This thesis is a first attempt at writing a modern theatre historiography of Eritrea, with emphasis on the roles and representations of women. It covers a period of some fifty years, from the late 1930s to 1991, the year of the country's de facto independence. The study is divided into three major sections; Part One providing the context of theatre in Eritrea, Part Two dealing with the emergence of modern Eritrean theatre arts, and Part Three covering the rise of the fighter performing arts during the thirty-year liberation struggle against Ethiopia.

After an introduction to Eritrean history and theatre arts as well as the theoretical framework of the study, Chapter 1 examines women's roles and representations in Eritrean societies and selected traditional performing arts as the
matrix onto which modern performance practices are built.

Chapter 2 starts with a portrayal of early urban women performers in the late 1930s and early 1940s as singers and krar-players in local drinking houses, followed by the gradual expansion of Eritrean theatre arts under the British
Military Administration. Thereafter the establishment of three well-known Eritrean theatre associations is examined, with Chapter 3 focusing on the Asmara Theatre Association, Mahber Theatre Asmara, whose work was eventually brought to a halt by the rise of the Ethiopian Derg regime. An investigation into the cultural troupes of the two liberation movements, the Eritrean Liberation Front
(ELF) and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) is dealt with in Part Three.

Chapter 4 outlines theatre work in the ELF, while Chapters 5-7 present details of EPLF performing arts. Chapter 5 begins with early performance activities until
the strategic retreat in 1978/79, followed by Chapter 6 with an analysis of drama work after the reorganisation of the Division of Culture. Chapter 7 covers theatre
activities in mass organisations and supporting departments and outlines cultural developments during the final years of the liberation war. In conclusion, major trends and directions in post-independence Eritrean theatre arts are summarised as they continue to negotiate recent socio-political problems and developments.


This case study describes efforts to rebuild the Solomon Islands Public Service beginning in 2004. When the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) intervened at the request of the Solomon Islands Parliament and ended the country's civil conflict in 2003, the Solomon Islands public service suffered from a critical shortage of trained personnel, insufficient pay tied to a complex and unequal housing-benefit policy, and slow and ineffective processes for centralized recruitment, promotion, and performance appraisal. A small group of officials in the Solomon Islands government and RAMSI decided to tackle these problems with (1) targeted training efforts in offices with good leadership but virtually no staff, (2) a dedicated program to reform the public service housing benefit, and (3) a Public Service Improvement Program to overhaul human-resources procedures. Training efforts were particularly successful in the Office of the Auditor General and the Parliament Secretariat, agencies in which capable Solomon Islander leaders requested and directed RAMSI on-the-job training. The Housing Management Project had quick initial success locating and counting government houses but stalled in efforts to evict squatters and change policies that provided privileged public servants with expensive housing. The Public Service Improvement Program, finally, was delayed for two years by a failed RAMSI procurement process, and, at the time of this study, in late 2009, had completed only initial assessment work.


INTRODUCTION There probably is no single event more associated with the American Civil War than the epic July 1863 battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The defense of Little Round Top, intense fighting in Devil's Den, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Pickett's Charge are etched in American mind and culture. The battle marked the turning point of the Civil War and the South's High Water Mark. Union heroes emerged--Warren, Chamberlain, Reynolds, Vincent--while the South's Lost Cause was cemented. The battle birthed Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which is revered as a vision for the postwar reconciliation. (2) Yet, as historian Amy Kinsel comments, "[f]or most Americans, Gettysburg's legacy has been unavoidably shaped by a host of important events that occurred after July 1863, and it includes many more elements than the participants in the battle could ever have imagined." (3) Given the prominent position of Gettysburg in American history and culture, it is remarkable that so little is known about the subsequent lives of the survivors of the battle. Indeed, aside from scores of individual and military portrayals of the participants before and after the war, (4) no systematic large-scale investigation has been conducted on this unique cohort of veterans in American history. The stature of the Gettysburg Battle, and the American narrative it came to represent, developed well after July 1863. Historian Kinsel writes, "it was during the postwar period that most Americans ... came to regard Gettysburg as the preeminent battle of the Civil War and to invest it with a complex set of meanings that went far beyond its strictly military ramifications." (5) In a series of empirical studies, we have examined the postwar lives of disabled Union Army (UA) Civil War soldiers. We have studied the nature of UA veterans' impairments during and after the war, and how the Civil War pension system compensated those disabilities from 1862 to 1907. The investigation documents how public acceptance and inclusion into society of disabled UA veterans in late-nineteenth-century American society were as much driven by factors external to disability, including political, economic, social, and attitudinal factors, as by the pension laws themselves. (6) Public attitudes toward pension worthiness or deservingness were prominent among the external or environmental forces affecting the then new class of disabled Americans. We have compared and contrasted conceptions of "disability worthiness" in late-nineteenth-century America and in contemporary policy as articulated in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. (7) We have examined these forces in studies of how views about UA veterans' disabilities, and hence pension compensation, were shaped by partisan forces, the rise of the administrative and bureaucratic state, attorney advocacy and lobbying, veterans' social class, nativity, occupation, and economic factors in late-nineteenth-century America. (8) For the first time in our program of study, this Article examines a unique cohort within the UA--the survivors of Gettysburg. Who were these veterans and what were their lives like before and afar the war? Popular literature, movies, and documentaries remind us of Joshua Chamberlain as defender of Little Round Top and later as Governor of Maine, and Dan Sickles as soldier-politician and killer of his wife's Lover. (9) Amazingly, no systematic study has been conducted of the postwar lives of soldiers under the commands of Chamberlain, Sickles, and others at Gettysburg. (10) We do not know whether, as progressive-era statistician Isaac Rubinow contends, "[t]he most singular feature of the [Civil War] American pension system ... [was] that it primarily redound[ed] to the advantage of a class least in need of old-age pensions." (11) And, we do not know whether the revered Gettysburg cohort was received as the most elite of these pension beneficiaries. …


This paper will consider the wage earner provisions and Ted Leroy Trucking Ltd. v. Century Services Inc. the only appellate case to consider the new amendments, and, in particular, the definition of "wages". In Leroy Trucking, Ted Leroy Trucking Ltd. ("TLT") made an assignment into bankruptcy when it failed to restructure its business. At issue in this case was the extent of the definition of "wages" in WEPPA and the BIA. The secured creditor argued that the definition was restricted to encompass amounts owing directly to the employee. The union representing the employees, however, took the position that the definition encompassed all liabilities arising from the collective agreement between the union and the TLT, "irrespective of whether the amount is payable directly to the employee or, on the employee's behalf, to a third party such as the union, a health and welfare trust, or a third party service provider". Both the trial and appellate courts found that "the term 'wages' in the WEPPA includes not only amounts due to be paid directly to the employee but also other amounts that were earned by the employee and which were directed to be paid to a third party by the employee directly or pursuant to a contract such as a collective agreement covering the employee".The paper will also consider the position of employees before and after their employers' bankruptcies and examine how "wages" has been interpreted in the past and how that influenced the Leroy Trucking decision. The broad interpretation the Court gave to the term "wages" in Leroy Trucking can be given one of two interpretations, either that the amounts payable to a third party would go directly to that third party upon an employer's bankruptcy, or that the amounts payable would be included in the payments that go to the employees, thereby expanding "wages" for the benefit of the employees. Each interpretation has its advantages and drawbacks but the latter is more in tune with the purpose of the legislation and it avoids practical application problems that would arise on the former interpretation, since the legislation, on its face, does not appear to make allowances to payments for parties other than employees.


Creating video games that are market competent costs in time, effort and resources which often cannot be afforded by small-medium enterprises, especially by independent game development studios. As most of the tasks involved in developing games are labour and creativity intensive, our vision is to reduce software development effort and enhance design creativity by automatically generating novel and semantically-enriched content for games from Web sources. In particular, this paper presents a vocabulary that defines detailed properties used for describing video game characters information extracted from sources such as fansites to create game character models. These character models could then be reused or merged to create new unconventional game characters.


Prototyping (iterative loops of design–build–test) is a proven method of efficiently developing new products. Developing products not only quickly, but that are also fit for purpose, implies engaging the end users and iterating the technology at hand. However, there is currently little research on how engineering design can approach developing connected devices. The purpose of this paper is to distinguish and discuss design approaches that are suitable for connected devices. Internet of Things devices consist of both the physical products themselves and the data that is coming out of the products, which we define as the external and internal data, respectively. They both can be prototyped separately, but since the data acquired can influence the design of the device and vice versa, we propose to link these two together in the product development process. This issue becomes more apparent when designing networks of sensors, e.g., for complex artificial intelligence (AI) databases. We explain the principle by describing the development of 1Balance through six different prototypes for human balance measurement. Technologically quantifying balance is an underused approach for objectively evaluating the state of a human's performance. The authors have developed a mobile application for monitoring balance as a physiological signal (amount of sway) via a compact wireless inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor strapped to the body of the subject for the duration of the measurement. We describe the design process for developing this connected medical device, as well as how the acquired data was used to improve the design of the product. In conclusion, we propose conceptually connecting the external and internal data prototyping loops.


This article explores the legal ramifications that flow from the explosive growth of online streaming. Two decades ago rising internet usage led to the first digital disruption: Napster, file-sharing, and the re-ordering of numerous content industries, from music to film to news. The advent of mass streaming has brought us to the threshold of a second digital disruption, which will be driven by the ability of streaming platforms to harvest massive amounts of data about consumer preferences and consumption patterns. Coupled to powerful computing, the data that firms like Netflix, Spotify, and Apple collect allows those firms to know in incredible detail what consumers like. This knowledge is already shaping the content that streaming firms produce. And this shift toward what we call "data-driven creativity" has important implications for intellectual property law and for competition in markets for creative works.

