In 2004, a group of Illinois librarians was awarded a research grant to assess the state of Illinois' science serial collection. This collection assessment focused on academic libraries in the state, specifically those participating in the Consortium of Academic Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), but also including another 10 academic libraries in the state that do not belong to the consortium. Current serial subscription data were collected through both automated and manual means and the analysis was conducted in conjunction with Ulrich's Serials Analysis System. Due to cataloging limitations and issues surrounding different ISSNs for print and electronic formats, the study centered on current (as of spring 2005) print serial subscriptions. Results found that well over half of the state's print serial subscriptions were Illinois' "last copy" and another 13 percent were at risk, with only two copies owned in the state. And while most titles were limited to one print copy within Illinois, other titles have wide accessibility and duplication at a high cost to the state.


There is potential for the anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) to be implemented on-site for pre-treatment of coloured wastewaters. The implementation of waste minimisation and cleaner production strategies in industry will result in the production of smaller volumes of concentrated wastewaters. With implementation of the ABR, the concentrated waste stream could be pre-treated, with an acclimated biomass, which should facilitate sufficient degradation such that the effluent could be discharged to sewer for further treatment. The ABR is a high-rate compartmentalised anaerobic bioreactor, the design of which promotes the spatial separation of microorganisms. The use of molecular teclmiques to characterise the microbial populations and the dynamics of these populations with time and/or changing operating conditions will add to the current understanding of the process, which is based on the biochemical pathways and chemical analyses. This knowledge will allow for optimisation of the design of the ABR. The hypothesis of the horizontal separation of acidogenesis and methanogenesis through the ABR was proven. Changes in the HRT affected the operation of the reactor, however, recovery from these upsets was almost immediate and operation of the reactor was stable. Two synthetic dye waste streams, one food dye (tartrazine) and one textile dye (Cl Reactive Red 141), and a real industrial dye wastewater, were treated in separate laboratory-scale ABRs. These investigations showed that successful treatment of a highly coloured wastewater is possible in the ABR. The design of the ABR facilitates efficient treatment of concentrated dye wastewaters by protecting the sensitive methanogens from the inhibitory dye molecules and promoting efficient colour and COD reduction. The molecular-based method, fluorescent in situ hybridisation, allowed the direct identification and enumeration of microbial populations active in the ABR. In all of the reported investigations, there was a definite shift in the microbial populations through the ABR, with a predominance of eubacteria in the first compartments (acidogenesis) and archaea (methanogenesis) in the later compartments. The number of compartments involved in each depended on the strength of the substrate (organic loading rate OLR). A combination of FISH probing, and the analysis of 98 archaeal l6S rDNA clone inserts provided useful descriptions of the methanogens actively involved within each compartment. These showed a predominance of the Methanosaeta spp., particularly in the last compartments of the reactor. Methanogens present in the first four compartments consisted of species of Methanobacterium and Methanospirillum, a relatively unstudied methanogen Methanomethylovorans hollandica, and an unidentified short filamentous species.


This article presents a study about artificial intelligence (AI) policy based on the perceptions, expectations, and challenges/opportunities given by chief information officers (CIOs). In general, publications about AI in the public sector relies on experiences, cases, ideas, and results from the private sector. Our study stands out from the need of defining a distinctive approach to AI in the public sector, gathering primary (and comparative) data from different countries, and assessing the key role of CIOs to frame federal/national AI policies and strategies. This article reports three research questions, including three dimensions of analysis: (1) perceptions regarding to the concept of AI in the public sector; (2) expectations about the development of AI in the public sector; and, (3) challenges and opportunities of AI in the public sector. This exploratory study presents the results of a survey administered to federal/national ministerial government CIOs in ministries of Mexico and Spain. Our descriptive statistical (and exploratory) analysis provides an overall approach to our dimensions, exploratory answering the research questions of the study. Our data supports the existence of different governance models and policy priorities in different countries. Also, these results might inform research in this same area and will help senior officials to assess the national AI policies actually in process of design and implementation in different national/federal, regional/state, and local/municipal contexts.


Importance Although organic foods are less likely to contain pesticide residues than conventional foods, few studies have examined the association of organic food consumption with cancer risk. Objective To prospectively investigate the association between organic food consumption and the risk of cancer in a large cohort of French adults. Design, Setting, and Participants In this population-based prospective cohort study among French adult volunteers, data were included from participants with available information on organic food consumption frequency and dietary intake. For 16 products, participants reported their consumption frequency of labeled organic foods (never, occasionally, or most of the time). An organic food score was then computed (range, 0-32 points). The follow-up dates were May 10, 2009, to November 30, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures This study estimated the risk of cancer in association with the organic food score (modeled as quartiles) using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for potential cancer risk factors. Results Among 68 946 participants (78.0% female; mean [SD] age at baseline, 44.2 [14.5] years), 1340 first incident cancer cases were identified during follow-up, with the most prevalent being 459 breast cancers, 180 prostate cancers, 135 skin cancers, 99 colorectal cancers, 47 non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and 15 other lymphomas. High organic food scores were inversely associated with the overall risk of cancer (hazard ratio for quartile 4 vs quartile 1, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.63-0.88; P for trend = .001; absolute risk reduction, 0.6%; hazard ratio for a 5-point increase, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.96). Conclusions and Relevance A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. If these findings are confirmed, further research is necessary to determine the underlying factors involved in this association.


In South Dakota, breeding giant Canada geese (Branta canadensis maxima) have increased substantially, and harvest management strategies have been implemented to maximize hunting opportunity (e.g., special early-September seasons) on local, as well as molt-migrant giant Canada geese (B. c. interior) while still protecting lesser abundant Arcticbreeding Canada geese and cackling geese (e.g., B. hutchinsii, B. minima). Information on important parameters, such as survival and recovery rates, are generally lacking for giant Canada geese in the northern Great Plains. Patterns in Canada goose band recoveries can provide insight into the distribution, chronology, and harvest pressures to which a given goose population segment is exposed. We studied spatial and temporal recovery patterns of molting Canada geese during annual banding efforts in South Dakota between 1967 and 1995. Recovery rates (% ± SE) for Canada geese increased over time in both western South Dakota (0.034 ± 0.005 [1967 to 1976], 0.056 ± 0.009 [1977 to 1986]) and eastern (0.026 ± 0.002 [1967 to 1978], 0.058 ± 0.003 [1987 to 1995]) South Dakota. Although recovery rates for Canada geese west of the Missouri River (WR) and east of the Missouri River (ER) were relatively similar, recovery distribution and harvest chronology indicate spatial and temporal differences for geese banded in these 2 geographic regions. Overall, Canada geese banded in South Dakota were recovered in 23 states and 5 Canadian provinces, and recovery distribution varied relative to banding region. Distribution of recoveries suggests a south-southwesterly movement for WR-banded geese compared to a south-southeasterly movement for ERbanded geese. For WR-banded geese, 40 to 52% and 30 to 34% of direct and indirect recoveries, respectively, occurred in December. In contrast, for ER-banded geese, 19 to 38% and 15 to 19% of direct and indirect recoveries, respectively, occurred in December. Waterfowl managers need to consider that recovery rates and harvest chronology of banded giant Canada geese may vary geographically within a state or province. Refinement of harvest management strategies at multiple spatial scales may be required .


Abstract The purpose of this paper is the clarification of some methodological problems concerning Rawls' theory of justice. The first part seeks to make more precise Tugendhat's distinction between 1st-person-theory and 3rd-person-theory. Rawls' theory fulfills all criteria for 1st-person-theories. In the second part Rawl's coherence model for the justification of norms ("reflective equilibrium") is critically analyzed and opposed to the hypothetical decision which individuals are to make in the original position (contract model). It is shown that the conception of reflective equilibrium is in various aspects mistaken. In conclusion a problem is indicated which Rawls has not satisfactorily resolved: The veil of ignorance is supposed to guarantee that the decision for the basic principles of social justice is unanimous. Nevertheless it would appear that the individuals in the original position either have too little empirical knowledge in order to make a rational decision, or they have too much knowledge in order to come to an unanimous decision. The veil of ignorance is either too fine or not fine enough.


Task-execution times are one of the most important parameters in scheduling tasks. Most scheduling algorithms are based on the assumption that either worst-case task-execution times are known to the scheduler or no information on execution times is available at all. While scheduling tasks based on worst-case execution times can guarantee to meet their timing requirements, it may lead to severe under-utilization of CPUs because worst-case execution times could be one or two orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding actual values. Scheduling tasks based on the execution time distribution (instead of worst- case execution timvs) is known to improve system utilization significantly. In this paper, wb propose a model to predict task execution times in a distributed system. The model considers several factors which affect the execution time of each task. These factors are classified into two groups: intrinsic and extrinsic. The intrinsic factors control the flow within a task, while the extrinsic factors include communication and synchronization delays between tasks. By simplifying the extrinsic factors, we represent a distributed system with a simple queuing model. The proposed queuing model consists of two stations: one for computation and the other for communication and synchronization. Information on system utilization can be obtained by converting this queuing model to a Markov chain. The execution time of a task is then derived from the information on system utilization in the form of average and distribution. The model is extended to describe the effects of multiple tasks assigned to a single processing node. The utility of the model is demonstrated with an example.


