This paper presents a critical review of the physical impacts of decentralized water supply systems on existing centralized water infrastructures. This paper highlights the combination of centralized and decentralized systems, which is referred to as hybrid water supply systems. The system is hypothesized to generate more sustainable and resilient urban water systems. The basic concept is to use decentralized water supply options such as rainwater tanks, storm water harvesting and localized wastewater treatment and reuse in combination with centralized systems. Currently the impact of hybrid water supply technologies on the operational performance of the downstream infrastructure and existing treatment processes is yet to be known. The paper identifies a number of significant research gaps related to interactions between centralized and decentralized urban water services. It indicates that an improved understanding of the interaction between these systems is expected to provide a better integration of hybrid systems by improved sewerage and drainage design, as well as facilitate operation and maintenance planning. The paper also highlights the need for a framework to better understand the interaction between different components of hybrid water supply systems.


Concerns about the societal impact of AI-based services and systems has encouraged governments and other organisations around the world to propose AI policy frameworks to address fairness, accountability, transparency and related topics. To achieve the objectives of these frameworks, the data and software engineers who build machine-learning systems require knowledge about a variety of relevant supporting tools and techniques. In this paper we provide an overview of technologies that support building trustworthy machine learning systems, i.e., systems whose properties justify that people place trust in them. We argue that four categories of system properties are instrumental in achieving the policy objectives, namely fairness, explainability, auditability and safety & security (FEAS). We discuss how these properties need to be considered across all stages of the machine learning life cycle, from data collection through run-time model inference. As a consequence, we survey in this paper the main technologies with respect to all four of the FEAS properties, for data-centric as well as model-centric stages of the machine learning system life cycle. We conclude with an identification of open research problems, with a particular focus on the connection between trustworthy machine learning technologies and their implications for individuals and society.


The problem of estimating a member of a scalar random signal sequence with quantum-mechanical measurements is considered. The minimum variance linear estimator based on an optimal present quantum measurement and optimal linear processing of past measurements is found. When the average optimal measurement without postprocessing, for a fixed signal, is linear in the random signal and the signal sequence is pairwise Gaussian, the optimal processing separates: the optimal measurement is the same as the optimal measurement without regard to past data, and the past and present data are processed classically. The results are illustrated by considering the estimator of the real amplitude of a laser signal received in a single-mode cavity along with thermal noise; when the random signal sequence satisfies a linear recursion, the estimate can be computed recursively. For a one-step memory signal sequence it is shown that the optimal observable generally differs from the optimal observable disregarding the past; the optimal measurement can be computed recursively.


Further difficult reforms are essential

T he General Medical Council (GMC) has been submitted to a highly detailed forensic examination and found severely wanting. It has broken its contract with the public—to protect patients in exchange for the privilege of self regulation—and if it wants to survive it must now launch into a further round of reforms, even while those of the last few years are still being implemented.

The forensic examination has been conducted by Dame Janet Smith as part of her inquiry into the issues arising from the case of Harold Shipman, a general practitioner who murdered over 200 of his patients. Her fifth and final report, which is over 1000 pages long and makes 109 recommendations, examines the performance of bodies responsible for monitoring primary care and makes recommendations on how better to protect patients in the future.1 I want to concentrate here on what Dame Janet said about the GMC.

Dame Janet's examination of the GMC has been complicated by her prey being on the move. But if the leaders of the council ever hoped that they could reassure her that she need not worry because reforms were under way they must have been seriously disappointed. She finds deficiencies not only in the "old" fitness to practise procedures but also in …


Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of hospitalization in older adults and high readmission rates have attracted considerable attention as actionable targets to promote efficiency in care and to reduce costs. Despite a plethora of research over the past decade, current strategies to predict readmissions have been largely ineffective and efforts to identify novel clinical predictors have been largely unsuccessful. Objective The objective of this study is to examine a wide array of socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioral, and clinical factors to predict risks of 30-day hospital readmission in cardiovascular patients. Methods The study includes patients (aged 18 years and older) admitted for the treatment of cardiovascular-related illnesses at the Duke Heart Center, which is among the nation's largest and top-ranked cardiovascular care hospitals. The study uses a novel standardized survey to ascertain data on a comprehensive array of patient characteristics that will be linked to their electronic medical records. A series of univariate and multivariate models will be used to estimate the associations between the patient-level factors and 30-day readmissions. The performance of the risk models will be examined based on 2 components of accuracy—model calibration and discrimination—to determine how closely the predicted outcome agrees with the observed (actual) outcome and how well the model distinguishes patients who were readmitted and those who were not. The purpose of this paper is to present the protocol for the implementation of this study. Results The study was launched in February 2014 and is actively recruiting patients from the Heart Center. Approximately 550 patients have been enrolled to date and the study is expected to continue recruitment until February 2018. Preliminary results show that participants in the study were aged 63.6 years on average (SD 14.0), predominately male (61.2%), and primarily non-Hispanic white (64.6%) or non-Hispanic black (31.7%). The demographic characteristics of study participants were not significantly different from all patients admitted to the Heart Center during this period with an average age of 65.0 years (SD 15.3) and predominately male (58.6%), non-Hispanic white (62.9%) or non-Hispanic black (31.8%) The integration of the interview data with clinical data from the patient electronic medical records is currently underway. The study has received funding and ethical approval. Conclusions Many US hospitals continue to struggle with high readmission rates in patients with cardiovascular disease. The primary objective of this study is to collect and integrate a comprehensive array of patient attributes to develop a powerful yet parsimonious model to stratify risks of rehospitalization in cardiovascular patients. The results of this research also have the potential to identify actionable targets for tailored interventions to improve patient outcomes.


The cnidocysts and the lytic, cyto- and neurotoxic potency of a large specimen of Cyanea capillata (L.) with 55 cm umbrella diameter were compared with those of a pooled C. capillata sample (average o 14 cm) in order to investigate organismal developments at a cellular and biochemical level. Nematocysts of the type A-isorhiza in both fishing tentacles and oral arms and the O-isorhizas of oral arms were enlarged in the 55 cm specimen. Additionally, the number of nematocysts per battery in the fishing tentacles was increased. Increased gill cell toxicity and neurotoxic activity were demonstrated for the fishing tentacle venom of the 55 cm C. capillata in comparison with the smaller medusae. A two-fold higher haemolytic activity was detected for the venom of oral arms obtained from the large C. capillata compared with the oral arm venom prepared from the smaller medusae.


Although the notion of identity is one of the central concerns of the human and social sciences and has been studied from a wide variety of perspectives, the concept itself evades ready definition. Furthermore, although the problem of identity within Northern Ireland has generated a vast amount of literature, much of this is subjective, contradictory and confusing. The aim of this talk is to propose a way of looking objectively at the notion of identity and, if possible, to draw some general conclusions from the Northern Irish experience. The fundamental premise is that if identity carries meaning, then it must possess some sort of structure. Applying the principles and concepts of linguistic analysis, this paper suggests that identity is a cognitive code, similar in structure to other codes such as natural language. A model is proposed by which the notion of identity may then be identified, quantified and analysed. The suggestion is that if identity is indeed a semiotic code, we should be able to examine it from the point of view of structural analysis. While the paper focuses in particular on identity within the context of Northern Ireland, the hope is that the principles and methodological framework which are outlined may have more general applicability.


Planning surgical interventions is a complex task, demanding a high degree of perceptual, cognitive, and sensorimotor skills to reduce intra- and post-operative complications. This process requires spatial reasoning to coordinate between the preoperatively acquired medical images and patient reference frames. In the case of neurosurgical interventions, traditional approaches to planning tend to focus on providing a means for visualizing medical images, but rarely support transformation between different spatial reference frames. Thus, surgeons often rely on their previous experience and intuition as their sole guide is to perform mental transformation. In case of junior residents, this may lead to longer operation times or increased chance of error under additional cognitive demands. In this paper, we introduce a mixed augmented-/virtual-reality system to facilitate training for planning a common neurosurgical procedure, brain tumour resection. The proposed system is designed and evaluated with human factors explicitly in mind, alleviating the difficulty of mental transformation. Our results indicate that, compared to conventional planning environments, the proposed system greatly improves the nonclinicians' performance, independent of the sensorimotor tasks performed (p <; 0.01). Furthermore, the use of the proposed system by clinicians resulted in a significant reduction in time to perform clinically relevant tasks (p <; 0.05). These results demonstrate the role of mixed-reality systems in assisting residents to develop necessary spatial reasoning skills needed for planning brain tumour resection, improving patient outcomes.


Close-to-zero interest rates challenge standard economic models in which zero lower bound (ZLB) is absent. We estimate a recursive utility model which features time-varying latent expected real growth, expected inflation, and stochastic inflation volatility. Using an approximate solution to bond prices, we show that the ZLB model successfully captures interest rates in a ZLB period, without a deterioration in fit to rates in normal times. Incorporating ZLB lowers the estimates of expected inflation and increases inflation volatility. It leads to large, negative and volatile shadow rates, large and volatile shadow risk premia, and small and volatile lift-off probabilities.


