The aim of this study is to identify the changing nature of sports policy in
Greece in the period 1980-93. Key themes addressed were the relationship
between policy goals and the political values of the principal political
actors; the impact of the changing nature of the economic and social
structure on policy goals and implementation; and the significance of
national, local and transnational influences and contexts for sports policy.
This study reflects a concern to develop knowledge in this field, in the
sense both that Greek sports policy as an object of study has received little
research attention, and that the framework of strategic relations theory,
which has informed this analysis, has not been employed to date in
investigations of sports policy systems in the literature.
Gathering of data in Greece, incorporated both secondary sources, which
provided aspects of the structural picture of sport, and primary data
derived from interviews, which principally focused on the relations
between actual policy outcomes, the goals of individuals and groups, and
the struggles occurring within the social and political structure. Interviews
were undertaken at various levels within the hierarchies of sports
organisation and of the state.
The principal elements of the concluding analysis in this study were: first,
a focus on political change, from the socialist to right wing government,
which resulted in changes in economic and social policy, which were
themselves reflected in the nature of sports policy; second, a focus on the
position of groups and individuals, and the strategic relations within the
structures which are subject to policy changes; and third, an analysis of
how local, national, and transnational influences have mediated the
context of sports policy in Greece from 1980 to 1993.
Having concluded the analysis of empirical data, a number of key themes
are developed. These include the significance of the political values of the
principal parties on the nature of policy goals at national level; the
evidence of clientelistic relations between central government and
national governing bodies of sport; patterns of corporatism in the relations
between local government and local sporting bodies; and the impact of
political partisanship in the relations between central and local
government and its implications for sports policy at local government
level. The study concludes by reviewing these phenomena within the
context of the conceptual framework implied by strategic relations theory.


Infrastructure represents the core underpinning architecture of the global economic system. Adopting an approach informed by realism, this insightful book looks at the forces for the integration and fragmentation of the global infrastructure system. The authors undertake a thorough examination of the main internationalised infrastructure sectors: energy, transport and information. They argue that the global infrastructure system is a network of national systems and that state strategies exert powerful forces upon the form and function of this system.


SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa: l'Islam tra religione ed economia - 2. Dalla finanza al contratto islamico, tra vincolo e libertà: alla ricerca di una teoria generale dei contratti - 3. L'etica islamica dei contratti: divieto di ribà e divieto di ghàrar - 4. Operatività delle attività della banca islamica e contrattualistica commerciale Shari'ah Compliant - 5. I contratti di tipo partecipativo: "mudàraba" e "mushàraka" - 6. (segue) Tipologie di mudàraba - 7. Cenni conclusivi e prospettive future.
The Prophet's Economy: Islamic Finance and the Religious Foundations of Islamic Law of Shari'ah Compliant Contracts
ABSTRACT: The growing presence of Muslim believers in Europe has increasingly led to heated debates also at the doctrinal level. Legal and economic literature, particularly, has recently emphasised the importance that inclusive, effective and efficient financial regulation can have on the degree of integration of the Islamic communities present in non-Muslim contexts. Since the Shari'ah dictates a series of behavioural rules in different sectors of the believer's life, the Koran and the narratives of the Prophet (hadith) offer a series of prescriptions also in economic matters. With the aim of outlining the religious and juridical reasoning of the so-called halal economic dimension, this paper first examines the economic principles of Islamic finance: the prohibition of ribà (interest), the prohibition of ghàrar (uncertainty) and that of maysìr (speculation). It then provides a recognition aimed at finding a general theory of Islamic contracts. Finally, it reconstructs the discipline of the mudàraba and musharàka participatory contracts. These two forms of contracts represent a product of Islamic finance widely used in banking-financial practice and considered by Islamic legal schools to be totally in conformity with the Word of Allah. They are therefore instruments of comparison particularly interesting as well as useful for the Italian legal system. They can represent a flywheel for the integration of Muslims in the social fabric, and at the same time, an antidote to the unstable European economic panorama.


This paper will focus on exploring the territorial dimension of the cohesion policy of the EU as it was stated in the Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion, as being the capacity of the cohesion policy to adapt to the particular needs and characteristics of specific geographical challenges and opportunities. In this respect, the main territorial disparities, which led the EU decision factors to promote the territorial guidelines of the cohesion, will be emphasized. Particular attention will be paid to the various policies with impact on the territorial cohesion, as well as to the place of the territorial development on the European Agenda, namely the European Spatial Development Perspective and the Territorial Agenda of the European Union. In the end, the Romanian approach of the territorial cohesion will be presented in the framework of the programming period 2007-2013.


We reconstructed late Quaternary deep (3000–4100 m) and intermediate depth (1000–2500 m) paleoceanographic history of the Eurasian Basin, Arctic Ocean from ostracode assemblages in cores from the Lomonosov Ridge, Gakkel Ridge, Yermak Plateau, Morris Jesup Rise, and Amundsen and Makarov Basins obtained during the 1991 Polarstern cruise. Modern assemblages on ridges and plateaus between 1000 and 1500 m are characterized by abundant, relatively species-rich benthic ostracode assemblages, in part, reflecting the influence of high organic productivity and inflowing Atlantic water. In contrast, deep Arctic Eurasian basin assemblages have low abundance and low diversity and are dominated by Krithe and Cytheropteron reflecting faunal exchange with the Greenland Sea via the Fram Strait. Major faunal changes occurred in the Arctic during the last glacial/interglacial transition and the Holocene. Low-abundance, low-diversity assemblages from the Lomonosov and Gakkel Ridges in the Eurasian Basin from the last glacial period have modern analogs in cold, low-salinity, low-nutrient Greenland Sea deep water; glacial assemblages from the deep Nansen and Amundsen Basins have modern analogs in the deep Canada Basin. During Termination 1 at intermediate depths, diversity and abundance increased coincident with increased biogenic sediment, reflecting increased organic productivity, reduced sea-ice, and enhanced inflowing North Atlantic water. During deglaciation deep Nansen Basin assemblages were similar to those living today in the deep Greenland Sea, perhaps reflecting deepwater exchange via the Fram Strait. In the central Arctic, early Holocene faunas indicate weaker North Atlantic water inflow at middepths immediately following Termination 1, about 8500–7000 year B.P., followed by a period of strong Canada Basin water overflow across the Lomonosov Ridge into the Morris Jesup Rise area and central Arctic Ocean. Modern perennial sea-ice cover evolved over the last 4000–5000 years. Late Quaternary faunal changes reflect benthic habitat changes most likely caused by changes in the import of cold, deepwater of Greenland Sea origin and warmer and middepth Atlantic water to the Eurasian Basin through the Fram Strait, and export of Arctic Ocean deepwater.


The work develops the application of evolutionary algorithms in the domain of
automotive heat exchanger design. The principal employed is that of computer
regulated changes to a physical model which attempts optimisation using methods
analogous to biological evolution. It shows that the use of airside fins with differing
louvre angles can enhance the performance of automotive heat exchangers by a useful
margm.
This has been achieved with a wind tunnel model that allows automatic configuration
of the louvre angles, and novel instrumentation allowing heat transfer performance to
be assessed in terms of shear and drag forces acting on the louvres. During the
investigation an important coupling between the behaviour of adjacent louvres was
discovered, manifested as a loss in useful shear force at around ±12° relative angle.
The work as a whole shows that specific louvre angle selections and quantitative
estimates of the potential performance gains could be made with the following
improvements to the physical model and search algorithms. The number of louvre
rows should be doubled (to 16) to better represent typical matrices and the
instrumented louvres should be centrally positioned in the air stream. Improved data
filtering is required for reliable operation and the specific figure of merit has been
shown to be an important factor in the optimisation process.
A parallel area of application for the optimisation strategies was the solution of the
Wilson plot problem. This represents a novel approach to the analysis of heat
exchanger experimental test data where an alternative curve fitting and visualisation
format allows more accurate models to be established. By these methods functions
defining heat transfer coefficients for both sides of a heat exchanger may be
determined that give a fit to experimental data to within less than 1. 5% on measured
overall heat transfer coefficient.


This fascinating book recounts the extensive building program that took place at Canterbury Cathedral Priory, England, from 1153 to 1167, during the time when Thomas Becket served as Royal Chancellor and then as archbishop of Canterbury. Masterminded by Prior Wibert, the renewal included the physical expansion of the cathedral's precinct, the construction of new buildings, and the installation of a pioneering pressurized water system. This ambitious undertaking utilized a Late Romanesque style, lavish materials, and sculpture, and drew on the optimism and creative energy of the young Angevin rulers of England, Henry II and his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Canterbury Cathedral Priory in the Age of Becket reassesses the surviving remains and relates them to important changes in Benedictine monasticism concerned with hospitality, hygiene, the administration of law, liturgy, and the care of the sick. It also restores to history a neglected major patron of unusual breadth and accomplishments. Peter Fergusson sheds fresh light on the social and cultural history of the mid-12th century.


