The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the effect of corporate governance on firm performance and information leakage in the Chinese securities market. As one of the major emerging markets in the world, the results of this thesis are valuable not only to the Chinese market, but also to other emerging markets. To achieve this purpose, data is collected from most of the non-financial listed companies in the two Chinese stock exchanges, which are the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock exchange. The data sample covers the period from 2004 to 2008, since there was a series of new reforms in the Chinese stock market at that time. These reforms include new legislation and the reduction of non-tradable shares. Then this thesis employs the panel technique and the pooled OLS to estimate the effect of corporate governance on firm performance and information leakage in Chinese listed companies. Firstly the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in Chinese companies is empirically evaluated. The empirical results of this thesis find that the ownership structure of Chinese companies will affect their firm performance. In this thesis, proxies of ownership structure include the proportion of institutional ownership, the proportion of the state ownership, the proportion of shareholdings of the largest shareholder, and the proportion of tradable shares in Chinese companies. A greater proportion of iv institutional ownership has positive effects on firm performance in Chinese companies. Board subcommittees also help Chinese companies to increase firm performance. The market reforms of 2006 also help Chinese companies to increase their firm performance. However, the board of directors and board of supervisors do not affect firm performance in Chinese companies. Secondly, information leakage in the Chinese Stock Market is empirically assessed. If investors receive corporate material information before the public disclosure, this phenomenon is known as information leakage. The thesis finds that information leakage in the Chinese market is widespread. Finally, the thesis empirically examines the effects of corporate governance on information leakage in Chinese companies. Board subcommittees have negative effects on information leakage in Chinese companies. Other variables of corporate governance do not affect information leakage in Chinese companies. Additionally, the thesis finds that market reform promotes more information leakage in Chinese market. On the basis of the empirical results, the thesis provides the following recommendations. First, the Chinese Stock Market needs to reform the relevant legislation. Second, Chinese companies need to reform their ownership structure. These suggestions may strengthen the internal governance of Chinese listed companies, thereby, increasing firm performance and decrease information leakage.


This document describes the high-level requirements for Internet Voice
Mail (IVM) and establishes a baseline of desired functionality against
which proposed MIME profiles for Internet Voice Messaging can be
judged. IVM is an extension of the Voice Profile for Internet Mail
(VPIM) version 2 designed to support interoperability with desktop
clients. Other goals for this version of VPIM include expanded
interoperability with unified messaging systems, conformance to
Internet standards, and backward compatibility with voice messaging
systems currently running in a VPIM enabled environment. This document
does not include goals that were met fully by VPIM version 2. This
memo provides information for the Internet community.


The study focuses on the National Vision Discussion Document (NVDD) from Zimbabwe, and is a reflection of the need for, and the churches' approach to, reconciliation in Zimbabwe. The analysis of the social context in which the NVDD was written sets the tone for this study, and provides the basis for discussing and constructing a deeper theology of reconciliation in Zimbabwe. Two criticisms of the NVDD are advanced, namely, the lack for a critical social analysis, and a weak theological reflection. In responding to the first criticism, the study undertakes a detailed analysis of three key areas of enmity, namely, the ethnic conflicts between the Shona and Ndebele, the racial conflicts between white and black centered on land, and the political conflicts between ZANU-PF and civil society and the MDC. In responding to the second criticisms, the theology is deepened through an examination of Miroslav Volf's, Exclusion and Embrace, John de Gruchy's, Reconciliation: Restoring Justice, the Kairos Document and the Belhar Confession. Reconciliation was seen to lie at the edge of two parallel truths; justice and forgiveness; truth and reconciliation. In conclusion, the study established the basis for a deeper theology of reconciliation, by focusing on three key areas: social dynamics, theological reflection, and practical and logistical steps to national reconciliation. For a deeper theology of reconciliation, seven levels for reconciliation were suggested: individual, social, cultural, institutional, political, theological and religious. From these seven levels, two strategies for the practice of reconciliation were suggested: ecumenical and strategic partnerships. It should be noted that events in Zimbabwe continue to progress at a rapid rate and the social context changes from week to week. However, these current events suggest that the study remains relevant for national reconciliation and theological praxis because of the abiding issues of conflict that cry out for reconciliation.


D-Passage is a unique book by the world-renowned filmmaker, artist, and critical theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha. Taking as grounding forces her feature film Night Passage and installation L'Autre marche (The Other Walk), both co-created with Jean-Paul Bourdier, she discusses the impact of new technology on cinema culture and explores its effects on creative practice. Less a medium than a "way," the digital is here featured in its mobile, transformative passages. Trinh's reflections shed light on several of her major themes: temporality; transitions; transcultural encounters; ways of seeing and knowing; and the implications of the media used, the artistic practices engaged in, and the representations created. In D-Passage , form and structure, rhythm and movement, and language and imagery are inseparable. The book integrates essays, artistic statements, in-depth conversations, the script of Night Passage , movie stills, photos, and sketches.


Development of the vulva of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model for studying cell fate signaling. The epidermal growth factor receptor-like tyrosine kinase (LET-23), which stimulates a Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, as well as the Notch-like pathway and the Wnt pathway, contributes to vulval development. A gain-of-function mutant of the Gαq homolog, EGL-30, exhibited rare ectopic vulval tissue. These worms also exhibit hyperactive locomotor and egg-laying behaviors. Moghal et al. used genetic interactions and targeted gene expression to show that EGL-30 expressed in motor neurons promoted vulval induction. The ability of EGL-30 to promote vulval development required the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (EGL-19) expressed in body wall muscles. EGL-30 did not appear to be acting through the LET-23 pathway; however, EGL-30 vulval development was inhibited by loss of β-catenin (BAR-1) of the Wnt pathway. Consistent with behavior modulating vulval development, loss-of-function mutations in egl-30 did not affect vulval development of worms grown on solid media, but did inhibit vulval development of worms grown in liquid culture. In liquid, the worms exhibit a dramatically more vigorous movement than that observed for worms grown on solid media. Thus, the authors propose that behavior changes in response to environmental conditions appear to play a role in cell fate specification. N. Moghal, L. R. Garcia, L. A. Khan, K. Iwasaki, P. W. Sternberg, Modulation of EGF receptor-mediated vulva development by the heterotrimeric G-protein Gq and excitable cells in C. elegans. Development 130, 4553-4566 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The myogenic determination gene MyoD contains a 60 amino acid domain that is necessary for both sequence-specific DNA binding and myogenic conversion of transfected C3H10T1/2 mouse embryo fibroblasts. We have generated deletion, insertion, and substitution mutants to probe the structure and function of this region, both in vitro and in vivo. Our results are consistent with a previous proposal that a helix-loop-helix (HLH) motif mediates protein dimerization. A highly basic region located immediately upstream of the HLH motif is required for DNA binding, which occurs if and only if the HLH motif is capable of dimerization. All mutants of MyoD that do not bind DNA in vitro fail to activate myogenesis or expression of a co-transfected muscle-specific reporter gene in transfected C3H10T1/2 cells. Replacing either helix 1, helix 2, or the loop sequence of MyoD with the analogous sequence of the Drosophila T4 achaete-scute protein (which is required for neurogenesis) has no substantial effect on DNA binding or biological activity. However, replacing the basic region of MyoD with the analogous sequence of the kappa immunoglobulin enhancer binding protein E12, or the T4 achaete-scute protein, produces proteins still capable of specific DNA binding in vitro, yet without significant biological activity. These findings suggest that within the 13 amino acid sequence of the MyoD basic region lies a recognition code that determines muscle-specific gene expression, although specific DNA binding per se is not sufficient to activate the muscle program.


The present paper studies how didactic and teaching strategies can promote pleasure in students after a series of class sessions. It focuses on the teaching of English and Spanish as a foreign language in the French university system. The term pleasure is studied as students' satisfaction regarding the teaching and the strategies planned by the teacher, and not their academic success. Our initial hypothesis is that an in-depth preparation of activities and teaching and didactic resources, in accordance with the stages of learning, helps to promote pleasure in students, regardless of the language or content of the class. Based on a common planning that takes into account the teaching-learning stages (motivation/expectancy, comprehension/attention, generalization/transfer), we carry out a classroom research to corroborate our hypothesis. We selected 180 university students by means of a convenience sampling. A self-administered pencil-and-paper questionnaire was used for data collection, taking into account 6 degrees of satisfaction on a Likert scale.  The questionnaire assessed three aspects: the contents, the teacher's methodology and the students' participation. The quantitative analysis of the data shows that there seems to be a relationship between strict planning and the students' feeling of pleasure during learning.


Aim: To determine whether amniotic membrane can be used as an alternative to conjunctival autograft after pterygium excision. Methods: 287 eyes with either primary or recurrent pterygium were included in this study. All eyes were randomised to undergo conjunctival autograft or amniotic membrane transplantation after pterygium excision by a single surgeon. 106 eyes in primary pterygium and 14 eyes in the recurrent group were treated with conjunctival autograft, and 148 eyes in primary pterygium and 19 eyes in the recurrent group were treated with amniotic membrane transplantation. Patients were followed up at 6 weeks and 6 months after operation. The main outcome measurement was recurrence rate after surgery. Results: In the conjunctival group, the recurrence rate was 12.3%, 21.4% and 13.1% for primary, recurrent and all pterygia, respectively. In the amniotic membrane group, the recurrence rate was 25.0%, 52.6% and 28.1% for primary, recurrent and all pterygia, respectively. The recurrence rate for all pterygia in the amniotic membrane group was significantly higher than that in the conjunctival group (p = 0.003). Conclusions: Amniotic membrane graft had a higher recurrence rate than conjunctival autograft. However, it is an alternative choice, especially for advanced cases with bilateral heads or patients who might need glaucoma surgery later.


