A few years before the subprime mortgage market collapsed, several states began to notice a dramatic increase in the rate of foreclosures among many of their most vulnerable citizens. Attributing the increase to predatory lending, these states enacted a new type of fair lending law that, for the first time, imposed liability not only on the originators of abusive subprime loans, but also on investors in the secondary mortgage market that helped to finance those loans. National banks, which were some of the biggest players in the secondary market, went to their federal regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and asked the agency to preempt the state laws. The OCC agreed, and in January 2004 declared the laws preempted.This paper examines that preemption determination and uses it as a case study to explore how best to address the phenomenon of agency preemption. The consensus view is that permitting agencies with narrow regulatory agendas to preempt state laws could unjustifiably undermine state autonomy. In response, commentators have repeatedly called on the courts to help check agency preemption. But courts are unlikely to prove up to the task: as a general matter, they lack the institutional competence to counter an agency's expert and informed determination that certain state laws pose a substantial obstacle to federal regulatory goals. It is therefore unsurprising that the courts have readily deferred to the OCC's highly contestable preemption determination. Effectively curbing agencies' appetite to preempt will instead require the development of alternative approaches, which could include deputizing independent intra-agency authorities to vet preemption determinations, constituting a new body to institutionalize a greater role for state officials in regulatory decision-making, or crafting new procedural tools to guide courts' review of agency preemption determinations.


Business schools face increased criticism for failing in the teaching of management studies to nurture their students' values. Assuming that individual academics play an important role in shaping the value-related influence of business schools, I model management academics' intentions to influence values. The suggested model encompasses academics' economic and social values as internal variables, as well as perceived support for attempting to influence values and academic tenure as social and structural variables. A test with empirical data from 1,254 management academics worldwide reveals that perceived external support is most relevant for explaining intentions. Moreover, academics' social values, but not their economic ones, contribute to an explanation of their intentions to influence values. The results reveal how important it is for academics to believe that their colleagues, higher education institutions, and other stakeholders support their value-related behavioral intentions.


During last decade, Colima town suffered from an increase in flooding and inundation. These episodes occurred during extreme rainfall events, such as hurricanes Jova in2011and  Manuelin2013 both with averages rainfall intensities of 200 mm per day, but also during high intensity and short duration rainfall through the rain season. Natural soils in the region are derived from the volcaniclastic deposits originated from the activity of the Volcan de Colima. Land use analyses were performed based on field work on a target area(TA) that was then used to perform a supervised classification using SPOT images taken in 2005, 2009 and 2015 in the studied area that corresponds with the hydrological basin that drains into the urban area of Colima and Villa de Avarez. The three main land use classifications were defined: Native, Cultivated and Urban surfaces (each of them with their own subdivisions). 33 soil samples were collected and analyzed to determine their physical proprieties such as: particle size distribution, bulk and particle densities, water weight and soil porosity, organic matter content, pH and electrical conductivity. The in situ hydraulic conductivity test was done using a Drip-Infiltrometer device to obtain the Ks value. Soils correspond to Andosols with more than 88% sand, up to 8% silt and 3% clay. They came out positive in the allophane test in more than 80% of the samples. The average water contents were of 14%, 21% and 13% for natural, cultivated and urban soils respectively. Bulk density average values were below 1.30 gr/cm3 and particle average densities below 2.30 gr/cm3. Porosity varies from 29 to 55%. The organic matter vary from almost cero to 11%. pH data pointed to the existence of phosphorus, iron, copper, zinc, and manganese and the electric conductivity classified them as sodic soils. in the in situ infiltration experiments yielded Ks values of 32.16 to 0.50 mm/h for native soils, Ks of 25 mm/h for cultivated and Ks from 10 to 0.8 mm/h for urban soils. Land use time-space analysis in the TA showed that from  2005 to 2015 the urban land use growth was of 13%,cultivated lands decreased an 11%, while natural areas decreased only 1%.For the complete study zone, urban land use increased  by2% from 2005 to 2009 and remained in the same amount for 2015. From2009 to 2015 cultivated area decreases by8%and change to  native lands due to field abandoning. Based on this research results, the increase in flooding and inundation in the Colima-Villa de Alvarez area could be related to the land use change, especially the increase in urban land that largely reduce the infiltration rate as the decrease in cultivated area which resulted to be the type of soil in the area with the highest infiltration rate. These anthropic land use evolution promotes inundation not only during extreme hydrometeorological event but also during the common rainfalls events causing several damages on infrastructures and death.


In this paper, we investigate the transport properties of microwaves in a two-dimensional (2D) graphenelike photonic crystal (PC) slab. We realize a narrow electromagnetic (EM) beam by using a grounded coplanar waveguide with better direction, which is beneficial to the study of the transport properties of (2D) PCs. The extremal transmission of the microwave near the Dirac point in a graphenelike PC slab, being inversely proportional to the thickness of the sample, is demonstrated by means of numerical simulation. Furthermore, we verify experimentally that some certain EM field modes for photonic bands cannot be excited in the PC slab.


Conformal antennas, used extensively on mobile communications systems, generally have complex configurations and are often times mounted on or used within large structures. Hence, the modeling of such antennas is a challenging problem. The most frequently used numerical techniques either require excessive computational resources or cannot effectively model such structures. Thus, hybrid techniques have recently been employed to take advantage of each method's strengths, while minimizing weaknesses. To enhance computational efficiency, a new methodology is introduced in this thesis, based on a combination of the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) and the Method of Moments (MoM) numerical techniques in conjunction with the Surface Equivalence and Reciprocity Theorems. Several antenna configurations are considered to illustrate the new methodology: 1) radiating slots on conducting cylinders, 2) microstrip patch antennas mounted on large conducting structures, and 3) reflector antennas with partial circular symmetry. In the transmit mode, the region containing the radiation source is first analyzed using either the MoM or FDTD technique to determine "equivalent currents" at the radiating aperture. The Surface Equivalence Principle is then applied, allowing the material in the radiating region to be theoretically modified to match its surroundings. This creates a homogeneous structure for the first two antenna types, and a circularly symmetric structure for the last type. iv The operation of the antenna system is then reversed to the receive mode, and the fields produced at the radiating aperture are determined. By analyzing this mode of operation, difficult integrals and asymmetric sources are avoided for antenna types 1 and 2, and 3, respectively. For antenna types 1 and 2, the MoM technique is used to compute the surface fields, which reduces computational resource requirements since the surface of the structure – as opposed to its volume – is modeled. For antenna type 3, the effective removal of asymmetric sources allows a 2-D FDTD simulation of the antenna structure, instead of a full 3-D model. Finally, utilizing the Reciprocity Theorem, the surface fields determined for the receive mode case are combined with the "equivalent currents" calculated in the transmit mode in order to compute far-zone fields. Through use of the technique, computational savings on the order of 95% are realized.


In recent years China has entered the international human rights debate, consistently making the case for cultural diversity in the formulation of human rights policy. Ames follows this argument of cultural relativism, emphasizing China's cultural differences and critiquing the concept of universal human rights, particularly as presented by Jack Donnelly in his book Universal Human Rights. Discussing the history of universal human rights and Confucian values, Ames asserts that a growing dialogue between China and the United States would benefit China in terms of political and individual rights and the United States in terms of a greater sense of civic virtue.


This paper focuses on the definition and identification of "Web user-sessions", aggregations of several TCP connections generated by the same source host. The identification of a usersession is non trivial. Traditional approaches rely on threshold based mechanisms. However, these techniques are very sensitive to the value chosen for the threshold, which may be difficult to set correctly. By applying clustering techniques, we define a novel methodology to identify Web user-sessions without requiring an a priori definition of threshold values. We define a clustering based approach, we discuss pros and cons of this approach, and we apply it to real traffic traces. The proposed methodology is applied to artificially generated traces to evaluate its benefits against traditional threshold based approaches. We also analyze the characteristics of user-sessions extracted by the clustering methodology from real traces and study their statistical properties. Web user-sessions tend to be Poisson, but correlation may arise during periods of network/hosts anomalous behavior.


Quantitative analysis of epigenetic memory To explore quantitative and dynamic properties of transcriptional regulation by epigenetic modifications, Bintu et al. monitored a transcriptional reporter gene carried on a human artificial chromosome in Chinese hamster ovary cells (see the Perspective by Keung and Khalil). They measured effects of DNA methylation and histone modifications by methylation or deacetylation in single cells using time-lapse microscopy. Silencing was an all-or-none, stochastic event, so graded adjustments to transcription occurred from changes in the proportion of cells that responded. Furthermore, the duration of recruitment of the chromatin regulators determined the fraction of cells that were silenced. Thus, distinct modifiers can produce different characteristics of epigenetic memory. Science, this issue p. 720; see also p. 661 Quantitative, single-cell measurements reveal characteristics of epigenetic control of transcription. [Also see Perspective by Keung and Khalil] Chromatin regulators play a major role in establishing and maintaining gene expression states. Yet how they control gene expression in single cells, quantitatively and over time, remains unclear. We used time-lapse microscopy to analyze the dynamic effects of four silencers associated with diverse modifications: DNA methylation, histone deacetylation, and histone methylation. For all regulators, silencing and reactivation occurred in all-or-none events, enabling the regulators to modulate the fraction of cells silenced rather than the amount of gene expression. These dynamics could be described by a three-state model involving stochastic transitions between active, reversibly silent, and irreversibly silent states. Through their individual transition rates, these regulators operate over different time scales and generate distinct types of epigenetic memory. Our results provide a framework for understanding and engineering mammalian chromatin regulation and epigenetic memory.


