Background Interleukin (IL)-19 has been reported to enhance chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma but the in vivo mechanism is incompletely understood. Because IL-19 is produced by and regulates cells of the monocyte lineage, our studies focused on in vivo responses of CD11c positive (CD11c+) alveolar macrophages and lung dendritic cells. Methodology/Principal Findings IL-19-deficient (IL-19-/-) mice were studied at baseline (naïve) and following intranasal challenge with microbial products, or recombinant cytokines. Naïve IL-19-/- mixed background mice had a decreased percentage of CD11c+ cells in the bronchoalveolar-lavage (BAL) due to the deficiency in IL-19 and a trait inherited from the 129-mouse strain. BAL CD11c+ cells from fully backcrossed IL-19-/- BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice expressed significantly less Major Histocompatibility Complex class II (MHCII) in response to intranasal administration of lipopolysaccharide, Aspergillus antigen, or IL-13, a pro-allergic cytokine. Neurogenic-locus-notch-homolog-protein-2 (Notch2) expression by lung monocytes, the precursors of BAL CD11c+ cells, was dysregulated: extracellular Notch2 was significantly decreased, transmembrane/intracellular Notch2 was significantly increased in IL-19-/- mice relative to wild type. Instillation of recombinant IL-19 increased extracellular Notch2 expression and dendritic cells cultured from bone marrow cells in the presence of IL-19 showed upregulated extracellular Notch2. The CD205 positive subset among the CD11c+ cells was 3-5-fold decreased in the airways and lungs of naïve IL-19-/- mice relative to wild type. Airway inflammation and histological changes in the lungs were ameliorated in IL-19-/- mice challenged with Aspergillus antigen that induces T lymphocyte-dependent allergic inflammation but not in IL-19-/- mice challenged with lipopolysaccharide or IL-13. Conclusions/Significance Because MHCII is the molecular platform that displays peptides to T lymphocytes and Notch2 determines cell fate decisions, our studies suggest that endogenous IL-19 is a constituent of the regulome that controls both processes in vivo.


Objectives: Research about the outcomes of schizophrenia and the factors that determine them in developing countries is still limited. In this study, we interviewed experienced Vietnamese psychiatrists to examine their perspectives on outcome determinants in their country. The qualitative approach aimed to complement existing epidemiological knowledge and contribute to debate around the hypothesis that recovery is better in developing countries.  Methods: Fifteen Vietnamese psychiatrists working in five leading psychiatric facilities participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic content analysis of their expressed views identified three themes related to important outcome determinants in Vietnam: access to contemporary treatment, established patient-level prognostic indicators, and sociocultural variables.  Results: The improving accessibility of modern treatment (including new medications, specialist staff and facilities) and increasing community adoption of a medical perspective on mental illness were seen as factors leading to improved outcomes, particularly in urban areas. However, some psychiatrists also identified the potentially beneficial nature of some aspects of Vietnamese society and culture being eroded by modernization, including traditional family structures, forms of employment and lifestyles.  Conclusions: The perspectives of psychiatrists in this study suggest that socioeconomic change may be exerting conflicting influences on the outcomes of schizophrenia in Vietnam and other developing countries. Their views have implications in terms of how adequate treatment and support for people with severe mental illness can be provided in the context of limited resources, staffing and formal treatment options. Further research is needed to establish current recovery rates and prospectively explore the impact of modernization on outcomes. Please click PDF below to download the full paper...


Read/write social technologies enable rich pedagogies that centre on sharing and constructing content but have two notable weaknesses. Firstly, beyond the safe, nurturing environment of closed groups, students participating in more or less public network- or set-oriented communities may be insecure in their knowledge and skills, leading to resistance to disclosure. Secondly, it is hard to know who and what to trust in an open environment where others may be equally unskilled or, sometimes, malevolent. We present partial solutions to these problems through the use of collective intelligence, discretionary disclosure controls and mindful design.


As the amount of simultaneous users of distributed systems increase, scalability is becoming an important factor to consider during software development. Without sufficient scalability, systems might have a hard time to manage high loads, and might not be able to support a high amount of users. We have determined how scalability can best be implemented, and what extra costs this leads to. Our research is based on both a literature review, where we have looked at what others in the field of computer engineering thinks about scalability, and by implementing a highly scalable system of our own. In the end we came up with a couple of general pointers which can help developers to determine if they should focus on scalable development, and what they should consider if they choose to do so.


Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer associated with asbestos exposure that urgently requires effective therapeutic strategies. Current treatments are unable to increase significantly patient survival, which is often limited to <1 year from diagnosis. Virotherapy, based on the use of oncolytic viruses that exert anti-cancer effects by direct cell lysis and through the induction of anti-tumor immune response, represents an alternative therapeutic option for rare tumors with limited life expectancy. In this study, we propose the use of the adenovirus dl922-947, engineered to allow selective replication in cancer cells, to counteract MPM. Methods: We performed a thorough preclinical assessment of dl922-947 effects in a set of MPM cell lines and xenografts. Cytotoxicity of dl922-947 alone and in combination assays was evaluated by sulforhodamine B assay. Cell cycle, calreticulin expression, and high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) secretion were determined by flow cytometry, whereas ATP content was determined by a luminescence-based bioassay. The modulation of angiogenic factors in MPM-infected cells was evaluated through ELISA. Results: We found that dl922-947 infection exhibits cytotoxic effects in MPM cell lines, affecting cell viability, cell cycle progression, and regulating main hallmarks of immunogenic cell death inducing calreticulin surface exposure, HMGB1 and ATP release. Our results also suggest that dl922-947 may affect angiogenic signals by regulation of VEGF-A and IL-8 secretion. Furthermore, dl922-947 shows anti-tumor efficacy in murine xenograft models reducing tumor growth and enhancing survival. Finally, the combination with cisplatin potentiated the cytotoxic effect of dl922-947. Conclusions: Overall our data identify virotherapy, based on the use of dl922-947, as a new possible therapeutic strategy against MPM, which could be used alone, in combination with standard chemotherapy drugs, as shown here, or other approaches also aimed at enhancing the antitumoral immune response elicited by the virus.


The classic Trivers-Willard hypothesis suggested the existence of means or conditions able to influence or control the sex of the offspring. Here I propose that mechanisms for the alteration of the gender of the offspring could possibly be formulated in terms of a distributed system of messages expressing a change in the environmental conditions. Such messages would provide the biological organization with global and local assessments of the benefits associated with the reproductive investments associated with either genres of the offspring. Many authors, starting with the classic work by Trivers and Willard [1], hypothesized the existence of "conditions" able to influence or control the sex of the offspring. Ever since the publication of that classic work, researchers have been producing an impressive amount of results that either bring evidence or contradict that hypothesis. This production has been chaotic to say the least, with scholars deriving their conclusions from "facts" ranging from dubious interpretations of microscope images to extremely serious mathematical and statistical models of the many organs and processes at play. I am merely an information scientist, lacking too many important pieces in this trans-disciplinary problem. But I have read several papers on this, and my focus on information led me to a simple observation: in information science, what is really important is the variation of the signal rather than the signal itself; in other words, it is a signal's variation that carries information -it is a message -while a steady signal it is not. As an example, a diet is a signal while a change in a diet, especially when it is a significant change – it is a message. Evidence corroborating this idea may be found in several works. Professor Elissa Cameron and her team, for instance, found out [2] that, rather than glucose, it is the glucose gradient that might play a role in adjusting the offspring's sex ratio in mice. This gradient represents a "message" from the environment, declaring the onset of a more favorable condition. The existence of "messages" of the opposite sign and outcome is also discussed by Professor Kristen Navara, who hypothesizes "a bias toward females during times of stress", mediated by glucocorticoids in her very interesting paper [3]. A stress / glucocorticoids-gradient signals in this case a time where an investment in a male offspring would not be advisable. Testosterone gradients are another example. It is well known how such changes represent "boosts" that can lead to more daring behaviors. The late Dr. Valerie J Grant, in several articles (e.g. [4]) and her book ([5]) suggests that higher levels of testosterone might be associated with a higher sex ratio. Results are a little contradictory though, and I suspect that this might be due to measurements of the signal and not of its variations. Also it is not clear to me whether testosterone would have a causal role or rise "simply" as a side effect of some "first cause." Other examples of such gradients may be found in the huge bibliography of Dr. William H. James, who drew several hypotheses of endocrine mechanisms to control or influence the sex ratio (see e.g. [6], [7]). Of course, if we assume that such messages are actually "there," a logical question would be: Which type of messages are at play here? My answer comes from considering the theory of a fractal organization of the all – as one can find, for instance, the human body. The latter is composed of a primary unit "personifying" the whole – the brain – and a sophisticated hierarchy of organized systems, each of which is further composed of hierarchies of organized sub-systems. The overall functioning of the human body requires messages flowing from one end to the other, signaling actions that need to be taken when certain conditions are established; hormonal messages are a typical example of this large distributed organization. My conclusion is then that mechanisms for the alteration of the gender of the offspring could possibly be formulated in terms of a distributed system of said messages. Perhaps a distributed system of fractally organized messages! Messages that is with a scope that ranges from the micro to the macro, signaling waves of actions that could "tune" our internal mechanisms after the external conditions expressed by the environment. In a number of my papers (e.g. [7], [8], [9]), I have suggested that said mechanism could be modeled, in sociotechnical systems, in terms of evolutionary game theory -which I believe is very much in line with what had been theorized by Trivers and Willard. In fact, my conjecture is that particular messages from the "whole" (the brain) to the "parts" (the systems of organs) are meant to provide contextual information to the latter ones in order to adjust their local action in such a way as to favor a global condition matching the passed information. Local conditions favoring the birth of an offspring with an optimal evolutionary advantage are maybe the outcome of those messages. As a response, "thinner" messages would request the onset of other conditions of a "lesser" (hierarchical) scope. In this view, one could say that Dr. James' hypotheses characterize the endocrine nature of a "layer" of those messages. As Dr. James himself expressed multiple times [10], the verification of an hypothesis such as mine would require the collaboration of many a specialist in domains I'm not acquainted with. I hope this short text may produce some interest and trigger exchange of ideas and chances for collaboration.


