security. It then uses this taxonomy to map the effect the ACA will have on the financial security of various insured populations. Specifically, it analyzes how much a person in poor health might spend out of pocket on health care in three scenarios: a person with average coverage through an individual-market health insurance exchange, a worker with employer-sponsored insurance, and a retiree with Medicare and a supplemental insurance plan. This analysis reveals two effects. First, the ACA alleviates financial risk from health care spending to some degree in all three scenarios. But, secondly, the ACA preserves (and may even exacerbate) variability in the degree and type of financial risk remaining across the three scenarios. In effect, the ACA asserts and affirms different visions of the role of health insurance in promoting financial security for different people. This inconsistency leaves some insured especially vulnerable to spending and creates complexity that may impede insured from comprehending these points of vulnerability.


This paper identifies components of satisfaction of public bus service in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  Factor analysis is used to analyze 24 parameters satisfactions of public buses. This study succeeded in developing three dimensions of public bus service attributes, namely comfort, accessibility and safety and found that there is a slight difference in satisfaction between the minibus and bus transit, but users agreed that overcrowded and felt unsafe during the night were among the most significant attributes that affect their satisfaction. Transportation authorities can use these findings to enhance the quality of life of public transport users in the future.
Keywords: Public transportation, city bus, factor analysis, customer satisfaction.
eISSN 2514-7528 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.21834/jabs.v3i10.311


Forest water use has been difficult to quantify. One promising approach is to measure the isotopic composition of plant water, e.g., the transpired water vapor or xylem water. Because different water sources, e.g., groundwater versus shallow soil water, often show different isotopic signatures, isotopes can be used to investigate the depths from which plants take up their water and how this changes over time. Traditionally such measurements have relied on the extraction of wood samples, which provide limited time resolution at great expense, and risk possible artifacts. Utilizing a borehole drilled through a tree's stem, we propose a new method based on the notion that water vapor in a slow-moving airstream approaches isotopic equilibration with the much greater mass of liquid water in the xylem. We present two empirical data sets showing that the method can work in practice. We then present a theoretical model estimating equilibration times and exploring the limits at which the approach will fail. The method provides a simple, cheap, and accurate means of continuously estimating the isotopic composition of the source water for transpiration.


This study was conducted to investigate what the perceptions of Career Guidance Counselors were toward young girls and High Status Subjects. The study was underpinned by the work done by a number of researchers in other countries. These researchers all proved that the subjects Mathematics and Physical Science were not gender biased and girls could do as well as boys. The subject packages girls chose at the end of their grade 9 year would have an impact on possible career choices they could make after the completion of grade 12. The study also seeks to explore reasons why girls were not choosing these subjects and if the Career Guidance Counselors were actively encouraging the girls to take these subjects. The study was a qualitative one using interviews based on questionnaires. The answers were carefully recorded and decoded. The Career Guidance Counselors were interviewed at their schools in the central Durban area. The schools selected were those fortunate enough to have counselors on their staff. Many schools do not have Career Guidance Counselors as they are unable to accommodate them with their limited resources The study found that at many schools there was little if any encouragement from the Guidance Counselors to enter these subjects in grade 10. The two schools that did encourage their female learners to select these subjects found that their learners achieved very well. This study will show that urgent intervention needs to be made if our young girls are to take their rightful place in our society in a number of high status occupations.