To date, various 3D scene understanding tasks still lack practical and generalizable pre-trained models, primarily due to the intricate nature of 3D scene understanding tasks and their immense variations introduced by camera views, lighting, occlusions, etc. In this paper, we tackle this challenge by introducing a spatio-temporal representation learning (STRL) framework, capable of learning from unlabeled 3D point clouds in a self-supervised fashion. Inspired by how infants learn from visual data in the wild, we explore the rich spatio-temporal cues derived from the 3D data. Specifically, STRL takes two temporally-correlated frames from a 3D point cloud sequence as the input, transforms it with the spatial data augmentation, and learns the invariant representation self-supervisedly. To corroborate the efficacy of STRL, we conduct extensive experiments on three types (synthetic, indoor, and outdoor) of datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that, compared with supervised learning methods, the learned self-supervised representation facilitates various models to attain comparable or even better performances while capable of generalizing pre-trained models to downstream tasks, including 3D shape classification, 3D object detection, and 3D semantic segmentation. Moreover, the spatio-temporal contextual cues embedded in 3D point clouds significantly improve the learned representations.


The issue of the unequal participation of women in parliament and public decision-making is a global problem and of particular concern in the Pacific region. Various international conventions and national frameworks have been established to address this problem, alongside initiatives by non-government organisations. However, in Samoa, the question of women's political participation is a complex one. According to deeply held Samoan cultural principles (faasamoa), both men and women have equal rights to family resources, including rights to land and the right to become a family chief (matai). As different scholars have noted, there is also a wide cultural belief that women are equal to men and that there is no inequality between the genders. Nonetheless, of the fifty parliamentary seats in the Samoan Parliament, only five are held by women of which one was created simply in order to meet the 10% quota. This thesis examines the contradiction between this ideology of equality in Samoa and the reality of women's low participation rates in politics. To date, there has been no thorough investigation of this contradiction in the Samoan context. By interviewing cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, village chiefs (matais), leaders in the non-government and private sectors and women in the community and church, this thesis provides a unique insight into current perceptions about the status of women in Samoa. It looks at the negative impact of colonialism and Christianity. Policy analysis and feminist and ethnographic approaches, such as participant observation, have also been employed to identify factors either constraining or encouraging women's participation in parliament and the public domain in Samoa. The thesis argues that, in order to understand and improve the contradictory status of women in Samoa today, more attention needs to be paid to the faasamoa and the traditional beliefs that could be used to enhance women's participation, particularly the value of women as the sister (feagaiga) and sacred child (tamasa). This requires a genuinely collaborative, long-term process that acknowledges local and micro political settings, not just the establishment of universal goals and targets.


Ideophones are found in many of the world's languages. Though they are a major word class on a par with nouns and verbs, their origins are ill-understood, and the question of ideophone creation has been a source of controversy. This paper studies ideophone creation in naturally occurring speech. New, unconventionalised ideophones are identified using native speaker judgements, and are studied in context to understand the rules and regularities underlying their production and interpretation. People produce and interpret new ideophones with the help of the semiotic infrastructure that underlies the use of existing ideophones: foregrounding frames certain stretches of speech as depictive enactments of sensory imagery, and various types of iconicity link forms and meanings. As with any creative use of linguistic resources, context and common ground also play an important role in supporting rapid 'good enough' interpretations of new material. The making of new ideophones is a special case of a more general phenomenon of creative depiction: the art of presenting verbal material in such a way that the interlocutor recognises and interprets it as a depiction.


Radiation doses in paediatric computed tomography (CT) were investigated for various types of recent CT scanners with newborn and 6-y-old phantoms in which silicon-photodiode dosemeters were implanted at various organ positions. In the head, chest and abdominal CT for the newborn phantom, doses for organs within the scan region were 21-40, 3-8 and 3-12 mGy, respectively. The corresponding doses for the child phantom were 20-37, 2-11 and 4-17 mGy, respectively. In the head, chest and abdominal CT, the effective doses were respectively 2.1-3.3, 2.0-6.0 and 2.2-10.0 mSv for the newborn, and 1.0-2.0, 1.2-6.6 and 2.9-11.8 mSv for the child. Radiation doses for the newborn were at the same levels as those for the child, excepting effective doses in head CT for the newborn, which were 1.8 times higher than those for the child.


Background: Because of lack of local normative data, electrodiagnostic laboratories in Nigeria apply standard values generated in the USA and Europe to diagnose different median nerve abnormalities. Aim: To develop normative values for motor and sensory median nerve conduction studies (NCSs) in Nigerian population. Subjects and Methods: In a cross-sectional study design, a total of 200 healthy volunteers were selected after clinical evaluation to exclude systemic or neuromuscular disorders. NCS of the median nerves was conducted on all the healthy volunteers according to a standardized protocol. The data included in the final analysis were amplitude, latency, and nerve conduction velocity. Ethical approval was obtained for the study. Results: The reference range for median nerve (motor) velocity, distal latency, and amplitude were 49.48–66.92, 1.95–4.52, and 4.3–11.3, respectively. The reference range for median nerve F-wave latency was 44.8–70.5. The reference range for median nerve (sensory) velocity, distal latency, and amplitude were 44.8–70.5, 1.98–4.52, and 16.6–58.4, respectively. Conclusion: Reference values for the nerve conduction parameters of the median (motor and sensory) in the study population were similar to those obtained in the literature.


We present a critical investigation of the validity of the harmonic approximation for developing constitutive models for multiscale simulations. We examine models using the Cauchy–Born hypothesis within the quasiharmonic, local harmonic, and modified local harmonic approximations in order to characterize the strain and temperature dependence of the Cauchy stress for uniaxial, equibiaxial, and equitriaxial deformations. We compare these predictions with molecular dynamics simulations to evaluate the suitability of each harmonic model over a wide range of strains and temperatures. The various harmonic approximations are found to be very robust over a large temperature range. All the approximations make very similar predictions at small strains and temperatures. At larger strains and temperatures, the quasiharmonic model is the most accurate but also the most computationally expensive. The modified local harmonic model is seen to provide an accurate alternative to the full quasiharmonic model over a wide range of strains while being much less computationally expensive. The local harmonic model is similar in absolute accuracy to the modified local harmonic model, but the modified harmonic model is seen to more accurately predict the elastic moduli.


During the last years, electrical systems around the world and in particular the Spanish electric sector have
undergone great changes with the focus of turning them into more liberalized and competitive markets. For this
reason, in many countries like Spain have appeared electric markets where producers sell and electricity retailers
buy the power we consume. All agents involved in this market need predictions of generation, demand and
especially prices to be able to participate in them in a more efficient way, obtaining a greater profit. The present
work is focused on the context of development of a tool that allows to predict the price of electricity for the next
day in the most precise way possible. For such target, this document analyzes the electric market to understand
how prices are calculated and who are the agents that can make prices vary. Traditional proposals in the literature
range from the use of Game Theory to the use of Machine Learning, Time Series Analysis or Simulation Models.
In this work we analyze a normalization of the target variable due to a strong seasonal component in an hourly
and daily way to later benchmark several models of Machine Learning: Ridge Regression, K-Nearest Neighbors,
Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks and Random Forest. After observing that the best model is Random
Forest, a discussion has been carried out on the appropriateness of the normalization for this algorithm. From
this analysis it is obtained that the model that gives the best results has been Random Forest without applying
the normalization function. This is due to the loss of the close relationship between the objective variable and
the electric demand, obtaining an Average Absolute Error of 3.92€ for the whole period of 2016.


Normal expectations in operating amine treating plants for acid gas removal is that small changes in operating conditions will result in correspondingly small responses in plant performance. However, such expectations are not always well founded. To establish credibility for the process simulator used in the design of a new LNG plant (ProTreat), we begin by comparing its mass transfer rate-based simulation results with performance data from an LNG plant operated by Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Atlantic LNG). Attention is then turned to another LNG project currently under study. For this system under consideration, our focus is on the CO2 removal system which consists of a single, large absorber serviced by two regenerators in parallel. Initially the plant would process about 1,400 MMscfd of gas containing about 16 mol% CO2. A sensitivity analysis leads to some interesting observations regarding potential susceptibility of treating performance to departures of certain operating conditions from design values, and provides reasons for this sensitivity.


