Although pathogens are ubiquitously found in the environment, catching disease is quite scarce. This can be attributed to the action of immune cells, protecting the body from invading microorganisms. A central role in the induction and orchestration of adaptive immune responses is ascribed to antigen presenting cells (APCs), like dendritic cells (DCs), and CD4+ T lymphocytes. Due to their important functions, these cell types gained center stage in immunotherapy. Thereby, their specific modification is highly desirable for several applications, including prophylactic or therapeutic vaccination approaches and the fight against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. In recent years, especially viral vectors proved to be powerful tools for the modification of target cells. Among them, lentiviral vectors (LVs) are of particular interest as they are not only able to transduce dividing but also non-dividing cells. They can be retargeted to basically any receptor of choice by pseudotyping with (engineered) measles virus (MV) glycoproteins (GPs) hemagglutinin (H) and fusion protein (F). Beside transfer of genetic information, retroviral and lentiviral vectors are able to deliver heterologous proteins into their target cells when the cargo proteins are genetically fused to structural proteins of the vector particle ("protein transfer vectors", PTVs). Taking advantage of this system, the present thesis aimed to employ lentiviral vectors for the specific modification of signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM)+ APCs and CD4+ T lymphocytes.

Initially, production of PTVs was optimized to allow maximum gene and protein transfer into transduced cells. In order to achieve targeting of SLAM-positive APCs, PTVs were pseudotyped with truncated MVwt-GPs with an established tropism for SLAM. Beside SLAM, a hitherto unknown epithelial MV receptor was postulated, to whose identification as adherens junction protein Nectin-4 the present thesis contributed to characterize SLAM- target cell populations of MVwt-GPs. Indeed, upon pseudotyping of PTVs with MVwt-GPs, marker gene and GFP, Cre or ovalbumin (Ova) cargo protein delivery was completely restricted to SLAM- and Nectin-4-positive CHO cells and naturally SLAM-expressing B cell lines, whereas broad transduction was observed for VSV-G pseudotyped control vectors. Specific excision of the loxP-flanked cerulean open reading frame in receptor-positive indicator cell lines following PTV-mediated transfer of Cre recombinase exemplarily demonstrated cytoplasmic protein transfer and unimpaired functionality of the delivered cargo protein. Finally, transfer of the model antigen Ova by MVwt-GP and VSV-G pseudotyped PTVs into receptor-positive, murine DCs in vitro or after administration into human SLAM-transgenic and control mice in vivo was shown to stimulate antigen-specific T cells, and here especially CD8+ T lymphocytes.

In contrast to SLAM-targeted PTVs, which relied on MVwt-GPs, specificity of CD4-targeted LV (CD4-LV) was achieved by pseudotyping with engineered MV-GPs, displaying a CD4-specific designed ankyrin repeat domain (DARPin) as binding domain on receptor-blinded H. H-αCD4 was well expressed on the surface of HEK-293T packaging cells allowing its efficient incorporation into CD4-LV particles and giving rise to high titer vector stocks with average yields > 10e8 transducing units/ml after concentration. In vitro, CD4-LV demonstrated absolute receptor specificity on cell lines and the naturally mixed population of primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), with transgene expression exclusively detectable in CD4+ but not CD4- cells. Of particular note, CD4-LV was capable to stably transduce not only activated but also resting primary CD4+ lymphocytes. Beside transduction of CD4+ T lymphocytes, also gene transfer into CD4+ human macrophages could be demonstrated in vitro. In vivo, following systemic injection of CD4-LV transferring a bicistronic gfp/luciferase reporter gene, luciferase activity in NOD-scid IL2Rγ-/- mice reconstituted with human PBMC or hematopoietic stem cells was mainly detected in lymphoid organs. Flow cytometric analyses of GFP-expression in lymphoid organs and blood confirmed the strict receptor-dependency of transduction events found in vitro also to apply in vivo. Interestingly, a clear preference for transduction of CD4+ T memory cells over naive CD4+ T lymphocytes was observed.

Concluding, this thesis clearly demonstrated suitability of (engineered) MV-GPs pseudotyped LV for specific protein and gene delivery into distinct subsets of immune cells. By the successful generation of SLAM- and CD4-targeted LVs, which allowed specific modification of SLAM+ APCs and CD4+ T lymphocytes, including even resting T lymphocytes, respectively, the broad applicability of MV-GP based cell entry targeting approaches for diverse cell surface receptors was emphasized. Both PTVs and CD4-LV are promising tools for basic research and gene and immunotherapy, opening up new avenues for a multitude of diverse applications.


Cannibalism both fascinates and repels. The concept of the cannibal has changed and evolved, from the semi- or in-human anthropophagi of Classical texts to the 'savage' cannibals of colonial times, whose alleged aberrations served as a justification for invasion, conversion and extermination, to the contemporary cannibal driven often by psychosexual drives. Cannibal texts typically present the act as pervasive, aggressive and repulsive. If these parameters are admitted, alleged cannibals immediately fall outside normative European humanist morality. This paper examines cannibalism as a major delineator of the civilised human. Cannibals offer social scientists a handy milestone to confirm the constant improvement and progress of humanity. The idea that colonised peoples were not savage, degenerate cannibals threatens the concept of the 'Great Chain of Being', which was assumed to show an inexorable progress from plants to animals to humans, and upward toward the divine, led by enlightened Western civilisation. But cannibal mythology, factual or imaginary, offers an opportunity to re-evaluate the assumptions of human supremacism and see ourselves as edible, natural beings.


In this study, we accelerate Matsui's search algorithm to search for the best differential and linear trails of AES-like ciphers. Our acceleration points are twofold. The first exploits the structure and branch number of an AES-like round function to apply strict pruning conditions to Matsui's search algorithm. The second employs permutation characteristics in trail search to reduce the inputs that need to be analyzed. We demonstrate the optimization of the search algorithm by obtaining the best differential and linear trails of existing block ciphers: AES, LED, MIDORI-64, CRAFT, SKINNY, PRESENT, and GIFT. In particular, our search program finds the fullround best differential and linear trails of GIFT-64 (in approx. 1 s and 10 s) and GIFT-128 (in approx. 89 h and 452 h), respectively.For a more in-depth application, we leverage the acceleration to investigate the optimal DC/LC resistance that GIFT-variants, called BOGI-based ciphers, can achieve. To this end, we identify all the BOGI-based ciphers and reduce them into 41,472 representatives. Deriving 16-, 32-, 64-, and 128-bit BOGI-based ciphers from the representatives, we obtain their best trails until 15, 15, 13, and 11 rounds, respectively. The investigation shows that 12 rounds are the minimum threshold for a 64-bit BOGIbased cipher to prevent efficient trails for DC/LC, whereas GIFT-64 requires 14 rounds. Moreover, it is shown that GIFT can provide better resistance by only replacing the existing bit permutation. Specifically, the bit permutation variants of GIFT-64 and GIFT-128 require fewer rounds, one and two, respectively, to prevent efficient differential and linear trails.


Galaxy–galaxy lensing is a powerful probe of the connection between galaxies and their host dark matter haloes, which is important both for galaxy evolution and cosmology. We extend the measurement and modelling of the galaxy–galaxy lensing signal in the recent Dark Energy Survey Year 3 cosmology analysis to the highly non-linear scales ( ∼ 100 kpc). This extension enables us to study the galaxy–halo connection via a Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) framework for the two lens samples used in the cosmology analysis: a luminous red galaxy sample ( REDMAGIC ) and a magnitude-limited galaxy sample ( MAGLIM ). We find that REDMAGIC ( MAGLIM ) galaxies typically live in dark matter haloes of mass log 10 ( M h /M (cid:3) ) ≈ 13.7 which is roughly constant over redshift (13.3 − 13.5 depending on redshift). We constrain these masses to ∼ 15 per cent, approximately 1.5 times improvement over the previous work. We also constrain the linear galaxy bias more than five times better than what is inferred by the cosmological scales only. We find the satellite fraction for REDMAGIC ( MAGLIM ) to be ∼ 0.1 − 0.2 (0.1 − 0.3) with no clear trend in redshift. Our constraints on these halo properties are broadly consistent with other available estimates from previous work, large-scale constraints, and simulations. The framework built in this paper will be used for future HOD studies with other galaxy samples and extensions for cosmological analyses.


This paper is a case study of the use of vector autoregression (VAR) models to test economic theories. It focuses on the work of Christopher A. Sims, who in 1980 found that relationships in economic data generated by a small VAR model were inconsistent with those implied by a simple form of monetarist theory. The paper describes the work of researchers who criticized Sims' results as not robust and Sims' response to these critics. The paper reexamines all of this work by estimating hundreds of variations of Sims' model. The paper concludes that both Sims and his critics are right: Sims' conclusion about monetarism is robust, but some of his other statistical results are not. In general, the paper concludes that VAR models can be used to test theories, but that any relationships they uncover in the data must be carefully checked for robustness.


OBJECTIVE
Cathepsin B, a lysosomal cysteine proteinase, is associated with degradation of laminin. Its activity has been shown to be increased in gastric carcinomas. Laminin is one of the major components of basement membrane involved in cell-matrix interactions and tumor progression. The objectives of this study were to correlate cathepsin B expression in tumor cells with tumor-associated laminin and to further correlate the two with tumor progression.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Resected gastric carcinomas (n = 29) taken from the surgical pathology files of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, were immunostained with cathepsin B and laminin using the avidin-biotin complex technique. Statistical analysis was performed using the exact linear by linear association test and exact Kruskal-Wallis test. Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted, and survival analysis was performed using a nonparametric log-rank test.

