The bureaucracy in the United States has a hand in almost all aspects of our lives, from the water we drink to the parts in our cars. For a force so influential and pervasive, however, this body of all nonelective government officials remains an enigmatic, impersonal entity. The literature of bureaucratic theory is rife with contradictions and mysteries. Bureaucrats, Politics, and the Environment attempts to clarify some of these problems. The authors surveyed the workers at two agencies: enforcement personnel from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and employees of the New Mexico Environment Department. By examining what they think about politics, the environment, their budgets, and the other institutions and agencies with which they interact, this work puts a face on the bureaucracy and provides an explanation for its actions.


Researchers at the Utah Water Research Laboratory at Utah State University have developed a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) called "AggieAir" for use as a precision remote sensing tool. The AggieAirTM UAS platform can be launched and landed almost anywhere. It carries scientific-grade cameras that capture imagery in the visual (red/green/blue), near infrared, and infrared (thermal) spectra. It has been applied in several western states to provide high-resolution imagery in support of research on water, natural resources, and agricultural problems. This paper focuses on uses of AggieAir in the generation of information for use in agricultural operations, especially with respect to precision agriculture. Examples of the use of AggieAir multi-spectral imagery include high-resolution estimation of, evapotranspiration rates, crop tissue nitrogen and chlorophyll, surface and root-zone soil moisture, and crop leaf canopy volume.


The benefits of grass barriers or hedges for reducing offsite transport of non-point-source water pollutants from croplands are well recognized, but their ancillary benefits on soil properties have received less attention. We studied the 15-yr cumulative effects of narrow and perennial switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) barriers on soil organic C (SOC), total N, particulate organic matter (POM), and associated soil structural properties as compared with the cropped area on an Aksarben silty clay loam (fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll) with 5.4% slope in eastern Nebraska. Five switchgrass barriers were established in 1998 at ∼38-m intervals parallel to the crop rows in a field under a conventional tillage and no-till grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]–corn (Zea mays L.) rotation. Compared with the cropped area, switchgrass barriers accumulated about 0.85 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ of SOC and 80 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ of total soil N at the 0 to 15 cm soil depth. Switchgrass barriers also increased coarse POM by 60%. Mean weight diameter of water-stable aggregates increased by 70% at 0 to 15 cm and by 40% at 15 to 60 cm, indicating that switchgrass barriers improved soil aggregation at deeper depths. Large (4.75–8 mm) macroaggregates under switchgrass barriers contained 30% more SOC than those under the cropped area. Switchgrass-induced changes in SOC concentration were positively associated with aggregate stability (r = 0.89***) and porosity (r = 0.47*). Overall, switchgrass barriers integrated with intensively managed agroecosystems can increase the SOC pool and improve soil structural properties.


Today, the principal focus of anti-globalizers is not the effect of globalization on economic prosperity but its harm to social agendas such as the reduction of child labour and poverty, the maintenance of rich-country labour and environmental standards, the exercise of national sovereignty, the maintenance of local culture, and women's rights and welfare. The contrary view, which I defend in this essay, is that economic globalization advances the achievement of that social agenda. But we must ask: what institutional and policy framework is necessary to improve on the benign outcomes that globalization fetches?


As a Guest Editor of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being's special edition on perspectives on health and well-being in nursing, it is my wish to present four original articles embracing some essential core aspects of nursing science irrespective of their specialization. They represent different aspects of qualitative research that focus on; the challenge of integrating core concepts of health into mental health nursing praxis, the experiences in psychiatric rehabilitation from the perspective of both patients and their relatives, and the nurses' experiences of giving support to patients during the transition to hospitalbound hemodialysis. The common basis for the articles is the authors' ambition in their work of generating nursing knowledge in terms of core elements for the provision of health and well-being among individuals with a need for nursing care. (Published: 8 April 2014) Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2014, 9 : 23026 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v9.23026


Introduction: Mammoplasty is the most commonly performed plastic surgery procedure in Brazil, which is second only to the United States in terms of the number of mammoplasties performed. Several techniques based on increasing volume using breast implants are used to correct breast ptosis. We aimed to describe a technical variation of implant mammoplasty: isolation of the implant in a closed pocket of fascioglandular tissue (Lockpocket). Methods: This prospective study was carried out between June 2013 and June 2016. Forty-three patients underwent (1) augmentation mammoplasty using a silicone implant that was isolated from the external environment by a closed pocket of fascioglandular tissue, and (2) resection of excess dermoglandular tissue to correct mammary ptosis. Were subsequently analyzed statistically. Results: Of the 43 patients, the majority (22 patients) presented grade II ptosis according to the Regnault classification. The volume of glandular tissue removed was similar to the volume of the prosthesis introduced. A total of seven complications were observed: partial dehiscence (n = 4), discrete asymmetry (n = 2), and residual ptosis (n = 1). Conclusion: Augmentation mammoplasty with correction of mammary ptosis (the Lockpocket technique) is a good option because it allows the surgeon to choose in advance the volume of the implant to be used. The method also isolates the implant in a totally closed plane of fascioglandular tissue, and involves the precise removal of breast tissue. ■ ABSTRACT


Abstract The phylogenetic position of the monotypic genus Bulborrhizina is studied using molecular data from three loci (mtSSU, nuLSU and ITS) aligned with sequences from 95 other samples of parmelioid lichens. Bulborrhizina africana clusters within the predominantly paleotropical Bulbothrix 'clade II' with strong support. However, its relationships within this clade remain uncertain. The morphological characters used to circumscribe Bulborrhizina are interpreted as adaptations to the habitat of this species in semi-arid regions of eastern Africa. A formal synonymy of the genus Bulborrhizina with either Bulbothrix or Parmelinella is postponed until sequences of the type species of Bulbothrix become available that will allow us to identify which of the two clades of species currently placed in Bulbothrix represents Bulbothrix s.str.


Non-invasive mapping of anomalies beneath asphalt at depths from 2 m to as deep as 50 m has been successful using MASW in a variety of near-surface settings. Anomalies that include fracture zones within bedrock, dissolution/potential subsidence features, voids associated with old mine works, and erosional channels eched into the bedrock surface have been effectively identified in the shear wave velocity field calculated by the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) method. By acquiring many individual multichannel surface wave data gathers on even spacings along a continuous transect, a series of 1-D shear wave profiles obtained by inverting surface wave dispersion curves can be generated that form a 2-D shear wave velocity field beneath the transect. The cell size of the shear wave velocity field depends on the frequency range of the data and source spacing. By contouring the shear wave velocity field, variations representative of anomalous subsurface can easily be interpreted. The method itself focuses on surface wave data with frequencies ranging from 2 to over 60 Hz, which can be directly correlated to depth of investigation and is completely insensitive to cultural noise and surface conditions (e.g., asphalt, gravel, cement, etc.). By incorporating CMP style roll-along acquisition with multichannel acquisition, sufficient redundancy and smoothing exists to confidently interpret anomalies that are evident across several 1-D profiles. Case histories from several uniquely different sites with uniquely different problems provide empirical evidence supporting the utility of this method. Mapping bedrock beneath an asphalt parking lot at depth from 2 to 7 m was successfully accomplished at a site in Olathe, Kansas. Preliminary analysis of this site's hydrologic characteristics, based primarily on borehole data, suggested that fractures and/or an unmapped buried stream channel was influencing fluid movement along the drill-defined bedrock surface. High velocity gradients within the shear wave velocity field were used as diagnostic of the bedrock surface, while localized lateral decreases in the shear wave velocity below the bedrock surface were considered characteristic of fracture zones or erosional channels. Delineating voids resulting from extensive underground mining of lead and zinc in southeastern Kansas was critical to pavement evaluations and determinations of road stability. Void features interpreted on shear wave velocity profiles were consistent with extensive borehole data collected at this site. Subsidence features obscured by development and masked from other geophysical methods by power line noise, mechanical noise, reinforced concrete, and requirements for non-invasive methods were distinguishable on 2-D shear wave velocity field data. Subsidence features interpreted on data acquired through occupied houses in western Florida were correlated with existing drill data and verified by drilling based on interpretations of those data. Pits and trenches were located beneath asphalt surfacing at an old refinery site in eastern Illinois through coincident analysis of phase and amplitude distortions on surface wave data with the 2-D shear wave velocity field. Pipes placed 3 to 5 ft deep in trenches, infilled with native soils, and then covered with asphalt produced a distinctive signature on surface wave data. Advantages of using the shear wave velocity field, calculated from surface waves to detect, delineate, and/or map anomalous subsurface materials include the insensitivity of MASW to velocity inversions and cultural noise, ease of generating and propagating surface wave energy in comparison to body wave energy, and its sensitivity to changes in velocity.


This paper presents a new automotive safety function called Emergency Lane Assist (ELA). ELA combines conventional lane guidance systems with a threat assessment module that tries to activate the lane guidance interventions according to the actual risk level of lane departure. The goal is to only prevent dangerous lane departure maneuvers. The ELA safety function is based on a statistical method that evaluates a list of safety concepts and tries to maximize the impact on accident statistics while minimizing development and hardware component costs. ELA runs in a demonstrator and successfully intervenes during lane changes that are likely to result in a collision and is also able to take control of the vehicle and return it to a safe position in the original lane. It has also been tested on 2000 km of roads in traffic without giving any false interventions


This paper presents the results of ongoing research aimed at developing an integrated computer-aided tolerancing tool. A unified Jacobian–Torsor approach has been developed for deterministic (worst case) computer-aided tolerancing. The paper describes how one can use the same set of interval-based deterministic equations in a statistical context. The nature of the resulting equations lends itself to very fast computations to determine the percentage of rejected assemblies produced given some statistical distribution of the tolerances of their constituent parts. An example application is also presented to illustrate the use of the developed tool.


