FAIRIO is a cycle-based I/O scheduling algorithm that provides differentiated service to workloads concurrently accessing a consolidated RAID storage system. FAIRIO enforces proportional sharing of I/O service through fair scheduling of disk time. During each cycle of the algorithm, I/O requests are scheduled according to workload weights and disk-time utilization history. There are several parameters in the FAIRIO scheduler that can affect its behavior. One parameter in particular, the length of a scheduling cycle, can affect the scheduler's ability to react to and compensate for changes in workload access characteristics. Unfortunately, there is no cycle length that is optimal for all workloads and, thus, it must be chosen according to the workload environment. This technical report describes a heuristic that can be used to choose a favorable cycle length that promotes performance differentiation given a priori knowledge of workload access behavior. The heuristic is validated using simulations driven by several real and synthetic workload scenarios that represent a broad range of request types, sizes, and access characteristics. We show that when workload weights properly map to workload requirements, cycle lengths deduced by our heuristic promote differentiated disk-time sharing within 3.9% of perfect proportionality to workload weights.


A semiconductor is a type of material which has electrical properties in between an insulator and a conductor. A conductor can be thought of as a group of atoms surrounded by a sea of free electrons, which are free to move throughout the material; in contrast, the electrons in an insulator are tightly localized on a specific atom or molecule. In a semiconductor, the electrons are localized as in insulators; however, with the addition of energy, the electrons in semiconductors are easily excited into a state where they are free to move throughout the material as in a conductor. Thus, with the proper combination of materials, electrons can flow from the semiconductor into a circuit when light strikes it. This is the basis behind solar energy, in which a current is generated when sunlight hits silicon-based panels known as photovoltaic cells. Materials known as conjugated organic polymers are semiconductors made up of elements like carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. A polymer is a chain of small repeated units known as monomers. In a conjugated polymer, the electrons of the molecule are shared across several atoms in the polymer; when these electrons are excited, they are then free to move essentially along the entire length of the polymer. Theoretically, then, conjugated polymers could be used for applications like solar energy, as well. In order to study single conjugated polymer molecules, a technique known as singlemolecule spectroscopy (SMS) was used. In SMS, light from a laser is focused to a very small spot (∼10 nm) on a sample composed of individual, isolated single molecules. This laser light excites electrons in the molecules; when the electrons relax back to their ground (lowest-energy) state, they re-release the energy as a characteristic group of wavelengths of light known as a spectrum. I studied the spectroscopy of the conjugated polymers F8BT and MEH-PPV. For F8BT, I studied the effect of polymer size and temperature on the fluorescence of the polymer. The spectrum of F8BT displays a bimodal distribution: some molecules have a peak in their emission spectrum at approximately ∼570 nm ("red"), while some have it at ∼530 nm ("blue"). This bimodal distribution collapses at low temperatures to a single emission peak. Furthermore, small F8BT molecules emit almost entirely in the blue, while many more large F8BT molecules emit in the red form. This indicates that there is some type of low-energy electron "trap" that becomes more abundant as the polymer gets larger. The most commonly-proposed mechanism for this trap is contact between different parts of the polymer chain. For MEH-PPV, I studied ∼100-molecule aggregates of MEH-PPV polymers. These aggregates contain enough molecules to display characteristics of bulk MEH-PPV with on the order of 10 molecules, but are small enough to be essentially homogeneous – that is, all of the molecules within a single aggregate have identical environments. MEHPPV shows a similar bimodal emission distribution to that of F8BT; the aggregates emit almost exclusively in the "red" form of MEH-PPV. This further supports the hypothesis that chain-chain contact makes a large contribution to the formation of low-energy traps. Solar energy production is just one of many areas where conjugated polymers such as F8BT and MEH-PPV could have a huge impact on the world. If good efficiencies can be achieved in converting sunlight into electrical current, things like photovoltaic cells could be much cheaper, easier to produce, and more environmentally friendly.


Salmon preservation efforts in Washington State demonstrate the competitive and interconnected nature of water management issues in a water scarce environment. The decline in stream flows in Washington State and the negative impact of low stream flows on anadromous species has severely hindered rehabilitation of endangered Columbia River Basin salmon stocks. Through examining the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) anemic efforts to preserve endangered stocks, primarily through the Endangered Species Act, and through analyzing the Washington Department of Ecology's (DOE) regulatory structure for water market transfers, I propose several changes in the regulatory structure for water that may positively impact the preservation of Columbia River Basin salmon stocks. Decentralizing DOE regulatory authority to enable local water basin planning groups to approve water transfers will decrease transaction costs and improve security of water rights. In turn, programs such as the Washington Water Trust and the incentive based Water Acquisition Program will encourage water rights holders to divert less water from the river. Also, the development of an options market for water transfers will provide further security for water rights holders and will eliminate the need for the antiquated use it or lose it clause. These improvements to Washington State's water markets will help salmon preservationists by easing the process with which the Washington Water Trust can purchase or lease water for in-stream use.


We define macrofinance as the application of traditional financial economic theory to the macro-economy postulating that macroeconomic activity results from aggregate effects of all domestic private and public saving, investment, net international trade and consumption decisions. We suggest that a single economic policy objective should be the maximization of the composite wealth of the country's stakeholders, the country's total population. This national welfare objective is analogous to the financial economic objective of maximizing shareholders' wealth in the case for a single firm. Maximizing owners' wealth for a single firm involves the discounting of future cash flows (usually dividends) accruing to the firm's shareholders. For a nation's economic welfare, a parallel concept may be operationalized by maximizing the present value of a country's long-run, sustainable, real standard of living, i.e., maximizing discounted future cash flows associated with the consumption component of GDP. We apply the macrofinance methodology to identify characteristics of macroeconomic policy, which may be less transparent given current objectives of economic policy.


Purpose: Adherence to immunosuppressants is the key to prevent organ rejection in organ transplant recipients. The purpose of this study was to investigate current interventions to improve adherence to immunosuppressants in liver transplant recipients. Methods: A systemic literature search was done using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and four Korean databases to identify experimental studies reported in English or Korean up to and including 2015. We identified eight intervention studies on the adherence to immunosuppressants in liver transplant recipients independently reviewed by two reviewers. The quality and risk of bias of the selected studies were assessed. Results: Education, conversion of regimen, and text messaging were identified as intervention techniques to improve adherence. We found positive results in three out of four studies implementing educational strategies, but the results were not sufficient to draw a definite conclusion. Conversion from a twice-daily tacrolimus-based regimen to a once-daily tacrolimus extended-release formula was used in three adult-only studies and its effectiveness was confirmed. One study showed that improved adherence and outcomes were effected by using text messaging with pediatric patients. Conclusion: Future research is needed to facilitate interventions to improve adherence to immunosuppressants in various ages of patients including pediatric/adolescent liver transplant recipients.


Introduction: Medicinal plants have been used to treat various immunological diseases. Nitric oxide (NO) including proliferation and CD14 monocyte surface marker has played an important regulatory role in various types of inflammatory processes. This study was aimed to evaluate or scrutinize the effect of flavonoid extracted from the leaves of Santalum album, Butea frondosa and Emblica officinalis for determining their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activity on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) using hepatitis B vaccine antigen (20 μg/mL; 10 μl).Methods: Flavonoids extracted from these medicinal plants were prepared (0.5–10 mg/mL; 50 μl) and their effects on human PBMC proliferation were examined using HBsAg. The NO production including CD14 monocyte surface marker was also estimated.Results: All these flavonoids at higher doses demonstrated a significant decrease in proliferation, NO production and CD14 surface marker. This inhibitory effect was seen after 48 hours of treatment. Conclusion: These results may indicate the presence of anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activity in these medicinal plants.


Factors contributing to development of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) are not fully understood. This study examined possible epigenetic mechanisms that may contribute to CRPS following traumatic injury. DNA methylation profiles were compared between individuals developing CRPS (n=9) and those developing non-CRPS neuropathic pain (n=38) after undergoing amputation following military trauma. Linear Models for Microarray (LIMMA) analyses revealed 48 differentially methylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites between groups (unadjusted p's<.005), with the top gene COL11A1 meeting Bonferroni-adjusted p<0.05. The second largest differential methylation was observed for the HLA-DRB6 gene, an immune-related gene linked previously to CRPS in a small gene expression study. For all but seven of the significant CpG sites, the CRPS group was hypomethylated. Numerous functional Gene Ontology-Biological Process categories were significantly enriched [FDR (q value)<.15], including multiple immune-related categories (e.g., activation of immune response, immune system development, regulation of immune system processes, antigen processing and presentation). Differentially methylated genes were more highly connected in human protein-protein networks than expected by chance (p<.05), supporting the biological relevance of the findings. Results were validated in an independent sample linking a DNA biobank with electronic health records (n=126 CRPS phenotype, n=19,768 non-CRPS chronic pain phenotype). Analyses using PrediXcan methodology indicated differences in the genetically-determined component of gene expression in 7 of 48 genes identified in methylation analyses (p's<.02). Results suggest immune- and inflammatory-related factors might confer risk for developing CRPS following traumatic injury. Validation findings demonstrate the potential of using electronic health records linked to DNA for genomic studies of CRPS.


