Shapiro, Sheryl, and Simon Shapiro. Better Together . Illus. Dusan Petricic. Toronto: Annick Press, 2011. Print. This concept book is infused with a cheerful, slightly mischievous spirit as the authors and illustrator explore a wide variety of, and a broad notion of, mixes. Kids might be familiar with many of the mixes—mixing cinnamon and sugar to spread on toast, mixing water and dirt to create mud, mixing blue and yellow to make green or mixing water and flour to create glue. Other mixes are more abstract—mixing up each team member's different skills to make a great soccer team or mixing up musical instruments to make raucous music. Each mix is explained by a playful, rhyming poem that is easy-to-read and delightful to read aloud. The writers themselves decided to mix things up—the book is this husband-and-wife's first collaborative effort and their obvious pleasure in wordplay is apparent. For example, the first poem, which explains what mixes are, contains the line "You stir and squoosh them, squish and moosh them" to create a brand new thing. The lively text is supported by the equally zippy illustrations. The first illustration is a highlight as Petricic shows how mixing the separate ingredients of ideas, paper, and drawings can produce a wonderful new thing: a picture book. The mix of vivid illustrations and energetic text has created a fun book that both kids and parents will enjoy. The book is recommended for children ages 4-7. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Tami Oliphant Tami works as a research librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries and for the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. She earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta and her doctorate from the University of Western Ontario. She has worked in academic libraries, public libraries, communications and planning, and as a sessional lecturer and researcher at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario.


Conventional approaches to adding virtual reality-based realism in a GIS environment involve the development of complicated 3-dimensional geometric models through the use of sophisticated computer hardware and software. While these approaches provide for some benefits with regard to increased user comprehension, they are often limited due to the complexity of their creation and inability to provide realistic visual cues for the user. This is especially significant in the development of interactive computer-based touring guides, where the uninitiated user must be able to quickly and efficiently interpret directions provided on a computer display. This research focuses on the integration of digital terrestrial photographs in a mapbased environment acquired with a set of non-metric cameras mounted on a simple tripod system. A novel combination of stereo-photographic and image processing techniques are used to link 360-degree panoramic virtual environments to a dynamic map-based environment within a software and hardware prototype developed by the authors. The linked panoramic and map interface allows for user query and interaction. Techniques and results are outlined for the creation of the system, including: acquisition, processing (data reduction), and visualization. Ease of use and low cost were primary considerations for the development of the prototype. Results suggest that an un-calibrated stereo and camera setup can provide appropriate accuracy for the purposes of GIS integration. Further, the successful implementation of the prototype provides proof of concept for an alternative approach for spatially enabled virtual reality and map integration. Symposium on Geospatial Theory, Processing and Applications, Symposium sur la théorie, les traitements et les applications des données Géospatiales, Ottawa 2002


The research project ROBxTASK addresses the start-up or ramp-up phases for processes that involve robots. This phase is important in Zero Defect Manufacturing, where continuous adaptations are needed to avoid problems in the process. The research project has started in 2020 and an architecture is developed, that allows to transfer collaborative processes across different robotic systems. In this paper, the initial goals and the first architectural and methodological considerations leading to the conceptual design of the collaborative platform ROBxTASK are discussed. The platform enables different types of collaborative co-workers - with or without prior experience in programming - to define and adapt robotic behaviour for their work environment. Robotic behaviour is modelled using a process description language. The researched robotic solutions will be reusable across different domains of application (e.g. manufacturing in industry or healthcare) and different types of robots with similar properties (e.g. different robotic arm, mobile order pickers or social service robots). These solutions can be shared on the platform.


This chapter presents the results of a contrastive study of interactional phrases (discourse strategies intended to actively engage the reader in the argumentation process) as used by novice and expert writers of argumentative texts of both English and Spanish. The novice writer texts, those produced by Spanish EFL and American university writers, were compared to expert Anglo writers' texts, opinion editorial articles. The Spanish editorials were used to trace the transfer of interactional patterns in the Spanish EFL texts. The phrases searched for in the various corpora consisted of the following types of interpersonal expressions: certainty markers, attitudinal markers and those constructions which are used for the presentation of evaluations in argumentation (adverbial phrases, such as clearly, certainly , etc.; it + adjective phrases: it is possible , un/likely + that/to ; it is necessary, clear, certain, obvious, true , etc., + to/that ; and, the transfer of the se passive impersonal construction from Spanish to the EFL texts). The results show that the interactional phrases used by Spanish EFL students in comparison with those used by the other three groups are influenced by incomplete mastery of the modal system, choice of adjectival lexical phrases and transfer of the reflexive passive impersonal construction from Spanish.


Abstract Aims Six Delta is a six-dimensional independent platform for outcome-based pricing/contracting. The third dimension (δ3) estimates prices on the basis of international drug price referencing methods. We describe this dimension's methodology and present a proof-of-concept application to the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR mutation with osimertinib. Materials and methods The reference-based pricing dimension utilizes a six-step method: (1) selecting foreign countries based on a set of four criteria (drug is available in the foreign country, price information is available in the foreign country, foreign countries are members within the organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, pricing methods in the foreign countries involve value assessment); (2) adjusting for exchange rates; (3) generating reference price (RP) scenarios; (4) adjusting with the medical inflation rate; (5) pooling all generated RP scenarios and calculating average and standard deviation (SD); (6) and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to estimate the dimension-specific DSPReference. A proof-of-concept exercise with osimertinib in NSCLC was performed for two hypothetical outcome-based contracts: 1-year (2019–2020) and 2-year (2019–2021). Results The United Kingdom and Canada met the four criteria. For the osimertinib 1-year contract price, the average of eight RP scenarios, adjusted for inflation by 0.44%, was $8,892 (SD = $2,606) for a 30-day prescription. MCS yielded a DSPReference estimate of $9,395 or −35.72% of the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of $14,616. For the 2-year contract, the average, adjusted for inflation by 0.72%, was $8,928 (SD = $2,610). MCS yielded a DSPReference estimate of $9,442 or −35.40% of the WAC of $14,616. Conclusions We demonstrated that international price referencing methods can be integrated into our proposed Six Delta platform for outcome-based pricing/contracting.


Volcanic samples collected with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's ROV Tiburon from eight seamounts at the continental margin offshore central to southern California comprise a diverse suite of mainly alkalic basalt to trachyte but also include rare tholeiitic basalt and basanite. All samples experienced complex crystal fractionation probably near the crust/mantle boundary, based on the presence in some of mantle xenoliths. Incompatible trace elements, poorly correlated with isotopic compositions, suggest variable degrees of partial melting of compositionally heterogeneous mantle sources, ranging from MORB‐like to relatively enriched OIB. High‐precision 40Ar/39Ar ages indicate episodes of volcanic activity mainly from 16 to 7 Ma but document one eruption as recent as 2.8 Ma at San Juan Seamount. Synchronous episodes of volcanism occurred at geographically widely separated locations offshore and within the continental borderland. Collectively, the samples from these seamounts have age ranges and chemical compositions similar to those from Davidson Seamount, identified as being located atop an abandoned spreading center. These seamounts appear to have a common origin ultimately related to abandonment and partial subduction of spreading center segments when the plate boundary changed from subduction‐dominated to a transform margin. They differ in composition, age, and origin from other more widespread near‐ridge seamounts, which commonly have circular plans with nested calderas, and from age progressive volcanoes in linear arrays, such as the Fieberling‐Guadalupe chain, that occur in the same region. Each volcanic episode represents decompression melting of discrete enriched material in the suboceanic mantle with melts rising along zones of weakness in the oceanic crust fabric. The process may be aided by transtensional tectonics related to continued faulting along the continental margin.


Abstract

Objective – By collecting and analyzing evidence from three data points, researchers sought to understand how library spaces are used. Researchers have used results for evidence based decision making regarding physical library spaces.

Methods – Undergraduate researchers, sociology faculty, and librarians used mixed-methods to triangulate findings. Seating sweeps were used to map patrons' activities in the library. Student-led focus groups discussed patterns of library use, impressions of facilities, and library features and services. The final step included a campus survey developed from seating sweeps and focus group findings.

Results – Seating sweeps showed consistent use of the library's main level Learning Commons and upper level quiet spaces; the library's multipurpose lower level is under-utilized. Students use the main level of the library for collaborative learning, socializing, reading, and computer use. Students use the upper level for quiet study and group work in study rooms. Focus group findings found library use is task-specific. For example, a student may work with classmates on a project using the main level Learning Commons during the day, and then come back at night to use the quiet floor for test preparation. Survey responses highlighted areas in which the library is deficient. For example, respondents cited crowdedness, noise levels, and temperature concerns.

Conclusion – These data offer empirical evidence for library space needs. Some data aligns with previous space studies conducted at this library: access to power outlets, lighting, noise, and an outdated environment. Evidence also supports anecdotal concerns of crowding, graduate students lacking designated study space, and the need for quiet study space away from group study space.


