Throughout plant development from seeds to seedlings, juveniles and mature
stages a plant's palatability or resistance to herbivory is likely to change. Such
ontogenetic changes can be due to changes in chemical and physical
characteristics of the foliage. Consequently, herbivores often prefer to feed on
particular plant ontogenetic stages.
The research presented in this thesis focuses on the effects of plant ontogeny on
chemical and physical characteristics of Eucalyptus nitens foliage, and flow on
effects for mammalian herbivory by the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus
vulpecula), and the red-bellied pademelon (Thylogale billardierii). My research
demonstrates that large changes in foliage chemical and/or physical
characteristics occur during the early seedling stage, between young and old
leaves within seedlings, and between juvenile and adult leaves within 4-year-old
trees. Furthermore, evidence from feeding trials implies that these changes are
likely to be associated with changes in mammalian herbivory.
No single chemical or physical characteristic of the foliage could explain the
patterns of herbivory observed across the onto genetic stages studied. In fact,
certain chemical or physical characteristics affected foliage resistance to
mammalian herbivores at some ontogenetic stages but not at others.
Furthermore, the importance of particular chemical and physical characteristics
differed between brushtail possums and pademelons, and under the types of
conditions they were offered the foliage (i.e. no-choice and choice trials).
Chemical analyses suggested that newly emerged seedlings become more protected from mammalian herbivores as they increased in age, with chemicals
known to deter these herbivores (sideroxylonals and cineole) being present in
minute quantities at seedling emergence. Within seedlings, pademelons preferred
older leaves that contained the lowest concentration of sideroxylonals and
cineole, while possums generally preferred young leaves high in sideroxylonals
and cineole, but also high in nitrogen. Under choice conditions possums
preferred juvenile over adult tree foliage, while under no-choice conditions they
consumed as much adult foliage as juvenile. These results suggested that
difference in leaf toughness affected feeding preference under choice condition
but not under no-choice conditions.
Currently ecological and evolutionary theories regarding interactions between
plants and herbivores are largely based on studies conducted at a single
ontogenetic stage. However, the large effects of ontogeny on the chemical and/or
physical characteristics of the foliage and its palatability to herbivores shown in
this thesis emphasise Boege and Marquis' (2005) assertion that the role of
ontogeny should be an important component in plant defence theories.


This paper is related to a large recent literature studying the Phillips curve in sticky-price equilibrium models. It differs in allowing for the degree of price stickiness to be determined endogenously. A closed-form solution for short-term inflation is derived from the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with state-dependent pricing originally developed by Dotsey, King and Wolman. This generalised Phillips curve encompasses the New Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC) based on Calvo-type price-setting as a special case. It describes current inflation as a function of lagged inflation, expected future inflation, and current and expected future real marginal costs. The paper demonstrates that inflation dynamics generated by the model for a broad class of time and state-dependent price-setting behaviours are well approximated by the popular hybrid NKPC (with one lag of inflation) in a low-inflation environment. This provides an explanation of why the hybrid NKPC performs well in describing inflation dynamics across industrial countries. It implies, however, that the reduced-form coefficients of the hybrid NKPC may not have a structural interpretation.


NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) have collected a great diversity of geological science results, thanks in large part to their surface mobility capabilities. The six wheel rocker/bogie mobility system provides driving capabilities in a range of terrain types, while the onboard IMU measures actual rover attitude changes (roll, pitch and yaw, but not position) quickly and accurately. Four stereo camera pairs provide accurate position knowledge and/or terrain assessment. Solar panels generally provide enough energy to drive the vehicle for at most four hours each day, but drive time is often restricted by other planned activities. Driving along slopes in nonhomogeneous terrain injects unpredictable amounts of slip into each drive. These restrictions led to the creation of driving strategies that alternately use more or less onboard autonomy, to maximize drive speed and distance at the cost of increased complexity in the sequences of commands built by human Rover Planners each day. Commands to the MER vehicles are typically transmitted at most once per day, so mobility operations are encoded as event-driven sequences of individual motion commands. Motions may be commanded using quickly-executing Directed commands which perform only reactive motion safety checks (e.g., real-time current limits, maximum instantaneous vehicle tilt limit), slowly-executing position measuring Visual Odometry (VisOdom) commands, which use images to accurately update the onboard position estimate, or slow-to-medium speed Autonomous Navigation (AutoNav) commands, which use onboard image processing to perform predictive terrain safety checks and optional autonomous Path Selection. In total, the MER rovers have driven more than 10 kilometers over Martian terrain during their first 21 months of operation using these basic modes. In this paper we describe the strategies adopted for selecting between human-planned Directed drives versus rover-adaptive Autonomous Navigation, Visual Odometry and Path Selection drives.


Sequences of optical microresonators can be used to construct densely integrated structures that display slow group velocity, ultrahigh or low dispersion of controllable sign, enhanced self-phase modulation, and nonlinear optical switching. We consider four archetypal geometries consisting of effectively one-dimensional sequences of coupled microresonators. Two of these cases exhibit distributed feedback such as is found in a traditional multilayered structure supporting photonic bandgaps. The other two exhibit localized feedback and resonant enhancement but are free from photonic bandgaps. All of these structures offer unique properties useful for controlling the propagation of light pulses on a chip.


The case study in this report concerns Sea Level Rise in Trinidad and Tobago with the following overall objectives: 1. Define, in terms of measurable quantitative variables, the vulnerability of the water and sanitation sector in Trinidad and Tobago with respect to sea level rise. 2. Contribute to strengthen the capacity of the water and sanitation sector to adaptively respond to sea level rise through climate change in terms of the development planning and reducing the vulnerability in Trinidad and Tobago. 3. Contribute to the establishment of guidelines for "best practices" in adaptation to climate change with respect to potential effects of sea level rise in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) through this case study in Trinidad and Tobago. 4. Contribute to the Bank's across-the-board efforts to classify, monitor and evaluate its investments in reducing the vulnerability of climate change in the region.


The distinct characteristics of variable bit rate (VBR) video traffic and its quality of service (QoS) constraints have posed a unique challenge on network resource allocation and management for future integrated networks. Dynamic bandwidth allocation attempts to adaptively allocate resources to capture the burstiness of VBR video traffic, and therefore could potentially increase network utilization substantially while still satisfying the desired QoS requirements. We focus on prediction-based dynamic bandwidth allocation. In this context, the multiresolution learning neural-network-based traffic predictor is rigorously examined. A well-known-heuristic based approach RED-VBR scheme is used as a baseline for performance evaluation. Simulations using real-world MPEG-4 VBR video traces are conducted, and a comprehensive performance metrics is presented. In addition, a new concept of renegotiation control is introduced and a novel renegotiation control algorithm based on binary exponential backoff (BEB) is proposed to efficiently reduce renegotiation frequency.


Tritiated water spills by nuclear installations result in uptake in aquatic organisms. The radionuclide uptake model BURN (developed by NRG, modified), considers not only tritium as tritiated water (HTO) but also the conversion into organically bound tritium (OBT). Comparison with the original BURN mode showed that the modified model gave more realistic results in terms of concentration levels, and consequently for dose assessment as result of ingestion of fishery products. For more accurate modelling, seasonal effects and half-life estimates asa function of body weight and water temperature must be taken into account. A first attempt is given, although limited empirical data gives reason to further investigation of this significant effect.


| Resilience, as a new concept in sustainability literature, has created a new understanding of the relationship between humans and the environment. In addition, with increasing environmental challenges facing humans in the new century, this concept has been extended in different fields and redefined by scholars of different disciplines. Landscape, a science that deals with the interaction between humans and the environment, has been no exception; in recent years, after the introduction of resilience into urban literature, this concept has now found its way into the literature of the field. Researchers are now seeking to develop a theoretical framework based on this concept to preserve the landscape in the face of dynamic environmental disturbances. However, a careful perusal of literature of resilient landscape reveals that not all aspects of the landscape have been considered in available studies. Since an incorrect conceptualization of the term, landscape, through these definitions lead to a malfunction of existing theoretical frameworks in the face of disorders, this study attempts to evaluate the existing definitions. This study also aims to review the available definitions of the term of the landscape resilience and compare them with the fundamental definitions of the concept of the landscape. To this end, this study first briefly reviews the literature of resilience in the field of urbanism and landscape, and then, presents the theoretical foundations of the landscape and its properties. Thereafter, the concept of landscape in landscape resilience is compared and contrasted with the fundamental definitions of the term landscape, and their discrepancies are discussed. The results of this study indicate that, in all definitions, the perceptual aspects of the landscape have been neglected, and only its objective aspects have been included. In addition, this concept has been considered as equivalent to environmental ecosystems. As a result, the term "landscape", in all definitions, in the field of landscape resilience is substantially different from the concept defined by landscape literary experts.


