Although stereotypical gender patterns have been reported in a number of studies over the last forty years or so, and attempts to address gender-biased representation have been made, males and females are still represented differently in modern English-speaking societies. Further research uncovering gender-marked language and biased gender structures is therefore needed. The study presented here is a contribution to the still small, but nevertheless growing number of studies employing corpora to study the discourse of gender. The focus of the study is the representation of young individuals in a previously unexplored one-hundred-million-word web corpus of English, the New Model Corpus (NMC). Following earlier work on collocation and gender, the aim of this paper is to explore what verbs collocate with the lemmas girl and boy as subject and object and what words modify them in a worldwide corpus of English. The purpose is to reveal how these two lemmas pattern with other words, and in doing so point at cultural and social meanings embodied in the representation of girls and boys.


This paper addresses the problem of policy selection in domains with abundant logged data, but with a restricted interaction budget. Solving this problem would enable safe evaluation and deployment of offline reinforcement learning policies in industry, robotics, and recommendation domains among others. Several off-policy evaluation (OPE) techniques have been proposed to assess the value of policies using only logged data. However, there is still a big gap between the evaluation by OPE and the full online evaluation. Yet, large amounts of online interactions are often not possible in practice. To overcome this problem, we introduce active offline policy selection — a novel sequential decision approach that combines logged data with online interaction to identify the best policy. We use OPE estimates to warm start the online evaluation. Then, in order to utilize the limited environment interactions wisely we decide which policy to evaluate next based on a Bayesian optimization method with a kernel that represents policy similarity. We use multiple benchmarks, including real-world robotics, with a large number of candidate policies to show that the proposed approach improves upon state-of-the-art OPE estimates and pure online policy evaluation 2 .


Book synopsis: Today, DIY--do-it-yourself--describes more than self-taught carpentry. Social media enables DIY citizens to organize and protest in new ways (as in Egypt's "Twitter revolution" of 2011) and to repurpose corporate content (or create new user-generated content) in order to offer political counternarratives. This book examines the usefulness and limits of DIY citizenship, exploring the diverse forms of political participation and "critical making" that have emerged in recent years. The authors and artists in this collection describe DIY citizens whose activities range from activist fan blogging and video production to knitting and the creation of community gardens.

Contributors examine DIY activism, describing new modes of civic engagement that include Harry Potter fan activism and the activities of the Yes Men. They consider DIY making in learning, culture, hacking, and the arts, including do-it-yourself media production and collaborative documentary making. They discuss DIY and design and how citizens can unlock the black box of technological infrastructures to engage and innovate open and participatory critical making. And they explore DIY and media, describing activists' efforts to remake and reimagine media and the public sphere. As these chapters make clear, DIY is characterized by its emphasis on "doing" and making rather than passive consumption. DIY citizens assume active roles as interventionists, makers, hackers, modders, and tinkerers, in pursuit of new forms of engaged and participatory democracy.


The research is about using intelligent agent in bulletin board system. This intelligent
agent will provide useful information and instruction to the users in an interactive way
and also displaying useful information about the system. The development of the
intelligent agent is to change the traditional interface of the websites that are so much
inhuman into an artificial life that can interact with the users. The main objectives of the
research is to identify characteristic and the features of current bulletin board based on
literature review, determine which intelligent agent that can be used within the bulletin
board system and identify information that can be displayed by the virtual assistant
intelligent agent. The scope of the project is including the development of the intelligent
bulletin board prototype. The researcher have done some review of literature on previous
research that very important to the development of this research. The development of the
system will use the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approach. This approach
includes system planning, system analysis, system design and implementation. The
development of the intelligent agent is based on several artificial intelligent functions
including natural language processing, document summarization, document indexing
and knowledge base generation. The findings that can be gain by this research is the
similarities and the differences between several top user rated bulletin board and the
user's acceptance towards the intelligent agent features. So, in conclusion, the researcher
sees that the intelligent bulletin board will be well accepted and used by the users. For
further research, it is recommended for the next researcher to focus more on other type
of intelligent software agents besides virtual assistant agents such as filtering agents or
web agents to be implemented not only in the bulletin board system, but also in other
websites generally.


The desire to build lower cost analog front-ends has triggered interest in a new domain of research. Consequently the joint design of the analog front-end and of the digital baseband algorithms has become an important field of research. It enables the wireless systems and chip designers to more effectively trade the communication performance with the production cost. Digital Compensation for Analog Front-Ends provides a systematic approach to designing a digital communication system. It covers in detail the digital compensation of many non-idealities, for a wide class of emerging broadband standards and with a system approach in the design of the receiver algorithms. In particular, system strategies for joint estimation of synchronization and front-end non-ideality parameters are emphasized. The book is organized to allow the reader to gradually absorb the important information and vast quantity of material on this subject. The first chapter is a comprehensive introduction to the emerging wireless standards which is followed by a detailed description of the front-end non-idealities in chapter two. Chapter three then uses this information to explore what happens when the topics introduced in the first two chapters are merged. The book concludes with two chapters providing an in-depth coverage of the estimation and compensation algorithms. This book is a valuable reference for wireless system architects and chip designers as well as engineers or managers in system design and development. It will also be of interest to researchers in industry and academia, graduate students and wireless network operators. Presents a global, systematic approach to the joint design of the analog front-end compensation, channel estimation, synchronization and of the digital baseband algorithms Describes in depth the main front-end non-idealities such as phase noise, IQ imbalance, non-linearity, clipping, quantization, carrier frequency offset, sampling clock offset and their impact on the modulation Explains how the non-idealities introduced by the analog front-end elements can be compensated digitally Methodologies are applied to the emerging Wireless Local Area Network and outdoor Cellular communication systems, hence covering OFDM(A), SC-FDE and MIMO Written by authors with in-depth expertise developed in the wireless research group of IMEC and projects covering the main broadband wireless standards


Two important new directions in resource and environmental management are increased reliance on market mechanisms on the one hand, and on greater participation by local communities on the other. In fisheries, market-based management is found mainly in the "cap-and-trade" systems known as individual transferable quotas (ITQs). ITQs are effective in achieving certain economic goals but often with undesirable social costs, leading to the view that they are antithetical to community-based management. However, ITQ systems have been adapted to mitigate community losses. In addition, social resistance to ITQs has encouraged the development of innovative programs in community-based fisheries management.


Vaccinating the world's population quickly in a pandemic has enormous health and economic benefits. We analyze the problem faced by governments in determining the scale and structure of procurement for vaccines. We analyze alternative approaches to procurement, arguing that buyers should directly fund manufacturing capacity and shoulder most of the risk of failure while maintaining some direct incentives for speed. We analyzed the optimal portfolio of vaccine investments for countries with different characteristics as well as the implications for international cooperation. Our analysis, considered in light of the experience of 2020, suggests lessons for future pandemics.


Two simplified methods for assessing the emission of ammonia, from fertilized, flooded rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Inga) fields without affecting the plant's environment, are described and compared with an established micrometeorological method. Method A requires a circular plot of a 25-m radius over which wind speed and atmospheric ammonia concentrations are observed at 0.8 m above the floodwater. Method B requires measurements of ammoniacal nitrogen concentration, pH and temperature in the floodwater, and wind speed at a fixed height. Method A is the more accurate technique and requires fewer measurements. It appears that one calibration curve relating vertical flux of ammonia to these measurements can be applied in widely different environments. Method B is not only less accurate than Method A but appears to require different calibration curves to determine vertical flux for different environments. However, this method may be more useful for comparing ammonia losses from several different fertilizer treatments since only small plot areas are required for each treatment. Method B can be calibrated easily for each site by one set of simultaneous measurements on one treatment plot, using Method A.


Investing in creative or entrepreneurial ventures is part of the human condition and goes back as far as recorded history. The patronage of the Medici family of Florence supported the work of Leonardo de Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo. Queen Isabella was essentially a venture capitalist, supporting Christopher Columbus in his exploration of the New World. Many of the critical inflection points in modern history that had dramatic impacts on the human condition resulted from entrepreneurial initiatives supported by wealthy individuals and families. The history of modern venture capital was catalyzed by efforts at mobilizing capital for the many companies emerging after World War II, in part from both necessity and opportunity—the need to support the GIs returning from the war and the opportunity to commercialize the new technologies that resulted from the war effort. Commercial access and use of the Internet represents the latest catalyst for the acceleration in entrepreneurial activity around the world, with a corresponding growth in individuals investing in new ventures, as well as new funds. Unfortunately, the process of underwriting an entrepreneurial venture remains much like it was in the time of Leonardo de Vinci and Columbus: Energetic entrepreneurs convince a supporter (investor) of their vision and seek to share the rewards with the supporter, should there be any rewards to share. Investing was, and largely continues to be, transacted on a case-by-case basis. Ironically, there has been little innovation in the very funding mechanism of entrepreneurial finance. This has led to a critical shortage of early stage risk capital in various regions around the United States where historically blue-collar jobs have been disintermediated by technological advancements, but capital has not been available in these communities to support the new (digital) jobs that would replace those old jobs and provide hope for the next generation residing in those communities. This article will review the history of venture capital, explore the ineffectiveness of the historical model, and explore some of the innovative initiatives to improve the effectiveness of venture capital, thus funding more startups more efficiently and in more communities while delivering better risk-adjusted returns for investors. TOPIC: Private equity