Dark matter halos are the building blocks of the universe as they host galaxies and clusters. The knowledge of the clustering properties of halos is therefore essential for the understanding of the galaxy statistical properties. We derive an effective halo Boltzmann equation which can be used to describe the halo clustering statistics. In particular, we show how the halo Boltzmann equation encodes a statistically biased gravitational force which generates a bias in the peculiar velocities of virialized halos with respect to the underlying dark matter, as recently observed in N-body simulations.


Summary
Either by the finding of larvae or by the flooding of dry material, natural rock holes in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, were shown to be breeding Aedes aegypti on four occasions during a period of 5 months, 17 July to 15 December 1959. The rock holes were photographed and some of their characteristics recorded. Since the area had resisted control measures involving treatment with DDT and dieldrin, larvae from the rock holes were used to establish colonies which were subjected to toxicological tests in the F3 generation. The larvae were found to be highly resistant to DDT, dieldrin, and lindane. At 2.5 ppm the 24 hour percentage mortality of two replicates, counting dead-plus-moribund larvae, ranged from 76 to 92, 4 to 4, and 72 to 80 respectively; and counting dead only, the percentage mortalities ranged from 64 to 84, 0 to 4, and 56 to 68 respectively. Control failure in the area was ascribed to the abundance of artificial containers, the hidden, inaccessible rock hole breeding places, and the resistance of the strain to DDT and dieldrin. Results were compared with those from tests on larvae from five other localities. It was concluded that aegypti along the whole north coast of Puerto Rico is resistant to both DDT and dieldrin, or will shortly become so, so that continued use of these insecticides is believed to be of little value. The abandonment of the current idea that aegypti populations do not show resistance to both DDT and dieldrin is also suggested.


Nine patients with semantic dementia (the temporal lobe variant of frontotemporal dementia) were asked to define concrete concepts either from presentation of a picture of the object or from its spoken name. As expected, the patients with the most severe semantic impairment produced the least detailed definitions, and the quality of the definitions overall was significantly related to concept familiarity. Further analyses of the definitions were designed to assess two key theoretical aspects of semantic organization. (i) Do objects and their corresponding names activate conceptual information in two neuroanatomically separable (modality-specific) semantic systems? If so, then-apart from any expected commonality in performance attributable to factors such as concept familiarity-one would not predict striking item-specific similarities in a patient's picture- and word-elicited definitions. (ii) Do sensory/perceptual features and more associative/functional attributes of conceptual knowledge form two neuroanatomically separable subsystems? If so, then one would predict significant dissociations in the prominence of these two types of information in the patients' definitions. The results lead us to favor a model of the semantic system that is divided by attribute type but not by modality.


We study the guided modes in a wire medium (WM) slab, taking into account the nonlocality and losses in the structure. We show that due to the fact that the WM is an extremely spatially dispersive metamaterial, the effect of nonlocality plays a critical role, since it results in coupling between the otherwise orthogonal guided modes. We observe the effects of strong and weak coupling, depending on the level of losses in the system.


Development of printable and flexible Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) might provide a path to the large and global production of displays in the lighting market. A lot of research is being done in many fields like materials, equipment, processing methods, etc. to make this technology cheaper and more efficient. This article unveils the inkjet printing technique and its challenges for printed, cost-effective OLEDs. Firstly, to understand the inkjet printing mechanism, various rheological parameters involved in inkjet printing and ink formulation have been discussed. Then, the interaction between the ink and the substrates were introduced, and solutions to avoid the commonly observed "coffee-ring" structure were reviewed. A summary of the recent progress in inkjet printing of polymers and small molecules in OLED devices was also given and other techniques such as aerosol and electrohydrodynamic jet printing, which open up alternative depositing method were discussed. Finally, the challenges involved in the printing of large area displays on an industrial scale were presented.


With IP protocols now generalizing to constrained networks, users
expect to be able to Operate, Administer and Maintain them with the
familiar tools and protocols they already use on less constrained
networks. OAM uses specific messages sent into the data plane to
measure some parameters of a network. Most of the time, no explicit
values are sent is these messages. Network parameters are obtained
from the analysis of these specific messages. This can be used: o To
detect if a host is up or down. o To measure the RTT and its
variation over time. o To learn the path used by packets to reach a
destination. OAM in LPWAN is a little bit trickier since the
bandwidth is limited and extra traffic added by OAM can introduce
perturbation on regular transmission. Two scenarios can be
investigated: o OAM coming from internet. In that case, the NGW
should act as a


Graph generative models are a highly active branch of machine learning. Given the steady development of new models of ever-increasing complexity, it is necessary to provide a principled way to evaluate and compare them. In this paper, we enumerate the desirable criteria for such a comparison metric and provide an overview of the status quo of graph generative model comparison in use today, which predominantly relies on the maximum mean discrepancy (MMD). We perform a systematic evaluation of MMD in the context of graph generative model comparison, highlighting some of the challenges and pitfalls researchers inadvertently may encounter. After conducting a thorough analysis of the behaviour of MMD on synthetically-generated perturbed graphs as well as on recently-proposed graph generative models, we are able to provide a suitable procedure to mitigate these challenges and pitfalls. We aggregate our findings into a list of practical recommendations for researchers to use when evaluating graph generative models.


Extracted from text ... 30 Journal of Marketing Vol 11 No 2 2005 (c)
Photographs: Graeme Williams, South Photos.
Doomsayers have forecast the demise of broadsheet newspapers in South Africa as elsewhere, but media analyst Graeme Addison finds otherwise. Old-established newspapers are going about their business successfully while the mass tabloids gain ground. It's healthy.
The 'tabloidisation' of South African major newspapers press - with newcomer papers choosing smaller A3 formats over broadsheets - is predicted, welcomed, feared, disputed and worried over. Some maintain the press in this country has reached a turning point where the rules of the game have ..


Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are an uncommon group of solid tumors that can arise throughout the human lifespan. Despite their commonality as non-bony cancers that develop from mesenchymal cell precursors, they are heterogeneous in their genetic profiles, histology, and clinical features. This has made it difficult to identify a single target or therapy specific to STSs. And while there is no one cell of origin ascribed to all STSs, the cancer stem cell (CSC) principle—that a subpopulation of tumor cells possesses stem cell-like properties underlying tumor initiation, therapeutic resistance, disease recurrence, and metastasis—predicts that ultimately it should be possible to identify a feature common to all STSs that could function as a therapeutic Achilles' heel. Here we review the published evidence for CSCs in each of the most common STSs, then focus on the methods used to study CSCs, the developmental signaling pathways usurped by CSCs, and the epigenetic alterations critical for CSC identity that may be useful for further study of STS biology. We conclude with discussion of some challenges to the field and future directions.


The realized effect of multiple carnivores on juvenile ungulate recruitment may depend on the carnivore assemblage as well as compensation from forage and winter weather severity, which may mediate juvenile vulnerability to predation in ungulates. We used a time-to-event approach to test for the effects of risk factors on annual elk (Cervus canadensis) calf survival and to estimate cause-specific mortality rates for 2 elk populations in adjacent study areas in the southern Bitterroot Valley, Montana, USA, during 2011–2014. We captured and radio-tagged 286 elk calves: 226 neonates, and 60 6-month-old calves. Summer survival probability was less variable than winter (P = 0.12) and averaged 0.55 (95% CI = 0.47–0.63), whereas winter survival varied more than summer and significantly across study years (P = 0.003) and averaged 0.73 (95% CI = 0.64–0.81). During summer, elk calf survival increased with biomass of preferred forage biomass, and was slightly lower following winters with high precipitation; exposure to mountain lion (Puma concolor) predation risk was unimportant. In contrast, during winter, we found that exposure to mountain lion predation risk influenced survival, with a weak negative effect of winter precipitation. We found no evidence that forage availability or winter weather severity mediated vulnerability to mountain lion predation risk in summer or winter (e.g., an interaction), indicating that the effect of mountain lion predation was constant regardless of spatial variation in forage or weather. Mountain lions dominated known causes of elk calf mortality in summer and winter, with estimated cause-specific mortality rates of 0.14 (95% CI = 0.09–0.20) and 0.12 (95% CI = 0.07–0.18), respectively. The effect of carnivores on juvenile ungulate recruitment varies across ecological systems depending on relative carnivore densities. Mountain lions may be the most important carnivore for ungulates, especially where grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and wolves (Canis lupus) are rare or recovering. Finally, managers may need to reduce adult female harvest of elk as carnivores recolonize to balance carnivore and ungulate management objectives, especially in less productive habitats for elk. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.