This article explores these phenomena via a close look at the firm that is perhaps farthest along in its use of data-driven creativity. We show how MindGeek, the little-known parent company of Pornhub and a leading firm in the market for adult entertainment, has leveraged streaming data to not only organize and suggest content to consumers but even to shape creative decisions. MindGeek is itself the product of the same forces -- the shift to digital distribution and the accompanying explosion of free content -- that transformed mainstream creative industries and paved the way for the rise of streaming. We first show how the adult industry adapted to the first digital disruption, and how MindGeek prospered in this new environment. That story aligns with similar accounts of how creative industries adapt to a loss of control over intellectual property by shifting to piracy-resistant revenue streams. We then show how streaming firms such as MindGeek, Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon use data to make decisions about content aggregation, dissemination, and investment. Finally, we consider what these trends suggest for two key areas of the law: intellectual property and antitrust. By making creative production far less risky, data-driven creativity may drive down the need for strong IP rights. At the same time, the rise of data-driven creativity may reinforce the tendency of online markets toward dominance by a few major firms, with significant implications for competition and innovation.


Abstract. Monitoring the surface circulation of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean is generally limited in space, time or both. We present a new 12-year record of geostrophic currents at monthly resolution in the ice-covered and ice-free Arctic Ocean derived from satellite radar altimetry and characterise their seasonal to decadal variability from 2003 to 2014, a period of rapid environmental change in the Arctic. Geostrophic currents around the Arctic basin increased in the late 2000s, with the largest increases observed in summer. Currents in the southeastern Beaufort Gyre accelerated in late 2007 with higher current speeds sustained until 2011, after which they decreased to speeds representative of the period 2003–2006. The strength of the northwestward current in the southwest Beaufort Gyre more than doubled between 2003 and 2014. This pattern of changing currents is linked to shifting of the gyre circulation to the northwest during the time period. The Beaufort Gyre circulation and Fram Strait current are strongest in winter, modulated by the seasonal strength of the atmospheric circulation. We find high eddy kinetic energy (EKE) congruent with features of the seafloor bathymetry that are greater in winter than summer, and estimates of EKE and eddy diffusivity in the Beaufort Sea are consistent with those predicted from theoretical considerations. The variability of Arctic Ocean geostrophic circulation highlights the interplay between seasonally variable atmospheric forcing and ice conditions, on a backdrop of long-term changes to the Arctic sea ice–ocean system. Studies point to various mechanisms influencing the observed increase in Arctic Ocean surface stress, and hence geostrophic currents, in the 2000s – e.g. decreased ice concentration/thickness, changing atmospheric forcing, changing ice pack morphology; however, more work is needed to refine the representation of atmosphere–ice–ocean coupling in models before we can fully attribute causality to these increases.


The tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies such as La Nina have been an important predictor for wildfires in the southeastern and southwestern U.S. This study seeks seasonal predictors for wildfires in the northwestern U.S., a region with the most intense wildfires among various continental U.S. regions. Singular value decomposition and regression techniques are applied to summer wildfire and current and antecedent SST conditions during a period of 23 years. It is found that warming in the North Pacific is a major feature in the SST spatial pattern related to intense Northwest wildfires. The warming appeared in all the major wildfire events during the past two decades. The relation is statistically significant. The North Pacific SST, therefore, has potential to be a predictor for seasonal Northwest wildfires.


Amebocyte-producing organs (APOs) of Biomphalaria glabrata were maintained in nonnutritive saline with, or without, extracts of miracidia and adults of Schistosoma mansoni, and examined histologically. The hematopoietic cells remained viable and showed measurable mitotic activity for up to 6 days, with little evidence of tissue death. APOs accumulated fluid and became swollen by as soon as 24 hr, but no cell exomigration was observed. Parasite extracts elicited an increase in the number of dividing cells in the APO, suggesting that the extract may directly stimulate a response from the hematopoietic cells by providing either nutrients or mitogenic growth factors.


High viral and/or antigen load may be an important cause of the T cell hyporesponsiveness to hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens that is often observed in patients with chronic HBV infection. Reduction of viral and antigen load by lamivudine treatment represents an ideal model for investigating this hypothesis. HLA class II restricted T cell responses and serum levels of HBV-DNA, HBsAg, and HBeAg were studied before and during lamivudine treatment in 12 patients with hepatitis B e antigen positive chronic active hepatitis B to assess possible correlations between viral and/or antigen load and vigor of the T cell response. Cell proliferation to HBV nucleocapsid antigens and peptides and frequency of circulating HBV nucleocapsid-specific T cells were assessed to characterize CD4-mediated responses. A highly significant enhancement of the CD4-mediated response to HBV nucleocapsid antigens was already detectable in most patients 7-14 d after the start of lamivudine treatment. This effect was dramatic and persistent in 10 patients but undetectable in 2. It occurred concomitant with a rapid and marked reduction of viremia. Interestingly, lamivudine also enhanced the responses to mitogens and recall antigens, showing that its effect was not limited to HBV-specific T cells. In conclusion, an efficient antiviral T cell response can be restored by lamivudine treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B concurrently with reduction of viremia, indicating the importance of viral load in the pathogenesis of T cell hyporesponsiveness in these patients. Since lamivudine treatment can overcome T cell hyporeactivity, combining lamivudine with treatments directed to stimulate the T cell response may represent an effective strategy to induce eradication of chronic HBV infection.


Abstract Thermodynamics and kinetics of nano-scale bubble formation in liquid metals such as Li and Pb were studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at pressures typical for magnetic and inertial fusion. Two different approaches to bubble formation were developed. In one method, radial densities, pressures, surface tensions, and work functions of the cavities in supercooled liquid lithium were calculated and compared with the surface tension experimental data. The critical radius of a stable cavity in liquid lithium was found for the first time. In the second method, the cavities were created in the highly streched region of the liquid phase diagram; and then the stability boundary and the cavitation rates were calculated in liquid lead. The pressure dependences of cavitation frequencies were obtained over the temperature range 700–270°K in liquid Pb. The results of MD calculations for cavitation rate were compared with estimates of classical nucleation theory.


Staphylococcal alpha-hemolysin is a water soluble, monomeric, bacterial exotoxin, which forms heptameric pores in membranes. The rate determining step in assembly is the conversion of a heptameric prepore to the fully assembled pore in which the central glycine-rich domain of each subunit inserts into the membrane to form a 14 strand beta barrel. Barrel formation is accompanied by a conformational change in which each N terminus latches onto an adjacent subunit. In the monomer in solution, the central domain is loosely organized and exposed to solvent. In this study, 25 amino acids of the central domain were removed and replaced with the sequence Asp-Gly, which favors the formation of a type I' beta-turn, to yield a mutant devoid of hemolytic activity. Within minutes after synthesis in the absence of membranes, the mutant polypeptide spontaneously assembled into heptamers, as demonstrated by atomic force microscopy. Limited proteolysis suggested that the N termini of the subunits in the heptamers were in the fully assembled pore conformation rather than the prepore conformation. Based on these findings, the deletion is proposed to constrain the central domain and thereby force the creation of a shortened beta barrel, which in turn induces the additional structural changes that normally accompany pore formation. The truncated pore might make a useful framework for the construction of designed membrane active macromolecules.


Currently there are nearly 35 million Hispanics in the U.S., making them the second-largest ethnic group in the country. But the effect of the current recession on this important group is unknown. Yet, it is unlikely that all Hispanics have been similarly affected by the recession. Hispanics are a varied group not just in terms of national origin, but also in terms of time in the U.S., ranging from newly arrived immigrants to U.S.-born Hispanics. This report examines how three generations of Hispanics have fared in September and October 2001, compared to September 2000 and September 1999. The report finds that • Mexican Americans have had a smaller increase in unemployment than other Hispanics, 6.5 percent compared to 7.7 percent, in October 2001; • The second generation averages higher unemployment rates for both Mexican Americans (8.7 percent) and other Hispanics (10.1); • Hispanics in manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and transportation industries have been particularly hard hit; • Unemployed first-generation Hispanic workers are concentrated in laborer and operator jobs, while secondand third-generation workers are more likely to work in service, and sales and technical occupations; • Immigrants finding information about jobs through friends, and directly contacting employers; • Immigrant relatives and secondand third-generation children, in particular, tend to live in a household not their own, perhaps as a way to cope with the adverse effects of unemployment.