Concerns about the over-prescription of peri-operative fluids, particularly normal saline, culminated in the recent publication of UK national guidelines on fluid prescription during and after surgery. A working group comprising members of the nutrition support team, surgeons, anaesthetists and pharmacists therefore sought to reduce the overall levels of fluid prescription and to limit normal saline usage in our large Teaching Hospital by producing written local fluid prescribing guidelines and holding a series of fluid prescription education sessions for consultants and junior staff. Ideally, the success of such measures would have been determined by studies on fluid balance, body weight and/or measured body water in large numbers of individual patients in a large cluster-randomised controlled trial. However, this would have proved logistically difficult and very costly especially as it is notoriously difficult to rely on the accuracy of daily fluid balance charts in large numbers of patients on busy post-operative surgical wards. We therefore undertook a pragmatic study, comparing historical data on fluid type/volume prescribed (from both individual and ward level pharmacy records), oedema status and clinical outcomes from 2002 with two prospective audits of similar data carried out during 2008 and 2009. Our data showed that in the comparable, elective surgical patients within each audit, there was a decline in total intravenous fluids prescribed over the first 5 post-operative days from 21·1 litres per patient in 2002 to 14·2 litres per patient in 2009 (P<0·05), while pharmacy records showed that the proportion of 0·9% saline supplied declined from 60% to 35% of all fluids supplied to the surgical wards involved, with a concomitant increase in the use of 4%/0·18% dextrose-saline and Hartmann's solution. Alongside these changes in fluid prescribing, the number of patients with clinically apparent oedema declined from 53% in 2002 to 36% in 2009; gut function returned more quickly (6 d in 2002 v. 4 d in 2009, P<0·05) and the length of stay improved from 13 d in 2002 to 10 d in 2009, P<0·05). Although we accept that other factors might have contributed to the observed changes in these clinical parameters, we believe that the measures to reduce fluid and saline administration were the major contributors to these improved clinical outcomes.


We show that a glass microsphere resonator can be used as a wavelength-selective mirror in fiber lasers. Due to their high quality factor (Q approximately 10(8)), microsphere resonators possess a narrow reflection bandwidth. This feature enables construction of single-frequency fiber lasers even when the laser cavity is long. Nonlinear effects (such as stimulated Raman lasing) were also observed in our setup at relatively low pump powers.


Athermal lasers dispose of their waste heat in the form of spontaneous fluorescence (i.e., by laser cooling) to avoid warming the medium. The thermodynamics of this process is discussed both qualitatively and quantitatively from the point of view of the first and second laws. The steady-state optical dynamics of an ytterbium-doped KGd(WO4)2 fiber is analyzed as a model radiation-balanced solid-state laser. A Carnot efficiency for all-optical amplification is derived in terms of the energy and entropy transported by the pump, fluorescence, and laser beams. This efficiency is compared with the performance of the model system.


Since the online agro-products information is difficult to assess, it is critical for consumers to foster consumers' initial trust in the social commerce (s-commerce) context. On the basis of the existing research, this paper first analyzes the connotation of agro-products communication based on s-commerce. Then, it combines the inherent characteristics of agro-products, and takes the consumer characteristics as the important moderating factors, and a two-stage integration theory model based on Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT) is proposed to explore the antecedent factors and the forming process of the agro-products consumer initial trust in the s-commerce environment. Finally, the further research design is simply planned for the future.


RNA viruses rapidly diversify into quasispecies of related genotypes. This genetic diversity has long been known to facilitate adaptation, but recent studies have suggested that cooperation between variants might also increase population fitness. Here, we demonstrate strong cooperation between two H3N2 influenza variants that differ by a single mutation at residue 151 in neuraminidase, which normally mediates viral exit from host cells. Residue 151 is often annotated as an ambiguous amino acid in sequenced isolates, indicating mixed viral populations. We show that mixed populations grow better than either variant alone in cell culture. Pure populations of either variant generate the other through mutation and then stably maintain a mix of the two genotypes. We suggest that cooperation arises because mixed populations combine one variant's proficiency at cell entry with the other's proficiency at cell exit. Our work demonstrates a specific cooperative interaction between defined variants in a viral quasispecies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13974.001