Assessing hormone receptors (the estrogen and progesterone receptors) and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) to guide clinical decision making revolutionized treatment for breast cancer patients. However, in the years since these biomarkers were first incorporated into routine clinical care, only a few others have been validated as clinically useful in guiding adjuvant chemotherapy decisions and are recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for patients with hormone-positive breast cancer. For patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which lacks hormone and HER2 receptors, not any of these biomarkers are recommended by ASCO due to insufficient evidence that they meaningfully improve clinical outcomes. Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the US, indicating an unmet need to improve treatments, which can be accomplished in part by identifying and validating novel predictive and prognostic biomarkers that yield actionable information about the clinical course of breast cancers, especially TNBCs. A major obstacle to improving outcomes for breast cancer patients is intratumor heterogeneity (ITH), which can be extensive in breast cancer and drives treatment resistance and relapse. I envision that assaying drivers of ITH can inform clinicians about which breast tumors may be intrinsically more aggressive and carry a greater risk of breast cancer-related morbidity and mortality. My research, presented here, primarily focuses on testing the impact of drivers of ITH (namely, centrosome amplification [CA], the clustering protein KIFC1, and mitotic propensity and its drivers) on clinical outcomes in breast cancer in multivariable models as well as the correlates of in vitro efficacy of centrosome declustering drugs (which can selectively eliminate cancer cells with CA). Collectively, these studies reveal gene signatures and immunohistochemical biomarkers that are independent predictors of aggressive breast cancer course and rational strategies to optimize targeted therapy to combat cancer cells exhibiting CA, thereby contributing to the literature on the development of precision medicine for breast cancer patients, including TNBC patients. INDEX WORDS: Chromosomal instability, proliferation, Ki67, HSET, HER3, EGFR, RARA, racial disparity ILLUMINATING ACTIONABLE BIOLOGY IN BREAST CANCER: NOVEL PREDICTIVE AND PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS


Slipstream Slump, a well-preserved 3 km wide sedimentary failure from the frontal ridge of the Cascadia accretionary wedge 85 km off Vancouver Island, Canada, was sampled during Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) John P. Tully cruise 2008007PGC along a transect of five piston cores. Shipboard sediment analysis and physical property logging revealed 12 turbidites interbedded with thick hemipelagic sediments overlying the slumped glacial diamict. Despite the different sedimentary setting, atop the abyssal plain fan, this record is similar in number and age to the sequence of turbidites sampled farther to the south from channel systems along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, with no extra turbidites present in this local record. Given the regional physiographic and tectonic setting, megathrust earthquake shaking is the most likely trigger for both the initial slumping and subsequent turbidity currents, with sediments sourced exclusively from the exposed slump face of the frontal ridge. Planktonic foraminifera picked from the resedimented diamict of the underlying main slump have a disordered cluster of 14C ages between 12.8 and 14.5 ka BP. For the post-slump stratigraphy, an event-free depth scale is defined by removing the turbidite sediment intervals and using the hemipelagic sediments. Nine 14C dates from the most foraminifera-rich intervals define a nearly constant hemipelagic sedimentation rate of 0.021 cm/year. The combined age model is defined using only planktonic foraminiferal dates and Bayesian analysis with a Poisson-process sedimentation model. The age model of ongoing hemipelagic sedimentation is strengthened by physical property correlations from Slipstream events to the turbidites for the Barkley Canyon site 40 km south. Additional modelling addressed the possibilities of seabed erosion or loss and basal erosion beneath turbidites. Neither of these approaches achieves a modern seabed age when applying the commonly used regional marine 14C reservoir age of 800 years (marine reservoir correction ΔR = 400 years). Rather, the top of the core appears to be 400 years in the future. A younger marine reservoir age of 400 years (ΔR = 0 years) brings the top to the present and produces better correlations with the nearby Effingham Inlet paleo-earthquake chronology based only on terrestrial carbon requiring no reservoir correction. The high-resolution dating and facies analysis of Slipstream Slump in this isolated slope basin setting demonstrates that this is also a useful type of sedimentary target for sampling the paleoseismic record in addition to the more studied turbidites from submarine canyon and channel systems. The first 10 turbidites at Slipstream Slump were deposited between 10.8 and 6.6 ka BP, after which the system became sediment starved and only two more turbidites were deposited. The recurrence interval for the inferred frequent early Holocene megathrust earthquakes is 460 ± 140 years, compatible with other estimates of paleoseismic megathrust earthquake occurrence rates along the subduction zone.


Background In Pee Wee (ages 11–12) ice hockey, body checking is associated with an increased risk of injury and concussion. In 2011, research informed some provincial policy change, disallowing body checking in non-elite Pee Wee leagues. Objective To determine if the risk of injury and concussion differ for non-elite Pee Wee ice hockey players in leagues where body checking is permitted (Alberta, Canada) compared to leagues where prospective policy change disallows body checking (Ontario, Canada). Design Cohort study. Setting Ice hockey rinks (2011/12 season). Participants Non-elite (lower 70%) Pee Wee ice hockey players from Alberta (n=590) and Ontario (n=281). Risk factor assessment Exposure to a Pee Wee league where policy permits body checking. Other risk factors included previous concussion/injury, year of play, level of play, position and attitudes toward body checking. Main outcome Measurement Suspected concussions were identified by a team designate and referred to a sport medicine physician. Hockey injuries included those requiring medical attention or time loss. Results There were 101 game injuries (incidence rate [IR]=4.19/1000 game hours [95% CI; 3.38–5.18]), and 67 game concussions ([IR]=2.78/1000 game hours [95% CI; 2.19–3.52]) in Alberta and 14 game injuries (IR=1.60/1000 game hours [95% CI; 0.87–2.94]) and 8 concussions (IR=0.91/1000 game hours [95% CI; 0.41–2.06]) in Ontario. Based on multivariate poisson regression (adjusted for cluster, exposure hours and other risk factors), incidence rate ratio associated with policy allowing body checking was 2.97 (95% CI; 1.33–6.61) for game injury and 2.83 (95% CI; 1.09–7.31) for concussion. Conclusions The risk of injury and concussion was 3-fold greater in non-elite Pee Wee hockey players in leagues where body checking is permitted. This is similar to previous findings examining retrospective policy change. Policy change disallowing body checking is effective in preventing injury and concussion in non-elite youth ice hockey.


Because of the lack of the convenient assay to detect the heat-stable enterotoxin II of Escherichia coli (STII), STII produced from E. coli in clinical isolates has not been inspected in regular clinical examinations. And it has not been examined whether these isolates possess a gene for STII, too, as a colony hybridization test which is the conventional method to detect strains possessing the specified gene of bacteria is a troublesome work for inspectors in regular bacteriological examination laboratory. In this study, we developed two methods to detect STII and its gene. One was the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect STII and the other was the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the gene for STII. Using these methods, we examined STII and its gene from 120 strains isolated from stools of porcines with diarrhea in Brazil. At first, a colony hybridization test employing a DNA fragment encoding the STII gene was performed to find strains possessing the STII gene. Twenty-three strains out of 120 porcine strains were found to possess STII genes. In ELISA, samples from these 23 strains which were positive in the colony hybridization test showed positive reaction and those from other strains which were negative in the colony hybridization test showed negative reaction. To apply PCR for the detection of strains possessing the STII gene, we designed the primer set to detect a 380-base pair (bp) fragment. The 380-bp fragments were enzymaticaly amplified from DNAs of these 23 strains which were positive in the two tests described above but not from those of other strains which were negative in these tests. These results showed that ELISA and PCR developed in this study are specific for STII and that these developed methods are useful for the screening of large number of clinical strains.


The enormity of human deprivation among the vulnerable and destitute is overwhelming. This paper describes the experience of living with hunger as recounted by persons from intensely insecure social groups from eight villages in Orissa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Although the state has reached people in remote locations occasionally making a crucial difference in the lives of the destitute, this intervention is usually meagre, uncertain and ridden with corruption. However, the grim stories described here are illuminated by dignity, courage and resilience.


Ordinarily this article would appear in our Book Review section with the usual citation: The Story of Agricultural Economics in the United States, 1840-1932. By Henry C. and Anne Dewees Taylor (with foreword by Everett E. Edwards). The Iowa State College Press, Ames, Iowa. XXVI+ 1121 pages. 1951. $10. But this is no ordinary book. Rather, if the editors may anticipate their reviewer, this is "a surprisingly good book," one which we think should be called to the attention of all agricultural economists who are interested in the development of their science or discipline. For this is essentially a research product in which the Taylors have traced the development of agricultural economics from its somewhat uncertain beginnings into the year 1932. The plan of the project was based on the idea of quoting the actual words of the agricultural economists themselves rather than simply submitting the ideas of the authors. This task of finding the original sources and making the appropriate selections was a difficult one. In fact, some 200 persons contributed in varying degrees, with the work of collecting materials starting so long ago as 1939 in the form of a joint effort of the senior author, then Managing Director of the Farm Foundation, and the History Section of our Division of Statistical and Historical Research.


Dreams have always fascinated humans, and throughout history there have been numerous hypotheses and speculations concerning their meaning and function. However, only in the second half of the 20th century, after the introduction of electroencephalographic recordings and the discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, have these phenomena been the subject of serious scientific investigation. It is amazing that we can make incredibly accurate predictions about the movement or the composition of stars in galaxies millions of light years away while, much much closer to home, many crucial processes in our own heads remain shrouded in mystery. Every human being experiences the phenomena of sleep and dreams, and most people take them for granted without ever questioning what their biological purpose might be. There have always been teleological arguments for why we need to sleep, but they can mostly be dismissed as descriptive without any real explanatory value. Indeed, why do homeothermic animals need to rest and sleep at all, which makes them particularly vulnerable to predators? Wouldn't it be better and more efficient if they were up and running 24 hours a day? So it seems even more mysterious that during sleep we also experience periods of dreaming, with their sometimes bizarre, incoherent, and highly unpredictable contents.