The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate potential synergies between an electronic waybill (e-Waybill) and other Intelligent Transport System (ITS) services. An e-Waybill service, as presented in this thesis, should be able to perform the functions of a paper waybill (which is an important transport document and contains essential information about a consignment) and it should contain at least the information specified in a paper waybill. To investigate synergies between the e-Waybill solutions and ITS services, we present 5 conceptual e-Waybill solutions that differ in where the e-Waybill information is stored, read, and written. These solutions are further investigated for functional and technical requirements (non-functional requirements), which can potentially impose constraints on a potential system that should implement the e-Waybill service. A set of 20 ITS services are considered for synergy analysis in this thesis. These services are mainly for road transport, however most of them are relevant to be considered for utilization in other modes of transport as well. For information synergy analysis, the e-Waybill solutions are assessed based on their synergies with ITS services. For different ITS services, the required input information entities are identified; and if at least one information entity can be provided by an e-Waybill at the right location we regard it to be a synergy. The result from our synergy analysis may support the choice of practical e-Waybill systems, which has the possibility to provide high synergy with ITS services. This may lead to a higher utilization of ITS services and more sustainable transport, e.g., in terms of reduced congestion and emissions. Additionally, a service design method has been proposed for supporting the process of designing new ITS services, which primarily utilizes on functional synergies with already existing ITS services. In order to illustrate the usage of the suggested method, we have applied it for designing a new ITS service, i.e., the Liability Intelligent Transport System (LITS) service. The purpose of the LITS service is to support the process of identifying when, where, and by whom a consignment has been damaged and who was responsible when the consignment was damaged.


I. INTRODUCTION II. BACKGROUND A. The Emergence of Environmental Disclosures in SEC Filings B. Disclosure of Environmental Issues in 10K Filings 1. 101-General Business Description 2. 103 Legal Proceedings 3. 303 Management Discussion & Analysis C. Current Means for Voluntary Disclosure 1. Global Reporting Initiative 2. Carbon Disclosure Project D. The Current Outcry for Clarification 1. Rose Petition 2. 2006 Multi-State Petition to the SEC 3. GAO Review of SEC Disclosure III. ANALYSIS A. Current Regional Accords 1. Regional Green House Gas Initiative 2. Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord 3. Western Climate Initiative B. Legal Maneuvers to Compel Disclosures 1. Shareholder Campaigns to Compel Disclosure 2. Court Battles to Compel Disclosure C. Problems with the Current Regulation S-K 1. Section 101 2. Section 103 3. Section 303 IV. RECOMMENDATION A. Why Change is Necessary B. Abandoning "Materiality" and Embracing Bright Lines 1. Implications for Section 101 2. Implications for Section 103 3. Implications for Section 303 V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION As scientific understanding of global warming develops, the public outcry to reduce man-made climate change will have far-reaching effects on U.S. companies. (1) Regulation of greenhouse gas (2) (GHG) emissions and the demand for enviromnentally friendly technology will impact every sector of the economy. (3) However, some industries will feel the financial impacts of global warming more significantly than others. (4) Industries that produce GHG emissions may be subject to future federal and state regulations mandating emissions reductions. (5) A mandated reduction in emissions may lead to large expenditures to develop the technology necessary to bring such companies into compliance. Investors are becoming increasingly concerned with their companies' environmental impacts and the effects that enviromnental compliance may have on their companies' finances. (6) In order to make more informed investment decisions, investors are seeking more information on companies' enviromnental risks. (7) Investors are working both within companies to improve internal reporting mechanisms, (8) and with external groups, such as the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), to improve public reporting on enviromnental issues. (9) As academics and investors work with companies to improve reporting, they have noted a lack of consistency and uniformity in how companies disclose environmental risks. (10) Several large investor groups have petitioned the SEC for clarification in 10K filings--specifically on reporting guidelines--and enforcement of existing reporting guidelines. (11) Current SEC guidelines are vague and enable inconsistent reporting. This Note examines ways that the SEC can clarify its expectations in 10K filings for more consistent and informative reporting. While environmental risk disclosure guidelines apply across industries, this Note explores ways that the SEC could make clarifications that would benefit companies in the electric industry. Electric utilities are one of the most carbon-intensive industries in the U.S. economy and are therefore most vulnerable to future regulations. (12) Specifically, Part II of this Note examines the current means for electric companies to voluntarily disclose environmental risks. Part II.D details the most recent requests for clarification on SEC reporting guidelines. Part III analyzes regional accords and the types of information that electric companies have chosen to voluntarily disclose. Part III.B examines legal action taken by shareholders to force company disclosure of environmental risks. Finally, Part IV explains how the SEC can clarify reporting guidelines in 10K filings (13) based on the types of environmental risk information that companies are voluntarily disclosing. …


The present study focuses on cadmium toxicity on morphology and selected biochemical parameters of Pistia. The laboratory experiments were conducted for the assessment of morphological index parameters (MIP), biochemical parameters and accumulation of cadmium in plants at its various concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ppm) at the regular interval for 12 days exposure. Pistia showed visible symptoms like withering of roots, chlorosis and necrosis at higher concentration (2.0 ppm), however, the plant showed normal growth at lower concentration (0.1 ppm). The estimation of biochemical parameters (Total chlorophyll, Protein and Carbohydrate) of test plants showed a significant increase at lower concentration (0.1 ppm) of cadmium. The biochemical parameters decrease with increase in exposure concentration and duration. The toxic effect of cadmium is directly proportional to its concentration and duration. The accumulation of cadmium by Pistia stratiotes was maximum at 4 days exposure duration and marginal at subsequent concentrations and exposure duration. With respect to biochemical parameters the concentrations are significant. However, metal accumulation is significant at concentrations and exposure duration.


The subject of this study is August Strindberg's interaction with the visual media of his day. Its dual aim is to examine Strindberg's work in the light of media history and to allow Strindberg's work in turn to illuminate the media history of the fin de siecle. Taking its cue from the commonplace scholarly observation that Strindberg's drama, particularly that of his later phase, is strikingly "cinematic", it asks: What do such comparisons really tell us about Strindberg's art and what, if anything, do they tell us about cinema?The thesis of this study is that the putatively "cinematic" style of Strindberg's writings can only be understood against the backdrop of a mass culture, oriented towards the visual sense, which was undergoing rapid expansion at the turn of the last century. In devising his "dream play techniques", it argues, Strindberg both drew on and reacted against various image-based modes of representation that had become extremely widespread in the late nineteenth century. The loss of reality that is so prominent a feature of works such as To Damascus (1898) or A Dream Play (1901) should in this sense be regarded as marked by an experience of mediatization, that is, the steady incorporation of all aspects of daily life by mass media technologies. Shifting the spotlight away from cinema, a critical encounter with Strindberg's work can cast light on largely overlooked media practices such as magic lantern or Sciopticon exhibition, panoramic entertainments, instantaneous photography, and the introduction of the halftone process in printing. At the same time as it unsettles received notions of Strindberg's drama as "cinematic", the study seeks to show how the writings of this revolutionary artist can provide fresh material for a reassessment of life in a media-saturated age.


Water quality modeling is increasingly recognized as a useful tool for obtaining valuable information for optimal water quality management. In this study, the free software QUAL2Kw was used to evaluate the impacts of agricultural nitrogen (N) excess on river nitrate (NO3-N) concentrations. We explored the possibility to use QUAL2Kw in order to back calculate the exchange of water and N from the groundwater to the Oglio River, northern Italy, which drains a heavily irrigated and fertilized agricultural land. Along the river course water monitoring activities carried out in the dry, summer period revealed steep increases of NO3-N in different sectors, by up to 2 orders of magnitude, not explained by any significant point inputs. Such increases suggest the occurrence of large water exchange with nitrate-polluted groundwater and diffuse inputs. In turn, groundwater pollution is due to high N excess in the watershed (~200 kg N ha-1 yr-1), flood-based irrigation techniques and soil permeability. The QUAL2Kw model was calibrated using the average of 2 years' data collected in winter 2010 and 2011 and validated using the data of winter 2012. To minimize the error between simulation results and measured data, the constants of inorganic suspended solid (ISS), ammonium (NH4-N), nitrate and organic N were calibrated. The calibration and validation results showed a good correspondence between the calculated and measured values for most of water-quality variables. QUAL2Kw was then run separately with three years' summer data (2009, 2010 and 2011), and large gaps were found between the measured and predicted values of discharge, electrical conductivity, NO3-N and total N. Such gaps are discussed in terms of river-groundwater interactions, limited to the summer period and following irrigation by flooding, rise of the groundwater table and vertical transport of N. The gaps allowed to back calculate the volumes of water and the amount of N exchanged. The total load of NO3-N entering into the river from groundwater was estimated in 25.17, 25.63 and 29.89 ton per day for NO3-N in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. Similar results were obtained in another study based on mass balance of N isotopes. The combination of experimental and QUAL2Kw modelled data proved to be a simple, low cost but effective tool in the estimation of NO3-N exchange between the surface and groundwater.