Abstract. There is limited understanding of the role of aerosols in the formation and modification of clouds, partly due to inadequate data on such systems. Aircraft-based aerosol measurements in the presence of cloud particles have proven to be challenging because of the problem of cloud droplet/ice particle shatter and the generation of secondary artifact particles that contaminate aerosol samples. Recently, the design of a new aircraft inlet, called the Blunt-body Aerosol Sampler (BASE), which enables sampling of interstitial aerosol particles, was introduced. Numerical modeling results and laboratory test data suggested that the BASE inlet should sample interstitial particles with minimal shatter particle contamination. Here, the sampling performance of the inlet is established from aircraft-based measurements. Initial aircraft test results obtained during the PLOWS (Profiling of Winter Storms) campaign indicated two problems with the original BASE design: separated flows around the BASE at high altitudes and a significant shatter problem when sampling in drizzle. The test data were used to improve the accuracy of flow and particle trajectory modeling around the inlet, and the results from the improved flow model were used to guide design modifications of the BASE to overcome the problems identified in its initial deployment. The performance of the modified BASE was tested during the ICE–T (Ice in Clouds Experiment – Tropics) campaign, and the inlet was seen to provide near shatter-free measurements in a wide range of cloud conditions. The initial aircraft test results, design modifications, and the performance characteristics of the BASE relative to another interstitial inlet, the submicron aerosol inlet (SMAI), are presented.


What do writers perform, when they/we use a particular term – or a practitioner's name – in academic writing that purports to be 'about' performance/s? It is worth noting in the present context that the suffix '-ism', added to the noun term 'the postmodern' (or, indeed, the suffix '-ist', added to the qualifier 'postmodern'), performs a properly 'modern-ist' capture upon an otherwise open, dynamic and incomplete, 'soft-edged' cluster of practices. The suffixes '-ism' and '-ist', I argue here, are categorising: they signal a desire to pin something down, the better to inspect – and, apparently, to know - 'it'. Confronted then by the invitation to write about 'postmodernist' performance, as is the case here, I can't avoid a return to J-F. Lyotard's observation of the 1970s, that he had "favored a certain procedure", which was to "emphasiz[e] facts of language and in particular their pragmatic aspect" (Lyotard, 1979/1984, p.9), in his attempt to account for what he called the postmodern condition of the age. The use of language, others have noted, does (or performs) something, and in my argument the use of nouns can seem to conjure 'something' up - almost as though it already existed, prior to that act of word-conjuring. Postmodern-ist performance, in other words, might seem already to exist/have existed, and on this basis might well be pinned down, and written 'about', by spectators, in terms of its apparent 'messing around with' some of the conventions identified (as I have done above) as 'modern-ist'. This chapter suggests that qualifying performances in these sorts of terms tends to be an option available to spectators and writers, rather than one chosen by practitioners, for whom the postmodern is rather less easily identified, in practice, and may always escape its actualisation.


Setting up engines to meet emissions limits often involves extensive steady-state calibration activities combined with ad-hoc strategies to compensate for transient operation. As engines become more complex and acceptable emissions levels ever lower, this task is becoming increasingly time consuming and expensive. The inclusion of models in the engine control units offers a way to reduce some of this calibration effort. Model-based control is an active area of research with advanced approaches now being proposed. One example is the use of real-time models to regulate the burn angle during transient manoeuvres. This paper describes the application of a control-orientated combustion model to control directly emissions during transients. The model is used to optimize and constrain the NOx emissions directly, rather than controlling an inferred variable such as the burn angle. This has the benefit that calibration engineers will be able to set the emissions trade-off directly.


This research aimed at analyzing the influence of Indonesia Original Brand Index (IOB) on financial performance, which is measured by profitability and market value. The data of this research was from companies in various sectors listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and whose brand appeared on the published index of Indonesia Original Brands of SWA magazine. The final number of samples is 68 firm-years. This research found that customers' satisfaction can enhance customer loyalty while also significantly improving customer advocacy. However, the performance of the Indonesia Original Brand Index still not significantly impacted financial performance. This issue happened due to the excessive resources of Indonesian companies, which spent on turning customers' loyalty and be advocates for the brand. This unfavorable profitability outcome can also be due to the unique characteristics of Indonesia's consumer behavior. According to 81% of IOB respondents, Indonesia's customers prefer to buy things at a low price and economically. With this behavior of seeking the lowest price, it indicates that customers in Indonesia may shift from one brand to other brands to get the best offer available, therefore not resulting in their constant purchase of one specific brand.
Keywords: indonesia original brands index, customer loyalty, customer advocacy, profitability, market value


In line with the concept of 'nudging' people to change their behaviour, there has been increased attention on habit as a focus for psychologically-based health interventions. It is hoped that behaviours initiated by interventions not only become so regular that they are normalised into people's everyday lives, but that through repetition they may eventually become fixed and habitual. In this paper we draw on people's accounts of participating in a trial designed to encourage greater physical activity, and attend to the ways they describe their engagement with interventions within wider narratives of their everyday lives. In contrast to the idea that habit refers to automatic behaviour cued by external stimuli and governed by unconscious cognitive processes, our study describes how people identify many diverse elements that are felt to have equal significance in achieving a routine. Paradoxically, the sense of stability derives not from exact repetition, but from the ability for an assemblage of elements to be configured slightly differently each time. We consequently argue that attending to the diverse range of contextual elements bracketed off from interventions designed to be tested in trials, and the idea that continuity might emerge from variation, demands a reconceptualisation of the concept of habit adopted within many areas of current health psychology.


Almost a decade after the onset of the global crisis, government debt-to-GDP ratios in the advanced economies have stabilized well above their precrisis levels. Living with high debt is living dangerously: When government debt is large, an increase in interest rates causes a sizable rise in the cost of debt service and therefore in the risk of financial crisis brought about by an interest rate–debt spiral. Reducing high debt ratios poses a daunting challenge, because the range of options for reducing debt is more limited than it once was and economic growth in the next decade is expected to be lower—as a result of population aging and the lingering effects of the crisis—than it was before the global crisis. Declines in the long-run economic growth rate drive increases in the government debt-to-GDP ratios and lead to fiscal crises, including defaults. Past studies have underestimated—in tone, if not necessarily in substance—the role of economic growth in determining the path of debt ratios. This Policy Brief proposes an extended accounting approach that fully recognizes the importance of economic growth in this regard, by keeping track of the impact of growth on the primary fiscal surplus. It concludes that a gradual but sustained fiscal adjustment through expenditure cuts and revenue increases is the most appropriate means of reducing the chances of debt crisis in the coming decade.


Renal transplantation invariably results in tissue injury resulting from ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI), inflammation, drug toxicity, and rejection. Tubular epithelial cells (TEC) comprise the majority of renal parenchyma and are susceptible to cell death and injury during diverse forms of inflammation, which has direct and indirect effects on long term allograft function. Renal TEC have the unique ability to attenuate inflammation and alloimmune injury through the expression of various mediators of cell death and inflammatory molecules. Inhibition of cell death pathways in renal allografts may influence outcomes of alloimmune responses and graft survival. In this body of investigation, alteration of apoptosis and necroptosis forms of TEC death in vitro, were tested for their ability to extend allograft survival in vivo. Apoptotic death induced by cytotoxic cells during allograft rejection was inhibited by TEC expression of Granzyme B inhibiting serine protease inhibitor-6 (SPI-6) and prolonged graft survival and function. Apoptosis death of TEC can also be initiated during renal IRI and with rejection by pro-inflammatory cytokines through surface death receptors. However, inhibition of TNFα-induced apoptosis in TEC through caspase-8 upregulated the receptor interacting protein kinase 1 and 3 (RIPK1/3)-mediated necroptosis pathway to limit graft survival. However, inhibition of RIPK1/3 necroptotic death during renal IRI and transplantation was able to preserve renal function and promote long term graft survival. Augmented pro-inflammatory effects following necrotic cell death were related to an increased release of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Use of the HMGB1 inhibitor glycyrrhizic acid (GZA) inhibited inflammatory responses in vitro and was able to ameliorate renal IRI. Collectively these studies highlight the importance of endogenous donor kidney factors in regulating inflammatory cell death and subsequently the severity and outcomes of allograft rejection. Regulators of parenchymal cell death in kidney and other solid organs may provide entirely new therapeutic targets for transplantation which will promote long term allograft survival.