Abstract Objective To examine energy intakes (El), their ratio to estimated basal metabolic rate (BMRest) and the contribution of food groups to energy intake in the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey. Design and setting Random sample of adults from the populations of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Food intake data were collected using a 7-day food diary. Body weight and height were measured and EI/BMRest was calculated from reported energy intake and estimated basal metabolic rate. Dieting practices were assessed as part of a self-administered questionnaire. Results Mean energy intake in men was 11.0 MJ and in women was 7.6 MJ, which is comparable to reported energy intakes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over a decade ago. Mean EI/BMRest was 1.38. This increased to 1.42 after the exclusion of dieters and those who were unwell, but still remained less than the established cut-off of 1.53. EI/BMRest was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in men than in women and decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing BMI in both sexes. The four food groups that contributed 50% of energy in men and women were meat and meat products, breads and rolls, potatoes and potato products, and biscuits, cakes, pastries and puddings. Conclusions Energy intakes have not changed remarkably in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland in the last 10 years, but the mean EI/BMRest of 1.38 suggests that energy underreporting occurred. EI/BMRest was lower in women and in the overweight/obese. Additional multivariate analysis of the data is needed to identify more clearly subgroups of the population reporting lower than expected energy intakes and to evaluate the effect of low energy reporting on the consumption of various foods and food groups.


OsPti1a, a functional ortholog of tomato SlPti1, negatively regulates both basal resistance and R-gene-mediated resistance in rice. To investigate the molecular function of OsPti1a in defense responses, we searched for components interacting with OsPti1a using a yeast two-hybrid system. One of the interacting proteins is a Ser/Thr kinase that directly phosphorylates OsPti1a in vitro. This protein belongs to the AGC kinase family and is highly similar to AtOxi1, which is induced in response to a wide range of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating stimuli in Arabidopsis. Thus, it was designated OsOxi1. OsOxi1 was transiently phosphorylated in response to ROS and chitin elicitor. Both OsOxi1-overexpressing transgenic lines and the ospti1a mutant were highly sensitive to ROS treatment, indicating that OsOxi1 and OsPti1a are involved in ROS-mediated signaling in opposing ways. OsOxi1 is specifically expressed at infection sites where ROS are produced after inoculation with a blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. Overexpression of OsOxi1 enhanced basal resistance to the blast fungus, indicating that OsOxi1 positively regulates disease resistance. OsOxi1 phosphorylates Thr-233 of OsPti1a and a point mutation of Thr-233 enhanced disease susceptibility to a bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), suggesting that the phosphorylation of OsPti1a by OsOxi1 is essential for basal resistance to Xoo. Taken together, our data suggest that OsOxi1 positively regulates defense responses through the phosphorylation of OsPti1a, causing the release from an OsPti1a-dependent inhibition of the responses.


The overall purpose of this work is to study the location pattern of new industries and how it changes over time. With this objective as motivation, a set of 27 industries are classified as belonging to the ICT-sector (information and communication technology). The goods and services supplied by these industries were to a large extent new at the end of the 1980s. The paper outlines two interrelated models of vertical externalities to explain the location pattern of the industries in 1990 and 2000. The two externalities concern a firm's input demand and its output demand. These models are introduced to illustrate how these externalities favour location in the largest functional urban regions. The same models predict that location in smaller regions is facilitated as demand grows, when internal scale economies (start-up costs) are not too strong. The empirical analyses apply a logit model to estimate location probabilities, which depend on the size and the diversity of a region's econom


Despite the expansion of empirical research in public finance, there remains consider- able uncertainty about the distributional consequences of fiscal policy. For this session, I have been asked to summarize some international comparisons. I shall divide the issue into two questions. How effective has fiscal policy been in reducing inequality? Mow big are the potential gains from further redistribution? In Section I, I examine some of the evidence on the redistributive effects of taxes and benefits in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. I shall concentrate on the distribution among house- holds, and not among the units, individuals, or by type of factor income. This ignores the fact that the formation of households is itself endogenous and depends, in part, on fiscal policy, especially subsidies to housing costs. Any statement about the impact of taxes on distribution depends on a counter-factual assumption about the distribution which would be observed in the absence of taxes and benefits. Since there is no overwhelming evidence in favor of any one particular set of assumptions, I shall argue that it is helpful to pose a second question, the answer to which docs not depend on assumptions about incidence. Given the distribution which emerges from the existing system of taxes and benefits, what would be the gains from attempting further redistribution? Finally, in Section III some suggestions are presented for future research.


This article critically analyses the Longman Defining Vocabulary (LDV) in relation to its size, range and frequency, senses, parts of speech, affixes, and multiword expressions. The recent versions of the LDV contain a relatively fixed number of items. Over 85% of those items were found to be highly frequent, and for the defining purpose, genus terms, grammatical terms, etc. have also been included. The number of affixes in the LDV has been greatly reduced, and some common derivatives have been listed separately. On the other hand, the actual size of the LDV is much larger than was reported, for LDOCE did not distinguish between the LDV items with different senses or forms. It was found that the claim of using the 'most common meanings' of the LDV items is not always held true. The parts of speech of the LDV items have not been systematically indicated. Many multiword expressions, which have been used in the definitions in LDOCE, are not part of the LDV. This study sheds some light on the improvement in the practice of using a controlled defining vocabulary in an English learner's dictionary.


Executive Summary At a time when politics, financial considerations, and a push for expediency put pressure on the US immigration system, it can be difficult to have faith in the adjudicatory process. Case resolution quotas, directives that constrain courts' ability to render justice in individual cases, and executive decisions that contract immigration judges' discretion contribute to an immigration system that looks less and less like judicial adjudication of some of the highest-stakes cases in our legal system and more like a ministerial claims-processing scheme. A ray of hope exists, however, in the proliferation of public defender–style systems that offer universal representation to those facing deportation. This essay describes the genesis and expansion of the universal representation movement — a project based on the idea that indigent individuals should be entitled to counsel regardless of the apparent merits or political palatability of their case. It describes the benefits of such a program to the immigration adjudication system writ large. Beyond the oft-cited increase in success rates for individuals represented and the benefits to the communities in which such programs are located, universal representation promotes the integrity of the court system and strengthens an adjudicatory procedure that, for too long, has functioned primarily to expeditiously churn through cases. Finally, looking forward, it considers some of the challenges this movement faces as it grows and it identifies areas for further expansion.


The Internet allows citizens to comment on public affairs with an amplified and unfiltered voice, creating an open, community-based culture where robust debate flourishes. However, many of the ideals and practices of participatory culture clash with the traditional legal culture as it exists in the United States. This cultural conflict can be seen in emerging narratives, in the form of web blogs and lawyer emails that go "viral," in which lawyers comment on the lack of humanism within big law firm hiring and firing practices; expose the alienating work environments experienced by low-level contract attorneys; or criticize judges who show hostility toward criminal defense attorneys. From a critical standpoint, these narratives tell the story of a broken legal profession, implicitly arguing that the liberal humanism that the profession supposedly embodies does not apply to all lawyers. These stories are, in effect, structural critiques of the profession. Nonetheless, these missives have the potential to run afoul of ethical rules and professional norms that prohibit attorneys from impugning the integrity of the judiciary and the legal profession. Because these narratives provide a valuable critique of the profession, however, ethical rules or professional norms should not operate to shut these stories down. As the democratic ideals inherent in participatory culture become more deeply embedded in our society, the legal profession should also evolve and embrace a more pluralistic and unconstrained approach toward professionalism. Part I of this Article describes the characteristics of participatory culture relevant to the legal profession. Part II explores the emerging format of the online lawyer narrative and Part III analyzes the professionalism issues raised by these new narratives.


The critical findings associated with end-face total internal reflection (TIR) phenomemon we proved before are reported. In particular, these findings reveal that the end-face-TIR capable rays experience enormous mode mixing when encountering a roughened end face. As a result, 94% of the overall detectable power is contributed by this effect. With a smooth fiber end face, this figure is mere 52%. We interpret the mechanism behind these unusual phenomena and its significance for the performance enhancement of fiber optic evanescent wave sensor.


: Globally, riverine fishes are affected by degradation of habitat, stream alterations, lost stream connectivity and introduction of non-native species. The plains topminnow Fundulus sciadicus , a small stream-dwelling fish, currently does not have a federal conservation status in the USA; however, anecdotal reports have suggested its decline for the last 20 yr. Our goals were to evaluate the validity of its reported decline and to determine the current range-wide status of this species. We identified 927 historical sites (1889−1999) of occurrence and compiled recent records or re-visited 667 sites (2000−2010). We found plains topminnow at 189 (28.0%) of these sites. Although Nebraska represented the center of distribution and included 66.7% of all historical sites, plains topminnow were only found at 34.4% of historical sites, with the largest declines observed in the Platte and Republican River drainages. Current sampling efforts in Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming found similar declines. In Iowa and Kansas, plains topminnow was not found, whereas potential increases in distribution were observed in a single drainage in Minnesota and Wyoming. In addition to our sampling efforts, we repeatedly sampled 40 sites within Nebraska to determine detection probability. Detection probabilities for plains topminnow were consistent at 0.76 ± 0.05 (mean ± SE) among sites that were sampled with a single visit. Further research is needed on the species and the potential threats to its occupation of sites, as no singular cause for decline seems plausible. Observed threats include degradation and loss of habitat and shifts in species assemblages towards generalist non-native species.


Ubiquitous services are designed to help senior citizenspsila daily lives. Service architecture and middleware are the key enablers of ubiquitous services. In this paper a service architecture is established with detailed descriptions of its key components and their functions. Game engine is proposed as middleware for ubiquitous services. This paper discusses service architecture and middleware building in detail. At the end of the paper conclusions are made and future research directions are outlined.