During the Cretaceous break-up of Gondwana, the southern margin of South Africa developed as a consequence of the shear motion between the African and South American plate along the Agulhas-Falkland transform. This resulted in unique formations of the adjacent basins and may have an effect on lithospheric vertical motion processes of the southern African continent. As part of the German - South African Inkaba ye Africa project, the marine component of the onshore/offshore Agulhas-Karoo Geoscience Transect was surveyed in order to reveal the deep crustal structure along a corridor stretching from the Agulhas Plateau of the Indian Ocean, across the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ) and across the basins of the continental shelf towards the South African southern coast. The main objectives include questions regarding (1) the continental or oceanic affinity of the Agulhas Plateau, (2) the characteristics of the continent-ocean boundary of the sheared margin, (3) the deep formation of the Outeniqua Basin and other basins, and (4) the evolution and possible neotectonic re-activation of the AFFZ. Along two sub-parallel deep seismic refraction and reflection profiles, we obtained detailed velocity-depth models from ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS). The models show crustal thicknesses from 30 km beneath the inner continental shelf and down to 7 km in the Agulhas Passage. P-wave velocities range from 5.6 to 6.6 km/s for the upper crust and from 6.4 to 7.1 km/s for the middle to lower crust. Uppermost mantle velocities are measured from 7.8 to 8.0 km/s. A continent-ocean transition extends over a width of about 50 km at the location of the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone. Beneath the southern Outeniqua Basin and the Diaz Marginal Ridge, an up to 3 km thick zone of relatively low velocities is discovered in the upper crust, which is interpreted as an older foreland basin filled with pre-breakup metasediments. Our model suggests that the evolution of the Diaz Marginal Ridge is connected to the later history of this old basin. In the Agulhas Passage, almost no stratified sediment cover exists due to strong erosion by ocean currents. Alternating layers of volcanic flows and sediments with a mean velocity of about 4 km/s can be identified. These volcanic flows seem to have accompanied a possible re-activation of parts of the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone along the sheared margin.


In small area estimation direct survey estimates that rely only on area-specific data can exhibit large sampling variability due to small sample sizes at the small area level. Efficient small area estimates can be constructed using explicit linking models that borrow information from related areas. The most popular class of models for this purpose are models that include random area effects. Estimation for these models typically assumes that the random area effects are uncorrelated. In many situations, however, it is reasonable to assume that the effects of neighbouring areas are correlated. Models that extend conventional random effects models to account for spatial correlation between the small areas have been recently proposed in literature. A new semi-parametric approach to small area estimation is based on the use of M-quantile models. Unlike traditional random effects models, M-quantile models do not depend on strong distributional assumptions and are robust to the presence of outliers. In its current form, however, the M-quantile approach to small area estimation does not allow for spatially correlated area effects. The aim of this paper is to extend the M-quantile approach to account for such spatial correlation between small areas.


OBJECTIVE: To assess the prognostic value of atrioventricular plane displacement in heart failure patients. DESIGN: Patients were followed prospectively for one year after atrioventricular plane displacement determination. SETTING: Malmö University Hospital, with a primary catchment area of 250,000 inhabitants. PATIENTS: 181 patients with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure; age 75.7 (SD 5.2) years, duration of heart failure 2.7 (5.7) years; 100 men, 81 women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality in relation to atrioventricular plane displacement. RESULTS: Total mortality was 22.7% (41/181), and was highly significantly (P = 0.001) related to atrioventricular plane displacement. Mortality within prospectively defined categories of displacement was: > or = 10.0 mm, 0% (0/19); 8.2 to 9.9 mm, 10.3% (3/29); 6.4 to 8.1 mm, 19.4% (12/62); and < 6.4 mm, 36.6% (26/71). The groups were similar in age, sex, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and beta blocker treatment, and cause and duration of heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality in heart failure is strongly related to atrioventricular plane displacement.


We present the submodels OFFLEM, ONLEM, and TNUDGE for the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy). Prescribed emissions from input files are handled by OFFLEM. ONLEM deals with online-calculated emissions , i.e., emissions that are calculated during the simulation. The submodel TNUDGE uses the " tracer nudging " technique for pseudo-sources and-sinks. For species with highly uncertain emission fluxes and/or with sufficiently long lifetimes, e.g., CH 4 , it is common to create such pseudo-fluxes by prescribing the observed mixing ratio of the species at a given boundary (e.g., the mixing ratio of methane at the surface, or the ozone mixing ratio at the tropopause). All three submodels substantially simplify the inclusion of emissions into a model. Specific emissions can easily be switched on or off. New prescribed emissions can be included without rewriting any code. New online emissions only require one additional subroutine containing the new parameterization. A major advantage is that input fields at arbitrary resolution can be used. The problem of incompatible grids between emission data and model is overcome by utilizing the MESSy data import interface. To further simplify the creation of new offline emission data, the preprocessing program EDGAR2NC is provided. EDGAR2NC transforms files from the EDGAR format into the netCDF format which is required by OFFLEM. The presented routines are a part of the community modeling project MESSy and can be made available for use to the atmospheric modeling community.


The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the transport of cimetidine across the brush border membrane of choroid plexus epithelium. Brush border membrane vesicles were prepared from bovine choroid plexus and the uptake of [3H]cimetidine was studied using the methods of rapid vacuum filtration and scintillation counting. Cimetidine accumulated in the vesicles with time reaching equilibrium within 2 hr. The amount of cimetidine taken up by the vesicles at equilibrium decreased with increasing extravesicular media osmolarity suggesting that cimetidine accumulates in an osmotically reactive intravesicular space. Binding of cimetidine to the membrane was estimated to be less than 18%. Michaelis-Menten studies demonstrated that cimetidine transport involved both a saturable and a nonsaturable component. The Vmax and Km (mean +/- S.E.) were 16.7 +/- 5.9 pmol/sec/mg protein and 58.1 +/- 3.1 microM, respectively, suggesting that cimetidine is transported across the choroid plexus brush border membrane with a lower affinity and a higher capacity than across the renal brush border membrane. The organic cation, quinidine (0.1 mM), and the amino acid, histidine (20 mM), both significantly reduced the initial, but not the equilibrium, uptake of cimetidine. However, high concentrations (5 mM) of more polar organic cations including tetraethylammonium, as well as of several organic anions including salicylate did not inhibit cimetidine transport. Studies with unlabeled cimetidine revealed a countertransport phenomenon. Attempts to drive the concentrative uptake of cimetidine with various ion gradients were unsuccessful. Of note was the fact that an outwardly directed proton gradient could significantly accelerate the uptake of cimetidine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health problem, with increasing prevalence and lethal adverse outcomes like progressive loss of kidney function, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Disturbances in mineral metabolism and bone disease are common complications of CKD and an important cause of morbidity and decreased quality of life in patients with CKD. Patients with renal failure have an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality that may be due in part to vascular calcification. To measure serum levels of calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase in patients in various stages of CKD and to correlate the same with creatinine and estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR)values. This is a cross sectional study done at Thanjavur Medical College Hospital. 60 CKD patients and 50 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of creatinine, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase were measured and eGFR values correlated with the serum creatinine. The mean values of creatinine (4.9 ± 2.23 mg/dl), calcium (9.8 ± 0.456 mg/dl) , phosphorus (4.19 ± 0.404 mg/dl) and alkaline phosphatase (94.01 ± 15.10 U/L) in the study group are significantly higher than the control group in which the mean levels are 0.89 ± 0.102 mg/dl, 10.17 ± 0.37 mg/dl, 4.02 ± 0.16 mg/dl and 25.16 ± 4.65U/L respectively. We have found that there is a significant difference in the above said parameters among patients in different stages of CKD (stage 3-5) indicating the progression of mineral bone disease with advancing stage of CKD.


In the growing knowledge economy, the spaces where knowledge is created become increasingly more important. Interactions between government, university and industry can foster innovation and the creation of new ventures from the knowledge base.

New forms of triple helix collaborations, such as hybrid organizations, as well as trilateral networks, are created by these actors in order to fill gaps in roles and reduce transaction costs while enhancing innovation and firm formation (Etzkowitz 2000). The innovation of organizational structures and re-ordering and reforming of institutions can assist in the creation of innovative new
firms that are formed within this triple helix context.
However, triple helix configurations and networks are usually assumed to benefit a particular region or micro-economy. Little has been research and written about transnational triple helix combinations that are created for the purpose of facilitating entrepreneurial activity and culture across national boundaries (Clouser 2006).
New international ventures that are comprised of members from different countries, or serve multiple international markets in the early phases of their lifecycles are referred to as "born global ventures", "international new ventures" or "global start-ups". These new business types have been in the rise in nearly all developed countries, and researchers have noted the phenomenon (OECD, 1997; Simon, 1996; Nikkei Sangyoo Shimbun, 1995). These new ventures leverage knowledge and use its applications
to achieve superior performance (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994).

The Edinburgh-Stanford Link (ESL1) was a unique and arguably successful research, commercialisation and entrepreneurship education collaboration that crossed international boundaries. Through an act of the Scottish Parliament, the ESL1 was started as an "experiment", with a key goal of informing government and university policy makers. In addition, it was given a mantra of "culture change", with the goal of making the staff and students of the university more entrepreneurial. Moreover, the ESL1 had
a specialized model of technology transfer and intellectual property ownership that favored the funding Country. The stated purpose of new venture creation from ESL1, a triple helix hybrid, was to benefit the local (Scottish economy) through the creation of new knowledge-intensive jobs, while curtailing "brain drain" in the context of a declining Scottish population base.

The intended new knowledge firms were to be "born regionals" therefore and the assumption was that mechanisms of protection and control would ensure regional benefits from the exploitation of the science base.
Much was learned over the last five years studying the organization and its networks.