The Reynolds River region contributes significantly to thenatural and cultural heritage of the Northern Territory. Thisthesis documents the Aboriginal heritage places of the Reynolds River, using current heritage methodologies to determine the appropriateness of the current regime of legislation and practices. The suite of cultural heritage places in the Reynolds River region demonstrates the continuous and large-scale occupation by Aboriginal people of the region from the beginning of the Holocene through to the present. These sites also reflect the many changes that were occurring in the natural environment and ecology over the last 3000 years. Geomorphic changes culminated in the creation of the freshwater wetlands that are a fundamental part of the Werat Traditional Owner's cultural landscape. The wetlands, and their flora and fauna, feature significantly in Werat mythology and beliefs and have always been an important economic source. This thesis attempts to document archaeological sites and the cultural significance these places have to Werat Traditional Owners. Heritage places in the Reynolds River area are of national significance as they are representative of, and can contribute significantly to our understanding of, the intensification of the diverse activities undertaken by Aboriginal people in the past. Many of these cultural heritage places are under threat from natural, animal and human agents with the distinct possibility of significantly diminishing the heritage values if left unchecked. This thesis demonstrates that when applying the current suite of Territory and Commonwealth legislation to Indigenous heritage places of the Reynolds River region, blanket protection cannot be afforded to all values if they are not attached to an archaeological or sacred site. Consequently, with varying degrees of protection come varying degrees of ability for Aboriginal Traditional Owners to conserve and protect their heritage places. Â


"Initial public offering" (IPO) means that a company's shares are made available for the first time in an official stock exchange. This study examines 61 IPOs completed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm between the years 2000-2014. When a company is publicly traded for the first time, there could be a problem with the valuation and pricing of the shares. It's im-portant that the information is reliable at launch since investors use this as a basis for valua-tion of the shares. A phenomenon that occurred in connection with IPOs is underpricing, meaning that companies share prices rise during the first day of tradingThe purpose of this paper is to study the return of IPOs conducted on Nasdaq OMX Stock-holm. Initially the study put emphasis on the first day of trading, to investigate the preva-lence of over- or underpricing. This is to evaluate if the companies estimated value at launch was well balanced and consistent with the markets valuation. Furthermore, the study will examine the variation and correlation in long term returns. Historical stock prices for companies were obtained from Thomson Reuters Datastream to conduct a comprehensive survey on the population. The stock prices used were adjusted stock prices, meaning that prices were adjusted for, among other things, splits, dividends and share issues in order to be comparable over time. To study the stock prices over time a quantitative approach was applied to enable statistical analysis and generalizations based on the studied companies. The study intends, through repeated cross-sectional data, to examine the variation in the average yield.The study showed that 39 of 61 companies were undervalued according to the market since they traded above their issue price when the stock market closed after the first day of trad-ing. The average underpricing of the sample was 5.98%. The result of the study also show that the timing of IPOs are of importance as well as the economic cycle impact on returns in both the short and long term.


In the recent past, the Kenyan economy experienced persistent inflationary pressures, partly attributed to food price spikes. However, the quantitative role of food prices in inflation is not well understood or formally empirically analyzed in Kenya yet food occupies a weight of 36 percent in the consumer price index and contributes a monthly average of over 40 percent to overall inflation. Based on monthly data covering the period 1997-2012, this paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the relationship between food prices and inflation. The study used gap models and Phillips curve approaches to estimate the passthrough effects of food prices to both overall inflation and non-food non-fuel inflation. Based on gap models, the results confirm presence of second round effects from food prices to inflation while estimations of the Phillips curve suggest a domestic food price pass-through of 0.49 to overall inflation and 0.38 to non-food non-fuel inflation. The world food prices pass-through to overall inflation and non-food non-fuel inflation are estimated at 0.09 and 0.08, respectively. Thus this paper recommends usage of headline inflation to estimate trend inflation, enhanced communication to mitigate second round effects and that while monetary policy is very critical in anchoring inflationary expectations, there is mutual gain from a supportive fiscal policy in addressing supply side shocks.


In this study a general PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) model has been developed to take into account the effect of pressure losses, water crossovers, humidity aspects and voltage over potentials in the cells. The model is zero dimensional and it is assumed to be steady state. The effect of concentration loss is neglected while the effect of activation and ohmic losses is investigated in the system. Some semi-empirical equations are required to predict the amount of exchange current density for calculation of ohmic loss and water diffusion coefficient through membrane. These equations are applied in order to account for water back diffusion. Further Membrane water content is assumed to be a linear function of thickness. PEM fuel cell is working at rather low operating conditions which makes it suitable for the automotive systems. In this paper motive power part of a lift truck has been investigated thermodynamically. The system includes a compressor, an air humidifier, set of heat exchangers and a stack which together build up the anode circuit, the cathode circuit and the cooling loop. Since fuel humidification is carried out via water cross over from cathode to anode, there is no humidifier in the anode side. The electricity needed for auxiliary components is produced by the stack. The system is set at different electrical powers. In this paper several issues are discussed; voltage losses, system efficiency as well as electrical power at different operating conditions.


Abstract Historians identify the process of registration as key to the 'modern mark'. Hence the introduction of trademark registration with the US federal law of 1870 appears as a pivotal event, endorsing Chandlerean accounts of the modern mark as a product of the 'Second Industrial Revolution'. Such accounts overlook the earlier registration laws in places where economic conditions challenge claims for an industrial origin to registration. This article looks at California's registration law, which antedated the US federal law by seven years, asking whether it is merely an exception to prove the Chandlerean rule, or an example that asks us to question Chandlerean assumptions.


First published in 1990 and now available only from University of New Mexico Press, this volume collects twenty-six of Aldo Leopold's little-known essays and articles published between 1915 and 1948. Leopold worked for the United States Forest Service in New Mexico and Arizona from 1909 to 1924. While employed as a forester in the Southwest, he developed his ecological ideas in articles written for newspapers, newsletters, magazines, and journals. Hitherto unavailable to the general public, these pieces show that Leopold was not born an ecologist. On a daily basis, the young forester grappled with concrete ecological problems and groped for practical solutions. He made mistakes and learned hard lessons from them. The sum of his experience is the ecological wisdom of his classic A Sand County Almanac, first published in 1949. The volume editors have arranged this collection to show Leopold evolving from a naive forester to a mature professional and finally to a passionate environmental advocate. They follow each article with useful commentaries on its significance to the development of Leopold's philosophy.


With the Deepwater Horizon oil drill disaster in 2010 and the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in 2011, more attention has recently been focused on the government's role in responding to and recovering from environmental disasters. In the U.S., the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is one of the statutes that allows the EPA to respond to environmental pollution and the inappropriate disposal of hazardous wastes. Businesses have long claimed that CERCLA goes too far in the power it grants the EPA to order private parties to clean up hazardous waste sites, and this Note explores the newest claim that the courts have been asked to consider in this debate: whether the EPA's pattern and practice of enforcing the law is unconstitutional because (1) it subjects companies to the imposition of such high fines and severe penalties that they have no choice but to comply with the law, or because (2) the EPA fails to provide adequate procedural protections to businesses assessed with environmental liabilities. This Note highlights three criteria that are likely required for a successful constitutional challenge to CERCLA: (1) the challenging parties must be deprived of interests that go beyond the purely financial; (2) challenging parties must be completely precluded from any preenforcement review; and (3) the delay of judicial review must actually cause the complete preclusion of judicial review. After highlighting these factors, the Note examines the ironic result that the entities that have challenged CERCLA most fervently are entities that have the weakest case for a potentially successful challenge to the statute. The Note goes on to suggest that there is a class of businesses and entities affected by the statute that have a much stronger constitutional claim, but that members of this * J.D. Candidate, Class of 2011 at Washington and Lee University School of Law. This Note was prepared as part of Professor Hari Osofsky's Seminar on Climate Change and Environmental Law. Thank you to Professor Osofsky for her comments and feedback and for all of the members of the Journal of Energy, Climate, and Environment for their help with preparing this essay for publication. 262 2 WASH. & LEE J. ENERGY, CLIMATE, & ENV'T 261 (2011) class of businesses have been unable to mount serious challenges to the statute because of the severe costs and penalties they would face if they denied an EPA order. In order to deal with this problem, this Note suggests that courts, when considering a pattern and practice challenge to CERCLA, should ask whether there is a class of businesses whose constitutional rights to due process are infringed when they are assessed environmental liabilities without any chance to challenge them. In the alternative, the EPA or Congress should establish either official rules or legislation that prevent the agency from assessing environmental liabilities against smaller, more vulnerable businesses until after the business has an opportunity to make its case before a neutral third-party decision-maker.