Agonist-bound β2-adrenergic receptors in endosomes continue to trigger the production of cAMP. The binding of ligands to the β2-adrenergic receptor leads to activation of the associated heterotrimeric G protein subunit Gαs, which stimulates generation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) by adenylyl cyclases. Phosphorylation of activated β2-adrenergic receptors recruits β-arrestin and induces endocytosis of the receptors by clathrin-coated pits, a process that is thought to prevent further signaling from the receptors. Irannejad et al. (see also Lohse and Calebiro) tagged the single-domain antibody (nanobody) Nb80, which recognizes and stabilizes agonist-bound β2-adrenergic receptors, with green fluorescent protein (Nb80-GFP). Application of the β-adrenergic agonist isoprenaline resulted in recruitment of Nb80-GFP to β2-adrenergic receptors at the plasma membrane. Upon internalization of β2-adrenergic receptors, Nb80-GFP did not initially colocalize with β2-adrenergic receptors in endosomes but subsequently was recruited to β2-adrenergic receptor–containing endosomes, which required phosphorylation and internalization of the β2-adrenergic receptor and was reversed by a competitive antagonist. Nb80-GFP did not colocalize with β2-adrenergic receptors in clathrin-coated pits. Activated Gαs was also localized to the plasma membrane after isoprenaline treatment and to β2-adrenergic receptor–containing endosomes, as detected by N37-GFP, a nanobody that recognizes a catalytic intermediate of Gαs. Inhibiting endocytosis with a dynamin inhibitor did not reduce the initial increase in cAMP production caused by isoprenaline stimulation but rather the later accumulation of cAMP. These results suggest that agonist-bound β2-adrenergic receptors continue after internalization (after a short delay) to activate downstream signaling pathways. R. Irannejad, J. C. Tomshine, J. R. Tomshine, M. Chevalier, J. P. Mahoney, J. Steyaert, S. G. F. Rasmussen, R. K. Sunahara, H. El-Samad, B. Huang, M. von Zastrow, Conformational biosensors reveal GPCR signalling from endosomes. Nature 495, 534–538 (2013). [PubMed] M. J. Lohse, D. Calebiro, Receptor signals come in waves. Nature 495, 457–458 (2013). [PubMed]


The consistency of the Fresnel zone construction is customarily checked by verifying that it correctly describes wave propagation from a point source in free space. The calculation, based on an approximate evaluation of the contribution of individual Fresnel zones to the total field, leads to the Fresnel theorem: the total field is just one-half that due to the first zone alone.We show here that if the Fresnel zones are defined on a plane passing through the midpoint of the line joining the source point to the field point, the field due to each Fresnel zone may be calculated exactly. When the Fresnel zones are defined on a plane perpendicular to the line between the source and field points, the contribution of the first zone is equal to the total field multiplied by the factor 1+ (1+π/kR′)−2. Here, k is the wavenumber and R′ is the distance separating source and field points. Thus, for this geometry, the Fresnel theorem holds only in the limit kR′≫1; for arbitrary kR′, the factor quoted must be used.A formula, valid for any Fresnel zone, and for arbitrary orientation of the plane on which the Fresnel zones are defined, is given in the text.


Natural hazards destroy vital rural infrastructure. In Asia, which accounts for approximately half the number of the natural catastrophes in the world, and 70% of all floods, the average annual cost of floods over the past decade is approximately 15 billion USD [1]. Recovery from disasters is hard to cope with, especially for developing countries. To reduce rural poverty, effective infrastructure projects related to agriculture have proven to be an essential policy tool. In particular, infrastructure development for transportation, irrigation, and electricity plays an important role. Rural infrastructure loss in the developing world has severely affected the activities of the world's international lending institutions. For instance, the World Bank loan to developing countries in the last 20 years, for damages from natural disasters, has been estimated to be 14 billion USD [2]. It is assumed to be financially beneficial for a poor region to be provided with aid as a risk reduction measure instead of post disaster relief. That is, as a pre mitigation strategy in order to reduce the impact of a hazard and reduce risk. However, evaluations of preparedness actions are seldom performed and hard to find. In this article we present a framework for evaluating the possible benefits of a pre mitigation strategy. The framework is based on an earlier performed flood mitigation project in Hungary [3], and extensive literature studies. It must be emphasised that we do not suggest that no aid should be provided after a hazardous event. Instead, hopefully, less aid should be needed since precautions should have been taken before the event.


Elections, referenda and polls are vital processes for the operation of a modern democracy. They form the mechanism for transferring power from citizens to their representatives. Although some commentators claim that the pencil-and-paper systems used in countries such as Canada and UK are still the best method of avoiding voterigging, recent election problems, and the need for faster, better, cheaper vote counting, have stimulated great interest in managing the election process through the use of electronic voting systems. While computer scientists, for the most part, have been warning of the possible perils of such action, vendors have forged ahead with their products, claiming increased security and reliability. Many democracies have adopted electronic systems, and the number of deployed systems is rising. Although the electronic voting process has gained popularity and users, it is a great challenge to provide a reliable system. The existing systems available to perform the election tasks are far from trustworthy. In this paper we describe VEV (Verifiable E-Voting), an electronic voting system which is opne, but also provides for secret and secure voting, and can be used and verified over existing network system.


Egusi seeds are one of the lesser known, but important sources of oil and protein in Africa. Egusi was grown in Malaysia to observe its adaptation to the local environment and to characterize the properties and biodiesel qualities of its seed oil. Oil from dehulled egusi seed (DESO) and whole egusi seed (WESO) were characterized. Extraction from both samples was done by Soxhlet extractor using n-hexane, and transesterified with KOH. Mean methyl ester (ME) yields from three replications averaged 87.3% and 86.7% for DESO-ME and WESO-ME, with cetane numbers of 52.54 and 53.06, respectively. Kinematic viscosities of 4.37 mm 2 /s and 4.39 mm 2 /s were found for WESO-ME and DESO- ME, respectively, making the former suitable as a bio-lubricant. Average flash points of DESO-ME and WESO-ME were 145.3 °C and 142.7 °C, with mean densities of 876.7 kg/m 3 and 871.0 kg/m 3 , respectively. Six fatty acids were identified via gas chromatography. Total saturated and total unsaturated fatty acids were 20% and 80% for DESO-ME, and 21% and 79% for WESO-ME. Engine performance tests using pure diesel oil (PDO), B5 (5% biodiesel, 95% fossil diesel) and B10 (10% biodiesel, 90% fossil diesel) were carried out. Results showed that B5 and B10 of WESO-ME were better than DESO-MEs. The WESO-ME B5 was very similar in performance to PDO. The torques generated by PDO and WESO-ME B5 were the same. The latter had a lower exhaust temperature. However, power output from WESO-ME B5 was lower (by 0.02 kW) and fuel consumption higher by 7% than for PDO.


Recent reports indicate that useful diagnostic information can be obtained from ex vivo tissue by using near-infrared Raman spectroscopy. A fiber-optic-based Raman system has been constructed that can obtain spectra in vivo from tissue, typically in less than 30 s. The spectral details are limited by the fluorescence and Raman signal generated in the silica delivery and collection fibers. In this study, fiber-optic probes that are designed to suppress these confounding signals have been characterized and compared with a probe constructed of unfiltered silica fiber. These suppressing probes used a novel design with "in-the-tip" filters, which also had optimized light collection efficiency. The spatial point response functions of the fibers were measured in air, water, and a tissue-simulating, optically turbid medium. Spectra from rabbit tissues were also collected with these probes to demonstrate their performance.


In this paper we compare radiative transfer model calculations of the actinic flux in the UV spectral region with airborne measurements of the actinic flux, obtained during the Photochemical Activity and Ultraviolet Radiation (PAUR) campaign, which took place in the Aegean Sea, Greece, in June 1996, in order to assess the accuracy of the model in calculating photolysis rates, when the model input parameters are well defined from measurements. The model can simulate the total actinic flux (4π sr) in the UV-A region with an accuracy of 5% for all altitudes (0.1-12 km) in the cloud free troposphere, while in the UV-B the impact of the vertical distribution of ozone and aerosol can lead to differences, of about 5-10% at low altitudes up to 20% at higher altitudes. Next, the photolysis rates of J(O 1 D) and J(NO 2 ) measured during the PAUR 2, in Crete, Greece (35.5°N, 23.8°E), in May 1999, at two altitudes (Gerani 30 m and Prases 1000 m), are compared with the respective model calculations in order to examine the effect of the alternating Sahara dust/ maritime aerosol environments imposed to these photolysis rates, as well as to examine their differences due to the altitude difference. It is shown that high levels of tropospheric ozone and absorbing aerosols can cause a decrease in the photolysis rates of ozone near the surface, even under conditions of reduced total ozone content. This fact indicates that tropospheric ozone can be disproportionately important as a filter against UV-B radiation when most scattering of the radiation by air molecules and dust occurs in the troposphere. This behavior is not simulated accurately using a radiative transfer model constrained by observations of ozone and aerosol optical depths. The differences of the of the photolysis rates between the two altitudes as determined by the model and by the measurements, differ significantly for the Sahara dust event, indicating that during this event in the boundary layer, there is a mixture of desert and nonabsorbing aerosols.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effect on self-regulated learning (SRL) of a physical education (PE) pedagogy based on Zimmerman's (2000) model of SRL by means of an 8-week PE curriculum intervention in Taiwan. Participants were 632 Taiwanese students (aged 13.9 ±0.3 years; 28 PE classes) and a wait list control class (n = 21; aged 14.1 ±0.2 years). Constructs from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and the Five Component Scale for Self-Regulation were measured pre-and post the intervention by means of on an online survey platform. Multiple repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine if there were any significant differences preand post the intervention and any interaction effects between the intervention and the control. The classes who participated in the intervention showed relatively small mean increases in enjoyment, perceived competence, intrinsic value, self-efficacy, cognitive strategy use, goal setting, strategy implementation and strategy monitoring. In contrast for the control class, eight out of the eleven factors showed relatively larger negative changes in scores. These data indicate that with this sample the benefits of adopting a selfregulated learning approach in PE lessons over an 8-week period appeared to be more about maintenance of the stability of these personal characteristics rather than the enhancement of them.