This paper explores the potential use of new technologies and propose an innovative new mechanism for firm formation in an expanded transatlantic triple helix collaboration designed to birth new "born global" ventures in an educational setting. In doing so it will bring into question current the intellectual property regime that is based on nationalistic structures of protectionism.
The creative deployment of emerging platforms and available technologies can facilitate new global venture creation as never before. Our talk addresses the use of virtual environments for interaction and new venture building using a new breed of architecture. The rights to the ownership of intellectual creation, formerly dictated by university and governmental policies that were constructed in the era of regionalism, become impediments to the birthing of international knowledge ventures in the new era of technological globalism. This constraint is evidenced by lessons learned from the ESL1 experience as well as its
conceptualized and proposed successor.


Since the mid-1970s, successive federal and state governments have redefined the
governance structure of Australian schooling in accordance with the principles of
the market and its corollary new managerialism (Hartley 1997; Marginson 1997;
Robertson 2000; Yeatman 1990). Morley and Rassool (1999, p 61) argue that 'the
introduction of markets and managers has been a generic transformational device
designed to restructure and reorient public service provision'. According to Yeatman
(1990, p 14), this structural and ideological shift has resulted in a corporate-style
bureaucracy whereby public sector activity is 'reduced to the effective, efficient and
economic management of human and capital resources'. As the dominant style of
public administration and public service, it seeks to make government efficient by
doing more with less, focusing on outcomes and results and managing change better.
The common elements have involved site-based management, the language of
improvement and budgetary devolution (Morley & Rassool 1999).
 Commenting on the British experience, Hoggett (1996, p 12) argues that
three fundamental but interrelated strategies of control have been implemented over
the last decade to drive these reforms. First, competition has been introduced as a
means of coordinating the activities of decentralised units. Second, there has been an
attempt to decentralise operations whilst centralising strategic command. Third,
there has been the extended development of performance management techniques. Against this backdrop, we set out in this article to examine how six senior
teachers in one secondary school in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia
have experienced and responded to these generic managerial reforms. In doing so,
we are keen to re-insert 'the missing voices of teachers' (Smyth 2001, p 149) back
into the reform debate that raged in Western Australian schools in the late 1980s and
simmered throughout the 1990s following the introduction of the mandated Better
schools in Western Australia: a programme for improvement (Ministry of
Education, Western Australia 1987).


Abstract. Retrieval of vertical profiles of temperature and humidity parameters using a VHF radar is described in this paper. For this, Indian MST radar located at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E) has been operated in a special mode. First, vertical velocities are collected continuously using the radar and are subjected to Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis to obtain Brunt-Vaisala oscillations. From the measured Brunt-Vaisala  oscillations, temperature profile is obtained from the radar observations following Revathy et al. (1996). The various terms required for the retrieval of vertical profiles of humidity are the eddy dissipation rate, e, the volume reflectivity, η, and the potential refractive index gradient, M. The eddy dissipation rate, e, is calculated from the spectral width after removing the effects due to non-turbulence. The volume reflectivity, η, of the turbulence scattering is calculated using the signal-to-noise ratio as a function of height. The potential refractive index gradient, M, is evaluated using the measured Brunt-Vaisala  oscillations, the eddy dissipation rate and the volume reflectivity, η. Vertical profiles of humidity are retrieved following Tsuda (1997) using the radar derived temperature as well as the balloon measured temperature and are compared with the humidity as measured by the radiosonde. The sign of the potential refractive index gradient, M, is taken from the simultaneous measurements of balloon soundings. The retrieved vertical profiles of temperature and humidity have been compared with the radiosonde data, which are released simultaneously with the radar observations at the radar site. A fairly good comparison is seen between the two measurements on some days and there are some discrepancies on some other days. The strengths and limitations in estimating the vertical profiles of temperature and humidity from the radar observations are discussed. Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (pressure, density and temperature; enhancements and techniques)


In the UK and elsewhere, social marketing is becoming a major feature of health-improvement strategies.1 Based on marketing techniques developed for commercial sales, social marketing uses imagery (eg television, magazines, internet and billboards) and phrases (eg radio adverts and slogans) specifically aimed at target groups (eg young people), typically to increase their positive health behaviours. Both national organisations and local health services routinely develop such interventions, often with little evidence of specifically how each campaign will affect public health. In general, such campaigns are regarded as potentially beneficial and possibly ineffective, but rarely are they considered dangerous to health. However, with access to powerful media such as the internet, professional eye-catching graphics and demographic targeting techniques unimaginable only a decade ago, such views need reassessing. In this report, we highlight the potential for social marketing campaigns to have negative repercussions, using cannabis prevention as an example.

Since 1998, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign in the USA has received more than US$1.2 billion of government funds to develop and deliver interventions designed to prevent primarily cannabis use in young people. Through a variety of media resources, it …


Reducing power consumption subject to quality-of-service (QoS) provisions is a critical task for next-generation networking. Recent research in resource management for orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) systems has generally assumed the availability of perfect channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT) or imperfect CSIT with small uncertainty. Nevertheless, such approaches deliver resource scheduling strategies with high transmitting power because, in real environments, large channel feedback delays and estimation errors cause high CSIT imperfectness. Furthermore, most existing works treat various QoS requirements from mobile users as homogenous, although they are heterogeneous in nature. In this paper, we address these issues by proposing a new power-efficient adaptive error-tolerant cross-layer scheduling scheme for OFDMA systems (PE-AETS). Our target is to minimize the transmitting power by considering heterogeneous QoS requirements and data outage due to imperfect CSIT. The proposed scheme adopts a robust power-bit loading (PBL) method that adjusts power and data rates across subcarriers with increased system resilience to channel errors. We develop a statistical queuing model to express the delay limitation of each user with an equivalent cross-layer constraint, and we apply subcarrier time-sharing relaxation to formulate a convex optimization problem. Finally, we utilize Lagrangian optimization to propose a joint power and subcarrier allocation policy with guaranteed convergence to optimal solutions and linear complexity. Various simulation scenarios confirm the superior performance of the proposed PE-AETS over relevant cross-layer approaches.


"Psychotic manifestations in adolescence can take on a defensive aspect when dealing with psychotic illness, a breakdown (Laufer, M. and M. E.). Fanny presented delusive and hallucinatory activity and her symptoms disappeared after two years of therapy. Psychotherapeutic technique must follow a common thread: the conviction that the delirious and the hallucinatory belong to the internal world of the patient and form part of her narrative about herself; the associative thread of the session makes it possible to suggest that the patient invite psychotic elements into her psychic space or world, thereby putting them into the "world,"


To date, no methodical approach has been found to integrate multiple access control extensions and concepts proposed for RBAC in an access control model that deals with the complexity of such a model and still leaves the model open for further extensions. As we know from the case studies of our research project [1], bringing together various access control concepts such as separation of duty, workflow-related concepts, and context constraints is necessary in real world scenarios such as in the health care sector and in the financial sector. To solve this problem, this report presents an extensible and flexible framework for the specification of complex RBAC models that is based on the modularization of access control concepts. Each concept is packed into a so-called authorization module and can then be reused and combined with other modules in order to specify a full access control model. The framework can be used to define new access control concepts rapidly and concisely as well as to explore and analyze them thoroughly. Furthermore, it is capable of delivering a policy data model for each generated access control model which can be used to develop an appropriate policy language. As a method we use formal, object-oriented specification in the ObjectZ notation. In particular, we demonstrate how formal reasoning can be applied in order to provide an in-depth analysis of the specification.


This paper reports on a zero-dimensional, time-dependent, particle and power balance code developed and used to evaluate the effectiveness of different burn control methods for the stabilization of unstable ignited and subignited operating points of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) physics phase machine. Based on the results of our calculations, we conclude that the operation of ITER at thermally unstable operating points is physically and technologically feasible. Control with auxiliary power modulation seems to be the method of choice for the control of subignited unstable points, while other methods such as modulation of the fueling rate and high-Z impurity injection can also be used, especially for the control of unstable ignited points where auxiliary power modulation cannot be used.


: Geospatial research has long centered around objects. While attention to events is growing rapidly, events remain objectified in spatial databases. This paper aims to high-light the importance of events in scientific inquiries and overview general event-based approaches to data modeling and computing. As machine learning algorithms and big data become popular in geospatial research, many studies appear to be the products of convenience with readily adaptable data and codes rather than curiosity. By asking why events are important and how to compute events in geospatial research, the author intends to provoke thinking into the rationale and conceptual basis of event-based modeling and to emphasize the epistemological role of events in geospatial information science. Events are essential to understanding the world and communicating the understanding, events provide points of entry for knowledge inquiries and the inquiry processes, and events mediate objects and scaffold causality. We compute events to improve understanding, but event computing and computability depend on event representation. The paper briefly reviews event-based data models in spatial databases and methods to compute events for site understanding and prediction, for spatial impact assessment, and for discovering events' dynamic structures. Concluding remarks summarize key arguments and comment on opportunities to extend event computability.


Direct prediction error identification of systems operating in closed loop may lead to biased results due to the correlation between the input and the output noise. The authors study this error, what factors affect it, and how it may be avoided. In particular, the role of the noise model is discussed and the authors show how the noise model should be parameterized to avoid the bias. Apart from giving important insights into the properties of the direct method, this provides a nonstandard motivation for the indirect method.