The central focus of my thesis is the aesthetics of the sublime in the work of Frederick Sommer (1905-1999), beginning with, but extending beyond, an encounter with Sommer's Arizona landscape photography of the World War II period. Sommer's oeuvre is notable for its cross disciplinary character, with no single element – photography, collage or drawing (this latter could as easily be described as painting) accorded primacy, and the thesis acknowledges this aspect as central to reading both the works individually and Sommer's practice collectively. The multifarious aspect of Sommer's practice has resonances with my own artistic concerns in relation to photography, drawing, montage and landscape. Taking Sommer's desert floor photographs of 1940-45 as a starting point, I problematise the Kant-derived conceptions of the sublime in what is, to date, the most prominent monograph commentary on Sommer. I argue that the radical nature of Sommer's work of this period does not conform to the descriptions offered by Kant, and, moreover, that what is significant about the works of this period are the formal challenges to the figure/ground dyadic relationships associated with depictions of the Kantian sublime. The thesis goes on to explore the sublime affect in Sommer's oeuvre, as a whole, and I discuss the affective tropes of fragmentation and immersion that are constitutive of it. Reviewing some of the writing on Sommer's work to date, the thesis draws upon a close reading of Sommer's photographic prints and technique in the context of his wider practice, alongside work done over the past four decades in Literature, Women's Studies, Lesbian and Gay Studies and Classical Studies, to propose that a model of the Sapphic Sublime as appropriate to Sommer's work of this period. To this end, throughout the thesis and my reading of Sommer, I draw upon theories pertaining to literature as much as visual art.


Organic-rich mesohaline microbial mats occur in the intertidal zone of a lagoonal area developed to the lee of a
coastal spit in Mesaieed, eastern Qatar. The mats grow on a substrate of seagrass-rich dolomitic lime mud with
cerithid and monachid gastropods and other small bioclasts, reaching a thickness >20 cm. The mats are well
laminated with different microbial communities, from cyanobacteria to sulphur bacteria, reflected in the distinct
colour changes from green to pink to brown. The lipids reflect the biomass of the principal mat-building
phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms. A variety of hydrocarbons, including n-alkanes, diploptene,
and isoprenoids such as phytane, phytene, phytadiene and squalene were detected, in varying concentrations
within the various mat layers. In particular, n-heptadecane, likely derived from cyanobacteria, dominated the nalkane
distribution at a depth of 0-0.1 cm. The concentration and abundance of n-alkanes increase with depth
through the mat, likely representing the early diagenetic initiation of hydrocarbon generation.
The most representative compounds of sterols and stanols are 5α-cholestan-3β-ol or cholest-5-en-3β-ol but
hopanol distribution with trimethyl-5α-cholest-22E-en-3β-ol (dinosterol) is predominant of all neutral fraction
compounds. The significant contribution of dinoflagellates to the total biomass is also confirmed by the
presence of spheroidal (2-10 μm in diameter) dinocysts. Abundance of C27-29 sterols and stanols decreases with
depth whereas concentration of dinosterol (0.4-13 μg g-1TOC) is similar at all depths within the mat. It is very
likely that marine organisms (algal phytoplankton) are the major contributor of sterols and stanols to the mats.
High concentrations of dinosterol can be related to periodically increased productivity of marine algae during
red tides which are common in the Arabian Gulf. Hopanoids are represented in the apolar fraction solely by
diploptene and in the polar fraction by hopanols (C30-32) and C27 hopanoid ketone which is most abundant of all
compounds eluting in the polar fraction. Hopanols have similar concentrations at almost all depths within the
mat. As the C27 ketone is most abundant in dark layers of the mat it is very plausible that it is associated with
anoxic conditions. Fatty acids are dominated by saturated, unsaturated and branched fatty acids and are most
abundant in the top surface layer of the mat. The distribution of fatty acids provides evidence for the presence
of different bacteria including sulphate-reducing bacteria. 'Phospholipid' and 'glycolipid' fractions reveal the
presence of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). They are solely dominated by methyl branched (Ia,
IIa, IIIa) GDGTs (total 442 μg g-1TOC) and are most abundant in the middle part of the mat (0.9 cm depth).
Isoprenoid GDGTs are mostly represented by archaeol and crenarchaeol whose concentrations increase with
depth; this is consistent with dark anoxic layers of the mat.
In summary, unravelling the early diagenetic alteration of organic matter and its preservation in marine
carbonate-evaporite systems, as well as other associated processes such as CaCO3 and dolomite precipitation,
could improve our understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of such systems. This will help considerably in
the prediction of hydrocarbon occurrence in frontier, as well as mature, petroleum carbonate-evaporite basins.