The objective of this work was to establish, under experimental laboratory conditions, a colony of Lucilia sericata, Bogotá-Colombia strain, to build life tables and evaluate two artificial diets. This blowfly is frequently used in postmortem interval studies and in injury treatment. The parental adult insects collected in Bogotá were maintained in cages at 22°C±1 average temperature, 60%±5 relative humidity and 12 h photoperiodicity. The blowflies were fed on two artificial diets that were evaluated over seven continuous generations. Reproductive and population parameters were assessed. The life cycle of the species was expressed in the number of days of the different stages: egg = 0.8±0.1, larvae I = 1.1±0.02, larvae II = 1.94±0.16, larvae III = 3.5±0.54, pupae = 6.55±0.47, male adult = 28.7±0.83 and female adult = 33.5±1.0. Total survival from egg stage to adult stage was 91.2% for diet 1, while for diet 2 this parameter was 40.5%. The lifetime reproductive output was 184.51±11.2 eggs per female. The population parameters, as well as the reproductive output of the blowflies that were assessed, showed relatively high values, giving evidence of the continuous increase of the strain over the different generations and making possible its maintenance as a stable colony that has lasted for more than two years.


Abstract Background: End-of-life (EOL) communication plays a critical role in ensuring that patients receive care concordant with their wishes and experience high quality of life. As the baby boomer population ages, scalable models of end-of-life communication will be needed to ensure that patients receive appropriate care. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) may help address the needs of this generation; however, few resources exist to guide the use of ICTs in EOL care. Objective: The primary objective was to identify the ICTs being used in EOL communication. The secondary objective was to compare the effectiveness of different ICTs in EOL communication. Methods: The study was a systematic review, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We systematically searched seven databases for experimental and observational studies on EOL communication between doctors and patients using ICTs, published in 1997–2013. Results: The review identified 38 relevant articles. Eleven types of technology were identified: video, website, telephone, videoconferencing, e-mail, telemonitoring, Internet search, compact disc, fax, PalmPilot, and short message service (SMS) text messaging. ICTs were most commonly used to provide information or education, serve as decision aids, promote advance care planning (ACP), and relieve physical symptom distress. Conclusions: The use of ICTs in EOL care is a small but growing field of research. Additional research is needed to adapt older, analog technologies for use in the digital age. Many of the interventions discussed in this review do not take full advantage of the affordances of mobile, connected health ICTs. The growing evidence base for e-health applications in related fields should guide future interventions in EOL care.


This research was initiated from a need to evaluate marginal mixtures that do not meet the Superpave mix design criteria for the air voids content requirements for the construction of hot mix asphalt pavements. The developed criteria is comprised of the base criteria derived from test data of as-placed field cores normalized to 7.5% air voids content, which provides the minimum stiffness and strength requirements for a mixture as a function of the traffic level. The stiffness of pavement cores is measured using Simple Shear Tester to obtain shear stiffness |G*| of mix and strength is measured using indirect tensile strength testing. The asphalt mixture will meet the criteria if it meets both the stiffness and strength requirements. Additionally, the criteria include coefficients intended to adjust the base criteria for variable mix density. Given the need to assess the mix performance in the plant mixing stage, an adjustment factor is provided to account for the compaction procedure effects for the gyratory-compacted asphalt plant mixtures relative to pavement cores compacted by rollers. Another adjustment factor to account for the mixture aging effects is provided for the asphalt mixtures tested in the mix design stage. Forensic study of failed interstate pavement near Indianapolis, Indiana suggests that for a heavy traffic of more than 30 million design equivalent single axle load applications, the factor of safety that the developed criteria is providing against rutting is ranging from 2.2 to 2.8.


Layered double hydroxide (LDH) is a class of ionic lamellar solids with positively charged layers with two kinds of metallic cations and exchangeable hydrated gallery anions. This is also referred to as anionic clays and also as hydrotalcite-like compounds in the name of the polytypes of the corresponding [Zn-Al-NO₃]-LDH based mineral. Zn-Al-NO₃-LDH was synthesized with final ratio of 4:1 by co-precipitation method. Characterization of Zn-Al-NO hydrotalcite was done using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), XRD and FT-IR. Various experiment parameters were studied. They include the effect of contact time and initial concentration, effect of pH, effect of adsorbent dosage, effect of temperature and the effect of particle size and also the Langmuir and Freundlich Isotherm. All the parameters will affected the adsorption capacity of the LDH. For the study of contact time and initial concentration, the maximum ZAN uptake percentage for the 50 ppm Amido Black dye concentration is 99.7% for and 18.3% for 5 ppm Methylene Blue. For the effect of pH, the highest uptake percentage for both dyes is at pH 2 which is 99.2% for Amido Black and 23.1% for Methylene Blue. While for the effect of adsorbent dosage, the highest removal percentage for Amido Black was exhibited using 0.2g ZAN with the value of 99.02% while for Methylene Blue the highest uptake percentage is 24.9% using 1.5g ZAN. For effect of temperature the maximum uptake percentage for Amido Black was 98.9%o while for Methylene Blue the highest uptake was 25.5% and both were done using 35°C. For the effect of particle size, maximum adsorbance was obtained using 212|um particle size with 98.9% removal of Amido Black and 32.5% removal of Methylene Blue. The study on adsorption models of Langmuir and Freundlich Isotherm showed that the adsorption was taking place on the ZAN. The characterization of the ZAN by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), XRD and FT-IR proved that the powder used has the properties of ZAN and dye adsorption had taken place.


Abstract This article provides an overview of ototoxic medication, as well as different pharmacological and audiological monitoring strategies. Although ototoxic medications play an important role in modern medicine, they also have the capacity to do great harm and lead to significant morbidity. Physicians have to be aware of the potential effects of medication in order to identify patients who are at increased risk of developing ototoxicity. Precaution should be taken to prevent any auditory impairment that might occur through appropriate administration and monitoring. Although some otoprotective substances have been used successfully in certain studies, further trials must be performed to assess their clinical utility. The clinical pharmacist and audiologist form an important part of the ototoxicity management healthcare team.


As Internet video goes mainstream, we see increasing user expectations for higher video quality and new global policy requirements for content providers. Inspired by the case for centralizing network-layer control, we present C3, a control system for optimizing Internet video delivery. The design of C3 addresses key challenges in ensuring scalability and tackling data plane heterogeneity. First, to ensure scalability and responsiveness, C3 introduces a novel split control plane architecture that can tolerate a small increase in model staleness for a dramatic increase in scalability. Second, C3 supports diverse client-side platforms via a minimal clientside sensing/actuation layer and offloads complex monitoring and control logic to the control plane. C3 has been operational for eight years, and today handles more than 100M sessions per day from 244 countries for 100+ content providers and has improved the video quality significantly. In doing so, C3 serves as a proof point of the viability of fine-grained centralized control for Internetscale applications. Our experiences reinforce the case for centralizing control with the continued emergence of new use case pulls (e.g., client diversity) and technology pushes (e.g., big data platforms).


There is a growing need for new sources of energy due to the rise in global energy demand, the decline in fossil fuels, and the increasing, negative consequences of climate change. Renewable energy resources are sustainable but they are also intermittent, meaning that they cannot supply energy on demand unless it is stored. Hydrogen is one potential chemical method of storing this energy; however, it has a very low energy density per unit volume, meaning that storage in low mass and volume containers can be problematic. One solution is to adsorb hydrogen onto highly porous materials. This thesis presents an improved methodology for analysing hydrogen adsorbed inside porous materials, and how it can be utilised to determine the potential use of storing hydrogen via physisorption for aviation. Preliminary studies are conducted on pressure and temperature dependencies of both the pore volume and the adsorbate density, and a comparison is also made between the utilisation of different Type 1 isotherms for the fractional filling of hydrogen, with the use of the Tόth equation resulting in the best quality of fit to the isotherms overall. The model is verified using inelastic neutron scattering and computer simulations. The model is then utilised to calculate the amount of hydrogen within a tank containing varying quantities of adsorbent, and comparing this to the amount of hydrogen that can be stored via direct compression at the same conditions. This is then expanded to be compared to alternative energy systems, and a preliminary investigation on the use of adsorbed hydrogen within aviation is conducted. The results show hydrogen adsorption to always have a higher energy density than compressed hydrogen up to a certain pressure, and for both to have a comparable energy density to battery storage at certain conditions, but not to standard jet fuels.


Charles Peirce, Mikhail Bakhtin and Thomas Sebeok all develop original research itineraries around the sign and, despite terminological differences, can be related with reference to the concept of dialogism and modelling. Jakob von Uexkull's biosemiosic "functional cycle", a model for semiosic processes, is also implied in the relation between dialogue and communication. Biological models which describe communication as a self-referential, autopoietic and semiotically closed system (e.g., the models proposed by Maturana, Varela, and Thure von Uexkull) contrast with both the linear (Shannon and Weaver) and the circular (Saussure) paradigms. The theory of autopoietic systems is only incompatible with dialogism if reference is to a linear causal model which describes communication as developing from source to destination, or to the conversation model governed by the turning around together rule. Dialogism understood in biosemiotic terms overlaps with the concepts of interconnectivity, interrelation, intercorporeity and presupposes the otherness relation. As Uexkull says, the relation with the umwelt in nonhuman living beings is stable and concerns the species; on the contrary, in human beings it is, changeable and concerns the single individual, which is at once an advantage and a disadvantage. Thanks to "syntactics", human beings can construct, deconstruct and reconstruct an infinite number of worlds from a finite number of elements. This distinguishes human beings from other animals and determines their capacity for posing problems and asking questions. The human being not only produces his or her own world, but can also endanger it, and even destroy it to the point of causing the extinction of all other life forms on Earth. The unique capacity for reflection on signs makes human beings responsible for life across the planet, both human and nonhuman. Such reflections shift semiotic research in the direction of semioethics .