Aim: The mechanisms of plant trait adaptation and acclimation are still poorly understood and, consequently, lack a consistent representation in terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). Despite the increasing availability of geo-referenced trait observations, current databases are still insufficient to cover all vegetation types and environmental conditions. In parallel, the growing number of continuous eddy-covariance observations of energy and CO2 fluxes has enabled modellers to optimize TBMs with these data. Past attempts to optimize TBM parameters mostly focused on model performance, overlooking the ecological properties of ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological consistency of optimized trait-related parameters while improving the model performances for gross primary productivity (GPP) at sites. Location: Worldwide. Time period: 1992–2012. Major taxa studied: Trees and C3 grasses. Methods: We optimized parameters of the ORCHIDEE model against 371 site-years of GPP estimates from the FLUXNET network, and we looked at global covariation among parameters and with climate. Results: The optimized parameter values were shown to be consistent with leaf-scale traits, in particular, with well-known trade-offs observed at the leaf level, echoing the leaf economic spectrum theory. Results showed a marked sensitivity of trait-related parameters to local bioclimatic variables and reproduced the observed relationships between traits and climate. Main conclusions: Our approach validates some biological processes implemented in the model and enables us to study ecological properties of vegetation at the canopy level, in addition to some traits that are difficult to observe experimentally. This study stresses the need for: (a) implementing explicit trade-offs and acclimation processes in TBMs; (b) improving the representation of processes to avoid model-specific parameterization; and (c) performing systematic measurements of traits at FLUXNET sites in order to gather information on plant ecophysiology and plant diversity, together with micro-meteorological conditions. (Less)


Using 32>P, uptake and transfer of phosphorus in the microbial food web were studied in surface water from Villefranche Bay (northwestern Mediterranean) from September to December 2001. During the study, the thermocline gradually declined and vertical mixing started, leading to a transition from a nutrient‐depleted period to a nutrient‐replete period. Before vertical mixing started, the orthophosphate turnover time ranged from 1 to 5 h. Orthophosphate uptake was dominated by the 0.6–2 µm size fraction (mean, 70%), where the cyanobacteria biomass was dominant. The estimated affinity constants for bacteria, cyanobacteria, and autotrophic nanoflagellates ranged from 0.001 to 0.028, 0.047 to 0.103, and 0.002 to 0.032 L nmol P−1 h−1 during the period, with relatively short (> 5 h) orthophosphate turnover times. These results suggest that cyanobacteria were superior for orthophosphate uptake among osmotrophs. For cyanobacteria and autotrophic nanoflagellates, the mean affinity constants were almost at the theoretical maximum predicted by diffusion‐limited uptake. On the basis of a cold‐chase technique, release rates of dissolved 32P from labeled particles were > 0.5% h−1, which corresponds to a turnover time of the particulate fraction up to three orders of magnitude greater than that of orthophosphate. Although a net loss of 32P occurred in the 0.2–0.6 and 0.6–2 µm fractions, a net increase in the <2 µm fraction suggested P transfer to the larger size fraction by predation. Viruses did not contribute significantly to 32P release from bacteria during the study period.


The goal of this paper is to showcase that the COVID-19 disease pattern is evolving and to study the relationship between mandatory BCG policy and caseload/million or death/per million. We analyze seven recent publications on the impact of BCG vaccinations on the development of COVID19 illness and extend presented findings using the latest data from April 10, 2020. We analyze data from 98 countries and we extend existing models by adding the dimension of COVID-19-related testing conducted by the analyzed countries. Similarly to prior studies, we find that COVID-19 attributable case and death incidences across countries share a relationship with the BCG vaccination inclusion in the national immunization program of a country when testing is not taken into consideration. However, this relationship vanishes when we add the dimension of testing. We observe that case and death incidences conditional on testing do not get affected by the BCG vaccination inclusion in the national immunization program of a country. Therefore, we show that there is no statistical evidence to support the assertion that inclusion of BCG vaccination in national immunization program (NIP) has any impact of COVID 19 infections (cases) or mortality.


This Paper presents evidence boards of directors "bargain" with executives about the profits they expect to make from trades in firm stock. The evidence suggests executives whose trading freedom is increased using Rule 10b5-1 trading plans experienced reductions in other forms of pay to offset the potential gains from trading. There are two benefits from trading—portfolio optimization and informed trading profits—and this Paper allows us to isolate them. The data show boards pay executives in a way that reflects the profits they are expected to earn from informed trades. The legal issues about paying using illegal profits are explored. As a matter of policy, the data seriously undercut criticisms of the laissez-faire view of insider trading most closely associated with Henry Manne. At least with respect to classic insider trading (that is, a manager of a firm trading on the basis of information about the firm where she works), if boards are taking potential trading profits into consideration when setting pay, it is difficult to locate potential victims of this trading. Current shareholders should be happy with a deal that pays managers in part out of the hide of future shareholders, and the firm should internalize any costs arising from this payment scheme, since future shareholders should take this into account when deciding whether and what price to buy shares. While there still may be good reasons to prohibit some individuals from trading on material, non-public information, the case for classic insider trading is made much weaker by this data.


The deployment of heterogeneous wireless networks in the same spectrum space introduces
the need for dynamic spectrum access so as to increase the utilization of the available wireless
resources. Dynamic spectrum access needs to be controlled in order avoid interference between
the users of different systems. Different schemes can be used in order to avoid the mutual
interference between the systems: orthogonality in space, frequency or time. In this thesis
we address the problem with a solution based on time orthogonality, in which the coexisting
wirless systems are a WLAN and WSN.
Due to the high power asymmetry it is necessary to implement a cognitive capability in the
most affected system, i.e. the WSN, which will predict the behaviour of the WLAN spectrum
usage and take advantage of the white spaces left for WSN interference-free communication.
For this, it is necessary to model the traffic of the WLAN system. The applicability of two
different semi-Markovian models has been studied in the scope of this thesis: one represents an
ideal case in which the sensors have unlimited sensing capabilities and a second, more realistic,
approach in which the sensor view is limited by hardware and resources. In this project we
investigate whether and when the proposed models are suitable to be used in order to model,
estimate and predict realistic WLAN channel usage; for that we consider a measurement-based,
multi-layer WLAN traffic workload model.
Different experiments have been developed to test different traffic scenarios in which we
apply our prediction model. The experiments show that the WLAN usage estimation process is
robust, i.e. insensitive to irregularities introduced by the packet level randomization and the
underlying protocols in the WLAN. An almost perfect fitting is achieved in a wide range of
cases between the distributions to model the active and idle periods and the empirically derived
channel usage functions. In addition, we study different usage load regions in which we apply
our model and the results show that it can be applied with high success in a region of 10 to 30
% of load. On the other hand, the realistic model, based on partial observation of WLAN trafic,
shows higher variations between different traffic conditions, increasing the performance of the
estimation process in cases of higher WLAN load.


Have Canadian women gained from their pursuit of legal remedies to social, political, economic, and cultural inequalities? Is law a fruitful avenue for such struggles? Using liberal feminist, postmodern, critical, race, and queer theory, these essays confront the anti-rights critiques of the legal Left regarding the use of law in general and the Charter in particular. Several chapters explicitly examine the strategic limits and possibilities of the substantive equality rights approaches pursued by LEAF (The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund). Others focus on legal strategies mobilized in discreet areas of law and public policy by foreign domestic workers and racialized women, lesbians, women seeking reproductive freedom, women in the childcare movement, and anti-violence advocates. Recognizing the diversity of women across class, citizenship, race and ethnicity, sexual identity, culture, and (dis)ability, this collection evaluates the efficacy of the wide range of legal and political strategies women have employed, particularly in this post-Charter era. Women's Legal Strategies in Canada is the most comprehensive account of these important issues and will surely become the standard work in the field.


The current Cyber-ethics in Western societies (and its followers in other societies) have been compiled based on secularist presupposition. This presupposition has different principles in comparison with the Islamic attitude which can lead one to take a different approach toward ethical problems. This paper is an attempt to propose principles of Islamic cyber-ethics upon which we can prepare answers for the problems of cyber-ethics, having evident characteristics of an Islamic approach that are distinguished from secularist answers. After a prefatory study on the background of the Islamic attitude to ethics, these characteristics will be propounded under four categories: fundamental and content components, spiritual components, legal components, and penal components. Under these categories, themes such as giving importance to agent goodness, the basic difference in one's goal of living an ethical life, the relation of reason and revelation, and the basis for the legitimacy of the penal justice system will be discussed. Needless to say, this paper does not seek to prepare arguments for this model, and such arguments can be discussed in other philosophical investigations.


In many parts of the world, there is growing commitment to the idea that public policy and public interventions in all domains (not only the medical and public health sector) should be scrutinized in terms of their potential impact on public health for the populations affected. Prospective Health Impact Assessment (HIA) considers the likely significance of these potential public health outcomes. This article considers some examples of strategies which are being used in European countries to facilitate HIA. These are interpreted in terms of theories of a world risk society, put forward by Ulrich Beck. The application of HIA to promote healthy public policy is complex because it crosses professional, disciplinary and geographical borders and involves some challenging issues of knowledge translation and social construction of environmental risks. It therefore shares some characteristics with other forms of regional planning for sustainable development.This article considers the relevance of literature from regional science concerning the appropriate scale and type of agency to handle complex regional planning issues and how to create learning regions that successfully integrate new knowledge into regional policy. HIA also poses some broader general questions about the role of science in society.This article considers the implications for the communication of research findings on health risk, and the contribution of geography and regional science to interdisciplinary research in this field.