ABSTRACT The city of Guimarães in Portugal is a place of strong symbolic and cultural significance, and the nomination of its historical center as a World Heritage Site in 2001 enhanced its tourism potential. This study presents the results of a survey conducted in 2010 and 2011 to capture the profile and motivations of tourists visiting Guimarães as a cultural tourism destination. The study addressed two main issues: whether males and females have similar or different preferences in choosing the city as their destination, and whether there are gender differences in the perception of the attributes of Guimarães. A better understanding of the gendered nature of the destination is a valuable cue for shaping products and services according to visitors' preferences. The results suggest that both men and women are aware of the main elements responsible for the city's World Heritage status. That the destination is a Heritage Site that also offers the opportunity to tour the region has a significant positive effect on male tourists' choice of Guimarães. Regarding the perceived attributes of the city, results indicate minor gender differences with one exception: Women expressed more apprehension than men regarding the perceived security of the destination.


The central issue studied in this essay is the meaning and implications for public policy of Nicholas Stern's statement that "Climate change is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen" (Stern, 2006). To deal with this issue we analyze the two big currents about public policy measures in general: market oriented and state intervention. We also present the current conceptual framework for debating public policy for analyzing the policies recommended and applied so far, to deal with Climate Change's causes and effects, from an economic perspective. We present the main arguments of the Stern Review. Finally we get into the debate between Stern and Nordhaus. Our conclusion is that there is a need for strong state intervention to make the climate change mitigation policies to reach the desired effects.


Transfer learning and collaborative filtering have been studied in each community separately since early 1990s and were married in late 2000s. Transfer learning is proposed to extract and transfer knowledge from auxiliary data to improve the target learning task and has achieved great success in text mining, mobile computing, bioinformatics, etc. Collaborative filtering is a major intelligent component in various recommender systems, like movie recommendation in Netflix, news recommendation in Google News, people recommendation in Tencent Weibo (microblog), advertisement recommendation in Facebook, etc. However, in many collaborative filtering problems, we may not have enough data of users' preferences on items, which is known as the data sparsity problem. Transfer learning in collaborative filtering (TLCF) is studied to address the data sparsity problem in the user-item preference data in recommender systems.
In this thesis, we develop this new multidisciplinary area mainly from two aspects. First, we propose a general learning framework, study four new and specific problem settings for movie recommendation and people recommendation, and design four novel TLCF solutions correspondingly. We transfer knowledge from different types of auxiliary data based on a general regularization framework, and design batch algorithms, stochastic algorithms and distributed algorithms to solve the optimization problems. Second, we survey and categorize traditional transfer learning works into model-based transfer, instance-based transfer and feature-based transfer, and build a relationship between traditional transfer learning algorithms and TLCF solutions from a unified view of model-based transfer, instance-based transfer, and feature-based transfer.