A 32-year-old man visited our emergency department complaining of severe left upper quadrant abdominal pain. He had history of alcoholic acute pancreatitis complicated with multiple peripancreatic pseudocysts and splenic vein thrombosis with splenic artery pseudoaneurysm and obliteration of the pseudoaneurysm was done by transarterial coil embolization 6 months ago. An abdominal computerized tomography scan at admission showed decreased perfusion at lower pole of spleen with focal splenic infarct, fluid collection at adjacent areas of pancreatic tail and stomach, and pseudocyst at pancreatic tail (Fig. 1). The patient received conservative treatment. On the 16th day of hospitalization, sudden onset of severe abdominal pain developed. His blood pressure declined to 80/50 mmHg, and remained to be persistently below 90 mmHg despite intravenous fluid therapy and use of inotropics. An emergent abdominal computed tomography scan revealed hemoperitoneum with active bleeding around splenic hilum and pancreatic tail (Fig. 2). An emergency surgery was performed and pin point bleeding from lateral wall of spleen was noted. Splenectomy with clipping of short gastric and splenic vessels was done. The patient was discharged without complication on the 10th postoperative day.

Figure 1.

Abdominal computed tomography scan at admission. Decreased splenic perfusion and focal splenic infarct (arrow) were noted.

Figure 2.

Abdominal computed tomography scan at the time of hemoperitoneum. Active bleeding around the spleen (arrow) and hemoperitoneum had developed.

Pseudoaneurysm of the splenic artery, infarction, and rupture of the spleen are uncommon complications of acute or chronic pancreatitis. In our case, splenic vein thrombosis and adhesion around the pancreas and spleen due to previous severe acute pancreatitis as well as decreased splenic perfusion due to embolization may have contributed to development of splenic infarction with rupture. Treatment of a ruptured spleen depends primarily on hemodynamic stability of the patient, followed by extent of spleen injury and degree of hemoperitoneum. In our case, the patient underwent surgery due to hemodynamic instability. We report a case of splenic infarction and subsequent splenic rupture, treated by open splenectomy, following transcatheter embolization of an asymptomatic splenic artery pseudoaneurysm associated with acute pancreatitis.


This study develops a conceptual and analytical reference framework for the preparation of case studies on political determinants of the level of success of the reforms of the system of public-sector personnel in Latin America. Its main goal is to orient the empirical work toward the evaluation of the explanatory weights of the different structural, institutional and strategic variables that have a bearing on the ability of driving forces to initiate and sustain processes of change oriented toward improved efficiency, honesty and responsibility on the part of government employees. This document was commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank as a Regional Policy Dialogue for the Public Policy Management and Transparency Network's 3rd Meeting on Civil Service Reform held on November 14th and 15th, 2002 in Washington, DC.


Hydrodynamic design of an underwater glider is an act of balancing the requirement for a streamlined hydrodynamically effective shape and the consideration of the practical aspects of the intended operational envelope of the vehicle, such as its ability to deploy a wide range of sensors across the water column. Key challenges in arriving at a successful glider design are discussed and put in the context of existing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) of this type. The design cycle of a new vehicle shape is then described. The discussed AUV will operate both as a buoyancy-propelled glider and a flight-style propeller-driven submersible, utilizing its large size to deliver substantial scientific payloads to remote locations to perform environmental monitoring, seabed survey, and exploration for subsea oil, gas, and material deposits. Emphasis is put on using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods capable of predicting laminar-turbulent transition of the flow to estimate the performance of candidate designs and thus inform and guide the evolution of the vehicle. A range of considered shapes is therefore described and their hydrodynamic characteristics predicted using CFD are summarized. A final shape for the new glider is then proposed. This is then subject to an indepth flow-field analysis, which points out how natural laminar flow may be used as a means of drag reduction without compromising the practical aspects of the design, such as its ability to carry sufficient payload. Finally, the obtained data are used to project the expected glide paths, as well as give preliminary estimates of its range. These show the benefits of minimizing the vehicle drag, as well as highlight the possible tradeoffs between maximizing speed and endurance of the AUV.


: The high methane hazard of coal mines, despite safety measures, has led to a change in the structure of fatal injuries. More than 54% of miners die from carbon monoxide poisoning, which predetermines the need to study risk factors when activating a mine self-rescuer with chemically bound oxygen. These factors include normobaric hyperoxia, "nitrogen hazard", hyperoxic hypoxia, high temperature and dryness of the inhaled gas mixture, increasing hypercapnia, increased resistance to ventilation. The current situation predetermined the need to study the tolerability of physical loads when activating the mine self-rescuer. 18 healthy volunteers were examined. The obtained results demonstrated that already from 15 minutes the volume fraction of carbon dioxide begins to increase, indicating the formation of a "break point" of the mechanisms of voluntary control of breathing. The volume fraction of oxygen in the respiratory bag reaches its maximum values by the 25-35 minute and ranges from 96.0 to 97.3% v/v at a barometric pressure of 770.5 ± 1.70 mm Hg. Resistance to breathing during inspiration and expiration during physical exertion reached 77.5 ± 9.95 mm WG and 85.0 ± 9.06 mm WG, respectively, on the 30th minute. At the 40th minute, the aerodynamic resistance to ventilation reaches its maximum value and this zone can be considered as a kind of "reference point", with which deactivating of the self-rescuer due to severe dyspnea begins. Threat also consists in a decrease in the percentage of nitrogen in the gas mixture. Already from the level of 1.7 volume percent of the nitrogen content in the respiratory bag, the mine self-rescuer is deactivated under physical exertion. The main reason for stopping work is the lack of GDS for inhalation, which is probably due to micro-teleclactisation of the lungs and compensatory hyperventilation. Thus, the traditional system of training miners for the use of self-rescuers in emergency conditions does not allow miners to adequately compensate for the effects of negative factors associated with activation of the self-rescuer.


Failure by the international community to meet Convention on Biological Diversity targets has heaped added pressure on national and local biodiversity action plans (BAPs). Zoological gardens are playing an increasing role in practical conservation of wild habitats, but zoos have rarely developed formal BAPs. Here we introduce the concept of zoo BAPs, i.e. strategic plans for the conservation of biodiversity in and around zoological gardens. We use the first formal zoo BAP, developed at Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo in the UK, to introduce a framework for the establishment, monitoring and re-evaluation of a Zoo BAP. Throughout the framework we emphasise stakeholder participation, particularly involving zoo staff and local government biodiversity representatives. Species and habitats must be selected that are locally relevant, and are either threatened or have value as indicators or flagships for conservation. Each species or habitat must have targets that can be measured, monitored, and then evaluated for annual revision of conservation actions. This kind of "adaptive management" should allow a flexible, evidence-based approach to conservation. Use of national and international frameworks for biodiversity assessment should also help zoos to become increasingly aligned with the international conservation community.


The concept of racially-desegregated state schooling in South Africa was officially implemented in 1991. This change to racially-mixed schooling was not without problems. There are, to date, few known studies on this theme in South Africa although there are many overseas studies. The focus of the present study is on the implications of racially-desegregated schooling for the disadvantaged African population. The study examines African secondary school pupils' and their teachers' perceptions of their performance in the context of racially-desegregated schools. It also aims to study these perceptions in the context of striving for 'equality of opportunity' in the light of current educational refonns in South Africa. This study is located in the sociology of education framework, using a symbolic interactionist approach of analysis. Six schools in the suburb of Phoenix in Durban, originally designed for the Indian population, were used. A sample of 150 pupils belonging to both the middle and working class groups in the senior and junior phases of schooling was calculated. A sample of 68 teachers who teach pupils in the sample was also chosen. Questionnaires were administered to and interviews were conducted with both teachers and pupils. Objective data was also collected in the form ofpupils' examination results ov~ a period of a year. The Chi-square test of significance was used to establish if there were differences in performances of pupils within the social groups and within the phases ofschooling.