The liberalization of the European natural gas sector radically changed the structure of the competitive environment which in turn forced companies to make changes in order to stay in the market. In Italy the liberalization process also had a strong impact on the strategies adopted by the companies involved. This situation instigated various studies of the changing nature of performance through the analysis of company profits and financial positions throughout the first three years following the market liberalization. This paper focuses on the changes in performance in the natural gas retail market by analyzing the profit and financial position of the companies concerned over the first three years following the market liberalization. The balance sheets of 105 Italian companies in this sector are analysed, after which a cluster analysis is performed employing the most significant performance indexes. The companies are then analysed within each cluster with respect to age, size, geographical location. The analysis is further developed by studying the strategies in terms of business diversification adopted by the operators in response to the radically altered competitive environment. The results of our analysis show that the majority of companies attained a high level of performance, although this positive outcome was mitigated by the gradual decrease of the average values of performance indicators during the period concerned. There appear to be several reasons for this decline: the performance observed during the three-year period was strongly influenced by regulatory factors; increased competition resulted in reduced profit margins; and exceptionally mild climatic conditions over this period significantly decreased the volume of gas sales. Finally, it should be noted that the best performance was achieved by companies based in northern Italy which were members of longstanding groups and were single rather than multi-business companies. This result contrasts with the failure of the business diversification strategy, which was widely adopted by enterprises from the utility sectors following the liberalization process.


This paper analysis the contents and variation of heavy metals in wet and dry deposition in Changji (Xinjiang, China) revealed their reducing regularity for heavy metals in atmosphere in arid area. Samples (including 84 dry deposition samples and 16 wet deposition samples) were collected from January 2016 to December 2016, and the contents of heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb) were analyzed by AA-7000 atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The dry deposition fluxes of Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb are 3.70 mg/( m2.a), 4.81 mg/( m2. a), 0.53 mg/( m2•a) and 22.74 mg/( m2•a), respectively; the wet deposition fluxes of Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb are 0.77mg/( m2•a), 3.25mg/( m2•a), 0.04mg/( m2•a) and 0.11mg/( m2•a), respectively. Each of the four heavy metals deposition fluxes during heating period was higher than non-heating period, especially for Pb and Cd, which is mainly due to the emission of coal combustion for heating. During sampling periods, the ratio of wet deposition flux to total for Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb are 17.21%, 40.33%, 7.67% and 0.48%, respectively; the wet deposition flux is far less than dry deposition, especially for Pb. The rate of dry deposition is lower than wet deposition, however dry deposition plays an important role in scavenging heavy metals in arid region. Arid region has a low intensity and frequency of rain event, heavy metals were mainly scavenging by dry deposition attribute to its continuous and dependable process. Dry deposition has much more environmental effect on heavy metal in arid region.


Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins accelerate GTP hydrolysis by Gα subunits and thus facilitate termination of signaling initiated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). RGS proteins hold great promise as disease intervention points, given their signature role as negative regulators of GPCRs—receptors to which the largest fraction of approved medications are currently directed. RGS proteins share a hallmark RGS domain that interacts most avidly with Gα when in its transition state for GTP hydrolysis; by binding and stabilizing switch regions I and II of Gα, RGS domain binding consequently accelerates Gα-mediated GTP hydrolysis. The human genome encodes more than three dozen RGS domain-containing proteins with varied Gα substrate specificities. To facilitate their exploitation as drug-discovery targets, we have taken a systematic structural biology approach toward cataloging the structural diversity present among RGS domains and identifying molecular determinants of their differential Gα selectivities. Here, we determined 14 structures derived from NMR and x-ray crystallography of members of the R4, R7, R12, and RZ subfamilies of RGS proteins, including 10 uncomplexed RGS domains and 4 RGS domain/Gα complexes. Heterogeneity observed in the structural architecture of the RGS domain, as well as in engagement of switch III and the all-helical domain of the Gα substrate, suggests that unique structural determinants specific to particular RGS protein/Gα pairings exist and could be used to achieve selective inhibition by small molecules.


In this paper we propose a new segmentation algorithm which combines patch-based information with edge cues under a probabilistic framework. We use a mixture of multiple Gaussians for building the statistical model with color and spatial features, and we incorporate edge information based on texture, color and brightness differences into the EM algorithm. We evaluate our results qualitatively and quantitatively on a large data-set of natural images and compare our results to other state-of-the-art methods.


ital is failing. Teacher incompetence, bureaucratic corruption, crumbling infrastructure, violence, lax academic standards, and wasteful spending are among the litany of problems plaguing the District of Columbia Public Schools. By almost any educational achievement measure, the children attending public schools within the shadow of the U.S. Capitol are not receiving a quality education. While critics of DCPS tend to focus on the failures of particular superintendents or administrators bedeviled by scandal or incompetence, the failure of the government-run school system in the District of Columbia is not new. This failure preceded white flight from the District in the mid-1950s and has continued despite inflationadjusted increases in spending, reduced class size, and attempts to reform the system from within. In short, the good old days of public education in the nation's capital never were. Contrary to the claims of defenders of the public school system, DCPS does not lack money. Despite having per-pupil spending that ranks among the highest in the nation—$10,550 for 1999–2000—public school students in the District rank near the bottom on standardized tests and in achievement levels. Although spending has almost tripled since the 1980–81 school year and increased 39 percent since Mayor Anthony Williams took office in 1998, the system lacks qualified teachers, safe facilities, and even basic supplies such as pencils and textbooks. The system's leaders demand more money in exchange for more promises of improvement. To improve education in the nation's capital, we must consider options beyond spending more money in a system that even supporters acknowledge is troubled. Change must not be limited to propping up the current system. Public schools that are little more than holding pens must not be sheltered from private competition. The city must find a way to create competition within the system, with the goals of giving parents power over the education of their children, fostering an environment that will create a climate for education entrepreneurs to flourish, and taking education out of the hands of feuding politicians. The Need for Educational Freedom in the Nation's Capital


Data from 1,374 firms across four broad industrial groupings are used to assess the contribution that real (adaptation) options make to overall equity values. The analysis indicates that real (adaptation) options make a significant contribution to the equity value of firms with a market to book ratio (of equity) of around unity or less. As the market to book ratio grows beyond this level, however, the contribution made by real (adaptation) options decays quickly away and equity values are mainly comprised of the present value of the dividends that firms are expected to pay. This means that for around one in every five of the firms in our sample real (adaptation) options make a significant contribution to overall equity value. Thus, while linear equity valuation models would seem to be appropriate for the substantial majority of firms on which our sample is based, there is a sizeable minority of firms where real (adaptation) options have a significant impact on equity values. For this latter group of firms there will be a non-linear relationship between equity value and its determining variables. This has important implications for the regression procedures that are applied in this area of accounting research.


Abstract We study the origin and properties of unbound stars in the kinematic samples of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. For this purpose we have run a high resolution N-body simulation of a two-component dwarf galaxy orbiting in a Milky Way potential. We create mock kinematic data sets by observing the dwarf in different directions. When the dwarf is observed along the tidal tails the kinematic samples are strongly contaminated by unbound stars from the tails. However, most of the unbound stars can be removed by the method of interloper rejection proposed by den Hartog & Katgert. We model the velocity dispersion profiles of the cleaned-up kinematic samples using solutions of the Jeans equation. We show that even for such a strongly stripped dwarf the Jeans analysis, when applied to cleaned samples, allows us to reproduce the mass and mass-to-light ratio of the dwarf with accuracy typically better than 25%.


Background: The present investigation has attempted to enhance the understanding of the occurrence of interaction at a time between antibiotic usages with resistance ability of antimicrobial pathogens. Methods and materials: The collection of data on prescription and consumption of antibiotics and database on susceptibility covering isolation rate of resistance potential per quarter was collected. Results: The prescription rate of third-generation cephalosporins and Fluoroquinolones has shown an increased annual resistance rate of gramnegative bacterial strains. The results showed a positive significant correlation between two quarterly lagged numbers of BLBLIs that indicated increased susceptibility to the resistance potential of the strains, whereas levofloxacin and meropenem exhibited no association with resistance to the infections. Conclusion: The usage of BLBLIs showed promising results against infections, still, it required a cautious planning and wide understanding of acquiring and sustaining resistance to BLBLIs and its associated antibiotics at the clinical level.


This book reconstructs and interprets the theory of the emotions as expounded by the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus in his 'On Affections', only fragments of which remain. Given its contextual approach, sources such as Galen and Cicero receive ample attention.


The present study determined the effect of black soy peptide supplementation on body weight and body fat in overweight/obese subjects. In a double-blind controlled trial, participants (n = 80) were randomized to either soy peptide supplementation (the test group) or to a placebo (the placebo group). Sixty-four people completed the study, and anthropometric parameters, serum inflammatory markers, and leptin and lipid profiles were measured. After 6 weeks, the test group (n = 35) had significant reductions in body weight (p = 0.003) and body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.004), body fat mass (p = 0.038). After 12 weeks, they also had significant reductions in body weight (p < 0.001), BMI (p < 0.001), body fat percentage (p = 0.002), and body fat mass (p = 0.001). However, these significances were not observed in the placebo group (n = 29). In addition, net changes in body weight and body fat mass in the test group were significantly bigger than those in the placebo group after 12 weeks. Leptin levels were significantly reduced in the test groups (p = 0.047), but were not observed in the placebo group (p = 0.323). Interestingly, the subjects with weight reductions ≥1kg in the test group had greater reductions in circulating leptin levels (p = 0.002). Additionally, fasting insulin levels were significantly reduced in the test groups. The conclusion is that black soy peptide supplementation may be beneficial for body weight control in overweight/obese subjects.