The heart normally is an efficient physiological pump whose muscular compartment is composed of a syncytium of cardiomyocytes nourished by a coronary vasculature and housed within a scaffolding of structural proteins. The contractile properties of cardiomyocytes are governed by the direct interplay between Ca2+ and contractile proteins, actin and myosin, and their intracellular handling of Ca2+. Likewise, extracellular Ca2+ handling, or Ca2+ homoeostasis, can indirectly influence cardiomyocyte contractility. Herein, we briefly examine Ca2+ dyshomoeostasis and heart failure.

Plasma Ca2+ concentrations are highly regulated and maintained within a narrow range. If disturbed, a series of controlling factors and feedback mechanisms are called into play. Overall Ca2+ homoeostasis relates to its dietary intake; absorption and excretion from gut and kidneys; bone storage; and the modifying influence of such calcitropic hormones as calcitriol (activated vitamin D) and parathyroid hormone (PTH).

In utero, the availability of Ca2+ for fetal growth and development, including the bony skeleton, depends on maternal factors such as: ( a ) dietary Ca2+ intake, which may be reduced, particularly in vegans or in some women with lactose intolerance, who avoid dairy products; ( b ) urinary and fecal Ca2+ losses; ( c ) Ca2+ bone stores that may be mobilised if Ca2+ availability is compromised; and ( d ) vitamin D status, as assessed by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-(OH)D) levels. 25-(OH)D levels are chiefly dependent on supplementation and sunlight exposure that may be limited by culturally imposed dress code, skin pigmentation, where melanin is a natural sunscreen that mandates longer exposure to the UVB component of sunlight to generate vitamin D, senescent skin less able to produce vitamin D, obesity where adipocytes sequester it, the altitude, latitude and locale (urban vs rural) of …


This coursebook provides materials for a 3-unit course or seminar on sentencing law. In a criminal justice system where more than 90% of cases are resolved through plea bargains, sentencing law becomes the primary legal arena for the daily work of the practicing criminal lawyer. The field of sentencing also provides a case study in the dynamics of law reform, and wrestles with profound and ancient themes of justice and the nature of law: what makes rules and procedures wise, which institutions should design and implement these rules, how much discretion the rules should (or must) allow in each case, and what impact the law will have on human lives. The book surveys common elements that operate in several different sentencing systems: the federal sentencing guidelines, state guideline systems, discretionary indeterminate sentencing, and capital sentencing. The organization of the book covers the institutions and basic design choices for sentencing systems (Chapters 1-3), the inputs that determine sentences for individual cases (Chapters 4-5), the outputs of the system, including the racial and gender patterns found in sentences (Chapters 7-9), and the procedural contexts for sentencing decisions (Chapters 6, 10, and 11). Principal materials come from many sources, reflecting the many institutions that shape and apply sentencing law. The examples from structured guideline jurisdictions - the dominant modern sentencing reform - occupy the center of attention. Because the federal system is well-developed and closely critiqued, the book devotes steady attention to that system, but also samples from many state systems. The capital materials generate revealing comparisons with non-capital sentencing practices.


Female receptivity and male-male competition were studied in a laboratory population of the New Zealand rock crab Hemigrapsus sexdentatus. Mating only occurred in the few days prior to oviposition, when females had mobile gonopore opercula. After mating, males guarded females constantly and mated with them repeatedly until the females laid eggs. Isolated females remained receptive for significantly longer than females housed temporarily or constantly with males in the lab- oratory. The duration of female receptiveness can, therefore, vary in relation to the presence of males. Male-male competition was high with frequent attacks on pairs by other males. Large males mated significantly more often than medium and small males, and were more likely to take over a female from another male. However, large and small male H. sexdentatus both adjusted the ejaculate size according to the size of the female; i.e. transferred relatively large ejaculates to large females, and were equally able to transfer ejaculates to small and large females during the first mating in the sea- son. Post-copulatory guarding reduced the risk of sperm competition. Although male-male competi- tion appears to be the dominant factor in pair-formation, the ability of females to extend their recep- tivity in the absence of males, will have an impact on the operational sex ratio, and on the extent of male-male and sperm competition.


It is well appreciated that hydrogen bonding affects a variety of monomer and polymer properties. This study focused on Bis-GMA and urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) to help elucidate how the strength and nature of specific noncovalent interactions involved with these different functional dimethacrylate structures are expressed in the monomers and polymers. Hydrogen bonding interactions in monomers and comonomer mixtures as well as in appropriate model compounds were examined by FT-IR under ambient conditions, at elevated temperatures and in dilution studies. The investigation of hydrogen bonding extended to monomer viscosity, photopolymerization reaction kinetics, and polymer mechanical properties. The strength of hydrogen bonding was shown not only to be greater for Bis-GMA compared with UDMA, but there is also greater contribution from intermolecular interactions that enhance the hydrogen bonding effects. While UDMA-based polymers reach significantly higher levels of conversion compared with Bis-GMA materials, the stronger hydrogen bonding reinforcement associated with Bis-GMA appears to provide for comparable mechanical strength properties. Depending on the hydrogen bond donor functionality of a monomer as well as its neighboring functional groups, overall monomer structure and comonomers used, hydrogen bonding can favorably affect polymerization reactivity and mechanical properties, even in materials that form highly crosslinked polymeric networks.


Price conjectural variations are estimated to measure the degree of price competition in a product differentiated oligopoly. The empirical model is a simultaneous equation system of product demand and price reaction functions in which own and cross price elasticities of demand are estimated in conjunction with price conjectural variations. Specifically, the price conjectural variations are estimated directly in the reaction functions, rather than deduced indirectly from profit data. The empirical model is applied to pairs of ready-to-eat breakfast cereal products, using brand data collected during the course of the antitrust case brought by the Federal Trade Commission in the 1970s against Kellogg, General Mills, and General Foods. The empirical results reject competitive brand pricing behavior in favor of independent or interdependent pricing. Further, the hypothesis of a unique consistent conjecture is rejected.


Submitted article describes an application of microcontroller PIC18F46K22 for generating DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) signal. Used microcontroller is optimal for this application it has timers with compare facilities, sufficient number of PWMs, powerful instruction set (extended in comparison to classic PIC16xxx microcontrollers), etc. problematic of article relates to more branches electronics, filters, signal generators, microcontrollers, telecommunications, programming. An important purpose was to create an experimental platform based on powerful microcontroller enabling implementation additional functions. There are together three different solutions of DTMF generating are described in article, they are compared as to the demands on external hardware and machine time of microcontroller. The first solution is based on sinus table, truncated onto 32 values. This solution uses 8-bit PORTD for value intended to external D/A converter. The second one solution exploits compare facilities of PIC18F46K22, only two pins of microcontroller are needed for described application. And the third solution is similar to the second, difference consists in exploiting of PWM microcontroller hardware. Presented solutions were created in context of works on dotation program "Support of Science and Research in Moravia-Silesia Region".


We build on the latest developments in the structural gravity literature to quantify the partial and general equilibrium effects of GATT/WTO membership on trade and welfare. Using an extensive database covering manufacturing trade for 186 countries over the period 1980-2016, we find that the average impact of GATT/WTO membership on trade among member counties is large, positive, and significant. We contribute to the literature by estimating country-specific estimates and find them to vary widely across the countries in our sample with poorer members benefitting more. Using these estimates, we simulate the general equilibrium effects of GATT/WTO on welfare, which are sizable and heterogeneous across members, and relatively small for non-member countries. We show that countries not experiencing positive trade effects from joining GATT/WTO can still gain in terms of welfare, due to beneficial terms-of-trade effects.


This paper analyzes several terms used in ancient China to refer to the activity/activities now called 'fanyi' in Chinese, or 'translation' in English. By tracing the pattern behind the semantic and ideological jogging amongst these terms, the paper offers a new interpretation of the earliest Chinese attempts to define translation ('fanyi'). The purpose is to highlight the constructed nature of the prevailing notion of 'fanyi' and unsettle its established meaning, the better to provoke theoretical discussions on and about 'fanyi'. The final purpose is to provide a response to the recent call for a non-Eurocentric, international Translation Studies by advocating for a concerted effort to study the conceptualisations of 'translation' as they evolved in different cultures, with the view to eventually developing a general theory of translation that truly has general relevance.


Plant defensins (PDF) are cysteine-rich peptides that are major actors in the innate immunity in plants. Besides their antifungal activity, some PDF such as Arabidopsis halleri PDF1.1b confer zinc tolerance in plants. Here we present (i) an efficient protocol for the production of AhPDF1.1b by solid-phase peptide synthesis followed by controlled oxidative folding to obtain the highly pure native form of the defensin and (ii) the three-dimensional (3D) nuclear magnetic resonance structure of AhPDF1.1b, the first 3D structure of plant defensin obtained with a synthetic peptide. Its fold is organized around the typical cysteine-stabilized α-helix β-sheet motif and contains the γ-core motif involved in the antifungal activity of all plant defensins. On the basis of our structural analysis of AhPDF1 defensins combined with previous biological data for antifungal and zinc tolerance activities, we established the essential role of cis-Pro41 within the γ-core. In fact, the four consecutive residues (Val39-Phe40-Pro41-Ala42) are strictly conserved for plant defensins able to tolerate zinc. We hypothesized that structural and/or dynamic features of this sequence are related to the ability of the defensin to chelate zinc.