Steve Jones' Body Mind Spirit system shows you how to excel at whatever life throws at you, from self-defence on the streets, dealing with office bully tactics or giving a speech in front of a crowd of people. Using kung fu, dynamic meditation and chi gung, this is a unique guide to achieving success, confidence and balance in modern life.; The Intelligent Warrior is a unique guidebook to finding balance and success in life, teaching the reader how to cope with any situation- whether a spiritual, mental or physical challenge- that modern life can throw at you.; Steve Jones has developed his own Body Mind Spirit (BMS) system, which encourages the development of all three areas in order to find the focus and balance required to achieve your goals.; His system is a hybrid of kung fu, dynamic meditation and chi gung.; As well as being a book for martial arts students, this book is ideal for anyone wanting to succeed in business. Steve Jones uses martial arts in the same way that Bill Phillips, Baron Baptiste and Tony Buzan use body building, yoga and mind-maps, as a tool to achieving mental and physical prowess.; The Intelligent Warrior will show readers how to: -- sharpen mental acuity -- defeat depressive thoughts -- win at work -- face off aggressors -- be socially confident


Integrins are heterodimeric transmembrane proteins that mediate cell adhesion and migration through various mechanisms. Binding of the cytoplasmic domain of the integrin α9 subunit to the spermidine/spermine-N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT)--which induces the breakdown of the higher-order polyamines spermidine and spermine to the lower-order polyamine putrescine--is required for migration mediated by the α9β1 integrin. deHart et al. (see commentary by Vandenberg) report that α9 recruitment of SSAT to focal adhesions affects cell migration by modulating the activity of an inward rectifier K+ (Kir) channel. Both wild-type and catalytically inactive forms of in vitro-translated SSAT bound to tagged α9 in a pull-down assay. Expression of any of the catalytically inactive forms in α9-expressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells prevented migration on an α9-specific ligand in a dominant-negative fashion. This effect was specific to α9, because migration mediated by a chimeric α9α5 protein, in which the intracellular domain of α9 was replaced with the intracellular domain of α5, was not affected by expression of the catalytically inactive SSATs. Depleting intracellular spermidine concentrations, using a combination of the ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor DFMO and putrescine, inhibited migration of CHO cells that overexpressed wild-type α9 but not those expressing the α9α5 chimera. Unexpectedly, restoring spermidine concentration by addition of putrescine in DFMO-treated cells restored migration. Furthermore, in mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) overexpressing α9, but not those overexpressing the chimeric α9α5, migration was reduced when the expression of polyamine oxidase (PAO), an enzyme required for polyamine metabolism downstream of SSAT, was knocked down by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Adding putrescine did not restore migration to the PAO-deficient cells. Thus, the results from experiments in which global intracellular polyamine concentrations were altered with pharmacological agents were complex but may indicate that local changes in cellular polyamine concentrations at the focal adhesion regulate migration. K+ efflux is implicated in cell migration, and Kir channels are inhibited by spermidine and spermine; thus, SSAT may modulate polyamine concentrations to stimulate migration. Indeed, treating α9- (but not α9α4- or α9α5-) expressing MEFs with Ba2+ to inhibit Kir channels or with a α9β1-blocking antibody decreased migration of cells on an α9-specific ligand but had no effect on adhesion of cells to nonintegrin-specific substrates. Of the eight Kir subunits detected in MEF cells, only Kir4.2 appeared to have a role in α9-mediated migration. Knockdown of Kir4.2 by a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) or inhibition of Kir channels with Ba2+ in either α9-expressing MEFs or human microvascular endothelial cells, which natively express Kir4.2 and α9β1, impaired migration on α9 substrates. In the MEFs expressing α9, the effects of DFMO and Kir4.2 shRNA treatment were not additive, suggesting that polyamines regulate cell migration through Kir4.2. In an in vitro wound assay, α9-expressing MEF cells treated with Ba2+, Kir4.2 shRNA, or both migrated shorter distances than untreated cells and extended multiple leading-edge cytoplasmic projections, whereas untreated cells usually extended only one lamellopodium. Fluorescently tagged α9 and Kir4.2 colocalized to structures that looked like focal adhesions, but only at the leading edge of MEFs. These results suggest that the α9 subunit of integrins recruits SSAT to focal adhesions, where it decreases the local concentration of higher-order polyamines; this may relieve repression of Kir channels, thus initiating an outward K+ flow. The authors model that the K+ efflux may cause the influx of Ca2+, which is known to stimulate migration in other contexts. G. W. deHart, T. Jin, D. E. McCloskey, A. E. Pegg, D. Sheppard, The α9β1 integrin enhances cell migration by polyamine-mediated modulation of an inward-rectifier potassium channel. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 7188-7193 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text] C. A. Vandenberg, Integrins step up the pace of cell migration through polyamines and potassium channels. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 7109-7110 (2008). [Full Text]


HIGH GAIN LOW POWER OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER DESIGN AND COMPENSATION TECHNIQUES Lisha Li Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation discusses and compares the existing compensation methods for operational amplifiers. It explores a method to stabilize the op amps without sacrificing bandwidth to the same degree that commonly used methods do. A creative design methodology combining intuition, mathematical analysis, and mixed level simulation is explored for the new compensation scheme. The mixed level approach, associating system level simulation for most circuits along with device level simulation for some critical analog circuit paths, is presented to verify the behavior of new design concepts in an effective way. This approach also provides sufficient accuracy to predict the circuit performance realistically. The new feedforward compensation method overcomes the serious drawback of the widely used pole splitting method, which greatly narrows the bandwidth. It can improve the phase margin as well as optimize the bandwidth of the op amp. The proposed feedforward compensation method can be easily applied to the popular two gain stage op amp architectures with very little alteration. MOS devices are used in the weak inversion region or the subthreshold inversion region to minimize dc source power. A feasible configuration for high gain, low power op amp design utilizing subthreshold operation along with active operation is proposed. This op amp uses composite cascode connections for the differential input stage, a common source second stage, and a current mirror. A prototype of the op amp was fabricated in a 0.25 μm CMOS process. The proposed op amp produces an open loop gain above one million with low power consumption around 110 μW and shows a favorable slew rate and GBW product compared to other amplifiers driving large capacitive loads. In addition, the composite cascode amplifier requires a compensation capacitor of only 3.5 pF which allows a very small op amp cell. This design is intended for applications where simplicity of layout, small cell size, and low power are important. The open loop gain of this design is comparable to bipolar op amps and exceeds all known reported CMOS designs using the classic Widlar architecture. The fabricated op amp test results show that the BSIM3 model in CADENCE Spectre Spice Simulation matches closely to the experimental results in spite of the low current weak inversion operation of the composite cascode output device and thus provide confidence in the simulation for other similar designs. While facing the challenge of measuring the op amp open loop characteristics at decreased power supply voltages, a few viable techniques were developed to measure the op amp open loop parameters using typically available bench test equipment.


In the context of global warming and increasing wildfire occurrence, this study aims to examine, for the first time, the changes in multi-level biodiversity and key soil features related to soil functioning in a burned Mediterranean beech forest. Two years after the 2017 wildfire, changes between burned and unburned plots of beech forest were analyzed for plant communities (vascular plant and cover, bryophytes diversity, structural, chorological, and ecological variables) and soil features (main chemical properties, microbial biomass and activity, bacterial community composition, and diversity), through a synchronic study. Fire-induced changes in the micro-environmental conditions triggered a secondary succession process with colonization by many native pioneer plant species. Indeed, higher frequency (e.g., Scrophularia vernalis L., Rubus hirtus Waldst. and Kit. group, and Funaria hygrometrica Hedw.) or coverage (e.g., Verbascum thapsus L. subsp. thapsus and Digitalis micrantha Roth ex Schweigg.) of the species was observed in the burned plots, whereas the typical forest species showed a reduction in frequency, but not in cover, except for Fagus sylvatica subsp. sylvatica. Overall, an increase in plant species and family richness was found in the burned plots, mainly in the herbaceous and bryophyte layers, compared to the unburned plots. Burned plots showed an increase in therophytes, chamaephytes, cosmopolites, steno-Mediterranean and Atlantic species, and a decrease in geophytes and Eurasiatic plants. Significant differences were found in burned vs. control soils for 10 phyla, 40 classes, 79 orders, 145 families, 342 genera, and 499 species of bacteria, with about 50% of each taxon over-represented and 50% under-represented in burned than in control. Changes in bacterial richness within several families (reduction in Acidobacteriaceae, Solibacteraceae, Rhodospirillaceae, and Sinobacteraceae; increase in Micrococcaceae, Comamonadaceae, Oxalobacteraceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Hymenobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Cytophagaceae, Nocardioidaceae, Opitutaceae, Solirubrobacteraceae, and Bacillaceae) in burned soil were related to fire-induced chemical changes of soil (pH, electrical conductivity, and cation exchange capacity). No evident effect of the wildfire was found on organic C content, microbial biomass (total microbial carbon and fungal mycelium) and activity, and microbial indexes (fungal percentage of microbial C, metabolic quotient, and quotient of mineralization), suggesting that soil functions remained unchanged in the burned area. Therefore, we hypothesize that, without an additional disturbance event, a re-establishment of beech forest can be expected but with an unpredictable time of post-fire succession.


OBJECTIVE
To test the effect of different veneering techniques on failure modes and the reliability of veneered yttrium oxide partially stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) in a veneer/core/composite trilayer configuration subjected to 30- degree off-axis mouth-motion step-stress fatigue.

METHODS
CAD/CAM Y-TZP zirconia plates were veneered using a lost-wax press technique (IPS e.max ZirPress, Ivoclar Vivadent, test group press, n = 24) and a hand build-up technique (IPS e.max Ceram, Ivoclar Vivadent, control group layer, n = 24) (12x12x0.7 mm). After adhesive bonding (Alloy Primer and Panavia 21, Kuraray) to resin-based composite blocks (12x12x4 mm, Z-100), samples were stored in water for 7 days prior to fatigue testing. Trilayer specimens were mouthmotion step-stressed using three profiles (EL-3300, Bose/Enduratec), with a spherical tungsten carbide indenter (r = 3.18 mm) until cracks reached the veneercore interface. All flat-layer specimens were angled 30 degrees with respect to the loading axis, simulating posterior tooth cusp inclination. Step-stress profiles were determined from single-cycle load-to-failure tests (n = 3).