During development, transcription factors select distinct gene programs, providing the necessary regulatory complexity for temporal and tissue-specific gene expression. How related factors retain specificity, especially when they recognize the same DNA motifs, is not understood. We address this paradox using basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors ASCL1, ASCL2, and MYOD1, crucial mediators of lineage specification. In vivo, these factors recognize the same DNA motifs, yet bind largely different genomic sites and regulate distinct transcriptional programs. This suggests that their ability to identify regulatory targets is defined either by the cellular environment of the partially defined lineages in which they are endogenously expressed, or by intrinsic properties of the factors themselves. To distinguish between these mechanisms, we directly compared the chromatin binding properties of this subset of bHLH factors when ectopically expressed in embryonic stem cells, presenting them with a common chromatin landscape and cellular components. We find that these factors retain distinct binding sites; thus, specificity of binding is an intrinsic property not requiring a restricted landscape or lineage-specific cofactors. Although the ASCL factors and MYOD1 have some distinct DNA motif preference, it is not sufficient to explain the extent of the differential binding. All three factors can bind inaccessible chromatin and induce changes in chromatin accessibility and H3K27ac. A reiterated pattern of DNA binding motifs is uniquely enriched in inaccessible chromatin at sites bound by these bHLH factors. These combined properties define a subclass of lineage-specific bHLH factors and provide context for their central roles in development and disease.


At the height of the Jazz Age, Ring Lardner was America s most beloved humorist, equally admired by a popular audience and by literary friends like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edmund Wilson. A sports writer who became a sensation with his comic baseball bestseller, "You Know Me Al," Lardner had a rare gift for inspired nonsense and an ear attuned to the rhythms and hilarious oddities of American speech. He was also a sharp and dispassionate observer of the American scene. His best stories among them such masterpieces as Haircut, The Golden Honeymoon, A Caddy s Diary, and The Love Nest cast a devastating eye on the hypocrisies, prejudices, and petty scheming of everyday life. In this Library of America edition, editor Ian Frazier surveys the whole sweep of Lardner s talents, offering contemporary readers his finest stories, the full texts of "You Know Me Al," "The Big Town," and the long out-of-print "The Real Dope," and a generous sampling of his humor pieces, sports reporting, song lyrics, and surrealist playlets."


Numerical simulations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies undergoing several close encounters with the Milky Way are described. By comparing our models to observed properties of the recently discovered dwarf galaxy in Sagittarius (Sgr), we discuss implications of our results for the formation and evolution of the Milky Way system. We find that existing observations are not sufficient to allow us to place precise limits on either the orbit or the initial state of the dwarf. Debris from the ongoing tidal stripping of the Sagittarius galaxy are expected to form moving groups in the halo of the Galaxy and the discovery of such stars would strongly constrain the history and dynamical state of the dwarf. Furthermore, if Sgr is presently being disrupted, we predict that its remains will be detectable as a moving group in the halo for more than 1 Gyr. Thus, if similar accretion events have occurred in the recent history of the Galaxy, their aftereffects may still be observable.


Background/Context Teacher educator development remains an undertaking that is both understudied and underavailable as an explicit professional path, despite scholarship suggesting that teacher education's transformative potential hinges on teacher educators' pedagogical work. Purpose, Practice, & Participants This article reports on a qualitative study that explored the development of teacher educators who expressed deep commitments to educational equity for minoritized youth. Fifteen current and prospective teacher educators participated over three years in situated adaptations of two critical pedagogical approaches: Freirean culture circles, where participants engaged in critical dialogue around conflicts encountered in their teacher education work that involved issues of inequity, particularly deficit-based ideas of P–12 students and their families, and Boalian theatre (or teatro), interactive role-play where participants dramatically re-enacted these conflicts and imagined potential responses to them. This study examines the ways in which these critical pedagogical spaces facilitated participants' development as asset-oriented teacher educators. Research Design & Data Collection This research represents an ethnographic self-study, as the authors engaged in culture circles and teatro as participant-researchers. To study these spaces of critical teacher educator development, the authors collected ethnographic data, which included semistructured interviews with each participant, field notes, and audio/ video recordings of dialogue and role-play, as well as participant written reflections. Findings/Results Through their engagement in culture circles and teatro, participants came to recognize some of the micro-pedagogies of asset-oriented teacher education, grappled with the relational dimensions of teacher learning, became familiar with possible tools of asset-oriented teacher education, and interrogated the social, political, and historical dimensions of the work. In doing so, they understood each area as linked both to specific settings and individuals and as connected to more common dilemmas that may play out across teacher education contexts. Conclusions/Recommendations While cautioning against widespread, mechanistic implementation, the authors recognize culture circles and teatro as offering special promise for the development of asset-oriented teacher educators. In particular, findings suggest that these critical pedagogies support the conditions for learning—particularly spaces that center participants' identities and experiential conflicts—that can cultivate complex understandings about, and tools for engaging, the contingent work of asset-oriented teacher education. Such spaces seem particularly well equipped to cultivate critical understandings deemed essential for transforming the field of teacher education.


Cash-based interventions (CBIs) as one form of aid have recently received substantial interest from humanitarian organizations in persistent humanitarian crises. This article proposes a system dynamics (SD) approach to study the CBIs' impact factors on all aspects of the beneficiaries' dignity in longstanding refugee crises, such as the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Reviewing the humanitarian management literature, we first develop a set of holistic causal loops to better understand the building boxes of refugees' dignity and their interactions. Then, an SD model is proposed and calibrated by field data from humanitarian organizations. The result of CBI amount sensitivity and payment time periods shows that CBIs are significantly more effective in diminishing child labor rates and to improve in health and accommodation service reception by the refugees in short terms, but to be as much effective in longer terms, humanitarian organizations must be more directly contribute to service capacity-building activities that are strategies by the hosting governments and supported by the international bodies, such as EU and UN. Otherwise, long-term or enhanced CBI supports can only lead to accelerated service capacity saturation and thus put extra pressure on already strained services and cause tensions between hosting and refugee communities.


Archives are using Web 2.0 applications in a context that allows for new types of interaction, new opportunities regarding institutional promotion, new ways of providing their services and making their heritage known to the community. Applications such as Facebook (online social network), Flickr (online image-sharing community) and YouTube (online video sharing community) are already used by cultural organisations that interact in the informal context of Web 2.0. In this article I aim to describe how Web 2.0 can work as a virtual extension for archives and other cultural organisations, by identifying impacts and benefits resulting from the use of Web 2.0 applications together with some goals and strategies of such use.


Three new erbB transducing viruses generated during avian leukosis virus-induced erythroblastosis have been cloned and sequenced, and their transforming abilities have been analyzed. Provirus 9134 E1 expresses an amino-terminally truncated erbB product that is analogous to the proviral insertionally activated c-erbB gag-erbB fusion product. This virus efficiently induces erythroblastosis, but does not transform fibroblasts in vitro or induce sarcomas in vivo. In contrast, virus 9134 S3 expresses an erbB product identical to the erbB product of 9134 E1, with the exception of a large internal deletion located between the kinase domain and the putative autophosphorylation site, P1. Interestingly, this virus is no longer capable of inducing erythroblastosis, but can induce both fibrosarcomas and hemangiomas in vivo. Provirus 9134 F3 has sustained an approximately 23-amino-acid carboxy-terminal truncation and is capable of inducing both erythroblastosis and sarcomagenesis. This virus expresses an erbB product with the shortest carboxy-terminal truncation sufficient to reveal the sarcomagenic potential of this protein. The distinct transforming properties of these viruses indicate that different structural domains of the erbB product confer distinct disease specificities.


ABSTRACT In 2018, the International Organization for Migration stated that 'migration has nearly become synonymous with urbanization, given the dominance of the city as the destination of most migrants'. The geopolitical dimension of migration governance is especially important in Mediterranean cities where the European Union's (EU) efforts to push border management onto external actors has occurred alongside the transfer of new powers, competencies, and responsibilities for local authorities. Morocco is one such country where a number of administrative and territorial reforms have sought to transform the territoriality of migration governance, and by extension the structure of Euro-Mediterranean affairs. Our objective is to examine more fully how distinctly local aspects of Moroccan migration diplomacy have been harnessed as a force for geopolitical action today. The approach serves to decentre analysis of EU migration policy by rescaling the focus of migration to the urban peripheries of Europe, and to thereby contest Eurocentric accounts of migration governance in the region. Based on an analysis of Moroccan cities' involvement in migration governance, including the MC2CM Project – a Mediterranean network of cities supported by EU and international actors – we argue that the rescaling of migration diplomacy aims to 'change the narrative' about Morocco's capacity to manage immigration in light of international condemnation of state violence towards sub-Saharan migrants. In particular, devolution is skilfully used to cast Morocco as an advocate for the empowerment of local authorities managing migration, and migrants themselves as an opportunity for socio-economic development. At the same time, however, we observed that the rescaling of migration governance does not so much change the prevailing autocratic securitization of demographic mobility, but rather restructures its coordination through new governing actors (cities) and management techniques (migration).


While China shared many systemic, initial conditions with the transition economies of Central-East Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), it had a more agricultural economy and a more stable political-economic system than many CEE and CIS countries. Unlike most of the CEE and CIS economies, China adopted a strategy of gradual economic transformation that maintained the existing system and created new economic activities on top of it. This enabled China to avoid the transformation depression observed in CEE and CIS, and allowed it to generate high rates of economic growth that have now lasted for almost three decades. At the time of this study, the CEE and CIS economies have also completed a decade or more of respectable economic growth, demonstrating that numerous forms of the transition process can generate long term economic growth. In retrospect, the tradeoff for avoiding an initial depression appears to be the willingness to maintain most of the existing economic and political system rather than embarking on a rapid but incomplete economic and political transformation. With a rising economic instability and political pressure, countries such as Poland and the Soviet Union (CIS) had little choice but to proceed relatively fast. Others, such as East Germany and Czechoslovakia, could have retained the centrally planned system, but they abandoned it and communism rapidly for political reasons. Looking forward, the current situation is an optimistic one, with China, CIS and CEE belonging to the fastest growing regions of the world. It will be interesting to see whether all or only some of these models will turn out to be successful in the long run.