Presently modern composites using continuous fibers in a resin matrix are important
candidate materials for cylindrical structures like pipes and pressure vessels. These
materials are lighter, stronger, corrosion resistance and more cost effective when
compared with the traditional materials like metals. These structures are commonly
subjected to internal pressure and there are some applications where structures
subjected to complex loading conditions which are resulted from internal
pressurization and superimposed axial loads during installation and/or operation.
Most of the previous works were concentrated on the thin shell structures while less
work was carried out on thick shell structures under internal pressure loading. The
use of hybrid structures in this application is limited and also a limited research work
is available for multi-directional tubular composite structures compared with single
lay-up configuration. The effects of the different winding angle, different materials
and hybridization, different number of layers and different stacking sequence of
multi-layered angles on the carrying capacity of thick shell composite tube under
internal pressure loading have been studied. The composite materials used were glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy. In this study it was found that the optimum winding
angle for filament wound pipes depends primarily on the loading modes applied. The
experimental results showed that the optimum winding angle is 550 for biaxial
pressure loading (mode II), 750 for hoop pressure loading (mode I) while 850 is
suitable for biaxial pressure with axial compressive loading (mode III). The test
results also show that the carrying capacity of the composite tube increases as the
number of the number of layers increase and the percentage difference for all loading
modes is about 46% and 63% for four layers and six layers compared by two layers
of glass/epoxy respectively. Changing the stacking sequence of multi-layered
composite tube enhance the internal pressure carrying capacity for different loading
modes and the percentage difference for all loading modes is about 5% and 13%.
Using different materials for the composite tube shows that the internal pressure
carrying capacity is enhanced. The carrying capacity is about 9% to 19% increased if
hybrid composite tube made from two different materials; glass/epoxy and
carbon/epoxy are used compared with composite tube made from glass/epoxy alone
for all loading modes. On the other hand the carrying capacity is increased by 32% to
38% for the composite tube wound with two and four layers of carbon/epoxy
compared with composite tube wound with two and four layers of glass/epoxy for all
loading modes. The finite element analysis has been used to analyze the composite
tube under internal pressure load for different loading modes. ANSYS finite element
software was used to perform the numerical analysis for the different arrangements
of composite tubes. The predicted results gave good agreement with the experimental
results, the percentage differences between the experimental and the finite element
analysis results are approximately 4%-25% for different loading modes.


Constructionalization (the diachronic creation of conventional symbolic units at different levels of schematicity and complexity) is a process which involves a series of micro-changes at different linguistic levels. The development of what with constructions in English is argued to be a case of grammatical constructionalization, whereby aspects of a construction become more general, productive, and less compositional. Equally, parts of the construction become more fixed (involving a reduction in variability), while other parts of the construction expand. The application of principles of construction grammar to aspects of diachronic change helps to clarify the relationship between theoretical principles of language change and the analysis of naturally occurring data; equally, the study of the what with construction reveals areas of potential convergence between formal and functional approaches to syntactic change, as well as areas of difference.


Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) is closely related to two known neurotrophic agents, NGF and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and acts upon overlapping, yet distinct, populations of peripheral ganglia. NT-3 mRNA expression in the adult rat brain is largely confined to the hippocampus. In this study, we have used in situ hybridization to examine expression of this novel neurotrophic factor during postnatal development. The striking observation was made that NT-3 mRNA was transiently expressed at high levels in the cingulate cortex during the first 2 weeks of age. In the hippocampus, the adult pattern of expression, in the CA2, medial CA1, and granule layer of the dentate gyrus, was detected at all ages examined. However, there were two major differences in NT-3 mRNA expression in the developing hippocampus: Labeled cells were detected in the hilar region of the dentate gyrus at postnatal day 1 (P1) and 1 week that were absent by 2 weeks of age. Further, the caudal hippocampus, which has a lower intensity of labeling than the rostral region in the adult, was devoid of NT-3- expressing cells in the P1 and 1-week-old rat brain. These data indicate a substantial plasticity in NT-3 mRNA expression and suggest that the spectrum of neurons supported by NT-3 during development is partially different from that in the mature rat brain.


The approach to constitutional and statutory interpretation that I advance is understood as originalist or textualist interpretation. The belief of an originalist or textualist is best described by justice Joseph Story, a 9 19th Century Associate justice of the United States Supreme Court and professor of law at Harvard. justice Story said, "The first and fundamental rule in the interpretation of all instruments is to construe them according to the sense of the terms, and the intentions of the parties."1 This approach was well understood at the time our country was founded. James Madison described its importance well when he said, "If the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a faithful exercise of its powers." Thomas Jefferson also made this point when he said, "Our peculiar security is the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction."3 Or, as President George Washington said in his Farewell Address: If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way in which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation: for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield.4 And finally, to cite to the U.S. Supreme Court's most famous case, Marbury v. Madison, by its most famous justice, Chief justice John Marshall, once constitutional limits are prescribed, they may not "be passed at pleasure."5 It is because constitutions are bulwarks against oppression that, in Marshall's words, "written constitutions have been regarded with so much reverence."6 What is at issue is the scope of judicial review; that is, the power of the courts to invalidate the acts of the legislature because they run afoul of the higher rules established by the Constitution. This is a controversial power in a democracy because the legislature speaks for the people, and when judges declare a legislative act unconstitutional, and thus void, this creates tensions with the fundamental concept of a majoritarian government. This point needs to be appreciated. all judicially -enforced constitutionalism prevents the majority from getting its way on a particular issue. Moreover, while the Constitution does not expressly give the courts the power to review legislation to see if it conforms to the Constitution, I know of no writings by the founding fathers that indicate that our Constitution does not require the courts to exercise such a power. For example, Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist No. 78, clearly believed in judicially -enforced constitutionalism, stating: If it be said that the legislative body are themselves the constitutional judges of their own powers, . . . this cannot be the natural presumption, where it is not to be recollected from any particular provisions in the Constitution .... It is far more rational to suppose that the courts were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and the legislature, in order, among other things, to keep the latter within the limits assigned to their authority.7 judicial review, in essence then, constrains the current populace by the rules established by ratifiers that have long passed from the scene. To constrain the living by rules established by the dead of another era, possessed of different enthusiasms and dispositions, seems strange to contemporary Americans, with their casual understanding of the limits on self-government. Accordingly, this notion requires justification before one can feel comfortable with it. The justification is that this is why we have constitutions. …


In academic literature the WTO is largely viewed as synonymous with its novel system for the settlement of disputes. We seek to demonstrate in this article that there is more to the WTO than this, and to exemplify this claim by reference to two specific sites of non-judicial governance in the WTO. We suggest that these two WTO committees perform important functions which are largely hidden from view. In particular, we point to the role that they play in generating and disseminating information, and as facilitators of technical assistance and regulatory learning. We also suggest that these committees contribute to the emergence of interpretive communities which serve to elaborate upon the open-ended norms laid down in the relevant agreements. Having surveyed the activities of these two sites of non-judicial governance in the WTO, we then situate them in the context of three contemporary narratives of global governance (transgovernmental networks, global administrative law, and managerialism), and use these as a way of critically evaluating the developments we describe. It is our view that the material that we have uncovered in relation to these two examples is sufficiently rich to justify further research in this domain.


Defects in T-cell function in patients with cancer might influence their capacity to mount efficient antitumor immune responses. Here, we identified highly reduced IL-4-, IL-10-, and IL-21-induced phosphorylation of STAT6 and STAT3 in tumor-infiltrating T cells (TILs) in follicular lymphoma (FL) tumors, contrasting other non-Hodgkin lymphoma TILs. By combining phospho-protein-specific flow cytometry with several T-cell markers, we identified that CD4(+)CD45RO(+)CD62L(-) FL TILs were largely nonresponsive to cytokines, in contrast to the corresponding autologous peripheral blood subset. We observed differential expression of the inhibitory receptor PD-1 in FL TILs and peripheral blood T cells. Furthermore, CD4(+)PD-1(hi) FL TILs, containing T(FH) and non-T(FH) cells, had lost their cytokine responsiveness, whereas PD-1 TILs had normal cytokine signaling. However, this phenomenon was not tumor specific, because tonsil T cells were similar to FL TILs. FL tumor cells were negative for PD-1 ligands, but PD-L1(+) histiocytes were found within the T cell-rich zone of the neoplastic follicles. Disruption of the microenvironment and in vitro culture of FL TILs could restore cytokine signaling in the PD-1(hi) subset. Because FL TILs in vivo probably receive suppressive signals through PD-1, this provides a rationale for testing PD-1 Ab in combination with immunotherapy in patients with FL.


Community differentiation is a fundamental topic of the social sciences, and its prehistoric origins in Europe are typically assumed to lie among the complex, densely populated societies that developed millennia after their Neolithic predecessors. Here we present the earliest, statistically significant evidence for such differentiation among the first farmers of Neolithic Europe. By using strontium isotopic data from more than 300 early Neolithic human skeletons, we find significantly less variance in geographic signatures among males than we find among females, and less variance among burials with ground stone adzes than burials without such adzes. From this, in context with other available evidence, we infer differential land use in early Neolithic central Europe within a patrilocal kinship system.


The gain coefficient in a low-pressure chemical laser during lasing differs when viewed along the optical resonator axis and when viewed normal to the axis. Expressions for axial and normal gain coefficients are deduced. The ratio of normal-to-axial gain coefficient is evaluated for a saturated multimode chemical laser employing a Fabry-Perot resonator. The results are useful for correlating numerical code calculations with experimental power on gain measurements made normal to the optical axis.