RESULTS
Single-cycle load-to-failure tests yielded 825 N for the test group press and 803 N for the control group layer. Irrespective of the applied veneering technique, Y-TZP trilayers failed from surface deep cone cracks reaching the veneercore interface. Radial fractures of the YTZP cores were not present. Weibull stress level probability curves were calculated (AltaPro, ReliaSoft). Similar reliabilities (0.54 test group press, 0.51 control group layer) were determined at 100,000 cycles and a 200 N load.

CONCLUSION
After occlusion-like loading the step-stress fatigue reliability of pressed and layered veneering ceramics over Y-TZP cores was comparable. Fracture was limited to surface damage in the veneer layer. Failure modes were identical for both veneering techniques. Bulk fracture of the YTZP core material was not observed.


Economists have long recognised that copyright collecting societies (CCS), i.e. organisations that specialise on administering "copyrights held by a large number of owners", play a fundamental role in the copyright system. Indeed, the economic literature explains why without such organisations, copyright law would be ineffective in some markets for copyrighted works: the majority of authors and users would not be able to grant or obtain permission to use many works of art, literature, music, film and other such works that copyright law protects. In economic terms, CCS enable markets to function for the use of copyright works in situations in which the copyright holder cannot contract directly with the user. But because many markets for copyright works have changed rapidly over recent years, we should ask under which circumstances CCS would continue to play a constructive, maybe even essential, role. It has been argued many times that technical solutions to digital rights management (DRM) will render CCS obsolete as the market for copyrights shifts online and policy-makers such as the European Commission have begun to scrutinise the role played by CCS in the dynamic market for copyrighted media content online (REC 2005/737/EC). The purpose of this survey of the specialised economic literature is to take stock and to identify possible gaps in the understanding of the economics of CCS and to advocate attention to this literature in contemporary debates about them.


We study a problem where wireless service providers compete for heterogenous wireless users. The users differ in their utility functions as well as in the perceived quality of service of individual providers. We model the interaction of an arbitrary number of providers and users as a two-stage multi-leader-follower game. We prove existence and uniqueness of the subgame perfect Nash equilibrium for a generic channel model and a wide class of users' utility functions. We show that the competition of resource providers leads to a globally optimal outcome under mild technical conditions. Most users will purchase the resource from only one provider at the unique subgame perfect equilibrium. The number of users who connect to multiple providers at the equilibrium is always smaller than the number of providers. We also present a decentralized algorithm that globally converges to the unique system equilibrium with only local information under mild conditions on the update rates.


Paradactylodon, a genus of Hynobiidae, is distributed in mountainous regions of the Middle East. This genus comprises three species, Paradactylodon mustersi (Afghanistan), Paradactylodon persicus, and Paradactylodon gorganensis (Iran). Initially, P. persicus was reported from Talysh Mountains, and afterward, P. gorganensis was described from the eastern Alborz Mountains. Although these two Iranian Paradactylodon species were distinguished based on morphological features, there are arguments about their systematic status. In this contribution, 30 samples of hynobiid salamanders were collected from Talysh and Alborz Mountains and the phylogenetic relationship between the two species was assessed using two mtDNA markers (COI and 16S). Additionally, in order to survey the potential habitat suitability for the species, Species Distribution Models (SDMs) were performed and projected on climate scenarios that reflect current and past (6 ky and 21 ky before present) conditions. Our results indicated that P. gorganensis is nested within P. persicus. Overall, both SDM and molecular analyses suggest that the Iranian Paradactylodon population was affected by the Quaternary glacial period, and according to haplotype networks, haplotype diversity was higher in the western part of the distribution range of the species. Given the low genetic distance among all samples, we suggest P. gorganensis be synonymized with P. persicus. Considering the conservational values and numerous threats that this endemic species is facing, we encourage a revision of the IUCN Red List category of the species immediately.


The purpose of this study is to find the factors that influence financial leverage of Canadian firms. A sample of 166 Canadian firms listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange for a period of 3 years (from 2008-2010) was selected. This study applied co-relational and non-experimental research design. The results show that financial leverage of Canadian firms is influenced by the collateralized assets, profitability, effective tax rate, firm size, growth opportunities, number of subsidiaries, and industry dummy. This study contributes to the literature on the factors that influence financial leverage of the firm. The findings may be useful for financial managers, investors, and financial management consultants.


As a final exam preparation tool, the CCDP ARCH Quick Reference provides a concise review of all objectives on the new CCDP ARCH exam (642-873). This digital Short Cut provides you with detailed, graphical-based information, highlighting only the key topics in cram-style format.With this document as your guide, you will review topics on campus and data center design, addressing and routing, advanced WAN services, SAN design, VPN design, IP multicast design, voice over WLAN design, secure designs, designing an e-commerce module, and network management with Cisco IOS Software. This fact-filled Quick Reference allows you to get all-important information at a glance, helping you focus your study on areas of weakness and to enhance memory retention of essential exam concepts.


Nitrogen catabolite repression- (NCR-) sensitive genes, whose expression is highly repressed when provided with excess nitrogen and derepressed when nitrogen is limiting or cells are treated with rapamycin, are routinely used as reporters in mechanistic studies of the Tor signal transduction pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Two GATA factors, Gln3 and Gat1 are responsible for NCR-sensitive transcription, but recent evidence demonstrates that Tor pathway regulation of NCR-sensitive transcription bifurcates at the level of GATA factor localization. Gln3 requires Sit4 phosphatase for nuclear localization and NCR-sensitive transcription while Gat1 does not. In this paper we demonstrate that the extent to which Sit4 plays a role in NCR-sensitive transcription depends upon whether or not: (i) Gzf3, a GATA repressor homologous to Dal80, is active in the genetic background assayed, (ii) Gat1 is able to activate transcription of the assayed gene in the absence of Gln3 in that genetic background, and (iii) the gene chosen as a reporter is able to be transcribed by Gln3 or Gat1 in the absence of the other GATA factor. Together the data indicate that in the absence


Topographic survey uses to determine the relative locations of points (coordinates) on the earth's surface by measuring horizontal distances, differences in elevations and directions. Generally speaking the production of large scale topographic maps requires precise topographic survey with land surveying instrument such as (Total Station) which is costly and time consumed. The objective of this research is to produce topographic maps using an unconventional means through application analytical close range photogrammetry. The analytical close range photogrammetric method is characterized by low efforts and cost, the speed of topographic survey works, as well as the possibility of measuring and / or assessing places inaccessible. Photos strip was selected at University of Technology as a case study with area (400 m). The fieldwork started with generation of ground control points around the area. A theodolite (wild T2) was used to measure the ground (X, Y, and Z) coordinates for GCPs within the study area. The strip consists of eight overlapped images, overlap more than 60% were captured using a single non metric digital camera (Canon EOS D500) (with a resolution of 15.10 mega pixels). After capturing images for study area two steps were used for processing data. The first step was used to process these images for producing 3D coordinates from 2D images with different methods by using two software. The first software using Matlab2014b dealing with different methods Sequential (R-I) and bundle adjustment (BA) methods, and another software ERDAS IMAGINE (LPS) using block bundle adjustment. The second step was used GIS software to producing large scale topographical map. The computed Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for three methods (Resection – Intersection, Bundle Adjustment and Bundle Adjustment Block) and it was found that the RMSE in R-I method is (2.917cm) , RMSE in B-A method is (2.882cm) and RMSE in Bundle Block Adjustment method is (3.112cm). The final result was a topographic map with scale (1:100 and 1:200).


ABSTRACT Classroom simulations have become an increasingly popular instructional method in political science to increase student engagement, interest, and learning. This article describes a simulation designed to teach students about the complexities of campaign-finance systems, particularly disclosure requirements. In the simulation, students work in groups to convince others how to vote on a pending ballot measure. After spending more than $200 on materials, groups then must register as ballot-issue committees and comply with state campaign-finance laws, including tracking contributions and expenditures and completing all required forms. The simulation ends with a debrief. Results from several years of debriefs are presented to discuss how students perceive the complexities of campaign-finance laws. Dominant themes include surprise by students in the complexities of these laws and the effects they have on political speech and association.


Recently, the Internet has been utilized by many applications to convey time-sensitive messages. The persistently expanding Internet coverage and its easy accessibility have offered to ascend to a problem which was once regarded as not essential to contemplate. Nowadays, the Internet has been utilized by many applications to convey time-sensitive messages. Wireless access points have widely been used but these access points have limitations regarding area coverage. So for covering a wider space, various access points need to be introduced. Therefore, when the user moves to some other place, the devices expected to switch between access points. Packet loss amid the handovers is a trivial issue. MediaSense is an Internet of Things distributed architecture enabling the development of the IoT application faster. It deals with this trivial handover issue by utilizing a protocol called Distributed Context eXchange Protocol. However, this protocol is centralized in nature and also suffers in a scenario when both sender and receiver address change simultaneously. This paper presents a mechanism to deal with this scenario and presents a distributed solution to deal with this issue within the MediaSense platform. The proposed protocol improves dissemination using retransmission mechanism to diminish packet loss. The proposed protocol has been delineated with a proof of concept chat application and the outcomes have indicated a significant improvement in terms of packet loss.