Market forms such as shopping malls and department stores have been cloned endlessly in both rural and urban areas in many countries as a successful retail model. Despite the fairly homogeneous architectural expression and internalized (isolated) environment of new market forms (cut off from the city at large), the mass production of generic markets are seen favourably, since they are cost effective and offer the high dollar-per-square-footage that developers seek and that favours a global consumer economy. Therefore, the more traditional public markets that were once an expression the local life and culture are now being replacing by the "McDonaldized" (Rizter, 2006 page 123) marketplaces. They all have a similar architectural form, type and style that have little or no linkage to the locale and, in addition, are private zones. Since the 1970s, the intensity of construction of such generic market places has been slowly overriding the authentic identity of market architecture in many regions. In order to distinguish and express the unique architectural developments and the difference in local lifestyles of different regions, it is important to maintain local identity of building that houses "historically stable programs" (Leong, 2011, p. 138) such as local market. It is also crucial to keep the marketplace public in nature where people can socialize with greater freedom. This project intends to re- capture the local identity in a specific urban marketplace as a test of how contemporary design can maintain, revitalize and reinterpret the essence of the local architecture. The site is a typical residential- commercial neighbourhood known as Li-Nong in Shanghai. It is a row house neighbourhood built in 1924 in the heart of the city. The deterioration of buildings and limited access into the neighbourhood has contributed to the decline of businesses in the neighbourhood's commercial strip. This project attempts to revitalize the historical laneway commercial neighbourhood and make it into a pedestrianized and inviting neighbourhood where locals can still have a shopping experience that is informed by the 1924 Shanghai-nese architecture.


A Third Invoicing Directive for the EU VAT seems to be a foregone conclusion. Corrections are needed in the Second Invoicing Directive. The hallmark of the next Directive will be its application of digital invoice technology. The Commission's proposals will include adoption of tax-technology advances in invoice-control that are currently in use outside the EU. The next Invoicing Directive will require comprehensive e-invoicing, invoices that are digitally signed, and invoices that are fed into a system of relational databases that match transaction data across the Single Market. There will be real-time EU sales/purchases lists, and remote/real-time audit functionality. This will occur, because the true target of the Third Invoicing Directive will be missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud, not invoices. Improvements in invoicing will be a means to achieve a larger end.This will not be a "black swan" IT effort. The needed technology is here today; the necessary systems are tried and proven in large multi-jurisdictional tax systems; the implementation costs will be a small fraction of the €100 billion that is currently lost to MTIC fraud annually. This paper "connects the dots." It considers Brazil's successful digital invoicing regime in the Sistema Publico de Escrituracao Digital or Public System for Digital Accounting (SPED) and applies what has been learned to the pattern of MTIC and missing trader extra-community (MTEC) frauds in the EU. A follow-up paper will align the Croatian Fiskalizacija – IT (Fiscalization program) with the Brazilian SPED, and then consider the data security and remote audit functionality of the newly implemented Rwandan system.There is much to be learned and borrowed from these systems. Workability is assured.


Organic semiconductors technology has only recently started to merge with biology and medicine, especially in the field of polymeric coatings as protective layers for artificial devices. Very few examples, however, report the use of semiconducting polymers as active materials in the bio-environment. Here we demonstrate hybrid, solid-liquid photodiodes, in which a semiconducting polymer film (poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene], MEH-PPV) is deposited on an Indium-Tin Oxide anode and contacted to various liquid ionic cathodes (water, saline solutions, physiological buffers, cell-culturing media), instead of commonly used metallic cathodes. In the double-phase device, in contrast to conventional photodiodes, ionic transport inside the liquid medium plays a key-role. Remarkably, the conductance type changes from mainly electronic, in the polymer film, to ionic, at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface and in the liquid phase. Such unconventional devices display good behaviors in photovoltaic regime. We give a complete opto-electronic characterization of the devices, discuss the peculiar properties which stem from the hybrid solid-liquid nature and propose a physical-chemical explanation of the working principle. The main differences between hybrid and conventional photodiodes, related to interface phenomena between the polymer film and the cathode, are extensively investigated as well; to this goal, we study the effect of ionic liquid media onto the photophysics of conjugated polymers, comparing the behavior of polymer bulk and polymer-liquid interfaces by means of several time-domain optical probes. Additionally, we demonstrate that this hybrid device can be an interface for communicating with a neuronal network grown on top of the organic layer. The organic semiconductor behaves as photo-window for an unconventional and unprecedented organic-bio communication protocol.


BACKGROUND
 The prevalence of social media use among youth and young adults suggests it is an appropriate platform for study recruitment from this population. Previous studies have examined the use of social media for recruitment, but few have compared platforms, and none, to our knowledge, have attempted to recruit cigarillo users.

 OBJECTIVE
 The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of different social media platforms and advertisement images for recruiting cigarillo users aged 14-28 years to complete a cigarillo use survey.

 METHODS
 We obtained objective data for advertisement impressions for a 39-week social media recruitment campaign. Advertisements were targeted to users based on their age, geography, and interests. Effectiveness was defined as the percentage of approved surveys per advertising impression. Chi-square tests were performed to compare the effectiveness of different advertisement images and platforms.

 RESULTS
 Valid survey completers (n=1089) were predominately older (25-28 years old, n=839, 77%). Of the 1089 survey completers, 568 (52%) identified as male, 335 (31%) as African American, and 196 (18%) as Hispanic. Advertisements delivered via Facebook/Instagram were more effective than Twitter; 311/1,027,738 (0.03%) vs 661/2,998,715 (0.02%); χ21=21.45, N=4,026,453); P<.001. Across platforms, ads featuring exclusively an image of cigarillos were more effective (397/682,994, 0.06%) than ads with images of individuals smoking (254/1,308,675, 0.02%), individuals not smoking (239/1,393,134, .02%), and groups not smoking (82/641,650, 0.01%); χ23133.73, N=4,026,453; P<.001.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The campaign was effective in recruiting a diverse sample representative of relevant racial/ethnic categories. Advertisements on Facebook were more effective than Twitter. Advertisements that featured an image of a cigarillo were consistently the most effective and should be considered by others recruiting cigarillo users via social media.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of why firms, specifically small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), participate in a programme for competence development and why firms use different strategies for competence development. Design/methodology/approach - A study of 17 SMEs that all received support from the European Social Fund, Objective 3 programme. The collection of data is based on semi-structured interviews with management/owners, internal project leaders, employees and union representatives, feedback seminars with representatives from the studied enterprises, and on analysis of documents. Findings - The findings demonstrate that all SMEs reported driving forces for competence development relating to both external organizational conditions and internal organizational conditions, to at least a certain degree. Furthermore, there appears to be a strong relationship between observed patterns of driving forces and the strategy for competence development used by the firm. Practical implications - The SMEs that experience a relatively stronger driving force for competence development initiate problem-solving efforts to design and implement more elaborated strategies for competence development. The SMEs that experience a lesser degree of driving force for competence development implement less elaborated strategies for competence development. Originality/value - The paper finds that both external and internal organizational conditions are important in understanding why SMEs undergo competence development programme. Furthermore, the importance of external and internal organizational conditions is not only limited to why the companies participate in a programme for competence development, but also for how they participate, i.e. the strategies used for competence development.


In everyday life it is often the result of knowledge that counts, not the actual knowledge itself. There are a lot of theories of how artefacts in one way or another can support human thinking and knowing. Intelligent tools can work as a supporting environment in a similar way that Vygotsky puts forward the Zone of proximal development. This study tries to find some empirical signs of how students use the web with consideration to such theories. Ten students put notes about their web use in a diary and were finally interviewed. The web is a natural part of their life. The result shows that the students use the web 1) as an external memory 2) as a reference and "thought prop" and 3) as a source of inspiration and guidance. A conclusion is that educational systems with traditional views of knowledge should look for opportunities many students already know.


Over four centuries, nuisance law has proved its versatility. Originally, a near strict liability doctrine restraining uses that interfered with traditional agrarian and domestic uses, nuisance evolved to accommodate the industrial revolution, providing nuisance defendants with defenses like suitability of uses to their location, use of best available technology, and a high standing bar for private plaintiffs alleging public nuisances, making injunctive relief unlikely. In the mid-20th century, the Restatements were interpreted by some courts to endorse wholesale balancing of the gravity of harmful activities versus their economic value to the defendant and society not just limited to the issue of injunctive relief versus damages but whether a nuisance existed at all. This transformation of nuisance doctrine, like the earlier one, was the product of instrumentalism: a perceived need to accommodate economic growth, as judges were able to deny nuisance plaintiffs relief based on value judgments about the relative value of development versus environmental quality.

In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has intervened to stop federal nuisance law from applying to interstate pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. The Court did so not on the basis of congressional intent but on its vision of federalism and judicial competency. While these decisions seem to remove nuisance law from the foremost pollution threat in our time, the doctrine may regain relevance if the Court proceeds to narrowly interpret the scope of federal environmental legislation protecting resources like wetlands and groundwater, thereby eliminating displacement arguments. If those resources are not federally regulated, nuisance doctrine would give injured landowners a remedy, just as it has afforded those injured by emissions from hog farms, recently the subject of multi-million dollar damage suits.

This paper traces the evolution of nuisance law, examining a dozen landmark cases, revealing a doctrine that began by protecting traditional agrarian and domestic uses, yet was malleable enough to accommodate perceived development priorities in the 19th and 20th centuries. The paper does suggest that where not federally displaced or preempted by state statutes, nuisance law today remains a viable cause of action for injured landowners, particularly where the issue is left to juries. Given the evident hostility of the Supreme Court, nuisance may not be available to combat greenhouse gas emissions, despite the felt necessities of the 21st century, like the evident damages due unrestrained atmospheric pollution and ocean acidification, but could supply injured parties a remedy against unregulated activities. Those parties might encourage courts to rediscover nuisance's strict liability roots and return the doctrine to its origins protecting against uses that inflict substantial injuries on their neighbors and the public at large.