In the immediate aftermath of the Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010, a joint work for the estimation of damage to the building stock based on aerial images was carried out by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the World Bank/ ImageCAT in support of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment and Recovery Framework (PDNA). A targeted field campaign was led to the areas affected by the disaster in collaboration with the Centre National d'Information Geo-Spatial (CNIGS) representing the Government of Haiti with the purpose of validating the remote sensing based damage assessment. These two methodologies for collecting data resulted in two data sets of the damaged buildings categorised according to European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) damage grades. The present study makes use of these data for the derivation of empirical fragility functions. Fragility functions for different urban zones of Haiti, i.e. low-, mediumand high-density built-up zones and shanty zone, are developed from the remote sensing damage assessment data. Structural fragilities for buildings grouped with respect to material type and number of stories are derived on the basis of observed damage data collected through field surveys.


Within the WASA project (von Storch et al. 1998; Bull Am Meterol Soc 79(5):741-760) an extensive data set containing station pressure values was used to calculate geostrophic winds (Alexandersson et al. 1998; Global Atmos Ocean Syst 6:97-120). Geostrophic winds were analysed in terms of percentiles to give a measure of long-term variations in synoptic-scale storminess. In this paper an update to 1998 is presented. In the Scandinavia, Finland and Baltic Sea area the most recent years, especially the cold and calm year 1996, seem to have brought an end to the stormy period centred on 1990. In the more westerly British Isles, North Sea and Norwegian Sea area, storminess is still at high levels compared with the less intense period between 1930 and 1980. The long-term increasing trend in NW Europe storminess that started in the 1960s seems to have been broken.


The paradoxical requirements of knowledge sharing and information security bring various knowledge management (KM) issues that affect both individuals' day-to-day work and the overall organisation's performance. This was the basis of a case study tackled by a team from Loughborough University. The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is an organisation that combines knowledge and expertise from partnerships with academia, industry and the UK government, in order to deliver innovative low carbon solutions. Operating within a complex governance structure, the organisation works to meet the expectations of various stakeholders, comply with legal parameters of its membership model (to protect its unique knowledge and arising intellectual property), deliver innovative solutions many of which are of a competitive nature, and, disseminate this knowledge effectively and on time. Thus, the management of both, 'knowledge sharing' and 'information security', is an operational challenge for the ETI. The aim of the KM initiative was to (i) understand the current knowledge sharing and information security practices at the ETI and (ii) identify ways of improving knowledge sharing within and beyond the organisation. The KM initiative consisted of the development of an innovative and creative Action Learning (AL) approach through which ETI project teams combined their knowledge and experiences to identify their organisation's current knowledge sharing and information security practices and collectively devised practical solutions. Thus, through the combined effort of its project teams, the ETI was able to learn effectively and efficiently as an organisation about its challenges and the subsequent changes required, incorporate these in its KM strategy and initiate relevant changes to improve its KM. In addition to the value and benefits it has brought for the ETI, this innovative initiative has made methodological, theoretical and practical contributions to and received excellent feedback from international KM and AL communities.


The Deepwater Horizon oil spill covered a very large geographical area in the Gulf of Mexico creating potentially serious environmental impacts on both marine life and the coastal shorelines. Knowing the oil's areal extent and thickness as well as denoting different categories of the oil's physical state is important for assessing these impacts. High spectral resolution data in hyperspectral imagery (HSI) sensors such as Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) provide a valuable source of information that can be used for analysis by semi-automatic methods for tracking an oil spill's areal extent, oil thickness, and oil categories. However, the spectral behavior of oil in water is inherently a highly non-linear and variable phenomenon that changes depending on oil thickness and oil/water ratios. For certain oil thicknesses there are well-defined absorption features, whereas for very thin films sometimes there are almost no observable features. Feature-based imaging spectroscopy methods are particularly effective at classifying materials that exhibit specific well-defined spectral absorption features. Statistical methods are effective at classifying materials with spectra that exhibit a considerable amount of variability and that do not necessarily exhibit well-defined spectral absorption features. This study investigates feature-based and statistical methods for analyzing oil spills using hyperspectral imagery. The appropriate use of each approach is investigated and a combined feature-based and statistical method is proposed.


In this paper, we propose a mobile terminal (MT) location registration/update model. In this model, the registration decision is based on two factors-the time elapsed since last call arrival and the distance the MT has traveled since last registration. It is established that the optimal registration strategy can be represented by a curve. Only when the state of the system reaches this curve is a registration performed. In order for an MT to calculate its traveled distance, an interactive implementation scheme and a distance calculation algorithm are developed. When the call interarrival times are independent and geometrically distributed, the proposed model becomes a distance-based model and, in this case, the optimal registration strategy is of threshold structure. For the distance-based model, a single sample path-based ordinal optimization algorithm is devised. In this algorithm, without any knowledge about the system parameters, the MT observes the system state transitions, estimates the ordinal of a set of strategies, and updates the registration strategy adaptively. Since only a single sample path is used, this algorithm can be implemented online. Several numerical examples are provided to compare the proposed model and the existing ones.


Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human complex traits have provided us with new estimates of heritability. These estimates foreground the question of genetic causation. After having presented in simple terms the rationale underlying this way of estimating heritability, I assess the extent to which relationships between genes and phenotypes established with GWAS satisfy several dimensions of causal relationships – namely range of influence, specificity, and stability – distinguished within the interventionist account of causation. The upshot is that if these relationships are causal in some sense, my analysis shows the extent to which they do not represent paradigmatic causal relationships.


This poster presents a study to assess one's ability to detect motorcycles under different conditions of conspicuity while performing a secondary visual load task. Previous research in which participants were required to detect motorcycles revealed differences in age (young adults/older adult) as well as differences associated with motorcycle conspicuity conditions. Past research has specifically found motorcycles with headlights ON and modulating headlights (flashing) to be more conspicuous than motorcycles with headlights OFF within traffic conditions. The present study seeks to provide more information on the effects of multitasking on motorcycle conspicuity and safety. The current study seeks to determine the degree to which multitasking limits the conspicuity of a motorcycle within traffic. We expect our results will indicate main effects for distraction task, age, gender, motorcycle lighting conditions, and vehicular DRLs on one's ability to effectively detect a motorcycle. The results have implications for motorcycle safety in general and through this research, a better understanding of motorcycle conspicuity can be established so as to minimize the risk involved with motorcycle operation.


This chapter explores the basis and manifestations of joint responsibility between the European Union (EU) and its Member States for non-performance of obligations contained in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Joint responsibility has often been advanced as an attractive solution where two or more actors contribute to damage and it is unclear what part of the damage is caused by whom. Such proposals seem to be inspired by domestic law, where joint (or 'joint and several') liability is frequently used to solve liability questions involving multiple tortfeasors. However, the conditions, contents and consequences of joint responsibility in international law remain uncertain. One of the rare situations where the principle actually has found application concern cases of non-performance of obligations under MEAs by the EU and its Member States. The relevance of the principle in this context stems from the fact that while the EU and Member States have shared (external) competences in environmental law, for third States the allocation of competences between the EU and Member States can be unclear and it may be difficult or even outright impossible to identify who is responsible for what. Indeed, the ILC recognized in the Commentary on the Draft Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations that such mixed situations indeed may call for the application of the principle of joint responsibility, but left it undefined what this means. This paper examines the possible foundations and meanings of the principle in this context and explores the (limited) practice.


We present a Simple Diagnostic Photosynthesis and Respiration Model (SDPRM) that has been developed based on pre-existing formulations. The photosynthesis model is based on the light use efficiency logic for calculating the gross primary production (GPP), while the ecosystem respiration ( R eco ) is a modified version of an Arrhenius-type equation. SDPRM is driven by satellite-derived fAPAR (fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation) and climate data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research Reanalysis (NCEP/NCAR). The model estimates 3-hourly values of GPP for seven major biomes and daily R eco . The motivation is to provide a priori fields of surface CO 2 fluxes with fine temporal and spatial scales for atmospheric CO 2 inversions. The estimated fluxes from SDPRM showed that the model is capable of producing flux estimates consistent with the ones inferred from atmospheric CO 2 inversion or simulated from process-based models. In this Technical Note, different analyses were carried out to test the sensitivity of the estimated fluxes of GPP and CO 2 to their driving forces. The spatial patterns of the climatic controls (temperature, precipitation, water) on the interannual variability of GPP are consistent with previous studies, even though SDPRM has a very simple structure and few adjustable parameters and hence it is much easier to modify in an inversion than more sophisticated process-based models. In SDPRM, temperature is a limiting factor for the interannual variability of R eco over cold boreal forest, while precipitation is the main limiting factor of R eco over the tropics and the southern hemisphere, consistent with previous regional studies.


Homology [4] is a central concept of comparative and evolutionary biology, referring to the presence of the same bodily parts (e.g., morphological structures) in different species. The existence of homologies is explained by common ancestry, and according to modern definitions of homology, two structures in different species are homologous if they are derived from the same structure in the common ancestor. Homology [4] has traditionally been contrasted with analogy, the presence of similar traits in different species not necessarily due to common ancestry but due to a similar function or convergent evolution [5] resulting from similar selective pressure in different species. (A more recent contrastive notion is homoplasy, the presence of similar traits in different species without common ancestry, i.e., as an instance of parallel evolution [5].) This sounds straightforward, but in fact the homology concept has a rich history and currently is the subject of extensive theoretical reflection, resulting in different contemporary approaches to homology.