STATUTORY PROPOSALS FOR PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE (PAS) have often included provisions for a waiting period and a consultation for mental disability. This is important because sick and dying people are often responding to pain or psychological anguish, or searching for meaning and control. Subtle impairments of cognition and attention can compromise the decision-making ability of even seemingly competent persons. These factors can distort patients' perceptions of their own interests and affect the decisions they make. Many such requests turn out to be transient and ameliorated by symptom improvement or psychological adjustment with time. Research has demonstrated that almost all patients can be made physically comfortable with methods that are readily at hand. The few who cannot be awake and reasonably comfortable can have ongoing sedation through to death, as authorized by existing law. Thus, policymakers might reasonably question relying on the decisions of very sick people who may misperceive the symptoms they will have to bear or whose suffering could be ameliorated by better access to effective palliative care. Another problem is that many patients with progressive, eventually fatal illness find that they cannot count on reliable care with only reasonable burdens on loved ones. Persons might well prefer suicide to overwhelming pain, demeaning nursing home conditions, or family bankruptcy. Patients weigh the impact of their survival and death on their loved ones, and financial and emotional pressures can shape decision making. In our society there are pervasive disparities in health care access and utilization, with those who are physically frail, poor, socially isolated, uninsured, illiterate, or non–English speaking are likely to need a helpful care system and simultaneously least likely to be able to find help. For example, minorities, people with Medicaid, or those living in lower income areas are less likely to use hospice services. Serious illness has become the most common cause of personal bankruptcy, with studies showing that nearly half of US bankruptcy filings result from the financial burden of severe illness or injury. Descriptions of the practice of PAS and euthanasia where these practices are legal do not provide definitive information on the implications of legalizing PAS for disadvantaged persons. On the one hand, in 1998, nearly one third of Oregon residents who made requests for lethal medication under Oregon's law authorizing PAS gave the reasons of fear of "being a burden," financial pressures, and the lack of social support. However, patients requesting PAS in Oregon have been similar to the general population in being 97% white and 98% insured for hospice, and Oregonians who received lethal prescriptions were relatively affluent and insured. In 1 study in the Netherlands, where PAS is also legal, education and income did not correlate with the utilization of PAS. Most states, however, are characterized by much greater social inequalities and cultural diversity. Both the Netherlands and Oregon have authorized PAS for only a few years, and the practice remains under close scrutiny. Certainly, many persons in the United States cannot count on living out the end of life with comfort, companionship, and financial resources. Finally, empowering physicians to assist in suicide might seriously undermine patients' trust in the medical profession. Physicians play an inescapable role in presenting and shaping health care decisions. Patients and families find it essential to rely on physicians when fear, lack of information, unfamiliarity, and other factors limit their independence and authority. By empowering physicians to help the patient to take his or her own life, legalizing PAS threatens to make patients and families suspicious at a time when they would like to rely on a trusting relationship with their physician.


REPORTING THE NATION'S BUSINESS: PRESS-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS DURING THE LIBERAL YEARS, 1935-- 1957. Patrick H. Brennan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994. THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN CANADA: PROBLEMS, POLICIES AND PROSPECTS. Ed. Michael Dorland. Toronto: James Lorimer and Company, 1996. RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL: VOICE OF A MIDDLE POWER. James L. Hall. Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1997. CLASH OF IDENTITIES: ESSAYS ON MEDIA, MANIPULATION, AND POLITICS OF THE SELF. Ed. James Littleton. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1996. REWIND AND SEARCH: CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MAKERS AND DECISION-MAKERS OF CBC TELEVISION DRAMA. Mary Jane Miller. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996. A CANADA OF LIGHT. B.W. Powe. Toronto: Somerville House, 1997. FROM POLITICS TO PROFIT: THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF CANADIAN DAILY NEWSPAPERS, 1890-1920. Minko Sotiron. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-- Queen's University Press, 1997. Marshall McLuhan's reflections on the social influence of electronic media have been with us long enough that it is possible to forget their intellectual sources. McLuhan, a devoted reader of Harold Innis, developed further Innis's ideas of the social uses of space and time and then gave them popular currency. His project was made possible in part because of a shift in the nature of academic work since Innis had taken up a canoe paddle to gather primary evidence about the Canadian fur trade. McLuhan believed that electronic access to information was as much for the use of scholars as for anyone else. The metaphors for which he became famous were laid over broad surveys of data, ideas and traditions that Innis simply did not have the time or resources to assemble. If Innis spent a lifetime kindling, stoking and tending the flames of a few influential ideas, McLuhan sent them up hourly like flares. There is nothing covert about these intellectual connections. In his introduction to Innis's Empire and Communication, McLuhan indirectly acknowledged that the senior theorist had been the first to describe the relations between media and social structure: "[Harold Innis] never ceases to point to the action of visual or literate culture in commanding space, while stressing the fact that command over territorial space usually goes with neglect of time, tradition, and stability."1 It was Innis, not McLuhan, who described in empirical detail the historical associations among states whose media were "biased" towards either time or space. States concerned with media biased towards time (such as parchment, clay or stone) were more likely to be characterised by a decentralised system of government, with relatively hierarchical social institutions. States that used media biased towards space (papyrus and paper, for example) were characteristically more centralised in their governing structures, preferring less hierarchical social institutions. The practical combination and use of the relative biases of media helped account for the social origins of empires. After Innis, Canadianists and communications scholars were set on a track of mutual interests. The state's concern to "bind space" through the construction of a railway had been followed by ambiguous social outcomes. The transportation system that had been justified in the language of establishing national sovereignty was used, paradoxically, to transport American goods westward. In a development that Innis seemed to anticipate, the decision to create a national broadcasting system, along with other cultural policies, held a similarly contradictory prospect. Of all the developed nations, Canada has been the most eager to reserve a role for government in developing a national culture, yet few nations remain as politically and economically dependent on another nation for their cultural symbols. After Innis, Canadian culture (media "content," if you like) could never again be seriously considered without a recognition of the influence of American media "channels" on that culture. …