A large body of literature about dreaming has been assembled over recent years. In this special issue of Science , we have tried to take stock and review the present state of our knowledge concerning sleep and dreams and their relation to memory, and we have also tried to indicate the blank spaces on our map. Maquet (p. [1048][1]) reviews the recent literature on the role of sleep for memory formation and puts forward a testable hypothesis concerning the task of experience-dependent reactivation of neuronal populations. Stickgold et al. (p. [1052][2]) deal with the function of sleep, particularly REM sleep, and dreaming for the consolidation of learning and memory tasks. They outline the requirements that should be expected for a comprehensive theory of dreaming. And finally, Siegel (p. [1058][3]) critically reviews the available literature and questions the REM sleep-memory consolidation hypothesis. There is still a lot of conflicting evidence, as well as methodological difficulties, unproven assumptions, and neglected alternative interpretations. By highlighting the holes in the existing theories, we hope this review will be a challenge for scientists working in this field and will stimulate them to improve their experiments and reassess some assumptions and hypotheses they may have taken for granted. To sleep: perchance to query.

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1062856
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1063530
 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1063049


Pork producers can see the " promised land " of lower feed costs which will provide an extended period of profitability. Those lower costs are not here yet, but could be just weeks away as prospects for U.S. corn and soybean production have improved in recent days. Producers can see prospects for $2.00 per bushel lower cash corn prices by harvest and $130 per ton lower soybean meal prices in the July to October futures spread. While they see the market's anticipation of lower feed costs on the near-horizon, they recognize there are still unknowns about acreage, weather for the remainder of the growing season, and early frost. But today's signals suggest they should begin to get the celebration underway. Feed cost reductions, if realized, will be of record magnitude. Estimated total costs for farrow-to-finish hog production will drop from $69 per live hundredweight in the second quarter of 2013 to about $56 in the final quarter of 2013. The $13 drop being the largest on record. The 2012 drought created extreme problems for pork producers and gave them little ability to avoid large losses. Much of the feed price rise occurred in about three weeks from mid-June to early-July 2012. This gave pork producers almost no time to adjust their breeding programs and meant that all the pigs " in process " were going to consume very expensive feed and result in losses. In addition, they had little economic incentive to cut back on their breeding herds. This was because the time from breeding to market approaches one year and meant that sows bred in the summer of 2012 would have pigs marketed in the spring and summer of 2013 when the outlook called for a return to profitability. The drought put pork producers in a bind. It resulted in large losses from mid-2012 to mid-2013, but their best alternative was to keep breeding and hope for more normal crop production in 2013 and for lower feed prices. That hope is now much closer to reality and means the outlook for the next 12 months is the polar opposite of the past 12 months. Compared to the last 12 months, corn prices are expected to be nearly $2.00 per bushel lower in the coming 12 months. Soybean meal prices are expected to be about $100 per ton lower on average. The combination of these two reduces estimated


This paper describes the architecture of a low cost autonomous/guided mobile robot. This robot is being developed at Indian Institute of Information Technology (Allahabad, India) as a part of a research for the use of mobile robots in day-to-day life. The project is named MILO (mobile intelligent Linux robot). The robot has been designed from commercial off the shelf components, thus reducing the prototype design tune. The robot incorporates stereoscopic vision for long range obstacle detection and infrared proximity sensor for short range obstacle detection. The stereoscopic vision for obstacle detection utilizes laser targeting to achieve optimization in determining distances at a much lower cost than the commercially available range scanners. The robot also has a HCI (human computer interface) via a multimedia interface. The control software of the robot is capable of taking voice commands from a user who-has the master rights to robot. It utilizes probabilistic reasoning approach. The entire software and control firmware of the robot has been designed with an embedded approach in open-source Linux which makes it easily portable over different hardware architectures. In the firmware the kernel of Linux used was 2.6.8-1.358. Control of the robot using the video feed from the on' board cameras has been achieved.


Five heat resistant fungi (HRF), Neosartorya fischeri, N fischeri var spinosa, N quadricincta, Paecilomyces varioti and Byssochlamys nivea, were studied for production of pectinolytic and cellulolytic activities. All isolates produced considerable hydrolase, lyase and pectinesterase activities. Hydrolase activities were significantly higher in fruit tissue (mango and African mango) media than in pectin medium (P < 0.01) when assayed by both cup plate and viscometric methods. Activities produced in both fruit media were comparable in N fischeri, N fischeri var spinosa and P varioti but not in N quadricincta and B nivea. All isolates produced greater lyase activities in pectin medium than in fruit tissue media except for N quadricincta, while the converse was the case for pectinesterase. P varioti did not utilise carboxymethyl cellulose or produce cellulase activity. Other isolates produced cellulase with B nivea producing the greatest activity. Each isolate caused considerable maceration of artificially inoculated mango and African mango fruits, which is not directly related to measurable pectinase or cellulase. The possibility of co-operation between pectinase and cellulase activities in the disintegration of fruit tissues is discussed. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry


While we tend to think of digital democracy as a positive development, embracing electronic voting may be a risky endeavor for democracies. Even assuming technology can reliably replace traditional paper voting, transitioning to e-voting may mean paying heavy prices in terms of transparency, popular participation in elections, and public trust in the democratic system. Additionally, the assumption that digital elections can be reliable may not comport with reality, given that saboteurs have immeasurable incentives to sway electoral results. Were we to permit remote digital voting, it would also be impossible to guarantee the free and secret nature of elections. Moreover, remote digital voting would completely transform the communal nature of elections as integral to a nation's collective self-definition. Changing the voting processes should thus be treated as a constitutional matter, with distinct variables in any given country. Countries should thus be careful when drawing conclusions from other countries' experiences with digital voting. Especially in the context of e-voting, the application of constitutional standards may require different decisions for different countries. The factors affecting such decisions are enumerated.


The current development initiative by the African apex Organization African Union (AU) has been declared 'the New African Renaissance'. This paper traces the origin and meaning of African Renaissance and argues that OAU/AU is yet to frame its development model on the principle of African Renaissance, which is, "Africa utilizing its resources and values to build the continent and its people". This ideal resonates with the homegrown approach to development. This paper explores the extent to which the AU impacts development trajectories of Africa through its narrative of African Renaissance. Thus, the thesis of this paper is that instead of the externally driven prescriptive development frameworks, the AU could make more impact by taking control of development framing for the continent, with proper mechanisms which individual countries could relate with and adapt to suit their own conditions. This is with the recognition that the commitment of African leaders remains the most pressing obstacle to the formation of a collective strategy for a new African Renaissance.


It is ironic that the management of education has become more closed while learning has become more open, particularly over the past 10-20 years. The curriculum has become more instrumental, predictive, standardized, and micro-managed in the belief that this supports employability as well as the management of educational processes, resources, and value. Meanwhile, people have embraced interactive, participatory, collaborative, and innovative networks for living and learning. To respond to these challenges, we need to develop practical tools to help us describe these new forms of learning which are multivariate, self-organised, complex, adaptive, and unpredictable. We draw on complexity theory and our experience as researchers, designers, and participants in open and interactive learning to go beyond conventional approaches. We develop a 3D model of landscapes of learning for exploring the relationship between prescribed and emergent learning in any given curriculum. We do this by repeatedly testing our descriptive landscapes (or footprints) against theory, research, and practice across a range of case studies. By doing this, we have not only come up with a practical tool which can be used by curriculum designers, but also realised that the curriculum itself can usefully be treated as emergent, depending on the dynamics between prescribed and emergent learning and how the learning landscape is curated.


Abstract We analyse the steady-state operation of two types of reactor cascade without recycle. The first is a standard reactor cascade in which the feed stream enters into the first reactor. The second is a step-feed reactor cascade in which an equal proportion of the feed stream enters each reactor in the cascade. The reaction is assumed to be a biological process governed by Monod growth kinetics with a decay coefficient for the microorganisms. The steady-states of both models are found for an arbitrary number of reactors and their stability determined as a function of the residence time. We show that in a step-feed reactor cascade the substrate and biomass concentrations leaving the reactor of the cascade are identical to those leaving the first reactor of the cascade. We further show that this result is true for a general specific growth rate of the form μ (S,X). Thus for such processes the non-standard cascade offers no advantage over that of a single reactor. This is surprising because the use of a non-standard cascade has been proposed as a mechanism to improve the biological treatment of wastewater.


The radial cold rolling process is widely used in industry due to the advantages of chip removing processing. In this study, circular complex profiles were formed by cold-rolling with radial feed, using a patented device with two roller-tools. By achieving several numerical simulations of the radial rolling process, the study aimed to establish the influence that the maximum set force and the diameter of the workpiece have on the productivity of the process and the quality of the formed trapezoidal and metric grooves. The numerical simulations were performed with ABAQUS/Explicit software and by using a previously validated finite element model. The penetration curve of the roller-tools in the material was introduced in the simulation as an analytical function and was determined based on experimental researches. To express the dependency of the penetration curve coefficients on other rolling conditions, a multivariable analysis using a design of experiments technique was performed. The parameters that result from numerical simulations and were analyzed in this study are the profile forming time, the maximum radial force, the distribution of the equivalent strains in the axial section of the profiles, and the profile dimensions. The conclusions that were drawn from the analysis of the results regarding the influence of the set maximum force and the workpiece diameter on the analyzed parameters of the numerical simulations, together with the definition of efficient process criteria, allowed also the identification of the optimal conditions of the rolling process.