The Bering Glacier, Alaska, is the largest temperate glacier in the world. It episodically surges with rapid advances of the glacier terminus followed by large outburst floods delivering freshwater and sediment to the adjacent Gulf of Alaska. We describe the marine record of the 1993–1995 surge and document a 100 yr history of surges recorded in marine sedimentary deposits seaward of the Bering Glacier. In 1994 and 1995, we collected box cores that contained high-porosity laminated sediments at the seabed surface. Profiles of 234 Th and chlorophyll-a indicate that these sediments were deposited very rapidly (0.1 cmṁday −1 ) in association with the surge. A 250-cm-long kasten core extended this record, in which 7 laminated beds, 10–30 cm thick, alternated with bioturbated sediments. On the basis of 210 Pb chronology, 6 of these beds accumulated in the past 100 yr and can be correlated with historical surges.


Abstract The paper seeks to summarize the discussions of the last two decades on the existence of a phenomenon that can be named "Ottoman Enlightenment." It discusses the German debates on Reinhardt Schulze's suggestion of an "Islamic Enlightenment," as well as more recent studies on the emergence of a different view of the nature and the world in Istanbul during the first decades of the 18th century. These debates are analyzed in the context of different definitions of "Enlightenment," as well as of the relations between different ethnolinguistic groups within the Ottoman Empire. The paper emphasizes the axes of a "democratization of knowledge" or the "massive diffusion of individual reasoning as a legitimate source of truth," on the one hand, and the procedure of a "disenchantment of the world" as it is connected with the Enlightenment phenomenon, on the other. It suggests that, whereas we may trace certain parallels of such procedures between the Ottoman and the Western and Central European model, the lack of integration of such ideas in the curriculum of institutional education in the Ottoman Empire might have been the most important obstacle that kept these ideas from being transformed into a real "Ottoman Enlightenment."


Purpose of the article: The article is to present results of the research realized in the framework of the project: CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0328 and IGA/FaME/2013/030. The creation of the modular system of granting of credits in the bachelor study with a view to the motivation of the student in the form of professional positioning in accordance with developments on the labor market was realized the Faculty of Management and Economics (hereafter FaME) at TBU in Zlin.
Methodology/methods: This paper consists of a quantitative analysis. The data was collected throughout the year 2011. During this period, FaME students filled in 718 questionnaires. The questionnaires offered 48 proffesions that were divided into 8 professional groups. The data gained from this research were analyzed and subsequently compared to vacancies data of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (hereafter MoLSA) of the Czech Republic.
Scientific aim: The aim of this article was to prove that the increasing number of university students and university graduates is negatively influencing the Czech labour market. The questionnaire provided a list of working position that students would like to obtain after their graduation or which working positions they prefer as more perspective regarding their future employment. The purpose of this artical is the mutual comparison of working positions which are required by FaME students and on the contrary, the working positions which are demanded by the companies on the labour market. The article presents results of research focused on the professional aspirations of the students, the development of the Czech labour market after 2008 and the development of the unemployment of university graduates.
Findings: The article highlights the fact that rising unemployment on the Czech labour market due to economic recession began to strongly influence previously always employable university graduates. There are several causes of this situation, which are not just due to the economic recession, but also due to the lack of certain professions such as carpenters, lathemen etc. The research supports the opinion that professional neutrality of students and increasing contrast between the labour supply and labour demand cause problems on the Czech labour market. The findings of the survey indicate that companies ask for different professional aspirations than those which students are interested in. The growing number of young people who postpone their entry to the labour market through university study changes the labour market conditions. Their opportunities to find a job position corresponding to their education level are not as good as they used to be. It is because of the growing number of graduates that makes higher competition on the supply side of the labour market.
Conclusions: This research supports the opinion that before 2008 almost every university graduate could find a suitable working position. Nowadays, when the number of university graduates is rising constantly, this fact is mirrored in the rising unemployment among university graduates.


Introduction: In aging process, the hair experiences thinning and the hair shaft becomes more fragile due to decreased regeneration of hair. Cinnamon essential oil contains cinnamaldehyde compounds which have a vasodilating effect on blood vessels and stimulating IGF-1 can increase fertility and prevent hair loss. Methods: This study was an experimental study with a post test only control group design carried out in the laboratory animal unit of the pharmacology section of the Udayana University medical faculty. In this study 30 male white rats (Rattus norvegicus) wistar lines were sheared 4cmx4cm which were divided into three groups: negative (aquades) control group (2% minoxidil), treatment group with cinnamon essential oil (concentration 100 %) for 30 days. Results: The average hair length of aquades (P0) was 5.88 ± 0.36 mm, minoxidil group 2% (P1) 7.4 ± 0.20 mm. , cinnamon essential oil group (P2) 8.32 ± 0.18 mm In the diameter size of hair follicles in the three groups showed the mean diameter size of hair follicles was significantly different (P 0 , 05) Conclusion: The application of topical cinnamon essential oil increases hair length and diameter size of male wistar rat hair follicles as effectively as topical minoxidil 2%.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse recruitment to sheltered employment for the disabled, with particular attention to cream skimming, i.e. whether the most able candidates are picked by programme organisers. Design/methodology/approach - In this paper recruitment practices and incentive structures at the state-owned Samhall company, Sweden's main provider of sheltered employment, are discussed. An econometric analysis is performed on a random sample of 10,000 unemployed individuals, exploring the quality of the data on disability and the determinants of recruitment to the company. The findings regarding recruitment are related to Samhall's objectives. Findings - The findings in this paper regarding cream skimming is mixed; the prioritised groups, i.e. individuals with intellectual or psychic disabilities, are more likely to be hired than some, but not all, disability groups. Individuals without disabilities tend to be recruited by the company, which suggests creaming and is contrary to the guidelines. Research limitations/implications - The paper sees that the fact that disability tends to be difficult to define should be taken into account when recruitment practices to employment programmes for the disabled are analysed. Practical implications - The paper found that objectives and screening procedures in employment programmes for the disabled should be assessed carefully in order to avoid excessive cream skimming. Originality/value - The paper shows that most studies on cream skimming do not consider programmes for the disabled, although the potential for harmful cream skimming may be larger than in mainstream programmes. Unlike previous studies the role of disability characteristics for recruitment is explicitly taken into account and these are related to programme objectives.


A micromotor for low power applications is being developed using silicon micromachining technologies and organometallic PZT films sol-gel deposition. The construction of a hybrid ultrasonic motor suitable for batch fabrication is proposed. A fabrication process for the stator resonator compatible with both bulk micromachining and 0.3 mu m PZT films deposition on a SiNx/Ta/Pt substrate has been tested. Comparison of PZT actuated and previously fabricated ZnO actuated diaphragms are performed using laser interferometry, PZT samples show promising results for applications where a low voltage operation is a key benefit. Poled PZT films are obtained after process completion and influence of DC biases on the resonance frequencies are observed.


The paper investigates the differences in private marginal returns to education between wage-employees and the self-employed in Uganda, using the Mincerian framework with pooled regression models. We use a two-wave household panel to estimate homogenous and heterogeneous private returns to education for both worker types. The study finds similar marginal returns to an additional year of schooling for both worker types. Further, the study finds the returns to educational qualifications are convex for wage-employees and concave for the self-employed. With regard to heterogeneous returns to education, we employ quantile regression models and find returns to education decreasing with quantile for both worker types.


This study assessed the course, rate, and significance of change in participants' day-to-day functioning during two years of Children's Psychosocial Rehabilitation (CPSR). Hierarchical linear mixed models were used to analyze Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) outcome data for 49 youth with serious emotional disturbance, aged 7 to 17 years. The authors estimated participants' change trajectory, difference in initial versus 16-month status, and difference in rate of change between the first 12 and last 8 months of the study. Controlling for age, participants improved by 13.73 points on the CAFAS every four months, generating a statistically and clinically significant improvement from intake to 16 months. The rate of change decreased significantly to 1.37 points per wave during the last 8 months of the study. CPSR participants improve significantly during treatment, with the majority of changes occurring in the first year.


ISTS, The Interactive Space-Time Scheduler, is an interactive
system for scheduling static algorithms developed at SICS. The ISTS
system is an experimental "CAD" system that supports the mapping of static
algorithms in space-time. The system decreases the time taken to get a
time-optimal or nearly time-optimal mapping of an algorithm. Improvements
and extensions have been made to the first version of ISTS. A theoretical study of
automatic scheduling algorithms that might be applied in the ISTS system is
also included. The ISTS system now provides support for the user to model
the algorithm in a hierarchical manner. It supports multiple windows and
possibilities to conceal information in order to improve scalability. This
makes ISTS both more useful and easier to use. Future plans for the system
are discussed.


This book brings together current knowledge of terrestrial C sequestration in Central Asia. The themes treated include: biophysical environments, water resources, sustainable agriculture, soil degradation, the effects of irrigation schemes on secondary salinization, soil management and its relationship to carbon dynamics; the relationship between forest management and carbon dynamics, economic analyses of land use practices, important methodological issues arising from the use of GIS, remote sensing, carbon budgeting and scaling, and a review of the knowledge gaps in carbon and climate change. The book is a reference source for soil, water, vegetation, climate, land use and management in the region. The book will be of interest to a wide variety of environmental scientists, economists and those interested in policy issues for the sustainable management of natural resources.