Germline cell death in Drosophila oogenesis is controlled by distinct signals. The death of nurse cells in late oogenesis is developmentally regulated, whereas the death of egg chambers during mid-oogenesis is induced by environmental stress or developmental abnormalities. P-element insertions in the caspase gene dcp-1 disrupt both dcp-1 and the outlying gene, pita, leading to lethality and defective nurse cell death in late oogenesis. By isolating single mutations in the two genes, we have found that the loss of both genes contributes to this ovary phenotype. Mutants of pita, which encodes a C2H2 zinc-finger protein, are homozygous lethal and show dumpless egg chambers and premature nurse cell death in germline clones. Early nurse cell death is not observed in the dcp-1/pita double mutants, suggesting that dcp-1+ activity is required for the mid-oogenesis cell death seen in pita mutants. dcp-1 mutants are viable and nurse cell death in late oogenesis occurs normally. However, starvation-induced germline cell death during mid-oogenesis is blocked, leading to a reduction and inappropriate nuclear localization of the active caspase Drice. These findings suggest that the combinatorial loss of pita and dcp-1 leads to the increased survival of abnormal egg chambers in mutants bearing the P-element alleles and that dcp-1 is essential for cell death during mid-oogenesis.


HIV-1 TAR RNA is the binding site of the viral protein Tat, the trans-activator of the HIV-1 LTR. It is present at the 5' end of all HIV-1 spliced and unspliced mRNAs in the nucleus as well as in the cytoplasm. It has a highly folded stem-bulge-loop structure, which also binds cellular proteins to form ribonucleoprotein complexes. The Tat-Cyclin T1-CDK9 complex is the main component in the trans-activation of HIV-1 and its affinity for TAR is regulated through Tat acetylation by histone acetyl transferases. Recent studies show that this complex is able to recruit other cellular partners to mediate efficient transcriptional elongation. TRBP, PKR and La bind directly to the TAR RNA structure and influence translation of HIV-1 in either positive or negative manners. Some mutations in TAR RNA severely impair HIV-1 trans-activation, translation and viral production, showing its functional importance. The overexpression or suppression of several TAR RNA-binding proteins has a strong impact on viral replication pointing out their major role in the viral life cycle. TAR RNA has been the target of drug development to inhibit viral replication. Recent data using small molecules or RNA-based technologies show that acting on the TAR RNA or on its viral and cellular binding factors effectively decreases virion production.


Advances in technology allow for the construction of synthetic antibiotics, which includes the development of de novo antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The contents of AMPs including amino acids, chain length, hydrophobicity, ring structure/rigidity, terminus and charge when modified can alter the antimicrobial properties. A special family of peptides called histatins is naturally excreted by oral glands as an immune response, and previous research shows their potential for treating thrush. Histatin 8 is known to have antimicrobial activity against yeast strains and the goal of this study was to synthesize histatin 8 and two novel derivatives (delt 1 and delt 4) that fall at extremes of each other with regard to charge and hydrophobicity in order to investigate the properties that could optimize antimicrobial properties. The derivatives were characterized using various chemical and biological assays to investigate the effects of charge and hydrophobicity on bioactivity. Compared to histatin 8, delt 4's minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was decreased more than tenfold against Candida tropicalis indicating increased antimicrobial activity. Re-inoculation confirmed fungicidal properties.


In today's world of ubiquitous Smartphone use, extending the battery life has become an important issue. A significant contributor to battery drain is wireless networking. Common usage patterns expect Smartphones to maintain a constant Internet connection which exacerbates the problem.
Our research entitled A Network Traffic Approach to Smartphone Energy Savings focuses on extending Smartphone battery life by investigating how network traffic impacts power management of wireless devices. We explore 1) Real-time VoIP application energy savings by exploiting silence periods in conversation. WiFi is opportunistically placed into low power mode during Silence periods. 2.) The priority of Smartphone Application network traffic is used to modifiy WiFi radio power management using machine learning assisted prioritization. High priority network traffic is optimized for performance, consuming more energy while low priority network traffic is optimized for energy conservation. 3.) A hybrid multiple PHY, MAC layer approach to saving energy is also utilized. The Bluetooth assisted WiFi approach saves energy by combining high power, high throughput WiFi with low power, lower throughput Bluetooth. The switch between Bluetooth and WiFi is done opportunistically based upon the current data rate and health of the Bluetooth connection.
Our results show that application specific methods for wireless energy savings are very effective. We have demonstrated energy savings exceeding 50% in generic cases. With real-time VoIP applications we have shown upwards of 40% energy savings while maintaining good call quality. The hybrid multiple PHY approach saves more than 25% energy over existing solutions while attaining the capability of quickly adapting to changes in network traffic.


Abstract In the present work we perform a detailed investigation of ingot metallurgy processing routes of Ti-30Ta, a shape memory alloy with a good potential for applications at higher temperatures. There is currently considerable interest in high temperature shape memory alloys, both in industry (automotive and aerospace applications) and in academia. By means of scanning electron microscopy, we provide recommendations on the number of remelting cycles in the vacuum arc melting process, and on annealing temperatures/times in order to obtain chemical homogeneity. It is also shown that this is required to obtain well defined differential scanning calorimeter charts, which facilitates characterization and investigations of martensitic transformation in this alloy. Areas in need of further work are identified.


This Introduction suggests how the essays in this Special Issue explore the continued relevance of the term postcoloniality by critically engaging with both postcolonial studies and life writing. By understanding postcoloniality as the global condition of the current baleful historic conjuncture—as the paradoxical global condition in which classes, peoples, and nations are subject to residual and often overt manifestations of imperialism and colonialism at a time when no contemporary government, state, international or supranational body, or ideology defines itself as imperialist or colonialist—past critical practices and celebratory tendencies in postcolonial studies can be corrected to recognize the dire conditions of global politics in the present.


The paper shows the possibility of self-organization of microparticles of impurity nickel atoms in silicon under certain thermodynamic conditions. It was found that the concentration of microparticles in the volume is distributed almost uniformly. It was found that upon additional annealing, self-ordering of microparticles of impurity atoms in the silicon bulk and the formation of Schottky micro-barriers occur. The study of the I – V characteristics of these samples showed that at the points where the microscopy of nickel atoms formed, it has a diode character. The obtained experimental data show the possibility of creating photocells (PV) based on compensated silicon by the impurity of nickel atoms. To study the fundamental electrophysical parameters of photocells, modern methods and instruments were used, such as an MIC-5 infrared analysis microscope, Oxford Instruments ZEISS EVOMA 10 REM analysis, XIA-200 atomic force microscope, and X'PertPowder diffractometer. Microand nanoclusters found in silicon are explained by the accumulation of concentration of nickel atom clusters. It has been established that the overgrown clusters of impurity nickel atoms lead to an improvement in the electrophysical parameters of photocells.


Using measurements from VanLAN, a modest-size testbed that we have deployed, we analyze the fundamental characteristics of WiFi-based connectivity between basestations and vehicles in urban settings. Our results uncover a more complex picture than previous work which was conducted in more benign settings. The interval between a vehicle coming into and going out of range of a basestation is often marred by intermittent periods of very poor connectivity. These "gray periods" are hard to reliably predict because their arrival is not signaled by metrics such as signal strength, loss rate, speed or distance from the basestation. At the same time, they also do not consistently occur at the same spot. Our analysis suggests that gray periods are not caused by the motion of the vehicle per se but by the variability in the urban radio environment combined with the vehicle traversing locations that are poorly covered by the basestation. We also find that knowledge of past connectivity can be used to identify regions where gray periods are more likely to occur as well as regions where the vehicle is likely to experience good connectivit.


Study Design: A retrospective clinical case series. Objective: To investigate knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and total knee replacement (TKR) status as prognostic factors for surgical outcomes in female patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Summary of Background Data: There have been many reports on numerous prognostic factors for surgical outcomes in patients with degenerative lumbar conditions; however, there has been no report on the surgical outcome in patients who underwent spinal surgery with coexisting KOA and TKR. Methods: This study included 141 female patients (mean age, 67.6 y) who underwent spinal surgery for LSS between January 2006 and December 2010. At 1 year postoperatively, surgical outcomes were measured using the Oswestry disability index (ODI). Various clinical factors including KOA and TKR were analyzed as prognostic factors for surgical outcomes. Results: Mean average scores at preoperative evaluation were 26.1±6.6 in the no KOA group, 23.6±7.9 in the KOA group, and 30.4±6.7 in the TKR group (P<0.05). Mean average scores at postoperative 1 year were 13.8±8.5 in the no KOA group, 16.8±9.5 in the KOA group, and 21.4±5.7 in the TKR group (P<0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). Preoperative ODI scores were shown to be significantly affected by the TKR status only (P<0.05), and were significantly higher in the TKR patient group. ODI scores at postoperative 3 months were significantly correlated with the preoperative ODI and the operational level (P<0.05). At postoperative 1 year, ODI scores were shown to be affected by the operational level, the preoperative ODI, and the presence of advanced radiographic KOA (Kellgren/Lawrence grades III and IV) (P<0.05). Conclusions: A poor preoperative functional score, the presence of preoperative KOA, and longer operational levels were shown to be poor prognostic factors for the 1-year surgical outcome of LSS. Also, patients in the TKR group showed the worst ODI scores at preoperative and postoperative 1-year evaluations. Consideration of these factors when planning for spine surgery could be helpful in predicting the surgical outcomes of lumbar spinal surgery.