When a fast moving transparent sample (with a speed close to c) is probed with a laser pulse, some artifacts can occur from data analysis. These artifacts are connected to the transit time of the probe through the sample and can mask the presence of a steep gradient of refractive index in the sample. We study this problem in the case of interferometry. In fact, the problem can affect the femtosecond interferometry of the media under ultrafast ionization by a propagating laser pulse. Two algorithms are introduced: the first based on the phase difference and the second based on visibility. Both algorithms allow for the reconstruction, under suitable assumptions, of an approximated refractive index profile from the distorted fringes.


This paper describes the design, evaluation, and lessons learned from a project involving the implementation of an immersive virtual environment for children called NICE (Narrative-based, Immersive, Constructionist/Collaborative Environments). The goal of the NICE project was to construct a testbed for the exploration of virtual reality as a learning medium within the context of the primary educational reform themes of the past three decades. With a focus on informal education and domains with social content, NICE embraces the constructivist approach to learning, collaboration, and narrative development, and is designed to utilize the strengths of virtual reality: a combination of immersion, telepresence, immediate visual feedback, and interactivity. Based on our experiences with a broad range of users, the paper discusses both the successes and limitations of NICE and concludes with recommendations for research directions in the application of immersive VR technologies to children's learning.


Oxidation of magnesium sulfite is a crucial step in the wet magnesia desulfurization process. In this study, a green and robust solid catalyst, a SBA-15 (SBA, Santa Barbara Amorphous)-supported cobalt catalyst, was developed to promote the oxidation of sulfite. Both Co(III) and Co(II) served as the active sites for the oxidation of sulfite and were mainly located in the inner pore of the SBA-15. The lattice defects formed via the reduction of Co(III) to Co(II) and the dispersion of cobalt played an important role in the catalytic activity. Excess loadings of cobalt resulted in the blockage of the pore and hence decreased the catalytic activity of the catalyst. The catalytic mechanism of sulfite oxidation by this solid catalyst was also proposed. Sulfite was oxidized by the active site, such as Co(III) and Co(II), and the spent catalyst was in situ regenerated by oxygen. Therefore, the diffusion of oxygen into the pore is important to sustain the catalytic activity of the catalyst. Even after four cycles of catalyst reclamation, the catalytic activity was still comparable with that of the aqueous Co2+ counterpart, indicating that the catalyst is robust and efficient. In addition, no leakage of cobalt from the catalyst was detected, implying that it is a green catalyst without risks of secondary pollution. This study is expected to aid in the development of a green and robust catalyst for reclaiming the desulfurization byproduct and downsizing the absorber.


BACKGROUND: It has been well established that smoking is one of the primary causes of not only cardiovascular disease but many chronic diseases associated with both high morbidity and mortality. Smoking cessation is one of the few areas in which physician counseling has shown to be effective in eliciting patient lifestyle modifications. 12 However, physicians have been shown to do a very poor job of assessing a patient's willingness to quit, counseling or assisting them in quitting, and arranging for follow up yet, it is not well documented why that is the case. We are interested the perceived barriers to smoking cessation counseling for physicians in New Mexico and whether or not there is a difference in those perceived barriers for rural and urban physicians. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a survey by mail of rural and urban family practice and internal medicine physicians selected at random in the State of New Mexico to determine if frequencies of perceived barriers are different for urban and rural family practice physicians. The survey included a choice of five possible barriers a physician can encounter in counseling patients on smoking cessation. Survey forms were sent to 500 physicians, 101 urban and 98 rural surveys were returned. No statistically significant difference was found between the rural and urban groups for any of the barriers. However, the study was only powered to detect up to a 19% difference between the groups. Based on our calculated Confidence Intervals (ranging from -21-26%), up to a 26% difference could have been missed. Our study did show that for both rural and urban physicians "Lack of Time" and "Patient's Unwillingness to Change" are central barriers to smoking cessation counseling. CONCLUSIONS: While the study was not powered to detect differences based on the response rate, there were actual differences between the groups as reported in percentages. These were very interesting and could indeed be important. Also, lack of time and patient's unwillingness to change are central barriers to smoking cessation counseling for New Mexico physicians. More research is needed on ways to assist primary care physicians to overcome these identified barriers in order to implement effective smoking cessation interventions. 2


The context of our work is a project that focuses on methods and tools for modeling enterprise architectures. An enterprise architecture model represents the structure of an enterprise across multiple levels, from the markets in which it operates down to the implementation of the technical systems that support its operation. These models are based on an ontology that defines the model elements and their relations. In this paper, we describe an efficient method to fully automatically verify the design that our modeling tool manages. We specify the ontology in Alloy, and use the efficient interpreter for relational programs CrocoPat to verify that the design fulfills all constraints specified in the ontology. Technically, we transform all constraints from Alloy into a relational program in CrocoPat's programming language. Then, we execute the relational program and feed it with a relational representation of the design as input, in order to check that the design element instances fulfill all constraints of the Alloy representation of the ontology. We also present the current limitations of our approach and how –by overcoming these limitations– we can develop an Alloy-based parameterized modeling tool.


Abstract Laboratory data course has been designed in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Beirut Arab University to build and develop the basic skills needed in the analysis and interpretation of laboratory test results to ultimately ensure safety and effectiveness of the patient's treatment regimen. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary module integration, customized by pharmacology, laboratory data and pharmacotherapeutics disciplines, in teaching asthma and COPD pharmacotherapy on the third level Beirut Arab University pharmacy students' knowledge acquisition and satisfaction. Following the completion of an integrated approach, third year pharmacy students (N= 92) were recruited to participate in filling close-ended questionnaire based on 5-point Likert scale. One-sample t-test was conducted in the statistical results of Likert scale. The strength of the relationship between the students' performance (represented by grade point average, GPA) in laboratory data, pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics was determined using Spearman's Rho Correlation. Statistical analysis of students' evaluation identified a positive feedback on the integrated module, which significantly contributed to their enhanced performance in the subsequent pharmacotherapeutics course. Spearman's Rho coefficient analysis revealed a moderate positive and statistically significant correlation between laboratory data and pharmacotherapeutics GPAs (rs(86)=.38, pp<.05). The integrated module was well-appreciated as an effective way of asthma and COPD pharmacotherapy learning by third year pharmacy students. Nevertheless, findings of the present study identified the insufficient allotted time for pharmacology I as a shortcoming of the multidisciplinary integrated module, underscoring an urgent need of fine-tuning of the curriculum.The integrated module was well-appreciated as an effective way of asthma and COPD pharmacotherapy learning by third year pharmacy students.The introduction of laboratory data as an integrative discipline greatly helped the students apply the integrated knowledge in the pharmacotherapeutics course.


This book is the result of a Meeting held in L'Aquila (Italy) from the 19th to the 23rd of June 1989. The aim of the Meeting was to gather together the people actively working on the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, both from an experimental and from a theoretical point of view. In view of the intensive current activity in this field, including ongoing (COBE) and forthcoming (RELIC II, ISO, AELITA, etc. ) space missions, a meeting fully dedicated to this important topic was timely. The meeting also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Microwave Background discovery made in 1964 by the Nobel Prize winners A. Penzias and R. Wilson. We greatly regret that we were not able to have them at the Meeting. There is of course another person whose absence we regret, namely R. H. Dicke, who motivated a generation of experimentalists and theoreticians to open and study this new field of research. As organizers of the Meeting, we would like to express our gratitude to the people who contributed to its success. We want to thank the members of the Scientific Organizing Committee for their assistance, suggestions and encouragement, the invited speakers for their excellent presentations, and the chairmen for their help in handling the various Sessions. We would like to thank P. Palazzi for her help in secretarial work, dr. L.


Background: Facilitation skills are key to the effective use of practice development strategies. Students on a Masters in Practice Development and Innovation undertake a module on Facilitation skills which incorporates the use of a creative writing piece to explore facilitation. The aim of this article is to critically reflect on the use of creative writing within an assignment from the lecturer perspective.

Critical Reflection: Rolfe et al (2001) model of reflection will be utilised to structure the reflections, considering the questions 'What?', 'So What?' and 'Now What?'. This will discuss the concerns about the assessment method, student thoughts, relationship to practice development and evidence of effectiveness of the strategy. Examples of creative writing from the students will be used to demonstrate the diversity of the approach.

Ethics: All students have given permission for their work to be included

Discussion: Using creative writing can be freeing for students as they can use their voice to explore a topic. For the lecturer courage is needed to facilitate this expression but is rewarding as links to the principles of practice development to embed new ways of working. Important within the process is the need to give students 'permission' to utilise a non-traditional style of writing and the lecturer may benefit from practising the technique themselves to feel comfortable with the creative writing strategy.

Conclusion: Creative writing enabled an opportunity to explore facilitation in different ways and relate to different aspects of real and imagined life. This paper shows that creative writing can be used successfully by students to engage in novel ways of thinking. However, future actions identify the importance of guidance regarding relevance to academia and ensuring the lecturer is familiar with the aim and techniques of the process when using it for Masters level assessment.