We carry out ion scattering simulations to investigate the nature of the transition region at the Si(100)-SiO2 interface. Ion scattering experiments performed in the channeling geometry provide us with a genuine interfacial property, the excess Si yield, resulting from distortions in the Si substrate and from Si atoms in intermediate oxidation states. To interpret the ion scattering data, we first generate a series of model structures for the interface by applying sequentially classical molecular dynamics and density-functional relaxation methods. These models reproduce atomic-scale features consistent with a variety of available experimental data. Then, we design a classical scheme to perform ion scattering simulations on these model interfaces. In our study, we separate the excess Si yield obtained from experiments in two distinct contributions. First, Si atoms in intermediate oxidation states account for similar to 25% of the excess Si yield, a contribution that is fully determined by the population of suboxide determined from photoemission data. The remaining similar to 75% of the excess Si yield characterizes the amount of lateral distortion of the substrate Si layers in the vicinity of the Si(100)-SiO2 interface. The comparison between calculated and experimental excess Si yields indicates that the distortions propagating from the interface into the Si substrate are consistent with interfacial transition structures extending over more than two Si layers, eventually including a disordered bonding pattern. Nearly abrupt interfaces induce distortions in the upper layers of the Si substrate which are insufficient for reproducing the experimental excess Si yields.


Many sedentary marine invertebrates have a fine-scale (100s m) population structure that complicates their conservation and management. This is a consequence of the limited informa- tion on the boundaries between component populations and the biological variability among them. Blacklip abalone Haliotis rubra form discrete populations, many of which are 'stunted' with individ- uals reaching a maximum length less than those in adjacent areas. In the present study, we obtained information on the growth, size at maturity and fecundity of H. rubra from stunted and 'non-stunted' populations spread across broad (10s km) and fine (100s m) spatial scales. Relationships between each of these key population parameters and a simple 'morphometric marker' based on the relation- ship between shell length and shell height were also examined. Variation in broad-scale growth and size at maturity could primarily be attributed to differences between stunted and non-stunted sites. Within the stunted site, growth and size at maturity were substantially different over distances >150 m. However, within the non-stunted site these parameters tended to be similar across 1000 m. While the lowest fecundities tended to be in the stunted sites, there was significant overlap among all sites. These spatial patterns in biology were highly correlated with the spatial variability observed in a simple morphometric marker. These results suggest that this morphometric marker can be used as a tool for the spatial management of abalone fisheries by cheaply inferring key biological parameters for individual populations and identifing the boundaries among these based on these differences.


The pollutant gases nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) are two of the commonly monitored parameters for air quality assessment in the Philippines. In this study, several active and passive sampling methods for the analysis of the two gases were tested. Of the methods for NO 2 first tested indoors, the NaI sorbent passive sampling method was found most promising and was tested for ambient air NO 2 (using both Ferm and Korean passive samplers) against a collocated automated chemiluminiscence sampler. For SO 2 , ambient levels were simultaneously measured using NaOH sorbent in a Ferm passive sampler and a collocated automated fluorescence sampler. Correlation and t testing indicate a positive bias for the NO 2 Ferm method and a negative one for the SO2 Ferm method in comparison with their corresponding automated methods. The results of the study support the 1997 annual average SO 2 and NO 2 findings of a UP Natural Sciences Research Institute (NSRI) study (Quirit et al, 1999) which used Ferm passive samplers in various Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Metro Manila air sampling stations.


From the Preface The objective of this book is to review the basic knowledge and methodology of feeding grazing ruminants in tropical and semitropical countries. It is hoped this information will be of use to farmers, research specialists, teachers, students, extension specialists, feed manufacturers, and others throughout the world concerned with the nutrition of grazing ruminants. A unique feature is the identification of nutritional limitations of grazing ruminants in the tropics, which will be beneficial for increasing animal production efficiency through the application of improved nutrition. A large number of photographs illustrate nutritional deficiencies and conditions in tropical countries. This book contains 18 chapters concerned with the nutrition of grazing ruminants. The first chapter deals with the contributions, locations, and various types of ruminants and their importance to human welfare in the tropics and subtropics. Chapters 2 - 4 progress through nutrient requirements of grazing ruminants in warm climates, the effects of tropical heat on these requirements, and water requirements for ruminant species. Chapters 5 - 7 discuss grass and legume forage species suitable for tropical regions, pasture management procedures, and energy-protein supplementation programs needed during the extensive dry periods. The importance of tropical forages and soils toward meeting mineral requirements is discussed in Chapter 8. Chapters 9 -14 contain concise, up-to-date summaries of minerals emphasizing mineral status, incidence of mineral deficiencies and excesses in tropical regions, and benefits and methods of mineral supplementation for grazing ruminants are discussed in Chapters 15 - 17. Chapter 18 reviews vitamin nutrition considerations for ruminants consuming tropical forages.


Background and Aim: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder resulting from defects in insulin secretion or function. Walnut is a nutrient used in traditional medicine to treat diabetes. In the current study, anti-diabetic effects of the Hydroalcoholic extract of walnut male flowers on diabetogenized rats by using Streptozocin were evaluated. Materials and Methods: Seventy two adult male Wistar rats weighing 200-225 g each were randomly selected and divided into three main groups, i.e. control, diabetic, and non-diabetic(intact) The control group included 8 rats (n=8). The diabetic and non-diabetic groups covered 32 rats each. Each of these groups were divided into four 8 rats including the control, diabetic, experimental 1, 2, and 3 which received 2, 4, or 6 g/kg of the extract per day for 15 days ,respectively. The three diabetic groups were each treated with the above doses of the extract, and the fourth group received no treatment. Diabetes was induced in diabetic rats through intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg of Streptozotocin. At the end, blood samples were taken from the experimental and control groups and the serum levels of insulin and glucose were measured. Results: A significant reduction in blood sugar (P ≤ 0.001) and increase of insulin (P ≤ 0.01) in diabetics receiving Hydroalcoholic extract of male flowers walnut was observed compared with non-diabetic ones. Conclusion: Hydroalcoholic extract of male Walnut flowers, due to increasing insulin, causes reduction of blood sugar.


In 1953, the US wished to establish a military base in the Dundas area of Greenland. Greenland was at the time a Danish colony. The Danish authorities granted the American request. The establishment of the military base meant that the over 100 members of the Thule tribe was forcibly relocated to another areas in a matter of very few days. Until then, the Thule tribe had been seminomadic catchers in that specific area for millennials. Only decades later, the Thule Tribe's claim for damages was tried before the Courts of Denmark. The Thule tribe especially claimed damages for serious interference with their rights as well as loss of hunting opportunities. Stating it was a law measure of legal and valid expropriation, the Supreme Court did award damages, but only amounting to a fraction of the amount claimed by the Thule Tribe. The motivation for the judgment is not quite clear, and seemingly national expropriation rules are at the core of both the lower and the higher courts' reasoning, perhaps at the expense of international law. Another overlooked aspect is that the courts in several (at least European) countries may seem biased, when the defendant in a tort case is a public authority; in certain legal areas one may even talk of a lenient standard of negligence. Relocation is a removal of a people from their home to another place. It may not always involve violence, direct threats or force, but coercion or other tactics against the removed people, who are not in a position to challenge the relocation. Forced relocations of tribal and indigenous peoples may seem a thing of the past as few still defend colonialism and it is therefore generally seen as a historical trait that has reached its conclusion. Nevertheless, forced relocations of peoples may happen again; in the Arctic for instance several superpowers of this world express much interest in a strategic presence in this specific area. There has been a number of examples of forced relocations of indigenous peoples all over the world, not only in the Artic with the Thule tribe, but also the Canadian First Nations, Native Americans in the US, black citizens of South Africa.


An epidemic of St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) occurred in Jefferson County, Arkansas during July-August 1991. At least 26 human cases were involved, with 25 cases in the town of Pine Bluff. Twelve isolates of SLE virus were obtained from mosquitoes collected in Pine Bluff between August 13 and 24: 11 from pools of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus, resulting in a minimum infection rate of 1.6 per 1,000 (n = 6,768) for this subspecies, and one isolate from a pool of 22 mosquitoes identified as Cx. (Culex) spp. Three of the SLE-positive pools, two from Cx. p. quinquefasciatus and one from Cx. (Cux.) spp., also yielded isolates of Flanders virus. Larval surveys resulted in the collection of seven species in four genera from 28 larva-positive habitats and the identification of one significant site of Cx. p. quinquefasciatus production. Ecologic assessments conducted at 12 randomly selected residences resulted in the identification of 17 larva-positive habitats, for an average mosquito-positive habitat rate of 1.4 per residence, and a Cx. p. quinquefasciatus larva-positive habitat rate of 0.6 per residence. Aedes albopictus and Cx. p. quinquefasciatus were the species most frequently encountered in larval surveys in residential neighborhoods.


The paper provides a tractable, analytical framework to study regulatory risk. Regulatory risk is captured by uncertainty about the policy variables in the regulator's objective function: weights attached to profits and costs of public funds. Results are as follows: 1) The regulator's reaction to regulatory risk depends on the curvature of aggregate demand. 2) It yields a positive information rent effect exactly when demand is convex. 3) Firms benefit from regulatory risk exactly when demand is convex. 4) Consumers' risk preferences tend to contradict the firm's. 5) Benevolent regulators always prefer regulatory risk and these preferences may contradict both the firm's and consumers'.