Firm heterogeneity affects not only the implications of trade policies for countries, but also income distributions within-countries since firms generate most of wage and capital income payments. Recently, both within-country wage- and capital income inequality have been rising in various countries. In this dissertation we study empirically whether mark-ups and profit margins differ between exporting and domestic firms within the same, narrowly defined sectors. Firm heterogeneity in these indicators has been hardly analysed. In addition, we contribute to the literature by extending the analyses to cover service sector exporters and micro-sized and small firms in contrast to previous studies concentrating on larger firms in manufacturing sectors. Moreover, we analyse theoretically how a decrease in mark-ups affects within-country income inequality when firm heterogeneity is taken into consideration. First, we analyse the distributions of mark-ups in 70 Finnish manufacturing and service sectors with non-parametric methods and a panel of firm level micro data. In contrast to the common constant mark-up hypothesis, we find (i) large differences in mark-ups within sectors, (ii) higher mark-ups for small firms and domestic firms, (iii) greater mark-up heterogeneity in sectors with low capital-labour ratios and a large number of firms and (iv) higher mark-up variation in service sectors in comparison to manufacturing sectors. The results indicate that different types of firms within the same sector cater to specific market or consumer segments with unequal demand elasticities. Second, we study the relationship between profitability (ratio of profits over sales or assets) and internationalization both theoretically and empirically. Predictions derived from existing theoretical models suggest that profit rates for exporters are lower than or equal to those for non-exporters in the same sector. We test the hypothesis empirically with two parallel micro databases from Finland and the Netherlands, and by analysing four different profitability indicators. We employ fixed effects panel regressions and propensity score matching. The results support the theoretical hypothesis. Exporting firms are found to have mostly equal or significantly lower profitability levels as compared to domestic firms within the same sector and size class. Exporters seem therefore willing to endure (temporarily) a lower profit rate in order to obtain a higher absolute profit level, since exporters have significantly higher revenue levels than domestic firms thanks to the larger market potential. Third, we analyse theoretically how a competition increase, leading to an increase in the demand elasticity and a decrease in firms' mark-ups, affects different income inequality indicators and the unemployment rate in an open economy. We use the general equilibrium framework of Egger & Kreickemeier (2012), which includes firm heterogeneity in productivity and a fair wage setting. Contrary to earlier studies, our results indicate that tougher competition increases the unemployment rate, the income inequality between profit and wage income and the Gini indexes of both wage and profit income. With relatively common parameter values, the effect of a competition increase on the mentioned indicators is found to be often bigger than the effect of an equal decrease in trade costs in percentage terms.


This exegesis has developed from my visual research that comes in the hybrid form of public feminist performance art, installations, photography and printmaking. It details the enactment of three feminine fantasies that stem from repressed political and ideological desires.
Theoretical models that relate to activist and Surrealist performance art are the focus of the first section of the exegesis. I explore theorists such as Stephen Duncombe, Elizabeth Grosz, Judith Butler, Simone de Beauvoir, and Laura Mulvey to understand the levels of self-scrutinisation and shame experienced when considering performing acts that involve returning the gaze onto the "Other," and to determine which set of precepts should be chosen in order to construct an ethical spectacle.

In keeping with Surrealist methodology, Lacanian and Freudian psychoanalysis becomes a key component of my work. I tie Lacan and Freud through an exploration of Surrealist creative techniques and notions such as Andre Breton's "Mad Love," Salvador Dali's "paranoiac critical method," "convulsive beauty," and particularly Claude Cahun's method of "indirect political meaning," simulation tactics, and use of "alter egos" to challenge binaries between 'us' and 'them.' I describe such techniques to show how I delineate the emotions surrounding the several stages of fantasy fulfilment whilst ethically resisting and defying repressive cultural ideologies in the creation of my work. As the central component of my research, I then explain how such Surrealist techniques are consciously used to provide the audience with an indirect level of political meaning so that I can maintain my role as an invisible provocateur without experiencing any negative repercussions. Artists and films that exemplify such creative models including Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, Sophie Calle, Roberto Matta, Cindy Sherman, Amelie from Montmarte, Possessed and The Purple Rose of Cairo are referenced.

Through a discussion the ideas of Luce Irigaray and Michel Foucault I then show how I have adapted cultural stereotypes formed by discourses such as psychoanalysis and film to the performance of each fantasy. I do this in order to see how much such notions of the feminine contribute to the repression of feminine desires. The idea of erasing gendered binaries through Surrealist methodology is discussed largely to detail how this has helped me to achieve the fantasies that I wanted to fulfil.


Employee Turnover Intentions in the Hospitality Industry by Bettye Holston-Okae EMBA, Texas Woman's University, 2011 MS, Jackson State University, 2001 BS, Mississippi Valley State University, 1999 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University May 2017 Abstract Employee turnover is detrimental to organizational performance and profitability, leadingEmployee turnover is detrimental to organizational performance and profitability, leading to loss of diverse financial and intellectual resources and assets. Grounded in the motivation-hygiene theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between employee turnover intention and job satisfaction, employee compensation, employee engagement, employee motivation, and work environment. The population consisted of lowto mid-level hospitality employees residing in Western Georgia, Central Mississippi, and North Central Texas, over the age of 18, and employed in the hospitality industry. A convenience sample of 156 participants completed the Compensation Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale, Utrecht Work Employee Engagement Scale, Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale, Work Environment Scale, and Turnover Intention Scale via an online survey. Multiple linear regression analyses and Pearsonproduct correlation coefficients were used to predict employee turnover. The 5 predictors accounted for approximately 36% of the variance in turnover intention and the result was statistically significant, (R2 =.36, F (5, 105) = 11.57, p < .001). The correlation between motivation and turnover intention was not significant. The findings may contribute to positive social change by increasing the potential to provide hospitality leaders with a foundation for future research on job satisfaction, employee compensation, employee engagement, employee motivation, work environment, and turnover intentions. These improvement may lead to the formulation of strategies and policies of business practices to reduce turnover intentions. Employee Turnover Intentions in the Hospitality Industry by Bettye Holston-Okae EMBA, Texas Woman's University, 2011 MS, Jackson State University, 2001 BS, Mississippi Valley State University, 1999 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration


Using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Vector Autoregressive (VAR) frameworks, this study examines the integration between the emerging stock market of Indonesia and its major trading partners (i.e., Japan, the U.S., Singapore, and China). During the period of July 1998 to December 2007, the Indonesian stock market is found to be integrated with its major trading partners. Thus, this implies that there is a limited room available for investors to gain risk-reduction benefits through diversifying their portfolio in those markets. Meanwhile, in the short run, the Indonesian market responds more to shocks in the U.S. and Singapore than in Japan and China. In designing policies pertaining to its stock market, the Indonesian government should take into account any development in the stock markets of its major trading partners, particularly the U.S. and Singaporean markets.


The survey on financial literacy among the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina was conducted within a larger project that aims at creating the Action Plan for Consumer Protection in Financial Services. The conclusion about the need for an Action Plan was reached by the representatives of the World Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, private sector supervisory authorities and non-governmental organizations, based on the World Bank's 2009-2010 Diagnostic Review in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The financial literacy survey, whose results are presented in this report, aims at establishing the basic situation with respect to financial literacy, serving on the one hand as a preparation for the educational activities plan, and on the other as a basis for measuring the efficiency of activities undertaken. The first section of the study deals with financial literacy and its various aspects. Based on these data, the Financial Literacy Index was derived (a single-dimension composite scale of financial knowledge and capability). Next sections deal with managing everyday financial choices (saving, covering shortages etc.) in the context of general household financial situation. Data collection was based on a random, nation-wide sample of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina aged 18 or older (N = 1036).


Abstract Transboundary incidents with the potential to develop into crises transcending geographical, cultural and religious boundaries are becoming increasingly common in today's interconnected world. This development poses new demands on governments to communicate with publics on a transnational level, what is commonly referred to as public diplomacy. Based on an inductive comparative case study, this article suggests a framework for understanding public diplomacy as a crisis communication tool consisting of three core tasks: sense making, networking and messaging. The article ends with a proposal as to how public diplomacy can contribute to crisis mitigation.


In this interview, David Morley addresses the contemporary European refugee 'crisis', the representation of the 'migrant' and the increasing securitisation of Europe's borders in terms of a crisis in European political identity. Looking back on several of his own publications, as well as the work of those who have influenced him and his time as a student in the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Morley discusses the links between geopolitics and communications, and between the virtual and material realms, as well as the contemporary significance of mobility and re-territorialisation for understanding the causes of and responses to the current 'crisis'. Reflecting on the imperial past and uncertain future of Europe, he argues for the need to be alert for positive political opportunities within moments of disjuncture and crisis, and for an emphasis on developing new modes of everyday living.


Transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) is a rare condition that causes sudden pain related to bone marrow edema of the hip. It is a benign disease and usually has a self-limiting course and resolution. Orthopedic literature on this topic is poor and no guidelines or algorithm has been proposed yet. TOH remains a poorly understood topic which happens to be often clinically underestimated. This paper aims to provide an up to date of the current knowledge through a literature revision. Info about TOH from etiology to treatment have been collected in order to guide the orthopedic surgeons among the clinical presentations and the best combination of therapies.


Many popular web browsers are now including active phishing warnings after previous research has shown that passive warnings are often ignored. In this laboratory study we examine the effectiveness of these warnings and examine if, how, and why they fail users. We simulated a spear phishing attack to expose users to browser warnings. We found that 97% of our sixty participants fell for at least one of the phishing messages that we sent them. However, we also found that when presented with the active warnings, 79% of participants heeded them, which was not the case for the passive warning that we tested---where only one participant heeded the warnings. Using a model from the warning sciences we analyzed how users perceive warning messages and offer suggestions for creating more effective warning messages within the phishing context.


In this article we examine the opinion structure of Irish Labour party members and supporters. Our purpose is to test May's law of curvilinear disparity by dividing party members into two groups as outlined by Kitschelt. By focusing on ideological differences within political parties Kitschelt identifies two types of members: ideologues and pragmatists. We use two individual-level data sets: the Labour Leadership Election Study (LLES) and the Irish National Election Study (INES), to test May's law. We find some limited support for May's law and Kitschelt's extensions to this model.