Traditional methods to measure blood pressure are intermittent and may fail to detect the critical blood pressure fluctuations. Continuous blood pressure monitoring offers important clinical value in predicting cardiovascular diseases. Invasive (i.e., artery cannulation) and noninvasive approaches (e.g., volume clamping, pressure sensor, ultrasound, and optical methods) have limitations that prevent their generalized use outside of controlled settings, and few account properly for changes in the properties of the arteries (e.g., after drug administration, aging). This article proposes a method that combines a skin-interfaced pressure sensor with a sensor of pulse wave velocity, to continuously, noninvasively, and accurately measure the blood pressure, in ways that eliminate drifts and other artifacts that can prevent accurate, longitudinal monitoring. A scaling law is established to show that, for a linearly proportional relationship between the blood pressure and sensor pressure, the coefficient of proportionality depends on the elastic moduli Eartery and Etissue of the artery and tissue, respectively, and the artery thickness hartery and radius Rartery via a single, dimensionless combination, Earteryhartery/(EtissueRartery), i.e., the normalized artery stiffness. This scheme determines the blood pressure in a manner that explicitly accounts for changes in the artery elastic modulus and thickness (e.g., due to the administration of drugs, aging). [DOI: 10.1115/1.4051183]


The HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the most important public health problems facing this generation. The failure of recent vaccine trials and growing resistance to anti-retroviral drugs underscores the need for novel therapeutic strategies. Design of such therapies will depend on a detailed understanding of the mechanism of action of the HIV-1 gene products. To further that goal, we have undertaken a detailed investigation of the HIV-1 viral protein R (Vpr). We employed cDNA microarray and antibody array analyses using isogenic virus with or without Vpr to determine the effect on host cellular gene expression. Vpr induced differential regulation of 109 cellular genes representing diverse families of signaling molecules. Two gene products, NHE1 and TNF alpha, were further studied for their potential roles in Vpr-mediated apoptosis. NHE1 expression was decreased by 50% at both the protein and mRNA levels in the presence of Vpr. Vpr-mediated NHE1 downregulation correlated with a dose dependent decrease in intracellular pH as well as a decrease in the active form of the pro-survival kinase Akt. The loss of these anti-apoptotic functions of NHE1 is proposed to contribute to the apoptotic role of Vpr. The pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF alpha may also play a part in Vpr-mediated apoptosis. Macrophages infected with vpr-expressing virus secreted 1.1-8.5 fold more soluble TNF alpha in response to LPS stimulation than their counterparts infected with isogenic virus lacking Vpr expression. Fold upregulation of TNF alpha directly correlated with induction of apoptosis in uninfected lymphocytes, implicating TNF alpha regulation by Vpr in bystander cell death. Two polymorphisms in the TNF alpha promoter, positions -238 and -963, were found at a higher prevalence in donors showing the lowest and highest effect of Vpr on the TNF alpha response. These results suggest that host genetic determinants may affect bystander cell death and thus the course of HIV pathogenesis. Together, the results of this study present a molecular basis for changes induced in the host cell by HIV-1 Vpr and elucidate two potential pathways for the design of anti-retroviral therapeutics targeting HIV-1 Vpr.


Phytoplankton in high‐light, low‐nutrient ocean environments are challenged with maintaining high photosynthetic efficiency and simultaneously preventing photodamage that results from low levels of electron acceptors downstream of photosystem II (PSII). Here, we identify a process in open ocean picophytoplankton that preserves PSII activity by diverting electrons from the photosystem I (PSI) complex‐mediated carbon assimilation to oxygen via a propyl gallate‐sensitive oxidase associated with the photosynthetic electron transport chain. This process stabilizes diel photochemical efficiency of PSII, despite midday photoinhibition, by maintaining oxidized PSII reaction centers. Although measurements of the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, Fv : Fm show midday photoinhibition, midday CO2 fixation is not depressed. Moreover, CO2 fixation saturates at low irradiances even though PSII electron flow is not saturated at irradiances of 1,985 mmol photons m−2 s−1. This disparity between PSII fluorescence and CO2 fixation is consistent with the activity of an oxidase that serves as a terminal electron acceptor, maintaining oxidized PSII reaction centers even when CO2 fixation has saturated and the total number of functional reaction centers decreases because of photoinhibition (reflected in lower midday Fv : Fm values). This phenomenon is less apparent in coastal phytoplankton populations, suggesting that it is a strategy particularly distinctive of phytoplankton in the oligotrophic ocean. Spatial variability in features of photosynthetic electron flow could explain biogeographical differences in productivity throughout the ocean and should be represented in models that use empirical photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements from a limited number of ocean sites to estimate the productivity of the entire ocean.


This paper investigates the immediate and medium-term behavioral response to an emotional trigger designed to affect biases in intertemporal financial decisions. The emotional trigger is provided by a narrative portraying the catastrophic consequences of poor financial choices. Even when people are fully aware of the most appropriate action to take, cognitive biases may prevent this knowledge from translating into action. The paper contributes to the literature by directly testing the importance of linking emotional stimulus to financial messages, to influence borrowing and saving decisions, and identifying the interaction between emotional stimulus and the opportunity to act on this stimulus. The study randomly assigned individuals to a featured production -- a Nollywood (the Nigerian Hollywood) movie -- on the financial consequences of poor borrowing and saving behavior. This treatment is interacted with the option of opening a savings account at the screening of the movie. At the exit of the screening, individuals in the financial education movie treatment are more likely to open a savings account than individuals in the placebo movie treatment. However, the effects dissipate quickly. When savings and borrowing behavior is measured four months later, the study finds no differences between treatments. The paper concludes that emotional triggers delivered in the context of a one-time feature film might not be enough to secure sustained changes in behavior.


The most widely used processes for the degradation of feathers use pure strains of bacteria. The aim of this research is to standardize the optimum laboratory conditions for the biodegradation of chicken feathers. The study was conducted in one-liter flasks with a co-culture of bacteria isolated and identified by 16S rDNA sequencing as Alcaligenes faecalis and Brevundimonas diminuta from a chicken processing plant. The best results obtained in the first stage (temperature and carbon source) informed the second stage, which consisted in the evaluation of the degradation of feathers using different concentrations of nutrient broth (25%, 50% and 100%). The concentration of protein and amino acids was quantified for evaluated the degradation of feathers. The results showed that the proposed method can achieve total degradation of feathers (including the rachis) at 11 days with nutrient broth. The maximum concentration of protein in the soluble fraction obtained after the degradation process at 32°C and with nutrient broth at 25%, 50% and 100%, was 12.60 μg/mL ± 0.1 μg/mL, 14.60 μg/mL ± 0.02 μg/mL and 18.60 μg/mL ± 0.01 μg/mL, respectively. The production of free amino acids was 2.64 mg/mL and detected tryptophan and tyrosine. This study shows a promising biotechnology for reducing pollution by feathers.


Drawing on the work of Elizabeth Freeman (2010), this study offers a contribution to the South African literary debate over historical progress and irregular temporalities by proposing an analysis of time and embodiment in Rehana Rossouw's second novel New Times (2017). The book, all centred around the themes of betrayal versus remembrance, tells the story of Ali, a young journalist trying to heal secret wounds in the year after South Africa's first democratic elections. While her identity is continuously questioned because of her male nickname, mixed slave heritage and uncertain sexuality, Ali starts her new job for the aptly-titled The New Times by uncovering the new government's first signs of corruption and blindness towards the AIDS plague. By investigating what is left of the colonial in the supposedly postcolonial era, Rossouw's novel offers a fresh addition to the strand of South African literature that dares to deconstruct the myth of Mandela and of Liberation Day, calling for a deeper understanding of the often fractured temporalities of political change.


In their seminal contribution to the study of terrorism and the media, Violence as Communication (1982), Alex Schmid and Jenny De Graaf point out that before technology made possible the amplification and multiplication of speech, the maximum number of people that could be reached simultaneously was determined by the range of the human voice and was around 20,000 people. In the nineteenth century, the size of an audience was expanded twenty-five to fifty times. In 1839 the New York Sun published a record 39,000 copies; in 1896, on the occasion of President McKinley's election, two US papers, belonging to Pulitzer and Hearst, for the first time printed a million copies. William McKinley paid a high price for this publicity. In 1901 he was killed by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, who explained his deed with the words: 'For a man should not claim so much attention, while others receive none.'

Historically, access to the communication structure was intimately related to power. With the growth of the press, and later television, a situation arose that gave unequal chances of expression to different people. This connection between power and free expression was summed-up by A.J. Liebling who observed that 'Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.


User engagement in search refers to the frequency for users (re-)using the search engine to accomplish their tasks. Among factors that affected users' visit frequency, relevance of search results is believed to play a pivotal role. While multiple work in the past has demonstrated the correlation between search success and user engagement based on longitudinal analysis, we examine this problem from a different perspective in this work. Specifically, we carefully designed a large-scale controlled experiment on users of a large commercial Web search engine, in which users were separated into control and treatment groups, where users in treatment group were presented with search results which are deliberate degraded in relevance. We studied users' responses to the relevance degradation through tracking several behavioral metrics (such as query per user, click per session) over an extended period of time both during and following the experiment. By quantifying the relationship between user engagement and search relevance, we observe significant differences between user's short-term search behavior and long-term engagement change. By leveraging some of the key findings from the experiment, we developed a machine learning model to predict the long term impact of relevance degradation on user engagement. Overall, our model achieves over 67% of accuracy in predicting user engagement drop. Besides, our model is also capable of predicting engagement change for low-frequency users with very few user signals. We believe that insights from this study can be leveraged by search engine companies to detect and intervene search relevance degradation and to prevent long term user engagement drop.