Recently, the Dutch state of play regarding blue carbon in the Netherlands was reviewed (Tamis & Foekema 2015)1. Since the review was focussed on the North East Atlantic, the Dutch Caribbean was not included. Therefore an additional review was conducted providing information on blue carbon in the Dutch Caribbean, including a discussion on the relevance of ecosystems other than the internationally accepted blue carbon ecosystems (i.e. mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass beds) and the potential of blue carbon as an ecosystem service. Marine molluscs and coral reefs cannot be regarded as blue carbon ecosystems. Other potential blue carbon ecosystems (i.e. open oceans, fish, kelp and algal mats) are unsure or unknown. Thus no other ecosystems were included. All three blue carbon ecosystems are found in the Dutch Caribbean, with mangroves containing the highest blue carbon stock. An estimated amount of nearly 564 thousand tonnes carbon is stored in these ecosystems, which is less than the estimated amount in the Netherlands. Mangroves are found on Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao but not on Saba and St Eustatius. On St. Maarten some mangrove vegetation is present, but most has been removed. Carbon sequestration is acknowledged as ecosystem service and the economic value of blue carbon ecosystems has been quantified in different case studies.


The powerful relationship between education and voter turnout is arguably the most well-documented and robust finding in American survey research. Yet the causal interpretation of this relationship remains controversial, with many authors suggesting that the apparent link between education and turnout is spurious. In contrast to previous work, which has relied on observational data to assess the effect of education on voter turnout, this article analyzes two randomized experiments and one quasi-experiment in which educational attainment was altered exogenously.We track the children in these experiments over the long term, examining their voting rates as adults. In all three studies, we find that exogenously induced changes in high school graduation rates have powerful effects on voter turnout rates. These results imply that the correlation between education and turnout is indeed causal. We discuss some of the pathways by which education may transmit its influence.


The aim of this study is to analyze the annual performances of a variable capacity high temperature air source heat pump when retrofitted into a mid-terraced house in different aspects combining control, property ages and locations across the UK. TRNSYS simulations are used to predict the performances of the retrofit high temperature air source heat pump. Firstly, the heat pump model and the whole building model are developed and validated against field trial results. Then, a series of reference dwellings combining three climate conditions (Belfast, Aviemore and Camborne), three dwelling ages (the '00s, '70s and '90s) and two control strategies (fixed water flow temperature and weather compensation) is simulated. The annual simulation results indicate that the heat pump efficiency is highly affected by all three factors. The heat pump's COPs, energy consumption, running cost and carbon emissions have been discussed in this paper, which can provide good information for further studies assessing the retrofit potential of this kind of heat pump.


The author considers the impact of the coalition government formed in Britain in May 2010 on the process of constitutional reform. Looking at the formation of a peacetime coalition following a hung Parliament as a constitutional innovation in itself and reviewing the changes proposed by that government in the areas of Parliamentary voting and equalising of constituencies, fixed-term Parliaments and referendum on the alternative vote method of election. Article by Vernon Bogdanor (Research Professor, Institute of Contemporary History, King's College London; Emeritus Gresham Professor of Law; Fellow of the British Academy) based on a lecture delivered at the IALS on May 23, 2011 - published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and its Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.


Using 18 weeks of classroom data from a much larger ethnographic study, Kirkland examines the reading ideologies influencing the literacy engagement of a young Black male, Derrick. (To protect participants' identities, this article uses pseudonyms in place of participants' actual names.) In doing so, Kirkland theorizes about how young Black males express thoughts about reading through specific statements of identity—what he calls genres of self. He concludes that many Black males read or don't read based on their thoughts about particular reading tasks—which include complex and layered beliefs around texts, contexts (of instruction), and the subtexts that permeate both. Kirkland suggests that young Black men often express such beliefs through grammars of acceptance/rejection. However, when the situation of reading fits them (i.e., corresponds with their reading ideologies), Black males read and find pleasure, interest, and purpose in doing so.


Objectives: The aim of this project was to explore the potential for enhancing clinical effectiveness in emergency nursing through an evaluation of students' experiences on placement with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.Design: The study employs a qualitative approach that is inductive, exploratory and descriptive, with diaries and focus group interviews employed to collect data.Setting: Student placement with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.Participants: 141 nursing students (response rate: 74%).Main findings: Students' experiences indicate that students have an increased understanding of the ambulance service, its personnel and functions. A strengthened awareness of skills and abilities of ambulance personnel, combined with enhanced awareness of the importance of inter-professional collaboration in practice and education, has created the basis for the application of holistic care of patients.Conclusions: The dawning of an understanding of the complete process of care, from the dialling of '999' to the patient's discharge, is the central precursor to enhanced quality of care to patients, which forms the basis for enhanced clinical effectiveness. Students' powerful integration of the philosophy of holistic nursing has clear potential for enhancing clinical effectiveness in emergency nursing care.


The low frictional resistance to rock-on-rock sliding reported in large blockslides, in coseismic fault rupture and in laboratory-scale rock friction tests has been attributed to a variety of causes. Herein we propose a mechanical explanation for the reduced friction, which seems likely to be universally relevant to complement other mechanisms. Rock-on-rock sliding of intact brittle rocks always generates a layer of comminuted debris. Rock must fail in order to form and further comminute debris; at local strain rates >> 100 s, recycling of elastic strain energy stored in accomplishing fragmentation generates instantaneous, local, GPa-range isotropic pressures similar to the rock's Hugoniot elastic limit (Q). Under rapid strain, simultaneously fragmenting grains deliver large normal forces to the boundaries of the comminuting layer, reducing the confining stress on the debris (and hence its resistance to shear), thus lowering the frictional resistance to slip. This behaviour corresponds quantitatively to published laboratory data on granite friction; to the dynamics of low-angle blocksliding and faulting; and to our data on rapid shearing of fragmenting dry coal.


Recently, courts have grappled with the question of whether data is speech for purposes of the First Amendment. Google, and other tech giants, have defended their algorithmic outputs under the guise of free speech. This essay considers the next question in this emerging area of the law. What happens if data is speech? I approach this inquiry from three angles. First, I explore how affording constitutional scrutiny to data-based outputs impacts the validity of data privacy laws. Second, I turn to the power of search engines, and consider which poses a greater threat to free expression: the lack of regulations of these powerful intermediaries, or the regulations themselves. As search engines evolve into decision engines, and more of our choices are informed by the outputs of these algorithms, this tradeoff becomes more important based on what the search engines choose to reveal, and obscure. I conclude by offering a framework of how courts should treat algorithmic outputs for purposes of the First Amendment, based on their nexus with human interaction. The more the human interacts, the closer the communication will be to something the human created herself, and something that warrants protection. In contrast, outputs that are created with isolated autonomy, and involve little personal involvement depart further from the humanistic expression that warrants protection. Whatever regime the courts settle on must confront this interwoven nature of human-computer interactions.


This paper investigates a correlation between the availability of non-culminating construals for accomplishments and the control of the agent over the described event (the Agent Control Hypothesis, ach). We consider two versions of the ach, on the basis of a new typology of non-culminating construals. On the strong version, non-culmination requires agent control whether what is being denied is the occurrence of any change of state of the type f encoded by the verb, or merely that the change of state satisfies the property f to degree 1. On its weak version, agent control is required in the former case only. The evidence reviewed from Romance, Germanic, Salish, and Mandarin, suggests that the weak version of the ach might indeed hold. The weak version of the ach seems, however, to be too weak for Salish languages. The final section shows how the existing analyses of non-culminating construals could capture the link between non-culmination and agentivity.


Our aim in this study is to provide the first ever quantitative, historical and map-based information of what fauna has been studied and recorded both outside and inside the protected areas of New South Wales (NSW), which are principally National Parks and Nature Reserves. Our objective was to consider the value of National Parks and Nature Reserves for fauna research and biodiversity conservation, and gauge the extent and limits of our knowledge of the fauna of NSW. We compared the increase in the area of parks and reserves in NSW with the expansion of the fauna records in the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) Atlas of NSW Wildlife, and analysed the use of Scientific Licences issued by OEH for fauna research for 3.5 years to mid-2014. We found that the distribution and the number of Scientific Licences within protected areas show a heavy bias to the eastern strip of the State, with a greater clustering for the area around Sydney and the north coast, but it is evident that researchers make considerable use of protected areas. The 6, 070, 769 Atlas fauna records were divided by tenure type: National Parks held 1, 118, 204 records (21.4 records/km2), while Nature Reserves held 386, 755 records (40.6 records/km2). The off-park records total was 4, 407, 486 representing 72.6% of all records, with a density of 6.0 records per km2. Of the grand total of all the fauna records, 7% were of threatened species. Birds and mammals comprise 81% of all fauna records in the Atlas. The greatest number of records are of birds (n = 4, 913, 511), followed by mammals (n = 832, 361, of which 321, 721, or 39%, were from WildCount). Given the success of the growth of the number, area and distribution of parks and reserves in NSW, the idea that they can carry the heavy load of the aspiration to conserve the biodiversity of NSW now seems feasible, even desirable, especially given the increasing intensity of land use from never-ending population growth and its impacts, such as land clearing, roading, logging, water use, alien invasive species and climate change. However, this study has also revealed that we have a very poor understanding of some faunal groups, in particular invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Fauna accumulation curves of both records and of species match closely the growth in the area of parks and reserves since the formation of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967. Thus, the greater the area of parks and reserves, the greater the number of fauna records and of species. We took the historical view so that research is encouraged and the trajectory of the acquisition of new protected areas can be maintained. This study shows the ever-increasing value of protected areas to fauna conservation, and that it is vital to uphold the protected areas concept as a principal way to conserve our fauna. It should also be a guide to help recognise the importance of sustaining the effort to study our native fauna.