RESULTS
Cathepsin B was expressed in 27 (93%) of 29 tumors (11 weak and 16 strong). Staining of tumor-associated laminin showed patterns ranging from almost continuous (n = 4) to moderately discontinuous (n = 11) and highly fragmented (n = 14). The degree of cathepsin B staining in tumor cells significantly correlated with the laminin distribution pattern (P = .0001). The association between increased cathepsin B, decreased laminin, and higher tumor stage was also significant.

CONCLUSIONS
Increased cathepsin B expression by tumor cells associated with decreased tumor-associated laminin may suggest a mechanism for local tumor progression and metastasis. Staining for cathepsin B and laminin may be of prognostic value in gastric carcinomas.


Background: Previous studies have shown associations between vegetarian (VEG) diet and a healthy lifestyle and the maintenance of adequate body composition evaluated by anthropometric parameters.
Objective: To analyze whether vegetarian men have higher rates of adequate nutritional status compared to omnivorous (OMN) men, evaluated by various methods.
Methods: In this observational study, from 745 individuals from Sao Paulo, we enrolled 44 OMN and 44 VEG apparently healthy men participants in the CARVOS Study were evaluated by two 24-h dietary recalls, body mass index (BMI), circumference measurements, waist-hip ratio (WHR), skinfolds, and by BIA.
Results: OMN men had the highest percentage of overweight/obesity  based on BMI (70.4%, P=0.001), WHR (15.9%, P=0.026), waist circumference (50%, P=0.001), arm circumference (20.5%, P=0.001), tricipital skinfold (77.3%, P=0.008), % body fat by total of skinfolds (77.3%, P=0.001), and % body fat by BIA (47.7%, P=0.001). Multiple logistic regression showed that being OMN compared to being VEG significantly increased the risk of overweight/obesity (OR 12.12, CI 3.7 to 39.4); inadequate waist circumference (OR 8.39, CI 2.4 to 28.9); inadequate WHR (OR 9.85, CI 1.1 to 86.7); obesity by total of skinfolds (OR 6.2, CI 1.9 to 20.3), high % body fat by total of skinfolds (OR 8.93, CI 2.5 to 32.0) and by BIA (OR 5.7, IC 1.7-19.0).
Conclusion: Vegetarian men have higher rates of adequate nutrition and a lower prevalence of overweight according to BMI, excess abdominal fat, and excess body fat estimated by circumferences, skinfold measurement, and by BIA.


High-pressure multi-hole nozzles, carrying a Diesel-derived technology, are believed to be promising Fuel Injection Equipment (FIE) for Direct-Injection (DI) Spark Ignition (SI) gasoline engines. Having explored thoroughly swirl pressure atomisers and their spray behaviour, multi-hole nozzles represent the second-generation injectors. Thus, complete investigation of multi-hole nozzle flow, spray characteristics and their engine performance is a vital part of development of future DI gasoline engines. The internal nozzle flow of an enlarged transparent multi-hole injector was investigated for different flow rates and needle lifts under steady state flow conditions. High-resolution CCD camera and high speed digital video systems were employed to visualize the nozzle flow patterns and cavitation development. The images identified the onset of cavitation in multi-hole gasoline nozzles and revealed the transition from pre-film to film stage cavitation. Cavitation strings were also visualized inside the injection hole that could extend to the needle face. However, these structures are highly unstable and directly affected by needle lift and cavitation number, although it appeared to be independent of the Re, in a behaviour similar to that of multi-hole diesel injectors. The sprays from various high-pressure multi-hole nozzle designs injected into a high-pressure/temperature constant-volume chamber have been visualised and quantified in terms of droplet velocity and diameter with a two-component phase-Doppler Anemometry (PDA) system at injection pressures up to 200bar and chamber pressures varying from atmospheric to 12bar. The overall spray angles relative to the axis of the injector were found to be almost independent of injection and chamber pressure, a significant advantage relative to swirl pressure atomisers. Within the measured range, the effect of injection pressure on droplet size was rather small while the increase in chamber pressure from atmospheric to 12bar resulted in much smaller droplet velocities, by up to fourfold, and larger droplet sizes by up to 40%. The effect of chamber temperature on multi-hole sprays confirmed the expected trends that dictate smaller droplet size distributions as temperature rise from 50 to 90 and 120°C. Additionally, multiple-injection proved to have similar dependencies to the single injection with certain operating limits. Laser-induced fluorescence has been mainly used to characterise the two-dimensional fuel vapour concentration inside the cylinder of a multi-valve twin-spark ignition engine equipped with high-pressure multi-hole injectors. The effects of injection timing, in-cylinder charge motion and injector tip layout have been quantified. The flexibility in nozzle design of the multi-hole injectors has proven to be a powerful tool in terms of matching overall spray cone angle and number of holes to specific engine configurations. Injection timing was found to control spray impingement on the piston and cylinder wall, thus contributing to quick and efficient fuel evaporation. Multipleinjection performed well under certain operating conditions and proved to be a powerful tool in the hands of engine manufacturers. It was confirmed that in-cylinder charge motion plays a major role in engine's stable operation by assisting in the transportation of the air-fuel mixture towards the ignition locations (i.e. spark-plugs) in the way of a uniformly distributed charge or by preserving stratification of the charge depending on operating mode of the engine.


From the Publisher:
With solid theoretical foundations and numerous potential applications, Blind Signal Processing (BSP) is one of the hottest emerging areas in Signal Processing. This volume unifies and extends the theories of adaptive blind signal and image processing and provides practical and efficient algorithms for blind source separation, Independent, Principal, Minor Component Analysis, and Multichannel Blind Deconvolution (MBD) and Equalization. Containing over 1400 references and mathematical expressions Adaptive Blind Signal and Image Processing delivers an unprecedented collection of useful techniques for adaptive blind signal/image separation, extraction, decomposition and filtering of multi-variable signals and data.
Offers a broad coverage of blind signal processing techniques and algorithms both from a theoretical and practical point of viewPresents more than 50 simple algorithms that can be easily modified to suit the reader's specific real world problemsProvides a guide to fundamental mathematics of multi-input, multi-output and multi-sensory systemsIncludes illustrative worked examples, computer simulations, tables, detailed graphs and conceptual models within self contained chapters to assist self studyAccompanying CD-ROM features an electronic, interactive version of the book with fully coloured figures and text. C and MATLAB user-friendly software packages are also provided
MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.
By providing a detailed introduction to BSP, as well as presenting new results and recent developments, this informative and inspiring work will appeal to researchers, postgraduate students, engineers and scientists working in biomedical engineering, communications, electronics, computer science, optimisations, finance, geophysics and neural networks.


Continuous soil gas radon monitoring in real time with improved solid- state detector is carried out in south-central and southern Taiwan. The time series register spike-like anomalies which could be precursors of earthquakes. Monitoring stations located in a brecciated zone of active fault at Taiwan 3 and faults at Taiwan 1 showed drastic variations of radon when the terrain is stressed before the onset of earthquake. In contrast, the spectrum recorded at a station sited on a craton Akron 1 which is sited on a craton shows no significant radon variations. To actually prove that the variation of the time series is related to stress, a fourth station was anchored in a sand column (209 L) with exactly the same type of radon detector system. The time series recorded in this manner shows higher background level and spikes of high radon counts as it is stressed. Temperature and moisture variations are not affecting radon counts.


The 3-D finite difference time domain (FDTD) cut-back method is used to study losses in non-disordered photonic crystal silicon membrane waveguides. Losses above the light-line have been shown to be in good agreement with other methods. Below the light-line, however, FDTD is predicting a rapid increase in losses. This paper studies the possible causes for this effect, including meshing effects, back reflections, and finite thickness sidewalls. It is found that since below the light-line the group index becomes very high and the loss becomes very low, strong Fabry-Perot oscillations dominate the cut-back results. The paper also discusses the impact of operating near to the cut-off wavelength of the photonic crystal waveguide Bloch mode and the implications this has for loss calculation.


Within the last years, Linear Fresnel (LF) collector systems have been developed as a technical alternative to parabolic trough collector (PT) systems. In the past, LF systems focused on low- and medium temperature applications. Nowadays, LF systems equipped with vacuum receivers can be operated at the same temperatures as PT systems. Papers about the technical and economical comparison of specific PT and LF systems have already been published, [1-3]. However, the present paper focuses on the systematic differences in optical and thermodynamic performance and the impact on the economic figures
In a first step the optical performance of typical PT and LF solar fields has been examined, showing the differences during the course of the day and annually. Furthermore, the thermodynamic performance, depending on the operating temperature, has been compared.
In a second step, the annual electricity yield of typical PT and LF plants are examined. Solar Salt has been chosen as heat transfer fluid. Both systems utilize the same power block and storage type. Solar field size, storage capacity, and power block electrical power are variable, while all examined configurations achieve the same annual electricity yield. As expected for molten salt systems, both systems are the most cost-effective with large storage capacities. The lower thermodynamic performance of the LF system requires a larger solar field and lower specific costs in order to be competitive. Assuming specific PT field costs of 300 €/m² aperture, the break-even costs of the LF system with Solar Salt range between 202 and 235 €/m², depending on the site and storage capacity.
Keywords: linear Fresnel, parabolic trough,


Abstract. Aerosol phase function represents the angular scattering property of aerosols, which is crucial for understanding the climate effects of aerosols that have been identified as one of the largest uncertainties in the evaluation of radiative forcing. So far, there is a lack of instruments with which to measure the aerosol phase function directly and accurately in laboratory studies and in situ measurements. A portable instrument with high angular range and resolution has been developed for the measurement of the phase function of ambient aerosols in this study. The charge-coupled device-laser aerosol detective system (CCD-LADS) measures the aerosol phase function both across a relatively wide angular range of 10–170° and at a high resolution of 0.1°. The system includes a continuous laser, two charge-coupled device cameras and the corresponding fisheye lenses. The CCD-LADS was validated by both a laboratory study and a field measurement. The comparison between the aerosol phase function retrieved from CCD-LADS and Mie-scattering model shows good agreement. Compared with the TSI polar nephelometer, CCD-LADS has the advantages of wider detection range and better stability.