The present work was undertaken to determine the in vitro antioxidant and in vivo hepatoprotective activity of traditionally used Garcinia morella (Gaertn.) Desr. ( Kuji thekera in Assamese). Fruit rind extract of G. morella was studied to examine the antioxidant activity of different concentrations (100, 500, 1000 µg/mL) in various in vitro models viz; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine (DPPH), 2, 2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), Nitric Oxide (NO). Percentage Inhibition was exhibited in a dose dependent manner in all the models. Hepatoprotective activity was determined by measuring the activity of liver function enzymes such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and biochemical parameter like bilirubin, total protein in albino rats. Albino rats administrated with CCl 4 elevated the liver function enzymes and bilirubin, but suppressed the production of total protein. Pretreatment with the extract decreased the AST, ALT, ALP, and bilirubin level significantly and increased the production level of total protein in a dose dependent manner. The histopathological observation of liver sections supported the hepatoprotective activity of the extract. Phytochemical investigation revealed that both phenolic and flavonoids groups were present in the plant. Toxicological study confirmed that the plant is non toxic. The present study indicates that the methanolic fruit rind extract of G. morella may be an effective protective agent against the diseases caused by free radicals and it is a viable candidate for treating liver disorder.


This thesis focuses on researching the chime stone, a form of ancient stone-made percussion instrument that originated in ancient China. According to the taxonomy of the Ba Yin (eight tones) system, chime stones belong to the category of "stone", and are a kind of percussive lithophone that can be categorised as an idiophone using the Hornbostel-Sachs system. Archaeologists and musicologists have begun in recent years to study the chime stone in past societies, but research has generally been limited to individual case studies or restricted to a particular historical period and geographical area, while systematic research remains scarce.

This thesis examines chime stone finds and distribution, their classification and typology, evolution of shape, manufacture, combinations, pitch measurement, tuning systems, acoustic properties, as well as their use and function, including performance, ensemble, and their social and political meaning in the ancient Chinese Li Yue (ritual and music) cultural context. The research covers chime stones ranging from the late Neolithic Age (ca. 2400 BCE), through the Qin dynasty (221-207 BCE), up to the Western Han dynasty (202 BCE-8 CE).

The methodologies in this thesis combine different approaches. Music archaeology is an interdisciplinary subject which involves various aspects of knowledge and technology. This thesis employs archaeo-organology, pitch measurement, acoustic experimentation, statistical and computational analysis. It comprises 11 Chapters and includes discussion of chime stones found in archaeological sites, as well as analysis of data from new field work carried out by the author in 2016. It establishes statistical relationships between the tuning systems of the stones, their dimensions and cultural context, and concludes that chime stones were a marker of cultural authority for the ruling classes.


ABSTRACT Contemporary EU governance of migration outside its territorial borders aims to control mobility through policing measures, but also to shape the subjectivities of potential migrants so that they 'discipline themselves' to fit European immigration priorities. This is illustrated by the organisation by intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies, in several African countries, of 'information' campaigns and participatory activities to convince youths to stay rather than emigrate. Through an ethnographic account of my encounter with the leaders of a youth group involved in participatory activities in Dakar (Senegal), this article explores the assumption that youths can be governed in this way. I argue that awareness-raising initiatives had little hold over the thoughts of local youths, and were reappropriated by the association leaders I met. This was largely due to 'discontinuities' between agencies' and local youths' perceptions of migration and development, as well as NGOs' past and present work with youth group leaders. Theoretically, these conclusions add to research emphasising the force of human mobility over EU policing measures, whilst also highlighting the agentive role of local dynamics.


Approximate symmetries and conservation laws for deterministic and stochastic differential equations with a small parameter are discussed in detail. Determining equations for infinitesimal approximate symmetries of Ito and Stratanovich dynamical systems are derived. It is shown how to derive conserved quantities for stochastic dynamical systems using their approximate symmetries without recourse to Noether's theorem


Unlike domesticated European honey bees, Africanized honey bee (AHB) colonies can be extremely defensive. Extremely defensive colonies appear to practice territorial defence wherein members of the colony aggressively patrol and defend territories that extend well beyond the nest entrance. These territories expand and contract in response to frequency of disturbance. Organisms that employ aggression in their defence of territory normally employ a dramatic signalling behaviour designed to repulse intruders. If successful, fighting is avoided. Perhaps the most dramatic signalling behaviour employed by highly defensive AHB to maintain their territory is 'head butting'. Since butting is an easily recognized element of the repertoire of highly defensive honey bee colonies, anyone encountering bees engaged in butting should recognize the behaviour as a warning that they have entered the territory of a highly defensive colony and quickly retreat to avoid further harm.


The mode of emplacement of the dolerites and their relation with the overlying basalts are revisited in the light of new information provided by a recent resistivity study of the structure of the Karoo basin and augmented by an analysis of age and palaeomagnetic data. The different styles of intrusion from the bottom to the top are explained in terms of anisotropy, lithology and increasing upward bending stresses accompanied by a decrease in overburden thickness. The lowermost zone 3 consisting of flat lying dolerite sills of large extent occurs in well-laminated, homogeneous shales with a high degree of anisotropy. The thick dolerite-rich middle zone 2 extending from the Upper Ecca Subgroup through the Beaufort Group and partially into higher Formations is characterised by the occurrence of large basin structures of dolerite. A model, which assumes a central dyke as source and based on the principle that the propagating magma front always follows the path of least resistance is developed to explain the formation of a basin structure including the steepening and flattening of the rim. The model also explains the variations in shape and size such as are encountered in the field by taking into consideration the structure of the nexus of lenticular sandstones intercalated with shales and mudstones occurring throughout this zone. The dominant style of intrusion of, at least, the upper part of zone 1 that extends from the surface to a depth of about 700 m is that of dykes and steeply dipping sheets. Another striking feature of this zone is its dolerite-poor nature. An analysis of the magnetic polarities of the dolerites and basalts leads to the conclusion that the reversely polarized dolerites, which only occur in zone 1 were the feeders to the outpouring of the basalts. The younger normally polarized dykes that cut through the entire basalt succession are associated with the period of cooling and contraction following the main phase of dolerite intrusion. The implications, aided by well resolved age determinations are that the duration of intrusion of the Karoo magmatic event was short. Finally, the significant increase in both the amount of dolerite and the thickness of the dolerite bearing layer towards the east supports the view of a magma source in that direction.


The nature of the refugee phenomenon is examined and the position of mental health professionals is located in relation to it. The various uses of the word 'trauma' are explored and its application to the refugee context is examined. It is proposed that refugees' response to adversity is not limited to being traumatized but includes resilience and Adversity-Activated Development (AAD). Particular emphasis is given to the distinction between resilience and AAD. The usefulness of the 'Trauma Grid' in the therapeutic process with refugees is also discussed. The Trauma Grid avoids global impressions and enables a more comprehensive and systematic way of identifying the individual refugee's functioning in the context of different levels, i.e. individual, family, community and society/culture. Finally, I discuss implications for therapeutic work with refugees.


The climate response to a set of idealized ozone perturbations is investigated by integrations with a coupled atmosphere‐ocean model. Although all perturbations, including a homogeneous CO2 increase, induce the same stratosphere adjusted, tropopause radiative forcing, the climate response is quite variable within the set of experiments. Except for an upper tropospheric ozone increase, our model is more sensitive to ozone perturbations than to an equivalent CO2 perturbation. This applies in particular to a lower stratospheric ozone increase. The accompanying changes in the stratospheric water vapor (SWV) distribution are found to impose additional forcings on climate that may well exceed the forcings due to the original perturbations. Without SWV feedback on radiation the climate sensitivity to a lower stratospheric ozone increase draws remarkably near the respective value for equivalent CO2. This emphasizes the crucial role SWV may have in the forcing‐response relationship.


The role of the geophysicist in resource plays has been hard to define. There is obvious benefit to seismic structural interpretation for hazard avoidance and model building for geosteering applications, but when it comes to predicting optimal well placement, much of the industry still is struggling. Common applications of seismic attributes search for deterministic predictions using attributes such as rock strength and anisotropy. However, even with many claims of success and a rich base of literature, the value and use of these approaches are lacking in practice. A simple case study shows the value added by using a single seismic attribute, curvature, in the Barnett Shale. The key to understanding this value is the use of Bayesian statistics. For this case, controlling for just one seismic attribute is seen to increase the probability of a successful well by 10% or more, also leading to substantial increases in rate of return of 10 percentage points or more.


Whether hiding from predators, or avoiding battlefield casualties, camouflage is widely employed to prevent detection. Disruptive coloration is a seemingly well-known camouflage mechanism proposed to function by breaking up an object's salient features (for example their characteristic outline), rendering objects more difficult to recognize. However, while a wide range of animals are thought to evade detection using disruptive patterns, there is no direct experimental evidence that disruptive coloration impairs recognition. Using humans searching for computer-generated moth targets, we demonstrate that the number of edge-intersecting patches on a target reduces the likelihood of it being detected, even at the expense of reduced background matching. Crucially, eye-tracking data show that targets with more edge-intersecting patches were looked at for longer periods prior to attack, and passed-over more frequently during search tasks. We therefore show directly that edge patches enhance survivorship by impairing recognition, confirming that disruptive coloration is a distinct camouflage strategy, not simply an artefact of background matching.


This article presents a synthesis of the developments in the field of Greek vase painting during the last 15 years. I first place various types of publications and fields of inquiry into a historical context and then consider the current state of research in the various subareas. I close with comments on emerging practices and trends in the field and some of the major problems that need to be addressed.