In semi-supervised learning (SSL), a common practice is to learn consistent information from unlabeled data and discriminative information from labeled data to ensure both the immutability and the separability of the classification model. Existing SSL methods suffer from failures in barely-supervised learning (BSL), where only one or two labels per class are available, as the insufficient labels cause the discriminative information to be difficult or even infeasible to learn. To bridge this gap, we investigate a simple yet effective way to leverage unlabeled data for discriminative learning, and propose a novel discriminative information learning module to benefit model training. Specifically, we formulate the learning objective of discriminative information at the super-class level and dynamically assign different categories into different super-classes based on model performance improvement. On top of this on-the-fly process, we further propose a distribution-based loss to learn discriminative information by utilizing the similarity between samples and super-classes. It encourages the unlabeled data to stay closer to the distribution of their corresponding super-class than those of others. Such a constraint is softer than the direct assignment of pseudo labels, while the latter could be very noisy in BSL. We compare our method with state-of-the-art SSL and BSL methods through extensive experiments on standard SSL benchmarks. Our method can achieve superior results, e.g. , an average accuracy of 76.76% on CIFAR-10 with merely 1 label per class. The code is available at https://github.com/GuanGui-nju/SCMatch


Multiple regressions are used to assess the relative significance of a number of political and social variables that might be associated with the likelihood of sitting MPs retaining or losing their seats in the 85 partially rural open electorates of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The tests reveal that the most significant of the variables for which we have reasonably accurate measures is the amount of ministerial power accrued by sitting members, either over the previous term of parliament or at the time when they stand for re-election. MPs who have spent more of the past parliamentary term in more powerful ministerial roles are less likely to lose their seats in the next election. Also significant, though less so, is a second political variable. This is the level of political competition in each electorate, as measured by the average number of candidates challenging the incumbents. Incumbents are more likely to lose their seats in electorates where more candidates have typically stood for election. Relationships between the rate of MP turnover and the social variables selected for inclusion in this analysis appear to be quite weak or entirely non-existent, but the evidence does indicate that the rate of turnover has little if anything to do with the level of 'development' in each electorate, and is certainly no higher in electorates with higher levels of linguistic diversity than it is in electorates with greater linguistic uniformity.


We study the properties of strain bursts (dislocation avalanches) occurring in two-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics models under quasistatic stress-controlled loading. Contrary to previous suggestions, the avalanche statistics differ fundamentally from predictions obtained for the depinning of elastic manifolds in quenched random media. Instead, we find an exponent τ=1 of the power-law distribution of slip or released energy, with a cutoff that increases exponentially with the applied stress and diverges with system size at all stresses. These observations demonstrate that the avalanche dynamics of 2D dislocation systems is scale-free at every applied stress and, therefore, cannot be envisaged in terms of critical behavior associated with a depinning transition.


We present our work to extend silicon photonics with MEMS actuators to enable low-power, large scale programmable photonic circuits. For this, we start from the existing iSiPP50G silicon photonics platform of IMEC, where we add free-standing movable waveguides using a few post-processing steps. This allows us to implement phase shifters and tunable couplers using electrostatically actuated MEMS, while at the same time maintaining all the original functionality of the silicon photonics platform. The MEMS devices are protected using a wafer-level sealing approach and interfaced with custom multi-channel driver and readout electronics.


SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS TO BREAST FEEDING IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WITH FOCUSED INTERVENTION TO INCREASE PREVALENCE by Alicia C. Simpson Objective: The goal of this study is to uncover sociocultural barriers to breastfeeding among African American women in the Atlanta metropolitan area and provide an educational intervention based on identified barriers to increase the willingness to breastfeed. Methods: Non-Hispanic African American women, 6 to 9 months pregnant, between the ages of 18 and 45, of varying socioeconomic status were recruited from multiple Obstetrics and Gynecology clinics throughout the Atlanta-metropolitan area. Participants completed a self-administered pre-test survey that questioned their intention to breastfeed and anticipated barriers associated with breastfeeding. Those who were unsure of breastfeeding or did not plan to breastfeed were asked to participate in an educational intervention that provided information about breastfeeding, the benefits to mother and baby and managing commonly perceived barriers. Immediately after the intervention a post-test was provided. A second post-test was conducted after all participants delivered their baby. Chi-square analysis was performed to examine the distribution of actual breastfeeding initiation rates by initial intention as well as by age, income and education. Results: Forty-nine women participated in the study. 18 of 20 women (90%) who intended to exclusively breastfeed initiated breastfeeding. Sixteen women reported that they did not intend to breastfeed. After receiving the intervention, 56.3% (n=9) initiated breastfeeding. Thirteen women reported they were unsure of their feeding plans in the pretest. Of these, 69.2% (n=9) initiated breastfeeding. Participants reported their primary barriers to breastfeeding were fear of pain, difficulty breastfeeding once they returned to work and lack of support from family, friends and their partner/spouse/father of the child. A significant association was observed between ages 25-29 years old and initiation of breastfeeding in women who were unsure of their breastfeeding plans (p=0.005). No association was found between income or education and initiation of breastfeeding. Conclusion: Education about breastfeeding was a significant barrier to breastfeeding in the African-American women in our study population. Women who participated in the intervention were more likely to initiate breastfeeding. Employment status, income, and education were not significant factors in a woman's decision to initiate breastfeeding. SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS TO BREAST FEEDING IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WITH FOCUSED INTERVENTION TO INCREASE PREVALENCE by Alicia C. Simpson A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Health Sciences Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions Department of Nutrition Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia 2012


This paper argues that in the absence of a strong membership incentive within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), a top‐down institutional convergence of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries towards European standards is unlikely to be successful. However, due to enlargement fatigue within the EU, the membership incentive is off the agenda for the CIS. The ENP must therefore either initiate or hasten a bottom‐up institutional convergence by identifying bottom‐up domestic forces that are willing and able to drive the convergence in a particular country. Ukraine, whose oligarchic clans are the main bottom‐up forces behind institution‐building, is a case in point. Having supported the first wave of institutional reforms during the Orange Revolution, these bottom‐up forces are now facing great difficulties in forming sustainable coalitions for further institutional reforms. The paper shows that the EU, by providing economic incentives rather than the membership incentive, could exploit the strong business interests of the oligarchic clans in the EU markets and EU investment to motivate them to jointly drive institutional convergence from the bottom up.


An estimated 1.8 million farm operations represented in the 1990 Farm Costs and Returns Survey operated about 1 billion acres of land in 1990. Average farm size was 588 acres, but almost 44 percent of farms operated 100 acres or less. Farms VJith sales of less than $10,000 accounted for almost half of all farm operations surveyed, and another quarter of farms reported sales between $20,000 and $99,999 in 1990. Almost a fifth of farms had gross sales exceeding $100,000, and they accounted for 49 percent of land owned and 57 percent of land operated. Gross cash income for all farms exceeded a total of $121 billion in 1990, and total cash operating expenses were over $100 billion. Average net farm income was highest among the largest operations; in the Northern Plains, Mountain, and Pacific regions; on farms specializing in cotton, vegetables, nursery or greenhouse, or dairy; and on corporate farms. The average net worth per reporting farm was $356,600 in 1990. This report presents operating and financial characteristics, including farm business income, expenses, assets, and liabilities, by farm size, region, production specialty, tenure, farm organization, and selected operator characteristics. The data are for calendar year 1990 and were collected in the 1990 Farm Costs and Returns Survey.


The changes in some parameters determining the quality of bee honey are traced after one and two years of storage at room temperature (5 - 8°C in winter months and 25 - 35°C in summer months). On samples of multifloral and honeydew honey (n=27) the following quality parameters have been defined: 20 water content (%), electrical conductivity (μS/cm), specific optical rotation ((ά) ), pH, total acidity (meq/kg), diastase activity (units by Gote), D hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF - mg/kg) content. It was found that the duration of storage at ambient conditions has a pronounced impact on the amount of HMF for copper samples analyzed. There were no significant changes in the amount of HMF in honeydew honey and in most of multifloral bee honey samples. Depending on the duration and storage conditions, the values from other quality parameters being within admissible limits stated in Bulgarian (BDS 3050/80, Decree 48/2003) and international regulations.


Smoking cessation clinics are developing across the UK, prompted by a new drive to establish an evidence-based service for smokers who want to quit. Described here is the launch of a smoking cessation service for cardiac rehabilitation patients in an Oxfordshire hospital. The development of a smoking support group and the role of the nurse practitioner as facilitator are also described.


Historical neighbourhoods are among the most significant indicators of the cities; as they involve history, culture, architecture and social life.  It is very important to protect and ensure sustainability of these places.  This goal needs to be achieved without damaging the urban identity via protecting the historic entities. Additionally the restoration and re-use works need to take place under the supervision and cooperation of related government bodies and civil society organisations. Nicosia with its Walled City is a historical environment with a rich architectural and cultural heritage that is currently the focal point of conservation and rehabilitation activities as a circle of urban design implementations. Within this framework in this study, the aim is to evaluate perception and views of the users about urban design implementations involving rehabilitation and conservation activities via survey. Based on the results, the users seemed satisfied with the outcomes of the rehabilitation and re-use of the buildings. However the participants also highlighted the existence of car parking problems, inadequate infrastructure and urban furniture and environmental pollution. Additionally the users do not prefer the areas that have not been renovated and the regions with low socio-cultural characteristics.
Keywords: Historical environment; urban design; user perception; Nicosia Walled City


It has become commonplace to speak of media practices as a nexus of doings and sayings. In our article, we scrutinize this fuzzy account and the forms of articulation it entails. We start by arguing that, to be recognized as social practices, activities—regardless of whether they are verbal utterances or wordless body movements—have to initiate a cultural signification process that turns them into socially intelligible performances. Forming part of social practices in general, communicative practices, then, are modes of sign use that enable us to address recurrent and newly emerging tasks of understanding, accommodating, and comprehending. We shed light on the insights that such a conceptual distinction reveals by interrogating the shades of sensemaking within mnemonic online communities and their nostalgic remediations of the past.