Septicemia continues to be a major cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Aim: To study the incidence, microbial profile and emergence of extended spectrum beta lactamases mediated resistance (ESBL) in neonatal septicemia in relation to gestational age and birth weight. This is a prospective study of 1647 babies suspected of neonatal septicemia based on symptomatology and clinical diagnosis. Evaluated data included: age, sex, birth weight, type of isolated pathogen, and antibiotic sensitivity. Gram negative bacteria were the predominant organisms to be isolated. Klebsiella spp 232 (26.5%) was the predominant organism followed by E. coli 92(10.5%), and Acinetobacter 54(6.2%). Among Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus 176 (20.1%) was the predominant followed by coagulase negative Staphylococci 118(13.6%). Preterm babies were highly significantly more susceptible to infection than term babies (61.9% vs 40.4%; P<0.001). Klebsiella sps is the predominant organism (36.7% & 23.8%) isolated among both preterm male and female babies followed by Staphylococcus aureus (14.4% & 14.7%). Among term babies Staphylococcus aureus (32.6%) was the predominant among the male babies followed by E.coli (23.5%) and Staphylococcus aureus (33.3%) was the predominant among female babies followed by CoNS (26.9%). Among the low birth weight babies, Klebsiella sps was isolated in 41.9% and in normal weight babies, Staphylococcus aureus (42.9%) was the predominant among the male babies and Klebsiella sps (32.3%) was the predominant among female babies
Multidrug resistant organisms were found to be most pathogenic. 32.8% of gram negative bacilli were ESL producer Klebsiella pneumoniae was the predominant ESL producer 47(43.9%) followed by E.coli 15 (14.0), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 11(10.3%). AmpC production was seen in 18 (6.2%) of the isolates


Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by the lack of dystrophin, but many patients have rare revertant fibres that express dystrophin. The skeletal muscle pathology of DMD patients includes immune cell infiltration and inflammatory cascades. There are several strategies to restore dystrophin in skeletal muscles of patients, including exon skipping and gene therapy. There is some evidence that dystrophin restoration leads to a reduction in immune cells, but dystrophin epitopes expressed in revertant fibres or following genome editing, cell therapy or microdystrophin delivery after AAV gene therapy may elicit T cell production in patients. This may affect the efficacy of the therapeutic intervention, and potentially lead to serious adverse events. To confirm and extend previous studies, we performed annual Enzyme- Linked Immunospot interferon-gamma assays on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 77 paediatric boys with DMD recruited into a natural history study, 69 of whom (89.6%) were treated with corticosteroids. T cell responses to dystrophin were quantified using a total of 368 peptides spanning the entire dystrophin protein, organized into nine peptide pools. Peptide mapping pools were used to further localize the immune response in one positive patient. Six (7.8%) patients had a T cell-mediated immune response to dystrophin at at least one timepoint. All patients that had a positive result had been treated with corticosteroids, either prednisolone or prednisone. Our results show that ~8% of DMD individuals in our cohort have a pre-existing T cell-mediated immune response to dystrophin despite steroid treatment. Although these responses are relatively low-level, this information should be considered as a useful immunological baseline before undertaking clinical trials and future DMD studies. We further highlight the importance for a robust, reproducible standard operating procedure for collecting, storing and shipping samples from multiple centres to minimise the number of inconclusive data.


Abstract The middle voice has received ample attention in the literature, yet the precise boundary between middle voice and other related constructions still remains elusive. For example, do sentences like Mary slept (*herself) well last night and Mary washed (herself) thoroughly and expertly belong to the middle voice or the reflexive domain, or are they simply intransitive one-participant structures? While ambiguity between reflexive and middles has been noted by (Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.), I show that the problem is more widespread. Depending on the marking patterns available in a given language, such ambiguities can occur between middles and prototypical intransitive one-participant events, or between middles and reflexives. Using data from two languages with distinct marking patterns – English (a language with a reflexive marker but no middle marker) and Romanian (a language with one marker of each type) – I discuss the possibility of distinguishing middles from other related constructions. In English, it is shown that the him/herself test can be used to distinguish direct middles from intransitive one-participant events. In Romanian, we see middle and reflexive markers used together in the same construction without contradiction, bringing together both middle and reflexive semantics (as well as marking). In agreement with (Maldonado, Ricardo. 2000. Spanish reflexives. In Zygmunt Frajzyngier & Traci Walker (eds.), Reflexives: Forms and functions, 153–185. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.) and (Manney, Linda. 2001. Middle voice in Modern Greek: Meaning and function of a morphoyntactic category. Amsterdam &Philadelphia: John Benjamins.), the account given here supports the view of the middle voice as a unified phenomenon, and following (Maldonado, Ricardo. 2009. Middle as a basic voice system. In Lilian Guerrero, Ibáñez Sergio & Belloro Valeria (eds.), Studies in role and reference grammar. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, UNAM.), the main function of the middle is to profile the core properties of events (but not necessarily to reduce the relative elaboration of participants, as proposed by Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam &Philadelphia: John Benjamins.). So, unlike active and passive voice which concern the focusing of various participants (namely, Agents and Patients, respectively), the middle voice focuses the event itself.


The strength of the hydrogen bond (H-bond) in biomacromolecules is significantly
weaker compared to covalent bonds. Consequently, H-bonds readily form and break
under physiological conditions. This property explains the key role H-bonds play in
the stabilisation of biological macromolecules and as participants in many enzymatic
reactions. Ubiquitin is often used in NMR experiments as a model protein due to its
high solubility and stability. In addition, the folding of ubiquitin has been shown to
follow a simple two-state process. As such, ubiquitin is an ideal protein to examine the
subtle effects of different solvent conditions on secondary structure. In this research
project a variety of NMR parameters are used to characterise the changes in the
character (i.e. geometry/strength) of the H-bonds in ubiquitin under different physicochemical
conditions. In particular, the research project focuses on measuring H-bond
scalar couplings (HBCs), and correlating the HBCs to other NMR parameters such as
the amide 1H isotropic chemical shift and 15N relaxation data. The NMR data is
complimented by circular dichroic data that provides a "global" picture of the protein
structural state under the various co-solute conditions examined.
The H-bonds properties of ubiquitin where observed over a range of four temperatures
15 to 60 oC in the presence and absence of 1.5 M trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO).
TMAO is an organic osmolyte produced by certain species of fish to counteract high
concentrations of urea found in their cells. In the absence of TMAO a global decrease
in h3JNC' couplings were observed with increasing temperatures. This observation
indicates a thermal expansion of the protein as the temperature increased. The
weakening of the HBCs correlated with an upfield shift of the amide 1HN chemical
shift and a downfield shift of the donor 15N chemical shift. The NMR results were
supported by CD data in which a global decrease in ellipticity values was observed as
the temperature was increased. In the presence of 1.5 M TMAO the average decrease
in h3JNC' couplings between 15 and 60 oC were smaller (0.075 ± 0.001 Hz) compared
to value 0.1 ± 0.001 Hz recorded in the absence of TMAO. Using these HBC values,
the thermal expansion coefficient in the absence of TMAO was 3.3 (±0.2) 10-4 K–1,
whereas in the presence of TMAO a value of 2.2 (±0.2) 10-4 K–1was calculated. The
slower rate of thermal expansion of H-bonds in ubiquitin in the presence of TMAO indicates that this co-solute slows the thermal denaturation of ubiquitin and shifts the
melting point of ubiquitin to a higher value. In the presence of TMAO, the correlation
between the HBCs and the 1H and 15N chemical shifts is significantly weaker
compared to data recorded in the absence of TMAO. Presumably, the presence of
TMAO not only indirectly influences the H-bond character, but also the chemical
environment of the donor amide group. This is not unexpected since the HBCs are
solely influenced by the H-bond geometry, whereas the chemical environment
surrounding the donor group nuclei influences the 1H and 15N chemical shifts.
Urea and Guanidinium chloride (Gdn.HCl) are denaturants that have been used
extensively in protein folding and stability studies. The H-bonds in ubiquitin where
observed over different Gdn.HCl concentrations from 0 to 3.0 M. An increase in some
of the h3JNC' couplings were observed at Gdn.HCl concentrations below 1.5 M. This
observation follows previous research that has shown that the salt stabilising
characteristics of Gdn.HCl prevail at low concentrations. At 3 M Gdn.HCl a global
decrease in HBCs was observed. Due to the two-state folding process of ubiquitin, the
acquisition of NMR data beyond a Gdn.HCl concentration of < 3.0 M gave rise to
second sets of peaks: one set of peaks represented the native state of ubiquitin, while
the second set of peaks represents ubiquitin in the unfolded state. As such, the
recording of data beyond this concentration would not provide any further insight into
the denaturation of ubiquitin. At the concentrations examined (i.e. < 3.0 M), this study
provided insights into the influence of Gdn.HCl on the stability and character of Hbonds
in ubiquitin. In a similar series of NMR experiments, the effect of urea on the
structure of ubiquitin was examined at concentrations ranging between 0 and 3 M.