To contribute to the debate on the recent inequality fall in Latin America, we provide evidence on the primary income distribution in Uruguay for 2009-2016 and assess mobility patterns. Comparing household surveys micro-data and a unique array of matched personal-firm income tax records, we find that trends are sensitive to the data source and inequality measure. Gini and Theil indices decreased, with a milder fall in tax records than in household surveys. Whereas in tax records synthetic indices fell within the bottom 99% offsetting increased concentration at the top, in household surveys the largest reduction occurred at the top. In turn, tax records estimates of top 1% income shares remained steady at around 15%, but decreased in household surveys throughout the whole period. Moreover, top income positions were stable, with average persistence rates at the top 1% close to 80%. Meanwhile, the equalizing effect of income mobility was very modest.


One of the largest urban development projects at present in Hamburg is the conversion of former military barracks into a new residential area for about 630 households, called Jenfelder Au. The urban design concept for this 35 ha area follows a high quality approach to develop a carbon-neutral, attractive neighbourhood for approx. 2,000 inhabitants abundant with green space and urban water. HAMBURG WASSER, Hamburg9s water supply and wastewater utility, is rethinking the way of wastewater management by implementing an integrated concept for decentralised wastewater treatment and energy production – the so-called HAMBURG WATER Cycle® (HWC) – in this new residential area, based on source control of wastewater. Stormwater, greywater and blackwater are collected separately and then treated separately on site in Jenfelder Au. The realisation of the HWC will be the hitherto largest demonstration of a resource oriented sanitation concept working with vacuum technology for the collection of concentrated blackwater. This concept intends to establish synergy between wastewater management, waste management and energy production, and contributes to an improved local natural water cycle.


The aim of the study was to investigate changes of photosynthetic ef fi ciency, amount of photosynthetic pigments, superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity, and rate of lipid peroxidation in bean–rust interaction. The clari fi cation of the role of the above changes involved in the defence mechanism can signi fi cantly contribute to the breeding of plant varieties with natural resistance. Consequently, the amount of chemicals used in food production can be signi fi cantly reduced. In the present study some principal physiological parameters, such as the relative chlorophyll content of the host plant, the amount of photosynthetic pigments, changes in photosynthetic ef fi ciency, and the activity of superoxide-dismutase (SOD) in addition to rate of lipid peroxidation (LP) were measured. The experiment was conducted in a humidity tent. Signi fi cant decrease in the relative chlorophyll content and in the amount of photosynthetic pigments was measured. At both sampling times, an increase was found in superoxide-dismutase enzyme activity and in rate of lipid peroxidation due to the bean rust infection. Notably, in several cases the differences were signi fi cant. The results indicate that the above parameters have important role in the bean–rust interaction, which should be taken into consideration in resistance breeding.


We present a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) study of spin and charge excitations in overdoped La1.77Sr0.23CuO4 along two high-symmetry directions. The line shape of these excitations is analyzed and they are shown to be highly overdamped. Their spectral weight and damping are found to be strongly momentum dependent. Qualitative agreement between these observations and a calculated random-phase approximation susceptibility is obtained for this overdoped compound, implying that a significant contribution to the RIXS signal stems from a continuum of charge excitations. Furthermore, this suggests that the spin excitations in the overdoped regime can be captured qualitatively by an itinerant picture. Our calculations also predict a low-energy spin-excitation branch to exist along the nodal direction near the zone center. With the energy resolution of the present experiment, this branch is not resolvable, but we show that the next generation of high-resolution spectrometers will be able to test this prediction.


This thesis aims to rescue the tradition of corporation theory from the implications of ontological and ethical individualism, which form important tenets of mainstream political theory. My argument for corporate personality builds on the Lockean and Humean theory of personal identity over time. According to this theory, personal identity is not rooted in the identity of a deep and indivisible Self, but in the relatedness between temporally distinct psychological stages. A person is a group of desires, beliefs, memories, traits and other attitudes, tied together by a causal string. On the best interpretation of the Humean view, personal identity has normative consequences. We are bundles but the string that ties the stages of one life together is formed by the normativity of action-guiding principles and by the mutual recognition of certain associative obligations. This normative claim is often meant to buttress ethical individualism against those who deny that persons exist at all. However, this thesis demonstrates that the claim also reinvigorates the idea of corporate personality. The argument develops along two different strands. First, it is shown that corporate personality is a political theory. It is the theory that compares co-operative relations between people with the co-operative relations between the stages of one person. For contractualist theories, the core virtue is justice. For corporate theories, the highest virtue is integrity. Second, corporation theory makes a real contribution to the field of political theory, in particular in an area where contractualism has traditionally encountered problems, to wit, the continuity of the contract. This thesis argues corporation theory is much more successful in explaining our transgenerational obligations to the past and future.


The first chapter discusses the effects of uncertainty shocks on the labour market. Using US data, I show empirically that increases in unemployment are due to both an increase in the separation rate and a decrease in the job-finding rate. By contrast, standard search and matching models predict an increase in the job finding rate in response to an increase in the crosssectional dispersion of firms' productivity levels. To explain observed responses in labour market transition rates, I develop a search and matching model in which heterogeneous firms face a decreasing returns to scale technology, firms can hire multiple workers, and job flows do not necessarily coincide with worker flows. Costly job creation is key to obtaining a decrease in the job-finding rate after an increase in uncertainty. Standard numerical solution techniques cannot be used to obtain an accurate solution efficiently and I propose an alternative algorithm to overcome this problem.
The second chapter studies business cycles when markets are incomplete, nominal wages do not respond one-for-one to price level changes, and labour markets are characterized by matching frictions. During recessions, idiosyncratic labour income risk increases as workers worry about being unemployed. This induces workers to save more. We allow such precautionary savings – in principle – to end up in both an unproductive asset (money) and a productive assets (firm ownership). The increased demand for money puts deflationary pressure on prices. If nominal wages are not sufficiently responsive to deflationary pressures, wage costs and the unemployment rate are pushed up, which in turn intensifies the fear of becoming unemployed. Unemployment benefits improve welfare in our economy.
The third chapter analyses the inefficiencies created in a search and matching model that allows for on-the-job search. First, the Hosios rule for the efficient level of the worker's bargaining power is adapted in a simple model. As the average gain of a new match is lower when some job seekers already have a job, the efficient level of labour market tightness should be lower and the worker's bargaining power higher than in a model devoid of on-the-job
search. Second, the decision of when to perform on-the-job search is endogenised. Too much on-the-job search is taking place, because workers do not fully incorporate their current firms' loss when they quit. Partial wage commitment improves the efficiency of the on-the-job search decision and the efficient level can be obtained.


In many muscle pathologies, impairment of skeletal muscle function is closely linked to changes in the mechanical properties of the muscle constituents. Optical coherence micro-elastography (OCME) uses optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of tissue under a quasi-static, compressive mechanical load to map variations in tissue mechanical properties on the micro-scale. We present the first study of OCME on skeletal muscle tissue. We show that this technique can resolve features of muscle tissue including fibers, fascicles and tendon, and can also detect necrotic lesions in skeletal muscle from the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In many instances, OCME provides better or additional contrast complementary to that provided by OCT. These results suggest that OCME could provide new understanding and opportunity for assessment of skeletal muscle pathologies.


"To the cloud!" trumpets a commercial by Microsoft, whose aim is to herd customers, and their checkbooks, into the cloud computing fold. But Microsoft, and other cloud providers like Amazon and Google, might inadvertently be doing just the opposite. It is not for lack of security or even early adopter apprehension that potential customers might turn away. Nor is it a lack of fantastic, cost-saving applications of cloud technology. Rather, the problem is buried deep within these tech giants' clickwrap agreements—the ones that customers rarely read and to which they invariably click "I Agree." Hidden in these agreements are limitation on liability clauses, veritable safe harbors for cloud providers and submerged icebergs for the unwary cloud customer. Often, these clauses wholly abrogate a customer's right to recover damages for his provider's wrongful acts. In other words, a provider could purposefully delete its customers' data or shut down its users' websites, leaving the aggrieved customers with no cause of action and no right to recover. While limitation on liability clauses are not new to the contract law vernacular, their inclusion in cloud computing agreements is particularly troublesome. The amount of potential liability that customers may waive through a half-cocked click is as enormous as it is troubling. While courts have recently held that these clauses are enforceable in other Internet-related areas, courts should be wary of blindly applying precedent and enforcing these clauses in the cloud computing context.


The present doctoral thesis comprises of two parts. The part A describes the syntheses of four new aminomethyl anchors, and their effective utilization has been demonstrated by high yielding syntheses; of the isomeric muramyl-dipeptides (MDP).The part B describes the isolation and structural elucidation of two new long chain esters of sarsapogenin and hecogenin, re5pectively, from Plumeria rubra.

Part A: Solid phase synthesis of muramyl dipeptides via aminomethyl linker resins.

The aminomethyl anchors have been synthesized via Friedal Craft reaction of 3,5-dimethoxyphenol with N-chloromethylphthalimide using anhydrous zinc chloride as catalyst. The reaction yielded two monosubstituted (la & 1b) and two disubstituted products (2a & 2b) which were separated through column chromatography over silica gel (Scheme). The four isomers were separately loaded on chloromethylcopoly (styrene-l %-divinylbenzene) in presence of sodium methoxide as catalyst. The monosubstituted la & 1b were loaded on Merrifield resin (1.34 mmol/g), while the disubstituted derivatives 2a & 2b were loaded on Merrifield resin (0.75 mmol/g).------------------------------------------------------------

Hydrozinolysis liberated the free amino groups to provide resin coupled anchors 3a-3d (Scheme 2).