The National Science Centre (NCN) is a government agency set up to fund basic research. The Centre was officially opened in spring 2011. The NCN Council is a policy body consisting of 24 distinguished professors. From the very beginning, they have committed themselves to the task of establishing high merits requirements for applicants as well as to the mission of ensuring reliability and impartiality of research project evaluation process. The Council has drawn upon the solutions successfully used by the European Research Council (ERC). This allowed the NCN to introduce fundamental changes in the Polish research funding system. As a result of intensive efforts of both the Council and staff of the Centre, foundations of a coherent research funding system open for wide range of applicants were laid before long. In 2011 a total of thirteen competitions was announced. An increased number of applications from both established and young researchers proves the massive interest in the NCN calls for proposals. A variety of funding opportunities encourages scientists, particularly those starting their career in research, to conduct research and apply for grants.


Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is a small boy who has a big name - and that's why he likes Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, because she has too. So when he finds Miss Nancy has lost her memory, Wilfrid determines to discover what memories are so he can find it for her. This is a perennial classic, perfect for reading aloud.


This is an overview of a school safety project with the general aim of assisting relevant stakeholders to explore a problem-solving strategy for creating a safer schooling environment and one that is more conducive to a culture of teaching and learning. A more specific aim of this survey was to investigate how accessible drugs are to learners. Given the detrimental effects drugs have in society and using the research group's responses, one of the objectives was to determine the extent of current deterrent measures.
The research sample comprised of 1988 learners from 35 primary and secondary schools in District 4 in the Pretoria school area. Most (56, 7%) of the respondents were female, compared with 43, 3 percent male. Learners younger than 17 years of age constituted 54 percent of the research group, while those aged 17 years and older represented 46 percent. Approximately 5 percent (5, 4%) of the respondents were from primary schools and 94, 6 percent from secondary schools. As regards population group, the majority of the respondents were black (41, 7%), followed by whites (37, 9%), Indians (10, 7%) and coloureds (9, 7%).
The results revealed significant levels of difference between the respondents' perceptions and attitudes. The findings of this study indicated that 40 percent of the learners can buy drugs, such as dagga, within a few hours or less, while 30, 1 percent indicated that they can buy dagga within 30 minutes or less. Approximately one quarter (22, 1%) of learners indicated that they can buy "hard" drugs such as LSD, ecstasy, cocaine or heroin within a few hours. Furthermore, one quarter indicated that they know of learners at their school who sell illegal drugs, while 26, 7 percent have actually seen illegal drugs being sold at their schools or inside the school grounds. Another 42, 2 percent of the learners has also personally observed the sale of illegal drugs in their neighbourhood.
Learners older than 16 years of age seem to be more familiar with the illegal drug market and its culture, and appear to have better access to drugs than their younger counterparts. Male respondents appear to be more knowledgeable than female learners about illegal drug activities. Coloured respondents are constantly over represented compared with the other population groups.
The research findings on the extent to which drugs are accessible to learners obviously warrant a national follow-up research project.


The general aim of the research presented in this thesis is to extend the application of microstructural and microchemical analytical techniques, with the longer term objective of better informing textile conservation. The ability to identify the components of threads in historic textiles and characterise their state of degradation is essential when considering potential conservation treatments. Three particular constituents are considered here, namely metals, and plant and silk fibres. Metal threads are found in wide variety of historically important textiles, and their composite nature can complicate characterisation and treatment. Examples from a range of sources were assessed by a range of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. It was demonstrated that these approaches allowed the determination of the general type, composition, state of degradation and likely methods of manufacture of these materials. In addition, investigations of metal threads from two specific artefacts were performed: the Jesse Tapestry, a 15th century ecclesiastical hanging; and a piece of 19th century embroidered artwork, produced in the style of the 17th century. Cellulosic fibres can prove difficult to distinguish due to their similarities in composition and structure. The work presented here describes the development of an ATR FT-IR spectroscopic technique for the characterisation of six species of commonly encountered plant fibres, using linear discriminant analysis on peak intensity ratios, to allow differentiation on the basis of characteristic lignin and cellulose contents. Further investigations using a polarised ATR technique allowed the fibre microstructure to be probed, permitting further distinction, for example of hemp and flax, on the basis of the characteristic angles and senses of winding of the cellulose fibrils. Metal weighted silk fibres, found in many important artefacts, are particularly susceptible to deterioration and so are a special area of concern. The research has concentrated on developing a micro-methodology to assess these materials, and specifically to identify spectroscopic signatures that correlate to physical properties. In order to do so, samples of habutae silk were weighted, using historically accurate methods, then aged by means of either elevated temperatures or intense illumination. Physical properties were assessed by measurement of breaking strength and Young's modulus. Subsequently TGA, HPLC, UV/Visible and ATR analyses were carried out. A good correlation was found between the physical state of the fibres and both the retention time of the major silk peak (measured in the H P L C experiment) and an orientational order parameter (derived from the pol-ATR data).


We examine whether similarities in legal, sociological, and cultural characteristics between countries (country-pair homophily) affect foreign director appointments. Our results from estimating a gravity model, which includes economic and geographic country characteristics, indicate that country-pair homophily is associated with foreign director appointments to corporate boards. Country-pair homophily plays a more significant role in the foreign director market than in other cross-border exchange, such as trade, migration, and foreign investment, consistent with homophily being more important in bilateral voluntary human exchange. We use the international IFRS adoption and the gender-quota adoption in Norway as regulatory interventions to assess the role of country-pair homophily in new foreign director appointments. We find that both events led firms to appoint directors from countries that were, prior to the regulation, less institutionally, socially and culturally similar, attesting to the importance of homophily in foreign director appointments. Overall, we identify an impediment to the effectiveness of foreign director appointments driving global governance practice convergence.


Novel biorational insecticides are rapidly replacing more toxic, broad-spectrum compounds to control pests of ornamental plants. These new formulations are widely regarded as safe, effective, and environmentally sound with minimal impact on nontarget organisms. We tested several biorational and traditional insecticides for their ability to control euonymus scale, Unaspis euonymi (Comstock), and their potential impacts on the aphelinid parasitoid, Encarsia citrina (Crawford). Soil-applied acephate and foliar-applied pyriproxyfen exhibited superior control of euonymus scale, but also reduced numbers of surviving E. citrina. Imidacloprid failed to control euonymus scale and decreased parasitism by E. citrina. Thus, the potential impact of a pesticide on biological control is not necessarily predicted by its potential longevity, mode of delivery, or its toxicity to the target pest. Finding the best fit of a compound into an integrated pest management program requires a consideration of all these factors and direct study of effects on the natural enemies of pests.


The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of a computer simulation activity versus a hands-on activity on students' product creativity, originality, and usefulness. Fifty-eight middle school technology education students from Northern Virginia participated in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a computer simulation or hands-on treatment group. The computer simulation group used a Lego-type brick simulator to construct creative products on the computer; whereas, the hands-on treatment group used real LEG(MD bricks to construct their creative products. The hands-on groups' products were collected by the researcher and copied into the computer simulation program. Both groups' products were printed using a color printer. The printed products were evaluated by expert judges using a creative product semantic differential scale.
This study showed that there was no significant difference in product creativity scores among the computer simulation and the hands-on treatment group. The null hypothesis was accepted. Findings suggested that it was possible to use a computer simulation activity in place of a hands-on activity and still maintain product creativity, originality, and usefulness.


Yokoyama et al. have cloned and characterized a new protein involved in B cell receptor (BCR)-mediated Ca2+ mobilization. The B cell scaffold protein with ankyrin repeats (mercifully termed BANK) functioned as a docking protein that functionally coupled the BCR to inositol trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) activation. BCR activation led to the tyrosine phosphorylation of BANK. Cells that overexpressed BANK had increased IP3R-dependent Ca2+ mobilization, but did not contain increased phospholipase C-γ2 (PLC-γ2) activity, which is known to mediate the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores. These data suggest that BANK activated Ca2+ mobilization independent of PLC-γ2. BANK existed in a tripartite protein complex with the protein tyrosine kinase Lyn and IP3R in vivo. Genetic mapping indicated that IP3R bound to a region of BANK consisting of amino acids 1 to 154, whereas Lyn interacted with BANK between amino acids 367 and 653. BANK mRNA was expressed in BCR-containing B cells, but not in early, immature B cells, suggesting that BANK does not participate in B cell development, but may be important for BCR-mediated signaling. Thus, the BCR can activate Ca2+ mobilization independently of the well studied PLC-γ2 pathway; however, further studies will be needed to identify why a second pathway is needed. K. Yokoyama, I.-h. Su, T. Tezuka, T. Yasuda, K. Mikoshiba, A. Tarakhovsky, T. Yamamoto, BANK regulates BCR-induced calcium mobilization by promoting tyrosine phosphorylation of IP3 receptor. EMBO J. 21, 83-92 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Last month we re-introduced Clinical Roundup – a regular update on key research findings of relevance to our clinical readers. I'm delighted to introduce the next edition, which takes a tour of HPV vaccination, rectal chlamydia in women, and the targeting of diagnosis during primary HIV infection. The authors are early career specialists in STI and HIV – Lewis Haddow works in a specialist centre, while Sophie Forsyth has recently moved to Derby where she works in both HIV and STI in a smaller centre. We are delighted with the response to Clinical Roundup, which is an important opportunity to engage with the priorities and preoccupations of our clinical readers within a journal which brings cutting edge research to practitioners. Have you looked at our Blogs recently? At http://blogs.bmj.com/sti/ we provide commentary on topical issues in STI and HIV, focussing on relevance to clinicians, commissioners and policymakers. Do have a look... Clinicians will be interested to see the evaluation of automated urine microscopy for the diagnosis of non-gonococcal urethritis, reported by Pond et al. The authors report that this approach improves on the specificity of microscopy to detect Chlamydia trachomatis or Mycoplasma genitalium. They argue that this approach has potential to improve detection or urethritis in asymptomatic men. We are always interested in novel methods for behavioural surveillance. New communication technologies provide innovative opportunities both for studies, and for biased results. This month, we publish an interesting study by Jorgφnsen et al, using a web-based questionnaire, addressing sexual behaviour in young Danish people. Inevitably in a web-based survey, the response rate was low, yet the reach of such methods is considerable. The authors recognise this, and address concerns about bias, representativeness and methods for correction in detail. The philosopher Wittgenstein reminded us that a newspaper report is not confirmed by buying extra copies of the same newspaper. So how do we validate behavioural surveys through self-selected samples? In an accompanying editorial, Manhart and Khosropour discuss this interesting study, and explore the challenges facing us in a new era of behavioural research. The targeting and reach of HIV testing in populations at high risk continues to be a major challenge across the globe. This month, Down et al report on the HIV testing experience of gay men recently diagnosed with HIV, while in a report from Vietnam Pham et al report low levels of HIV testing despite high levels of risk behaviour. The disproportionately high levels of HIV and STI seen in indigenous communities in many colonial regions remain disturbing. Langnapi et al report on astonishingly high prevalence of STI in Papua New Guinea, and describe risk factors in this context. On the Australian mainland, Guy et al report high rates of STI in aboriginal communities. These inequalities are stark, compared to noncommunicable diseases – and continue to be reflected in marginalised populations throughout the world. What can we do to break the vicious circle of stigma, inequality and suffering?