Skin-to-skin contact (STSC) for low birth weight newborns in community settings may greatly improve survival, especially where access to health facilities is limited. Community STSC has been implemented in large-scale trials in Asia and is recommended by WHO and UNICEF. In countries where the practice is entirely new, such as Ghana, STSC may need special educational approaches. Objective: The dual aims of this study were to understand the acceptance and barriers to STSC in an African community setting and to use in-depth formative research to contribute to the success of a behavior-based health intervention. Design: A rapid qualitative study with an intentionally small sample. Setting: Kintampo, Ghana, a predominately rural, agrarian area in the center of the country with diverse ethnic groups in a forest-savannah transition zone. Method: Key informants were consulted through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to develop the pilot. Five mothers participated in pilot instruction (four refused), which included counseling and used a trials-of-improved-practices methodology; data from group discussion with traditional birth attendants were also included. Results: It was difficult to overcome barriers to the practice (post partum pain, fear of harming the umbilicus), and less intractable barriers (traditional carrying practices, fear of causing harm, lack of back support, time constraints, breast feeding issues) were reported. Conclusion: Some study participants tried STSC but none did it continuously. As promotion of STSC could be vital for improving newborn survival in low resource settings, tackling perceived barriers may be an important way to increase acceptability of this practice.


We have demonstrated high-peak-power generation at 1 kW average power by applying an acousto-optic Q switch to a quasi-cw diode-pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier. We achieved a maximum peak power of 2.3 MW by driving the Q switch in burst mode. The average repetition rate was 6 kHz. The corresponding beam quality was M2 = 9.


Routine sampling of water quality was conducted at sites along a longitudinal gradient from upstream to downstream in the Olifants River to determine spatial trends in nutrient and metal concentrations and to relate these trends to changes in land use activities in the catchment. In addition, once-off sampling was conducted at a number of sites located downstream of current mining, abandoned mining, agriculture, wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) and industry. Nutrient concentrations were relatively high and a number of sites within the catchment had average N:P ratios that were indicative of eutrophic to hypertrophic conditions. Routine and once-off sampling indicated that wastewater treatment works contribute high nutrient loads to the system. Trend analysis of Department of Water Affairs (DWA) data indicated significant positive trends in ortho-phosphate at 12 of 14 stations in the catchment. An increase in sulphate concentrations from upstream to downstream indicates that mining activities have a progressively greater impact on water quality with increasing distance downstream. While dissolved metal concentrations frequently exceeded chronic and acute effect aquatic ecosystem health guidelines (particularly aluminium, copper and zinc), there was no observable trend from upstream to downstream. Once-off sampling showed high variability in water quality parameters downstream of current mining activities, and some sites showed higher metal concentrations in comparison to other land use activities. However, the contribution of current mining activities to metals is low in comparison to the contribution from abandoned mines. Hydrological data showed that acidic rivers contribute proportionally higher flow volumes in comparison to neutral rivers during the drier winter months, which may significantly impact on the lower stretches of the upper Olifants River and into Loskop Dam. A prolonged drought period will most likely result in severe impacts to the lower reaches of the Olifants River and to Loskop Dam. Improved management and maintenance of wastewater treatment works and rehabilitation and/or treatment of abandoned mines and associated acid mine drainage are crucial. Proper rehabilitation of current mining activities is essential to avoid or minimise acid mine drainage related impacts in the future. Keywords: acid mine drainage, land use, metals, nutrients, Olifants River


Abstract During an expedition to the deep-sea long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN in the eastern Fram Strait in summer 2003, the availability of a Remotely Operated Vehicle allowed a targeted sampling of surface sediments around a relatively large dropstone (0.9 m2) to determine suspected differences in community structure and dynamics of nematode assemblages in relation to the confined flow regime and patchy food availability in the immediate vicinity of the stone. The almost rectangular dropstone was about 150 cm in length, 60 cm in width, and up to 15 cm in height. Small-scale current measurements around the dropstone using a MAVS-3 acoustic current meter exhibited a rather complex pattern. A computational fluid dynamics simulation revealed areas of constantly flowing near-bottom currents as well as the generation of vortices in certain areas around the dropstone. Concentrations of biogenic compounds in the sediments surrounding the dropstone generally followed the complex flow pattern. The differences in physical and biochemical conditions around the dropstone were reflected in species composition and diversity, trophic structure and life-history traits of the nematode communities, and to a lesser extent in their total abundance and biomass.


Aim. Diseases affecting cerebral white matter may lead to left-right asymmetries and atrophy of interhemispheric connections, i.e. the corpus callosum (CC). Our aim was to describe and test a semi-automated system that divides the midline CC into a number of segments and determines thickness at each, then performs fibre tracking from these segments.

Methods. Six normal female volunteers (average age 25.8 ±6.7 years) and a female patient with diagnosed multiple sclerosis (age 26 years) were scanned on a 3T MRI. We performed diffusion-weighted imaging in 12 directions, and calculated diffusion tensors and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps from this pre-processed data. Fibre tracking from a region-of-interest encompassing the entire CC was done. This fibre data, together with FA maps and the unweighted diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) image (b = 0 s/mm2), were imported into a custom tool written in MATLAB. The midline sagittal position was carefully defined by selecting multiple midline points in coronal and axial views and rotating the image volume and fibre co-ordinates accordingly. Using the customised tool, dorsal and ventral CC contours were manually drawn on the mid-sagittal FA image, initiating automated calculation of a contour midway between these manually drawn lines. The programme was designed to then divide the midline contour into a pre-selected number of segments; from each segment border, perpendicular spokes were projected until they intersected with the dorsal and ventral contours. This technique divided the CC into a pre-set amount of segments, the number of which was limited by the spatial resolution. It was decided to set the number at 40 to ensure that each segment depicted a contiguous strip of voxels across the CC from the dorsal to the ventral contour. The system allows these segments to then be used as seeds for separate fibre tracking in each cerebral hemisphere, and various parameters are automatically plotted as a function of distance along the midline contour. The following parameters are measurable: midline CC thickness; midline FA; fibre volume for each hemisphere (represented as a left/right ratio centred on zero) and mean fibre FA for each hemisphere (also represented as a left/right ratio centred on zero).

Results. The tool proved successful in measuring and plotting CC midline thickness and FA, but was not sensitive for peripheral white matter lesions.

Conclusions. The technique successfully determined values of CC midline thickness, FA and interhemispheric differences. Future research will determine normal values for age and compare CC thickness with peripheral white matter volume loss in large groups of patients, using the semiautomated technique.


Success in delivering evidence-based health care relies heavily on the ready availability of current best evidence about diagnosis, treatment, and prevention options for health disorders, ideally tailored to the characteristics and context of the individual patient or population and the resources of the provider. While existing information resources fall short of perfection, the past decade has seen considerable progress, and an attractive array of services is now available for many healthcare decisions. Providers and consumers of evidence-based health care can help themselves to the best current evidence by recognising the most "evolved" information services in the topic areas of concern to them.

A "4S" model for the organisation of evidence-based information services, proposed several years ago,1 begins with original studies at the foundation; syntheses (that is, systematic reviews, such as Cochrane Reviews) at the next level up; then synopses (very brief descriptions of original articles and reviews, such as those that appear in the evidence-based journals); and the most evolved services, systems (such as computerised decision support systems that link individual patient characteristics to pertinent evidence) at the top.

George Box, an industrial statistician, once pointed out that "All models are wrong, some are useful,"2 and so it is with the 4S model. Conceptually, this model has been useful for both describing and guiding the development of evidence-based information services, and it has also been wrong in oversimplifying the relation of these services to original studies. In this notebook, we add a layer to the model, namely, clinical topic summaries of evidence about all pertinent management options for a health condition, such as those included in Clinical Evidence and PIER . A second purpose of the notebook is to explore how the layers are relevant to clinical decisions in ways that may not be apparent in the model. …


This paper examines the behavior of real GDP (levels and growth rates), unemployment, inflation, bank credit, and real estate prices in a twenty one-year window surrounding selected adverse global and country-specific shocks or events. The episodes include the 1929 stock market crash, the 1973 oil shock, the 2007 U.S. subprime collapse and fifteen severe post-World War II financial crises. The focus is not on the immediate antecedents and aftermath of these events but on longer horizons that compare decades rather than years. While evidence of lost decades, as in the depression of the 1930s, 1980s Latin America and 1990s Japan are not ubiquitous, GDP growth and housing prices are significantly lower and unemployment higher in the ten-year window following the crisis when compared to the decade that preceded it. Inflation is lower after 1929 and in the post-financial crisis decade episodes but notoriously higher after the oil shock. We present evidence that the decade of relative prosperity prior to the fall was importantly fueled by an expansion in credit and rising leverage that spans about 10 years; it is followed by a lengthy period of retrenchment that most often only begins after the crisis and lasts almost as long as the credit surge.