For the synthesis of carbohydrate moiety, N-acetyl glucosamine was benzylated with benzyl alcohol in acidic condition, followed by the protection of hydroxyl groups at C-4 and C-6 through benzylidene formation. The free hydroxyl group at C-3 was reacted with racemic a-chloropropionic acid to obtain crystalline benzyl N-acetyl-3-0-(D-l-carboxyethyl)-2-deoxy-D-glucose (7) (Scheme 3)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Synthesis of N-(9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyi)-AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'³-tert-butyl-D-glutamic ester was achieved through standard strategy in seven steps (Scheme 4). The L-isomer was also obtained through the similar methodology.------------------------------------------

The synthesis of N-(9-fluorenylmethoxy carbonyl) 0 and L alanine was achieved in one step by reaction of Oor L alanine with N-(9-fluorenylmethoxy succinimide (FmocONSu) (Scheme 5).----------------------------------------------------

The solid phase synthesis of muramyldipeptides (MOP) was carried out by standard OCC/HOBt strategy which is illustrated in Fig I.------------------------------

Both the D and L isomers derived from glutamine and alanine were utilized using different aminomethyl anchors 3a-3d, respectively. For the cleavage TFA/anisol was used which took 3-5 h for complete detachment. The products 18-21 (Fig 2)were purified through HPLC.--------------------------------------------------

Debenzylation was achieved through hydrogenation over palladium in presence of charcoal. It resulted in the formation of both the a and AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'²-anomers in a ratio of2:l (determined by HPLC).----------------------------------------------------------------------

Although muramyldipeptides have also been obtained by other routes, but we have synthesized these through solid phase methodology to demonstrate the utility of our newly synthesized aminomethyl linkers. These can easily be synthesized and cleaved with TFA/anisol under mild conditions during which the side chain protecting groups are stable. Z. Naturforsch. 53b, 753-764 (1998).

Part B: I3ioassay directed isolation studies on Plumeria rubra. This part describes the phytochemical studies on Plumeria rubra which resulted in the isolation and structural elucidation of 12 compounds out of which two spirostanes namely (25s)-5/3-spirostane-3/3-palmitate (57) and (25R)-5a-spirostane-12-one-3f3-octanoate (58) have been characterized as new compounds.------------------------------------

Besides, the following reported compounds have also been isolated and identified 13AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'±, 27-Dihydroxy-12-oleanene(47) 2Rubrinol(48) 36 AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'±-Hydroxy-3-epi-oleanolic acid(49) 4Taraxarsteryl acetate (50) 5Cycloart-22-ene-3 AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'±, 25-diol(51) 6Oleanolic acid(52) 7Lupeol(53) 8AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'±-Amyrine(54) 9AƒÂƒA'ÂŽAƒÂ'A'²-Sitosterol(55) 10Stigmasterol(56)


240 double-sided full color flip panels allow you to create unique combinations for interior decor and provide useful information. Wallpaper and textile swatches illustrate tropical and exotic designs from palm trees to elephants to exotic birds. There are map motifs, animal prints, cork, and bamboo aplenty, acres of foliage, and exotic fauna too. This playbook doubles as a seriously useful tool for dedicated professional designers and do-it-yourself home decorators. The historic and contemporary designs are all currently available from companies under the umbrella of the F. Schumacher & Company, making it possible to actually create your combinations in full-room scale. This book is guaranteed to inspire and offers hours of fun!


OBJECTIVES
Green tea is known to possess anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. This study evaluated the effect of a locally prepared green tea dentifrice on specific parameters assessing gingival inflammation and severity of periodontal disease, when used as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) in the management of chronic periodontitis by comparing with a fluoride-triclosan-containing control dentifrice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thirty patients, with mild to moderate chronic periodontitis, were randomly allocated into two treatment groups, 'test' and 'control' after initial SRP. The test group was given green tea dentifrice with instructions on method of brushing, while the control group received a commercially available fluoride and triclosan containing dentifrice. Clinical parameters of Gingival Index (GI), Plaque Index (PI), percentage of sites with bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) along with biochemical parameters of total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) were recorded at baseline line and 4 weeks post-SRP.

RESULTS
Intragroup analysis at 4 weeks showed statistically significant improvements of GI, PI, BOP, PD, CAL and TAOC in both groups. GST activity however, was increased only in the test group. At the end of the study period, the test group showed statistically significant improvements in GI, BOP, CAL, TAOC and GST levels compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION
On comparison with fluoride-triclosan dentifrice, green tea showed greater reduction of gingival inflammation and improved periodontal parameters. Green tea dentifrice may serve as a beneficial adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy.


Cathepsin D is a lysosomal aspartyl protease that has also been implicated in breast cancer and metastasis. The tumor progression properties do not require the catalytic activity of the enzyme but do appear to be related to hyperexpression and secretion of the enzyme from cancer cells. Laurent-Matha et al. report that human breast cancer MCF-7 cells promoted the outgrowth of fibroblasts (human skin, human mammary, or mouse fibroblasts deficient for cathepsin D). Rat 3Y1-Ad12 cancer cells engineered to secrete higher-than-normal levels of wild-type or catalytically inactive cathepsin D also stimulated mouse fibroblast outgrowth, whereas rat cancer cells that did not hypersecrete cathepsin D did not. RNA interference was used to inhibit the production of cathepsin D in MCF-7 cells, and these cells were impaired in their ability to stimulate fibroblast outgrowth. Mouse fibroblasts engineered to express wild-type or catalytically inactive human cathepsin D were compared to mouse fibroblasts deficient in cathepsin D, and the cathepsin D-positive cells were more invasive in two assays and exhibited enhanced migration in a wound-healing assay compared to the cathepsin D-deficient cells. Cathepsin D-positive cells also exhibited enhanced proliferation and decreased apoptosis compared to that observed for cathepsin D-deficient cells. Cathepsin D stimulated the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, based on increased phosphorylation of ERK in the cathepsin D-positive cells, and pharmacological inhibition of the upstream kinase MEK inhibited the invasive growth phenotype. That it was secreted cathepsin D that was responsible for the invasive growth phenotype and ERK stimulation was verified using conditioned medium from the wild-type or catalytically inactive cathepsin D cells. Thus, secreted cathepsin D appears to have a paracrine role in promoting invasive growth. V. Laurent-Matha, S. Maruani-Herrmann, C. Prébois, M. Beaujouin, M. Glondu, A. Noël, M. L. Alvarez-Gonzalez, S. Blacher, P. Coopman, S. Baghdiguian, C. Gilles, J. Loncarek, G. Freiss, F. Vignon, E. Liaudet-Coopman, Catalytically inactive human cathepsin D triggers fibroblast invasive growth. J. Cell Biol. 168, 489-499 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


[Excerpt] "When historians look back at the Rehnquist Court, without a doubt they will say that its greatest changes in constitutional law were in the area of federalism. Over the past decade, and particularly over the last five years, the Supreme Court has dramatically limited the scope of Congress' powers and has greatly expanded the protection of state Sovereign Immunity. Virtually every area of law, criminal and civil, is touched by these changes. Since I began teaching constitutional law in 1980, the most significant differences in constitutional law are a result of the Supreme Court's revival of federalism as a constraint on federal power."


It is important to estimate the contribution of the wind generation plants in the evaluation of system generation adequacy for power generation planning. Australia has recently proposed to utilize the diversity of the wind energy resources in Southeast Australian power grid through existing inter-State interconnections. This paper aims to present a probabilistic adequacy model for the capacity credit estimation of wind generation plants in interconnected power systems. In particular, the proposed adequacy model will be applied to investigate how sharing of wind energy resource diversity can enhance the capacity credit of the wind generation plants. The impact of the inter-tie rating and varying wind penetration on the estimated capacity credit of the shared wind generation plants is also investigated. The capacity credits of the wind generation plants in each State are estimated within the purview of National Electricity Market (NEM) framework of Australia. The results obtained from simulations are presented and discussed.


Decentralized multirobot learning refers to the use of multiple learning entities to achieve the optimal solution for the overall robot system. We demonstrate that single-robot learning theory can be successfully used with multirobot systems, but with certain conditions. The success and the effectiveness of this method are potentially affected by various factors that we classify into two groups: the nature of the robots and the nature of the learning entities. Incorrect setup of these factors may lead to undesirable results. In this paper, we methodically test the effect of varying four common factors (reward scope, learning algorithms, diversity of robots, and number of robots) in a decentralized multirobot system, first in simulation and then on real robots. The results show that two of these factors, reward scope and learning algorithm, if set up incorrectly, can prevent optimal, cooperative olutions. s


—We studied the diet of Crested Guans (Penelope purpurascens; Galliformes: Cracidae) in lowland tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. From June-August 2015 we collected observations of foraging adults using five-minute focal follows of randomly chosen individuals. A total of 141 food items were recorded over 565 minutes of observations. Although Crested Guans are believed to be primarily frugivorous, we found that they consumed a high proportion of leaves (61.7% of items) and insects (24.8%), with fruits comprising a minority of items (13.5%). Guans preferred to eat young leaves, which are more tender and contain higher levels of nitrogen than mature leaves; however, young leaves also contain higher levels of tannins and other secondary defensive compounds, raising new questions about the mechanisms by which arboreal birds digest leaves. Recent studies have found similarly high levels of leaf consumption in other species of guans and chachalacas, suggesting that folivory may be more widespread in the family Cracidae than previously realized. Received 9 June 2016. Accepted 26 July 2016.