The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles travelling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion. Others in the seventeenth century, such as Christiaan Huygens, had shown that optical phenomena such as reflection and refraction could be equally well explained in terms of light as waves travelling at high speed through a medium called "luminiferous aether" that was thought to permeate all space. Early in the nineteenth century, Thomas Young demonstrated that light passing through narrow, closely spaced slits produced interference patterns that could not be explained in terms of Newtonian particles but could be easily explained in terms of waves. Later in the nineteenth century, after James Clerk Maxwell developed his theory of electromagnetic radiation and showed that light was the visible part of a vast spectrum of electromagnetic waves, the particle view of light became thoroughly discredited. By the end of the nineteenth century, scientists viewed the physical universe as roughly comprising two separate domains: matter composed of particles moving according to Newton's laws of motion, and electromagnetic radiation consisting Media, iframe, embed and object tags are not supported inside of a PDF.


Background Evidence suggests gross motor differences are present in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from birth. Trevarthen and Delafield-Butt (2013) proposed that one of the early markers of ASD are abnormalities in the development of intentional movements, which are present before the manifestations of symptoms typically associated with autism, like deficiencies in social interaction and communication. A growing body of literature demonstrates kinematic and action patterns differences in children and adults with ASD. However, these experiments typically require expensive laboratory-based optical motion tracking systems. Here, we developed bespoke, sensorised wooden cubes for motor assessment of children's play and report on the kinematic and action pattern differences of the children with autism compared to children developing typically. Objectives A description of ASD-specific action patterns and kinematics using sensorised toys. Methods Participants. Children 3 to 5 years diagnosed with ASD (n = 15) recruited from the Scottish Centre for Autism, Glasgow, UK. Children 3 to 5 years old developing typically recruited from nurseries in Glasgow, UK. Adults 20 to 25 years old without ASD recruited from Glasgow, UK. The study was approved by the University of Strathclyde Ethics Committee and consent obtained from the parents of children or the adults. In the case of the children with ASD, pre-screening with Vineland-II, AQ-Child and Leiter-R Brief IQ was performed. Procedure. The children were seated at a table and instructed to play two simple games that involved moving the cube from one position to another: a Serially Organized Action (SOA) game and a Single Repetitive Action (SRA) game. The first required complex motor sequencing and engagement with the experimenter, while the second consisted of a simple repetitive movement. Each game produced a single measured movement to a goal with 25 iterations or repetitions to yield 50 movements in total. An electronic board inside the cubes was equipped with tri-axial magnetometer, gyroscope and accelerometer wirelessly transferred the cube's motion data to a laptop. The signal (raw motion data) was extracted through a Matlab-based platform and analysed. Data Analysis. Kinematic features of movement duration; maximum value of acceleration, velocity, and jerk during each movement; time to maximum value; % duration to maximum value; and the acceleration, velocity, and jerk action patterns profiles were calculated. Results The jerk profile of children with ASD was significantly different, showing increased maximum jerk, reduced time to maximum value and & duration to maximum value, and lower variability than typically developing children. Further, movement duration was shorter compared to age-matched typically developing children, and maximum velocity was significantly higher in children with ASD compared to children developing typically. Conclusion The increased jerk values and onset times in the ASD group are a particularly interesting finding that support new data appearing by other groups. It appeared, especially in the SRA game, that when moving the cube from one position to the next, the children with autism impacted on the surface of the table with greater velocity and typically included the resulting force immediately into to the next movement, giving it a greater jerk value in a shorter span of time that typically children. Typically developing children, on the other hand, paused for a moment (>100 ms) before commencing the next movement. Further, children with autism did not enjoy the SRA game, but they did enjoy the simpler, more repetitive SOA one. The repetitive simplicity of the SOA game and its resulting jerk profile appears to report on a particular behavioural motor feature distinct to ASD, namely stopping an action and starting a new one, while also describing an underlying motor difference that may contribute to it.


Forty-nine blackberry genotypes (19 cultivars and 30 breeding selections) were evaluated for post-harvest fruit-rot resistance in June and July 2003. Fully mature, undamaged berries were harvested on two dates for each genotype at the University of Arkansas Fruit Substation, Clarksville. After transporting in chilled coolers back to the Plant Pathology Department in Fayetteville, two replications of 10 berries of each genotype were placed in a high-humidity chamber for 3 d (21-23°C; 16-h daylength). This provided a total of four replications for each entry across the two harvest dates. Natural inoculum from the field provided the post-harvest pathogens, and no additional inoculations were conducted. Berries were evaluated after 3 d in the chambers for the presence of postharvest rot. If rot was present, then a rating scale of 1 to 3 (1very little mycelial growth present; 3=berry totally covered by mycelia) was used to quantify rot. The fungal growth was examined visually and microscopically to identify the causal pathogen. There was a wide range of post-harvest fruit-rot responses among the genotypes. The cultivars with the least rot were 'Kiowa', 'Triple Crown', and A-1689, with 80%, 73%, and 60% of berries free of any rots, respectively. Botrytis cinerea was identified on all berries that had any presence of rot and was the most important pathogen that contributed to berry decay. Colletotrichum spp. was found less frequently on rotted berries. Results indicate that substantial fruit-rot resistance existed among genotypes and variation for resistance could likely be used in breeding. Botrytis cinerea is the primary pathogen to target in post-harvest fruit-rot breeding resistance at this study location. * John-Paul Kidd is a senior majoring in horticulture. † John R. Clark is a professor in the Department of Horticulture. § Patrick Fenn is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology. ‡ Barbara Smith is a research plant pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Poplarville, Miss.


This chapter illustrates the virtues of the Optimality-Theoretic framework (Prince & Smolensky 1993) in explicating the course of syntactic change. The rise of do-support, a well-known change in the history of English, is taken as a case study. We investigate the patterns of variation inherent in linguistic change that occur as innovating forms replace conservative forms. We take the position that these periods of variation reflect competition between grammatically incompatible structures, i.e. conceptualizing variation and change in the surface structures of language as a reflection of alternation of different underlying grammars (Kroch 1989a,b; 1994), which themselves result from reanalysis by language learners (cf. Lightfoot 1991 et seq.). We argue that the notion of constraint competition inherent in Optimality Theory is advantageous in understanding language change as competition between contradictory grammatical systems. Also, we demonstrate the capacity of Optimality Theory as a means of describing systematic, grammatically-structured long-term linguistic change - particularly changes following an 'S'-curve pattern of linguistic renewal - as resulting from systematic re-ordering of precedence relationships amongst conflicting universal grammatical principles.


The coastal waters of the northern portion of the California Current System experience a seasonal decline in oxygen concentrations and hypoxia over the summer upwelling season that results in negative impacts on habitat for many organisms. Using a regional model extending from 43°N to 50°N, with an oxygen component developed in this study, drivers of seasonal and regional oxygen variability are identified. The model includes two pools of detritus, which was an essential addition in order to achieve good agreement with the observations. The model was validated using an extensive array of hydrographic and moored observations. The model captures the observed seasonal decline as well as spatial trends in bottom oxygen. Spatially, three regions of high respiration are identified as locations where hypoxia develops each modeled year. Two of the regions are previously identified recirculation regions. The third region is off of the Washington coast. Sediment oxygen demand causes the region on the Washington coast to be susceptible to hypoxia and is correlated to the broad area of shallow shelf (<60 m) in the region. Respiration and circulation-driven divergence contribute similar (60, 40%, respectively) amounts to the integrated oxygen budget on the Washington coast while respiration dominates the Oregon coast. Divergence, or circulation, contributes to the oxygen dynamics on the shelf in two ways: first, through the generation of retention features, and second, by determining variability.


Dr A E HANWELL (Keymed, Essex SS2 5QH) writes: Dr S A Hussain and others (14 February, p 413) state, in their report of the dangers of the disintegration of Celestin tubes, that this problem is well recognised, but is it? In addition to the five references listed with the case report we found a further five reports of similar disintegration, going back as far as 1976. '-5 For this period we cannot find a single report of similar problems encountered with a prosthesis constructed from silicone rubber, which is much more resistant to disintegration.6


What determines employee preferences for unionizing their workplaces? A substantial literature addresses this question with surveys on worker attitudes and pay. Unionization drives at the Universities of Minnesota and Washington have given rise to open letters of support or opposition from over 1,000 faculty at Washington and support from over 200 at Minnesota. Combining these expressions with publicly available data on salary, job titles, department affiliation, research productivity, teaching success, and political contributions from over 5,000 faculty, we provide new estimates of the determinants of faculty preferences for unionization at research universities. We find that faculty with higher pay and greater research productivity are less supportive of unionization, even after controlling for job title and department. Attitudes matter as well: after accounting for pay and productivity, faculty in fields documented elsewhere to have more politically liberal participants are more likely to support unionization.


This article explores how the UK's biotech firms have evolved in response to their financial environment. As investors' expectations about the potential of biotech have changed, funding options have opened up and closed down, leading firms to develop new business models and routes of technology development. After a favorable period, new constraints on stock market funding have forced UK biotech firms to compress their life cycles, constraining their ability to generate the late-stage drug candidates sought by large pharmaceutical firms. These changes are analyzed within a neo-Chandlerian framework in the context of a selection environment where rather than firms of varying inefficiencies being selected by an efficient market, we find entrepreneurs submitting themselves to an inefficient investment-selection process at the intersection of industries attempting to achieve their own scale economies. The article highlights the importance of the scale of investment at the firm and industry level, and suggests that decline in the size of the industry can have adverse consequences for investment and firm performance in this setting. Copyright 2013 The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.