The paper industry needs to implement several concurrent strategies. In particular, the industry can be
expected to view recycling as a central part of its activities. These activities will be focused on the intense
demand of chemical and biochemical strategies to enhance bonding within paper and paperboard.
Nowadays, on average, 55% of fibrous compositions for papermaking are made of recycled fibers. In this
field, about 65-70% are fibrous compositions intended to be used for packaging papermaking. Corrugated
cardboard is one of the most significant examples, since it is made of fluting (internal part) and test liner
(external part). In test liner mills, fibrous compositions are made of 50% paper cuts from the cardboard
industry and the rest of other types of paper and cardboard. Some test liner papers have low content of
mineral fillers. While recycling, fibers get damaged due to the hornification phenomena and mechanical
refining of the pulp (with the purpose of enhancing the mechanical properties). The producer does not have
many alternatives to address this situation: to increase the quality of the pulp, to slightly refine the pulp or to
add some chemical additives that enhance mechanical properties. One strategy or alternative to this situation
could be biorefining processes of the pulp. The present work aims to biorefine a pulp made of recycled
fibers with the purpose of restoring the mechanical properties of the industrial test liner or improving them
and making possible the addition of mineral fillers in order to decrease the production costs. It was observed
that, at best, the tensile strength improved by 55% with regard to the original breaking length of the
industrial test liner