This communication explains a experience for the introduction of English terminology in a technical degree of higher education. We present the methodology and assessment procedures used to evaluate the way the students perceived the introduction of terminology in English in two different subjects from 3 rd and 5 th year courses of a Computer Science degree in which English was not the vehicular language. We propose a strategy based on two main pillars, namely: 1) The design of materials, explanations, and exams, paying particular attention to the way in which the specific terminology was exposed to the students, and 2) The assessment of the impact in the students by means of the analysis of the feedback trough a set of enquiries. Our experience showed that the students responded very positively to the introduction of English terminology, and presented an affirmative feedback about the impact that an improvement of their linguistic abilities would have in their future work. Further, we present statistics regarding the use of English as the vehicular language for technical reports, which is envisaged as very useful by the students. Finally, we propose a set of questions for further debate which are centered in the role that English terminology should pay in technical degrees, and about the way in which universities should deploy resources in English languages within the different Syllabus.


The transfer of genetic information into mouse embryos to stably alter the genetic constitution of mice is affording new insights into and opportunities in a wide variety of biological problems. Higher eukaryotes are composed of many interacting cells and organs. The properties of individual cell systems are often discernible only by studying natural or induced disruptions in their functions. Transgenic mice represent a new form of perturbation analysis whereby the selective expression of novel or altered genes can be used to perturb complex systems in ways that are informative about their development, their functions, and their malfunctions. The utility of this strategy is illustrated by recent research into immunological self-tolerance, oncogenes and cancer, and development.


South Africa continues to exhibit high levels of debt-to-disposable income along with a high number of impaired credit records. The National Credit Act No. 34 of 2005 (NCA) was established in order to address these high levels. This study expands the limited research by investigating the NCA's ability to reduce levels of over-indebtedness. The study employed quarterly data (2001-2013) in an OLS regression model in order to establish the determinants of over-indebtedness and assess the impact of the NCA. It was found that the macro-economic variables GDP, prime rate, property prices, consumer consumption expenditure, debt-to-disposable income and the level of unemployment were major contributors to the level of over-indebtedness. The NCA proved to have a positive significant effect on the levels of over-indebtedness, indicating that the NCA had not succeeded in its purpose of reducing the vulnerability of consumers to becoming over-indebted. The results suggest that the affordability assessment of the NCA must be improved in order to conduct a form of credit stress testing on consumers during their application for credit.


It cannot be stated strongly enough how much support there was for the roll-out of the pilot project across Glasgow. ASSIST is a support service for partners and ex-partners of those brought before the Domestic Abuse Court (DAC). ASSIST provides information, support and advocacy to adults (both female and male) who are survivors of domestic abuse. The services provided by ASSIST are offered from the point of initial referral by the police, to the end of the court proceedings.
The evaluation of ASSIT took place over nearly two years (2004-06) and included multiple forms of data. The aims of the evaluation included:

• Describing the process of developing ASSIST highlighting key challenges and opportunities encountered, thereby understanding the process by which ASSIST provides support services to victims of domestic abuse and their children in the multi-agency context.
• Documenting the outcomes of this intervention on those referred to ASSIST, the key outcome being increased safety of victims and their children.
• Identifying how the work of ASSIST impacts other agencies involved in Glasgow's multi-agency response to domestic abuse, and also how the multi-agency approach informs the processes and outputs of ASSIST.

This research revealed that the work done at ASSIST was unanimously praised as making a difference to victims of domestic abuse and their children. Furthermore, the introduction of ASSIST in Glasgow has changed the working practices of key agencies for the better, and provided practical assistance that is valuable to other agencies. Respondents across both the voluntary sector and the criminal justice system reported dissatisfaction with the 'post-code lottery' whereby only victims living in one part of the city receive the enhanced response via ASSIST and the DAC.


Examines how the performance of a memoryless vector quantizer changes as a function of its training set size. Specifically, the authors study how well the training set distortion predicts test distortion when the training set is a randomly drawn subset of blocks from the test or training image(s). Using the Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC) dimension, the authors derive formal bounds for the difference of test and training distortion of vector quantizer codebooks. The authors then describe extensive empirical simulations that test these bounds for a variety of codebook sizes and vector dimensions, and give practical suggestions for determining the training set size necessary to achieve good generalization from a codebook. The authors conclude that, by using training sets comprising only a small fraction of the available data, one can produce results that are close to the results obtainable when all available data are used. >


With the help of a simple model, we show that the hindsight bias can lead to inefficient delegation decisions. This prediction is tested experimentally. In an online experiment that was conducted during the FIFA World Cup 2010 participants were asked to predict a number of outcomes of the ongoing World Cup and had to recall their assessments after the outcomes had been realized. This served as a measure of the hindsight bias for each participant. The participants also had to make choices in a delegation game. Our data confirm that hindsight-biased subjects more frequently fail to delegate optimally than subjects whom we have classified as not hindsight biased.


Abstract Linked data is becoming a mature technology as a lightweight realization of the Semantic Web, as well as a way of facilitating knowledge reorganization and discovery. As a use case and start point, based on linked data technology, a genealogy knowledge service platform was implemented by the Shanghai Library for providing knowledge discovery and open data services. This article explains the design and development of the Genealogy Knowledge Service Platform, describes the method and process of the implementation, and introduces four examples of how the platform helps users to discover questions, raise questions, and solve questions for their research, to explain how Linked Data can be used in Digital Humanities.


Background: To evaluate the wound healing efficacy of some plants in the regeneration of earthworms. The present study was taken up to compare the curative and regenerative responses of Megascolex konkanensis towards the phyto extracts prepared from Ocimum sanctum, Curcuma longa and Scoparia dulcis. Objective: To assess the wound healing property of three plant extract at different concentrations. Materials and method: During the period of study the collected earthworms were separated into 4 groups of 2 organisms each in the paper cups, labeled and kept safely. In the time of experiment the 55th segment of posterior clitellum of each earthworm was cut carefully with the help of scissors. Result: The day 9, the earthworms treated with Scoparia dulcis extracts started showing faster growth compared with Ocimum sanctum, Curcuma longa, and control. Scoparia dulcis extract caused significant greater wound healing property than other two phyto extracts. The overall observation depicts that the extracts significantly promoted the healing process, as evident by an increased rate of regeneration in worms treated with herbal extract, suggesting the possible utilization of this plant to enhance wound healing.


I. INTRODUCTION II. LIMITS OF THE PRESENT POLICY PARADIGM FOR SUSTAINABLE POLICIES III. TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM FOR SUSTAINABLE POLICIES A. General Constraints and Properties of Sustainable Policies B. Relations of Telecommunications Policy to Complexity Theory 1. Complexity Theory 2. Economic Sectors and Policymaking Systems as Coevolving Complex Adaptive Systems C. General Implications for Sustainable Telecommunications Policies from a Complex Systems Perspective IV. FEDERALISM AS AN INNOVATIVE AND DYNAMIC POLICYMAKING SYSTEM V. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF FEDERALISM IN THE U.S. VI. PRESSURES FOR A NEW FEDERALISM MODEL IN THE U.S. VII. USING COMPLEXITY THEORY FOR EVOLUTION OF A NEW FEDERALISM MODEL A. Recognizing Federalism as a Patching Algorithm B. Modifying Federalism for Environmental Regulation C. Comparing Models of Policy Reform D. Using Adaptive Decision-Making Tools for Policymaking in General VIII. TOWARD A REVISION OF FEDERALISM FOR SUSTAINABLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY I. INTRODUCTION In numerous articles and papers, I have stressed in varying ways that sustainable regulatory telecommunications policies require simultaneous satisfaction of economic viability and political feasibility constraints, and that satisfaction of these constraints is becoming more challenging for regulatory regimes based on competition rather than monopoly. Some articles have examined the sustainability of specific regulatory policies, such as universal service, (1) rate rebalancing, (2) and the effects of detariffing on liability rules. (3) Others have broadened the scope of inquiry, looking at sustainability problems arising from fundamental attributes of the U.S. governance structure, (4) including efforts to retrench from public utility regulation (5) and to resist extension of common carriage obligations to broadband access services. (6) Throughout this research, I have sought to provide the foundation for a more general analytical framework for designing sustainable telecommunications policies based primarily on legal and economic analyses and incorporation of models and insights from the political science literature. Most recently, I have sought to further enhance this framework by incorporating insights from complexity theory. Within the general academic community, there is a growing recognition that complexity theory, originally developed in the physical sciences, may also be applicable to the social sciences. Complexity theory is based on the distinctive properties of complex systems and provides a different paradigm for understanding and interacting with complex systems. Complexity theory is already influencing research concerning sustainable environmental policies, (7) and recent research is examining its potential application to communications policies. (8) In research foundational to this Article, Bauer and I assert that complexity theory should be used to improve our understanding of the requirements for sustainable telecommunications policies. (9) More specifically, Bauer and I assert that if the telecommunications sector and the legal/policymaking institutions are viewed as coevolving and complex adaptive systems, then there are important implications for regulatory policy. One implication is that law and regulation will have a diminishing capacity to achieve specifically desired outcomes but will retain influence over possible, usually unpredictable, trajectories of sector performance. Instead, greater focus must be placed on how to design policies and policymaking processes that are more suitable for interacting with, interpreting, and responding to the telecommunications sector over time. In other words, greater attention must be paid to the adaptability of policies and the policymaking processes themselves as they evolve with the telecommunications sector. …