In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis for quality control in the manufacturing sector. Many manufacturing processes have become fully automated resulting in high production volumes. However, this is not necessarily the case for inspection of aerospace surface defects. Volume measurement of defects is one of the key elements in quality assurance in order to determine the pass or failure of certain manufactured parts within this industrial sector. Existing human visual analysis of surface defects is qualitative and subject to varying interpretation. Noncontact 3D measurement should provide a robust and systematic quantitative approach for surface defect analysis. Instrument native software processing of 3D data is often subject to issues of repeatability and may be non-traceable in nature, leading to significant uncertainty about data quantisation and representation. This is compounded by a lack of traceable surface defect standards and softgauges with which to test the instruments and software respectively. This research is concerned with the development of novel traceable sub-millimetric surface defects produced using a Rockwell hardness test instrument on flat, single curvature (SC), and double curvature (DC) metal plates, and the development of a novel robust, repeatable, mathematical solution for automatic defect detection and characterization. This is then extended to a surface defect on an aerofoil that is measured in real-time and characterized using the novel algorithm. The results show that the new surface defect detection and quantification is more robust, efficient, and repeatable than existing solutions.


This main purpose of this dissertation is to describe a set of three experiments that were designed to explore neural systems supporting navigation and spatial cognition. Additionally, the theoretical significance of the experiments and their relationship to the current literature will be discussed in detail. This introductory section provides some motivation for the study of navigation and spatial cognition, followed by an overview of the three experiments, a discussion of previous work leading to each experiment, and a brief description of the methodology used for each study. Experiment 1 utilizes high-density neurophysiological recording techniques to examine hippocampal place cell activity in cue-rich environments where the rats are exposed to cue conflict situations, and concludes that the hippocampal representation of spatial location is concordant. Experiment 2 takes advantage of the transynaptic retrograde transport of pseudorabies virus to define the synaptology of a pathway through which cells whose activity code for head direction could receive vestibular sensory information. Experiment 3 also uses pseudorabies virus to define polysynaptic pathways from the hippocampal formation to the hypothalamus via the lateral septum, which could provide the pathways for spatial information to be transported to areas involved in motivated behavior. The last chapter of this dissertation provides an extensive discussion of some issues surrounding the data presented, and brings together the experimental conclusions to construct generalizations regarding neural substrates of navigation and spatial cognition.


Internet of Things Driven Data Analytics (IoT-DA) has the potential to excel data-driven operationalisation of smart environments. However, limited research exists on how IoT-DA applications are designed, implemented, operationalised, and evolved in the context of software and system engineering life-cycle. This article empirically derives a framework that could be used to systematically investigate the role of software engineering (SE) processes and their underlying practices to engineer IoT-DA applications. First, using existing frameworks and taxonomies, we develop an evaluation framework to evaluate software processes, methods, and other artefacts of SE for IoT-DA. Secondly, we perform a systematic mapping study to qualitatively select 16 processes (from academic research and industrial solutions) of SE for IoT-DA. Thirdly, we apply our developed evaluation framework based on 17 distinct criterion (a.k.a. process activities) for fine-grained investigation of each of the 16 SE processes. Fourthly, we apply our proposed framework on a case study to demonstrate development of an IoT-DA healthcare application. Finally, we highlight key challenges, recommended practices, and the lessons learnt based on framework's support for process-centric software engineering of IoT-DA. The results of this research can facilitate researchers and practitioners to engineer emerging and next-generation of IoT-DA software applications.


Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a well-established technique for elemental and isotopic analyses. However, one of its major developments involving ultrafast lasers delivering pulse widths of tens to a few hundred femtoseconds has yet to fully emerge, fifteen years after its introduction. The lack of a widespread use of femtosecond (fs) lasers in LA-ICP-MS analysis appears surprising since this technology nearly eliminates several of the drawbacks of using nanosecond (ns) lasers: (1) at appropriate fluences, fs laser ablation is nearly athermal; (2) it ablates materials irrespective of their optical properties and (3) it produces particles with a modal distribution close to ∼0.1–0.2 micrometres, easily decomposed in the ICP torch. These properties result in significantly reduced chemical fractionation, a process through which evolving compositions are detected relative to that of the target sample. Hence, the use of fs lasers alleviates the need for matrix-matched calibration for elemental concentration and isotope ratio analyses. This is a decisive advantage for natural materials, often chemically complex and heterogeneous. It is indeed difficult to manufacture or find in nature equivalent homogeneous solids for calibration purposes using ns LA-ICP-MS. Easy ablation of optically transparent materials makes analysis much easier using a fs laser. Furthermore, the ablation yield is higher in the fs regime than in the ns regime, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the LA-ICP-MS technique. However, strategies have been developed to obtain reliable data using ns LA-ICP-MS. This makes the advanced properties of the more expensive and, until recently, more complicated to operate fs laser ablation systems less interesting for several applications. These include elemental analyses of solids used in the form of ratios instead of absolute concentration values, or radiogenic isotope ratio determinations easily corrected through internal normalization using two non-radiogenic isotopes. Lastly, mainstream U–Pb geochronology in zircon and monazite does not benefit much from femtosecond lasers since enough homogeneous standards exist for calibration purposes. Yet, for absolute element concentration determinations or for stable metal and metalloid isotope studies, recent publications demonstrate the decisive benefit of fs LA-ICP-MS analysis in terms of versatility, accuracy, precision and for improved spatial resolution.


OBJECTIVE
Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is a member of the type I cytokine superfamily that has a variety of effects on the immune system, including B cell activation, plasma cell differentiation, and immunoglobulin production. The expression of IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) is reduced in the B cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), while serum IL-21 levels are increased both in lupus patients and in some murine lupus models. We recently reported that polymorphisms within the IL21 gene are associated with increased susceptibility to SLE. The aim of this study was to examine the genetic association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within IL21R and SLE.

METHODS
We genotyped 17 SNPs in the IL21R gene in 2 large cohorts of lupus patients (a European-derived cohort and a Hispanic cohort) and in ethnically matched healthy controls.

RESULTS
We identified and confirmed the association between rs3093301 within the IL21R gene and SLE in the 2 cohorts (meta-analysis odds ratio 1.16 [95% confidence interval 1.08-1.25], P=1.0x10(-4)).

CONCLUSION
Our findings indicate that IL21R is a novel susceptibility gene for SLE.


The application of successive relaxation (SR) to the fixed-point problem associated with the iterative decoding of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes was proposed by Hemati et al.. The simulation results presented by Hemati et al. for the SR version of belief propagation (BP) in the likelihood ratio (LR) domain and that of min-sum (MS) in the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) domain are based on the assumption of all-zero codeword transmission. This assumption however results in erroneous error rates when SR is applied in the LR domain. Here, we correct the simulation results reported by Hemati et al. for SR-BP in the LR domain. Furthermore, we investigate the performance of SR-BP and SR-MS in the LLR and LR domains, respectively. The results for a binary input additive white Gaussian noise (BIAWGN) channel show that for both BP and MS, the application of SR in the two domains of LR and LLR results in different error correcting performance. In particular, for the tested codes, it is shown that among the four algorithms, SR-MS-LLR has the best performance. It outperforms standard MS and BP by up to about 0.6 dB and 0.3 dB, respectively, offering an attractive solution in terms of performance/complexity tradeoff.


Abstract. Like many high latitude areas, the mountainous region of subarctic Canada has experienced recent warming and is an area of large inter-annual temperature variations, most notably during the winter. Quantifying how climate tendencies affect streamflow, especially in the spring melt season, is critical not only to regional water resource management, but to understanding the influence of freshwater on the Arctic sea-ice cover and global climate system. The impact of projected atmospheric warming on the discharge of the Liard River is unclear. Here, uncertainty in climate projections associated with GCM structure (2 °C prescribed warming) and magnitude of increases in global mean air temperature (1 to 6 °C) on the river discharge are assessed using a well-tested, semi-distributed hydrological model. Analyses have shown that the hydrological impacts are highly dependant on the GCM scenario. Uncertainties between the GCM scenarios are driven by the inconsistencies in projected spatial variability and magnitude of precipitation, rather than warming temperatures. Despite these uncertainties, the entire scenario simulations project that the subarctic nival regime will be preserved in the future, but the magnitude of change in river discharge is highly uncertain. Generally, spring freshet will arrive earlier, autumn to spring discharge will increase whereas summer flow will decrease, leading to an overall increase in annual discharge.


The first Joint AMS-India Mathematics Meeting was held in Bangalore (India). This book presents articles written by speakers from a special session on commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. Included are contributions from some leading researchers around the world in this subject area. The volume contains new and original research papers and survey articles suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry.