A Computational Framework for Social Capital in Online Communities Matthew S. Smith Department of Computer Science, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Social capital is the value of the relationships we create and maintain within our social networks to gain access to and mobilize needed resources (e.g., jobs, moral support). Quantifying, and subsequently leveraging, social capital are challenging problems in the social sciences. Most work so far has focused on analyses from static surveys of limited numbers of participants. The explosion of online social media means that it is now possible to collect rich data about people's connections and interactions, in a completely ubiquitous, non-intrusive manner. Such dynamic social data opens the door to the more accurate measuring and tracking of social capital. Similarly, online data is replete with additional personal data, such as topics discussed in blogs or hobbies listed in personal profiles, that is difficult to obtain through standard surveys. Such information can be used to discover similarities, or implicit affinities, among individuals, which in turn leads to finer measures of social capital, including the often useful distinction between bonding and bridging social capital. In this work, we exploit these opportunities and propose a computational framework for quantifying and leveraging social capital in online communities. In addition to being dynamic and formalizing the notion of implicit affinities, our framework significantly extends current social network analysis research by modeling access and mobilization of resources, the essence of social capital. The main contributions of our framework include 1) hybrid networks that provide a way for potential and realized social capital to be distinguished; 2) the decoupling of bonding and bridging social capital, a formulation previously overlooked which coincides with empirical evidence; 3) the unification of multiple views on social capital, in particular, the seamless integration of resources. We demonstrate the broad applicability of our framework through a number of representative, real-world case studies to test relevant social science hypotheses. Assuming that the extraction of implicit affinities may be useful for community building, we built a large social network of blogs from an active, tech-oriented segment of the Blogosphere, using cross-references among blogs. We then used topic modeling techniques to extract an implicit affinity network based on the content of the blogs, and showed that potential sub-communities could be formed through increased bonding. A widespread assumption in sociology is that bonding is more likely than bridging in social networks. In other words, people are more likely to seek out others who are like them than attempt to link to those they share little or nothing with. We wanted to test that hypothesis, particularly in the context of online communities. Using Twitter, we created an experiment where hand-crafted accounts would tweet at regular intervals and use varied following strategies, including following only those with maximum affinity, following only those with no affinity, following random users, etc. Using the number of follow-backs as a surrogate for social capital, we showed that the assumed physical social behavior is also prevalent online, p < 0.01. There is much interest in computational social science to compare physical and cyber behaviors, test existing hypotheses on a large scale and design novel experiments. The advent of social media is also impacting public health, with growing evidence that some global health issues (e.g., H1N1 outbreak) may be discovered and tracked more efficiently by monitoring the content of social exchanges (e.g., blogs, tweets). In collaboration with colleagues from Health Sciences, we wanted to test whether broadly applicable health topics were discussed on Twitter, and to design and guide the process of discovering such themes. We gathered a large number of tweets over several regions of the United States over a one-month period, and analyzed their content using topic modeling techniques. We found that while clearly not a mainstream topic, health concerns were nonnegligible on Twitter. By further focusing on tobacco, we discovered several subtopics related to tobacco (e.g., tobacco use promotion, addiction recovery), which indicate that analysis of the Twitter social network may help researchers better understand how Twitter promotes both positive and negative health behaviors. Finally, in collaboration with colleagues from Linguistics, we wanted to quantify the effect of social capital on second language acquisition in study abroad. Using questionnaire data collected from about 200 study abroad participants, we found that students participating in bridging relationships had significantly higher levels of language improvement than their counterparts, F (1, 201) = 12.53, p < .0001.


A physics rigid body simulation engine is a fundamental component of today's videogames. There have been recent advancements in the fields of collision detection and collision resolution with supposed performance gains. In this paper we evaluate Minkowski Portal Refinement,a new collision detection routine against GJK, the current standard. We also evaluate the speculative contacts technique for performance and behavior against Box2D's "conservative advancement" continuous collision detection approach.


Learning and synesthesia are profoundly interconnected. On the one hand, the development of synesthesia is clearly influenced by learning. Synesthetic inducers – the stimuli that evoke these unusual experiences – often involve the perception of complex properties learned in early childhood, e.g., letters, musical notes, numbers, months of the year, and even swimming strokes. Further, recent research has shown that the associations individual synesthetes make with these learned inducers are not arbitrary, but are strongly influenced by the structure of the learned domain. For instance, the synesthetic colors of letters are partially determined by letter frequency and the relative positions of letters in the alphabet. On the other hand, there is also a small, but growing, body of literature which shows that synesthesia can influence or be helpful in learning. For instance, synesthetes appear to be able to use their unusual experiences as mnemonic devices and can even exploit them while learning novel abstract categories. Here we review these two directions of influence and argue that they are interconnected. We propose that synesthesia arises, at least in part, because of the cognitive demands of learning in childhood, and that it is used to aid perception and understanding of a variety of learned categories. Our thesis is that the structural similarities between synesthetic triggering stimuli and synesthetic experiences are the remnants, the fossilized traces, of past learning challenges for which synsethesia was helpful.


The outcomes of educational systems continue to lag far behind expectations at all levels, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Meanwhile, the sheer amount of educational research published in refereed journals has expanded enormously. There is an obvious disconnect between the educational research papers published in professional journals or presented at academic conferences and any form of beneficial impact on the students, teachers, and other stakeholders in educational systems. This problem can be traced back to those professors and research supervisors engaged in the preparation of educational researchers who fail to convey to novice researchers important distinctions between the goals and methods of educational research. Educational design research provides a potentially viable alternative to the kind of educational research that is commonly conducted in the field of educational technology. Educational design research has the twin objectives of developing creative approaches to solving human teaching, learning, and performance problems while at the same time constructing a body of design principles that can guide future development efforts. This paper argues that a reconsideration of educational research approaches is crucial and that the time for greater uptake of educational design research is now.


SUMMARY AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the hair growth promoting activity of Trigonella foenum-graecum Linn. (seeds) and Butea monosperma Lam. (flowers). METHODS: In the present study, it was investigated to prepare herbal hair ointment formulations of Trigonella foenum-graecum , Butea monosperma and their polyherbal formulation evaluating the formulations for their hair growth promoting activity, total serum protein level and testosterone level in chemotherapy induced alopecia model. RESULTS: The formulation showed significant increase in hair length and hair count as compared to control group. The polyherbal formulation helped to reduce the dihydro-testosterone (DHT) level. Trigonella foenum-graecum contain riched amount of protein which helped in hair growth and Butea monosperma contain riched amount of flavanoid, which has the antioxidant activity by scavenging free radicals and preventing hair fall. CONCLUSION: The results thus corroborate with the traditionally acclaimed hair growth-promoting capabilities of the plants.


Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) generated from noise in small-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) exhibits a strong dependence on pump polarization. The polarization dependence of two small-core PCFs is investigated, yielding unexpected results. Both fibers exhibit birefringence resulting in a 90° polarization dependence for the SBS and a 3 dB difference in the SBS threshold between polarizations corresponding to minimum and maximum SBS, respectively. Surprisingly, the transmission of the smaller-core fiber also exhibits a 180° polarization dependence at lower powers due to polarization-dependent loss.


Mechatronic systems are monitored while its operation parameters are subjected to several influences affecting the efficiency, functionality, and safety. It is of major interest to infer the actual State-of-Health of critical components from acquired data. The degree of wear and the quality of mechatronic systems or cost-sensitive machine components are significant for the system reliability. The overall reliability of technical systems must be ensured in order to reduce the risks and costs of a system failure. Automated monitoring of wear and the classification of the machine state are necessary for State-of-Health evaluation. These techniques were used in the currently developed approach to judge both fault probability and system reliability. Optimization techniques are used to improve developed approaches concerning the reliability of State-of-Health evaluation. Core of this contribution is the comparison of two algorithms which can be easily used, applied, and handled. These algorithms were specially developed facing industrial data or measurements from technical systems. As example in this contribution a hydraulically driven machine part sliding over another one is used. A connection between measured hydraulic data to the degree of wear of the lubricated surface is used to calculate information about the state of a sliding surface between the two machine parts. The pressure time behavior is taken and filtered for better evaluation using arithmetic mean value and sliding window technique [1]. For further generation of suitably defined characteristics, the data has to be post processed and analyzed. Using the filtered data, the wear state is classified using two different methods. The first method uses thresholds to distinguish the surface condition into three states of wear. For the second method, further filtering and calculation of the trend lead to a classification of the wear state. In extension to previous work of the authors [1], here the thresholds of method one and the window size of method two are optimized to minimize the difference of the classification results for the same experiment. The main idea of this contribution is to make the results similar by means of optimization in order to assure the plausibility of the employed approaches. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/80


Influenza is a major respiratory pathogen causing annual outbreaks and occasional pandemics. Influenza vaccination is the major method of prophylaxis. Currently annual influenza vaccination is recommended for groups at high risk of complications from influenza infection such as pregnant women, young children, people with underlying disease and the elderly, along with occupational groups such a healthcare workers and farm workers. There are two main types of vaccines available: the parenteral inactivated influenza vaccine and the intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine. The inactivated vaccines are licensed from 6 months of age and have been used for more than 50 years with a good safety profile. Inactivated vaccines are standardized according to the presence of the viral major surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin and protection is mediated by the induction of vaccine strain specific antibody responses. In contrast, the live attenuated vaccines are licensed in Europe for children from 2–17 years of age and provide a multifaceted immune response with local and systemic antibody and T cell responses but with no clear correlate of protection. Here we discuss the immunological immune responses elicited by the two vaccines and discuss future work to better define correlates of protection.