Teacher-students' and students-students' interactions are of significant importance in foreign language teaching and learning. It is argued that interactions between teachers and students facilitate language development and lead to better language learning. The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of two teaching approaches: 1. Task-Based Instruction (TBI) and 2. Form-Focused Instruction (FFI) on the quantity and quality of teacher-students' interactions reflected in the number of occurrences of turn taking, question type, feedback and errors correction. Two groups of intermediate-level learners were selected as the participants of this study. One group was instructed by Form-Focused Instruction (FFI) approach and the other class was instructed by Task-Based Instruction (TBI) approach. Results of the statistical analysis of the collected data revealed that FFI approach led to the occurrence of more teacher-students' interactions than TBI approach. The pedagogical implications are discussed.


The axisymmetric structure of the inner-core hurricane boundary layer (BL) during intensification [IN; intensity tendency ≥20 kt (24 h)−1, where 1 kt ≈ 0.5144 m s−1], weakening [WE; intensity tendency <−10 kt (24 h)−1], and steady-state [SS; the remainder] periods are analyzed using composites of GPS dropwindsondes from reconnaissance missions between 1998 and 2015. A total of 3091 dropsondes were composited for analysis below 2.5-km elevation—1086 during IN, 1042 during WE, and 963 during SS. In nonintensifying hurricanes, the low-level tangential wind is greater outside the radius of maximum wind (RMW) than for intensifying hurricanes, implying higher inertial stability (I2) at those radii for nonintensifying hurricanes. Differences in tangential wind structure (and I2) between the groups also imply differences in secondary circulation. The IN radial inflow layer is of nearly equal or greater thickness than nonintensifying groups, and all groups show an inflow maximum just outside the RMW. Nonintensifying hurricanes have stronger inflow outside the eyewall region, likely associated with frictionally forced ascent out of the BL and enhanced subsidence into the BL at radii outside the RMW. Equivalent potential temperatures (θe) and conditional stability are highest inside the RMW of nonintensifying storms, which is potentially related to TC intensity. At greater radii, inflow layer θe is lowest in WE hurricanes, suggesting greater subsidence or more convective downdrafts at those radii compared to IN and SS hurricanes. Comparisons of prior observational and theoretical studies are highlighted, especially those relating BL structure to large-scale vortex structure, convection, and intensity.


We give a new proof of the fact that the parallel repetition of the (3-player) GHZ game reduces the value of the game to zero polynomially quickly. That is, we show that the value of the $n$-fold GHZ game is at most $n^{-\Omega(1)}$. This was first established by Holmgren and Raz [HR20]. We present a new proof of this theorem that we believe to be simpler and more direct. Unlike most previous works on parallel repetition, our proof makes no use of information theory, and relies on the use of Fourier analysis. The GHZ game [GHZ89] has played a foundational role in the understanding of quantum information theory, due in part to the fact that quantum strategies can win the GHZ game with probability 1. It is possible that improved parallel repetition bounds may find applications in this setting. Recently, Dinur, Harsha, Venkat, and Yuen [DHVY17] highlighted the GHZ game as a simple three-player game, which is in some sense maximally far from the class of multi-player games whose behavior under parallel repetition is well understood. Dinur et al. conjectured that parallel repetition decreases the value of the GHZ game exponentially quickly, and speculated that progress on proving this would shed light on parallel repetition for general multi-player (multi-prover) games.


Detroit's fall has been long in the making. The biggest city ever to declare bankruptcy, Detroit has suffered out-migration since the 1950s, as people followed the jobs that started to leave the city. Auto manufacturing declined and eventually collapsed, and with it did Motor City. Detroit is a victim, symbol, sign of the times, but it is something else, too. Detroit's citizens have made the city an urban museum. Part of the attraction for tourists is what also entices millions to flock to Rome and Athens every year: a chance to see the glory of times past. Like classical cities, Detroit symbolizes the end of an era — in this case, of American manufacturing. The dramatic ruins of wealth sit alongside a wealth of ruins.


Bassia eriophora (Schrad.) Asch. is one of the major and widely distributed wild plants belonging to family Chenopodiaceae and growing in northern Saudi Arabia. In this study, Phytochemical and biological evaluations of the ethanolic extract of B. eriophora have been studied. Six known compounds were isolated; Quercetin (1), Quercetin 7-O-b-D-glucoside (2), Isorhamnetin 3-O-b-D-glucoside (3), Tetradecane (4), Pentacosanol (5) and Pheophytin a (6). Structure elucidation of the isolated compounds was carried out based on different spectroscopic techniques (1H and DEPTQ- NMR, UV and Mass spectrometry) as well as by comparison with authentic samples whenever possible. Acute toxicity, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and skeletal muscle relaxant effects were tested for the ethanolic extract of the plant. The results indicated that the ethanolic extract of B. eriophora has a very low toxicity (LD50 of 33.4 g/kg). Additionally, the ethanolic extract in doses of 500 and 750 mg/kg showed significant analgesic effect using hot plate method. While doses of 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg exerted significant antiinflammatory activities as indicated by carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats and significant relaxing effect as indicated by motor coordination test. Furthermore, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities were performed on the pure isolated compounds (1-6). Compounds 1, 2 and 3 showed similar cytotoxic activity, ranging from mild to moderate effects against MCF-7, HepG-2 and HCT-116 cell lines. Compounds 1, 2, 3 and 6 showed significant antioxidant effect on DPPH free radical.


Abstract Earlier geological work in the Oaș-Gutâi Mts (OG), Eastern Carpathians, has revealed the extensive presence of shallow subvolcanic intrusive bodies, both exposed on the surface and covered by Paleogene-Neogene sedimentary sequences and Neogene volcanic formations. This study is based on detailed mapping and sampling of the OG Neogene intrusive magmatic rocks. Thirty seven representative intrusions (sills, dykes, microlaccoliths, etc.) were selected for radiometric dating. These intrusions show a wide variety of petrographic rock-types: from microgabbros to microgranodiorites and from basalts to andesites. However, the intrusions consist of typical calc-alkaline, medium-K rocks, similar to the volcanic rocks which outcrop in the same areas. The K-Ar age determinations on whole-rock samples of intrusions yielded ages between 11.9 Ma and 7.0 Ma (from Late Sarmatian to Middle Pannonian). The results are in good agreement with the common assumption, based on the biostratigraphic and geological data, that large volumes of intrusions have formed during the paroxysm of the intermediate volcanic activity in the OG. Except for the Firiza basalt intrusive complex of the Gutâi Mts (8.1-7.0 Ma), the OG intrusions show similar K-Ar ages as the intrusions of the "Subvolcanic Zone" and Călimani Mts from Eastern Carpathians. The timing of the OG intrusive magmatism partially overlaps with the timing of the intrusive magmatic activity in the Eastern Moravia and Pieniny Mts. The systematic radiometric datings in the whole OG give clear evidence that the hydrothermal activity related to the epithermal systems always postdates intrusion emplacement.


Pd nanoparticles supported on carbon nanocoils (Pd/CNCs) show unexpectedly high photocatalytic activity for coupling reaction of aryl halides and alkenes (Heck reaction) at 40 °C. The energetic electrons in Pd nanoparticles, excited via interband transitions under visible light irradiation, can transfer to halogen atoms to facilitate the cleavage of carbon–halogen bonds in aryl halides, which requires rather high temperature in the thermal process. Then, the final products can be fast achieved by alkene insertion and β-hydrogen elimination processes.


I met a young lady in the meads. Her hair was long, her step was light; she had intended to go to medical school, she said, but she had visited the local hospital and the junior doctors had discouraged her, and she was starting dentistry instead.

I set her on my pacing steed and all day long extolled the virtues of medical life.

"Asking a junior doctor what it's like to be a doctor is like asking a tadpole what it's like to be a frog," I said.

"Consider being able to travel all across the world, the privilege of receiving the trust of our patients, the fascinating complexity and uniqueness of every case that walks into the surgery. Consider the security of tenure, a reliable income in a volatile world. Consider the independence; once you are a GP or a consultant, you are your own boss and you don't have to suck up to nobody. Ours is a high and noble destiny, a life rich with experience, an enduring tapestry of joys and sorrows.

"We need a system of work experience for young people like you who are genuinely interested. It would be easy to determine which consultations are inappropriate for you to attend, and of course patients would be fully informed and consented. But even within these confines, it should be possible to get a taste of the real thing, and much better than learning from junior doctors or television soaps."

The chill of icy air startled me from this reverie. We had stopped on a bleak hillside, ravens were croaking hoarsely, The Creature from the Black Lagoon was playing pinochle with an insurance salesman, and high overhead an American bomber was chucking out enough food aid to fill a small knapsack; the omens were bad. Sure enough a tin of beans plummeted down like a rocket, nearly decapitating my horse, and my student became fey and magicked. She wove a circle round me thrice, her eyes flashing, her hair floating, gratuitously acting out the wrong poem.

"La belle dame sans merci hath thee in thrall," she exulted, then turned into a chimera, then a gorgon, then back into a girl with now rather frizzy hair before continuing, "And I'm sticking with dentistry, if you don't mind."

"OK," I replied, booting her off the horse, squashing a passing nut laden squirrel as she fell, "In that case you can walk home."