The binding of N-cyclohexylformamide (CXF) to the complex of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase with NADH mimics that of the Michaelis complex for aldehyde reduction catalyzed by the enzyme. The Raman spectra of bound CXF and its 13C- and 15N-substituted derivatives have been obtained using Raman difference techniques, and the results are compared with CXF spectra in aqueous solution and in methylene chloride. The results indicate that the amide N-H bond is trans to the C=O bond of CXF both in solution and in the enzyme ternary complex. The C=O stretch and N-H bending modes of the amide of CXF shift -16 and -9 cm-1, respectively, in the enzyme ternary complex relative to that in aqueous solution and -48 and 36 cm-1, respectively, relative to that in methylene chloride. Ab initio normal mode calculations on various model systems of CXF show that the observed frequency changes of the C=O stretch mode have contributions from the frequency changes induced by the environmental changes near both the local C=O bond and the remote N-H bond. The same is true for the observed N-H bending frequency change. Our calculations also show that the environmentally induced frequency changes are additive so that it is possible to determine the C=O stretch (or N-H bending) frequency change that is due to the local interaction change near the C=O (or N-H) bond from the observed frequency changes. On the basis of these results and the empirical relationship between the C=O stretch frequency shift and the interaction enthalpy change on the C=O bond developed here, it is found that the C=O group of CXF in the enzyme/NADH/CXF complex binds with a favorable interaction enthalpy of approximately 5.5 kcal/mol relative to water. Similar analysis suggests that the N-H moiety of CXF is destabilized in the ternary complex by about 1.5 kcal/mol relative to water but is stabilized by about 1.5 kcal/mol relative to a hydrophobic environment. The analysis describes quantitatively the binding of the C=O of CXF with the catalytic zinc and the hydroxyl group of Ser-48 and the interaction of the N-H with the benzene ring of Phe-93 of the enzyme.


A new model for thermal radiation from spherical microparticles is presented. It treats small particles as volume emitters instead of the usual surface emitters to take into account the effect of temperature distributions inside the particle on emission. The model describes the spectral thermal emission of the particle's volume cells as the radiation of classical electric dipoles with an averaged orientation in an absorbing dielectric sphere. Within this dipole model of thermal radiation Kirchhoff's law is rederived. For nonisothermal temperature distributions inside particles, the angular dependence and the magnitude of the emitted radiation are computed. To test the influence of the model on the heat transfer in microparticles, we compare computed temperature distributions inside volume- and surface-emitting particles.


The year 1984 may not have fulfilled Orwellian prophecies of governmental totalitarianism, but citizens of the world remain no less concerned about the quality of their civil liberties. If people could live peacefully and productively together under a strict caste system, or blissfully in enslavement, there would be little impetus to identify 'natural rights' nor insistence upon what we know as 'freedom.' But human experience has amply demonstrated the universal yearning for personal liberty, as well as the need to legislate against its deprivation.Thus Big Brother has been the enemy from long before the Magna Carta and long since the Bill of Rights.Punishment of racial defamation has not jeopardized freedom elsewhere. Neither would democracy suffer in America, were Nazis prohibited from marching in Skokie.


In this paper, we describe a secure cluster-routing protocol based on a multilayer scheme in ad hoc networks. This work provides scalable, threshold authentication scheme in ad hoc networks. We present detailed security threats against ad hoc routing protocols, specifically examining cluster-based routing. Our proposed protocol, called "authentication based on multilayer clustering for ad hoc networks" (AMCAN), designs an end-to-end authentication protocol that relies on mutual trust between nodes in other clusters. The AMCAN strategy takes advantage of a multilayer architecture that is designed for an authentication protocol in a cluster head (CH) using a new concept of control cluster head (CCH) scheme. We propose an authentication protocol that uses certificates containing an asymmetric key and a multilayer architecture so that the CCH is achieved using the threshold scheme, thereby reducing the computational overhead and successfully defeating all identified attacks. We also use a more extensive area, such as a CCH, using an identification protocol to build a highly secure, highly available authentication service, which forms the core of our security framework.


Biosensors incorporating proteins as molecular recognition elements for analytes are used in clinical diagnostics, as biological research tools, and to detect chemical threats and pollutants. This work describes the application of protein engineering techniques to address three aspects in the design of protein-based biosensors; the transduction of binding into an observable, the manipulation of affinities, and the diversification of specificities. The periplasmic glucose-binding protein from the hyperthermophile Thermotoga maritima (tmGBP) was fused with green fluorescent protein variants to construct a fluorescent ratiometric sensor that is sufficiently robust to detect glucose up to 67°C. Ligand-binding affinities of tmGBP were changed by altering a C-terminal helical domain that tunes ligand binding affinity through conformational coupling effects. This method was extended to the Escherichia coli arabinose-binding protein. Computational design techniques were used to diversify the specificity of the E. coli maltose-binding protein (ecMBP) to bind ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. These designs ranged in affinity from 0.24 to 0.8 mM and function as reagentless fluorescent sensors. The ligand affinities of ecMBP are tuned by complex interactions that control conformational coupling. These experiments demonstrate that long-range conformational effects as well as molecular recognition interactions need to be considered in the design of high-affinity receptors.


The examines are the different request strategies in English used by Pakistani and Chinese students according to social distance and power of interlocutors. Data comprises students from Pakistan and China enrolled in an undergraduate program at International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper's (1989) taxonomy of request strategies is taken as a theoretical framework to compare the request speech act patterns of Pakistani and Chinese students. This study analyzed the request speech act in terms of head act strategies used by participants. Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) categorized the request speech act into three request strategies i.e. direct, conventionally indirect, and non-conventional indirect strategies. The study identifies similarities between Pakistani ESL learners and Chinese EFL learners in making use of mood derivable as the preferred strategies for making requests in situations of different social distance, power, and familiarity between the interlocutors.


Objective: Considering the necessity of creating, maintaining and promoting the health of employees as the main organizational capital, this study was conducted with the aim of comprehensive and complete observation of the health status of employees in individual, occupational and organizational dimensions in order to achieve a comprehensive occupational health management model.
Materials and Methods: This study is an applied, qualitative and survey research in terms of objective, and is a qualitative study of survey and observational studies in terms of method, conducted during the years 2016 to 2018 in 300 workstations in 5 government buildings with sampling and snowball methods and data were collected with field method using technical apparatus and designed forms finalized by focus group discussions.
Results: Creating a health management model resulted in creating a database on the individual health status of employees and their workplace health and creating a management dashboard for instant monitoring of organizational health status. Using this model, it was possible to evaluate and monitor the personal and occupational health of employees at any time.
Conclusion: A managerial approach was achieved while classifying media related jobs by designing this occupational health model that, at each moment a clear, realistic and complete picture of the health status of the community was created and, strategies regarding the health status of the staff in accordance with the health status of the staff were adjusted, implemented and communicated


Virtual worlds (VWs) provide an environment to understand and explore notions of gender and identity, particularly given the ability for users to experiment with gender in online worlds. Our study analyses gender identity using the virtual space of Second Life (SL) to explore experiences and responses to gender in an avatar. We introduced 46 novice users to the VW of SL in order to see if real life gender influenced their choices of avatar. Participants selected the gender of their original avatar and once they were used to SL, they were then asked to change the gender of that avatar. We used mixed methods research consisting of paper based questionnaires (n=34) and focus groups (n=46) conducted in SL. Nearly all participants chose an initial avatar that reflected their real-life gender with females (n=22) reporting higher levels of identification with this initial avatar. Females were significantly more concerned with the gender-specific appearance of their initial avatar. On swapping gender, females reported higher levels of discomfort and many changed back before 7 minutes. Males (n=24) did not report significant discomfort with their changed-gender avatar and did not revert back to their original avatar as quickly. Our findings suggest that female participants in this study tended to reinforce gender binaries through such things as clothing, hairstyles and behaviors of their avatars. Male participants were less likely to experience discomfort through changing the gender of their avatar (with the males noting they still perceived an avatar with a female appearance as male).


The paper deals with the problems of integration in migration processes taking place in Azerbaijan. The paper, after defining integration, distinguishes between the problems of migrant integration in Azerbaijan and the integration of Azerbaijani migrants in other countries. In the former case we speak of refugees' and forced migrants' adaptation, as well as the adaptation of Azerbaijan citizens returning home from other countries. But Azerbaijan has also recently experienced an inflow of thousands of labour migrants, principally from Asian countries. The paper considers the difference in the approaches taken by the Republic's authorities to various migrant categories. The problems of Azerbaijani emigrants, differing considerably in respect of a recipient country, are considered as well. Azerbaijani migrants, have lived and worked, sometimes for years, in Russia and CIS countries. Yet they have never lost ties with their homeland and they have been attentively following its sociopolitical developments with an apparent desire to return at the first signs of positive changes there. This meant an unwillingness to take on, say, Russian socio-cultural patterns or, for that matter, those of any other post-Soviet community, including local languages and local behavioral norms. Much was here conditioned by the Soviet past. The situation of Azerbaijani migrants in European countries is different: there is a language barrier, a visa regime and strict immigration rules, whereas the labour market is well provided with migrants from numerous countries. There Azerbaijani migrants were faced with a dilemma: if they chose to leave for these countries this meant leaving their country for good together with their families and they had to think of integration into local communities. For Azerbaijanis not adapted to live in a diaspora and in isolation from their homeland this posed a serious problem. Therefore, a decision to migrate to European countries was taken only by those who were self-confident, had the necessary skills and knowledge, including the relevant language skills, and by those who were forced to take such a step.