What are the challenges when thinking about public international law through the three dimensional prism of the conflicts-law approach? This contribution describes how international law is based on a "thin consent" paradigm. It then explores challenges that come with this paradigm under each of the conflicts-law three dimensions: law as system (how to open up a specific treaty regime to other legal orders?); law as regulation (how to open up law to non-legal expertise?); and law as governance (how to open up law to informal or para-legal regimes?). In conclusion, a shift is pointed at from "thin consent" to "thick consensus". This shift affects in particular the parallel universe of transnational standard-setting. Yet, it also finds early reflections in formal international law adjudication.


ABSTRACT This article looks specifically at the front end of the radicalization problem and argues that vulnerability to political violence is first and foremost a social problem. The article explores the historical counterradicalization approach in Britain and the government/community relationship, and argues that addressing the disaffection that comes with social vulnerability is the key to building resilience to radicalization. Last, the article profiles a holistic counterradicalization response undertaken by Quintessential Insight and the Barking Mosque whereby social vulnerability is reduced, individuals and communities are empowered, social and political agency is maximized, social contracts are restored, and resilience to radicalization is increased.


The use of Enriched organic fertilizer to Reduce organic and Inorganic Fertilizer Application and Increase the Potato Yields in the Highlands of Indonesia. Experiment was conducted at Experimental Station of Indonesian Vegetable Research Institute (the elevation of this site is 1250 meters above sea level) from June to November 2017. The objective of the experiment is to obtain an efficient technology of nutrient management in terms of organics and biological fertilizers and to obtain appropriate technology of potato tuber. The implementation of the research was preceded by making compost manure using Bio-decomposer for one month and enriched by using Bio-Phosphate and beneficial Micro-organism, dolomite, ash husk and rock phosphate, then continued with its application in the field with potato as an indicator plant. The treatments were arrange in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The treatments included the use of organic fertilizer in terms of horse manure enrichment at a rate of 20 and 40 t/ha and inorganic fertilizer at a rate of 0, 500 and 1000 kg NPK and horse manure 40 t/ha + 1000 kg NPK/ha as control plants (farmer's practice). Results of the experiments indicated that the use of horse manure enriched by microorganism can reduce a rate of horse manure from 40 ton/ha to 20 t/ha to produce growth and yield of potato. Enriched horse manure can also reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers by half rate (500 kg NPK / ha). Combination of enriched horse manure  20 t / ha + 500 kg NPK / ha is more efficient to increase yield of potato tubers. The use of enriched horse manure does not seem to affect the improvement of soil fertility, especially for the availability of soil P and soil biological activity.Keywords:  Solanum tuberosum,  horse manure, decomposer microbes,  inorganic fertilizers,  tuber yields.


Abstract. Europe's big cities and metropolitan areas constitute an ecosystem where climate trends are having, and will continue to have, a big impact on the population in the short, medium, and long term. Therefore, the task of generating a mapping approach over urban ecosystems to provide indicators assessing their sustainability and facilitating the design and implementation of policies and derived actions has become a priority for the Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya (ICGC) as a mapping agency.The ICGC has been using its own assets and competences in airborne Earth Observation for data capture and processing as well as inclusion of additional data such as cadastral databases and digital surface models to generate a set of urban sustainability indicators. ICGC has designed flight campaigns at a very high spatial and spectral resolution in visible, near infrared and long wave infrared regions, processed geospatial data and finally transformed geoinformation into demanded ICGC products over urban ecosystems such as urban green, solar potential, light pollution, energy leaks or urban heat island effect. This approach has been applied in coordination with urban planning stakeholders in different cities and is planned to be extended to the majority of urban ecosystems in Catalonia.This paper presents a critical summary of the main advantages, disadvantages, constrains and lessons learned in the search for feasible, available and desirable responses from the earth-observation airborne-sensor point of view to the main urban ecosystem challenges.


The Supreme Court's 1997 decision in Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor struck down the most ambitious settlement class action ever attempted. The settlement was, however, the logical outgrowth of the federal judiciary's efforts in the early 1990s to resolve a "disaster" of "critical proportions." Many factors, not least the Supreme Court's decision in Amchem, turned the tide against this trend. Ironically, however, the post-Amchem world has come to look a lot like Amchem. The settlement's central feature-deferral of unimpaired claims to assure the availability of resources to compensate the sick-was subsequently incorporated (either by statute or through judicial decision) into the law of most states with heavy asbestos caseloads. Similarly, the bankruptcy of nearly all of the defendants whose cases would have been settled created a series of administrative claims-processing regimes similar to the Amchem settlement. This Article suggests that the Amchem settlement should be understood as a triumph of judicial statesmanship, and the reaction that took place in the late 1990s had tragic consequences. It also surveys what lessons we might learn from the Amchem experiment as we think about facilitating resolution of other mass torts in the future.


This Article considers the future interaction of environmental regulation and private property rights, with an emphasis on climate change issues. It concludes that environmental issues not satisfactorily resolved at the federal level will lead to more state and local regulation that impinges on traditional understandings of property. Given the uncertainty associated with detrimental environmental outcomes, and the trend towards more proactive sub-national land use controls, more micromanagement of property will result. Since many environmental issues, notably climate change, are trans-national or worldwide in effect, suboptimal results might be expected. Furthermore, increased sub-national efforts to regulate the environment will clash with private property rights. Inevitably, some ostensible environmental regulations will seek to further other public and private agendas.Part I examines the difficulty in defining "environment" and "property rights," especially in the context of future generations. Part II focuses on the importance of private property in future environmental regulation, and examines the lack of standards protecting individuals from regulatory takings, and negative impacts for consumers. Part III considers the problematic implementation of "smart growth" regulations, the use of development exactions, and the potential for rent seeking and abuse in the redevelopment context.


This thesis examines the role of class, regional, commercial and other social and economic factors in the origins and growth of Rugby football in Yorkshire and Lancashire during the period 1857 to 1910, focusing on the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (later to become the Rugby Football League) in 1895 and its subsequent development into a "new" sport of rugby league. Its main sources are documents of clubs and leading bodies of the sport and the sporting press of the period. Starting from an analysis of the spread of rugby from the public schools to the north of England, it links the rapid growth of the sport in the 1870s and 1880s to the sense of civic pride which prevailed among the industrial towns of the North and Midlands. In particular, it examines the means by which working class men and women became involved in the sport and looks at the nature and activities of rugby players and spectators. Its key focus is on the ways in which working class cultural practices became part of the fabric of the sport and the counter-development of the ideology of amateurism as a method of suppressing this, culminating in the Rugby Football Union's introduction of its first set of regulations intended to stamp out incipient professionalism, which were supported by both the northern and southern leaderships of the sport. It argues that the demands of working class players for payment and the growing commercialism of the sport in the North undermined amateurism and made its implementation, despite the vigorous efforts of its partisans, impossible. The breakdown in the consensus among rugby's leaders about how to deal with mass working class participation led directly to the 1895 split and the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union, based on the payment of "broken-time" allowances to players. However, despite its initial successes, the Northern Union was marginalised by a combination of national and class-based forces, and, by the turn of the century, rendered impotent when face by the overwhelming popularity of soccer in the early 1900s. The necessity of establishing its own identity and holding back the soccer threat saw the Northern Union move away from being merely a professional version of rugby union and initiate the rule changes which created a new sport, expand to other countries and develop a distinct ideology. This allowed the sport to become almost exclusively identified with the working classes and opened the door to the predominance of working class cultural norms, both on the field and in the crowds which watched the game. Although class is viewed as the motor force which ultimately drove rugby to schism, the role of civic pride, of both the working and middle classes, the relationship between rugby and masculinity, links between sport and nationalism, the north-south divide in English society. and the rise of commercialism in the form of the "entertainment industry" are also examined in the changing contexts of the period for the impact they had on the sport and for their importance to its eventual schism.


This chapter addresses the mechanisms by which instabilities can develop in rocks in the nominally ductile regime under conditions that the authors believe are relevant to Earth. We will not address brittle failure or frictional sliding processes in detail, but much of our discussion will be couched in terms of knowledge gained in studies of these processes. As a consequence, we will begin by discussing why brittle failure and frictional sliding cannot be the mechanism by which rocks become unstable at depth, despite the strong evidence that they are the underlying mechanism of earthquakes at shallow depths (e.g., Scholz 1990, 2002).