Highly porous materials have numerous applications in research fields such as filtration and collection devices, catalysis and electric devices or in acoustic and thermal insulation. In the latter, inorganic and/or macromolecular chemical gels have been extensively studied. Herein, a new type of monolithic aerogel, made of self-assembled small organic molecules, is described. The low-molecular weight aerogels (LMWA) are prepared from amino acid-based (phenylalanine or leucine) supramolecular gels using a CO2 supercritical drying process. The organogels and aerogels exhibit very interesting properties. Indeed, the gelator molecules are able to immobilize aromatic solvents such as toluene or tetralin at low concentrations. The melting enthalpies (ΔH) were calculated for both gelator molecules and for both solvents. In the case of the aerogels, an important hydrophobic character, a very low density and remarkable thermal properties were observed. For the former, the measured contact angles were found to be between 110 and 114°. As for the second, the organic aerogels belong to the family of the lightest porous materials in the world with densities as low as 4.3 kg m−3. Finally, the thermal measurements show that these LMWAs present a low thermal conductivity under atmospheric pressure (λ = 26.5 mW m−1 K−1) and very low thermal conductivity under vacuum (λ = 4 mW m−1 K−1 at 10−2 mbar). Moreover, measurement of the radiative conductivity demonstrated that the LMWAs are a good scattering materials with 80 to 90% of infrared radiation stopped. Such characteristics make these materials viable candidates for use in thermal insulation.


Objective: Fungal infection on the skin is one of the common dermatological diseases especially for the people living in hot and humid climatic conditions. Conventional topical formulations suffer from its own limitations such as lack of site-specific delivery, drug bioavailability, and patient compliance. Curcumin oil was selected as bioactive molecules which target fungal infection which also act as an oil phase for microemulsion preparation. Another strategy was implemented in this research study was to protect the skin from excessive exposure from free radicals by supporting the skin endogenous antioxidant system by adding ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) as an adjunct. Materials and Methods: Micro emulsion gel was formulated with curcumin oil as an active ingredient as well as an oil phase along with ascorbic acid as an adjunct (antioxidant), tween 20, and isopropanol as surfactant and cosurfactant, respectively. Carbopol 940 was chosen as a polymer for the preparation of gel. Pseudoternary phase diagram of microemulsion with various surfactant/cosurfactant ratios (1:1–4:1) were constructed to study the phase behavior. Minimum inhibitory concentration study and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) study was conducted to check antifungal activity and possible drug-excipient interactions, respectively. The developed formulations were characterized for physicochemical parameters such as globule size, zeta potential, viscosity, pH, etc. The optimized microemulsion formulations were further loaded into the carbopol gel base and evaluated. Results: Surfactant/cosurfactant weight ratio 3:1 was found to be largest in the percentage area of micro emulsion region. FTIR study did not show any potential drug-excipient interaction and curcumin oil showed considerably greater antifungal activity as compared to clotrimazole. The physical appearances of all the formulations were found to be yellowish, transparent, clear, glossy, and consistent. The pH, viscosity, droplet size of all the formulations was found to be in the acceptable range. From the results of in vitro drug release, approximately 90% of drug released was noted at the end of 10 h and ex vivo release study showed possible permeation mechanism of drug. In vitro antioxidant activity showed that microemulsion gel containing ascorbic acid possess significant free radical scavenging activity in a concentration-dependent manner. In vivo study showed that microemulsion gel containing curcumin oil and ascorbic acid has significant antifungal and antioxidant effect. Conclusions: Curcumin oil was successfully incorporated into topical microemulsion gel prepared with Vitamin C used as an adjunct and showed good spreadability, viscosity, drug release, in vitro antioxidant activity, and in vivo antifungal activity.


Researchers have proposed a variety of metrics to measure important graph properties, for instance, in social, biological, and computer networks. Values for a particular graph metric may capture a graph's resilience to failure or its routing efficiency. Knowledge of appropriate metric values may influence the engineering of future topologies, repair strategies in the face of failure, and understanding of fundamental properties of existing networks. Unfortunately, there are typically no algorithms to generate graphs matching one or more proposed metrics and there is little understanding of the relationships among individual metrics or their applicability to different settings. We present a new, systematic approach for analyzing network topologies. We first introduce the dK-series of probability distributions specifying all degree correlations within d-sized subgraphs of a given graph G. Increasing values of d capture progressively more properties of G at the cost of more complex representation of the probability distribution. Using this series, we can quantitatively measure the distance between two graphs and construct random graphs that accurately reproduce virtually all metrics proposed in the literature. The nature of the dK-series implies that it will also capture any future metrics that may be proposed. Using our approach, we construct graphs for d=0, 1, 2, 3 and demonstrate that these graphs reproduce, with increasing accuracy, important properties of measured and modeled Internet topologies. We find that the d=2 case is sufficient for most practical purposes, while d=3 essentially reconstructs the Internet AS-and router-level topologies exactly. We hope that a systematic method to analyze and synthesize topologies offers a significant improvement to the set of tools available to network topology and protocol researchers.


Scholars have debated whether social media platforms, by allowing users to select the information to which they are exposed, may lead people to isolate themselves from viewpoints with which they disagree, thereby serving as political "echo chambers." We investigate hypotheses concerning the circumstances under which Twitter users who communicate about elections would engage with (a) supportive, (b) oppositional, and (c) mixed political networks. Based on online surveys of representative samples of Italian and German individuals who posted at least one Twitter message about elections in 2013, we find substantial differences in the extent to which social media facilitates exposure to similar versus dissimilar political views. Our results suggest that exposure to supportive, oppositional, or mixed political networks on social media can be explained by broader patterns of political conversation (i.e., structure of offline networks) and specific habits in the political use of social media (i.e., the intensity of political discussion). These findings suggest that disagreement persists on social media even when ideological homophily is the modal outcome, and that scholars should pay more attention to specific situational and dispositional factors when evaluating the implications of social media for political communication.


Intravascular pH was measured within the lysosomes and newly formed phagosomes in cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages. The kinetics of pH change in both vacuolar systems was quantitatively determined within a large cell population by fluorescence spectroscopy. Additionally, pH changes within individual phagosomes were followed semiquantitatively using indicator dyes. Two novel findings were made. Firstly, the pH in new phagosomes was transiently driven alkaline (higher than physiological) even when the external medium was buffered at pH 6.5. Secondly, perturbations of phagosome-lysosome fusion had little effect upon phagosomal pH changes, even though the compounds used markedly altered the pH of the lysosomes in resting and phagocytosing cells.


Providing multimedia traffic support in distributed intelligent robot network (DIRN) as a kind of wireless sensor and actor network (WSAN) is addressed. Since multimedia traffic has stringent bounds on end-to-end delay resource reservation for transmitting such traffic has to be done. The existing methods used for multimedia traffic provide inefficient utilization of network resources and affect call acceptance and drop ratio of multimedia traffic severely. Hence a data aggregation scheme based on ant optimization algorithm using bionic swarm intelligence for supporting multimedia traffic is proposed to overcome those limitations and to help reduce the traffic to the sink node in turn reducing the power consumption of intermediate node. Lifetime maximization can balance the traffic across the network so as to avoid overwhelming the bottleneck nodes. Key issues and configurations are discussed and studied, such as influence of location of aggregation point, impact of network shape and balance based energy-efficient methods. Extensive simulations are done to assess the performance of the scheme under varying network condition for carrying multimedia traffic. A practical implementation with real DIRN has been carried out to validate the enhanced efficiency, stability and accuracy of the proposed algorithm, which is proved to lead to longer network lifetime in comparison to other traditional data aggregation schemes such as minimum energy gathering algorithm (MEGA) for supporting multimedia traffic in real time.