To determine if the enhanced glycemic response to epinephrine in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is the result of increased adrenergic sensitivity per se, increased glucagon secretion, decreased insulin secretion, or a combination of these, plasma epinephrine concentration-response curves were determined in insulin-infused (initially euglycemic) patients with IDDM and nondiabetic subjects on two occasions: once when insulin and glucagon were free to change (control study), and again when insulin and glucagon were held constant (islet clamp study). During the control study, plasma C-peptide doubled, and glucagon did not change in the nondiabetic subjects, whereas plasma C-peptide did not change but glucagon increased in the patients. The patients with IDDM exhibited threefold greater increments in plasma glucose, largely the result of greater increments in glucose production. This enhanced glycemic response was apparent with 30-min increments in epinephrine to plasma concentrations as low as 100-200 pg/ml, levels that occur commonly under physiologic conditions. During the islet clamp study (somatostatin infusion with insulin and glucagon replacement at fixed rates), the heightened glycemic response was unaltered in the patients with IDDM, but the nondiabetic subjects exhibited an enhanced glycemic response to epinephrine indistinguishable from that of patients with IDDM. In contrast, the FFA, glycerol, and beta-hydroxybutyrate responses were unaltered. Thus, we conclude the following: Short, physiologic increments in plasma epinephrine cause greater increments in plasma glucose in patients with IDDM than in nondiabetic subjects, a finding likely to be relevant to glycemic control during the daily lives of such patients as well as during the stress of intercurrent illness. Enhanced glycemic responsiveness of patients with IDDM to epinephrine is not the result of increased sensitivity of adrenergic receptor-effector mechanisms per se nor of their increased glucagon secretory response; rather, it is the result of their inability to augment insulin secretion. Augmented insulin secretion, albeit restrained, normally limits the glycemic response, but not the lipolytic or ketogenic responses, to epinephrine in humans.


Federal tax law has long provided a tax benefit for charitable contributions of easements for conservation purposes. A fundamental problem with this conservation easement tax expenditure is that the measure for the tax benefit – lost economic development value – is erroneous. Use of such an erroneous measure obscures the conservation benefits of the program by focusing attention and resources on divining a largely extraneous and unhelpful number. Further, to a considerable extent, the easement program is reflexively justified and understood based on this false measure, as if it represented the conservation value of the program. The Article argues that, in theory, the measure for the tax benefit should be changed to one that better approximates conservation value. This would help ensure that the program is efficient, in the sense that conservation benefits would exceed program costs. However, the theory must account for the fact that conservation value is not, at least not yet, readily susceptible to quantification for tax purposes. Accordingly, the Article also argues that a second-best approach would be to change the measure of the tax benefit to a more objective number – the fair market value of the underlying fee interest – not only to provide greater certainty but more importantly to shift administrative and legal resources and attention to where it should be: on the conservation benefits of the program. Finally, the Article argues that serious consideration should be given to converting the deduction to a credit, both to make the tax benefit more equitable and also to provide greater flexibility, by more easily allowing for different levels of tax benefit to be provided based on satisfaction of conservation criteria, which could and should evolve over time to account for society's changing needs. In any event, irrespective of the details, the conservation easement tax expenditure should be designed to promote a concept of conservation value – an affirmative value – that represents the best use of the land. The value of the tax expenditure should no longer be defined by what is lost, but rather by what is gained.


. Physarum polycephalum is classified presently as a sarcodinid in the class Eumycetozoea. It produces a sclerotial dormant stage consisting of a crustose deposit containing nucleated spherules of cytoplasm enclosed within a honey-comb-like matrix of organic walls. When rehydrated, the sclerotium reverts to a plasmodium: 1) the spherules become increasingly vacuolated, 2) electron-dense granules become dispersed within expanding vacuoles, and 3) pseudopodial extensions develop from the periphery of the spherule cytoplasm, penetrating the fragmenting walls, and making interconnections with surrounding spherules, eventually leading to a fully reticulated plasmodium. Six stages are identified during reversion from sclerotium to plasmodium in laboratory cultures, and their successive appearance was mapped over time. The six stages are: 1) sclerotial stage with crenulated nuclei, 2) cytoplasmic activation with smooth nuclear envelopes, 3) initiation of pseudopodial protrusions, 4) pseudopodial penetration into or across walls, 5) cytoplasmic interconnections among spherules with wall disintegration, and 6) fully formed cytoplasmic network as plasmodium. Cytochrome c oxidase activity, expressed per unit protein content of the homogenate, remains fairly constant throughout the developmental sequence, whereas acid phosphatase activity, expressed per unit protein concentration, is somewhat lower in the sclerotium than in subsequent stages of development after hydration.


Most commentary on redistricting is concerned with fairness to groups, be they racial, political, or geographic. This Essay highlights another facet of the redistricting problem: how the configuration of districts affects the ability of low-information voters to secure responsive, accountable governance. We show that attention to the problem of voter ignorance can illuminate longstanding legal-academic debates about redistricting, and that it brings into view a set of questions that deserve our attention but have received little so far. District designers should be asking how alternative maps are likely to affect local media coverage of representatives, as well as the "branding" strategies of political party elites. Bearing these questions in mind, we offer some tentative suggestions for reform.


In the veterinary profession, as in human medicine, a great deal of time is spent in making diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive decisions in a complex and uncertain environment, where there is often a lack of optimal evidence. The Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is an approach developed to better inform medical decisions. EBM refers to the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence from research for the care of an individual patient. The concept of EBM was first described in human medicine in the early 1990s and was introduced to veterinary medicine 10 years later. However, it is not clear that the EBM approach promulgated in human medicine could be applied to the same extent to veterinary medicine. In this thesis, we hypothesize that an evidence based veterinary medicine (EBVM) is essential but the way it is taught in human medicine is currently inadequate for veterinary medicine, and that appropriate tools of scientific information must be designed and developed. We suggest that systematic reviews can provide high level scientific evidence and we discuss their methodology and ways of reporting. We postulate that accurate summaries of those reviews could be published in educational literature to help veterinarians base their decisions on the best scientific evidence. The efficacy of such interventions should be proved scientifically by using strong research methodology such as randomized controlled trials and validated psychometric instruments that will be used to capture decisional profiles of veterinarians.


We report here the discovery of amphibole exsolution texture in the Hujialing garnet-pyroxenite, Su-Lu ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane. These rocks together with coesite-bearing eclogites were exhumed from mantle depths. The garnet-pyroxenite consists mainly of garnet and diopside with minor pargasitic amphibole, ilmenite, Mg-Al spinel, magnetite, tremolite, orthopyroxene, and olivine. Diopside contains abundant garnet inclusions as well as pargasite and ilmenite lamellae. The present mineral assemblages observed in the Hujialing garnet-pyroxenite indicate that the parental mineral of the reported exsolution texture should have a composition of mixture of pargasite, ilmenite and diopside. Primary clinopyroxene in the Hujialing garnet-pyroxenite contains ∼2000 ppm H 2 O, suggesting a peak metamorphic pressure probably at 8.0 GPa. Prevailing exsolution of pargasite (stage I) and ilmenite (stage II) within clinopyroxenes suggests an at least two-stage exsolution process, which implies a complex exhumation history for the Hujialing garnet-pyroxenite. Texture relationships apparently show that the pargasite lamellae formed earlier than the ilmenite lamellae in diopsides. These observational data implies that the exhumation of these UHP metamorphic rocks were accomplished in two steps, one at depths ∼100 km, another at much shallower levels.


Over the past two decades, the United Nations Security Council (unsc) has increasingly dealt with new thematic issues and, particularly, with so-called "transnational security challenges." What implications does this trend have? Focusing on conceptual dimensions, this article analyses whether, and how, the inclusion of transnational threats on the unsc's agenda affects its understanding of security. This work approaches the dynamics of threat politics in the unsc from the perspective of securitisation theory and argues that security is reformulated in the process of securitisation. Deploying the examples of the securitisation of terrorism and aids, this work assesses the dynamics of the (attempted) reinterpretation of security, highlights its effects, and discusses what further consequences and challenges this trend may produce.


Convective motions over a sloping bottom driven by evaporation and freshening are investigated by integrating the complete momentum and mass conservation equations. The problem is posed as an initial value problem in a rotating frame of reference to study the dynamics of establishment of the quasi-steady state circulation when the rate of increase of density due to evaporation is equal to the rate of decrease of density due to freshening. The study is motivated by an attempt to give a description of the sub-mesoscale vertical convection in the cross-shore plane of an enclosed elongated basin such as the Arabian Gulf where these physical mechanisms are operative. The effect of the addition of wind-forcing in the longshore direction is also investigated. To resolve sub-mesoscale phenomena we find it necessary to employ a model basin which is smaller in its horizontal dimension than the Arabian Gulf. The results of the two dimensional model are presented herein. These results include (i) a detailed description of the evaporative-convective adjustment process; (ii) a measure of the convective length scale and vertical velocity; (iii) an assessment of the relative strengths of the buoyancy induced geostrophic current in the alongshore direction and the direct wind induced velocities; (iv) an assessment of the effect of wind on the density structures -and (v) an analogy between the forcing by diffusive buoyant source and advective buoyant source.