Brittle shear failure in the normal sense is fundamentally a tensile process (tensile microcracks must first nucleate and self-organize via interaction of the stress concentrations at their tips). As a consequence, brittle failure and frictional sliding are strongly inhibited by pressure because work must be done against the pressure to open the Mode I cracks. The inhibition is so strong that the stress required to create a fault or initiate sliding on an existing fault becomes greater than the room-temperature flow stress of many rocks at pressures equivalent to only a few tens of kilometers in Earth. Increasing temperature has little effect on brittle processes, but in contrast, the ductile flow stress of rocks falls exponentially with temperature. Because both pressure and temperature increase with depth in Earth, earthquakes by unassisted brittle fracture mechanisms or frictional sliding can only occur at depths less than ∼30–50 km. Nevertheless, earthquakes occur to depths of almost 700 km in Earth and seismological evidence demonstrates unequivocally that they occur by displacement across a surface or narrow zone (i.e., they occur by faulting). This conundrum can be explained qualitatively by certain specific types of mineral reactions occurring under certain restricted conditions. The …


The lower crust forms an important geodynamic control in continental tectonics and the communication and coupling of kinematics between surface and deep-Earth processes. An understanding of the relationship between seismic properties, finite strain and fabric orientation thus provides a useful tool in the remote sensing and
interpretation of deformation in the lower crust.

This thesis outlines a work-flow model by which the seismic properties of a single and representative lower crustal lithology can be calculated and calibrated against
finite strain from petrofabric development across a strain gradient. The work-flow model constitutes a multi-disciplinary approach, incorporating field mapping and
sample collection, experimental petrofabric determination, and seismic modelling.

A review of compositional estimates of the deep crust, including xenoliths, exposed sections and estimates from wide-angle seismic profiles, indicates the importance
of mafic lithologies.

The Laxfordian-age high-grade shear zone at Upper Badcall, NW Scotland, exhibits a strain gradient in a deformed doleritic Scourie dyke (Lewisian complex) that intersects the zone at a high angle. From an analysis of field data from detailed mapping, the shear zone is shown to be characterised by generally simple shear, but where the tectonic movement direction varies transversely across the shear zone. Calculation of the strain profile across the deformation zone gives shear strains, y up to 57, but with y < 15 being perhaps more realistic. Cumulative displacements
total ~1000m left-laterally, and ~600m vertical displacement, north-side up. Nine samples were collected across the shear zone in the mafic dyke, representing a
strain gradient from undeformed protolith to the highest recorded stains.

The sample suite is characterised as a hornblende-plagioclase-quartz aggregate that develops macroscopic planar and linear fabrics with strain, from an essentially
isotropic protolith. Quantification of the aggregate lattice preferred orientation (LPO) using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) showed the dominance of
fabric development in the hornblende phase, with (100) poles clustering forming normal to the foliation plane and [001] axes parallel to the tectonic X direction.
Plagioclase and quartz retained random fabrics from the wall-rock protolith with increasing finite strain. The hornblende LPO fabric, described by the texture index, J, shows a positive logarithmic relationship with strain, where LPO intensity saturated by y ~10.

The strain-calibrated quantitative petrofabric description of each sample is used to calculate their aggregate elasticity tensors (Cij) via a Voigt-Reuss-Bill average,
and from which seismic properties are derived using Christoffel's equation. Hence, a framework of petrofabric- and strain-calibrated seismic properties is described
for a strain gradient in a representative high-grade mafic lithology. P-wave anisotropies up to ~10% are-recorded in the most deformed samples with Vsmax typically between 6.42-6.63kms/-1. S-wave anisotropies record up to 7.23% AV,
in the most deformed samples, with Vpmax ranging between 3.62-3.75kms-1 for all samples. The relationship between petrofabric-derived seismic anisotropy and finite strain across the sample suite show a positive relationship, approximated by a logarithmic function, whereby P- and S-wave anisotropy exhibit a steep positive gradient with strain up to y~10.

The sample-wise framework of petrofabric- and strain-calibrated seismic properties is interpolated to estimate the continuum relationship between seismic properties,
finite strain and petrofabric orientation. In a move to illustrate the application of results in seismic and structural modelling, case study models of crustal deformation are presented for the eastern Basin and Range province, the North Sea rift, and Tibet. Models are promising in their ability to differentiate between regions of lower crust characterised by a uniform mafic composition but different finite strain state and/or petrofabric geometry, although multiple seismic survey methods may
be needed to fully interpret results in terms of strain and fabric orientation.

In summary, a multidisciplinary approach combining field mapping and sampling, petrofabric characterisation with EBSD, and seismic modelling provides an efficient and reproducible work-flow for the determination of petrofabric-derived strain-calibrated seismic properties of lower crustal materials.


In this paper, we present a novel approach for relation extraction using only term pairs as the input without textual features. We aim to build a single joint space for each relation which is then used to produce relation specific term embeddings. The proposed method fits particularly well for domains in which similar arguments are often associated with similar relations. It can also handle the situation when the labeled data is limited. The proposed method is evaluated both theoretically with a proof for the closed-form solution and experimentally with promising results on both DBpedia and medical relations.


Catastrophic oil spills [1], such as the recent Deepwater BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico [2], have demonstrated the importance of developing responsive and effective oil spill response planning strategies for the oil industry and the government. Although a few models have been developed for oil-spill response planning, response operations and the oil weathering process are usually considered separately [3, 5, 4]. Yet significant interactions between them exist throughout the response. Oil-spill cleanup activities change the volume and area of the oil slick and in turn affect the oil transport and weathering process, which also affects coastal protection activities and cleanup operations (e.g., performance degradation and operational window of cleanup facilities). Therefore, it is critical to integrate the response planning model with the oil transport and weathering model, although this integration has not been addressed in the existing literature to the best of our knowledge. The objective of this note is to develop an optimization approach for seamlessly integrating the planning of oil-spill response operations with the oil transport and weathering process. A mixedinteger dynamic optimization (MIDO) model is proposed that simultaneously predicts the time trajectories of the oil volume and slick area and the optimal response cleanup schedule and coastal protection plan, by taking into account the time-dependent oil physiochemical properties, spilled amount, hydrodynamics, weather conditions, facility availability, performance degradation, cleanup operational window, and regulatory constraints. To solve the MIDO problem, we reformulated it as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem using orthogonal collocation on finite elements. We also developed a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to obtain a good starting point for solving the nonconvex MINLP problem. The application of the proposed integrated optimization approach is illustrated through a case study based on the Deepwater BP oil spill.


Information fragmentation has been identified as a major contribution to the huge waste in the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) industry. Information and communication technology (ICT) has been recognized as one of the effective solutions to this problem. Although a number of IT applications have been developed and applied for various purposes in the AEC industry, it still lacks integrated technologies and applications, which can deal with comprehensive trade-off of the overall issues that should be taken into account in the lifecycle of a building project. This study, as part of the nD modelling research, specifically focuses on the issues of integration and interoperability of building information and IT applications in the AEC industry. The study adopted a series of empirical research methodologies, such as literature review and workshop based vision development. These methodologies helped the author to expand the knowledge in the relevant research areas, identify requirements from both industry and academia, and define the research questions and objectives. In Particular, this study also applied a typical methodology for IT-focused research – the prototyping approach. As the detailed techniques of prototyping, the conceptual modelling and prototype development were conducted as the major research activities in the study. An integrated conceptual model of IT applications and information repositories was developed to illustrate the overall IT applications and databases that are categorised into 'resource database' as input and 'project database' as output in a building project. This conceptual model can also help us to identify the gaps between current IT and ideally integrated applications. By targeting some of these gaps, two prototypes were developed to demonstrate the applications of some advanced techniques and the ideas of this study. This aims to close the gaps impeding integration and interoperability of information and IT applications in the AEC industry. Based on the integrated system architecture of the nD modelling tool, the first prototype tool focuses on an IFC-based application for lifecycle costing and accessibility dimension checking. It also consists of an integrated interface facilitated by interactive virtual reality visualisation. The second prototype demonstrates an application of a resource database of the design guidance for the Alzheimer clinic environment design. It is embedded in a CAD system and aims to assist designers in conceptual design. The evaluation and discussion about the software prototypes, conducted by a range of experts in a number of meetings, forums and workshops, are also detailed in this thesis. Finally, the conclusions and future work are addressed toward the end of this thesis.


Background Educational inequalities in health and mortality in European countries have often been studied in the context of welfare regimes or political systems. We argue that the healthcare system is the national level feature most directly linkable to mortality amenable to healthcare. In this article, we ask to what extent the strength of educational differences in mortality amenable to healthcare vary among European countries and between European healthcare system types. Methods This study uses data on mortality amenable to healthcare for 21 European populations, covering ages 35–79 and spanning from 1998 to 2006. ISCED education categories are used to calculate relative (RII) and absolute inequalities (SII) between the highest and lowest educated. The healthcare system typology is based on the latest available classification. Meta-analysis and ANOVA tests are used to see if and how they can explain between-country differences in inequalities and whether any healthcare system types have higher inequalities. Results All countries and healthcare system types exhibited relative and absolute educational inequalities in mortality amenable to healthcare. The low-supply and low performance mixed healthcare system type had the highest inequality point estimate for the male (RII = 3.57; SII = 414) and female (RII = 3.18; SII = 209) population, while the regulation-oriented public healthcare systems had the overall lowest (male RII = 1.78; male SII = 123; female RII = 1.86; female SII = 78.5). Due to data limitations, results were not robust enough to make substantial claims about typology differences. Conclusions This article aims at discussing possible mechanisms connecting healthcare systems, social position, and health. Results indicate that factors located within the healthcare system are relevant for health inequalities, as inequalities in mortality amenable to medical care are present in all healthcare systems. Future research should aim at examining the role of specific characteristics of healthcare systems in more detail.