This study focuses on the regime of the spectacle as it is deployed by the postcolonial state to establish hegemony and claim legitimacy, with reference to Zimbabwe from 1980 up to the establishment of the Government of National Unity in 2008. This period is dominated by the ZANU–PF narrative of the nation, in which imagining the nation excludes and disposes of undesirable individuals and groups. The study is framed by Achille Mbembe's critique of the postcolony with special reference to two key terms – metafiction and dramaturgy of the state's magnificence – in order to analyse how spectacle creates and occludes meaning. Guy Debord's concept of the 'society of the spectacle' has also been adapted here to extend Mbembe's analysis of the spectacular in the postcolony. In the context of the Zimbabwean postcolony, this allows for a reading of post‐2000 legislative and bureaucratic manoeuvres as marking a surge in the mediatisation of politics to demonstrate state power using symbols, described here as symbolic capital, to forge national homogeneity. The state sought to re‐energise its patriotic metafiction through galas, biras, funerals, commemorations and other state rituals. A particular obsession with the cemetery defines the necropolitan imagination and underpins an aesthetics of heroism. This article explores the implications this has had in the production of vulgar materialism, violence and insecurities of citizenship and nationality.


COVID-19 has become a global pandemic since 2020. The search for promising drugs based on the abundant herbal ingredients in Indonesia is one of the breakthroughs. Curcumin is a chemical compound with various potentials such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral. We conducted a molecular docking analysis to determine the potential of curcumin against SARS-CoV-2 non-structural and structural proteins, such as the main protease and spike protein. This study used the compound of curcumin (PubChem CID: 969516) from Curcuma longa L. or turmeric and two Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates that have been deposited in the GISAID database (hCoV-19/Indonesia/JI-PNF-217315/2021 - EPI_ ISL_12777089 or lineage B.1.617.2 and hCoV-19/Indonesia/JI-PNF-211373/2021 - EPI_ISL_6425649 or lineage B.1.470). In addition, we used molnupiravir (PubChem CID: 145996610) as a drug control. We performed molecular docking analysis with PyRx software 0.9.9 (academic license) and visualization of molecular docking results with PyMOL software 2.5.4 (academic license). The results of this study found that curcumin had good potential against main protease and spike protein compared to the drug (control). In summary, we suggested that curcumin is a potential drug candidate against SARS-CoV-2. However, there is a need for future wet laboratory-based pre-clinical research such as in vitro and in vivo.Copyright © 2023 Phcogj.Com.


Most of the work investigating the representation of concrete nouns in the brain has focused on the locations that code the information. We present a model to study the contributions of perceptual and semantic features to the neural code representing concepts over time and space. The model is evaluated using magnetoencephalography data from different paradigms and not only corroborates previous findings regarding a distributed code, but provides further details about how the encoding of different subcomponents varies in the space-time spectrum. The model also successfully generalizes to novel concepts that it has never seen during training, which argues for the combination of specific properties in forming the meaning of concrete nouns in the brain. The results across paradigms are in agreement when the main differences among the experiments (namely, the number of repetitions of the stimulus, the task the subjects performed, and the type of stimulus provided) were taken into consideration. More specifically, these results suggest that features specific to the physical properties of the stimuli, such as word length and right-diagonalness, are encoded in posterior regions of the brain in the first hundreds of milliseconds after stimulus onset. Then, properties inherent to the nouns, such as is it alive? and can you pick it up?, are represented in the signal starting at about 250 ms, focusing on more anterior parts of the cortex. The code for these different features was found to be distributed over time and space, and it was common for several regions to simultaneously code for a particular property. Moreover, most anterior regions were found to code for multiple features, and a complex temporal profile could be observed for the majority of properties. For example, some features inherent to the nouns were encoded earlier than others, and the extent of time in which these properties could be decoded varied greatly among them. These findings complement much of the work previously described in the literature, and offer new insights about the temporal aspects of the neural encoding of concrete nouns. This model provides a spatiotemporal signature of the representation of objects in the brain. Paired with data from carefully-designed paradigms, the model is an important tool with which to analyze the commonalities of the neural code across stimulus modalities and tasks performed by the subjects.


In Bangladesh maternal mortality appears to be declining; however with at least 322 maternal deaths per 100000 births the country still has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios (MMR) in the world and the highest in South Asia. Bangladesh is unlikely to achieve domestic and international targets on the reduction of maternal mortality. Improving access to supplies is an essential component of strengthening maternal health programs and outcomes. This report tracks four maternal health supplies: oxytocin misoprostol magnesium sulfate and manual vacuum aspirators (MVAs). These supplies address three of the most common direct causes of maternal mortality in Asia. This study assesses the factors that inhibit access to maternal health supplies in Bangladesh and the importance of overcoming shortages of these supplies to achieve improved maternal reproductivenewborn and child health.


The papers and research results presented here have been prepared as part of the Integrated Basin Studies project. This project had the objective of studying the lithospheric and upper crustal processes governing the formation and evolution of extensional and foreland basins and to decipher the role of tectonics, sea level and sedimentary processes in the filling of such basins.

The Dynamics of the Norwegian Margin module focused on the rifted sedimentary basins of the northern North Sea and off Mid-Norway. This prolific hydrocarbon province has an extensive industry and scientific database and offers a unique opportunity to study fundamental earth processes, from failed rifting to crustal breakup and accretion of oceanic crust.

A set of new models for basin formation and filling has been derived, including linking of sedimentary basin faulting to lower crustal deformation, signature and variability of syn-rift infill, correlation of mineralogy to seismic signature, nature and characteristics of volcanic margin formation and distribution of present-day stress field.


DIY check-outs, drones, self-driving cars, and e-government: all are signs of the coming auto-industrial age. Will this end in mass unemployment or will new kinds of work emerge? Will 3D print production, desktop workshops and mass customization make up for lost blue-collar jobs? What will happen to health and education in the auto-industrial age? Will machines replace teachers and doctors? What might the economic and social future dominated by self-employment and a large DIY industry look like? Peter Murphy's lively, provocative book addresses these questions head-on.


This article examines recent UK policy initiatives to enhance teaching and learning in higher education in the UK, and the quality of the student experience there. The Higher Education Academy has recently begun to work in this area and the Higher Education Bill (2004) has passed into law. A reflective review of previous initiatives is therefore very timely. The article shows that, while these different initiatives have been explicitly addressed at different levels of analysis, the meso level—a particularly significant one—has been largely forgotten. Meanwhile these interventions have been based on contrasting underlying theories of change and development. One hegemonic theory relates to the notion of the reflective practitioner, which addresses itself to the micro (individual) level of analysis. It sees reflective practitioners as potential change agents. Another relates to the theory of the learning organization, which addresses the macro level of analysis and sees change as stemming from alterations in organizational routines, values and practices. A third is based on a theory of epistemological determinism and sees the discipline as the salient level of analysis for change. Meanwhile, other higher education policies exist alongside those mentioned above, not overtly connected to the enhancement of teaching and learning but impinging upon it in very significant ways in a bundle of disjointed strategies and tacit theories. Of particular relevance here are policies on funding, on research and on widening participation, all implemented in an increasingly managerialist environment in which work intensification and degradation of resources are occurring. Missing in all this is coherence across the policies, and their underlying theories, at the different analytical levels. Because there is disjointedness in various government and other agencies, higher education policies they have tended to obstruct rather than complement each other. Hence our use of a metaphor from Eastern philosophy—the notion of blocked chi. Also missing is a robust theory of change and associated set of policies at the meso level of analysis—the departmental level. We suggest ways in which the latter omission might be rectified, thus freeing the 'chi of change'.


Amphiphilic core-shell nanoparticles have drawn considerable interest in biomedical applications. The precise control over their physicochemical parameters and the ability to attach various ligands within specific domains suggest shell cross-linked (SCK) nanoparticles may be used as multi-/polyvalent scaffolds for drug delivery. In this study, the biodistribution of four SCKs, differing in size, core composition, and surface PEGylation, was evaluated. To facilitate in-vivo tracking of the SCKs, the positron-emitting radionuclide copper-64 was used. By using biodistribution and microPET imaging approaches, we found that small diameter (18 nm) SCKs possessing a polystyrene core showed the most favorable biological behavior in terms of prolonged blood retention and low liver accumulation. The data demonstrated that both core composition, which influenced the SCK flexibility and shape adaptability, and hydrodynamic diameter of the nanoparticle play important roles in the respective biodistributions. Surface modification with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) had no noticeable effects on SCK behavior.


A number of international commitments require the South-East Europe Countries (SEE) to introduce a legal framework on State aid control. In particular, the Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the European Union impose on the SEEs the obligation to create national State aid monitoring mechanisms. This paper examines the institutional position of the State aid enforcement authorities established in SEE countries. Although the State Aid Laws introduced in the SEEs correctly transpose the obligations of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and EU acquis into the national legislation, more needs to be done about the operational independence of the administrative capacities controlling State aid.