Extremism, Counter-terrorism and Policing brings together a diverse range of multidisciplinary studies to explore the extent of extremism and how communities are policed. Through analysing the historical development, the present situation, and future trends in the forms and ability to police violent extremism and terrorism, this text provides a detailed contribution towards both academic and policy debate surrounding extremism, its causes, and treatments. With chapters written by experts in their fields, this book provides the reader with detailed definitions of extremism; the psychology of extremists and the causes of radicalisation; policing extremism within a counter-terrorism context; community policing approaches to combating extremism; the legal frameworks and legislation regarding extremism and its limitations in an international setting; and public perceptions and understanding of extremism. It is crucial for policing professionals, policy-makers and academics to have a detailed understanding of government policy and the methods towards tackling extremism from a policing and community level. Extremism, Counter-terrorism and Policing gives a policing rationale alongside specific community approaches towards tackling extremist threats and provides key details for policy readers as well as academics. © Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore 2013. All rights reserved.


This paper takes up Nikki Santilli's lament about the scarcity of scholarship on the prose poem in English to analyse two key features of prose poetry: fragmentation and closure. This paper argues that the prose poem's visual containment within the paragraph form promises a complete narrative while simultaneously subverting this visual cue by offering, instead, gaps and spaces. Such apertures render the prose poem a largely fragmentary form that relies on metonymic metamorphoses to connect to a larger, unnamed frame of reference. In this way, the prose poem is both complete and yet searching for completeness, closed and lacking closure.The prose poem's reaching outwards to embrace a larger, absent whole connects this literary form to Friedrich Schlegel's 'Athenaeum Fragment 206' and to the Romantic critical fragment more generally. 'Athenaeum Fragment 206' has provided this paper with its title, as a metaphorical reading of Schlegel's igel, or hedgehog, as fragment 'implies the existence of [a form that suggests] what is outside itself' (Rosen 1995: 48). The final section of this paper, analyses two prose poems from the University of Canberra's International Poetry Studies Institute's Prose Poetry Project. These works by Jen Webb and Carrie Etter are read for their appeal to metonymy in their exploration of time passing and ultimately, death. They demonstrate that prose poetry is both fragmented and open ended in ways very different from lineated poems.


Rebounding water use behaviour has been observed in communities that have experienced plentiful water supply following a very dry period. However, the drivers of such rebounds in water consumption are varied and not well understood. Knowledge of such drivers can greatly assist managers towards proactive demand management, modelling and timely promotion of water efficient behaviours. Total and end-use residential water consumption has been tracked in South East Queensland, Australia for a sample of up to 252 homes in post-drought conditions (dam supplies growing but water restrictions continued, changed water use behaviours still 'fresh'), and during and post-flooding conditions (eased restrictions, 100% dam capacity). Data on end-use water consumption trends using nearly 3 years of residential water end-use data have revealed several interesting patterns of consumption such as a delayed return to pre-drought use, the influence of climate and end-use specific rebounds (e.g. indoor versus outdoor use). The end-use data have helped to identify the drivers of rebounding water consumption which appear to include environmental cues (rainfall, temperature), social cues (e.g. government encouraging consumers to turn on tap) and a gradual general reduction in conservative water use behaviours. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this knowledge can be used to inform long-term demand management policy, particularly in variable climates.


Cellular senescence is a stable arrest of cell proliferation induced by several factors such as activated oncogenes, oxidative stress and shortening of telomeres. Senescence acts as a tumour suppression mechanism to halt the progression of cancer. However, senescence may also impact negatively upon tissue regeneration, thus contributing to the effects of ageing.
The eukaryotic genome is controlled by various modes of transcriptional and translational regulation. Focus has therefore centred on the role of long non- coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in regulating the genome. Accordingly, understanding how lncRNAs function to regulate the senescent genome is integral to improving our knowledge and understanding of tumour suppression and ageing.
Within this study, I set out to investigate the expression of lncRNAs' expression within models of senescence. Through a custom expression array, I have shown that expression of multiple different lncRNAs is up-regulated and down regulated in IMR90 replicative senescent fibroblasts and oncogene-induced senescent melanocytes. LncRNA expression was determined to be specific to stable senescence-associated cell arrest and predominantly within the nucleus of senescent cells.
In order to examine the function of lncRNA expression in senescence, I selected lncRNA transcript ENST0000430998 (lncRNA_98) to focus my investigations upon. LncRNA_98 was robustly upregulated within multiple models of senescence and efficiently depleted using anti-sense oligonucleotide technology. Characterisation and unbiased RNA-sequencing of lncRNA_98 deficient senescent cells highlighted a list of genes that are regulated by lncRNA_98 expression in senescent cells and may regulate aspects of the senescence program. Specifically, the formation of SAHF was impeded upon depletion of lncRNA_98 expression and levels of total pRB protein expression severely decreased. Validation and recapitulation of consequences of pRB depletion was confirmed through lncRNA_98 knock-out cells generated using CRISPR technology. Surprisingly, inhibition of ATM kinase functions permitted the restoration of pRB protein levels within lncRNA_98 deficient cells. I propose that lncRNA_98 antagonizes the ability of ATM kinase to downregulate pRB expression at a post-transcriptional level, thereby potentiating senescence.
Furthermore, lncRNA expression was detected within fibroblasts of old individuals and visualised within senescent melanocytes in human benign nevi, a barrier to melanoma progression. Conversely, mining of 337 TCGA primary melanoma data sets highlighted that the lncRNA_98 gene and its expression was lost from a significant proportion of melanoma samples, consistent with lncRNA_98 having a tumour suppressor functions.
The data presented in this study illustrates that lncRNA_98 expression has a regulatory role over pRB expression in senescence and may regulate aspects of tumourigenesis and ageing.


This paper conducts an exhaustive out-of-sample forecasting evaluation exercise for the monthly price of crude oil between 1992 and 2011. The idea is to identify the forecasting strategy that results in the "best" forecasts in terms of mean forecasting error. To this end, a wide variety of econometric models as well as future prices are tested for different forecasting horizons in an individual manner, as well as combined. We find that for short horizons (1 and 3 months), an ARIMA specification results in smaller forecasting errors, but for longer horizons (6-24 months), future prices outperform other models. All models are found to underestimate the true price of oil, on average. The combination of these individual models only yields smaller forecasting errors when compared to the "best" individual strategy in a restricted sample ending in 2005. Nevertheless, when we tabulate the number of times one strategy yields the largest forecasting error compared to other alternatives, combinations of forecasts never yields the highest absolute error except one month ahead. These results are robust to the sample selection.


Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) are disorders caused by mutations in genes encoding proteins that are essential for maintaining the integrity of neuromuscular transmission. In recent years we have identified an unexpected relationship between glycosylation defects and CMS by using next generation sequencing. Patients with mutations affecting the early stages of glycosylation constitute a clinically distinctive group of disorders. Unlike other CMS subtypes, the presentation is delayed beyond infancy with prominent limb-girdle weakness and minimal or absent craniobulbar manifestations. In fact, we find that they occur in the absence of classic myasthenic manifestations such as ptosis, ophthalmoplegia or facial weakness, and therefore are likely to be under-diagnosed. In addition, the presence of additional features such as mild cognitive delay, cataracts, raised CK levels, myopathic abnormalities on muscle biopsy and muscle MRI, and selective abnormalities of neuromuscular transmission on electrophysiological testing, make them easily misdiagnosed as myopathies or muscular dystrophies. The recognition of these disorders is important since they can be treated symptomatically with cholinesterase inhibitors.


Every society has rules that endorse and those that prohibit sexual relationships between and among its members. Incestuous sexual relationships are amongst the castigated relationships and taboos were put in place to prohibit such sexual practices. Incest taboos which exist in many societies were meant to concretise the sexual and marriage prohibitions. The Shona of Zimbabwe strongly condemn incestuous relationships which they call 'makunakuna' and attract severe punishment. However, incestuous child sexual abuse has become a prominent issue in modern day Zimbabwe. Its high prevalence is a concern for society especially in this era of HIV and AIDS. In this regard, the intention of this research is to find out the implications of incestuous child sexual abuse on the educational achievements of the girl child in Zimbabwean Shona society. The assumption of this research is that the main victim of incestuous child sexual abuse is the girl child. The inspiration of focusing on the girl child is derived from the gender inequalities that continue to define African societies in general and Zimbabwe in particular. Such inequalities have seen most of the victims of incestuous sexual abuse being girl children. Informed by various theories among them the culturehistorical, feminist, sociological and psychological, this research makes a critical analysis of Zimbabwean Shona society's attitudes towards women as a way of explaining the motivational factors which lead to the occurrence o f incestuous child sexual abuse. Unstructured interviews, questionnaires, and general observations were used in gathering data relevant for this paper. Due to difficulties encountered in getting data from alleged perpetrators and victims of child sexual abuse, researchers had to gather data from eyewitnesses of such abuses.