Public service broadcasters (PSBs) are a central part of national news media landscapes. In many countries, PSBs are the first choice of citizens when it comes to news providers. And in perhaps more countries still, PSBs are thought of as specialists in provision of hard news. We test this proposition here using survey data from a large crossnational survey involving indicators of current affairs knowledge and media consumption. Specifically, we examine whether exposure to public versus commercial news influences the knowledge citizens possess about current affairs, both domestically and internationally. We
also test, using propensity score analysis, whether there is variation across PSBs in this regard. Results indicate that compared to commercial news, watching PSB has a net
positive influence on knowledge of hard news, though not all PSBs are equally effective in contributing to knowledge acquisition. This knowledge gap between PSB and commercial
news media consumption appears to be mitigated by factors such as de jure independence,proportion of public financing, and audience share.


In hybrid beams, web yielding caused by bending may occur at design loadings and reduce the ability of the beam to resist web crippling under concentrated transverse loads, such as wheel loads in bridges. A brief theoretical consideration of this behavior is presented, and two tests are described. In one test a transverse compressive load was applied to the tension flange, and in the other test a transverse compressive load was applied to the compression flange. The tests showed that crippling loads equal to or greater than the nominal yield load—that is, the yield point of the web steel times the bearing length of the load times the web thickness—can be applied to either the tension or compression flange of a hybrid beam, even when the longitudinal stress in the flange is close to the yield strength of the flange. The tests also showed that the moment capacity of a hybrid beam is slightly reduced by a crippling load applied to either flange, but that the reduction is small enough to be neglected in design.


The recognition of the role of discourse in the production of self-understandings and subjectivity has undergone considerable theoretical development over the past decades. Yet, attention to possible ramifications for the status of conversation-based research has been limited and parochial. This article examines the research interview, as a methodological technique and as a social and cultural event, in relation to representations of drug use, agency and responsibility, arguing that research conversations about drugs cannot be understood in separation from the cultural repertoire of speaking positions evoked by the particular topic of inquiry. In the context of drug research, such positions are embedded in circulating narratives of drug use and drug users, as well as in generalized images of responsibility, self-sufficiency, and the personal management of information and risk. Drawing on material from an ethnographic study of recreational substance use among young adults in Norway, it is suggested that such conversations are unique occasions for the deployment of and reflection on subject positions, giving rise to functions of the research interview beyond the generation of sociological data. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs140323


When designing software, programmers usually think in terms of modules that are represented as functions and classes, but using existing configuration management systems, programmers have to deal with versions and configurations that are organized by files and directories. This is inconvenient and error-prone, since there is a gap between handling source code and managing configurations. We present a framework for programming environments that handles versions and configurations directly in terms of the functions and classes in source code. We show that with this framework, configuration management issues in software reuse and cooperative programming become easier. We also present a prototype environment that has been developed to verify our ideas.


This study aims to identify how the personal social capital of opinion leaders contributes to the market adoption of start-up innovations.,A design-oriented case study is undertaken with a start-up company focusing on the development and commercialization of innovations in the veterinary market. Based on a literature review, the authors examine the social capital in value creation and the role of opinion leaders and use qualitative methodology and semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect data.,The adoption of innovations could start with opinion leaders that will later share their experience with other members of the professional community. In turn, social capital allows for creating a collaboration between start-ups and leaders based on a number of specific parameters.,This paper contributes to marketing literature by providing new insights regarding collaboration between start-ups and opinion leaders. The collaboration between opinion leaders and start-ups could be implemented not only in the veterinary industry but also in other industries with minor adaptations. Authors demonstrate how the social capital of external stakeholders may be used as a resource of the company for business development. The main contribution of this study is to demonstrate that social capital could be used as a parameter for the adoption of innovations. The key parameters that allow creating cooperation between start-up and opinion leader have been identified.


Closed laboratories are becoming an increasingly popular approach to teaching introductory computer science courses. Unlike open laboratories that tend to be an informal environment provided for students to practice their skills with attendance optional, closed laboratories are structured meeting times that support the lecture component of the course, and attendance is required. This paper reports on an integrated approach to designing, implementing, and assessing laboratories with an embedded instructional research design. The activities reported here are parts of a departmentwide effort not only to improve student learning in computer science and computer engineering (CE) but also to improve the agility of the Computer Science and Engineering Department in adapting the curriculum to changing technologies, incorporate research, and validate the instructional strategies used. This paper presents the design and implementation of the laboratories and the results and analysis of student performance. Also described in this paper is cooperative learning in the laboratories and its impact on student learning.


Over the last three centuries advocacy in the courts of England and Wales, and other common law countries, has been far from static. In the second half of the 19th century, roughly until the beginning years of the 1880's, the foremost style of advocacy before juries in English criminal and civil cases was melodramatic, declamatory and lachrymose Aggressive and intimidating cross-examination of witnesses took place, sometimes, unless restrained by judges, descending into bullying. Questions asked often had more to do with a blunderbuss than with a precise forensic weapon. Closing speeches were frequently long and repetitious. Appeals to emotion, and prejudice, usually reaching their peak in the peroration, were often greater than those to reason. The Diety and the Bible were regularly invoked. Vivid and floral language was employed and poetry liberally put to use to awaken generous sympathies. Examples of this style of advocacy, parodied amongst others by Gilbert and Sullivan's in their Trial by jury - a short comic operetta, first staged in 1875, about a trial of an action in the Court of Exchequer for breach of promise to marry, are presented.
However signs of change began to appear. Men like Hardinge Giffard, who became Lord Halsbury and Lord Chancellor for a total of eighteen years, John Holker, later to be appointed Attorney General, Charles Russell, a future Lord Chief Justice, and Edward Clarke began to significantly change the style of advocacy. Their approach was quieter, more learned and less inclined towards violent appeals to emotions, use of florid language and quoting widely from popular verse and literature. Less concerned with relying on the tricks of the Victorian stage, they also were developing a more dignified and controlled manner in their conduct towards each other and to witnesses. These barristers tended to select the best arguments from their client's case and to drive them home forcefully to jurors, rather than saturate them with rhetorical elaboration of all conceivable points. They also avoided tiring juries with needless repetition. In the bar's tradition of copying what appeared to succeed, they began to be emulated by its junior members. Their success may well have been because they recognised that jurors, for a variety of reasons, were becoming better informed and educated and expected more than empty rhetoric, artful bombast, verbal chicanery, dramatic gestures and aggression.
At the end of the 19th Century and during the first quarter of the 20th Century the jury advocacy of Rufus Isaacs, Edward Carson, F. E. Smith and Edward Marshall Hall, who frequently opposed each other in greatly publicized cases, was an important influence on other barristers of the period and beyond. In very broad terms, and aware of the limitations of this approach, it might be said that the first three were the descendants in advocacy of Hardinge Giffard, John Holker, Charles Russell and Edward Clarke, but who took the art further - especially in employing conversational language and in carefully planning precise cross-examination rather than making long and emotive closing speeches; the small quiet sniper's rifle with accurate sights was replacing the loud blunderbuss, often unpredictable in results and dangerous to its user. Marshall Hall's advocacy, on the other hand, with its blatant appeal to emotion, sometimes sprinkled in tears, fell within the tradition of 19th Century histrionic advocacy.


In accordance with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards' Closing the Gaps by 2015, this research study analyzed self-reported perceptions about college-going culture from students (n = 151) who attended four House Bill 400 schools serving Latino and African American communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This study utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a maximum likelihood extraction technique to identify hidden perceptions (latent factors) that account for common variance among student perceptions about college-going culture. The study also tested the validity and inter-item reliability of the 15-item College-Going Culture Survey used in data collection. The parallel analysis, EFA, and Cronbach's ? identified two latent factors of Verified College Potential (? = .70) and College Capital Awareness (? = .71) that, together, explained 40.1% of students' perceptions. The two factors were non-significantly negatively correlated (r = -.495, p = .354). By utilizing the two latent constructs, a 10-item revised College-Going Culture Survey is recommended to improve the inter-item reliability coefficient from ? = .46 to ? = .77. Descriptive statistics revealed that Latino and African-American students affirmed aspects of the college-going culture at HB 400 schools. However, latent factors suggest the possibility that students who reportedly feel most encouraged to attend college (Verified College Potential) may tend to be least aware of the actual logistics of college such as admissions processes and financial aid (College Capital Awareness) and that, conversely, those with the most logistical knowledge may tend to feel least encouraged.


This paper is about studying citizens' information needs through a collection of different research lenses. We were interested in users of online, citizen rights web sites, such as the SHIL (http://shil.info) site. Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. In order to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used, and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL, users and potential users unaware of the existence of the Website, were surveyed, using a trio of methods. We report several interesting differences between the three groups, and suggest future work on analyzing the site, its users, the content it provides and the needs it serves.


The complexity of living cells is primarily determined by the genetic information encoded in DNA and gets fully disclosed upon translation. A major determinant of complexity is the reversible post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins, which generates variants displaying distinct biological properties such as subcellular localization, enzymatic activity and the ability to assemble in complexes. Decades of work on phosphorylation have unambiguously proven this concept. In recent years, the covalent attachment of Ubiquitin or Small Ubiquitin-like Modifiers (SUMO) to amino acid residues of target proteins has been recognized as another crucial PTM, re-directing protein fate and protein-protein interactions. This review focuses on the role of ubiquitylation and sumoylation in the control of DNA damage response proteins. To lay the ground, we begin with a description of ubiquitylation and sumoylation, providing established examples of DNA damage response elements that are controlled through these PTMs. We then examine in detail the role of PTMs in the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks illustrating hierarchy, cross-talk, synergism or antagonism between phosphorylation, ubiquitylation and sumoylation. We conclude offering a perspective on Ubiquitin and SUMO pathways as targets in cancer therapy.