Traffic safety is a widespread social concern. Tackling the problem requires understanding the people who are driving. This includes information about driver behavior, but also about perceptions these drivers hold regarding their driving. North Dakota crash data points at a specific group of drivers as a problem group. Male drivers ages 18 to 34 have a high incidence of crash occurrences in the state. This population is selected based on data showing the majority of crashes and crash-related fatalities occur in this population. Specific traffic safety issues, seat belt use, and impaired driving are major concerns. The answer seems simple but the problem lies in the question, "How can we change driving behaviors to reduce or stop the resulting tragedies?" Data is needed to answer this crucial question. Engaging North Dakota drivers in traffic safety surveys and focus groups will enable the gathering of information that can be condensed into a tool to be used for program planning and countermeasure selection decisions. What will give the DOT the most "bang for the buck" in traffic safety education, policies, and investment for target populations?


Now in its twenty-fifth anniversary edition, Maroon Societies is a systematic study of the communities formed by escaped slaves in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States. These societies ranged from small bands that survived less than a year to powerful states encompassing thousands of members and surviving for generations and even centuries. The volume includes eyewitness accounts written by escaped slaves and their pursuers, as well as modern historical and anthropological studies of the maroon experience. From the recipient of the J. I. Staley Prize in Anthropology


Aim of the study. We aim to present our experience regarding the management of exophthalmos as the first clinical manifestation of a space-occupying orbital lesion. Material and methods. We performed a retrospective review, selecting 17 patients with orbital tumors that initially presented for proptosis. Results. Following multidisciplinary clinical and imaging evaluation, three primary orbital tumors were diagnosed, one mass pertaining to the lacrimal gland, and 13 secondary tumors. Surgical treatment was performed in 11 patients. Complete excision was performed in three benign tumors, complete removal and orbital content preservation was achieved in eight patients, orbital exenteration was necessary in two cases of orbital malignancies, and extended orbital exenteration was performed in one patient. Four cases did not have indication of surgery due to internal carotid artery invasion or extensive intracranial invasion. Two patients were diagnosed with lymphoma following biopsy and underwent oncologic treatment. Conclusion. An early diagnosis of an orbital mass presenting as proptosis involves multidisciplinary evaluation for the exclusion of other causes of exophthalmos. Orbital content and function preservation are the main goals of the surgical


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory, behavior, and personality changes. l-3-n-butylphthalide (l-NBP), an extract from seeds of Apium graveolens Linn (Chinese celery), has been demonstrated to have neuroprotective effects on ischemic, vascular dementia, and amyloid-β (Aβ)-infused animal models. In the current study, we examined the effects of l-NBP on learning and memory in a triple-transgenic AD mouse model (3xTg-AD) that develops both plaques and tangles with aging, as well as cognitive deficits. Ten-month-old 3xTg-AD mice were given 15 mg/kg l-NBP by oral gavage for 18 weeks. l-NBP treatment significantly improved learning deficits, as well as long-term spatial memory, compared with vehicle control treatment. l-NBP treatment significantly reduced total cerebral Aβ plaque deposition and lowered Aβ levels in brain homogenates but had no effect on fibrillar Aβ plaques, suggesting preferential removal of diffuse Aβ deposits. Furthermore, we found that l-NBP markedly enhanced soluble amyloid precursor protein secretion (αAPPs), α-secretase, and PKCα expression but had no effect on steady-state full-length APP. Thus, l-NBP may direct APP processing toward a non-amyloidogenic pathway and preclude Aβ formation in the 3xTg-AD mice. The effect of l-NBP on regulating APP processing was further confirmed in neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells overexpressing wild-type human APP695 (SK-N-SH APPwt). l-NBP treatment in 3xTg-AD mice also reduced glial activation and oxidative stress compared with control treatment. l-NBP shows promising preclinical potential as a multitarget drug for the prevention and/or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.


Superficially postverbal subjects of free inversion languages such as Italian are argued to be able to meet two distinct structural analyses: they may occupy either a VP-internal position, as more traditionally assumed, or a higher (preverbal and, actually, left-peripheral) position, with the remnant of the clause crossing leftward over them by dislocation or focus movement. These are all and only the possibilities expected under recent restrictive theories of phrase structure, like the one advocated by Kayne (1994), and are exactly those empirically realized. Evidence for this conclusion is based primarily on the (existential/generic) interpretation of bare nouns and overt indefinites and is reinforced by extraction considerations. The whole analysis, based on the interpretation of Romance indefinites, is likely to support some version of Diesing's (1992) Mapping Hypothesis even more strongly than previous types of evidence did, including the original data from Germanic languages.


Over the last decade the trafficking in stolen vehicles has become a prominent form of crime within Southern Africa. Vehicles stolen or hijacked in South Africa are transported across the borders for sale in neighbouring countries.
Since 1994 there have been a number of significant changes to the policing of South African land borders. A number of innovative measures were introduced to address the illicit cross border trafficking of vehicles. The Beit Bridge border with South Africa is one such land border.
This report examines the policing of the Beit Bridge border post, and discusses measures in place to prevent the illicit cross border vehicle trade and the impact these measures have had on this trade.


The information systems, where the quality indicators are found, aim to standardise health records. Their provision translates into challenges and contributions, so we propose a reflection on this theme. With this research, you have access to the literature on their analysis, and a literature review on this issue has been published in the literature to obtain an indication of the literature on the quality information systems of nursing care, which have a positive impact on the quality of care, measuring the quality of the tests and, in addition, the comparability between them, with an impact in practice.
According to the European Comission (2019), most European countries have performance measurement strategies aimed at improving the quality of health services. These strategies typically include sets of indicators that are measured over time; The number of indicators ranges from less than 30 (Austria) to over 1,000 (Finland). Information systems can be understood as a set of procedures that aim to transmit information between individuals and organs by any means (Amelia, Benito, & I, 2009). According to Tan  (1995, p. 6), information systems are "the application of a total systems perspective in linking relevant theoretical principles with practical methodologies for the effective management of information technologies and their applications to improve the provision of information services. Health in the context of current and future healthcare environments. " Information systems, however, such as DREAM, SINUS and the user card are maladjusted from a functional and technological point of view, presenting several weaknesses (Espanha, 2010). About nursing information systems, the Order of Nurses (2007, p.1) warns of the relevance, not only of "the legal and ethical imperatives of information systems as well as those arising from its importance for clinical decisions, continuity and quality of care, management, training, research and decision-making processes."
Studies estimate that concomitant use of standardised computer support and language provide complete and accurate information, contributing to the quality of nursing records (Pinto, Cruz, & Ferreira, 2003). The same authors argue two preponderant questions, in the first instance, that the quality of care is directly related to the quality of nursing records and secondly that the use of standardised language combined with computer tools contributes to better decision making. The nurses' conceptions highlighted that this is a system that facilitates practice, considering access, availability of information, speed, practicality, clarity and optimisation of physical space (Fran et al., 2011). Nurses empirically understand the importance of information systems, from the perspective of resource optimisation as well as the ease of access and increased security of recorded information.


Micro-Graphitic Single Crystal Diamond Multi Electrode Arrays (μG-SCD-MEAs) have so far been used as amperometric sensors to detect catecholamines from chromaffin cells and adrenal gland slices. Besides having time resolution and sensitivity that are comparable with carbon fiber electrodes, that represent the gold standard for amperometry, μG-SCD-MEAs also have the advantages of simultaneous multisite detection, high biocompatibility and implementation of amperometric/potentiometric protocols, aimed at monitoring exocytotic events and neuronal excitability. In order to adapt diamond technology to record neuronal activity, the μG-SCD-MEAs in this work have been interfaced with cultured midbrain neurons to detect electrical activity as well as quantal release of dopamine (DA). μG-SCD-MEAs are based on graphitic sensing electrodes that are embedded into the diamond matrix and are fabricated using MeV ion beam lithography. Two geometries have been adopted, with 4 × 4 and 8 × 8 microelectrodes (20 μm × 3.5 μm exposed area, 200 μm spacing). In the amperometric configuration, the 4 × 4 μG-SCD-MEAs resolved quantal exocytosis from midbrain dopaminergic neurons. KCl-stimulated DA release occurred as amperometric spikes of 15 pA amplitude and 0.5 ms half-width, at a mean frequency of 0.4 Hz. When used as potentiometric multiarrays, the 8 × 8 μG-SCD-MEAs detected the spontaneous firing activity of midbrain neurons. Extracellularly recorded action potentials (APs) had mean amplitude of ∼-50 μV and occurred at a mean firing frequency of 0.7 Hz in 67% of neurons, while the remaining fired at 6.8 Hz. Comparable findings were observed using conventional MEAs (0.9 and 6.4 Hz, respectively). To test the reliability of potentiometric recordings with μG-SCD-MEAs, the D2-autoreceptor modulation of firing was investigated by applying levodopa (L-DOPA, 20 μM), and comparing μG-SCD-MEAs, conventional MEAs and current-clamp recordings. In all cases, L-DOPA reduced the spontaneous spiking activity in most neurons by 70%, while the D2-antagonist sulpiride reversed this effect. Cell firing inhibition was generally associated with increased APs amplitude. A minority of neurons was either insensitive to, or potentiated by L-DOPA, suggesting that AP recordings originate from different midbrain neuronal subpopulations and reveal different modulatory pathways. Our data demonstrate, for the first time, that μG-SCD-MEAs are multi-functional biosensors suitable to resolve real-time DA release and AP firing in in vitro neuronal networks.