Covid-19 has had a major impact on collectivist cultures and their means of social interaction and maintaining contact with those in their wider community. This has particularly been the case for Pacific peoples living in diaspora, with Covid-19 preventing travel home and social distancing and forced lockdowns restricting the ability to gather. This has also impacted vā, the Pacific concept of 'relational space' critical to connectivity and maintaining relationships. This paper explains the creation of virtual faikava; online meeting environments in which Pacific kava users meet, maintain vā, connect with those at home and in the wider diasporic community and learn, while consuming their traditional beverage kava.


This paper investigates the Ka Hikitia Māori education policy and its subsequent influence in effecting system change towards Maori students' achievement. It discusses how a Request for Proposal to the Ministry of Education's Building on Success was conceptualised to support English-medium secondary schools across New Zealand to address this policy. The result, Kia Eke Panuku, is a professional learning and development response that works with Strategic Change Leadership Teams to create culturally responsive and relational contexts for learning, focused on Māori students enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori. It is argued that neither a political mandate for change nor a set of learned strategies by school personnel will truly bring about a changed reality for Māori students. Rather the reform must be led by transformative leaders who are driven by both the moral imperative to change and a keen sense of urgency to see this happen in our schools for Māori students and their home communities. The major issues raised in this paper, and the solutions that have been reached thus far, can help inform others who are trying to raise the participation, inclusion and achievement of students who may currently be marginalised from formal education settings.


This paper uses a unique dataset from Denmark to investigate the impact of family characteristics in corporate decision making and the consequences of these decisions on firm performance. We focus on the decision to appoint either a family or external chief executive officer (CEO). The paper uses variation in CEO succession decisions that result from the gender of a departing CEO%u2019s firstborn child. This is a plausible instrumental variable (IV), as male first-child firms are more likely to pass on control to a family CEO than are female first-child firms, but the gender of the first child is unlikely to affect firms%u2019 outcomes. We find that family successions have a large negative causal impact on firm performance: operating profitability on assets falls by at least four percentage points around CEO transitions. Our IV estimates are significantly larger than those obtained using ordinary least squares. Furthermore, we show that family-CEO underperformance is particularly large in fast-growing industries, industries with highly skilled labor force and relatively large firms. Overall, our empirical results demonstrate that professional, non-family CEOs provide extremely valuable services to the organizations they head.


Many corpus-based Machine Translation (MT) systems generate a number of partial translations which are then pieced together rather than immediately producing one overall translation. While this makes them more robust to ill-formed input, they are subject to disfluencies at phrasal translation boundaries even for well-formed input. We address this "boundary friction" problem by introducing a method that exploits overlapping phrasal translations and the increased confidence in translation accuracy they imply. We specify an efficient algorithm for producing translations using overlap. Finally, our empirical analysis indicates that this approach produces higher quality translations than the standard method of combining non-overlapping fragments generated by our Example-Based MT (EBMT) system in a peak-to-peak comparison.


Hybrid lambda phages which have the E lysis gene of the bacteriophage phi X174 in cis to defective nonsense and deletion alleles of the normal lambda lysis genes S and R have been constructed and shown to be fully competent for plaque-forming ability, which demonstrates that the single-gene, lysozyme-independent lysis system of phi X174 and related phages can serve the lytic function for large complex phages. These hybrid phages are unable to form plaques on a slyD host. Moreover, plaque morphology indicates that in E-mediated lysis the soluble lambda R endolysin can participate in lysis, indicating that the protein E-mediated lesions are not completely sealed off from the periplasm.


Focus of the study
The study examines the nature and effects of consumer ethnocentrism and conspicuousness of imports on consumer reactions toward South African products in Mozambique.

Purpose
The purpose of the study is threefold:
(1) to indicate those groups of Mozambican consumers who are more ethnocentric and who see greater conspicuousness in South African imports;
(2) to indicate those groups of consumers whose consumer ethnocentric responses to South African versus Mozambican products and brands are stronger; and
(3) to indicate those categories of South African versus Mozambican products and brands which bring up stronger negative reactions among consumers in the Mozambican market.

Methodology
Products
The study focuses on food consumables. The selected products include potatoes, chicken meat, tea, juice, biscuits and beer. They are classified into agricultural and processed items.

Instrument
The instrument consisted of two parts. The first comprised the scales of consumer ethnocentric tendencies, conspicuousness of South African imports, attitudes toward the product, attitudes toward the brand and purchasing intentions toward the brand. All the scales had good psychometric qualities in the Mozambican context. The second part contained demographic questions.

Sample
A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from 448 students in the southern part of Mozambique.

Data analyses
The data was analysed by using such quantitative techniques as structural equation modelling (LISREL 8.8), one sample t-tests, one-way repeated measures analysis of variance and one-way repeated measures analysis of covariance (SPSS15).

Findings
The nature of consumer ethnocentric tendencies was defined by age, gender, national subgroup and employment status. The same predictors shaped conspicuousness of 15
South African imports. The phenomena of consumer ethnocentrism and conspicuousness of South African imports were positively correlated.

By and large, consumer ethnocentrism predicted negative reactions to South African imports at the product level. Yet, it did not manifest at the brand level. In a similar manner, conspicuousness of South African imports activated only at the product level as it had a significant positive impact on attitudes towards South African food consumables but had no influence upon attitudes and purchasing intentions towards South African brands of food consumables.
Regarding moderating effects, the demographic characteristics—age, gender, national subgroup and employment status—did not explain consumer ethnocentric effects.

Also, consumer reactions to imports vary across product categories. Imports which threaten domestic alternatives of high national importance evoke greater resentment among consumers. Consumers were prone to reject imports of South African agricultural food consumables because those represented a threat to the output of a highly important economic sector in Mozambique—agriculture. However, Mozambicans were more tolerant of South African processed food imports which competed with the produce of a less important national economic sector—processed food industry.
Finally, the impact of product type on consumer reactions to imports was moderated by consumer ethnocentric tendencies. That is, the magnitude of the effect was greater among ethnocentric consumers. Compared to the non-ethnocentric population, ethnocentric consumers feel stronger resentment to those categories of imports which threaten domestic alternatives of high national importance.

Theoretical contributions
The study makes a series of contributions to the substantive theories of consumer ethnocentrism and conspicuous consumption of imports. In addition to this, it suggests several frameworks and models which might be useful for further analysis of the two phenomena.

Practical implications
The study advises Mozambican and South African practitioners groups of more loyal consumers. It indicates product categories which may enhance competitiveness of South African and national suppliers in the Mozambican market. It also points out those categories of food consumables which deserve greater attention.


In this paper we examine the dyamic resolution of technological adoption in "hardware/software" systems. We are interested in determining to what extent software availability affects hardware sales and/or vice-versa. We first develop a dynamic model for estimating demand when costs (and license prices) are declining over time. We then estimate it empirically for the case of compact disc players. We find that there is "two-way" feedback between hardware and software for compact disc players. The result that the availability of compatible software (the CDs) plays a role in determining the adoption of compact disc players is likely due in part to the fact that compact disc players were not compatible with any existing audio standard.


The cytotoxicities of the antidepressants amitriptyline, imipramine (both tricyclic), fluoxetine (a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) and tranylcypromine (a monoamine oxidase inhibitor) were compared in vitro in rat (C6) glioma and human (1321N1) astrocytoma cell lines. Differences in toxicity were determined after acute (24-hour) and chronic (7-day) administration and assessed by using the neutral red uptake (NRU) assay, the MTT assay, increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAp), and reactive morphology criteria. The relative toxicities (EC50 [concentration causing an effect in 50% of cells] value range) were fluoxetine > amitriptyline > imipramine > tranylcypromine for all the tests employed, in both cell lines and at both exposure times. There was a high and significant positive correlation between the different cell types, at both exposure times, with both the NRU and MTT assays. Increases in MTT reduction, NRU, and GFAp expression associated with cell activation were noted in C6 cells after exposure for 24 hours, but decreased after exposure for 7 days. For 1321N1 cells, increases in NRU were only observed after exposure for 24 hours. Reactive-type changes in morphology were seen after exposure to all the antidepressants, in both the C6 and 1321N1 cell lines. The data show that low concentrations of antidepressants induce metabolic changes in the astrocyte cell lines, with some significant differences in the patterns of toxicity of the tested substances.


A thesis submitted to the School of Governance, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy


Positron Emission Tomography (PET) using F-FDG is playing a vital role in the diagnosis and treatment planning of cancer. However, the most widely used radiotracer, 18 F-FDG, is not specific for tumours and can also accumulate in inflammatory lesions as well as normal physiologically active tissues making diagnosis and treatment planning complicated for the physicians. Malignant, inflammatory and normal tissues are known to have different pathways for glucose metabolism which could possibly be evident from different characteristics of the time activity curves from a dynamic PET acquisition protocol. Therefore, we aimed to develop new image analysis methods, for PET scans of the head and neck region, which could d ifferentiate between inflammation, tumour and normal tissues using this functional information within these radiotracer uptake areas. We developed different dynamic features from the time activity curves of voxels in these areas and compared them with the widely used static parameter, SUV, using Gaussian Mixture Model algorithm as well as K-means algorithm in order to assess their effectiveness in discriminating metabolically different areas. Moreover, we also correlated dynamic features with other clinical metrics obtained independently of PET imaging. The results show that some of the developed features can prove to be useful in differentiating tumour tissues from inflammatory regions and some dynamic features also provide positive correlations with clinical metrics. If these proposed methods are further explored then they can prove to be useful in reducing false positive tumour detections and developing real world applications for tumour diagnosis and contouring.