In March 1999, Renault, the ninth largest car maker in the world, announced acquisition of a 36.8 percent stake in Nissan Motor for $5.4B. Second, Carlos Ghosn would take charge of the struggling company. The news shocked Japan as well as the global business community. Would a Westerner be able to bring about change in a Japanese company with a deep-rooted tradition of bureaucratic behavior and a consensus-building style? Case A describes the steps that led to the acquisition of Nissan. Case B covers the story of Carlos Ghosn and how he changed the company and brought profitability to Nissan. The case discusses such techniques as the art of listening and understanding in depth, formation of cross-functional teams, and Ghosn's three management principles: transparency, 5% strategy and the rest execution, and communication of company direction and priorities.


Water resource management is one of the most pressing human and environmental challenges of the 21st century. Technological approaches to improving the management of water feature prominently, with technology positioned as the solution to issues of competing interests and the achievement of water savings. This paper analyses the social dimensions of a regional-level irrigation technology, examining the piloting of Total Channel Control" technology in northern Victoria, Australia, as a case study. Water savings, organisational efficiency, on-demand ordering, occupational health and safety improvements, and many other benefits were anticipated to flow from this 'world first' technology. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and participant observation of an irrigation committee, this paper examines stakeholder accounts regarding piloting of the technology. We argue that in order to achieve justice and fairness in implementing regional irrigation technology, three essential criteria must be met: genuine consultation, participation and negotiation; responsive and respectful dialogue and communication; and mutual information exchange. As society shifts towards greater reliance on technological intervention to solve some of the most pressing dilemmas of the modern era, a more holistic approach focusing on the complexity of human interaction with the technology is vital.


The CdS thin film used as a window layer in the CdTe thin film solar cell transports photo-generated electrons to the front contact and forms a p-n junction with the CdTe layer. This is why the electrical, optical, and surface properties of the CdS thin film influence the efficiency of the CdTe thin film solar cell. When CdTe thin film solar cells are fabricated, a heat treatment is done to improve the qualities of the CdS thin films. Of the many types of heat treatments, the heat treatment is most widely used because the grain size in CdS thin films increases and interdiffusion between the CdS and the CdTe layer is prevented by the heat treatment. To investigate the changes in the electrical, optical, and surface properties and the crystallinity of the CdS thin films due to heat treatment, CdS thin films were deposited on FTO/glass substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering technique, and then a heat treatment was carried out. After the heat treatment, the clustershaped grains in the CdS thin film increased in size and their boundaries became faint. XRD results show that the crystallinity improved and the crystalline size increased from 15 to 42 nm. The resistivity of the CdS single layer decreased from 3.87 to 0.26 , and the transmittance in the visible region increased from 64% to 74%.


In flexible models of education, students and lecturers experience a sense of separation that is caused by more than physical distance between students and lecturers. Transactional distance is "a psychological and communications gap, a space of potential misunderstanding between the inputs of lecturer and those of the learner" created in part by the physical distance inherent to online learning (Moore 1991, "Transactional Distance,"). A large transactional distance—such as that between geographically dispersed learners and lecturers in an asynchronous, text-based, online learning environment—may contribute to students' feelings of isolation and disconnectedness, which can lead to reduced levels of motivation and engagement and, consequently, attrition.
When designing e-learning experiences, lecturers must consider two variables that affect transactional distance: structure and dialogue. Structure refers to the flexibility or rigidity of the pedagogical methods and strategies used in an e-learning experience. Dialogue refers to the interaction between the lecturer and learner during an e-learning experience. Moore does not suggest that either structure or dialogue are inherently good things. Each may be appropriate in different circumstances and a typical educational event such as a conventional lecture will, at a micro-level, move constantly between the two. However, the reciprocal relationship between them at any given point is immutable. Another dimension of the theory suggests that more autonomous learners, being self-directed, are better able to cope with more structure while less autonomous learners benefit more from greater dialogue.
This presentation and discussion explores a proposed model of flexible learning which attempts to inform practitioners of the fluid, reciprocal and connected relationships between students, resources, contexts and lecturers.


We recorded intracranial local field potentials from structurally intact human visual cortex during several face processing tasks in a patient before brain surgery. Intracranial local field potentials were measured from subdural electrodes implanted in a right fusiform region with face-sensitive activity and a more medial location in posterior parahippocampal gyrus with house-selective activity. This electrode implantation allowed us to compare neural responses with different facial properties within two adjacent but functionally distinct cortical regions. Five experiments were conducted to determine the temporal dynamics of perceptual (Experiments 1 and 5), emotional (Experiments 2 and 3), and social (Experiment 4) effects on face-specific responses in the right fusiform. Our findings showed an early negative deflection (N200) that primarily reflected category-selective perceptual encoding of facial information, whereas higher order effects of face individuation, emotional expression, and gaze direction produced selective modulations in the same face-specific region during a later time period (from 200 to 1000 msec after onset). These results shed new lights on the time course of face recognition mechanisms in human visual cortex and reveal for the first time anatomically overlapping but temporally distinct influences of identity or emotional/social factors on face processing in right fusiform gyrus, which presumably reflect top–down feedback effects from distant brain areas.


Today, heterogeneous computing systems are widely used to meet the increasing demand for high-performance computing. These systems commonly use powerful and energyefficient accelerators to augment general-purpose processors (i.e., CPUs). The graphic processing unit (GPU) is one such accelerator. Originally designed solely for graphics processing, GPUs have evolved into programmable processors that can deliver massive parallel processing power for general-purpose applications. Using SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) based components as building units, the current GPU architecture is well suited for data-parallel applications where the execution of each task is independent. With the delivery of programming models such as Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) and Open Computing Language (OpenCL), programming GPUs has become much easier than before. However, developing and optimizing an application on a GPU is still a challenging task, even for well-trained computing experts. Such programming tasks will be even more challenging in large-scale heterogeneous systems, particularly in the context of utility computing, where GPU resources are used as a service. These challenges are largely due to the limitations in the current programming models: (1) there are no intraand inter-GPU cooperative mechanisms that are natively supported; (2) current programming models only support the utilization of GPUs installed locally; and (3) to use GPUs on another node, application programs need to explicitly call application programming interface (API) functions for data communication. To reduce the mapping efforts and to better utilize the GPU resources, we investigate generalizing the utility of GPUs in large-scale heterogeneous systems with GPUs as accelerators. We generalize the utility of GPUs through the transparent virtualization of GPUs, which can enable applications to view all GPUs in the system as if they were installed locally. As a result, all GPUs in the system can be used as local GPUs. Moreover, GPU virtualization is a key capability to support the notion of "GPU as a service." Specifically, we propose the virtual OpenCL (or VOCL) framework for the transparent virtualization of GPUs. To achieve good performance, we optimize and extend the framework in three aspects: (1) optimize VOCL by reducing the data transfer overhead between the local node and remote node; (2) propose GPU synchronization to reduce the overhead of switching back and forth if multiple kernel launches are needed for data communication across different compute units on a GPU; and (3) extend VOCL to support live virtual GPU migration for quick system maintenance and load rebalancing across GPUs. With the above optimizations and extensions, we thoroughly evaluate VOCL along three dimensions: (1) show the performance improvement for each of our optimization strategies; (2) evaluate the overhead of using remote GPUs via several microbenchmark suites as well as a few real-world applications; and (3) demonstrate the overhead as well as the benefit of live virtual GPU migration. Our experimental results indicate that VOCL can generalize the utility of GPUs in large-scale systems at a reasonable virtualization and migration cost.


The paper assesses differences in productivity and its determinants among enterprises manufacturing cosmetics and detergents (NACE 245) and located in Germany and in three EU new member states. The database collected through conducting an identical survey in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary was used. The results of this firm-level study point on the role of the existence of 'dual economy' of some very highly and very low productive firms, especially among the small enterprises from the new member states. Productivity gap vis-a-vis Germany in this labour-intensive industry disappears in the case of some large enterprises from the CEECs. Generally, higher fixed capital intensity, higher investment rate, lower unit labour costs, more employees improving skills, and higher use of modern communication technology help in narrowing productivity gap. The paper ends with policy recommendations.


This paper describes our system used in the Aspect Based Sentiment Analysis (ABSA) task of SemEval 2016. Our system uses Maximum Entropy classifier for the aspect category detection and for the sentiment polarity task. Conditional Random Fields (CRF) are used for opinion target extraction. We achieve state-of-the-art results in 9 experiments among the constrained systems and in 2 experiments among the unconstrained systems.


We conduct a comparative study between two approaches for combining signals from several Model-Predictive Controllers (MPCs) designed for different fault scenarios. The first is MPC switching where a switch dictates which of the MPC controllers is currently active. The second is MPC mixing where all MPCs are running concurrently and their outputs are blended in proportion to the current estimate of fault state. We demonstrate results using a gravity drained multi-tank system. Our empirical results show that the mixing approach responds more quickly to faults than the switching approach. Further, we show that the speed and accuracy of fault isolation has a critical impact on fault tolerance.


In hierarchical classification, class labels are structured, that is each label value corresponds to one non-root node in a tree, where the inter-class relationship for classification is specified by directed paths of the tree. In such a situation, the focus has been on how to leverage the inter-class relationship to enhance the performance of flat classification, which ignores such dependency. This is critical when the number of classes becomes large relative to the sample size. This paper considers single-path or partial-path hierarchical classification, where only one path is permitted from the root to a leaf node. A large margin method is introduced based on a new concept of generalized margins with respect to hierarchy. For implementation, we consider support vector machines and ψ-learning. Numerical and theoretical analyses suggest that the proposed method achieves the desired objective and compares favorably against strong competitors in the literature, including its flat counterparts. Finally, an application to gene function prediction is discussed.