Abstract Herbicide technology has evolved with forest management in North America over the past 60 years and has become an integral part of modern forestry practice. Forest managers have prescribed herbicides to increase reforestation success and long-term timber yields. Wildlife managers and others interested in conserving biodiversity, however, have often viewed herbicide use as conflicting with their objectives. Do herbicides increase forest productivity, and are they compatible with the objectives of wildlife management and biodiversity conservation? Results from the longest-term studies (10–30 years) in North America suggest that the range of wood volume yield gains from effectively managing forest vegetation (primarily using herbicides) is 30–450% in Pacific Northwest forests, 10–150% in the southeastern forests, and 50–450% in northern forests. Most of the 23 studies examined indicated 30–300% increases in wood volume yield for major commercial tree species and that gains were relatively consistent for a wide range of site conditions. Meeting future demands for wildlife habitat and biodiversity conservation will require that society's growing demand for wood be satisfied on a shrinking forestland base. Increased fiber yields from intensively managed plantations, which include the use of herbicides, will be a crucial part of the solution. If herbicides are properly used, current research indicates that the negative effects on wildlife usually are short-term and that herbicides can be used to meet wildlife habitat objectives.


Exchange transfusion is the replacement of blood from newborn infants with elevated bilirubin level in their blood stream with donor blood containing normal bilirubin levels. Newborn infants that experience jaundice [3], the yellowing of the skin and eyes, have a buildup of bilirubin, a chemical that occurs during red blood cell breakdown, or hemolysis. Exchange transfusion is a therapy developed throughout the 1940s by Louis Diamond and a group of surgeons at the Children's Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. During exchange transfusion, a physician inserts a plastic tube called a catheter through the umbilical vein [4] of the infant to slowly remove infant blood and sequentially replace it with donor blood. Exchange transfusion was the first definitive treatment for hyperbilirubinemia in the US and it helped reduce the incidence of kernicterus, a type of brain damage caused by elevated bilirubin levels.


Recent research by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has revealed that community colleges and their leaders are facing unique challenges (McNair, 2010). According to a 2001 AACC study, nearly 80% of current community college presidents cited plans to retire by 2011 (Shults, 2001). The role of tomorrow?s community colleges in society will demand that leaders develop new skill sets. Of these new skill sets, community college leaders will need to nurture collaborative and consultative dispositions in order to bring their colleges and the community at large into a unified system.
Utilizing the theoretical model of Relational Leadership as the framework for this study, (Regan & Brooks, 1995), perceptions of leadership are explored through a qualitative study of current community college leaders. Through the use of exemplar case studies, specific skill sets are identified as being necessary to become an effective relational leader in a 21st century community college. In addition, personal construction of leadership and social/cultural conceptualization of relational leadership are presented. From an in-depth analysis of the research findings, new critical elements are constructed to augment the Relational Leadership (Regan & Brooks, 1995) model for community college administrators. The nature of communication and trust in relation to the skills of caring, courage, collaboration, intuition, and vision are defined and described. The importance of reflecting on the personal construction of leadership as well as the process of blending or gendering the tenets of leadership is revealed. Implications for formal educational preparation for the 21st century community college leader are discussed, along with the recommendations by AACC for the successful community college leader. As a result of this study, a stronger framework for a new community college leadership style is presented that is most relevant in our emerging 21st century epoch of a global society.


In this paper, we propose, analyze and simulate the performances of some new plasmonic logic gates in two dimensional plasmonic waveguides with nanodisk resonators, using the numerical method of finite difference time domain (FDTD). These gates, including XOR, XNOR, NAND, and NOT, can provide the highly integrated optical logic circuits. Also, by cascading and combining these basic logic gates, any logic operation can be realized. These devices can be utilized significantly in optical processing and telecommunication devices.


In this paper, a new control method is presented for the 4-poster test systems. The primary aim of the paper is to improve the convergence speed and decrease the error rate for model-based iterative learning control (ILC), a widely used method as a tracking control. First, the dynamic equations of the system are generated, and the control problem is formulated. Then, an inverse model of the system is established directly through the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with auxiliary parameter (piston position) as a serial combination of two sub-models. In order to construct a neuro-fuzzy ILC (NFILC) structure, these sub-models are integrated into the neuro-fuzzy inverse controller (NFIC). Because of this new structure, the modified ILC rule has two layers. In the first layer, the controlled parameter, namely, the acceleration is iterated, whereas, in the second layer, the auxiliary parameter is iterated. The outcomes of the proposed control method are scrutinized by testing through a numerical simulation. Finally, it is demonstrated that the modified ILC rule dramatically increase the convergence speed and reduce the final error rate.


The biochemical traits of plant canopies are important predictors of photosynthetic capacity and nutrient cycling. However, remote sensing of biochemical traits in shrub species in dryland ecosystems has been limited mainly due to the sparse vegetation cover, manifold shrub structures, and complex light interaction between the land surface and canopy. In order to examine the performance of airborne imaging spectroscopy for retrieving biochemical traits in shrub species, we collected Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer—Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) images and surveyed four foliar biochemical traits (leaf mass per area, water content, nitrogen content and carbon) of sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata) and bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) in the Great Basin semi-desert ecoregion, USA, in October 2014 and May 2015. We examined the correlations between biochemical traits and developed partial least square regression (PLSR) models to compare spectral correlations with biochemical traits at canopy and plot levels. PLSR models for sagebrush showed comparable performance between calibration (R2: LMA = 0.66, water = 0.7, nitrogen = 0.42, carbon = 0.6) and validation (R2: LMA = 0.52, water = 0.41, nitrogen = 0.23, carbon = 0.57), while prediction for bitterbrush remained a challenge. Our results demonstrate the potential for airborne imaging spectroscopy to measure shrub biochemical traits over large shrubland regions. We also highlight challenges when estimating biochemical traits with airborne imaging spectroscopy data.


-Phishing is a type of Cyber-attack that uses fake sites to take sensitive client data, for example, account login certifications, credit card numbers. Phishing sites are commonly entry points of online social engineering attacks, including numerous ongoing on the web scams. In this paper, a review of website phishing attack detection methods discussed the various studies which were used to detect phishing attack. The classification methods, different approaches to detect phishing attack and the obtain results of the studies are discussed briefly. Keywords---Phishing attack, Classification, Data mining, Machine learning


In the past several years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") has made warrantless home raids a key component of interior immigration enforcement. Such raids, which frequently bring in otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants, violate the Fourth Amendment when they take place without the consent of a member of the household. Press and judicial accounts of such raids show that the agency now engages in widespread unlawful entries as well as violent, demeaning, and threatening conduct. This Article sets out a litigation theory for the defense of undocumented immigrants arrested in warrantless raids. The Article presents several viable but under-utilized grounds on which immigrants subjected to ICE misconduct may seek the suppression of illegally-acquired evidence and the dismissal of a deportation proceeding.First, notwithstanding the limited application of the exclusionary rule in immigration proceedings, immigration courts follow an exception articulated by the Supreme Court in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza, allowing suppression of evidence obtained through "egregious violations of the Fourth Amendment." Given that the protection of the home is central to the history and purpose of the Fourth Amendment, and given the heavy-handed and violent tactics ICE uses in home raids, immigrants should argue that such raids amount to egregious violations. Second, courts have a basis to broaden the reach of the exclusionary rule in light of the Supreme Court's suggestion in Lopez-Mendoza that widespread constitutional violations by immigration authorities might justify such a step. Third, immigrants may call for suppression for ICE violations of agency regulations, which mirror Fourth Amendment and other protections. These litigation strategies could help re-establish a credible deterrent to ICE's abusive conduct, and could provide immigration attorneys with a valuable tool for defending undocumented victims of home raids.


The financial crisis and Great Recession led to dramatic shifts in U.S. monetary policy over the past decade, with potential implications for inflation expectations. Prior to the crisis, inflation expectations were well anchored. But during the crisis and recovery, the Federal Reserve turned to new policies such as large-scale asset purchases (LSAPs). In addition, the Federal Open Market Committee adopted a formal inflation target in 2012, with the stated goal of keeping longer-term inflation expectations stable. Did inflation expectations remain anchored during this period of unconventional policy? {{p}} Taeyoung Doh and Amy Oksol use three metrics of inflation expectations to assess whether inflation expectations became unanchored after the financial crisis. They find that the degree of anchoring deteriorated somewhat in late 2010, but returned to its pre-crisis level more recently. They also find that shifts in the three metrics coincide with consecutive rounds of LSAPs and the adoption of a formal inflation target. Overall, their results suggest the Federal Reserve's actions helped anchor inflation expectations after the crisis.