Summary A case of recurrent pituitary apoplexy is described in a 72-year-old man who initially presented with haemorrhage in a non-functioning pituitary adenoma. Five years later, he re-presented with a severe pituitary haemorrhage in an enlarging sellar mass invading both cavernous sinuses causing epistaxis and bilateral ocular paresis. Subsequent histology was consistent with a sellar malignant spindle and round cell neoplasm. Multiple pituitary tumours have previously been reported to coexist in the same individual, but to our knowledge this is the only case where two pathologically distinct pituitary neoplasms have sequentially arisen in a single patient. This case is also notable with respect to the progressive ocular paresis, including bilateral abducens nerve palsies, and the presentation with epistaxis. Learning points Ocular paresis in pituitary apoplexy can result from tumour infiltration of nerves, or by indirect compression via increased intrasellar pressure. Epistaxis is a very rare presentation of a pituitary lesion. Epistaxis more commonly occurs following trans-sphenoidal surgery, and can be delayed.


A daily model of streamflow and suspended sediment (SS) concentrations has been developed to analyze daily suspended sediment records from tributary basins. The model provides a method to interpret observed SS patterns in a stream based on the hydrologic conditions in the watershed. The model has been tested on several streams using SS data collected by TVA during the years 1936-1940. The model utilizes a daily water budget to keep track of direct runoff, baseflow, and soil moisture conditions in the basin. Two basic approaches are used to simulate the observed patterns of SS concentrations: 1) a direct runoff flow regression which depends on soil moisture conditions and is diluted by the baseflow, and 2) a 'mud' budget that accounts for the source of SS during rainfall, and estimates the subsequent runoff of water and SS depending on the soil moisture conditions. Additional aspects of the subject are discussed.


This Agent-Based Model (ABM) examines the dynamics of herd growth is part of a larger study that examines the coupled dynamics of herds and household demography in African pastoral systems. We used the model to examine the role of scale (herd size) stochasticity (in mortality, fertility, and off take rates) on herd growth in African pastoral systems. We derived the mortality, fertility, and offtake rates from a review of the literature. Our model is relatively simple but captures the key dynamics of the family herds in African pastoral systems in which herds consists of animals in different age and sex classes (e.g., calves, heifers, bullocks, cows, bulls) that each have different mortality and offtake rates. The model is non-spatial – we model only the herd and not the environment – and there are thus no density-dependent feedbacks. The model is built in NetLogo (version 5.05) (Wilensky 1999).


This working paper examines the history of organic wine which provides a case study of failed category creation. The modern organic wine industry emerged during the 1970s in the United States and western Europe, but it struggled to gain traction compared to other organic food and drink products, including organic tea. Early experiments performed by less-savvy winemakers created a negative reputation for organic wine which proved a challenge to overcome. Early organic winemakers were often derided for their efforts, as conventional winemakers felt threatened by their claims to be more "natural" or healthful than conventional wines. Making matters more difficult, organic winemaking required a sophisticated understanding of complex environmental and chemical processes in the vineyard and winery, and organic wines typically did not command a premium in the marketplace despite their often higher costs of production. The development of organic wine in countries with different winemaking traditions resulted in little common agreement regarding the definition of "organic" wine. After heated debate regarding the use of sulfites, differing organic wine standards emerged. In the United States organic certification schemes excluded the use of sulfites, while in Europe some use was permitted. For winemakers, distributors and retailers, navigating the complex layers of regulations regarding organic wine was enormously time-intensive. Many winemakers chose to forego organic certification so as to avoid the perceived financial and time costs. Organic wine finally attained niche popularity in the 2010s, mainly in northwest Europe and in cosmopolitan global cities elsewhere, as fine-dining restaurants like Noma sought wines with clear terroir. Organic wine remained a tiny percentage of the world wine market. There remained huge differences between countries in consumption of organic wine. The market for organic wine was far larger in Sweden, a country with 9 million inhabitants, than in the United States, with 326 million.


In 2007 the UNWTO forecasted a doubling of international arrivals by the mid 2000s [1]. This coincides with ever increasing pressure from across society for the tourism and hospitality industries to present a more sustainable future. Since nearly all tourism arrivals include overnight stays, the first line of attack by the hospitality industry in the fight against excessive use of expensive fossil fuels is making buildings more energy efficient. Depending on the climate, the costs for energy on average represent 30–35% of a hotel's operating costs [2]. This study aims to identify those incentives for German hoteliers that make building, renovating, or expanding hotels in an energy efficient manner attractive and conversely to uncover reasons that hinder this trend. According to the Building Design & Construction [3] study 65% of hoteliers have already incorporated sustainable concepts into recent hotel building or renovation work citing guests' expectations as the major motivation factor. The result is comparable to the findings of this study where more than half of the respondents give the same reason for this type of investment. Nearly 90% of the study population regards the construction of a green hotel as more than 11% costlier than a conventional building. This is astonishing because different investigations have shown that the costs of green buildings do not exceed more than 10% of initial construction costs. Compared to conventional buildings the medium cost increase of LEED certified buildings is about 1.6% [4]. The second biggest obstacle is the lack of financial incentives and state subsidies (49.6%). In conclusion, energy efficient and environmentally friendly hotel real estate investments are only of interest to most hoteliers, at the present time, when subsidies are available.


In this study, the ability of different combinations of bulk cloud microphysics and planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization schemes implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to realistically simulate the wide variety of cloud types associated with an extratropical cyclone is examined. An ensemble of high-resolution model simulations was constructed for this case using four microphysics and two PBL schemes characterized by different levels of complexity. Simulated cloud properties, including cloud optical thickness, cloud water path, cloud top pressure, and radiative cloud phase, were subsequently compared to cloud data from three Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) overpasses across different portions of the domain. A detailed comparison of the simulated datasets revealed that the PBL and cloud microphysics schemes both exert a strong influence on the spatial distribution and physical properties of the simulated cloud fields. In particular, the low-level cloud properties were found to be very sensitive to the PBL scheme while the upper-level clouds were sensitive to both the microphysics and PBL schemes. Overall, the simulated cloud properties were broadly similar to the MODIS observations, with the most realistic cloud fields produced by the more sophisticated parameterization schemes.


The multidisciplinary pan-Canadian canimpact (Canadian Team to Improve Community-Based Cancer Care Along the Continuum) group is studying how to improve cancer care for patients in the primary care setting. A consultative workshop hosted by the team took place on 31 March and 1 April 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. The workshop included 74 participants from 9 provinces, with representation from primary care, cancer specialties, international liaisons, knowledge users, researchers, and patients. On the agenda were presentations from canimpact phase 1 projects including qualitative studies on the perspectives of survivors and health care providers about continuity and coordination of care; an environmental scan and systematic review of existing initiatives designed to improve care integration; population-based administrative health database analyses related to breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship; and a qualitative study on the experiences, desired roles, and needs of primary health care providers with respect to personalized medicine. In addition, there were presentations on two possible intervention approaches, including nurse navigation and the eConsult system. Based on the information presented, participants worked in small groups to develop recommendations for phase 2, which will involve development and evaluation of an intervention to improve the integration of care between primary care providers and cancer specialists. After a process of deliberation and voting, workshop participants recommended testing the implementation of eConsult in the oncology setting to determine whether it improves relationships, communication, knowledge sharing, and connections between family doctors and cancer specialists; and, to improve system navigation, evaluating eConsult in existing nurse navigator programs, if feasible.


BACKGROUND
The Association of American Medical Colleges describes 13 core entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that every graduating medical student should be expected to perform proficiently on day 1 of residency, regardless of chosen specialty. Studies have shown wide variability in program director (PD) confidence in interns' abilities to perform these core EPAs. Little is known regarding comparison of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores with proficiency in EPAs.

OBJECTIVE
We determined if PDs from a large health system felt confident in their postgraduate year 1 residents' abilities to perform the 13 core EPAs, and compared perceived EPA proficiency with USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 scores.

METHODS
The PDs were asked to rate their residents' proficiency in each EPA and to provide residents' USMLE scores. Timing coincided with the reporting period for resident milestones.

RESULTS
Surveys were completed on 204 of 328 residents (62%). PDs reported that 69% of residents (140 of 204) were prepared for EPA 4 (orders/prescriptions), 61% (117 of 192) for EPA 7 (form clinical questions), 68% (135 of 198) for EPA 8 (handovers), 63% (116 of 185) for EPA 11 (consent), and 38% (49 of 129) for EPA 13 (patient safety). EPA ratings and USMLE 1 and 2 were negatively correlated (r(101) = -0.23, P = .031).

CONCLUSIONS
PDs felt that a significant percentage of residents were not adequately prepared in order writing, forming clinical questions, handoffs, informed consent, and promoting a culture of patient safety. We found no positive association between USMLE scores and EPA ratings.