Organic matter content increases in soil with no-tilled permanent raised beds (PBs) compared with soil with conventionally tilled beds (CBs), and this might affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Greenhouse gas (CO2, N2O, and CH4) emissions were measured from PBs, from which crop residue was either removed or retained and from CBs where crop residue was retained. The CO2 emission was not affected by tillage, but CH4 and N2O emissions were lower in PBs when residue was retained than in CBs. Removing crop residue from PBs reduced CO2 emissions compared with when it was retained, but it had no effect on N2O and CH4 emissions. The global warming potential (GWP) of GHG emissions was higher in CBs (801 kg CO2/ha/year) than in PBs (517 kg CO2/ha/year) with crop-residue retention, but more C was sequestered in the 0–60 cm soil layer in PBs (83.4 Mg C/ha) than in CBs (79.2 Mg C/ha). Crop-residue removal in PBs had little effect on the GWP of GHG compared with PBs with crop residue retained, but less C was sequestered in the latter (63.1 Mg C/ha). Net GWP (considering soil C sequestration, GHG emissions, fuel used, glyphosate application, fertilizer and seed production) was lower in CBs with crop-residue retention (1062 kg CO2/ha/year) than in PBs with crop-residue removal (6,120 kg CO2/ha/year), but it was larger than in PBs with crop-residue retention (−681 kg CO2/ha/year). We found that reduced tillage when beds were made permanent and crop-residue retention greatly reduced net GWP compared with when beds were tilled and remade each year.We found that retention of crop residue in PBs increased the emission of CO2 compared with where it was removed, but tillage did not affect fluxes of CO2. Emission of CH4 and N2O was larger from CBs than from PBs, but crop-residue management in PBs had no significant effect on fluxes of CH4 and N2O. Concentrations of mineral N were larger in CBs than in PBs, whereas the removal of crop residue from PBs increased mineral N concentration. Soil temperature was higher in CBs than in PBs and in PBs with crop residue retained compared with where it was removed. Soil water was better preserved in PBs than in CBs and in PBs where residue was retained than where it was removed. The higher water content in the PB compared with the CB will favor plant growth during dry spells. However, retaining crop residues in PBs will require sufficient application of inorganic N, as mineral N in soil is lower in PBs than in CBs or PBs with crop residue removed. Limited N availability in PBs with crop residue retained might reduce yields as poor farmers in the central highlands of Mexico apply little or no N fertilizer. Reduced tillage on PBs and crop-residue retention strongly reduced the net GWP of the system compared with the case when beds were remade each year. PBs with residue retention reduced net GWP by 50% compared with CBs with residue retention, but the removal of residues from the PBs more than doubled it.


Purpose: The aim of the study is to present multi-criteria Vector Measure Construction Method (VMCM), which enables the construction of aggregate measures, the creation of rankings, classifications and the investigation of change dynamics. Design/Methodology/Approach: The VMCM is used to build the measure (in dynamic terms) for the purpose of assessing the friendliness of EU countries in the context of supporting investors in the selection of locations for newly established enterprises. Findings: Not all multi-criteria methods give the opportunity to study the dynamics of change. The VMCM allows taking into account objects from outside the sample, which are better than the pattern (the measure is not limited, neither from the bottom nor from the top). Practical Implications: The solution proposed allows to assess the investment friendliness of individual country and compare countries (objects) with each other in different sections of time. Originality/Value: The VMCM allows to eliminate the limitations of the other multi-criteria methods in making rankings, classifications of objects and the analysis of the change dynamics.


This study investigates a statistically based scheme to translate climate information from the regional to local scale. Spatially averaged monthly maximum and minimum temperatures were used in a series of regression equations to predict similar variables at 62 stations across the southeastern United States. The spatial average temperature proved to be a good predictor of temperatures at most stations across the region. Model performance varied according to variable, season, and location. The highest model errors were associated with maximum temperature in summer, the lowest with minimum temperature in summer. While no general spatial patterns of errors were found, anomalously high errors appeared at individual stations. Since such anomalies often were associated with a variety of data discontinuities, the models provide a means of identifying whether individual stations are representative of the regional temperature time senes. The regression models could also provide greater spatial resolution for c h a t e impact scenarios as the~r error is usually far lower than the range of projected regional climate change produced by general circulation models.


With the liberalization of the electricity market, the cross-boarder transactions have become more common but set up new problems due to the non-existence of a global interconnected network operator which would have a whole knowledge of such electrical system. This article considers simultaneous transactions over multi-areas power systems, which are operated by different Transmission System Operators (TSOs), to assess a reliable value of Total Transfer Capability (TTC), in a decentralized manner. It is assumed that the TSOs have the will to cooperate each others, which leads us to use a decentralized power flow to get the Power Transfer Distribution Factors (PTDFs) for each area over the whole network. This approach also gives us the opportunity to review what are the shared information in a multi-areas power system. A simple model of the information exchanged between neighboring areas is provided to shows out it is a key point for running the decentralized algorithm. In the same time, the concept of simultaneous TTC is introduced. Then, each TSO uses the right PTDFs corresponding to its own area and computes the multiple TTC's by solving an integrated Linear Programming problem. These values are then used to assess the ultimate multiple TTC's using an appropriate cooperation among adjacent areas. The numerical results for a four-area test system demonstrates the performance of the proposed model.


Among ethnic minority youth, Latino adolescents disproportionately report higher levels of depression and anxiety than their peers of other ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of the present study is to better understand the familial and sociocultural factors that impact mental health among Latino adolescents. Specifically, the present study examines how youth cultural values (i.e., family obligation and affiliative obedience) moderate the relation between parenting dimensions (i.e., parental acceptance and parental psychological control) and youth internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Latino adolescents (n = 115) from a Chicago public school categorized as "lowincome" participated in a survey and two follow-up interviews. Results indicated that the cultural value of family obligation moderated the relation between parenting dimensions and youth internalizing symptoms. At high levels of parental acceptance, high youth family obligation enhanced the relation between parental acceptance and low internalizing symptoms. High family obligation did not buffer the negative effects of high levels of parental psychological control and youth internalizing symptoms. Results indicate that cultural values cannot be assumed to be protective factors in all situations, emphasizing the need for specificity when understanding the sociocultural and familial factors among Latino adolescents to address mental health disparities.


The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of Forward-Looking Information Disclosure (FLID) and Earnings Management (EM) practices among non-financial Jordanian companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period 2008-2013. Content analysis was used to explore the items of FLID, and the level of FLID was measured using the disclosure index. Three models, Jones (1991), Modified Jones (1995) and performance-matched Kothari et al. (2005) models, were employed to estimate discretionary accruals as a proxy for EM. The panel regression results show a negative and significant relationship between the level of FLID and EM. The findings of the study are consistent with agency and signalling theory perspectives.
Secondly, the study seeks to investigate the effect of the CEO's personal characteristics (age, gender and overconfidence) on the level of FLID. Three measures of overconfidence were used: Net Buyer, Capital Expenditure, and Leverage ratio. The results indicate that the CEO's age has a negative and significant relationship with FLID. Conversely, the outcomes of the regression analysis show that the CEO's gender and male characteristics such as overconfidence' have a positive and a significant association with the level of FLID.
Finally, the study investigates the effect of CEOs' personal characteristics on EM practices. The empirical tests indicate that overconfidence has a positive and significant association with EM practices, which is consistent with signalling theory. However, there is no evidence to suggest that age and gender affect EM practices. Overall, the findings of the study confirm that a higher level of FLID improves the quality of financial reports. Furthermore, the results show that CEOs' characteristics affect managers' decisions. Thus, this study contributes to knowledge by shedding light on the relationship between the level of FLID and EM practices. It also provides new evidence on the impact of the CEO's characteristics on the level of FLID as a proxy for voluntary disclosures and EM practices, in the context of a developing country.


Live out your UU Values! Help us to stop Illinois from being polluted by fracking - join us for a Faithful Citizenship Workshop. The Green Sanctuary Team needs you. The planet needs you. Our seventh UU Principle calls us to respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Please join us for a Faithful Citizenship workshop at Unity Temple from 1-3 p.m. The Green Team is partnering with Faith in Place to host a workshop to prepare us for policy advocacy service work. The workshop will cover advocacy on fracking regulations in Illinois (there are none, yet) and coal issues. No prior experience is necessary, just a willing heart.


The description of coherent features of fluid flow is essential to our understanding of fluid-dynamical and transport processes. A method is introduced that is able to extract dynamic information from flow fields that are either generated by a (direct) numerical simulation or visualized/measured in a physical experiment. The extracted dynamic modes, which can be interpreted as a generalization of global stability modes, can be used to describe the underlying physical mechanisms captured in the data sequence or to project large-scale problems onto a dynamical system of significantly fewer degrees of freedom. The concentration on subdomains of the flow field where relevant dynamics is expected allows the dissection of a complex flow into regions of localized instability phenomena and further illustrates the flexibility of the method, as does the description of the dynamics within a spatial framework. Demonstrations of the method are presented consisting of a plane channel flow, flow over a two-dimensional cavity, wake flow behind a flexible membrane and a jet passing between two cylinders.


PURPOSE
This study assessed the prevalence of 25 clinically important drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in the ambulatory care clinics of the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMCs).

METHODS
This study was a retrospective, cross-sectional database analysis of pharmacy records to assess the prevalence of 25 clinically important DDIs. For each DDI, the object drug was defined as the medication that has its therapeutic effect modified by the drug interaction process. The precipitant drug was defined as the medication responsible for affecting the pharmacologic action or the pharmacokinetic properties of the object drug. Rates of interactions for each VAMC facility were calculated as the number of patients with a DDI divided by the total number of individual patients exposed to the object or precipitant medications. The 25 DDIs were categorized into four main categories on the basis of the therapeutic classification of the medications involved in the drug pairs.