Interdisciplinary Art Education: Building Bridges to Connect Disciplines and Cultures Mary Stokrocki, Editor (2005). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. 243 pages. ISBN 1-890160-31-8.Mary Stokrocki's anthology, Interdisciplinary Art Education: Building Bridges to Connect Disciplines and Cultures is a response to the International Society for Education through Art's (InSEA) mission of promoting international understanding of education through art. As Vice President, Stokrocki is committed to this mission, and has compiled a rich anthology of interpretive examples of this much debated term, interdisciplinary art education. In both education and the art world, pluralism, globalism, and integration have been growing as subjects of critical study. Art critic Suzi Gablik (2002), in The Reenchantment of Art, cites an emerging body of socially engaged art which builds community through "radical relatedness" (as cited in Garber, 2004, p. 4). Similarly, art critic, Arthur Danto (1986), in The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art, argues for artmaking in service of humanity rather than the art world (as cited in Garber, 2004). Educator, Carol Becker (1994), In The Education of Young Artists and the Issue of Audience, describes the repercussions of an isolationist art world and the responsibility of training the next generation of artists to be concerned for their audience and the place of art within a social context.The issues of educating the next generation to be responsive to art in a social context (Becker, 1994; Gablik, 2002; Garber, 2004; Lippard, 1990), along with a shift toward visual culture and the technology which is officiating this shift, has brought the long held tenets of art education to its feet. Among the tenets that educators have embraced this past century are disciplined-based education, learner-centered education, and the ubiquitous elements and principles of design. Interdisciplinary art education challenges these strategies, which alone, do not educate students for a global, pluralistic, and integrated world.The anthology is divided into three parts: Historical and Conceptual Explorations, Practical Programs, and Future Directions. Part I begins, wisely, with an analysis of the ambiguous term, interdisciplinary education. Stokrocki and J. Ulbricht grapple with the use and misuse of older terms such as multidisciplinary education, which informs new ones such as integration and transdisciplinary education. Ulbricht writes that "multidisciplinary signifies the juxtaposition of several disciplines. It is essentially additive, but not integrative" (p. 22). On the other hand, integration, "incorporates the idea of unity between several forms of knowledge" (p.22). In a recent article in Studies in Art Education, Julia Marshall (2005) makes a case for "substantive curriculum integration" (p. 228), preferring the term integration rather than interdisciplinary education as it suggests the issue-based (social, political, cultural) conceptual connections among the disciplines. Ulbricht acknowledges the many terms that have been used to describe interdisciplinary education, but do not live up to its purposes. He identifies synthesis and the transfer of knowledge as the primary underlying purposes that distinguish interdisciplinary/integrated/transdisciplinary education from multidisciplinary education. Like Marshall, Ulbricht references new neurological evidence that supports integrated approaches to learning multiple disciplines.In another chapter in the first section, Jennifer Ann Chappell found that a study conducted to assess an arts-integrated and constructivist approach at a private high school yielded significant learning in both the arts and other disciplines. One student in their study, for example, explained "how artistic representations are reflections of complex situation and ideas in the world" (p. 38). Rita Irwin, Sylvia Wilson Kind, Kit Grauer, and Alex de Cosson move the notion of connectedness still further by getting to the root of what they believe has kept Western education in isolated disciplines. …


This paper introduces novel circuits to mitigatepower consumption in asynchronous logic. By exposing a preexisting timing assumption in quasi-delay insensitive (QDI) circuits, we develop a set of circuit templates that reduce dynamic power consumption while maintaining the robustness of QDI circuits. We refer to these as relaxed quasi delay-insensitive circuits (RQDI). Power consumption is reduced in four ways. First, we present a circuit template that saves power by reducing the logic required to generate enable/acknowledge signals. Second, we develop voltage converters for asynchronous channels that allow non-performance critical components to be moved to lower voltage domains. Third, we propose a circuit template that improves upon the use of multiple voltage domains by keeping the data logic in the high voltage domain, but moves the enable/acknowledge logic to the low voltage domain. Fourth, we utilize a novel 2-phase buffer to half the switching in global routing and static switching networks. Experiments show that we can reduce energy by 30-50%, with a minimal impact on area and performance.


In 1600 Rome was the center of the artistic world. This fascinating book offers a new look at the art and architecture of the great Baroque city at this time of major innovation-especially in painting, largely owing to the presence of Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) and Caravaggio (1571-1610). Rome was a magnet for artists and architects from all over Europe; they came to study the remains of antiquity and the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante. The sheer variety of artists working in the city ensured a diversity of styles and innovative cross-influences. Moreover, 1600 was a Jubilee year, offering numerous opportunities for artistic patronage, whether in major projects like St. Peter's, or in lesser schemes such as the restoration of older churches. Clare Robertson examines these developments as well as the patronage of the pope and of major Roman families, drawing on a range of contemporary sources and images to reconstruct a snapshot of Rome at this thrilling time.


Rapid infusers are used for rapid fluid administration as a part of medical treatment during surgical procedures. The rapid infusers on the market today have proved to present various functional, usability and safety issues for the customers and the problems have not been adequately addressed. This has motivated SLL Innovation to develop a new improved rapid infusion system. The primary reason for considering the development of a rapid infuser device was to meet customer demands and improve safety during the acute situations when the system is to be used. The Quality Function Deployment method was used to describe the design problem systematically and facilitate the development of an improved design. To investigate the users' issues with existing rapid infusion devices, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with hospital staff that had experience with the rapid infuser. Customer requirements were subsequently identified to form a basis for the development process.The results of the study indicated an evident demand for a new product. A three-dimensional (3D) computer aided design (CAD) solution was presented with enhanced properties and features that met the specifications identified. All the customer requirements were addressed in the final result. Safety was the highest rated engineering specification, thus a lot of time and effort was dedicated to solutions that could affect the safety of the system positively.Although the final design is expected to be more efficient and safer than the competition, further research and work is needed before this can be ensured.


Machine Learning competitions such as the Netflix Prize have proven reasonably successful as a method of "crowdsourcing" prediction tasks. But these competitions have a number of weaknesses, particularly in the incentive structure they create for the participants. We propose a new approach, called a Crowdsourced Learning Mechanism, in which participants collaboratively "learn" a hypothesis for a given prediction task. The approach draws heavily from the concept of a prediction market, where traders bet on the likelihood of a future event. In our framework, the mechanism continues to publish the current hypothesis, and participants can modify this hypothesis by wagering on an update. The critical incentive property is that a participant will profit an amount that scales according to how much her update improves performance on a released test set.


We study survivable network design problems with edge-connectivity requirements under a two-stage stochastic model with recourse and finitely many scenarios. For the formulation in the natural space of edge variables we show that facet defining inequalities of the underlying polytope can be derived from the deterministic counterparts. Moreover, by using graph orientation properties we introduce stronger cut-based formulations. For solving the proposed mixed integer programing models, we suggest a twostage branch&cut algorithm based on a decomposed model. In order to accelerate the computations, we suggest a new technique for strengthening the decomposed L-shaped optimality cuts which is computationally fast and easy to implement. A computational study shows the benefit of the decomposition and the cut strengthening – which significantly reduces the number of master iterations and the computational running time. Moreover, we evaluate the stability of the scenario generation method and analyze the value of the stochastic solution. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


In June, 2007 the province of Ontario, Canada, released environmental penalties (EPs) regulations. EPs (or administrative penalties, as they are called in the US) are the environmental equivalent of speeding tickets for facilities that violate pollution laws. They are found in numerous jurisdictions and are widely understood as part of a move toward smart regulation. The Ontario regulations offer reduced EPs to facilities with an environmental management system (EMS) that meets the requirements of ISO 14001 or the chemical industry's Responsible Care initiative. We argue that non-governmental, consensus-based standards such as ISO 14001 can and should play a constructive role in smart regulation and the pursuit of sustainability, but that the Ontario government's attempt to incorporate them into its EPs regulations was anything but smart. We present six tips for how to incorporate voluntary standards into official regulation. First, don't reinvent the wheel. If a standard exists that fulfills the objectives of a proposed regulation, and the standard was developed by a recognized standards body through a multi-stakeholder consensus process, regulators should incorporate the standard into the regulatory scheme as far as possible and appropriate, rather than drafting a new standard from scratch. Second, avoid unexplained discrepancies between the regulation and the standard. Third, if an existing widely accepted standard does not, on its own, meet all the public policy goals of the proposed regulation, indicate clearly how the standard is deficient and what more is required to meet public policy objectives. Fourth, should consult relevant standards development committees when developing regulations. Fifth, take advantage of ongoing opportunities to participate in the work of relevant standards development committees, to keep abreast of developments and influence the content of standards. Finally, and this is the biggest challenge, both regulators and standards development bodies should address the special characteristics and challenges of small businesses.