This report shows the results of a techno-economic analysis of key renewable energy technologies: Solar Photovoltaics (PV), Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), and Wind Energy Technologies (wind). For this purpose, bottom-up company-data were collected, market supply and demand factors addressed, the regulatory framework examined, and EU industry compared against its main competitors. Personal interviews with 10 key industrialists from these sectors were undertaken to generate first-hand feedback from companies. The information generated was validated in a workshop with selected study participants, industrialists and policymakers. The three technologies hold potential for tackling major energy issues and creating jobs and economic growth, but electricity production costs associated with them are still higher than for conventional technologies. Appropriate regulatory and framework conditions are a prerequisite for introducing PV, CSP and wind into the market and to become competitive. The time horizon for this to happen depends on whether these industries can reduce costs and how conventional energy prices evolve. The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive has set targets for increasing the average share of renewable energies in final energy consumption, and PV, CSP and wind will play a key-role in achieving these targets. Their application will however create multiple challenges for the existing electricity grid in terms of integrating the new capacities, energy storage and distribution. Although these challenges have been recognised and gained political momentum at the EU level, the degree to which they will be resolved within the coming decades depends on how quickly they are implemented in the Member States and the interplay of all new super- and smart-grid components. Competition is an important driving factor for improving the three technologies' cost-effectiveness as they also have to compete with other energy technologies and against the various technology options throughout the whole supply chain. An important question here is to which degree externalities are included in the cost calculation. If externalities in conventional energy generation are taken into account, some renewable technologies (wind) already have a competitive edge. The CSP sector is the less mature industry, not yet at the stage of mass manufacturing. In terms of R&D investment, the study shows that the EU companies lead in CSP and wind energy and the non-EU companies (USA and Asia) lead in PV. However, these results, based on 2008 figures, need careful interpretation since recent patterns of investment in renewable energy show significant changes. This is due to the effects of the economic crisis and to different investment reactions by emerging and developed economies. By spring 2011, there is evidence of stronger R&D activity in some non-EU countries, namely in China, South Korea, India, Japan and the US. Also a number of companies with significant R&D investment were not included in the study either because they had only recently been created or because they did not disclose specific R&D investments in renewable energy. A conclusion on this matter is that the EU does not currently seem to under-invest in these technologies but recent trends indicate a likely challenge on this over the medium term. So as to stimulate R&D for PV, CSP and wind energy, policy should check if there is a balance between policy support for technological development and policy instruments promoting market penetration. Regarding the specific support and Feed-In Tariff (FIT) schemes implemented in the EU, it is necessary to understand their actual impacts, i.e. which part of the value chain obtains the most benefits.


The novel, 'Cork Dolls', focuses on the psychological struggle between two women from different cultural backgrounds.Rachel arrives in Sicily as an au pair for the wealthy Bruni family. Here she meets Susan, the Bruni's Filipino housekeeper. Susan has had to leave her daughter, Reetha, in the Philippines, in order to earn money abroad. Rachel, on the other hand, has recently had an abortion. Both of them have come to Italy to make a new life, yet both are forced to play a mothering role to Franco and Santino, the Bruni's children.The resulting power conflict between Rachel and Susan is played out against the backdrop of the Bruni's failing marriage. Rachel is increasingly drawn to Santino, the youngest son. However, her attempted abduction of him forces her to see that it is impossible to replace the child she has aborted. Even Rocco, the young man who attempts to start a relationship with her, is rebuffed as she gains a new understanding of herself.When Signor Bruni leaves the house early one morning, in search of his wife and her lover, an earthquake hits the area. The resulting confusion provides Susan with an ideal opportunity to steal the Signora's jewellery, and thus finance her return to her daughter. Meanwhile, Rachel is left alone with the children. Although her previous attempt at taking Santino has taught her that the children can never be hers, the novel ends with her having to make a final decision as to whether to take them or not.'Cork Dolls' focuses on women's experience. It draws attention to the claustrophobic nature of the domestic setting, and how this can magnify petty aggressions. It also examines ideas about women as mothers in patriarchal society, and looks at how, by focusing on female experience, accepted ideas about women's roles might be challenged.


In a world where the prospects of a global agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions are bleak, the idea of using trade policy as an implicit regulation of foreign emission sources has gained many supporters in countries contemplating unilateral climate policies. Embodied carbon tariffs tax the direct and indirect carbon emissions embodied in imported goods. The appeal seems obvious: as OECD countries are, on average, large net importers of embodied emissions from non-OECD countries, carbon tariffs could substantially extend the reach of OECD climate policies. We investigate this claim by simulating the effects of embodied carbon tariffs with a computable general equilibrium model of global trade and energy use. We find that embodied carbon tariffs do effectively reduce carbon leakage. However, the scope for improvements in the global cost-effectiveness of unilateral climate policy is limited. The main welfare effect of the tariffs is to shift the burden of OECD climate policy to the developing world.


Most drugs administered in hospital are given by mouth. An important part of the nurses' work is to ensure that the drugs prescribed by the doctor and provided by the pharmacist, are administered to the patient safely and accurately. Safe, therapeutically effective drug administration is dependent on the nurses' knowledge of medications and a careful monitoring of their effects on his/her patients. This aspect of care requires appropriate decision making and adherence to the UKCC Standards for the Administration of Medicines (1992). This study is concerned with oral drugs which have special recommendations in relation to food. Previous unpublished pilot studies in this area Carr (1984), Hayden (1990) and Dronfield (1993) have shown that special recommendations which are important to the bioavailability of these drugs, are not always indicated on drug charts nor followed during their administration. Research questions were developed concerning current practices regarding drug administration, nurses' knowledge regarding these specific drugs and questions relating to some of the key concepts necessary for optimum nursing behaviour. A representative sample (n=107) was drawn from the population of qualified nurses in an acute NHS Trust. Triangulation, involving various methodologies was used but the major approach was qualitative. Current practices were explored using an observation study. The administration by nurses of drugs with special recommendations for food was examined as well as the additional instructions needed from doctors and additional information required from pharmacists. Nurses' knowledge regarding these specific drugs was examined using a questionnaire survey. Nursing practice itself was investigated using a concept modelling method, Dynamic Concept Analysis (Kontiainen 1991). Five concepts, skill, knowledge, experience, preparation and power were used to create a general information structure from which 107 individual models were created. The findings showed that from the observation study there was a 50/50 chance of the patients taking these oral drugs accurately. Nursing knowledge was found to be variable across Grades (C to G). The most senior nurses were not always the most knowledgeable. DCA showed that from the nurses who took part in the study, only 23, 21.5% could demonstrate practice which was closest to the optimum model. None were demonstrating optimum practice. When specific nursing specialities were analysed, oncology nurses were seen to be administering the drugs in the most appropriate way. Nurses working in surgery medicine and orthopaedics were administering drugs safely but not always accurately according to food intake. In order to improve the situation, educational implications were explored with an urgent recommendation for additional applied pharmacology to be included in pre and post registration curriculums. Reflection was also explored both as an educational learning activity and as a method for developing creative/experiential practice. There is an urgent need to review hospital policies and procedures regarding drug rounds. Most wards still use drug trolleys which appear to be a major contributing factor to these findings. Contemporary practice involving risk assessment, standard setting, and the development of clinical research-based guidelines must be implemented in order to prevent the therapeutic effect of these oral drugs being diminished.


Get ready to put the power of Reason 4 to work! This comprehensive guide shows you how to get the most out of this popular music production program, while providing insights and tips that not only teach you the program but will help you make better music. Youll start with a brief introduction to the basics of computer music and putting together your studio and then quickly move on to the business of creating a song. Youll explore all the various tools and synths that Reason offers, including the Sequencer, reMix, Redrum, Subtractor, Malstrm, Thor, NN-19 and NN-XT, the Matrix, RPG-8, the Combinator, the MClass mastering suite, and much, much more. By the time youre finished, youll be ready to synchronize Reason with other music-making programs, use automation, and mix and publish your creations to CD or to the Web.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cigarette smoking on heart rate variability (HRV), repeated sprint performance and maximum aerobic capacity in male college students. Thirty-one habitual smokers (S) and ninety-nine non-smokers (NS) completed this randomized experimental design. Prior to experiment, all participants were familiarized to the exercise protocol with a repeated high-intensity sprint test (RST) and a 20-m shuttle test (ST). RST test consists of 6 × 10-s sprints with 60-s active recovery between each sprint, and ST is a 20-m shuttle run according to the tempo of the music as indicating maximum aerobic capacity. The HRV parameters were recorded in supine position for 20-min prior and 30-min following the RST test. The peak power, mean power, total work, heart rate and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were taken during the RST on a cycle ergometer. Results showed no significant differences on peak power, mean power, total work, heart rate and RPE between S and NS groups. However, maximal oxygen uptake was significantly lower and blood pressure was significantly higher in S group than in NS group. Furthermore, the root mean square successive difference (RMSSD), proportion of differences of adjacent R-R interval > 50 ms (pNN50), high frequency (HF), and natural logarithm of the high frequency (lnHF) were significantly higher in S group compared to NS group. We concluded that cigarette smoking may impair maximum aerobic capacity and increase blood pressure at the post-exercise, but the anaerobic capacity is not altered. Moreover, cigarette smoking increases vagal drive after RST that may be due to increased parasympathetic modulation during post-exercise recovery.