RESULTS
The study population included 2,795,345 patients who filled prescriptions for medications involved in potential DDIs across 128 VAMCs. The highest DDI exposure rate was 129.2 per 1,000 recipients of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) that occurred with combinations of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The lowest DDI exposure rate was 0.01 per 1,000 warfarin recipients who had the warfarin and sulfinpyrazone combination.

CONCLUSION
The analysis of pharmacy records of veterans who filled prescriptions at the outpatient settings within VAMC found an overall rate of 2.15% for potential DDIs. Case-exposure rates were greatest for veterans receiving SSRIs and MAOIs, ganciclovir and zidovudine, anticoagulants and thyroid hormones, and warfarin and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.


Pannexin-1 (Px1) is expressed at postsynaptic sites in pyramidal neurons, suggesting that these hemichannels contribute to dendritic signals associated with synaptic function. We found that, in pyramidal neurons, N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activation induced a secondary prolonged current and dye flux that were blocked with a specific inhibitory peptide against Px1 hemichannels; knockdown of Px1 by RNA interference blocked the current in cultured neurons. Enhancing endogenous NMDAR activation in brain slices by removing external magnesium ions (Mg2+) triggered epileptiform activity, which had decreased spike amplitude and prolonged interburst interval during application of the Px1 hemichannel blocking peptide. We conclude that Px1 hemichannel opening is triggered by NMDAR stimulation and can contribute to epileptiform seizure activity.


The article deals with the simulation models in e-learning applications which are the basis of controlled animation. Visualization of simulation experiments with the computer has a great significance in teaching-learning process. Animation helps not only to increase the demonstrativeness but also allows the student to acquire new knowledge based on her/his own observation and own experience of the working with the model. Such computer models have to be relevant and implemented with the aid of on exact mathematical model. Computer animation has its meaning also for electronic presentation of a teaching material. Mathematical model includes a large amount of information about the object modelled and enables the student to extrapolate a lot of knowledge about the object which is the subject of teaching or learning. The paper describes the main principles of animation which is based upon modelling simulations ́.


The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods. It covers the entire research process including: formulating research questions; sampling (probability and nonprobability); measurement (surveys, scaling, qualitative, unobtrusive); research design (experimental and quasi-experimental); data analysis; and, writing the research paper. It also addresses the major theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of research including: the idea of validity in research; reliability of measures; and ethics. The Knowledge Base was designed to be different from the many typical commercially-available research methods texts. It uses an informal, conversational style to engage both the newcomer and the more experienced student of research. It is a fully hyperlinked text that can be integrated easily into an existing course structure or used as a sourcebook for the experienced researcher who simply wants to browse.[Back to Top]


Knowledge Management (KM) is the process of critically managing knowledge to meet existing needs, identify and exploit existing and acquired knowledge assets and develop new opportunities (Quintas et al, 1997). With the emergence of knowledge-intensive industries, where organisations rely on knowledge of their staff for competitive advantage (Lustri et al., 2007), KM has become key for business success (Mu-jung et al., 2007). KM is now an integral business function (Zhou and Fink, 2003) in both traditional and internet-based businesses (Borges Tiago et al., 2007) to the extent that KM is now viewed essential for profit (Yang, 2008). It is widely acknowledged today that new technologies, in particular access to the Internet, tend to modify communication between stakeholders in the business world, such as relationships between the organisation and its clients, the internal functioning of the organisation, including enterprise-employee relationships and the relationship of the organisation with partners and suppliers. This integration to improve the functioning of the organisation to create value for all parties involved is referred to as Electronic Commerce (e-commerce, EC) (Turban et al, 2006).


To commence this essay, REBT theory will be introduced then discussed along the Ethical guidelines governing the Psychology profession. This essay will try to address whether or not the REBT theory proposed by Ellis (1955) can stand alone in therapeutic sessions or whether the theory has to be used in collaboration with ethics in order to provide clients with the best service. It is crucial to assess the extent to which the theory can stand alone and still provide the best service to its consumers so that if it proves not to be a dependable theory on its own, then implementations can be made in light of ethics for the purpose of strengthening the theory and making it more applicable in the therapeutic sessions. To start off a description of REBT theory and practice shall be illustrated. It should be noted that REBT is a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and that all the CBT approaches share similar themes, Corey (2009); Frank (2009). It should be noted that REBT was invented by Ellis (1955); after noting the lack of efficiency in psychoanalytic theory, Ellis (2002). This will then be followed by a comprehensive critical evaluation of REBT theory. Key words : rational, behaviour. Therapy, emotive, cognitive


Abstract. The quantification of ammonia (NH3) emissions is essential to the more accurate quantification of atmospheric nitrogen deposition, improved air quality and the assessment of ammonia-related agricultural policy and climate mitigation strategies. The quantity, geographic distribution and historical trends of these emissions remain largely uncertain. In this paper, a new Chinese agricultural fertilizer NH3 (CAF_NH3) emissions inventory has been compiled that exhibits the following improvements: (1) a 1  ×  1 km gridded map on the county level was developed for 2008; (2) a combined bottom-up and top-down method was used for the local correction of emission factors (EFs) and parameters; (3) the temporal patterns of historical time trends for 1978–2008 were estimated and the uncertainties were quantified for the inventories; and (4) a sensitivity test was performed in which a province-level disaggregated map was compared with CAF_NH3 emissions for 2008. The total CAF_NH3 emissions for 2008 were 8.4 TgNH3 yr−1 (a 6.6–9.8 Tg interquartile range). From 1978 to 2008, annual NH3 emissions fluctuated with three peaks (1987, 1996 and 2005), and total emissions increased from 3.2 to 8.4 Tg at an annual rate of 3.0 %. During the study period, the contribution of livestock manure spreading increased from 37.0 to 45.5 % because of changing fertilization practices and the rapid increase in egg, milk, and meat consumption. The average contribution of synthetic fertilizer, which has a positive effect on crop yields, was approximately 38.3 % (minimum: 33.4 %; maximum: 42.7 %). With rapid urbanization causing a decline in the rural population, the contribution of the rural excrement sector varied widely between 20.3 % and 8.5 %. The average contributions of cake fertilizer and straw returning were approximately 3.8 and 4.5 %, respectively, thus small and stable. Collectively, the CAF_NH3 emissions reflect the nation's agricultural policy to a certain extent. An effective approach to decreasing PM2.5 concentrations in China would be to simultaneously decrease NOx, SO2, and NH3 emissions.


Anotion employed very frequently by contemporary philosophers is that of the object of acts and emotions, as distinct from their cause. This paper assumes that the notion of objects of acts and emotions is viable, even though it has been plausibly argued that one cannot hope to pin down the notion with any generality or conciseness. I am concerned here with attempts to classify objects of acts and emotions, as a means to clarifying the logical behaviour of the notion. My purpose in the first two sections is to remove some obscurities in the classifications which have been proposed, without challenging their basic structure. In the third and longest section, I argue that this structure, though largely sound, does in fact stand in need of some modification if it is to be as useful as philosophers have hoped.


ABSTRACTPleat structure and tight pleat spacing of pleated filter cartridges often lead to patchy cleaning when applying reverse pulsing technique process to regenerate filter media, consequently resulted in the decrease of the efficiency and quality of reverse pulsed-jet cleaning as well as the service lifetime of filtration units. For improving the non-uniform cleaning or patchy cleaning, a novel convergent trapezoidal pleat shape was used in multi-pulsing reverse flow cleaning. A transient 3D CFD simulation in a simple filtration system with a single filter cartridge was carried out under the four multi-pulsing modes. The effects of multi-pulsing flow cleaning on the cleaning efficiency and quality were systematically investigated. Compared with single-pulsing cleaning mode, the peak pressure differences at the upper regions all became positive because of the increased cleaning frequency, and thus which would be crucially important for improving the local cleaning mechanical stresses and cleaning efficiency. Moreover, the extra peak-pressure augment in the lower regions of filter cartridge also had a positive influence of local cleaning efficiency. For the multi-pulsing scheme of Waveform #4, the peak pressure difference at the section 4 increased by 11.2% than the single-pulsing scheme. The related action mechanism had high correlation with the interaction of residue gas and following jet. Finally, the improvement of the cleaning efficiency and quality are expected to be validated under the decreasing tank pressure and real permeability.


Room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) are a unique, novel class of designer solvents and materials with exclusive properties, attracting substantial attention in fields like energy storage and supercapacitors as well as in ion-based signal processing and electronics. For most applications, ILs need to be incorporated or embedded in solid materials like porous hosts. We investigate the dynamic structure of ILs embedded in well-defined pores of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The experimental data combined with molecular dynamics simulations unveil astonishing dynamic properties of the IL in the MOF nanoconfinement. At low IL loadings, the ions drift in the pores along the electric field, whereas at high IL loadings, collective field-induced interactions of the cations and anions lead to blocking the transport, thus suppressing the ionic mobility and tremendously decreasing the conductivity. The mutual pore blockage causes immobilized ions in the pores, resulting in a highly inhomogeneous IL density and bunched-up ions at the clogged pores. These results provide novel molecular-level insights into the dynamics of ILs in nanoconfinement, significantly enhancing the tunability of IL material properties.