Abstract. Sun-lit snow is increasingly recognized as a chemical reactor that plays an active role in uptake, transformation, and release of atmospheric trace gases. Snow is known to influence boundary layer air on a local scale, and given the large global surface coverage of snow may also be significant on regional and global scales. We present a new detailed one-dimensional snow chemistry module that has been coupled to the 1-D atmospheric boundary layer model MISTRA. The new 1-D snow module, which is dynamically coupled to the overlaying atmospheric model, includes heat transport in the snowpack, molecular diffusion, and wind pumping of gases in the interstitial air. The model includes gas phase chemical reactions both in the interstitial air and the atmosphere. Heterogeneous and multiphase chemistry on atmospheric aerosol is considered explicitly. The chemical interaction of interstitial air with snow grains is simulated assuming chemistry in a liquid-like layer (LLL) on the grain surface. The coupled model, referred to as MISTRA-SNOW, was used to investigate snow as the source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and gas phase reactive bromine in the atmospheric boundary layer in the remote snow covered Arctic (over the Greenland ice sheet) as well as to investigate the link between halogen cycling and ozone depletion that has been observed in interstitial air. The model is validated using data taken 10 June–13 June, 2008 as part of the Greenland Summit Halogen-HOx experiment (GSHOX). The model predicts that reactions involving bromide and nitrate impurities in the surface snow can sustain atmospheric NO and BrO mixing ratios measured at Summit, Greenland during this period.


Experimenting with new and unconventional restoration methods and designs is critical to advancing the field of ecological restoration. Conventional methods cannot be considered reliable in a future with climate change-induced shifts in weather conditions, species distributions, and ecosystem processes. It is crucial that researchers and practitioners collaborate to identify the most effective restoration methods, yet there remains a disturbing lack of restoration experiments at the spatial or temporal scales relevant for evaluating wildlife responses. We suspect that willingness to attempt such experiments is hampered by the perceived difficulty of conducting these experiments combined with a fear of failure. However, we argue that failure to experiment with new methods guarantees learning nothing new. Here, we address many of the major challenges of designing an experiment to evaluate wildlife responses to restoration, including (1) distinguishing between the goals and objectives of the restoration project and the key uncertainties the experiment will address, (2) designing the experiment itself, including optimizing plot size and replication, and (3) determining how and when the results will be evaluated. We then illustrate how we designed an experiment to evaluate riparian bird responses to restoration along the lower Cosumnes River in the Central Valley of California, USA. Researchers and practitioners working together from the start of the objectives-setting process, through experimental design, implementation, and evaluation can proactively address the challenges of conducting a restoration experiment and maximize the chances of successfully identifying effective restoration methods, adding to the practitioners' toolbox, and accelerating the rate of successful habitat restoration.


Bismuth (${}^{209}$Bi) is the deepest group V donor in silicon and possesses the most extreme characteristics such as a 9/2 nuclear spin and a 1.5 GHz hyperfine coupling. These lead to several potential advantages for a Si:Bi donor electron spin qubit compared to the more common phosphorus donor. Most previous studies on Si:Bi have been performed using natural silicon where linewidths and electron spin coherence times are limited by the presence of ${}^{29}$Si impurities. Here, we describe electron spin resonance (ESR) and electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) studies on ${}^{209}$Bi in isotopically pure ${}^{28}$Si. ESR and ENDOR linewidths, transition probabilities, and coherence times are understood in terms of the spin Hamiltonian parameters showing a dependence on field and ${m}_{I}$ of the ${}^{209}$Bi nuclear spin. We explore various decoherence mechanisms applicable to the donor electron spin, measuring coherence times up to 700 ms at 1.7 K at X band, comparable with ${}^{28}$Si:P. Importantly, the coherence times we measure follow closely to the calculated field gradients of the transition frequencies ($df/dB$), providing a strong motivation to explore ``clock'' transitions where coherence lifetimes could be further enhanced.


Background : Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disorder caused by progressive erosion of articular cartilage. The joint which is commonly affected is theknee joint. Patient with knee OA has increasing pain with decreasing postural stability, and may cause decrease infunctional mobility of the body. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between stability and mobility in patients with knee OA. Methods : A cross sectional study was performed to 43 patients from the Rheumatology Clinic of Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung, during  September−October 2013. The 'Timed Up and Go' (TUG) test and stabillometric platform examination were performed to analyze the mobility and stability in subjects. The data were analyzed with Spearman's Correlation. Results : Four subjects (9.30%) had normal functional mobility, 31 subjects (72.09%) had good mobility and need no help of others in their activities, and 8 subjects  (18.60%) had problems and could not stand and walk without help. This study also found 39 subjects (90.69%) had high risk of fall. The p value were 0.005 for correlation between knee OA and lateral static postural stability, 0.138 with anteroposterior static stability, 0.067 with dynamic to position of top right stability, 0.344 with dynamic to position of top left stability, 0.384 with dynamic to position of bottom left stability and 0.357 with dynamic to position of bottom right stability. Conclusions : There is a strong correlation between functional mobility with static postural stability, especially to the lateral position. [ AMJ .2015;2(4):550–4] DOI:  10.15850/amj.v2n4.639


This article investigates the globalization of resilience by examining a particular and prominent vehicle for the dissemination of resilience ideas: the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) initiative. As a philanthropic initiative organized through a network of international cities, 100RC demonstrates how the spread of resilience thinking has been facilitated by exploiting changes in the structures and processes of global governance afforded by neoliberal globalization. The analysis focuses on explicating100RC's animating logic of governance, which is committed to the cultivation of network connectivity. Rather than directly fostering resilience, connectivity is established as a condition under which resilience solutions can be immanently surfaced from the interactions of a diverse selection of stakeholders brought together through these networks. The article situates this governmental logic within broader changes associated with neoliberal globalization, namely the emergence of multi-scalar governance networks, the rise of philanthrocapitalism and the inception of platform capitalism. The conclusion discusses the implications of this analysis for further study of the relation between connectivity, danger, knowledge and value contained within resilience discourses.


The aim of this study was to determine the optimal concentration of glycerol, ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in the cryopreservation of epididymal spermatozoa of alpaca. The effect of different concentrations of glycerol, ethylene glycol and DMSO: T1 (0 M), T2 (0.25 M), T3 (0.5 M), T4 (0.75 M), T5 (1 M), T6 (1.25 M), T7 (1.5 M) and T8 (1.75 M) was evaluated. A polynomial regression model was used to determine the best concentration of each cryoprotectant, resulting 1.16, 1.02 and 0.9 M the optimal concentrations for glycerol, ethylene glycol and DMSO respectively. In Experiment 2, the effect of the optimal concentrations between glycerol, ethylene glycol and DMSO on motility, plasma membrane integrity, and acrosomal viability and integrity in alpaca epididymal spermatozoa were analyzed. The results showed a mean of 35.8, 51.8 and 38.3% for DMSO and 30.8, 45.0 and 33.8% for glycerol for motility, plasma membrane integrity and acrosome viability and integrity, respectively, and without significant differences between these cryoprotectants. However, the results were significantly better (p<0.05) than for ethylene glycol (1.02 M). It is concluded that the concentrations of 0.9 M DMSO and 1.16 M glycerol better preserved the functional characteristics of alpaca epididymal spermatozoa as compared to ethylene glycol (1.02 M).


Human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is undoubtedly occurring in Northeastern Ontario. However, there is a lack of information, resources, coordination, and collaboration on the issue in comparison to Southern Ontario. Furthermore, urban-based programming from "down south" does not necessarily fit the unique circumstances of Northeastern Ontario: specifically, the isolation and underservicing of rural and remote communities, the presence of francophone communities, and diverse Indigenous communities. The Northeastern Ontario Research Alliance on Human Trafficking is a community-university research partnership that takes a critical antihuman-trafficking approach. We combine Indigenous and feminist methodologies with participatory action research. In this paper, we first present findings from our eight participatory action research workshops with persons with lived experience and service providers in the region, where participants identified the needs of trafficked women and gaps and barriers to service provision. Second, in response to participants' calls for collaboration, we have developed a Service Mapping Toolkit that is grounded in Indigenous cultural practices and teachings, where applicable, and in the agency and self-determination of persons experiencing violence, exploitation, or abuse in the sex trade. We conclude by recommending seven principles for building collaborative networks aimed at addressing violence in the sex trade. The Service Mapping Toolkit and collaborative principles may assist other rural or northern communities across the county.
Corresponding author: Rosemary Nagy at email@example.com


In order to assess the extent of genotype by environment interactions (G×E) and environmental sensitivity in sheep farm systems, environmental factors must be identified and quantified, after which the relationship with the traits(s) of interest can be investigated. The objectives of this study were to develop a farm environment (FE) scale, using a canonical correlation analysis, which could then be used in linear reaction norm models. Fine-scale farm survey data, collected from a sample of 39 Texel flocks across the United Kingdom, was combined with information available at the national level. The farm survey data included information on flock size and concentrate feed use. National data included flock performance averages for 21-week-old weight (21WT), ultrasound back-fat (UFD) and muscle (UMD) depths, as well as regional climatic data. The FE scale developed was then combined with 181 555 (21WT), 175 399 (UMD) and 175 279 (UFD) records from lambs born between 1990 and 2011, on 494 different Texel flocks, to predict reaction norms for sires used within the population. A range of sire sensitivities estimated across the FE scale confirmed the presence of genetic variability as both 'plastic' and 'robust' genotypes were observed. Variations in heritability estimates were also observed indicating that the rate genetic progress was dependent on the environment. Overall, the techniques and approaches used in this study have proven to be useful in defining sheep FEs. The results observed for 21WT, UMD and UFD, using the reaction norm models, indicate that in order to improve genetic gain and flock efficiency, future genetic evaluations would benefit by accounting for the G×E observed.


There is presented the outcome analysis of numerous studies on the mechanisms of oxidative stress (OS) associated with increasing of the generation of reactive oxygen intermediate (ROI) in the electronic transport circuit of mitochondria, as well as the effect of ROI on the level of mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). It is shown a fine sensibility of mtDNA to oxidative affections and mutations. The relation of age accumulation of mtDNA mutations with aging and life expectancy has been noted. It is also shown the relationship of OS with mtDNA mutations, apoptosis, diseases, and aging. It is considered a pharmacological way for the protection of ROI, aging, diseases, and prolonging life with the help of the antioxidant SkQ1, addressed directly to the mitochondria.