ARTS 1316 (ARTS 1316) Drawing Foundations (3 semester credit hours) This course provides a foundation for advancement to Drawing II and III, figure drawing and printmaking classes. Emphasis will be placed on the process of charcoal, graphite and ink in relation to design concerns such as light, space, form and composition. The class will stress the importance of drawing as a method to make visual form out of conceptualized ideas as well as provide the manual skills to describe reality. (0-3) S


Abstract This lecture covers the fundamentals of spread spectrum modulation, which can be defined as any modulation technique that requires a transmission bandwidth much greater than the modulating signal bandwidth, independently of the bandwidth of the modulating signal. After reviewing basic digital modulation techniques, the principal forms of spread spectrum modulation are described. One of the most important components of a spread spectrum system is the spreading code, and several types and their characteristics are described. The most essential operation required at the receiver in a spread spectrum system is the code synchronization, which is usually broken down into the operations of acquisition and tracking. Means for performing these operations are discussed next. Finally, the performance of spread spectrum systems is of fundamental interest and the effect of jamming is considered, both without and with the use of forward error correction coding. The presentation ends with consideration of sprea...


People preserve memories of events such as birthdays, weddings, or vacations by capturing photos, often depicting groups of people. Invariably, some individuals in the image are more important than others given the context of the event. This paper analyzes the concept of the importance of individuals in group photographs. We address two specific questions - Given an image, who are the most important individuals in it? Given multiple images of a person, which image depicts the person in the most important role? We introduce a measure of importance of people in images and investigate the correlation between importance and visual saliency. We find that not only can we automatically predict the importance of people from purely visual cues, incorporating this predicted importance results in significant improvement in applications such as im2text (generating sentences that describe images of groups of people).


The women's plus-size apparel category is a growing market segment in the USA as more than two-thirds (64%) of American women are considered either overweight or obese (Flegal et al., 2010. Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999–2008. Journal of the American Medical Association, 303 (3), 235–241. Available from: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/303/3/235 [Accessed 6 July 2010]). Pisut and Connell (2007. Fit preferences of female consumers in the USA. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 11 (3), 366–379) and Simmons et al. (2004. Female figure identification technique (FFIT) for apparel, part II: development of shape sorting software. Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management, 4 (1)) reported that women today reflect a more pear-shaped silhouette than in previous decades. Kurt Salmon Associates (2000. Annual consumer outlook survey. Paper presented at the American Apparel and Footwear Association apparel research committee, Orlando, FL) reported that more than half the women have trouble finding well-fitting clothes. Consumers' figure types play a significant role in affecting sizing measurements of apparel (Njagi, R.K. and Zwane, P.E., 2011. Variation in measurements across different brands of same style ladies' pants in Swaziland. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology, and Education, 4 (1), 51–57). Apparel patterns are made for hourglass-shaped women and are graded from an average size, assuming that women's measurements increase proportionally as size increases. Based on SizeUSA, a national dataset, women were classified into each size category based on their bust, waist and hip measurements, and their measurements were compared to American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. Results showed a significant difference for most size categories. Within each size category, fewer participants satisfied all three measurements of bust, waist and hips. From these measurements, women's hip shape was determined and evaluated for sizes 14W–32W. Analysis of hip shape revealed that different hip shapes exists within a given apparel size. Research methods and implications are discussed.


People living with disability worldwide are still subjected to the use of restrictive interventions. This is in spite of overwhelming evidence regarding the risks of the use of those interventions coupled with an increased rights based approach when supporting people living with disability. Increasingly around the world, policy and legislation is being implemented with the aim of reducing the rates of restrictive intervention in this population. On 1st January 2012 such legislation (Disability Services Act 2011 (TAS)) was proclaimed in Tasmania.
Drawing on the views of differing members of the Tasmanian disability sector, this thesis sought to determine the success of the implementation of the aspects of the legislation relating to the regulation of restrictive interventions, any perceived barriers to this implementation, and how these might be overcome. I utilised an exploratory research methodology, which included a mixed method of focus groups, interviews and surveys with organisational management, support workers, clinical workers, families and advocates. I conducted a thematic analysis of the data and comparison of results indicated that there are several barriers to the implementation of such legislation in Tasmania. I compared this data with data available regarding the implementation of similar legislation in other jurisdictions.
I found that restrictive interventions are still used within the Tasmanian disability sector. The reasons for this are several-fold. Workers within the sector do not have the skills and training to be able to comply with the legislative requirement to reduce the amount of restrictive interventions used in services. In addition, the attitudes and cultures existing within the sector are not conducive to a reduction in the use of these interventions. The results also revealed that systems of governance are not sufficient to enforce this legislation.
This study provides evidence of the need for cultural change to be addressed, alongside and irrespective of the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This should include the culture of the support staff, leaders and managers of organisations, board members, as well as clinicians. It is further recommended that a greater emphasis is given to systems of governance, both departmental and organisational. For example, the department should develop a process for penalising non-compliance, and organisational boards should expect greater accountability and reporting around the use of restrictive interventions. This thesis indicates a strong need for additional skill development and training in the areas of positive behaviour support and alternatives to the use of restrictive interventions. Again, this training needs to be directed to organisation and clinical staff. A final recommendation is made in light of the current findings, which is that the Act is operationalised further so that all are definitions, philosophies and roles are clear to all stakeholders.
This thesis provides a platform for considering the national approach to the regulation and monitoring of restrictive interventions in the Tasmanian context, which will be implemented as a result of the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).


The exact cause of severe disease in children during primary RSV infections is not completely clear. There is a link with viral load, but differences virus strains do not seem to be the major reason why in some children the disease manifests as a mild cold while others suffer from a severe lower respiratory tract disease. The prevalence of severe lower respiratory tract infection due to RSV is high in the neonatal period. The immune response in this age group is characterized by suppressed innate immune responses and a Th2 bias, reasons for poorly effective immune responses to infection and vaccination. During the neonatal period maternally derived antibodies and maturation of neonatal immunity via microbial colonization of mucosal surfaces are both important factors to protect the newborn against pathogens upon the first encounter. However, the presentation of antibody opsonized virus to various cell types alters the innate pathogen recognition pathways, affecting the onset of subsequent immune responses evoked by these cells and subsequently the ability to respond to RSV infections. Furthermore, altered mucosal colonization due to antibiotic treatment, environmental challenges or pharmaceutical components might affect the development of neonatal immunity. In this thesis we investigate the possible influence of (maternally derived) RSV specific antibodies and microbiome manipulation via specific prebiotic oligosaccharides and broad spectrum antibiotics on immunity against RSV. We show in our studies that the use of highly neutralising antibodies or antibiotics in new-borns should carefully be evaluated for their potential to alter innate immune responses and the development of adaptive immunity to RSV and certainly also other pathogens. Extrapolation from our mouse model suggests that antibiotics used in the neonatal period might increase the risk of developing severe RSV bronchiolitis and susceptibility to develop allergic disease in later life. A better understanding of the mechanism by which vaccine induced immune responses can be amplified or altered by microbiome manipulation, might in the future lead to promising options whereby dietary manipulation support neonatal immune development and vaccine efficacy.


In this paper we present Saliency Moments, a new, holistic descriptor for image recognition inspired by two biological vision principles: the gist perception and the selective visual attention. While traditional image features extract either local or global discriminative properties from the visual content, we use a hybrid approach that exploits some coarsely localized information, i.e. the salient regions shape and contours, to build a global, low-dimensional image signature. Results show that this new type of image description outperforms the traditional global features on scene and object categorization, for a variety of challenging datasets. Moreover, we show that, when combined with other existing descriptors (SIFT, Color Moments, Wavelet Feature and Edge Histogram), the saliency-based features provide complementary information, improving the precision of a retrieval system we build for the TRECVID 2010.


Environmental stressors impact marine larval growth rates, quality and sizes. Larvae of the Antarctic bivalve, Laternula elliptica, were raised to the D-larvae stage under temperature and pH conditions representing ambient and end of century projections (-1.6°C to +0.4°C and pH 7.98 to 7.65). Previous observations using light microscopy suggested pH had no influence on larval abnormalities in this species. Detailed analysis of the shell using SEM showed that reduced pH is in fact a major stressor during development for this species, producing D-larvae with abnormal shapes, deformed shell edges and irregular hinges, cracked shell surfaces and even uncalcified larvae. Additionally, reduced pH increased pitting and cracking on shell surfaces. Thus, apparently normal larvae may be compromised at the ultrastructural level and these larvae would be in poor condition at settlement, reducing juvenile recruitment and overall survival. Elevated temperatures increased prodissoconch II sizes. However, the overall impacts on larval shell quality and integrity with concurrent ocean acidification would likely overshadow any beneficial results from warmer temperatures, limiting populations of this prevalent Antarctic species.


The addition of alum or sodium aluminate at dosages which effectively remove phosphorus is beneficial in removing copper, chromium, and lead when present in wastewaters. Chromium removal is enhanced by sodium aluminate addition, but alum does not affect chromium removal. Both types of aluminum salts appear to increase the removal of lead, but the large variance in the data does not allow this to be confirmed by the t-tests. Of the remaining metals analyzed, no difference in removal was observed with and without aluminum salt addition for cadmium or antimony, nor was there any difference in TOC removal. Mercury was effectively removed to below the detection limit by primary sedimentation, so no further removal was achieved during secondary treatment when the alum/aluminate was added. Other metals were not present in amounts above detection limits.