From the blue suede intonations of Elvis's Graceland in Memphis to the columnar austerity of mansions along State Street in Jackson, Highway 51 flows, an artery of commerce, music, and literary interchange. Highway 51 is the first photography book to focus on this storied route through Mississippi hill country, a defining but often overlooked region of the state. In ninety color photographs Gloria Norris captures the landmarks, the beautiful and rugged scenery, the people, and their unforgettable music. Her images serve as a confirmation of tradition in this part of Mississippi and as a reminder of what has changed forever. This road connects William Faulkner's fierce hill counties and Eudora Welty's resonant terrains, Elvis's hip-shaking boogies and R. L. Burnside's hypnotically grinding blues. Highway 51 depicts a natural world sometimes swept by violent tornadoes and rainstorms but dominated by rolling, green landscapes and a society that still lives close to the soil. In Norris's photographs, people and places reveal the many contradictions of life along this much-traveled path. With an introduction by Rick Bass, this volume offers a vision of a distinctive culture and setting that until now has been little documented.


Success stories of citizen science projects widely demonstrate the value of this open science paradigm and encourage organizations to shift towards new ways of doing research. While benefits for researchers are clear, outcomes for individuals participating in these projects are not easy to assess. The wide spectrum of volunteers collaborating in citizen science projects greatly contributes to the difficulty in the evaluation of the projects' outcomes. Given the strong links between many citizen science projects and education, in this work we present an experience with hundreds of students (aged 15–18) of two different countries who participate in a project on cell biology research — Cell Spotting — as part of their regular classroom activities. Apart from introducing the project and resources involved, we aim to provide an overview of the benefits of integrating citizen science in the context of formal science education and of what teachers and students may obtain from it. In this case, besides helping students to consolidate and apply theoretical concepts included in the school curriculum, some other types of informal learning have also been observed such as the feeling of playing a key role, which contributed to an increase of students' motivation. Abstract


When an accident is happening most of the time it is the person on the street that is reporting this to SOS Alarm, the instance that is controlling, for example, the ambulances. To ensure that as few mistakes as possible are made it us crucial that the communication between the caller and the ambulance via the SOS Alarm is as efficient as possible. Communication between the caller to SOS Alarm and the ambulance is done by passing through the operator at the SOS Alarm station and then on to the ambulance. Is this the way that it should be handled or are there optional ways that could be used? The technology has evolved since the system used today was installed and today cellular phones are very common and it is not unusual that it is possible to take pictures with these phones. Is this something that could be used to enhance the way information is sent between the caller and the ambulance? These are questions that this thesis tries to answer by using studies at SOS Alarm and Ambulance centrals as a foundation for the arguments.


Objective: To compare the effects of implementation intention prompts and financial incentives, on promoting physical activity in individuals who are relatively inactive. A secondary objective was to determine the effect of physical activity on psychological well-being. Method: 98 participants were recruited, with a total of 66 participants (22 males, 44 females, mean age= 26.39 (SD= 5.00)) completing the intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups; Financial Incentive (FI) group, Implementation Intention Prompt (IIP) group or a Control group. Weight, self-reported physical activity (International PhysicalActivity Questionnaire (IPAQ)) and psychological well-being (General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12)) were completed pre and post a six week intervention. Both the control group and FI group had no contact with researchers throughout the intervention period. The FI group received a discounted price (33% off) for a fitness and exercise program. The IIP group did not receive a discount, but received an initial group consultation, educating them on the use of implementation intention prompts, goal setting and two additional individual physical activity consultations, in which activity plans were reviewed and modified in line with physical activity health guidelines. All participants took part in a fitness and exercise program during the intervention. The program was administered by professional fitness trainers in Dublin, Ireland. A total of 10 classes were held each week, participants were encouraged to attend a minimum of 2 each week. Results: Self-reported physical activity increased across both intervention groups, when compared to the control group. There were significant increases in mean weight loss for the FI group (6.4kg, SD=1.4kg) and IIP group (6.3kg, SD=1kg) compared to the control group (1.6kg, SD=2.2kg). A small positive correlation (r=0.28) was found between increased physical activity and improved mental health. Conclusion: FI and IIP are equally effective methods of increasing physical activity levels and weight loss in previously inactive individuals. These findings have implications for health promoters and the fitness industry.


ABSTRACT Debt crises in developing countries in previous decades have revealed the need for a reform of the current global debt governance (GDG) system that is characterised by a high degree of fragmentation, parallel structures, and ineffective instruments. The current GDG system has neither prevented nor fully resolved debt crises in developing countries. To establish an efficient and effective GDG framework it is necessary to reform the GDG system at two different levels. At the instrument level, it is time to reform existing instruments for both prevention and resolution of debt crises and to put in place new instruments such as an insolvency procedure for states. At the systemic level, establishing an adequate GDG system does not only mean choosing appropriate individual instruments but also using them in a complementary manner. Instruments belonging to one set of tools – crisis prevention or crisis resolution – should be linked to each other. In the same vein, the two sets of instruments for crisis prevention and crisis resolution should be combined.


We study the problem of computing all Pareto-optimal journeys in a dynamic public transit network for two criteria: arrival time and number of transfers. Existing algorithms consider this as a graph problem, and solve it using variants of Dijkstra's algorithm. Unfortunately, this leads to either high query times or suboptimal solutions. We take a different approach. We introduce RAPTOR, our novel round-based public transit router. Unlike previous algorithms, it is not Dijkstra-based, looks at each route (such as a bus line) in the network at most once per round, and can be made even faster with simple pruning rules and parallelization using multiple cores. Because it does not rely on preprocessing, RAPTOR works in fully dynamic scenarios. Moreover, it can be easily extended to handle flexible departure times or arbitrary additional criteria, such as fare zones. When run on London's complex public transportation network, RAPTOR computes all Pareto-optimal journeys between two random locations an order of magnitude faster than previous approaches, which easily enables interactive applications. This is an extended abstract of the paper published at ALENEX 2012.


In polygynous ungulates, male mortality is thought to be linked to high-energy expenditures during the rut. However, Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) adult males show an unusually high survival during this time. Male Alpine ibex live in social groups and thus, we assumed that they might reduce energy-intensive interactions during the rut by establishing, early on, strict dominance hierarchies. To evaluate this hypothesis, we studied social interactions and mating behavior in a population of Alpine ibex in the Swiss Alps. In accordance with our prediction, and in contrast to other polygynous ungulates, male Alpine ibex decreased time spent in agonistic interactions and the number of fights during the rut compared with the prerut, irrespective of their age. Changes between access-holding males always occurred without foregoing fights and were entirely based on preestablished and stable dominance relationships. Therefore, dominant males always gained and held access to receptive females and thus managed to adopt the tending tactic. Subordinate males either left the consort pair or they adopted the coursing tactic in order to achieve temporary access to estrous females. They behaved extremely reluctantly toward dominants, as they never made use of overt aggression to challenge them or to create actively transient mating opportunities. Our study supports the hypothesis that costly intramale interactions are reduced during the mating season in Alpine ibex by the adherence to preestablished and stable dominance relationships. Accordingly, male Alpine ibex appear to be able to cut down on energy expenditures, which in turn, likely contributes to their superior survival. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.


Intraspinal extradural spinal cysts are rare lesions, which can induce symptoms due to spinal cord compression or even CSF low pressure syndrome. They are regarded to be result of a trauma, post-surgical, or even congenital. Depended on size and location of the cysts, patients could be asymptomatic for a long time until an enlargement of the cyst. To best of our knowledge, there is no previous report in literature with a 50 cm long intraspinal ventral extradural cyst causing spinal cord compression. Below we present our experience, we present our operative results, and provide a review of literature.


With a voice to share with the world, from Schools, Universities, Corporates and Conferences such as "International Mental Health Conference, "QLD Leading Reform Summit" etc. Something prevalent in these groups is that there's an uncomfortable feeling when the word(s) Mental Health or Suicide is spoken. As someone who struggled heavily at 12, Matthew Caruana felt cornered, that he couldn't talk about his feelings. He turned to drugs. Ultimately at 16, Matthew attempted suicide and was left a paraplegic. With a dark past behind him and being unable to see hope, he was very fortunate with numerous turning points in his that led him to a place of fulfilment! As a model for what recovery looks like, it is now his mission and purpose to: Instruct, Inspire, Influence and Impact people's frame of mind for them to change their lives. With Mental Health and Suicide having a nasty stigma, Matthew firmly believes "where we place our attention is where we place our energy, where we place our energy is what will manifest". His vision is to be amongst a population that's comfortable expressing themselves in a society that addresses issues with the focus on recovery and empowerment! Matthew wishes to use his voice to fulfill his vision onstage. By sharing his unique journey and experiences, he tackles significant issues while putting the majority of his attention and energy on recovery; He's confident that ideas for solutions will be created around the issues in Mental Health and Suicide!