We examine the effects of compressibility, slip, and fluid inertia on the frequency response of particle-based velocimetry techniques for supersonic and hypersonic flows by solving the quasi-steady drag equation for solid, spherical particles. We demonstrate that non-continuum and fluid inertial effects significantly affect the particle response under all typical supersonic flow conditions. In particular, the particle frequency response obtained from a shock response test depends on the strength of the shock, decreasing with shock strength as non-continuum effects become more prominent. For weak disturbances, such as those typical of turbulence, the actual particle frequency response can therefore be much lower than that obtained from a typical shock response. The greatest variability in the response was found to occur at low supersonic Mach numbers. The results were found to be typical of solid particles used for velocimetry under a wide range of wind tunnel conditions, and so, previous particle frequency response analyses based solely on shock response tests may well have overestimated the response to turbulence.


This dissertation explores the ways in which organizational identity actually functions within the day-to-day processes of an organization showing how organizational identity trickles down into collaborative writing processes and what the effects of this trickle-down are in terms of the document being produced the workgroup producing the document and the organization as a whole. Specifically the dissertation examines the organizational identity of the Employees Association of the State and discovers how identity traits or characteristics influence the collaborative review process of EAS's newsletter. First I examine the public-sector labor association to discover its organizational identity through the perceptions of its employees. I then examine the review and revise processes of the writing group which produces the organization's member-directed newsletter. Finally I make visible any connections that exist between the organization's identity and its review processes focusing especially on the effects on EAS's ethos and on the cooperative behaviors of its employees.


We describe a substructural logic with ordered, linear, and persistent propositions and then endow a fragment with a committed choice forward-chaining operational interpretation. Exploiting higher-order terms in this metalanguage, we specify the operational semantics of a number of object language features, such as call-by-value, call-by-name, call-by-need, mutable store, parallelism, communication, exceptions and continuations. The specifications exhibit a high degree of uniformity and modularity that allows us to analyze the structural properties required for each feature in isolation. Our substructural framework thereby provides a new methodology for language specification that synthesizes structural operational semantics, abstract machines, and logical approaches.


In 1948 Shannon developed fundamental limits on the efficiency of communication over noisy channels. The coding theorem asserts that there are block codes with code rates arbitrarily close to channel capacity and probabilities of error arbitrarily close to zero. Fifty years later, codes for the Gaussian channel have been discovered that come close to these fundamental limits. There is now a substantial algebraic theory of error-correcting codes with as many connections to mathematics as to engineering practice, and the last 20 years have seen the construction of algebraic-geometry codes that can be encoded and decoded in polynomial time, and that beat the Gilbert-Varshamov bound. Given the size of coding theory as a subject, this review is of necessity a personal perspective, and the focus is reliable communication, and not source coding or cryptography. The emphasis is on connecting coding theories for Hamming and Euclidean space and on future challenges, specifically in data networking, wireless communication, and quantum information theory.


AIM
To investigate predictors of participant eligibility, recruitment, and retention in behavioural randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for smoking cessation.

METHOD
Systematic review and pre-specified meta-regression analysis of behavioural RCTs for smoking cessation including adult (≥18 years old) smokers. The pre-specified predictors were identified through a literature review and experts' consultation and included participant, trial and intervention characteristics and recruitment and retention strategies. Measurements included eligibility rates (proportion of people eligible for the trials), recruitment rates, retention rates, and differential retention rates.

RESULTS
172 RCTs with 89,639 participants. Eligibility [median 57.6%; IQR 34.7-83.7], recruitment [median 66.4%; IQR 42.7-85.2] and retention rates [median 80.5%; IQR 42.7-85.2] varied considerably across studies. For eligibility rates, the recruitment strategy appeared not to be associated with eligibility rates. For recruitment rates, use of indirect recruitment strategies (e.g., public announcements) [OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0.82] and self-help interventions [OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03-0.67] were associated with lower recruitment rates. For retention rates, higher retention was seen if the sample had ongoing physical health condition/s [OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.04-2.63] whereas lower retention was seen amongst primarily female samples [OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.71-0.98] and those motivated to quit smoking [OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.55-0.99], when indirect recruitment methods were used [OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.38-0.97], and at longer follow-up assessments [OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.79-0.87]. For differential retention, higher retention in the intervention group occurred when the intervention but not comparator group received financial incentives for smoking cessation [OR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.02-1.77].

CONCLUSIONS
In randomised controlled trials of behavioural smoking cessation interventions, recruitment and retention rates appear to be higher for smoking cessation interventions that include a person-to-person rather than at-a-distance contact; male participants, smokers with chronic conditions, smokers not initially motivated to quit and shorter follow-up assessments seems to be associated with improved retention; financial incentive interventions improve retention in groups receiving them relative to comparison groups.


The Fortescue Marsh in the Pilbara bioregion, Western Australia, is an extensive ephemeral wetland that fills episodically. It is considered as a potential Ramsar site and is recognised as a nationally important wetland and an Important Bird Area. We surveyed birds at 21 sites on the Fortescue Marsh and a further 23 sites (44 sites in total), including nearby claypans Coondiner Pool and Mungthannannie Pool, in the Fortescue Valley over 12 days in March–April and July 2012. A total of 100 bird species (34 waterbird and 66 landbird species) was recorded during the survey. A further 86 bird species (including 28 waterbird species and 58 landbird species) were recorded for this area from searches of databases and the literature (total of 187 species; 62 waterbirds). New and significant observations during the survey included the first breeding record of Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides for the Pilbara, the first breeding records on the Marsh of Black-tailed Native-hen Tribonyx ventralis and Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia, and the first record of Australian Painted Snipe Rostratula australis for the Fortescue Valley. Despite this area's importance to breeding and visiting waterbirds, the birds of the Fortescue Marsh remain surprisingly under-studied. We highlight some significant but overlooked literature records of waterbirds on the Marsh. Further ground and aerial surveys, and ongoing monitoring of this region would be valuable.


This case is intended to illustrate to readers the challenges faced in 2011–2013 by Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, as he guided his company into the exploding tablet market. Faced with the tough decision between focusing on the e-reader market—which Amazon had come to dominate with its Kindle product line—and making a foray into tablets—for which it had no expertise—Bezos chose the latter. Amazon sought to combine platform assets to create an end-to-end experience that would let users find a "sweet spot" in the mix of features and services. This strategy involved critical decisions such as selecting a customer segment to target and a positioning for the new product, dubbed the Kindle Fire, as the tablet market rapidly evolved. The Kindle Fire was designed to put the full Amazon experience right into the laps of customers, and Bezos was betting that his customers would see the Kindle Fire as the physical manifestation of all things Amazon. To achieve this, Amazon was willing to heavily subsidize the Kindle Fire hardware device. The key assumption was that the superior end-to-end experience Amazon had carefully created would lead to incremental purchases of content as well as physical products and services, and the margins thus gained would outweigh the hardware subsidy.

Position and define target segments for a new product relative to competition as well as to a company's own products

Articulate a competitor's strategy and how to compete against an incumbent with a disruptive business model and a differentiated position

Discuss selling an experience (as opposed to a product or device) and how to create a differentiated service experience

Determine pricing, analyze business model, and calculate revenue/profit for a technology product


The emergence of new and the re-emergence of old infectious diseases reverses our previous belief that communicable diseases have been brought under human control. The development of antibiotic-resistant bacterial and fungal infections and the apparent lack of vaccines for many infectious diseases remind us of how vulnerable we are. Infections with SARS coronavirus, Nipah virus, and, more recently, H5N1 influenza virus in humans are just a few reality checks and more are expected. The problems of these emerging and re-emerging infections (ERI) give us several warnings. First, there are a number of pathogens, most of which are viral, that pose potential risks to human health and we know quite little about them. Second, many of these ERI are zoonotic. Effective control of zoonoses needs involvement and collaboration from the non-health sector. Third, since these ERI can easily spread across geopolitical boundaries, countries with a good public health infrastructure are not risk-free and should not be complacent. Surveillance and response efforts cannot be limited within one national boundary. Fourth, aside from the fundamental tools in disease control that we have, e.g. basic sanitation, personal hygiene, isolation and quarantine, and the newly-revised International Health Regulations, we have little other choices, e.g. drugs and vaccines. This limitation suggests that we could eventually be defenseless. Fifth, recent occurrences of certain ERI in some countries have demonstrated that damages caused in non-health terms, e.g. economic losses, can be significant. As a consequence, ERI may be dealt with as an economic problem while the human and health dimensions are ignored. There are a number of guiding principles that we may have to adopt. First, no country can or is allowed to fight ERI alone, no matter how well-developed its economic condition and public health infrastructure. However, it should be noted that ERI is a national health security problem and that national sovereignty must be recognized when addressing the ERI issues. Second, ERI problems need a lot of non-health partners, e.g. business and agriculture. Third, we need to improve our capacity to do surveillance and to respond. Surveillance without response is pointless. Fourth, we need specific tools to help tackle ERI. Networking is a mechanism through which countries can work together to fight ERI. A number of forums exist to address the problems of ERI, e.g. meetings of WHO and other UN agencies including FAO⁄OIE, ASEAN+3, and ACMECS. In addition, several bilateral frameworks are in place to address ERI. However, it is important to note the particular nature of ERI and follow the above-mentioned guiding principles to avoid failure.