Rotordynamic instability is present in most or all automotive turbochargers. High subsynchronous amplitudes can cause a variety of problems in areas such as mechanical failures, emissions regulations and rotor design. Self-excited vibrations from sources of damping can lock in at lateral natural frequencies causing dangerously high vibration levels. The resulting highamplitude conical and bending modes can be reduced in order to achieve a more robust system. This research focuses on the relationship between synchronous and subsynchronous amplitude levels. It is theorized that an increase in unbalance could cause a reduction in subsynchronous vibration amplitudes. Through the use of a custom turbocharger, a series of unbalances were applied to both the turbine and compressor wheels and the resulting amplitudes were recorded off a modified compressor nut. The resulting data were reduced and are presented at the end of this paper.


Degeneration of the older parts of foliose lichen thalli often lead to the formation of a space or 'window' in the centre of the colonies. The percentage of thalli of different size which exhibited 'windows' was studied in twenty saxicolous lichen populations in south Gwynedd, Wales. The proportion of thalli with 'windows' increased with thallus size. The size class at which 50% and 100% of thalli exhibited 'windows' varied between populations. Differences between populations were not correlated with distance from the sea, aspect, slope or porosity of the substrate or the total number of lichen species present. However, a higher percentage of smaller thalli had 'windows' on rock surfaces with a greater lichen cover. There were no significant differences in the levels of Ca, Mg, Cu or Zn in large (>4 cm) and small (<2 cm) Parmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex Ach.) Ach. thalli or in the centres and marginal lobes of these thalli. The concentration of ribitol, arabitol and mannitol was significantly reduced in the centre of large thalli compared with the margin of large thalli and the centre of small thalli. However, carbohydrate levels were similar in the centre of large thalli and the margin of small thalli. The data suggest that loss of the thallus centre is a degenerative process related to thallus size. In the field, the formation of 'windows' may be related to the intensity of competition on a substrate. Central degeneration was not associated with a deficiency or an accumulation of Ca, Mg, Cu and Zn in the thallus centre. However, degeneration may be associated with a reduction in carbohydrates in the centre compared with the marginal lobes.


This thesis uses the notion of specialised publics in order to analyse whether the participation of civil society organisations in the European Convention contributed to make European publics more aware of this debate. In particular it asks whether activism by European civil society organisations about participatory democracy has contributed to a stronger linkage between the EU and Spanish and French general publics. The thesis analyses the role of a group of 22 civil society organisations in the agenda setting process where the discourse of the EU about participatory democracy was built ahead the Convention. Furthermore the role of 25 Spanish and French organisations active in the Convention is considered as well. 51 in-depth interviews with members of the Convention, officials of European institutions, European, French and Spanish civil society organisations have been conducted in the frame of the thesis. These provide abundant information about the way in which these organisations were involved in the Convention and more in general about biases in action at EU level between European and national organisations. The analysis of the evolution of the organisations˜ demands and justifications demonstrates that these consultations were an important agenda-setting process where the demands of civil society for institutionalisation were framed as a way to introduce participatory democracy arrangements in the EU. It is found that during the Convention participation was a strong priority for these organisations which had a great impact on article 47 of the TCE on civil society participation. It appears that contrary to expectations the Convention was not a meeting point for European and national organisations and contributed little to the diffusion of this debate beyond European specialised actors. Furthermore it appears that Spanish and French organisations had no motivation to download the Convention debates in the context of the national referenda. European organisations did not need to mobilise their members to meet their objectives, Spanish organisations were stronger at the EU level than in the national debates and French organisations did not share most of the participatory frame elaborated the EU level. However it is found as well that national organisations did not ignore this topic. In this sense Spanish organisations shared it strongly although they had little effect on the national debate, whereas French organisations scepticism on the Convention's commitment to the question of civil society participation contributed to their involvement against the Treaty in the national campaign. In doing so they contributed to frame the French referendum as an occasion for citizens˜ participation in the EU, and thus circulated a version of the European frame. Albeit in an exceptional setting, the thesis finds that civil society organisations have a strong potential to contribute to Europeanising debates and to articulate participation in the EU. These results contribute to a better understanding of the dynamic connections between different publics in the European public sphere by pointing to the importance of considering the political opportunity structure and the institutional barriers to the Europeanisation general publics.


Abstract The work considers money in a different way depending on whether it is used as a means of payment or for other functions. Only in the first case it comes to evidence a characteristic proprietary regime which cuts across the different categories of property by which money assets are represented. In the other cases, money should be considered simply as a fungible asset. However, rules of specification of fungibles should be reconsidered. Specifically, the paper deals with the issues arising in transactions where money is transferred to an intermediary for management. It aims to show that the transferor or the beneficiary keeps real interests in the money transferred. It argues how these interests may be relevant to Italian law, by comparing it with the English legal system. The paper demonstrates that reference to property law may be useful for evaluating the quantum of rights of the transferor of money by referring to the concept of value and by the analysis of law of mixtures under the Italian and the English law. The analysis is worked out in terms of corporeal money but argues that law reaches equivalent outcomes for incorporeal money in the field under consideration.


The PMP Practice Questions Exam Cram 2 offers you a solid opportunity to drill and practice for the highly critical professional exam. The book features 500 questions based on the 9 Project Management Processes described in the PMI PMBOK and in our PMP Exam Cram 2. All questions found in the book will also be on the accompanying CD in a test engine powered by MeasureUp. The questions will have full explanations of correct and incorrect answers so you can use this manual to review and brush-up on weak areas. It features relevant Exam Notes to help you score better on the test, plus the ever popular "Cram Sheet" tear card, to use for last-minute cramming. Join the ranks of readers that have chosen Exam Cram 2 as part of their preparation for their certification exams!


A group of development analysts – researchers, activists, and practitioners - engaged in an unusual exercise in early 2004. They had a dialogue about labor market, trade and poverty issues, but they preceded the dialogue with exposure to the realities of the lives of six remarkable women in Gujarat: Dohiben, Kalavatiben, Kamlaben, Kesarben, Leelaben and Ushaben. These women are all members of SEWA (the Self- Employed Women's Association) of India. Their struggles provided the frame for the technical dialogue that followed. This is a Compendium of personal and technical reflections of the analysts involved in the exercise.


Cognitive radio (CR) is a key enabler of wireless in industrial applications especially for those with strict quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. The cornerstone of CR is spectrum occupancy prediction that enables agile and proactive spectrum access and efficient utilization of spectral resources. Hidden Markov Models (HMM) provide powerful and flexible tools for statistical spectrum prediction. In this paper we introduce a HMM-based spectrum prediction algorithm for industrial applications that accurately predicts multiple slots in the future. Traditional HMM prediction approaches use two hidden states enabling the prediction of only one step ahead in the future. This one step is most often not enough due to internal hardware delays that render it outdated. We show in this work that extending the number of hidden states and formulating the prediction problem as a maximum likelihood (ML) classification approach enables a prediction span of multiple slots in the future even with fine spectrum sensing resolution. We verify the suitability of our approach to industrial wireless through extensive simulations that utilize a realistic measurement-based traffic model specifically tailored for industrial automotive settings.


Reviews have criticised universities for not embedding sufficient praxis for preparing preservice teachers for the profession. The Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project explored praxis development for preservice teachers within existing university coursework. This mixed-method investigation involved an analysis of multiple case studies with preservice teacher involvement in university programs, namely: Ed Start for practicum I (n=26), III (n=23), and IV (n=12); Move It Use It (Health and Physical Education program; n=38), Studies of Society and its Environment (SOSE, n=24), and Science in Schools (n=38). The project included preservice teachers teaching primary students at the campus site in gifted education (the B-GR8 program, n=22). The percentage range for preservice teacher agreement of their praxis development leading up to practicum I, III, and IV was between 91-100% with a high mean score range (4.26-5.00). Other university units had similar findings except for SOSE (i.e., percentage range: 10-86%; M range: 2.33-4.00; SD range: 0.55-1.32). Qualitative data presented an understanding of the praxis development leading to the conclusion that additional applied learning experiences as lead-up days for field experiences and as avenues for exploring the teaching of specific subject areas presented opportunities for enhancing praxis.