At the end of each year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates capital gains for the year ending and forecasts them for the next decade. The decade forecast is made using CBO's forecast of GDP and an assumption that gains revert from their current size to their historical size relative to GDP. Our objective in this paper is to improve on CBO's forecast method, particularly for the first year ahead. We settled on two procedures to forecast gains one year ahead. The first is similar to CBO's method for forecasting gains. It uses an equation to forecast gains given forecasts of economic and financial variables. This procedure requires a prior step to forecast the economic and financial variables. The second procedure integrates the forecasting of gains and other variables into a single model. In this model we found it advantageous to work with quarterly data, so we interpolate the reported annual series on capital gains to a quarterly frequency. In order to get an annual forecast of capital gains we average the forecasts for the four quarters in the year. Forecasting in the prior step of the two-step method and the integrated quarterly method was based on Bayesianrestricted vector autoregressions. Both of the procedures abstract from the effects of tax changes on realizations. Aside from the difficulty of forecasting legislative acts, CBO's baseline is required to assume that current law continues. We abstract from tax changes by constructing a series of capital gains realizations that assumes taxes remained at their 1998 level throughout the 1948-2000 period used for model development. Although we compute errors at all horizons, we base our model comparisons on their root mean squared errors (RMSE) in 1-year-ahead out-of-sample forecasts of taxadjusted gains over the period 1971-2000. Our application of CBO's mean reversion method found a RMSE of 18.7 percentage points. The two-step forecasting method reduced the RMSE to 14.8 percentage points, and the integrated quarterly method reduced the error to 11.9 percentage points. Two related findings from our investigation may be useful to CBO. First, the models we developed may help CBO improve its estimates of gains in the year ending. Second, the models may provide some help in forecasting a second year ahead, but after that, either mean reversion or a simple random walk model with drift appears to be as good or better.


Generalized variance functions (GVFs) and their associated parameters are most often applied to binomial characteristics of complex surveys, usually within the Federal Statistical System. Non-binomial estimates have less GVF support in the general body of literature. This paper presents a framework for modeling the variances of sample means and quantiles and calculating generalized parameters. The models are applied to the mean and median duration unemployed characteristics from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the only two estimates in the primary CPS estimation tables – from The Employment Situation, a Principal Federal Economic Indicator published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics – for which no GVF parameters are produced. The performance of these GVFs is evaluated, and plans for implementation are discussed.


Popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, FourSquare, and Google+ generate enormous amounts of social content every day. Consumer product providers want to increasingly rely on the users' social content to learn more about them, personalize the experience of users and provide rich social context within their products. However, the tools that currently exist to integrate and leverage social content in consumer products are very primitive: the user content from Facebook and Twitter API comes in plain text and is hard to process. Consumer products do not have the capability to develop sophisticated algorithms to process this text and do not have the adequate data processing infrastructure. Jetlore technology can extract and disambiguate important concepts from social text (e.g., movies, sports, and food references) and classify short social snippets into topics (e.g., politics, music, sports). Jetlore's algorithms utilize social graph signals and are optimized for colloquial language and minimal textual context. The goal of this project is to create the infrastructure to collect and process social network data streams. The Twitter Firehose stream (full real-time Twitter stream) has 300,000 messages per day. The infrastructure should eventually process that data stream and others as well which imposes strict requirements on scalability and availability. The infrastructure should be extendable so that additional processing units (such as link resolution, stats collection) could be easily added to the system. At the same time the processed results should be made available to the customers. In the first part of this project, we have designed and implemented a prototype of stream processing system built on top of the Akka actors framework [1]. The prototype made clear the possible issues (such as reliability of processing, blocking input/output operations) and design choices. In the second part we have designed and implemented a REST (Representational state transfer) API [2] which allows customers to query and retrieve processed data. We have implemented the main parts of the API: authentication and authorization, rate limiting, versioning, requests validation. The particular business requirements for data querying and retrieval have influenced the design decisions on the stream processing system (such as statistics accumulation). In the third part, we have designed and implemented the Forgestream - the Jetlore stream data processing pipeline. The Forgestream and the REST API are currently both deployed at production and serve as the backbone infrastructure to Jetlore's business.


Covalent posttranslational modification of target proteins with ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins regulates many important cellular processes. However, the molecular mechanisms by which these proteins are activated and conjugated to substrates has yet to be fully understood. NMR studies have shown that the ubiquitin-like proteins SUMO-1, -2, and -3 interact with the same N-terminal region of the E2 conjugating enzyme Ubc9 with similar affinities. This is correlated to their almost identical utilization by Ubc9 in the SUMO conjugation pathway. To investigate the functional significance of this interaction, site-directed mutagenesis was used to alter residues in the SUMO binding surface of Ubc9, and the effect of the amino acid substitutions on binding and conjugation to SUMO-1 and target protein RanGAP1 was investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry and biochemical analysis. R13A/K14A and R17A/K18A mutations in Ubc9 disrupted the interaction with SUMO-1 but did not completely abolish the interaction with E1. While these Ubc9 mutants displayed a significantly reduced efficiency in the transfer of SUMO-1 from E1 to E2, their ability to recognize substrate and transfer SUMO-1 from E2 to the target protein was unaffected. These results suggest that the noncovalent binding site of SUMO-1 on Ubc9, although distant from the active site, is important for the transfer of SUMO-1 from the E1 to the E2. The conservation of E2 enzymes across the ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like protein pathways indicates that analogous N-terminal sites of E2 enzymes are likely to have similar roles in general.


SHAPE BASED DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF VEHICLES USING OMNIDIRECTIONAL VIDEOS To detect and classify vehicles in omnidirectional videos, an approach based on the shape (silhouette) of the moving object obtained by background subtraction is proposed. Different from other shape based classification techniques, the information available in multiple frames of the video is exploited. Two different approaches were investigated for this purpose. One is combining silhouettes extracted from a sequence of frames to create an average silhouette, the other is making individual decisions for all frames and use consensus of these decisions. Using multiple frames eliminates most of the wrong decisions which are caused by a poorly extracted silhouette from a single video frame. The vehicle types which are classified are motorcycle, car (sedan) and van (minibus). The features extracted from the silhouettes are convexity, elongation, rectangularity, and Hu moments. Three separate methods of classification is applied. The first one is a flowchart based (i.e. rule based) method, the second one is K nearest neighbor classification, and the third one is using a Deep Neural Network. 60% of the samples in the dataset are used for training. To ensure randomization, the procedure is repeated three times with the whole dataset split each time differently into training and testing samples (i.e. three-fold cross validation). The results indicate that using silhouettes in multiple frames performs better than using single frame silhouettes.


This paper presents a series of insights from an ongoing investigation into refining custom spatial computer interfaces and graphical primitives for suggesting 3D form in immersive digital spaces. Technical innovations utilizing 3D gesture capture, force feedback, and stereoscopic presentation are described through reference to specific free-form digital sculptures created with the CavePainting and Drawing on Air interfaces. The role of the human hand in digital art practice and the potential of interfaces that tightly couple freehand movements with geometric algorithms are discussed.


We have studied the photoluminescence (PL) properties of [n]cycloparaphenylenes ([n]CPPs), which have simple string structures consisting of varying numbers of benzene rings, using steady-state and time-resolved PL spectroscopy. The PL lifetime decreased dramatically as the number of benzene rings increased, and increased with an increase in temperature. These results reveal that the exciton spreads beyond the benzene rings and that the temperature dependence of the PL lifetime is determined by thermal distribution of the excitons.


Alkali metal monohydrides, AH (A = Li–Cs) have been synthesized in quantitative yields at room temperature by reactive milling of alkali metals in the presence of hydrogen gas at 200 bar or less. The mechanochemical approach reported here eliminates problems associated with the malleability of alkali metals — especially Li, Na, and K — and promotes effective solid–gas reactions, ensuring their completion. This is achieved by incorporating a certain volume fraction of the corresponding hydride powder as a process control agent, which allows continuous and efficient milling primarily by coating the surface of metal particles, effectively blocking cold welding. Formation of high-purity crystalline monohydrides has been confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and volumetric analyses of reactively desorbed H2 from as-milled samples. The proposed synthesis method is scalable and particularly effective for extremely air-sensitive materials, such as alkali and alkaline earth metal hydrides. The technique may also be favorable for production in continuous reactors operating at room temperature, thereby reducing the total processing time, energy consumption and, hence, the cost of production of these hydrides or their derivatives and composites.


Iran is the fourth biggest producer of oil in the world, and its coastline stretches the entire length of the Persian Gulf, one of the world's most strategic waterways in terms of energy security. The establishment of the Islamic Republic after the 1979 Revolution paved the way for religious clerics to gain ultimate political control in Iran. A period mostly remembered for crackdowns on political dissenters, the only area in which differences of opinion were tolerated was the role of the private and public sectors. Indeed, the role of the private sector was at the centre of discussions between the two main factions in the Islamic Republic Party and later on between the two main wings in the Majlis. Two decades later, Iran appeared to be entering another era of transformation with the election of reformist president Mohammad Khatami in 1997.But the reformists failed to deliver on their promises and in 2005 Khatami was replaced by the ultra conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who promised the Iranian people an end to economic hardship. Yet the structural failure of Iran's economy makes it very difficult for any president, whether conservative or reformist, to deliver on such promises.In this book, Reza Molavi explores the potential for the privatization of some of Iran's national institutions, in particular whether there is the political will to privatize the Iranian oil and gas industry. He begins by providing a theoretical basis for the determination of privatization policy. Subsequently, he explores a set of international precedents and then presents an historical overview of Iran since World War II in order to build a context for the determinants of privatization policy in Iran. Finally, the specific background, legal and institutional framework, and policy-maker perspectives are incorporated into the overall analysis. Together, these three approaches provide a cumulative understanding of the determinants of privatisation policy in Iran.