Substance identification: The identification of 5F-MDMB-PICA (5F-MDMB-2201) (IUPAC name: methyl (2S)-2-{[1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indole-3-carbonyl]amino}-3,3-dimethylbutanoate) has been described first in 2016. Information obtained from seizures and collections suggests that it has been encountered in powdered form and as a synthetic constituent in herbal plant mixtures most commonly distributed for the purpose of smoking and/or vaping. It is the indole analogue of 5F-ADB (5F-MDMB-PINACA) that is listed in Schedule II of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971. WHO Review History: 5F-MDMB-PICA has not been previously pre-reviewed or critically reviewed. Chemistry: There is no specific information available about the routes of synthesis employed for seized 5FMDMB-PICA products circulating on the drug market but straightforward methods for its preparation exist without requiring access to precursors that are controlled internationally. The presence of an asymmetric carbon atom gives rise to the (R)- and (S)-enantiomer and it seems likely for 5F-MDMB-PICA to be most commonly available as the (S)-enantiomer. Ease of convertibility into controlled substances: There is no specific information available but it appears unlikely that 5F-MDMB-PICA is converted into a substance currently listed in any of the international drug conventions. Similarity to known substances / Effects on the central nervous system: The information currently available suggests that 5F-MDMB-PICA functions as a synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist (SCRA). Information about effects induced in vivo is currently not available but the existing data suggest that 5F-MDMB-PICA will likely exhibit a profile shared by other SCRAs controlled internationally (potent full agonists at cannabinoid receptors) such as 5F-ADB. General pharmacology: 5F-MDMB-PICA, in its pure form but mostly as a synthetic constituent added to a plant matrix, is primarily smoked (or vaped) although reliable data about dosage are unavailable. A small number of in vitro studies are currently available and the data indicate that 5F-MDMB-PICA binds to and activates human CB1 and CB2 receptors at low nanomolar concentrations. 5F-MDMB-PICA acted as a full agonist at both receptor subtypes with significantly higher potency than Δ9-THC which has also been observed with other SCRAs that are listed in the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971. Data collected from in vitro metabolism studies and detections in biological specimens revealed that the biotransformation observed included mono-hydroxylation, oxidative defluorination, dehydrogenation, amide, and ester hydrolysis, as well as combinations thereof. Glucuronidation products have also been detected. Toxicology: Information could not be identified. Adverse reactions in humans: Detailed information about the clinical features associated with the consumption of 5F-MDMBPICA specifically is not available. However, "mass-overdose" cases were described in Connecticut (United States of America (USA)) that have been associated with the detection of 5F-MDMB-PICA and other SCRAs and fentanyl. Clinical features reported included decreased mental status, agitated delirium, and seizures. Within a 6-day period in September 2018, 244 overdose cases (details not reported) have been identified in Washington, DC, (USA) that also included the detection of 5F-ADB and other SCRAs. Data collected from intoxication cases with other SCRAs suggest that clinical features might include a range of adverse effects on gastrointestinal, neurological, and cardiovascular systems. Dependence potential: No studies carried out in humans or animals could be identified. Abuse potential: Studies specifically linked to 5F-MDMB-PICA could not be identified. Therapeutic applications / usefulness: 5F-MDMB-PICA is not known to have any therapeutic uses. Listing on WHO Model List of Essential Medicines: 5F-MDMB-PICA is not listed. Marketing authorizations: 5F-MDMB-PICA is not known to have any marketing authorisations. Industrial use: 5F-MDMB-PICA is not known to have any agricultural, industrial or cosmetic uses. Non-medical use: The mode of use may involve the combinational use (intentionally or unintentionally) of other drugs and users may be unaware of the exact dose or compound being ingested (by whatever route). Household or subpopulation surveys that specifically probe for prevalence of 5F-MDMBPICA could not be identified. People who use SCRAs in general include recreational users, high-risk substance users but also individuals who are subject to drug testing such as people in drug treatment, prisoners, abstinence control programs and drivers. Nature and magnitude of public health problems: Products sold as herbal smoking mixtures frequently change in drug composition and quantity, often without indications on product labels, which results in challenges to unambiguously correlate harms to public health with a specific drug such as 5F-MDMB-PICA. People who use these drugs are most likely not aware of the identity of the constituent and the quantity. The consumption of these products might be attractive to a variety of users, such as regular users of cannabis and those who believe that SCRA use might help with avoiding a positive finding in drug testing procedures. There are indications that socially vulnerable and stigmatised substance users, for example found in homeless and prison populations, are increasingly associated with problematic use of SCRA products. Heavy use of SCRAs has been associated with problematic withdrawal symptoms and further research is needed to evaluate the underlying mechanisms. Licit production, consumption, and international trade: 5F-MDMB-PICA is available as standard reference material and produced for scientific research by a number of commercial suppliers. Other uses could not be identified. Illicit manufacture and traffic: 5F-MDMB-PICA began to emerge at the end 2016 both in Europe and the USA. In general, SCRAs are often imported in their pure form and converted into herbal forms on the domestic level. In recent years it has emerged that SCRAs have been smuggled into prisons in the form of impregnated papers (e.g. letters) and textiles and this extended to the detection of 5F-MDMBPICA. Current international controls and their impact: 5F-MDMB-PICA is not controlled under the 1961, 1971 or 1988 United Nations Conventions. Current and past national controls: 5F-MDMB-PICA is controlled in some UN Member States.


In this paper, I consider why Japan's household saving rate was so high in the past and why it has shown a downward trend in more recent years, and based on this analysis, I project future trends in Japan's household saving rate. To preview my main findings, I find, first, that Japan's household saving rate used to be high but that it has declined sharply in recent years and that it is no longer high in either absolute or relative terms. Moreover, Japan's household saving rate will continue its decline due to the rapid aging of her population and other factors and may well become zero or negative within a few years. However, the government's fiscal deficits (government dissaving) as well as corporate investment in plant and equipment can be expected to decline at the same time, and moreover, there is always the option of borrowing from abroad, so the sharp decline in the household saving rate will not necessarily cause any problems.


Purpose: To present the derivation and application of a closed formalism for the impact of charged particle radiation on damage induced in DNA. The formalism is valid for all types of charged particles and due to its closed nature is suited to provide fast conversion of dose to DNA‐damage. As photon treatments can be reduced to energy deposition by electrons it is also possible to calculate damage for classical radiation treatments. Methods: A simple geometrical model allows to parameterize the impact of charged particles in terms of single and double strand breaks. The parameters of the model contain: double strand threshold (i.e. the maximal distance two single lesions can have to be categorized as a double strand break), the diameter of the DNA‐strand, and a scaling factor describing distance between ionizing collisions in terms of particle energy. The model is validated using microdosimetric Monte Carlo calculations for electrons and protons. Finally, example applications are constructed calculating Relative Biological Effectratios for proton therapy compared to a therapeutic 6MV beam. Results: For both protons and electrons the model fits the Monte Carlo calculations almost perfectly as assessed by a χ2‐test. The energy scaling factor seems to be the only difference between the modalities of protons and electrons. The RBE‐factor for a mono‐energetic proton beam varies depending on the depth and is of the order of 1.1 rising to almost 2 at the Bragg peak. Conclusions: We have shown that it is possible to provide a generalized expression parameterizing the DNA‐damage induced by different modalities, indicating that the change in biological effect is mainly governed by geometrical considerations rather than a biological impact.


Corruption in the education sector is pervasive in many (developing) countries. We examine two interventions to fight corruption in education. The first is an increase of the fixed-wage of teachers. The second is the introduction of a piece-rate scheme that rewards teachers according to the number of students that they attract. We model these mechanisms and conduct a lab experiment in Colombia, a country riddled with corruption. After creating a culture of corruption, we introduce either intervention. The increase of the fixed-wage does not diminish bribery. The piece-rate scheme substantially reduces but does not eliminate bribery.


Abstract. The recent scientific studies in the context of earthquake precursors reveal some processes connected to seismic activity including thermal anomaly before earthquakes which is a great help for making a better decision regarding this disastrous phenomenon and reducing its casualty to a minimum. This paper represents a method for grouping the proper input data for different thermal anomaly detection methods using the land surface temperature (LST) mean in multiple distances from the corresponding fault during the 40 days (i.e. 30 days before and 10 days after impending earthquake) of investigation. Six strong earthquakes with Ms > 6 that have occurred in Iran have been investigated in this study. We used two different approaches for detecting thermal anomalies. They are mean-standard deviation method also known as standard method and interquartile method which is similar to the first method but uses different parameters as input. Most of the studies have considered thermal anomalies around the known epicentre locations where the investigation can only be performed after the earthquake. This study is using fault distance-based approach in predicting the earthquake regarding the location of the faults as the potential area. This could be considered as an important step towards actual prediction of earthquake's time and intensity. Results show that the proposed input data produces less false alarms in each of the thermal anomaly detection methods compared to the ordinary input data making this method much more accurate and stable considering the easy accessibility of thermal data and their less complicated algorithms for processing. In the final step, the detected anomalies are used for estimating earthquake intensity using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The results show that estimated intensities of most earthquakes are very close to the actual intensities. Since the location of the active faults are known a priori, using fault distance-based approach may be regarded as a superior method in predicting the impending earthquakes for vulnerable faults. In spite of the previous investigations that the studies were only possible aftermath, the fault distance-based approach can be used as a tool for future unknown earthquakes prediction. However, it is recommended to use thermal anomaly detection as an initial process to be jointly used with other precursors to reduce the number of investigations that require more complicated algorithms and data processing.