The digital age has forever changed the role of copyright in promoting the progress of science and the arts. The era of instant authorship has provided copyright to countless authors who are not motivated by copyright incentives. It has also made it impracticable for copyright to return to a system requiring author adherence to formalities, such as notice and registration. Though many intellectual property scholars today argue for "reformalizing" copyright, they fail to consider fully the consequences of shifting from the current opt-out copyright system to an opt-in regime.This Comment fills that gap by exploring how an opt-in regime would work in a world with countless authors. In particular, it details the inability of many authors to know at the time of creating an original work whether that work will be commercially successful, such that, if copyright did not automatically vest, it would be worth the time and cost to obtain protection. This Comment ultimately argues that an opt-in copyright system characterized by formalities would not scale in the era of instant authorship and that returning to such a regime would disincentivize authors who are motivated by the present copyright scheme. This Comment then concludes with a discussion of why an opt-out system that automatically grants rights to authors is supported by the different theories of the U.S. Constitution's Copyright Clause.


A unique multimedia installation: a creative collaboration between artist John Hyatt and UNIFORM, design and innovation company with offices in Liverpool and London: based on a shrine that is mentioned very fleetingly in the Malcolm Lowry's novel Under the Volcano, the shrine of the 'Virgin for those who have nobody with', the artwork builds a unique one-to-one interaction between the viewer and the text of the novel. The installation is for adults only and an official is on hand to authorise participation. The viewer chooses a shot from two bottles of clear liquid – one is pure water, the other is 70% proof firewater and the choice is their own. Sensors detect the preference and calculates an individual fortune by delivering a section of the novel chosen at random for the participant from a bank of digital sound clips narrated and recorded by Hyatt. Fortune-telling through a random selection from a text is known as bibliomancy: an ancient rite usually practiced using Virgil's Aeneid. In Under the Volcano, Lowry's main character, Geoffrey Firmin, uses an Elizabethan text. The installation, Shot Under the Volcano, uses Lowry's novel itself to give prophecy. Shot Under the Volcano was installed at Bluecoat, School Lane, in Liverpool City centre allied to and becoming a part of 'Under the Volcano, 70 Years On: A Malcolm Lowry Conference', an international conference held at Liverpool John Moores University. http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/events/view/events/3727 An original, intimate, fortune-telling, multimedia art installation incorporating sensor technology, digital print, cardboard sculpture, tequila, water, sound, performance and literature. The new multimedia artwork, Shot Under the Volcano, was inspired by the 1947 novel, Under the Volcano, by Wirral-born author, Malcolm Lowry. The unique installation, Shot Under the Volcano, was the first output from a creative collaboration between the Liverpool-based international artist, John Hyatt, newly-appointed Professor of Contemporary Art and Director of ART LABS in the School of Art and Design, Liverpool John Moores University, with Uniform, design and innovation company with offices in Liverpool and London. The work was executed with assistance from the expertise of the team of the Printmaking and Fashion areas of Liverpool School of Art and Design, Hannah Fray, Paul Davidson, and Cathy Reilly; and a community group of highly talented young Liverpudlians, Dot Russell-Gajos, Hattie Russell-Gajos, Nina Butterworth and Theo Butterworth, facilitated by the artists, Amy Russell and Fiona Stirling. The work is the first output from Hyatt's artist's residency at Sensor City, Liverpool's new centre for the development of sensor technologies and industries.


Utilizing theory and empirical insights from psychology and behavioural economics, this paper examines individuals' cognitive and motivational barriers to adopting climate change adaptation and mitigation measures that increase consumer welfare. We explore various strategies that take into account the simplified decision-making processes used by individuals and resulting biases. We make these points by working through two examples: (1) investments in energy efficiency products and new technology and (2) adaptation measures to reduce property damage from future floods and hurricanes. In both cases there is a reluctance to undertake these measures due to high and certain upfront costs, delayed and probabilistic benefits, and behavioural biases related to this asymmetry. The use of choice architecture through framing and the use of default options coupled with short-term incentives and long-term contracts can encourage greater investment in these measures.


BACKGROUND
Fractures of the distal femur (the part of the thigh bone nearest the knee) are a considerable cause of morbidity. Various different surgical and non-surgical treatments have been used in the management of these injuries but the best treatment remains controversial.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects (benefits and harms) of interventions for treating fractures of the distal femur in adults.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register (9 September 2014); the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library, 2014, Issue 8); MEDLINE (1946 to August week 4 2014); EMBASE (1980 to 2014 week 36); World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (January 2015); conference proceedings and reference lists without language restrictions.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled clinical trials comparing interventions for treating fractures of the distal femur in adults. Our primary outcomes were patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of knee function and adverse events, including re-operations.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently selected studies and performed data extraction and risk of bias assessment. We assessed treatment effects using risk ratios (RR) or mean differences (MD) and, where appropriate, we pooled data using a fixed-effect model.

MAIN RESULTS
We included seven studies that involved a total of 444 adults with distal femur fractures. Each of the included studies was small and assessed to be at substantial risk of bias, with four studies being quasi-randomised and none of the studies using blinding in outcome assessment. All studies provided an incomplete picture of outcome. Based on GRADE criteria, we assessed the quality of the evidence as very low for all reported outcomes, which means we are very uncertain of the reliability of these results.One study compared surgical (dynamic condylar screw (DCS) fixation) and non-surgical (skeletal traction) treatment in 42 older adults (mean age 79 years) with displaced fractures of the distal femur. This study, which did not report on PROMs, provided very low quality evidence of little between-group differences in adverse events such as death (2/20 surgical versus 1/20 non-surgical), re-operation or repeat procedures (1/20 versus 3/20) and other adverse effects including delayed union. However, while none of the findings were statistically significant, there were more complications such as pressure sores (0/20 versus 4/20) associated with prolonged immobilisation in the non-surgical group, who stayed on average one month longer in hospital.The other six studies compared different surgical interventions. Three studies, including 159 participants, compared retrograde intramedullary nail (RIMN) fixation versus DCS or blade-plate fixation (fixed-angle devices). None of these studies reported PROMS relating to function. None of the results for the reported adverse events showed a difference between the two implants. Thus, although there was very low quality evidence of a higher risk of re-operation in the RIMN group, the 95% confidence interval (CI) also included the possibility of a higher risk of re-operation for the fixed-angle device (9/83 RIMN versus 4/96 fixed-angle device; 3 studies: RR 1.85, 95% CI 0.62 to 5.57). There was no clinically important difference between the two groups found in quality of life assessed using the 36-item Short Form in one study (23 fractures).One study (18 participants) provided very low quality evidence of there being little difference in adverse events between RIMN and non-locking plate fixation. One study (53 participants) provided very low quality evidence of a higher risk of re-operation after locking plate fixation compared with a single fixed-angle device (6/28 locking plate versus 1/25 fixed-angle device; RR 5.36, 95% CI 0.69 to 41.50); however, the 95% CI also included the possibility of a higher risk of re-operation for the fixed-angle device. Neither of these trials reported on PROMs.The largest included study, which reported outcomes in 126 participants at one-year follow-up, compared RIMN versus locking plate fixation; both implants are commonly used in current practice. None of the between-group differences in the reported outcomes were statistically significant; thus the CIs crossed the line of no effect. There was very low quality evidence of better patient-reported musculoskeletal function in the RIMN group based on Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (0 to 100: best function) scores (e.g. dysfunction index: MD -5.90 favouring RIMN, 95% CI -15.13 to 3.33) as well as quality of life using the EuroQoL-5D Index (0 to 1: best quality of life) (MD 0.10 favouring RIMN, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.21). The CIs for both results included a clinically important effect favouring RIMN but also a clinically insignificant effect in favour of locking plate fixation.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
This review highlights the major limitations of the available evidence concerning current treatment interventions for fractures of the distal femur. The currently available evidence is incomplete and insufficient to inform current clinical practice. Priority should be given to a definitive, pragmatic, multicentre randomised controlled clinical trial comparing contemporary treatments such as locked plates and intramedullary nails. At minimum, these should report validated patient-reported functional and quality-of-life outcomes at one and two years. All trials should be reported in full using the CONSORT guidelines.


The KBM equation for determining solvent frequency shifts is generally useless for predicting vC = O frequencies for compounds in various solvent systems. The vC = O frequencies for acetone and tetramethylurea in various solvents do not correlate with dielectric effects (ε) of the solvent. A series of factors most likely determine the extent of solute/solvent-induced vibrational mode frequency shifts.