Frequency locking of edge localized modes (ELMs) to the vertical plasma movements induced by magnetic perturbations first demonstrated in TCV was successfully repeated in ASDEX Upgrade. However, the ELMs were triggered in ASDEX Upgrade when the plasma was moving down towards the X-point with a consequent decrease in the plasma current density in the edge region, in contrast to the previous observation on TCV in which ELMs were triggered when the edge current was increased by an upward plasma movement. This opposite behaviour observed in the magnetic triggering of ELMs has been investigated by using a free-boundary tokamak simulator, DINA-CH. The passive stabilization loops (PSLs) located inside the vacuum vessel of ASDEX Upgrade produce similar external linking flux changes to those generated by the G-coil sets in TCV for opposite vertical plasma movements. Therefore, both plasmas experience similar local flux surface expansions near the upper G-coil set and PSL when the ELMs are triggered. In ASDEX Upgrade, however, the localized expansion of the plasma flux surfaces near the upper PSL is observed with the global shrinkage of the plasma column accompanied by the downward plasma movement.


Introduction: Injuries caused by burns represent a significant public health problem, constituting the fourth leading cause of childhood death in Brazil and the United States. In addition, few diseases carry such substantial losses as burns, with considerable morbidity due to the development of physical and psychosocial sequelae. This study aimed to outline the epidemiological profile of 0–18-year-old children treated for burns at a teaching hospital in Curitiba, Paraná. Methods: This cross-sectional, retrospective study involved analysis of 625 medical records of 0–18-year-old children who were victims of burns from January 2010 to December 2017. Information was collected on age, sex, length of hospitalization, death, body region affected, burned body surface area (BSA), depth, etiologic agent, and therapeutic approach. Results: A plurality of the sample were infants (43%), and the average age of the sample was 12.6 years. Most of the sample was comprised males, and the patients remained hospitalized for an average of 14.5 days. Of the burns, 98% were caused by thermal agents, particularly hot liquids. Most burns were second-degree burns (61.3%), reaching up to 25% of the BSA, and the most affected region was the trunk. Among the treatment modalities, 44% of the patients needed surgical intervention with debridement and grafting. Conclusion: Younger children are more prone to burns, especially in the home environment. A prepared and qualified team is of crucial importance for optimizing outcomes in these patients. ■ ABSTRACT


The upheavals that have been shaking the Arab-Muslim world are revolutions in discourse as well as in the streets. Arabs are using not only traditional and religious vocabularies, but also a new set of expressions that are modern and represent popular aspirations. We now seem to be at a moment when large strata in Arab societies (and in developing countries more broadly) have reached a state of real disenchantment with utopias, and seem to be ready for other forms of political participation. The conviction that there are alternatives to the kinds of regimes that have for so long imposed themselves on Arab societies—that life under this or that brand of dictatorship and unaccountable rule emphatically does not have to be the Arabs' fate—seems to have taken hold of the collective imagination.


Virtual machine migration is a useful and widely used workload management technique. However, the overhead of moving gigabytes of data across machines, racks, or even data centers limits its applicability. According to a recent study by IBM [7], the number of distinct servers visited by a migrating VM is small; often just two. By storing a checkpoint on each server, a subsequent incoming migration of the same VM must transfer less data over the network. Our analysis shows that for short migration intervals of 2 hours on average 50% to 70% of the checkpoint can be reused. For longer migration intervals of up to 24 hours still between 20% to 50% can be reused. In addition, we compared different methods to reduce the migration traffic. We find that content-based redundancy elimination consistently achieves better results than relying on dirty page tracking alone. Sometimes the difference is only a few percent, but can reach up to 50% and more. Our empirical measurements with a QEMU-based prototype confirm the reduction in migration traffic and time.


In this paper we present a vision-based approach to self-localization that uses a novel scheme to integrate feature-based matching of panoramic images with Monte Carlo localization. A specially modified version of Lowe's SIFT algorithm is used to match features extracted from local interest points in the image, rather than using global features calculated from the whole image. Experiments conducted in a large, populated indoor environment (up to 5 persons visible) over a period of several months demonstrate the robustness of the approach, including kidnapping and occlusion of up to 90% of the robot's field of view.


Advances in bioconjugation and native protein modification are appearing at a blistering pace, making it increasingly time consuming for practitioners to identify the best chemical method for modifying a specific amino acid residue in a complex setting. The purpose of this perspective is to provide an informative, graphically rich manual highlighting significant advances in the field over the past decade. This guide will help triage candidate methods for peptide alteration and will serve as a starting point for those seeking to solve long-standing challenges.


We study 52 million trade credit contracts, issued by 51 suppliers over 9 years to about 199,000 unique customers. The data contain information on contract size, due dates, actual time to payment, and firm characteristics. Our empirical analysis contradicts the conventional view that trade credit is an inferior source of funding. Specifically, while we replicate the usual finding that payables are negatively related to customers' financial strength, our disaggregated data reveal that improvements in customers' financial conditions are primarily associated with a reduced value of input purchases rather than smaller trade credit usage. In fact, customers' financial conditions are unrelated to agreed contract duration and only modestly affect overdue payments. Moreover, the customer's size and share of the supplier's sales both have a positive impact on the due date. Overall, the evidence indicates that customers prefer trade credit over other available sources of funding and thus calls for a new theory of short-term finance.


The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the influences of movie and TV on tourism image of destination. This research has taken Hengdian World Studio as an example. The researchers have used the methods of case study and in-depth interview analysis. The participants in interview include tourists, citizens and tour guides in Hengdian World Studios.Integrating analysisof case study and interview, the researchercame to the conclusion that TV and movie indeed exert great influences on tourism image of the destination and the influences includeboth positive and negative aspects. In positive aspect, TV and movies,as important media platforms,can greatly and quickly spread the influences and enable more audiences to start paying attention to the destination. Furthermore, TV and movies can also help to directly increase number of visitors to the destination. Gradually, through shaping symbolic values in TV and movies, theycan also turn more audience to visitors andalsoenable Hengdian to develop into a famous brand in movie and TVtourismindustry.More audiencescan transformtheir virtual feelings they had in TV or movies into actual experiencesthrough visiting the destinationand participating in activitiesor games in the destination.First, it can continuously contribute to local tourism industrial development. Moreover, italso extendsthe influences and reshapesthetourismimage of Hengdian as famous film studios. Hengdian World Studios also finds its way to becomean ideal destination for more audiences. However, withincreasing numbers of visitorscoming to Hengdianand moviesto be filmed within the studios, it may also cause the problemsmisread of local culture, separationbetween virtuality in TV and movie and realityof thedestination, and other problems inenvironment pollutionor overload, etc.These negative impacts will not leave good impressions on tourists. Thus, in the long run, it will not sustain a good imageof the destination.Itis of vital importanceto make joint efforts to have more supervision and regulationon tourism management withinthe 3studiosin the purposes of continuouslydelivering goodservices to visitors and reshapingthe tourismimage of Hengdian World Studios.


In this article, we highlight the pressing need for integrating the windows of opportunities that digital transformation of education opens up with circular economy education to accelerate the achievements of sustainability outcomes. Circular economy transition, as a multi-scalar process, relates to several contexts, e.g., product, firm, industry-level transformations ranging from designing local socio-technical solutions to greening global value chains, with multi-level policy and business implications for finance, production, distribution, consumption that are fundamentally consequential to everyday life, work and learning. Drawing on theories of neo-capital, multi-level perspective and structuration, and as methodology, using content analysis and qualitative meta-synthesis of scientific publications in digital education for sustainability, we blended our findings into multi-level, multi-domain structuration blueprints, which capture the complexity of value emanating from the interactions among external structures, internal structures of agents, active agencies and outcomes, for circular economy open online education and massive open online course instructional designs. We conclude that learning and creating multiple values to increase social–ecological value, complementarily to economic value, necessitate activating the complexity of value embedded in digital education and circular economy transitions with customizable niches of learning preferences and journeys of individuals and groups, within broader (and evolving) technological, organizational and institutional structures.


Analyzing, designing and implementing software systems based on the concept of capabilities have several benefits, such as the ability to design efficient monitoring of capabilities and their execution context. Today, there exist new model-driven methods and development tools that support capability-based analysis, design, and implementation. However, there are also a plethora of existing efficient development tools that are currently in use by organizations. In this article, we examine how a new set of capability based tools, the Capability Driven Development (CDD) environment, can be combined with model-driven development tools to leverage both novel capability-based functionality and the proven functionality of existing tools. We base the examination on a case study where an existing model-driven tool is combined with the CDD environment.


New gravity data contribute to determine the geometry of the sedimentary infill in the Almanzora Corridor. Residual gravity anomalies was considered along 2D models to establish the deep structure of the basin, taking into account the main tectonic structures that outcrop in the area. The residual anomalies are up to -5,8 mGal in the basin center and increase to the basin boundaries where outcrops metamorphic rocks. The interaction between north vergent folds and faults, with several orientations and kinematics, determine the position of the basin basement top. The maximum sedimentary thickness is located close to the south basin border, associated to the hinge zone of the Almanzora synform. Lateral variations may be linked to NW-SE oriented faults.