In Canada, national ethnocultural advocacy groups are highly visible and are consulted by government officials in areas of multiculturalism policy as well as other areas of social policy and constitutional reform. Unlike local 'ethnic' associations that arise for a myriad of community specific purposes, national level 'ethnic' umbrella associations occupy a wholly different political space. One implication of this national level of representation is that who and what the group is becomes re-configured from a form of social organisation to a form of broad representation. At the national level, the organisation not only comes to represent the concrete aspirations of group members, but also becomes a guardian and advocate of a vision of 'the group'. The process through which the 'group' boundaries are socially and politically constructed is the subject of this thesis.

Writers tend to explain the proliferation of national 'ethnic' umbrella organisations through one of four therapies: interest group theory, social movement theory, theories of ethnic mobilisation, and state intervention. There is relative agreement that demographic changes resulting from the liberalisation of Canada's immigration policy in 1967 led to larger and more politically active ethnocultural communities. Also, writers argue that the policy of Multiculturalism established in 1971 created opportunity for ethnocultural political participation as never before. There are strengths and weaknesses to each of these approaches, and they are analysed in the thesis. However, none of the existing theories explain how and why organisations formed at the national level at given periods of time, and how the substantive delineations of representation (i.e. in terms of 'racial' or 'ethnic' identities) were determined.


Abstract: Communication of a multivariate Gaussian source transmitted over orthogonaladditive white Gaussian noise channels using delay-free joint source channel codes (JSCC)is studied in this paper. Two scenarios are considered: (1) all components of the multivariateGaussian are transmitted by one encoder as a vector or several ideally collaborating nodesin a network; (2) the multivariate Gaussian is transmitted through distributed nodes in asensor network. In both scenarios, the goal is to recover all components of the multivariateGaussian at the receiver. The paper investigates a subset of JSCC consisting of directsource-to-channelmappingsthatoperateonasymbol-by-symbolbasistoensurezerocodingdelay. A theoretical analysis that helps explain and quantify distortion behavior for suchJSCC is given. Relevant performance bounds for the network are also derived withno constraints on complexity and delay. Optimal linear schemes for both scenarios arepresented. Results for Scenario 1 show that linear mappings perform well, except whencorrelation is high. In Scenario 2, linear mappings provide no gain from correlation whenthe channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gets large. The gap to the performance upper boundis large for both scenarios, regardless of SNR, when the correlation is high. The maincontribution of this paper is the investigation of nonlinear mappings for both scenarios. Itis shown that nonlinear mappings can provide substantial gain compared to optimal linearschemes when correlation is high. Contrary to linear mappings for Scenario 2, carefully


Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were assessed for their ability to associate visual stimuli with food reward. They learned a series of new 2-choice visual discriminations between colored patterns displayed on a monitor screen. The feedback for correct choice was the delivery of food. In order to promote associative learning between the visual stimuli and the incentive value of the food reward, reward delivery was not accompanied by any distinctive visual feedback on the display screen. The rate of learning new problems was assessed before and after surgery in a total of 16 monkeys. Three groups of 3 monkeys received bilaterally symmetrical ablations in either the amygdala, the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus, or the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. All these groups showed a severe postoperative learning impairment. Seven other animals were given a unilateral ablation in 1 of those 3 structures and a second unilateral ablation, in each case contralateral to and different from the first, in order to produce 2 groups in which a putative amygdalo-thalamo-prefrontal pathway had been disconnected by crossed unilateral lesions. One disconnection group had lesions in the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex; the other had lesions in the amygdala and the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus. The disconnection groups showed a significant impairment, but the effect of the disconnection surgeries was significantly milder than the effect of any of the 3 bilaterally symmetrical lesions. Therefore, symmetrical bilateral lesions in either the amygdala, the mediodorsal nucleus, or the ventromedial prefrontal cortex produce similar impairments in the present task, implying that these structures are functionally related to each other; but the relatively mild effect of disconnecting these structures from each other argues against the hypothesis that they are serial stages in a single, tightly linked functional pathway.


The Black Sea region is a vital strategic crossroads between Europe, Asia, Transcaucasia, Russia and the Middle East, and has long been used for smuggling of licit and illicit goods, including nuclear material in the past two decades. Over 630 nuclear trafficking incidents were recorded in the Black Sea states between 1991 and 2012, almost half of them in Russia. Five of the recorded incidents involved highly enriched uranium (HEU), raising concerns about the region's use as a transit route for nuclear material smuggled from the former Soviet Union to the Middle East. As nuclear security in the post-Soviet states improves and the threat of nuclear theft decreases, trafficking cases involving nuclear material in Russia and other Eurasian states have been steadily declining since the mid-1990s. However, the recent seizures of HEU samples in Georgia in 2010 and Moldova in 2011 suggest that some amount of previously stolen weapon-usable nuclear material may still be available for illegal transfer and sale to state and nonstate actors. Therefore, it is important that the efforts to counter nuclear trafficking in the Black Sea region are continued and enhanced.


Public Administration has reluctantly been accepted as a science by some of its sister disciplines in the Social Sciences. This may be ascribed to the eclectic nature of the Discipline and its reliance on related disciplines to explain, direct and inform study and practice. Public Administration studies human beings engaged in administrative and managerial duties in organs of state. Therefore, any study should consider the behaviour and actions of human beings in an organisational setting operating in a political environment.
Sciences depend on theory to investigate, explain and predict the phenomena being studied. A science has to be founded on justifiable laws or acceptable theories to develop new knowledge and influence practice. Public Administration is in the unenviable position that it studies social phenomena subjected to continuous change due to societal values and political changes. Thus it has to be able to adopt theories providing for universal truths, but accommodating the new domain of study, e.g. the development of public-private-partnerships and the evolution of the developmental state.
Various theories related to Public Administration will be investigated in this article to establish their relevance. This will be used as a foundation to enter into a discourse regarding the identification of the requirements against which Public Administration theory should be tested. With this as a point of departure the possible development of Public Administration related theories will be discussed.


Each time a child was born in bondage, the system of slavery began anew. Although raised by their parents or by surrogates in the slave community, children were ultimately subject to the rule of their owners. Following the life cycle of a child from birth through youth to young adulthood, Marie Jenkins Schwartz explores the daunting world of slave children, a world governed by the dual authority of parent and owner, each with conflicting agendas. Despite the constant threats and the necessity of submission to the slave owner, slave families managed to pass on essential lessons about enduring bondage with human dignity. The author counters the commonly held vision of paternalistic slave-holder who determines the life and welfare of his passive chattel, showing instead how slaves struggled to give their children a sense of self and belonging that denied the owner complete control. This book gives us an unsurpassed look at what it meant to grow up as a slave in the ante-bellum South. Schwartz recreates the experiences of these bound but resilient young people as they learned to negotiate between acts of submission and selfhood, between the worlds of commodity and community.


1. This review is presented as a broad synthesis of riverine landscape diversity, beginning with an account of the variety of landscape elements contained within river corridors. Landscape dynamics within river corridors are then examined in the context of landscape evolution, ecological succession and turnover rates of landscape elements. This is followed by an overview of the role of connectivity and ends with a riverine landscape perspective of biodiversity.

2. River corridors in the natural state are characterised by a diverse array of landscape elements, including surface waters (a gradient of lotic and lentic waterbodies), the fluvial stygoscape (alluvial aquifers), riparian systems (alluvial forests, marshes, meadows) and geomorphic features (bars and islands, ridges and swales, levees and terraces, fans and deltas, fringing floodplains, wood debris deposits and channel networks).

3. Fluvial action (erosion, transport, deposition) is the predominant agent of landscape evolution and also constitutes the natural disturbance regime primarily responsible for sustaining a high level of landscape diversity in river corridors. Although individual landscape features may exhibit high turnover, largely as a function of the interactions between fluvial dynamics and successional phenomena, their relative abundance in the river corridor tends to remain constant over ecological time.

4. Hydrological connectivity, the exchange of matter, energy and biota via the aqueous medium, plays a major though poorly understood role in sustaining riverine landscape diversity. Rigorous investigations of connectivity in diverse river systems should provide considerable insight into landscape-level functional processes.

5. The species pool in riverine landscapes is derived from terrestrial and aquatic communities inhabiting diverse lotic, lentic, riparian and groundwater habitats arrayed across spatio-temporal gradients. Natural disturbance regimes are responsible for both expanding the resource gradient in riverine landscapes as well as for constraining competitive exclusion.

6. Riverine landscapes provide an ideal setting for investigating how complex interactions between disturbance and productivity structure species diversity patterns.


We present a quantitative study of the semantic network of the set of nouns and verbs of WordNet, which is a systematic representation of the Present-day English lexicon based on psycholinguistic considerations, and A Thesaurus of Old English to understand the evolution of the global organization of the English lexicon. We demonstrate that whereas the semantic network is dominated by the hypernymy tree, which works as the skeleton of the set of nouns and verbs, the inclusion of polysemy produces a drastic global reorganization of the semantic structure, that is, it is converted into a small world, where all meanings are closer to each other. We then show that the words with higher frequency and therefore with higher number of meanings construct the higher level of the hypernymy tree within each lexical category. This architecture is robust through the times, forming the basis of the smallworld network. We also suggest that the small-world topology of the brain has enhanced the small-world configuration of semantic structure.