Organic semiconductors have evolved rapidly over the last decades and currently are considered as the next-generation technology for many applications, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in flat-panel displays (FPDs) and solid state lighting (SSL), and organic solar cells (OSCs) in clean renewable energy. This dissertation focuses mainly on OLEDs. Although the commercialization of the OLED technology in FPDs is growing and appears to be just around the corner for SSL, there are still several key issues that need to be addressed: (1) the cost of OLEDs is very high, largely due to the costly current manufacturing process; (2) the efficiency of OLEDs needs to be improved. This is vital to the success of OLEDs in the FPD and SSL industries; (3) the lifetime of OLEDs, especially blue OLEDs, is the biggest technical challenge. All these issues raise the demand for new organic materials, new device structures, and continued lower-cost fabrication methods. In an attempt to address these issues, we used solution-processing methods to fabricate highly efficient small molecule OLEDs (SMOLEDs); this approach is costeffective in comparison to the more common thermal vacuum evaporation. We also successfully made efficient indium tin oxide (ITO)-free SMOLEDs to further improve the efficiency ofmore » the OLEDs. We employed the spin-dependent optically-detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique to study the luminescence quenching processes in OLEDs and organic materials in order to understand the intrinsic degradation mechanisms. We also fabricated polymer LEDs (PLEDs) based on a new electron-accepting blue-emitting polymer and studied the effect of molecular weight on the efficiency of PLEDs. All these studies helped us to better understand the underlying relationship between the organic semiconductor materials and the OLEDs' performance, and will subsequently assist in further enhancing the efficiency of OLEDs. With strongly improved device performance (in addition to other OLEDs' attributes such as mechanical flexibility and potential low cost), the OLED technology is promising to successfully compete with current technologies, such as LCDs and inorganic LEDs.« less


Clinical intelligence about a patient's risk of future adverse health events can support clinical decision making in personalized and preventive care. Healthcare predictive analytics using electronic health records offers a promising direction to address the challenging tasks of risk profiling. Patients with chronic diseases often face risks of not just one, but an array of adverse health events. However, existing risk models typically focus on one specific event and do not predict multiple outcomes. To attain enhanced risk profiling, we adopt the design science paradigm and propose a principled approach called Bayesian multitask learning (BMTL). Considering the model development for an event as a single task, our BMTL approach is to coordinate a set of baseline models—one for each event—and communicate training information across the models. The BMTL approach allows healthcare providers to achieve multifaceted risk profiling and model an arbitrary number of events simultaneously. Our experimental evaluations demonstrate that the BMTL approach attains an improved predictive performance when compared with the alternatives that model multiple events separately. We also find that, in most cases, the BMTL approach significantly outperforms existing multitask learning techniques. More importantly, our analysis shows that the BMTL approach can create significant potential impacts on clinical practice in reducing the failures and delays in preventive interventions. We discuss several implications of this study for health IT, big data and predictive analytics, and design science research.


Empirical risk minimization is a standard principle for choosing algorithms in learning theory. In this paper we study the properties of empirical risk minimization for time series. The analysis is carried out in a general framework that covers different types of forecasting applications encountered in the literature. We are concerned with 1-step-ahead prediction of a univariate time series generated by a parameter-driven process. A class of recursive algorithms is available to forecast the time series. The algorithms are recursive in the sense that the forecast produced in a given period is a function of the lagged values of the forecast and of the time series. The relationship between the generating mechanism of the time series and the class of algorithms is unspecified. Our main result establishes that the algorithm chosen by empirical risk minimization achieves asymptotically the optimal predictive performance that is attainable within the class of algorithms.


ABSTRACT Oretga, L.; Celentano, E.; Finkl, C., and Defeo, O., 2013. Effects of climate variability on the morphodynamics of Uruguayan sandy beaches. Effects of long-term trends in climatic variability on the morphodynamics of a reflective and a dissipative sandy beach in Uruguay (SW Atlantic Ocean) were analyzed. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) alternates between warm and cold cycles with a periodicity of roughly 70 years, with a shift toward a warm phase since 1995, resulting in an increase of sea surface temperature in the study area. Wind speed anomalies (WSA) also increased through time and were associated with an increasing speed of southerly winds, particularly after 1997. Beach morphodynamics showed no statistically significant trends in grain size, but long-term morphodynamic patterns differed between beaches: the dissipative beach showed an increase in swash and beach width, Dean's parameter, and the Beach Index (a measure of beach morphodynamic state). At the same time, the slope decreased, augmenting the beach's dissipative characteristics. The reflective beach showed an increase in slope and swash width through time, and a decrease in the Beach Index, indicating an intensification of reflective characteristics. Long-term morphodynamic changes were more evident in the dissipative beach and related to climate forcing (e.g. WSA). A higher resilience was observed in the reflective beach, even though an increasing frequency of storms is affecting both beaches. Accelerating erosion, rising sea levels, and expanding urban development in the Uruguayan coast could affect biodiversity and critical habitats. Multidisciplinary investigation programs and conservation strategies are needed to mitigate negative anthropogenic effects on these ecosystems.


Statutory waivers of sovereign immunity have been enacted piecemeal by Congress over the course of more than a century and yet they nevertheless fit together into a reasonably well-integrated pattern - or tapestry - of causes of action covering most subjects of dispute between the government and its citizens. Congress often has contributed to this integration, intentionally or unintentionally, by limiting the sweep of one statute to avoid conflict with another. However, the courts, while generally striving to synthesize separate statutory provisions into a coherent whole, are not always friends of harmony. In Bowen v. Massachusetts, 487 U.S. 879 (1988), the Supreme Court confronted the problem of distinguishing between a proper claim under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for specific relief (routed to the federal district courts) and a Tucker Act claim for money damages (falling within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims). Instead of drawing a bright-line between money and non-money claims - and thus a clear jurisdictional line between the United States District Court and the Court of Federal Claims - the Court adopted a more amorphous case-by-case approach, allowing plaintiffs to frame some claims for monetary relief as falling within the APA framework rather than under the purview of the Tucker Act. Contending that the Bowen v. Massachusetts decision unsettled Tucker Act jurisprudence, unjustifiably expanded specific relief under the APA to include money, and encouraged forum shopping between the District Court and the Court of Federal Claims, the author points to signals of distress from the lower courts and urges renewed judicial attention to this problem. Moreover, the author finds encouraging signs on the judicial front, as the Supreme Court has resisted any extension of Bowen v. Massachusetts to new contexts, and the Federal Circuit has taken a considered step forward in restoring jurisdictional clarity and stability in assignment of claims between judicial institutions. In the interests of efficiency and respect for the institutional strengths of the alternative forums, the invaluable role of the District Court must be respected in nonmonetary cases as well as cases which present an exceptional need for specific relief, and the Court of Federal Claims should be confirmed as the proper and exclusive forum for those types of claims that traditionally have fallen within its judicial franchise. In this way, by preserving the fabric of District Court authority while also restitching the Court of Federal Claims into the cloth, the tapestry of statutory waivers of sovereign immunity may again be made whole.


Growing evidence indicates that membrane traffic plays a crucial role during the late post-furrowing steps of cytokinesis in animal cells. Indeed, both endocytosis and exocytosis contribute to stabilizing the intercellular bridge that connects the daughter cells and to the final abscission in diverse organisms. The need for several intracellular transport routes probably reflects the complex events that occur during the late cytokinesis steps such as local remodelling of the plasma membrane composition, removal of components required for earlier steps of cytokinesis and membrane sealing that leads to daughter cell separation. In this mini-review, I will focus on recent evidence showing that endocytic pathways, such as the Rab35-regulated recycling pathway, contribute to the establishment of a PtdIns(4,5)P(2) lipid domain at the intercellular bridge which is involved in the localization of cytoskeletal elements essential for the late steps of cytokinesis. Possible cross-talk between Rab35 and other endocytic pathways involved in cytokinesis are also discussed.


A brief review is given of previous morphological studies of Atrichornis and its relationship to other passerine families. Renewed interest in the relationships of Menura and Atrichornis in the last two or three decades led to efforts to obtain suitable specimens of both genera. The efforts to obtain the specimen of the rare A trichornis clamosus used in this study are described in detail. This account highlights the long periods necessary to obtain governmental permission to study an endangered species and suggests that bona fide scientific enquiry can be stifled by unyielding governmental regulations designed to regulate commercial trade. The studies in this volume illustrate the wealth of scientific data that can be obtained from a single specimen in a carefully co-ordinated study. CLENCH, M.H. & G.T. SMITH, 1985. Morphology of the Noisy Scrub-bird, Atrichornis clamosus (Passeriformes: Atrichornithidae): introduction, with remarks on plumage and systematic position. Records of the Australian Museum 37(3): 111-114.


The construction of a meaningful graph topology plays a crucial role in the effective representation, processing, analysis, and visualization of structured data. When a natural choice of the graph is not readily available from the data sets, it is thus desirable to infer or learn a graph topology from the data. In this article, we survey solutions to the problem of graph learning, including classical viewpoints from statistics and physics, and more recent approaches that adopt a graph signal processing (GSP) perspective. We further emphasize the conceptual similarities and differences between classical and GSP-based graph-inference methods and highlight the potential advantage of the latter in a number of theoretical and practical scenarios. We conclude with several open issues and challenges that are keys to the design of future signal processing and machine-learning algorithms for learning graphs from data.


The argument against enforcing boilerplate contracts (contracts that no one reads) seems clear. Indeed, if this were a court case we would say that the jury is in; the evidence against boilerplate is overwhelming. Yet the judge has yet to render judgment. Courts continue to enforce boilerplate terms, and even those scholars who have exposed boilerplate as an emperor with no clothes are reluctant to gaze upon its nakedness and condemn its use.
This reluctance originates in an assumption that pervades the boilerplate debate—namely, that courts and commentators alike view boilerplate as necessary to the modern transaction. When asked to set boilerplate aside, then, they confront a dichotomy: either enforce boilerplate terms or wreak havoc on the consumer economy. When the choice is so presented, it is no choice at all. Living with boilerplate is better than living without mass-market commerce. We would rather be naked than dead.
This Article shows that the dichotomy is false. First, the Article establishes that it is possible doctrinally to sever boilerplate from other terms of the consumer transaction, such that the transaction can still proceed. Second, it demonstrates that the resulting transaction is theoretically feasible. When default rules take boilerplate's place, the result is either no significant economic disruption or economic disruption that shakes things up in a positive way. Finally, it shows that this approach is empirically viable. I use a case study of boilerplate contracts from a real-world consumer purchase to prove that there is a realistic third option: the boilerplate-free transaction.