Abstract. Atmospheric aerosols have been sampled and characterised at the Mace Head north-east (NE) Atlantic atmospheric research station since 1958, with many interesting phenomena being discovered. However, with the range of new discoveries and scientific advances, there has been a range of concomitant criticisms challenging the representativeness of aerosol sampled at the station compared to that of aerosol over the pristine open-ocean. Two recurring criticisms relate to the lack of representativeness due to potentially enhanced coastal sources, possibly leading to artificially high values of aerosol concentrations, and to the influence of long-range transport of anthropogenic or continental aerosol and its potential dominance over, or perturbation of, a natural marine aerosol signal. Here, we review the results of previous experimental studies on marine aerosols over the NE Atlantic and at Mace Head with the aim of evaluating their representativeness relative to that of a pristine open-ocean aerosol, i.e. with negligible anthropogenic/continental influence. Particular focus is given to submicron organic matter (OM) aerosol. In summary, no correlation was found between OM and black carbon (BC) in marine air conforming to clean-air sampling criteria, either at BC levels of 0–15 or 15–50 ng m−3, suggesting that OM concentrations, up to observed peak values of 3.8 μg m−3, are predominantly natural in origin. Sophisticated carbon isotope analysis and aerosol mass spectral finger printing techniques corroborate the conclusion that there is a predominant natural source of OM, with 80% biogenic source apportionment being observed for general clean-air conditions, rising to ∼98% during specific primary marine organic plumes when peak OM mass concentrations > 3 μg m−3 are observed. Similarly, a maximum contribution of 20% OM mass coming from non-marine sources was established by dual carbon isotope analysis. Further, analysis of a series of experiments conducted at Mace Head conclude that negligible coastal, surf zone, or tidal effects are discernible in the secondary or primary aerosol mass residing in the submicron size range for sampling heights of 7 m and above. The Mace Head marine-air criteria ensure anthropogenic and coastal effects are sufficiently minimised so as to guarantee a predominant, and sometimes overwhelming, natural marine aerosol contribution to the total aerosol population when the criteria are adhered to.


ABSTRACT The arising of new technologies ranging from smartphones to social networks is constantly increasing interactions between people. In the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) community, adapting technology to human nature is the key concern of User-Centered Design (UCD). However, UCD tends to neglect the emerging social dimension of technology: users are consulted in the design process, but they do not have any direct involvement or creative control over the developed technological solutions. On the other hand, the collaborative and social nature of the design process is getting increasingly explicit in the Product Design community, where well-established participatory approaches are applied to involve stakeholders, designers, and end-users in the creative process of new products. In this paper, we first provide a deep analysis of the state of the art of participatory approaches in the research literature. Then, we investigate how their integration with UCD leads not only to empower the role of end-users as active collaborators of designers towards a more democratic crowd-based UCD process, but also to create innovation in the design process. We advocate that such innovation can be obtained by giving the right voice not only to the users who reach consensus in the design process but also to the marginals. We provide an explorative model, some experiments, and a sketch of the user interface to support our claim.


Over the past three decades,
agricultural machinery has made the transition from purely mechanical systems
to hybrid machines, reliant on both mechanical and electronic systems. A this
transformation continues, the most modern agricultural machinery uses networked
systems that require a network connection to function to their full potential. In
rural areas, providing this network connection has proven difficult. Obstacles,
distance from access points, and incomplete coverage of cellular connection are
all challenges to be overcome. "Off the shelf" commercial-grade Wi-Fi
equipment, including many products from Ubiquiti like the Bullet M2 transceiver
and the PowerBeam point-to-point linking system, as well as antennas by
Terrawave, Crane, and Hawking, were installed in a purpose-built system which
could be implemented on a production farm. This system consisted of a
tower-mounted access point which used an antenna with a 65o
beamwidth, and the test included distances up to 1150 meters in an agricultural
setting with corn and soybeans. Some sensors were stationary and the other
platform was a tractor following a path around the farm with both 8dBi and
15dBi gain antennas. Through all tests, throughput never dropped below 5 Mb/s,
and the latency of successful connections never exceeded 20ms. Packets were
rarely dropped and never accounted for a significant portion of all packet
transmission attempts. Environmental effects like immediate precipitation, crop
heights, recent rainfall, and ambient temperature had little or no effect on
wireless network characteristics. As a result, it was proven that as long as
line-of-sight was maintained, reliable wireless connectivity could be achieved
despite varying conditions using microwave radiation. Network throughput was
marginally affected by the change in free space path loss due to increased
distance between the access point and the client, as well as travel by the
mobile client outside the beamwidth of the access point. By enabling this coverage, it is hoped that the implementation of new
agricultural technology utilizing a live network connection will progress more
rapidly.


The objective of this work was to characterize the scaling properties of depth‐dependent penetration resistance (PR) profiles using multifractal analyses and to explore the effects of increasing soil water deficit on the scaling heterogeneity of the studied data series. Soil PR was recorded at 11 successive dates with decreasing soil water content on a Mollisol (Argiudoll) from Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. For each date, 10 replicated PR vertical profiles were measured every centimeter from 0 to 80 cm. Both singularity and Rènyi spectra showed that all PR datasets exhibited a well‐defined multifractal structure, so that the multifractal approach provided considerable detailed information on their depth‐dependent structure. The entropy dimension, D1, significantly (P < 0.05) increased with decreasing soil water content, and its mean values ranged from 0.976 to 0.981. Therefore, the drier the soil, the more the homogeneity and evenness of the PR depth‐dependent profiles. Moreover, the amplitude of the branches of the Rényi and singularity spectra accounting for the most positive statistical moments, [0, 5], significantly (P < 0.05) decreased with increased soil water deficit. However, for the most negative counterparts, [0, −5], these amplitudes tended to increase, although not significantly. Subsequently, increasing soil dryness increased the homogeneity of the highest PR values, but had no significant effect on the homogeneity of the lowest PR values. The multifractal approach was useful to characterize changes in inner structure, heterogeneity, and evenness of PR vertical profiles over a period with increasing soil water deficit.


In the city of Niteroi, just a short ferry ride from Rio proper, the Museu de Arte Contemporânea peeks out from the nondescript cityscape, a jumble of luxury high-rises, working-class bairros, and semi-anonymous megaplex shopping malls along the polluted beaches of Guanabara Bay. But for all these tourist attractions, Niteroi's reputation rests instead on its assortment of buildings designed by legendary architect Oscar Neimeyer that pop-up throughout the city. Arguably none is more iconic than the home of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea, perched on a green escarpment overlooking the water on a single thick pillar, the round white structure with its ethereally snakey entrance ramp, looks and is sited so much like a UFO that it'd be silly to describe it otherwise (and no cursory account really does). The building was completed in 1996, which makes it only slightly less strange, than if it had been built in Neimeyer's '60s Brasilia heyday.


Unlike a conventional lecture, where interaction and delivery behaviour is generally predictable, this paper presents suggestions for alternative and innovative delivery methods using different forms of visual and auditory modes to create a 'performance lecture'. A performance lecture is distinct from a conventional lecture in several ways. Its primary purpose is not simply to impart knowledge didactically, but to find ways of making spectatorship emotionally engaging. This paper first discusses the constituent parts of our evolving framework for performance lectures. We then provide a review of some initial visually-based demonstrator work, a 12 minute 'triptych' demonstrator video, followed by some preliminary analysis of a user evaluation study. Suggestions for further work conclude this paper.


The new enterprise is characterized by its ability to focus on core competencies and to flexibly interact with partners in order to collectively satisfy customer needs and exploit business opportunities. The new enterprise is an active player in dynamic business networks and it generally is itself composed of several interdependent organizational entities. One of the major challenges in this setting is to identify, establish, sustain, adapt and dissolve collaborations with partners. This should be done according to the enterprise's own business goals while taking account of internal and external developments. Such developments include reorganizations, mergers, economic and market trends, and changes in business partners and competitors. Next to these business level developments, technological developments should be considered as well. The latter are equally important since most enterprises heavily rely on IT applications, platforms and infrastructures to improve their productivity and efficiency. Collaboration within and between enterprises therefore not only require bridging administrative, organizational, jurisdictional and cultural boundaries, but also overcoming differences in IT-based solutions that have been developed or adopted by the collaboration partners. Moreover, business-level and IT-level approaches and solutions should be aligned, and should be kept aligned, in order to fully achieve their potential benefits. Advances in enterprise computing can help to address the above mentioned challenge. The articles in this special issue on the EDOC 2008 Enterprise Computing Conference discuss several of such advances. This editorial briefly introduces the main trends that we observe, and relates and positions the articles with respect to these trends, viz. improved enterprise models, model-driven development, and service-oriented architecture.


Although climate warming is affecting most marine ecosystems, the Mediterranean is showing earlier impacts. Foundation seagrasses are already experiencing a well‐documented regression in the Mediterranean which could be aggravated by climate change. Here, we forecast distributions of two seagrasses and contrast predicted loss with discrete regions identified on the basis of extant genetic diversity. Under the worst‐case scenario, Posidonia oceanica might lose 75% of suitable habitat by 2050 and is at risk of functional extinction by 2100, whereas Cymodocea nodosa would lose only 46.5% in that scenario as losses are compensated with gained and stable areas in the Atlantic. Besides, we predict that erosion of present genetic diversity and vicariant processes can happen, as all Mediterranean genetic regions could decrease considerably in extension in future warming scenarios. The functional extinction of Posidonia oceanica would have important ecological impacts and may also lead to the release of the massive carbon stocks these ecosystems stored over millennia.


Background: Family's expressed emotion has been shown to be predictive of outcome in mental and physical illnesses in a variety of cultural settings. The relationship between caregiver burden and high level of expressed emotions has demonstrated a high level of relapse among the psychiatric patients in the West. Aim: The current study explores the relationship between caregivers' burden and level of expressed emotions by the patients with schizophrenia in Indian setting. Materials and Methods: The sample for the study consisted of totally 70 subjects comprising 35 schizophrenic patients and 35 caregivers. The schizophrenic patients who were attending the Day Care Center run by Department of Psychiatric and Neuro Rehabilitation Unit at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India (a tertiary care center) and their primary caregivers were included. Family emotional involvement and criticism scale and The burden assessment schedule were administered to assess the expressed emotions and caregivers' burden. Carl Pearson Correlation test used to study the relationship between the variables. Results and Conclusion: The study highlighted the need for addressing expressed emotion in comprehensive psychosocial intervention plan. More attention should be paid to the needs of the caregivers in order to alleviate their burden in managing mentally ill patients.