Title of dissertation: OBSERVABILITY-BASED SAMPLING AND ESTIMATION OF FLOWFIELDS USING MULTI-SENSOR SYSTEMS Levi D. DeVries, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Dissertation directed by: Professor Derek A. Paley Department of Aerospace Engineering The long-term goal of this research is to optimize estimation of an unknown flowfield using an autonomous multi-vehicle or multi-sensor system. The specific research objective is to provide theoretically justified, nonlinear control, estimation, and optimization techniques enabling a group of sensors to coordinate their motion to target measurements that improve observability of the surrounding environment, even when the environment is unknown. Measures of observability provide an optimization metric for multi-agent control algorithms that avoid spatial regions of the domain prone to degraded or ill-conditioned estimation performance, thereby improving closed-loop control performance when estimated quantities are used in feedback control. The control, estimation, and optimization framework is applied to three applications of multi-agent flowfield sensing including (1) environmental sampling of strong flowfields using multiple autonomous unmanned vehicles, (2) wake sensing and observability-based optimal control for two-aircraft formation flight, and (3) bio-inspired flow sensing and control of an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle. For environmental sampling, this dissertation presents an adaptive sampling algorithm steering a multi-vehicle system to sampling formations that improve flowfield observability while simultaneously estimating the flow for use in feedback control, even in strong flows where vehicle motion is hindered. The resulting closed-loop trajectories provide more informative measurements, improving estimation performance. For formation flight, this dissertation uses lifting-line theory to represent a two-aircraft formation and derives optimal control strategies steering the follower aircraft to a desired position relative to the leader while simultaneously optimizing the observability of the leader's relative position. The control algorithms guide the follower aircraft to a desired final position along trajectories that maintain adequate observability and avoid areas prone to estimator divergence. Toward bio-inspired flow sensing, this dissertation presents an observability-based sensor placement strategy optimizing measures of flowfield observability and derives dynamic output-feedback control algorithms autonomously steering an underwater vehicle to bio-inspired behavior using a multi-modal artificial lateral line. Beyond these applications, the broader impact of this research is a general framework for using observability to assess and optimize experimental design and nonlinear control and estimation performance. OBSERVABILITY-BASED SAMPLING AND ESTIMATION OF FLOWFIELDS USING MULTI-SENSOR SYSTEMS


Micropapillary carcinoma (MPC) of urinary tract is an uncommon variant of urothelial carcinoma with significant diagnostic and prognostic implications. Though MPC shows characteristic microscopic features, there exists interobserver variability and also it needs to be differentiated from the metastasis from other organs. The prognosis is generally poor, depending on the proportion of the micropapillary component in some reports. Early cystectomy in cases with only lamina propria invasion may be indicated according to recent studies. This review outlines the general features of this entity and briefly comments on the controversies and the recent development.


Polymeric optical waveguide (POW) devices connectable to plastic optical fibers (POFs) fabricated by hot embossing using thermo-plastic resin are presented. Optical waveguides with large core sizes of 500 and 1000 /spl mu/m were fabricated, and a low propagation loss of /spl sim/ 0.2 dB/cm at 650 nm was achieved. A thick photoresist original master to obtain a stamper for hot embossing was fabricated by photolithography with a photoresist. Using photomasks with different patterns, POW device structures were fabricated. Two POW device structures are realized: one is a passive alignment structure and the other is a Y-branch-type POW. By passive alignment structure, POWs directly connected to POFs were realized, and the coupling loss from POF to POF through POW was measured to be 1.6 dB at an optimum core width of 900 /spl mu/m for 980-/spl mu/m core size POFs. Y-branch-type POWs with large core size of 1000 /spl mu/m, branching angle from 2/spl deg/ to 10/spl deg/, and branching top part radius of 200 /spl mu/m were fabricated. An output power ratio of 1:1 from each output port was realized. A compact-size Y-branch-type waveguide device was also proposed. POWs with high thermal resistance of more than 200/spl deg/C were also realized by hot replication using thermo-curable multifunctional methacrylate monomers.


Freedom of contract is significantly restricted in the market for professional services. Under the so-called "corporate practice doctrine," professionals such as doctors and lawyers are prohibited from practicing within corporate entities, and laypeople are likewise prohibited from investing in professional service firms. Defenders of this prohibition argue that it can be justified as a means of protecting professional independence and thereby increasing the quality of care. In fact, however, the available evidence suggests that investment restrictions are counterproductive to their stated goal. In practice, these restrictions raise costs and reduce access without measurably improving the quality of service at all. This Article examines why, in spite of significant criticism, the doctrine remains alive in the twenty-first century in both medicine and law, preventing the professions from reaping the benefits of outside investment. Legislative solutions have largely failed; U.S. jurisdictions universally prohibit corporate practice in the legal field, and a significant (and resurging) minority of states continues to apply corporate practice restrictions in medicine. In both fields, the possibility of reaching a political solution is hindered by protectionist impulses. This Article therefore proposes a challenge to the doctrine on constitutional grounds. The constitutional case in favor of private ordering is not an easy one to make: current constitutional doctrine defers heavily to state choices in the economic sphere, even when those choices lack any empirical evidence of rationality. Nevertheless, there has been an effort in recent years to move toward a more evidence-based version of rational basis review in economic cases. In addition, the Supreme Court's recent jurisprudence on commercial speech buttresses the case for permitting external investment. In a pair of recent decisions, the Court has demonstrated an increased focus on the public's interest in obtaining free and unfettered information. The corporate practice doctrine therefore presents an excellent test case for a more robust review of professional regulation, whether under a rational basis standard or under a more heightened level of scrutiny.


In vertebrate societies where young are reared communally, nonbreeding helpers are usually closely related to young but often vary widely in their contributions to feeding them. Evolutionary explanations of helping behaviour have focused on whether differences in the level of contributions between helpers are related to variation in kinship. We investigated the contribution of helpers in meerkats, Suricata suricatta. The helpers varied widely in the number of food items they gave to pups and individual differences were related to variation in foraging success as well as to sex and age. When we controlled the influence of these variables, the level of contributions that helpers made to rearing pups was not significantly correlated with variation in kinship to the litters they were rearing.


High occurrence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is caused by the use of natural medicinal plants to eliminate risk of infectious diseases. Glycine max is on the most popular and nutritious foods with high antimicrobial effects. The present research was done to study the antibacterial effects of the methanolic extract of G. max against Gram-negative and positive bacteria. G. max s eeds of M7 and M9 varieties were purchased and their methanolic extracts were collected. Diameter of the zone of growth inhibition of extracts were measured for pathogenic bacteria using the CLSI guidelines. Antimicrobial effects of G. max extracts were also compared with several antibiotics. Diameter of the inhibition zone of tested bacteria against different treatments of G. max had a ranges of 5.93±0.18 to 22.61±1.80 mm. M7 variety had a higher antimicrobial effects on tested bacteria (P0.05). The highest diameter of the zone of growth inhibition was seen for L. monocytogenes (22.61±1.80 mm) and S. aureus (19.33±1.56 mm). Antimicrobial effects of the methanolic extract of the G. max was also dose-dependent (P0.05). Diameter of the inhibition zone of tested bacteria against different antibiotic agents had a ranges of 5.94±0.38 to 24.95±2.11 mm. Ciprofloxacin, penicillin G tetracycline, gentamicin and azithromycin antibiotic agents exhibited the highest diameter of zone of the growth inhibition for K. pneumoniae (15.71±1.46 mm), L. monocytogenes (23.94±2.03 mm), L. monocytogenes (20.55±1.95 mm), S. aureus (14.27±1.36 mm) and L. monocytogenes (24.95±2.11 mm), respectively. Formulation of antibiotic agent using the 100 mg/mL concentration of the M7 variety of G. max has been recommended for treatment of the cases of infectious diseases


Objectives. To examine the effect of an acute bout of resistance exercise on cognitive performance in healthy middle-aged adults. Design. A randomized controlled trial design. Methods. Forty-one adults (Mage = 49.10 years, SD = 8.73) were randomly assigned to either resistance exercise or a control condition. The resistance exercise condition consisted of 2 sets of 10 repetitions for 6 exercises, and the control condition involved reading about resistance exercise for a time period approximating the duration of the exercise condition. The Stroop Test and the Trail Making Test (TMT) were completed at baseline and immediately following performance of the treatment. Results. Results indicated that resistance exercise significantly benefits speed of processing (Stroop Word and Stroop Color), and that there is a trend towards resistance exercise benefiting performance on an executive function task (Stroop Color–Word) that requires shifting of the habitual response. However, the results for the TMT were not significant which demonstrates that acute resistance exercise has a limited effect on inhibition. Conclusion. The present findings extend the literature by indicating that an acute bout of resistance exercise has a positive impact on automatic cognitive processes and on particular types of executive function in middle-aged adults.


Introduction The majority of Thailand's road traffic deaths occur on motorised two-wheeled or three-wheeled vehicles. Accurately measuring helmet use is important for the evaluation of new legislation and enforcement. Current methods for estimating helmet use involve roadside observation or surveillance of police and hospital records, both of which are time-consuming and costly. Our objective was to develop a novel method of estimating motorcycle helmet use. Methods Using Google Maps, 3000 intersections in Bangkok were selected at random. At each intersection, hyperlinks of four images 90° apart were extracted. These 12 000 images were processed in Amazon Mechanical Turk using crowdsourcing to identify images containing motorcycles. The remaining images were sorted manually to determine helmet use. Results After processing, 462 unique motorcycle drivers were analysed. The overall helmet wearing rate was 66.7 % (95% CI 62.6 % to 71.0 %). Taxi drivers had higher helmet use, 88.4% (95% CI 78.4% to 94.9%), compared with non-taxi drivers, 62.8% (95% CI 57.9% to 67.6%). Helmet use on non-residential roads, 85.2% (95% CI 78.1 % to 90.7%), was higher compared with residential roads, 58.5% (95% CI 52.8% to 64.1%). Using logistic regression, the odds of a taxi driver wearing a helmet compared with a non-taxi driver was significantly increased 1.490 (p<0.01). The odds of helmet use on non-residential roads as compared with residential roads was also increased at 1.389 (p<0.01). Conclusion This novel method of estimating helmet use has produced results similar to traditional methods. Applying this technology can reduce time and monetary costs and could be used anywhere street imagery is used. Future directions include automating this process through machine learning.