Recent research indicates that corals have the ability to occupy several trophic levels and that particulate matter (PM) appears to play a major role in meeting their daily energy requirements. A study was undertaken to determine the amount and size distribution of PM near a bank barrier reef off the West Indies Laboratory on St. Croix, U.S.V.I. Size distributions were determined by filtration through selected sieves and filters ranging between 250 and 0.45 pm. Results showed that P M was greater in back-reef than fore-reef areas and greater during day than night hours. The PM collected on the smallest filters (0.45 pm) remained constant during both sampling periods and could potentially supply 60 O/O of the daily energy requirements for corals. Inclusion of the PM on the next size filter (8.0 pm) would more than account for their daily energy requirements. The mean PM abundance found in this study (1.1 mg I-') is the same as that reported at another Caribbean laboratory in the West Indies.


We show that late Q-ball decay in the MSSM with gauge-mediated SUSY breaking can provide a natural source of non-thermal NLSPs which subsequently decay to gravitino dark matter without violating nucleosynthesis constraints. To show this, we perform a global analysis of Q-ball formation and decay in Affleck-Dine baryogenesis for a d = 6 (ucdcdc)2 flat direction of the gauge-mediated MSSM. A general phenomenological potential for the flat-direction is studied and the Q-ball decay properties are obtained as a function of its parameters. The corresponding gravitino mass necessary to account for dark matter is then determined for the case of stau NLSPs. The decay temperature depends on the charge of the Q-balls, which is determined by the fragmentation of the AD condensate. Different fragmentation scenarios are considered, and the final non-thermal NLSP density from Q-ball decay and NLSP annihilation is determined. Particular care is taken to establish that NLSPs from Q-ball decay become homogeneous and non-relativistic prior to annihilation. The gravitino mass necessary for dark matter is naturally consistent with the theoretical gravitino mass in the gauge-mediation model.


Today's worldwide yearly mean loss of storage capacity due to sedimentation is already higher than the increase of capacity by the construction of new reservoirs for irrigation, drinking water and hydropower. In Asia for example 80% of the useful storage capacity for hydropower production will be lost in 2035. In Alpine regions the loss rate in reservoir capacity is significantly below world average. The main process in narrow reservoirs is the formation of turbidity currents, which transport the fine sediments regularly near the dam, where they can increase sediment levels up to 1 m per year. The outlet devices such as intakes and bottom outlets are therefore in many reservoirs after 40 to 50 years of operation already affected. The effects of climate change will in future increase the sediment yield entering the reservoirs. Turbidity currents may be stopped and forced to settle down by obstacles situated in the upper part of the reservoir in order to keep the outlet structures free of sediments. Another new idea is to whirl up the fine sediments near the dam and intakes and keep them all the time in suspension, which allows a continuous release through the turbines. Mrs. Dr. Jolanda Jenzer Althaus studied this new idea for the first time with systematic hydraulic model tests combined with numerical simulations. Special water jet arrangements were developed which can be installed near the dam in front of the intake in order to generate an optimum circulation needed to maintain the fine sediments in suspension. In such a way a significant amount of sediment can be released continuously during powerhouse operation. In order to understand the involved physical processes in detail, systematic hydraulic model tests were carried out in a rectangular tank equipped at its front wall with an intake. First a configuration of four jets arranged in a circle on a horizontal plane in front of the intake was tested. For comparison in a second step also a linear jet configuration located parallel to the front wall with the intake was studied. Detailed measurements of flow velocity and sediment release helped to find the optimum combination of the parameters defining the circular jet arrangement. Finally, numerical simulations could reproduce the flow patterns.


In solving transportation problems, recent developments have seen interest in including several kinds of attribute (other than the classical cost and prof it attributes) that may even be incommensurate with one another. There exist several approaches in solving a transpor tation problem with multiple attributes/objectives. Some of the approaches allow a decision maker to input his/her preferences with respect to the multiple number of objectives that need to be concurrently optimized in a compromised way. The literature, however, seems to lack solution techniques that would deal with a real life decision-making situation wherein a group of decision makers is involved but would probably have different (even conflicting) preferences in solving a transportation problem with multiple objectives. In this research, we propose to utilize a fuzzy programming formulation and binary search technique (adopted from Tapia and Murtagh 1992) as a methodology to solve multi-objective transportation problem as a group decision-making concern. Fuzzy programming allows the decision makers to vary at any given iteration their fuzzy aspiration levels in terms of preference criteria and underachievement tolerance values. Since conflict in aspiration levels usually results in an infeasible situation, binary search is applied until a feasible and acceptable compromise solution is achieved. The main objective of this paper is to propose a valid and new methodology. Inasmuch as comparing existing methodologies is not our primary aim, we believe this is another major and serious research undertaking. Keywords: Transportation problem, group decision-making, fuzzy programming


This paper proposes a distributed and low-complexity resource allocation scheme for cellular OFDMA networks. In particular, we consider ReMP, a reweighted message passing algorithm that perturbs the standard max-sum algorithm by suitably reweighting messages. In a single-cell scenario, such a scheme allows to achieve convergence to a fixed and provably optimum point without employing any central controller. The ReMP algorithm is then adapted to a multi-cell environment. To this aim, we devise X-ReMP, a ReMP-based algorithm that combines cross-cell signaling and the regular ReMP routine that still runs within each cell. The cross-signaling among cells aids ReMP to deal with the inter-cell multiple-access interference, so that X-ReMP allows convergence to a good working point in terms of system throughput even in presence of strong inter-cell interference.


Two weak bases, PG-300995 (anti-HIV agent) and NSC-639829 (anti-tumor agent), whose log S – pH profiles had been previously published, but whose pK a values had not been reported, were analyzed using a method which can determine pK a values from log S – pH data. This "S pH -pK a " technique, although often practiced, can result in inaccurate pK a values, for a variety of reasons. The operational S pH -pK a values were compared to those predicted by MarvinSketch (ChemAxon), ADMET Predictor (Simulation Plus), and ACD/Percepta (ACD/Labs). The agreement for the sparingly-soluble PG-300995 was reasonably good. However, a substantial difference was found for the practically-insoluble NSC-639829. To probe this further, the pK a of NSC‑639829 was measured by an independent spectrophotometric cosolvent technique. The log S - pH profile of NSC-639829 was then re‑analyzed with the independently-measured pK a . It was found that the equilibrium model which best fit the solubility data is consistent with the presence of a monocationic NSC-639829 dimeric species below pH 4. This illustrates that an independently-determined accurate pK a is critical to mechanistic interpretations of solubility-pH data. Apparently, the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation holds for PG-300995, but not NSC-639829.


Researchers have identified a wide range of factors that affect organisational creativity. The leadership behaviour of top managers is one of the most important. However, few studies have empirically examined the relationship between the leadership behaviour of these leaders and creativity at the organisational level. In this study, a style of leadership labelled "entrepreneurial" is considered in the context of Chinese SMEs, by considering its potential to create an environment in which creative activities can flourish. The entrepreneurial leader is central to the enterprise, creating visionary scenarios and facilitating a group of capable members to enact their vision, further fostering organisational creativity. As organisational creativity is important for business success, there is a significant need for research into the impact of entrepreneurial leadership.

The study identifies gaps in the literature. First, a number of studies have contributed significant insights into the antecedents of employee creative behaviours and performance, but predominantly concentrate on the level of the individual employee. Hence, an investigation into the antecedents of organisational creativity beyond this level is needed. Second, the field of entrepreneurial leadership remains in the embryonic stages of conceptual and theoretical development. Considering leadership as one of the antecedents of organisational creativity, existing research mainly focuses on the mainstreams of leadership style as the determinant. Third, SMEs, as the major incubator of entrepreneurial leadership, provide a valuable research environment as they foster organisational creativity. Fourth, there is a dearth of literature on the

mechanisms through which creativity may be enhanced in Chinese SMEs. Therefore, further research has a valuable contribution to make to the field.

More specifically, this dissertation considers the following three research questions: RQ1: What are the characteristics exhibited by the entrepreneurial leaders to facilitate creativity in Chinese SMEs?
RQ2: Do entrepreneurial leader's behaviours enhance SME's creativity performance?
RQ3: How do these entrepreneurial leadership behaviours affect an SME's creativity, which in turns stimulates their firm performance?

Based on these research questions, the researcher further set a range of specific objectives:
1. To develop a model of entrepreneurial leadership in SMEs;

2. To understand entrepreneurial leaders' background and behavioural characteristics as well as their firms' creative capabilities and performance within the targeted sample in Chinese SME context;
3. To identify the mechanisms through which entrepreneurial leadership influences SMEs' creativity;
4. To investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and Chinese SMEs' creativity as well as their firm performance.

To move forward with these aims, a theoretical model of entrepreneurial leadership is developed and the manner in which the entrepreneurial leadership styles of top managers directly and indirectly affect creativity within SMEs is investigated.