JVRB, 6(2009), no. 2. - We present redirection techniques that support exploration
of large-scale virtual environments (VEs) by
means of real walking. We quantify to what degree
users can unknowingly be redirected in order to guide
them through VEs in which virtual paths differ from
the physical paths. We further introduce the concept of
dynamic passive haptics by which any number of virtual
objects can be mapped to real physical proxy props
having similar haptic properties (i. e., size, shape, and
surface structure), such that the user can sense these
virtual objects by touching their real world counterparts.
Dynamic passive haptics provides the user with
the illusion of interacting with a desired virtual object
by redirecting her to the corresponding proxy prop.
We describe the concepts of generic redirected walking
and dynamic passive haptics and present experiments
in which we have evaluated these concepts. Furthermore,
we discuss implications that have been derived
from a user study, and we present approaches
that derive physical paths which may vary from the
virtual counterparts.


Sensory systems are designed to extract behaviorally relevant information from the environment. In seeking to understand a sensory system, it is important to understand the environment within which it operates. In the present study, we seek to characterize the natural scenes of tactile texture perception. During tactile exploration complex high-frequency vibrations are elicited in the fingertip skin, and these vibrations are thought to carry information about the surface texture of manipulated objects. How these texture-elicited vibrations depend on surface microgeometry and on the biomechanical properties of the fingertip skin itself remains to be elucidated. Here we record skin vibrations, using a laser-Doppler vibrometer, as various textured surfaces are scanned across the finger. We find that the frequency composition of elicited vibrations is texture specific and highly repeatable. In fact, textures can be classified with high accuracy on the basis of the vibrations they elicit in the skin. As might be expected, some aspects of surface microgeometry are directly reflected in the skin vibrations. However, texture vibrations are also determined in part by fingerprint geometry. This mechanism enhances textural features that are too small to be resolved spatially, given the limited spatial resolution of the neural signal. We conclude that it is impossible to understand the neural basis of texture perception without first characterizing the skin vibrations that drive neural responses, given the complex dependence of skin vibrations on both surface microgeometry and fingertip biomechanics.


We describe the passive Q-switching regime of a neodymium laser that contains a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber inside the cavity. Two configurations of the laser cavity are modeled: the cavity containing a partial polarizer as an additional unit and the microchip laser cavity in which the functions of an active element and saturable absorber are combined in a single piece of a Nd3+:YAG/Cr4+:YAG crystal with reflecting facets. It is shown that both lasers are able to generate a giant pulse with a changing state of polarization. Both the kinetics of the state of polarization of the pulse and its impact on second-harmonic generation are treated numerically. We find that the up-conversion efficiency can be enhanced and that harmonic-pulse compression can be obtained by means of the proper orientations of the intracavity polarizing elements, for the first configuration, or by choosing the polarization of the longitudinal pump and angular orientation of the doubling crystal, for the second one. The ability of the doubling crystal to analyze the state of polarization of pulses with nonlinearly changing polarization is discussed.


Two types of high strength flat-rolled products, which were originally developed by JFE, are presented in this paper. One is a high strength cold-rolled sheet for automobile body panels aiming to achieve a strength of 440 MPa with excellent formability, sufficient galvannealing (GA) applicability and anti-secondary work embrittlement. The other is a hot-rolled strip for under-body or chassis parts aiming at a strength of 780 MPa and having an excellent balance between elongation and stretch-flangeability, less scatter of mechanical properties and sufficient thermal stability of strength for GA application. From the metallurgical viewpoint, both products have unique features. The former contains around 50-60 ppm carbon, and Nb at the stoichiometric level in relation to carbon, which forms fine NbC precipitates in a ferrite matrix and subsequently promotes the formation of a PFZ (Precipitation Free Zone). Since the PFZ acts as a micro-yielding site, a low yield to ultimate strength ratio is attained with a fine grain structure. The latter steel contains Ti and Mo, which form MC type complex carbides by interface precipitation during γ/α transformation after hot-rolling. Since the matrix structure is composed of a ferritic single phase, excellent stretch flangeability is achieved compared to multi-phase high strength steel types with the same strength.


Abstract Three perspectives on international trade are present in current debates. From the first perspective, trade is regarded as a set of individual transactions among consenting parties and considerations of fairness and justice barely feature, if at all. The second perspective underlines the importance of background structures for trade, maintained by states, which gives rise considerations of fairness and justice. One prominent version of this perspective, for example as defended by Aaron James, views all trading states as having in principle equal claims to the gains from trade. A third perspective puts the focus on exploitation. In this special issue, Mathias Risse and Gabriel Wollner claim that the first perspective should be abandoned and that the type of approach that is instantiated by James fails. This article does not follow them in dismissing the second perspective in its entirety. It suggests that there is a different version of this perspective that is defensible and develops key elements of that version. In a second step, the article seeks to show that, even if there were no plausible account of fairly dividing gains from trade among states, fairness in trade would still generate demanding normative requirements – that can be and should be integrated into a theory of global justice.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the correlation between the detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in breast milk, the duration of breastfeeding, and vertical transmission of HIV-1 infection in Ugandan women.

METHODS
A prospective study of HIV-1 infection in pregnant Ugandan women and their infants has been ongoing since 1990 with follow-up of mother-infant pairs for at least 2 years. Expressed breast milk specimens were collected from 201 HIV-1-seropositive and 86 HIV-1-seronegative Ugandan women approximately 6 weeks after delivery. The presence of HIV-1 DNA in the cellular fraction of the breast milk was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and HIV-1 p24 antigen was detected in the cell-free breast milk supernatant using p24 antigen enzyme immunoassay (EIA) after immune complex dissociation (ICD). The duration of breastfeeding and the clinical status of the mothers and their children were recorded. HIV-1 EIA, Western blot, PCR, or p24 antigen detection were used for the determination of the HIV-1 infection status of the children.

RESULTS
Of the 201 HIV-1-infected women studied, 47 had HIV-1-infected children, 143 had children who seroreverted, and 11 had children of indeterminate status. Breast milk supernatants were available for ICD p24 antigen testing from 188 of the HIV-1-infected women and none had detectable p24 antigen. Breast milk cell pellets were available and contained amplifiable DNA in 125 of the HIV-1-infected women (20 transmitters, 104 nontransmitters, 1 indeterminate). HIV-1 DNA was detected by PCR in 72% (75/104) of nontransmitters and 80% (16/20) of the transmitters. The duration of breastfeeding by transmitter mothers (15.8 months) was not significantly different from nontransmitter mothers (14.4 months).

CONCLUSIONS
No correlation was found between the detection of HIV-1 in breast milk or the duration of breastfeeding and transmission of HIV-1 infection in this study of Ugandan women.


1. Evidence of deficiency of, antagonism to, or abnormal dependency upon pyridoxine has been sought in four patients with primary hyperoxaluria. The urinary excretion of kynurenine, 3-hydroxykyurenine, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, kynurenic acid and xanthurenic acid, before and after a loading dose of l-tryptophan was used to assess pyridoxine nutrition. 2. Three of the four patients studied had abnormal l-tryptophan metabolite excretion patterns, but these were not of the type which is associated with abnormalities of pyridoxine nutrition. 3. The changes which were observed are compatible with impaired conversion of kynurenine to 3-hydroxykynurenine by the NADH 2 dependent kynurenine 3-hydroxylase (EC 18.104.22.168) enzyme system. 4. Large doses of pyridoxine hydrochloride reduced the urinary oxalate excretion by two of the patients to levels which were intermediate between the normal range and the pre-treatment values. This effect was maintained for 6 months, which was the longest period of observation. 5. It is concluded that this action of pyridoxine is mediated by a mechanism which does not involve the correction of an abnormality of pyridoxine metabolism.


Abstract Background: The World Health Organization expressed concern that older people in Africa who are ignored and excluded from HIV-prevention programmes are increasingly being infected with HIV. Studies show an inadequate awareness of the risks of HIV in the older female population. Older women are more susceptible to HIV because menopausal changes, such as vaginal dryness and thinning, increase the risk of HIV infection through tears and abrasions during unprotected sex. Furthermore, progression from HIV to AIDS occurs faster in the older population. Older women need to understand how HIV is transmitted and how it can be prevented in order to protect themselves. It may be postulated that health care providers are reluctant to discuss HIV-related issues with older female patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether older women could recall receiving HIV-related information from health care providers. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study among 100 women, aged 50 to 80, who attended the out-patient section at the Tshwane District Hospital during November and December 2006. Trained research assistants collected data in the patients' mother tongue. A questionnaire was administered during face-to-face interviews. Results: Only 36% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26.6% to 45.4%) of the respondents recalled receiving prior information regarding HIV from their health care providers. Of those, 19 (52.78%) said it was in the form of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), and the remaining 17 (47.22%) received this information during general consultations. There was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.003; odds ratio [OR]: 0.26; 95% CI: 0.09–0.69) between their age stratification of 50 to 59 years and 60 to 80 years with respect to receiving information regarding HIV. In total, 23% of the respondents said they had been tested for HIV and most (n = 19; 82.61%) said they had received counselling. However, it is cause for concern that 17.39% (n = 4) of the respondents who had been tested could not recall receiving counselling. Conclusions: This study shows that older women are neglected regarding the provision of HIV-related information. HIV and its risks to older patients is not routinely part of patient care. VCT seems to be an effective solution. However, there are problems even within the VCT system, since some of the participants claim to have been tested for HIV, without receiving counselling. It is suggested that part of the challenge may lie in the mindset of health care providers. Family physicians need to become proactive in terms of their own practice as well as in terms of their engagement with other health care professionals and students.