The importance of the immigration issue in French politics has been highlighted by the success of Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme-right Front National party, in reaching the second round of the presidential elections. This absorbing book closely examines the debate over immigration in contemporary France, looking not only at the development of immigration and nationality policies, but also at the changing discourse on the integration of immigrants. It analyzes the continuing racialization of discourse on immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment arising from the 'Islamic headscarf affair'. The work addresses issues such as the gendered nature of immigration and pays particular attention to the experiences of women immigrants in France. This careful analysis is then placed within the context of developments in the EU towards creating a unified immigration and asylum policy.


We argue that the case for the existence of some deterministic force that condemns countries in the periphery to stay in the periphery indefinitely, is weak. Countries that are in the periphery today can become part of the core and vice versa. We also argue that the long run success of the Eurozone depends on a continuing process of political unification. Political unification is needed because the Eurozone has dramatically weakened the power and legitimacy of nation states without creating a nation at the European level. This is particularly true in the field of stabilization. The political willingness to go in this direction, however, is non-existent today. There is no willingness to provide a common insurance mechanism that would put taxpayers in one country at risk of having to transfer money to other countries. Under those conditions the sovereign bond markets in the Eurozone will continue to be prone to instability.


For Canadapsilas remote and rural communities, video communications provide a vital lifeline. This study explores the challenges for video communications in remote and rural First Nation (Indigenous) communities. Central to our analysis are social and technical issues as well as the ICT experiences of community-based organizations and community members. We use an analytical framework to identify challenges in four categories: technical infrastructure, the interactions of the users with the technical infrastructure, the production and reception of audio-visual content, and the organizational and social relations. Our findings underline the need for community capacity building to address these challenges and use video communications to its full potential.


This paper presents a new method for constructing 2D maps of enclosed underwater structures using an underwater robot equipped with only a 2D scanning sonar, compass and depth sensor. In particular, no motion model or odometry is used. To accomplish this, a two step offline SLAM method is applied to a set of stationary sonar scans. In the first step, the change in position of the robot between each consecutive pair of stationary sonar scans is estimated using a particle filter. This set of pair wise relative scan positions is used to create an estimate of each scan's position within a global coordinate frame using a weighted least squares fit that optimizes consistency between the relative positions of the entire set of scans. In the second step of the method, scans and their estimated positions act as inputs to a mapping algorithm that constructs 2D octree-based evidence grid maps of the site. This work is motivated by a multi-year archeological project that aims to construct maps of ancient water storage systems, i.e. cisterns, on the islands of Malta and Gozo. Cisterns, wells, and water galleries within fortresses, churches and homes operated as water storage systems as far back as 2000 B.C. Using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) these water storage systems located around the islands were explored while collecting video, still images, sonar, depth, and compass measurements. Data gathered from 3 different expeditions has produced maps of over 60 sites. Presented are results from applying the new mapping method to both a swimming pool of known size and to several of the previously unexplored water storage systems.


The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in functional communication skills between elderly persons in nursing homes and those living independently in the community. Thirty non-institutionalized elderly subjects were given the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) screening tool. These scores were compared to WAB screening scores obtained from 20 institutionalized subjects. The difference between these scores was statistically significant. The institutionalized subjects' scores were also correlated with a Facilitators Evaluation of Communication Skills (FECS) inventory. Results showed a moderate correlation between the institutionalized subjects' WAB screening score and their FECS rating. The benefits of a screening tool for elderly populations are discussed.


BACKGROUND
The cisplatin and gemcitabine (GC) regimen is usually administered as a 4- or 3-week schedule; however, the best schedule to use is still unclear. We therefore started a randomized phase II trial to compare toxicity and dose intensity (DI) between these two GC schedules.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Ninety-six patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and an additional 11 patients with an advanced epithelial neoplasm [bladder (n = 5), head and neck (n = 3), cervix (n = 1), esophageal (n = 1) or unknown primary carcinoma (n = 1)] were randomized to receive cisplatin 70 mg/m(2) intravenously on day 2 plus either gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle or gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. Planned DI (PDI) for the 4-week schedule was 750 mg/m(2)/week for gemcitabine and 17.5 mg/m(2)/week for cisplatin; for the 3-week regimen PDI was 666 mg/m(2)/week and 23 mg/m(2)/week for gemcitabine and cisplatin, respectively.

RESULTS
From July 1998 to March 2000, 107 patients were randomized. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in 27.8% of patients in the 3-week versus 22.5% in the 4-week arm (P = 0.69), while grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia was higher in the 4-week arm (29.5% versus 5.5% of patients; P = 0.14). A total of 398 cycles of therapy were delivered. Overall, 51% of cycles were modified in dose, timing or both in the 4-week arm, and 19% in the 3-week arm. The 21-day schedule of GC leads to a similar received DI of gemcitabine and higher cisplatin DI. Both regimens had activity in NSCLC, with a response rate of 39% (38% for the 4-week arm, and 42% for the 3-week arm).

CONCLUSIONS
The 3-week schedule has similar DI to the 4-week schedule. However the 3-week regimen has a better compliance profile and a comparable response rate in NSCLC, supporting the use of such a schedule.


Abstract Affectionless, uncommitted sexual behavior was formerly interpreted in psychology as a function of individual decisions, a kind of intrapsychic variable. Sociosexual orientation is directly linked to reproductive success, so among other issues, measuring sociosexual orientation has been of great interest for evolutionary scientists. Most recently Penke and Asendorpf (2008) prepared the revised version of Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R), which has been used in dozens of studies since its publication. The aim of the current study was to test the usability of the Hungarian version and to analyze the factor structure and internal reliability of the inventory. It was translated and the structure was analyzed on a Hungarian sample (n = 1345, females = 832, males = 513; age: M = 26.37 years, SD = 8.75, range: 16-74). Our results show that the Hungarian version has the same three-factor structure as proposed by Penke and Asendorpf (2008) and is a reliable inventory for further studies of sociosexuality. The sociosexual scores of the two sexes statistically differ in the expected direction: women show lower SOI scores thanmen. Sociosexual desire decreases with age, whereas older participants report less restricted sociosexual behavior. Sociosexual attitude is uneffected by age. Results are discussed from both evolutionary and life-span developmental points of view.


Objective: To explore the effectiveness of chiropractic care using the Infant Toggle Headpiece and Logan sustained contact on a 15-month-old female with developmental delay, colic and GERD. Clinical Features: A 15-month-old female patient presented to a chiropractic office after her mother noticed developmental delays in the child. These developmental delays included not standing, walking or talking for her age level. Previous chiropractic care had been sought for complaints of GERD and colic in the child from birth to 5 months of age. Those complaints had resolved after she received three chiropractic adjustments, once a month for three consecutive months. Interventions and Outcomes: Patient was examined and management included using Infant Toggle Headpiece and Logan Basic protocol. Vertebral subluxations were identified at C1 and sacrum. Adjustments along with cranial work and rehabilitation exercises were also used as an adjunct to care. Improvements were noted after 18 visits as the patient was able to walk unassisted and speak 3-4 words in Greek and English. GERD and Colic had resolved after she received three chiropractic adjustments, once a month for three consecutive months. Conclusion: The case of a 15 month old female with developmental delays, colic, and GERD is presented. Significant improvements were noted following the introduction of chiropractic care. More research is warranted in the area of developmental delays, colic and GERD and the benefits of chiropractic care for the pediatric population.


The conversion of methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) is known to occur via an autocatalytic process in zeolites, where framework-bound methoxy species play a pivotal role, especially during catalyst induction. Recent NMR and FT-IR experimental studies suggest that methoxylated zeolites are able to produce hydrocarbons by a mechanism involving carbene migration and association. In order to understand these observations, we have performed QM/MM computational investigations on a range of reaction mechanisms for the reaction of zeolite bound methoxy and carbene groups, which are proposed to initiate hydrocarbon formation in the MTH process. Our simulations demonstrate that it is kinetically unfavourable for methyl species to form on the framework away from the zeolite acid site, and both kinetically and thermodynamically unfavourable for methyl groups to migrate through the framework and aggregate around an acid site. Formation of carbene moieties was considered as an alternative pathway to the formation of C-C bonds; however, the reaction energy for conversion of a methyl to a carbene is unfavourable. Metadynamics simulations help confirm further that methyl species at the framework acid sites would be more reactive towards formed C2+ species, rather than inter-framework migration, and that the role of carbenes in the formation of the first C-C bond will be via a concerted type of mechanism rather than stepwise.