Many drivers of intrastate conflict concern the relationship between the state and society, and thus are influenced by the quality of governance. Efforts to restore or create good governance, however, have adopted a relatively standardised democratising template. This article argues that conflict mitigation is a useful mechanism for adapting this template to conditions in fragile states. Furthermore, subnational reforms have important potential to mitigate the drivers identified in quantitative studies of conflict, as illustrated by selected experiences with decentralisation, citizen participation and local service delivery. The analysis confirms the important contributions both of quantitative research that has identified causal factors driving conflict and of qualitative study that has explored governance reforms that can address those factors.


The utilization of Chiral materials in waveguides has been recently increased. Directional coupler with chiral is One of these applications. The analysis results of directional couplers with chiral material will be discussed in this paper. For this purpose, the finite element method is used for calculating of electromagnetic waves and the coupled mode approach is applied for investigating the coupling process between two waveguides.


We read with great interest the recent endoscopy news reported by Gluck et al ,1 presenting a novel prepless X-ray imaging capsule for colon cancer screening. The capsule emits low-dose X-rays that can penetrate the colon contents and identify polyps without the need for bowel preparation. However, one capsule retention occurred in 46 asymptomatic volunteers in a pilot study and it was retrieved by colonoscopy. Actually, capsule endoscopy retention is not rare even in patient without suspected Crohn's disease or bowel obstruction, with a retention rate of around 1.0%.2 ,3 Most retained capsules remain harmless but some can cause bowel obstruction, perforation or even capsule fragmentation.4 Several case reports described the use of double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) for capsule extraction.5 ,6

In this investigation, we aimed to evaluate the use of DBE for retrieval of endoscopic capsules and identify …


John Vince explains a wide range of mathematical techniques and problem-solving strategies associated with computer games, computer animation, virtual reality, CAD, and other areas of computer graphics. Covering all the mathematical techniques required to resolve geometric problems and design computer programs for computer graphic applications, each chapter explores a specific mathematical topic prior to moving forward into the more advanced areas of matrix transforms, 3D curves and surface patches. Problem-solving techniques using vector analysis and geometric algebra are also discussed. All the key areas are covered including: Numbers, Algebra, Trigonometry, Coordinate geometry, Transforms, Vectors, Curves and surfaces, Barycentric coordinates, Analytic geometry. Plus and unusually in a student textbook a chapter on geometric algebra is included.


Accessions of Cuphea viscosissima were collected from the central and east-central U.S. during two field explorations, one in 1987 and the other in 1989. Characterization and evaluation data of accessions collected in 1987 have been reported earlier. This paper reports the results of characterization and evaluation trials of the 1989 collections. Thirty-one of these accessions were grown for characterization and seed-increase plantings in 1990 and twenty-four of these in replicated evaluation trials in 1991 at Ames, Iowa. Morphological characters are rather uniform and resemble accessions collected in 1987. A new pale flowered form was identified. Glandular trichomes, which produce a sticky resin, occurred uniformly on the stems and flowers of all accessions, but their presence on leaves was variable. Fourteen of the thirty-one accessions lacked glandular trichomes on their leaves. Statistically significant variation occurred in plant height (59 to 90 cm) and mass (89 to 216 g), seed yield (0.9 to 7.0 g/plant), and the amounts of caprylic (8:0) (14.3 to 16.8%), capric (10:0) (68.0 to 71.9%), and lauric (12:0) (2.5 to 3.4%) acids. Variations in 100-seed weight, seed germination, and oil content were nonsignificant. The narrow range of variability found in these accessions collected from rather diverse ecological regions would suggest that C. viscosissima has occupied its native range rather recently, and has had little time to diversify genetically. The variability identified is being used in interspecific hybrid crosses with C. lanceolataAiton to develop a domestic source of medium-chain fatty acids.


(a) This part implements section 514 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) with respect to the establishment, amendment, and revocation of performance standards applicable to devices intended for human use. (b) The Food and Drug Administration may determine that a performance standard, as described under special controls for class II devices in § 860.7(b) of this chapter, is necessary to provide reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of the device. Performance standards may be established for: (1) A class II device; (2) A class III device which, upon the effective date of the standard, is reclassified into class II; and (3) A class III device, as a condition to premarket approval under section 515 of the act, to reduce or eliminate a risk or risks associated with such device. (c) References in this part to regulatory sections of the Code of Federal Regulations are to chapter I of title 21 unless otherwise noted.


Tasmanian native blue gum Eucalyptus globulus subsp. globulus and its closely
related southeastern Australian mainland congener E. nitens are the major
trees grown in eucalypt plantations in temperate regions of the world.
Plantation stock are mostly grown from seeds, that are increasingly being
collected from seed orchards of trees selected for characters desired by the
forest industry. Seed production and fitness of the resultant trees are
dependent largely upon pollen transfer between flowers on different trees,
because of the partial self-incompatibility in these two species. The
unsuitability of the pollen to transfer by wind necessitates the harnessing of
animals to transfer pollen as they forage at flowers. This research aimed to
determine which animals were effective pollinators of these tree species in
Tasmania.
These two species have contrasting floral forms, associated with enormous
differences in nectar production, that resulted in their flowers being used by
different animals as food sources. The small flowers of E. nitens produced
only 0.3 - 0.6 mg of nectar sugar per day and, accordingly, were visited
exclusively by small, mostly native, insects. Introduced honey bees (Apis
mellifera) and bumble bees (Bombus terrestris), being larger, more energy
demanding insects, were rarely seen visiting flowers of E. nitens, and birds
were never seen attempting to feed from these flowers. In contrast, the large
flowers of E. globulus produced 37- 56 mg of nectar sugar per day, rendering
them attractive to energy demanding birds and exotic bees, as well as the less
energy demanding smaller insects.
Single visits to flowers of E. globulus by swift parrots (Latham us discolor)
resulted in statistically significant increases in seed production above the
levels occurring in unvisited flowers. Although other bird species were not
sufficiently assessed by this method to determine whether they are also
effective pollinators, analyses of their foraging behaviour and pollen loads
suggest they are. In contrast, experiments indicated that insects were poor
pollinators of E. globulus. Single visits to flowers by insects, including honey bees and bumble bees, did not result in statistically significant increases in
seed production above the levels occurring in unvisited flowers. Even
prolonged exposure to insects throughout the life of a flower failed to result
in the production of as many seeds as that following a single swift parrot
visit, despite insects often consuming all of the daily nectar production.
Hence, seed production and the fitness of plantation trees should be
enhanced by management practices that benefit populations of native flowervisiting
insects in seed orchards of E. nitens and birds in orchards of E.
globulus.


By applying geometric analysis to some experimental maze situations the present study attempted to determine if a continuity in the responding of experimental Ss existed. This continuity in responding might suggest the presence of alternative explanations for the behavior of these Ss in some maze problems. The study made use of a modified version of the Tolman, Ritchie, and Kalish (1946a) experiment using six runways during training rather than one. The results of the study show that three of the six groups obtained the identical angle of choice, angle between the runway trained on and the runway chosen during the experimental trial, indicating the possibility of an underlying behavioral factor determining this continuity in responding.


The minipig has been increasingly recognized as a valid alternative to canines and nonhuman primates in regulatory toxicity. This article presents the results of cardiovascular assessments in the Yucatan, Hanford, Sinclair, and Göttingen minipigs conducted during nonclinical investigations and control toxicity testing. Cardiac electrophysiology was obtained using clinical electrocardiogram and surgical monitor units. Peripheral vessel diameter, velocity, and flow were obtained by Doppler ultrasonography, and cardiac vessel diameter was obtained postmortem. Anatomic parameters were obtained at necropsy. Histopathology assessments were conducted on heart, blood vessels, and kidneys. Collected data were compared to published cardiovascular measurements of adult humans to illustrate similarities and differences. Each lineage of minipigs was found to have specific anatomic and physiologic characteristics that may accurately reflect response of human cardiovascular systems in clinical investigations and toxicity testing. In conclusion, the interspecies similarities between the cardiovascular systems make these lineages of minipigs suitable as models for the human counterpart. In addition, these reported differences between lineages will aid investigators in selecting a relevant lineage of minipigs if specific cardiovascular parameters are required during drug safety evaluation.


This research examines the adoption of Use Case Narratives within the Unified Modeling Language (UML).Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a framework, practitioners with UML experience were asked questions to measure their Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness of Use Case Narratives and their Intentions to Adopt them. We extend Perceived Usefulness in the context of UML adoption to address the question "usefulness for what purpose(s)?" Generally, we find that TAM explains Use Case Narrative acceptance. More importantly, we find that Perceived Usefulness is explained by usefulness for specific software development tasks. This research provides three main contributions, beginning with an improved understanding of the role of Use Case Narratives in UML projects. Second, the study extends TAM by explaining how a technology is used rather than simply whether it is used. Third, this study provides a framework for future studies into other UML diagrams.


I present an immanent, and explanatory, critique of reflections on the nature of politics and of power within political science. I argue that these reflections are problematic, to the extent that they presuppose an actualist conception of the political, and that this is generated by an empiricist way of thinking on the one hand and a constructivist way of thinking on the other. I show how re-defining politics, power, and the political on the basis of a dialectical critical realist ontology resolves these problems and, thereby, allows us to understand the conditions for social change and the relationship between the political and the economic. My argument has two, important implications: first, that the proposal that those who study politics professionally should celebrate philosophical diversity is dangerous–at least if it makes it difficult to sustain a distinct, emancipatory form of political inquiry; and, second, that the nature of social reality justifies the need both for specialized forms of inquiry, such as politics and economics, and integrative forms of inquiry, such as political economy.