Blocking an integrin on microglia may prevent the pathological effects of α-synuclein aggregates in Parkinson's disease. Neuroinflammation contributes to neurodegeneration. In the neurodegenerative brain regions of patients with Parkinson's disease, proinflammatory microglia colocalize with extracellular aggregates of the neuronal protein α-synuclein. Activation of microglia by α-synuclein involves the integrin subunit CD11b. Using a Boyden chamber migration assay, Wang et al. found that rat or mouse primary microglia migrated toward rat primary neurons that overexpressed α-synuclein, suggesting that this soluble protein acts as a chemoattractant. Either adding blocking antibodies to CD11b or knocking out CD11b prevented the migration of cultured microglia toward either neurons overexpressing α-synuclein or medium containing recombinant oligomerized α-synuclein (aggregates). Recombinant human α-synuclein aggregates interacted with purified Myc-tagged human CD11b in vitro and endogenous CD11b in wild-type microglia. Flow cytometry analysis of microglia exposed to α-synuclein detected both α-synuclein and CD11b on the surface of microglia. Preincubating microglia with either α-synuclein or the CD11b-blocking antibody prevented binding of the other, suggesting that α-synuclein is a ligand for CD11b. Wild-type microglia cultured with α-synuclein aggregates had increased activity of the enzyme NOX2 [nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase 2] and consequently increased production and secretion of superoxide anions. Either inhibiting NOX2 or knocking out the catalytic subunit of NOX2 in microglia inhibited the chemoattractant effect of α-synuclein, either when added as recombinant protein aggregates to the culture medium or produced by cocultured neurons. Superoxide anions are extracellularly converted to H2O2, and the extracellular concentration of H2O2 increased in microglia cultures exposed to α-synuclein. In a gel migration assay, mouse microglia extended lamellipodia and migrated toward H2O2. Addition of α-synuclein stimulated phosphorylation of the kinase Lyn in cell lysates from wild-type but not CD11b-/- microglia. Inhibiting Lyn pharmacologically or with RNA interference revealed that Lyn mediates the phosphorylation of cortactin and rearrangement of the cytoskeleton to enable microglial migration in response to H2O2 or α-synuclein. The findings provide a molecular mechanism for how α-synuclein aggregates promote neuroinflammation. S. Wang, C. -H. Chu, T. Stewart, C. Ginghina, Y. Wang, H. Nie, M. Guo, B. Wilson, J. -S. Hong, J. Zhang, α-Synuclein, a chemoattractant, directs microglial migration via H2O2-dependent Lyn phosphorylation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112, E1926–E1935 (2015). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Observational studies including time‐varying treatments are prone to confounding. We compared time‐varying Cox regression analysis, propensity score (PS) methods, and marginal structural models (MSMs) in a study of antidepressant [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)] use and the risk of hip fracture.


Smart home IoT devices have increasingly become a favorite target for the cybercriminals due to their weak security designs. To identify these vulnerable devices, existing approaches rely on the analysis of either real devices or their firmware images. These approaches, unfortunately, are difficult to scale in the highly fragmented IoT market due to the unavailability of firmware images and the high cost involved in acquiring real-world devices for security analysis. In this paper, we present a platform that accelerates vulnerable device discovery and analysis, without requiring the presence of actual devices or firmware. Our approach is based on two key observations: First, IoT devices tend to reuse and customize others' components (e.g., software, hardware, protocol, and services), so vulnerabilities found in one device are often present in others. Second, reused components can be indirectly inferred from the mobile companion apps of the devices; so a cross analysis of mobile companion apps may allow us to approximate the similarity between devices. Using a suite of program analysis techniques, our platform analyzes mobile companion apps of smart home IoT devices on market and automatically discovers potentially vulnerable ones, allowing us to perform a large-scale analysis involving over 4,700 devices. Our study brings to light the sharing of vulnerable components across the smart home IoT devices (e.g., shared vulnerable protocol, backend services, device rebranding), and leads to the discovery of 324 devices from 73 different vendors that are likely to be vulnerable to a set of security issues.


This research deals with the urban development of Asheville, North Carolina in the first half of the twentieth century and, specifically, the transformation of an urban hillside known as Battery Park. It is a case study of how one person and his beliefs about technology, modernization, and commercial appeal had the power to forever change the city's form. In a very short time period, E.W. Grove transformed a bucolic twenty-five-acre Battery Hill with a rambling Victorian hotel into a flattened automobile-centered commercial district with two skyscraper hotels. During this period, Grove concentrated his financial investments in this area, and worked diligently through many channels to ensure their success. Focusing on the time frame of 1900 to 1930, this investigation covers the Battery Park changes by combining three methods: the careful study of the existing landscape, historic visual analysis, and the use of traditional archival evidence. The ultimate goal of the project is to address the Battery Park landscape as a physical representation of the changing values in Asheville's history. The research traces the physical, functional, and technological evolution of this urban landscape and relates these changes to national, regional, and local history. It examines why certain values in Asheville took precedence over others and whether certain themes, such as transportation, were major influences.