Inheritance-biasing elements known as "gene drives" may be capable of spreading genomic alterations made in laboratory organisms through wild populations. We previously considered the potential for RNA-guided gene drives based on the versatile CRISPR/ Cas9 genome editing system to serve as a general method of altering populations1. Here we report molecularly contained gene drive constructs in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are typically copied at rates above 99% when mated to wild yeast. We successfully targeted both non-essential and essential genes and showed that the inheritance of an unrelated "cargo" gene could be biased by an adjacent drive. Our results demonstrate that RNA-guided gene drives are capable of efficiently biasing inheritance when mated to wild-type organisms over successive generations.


A constant challenge for industrialists in cold cathode technologies is the selection of a cathode material which exhibits suitable properties in order to improve performance. One particularly important aspect of performance is the sputter erosion of the cathode, which can lead to lamp failures. Traditionally, refractory metals have been favored for their high densities and energies of sublimation, which result in low sputter yields according to the theory due to Sigmund, and in experiment. However, this paper presents a simple theory which shows that the primary sputter yield is only one step in the liberation of sputtered material from the electrode. The energy of sublimation in fact plays an important role in the energy distribution of the sputtered material. Also, collisions in the bulk gas and the voltage characteristics of the cathode dark space should be taken into consideration for calculating the flux of liberated material. The paper presents a heuristic model of cold cathode sputtering in glow discharges with a view to elucidating the underlying physics in the process. The theory results in a reappraisal of electrode material properties that differs from the traditional view.


In this paper we determine the distributional behavior of sums of free (in the sense of Voiculescu) identically distributed, inflnitesimal random variables. The theory is shown to parallel the classical theory of independent random variables, though the limit laws are usually quite difierent. Our work subsumes all previously known instances of weak convergence of sums of free, identically distributed random variables. In particular, we determine the domains of attraction of stable distributions in the free theory. These freely stable distributions are studied in detail in the appendix, where their unimodality and duality properties are demonstrated.


This paper discusses the SEC's regulation of the bond rating industry. Until a few years ago this specific branch of SEC regulation was largely unknown outside the agency and the bond rating industry itself, even among knowledgeable Washington insiders. But the SEC has actually regulated the industry since 1975: by limiting entry, in an indirect but powerful way. As a consequence, incumbent bond rating firms are protected; potential entrants are impeded; and new ideas and technologies for assessing the riskiness of debt, and thereby the allocation of capital, may well be stifled. This entry regulation is an excellent example of good intentions having gone awry, via the 'law' of unintended consequences. The good intentions were to improve the safety-and-soundness regulation of financial institutions, and even to use 'market' information to do so. But the unfortunate result has been a distortionary entry restriction regime with respect to bond rating firms. Fortunately, there are better ways to achieve the desired goals – ways that would permit the SEC to cease these entry restrictions and nevertheless allow safety-and-soundness regulation of financial institutions to proceed in desirable directions. If the SEC were to exit from its role as the entry regulator of the bond rating industry, financial markets' participants could then make their own decisions as to which firms and methods offer the best information as to the default probabilities and other relevant parameters with respect to debt issuances. This paper expands on these themes.


Abstract During the 20th century, US agriculture underwent vast transformations. The number of farmers has decreased, more farmers are relying on off-farm income, agriculture's proportion of the US GDP has declined, and a minority of non-metro counties in the US are farming dependent. Agriculture's evolution will continue and we have identified key trends and future challenges to effectively manage our changing agricultural system. Eight current trends in US agriculture were identified. These included: (1) increased land degradation; (2) competing land uses; (3) focus on single ecosystem service; (4) increase in farm size; (5) movement toward commercialization; (6) genetic engineering; (7) global markets; and (8) changing social structure. Future trends likely to affect agriculture include: (1) diminishing and increasingly volatile farm incomes; (2) reduced government involvement in food regulation; (3) continued transition from farming to agribusiness; (4) land-use will become a major issue; (5) increasing animal protein consumption in the US; (6) increased public input on livestock production practices; (7) increasing urbanization of historically rural US counties; (8) increased public concern over food safety; (9) increased medicinal production from agriculture; (10) new tastes, markets and opportunities will emerge. We further postulated that future challenges facing US agriculture might include: (1) competitive pressures; (2) sustainable development; (3) resource conservation; and (4) research and development. Integrated agricultural systems may be flexible enough to address these challenges. However, robust principles will be needed to design adaptable integrated agricultural systems. We present a nonexclusive list of preliminary principles under the four general categories of (1) economics and economic policies; (2) environmental; (3) social and political; and (4) technological.


Dozens of low-head dams are removed annually for reasons of obsolescence, financial liability, public safety, or as part of aquatic ecosystem restoration. Prior to removing a dam, hydrologic and sedimentologic studies are used to predict channel changes that would occur after the proposed dam removal. One commonly used predictive approach is a channel evolution model (CEM). However, most CEMs assume that the reservoir has trapped cohesive silts and muds. This study looks at the effects of low-head dam removal on a reservoir in filled with sand-rich sediment. The Secor Dam (2.5 m tall, 17 m wide) was constructed on the Ottawa River in northwestern Ohio (USA) during 1928 and was removed in 2007. High resolution channel cross-sections were measured at 17 locations prior to dam removal and re-measured every approximately 30 days for 6 months following the removal. Sediment sampling, sediment traps, substrate sampling, differential GPS tracking of channel bed forms and sediment coring were also used to characterize the channel sediment response to dam removal. Breaching of the dam produced a diffuse nickzone which was the width of the channel and about 10 m in length. One initial response was downstream migration of a sediment wave at rates up to 0.5 m/hr. The overall effect was erosion of the former reservoir to a distance of 150 m upstream of the former dam. Portions of the former reservoir were incised >1 m. Within the first 6 months after removal, approximately 800 m3 of sand had been mobilized from the former reservoir, transported downstream past the former dam, and had primarily in-filled pre-existing pools within a reach approximately 150 m downstream of the former dam. This behavior significantly differs from the predicted results of current CEMs which anticipate a first flush of suspended sediment and minor deposition of bed load materials in the channel downstream of the former dam.


The following references were compiled to provide interested
parties with sources of social science research on preparing for
and managing hazardous material disasters. Work of this kind has
been going on since the 1950s, although it has accelerated
considerably in the last decade. Out of the now rather voluminous
literature, we have selected out a range of publications that illustrate the work that has been done. Major criteria for selection were the intrinsic social science
merit of the publication as well as its possible interest to as
many relevant professional and scientific audiences as possible.
Preference was also given to writings based on empirical research,
and those dealing with disasters rather than just emergencies. The
older literature is cited as well as the more recent work. While
all the items listed are in the English language, an effort was
made to include studies done outside of the North American
continent. Publications on both fixed sites and transportation
accidents involving hazardous materials are included. An effort
was also made to insure that publications on all phases of
planning for hazardous materials disasters are represented,
including mitigation and prevention, emergency preparedness,
emergency response, and recovery. However, references solely to wartime situations are not provided.


The main aim of this paper was to develop and evaluate securely web-based application for construction material testing using object-oriented technology and parameterized queries for SQL command queries. The SQL queries for the web application of construction material testing were modified by adjusting their codes which included connection strings, authorization bypass and execute commands. Detection of SQL injection vulnerability was conducted by expertise and two automatic web vulnerability scanning tools. It was found that the parameterized queries could minimize the SQL injection flaws of the web application significantly. General Terms Data and Information Systems


Abstract. An updated version (Version 3) of the Snow Melt Onset Over Arctic Sea Ice from SMMR (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer) and SSM/I-SSMIS (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager-Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder) Brightness Temperatures data set is now available. The data record has been reprocessed and extended to cover the years 1979–2012. From this data set, a statistical summary of melt onset (MO) dates on Arctic sea ice is presented. The mean MO date for the Arctic Region is 13 May (132.5 DOY – day of year) with a standard deviation of ±7.3 days. Regionally, mean MO dates vary from 15 March (73.2 DOY) in the St. Lawrence Gulf to 10 June (160.9 DOY) in the Central Arctic. Statistically significant decadal trends indicate that MO is occurring 6.6 days decade−1 earlier in the year for the Arctic Region. Regionally, MO trends are as great as −11.8 days decade−1 in the East Siberian Sea. The Bering Sea is an outlier and MO is occurring 3.1 days decade−1 later in the year.


Oregano is an aromatic plant widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean area and in Asia. Recent studies have revealed that the anti-inflammatory effect of essential oil in this plant. However, the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic potential have not been well elucidated. This study determined whether oregano essential oil (OEO) exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated murine macrophage cells (RAW264.7 cells) in vitro and elucidated the possible underlying molecular mechanisms. The results showed that OEO (2.5–10 μg/mL) inhibited the expression and secretion of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in RAW264.7 cells treated with LPS (1 μg/mL). Consistent with the pro-inflammatory gene expression, the OEO treatment efficiently reduced the LPS-induced activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase, protein kinase B, and nuclear factor κB in RAW264.7 cells. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase inhibition in Nox2 protein-silenced cells attenuated the mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. The OEO inhibited the LPS-induced elevation of NADPH oxidase and oxidative stress. This result suggests that LPS induces RAW264.7 cell inflammation through the NADPH oxidase-mediated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In conclusion, OEO protects against the LPS-induced RAW264.7 cell inflammatory response through the NADPH oxidase/ROS pathway.