Introduction Video game playing has become the preferred form of entertainment for countless children. As the number of home consoles and video game players has grown, so has the interest in game-based learning. While "educational" video games have been produced, they have sold poorly and made little impact on the home console market. These games are generally perceived to be amateurish and simply not fun to play. If video games are to be used for educational purposes, they must demonstrate the same graphic and game-play characteristics of their commercial peers. Since most games now come bundled with their own game editors, should educators modify the games their students are already playing? Could students benefit from modifying their own games? The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of a modified video game in teaching knowledge-level history facts to 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. This paper discusses the quantitative and qualitative results of a Solomon-3, time series experiment conducted in 2006 to assess the educational potential of modified video games. Previous Research This section examines previous research related to the participatory design of educational video games, motivation related to video game creation, constructivism, constructionism, and digital existentialism. Definition of Game Modification or Modding "A modification to a commercial or user-generated computer game, made by a member of the general public, which may introduce new artifacts (including new items, buildings, and weapons), characters (including enemies and playable characters), models, textures, skins, gaming areas (levels, maps, and buildings), rule sets, and story lines. The finished product may not be sold for profit by its author(s)" (Moshirnia, 2006b, np). Benefits of Participatory Design Higher-order thinking An individual must engage in analysis, synthesis, evaluation and revision when she modifies an existing game and creates new objectives (El-Nasr & Smith, 2006). While creating a working artefact, students can receive continuous feedback from peers and experts (Moshirnia, 2006a). Users establish abstract mental paradigms and develop meta-cognitive skills as they work to optimize functioning designs and to debug flawed designs. Numerous educational researchers, following the creation of the Logo language in the 1960s, have studied the positive ways that programming computers impacts the mathematical, computational, and general thinking skills of the user (Lehrer, 1986; Papert, 1980; Pea, Kurland, & Hawkins, 1987; Resnick & Osko, 1993). Motivation in game design Herz (2002) found that the prime motivating factors for individuals who design and modify games are peer acknowledgement and group identity. Both the traditional educational extrinsic need to demonstrate competence and potent intrinsic factors motivate users to modify games (Moshirnia, 2006b). Since game design is traditionally a group project, the sharing of knowledge, skills, and constructive abilities enables group members to feel acknowledged for their individual contributions (Moshirnia, 2006a). At the same time, the finished product is played by non-group members, complimenting the entire design team. Since the user wants to design something that she finds fun herself, elements of the motivation to play a video game are part of what motivates video game design. Denis (2005) separates ludic motivation into three categories: * Pleasure--which comes from fantasy, control, power, creation, social interaction, immersion and comedy, direct system response and experience of effectance * Desire--which comes from curiosity, problem solving and competition, and escapism * Ludic Tension--which comes from discovery, conflict, suspense and relief, learning, and surprise Game designers therefore derive motivation both from the game design process and the final product itself (Moshirnia, 2006a). …


Newsweek calls him "exhilarating and deeply engaging." Time Out New York calls him "smart, provocative, and a great writer." Critic Peter Schjeldahl, meanwhile, simply calls him "My hero." There's no one in the art world quite like Dave Hickey-and a new book of his writing is an event. 25 Women will not disappoint. The book collects Hickey's best and most important writing about female artists from the past twenty years. But this is far more than a compilation: Hickey has revised each essay, bringing them up to date and drawing out common themes. Written in Hickey's trademark style-accessible, witty, and powerfully illuminating-25 Women analyzes the work of Joan Mitchell, Bridget Riley, Fiona Rae, Lynda Benglis, Karen Carson, and many others. Hickey discusses their work as work, bringing politics and gender into the discussion only where it seems warranted by the art itself. The resulting book is not only a deep engagement with some of the most influential and innovative contemporary artists, but also a reflection on the life and role of the critic: the decisions, judgments, politics, and ethics that critics negotiate throughout their careers in the art world. Always engaging, often controversial, and never dull, Dave Hickey is a writer who gets people excited-and talking-about art. 25 Women will thrill his many fans, and make him plenty of new ones.


HLA-A2-restricted cytolytic T cells specific for the immunodominant human tumor Ag Melan-AMART-1 can kill most HLA-matched melanoma cells, through recognition of two naturally occurring antigenic variants, i.e., Melan-A nonamer AAGIGILTV and decamer EAAGIGILTV peptides. Several previous studies have suggested a high degree of TCR cross-reactivity to the two peptides. In this study, we describe for the first time that some T cell clones are exclusively nonamer specific, because they are not labeled by A2/decamer-tetramers and do not recognize the decamer when presented endogenously. Functional assays with peptides gave misleading results, possibly because decamers were cleaved by exopeptidases. Interestingly, nonapeptide-specific T cell clones were rarely Vα2.1 positive (only 1 of 19 clones), in contrast to the known strong bias for Vα2.1-positive TCRs found in decamer-specific clones (59 of 69 clones). Molecular modeling revealed that nonapeptide-specific TCRs formed unfavorable interactions with the decapeptide, whereas decapeptide-specific TCRs productively created a hydrogen bond between CDR1α and glutamic acid (E) of the decapeptide. Ex vivo analysis of T cells from melanoma metastases demonstrated that both nonamer and decamer-specific T cells were enriched to substantial frequencies in vivo, and representative clones showed efficient tumor cell recognition and killing. We conclude that the two peptides should be regarded as distinct epitopes when analyzing tumor immunity and developing immunotherapy against melanoma.


Test suites for database applications depend on adequate test data and real-world test faults for success. An automated tool is available that quantifies test data coverage for database queries written in SQL. An automated tool is also available that mimics realworld faults by mutating SQL, however tests have revealed that these simulated faults do not completely represent real-world faults. This paper demonstrates how half of the mutation operators used by the SQL mutation tool in real-world test suites generated significantly lower detection scores than those from research test suites. Three revised mutation operators are introduced that improve detection scores and contribute toward redefining a sufficient set of mutation operators for SQL. Finally, a procedure is presented that reduces the test burden by automatically comparing SQL mutants with their original queries.


A variety of threats, most importantly climate change and insect and disease infestation, will increase the likelihood that forest tree species could experience population-level extirpation or species-level extinction during the next century. Project CAPTURE (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest Trees Under Risk of Extirpation) is a cooperative effort across the three Forest Service deputy areas to establish a framework for conservation priority-setting assessments of forest tree species across the entire United States. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data represent an unmatched resource for conducting broad-scale, spatially explicit assessments of the risk posed by climate change and other threats to the genetic integrity of forest tree populations and species. Project CAPTURE uses FIA data, along with life history trait and pest and pathogen threat information from other sources, to categorize and prioritize nearly 400 tree species for conservation, monitoring, management and restoration across all forested lands in the contiguous United States and Alaska. Specifically, we used FIA data to (1) generate 4-km2 resolution maps predicting the genetic pressure that could be imposed by climate change on forest tree species and to (2) compile information about the biological attributes and genetic diversity of individual species. This assessment tool should be valuable for scientists and managers attempting to determine which species and populations to target for monitoring efforts and for pro-active gene conservation and management activities.


The central aim of this paper is to show that Certainty as encoded by the linguistic means of epistemicity and evidentiality differs in essential ways form Certainty in metalinguistic terms (Objectivity). The paper starts with a presentation of the building blocks of the epistemic and evidential functions of the modal verbs in German. In such fully grammaticalized modal verb systems as in German, we find that the speaker is split into Source (of evidence) and Assessment (of evidence). In declaratives that are modalized by the epistemic/evidential use of modal verbs, utmost Certainty is achieved whenever the speaker's mind is the source of evidence. When we take a close look at the linguistic means of encoding certainty, we have to state the paradox that the more subjectivity is involved, the more Certainty is achieved. This differs completely from the common-sense notion of Certainty, which is closely linked to objectivity. We find a way out of this dilemma when we take into account the difference between experience and knowledge. Epistemicity and evidentiality, as encoded by linguistic means, are based on subjective experience, whereas the notion of objective certainty is based on intersubjectivized knowledge. In contrast to experience, which is processed and stored by Episodic Memory, knowledge is processed by Semantic Memory. With respect to these different subgroups of Long-Term Memory, two neuropsychologically based qualities of Certainty are proposed.


Background The time to initiate intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke is generally limited to within 4.5 hours after the onset of symptoms. Some trials have suggested that the treatment window may be extended in patients who are shown to have ischemic but not yet infarcted brain tissue on imaging. Methods We conducted a multicenter, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial involving patients with ischemic stroke who had hypoperfused but salvageable regions of brain detected on automated perfusion imaging. The patients were randomly assigned to receive intravenous alteplase or placebo between 4.5 and 9.0 hours after the onset of stroke or on awakening with stroke (if within 9 hours from the midpoint of sleep). The primary outcome was a score of 0 or 1 on the modified Rankin scale, on which scores range from 0 (no symptoms) to 6 (death), at 90 days. The risk ratio for the primary outcome was adjusted for age and clinical severity at baseline. Results After 225 of the planned 310 patients had been enrolled, the trial was terminated because of a loss of equipoise after the publication of positive results from a previous trial. A total of 113 patients were randomly assigned to the alteplase group and 112 to the placebo group. The primary outcome occurred in 40 patients (35.4%) in the alteplase group and in 33 patients (29.5%) in the placebo group (adjusted risk ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 2.06; P=0.04). Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 7 patients (6.2%) in the alteplase group and in 1 patient (0.9%) in the placebo group (adjusted risk ratio, 7.22; 95% CI, 0.97 to 53.5; P=0.05). A secondary ordinal analysis of the distribution of scores on the modified Rankin scale did not show a significant between‐group difference in functional improvement at 90 days. Conclusions Among the patients in this trial who had ischemic stroke and salvageable brain tissue, the use of alteplase between 4.5 and 9.0 hours after stroke onset or at the time the patient awoke with stroke symptoms resulted in a higher percentage of patients with no or minor neurologic deficits than the use of placebo. There were more cases of symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage in the alteplase group than in the placebo group. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and others; EXTEND ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00887328 and NCT01580839.)


E-government aims to ease administrative processes based on an electronic handling. While larger enterprises can often benefit from electronically integrated governmental transaction services, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) regularly face certain obstacles. For instance, this can be observed in the context of e-customs transactions. According to a United Nations study, an inefficient customs clearance is responsible for 7% of international trade costs. Hence, governments across the world aimed to reduce administrative burdens by introducing electronic customs systems. The paper at hand examines existing approaches of electronically declaring exports to e-customs systems focusing the German ATLAS system. Based on an evaluation regarding the appropriateness of existing approaches from the perspective of SME, the paper concludes that none of them sufficiently meets their specific requirements. To tackle this status-quo, the paper presents the concept of computer-assisted e-customs transactions as well as the EXPORT system, which is a prototypical implementation of the proposed concept.