A mixed methods research approach is applied, including a combination of a qualitative study (case study) and a quantitative study (questionnaire survey). In the qualitative study, case studies of four firms (in Zhejiang) were conducted and interviews were carried out with the firms' top leaders and managers. The qualitative analysis creates an item pool for the scale development of entrepreneurial leadership in SMEs context. In the quantitative study, a pilot study was first conducted with a sample of 274 employees from various industries. Afterwards the scale of entrepreneurial leadership in SMEs context was validated and finalised. The sample for the final questionnaire survey was 139 Chinese SMEs in Zhejiang Province in various industries. The top leader and two middle managers from each firm were invited to participate in the surveys. Therefore, two survey questionnaires were used to collect data (one was designed for the top leaders and the other was for the managers). The findings support a direct and positive link between a style of leadership that has been labeled as "entrepreneurial" and organisational creativity. They also indicate that entrepreneurial leadership has significant and positive relations with empowerment, organisation-based psychological ownership, and employee's entrepreneurial behaviour. Empowerment and employee's entrepreneurial behaviour have been found to have a significant and positive relationship with organisational creativity, but organisation-based psychological ownership has an insignificant relation with organisational creativity. Moreover, the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on empowerment in the context of an SME is moderated by the level of trust such that the relationship will be stronger when trust is high rather than low. Furthermore, the findings also support the positive relationship between organisational creativity of an SME its performance.

Three contributions are made to the leadership literature. First, successful business performance in the 21st century environment needs a new form of leadership, and entrepreneurial leadership may be able to provide it. Second, by examining empowerment, organisation-based psychological ownership, and employee's entrepreneurial behaviour as mediating variables, the study enhances understanding of
the mechanisms through which entrepreneurial leadership promotes organisational creativity as well as firm performance. Third, this study contributes to the understanding of the applicability of leadership in the Chinese context, helping advance entrepreneurial leadership research in emerging market economies. The findings may help entrepreneurial leaders to recognise the influence of their unique cultural heritage and organisational context on their leadership styles. This study discusses the implications of the findings and identifies possible directions for future research.


Religion has always played a major role in American politics. Although the tides of electoral politics may often turn on economic events, foreign policy crises or other "secular" issues, partisan coalitions in the past few decades have been structured by religious alliances that have been extraordinarily stable, with only marginal changes from election to election. Those marginal changes have, of course, produced dramatically different outcomes in presidential and congressional races, with Republican victories in 2004 and 2010, and Democratic triumphs in 2006 and 2008. And although one journalist proclaimed that "God was remarkably absent" from the 2012 presidential race, in fact religious questions played an important part in the lead-up to the November election in both parties.This paper considers the role of religious groups, issues and candidate strategies in the 2012 presidential race. First, we consider two broad perspectives that shape expert interpretation on that role, the ethnoreligious and restructuring theories. Then we examine briefly religious strategies in the 2008 election and the resulting pattern of religious group votes in that contest. As this pattern sets the context for both the Obama administration's approach to religious groups and campaigns during his years in office and for competitive strategies by the GOP hopefuls, it is important to understand the nature of religious party coalitions. We then focus on the Republican nominating contest, discussing the cast of candidates, their religious strategies and the impact of those strategies. Finally, we turn briefly to the Democratic candidate's religious strategy, arguing that Obama reluctantly made major changes in his approach to religious groups from that he followed in 2008, changes dictated both by his experiences in the politics of his first term and by the structure of campaign incentives.


This paper examines the concept of religious switching or mobility which is one of the characteristics of modernity and post-modernity religious phenomenon. Modernity is characterized by differentiations in an attempt to pin down or explain how things work by distinguishing between essences and finding relevant mechanism of operation. Today, the influence of modernity and, religion has been internally differentiated with notable contrasts existing between traditional authoritative religions based on humanism, prosperity teachings stamped with the marks of utilitarian individualism. In the contemporary world denominations are less exclusivistic than sects and dominate mainstream religious life. This explains why university students move from one denomination to another trying to find the same truth and spirituality at the heart of all religious traditions. In this paper, we ask and attempt to answer the following questions: Does the existence of diverse religious affiliations dilute or strengthen ones faith? Are university students more religiously active? And do new religious experiences affect their original religions? If so, why? and how?


Surfactant system has many applications in industry. Many
investigations have been carried out on surfactants using various methods
such as small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), small-angle x-ray scattering(SAXS),conductivity freeze-fracture electron microscopy and nuclear
magnetic resonance(NMR).In the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy
technique, the lifetime ('t2)of positron that interacts with surfactant medium is
measured using fast coincidence system. The intensity of formation of
orthopositronium(12), when positron interact with aggregate of surfactant
system are sensitive to phase changes. In amphiphilic system with bicontinous character geometry of periodic phase can be explained using
minimal surfaces. Factors influencing the topology includes the length of
surfactant and cosurfactant tails and the aqueous volume fraction. Positron
are readily attracted to these centres. Changes in the geometry of the
interfacial layer thus will influence the lifetime and intensity of the
orthopositronium atom formed. These parameters are obtainable using the
POSITR ON FIT programme.
In this study, three surfactant systems were investigated. Firstly, the
intensity (12) and lifetime ("(2) of the Didodecyl DimethylAmmonium Bromide
(ODAB) - Water - Octane system were measured at various amount of water
content in the surfactant system in the diamond and body centred cubic
phases. A symmetry transitions from diamond phase to body-centred cubic
phase was observed in this system.


Mining gut fungi to break down biomass The recalcitrance of plant biomass remains a formidable bottleneck in the production of biofuels and other chemicals from renewable sources. Enzymes from microbial communities found within ruminants and hindgut fermenters, however, show considerable promise to break down plant material into simple sugars efficiently. Solomon et al. used 'omics-level and biochemical assays to reveal a suite of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes from early-diverging anaerobic fungi isolated from the guts of horses, goats, and sheep. This approach not only reveals the regulation of these pathways but also represents a method to identify enzymes with no known homologs that would be unidentifiable using conventional screening methods. Science, this issue p. 1192 Anaerobic fungi in the guts of herbivorous mammals produce an enormous suite of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes. The fungal kingdom is the source of almost all industrial enzymes in use for lignocellulose bioprocessing. We developed a systems-level approach that integrates transcriptomic sequencing, proteomics, phenotype, and biochemical studies of relatively unexplored basal fungi. Anaerobic gut fungi isolated from herbivores produce a large array of biomass-degrading enzymes that synergistically degrade crude, untreated plant biomass and are competitive with optimized commercial preparations from Aspergillus and Trichoderma. Compared to these model platforms, gut fungal enzymes are unbiased in substrate preference due to a wealth of xylan-degrading enzymes. These enzymes are universally catabolite-repressed and are further regulated by a rich landscape of noncoding regulatory RNAs. Additionally, we identified several promising sequence-divergent enzyme candidates for lignocellulosic bioprocessing.


We have demonstrated multi-step room-temperature nanoimprint lithography (RTNIL) using polystyrene (PS, average molecular weight 97 kg/mol) as the polymer layer for imprinting complex patterns. In separate experiments, single, double, and multiple (up to 10) sequential imprint steps were performed at imprint pressures between 1 to 30 MPa. To accomplish this demonstration, we designed and built a tool that controllably and repeatedly translated and pressed a sample into a stationary mold. The demonstrated inter-step alignment accuracy of this tool was ∼500 nm. Results of these experiments revealed the polymer deformation that results when nanoimprint is used to further deform a previously structured surface. The molds used in these experiments consisted of 400-nm-period diffraction gratings, as well as of rectangular structures of varying aspect ratios, ranging from 150 to 300 nm wide.


Comprehensive visual understanding requires detection frameworks that can effectively learn and utilize object interactions while analyzing objects individually. This is the main objective in Human-Object Interaction (HOI) detection task. In particular, relative spatial reasoning and structural connections between objects are essential cues for analyzing interactions, which is addressed by the proposed Visual-Spatial-Graph Network (VSGNet) architecture. VSGNet extracts visual features from the human-object pairs, refines the features with spatial configurations of the pair, and utilizes the structural connections between the pair via graph convolutions. The performance of VSGNet is thoroughly evaluated using the Verbs in COCO (V-COCO) dataset. Experimental results indicate that VSGNet outperforms state-of-the-art solutions by 8% or 4 mAP.


Circular Dichroism (CD) is an absorption spectroscopy method based on the differential absorption of left and right circularly polarized light. Optically active chiral molecules will preferentially absorb one direction of the circularly polarized light. The difference in absorption of the left and right circularly polarized light can be measured and quantified. UV CD is used to determine aspects of protein secondary structure. Vibrational CD, IR CD, is used to study the structure of small organic molecules, proteins and DNA. UV/Vis CD investigates charge transfer transitions in metal-protein complexes.


Renewable energy (RE) resources are non-dispatchable due to their intermittent nature, and battery storage devices (BSDs) play an important role to overcome their inherent variability. Therefore, for optimal operability, BSDs must be appropriately sized. Historical RE generation data can be used for sizing, with the objective to minimize the annualized planning cost. Application of high and low pass filters about a given cut-off frequency on the frequency spectrum of the historical generation data, calculated using discrete Fourier transform approach, segregate the fast and slowly varying components. The proposed methodology is based on  ${3} {\sigma }$  principle and will ensure minimum injection of RE-generation variability into the grid for day-ahead scheduling with both fast and slowly varying components. The analysis shows that the batteries with the minimum unit capacity cost to throughput ratio provide minimum annualized planning cost for both slow and fast varying components. Determination of sizing of BSDs for a given cut-off frequency is numerically "costly" and to obtain the optimal cut-off frequency, a derivative-free mode-pursuing sampling method is applied. Exponential reduction in the daily injection of variability with increasing statistical significance in sizing is observed. Impact of unit-capacity cost to throughput-ratio on the sizing of BSDs is also studied.