The disproportionate rate of adverse police-black encounters, instances of unfair and unequal treatment by the police, in addition to the over-representation of black people in the total and remand prison population raises questions about the nature and extent of discrimination and racism in the criminal justice system. Reasons for the apparent differential treatment of black people in the criminal justice process remain contested. Much research on 'race' and criminal justice issues has produced contradictory findings and attempts to isolate a 'race' effect in criminal justice decision-making has been difficult. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this thesis explores issues of 'race', racism and criminal justice focusing on bail and remand. From a statistical analysis of data from a bail survey at two north London magistrates' courts, it is argued that black males are remanded in custody at a higher rate than their white counterparts and overrepresented among those remanded in custody when compared to their proportion in the general population. Overall, even when significant factors such as seriousness of offence and age are taken into account, unexplained racial differences in bail decision-making remain. An analysis of qualitative data from black defendants and criminal justice practitioners supports the proposition that discrimination operates within the bail system and extends this argument to other stages of the criminal justice process.

This thesis also examines how issues of racism and criminal justice have been 'explained' theoretically. From a critical examination of key theoretical positions of neoconservatism, critical criminology and left realism, it is argued that criminological theorising may never be able to fully 'explain' issues of racial discrimination. It is further argued that notwithstanding the important insights to the debate put forward by critical criminology, it still does not go far enough in such 'explanations', while neo-conservatism and left realism paint a distorted picture. Drawing on several existing themes from critical criminology, the notion of 'virtual criminality' is suggested as a way forward.


The dynamics of trust and distrust are central to understanding modern society. These dynamics are evident at all levels of society, from the child's relation to caregivers to the individual's relation to the state, and they span from taken for granted trusting relationships to highly reflective and negotiated contractual interactions. The collection of papers in this book questions the diverse ways in which the concept of trust has been previously used, and advances a coherent theorisation of the socio-cultural dynamics of trust and distrust. In this volume, trust and distrust are analysed in relation to lay knowledge and situated in historical, cultural and interactional contexts. The contexts analysed include witch-hunting during the Reformation, China before and after the move to capitalism, building close personal relationships in South Korea, the representation of political corruption in Brazil, tourists bargaining for souvenirs in the Himalaya, disclosing being HIV+ in India, the historical shaping of trust in Portugal, and the role of trust and distrust in the economic development of the Baltic States. Throughout these analyses, and in associated commentaries and theoretical chapters, the focus is upon the cultural and social constitution of trust and distrust.


The focus of this article is to explore the numerous interpretations accorded to sections 46(1) and 47(11) of the Botswana Road Traffic Act (hereinafter "the Act"). Through an examination of case law, this article attempts to probe the correctness of the decisions selected and specifically, it asks whether the section that creates the offence of drunken driving is constitutional. A necessary concomitant of the discussion is its attempt to proffer varied and and often conflicting solutions to the problems raised. It is anticipated that this will lead the reader a step closer to finding answers to what seems an intractable conundrum.


In this event-related brain potentials (ERP) study, we explored the possibility to selectively track referential ambiguity during spoken discourse comprehension. Earlier ERP research has shown that referentially ambiguous nouns (e.g., "the girl" in a two-girl context) elicit a frontal, sustained negative shift relative to unambiguous control words. In the current study, we examined whether this ERP effect reflects 'deep' situation model ambiguity or 'superficial' textbase ambiguity. We contrasted these different interpretations by investigating whether a discourse-level semantic manipulation that prevents referential ambiguity also averts the elicitation of a referentially induced ERP effect. We compared ERPs elicited by nouns that were referentially non-ambiguous but were associated with two discourse entities (e.g., "the girl" with two girls introduced in the context, but one of which has died or left the scene), with referentially ambiguous and nonambiguous control words. While temporally referentially ambiguous nouns elicited a frontal negative shift compared to control words, the 'double bound' but referentially non-ambiguous nouns did not. These results suggest that it is possible to selectively track referential ambiguity with ERPs at the level that is most relevant to discourse comprehension, the situation model. 2.