Model intercomparison studies in the climate and earth sciences communities have been crucial to build credibility and coherence for future projections. They have quantified variability among models, spurred model development, contrasted within- and among-model uncertainty, assessed model fits to historical data, and provided ensemble projections of future change under specified scenarios. Given the speed and magnitude of anthropogenic change in the marine environment, and consequent effects on food security, biodiversity, marine industries and society, the time is ripe for similar comparisons among models of fisheries and marine ecosystems. Here, we describe the Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project protocol version 1.0 (Fish-MIP v1.0), part of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP), a cross-sectoral network of climate impact modellers. Given the complexity of the marine ecosystem, this class of models has substantial heterogeneity of purpose, scope, theoretical underpinning, processes considered, parameterizations, resolution (grain size) and spatial extent. This heterogeneity reflects the lack of a unified understanding of the marine ecosystem, and implies that the assemblage of all models is more likely to include a greater number of relevant processes than is any single model. The current Fish-MIP protocol is designed to allow these heterogeneous models to be forced with common Earth System Model (ESM) CMIP5 outputs under prescribed scenarios for historic (from 1950s) and future (to 2100) time periods; it will be adapted to CMIP6 in future iterations. It also describes a standardized set of outputs for each participating Fish-MIP model to produce. This enables the broad characterization of differences between, and uncertainties within, models and projections when assessing climate and fisheries impacts on marine ecosystems and the services they provide. The systematic generation, collation and comparison of results from Fish-MIP will inform understanding of the range of plausible changes in marine ecosystems, and improve our capacity to define and convey strengths and weaknesses of model-based advice on future states of marine ecosystems and fisheries. Ultimately, Fish-MIP represents a step towards bringing together the marine ecosystem modelling community to produce consistent ensemble medium- and long-term projections of marine ecosystems.


There have been three basic approaches to optical tomography since the early 1980s: diffraction tomography, diffuse optical tomography and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Optical techniques are of particular importance in the medical field, because these techniques promise to be safe and cheap and, in addition, offer a therapeutic potential. Advances in OCT technology have made it possible to apply OCT in a wide variety of applications but medical applications are still dominating. Specific advantages of OCT are its high depth and transversal resolution, the fact, that its depth resolution is decoupled from transverse resolution, high probing depth in scattering media, contact-free and non-invasive operation, and the possibility to create various function dependent image contrasting methods. This report presents the principles of OCT and the state of important OCT applications. OCT synthesises cross-sectional images from a series of laterally adjacent depth-scans. At present OCT is used in three different fields of optical imaging, in macroscopic imaging of structures which can be seen by the naked eye or using weak magnifications, in microscopic imaging using magnifications up to the classical limit of microscopic resolution and in endoscopic imaging, using low and medium magnification. First, OCT techniques, like the reflectometry technique and the dual beam technique were based on time-domain low coherence interferometry depth-scans. Later, Fourier-domain techniques have been developed and led to new imaging schemes. Recently developed parallel OCT schemes eliminate the need for lateral scanning and, therefore, dramatically increase the imaging rate. These schemes use CCD cameras and CMOS detector arrays as photodetectors. Video-rate three-dimensional OCT pictures have been obtained. Modifying interference microscopy techniques has led to high-resolution optical coherence microscopy that achieved sub-micrometre resolution. This report is concluded with a short presentation of important OCT applications. Ophthalmology is, due to the transparent ocular structures, still the main field of OCT application. The first commercial instrument too has been introduced for ophthalmic diagnostics (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG). Advances in using near-infrared light, however, opened the path for OCT imaging in strongly scattering tissues. Today, optical in vivo biopsy is one of the most challenging fields of OCT application. High resolution, high penetration depth, and its potential for functional imaging attribute to OCT an optical biopsy quality, which can be used to assess tissue and cell function and morphology in situ. OCT can already clarify the relevant architectural tissue morphology. For many diseases, however, including cancer in its early stages, higher resolution is necessary. New broad-bandwidth light sources, like photonic crystal fibres and superfluorescent fibre sources, and new contrasting techniques, give access to new sample properties and unmatched sensitivity and resolution.


Do rich industrial nations underestimate the threat to their economic stability posed by demands for a new international economic order? Are the developing countries wrong to assume that their economic advancement depends on a transfer of wealth from the richer nations? Sir W. Arthur Lewis's provocative analysis of the present economic order and its origins suggests that the answer to both questions is yes.Professor Lewis perceptively illuminates aspects of recent economic history that have often been overlooked by observers of international affairs. He asks first how the world came to be divided into countries exporting manufactures and countries exporting primary commodities. High agricultural productivity and a good investment climate allowed countries in Northwest Europe to industrialize rapidly, while the favorable terms of trade they enjoyed assured them and the temperate lands to which Europeans migrated of continuing dominance over the tropical countries. At the core of the author's argument lies the contention that as the structure of international trade changes, the tropical countries move rapidly toward becoming net importers of agricultural commodities and net exporters of manufactures. Even so, they continue to depend on the markets of the richer countries for their growth, and they continue to trade on unfavorable terms. Both of these disadvantages, he concludes, stem from large agricultural sectors with low productivity and will disappear only as the technology of tropical food production is revolutionized.Originally published in 1978.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


As Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) are increasingly employed in real-world applications, it becomes critical to ensure that the stakeholders understand the rationale behind their predictions. While several GNN explanation methods have been proposed recently, there has been little to no work on theoretically analyzing the behavior of these methods or systematically evaluating their effectiveness. Here, we introduce the first axiomatic framework for theoretically analyzing, evaluating, and comparing state-of-the-art GNN explanation methods. We outline and formalize the key desirable properties that all GNN explanation methods should satisfy in order to generate reliable explanations, namely, faithfulness, stability, and fairness. We leverage these properties to present the first ever theoretical analysis of the effectiveness of state-of-the-art GNN explanation methods. Our analysis establishes upper bounds on all the aforementioned properties for popular GNN explanation methods. We also leverage our framework to empirically evaluate these methods on multiple real-world datasets from diverse domains. Our empirical results demonstrate that some popular GNN explanation methods (e.g., gradient-based methods) perform no better than a random baseline and that methods which leverage the graph structure are more effective than those that solely rely on the node features.


We investigated a psychophysical similarity measure for selection of images similar to those of unknown masses on mammograms, which may assist radiologists in the distinction between benign and malignant masses. Sixty pairs of masses were selected from 1445 mass images prepared for this study, which were obtained from the Digital Database for Screening Mammography by the University of South Florida. Five radiologists provided subjective similarity ratings for these 60 pairs of masses based on the overall impression for diagnosis. Radiologists' subjective ratings were marked on a continuous rating scale and quantified between 0 and 1, which correspond to pairs not similar at all and pairs almost identical, respectively. By use of the subjective ratings as "gold standard," similarity measures based on the Euclidean distance between pairs in feature space and the psychophysical measure were determined. For determination of the psychophysical similarity measure, an artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to learn the relationship between radiologists' average subjective similarity ratings and computer-extracted image features. To evaluate the usefulness of the similarity measures, the agreement with the radiologists' subjective similarity ratings was assessed in terms of correlation coefficients between the average subjective ratings and the similarity measures. A commonly used similarity measure based on the Euclidean distance was moderately correlated (r=0.644) with the radiologists' average subjective ratings, whereas the psychophysical measure by use of the ANN was highly correlated (r=0.798). The preliminary result indicates that a psychophysical similarity measure would be useful in the selection of images similar to those of unknown masses on mammograms.


Situational judgement tests (SJTs) have much to recommend their use for personnel selection, but partly because of their low reliability, the role of SJTs in behavioural training is largely unexplored. However, research showing that SJTs cannot measure homogenous constructs very well is based exclusively on internal analyses, for example, alpha reliability and factor analysis. In this study, we investigated whether patterns of correlations with external criteria could be used to show that SJT dimension scores are homogenous enough for feedback purposes in leadership development. A multidimensional SJT was designed for 268 high-potential leaders on a development programme and used in conjunction with a multisource feedback instrument that measured the same competency framework. The SJT was criterion-keyed against the multisource feedback instrument using an N-fold cross validation strategy. Convergent and divergent correlations between the SJT scores and corresponding multisource dimension scores suggested that SJT scores can be constructed in a way that permits dimension-level feedback that would be useful in leadership development.


OBJECTIVES
To investigate the cleaning efficacy of a mechanical and a hydrodynamic homecare device on biofilm-coated titanium surfaces with and without chlorhexidine.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Six-species biofilms were grown on 108 SLA-titanium discs, which were cleaned as follows: sonic toothbrush alone (i) or in combination with either a 0.2% chlorhexidine (ii) or a placebo gel (iii) and oral irrigator (hydrodynamic action) with water (iv) or combined with 0.2% chlorhexidine solution (v). Untreated samples served as control (vi). Biofilms were then harvested either immediately after treatment (study part A) or after a regrowth phase of 24 h (study part B) and colony-forming units (CFU) were assessed. Results were analysed using Whitney U-tests between the treatment groups. After the Bonferroni correction, the significance level was set at α = 0.0033.