How, if at all, do nondemocratic elections affect credible signaling in international crises? While the literature on credible signaling emphasizes the importance of electoral competition, it does not specify the minimal conditions that elections must satisfy in order to enhance the credibility of threats. We address this oversight by focusing on two fundamental properties of electoral institutions: (1) the degree of proincumbent bias and (2) the vulnerability of the incumbent to a de facto loss of power following an opposition victory. Our theory argues that both decreases in electoral bias and increases in incumbent vulnerability introduce greater accountability into the electoral process and thus enhance the credibility of public threats, even when elections fail to meet basic democratic standards. We apply these insights to the case of electoral authoritarianism, that is, regimes in which some form of electoral competition exists but basic principles of democratic governance are commonly violated. Using data on reciprocation rates in militarized crises, We show that, so long as electoral biases are sufficiently low and incumbent vulnerability is sufficiently high, even electoral authoritarian regimes are able to credibly signal resolve.


Abstract This research report highlights selected findings that describe the characteristics of excellent, innovative programs for high‐risk children and adolescents in Massachusetts. The conclusions reported are based on interviews with administrators and providers at nine sites. A research consortium composed of policy makers, administrators, clinicians, and academic researchers recommended the site selections. The study describes a spectrum of innovative practices used to help youngsters in severe crises. Innovative practice was shaped by a common vision of doing treatment within family and community contexts, and coordinating overall care at all levels of the family's social and professional networks. Topics addressed include an examination of the core values directing these programs, the four distinct subtypes of design, therapeutic approaches, management, and evaluation. Obstacles to innovation are considered in light of current policy and practice limitations. The discussion concludes with a summary of the challenges and future directions for policy makers, funding agencies, program directors, and clinicians committed to addressing the current crisis in mental health care for children and youth.


Abstract Background Few studies describe the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) burden in African populations, and most have utilized hospital-based surveillance. In Mali, no community-based studies exist of the incidence or epidemiology of RSV infection. This study provides the first estimates of RSV incidence in Mali. Methods In a cohort of infants enrolled in a clinical trial of maternal influenza vaccination, we estimate incidence of RSV-associated febrile illness in the first 6 months of life and identify risk factors for RSV infection and progression to severe disease. Infants (N = 1871) were followed from birth to 6 months of age and visited weekly to detect pneumonia and influenza-like illness. Baseline covariates were explored as risk factors for RSV febrile illness and RSV pneumonia or hospitalization. Results Incidence of RSV illness was estimated at 536.8 per 1000 person-years, and 86% (131/153) of RSV illness episodes were positive for RSV-B. RSV illness was most frequent in the fifth month of life and associated with having older mothers and with lower parity. The incidence of RSV-associated hospitalizations was 45.6 per 1000 person-years. Among infants with RSV illness, males were more likely to be hospitalized. The incidence of RSV pneumonia was 29 cases per 1000 person-years. Conclusions In the first 6 months of life, Malian infants have a high incidence of RSV illness, primarily caused by RSV-B. Prevention of early RSV will require passive protection via maternal immunization in pregnancy. Mali is the first country where RSV-B has been identified as the dominant subtype, with potential implications for vaccine development.


'As much as fits upon an aibika leaf' is a thesis of two parts: selected sections from a novel-length work of fiction and an exegesis. Both respond to the question of how we might differently represent other identities, cultures and experiences in a globalised world. The novel narrates the stories of a family of a blended culture and their experiences of being non-indigenous and non-western residents of the territories comprising Papua New Guinea prior to self-rule in 1975. The primary challenge of the creative work is the exploration of choices for form and content that do not limit the narrative to a definitive version of the world and its characters. Simultaneously, the creative work aims to demonstrate respect for and acknowledge a body of significant scholarly research that calls for responsible representational practices in order for a creative writer to meet her obligations to the (reading) community. The exegesis reflects on the challenges of representing the other in a globalised world and analyses two contemporary works of fiction. Both novels exhibit imaginative approaches and choices in content and form. The exegesis also assesses the impacts of the texts in terms of the possibilities for interpretation they open up, as it considers fiction's significant role in crossing the borders of social difference while respecting those differences through imaginative creative choices.


Despite requests by both parties, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a writ of certiorari in O'Bannon v. NCAA, the first federal appellate court decision holding that an NCAA student-athlete eligibility rule violates Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The Ninth Circuit ruled that NCAA rules prohibiting intercollegiate athletes from receiving any revenue from videogames and telecasts incorporating their names, images, or likenesses unreasonably restrain economic competition among its member universities in the college education market in which these athletes purchase higher education services and sell their athletic services, which violates federal antitrust law. Circuit court rulings conflict regarding whether student-athlete eligibility rules are commercial restraints subject to the Sherman Act, and lower courts have inconsistently interpreted and applied NCAA v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, the Supreme Court's only intercollegiate athletics antitrust law precedent. The Supreme Court's refusal to resolve this conflict continues the significant judicial confusion regarding how antitrust law constrains the NCAA's governance of intercollegiate athletics, which has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar part of the entertainment industry with millions of fans and more than 460,000 student-athletes. Its decision not to do also creates uncertainty regarding how lower courts will resolve pending antitrust challenges to other NCAA amateurism rules and input market restraints such as limits on the duration and maximum number of athletic scholarships per sport as well as transfer rules. This article makes some recommendations for applying Section 1 to NCAA student-athlete eligibility rules and input market restraints, which will better promote consumer welfare, protect student-athletes' economic rights, and permit the NCAA to promote the unique features of intercollegiate sports without unwarranted judicial micromanagement.


Research has demonstrated stable gender differences in dream recall and dream content. Previous matching studies using student samples showed that the judges were able to correctly match the dreamer's gender based on a single dream report with a probability better than chance. Using dream reports from a non-student sample only slightly increased the accuracy of matching gender despite the fact that the differences relating to waking life environment should differ more for the older sample of this study. Overall, accuracy results were of small effect size. It must be concluded that making a valid prediction of a simple characteristic of the dreamer, like gender, requires more dream material. For the clinical praxis, it would be interesting to study the accuracy of dream interpretations quantitatively.


BACKGROUND
This research was performed to determine the prevalence of iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) and the effects of iodized salt supplementation on thyroid status amongst Orang Asli in Hulu Selangor, Malaysia.

METHODS
Study respondents were from three target groups, i.e. pre-school children (PSC), primary school-going children (SGC) and adult women. Each household was supplied with iodized salt fortified with iodate fortificant for a period of 12 months and the iodine levels in the salt ranged from 20 to 30 μg/L. Samples collected before and after 6 and 12 months of introduction to iodized salt were urine from all groups, as well as serum samples from adult women.

RESULTS
A total of 200 respondents were recruited; 58 (29.0%) PSC, 65 (32.5%) SGC and 77 (38.5%) adult women. The median urine-iodine concentration (mUIC) in all groups were of moderately low before the iodized salt intervention, but increased significantly in all study groups after 6 and 12 months of intervention. However, at the end of the study, there was an increase in severe iodine deficiency (mUIC <20 μg/L) from 7.5% to 12% and about 9% of PSC and SGC respondents had mUIC level of more than 300 μg/L while the adult women showed a significant increase in free triiodothyronine (fT3) levels.

CONCLUSION
The study demonstrated that iodized salt supplementation was able to show an improvement in iodine level amongst Orang Asli. However, an increase in severe iodine deficiency and iodine excess indicated that the iodized salt programme needs to be carefully monitored.


The quantasome as seen in a two-dimensional crystalline array is 185 � long, 155 � wide, and 100 � thick. The surface of the quantasome appears to contain four or more subunits. The molecular weight, determined from volume and density measurements, is 2 x 106 This is twice the minimum molecular weight calculated from the manganese content and corresponds to a chlorophyll content of 230 chlorophyll molecules per quantasome.


Aims The chemokine receptor CXCR7 is found on glioma cells and glioma-associated vessels and dependent upon its localisation on tumour or endothelial cells the CXCR7 receptor can mediate glioma cell invasion and tumour angiogenesis. Its expression predicts survival in several types of cancers. Methods We immunohistochemically studied the expression of CXCR7 and its ligand SDF1α in a cohort of 354 human patients with glioma. In an in vivo glioma model, we studied the effect of selective CXCR7 inhibition on mean vascular density. Results Here we show that expression of either mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 or podoplanin (PDPN), two proteins present in basically non-overlapping glioma populations, predicts the prognostic significance of CXCR7. Specifically, expression of CXCR7 on endothelial cells in IDH1 mutant cases predicted poor outcome. Surprisingly, in PDPN expressing gliomas, one of the marker genes for the recently identified mesenchymal subgroup, expression of CXCR7 predicts diminished prognosis on tumour cells and better prognosis on endothelial cells. Conclusions Since CXCR7 is expressed on migrating cells our data suggest that, although ubiquitously present, angiogenesis and invasion are outcome-relevant events in specific glioma subgroups, providing a potentially important tool for targeted therapy assignment.


Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) have great clinical potential through the use of their differentiated progeny, a population in which there is some concern over risks of tumorigenicity or other unwanted cellular behavior due to residual hPSC. Preclinical studies using human stem cells are most often performed within a xenotransplant context. In this study, we sought to measure how undifferentiated hPSC behave following xenotransplant. We directly transplanted undifferentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hIPSC) and human embryonic stem cells (hESC) into the adult mouse brain ventricle and analyzed their fates. No tumors or precancerous lesions were present at more than one year after transplantation. This result differed with the tumorigenic capacity we observed after allotransplantation of mouse ESC into the mouse brain. A substantial population of cellular derivatives of undifferentiated hESC and hIPSC engrafted, survived, and migrated within the mouse brain parenchyma. Within brain structures, transplanted cell distribution followed a very specific pattern, suggesting the existence of distinct microenvironments that offer different degrees of permissibility for engraftment. Most of the transplanted hESC and hIPSC that developed into brain cells were NeuN+ neuronal cells, and no astrocytes were detected. Substantial cell and nuclear fusion occurred between host and transplanted cells, a phenomenon influenced by microenvironment. Overall, hIPSC appear to be largely functionally equivalent to hESC in vivo. Altogether, these data bring new insights into the behavior of stem cells without prior differentiation following xenotransplantation into the adult brain.


This paper is concerned with how the Korean lenis and fortis fricatives /s, s'/ are laryngeally specified. Based on the sound patterning of the fricatives as well as recent phonetic studies (H. Kim et al. 2008, 2010b; H. Kim & Park 2010), we propose that both of the voiceless fricatives are specified for the feature [-spread glottis] and that they are different in terms of the feature [tense]: the lenis /s/ is specified as [-tense] and the fortis /s'/ as [+tense], like lenis and fortis stops (H. Kim 2003, 2005; H. Kim et al. 2005, 2010a). It is also proposed that the fortis /s'/ is distinguished from the lenis /s/ by the feature [tense] and not by a timing slot in phonetics and phonology. Keywords: Korean lenis and fortis fricatives; [spread glottis]; [tense]


Priapism in type II diabetes mellitus is an uncommon event. A case of this condition in an adult male is presented. More common precipitating factors such as use of  medications like sildenafil or use of an intracarvenosal vasodilator was absent, although diagnostic investigations postulated the cause as thrombotic factors in type I1 diabetes. A cavernosospongiosal shunting procedure was performed and a cystofix inserted to divert urinary flow. However, due to the late presentation of the priapism, much erectile tissue was damaged and normal function of the organ could not be restored.


M-mode imaging of the in vivo murine myocardium using optical coherence tomography (OCT) is described. Application of conventional techniques (e.g. MRI, Ultrasound imaging) for imaging the murine myocardium is problematic because the wall thickness is less than 1.5 mm (20 g mouse), and the heart rate can be as high as six hundred beats per minute. To acquire a real-time image of the murine myocardium, OCT can provide sufficient spatial resolution ( $10{\mu}m$ ) and imaging speed (1000 A-scans/s). Strong light scattering by blood in the heart causes significant light attenuation, which makes delineation of the endocardium-chamber boundary problematic. To measure the thickness change of the myocardium during one heart beat cycle, a myocardium edge detection algorithm is developed and demonstrated.


A cycle train is similar in approach to the 'walking school bus' – adult volunteer 'conductors' cycle along a set route to school, collecting children from designated 'train stops' along the way. They are well established in Belgium and are beginning to appear in the United Kingdom. Previous research in New Zealand found a high level of interest in the cycle train concept, leading us to design and conduct a trial for implementing cycle train networks here. Using the process and resource materials we developed after extensive consultation with key government stakeholders, six cycle trains were launched in Nelson in September 2006. In early 2007 the programme expanded – another school engaged the process and set up a cycle train, and two further cycle trains were established in the trial schools. Our evaluation examined the characteristics of each cycle train in the trial, as well as focusing on how well the process for setting up and operating them worked. We interviewed the cycle train coordinator, cycle trainer, parent conductors and child cyclists, who all found the trial to be a success. Based on all of this input, we revised the resource material we developed for the trial so that it could be adopted and used throughout New Zealand. (a)


Using social media is the most common activity on the Internet, and much research has examined the phenomenon. While the current literature focuses on the positives of using social media, there is a comparative lack of research on its negative effects, especially in the context of the workplace. Research has identified one critical negative impact of contemporary technology as technostress, which refers to stress induced by information and communication technologies. In this paper, we apply distraction-conflict theory (DCT) to the literature on social media, technostress, and addiction to theorize that one can view social media in the workplace as a distraction conflict, which, in turn, can induce technostress and, subsequently, Internet addiction. To test this theoretical model, we conducted a survey on 1731 participants recruited from Mechanical Turk. The survey examined the similarities and differences between two popular social media platforms: Facebook and YouTube. Overall, the results provide support for positive associations between the distraction felt from social media and social media-induced technostress and between social mediainduced technostress and Internet addiction. While Facebook and YouTube have similarities, we found notable differences as well. This study contributes to the IS field by using DCT as a novel and valuable lens through which researchers and practitioners can think about the negative effects of using social media at work. The paper also offers insight into implications for research, practice, and future research areas.


The supply and treatment of water is a highly energy intensive process, resulting in large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions as well as incurring large economic costs. Both governments and water service providers worldwide recognise the need for more sustainable water supply systems. In recent years, the use of hydropower turbines within water supply networks has been shown as a viable option for electricity generation. Energy can be recovered in water supply networks at locations of excessively high flow or pressure without loss in the level of service to consumers. The control of pressure to prevent burst pipes and to maintain a reliable water supply service is a top priority for water service providers. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the potential of hydropower energy recovery within water distribution systems in the UK and Ireland. Pressure and flow data were analysed to determine the extent of the potential for energy recovery. The effect of flow rate variation on turbine selection and efficiency was investigated, as well as investment payback period. It was concluded that the sustainability of water supply can be improved through the implementation of small-scale hydropower turbines within water supply networks.


Background An association between restless legs syndrome and migraine has been reported recently. The clinical correlates and impact of comorbidity of restless legs syndrome (RLS) are not fully described in patients with migraine. Objectives To investigate the frequency of RLS among different primary headache disorders, and its impact and clinical correlates in migraine patients. Methods Consecutive patients with migraine, tension-type headache (TTH) and cluster headache (CH) were recruited in a headache clinic. Each patient completed the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and International RLS Study Group (IRLSSG) Rating Scale. RLS was diagnosed using the IRLSSG criteria. Results A total of 1041 patients (migraine 772, TTH 218, CH 51) completed the study. The frequencies of RLS in patients with migraine (11.4%) was higher than in those with TTH (4.6%) or CH (2.0%) (p=0.002). In migraine patients, comorbidity with RLS was associated with higher frequencies of photophobia, phonophobia, exacerbation due to physical activities, vertigo, dizziness, tinnitus and neck pain, and higher mean scores of MIDAS and HADS. Migraine patients with RLS had a poorer sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score 11.1±4.1 vs 8.9±4.0, p<0.001) than those without. Conclusion An association between migraine and RLS among different primary headache disorders is demonstrated. Comorbid RLS in migraine patients worsened sleep quality. A shared underlying mechanism may account for the correlates between migraine features and comorbid RLS.


We are living in a world in which bi/multilingualism has become commonplace within everyday life for a great number of people. Research has shown that bilingualism produces various cognitive consequences. These effects are generally seen as positive and contributing to an enhanced level of cognitive processing. Bilingualism functions selectively to produce outcome performances depending on the areas that are the subject of investigation. Furthermore, the patterns of results may vary if second-language reading occurs in a dyslexic context. Thus, many children may struggle with this situation, suggesting the need for the provision of a special education agenda in schools. The intention of this dissertation is to address the abovementioned topics. In study I, the effect of bilingualism on lexical vs. non-lexical reading tasks is examined. This study finds that the pattern of the effect might vary based on the type of reading task (e.g., semantic or phonological origins for information processing). In studies II and III, the combined effect of bilingualism and reading difficulties on executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control and flexibility) and on longterm memory (episodic and semantic) is examined. These studies find that, in line with primary expectations, bilingualism in typically developed reading is associated with enhanced overall cognitive performance in either executive functioning or episodic and semantic memory. Interestingly, the combination of second-language reading and reading difficulties is associated with lower performance (longer processing time) for executive functioning and long-term memory (specifically episodic memory). It is suggested that this pattern of performance is produced by a general delayed processing profile in the context of bilingualism and reading difficulties. The findings are discussed in light of the notion of inefficient and difficult learning of new input in terms of dyslexic problems. Study IV explores special education teachers' assumptions with respect to the type of special education services in Swedish schools with a high proportion of (bilingual) pupils with reading difficulties. The findings of this study underscore the importance of the provision of special bi-literacy education for bilingual dyslexic children in schools and the current shortcomings regarding time and knowledge resources in this regard.