Photostimulable phosphor CsBr:Eu2+ is prepared through a solid-state reaction. The effect of annealing atmosphere on photoluminescence and photostimulated luminescence was investigated. Optimum luminescence intensity was obtained when samples were prepared at 350°C in air atmosphere. The effect of irradiation of gamma and neutron had resulted in the formation of optically stimulable traps with different trap depths. The role of monovalent and divalent dopants on thermoluminescence dosimetric properties has been discussed.


Introduction: This study aimed to compare the immediate effects of Posterior Anterior (PA) L4 and L5 mobilisations on range of motion and muscle activity measures in the lumbar and hamstring regions of asymptomatic individuals. Methods: Thirty-eight participants were randomly allocated to a mobilisation (n=20) or control (n=18) group. The mobilisation group received central PA mobilisations to the L4 and L5 vertebrae, three times for two minutes. The control group received no mobilisation. Preand post-test measures included lumbar range of motion, measured by the modified Schober test and hamstring extensibility by the active knee extension test. Local Erector Spinae and Biceps Femoris muscle activation were also measured by surface Electromyography. Data were analysed using magnitude-based inferences. Results: Lumbar mobilisations had a most likely beneficial effect on active lumbar flexion 18.6% (90% CL 11.8% ± 25.8%) and active knee extension range 22.8% (-29.6% ± 15.2%). Mobilisations had a possible beneficial effect in sEMG activation reduction of the Erector Spinae -4.7% (-10.5% ± 1.4%) and Bicep Femoris -6.1% (-13.1% ± 1.6%) during lumbar flexion. Likely beneficial effects of reduced sEMG were found following mobilisations during the active knee extension test for the Erector Spinae -18.3% (-27.7% – 7.6%) and Biceps Femoris muscle activity -20.8% (-30.9% ± 9.2%). Discussion: L4 and L5 mobilisations increase lumbar and hamstring range of motion in the immediate term. Our unique finding was that, in this sample population, muscle activity in both local Erector Spinae and Biceps Femoris reduced, most likely due to the mobilisations applied.


The primary strategic tasks for development of the Russian Federation and its regions are the increase of the level and quality of life and increase of the share of the middle class on the basis of modernization and restructuring the economy, the growth of entrepreneurial and innovative activities and competitiveness. For the solution of these problems the development of the consumer market should play an important role, performing important economic and social functions. In the article the results of the study of scientific views of foreign and national scientists on the category "consumer market" are shown from the perspective of the principle of historical and logical unity, theoretical and conceptual approaches to its formation and development are systematized, positive trends in its development are revealed; negative social consequences associated with excessive consumption growth and the formation of a consumer society are proved (violation of the ecological balance, people health aggravation, change of people's attitudes). The necessity of government regulation of the consumer market on all the levels is proved (federal, regional and municipal) based on the prospective vision and its development strategy in the context of globalization, Russia's accession to WTO and the implementation of the sanctions against Russia by the United States, several European and Asian countries. As a methodological approach to solve identified problems on the regional level it is proposed to use the program-targeted regulation of the consumer market, which allows connecting the objectives with the resources and deadlines for their implementation by particular executives. Its use also allows authorities to develop alternative solutions for the tasks on the basis of the justification of priorities in the development of the consumer market and assessment of the risks associated with the implementation of program activities.


Santorini Volcano is an active strato volcano, located at the central part of the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, developing ad retro of the Hellenic Arc and Trench. The explosive history of the volcano dates back to 1645 BC with the Minoan eruption, while it is documented to have produced at least ten eruptions until 1950 AD. The most recent volcanic unrest began in early 2011. Multi-reference Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometric techniques were applied to study the evolution of ground deformation during 1992-2011, with the use of ERS-1 and -2 and ENVISAT radar imagery. Datasets of common acquisition geometry were added into a single stack so as to obtain the linear deformation rates by means of phase averaging. However, to reveal the deformation history of the volcano, Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) method was implemented. This allowed retrieving ground deformation time-series on a pixel basis over regions with high temporal coherence levels. Results from independent tracks, agreeing with each other, suggest a deformation rate of approximately 5 mm/yr of subsidence at the southern part of Nea Kammeni Volcano, for the period 1992-2010. For the unrest period of 2011, intense uplift of 4.8 cm was observed throughout Nea Kammeni. Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from a local geodetic network confirm the DInSAR findings.


Mitigation of multipactor in waveguides is of importance, and strategies have included the addition of external fields, materials engineering, or surface modifications. Here, geometry modifications of rectangular waveguide surfaces and the application of an axial magnetic field are investigated for suppressing multipactor growth. A Monte Carlo approach has been used to simulate electron dynamics. The empirical secondary electrons yield is modeled based on a modified Vaughan approach. The electric fields driving electron transport were derived from separate electromagnetic calculations to adequately include field perturbations due to the presence of surface patterns in the rectangular waveguide structure. Combinations of grooves and a DC magnetic field are shown to effectively mitigate multipactor growth at field strengths up to ∼105 V/m. Finding optimal combinations for an arbitrary field and operating frequency requires further work.


This report reviews the Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) deployments within the territories serviced by California?s investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and the transition from the OpenADR 1.0 specification to the formal standard?OpenADR 2.0. As demand response service providers and customers start adopting OpenADR 2.0, it is necessary to ensure that the existing Automated Demand Response (AutoDR) infrastructure investment continues to be useful and takes advantage of the formal standard and its many benefits. This study focused on OpenADR deployments and systems used by the California IOUs and included a summary of the OpenADR deployment from the U.S. Department of Energy-funded demonstration conducted by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory collected and analyzed data about OpenADR 1.0 deployments, categorized architectures, developed a data model mapping to understand the technical compatibility of each version, and compared the capabilities and features of the two specifications. The findings, for the first time, provided evidence of the total enabled load shed and average first cost for system enablement in the IOU and SMUD service territories. The OpenADR 2.0a profile specification semantically supports AutoDR system architectures and data propagation with a testing and certification program that promotes interoperability, scaled deployments by multiple vendors, and provides additional features that support future services.


bulk samples are synthesized through solid state reaction route using Mg precursors with different particle size by keeping the boron precursor unchanged. Scanning electron microscopy study of the fractured surface for all the samples depicts quite distinct structure depending on the Mg precursor. Big size of Mg precursor resulted in to largely elongated and deep pores while smaller one gave roughly ellipsoidal and shallow pore structure. Influence of the Mg particle size on the grain to grain connectivity reflected in the critical current density value which was greater for samples with smaller Mg precursor. All the synthesized samples undergo a superconducting transition at around 36.5 K irrespective of different Mg precursor particle size.


The recovery of carboxylic acids from fermentation broth is one of the main bottlenecks for the industrial production of bio-based esters. This paper proposes an alternative for the recovery of carboxylates produced by fermentations at pH values above the pKa of the carboxylic acid. In this approach, the aqueous carboxylate anion is recovered using anion exchange, followed by desorption and esterification with CO2-expanded alcohols. Using CO2-expanded methanol, we achieved a high desorption yield at 10 bar of CO2 and 20 °C. An ester yield of 1.03 ± 0.07 mol methyl acetate/acetatein was obtained for the combined desorption–esterification at 5 bar of CO2 and 60 °C. The proposed process has low chemical consumption and low waste production. The proposed process works, with a lower yield, for other carboxylates (e.g. lactate and succinate) and alcohols (e.g. ethanol).


The comparative tolerance and accumulation of the trace metals zinc, copper and cadmium in populations of the littoral polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor from three sites: (a) heavily metal-contaminated Dulas Bay in Anglesey, north Wales, (b) the Blackwater estuary, Essex, as a control site, and (c) West Thurrock, the Thames estuary as a site of intermediate metal contamination, were investigated. Worms from Dulas Bay did not show increased tolerance to any metal, but worms from West Thurrock showed significantly increased copper sensitivity compared to the worms from Dulas Bay and the Blackwater. Worms accumulated zinc and copper from sediments with raised zinc and copper concentrations, and all three metals from solution in proportion to dissolved concentration. Accumulated metal was not excreted in 21 days and field concentrations of zinc and copper in the worms differed between sites. There was no evidence for inter-populational differences in accumulation rates of zinc and cadmium from solution, but worms from Dulas Bay accumulated copper from solution at a significantly higher rate than did worms from the other two sites. Nereis diversicolor takes up and accumulates zinc and cadmium from solution at similar rates per unit molar exposure, but cadmium is taken up at a greater rate per unit free metal ion molar exposure. Although N. diversicolor from Dulas Bay is exposed to very high availabilities of zinc and copper, accumulation and detoxification mechanisms are sufficient to cope with the extra metal influx (accentuated for dissolved copper) without selection for a metal-tolerant population.


This book gives an elementary treatment of the basic material about graph spectra, both for ordinary, and Laplace and Seidel spectra. The text progresses systematically, by covering standard topics before presenting some new material on trees, strongly regular graphs, two-graphs, association schemes, p-ranks of configurations and similar topics. Exercises at the end of each chapter provide practice and vary from easy yet interesting applications of the treated theory, to little excursions into related topics. Tables, references at the end of the book, an author and subject index enrich the text. Spectra of Graphs is written for researchers, teachers and graduate students interested in graph spectra. The reader is assumed to be familiar with basic linear algebra and eigenvalues, although some more advanced topics in linear algebra, like the Perron-Frobenius theorem and eigenvalue interlacing are included.