Self-limited, non-destructive arthritis is a common clinical presentation of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), while protracted, refractory to standard treatment arthritis is a rare manifestation of the disease, potentially resulting in severe damage and disability.1,–,3

We report on a 25-year-old woman with FMF, homozygous for the MEFV gene M694V mutation, and with longstanding articular involvement affecting her hips and her left knee, effectively treated with canakinumab. She had been under treatment with colchicine since the age of 5. In 2005, she experienced long-lasting arthritis of her right hip and treatment with anakinra (100 mg/day) was added. Anakinra was discontinued shortly afterwards due to severe injection site reactions, precluding the evaluation of its efficacy. She was switched to treatment with etanercept (25 mg twice weekly) and low dose prednisone (5–7.5 mg/day). In 2008, she developed destructive arthritis of the right hip, which lead to total hip replacement, and chronic arthritis of her left knee. Methotrexate (10 mg/week) was added to the existent treatment. Long-term remission was not achieved, as indicated by the clinical findings and the elevated inflammatory …


Petrogenesis of Tongariro Volcanic Centre lavas, particularly those from Mount Ruapehu and nearby vents, is investigated through a detailed petrochemical and Sr isotope study. The importance and nature of crustal contamination as a process is assessed from metasedimentary xenoliths and their relationship to local sedimentary basement lithologies. These results are tested by least squares modelling of processes such as crystal fractionation, crystal accumulation, combined assimilation and fractional crystallisation (AFC) and magma mixing. Sedimentary basement lithologies near the TVC provide a guide to the composition of potential crustal contaminants and a genetic link to some xenoliths. The rocks are of three main types (i) Torlesse terrane greywackes and argillites, (ii) Waipapa terrane greywackes and (iii) Late Tertiary marine sandstones, siltstones and conglomerates. Torlesse terrane flysch sediments, which form the Kaimanawa ranges on the eastern margin, have dominantly granitic bulk compositions and comprise a chemical continuum between Si-, Na-, Sr-rich greywackes and Al-, Fe- and K-rich argillites. A Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age for the latter of 141 (3) Ma is interpreted as the time of low-grade metamorphism; similar rocks from Otaki Forks, north of Wellington yield an age of 182 (13) Ma which is some 40 Ma younger than the depositional age as inferred from fossil evidence. These data suggest that metamorphism and uplift of Torlesse terrane sequences are local events unrelated to major phases of the Rangitata Orogeny.Waipapa terrane greywackes occur to the NW and west of the TVC. These have intermediate calc-alkaline chemistries and low Sr isotopic ratios (.70500 to .70850) which give a whole-rock isochron age of 205 (17) Ma. by comparison with a similar rock suite from Coffs Harbour Block, northern of N.S.W., Australia, this age is interpreted to be the timing of low-grade (prehnite-pumpellyite facies) metamorphism.Late Tertiary marine sediments form a thin veneer over older basement on the margins of TVC. These rocks are chemically similar to Torlesse terrane metasediments and have Sr isotopic compositions ranging between .707 and .710. Xenoliths of metasedimentary, igneous and metaigneous origin occur in most TVC lavas and are abundant in some. They are classified according to petrography and presumed origin, and are of six main types: (1) Upper crustal xenoliths (TYPE UCX) include porcellanite, metagreywacke and calcsilicate and can be related to known sedimentary basement on the basis of mineralogy, bulk-rock chemistry and Sr isotopic composition (2) Vitrified xenoliths (TYPE VX) occur only in Ngauruhoe 1954 and Pukeonake lavas and are of two chemically distinct types. Of these, TYPE VXa xenoliths are chemically similar to Torlesse terrane metasediments and usually contain more than 50% glass, representing advanced partial melting. Retention of their original bulk-rock chemistry implies derivation from shallow depths and rapid transport to the surface. TYPE VXb xenoliths are less vitrified and are chemically different from any known basement lithology (3) Quartz-rich xenoliths (TYPE QX) are conspicuous and abundant in most lavas and are mainly quartzo-feldspathic gneisses (TYPE QXa) or quartzites (TYPE QXb). The latter probably represent TYPE QXa xenoliths modified by extraction of partial granitic melt and subsequent recrystallisation. Both are interpreted to be restite assemblages derived initially from greywacke-gneiss (probably from the Torlesse terrane). Several rare TYPE QX xenoliths (TYPES QXc to QXf) with unusual mineral assemblages and obscure origins also occur (4) Quartz-poor xenoliths (TYPE QPX) have biotite-, spinel-rich or feldspar-rich assemblages and are interpreted to be restites after partial melting of the feldspathic and micaceous layers of greywacke-gneiss (5) Igneous xenoliths (TYPE IX), include variably altered blocks of surface volcanics, a natroalunite-bearing nodule and a variety of cognate cumulate nodules and show little evidence of pyrometamorphism or of an extended history (6) Meta-igneous xenoliths (TYPE MIX) have broadly calc-alkaline chemistries but are texturally, mineralogically and isotopically different from host Iavas. Some (TYPE MIXa) are coarse-grained with high Cr and Ni contents and may be basic cumulates. Others (TYPES MIXb and MIXc) are finer-grained and are chemically similar to low-K orogenic andesites. All may have originated from the base of the continental crust and represent the original oceanic crust on which the Torlesse terrane was deposited.Cation exchange equilibria pertaining to certain key assemblages indicates that equilibration of most xenoliths occurred at temperatures of 800 degrees C to 1000 degrees C (reliable pressure estimates are unattainable). The occurrence of granitic partial melt in some xenoliths and the dominance of quartz-rich and quartz-poor xenolith types indicate that crustal contamination (by assimilation of partial melt ) is a widespread phenomenum.Ruapehu lavas and those of nearby vents are dominantly calc-alkaline, medium-K andesites. They are porphyritic with phenocrysts of plagioclase, augite, olivine (mainly in basalts and basic andesites), orthopyroxene (mainly in acid andesites and dacites) and titanomagnetite (or chromian spinel in basic lavas). Hydrous minerals are rare. The lavas can be catagorised into sir petrographically and chemically distinct groups: TYPE 1 are plagioclase-pyroxene-rich and are the dominant type, being represented by all Ruapehu Group Formations, Red Crater basalt and Ngauruhoe 1954 andesite. Compositions range from basalt to dacite and show decreasing Fe, Mg, Ca, Cr, Ni, constant Ti, Al, Na, Sr, increasing LILE and increasing 87Sr/86sr with increasing silica. TYPE 2 are characterised by high modal plagioclase and TYPES 3 & 4 by high mafic mineral contents, but each is otherwise similar to TYPE 1. TYPE 5 lavas are olivine andesites from Pukekaikiore, Ohakune and Hauhungatahi. They characteristically contain no plagioclase phenocrysts and have high Mg, Ca and Sr contents and low 87Sr/86Sr ratios. TYPE 6 lavas show disequilibrium features (such as strongly reversed-zoned phenocrysts) which are normally considered evidence for magma mixing. All have high Cr and Ni contents, and low 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Potential parental magmas for TVC lavas include high-alumina basalts restricted to the extensional zone of rhyolitic volcanism in Taupo Volcanic Zone, low-alumina basalts occurring at the southern end of the extensional zone and directly associated with andesites and one example of magnesian quartz tholeiite (Waimarino basalt). The latter, from east of Lake Taupo, has primary chemical characteristics but is highly porphyritic and contains quartzose xenoliths. Compositional data indicate that neither low-alumina nor high-alumina basalt can be generated directly from tholeiite by any reasonable process and therefore each represents a distinct magma type. Petrochemical and isotopic data of TVC lavas and xenoliths provide an excellent framework for petrogenetic modelling. Least squares analysis shows that evolved TYPE 1 lavas can be generated from low-alumina basalt (e.g. Ruapehu basalt) or from less-evolved TYPE 1 lavas by AFM, involving POAM fractionation plus assimilation of granitic partial melt of greywacke-gneiss. Additional selective contamination may be required to explain the high Sr isotopic ratios of some lavas (e.g. Ngauruhoe 1954). TYPE 2 lavas can be generated from TYPE 1 either by POAM fractionation (where plagioclase removal is suppressed) or, better, by plagioclase addition. TYPE 3 can be generated from TYPE 1 by olivine + clinopyroxene addition. However, their higher LILE and lower 87Sr/86Sr ratios may rather suggest an alternative genesis from an unknown parent. TYPE 5 lavas can be generated from a Waimarino basalt-type parent by POAM fractionation without addition of a crustal contaminant. The somewhat higher 87Sr/86Sr ratio of Waimarino basalt indicates that although tholeiitic basalt has occurred in small amounts throughout the history of the TVC, its isotopic composition (and LILE content) has varied with time. TYPE 4 are chemically and isotopically intermediate to TYPES 3 and 5 and, although internally consistent, these lavas cannot be easily generated from any known basalt type (red Crater basalt gives the best-fit model). For TYPE 6 lavas, the high Cr and Ni contents and low 87Sr/86Sr imply that a Waimarino basalt-type parent must be one endmember; best-fit models are achieved when Mangawhero Formation dacite is the other. Each petrogenetic model is consistent with petrographic, chemical and Sr isotopic constraints. They show that it is feasible to generate most Ruapehu lavas from low-alumina basalt by processes of crystal fractionation with or without crustal assimilation. However, some spatially and volumetrically restricted lava types are better derived from a more tholeiitic parent by crystal fractionation or hybridisation with dacite.


Text in many domains involves a significant amount of named entities. Predicting the entity names is often challenging for a language model as they appear less frequent on the training corpus. In this paper, we propose a novel and effective approach to building a language model which can learn the entity names by leveraging their entity type information. We also introduce two benchmark datasets based on recipes and Java programming codes, on which we evaluate the proposed model. Experimental results show that our model achieves 52.2% better perplexity in recipe generation and 22.06% on code generation than state-of-the-art language models.