The numerous glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula are highly sensitive to environmental changes, with potential to make a significant contribution to sea-level rise, and yet they have been distinctly under studied. An absence of fundamental details on glacier characteristics and behaviour is due in part to the inaccessibility of the region. In this research, the production of a new topographic model and an inventory of 1590 glacier drainage basins between 63-70° S have enabled detailed analysis of these glaciers for the first time. Area change measurements since the 1940s reveal that 90% of the 860 marine-terminating glaciers have retreated. Greatest glacier area loss has occurred in the north-east, primarily due to the demise of ice shelves. In the west, an increasing gradient of overall ice loss from north to south is observed, as well as a distinct region in the north-west where glaciers have remained stable. There are also clear trends over time, such as reduction in glacier retreat rates in the late 1980s, and acceleration in retreat since the late 1990s. These statistically significant trends indicate that there are external control factors currently outweighing local glaciological controls on glacier extent. Analysis of atmospheric and ocean temperature data reveals that, to the west of the peninsula, patterns in ocean temperatures have a strong synchroneity with glacier area change. An increasing ocean temperature gradient from north to south, which strengthens with depth, is closely correlated with glacier front changes. Furthermore, a warming at mid ocean depths has occurred since the 1990s. This research suggests that although the atmosphere is rapidly warming, melt by the ocean is the primary cause of glacier retreat along the western peninsula. With persistent warm ocean temperatures, glacier retreat and associated mass loss is set to continue, leading to an increasing contribution to sea-level rise.


The migration patterns of the large catadromous fish, barramundi Lates calcarifer in southern Papua New Guinea were examined by analysing 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and Sr/Ca ratios by MC-LA- ICPMS and LA-ICPMS, respectively. Individual migration histories between coastal and riverine habitats could be inferred from the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios. These were used to calibrate the Sr/Ca ratios from a larger sample of fish and identify periods when the fish were resident in freshwater. The largest freshwater population of barramundi occurs in the middle reaches of the Fly River. We found that most adult barramundi from this population do not migrate annually to spawn on the coast. Fish vary in the age that they first enter freshwater, and most have arrived by sexual maturity (4 yr). We esti- mate that only half the adult fish in the Fly and nearby Kikori rivers have ever migrated back to the coast during their lifetime. This implies that many barramundi do not participate in spawning. Fish examined from the spawning ground were mostly marine residents, and some had spent short periods in rivers adjacent to their spawning ground. Tagging and scale chemistry studies from north- ern Australia have also found little evidence of movement of freshwater resident barramundi back to the sea. This implies that the phenomenon of non-participation in spawning may be widespread in this species. Our results suggest that freshwater fisheries for barramundi may have less effect on the spawning population than those in coastal regions and thus be able to sustainably remove a greater proportion of the population.


Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages are described from Recent and Late Quaternary sediments recovered from Vema cores taken in the area of the Greenland – Iceland – Faeroe – Scotland Ridge. The dinoflagellate assemblage interpreted as indicating the Flandrian, "climatic" amelioration occurred in the sediments on the northern flank of the ridge whereas no evidence was found for this amelioration in the cores to the south. In the southern area, cyst assemblages proved an older climatic amelioration possibly of Eemian age. The potential for using dinoflagellate cysts to correlate oceanic and continental shelf areas is stressed.


This paper extends the model of Aoki et al. (2009) considering a two sector small open economy. We study the interaction of borrowing, asset prices, and spillovers between tradable and non-tradable sectors. Our results suggest that when it is difficult to enforce debtors to repay their debt unless it is secured by collateral, a productivity shock in the tradable sector generates an increase in asset prices and leverage that spills over to the non-tradable sector, generating an appreciation of the real exchange and an increase in domestic lending. Macro-prudential instruments are introduced under the form of cyclical loan-to-value ratios that limit the amount of capital that entrepreneurs can pledge as collateral. Cyclical taxes that respond to the movements in the price of non-tradable goods are analysed. Simulation results show that this type of instruments significantly lessen the amplifying effects of borrowing constraints on small open economies and consequently reduce output and asset price volatility.


Plasma diagnostics are based on a multitude of different physical processes with wavelengths in the range from sub-nm to tens of cm. Many different techniques are being employed for measuring the spatial profile and evolution of various plasma parameters. Although most of them are already well established, plasma diagnostics is still a very challenging and vivid discipline. On the one hand this is caused by the always-continuing effort to attain a better spatial and temporal resolution, to reach higher accuracies and to measure with more spatial channels. On the other hand diagnostic techniques based on more subtle physical processes (than used in the routine diagnostics) are continuously being developed. This paper will give a brief introduction into the field of plasma diagnostics.


BACKGROUND
Finding relevant articles in large bibliographic databases such as PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE to inform care and future research is challenging. Articles relevant to chronic kidney disease (CKD) are particularly difficult to find because they are often published under different terminology and are found across a wide range of journal types.

STUDY DESIGN
We used computer automation within a diagnostic test assessment framework to develop and validate information search filters to identify CKD articles in large bibliographic databases.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
22,992 full-text articles in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, or EMBASE.

INDEX TEST
1,374,148 unique search filters.

REFERENCE TEST
We established the reference standard of article relevance to CKD by manual review of all full-text articles using prespecified criteria to determine whether each article contained CKD content or not. We then assessed filter performance by calculating sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value for the retrieval of CKD articles. Filters with high sensitivity and specificity for the identification of CKD articles in the development phase (two-thirds of the sample) were then retested in the validation phase (remaining one-third of the sample).

RESULTS
We developed and validated high-performance CKD search filters for each bibliographic database. Filters optimized for sensitivity reached at least 99% sensitivity, and filters optimized for specificity reached at least 97% specificity. The filters were complex; for example, one PubMed filter included more than 89 terms used in combination, including "chronic kidney disease," "renal insufficiency," and "renal fibrosis." In proof-of-concept searches, physicians found more articles relevant to the topic of CKD with the use of these filters.

LIMITATIONS
As knowledge of the pathogenesis of CKD grows and definitions change, these filters will need to be updated to incorporate new terminology used to index relevant articles.

CONCLUSIONS
PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE can be filtered reliably for articles relevant to CKD. These high-performance information filters are now available online and can be used to better identify CKD content in large bibliographic databases.


An incubation study was conducted with the topsoils (depth: 0-20 cm) of two different series namely Cheringa (silty clay loam, pHwater 3.6, electrical conductivity = EC 18.5 dS m-1,
CEC 17.2 c mol kg-1, organic matter = OM 39.1 g kg-1, and Badarkhali (silty clay loam, pHwater 3.9, EC 19.0 dS m-1, CEC 18.40 c mol kg-1, OM 30.7 g kg-1) acid sulfate soils to evaluate the effectiveness of basic slag (BS) for the neutralization of acidity and solubility of basic cations.
These soils received BS at the rate of 0, 11, 22 and 33 t ha-1 under various moisture regimes (moisture at saturated condition, i.e. 100 % moisture, moisture at field condition, i.e. 50 % and wetting-drying cycles of those 50 and 100 % moisture levels). The impacts of these treatments on some selected properties and changes in water soluble bases in these soils were studied at different periods of 180 days of incubation. The application of BS was found to be increased
the pH of soils from 3.6 to 5.1 for Cheringa; 3.9 to 5.2 for Badarkhali soils during the 180 days of incubation. These increments were more striking with the highest doses of BS at 33 t ha-1 under saturated moisture conditions in both the soils. The EC of the soils had not much influenced by the application of BS, regardless of time. The treatments were exerted significant (p≤0.05) effects on the solubility of basic cations in different periods of incubation. The
maximum release of the bases were recorded during 180 days of incubation under saturated moisture condition and the findings will be supportive for planning of crop production on these soils.


Not long ago the Raw format was limited to high-end digital SLR camerasi¾–which meant you pretty much had to be a professional (or at least quite serious) photographer to take advantage of it. Not so today. Now that Raw is included on even the simplest point-and-shoot cameras, shutterbugs of all stripes can start taking advantage of its greater editing flexibility to produce better final images. This guide is the place to start. In these pages, veteran author Ben Long begins at the beginning, explaining exactly what Raw is and why photographers should use it. He then describes the theory, shooting, and image editing practices needed to work with Raw files. Ben also provides an overview of software used to convert raw files and a thorough explanation of how to use Photoshop Elements to edit Raw images. Some cool Camera Raw tricks, tips for shooting for Raw format, and a glossary of important terms round out the offering.


Systems of linear equations play a major role in various areas such as operational research, physics, statistics, engineering and social sciences. In many applications, the parameters of linear equation systems are not always exactly known and stable. This imprecision may follow from the lack of exact information, changeable economic conditions, etc.. A frequently used way of expressing the imprecision is to use the fuzzy numbers rather than the crisp numbers. It enables us to consider tolerances for parameters of linear equation systems (the entries of the coefficient matrix and right hand side vector) in a more natural and direct way. Therefore, fuzzy linear equation systems seem to be more realistic and reliable than the crisp case. This study has attempted to provide a short review of notable papers on fuzzy linear equation systems with a basic structural classification. Considering the vast literature, we only aim to present the most cited and leading papers for each classification. Our short review will give a general framework about the progression of the subject and its solution approaches.