Introduction: Epilepsy is a common serious neurological disorder affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide. The mainstay of treatment is the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), to which approximately 70% of people with epilepsy respond. Lamotrigine (LTG) was first licensed for use in the UK in 1991 and has become one of the most commonly prescribed AEDs in the developed world. It has proven efficacy for various epilepsy types, is employed at first-line treatment for partial-onset and generalised seizures, may be used for atonic, tonic, and atypical absence seizure types, and also has licensing for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The individual dose of LTG required to achieve seizure freedom varies considerably,3 which may be at least partially explained by inter-individual variation in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. Two proteins appear to be involved in the pharmacokinetics of LTG. UDP-glucuronosyl-transferase 1A4 (encoded by UGT1A4) is the enzyme responsible for the hepatic metabolism of LTG and organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1; encoded by SLC22A1) has very recently been implicated in the transport of LTG at the level of hepatocytes and the blood-brain-barrier. The pharmacodynamic profile of LTG is characterised by inhibition of neuronal voltage-gated sodium channels. The three predominant sodium channel alpha-subunits in mammalian brain are encoded by the genes SCN1A, SCN2A and SCN3A. We have assessed whether genetic variation in these five genes is associated with the maintenance dose of LTG when successfully employed as monotherapy in people with newly-diagnosed epilepsy. Methods: A total of 96 individuals with newly diagnosed epilepsy (50% male, mean age 42 years, range 9 to 83 years) who had been seizure-free for at least 12 months on an unchanged dose of LTG (median dose = 200 mg/day, range = 50 to 675 mg/day) were included in the analysis. A total of 173 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across five genes (SCN1A, SCN2A, SCN3A, UGT1A4, SLC22A1) were genotyped and subjected to univariate and multivariate-regression analyses to identify associations with LTG maintenance dose. Multiple demographic factors (including age, gender, epilepsy type, previous AED use, and number of seizures prior to treatment) were also included as co-variates. Results: Univariate analyses revealed associations between maintenance dose and genotype at fourteen SNP loci, although these did not remain significant after correction for multiple comparisons using false-discovery rate. Multivariate regression analysis generated several models that associated with the observed variation in LTG maintenance dose. The most explanatory of these accomplished an r2-value of 0.606 (p<0.001) incorporating polymorphisms from SLC22A1, SCN1A, SCN2A and SCN3A. Conclusions: Genetic variation in SLC22A1, SCN3A and SCN2A, and to a lesser extent SCN1A, affect LTG maintenance dose requirement. These results require validation in a larger, independent cohort.


Context Medical educational reform includes enhancing role modelling of clinical teachers. This requires faculty being aware of their role model status and performance. We developed the System for Evaluation of Teaching Qualities (SETQ) to generate individualized feedback on previously defined teaching qualities and role model status for faculty in (non) academic hospitals. Objectives (i) To examine whether teaching qualities of faculty were associated with their being seen as a specialist role model by residents, and (ii) to investigate whether those associations differed across residency years and specialties. Methods & Materials Cross-sectional questionnaire survey amongst 549 Residents of 36 teaching programs in 15 hospitals in the Netherlands. The main outcome measure was faculty being seen as specialist role models by residents. Statistical analyses included (i) Pearson's correlation coefficients and (ii) multivariable logistic generalized estimating equations to assess the (adjusted) associations between each of five teaching qualities and 'being seen as a role model'. Results 407 residents completed a total of 4123 evaluations of 662 faculty. All teaching qualities were positively correlated with 'being seen as a role model' with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.49 for 'evaluation of residents' to 0.64 for 'learning climate' (P<0.001). Faculty most likely to be seen as good role models were those rated highly on 'feedback' (odds ratio 2.91, 95% CI: 2.41–3.51), 'a professional attitude towards residents' (OR 2.70, 95% CI: 2.34–3.10) and 'creating a positive learning climate' (OR 2.45, 95% CI: 1.97–3.04). Results did not seem to vary much across residency years. The relative strength of associations between teaching qualities and being seen as a role model were more distinct when comparing specialties. Conclusions Good clinical educators are more likely to be seen as specialist role models for most residents.


All legally enforceable rights cost money. This is a practical, common sense notion but one ignored by almost everyone. To "fight for your rights," or anyone else's, is not just to debate principles but to haggle over budgets. Most conservatives imagine that rights our exercised to property, speech, and religion "free" of government "interference". Yet such rights would not exist if the government could not collect taxes to codify, protect and enforce them. Meanwhile, most liberals prefer to avoid the harsh reality that spending resources on some rights means not spending them on other, perhaps more valuable, rights. The insights that rights are expensive is a reminder that freedom is not violated by a government that taxes and spends. Rather, freedom requires such government and requires a citizenry vigilant about how money is allocated. This work seeks to change the terms of the USA's critical and contentious political debates.


Objectives: This study was designed to assess the monocyte-to-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (MHR) as a possible marker of systemic inflammation in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Methods: A study group of 62 patients with BRVO and a control group of 60 age-matched, healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. The blood lipid profile, hematology profile, and C-reactive protein (CRP) level were measured. The MHR was calculated as the ratio of the monocyte count to the HDL level, and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was calculated as the ratio of the neutrophil count to the lymphocyte count. Results: In patients with BRVO versus controls, the mean MHR was 14.1±5.1 vs 12.2±4.3 (p=.032), the mean NLR was 1.99±0.69 vs 2.01±0.86 (p=.889), and the mean CRP level was 3.44±2.53 mg/L vs 2.81±1.57 mg/L (p=.102). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the MHR and the NLR was 0.621 and 0.519, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the MHR and the NLR to predict BRVO was 51% and 73% vs 79% and 35%, respectively. Conclusion: The MHR values were higher in patients with BRVO compared with those of the control group. BRVO seems to be associated with systemic inflammation.


We considered (i) whether loan funds managed by Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs) in England addressed the finance gap faced by new and small firms that are unable to raise investment capital from other sources, and (ii) whether LEA loan funds offered value-for-money and sustainability. Utilising realistic evaluation and data provided by LEAs, we found that funds had a high conversion rate of applications to loans, presumably because most referrals came from advisers and so propositions unlikely to be supported had already been weeded out, and due to high repayment rates. The level of demand suggested that knowledge of the availability of loans from these sources was still low, but that loans from LEAs were genuinely additional for small firms that would not otherwise have been able to raise the required finance from other sources, indeed in many cases leveraging commercially sourced funds. While LEA loan funds were becoming more efficient, they were not – and were unlikely to become – wholly sustainable. The high conversion rate (and low default rate) suggested that the real need for prospective entrepreneurs is effective advice and support to improve their 'investment readiness' and thus assist in unlocking the necessary financial support.


Fluorescent probes with large Stokes shifts play a key role in maintaining the accuracy of biological imaging and minimizing the self-quenching effect. In this work, we have developed a novel fluorescent probe CAI, which possessed a large Stokes shift in various solutions. We found that CAI was capable of detecting hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in aqueous solution. Furthermore, probe CAI can sense exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in the mitochondria of living RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, probe CAI exhibited ideal properties such as excellent photostability, high sensitivity and selectivity. This fluorescent dye with a large Stokes shift was expected to have a more broad range of applications for developing various fluorescent probes with large Stokes shifts.


Recent demonstrations of negative refraction utilize three-dimensional collections of discrete periodic scatterers to synthesize artificial dielectrics with simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability. In this paper, we propose an alternate perspective on the design and function of such materials that exploits the well-known L-C distributed network representation of homogeneous dielectrics. In the conventional low-pass topology, the quantities L and C represent a positive equivalent permeability and permittivity, respectively. However, in the dual configuration, in which the positions of L and C are simply interchanged, these equivalent material parameters assume simultaneously negative values. Two-dimensional periodic versions of these dual networks are used to demonstrate negative refraction and focusing; phenomena that are manifestations of the fact that such media support a propagating fundamental backward harmonic. We hereby present the characteristics of these artificial transmission-line media and propose a suitable means of implementing them in planar form. We then present circuit and full-wave field simulations illustrating negative refraction and focusing, and the first experimental verification of focusing using such an implementation.


In globalized markets, characterized by increasing uncertainty and highly dynamic competition,
people have become, a crucial asset in order to support organizational change and competitiveness
of companies. The increasing need of flexibility lead firms to the abandonment of "old" HRM
systems, seen as too "bureaucratic" and inadequate to manage complex, rapidly evolving markets.
Traditional job analysis practices, based on rigid tasks definitions and procedures, were
progressively replaced by HR practices based on elements such as workers' professionalism,
creativity, reliability, knowledge, skills; in one word: on people's competencies. The management
of competencies has become a key challenge.
Despite the many ambiguities and misunderstandings surrounding the debate on competencies, the
development of Competency Based Human Resource System (CBHRS) seem to offer an
opportunity to respond quickly and effectively to the current challenges that all kinds of
organizations are facing.
In this work we analyze and discuss the relationship between the "competency framework" and the
issue of organizational change.
Our hypothesis is that HR systems, based on the most diffused competency modeling practices,
offer limited possibilities, for enacting significant – and not merely rhetorical – organizational
changes.
Through a literature review of available contributions on the subject, we will explore the key
critiques to the mainstream positivist approach. In order to find empirical support to our hypothesis,
examples from three case studies will be provided in order to both illustrate the weaknesses of the
mainstream approach, and to introduce an alternative approach.
Finally, the role of reflective activities in the development of workers' competence and the
relevance of employee participation in workplaces analysis for supporting organizational changing
are discussed.