Universal human rights suffer from a lack of consensus on the question: what
kind of internal state organisation can actually take these fundamental rights
adequately into account? The main intent of this article is to present a critical
assessment of various modes of state–religion affiliation and their effects on the
state's scope for human rights compliance. A special focus will be on the right to
freedom of religion or belief since this fundamental right is within this context
most profoundly at stake. It will be contended that states which are organised in
accordance with the principle of state neutrality can in principle fully comply
with human rights norms; while states which identify themselves either positively
with a single religious denomination or excessively negatively with religion have
to be considered poorly equipped for both democratisation as well as optimal
human rights compliance. The crucial issue of 'multivocality' of religions will be
addressed as a contribution to the reform debate. Ultimately a case will be made
for 'the right to neutral governance'.


Practical and accurate technologies are needed for continuously measuring and controlling outdoor air (OA) intake rates in commercial building heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. This project evaluated two new measurement approaches. Laboratory experiments determined that OA flow rates were measurable with errors generally less than 10percent using electronic air velocity probes installed between OA intake louver blades or at the outlet face of louvers. High accuracy was maintained with OA flow rates as low as 15percent of the maximum for the louvers. Thus, with this measurement approach HVAC systems do not need separate OA intakes for minimum OA supply. System calibration parameters are required for each unique combination of louver type and velocity sensor location but calibrations are not necessary for each system installation. The research also determined that the accuracy of measuring OA flow rates with velocity probes located in the duct downstream of the intake louver was not improved by installing honeycomb airflow straighteners upstream of the probes. Errors varied with type of upstream louver, were as high as 100percent, and were often greater than 25percent. In conclusion, use of electronic air velocity probes between the blades of OA intake louvers or at the outlet face of louvers is a highly promising means of accurately measuring rates of OA flow into HVAC systems. The use of electronic velocity probes downstream of airflow straighteners is less promising, at least with the relatively small OA HVAC inlet systems employed in this research.


In order to prevent the avoidable environmental degradation that often accompanies new development, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires state and local decision makers to consider the potential environmental impacts of their discretionary approvals, even when they are voting entitlements for purely private development projects. California cities are burdened with notoriously underfunded transportation infrastructure and poor air quality, so CEQA findings can be marshaled to justify rejection of almost any proposed project. Because of California's staggeringly high growth rates, projects rejected at one location are likely to find their way to another site within the same market area. Does CEQA demand that a local government before voting to reject a project must pay attention to the likely environmental impacts of the site where the rejected (displaced) development is likely to arise? Two recently decided intermediate appellate court cases reached opposite answers to this question. This paper examines the two recent cases, Muzzy Ranch Company v. Solano County Airport Land Use Commission and Wal-Mart v. City of Turlock. The author concludes that decision makers should evaluate the environmental consequences of both the proposed project and the destination of displaced development so as better to guide development where it will do the least harm to the environment and the most good.


Using standard fiscal incidence analysis, this paper estimates the impact of fiscal policy on inequality and poverty in thirteen countries in Latin America around 2010. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay are the countries which redistribute the most and El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras redistribute the least. Contributory pensions are significantly equalizing in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and also in Chile, Costa Rica and Ecuador but, in the latter, their effect is small. In the rest of the countries, contributory pensions are unequalizing but their effect is also small. More unequal countries tend to redistribute more. Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru redistribute below the trend; Chile, Ecuador and Mexico are on trend; and, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay redistribute above the trend. Fiscal policy reduces poverty in nine countries. However, in Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala and Honduras, the incidence of poverty after taxes, subsidies and transfers (excluding spending on education and health) is higher than market income poverty, even though fiscal policy is equalizing. In Brazil and Mexico, a third of the post-fiscal poor were impoverished by fiscal policy and, in Bolivia and Guatemala, two thirds were. Public spending on pre-school and primary education is always equalizing and also pro-poor (i.e., per capita spending falls with per capita income). Spending on secondary education is always equalizing but pro-poor only in some countries. Spending on tertiary education is never pro-poor; however, it is always equalizing except for Guatemala. Government spending on public health is always progressive in relative terms and equalizing.


Rallidae are common and widespread, yet relatively poorly studied. We analysed the ringing data from more than 8,000 Common Coot Fulica atra, accumulated between 1950 and 1982 in Camargue, southern France, in terms of the dynamics of their biometrics throughout the year, migratory pathways and annual survival rate. Mean monthly body mass and wing length indicate seasonal differences, with birds captured in autumn and winter being heavier and larger than those captured in spring and summer. The temporal and spatial distribution across Europe of more than 950 ring recoveries indicates a mixing of sedentary and migratory birds. Capture–recapture analysis indicated lower annual survival rates during the year after ringing, and greater survival rates in adults and in males. Mean survival rate across sex and age classes greater than one year after ringing was 55%. This is somewhat lower than found by other studies, and may be influenced by Coot hunting in the Camargue, especially during the years of this study.


A novel model is proposed to describe the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) in continuous casting. The model bases on Rappaz and Thevoz's solute diffusion model for equiaxed dendritic growth, combined with a 1-Dimensional solidification model normal to the slab surface. The unique feature of the proposed model is the combination with a mixing term between interdendritic and extradendritic melt, representing long-range solutal mixing by convection. The model can also be applied to predict equiaxed to columnar transition (ECT), i.e. the chill zone thickness. The model consists of modules such as nucleation, growth kinetics, solute and heat balance, and a solute mixing module. Nucleation is considered with a fixed nucleation undercooling. The growth kinetics of the dendrites are treated according to the LGK model. A finite difference scheme is employed for solving 1-Dimensional heat transfer equations and finally, volume averaged solute balance equations are solved in a staggered scheme. Mixing of inter- and extradendritic liquid is, as a first step, treated ideally fast. When applied to Fe-C binary system with the thermo-physical properties obtained from literature and CALPHAD simulations, the model successfully predicts recalescence, phase fraction evolution, and concentration profiles in different phases. Realistic boundary conditions of the continuous casting process are obtained from macroscopic FEM simulation.


This paper studies the humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories, focusing on the Palestinians' short-term needs in emergency relief as well as their long-term needs regarding sustainable development, good governance, legal and physical protection. Against the backdrop of a cost/benefit analysis of the current UN humanitarian operational model, the paper then introduces new models of engagement, such the UN's positioning itself as a mediator between the PA and the civic society throughout the implementation of a decentralized development model. Within this framework, the UN is advised to complement its engagement by facilitating negotiations towards a unified Palestinian government that incorporates the PA's expertise in engaging the global political platform with the civic-based authority Hamas has within Palestine. The paper also proposes that the UN deploy a peace-keeping mission to help reduce the rate at which Israeli authorities and extremist settlers are pursuing a coercive environment in the WBGS. The last section of the essay highlights a reconceptualized diplomatic negotiation process spearheaded by the UN that complements its domestic operations. This reform essentially involves the expansion of the UN agenda to leverage the strategic partnerships the Gulf States, China, and Japan have with Israel and Palestine, as well as their financial powers to help sustain a viable Palestine until a settlement is reached.


We have previously presented a critique of the standard Marshallian theory of the firm, and developed an alternative formulation that better agreed with the results of simulation. An incorrect mathematical fact was used in our previous presentation. This paper deals with correcting the derivation of the Keen equilibrium, and generalising the result to the asymmetric case. As well, we discuss the notion of rationality employed, and how this plays out in a two player version of the game.


We study multi-type housing markets, where there are p ≥ 2 types of items, each agent is initially endowed one item of each type, and the goal is to design mechanisms without monetary transfer to (re)allocate items to the agents based on their preferences over bundles of items, such that each agent gets one item of each type. In sharp contrast to classical housing markets, previous studies in multi-type housing markets have been hindered by the lack of natural solution concepts, because the strict core might be empty. We break the barrier in the literature by leveraging AI techniques and making natural assumptions on agents' preferences. We show that when agents' preferences are lexicographic, even with different importance orders, the classical top-trading-cycles mechanism can be extended while preserving most of its nice properties. We also investigate computational complexity of checking whether an allocation is in the strict core and checking whether the strict core is empty. Our results convey an encouragingly positive message: it is possible to design good mechanisms for multi-type housing markets under natural assumptions on preferences.


The position that no particular theory, whether a theory of lack or one of intensity, can grasp what is most important about desire is extended and located in the context of a formal organization, dealing in particular with managerial subjectivities. The concerns ventilated are related to action research, in particular the concern for understanding management and organization and engaging in a process of change — here called interfering and making a difference. Social theory here is seen as a set of stories and theorizing as a political activity: ontological politics.


Joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) enables China to reform its legal order and to move towards a system incorporating major principles of the rule of law. The WTO also serves as an external impetus that guides contemporary Chinese legal reform and orients it in ways that domestic forces alone could not achieve and sustain. Much discussion on the WTO and the Chinese legal system has focused on the issue of compliance A D whether the Chinese legal system has the capacity to fulfill China AZs WTO accession commitments. The focus of this work is less concerned with compliance issues per se, but rather with the extent to which the WTO AZs requirements vis-A A -vis China actually affect the Chinese legal system. The fine difference between the two lies in the fact that efforts by the Chinese government to meet its WTO obligations necessarily impact the Chinese legal order and its way of functioning, even if their end results may or may not lead to full compliance with what is required of it by the WTO. This timely work exposes many behind-the-scene dealings and relies on valuable information that is not publicly available. Not only does it preserve for the historical record important details of the Chinese WTO accession, it also sheds light on the travaux prA A|paratoires of China AZs accession agreement and the negotiation history of important issues, some of which remain relevant and highly contentious today. As expressed by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy in his foreword to the book, (R)Through this work, Esther Lam succeeds in demonstrating how WTO membership can benefit both the acceding country and the wider WTO family of nations. AZ