This work shows how features accounting for nonverbal speaking characteristics can be used to map people into predefined categories. In particular, the results of this paper show that the speakers participating in radio broadcast news can be classified into journalists and non-journalists with an accuracy higher than 80 percent. The results of the approach proposed for this task is compared with the effectiveness of 16 human assessors performing the same task. The assessors do not understand the language of the data and are thus forced to use mostly nonverbal features. The results of the comparison suggest that the assessors and the automatic system have a similar performance.


Poor health status, rapidly escalating health care costs, and seemingly little association between investments in health care and health outcomes have prompted a call for a "pay-for-performance" system to improve population health. We suggest that both health plans and clinical service providers measure and report the rates of 5 behaviors: 1) smoking, 2) physical activity, 3) excessive drinking, 4) nutrition, and 5) condom use by sexually active youth. Because preventive services can improve population health, we suggest that health plans and clinical service providers report delivery rates of preventive services. We also suggest that an independent organization report 8 county-level indicators of health care performance: 1) health care expenditures, 2) insurance coverage, 3) rates of unmet medical, dental, and prescription drug needs, 4) preventive services delivery rates, 5) childhood vaccination rates, 6) rates of preventable hospitalizations, 7) an index of affordability, and 8) disparities in access to health care associated with race and income. To support healthy behaviors, access to work site wellness and health promotion programs should be measured. To promote coordinated care, an indicator should be developed for whether a clinical service provider is a member of an accountable care organization. To encourage clinical service providers and health plans to address the social determinants of health, organizational participation in community-benefit initiatives that address the leading social determinants of health should be assessed.


Introduction: Bilirubin is a substance that is produced during the process of hemolysis. Gender influences on neonatal illnesses and outcomes have remained a topic of debate and investigation. Empirical neonatological experience suggests that prevalence and degree of neonatal jaundice might be dependent on seasonal variation also. The aim of our study is to interpret the bilirubin levels in newborns according to gender and seasonal variation. Materials and Methods: The study was done from October 2012 to July of 2013 (differentiated by seasonal variation). A total of 1000 jaundiced newborn (500 of each sex diagnosed clinically and divided equally in summer and winter season) were studied to assess the total, direct and indirect serum bilirubin levels using colorimetry. Results: Out of total 1676 deliveries (439 were caesarean, 13 were assisted and rest were normal) during winter season and 1475 deliveries (399 were Cesarean, 14 were assisted and rest were normal) during summer season, 500 male newborn and 500 female newborn were analysed, divided equally in both seasons. Serum bilirubin was higher in males in summers and mainly comprised unconjugated bilirubin while direct bilirubin was higher in females in winters. Raised indirect bilirubin was more common in males born in summer than those born in winters (P = 041). In winters raised direct bilirubin was more common in females as compared to males (P = 0.019). Among female neonates total and indirect bilirubin was significantly raised in those born in summers (P = < 0.001 and <0.001, respectively) while direct was raised in those born in winters (P = 0.003). Conclusion: Physiological and pathologic phenomena associated with male gender must be integrated in the frame of understanding of both susceptibility and protection of the male newborn which has not been available for adequate investigation in the past. The higher temperature during the summer, with a greater influence of higher breastfeeding cause more severe hyperbilirubinemia.


The development of shaping technology, which may involve the use of an automatic system with software control and a set of special tools, makes it possible to aspherize large off-axis optical elements of astronomical and space-based telescopes in which the deviation from the nearest sphere is greater than 1 mm. This paper discusses an example of the automatic shaping of an off-axis mirror 560 mm in diameter with asphericity 200 μm in which the surface shape is monitored with a diffraction optical element. A method is considered for preliminary aspherization of an off-axis segment of a composite mirror 1520 mm in diameter, involving the elastic deformation of a segment, followed by automatic finishing. The paper presents the results of aspherization for the Millimetron telescope project, using automatic milling, grinding, and polishing of convex off-axis elements made from Astrositall with more than 1 mm asphericity.


In our increasingly diverse environment, nurses are obligated to question the meaning of "evidence" when history has shown that our emphasis on the empirical and quantitative data has shaped our biases against knowledge unknown to us. This bias has limited our ability to provide patient or person-centered care, and can be harmful to patients. Nurses are encouraged to reflect on what evidence means in their practice and to make sure harm is not caused to patients by dismissing evidence yet unknown to us or accepting "truths" not fully understood by us. The authors use composite case studies to share experiences from their clinical practice on how "evidence," or lack of, can challenge our obligation to "do no harm." Curiosity and skepticism should guide nursing practice, and every nurse should strive to contribute to questioning accepted practice and finding answers to the unknown to meet the needs of our diverse patients. The Meaning of Evidence and Nonmaleficence: Cases from Nursing Chenit Ong-Flaherty, DNP – University of San Francisco; Angela Banks, PhD – University of San Francisco; Martha Doyle – Kaiser Permanente; Claire Olivia SharifiUniversity of San Francisco


Crime fiction has become a key element in Latin American literature. The rise in output of the genre can be explained by an urgency to explore issues of morality in societies which incorporate varying levels of censorship and corruption. Through a focus on the concept of the crime scene itself, this book identifies and interrogates some of the principal developments in contemporary Latin American crime fiction. In ten chapters which cover Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela, with generic diversity which spans police procedurals, narcoliteratura, postmodern detection and historical portrayals of crimes, the authors investigate how the crime scene - which has always been central to the genre and its subgenres - critiques local and global issues, including social injustice, discrimination, neoliberalism, violence, identity, corruption and memory.


Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) cost the National Health Service (NHS) in England in excess of £1 billion per year. One of the main HAIs is caused by the endospore-forming bacterium Clostridium difficile. The most common cause of healthcare-acquired diarrhoea in the developed world, C. difficile was responsible for around 850 deaths in England and Wales in 2011. To help reduce the spread of the HAI-causing bacteria, terminal disinfection of isolation rooms and wards using hydrogen peroxide vapour is actively promoted. The key advantages of hydrogen peroxide vapour are its high oxidation potential which has been reported to inactivate bacteria, fungi and spores. An additional advantage of hydrogen peroxide vapour is that it is relatively environmentally friendly, breaking down into oxygen and water.
Investigation into bacterial inactivation kinetics was undertaken at controlled, steady concentrations of hydrogen peroxide vapour in the range of 10 ppm to 90 ppm. An exposure chamber was designed whereby the bacterial spores could be exposed to constant concentrations of hydrogen peroxide for various exposure times. Bacterial spores (1-log10 to 8-log10 cfu) were filter deposited onto membranes to achieve an even layer for consistent exposure of the hydrogen peroxide vapour to the spores. Bacillus subtilis is often used for method development in bacterial studies; advantages are it has been shown to be highly resistant to hydrogen peroxide vapour and is not a human pathogen. Following the method development, different strains of C. difficile (ribotypes 014, 027, 103 and 220) were exposed to identify differences in resistance. Inactivation models (Chick-Watson, Series-Event, Weibull and Baranyi) were used to fit the data generated using the environmental chamber. Decimal reduction values (D-values) were calculated from the models for comparative studies regarding the inactivation achieved for the different bacteria and different hydrogen peroxide concentrations.
The findings from this thesis revealed the Weibull model provides the best fit for most of the data. An initial shoulder period was identified for B. subtilis which was absent for C. difficile inactivation by hydrogen peroxide vapour; B. subtilis is therefore more resistant to hydrogen peroxide disinfection than C. difficile. Typical D-values for B. subtilis and C. difficile when exposed to hydrogen peroxide vapour at a concentration of 90 ppm were 140 and 1 min, respectively. C. difficile inactivation data were used to develop a model to estimate the log reduction that could be achieved during an inactivation cycle based on the concentration-time integral ( ). This model could be used to estimate the log reduction of commercially available hydrogen peroxide decontamination systems; these release a fixed amount of hydrogen peroxide into the room resulting in a peak concentration before decomposition to oxygen and water. Releasing the hydrogen peroxide into the room in this manner results in spatial and temporal variation; this could result in differences in bacterial inactivation in different areas within the room. Using the aforementioned regression model, the inactivation achieved at all locations within the room could be predicted, which could be used to optimise the current hydrogen peroxide decontamination cycles.


This thesis describes research carried to investigate the role of creative stimuli in the engineering design process. The research was cross-disciplinary bringing findings and perspectives from cognitive psychology to engineering design. The theoretical work undertaken has produced a model to represent how information can be made to work effectively as creative stimuli, inspiring creative ideas that in turn affect the design outputs produced through the creative design process. By combining participation action research with an observational audit, the information-use profiles were constructed for the innovation hub within the associated case company. These gave details of the types of projects and tasks undertaken by the case company; the designers working on them, and most importantly the information being used during design activities. It was shown that over 50% of the information uses recorded were working on diagrammatic representations, predominantly using CAD and imaging software. In this thesis it is shown that information captured, documented and stored by a company can be used as a useful source of creative stimuli. A tool was proposed to retrieve this information in a guided manner to support creative idea generation in industrial brainstorm sessions. The evidence suggested that introducing any of the tested formats of stimuli to a brainstorm group had positive affect on both the rate of idea production and the quality of the ideas being produced. Stimuli sourced internally to the case company in a guided manner were shown to perform as well as the most established creative stimuli tools available.