The influence of microscopic force fields on the motion of Brownian particles plays a fundamental role in a broad range of fields, including soft matter, biophysics, and active matter. Often, the experimental calibration of these force fields relies on the analysis of the trajectories of these Brownian particles. However, such an analysis is not always straightforward, especially if the underlying force fields are non-conservative or time-varying, driving the system out of thermodynamic equilibrium. Here, we introduce a toolbox to calibrate microscopic force fields by analyzing the trajectories of a Brownian particle using machine learning, namely recurrent neural networks. We demonstrate that this machine-learning approach outperforms standard methods when characterizing the force fields generated by harmonic potentials if the available data are limited. More importantly, it provides a tool to calibrate force fields in situations for which there are no standard methods, such as non-conservative and time-varying force fields. In order to make this method readily available for other users, we provide a Python software package named DeepCalib, which can be easily personalized and optimized for specific applications.


Investors in the emerging debt market are exposed to a number of different types of risk, most importantly market risk. This article introduces a risk metric called beta spread duration (BSD), which is designed to measure aggregate market risk. BSD builds on two well–known metrics, beta and spread duration, and applies them to the emerging debt market. The authors demonstrate that BSD is a statistically significant measure of overall market risk and identify its limitations. They show that while market risk explains the majority of spread changes, individual country risk still matters. Indeed, they show that large changes in country risk can dominate overall market risk over shorter time frames while also exhibiting statistical significance over longer periods.


Simultaneous measurements of PM2.5 mass, OC and EC and eight carbon fractions were conducted in a roadside microenvironment around Hong Kong for a week in May-June 2002 to obtain the characterization of freshly emitted traffic aerosols. Traffic volume (diesel-powered, liquefied-petroleum gas and gasoline-powered vehicles), meteorological data, and sourcedominated samples were also measured. PM2.5 samples were collected on pre-fired quartz filters with a mini-volume sampler and a portable fine-particle sampler, then analyzed for OC and EC using thermal optical reflectance (TOR) method, following the IMPROVE protocol. High levels of PM2.5 mass (64.4 μg m -3 ), OC (16.7 μg m -3 ) and EC (17.1 μg m -3 ) observed in the roadside microenvironment were found to be well-correlated with each other. The average OC/EC ratio was 1.0, indicating that OC and EC were both primary pollutants. Marked diurnal PM2.5 mass OC and EC concentration profiles were observed in accordance with the traffic pattern (especially for diesel vehicles). Average daytime concentrations were 1.3-1.5 times greater than nighttime values. Carbon profiles from source-dominated samples (diesel, LPG and gasoline vehicles) and diurnal variations of eight carbon fractions (OC1, OC2, OC3, OC4, EC1, EC2, EC3 and OP) demonstrated EC2 and OC2 were the major contributors to the diesel exhaust, and OC3 and OC2 were the larger contributors to the LPG and gasoline exhaust. Thus, carbon fractions derived from the IMPROVE protocol could be used to identify different carbon sources.


Abstract. The continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico receives high dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus loads from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. The nutrient load results in high primary production in the river plumes and contributes to the development of hypoxia on the Louisiana shelf in summer. While phytoplankton growth is considered to be typically nitrogen-limited in marine waters, phosphorus limitation has been observed in this region during periods of peak river discharge in spring and early summer. Here we investigate the presence, spatio-temporal distribution and implications of phosphorus limitation in the plume region using a circulation model of the northern Gulf of Mexico coupled to a multi-nutrient ecosystem model. Results from a 7-yr simulation (2001–2007) compare well with several sources of observations and suggest that phosphorus limitation develops every year between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya deltas. Model simulations show that phosphorus limitation results in a delay and westward shift of a fraction of river-stimulated primary production. The consequence is a reduced flux of particulate organic matter to the sediment near the Mississippi delta, but slightly enhanced fluxes west of Atchafalaya Bay. Simulations with altered river phosphate concentrations (±50%) show that significant variation in the spatial extent of phosphorus limitation (±40% in July) results from changes in phosphate load.


We obtain a shallow-tunnelling correction factor for use with Wigner-Eyring transition-state theory (TST). Our starting point is quantum transition state theory (QTST), which approximates the accurate quantum rate as the instantaneous flux through a delocalised transition-state ensemble of ring-polymers. Expanding the ring-polymer potential to second order gives the well-known Wigner tunnelling-factor which diverges at the cross-over temperature between deep and shallow tunnelling. Here, we show how to remove this divergence by integrating numerically over the two softest ring-polymer normal modes. This results in a modified Wigner correction factor involving a one-dimensional integral evaluated along a straight line on the potential energy surface. Comparisons with accurate quantum calculations indicate that the newly derived correction factor gives realistic estimates of quantum rate coefficients in the shallow-tunnelling regime.


Our objective is to provide automated support for assisting designers in fixing inconsistencies in UML models. We have previously developed techniques for efficiently detecting inconsistencies in such models and identifying where changes need to occur in order to fix problems detected by these means. This paper extends previous work by describing a technique for automatically generating a set of concrete changes for fixing inconsistencies and providing information about the impact of each change on all consistency rules. The approach is integrated with the design tool IBM Rational Rose . We demonstrate the computational scalability and usability of the approach through the empirical evaluation of 39 UML models of sizes up to 120,000 elements.


Hydrogen storage is a developing technology that can be used as an energy vector for sustainable energy applications such as fuel cells for transport applications or for supplying power to the grid in moments of high demand. However, before hydrogen can be used as a practical energy vector, hydrogen storage issues, such as low gravimetric storage density, need to be addressed. One possible solution could be using nanoporous materials to physically adsorb hydrogen at low temperatures and moderate pressures. Hydrogen adsorption excess isotherms in solid-state porous materials can be obtained experimentally. However, the total amount stored in them, a quantity of more practical interest, cannot be measured by experimental techniques. Therefore, a model developed at the University of Bath is used to predict the total amount of hydrogen contained in nanoporous materials from their experimentally derived excess isotherm data. According to inelastic neutron scattering experiments (TOSCA, ISIS, RAL, Oxfordshire), solid-like hydrogen is likely to exist within the pores. The model is applied in this work in order to search for relationships between intrinsic properties of the materials (BET surface area, pore volume and pore size) and the predicted total hydrogen capacity of the materials. The model assumes adsorbed hydrogen at a constant density within the pore (defined as the absolute), also taking bulk hydrogen in the pore (amount that is not considered to be adsorbed by the adsorbent), into account. Several MOF datasets have been used to search for these relations, since they are the materials that have the highest hydrogen uptake in solid-state adsorption. Different MOFs and MOF families have been tested in order to widen the range of the correlations. Also, different strategies, such as fixing the pore volume when applying the fittings, relying on experimental data, or using high pressure hydrogen isotherm data to increase the robustness of the model have been researched. These MOFs have been either synthesized and characterized at the University of Bath or their datasets obtained from literature. Some of these MOFs with zeolitic structure exhibited unreported flexibility, being their structures further characterized. Changes on accessible pore size for hydrogen storage were also investigated using C60 in IRMOF-1. The final aim of this work is to find possible correlations between BET surface area, pore volume and pore size to find out what the values of these parameters have to be in a specific material to fulfil the DOE hydrogen storage requirements.


We study the impact of manipulating the attention of a decision-maker who learns sequentially about a number of items before making a choice. Under natural assumptions on the decision-maker's strategy, directing attention toward one item increases its likelihood of being chosen regardless of its value. This result applies when the decision-maker can reject all items in favor of an outside option with known value; if no outside option is available, the direction of the effect of manipulation depends on the value of the item. A similar result applies to manipulation of choices in bandit problems.


The phylogenetic relationships of 17 species of carcharhinid sharks and four other closely related species were examined by allozyme electrophoresis. Genetic data from 38 loci were used in three different techniques of phylogeny reconstruction (including both phenetic and cladistic methods). The two most instructive trees were produced by using maximum parsimony (PAUP) and Distance Wagner procedures. There was evidence that both the genus Carcharhinus and the family Carcharhinidae may actually comprise paraphyletic groups. A number of proposed morphological species groups were shown to also be closely related genetically. These included C. limbatus/C. tilstoni/C. amblyrhynchoides, C. melanopterus/C. cautus, and C. amblyrhynchos/C. albimarginatus. There appears to be a distinct lineage within the Carcharhinidae that may be characterized by the absence of the interdorsal ridge.


The last 25 years of commercial DBMS development can be summed up in a single phrase: "One size fits all". This phrase refers to the fact that the traditional DBMS architecture (originally designed and optimized for business data processing) has been used to support many data-centric applications with widely varying characteristics and requirements. In this paper, we argue that this concept is no longer applicable to the database market, and that the commercial world will fracture into a collection of independent database engines, some of which may be unified by a common front-end parser. We use examples from the stream-processing market and the datawarehouse market to bolster our claims. We also briefly discuss other markets for which the traditional architecture is a poor fit and argue for a critical rethinking of the current factoring of systems services into products.


Experiencing disco, hip hop, house, techno, drum 'n' bass and garage, Discographies plots a course through the transatlantic dance scene of the last last twenty-five years. It discusses the problems posed by contemporary dance culture of both academic and cultural study and finds these origins in the history of opposition to music as a source of sensory pleasure. Discussing such issues as technology, club space. drugs, the musical body, gender, sexuality and pleasure, Discographies explores the ecstatic experiences at the heart of contemporary dance culture. It suggests why politicians and agencies as diverse as the independent music press and public broadcasting should be so hostile to this cultural phenomenon.