RESULTS
The median CFU counts directly after instrumentation accounted - in ascending order (P-values in comparison with the control group A6 were <0.001 for all groups except for A3: P = 0.014) - 2.0E1 (A5), 1.1E5 (A4), 3.6E5 (A2), 3.3E5 (A1) and 6.8E6 (A3), respectively. The untreated control group showed the highest CFU counts: 1.8E7 (A6). After regrowth, the following CFU counts were measured in ascending order (all P-values <0.001 when compared to the control group B6 = 2.0E8): 1.6E2 (B5), 1.9E5 (B2), 1.4E7 (B4), 3.1E7 (B1) and 3.9E7 (B3).

CONCLUSIONS
An oral irrigator combined with 0.2% chlorhexidine is effective in reducing biofilms attached to rough titanium surfaces immediately after cleaning. Following a regrowth phase of 24 h, micro-organisms could be equally effective removed with a sonic toothbrush combined with 0.2% chlorhexidine and an oral irrigator with 0.2% chlorhexidine.


Next generation communication networks are anticipated to make use of renewable energy sources, e.g., solar and wind power, to reduce carbon footprints and achieve an environmentally sustainable system. However, renewable energy sources have the limitation of unstable availability and capacity, which introduces new challenges for network planning and resource management. In this paper, adaptive resource management is introduced for wireless mesh networks that are powered by sustainable energy sources. The objective is to address the unreliability of the energy supply and to maximize the energy sustainability of the network, or equivalently, minimize the probability that mesh access points (APs) deplete their energy and go out of service. Specifically, the energy buffer of a mesh AP is modeled as a $G/G/1$ queue and a diffusion approximation is applied to analyze the transient evolution of the queue length and energy depletion duration. Based on the analysis, a resource management scheme is proposed to adaptively distribute traffic over various relay paths across the network and a distributed admission control strategy is applied to further guarantee high resource utilization under the energy sustainability constraint. By considering the first and second order statistics of the energy charging and discharging processes, it is demonstrated that the proposed scheme outperforms some existing state-of- the-art solutions.


"Adobe Captivate 9: The Essentials" is a self-paced training workbook that teaches the core Adobe Captivate skills needed to create interactive eLearning and mLearning content. By following step-by-step instructions, you will learn how to create a soft-skills lesson from scratch. You'll learn to record and produce software demonstrations, and interactive training simulations. By the time you finish working through this fast-paced book, you'll know how to control the mouse pointer and add such standard objects as text captions, images, characters, assets from the eLearning Brothers, and highlight boxes. You'll be able to record, import and edit audio, and further enhance the learner experience by adding interactivity via click boxes, buttons and text entry boxes. Have you already created content using Microsoft PowerPoint? Don't throw that presentation away. You'll learn how to import existing PowerPoint content into Captivate. Last, but not least, you'll learn to publish your project in SWF and HTML5 formats so that your content can be uploaded to a web server for consumption on virtually any device, including the iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices.


Assembly of complex genomes using short reads remains a major challenge, which usually yields highly fragmented assemblies. Generation of ultradense linkage maps is promising for anchoring such assemblies, but traditional linkage mapping methods are hindered by the infrequency and unevenness of meiotic recombination that limit attainable map resolution. Here we develop a sequencing-based "in vitro" linkage mapping approach (called RadMap), where chromosome breakage and segregation are realized by generating hundreds of "subhaploid" fosmid/bacterial-artificial-chromosome clone pools, and by restriction site-associated DNA sequencing of these clone pools to produce an ultradense whole-genome restriction map to facilitate genome scaffolding. A bootstrap-based minimum spanning tree algorithm is developed for grouping and ordering of genome-wide markers and is implemented in a user-friendly, integrated software package (AMMO). We perform extensive analyses to validate the power and accuracy of our approach in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and human. We also demonstrate the utility of RadMap for enhancing the contiguity of a variety of whole-genome shotgun assemblies generated using either short Illumina reads (300 bp) or long PacBio reads (6–14 kb), with up to 15-fold improvement of N50 (∼816 kb-3.7 Mb) and high scaffolding accuracy (98.1–98.5%). RadMap outperforms BioNano and Hi-C when input assembly is highly fragmented (contig N50 = 54 kb). RadMap can capture wide-range contiguity information and provide an efficient and flexible tool for high-resolution physical mapping and scaffolding of highly fragmented assemblies.


This essay considers the relational ontology behind Nicolas Bourriaud's conception of "altermodernity."  Bourriaud's notion of the altermodern is meant to diagnose our current emergence from the period of postmodernity.  In the altermodern, there is a rethinking of the attitude of modernity which involves a new thinking of subjectivity as constitutively relational, or "radicant."  This mode of subjectivity also implies a form of ethics, which Bourriaud calls an "ethics of translation."  This theme of the ethics of translation correlates closely with Paul Ricoeur's work on translation and I seek to interrogate this connection to further explore what an ethics of translation might entail.  Finally, I look to how this notion of modernity and relationality fits into the ontological framing found in the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, and the sort of politics entailed in this understanding of relationality. An earlier draft of this essay was delivered at the Society for Ricoeur Studies Annual Meeting . October 30, 2009.


Many of the provisions to expand health coverage in the Affordable Care Act must be implemented by the states. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Urban Institute is undertaking a comprehensive monitoring and tracking project to examine the implementation and effects of the ACA in ten of the states: Alabama, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Virginia. This first report is a case study analysis of Oregon?s efforts to advance health care reform. Derived from a site visit and extensive interviews with state officials and state stakeholders, it documents Oregon's considerable progress in establishing an exchange, implementing insurance reforms, and preparing for an expansion of Medicaid, all within a challenging fiscal environment.


Blomqvist, B. R. H. 2018. Gaussian process models of social change. Uppsala Dissertations in Mathematics 111. 51 pp. Uppsala: Department of Mathematics. ISBN 978-91-506-2734-3. Social systems produce complex and nonlinear relationships in the indicator variables that describe them. Traditional statistical regression techniques are commonly used in the social sciences to study such systems. These techniques, such as standard linear regression, can prevent the discovery of the complex underlying mechanisms and rely too much on the expertise and prior beliefs of the data analyst. In this thesis, we present two methodologies that are designed to allow the data to inform us about these complex relations and provide us with interpretable models of the dynamics. The first methodology is a Bayesian approach to analysing the relationship between indicator variables by finding the parametric functions that best describe their interactions. The parametric functions with the highest model evidence are found by fitting a large number of potential models to the data using Bayesian linear regression and comparing their respective model evidence. The methodology is computationally fast due to the use of conjugate priors, and this allows for inference on large sets of models. The second methodology is based on a Gaussian processes framework and is designed to overcome the limitations of the first modelling approach. This approach balances the interpretability of more traditional parametric statistical methods with the predictability and flexibility of non-parametric Gaussian processes. This thesis contains four papers where we apply the methodologies to both real-life problems in the social sciences as well as on synthetic data sets. In paper I, the first methodology (Bayesian linear regression) is applied to the classic problem of how democracy and economic development interact. In paper II and IV, we apply the second methodology (Gaussian processes) to study changes in the political landscape and demographic shifts in Sweden in the last decades. In paper III, we apply the second methodology on a synthetic data set to perform parameter estimation on complex dynamical systems.


Topology control algorithms are used to improve the energy efficiency (or other quality parameters) of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a model-driven rapid prototyping approach for the kTC topology control algorithm to enable the fast implementation and the evaluation of its different variants, and consequently, to accelerate the network quality experimentation cycle. In our approach, wireless sensor networks are described by graph-based models, and three variants of the kTC topology control algorithm are implemented by graph transformation, which are then executed on input network descriptions to derive modified topologies whose quality is then measured in several contexts to be able to assess the achieved network quality improvement.


This article explores the European Union's (EU) role and position on global health, including its role in the World Health Organization (WHO), and the impact of the Lisbon Treaty. Struggles over the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty potentially undermine the EU's ability to speak with one voice and its effectiveness. EU influence is determined by the remit of the EU (defined by competences outlined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU,TFEU), as well as the specific rules and procedures of international institutions. Based on empirical research, we considered the role of the EU in global health, via policy and policy coherence across the EU when it came to health matters (including the WHO reform) and through EU representation within multilateral fora. We conclude that the EU is a significant player in global health. It has established global health policy and played a leadership role in negotiating international health agreements. It has had a coordinated voice at the WHO, whilst being less cohesive in other multilateral health fora. Effectiveness of EU representation at the WHO was affected by a number of factors, including Member State's (MS) trust in EU representation and reluctance to cede competence on health matters, lack of EU flexibility in negotiations, lengthy EU coordination processes, MS vying for influence within the EU, and MS rather than EU engagement in behind the scenes and 'soft power' diplomacy. Vertical and horizontal integration within and across the EU also determined EU influence within international organizations. The Lisbon Treaty also had limited impact due to MS and others' concerns about the EU acting on institutional matters. The results are considered in light of the role that global health plays within foreign policy, the multitude of global health actors and prior theory and research on the EU's role in multilateral governance.