Agriculture is the sole provider of human food. Most farm machines are driven by fossil fuels, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and, in turn, accelerate climate change. Such environmental damage can be mitigated by the promotion of renewable resources such as solar, wind, biomass, tidal, geo-thermal, small-scale hydro, biofuels and wave-generated power. These renewable resources have a huge potential for the agriculture industry. The farmers should be encouraged by subsidies to use renewable energy technology. The concept of sustainable agriculture lies on a delicate balance of maximizing crop productivity and maintaining economic stability, while minimizing the utilization of finite natural resources and detrimental environmental impacts. Sustainable agriculture also depends on replenishing the soil while minimizing the use of non-renewable resources, such as natural gas, which is used in converting atmospheric nitrogen into synthetic fertilizer, and mineral ores, e.g. phosphate or fossil fuel used in diesel generators for water pumping for irrigation. Hence, there is a need for promoting use of renewable energy systems for sustainable agriculture, e.g. solar photovoltaic water pumps and electricity, greenhouse technologies, solar dryers for post-harvest processing, and solar hot water heaters. In remote agricultural lands, the underground submersible solar photovoltaic water pump is economically viable and also an environmentally-friendly option as compared with a diesel generator set. If there are adverse climatic conditions for the growth of particular plants in cold climatic zones then there is need for renewable energy technology such as greenhouses for maintaining the optimum plant ambient temperature conditions for the growth of plants and vegetables. The economics of using greenhouses for plants and vegetables, and solar photovoltaic water pumps for sustainable agriculture and the environment are presented in this article. Clean development provides industrialized countries with an incentive to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions at the lowest cost. The mechanism of clean development is discussed in brief for the use of renewable systems for sustainable agricultural development specific to solar photovoltaic water pumps in India and the world. This article explains in detail the role of renewable energy in farming by connecting all aspects of agronomy with ecology, the environment, economics and societal change.


ABSTRACT Providing the best start for our youngest generation is a growing priority internationally. Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) offers an approach to address complex system challenges and improve access to early childhood public services for young children and their families. The purpose of this paper is to use the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance to reflect on the elements of collaboration that may have influenced the establishment and implementation of an early childhood ISD approach in Nova Scotia (Canada). The provision of adequate resources for partnership development, clarification of roles and formal agreements to enable commitment and the importance of building collaborative capacity among partners was found to be critical to develop a shared vision for ISD for early childhood. The Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance provided a useful lens to consider some of the interactive components of ISD in the early childhood initiative and further, more in-depth study is warranted to determine which components are necessary for collaborative success.


The detection of moving objects from a video image sequences is very important for object tracking, activity recognition, and behavior understanding in video surveillance. The most used approach for moving objects detection / tracking is background subtraction algorithms. Many approaches have been suggested for background subtraction. But, these are illumination change sensitive and the solutions proposed to bypass this problem are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a robust yet computationally efficient background subtraction approach and, mainly, focus on the ability to detect moving objects on dynamic scenes, for possible applications in complex and restricted access areas monitoring, where moving and motionless persons must be reliably detected. It consists of three main phases, establishing illumination changes invariance, background/foreground modeling and morphological analysis for noise removing. We handle illumination changes using Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), which limits the intensity of each pixel to user determined maximum. Thus, it mitigates the degradation due to scene illumination changes and improves the visibility of the video signal. Initially, the background and foreground images are extracted from the video sequence. Then, the background and foreground images are separately enhanced by applying CLAHE. In order to form multi-modal backgrounds we model each channel of a pixel as a mixture of K Gaussians (K=5) using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Finally, we post process the resulting binary foreground mask using morphological erosion and dilation transformations to remove possible noise. For experimental test, we used a standard dataset to challenge the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method on a diverse set of dynamic scenes. Keywords—Video surveillance, background subtraction, Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization, illumination invariance, object tracking, object detection, behavior understanding, dynamic scenes.


The attempt of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to provide consistent and logical accounting treatment for hedging transactions, in the form of FAS 133, continues to generate controversy. Under the new rules, many kinds of hedges do not cause problems, but a variety of difficulties still remain. One of the more significant ones involves how the changes in the current value of an option used in a hedge are to be treated. In some cases, changes in an option's time value are supposed to enter into earnings, which can produce spurious earnings volatility during the period of a hedge. Bodurtha and Thornton describe the situation under FAS 133 and then propose two possible solutions. One is to suggest a change in the rule that would remove the problem. Their "financial engineering solution" would not depend on a rule change, but would introduce new types of derivatives whose contingent cash flows could be organized in such a way as to qualify for hedge treatment under the current rules, but would remove the artificial earnings volatility that would otherwise occur with a standard option hedge.


This study is the first to investigate the anticancer effect of 6-dehydrogingerdione (DGE), an active constituent of dietary ginger, in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. DGE exhibited effective cell growth inhibition by inducing cancer cells to undergo G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis. Blockade of cell cycle was associated with increased levels of p21, and reduced amounts of cyclin B1, cyclin A, Cdc2 and Cdc25C. DGE also enhanced the levels of inactivated phosphorylated Cdc2 and Cdc25C. DGE triggered the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway indicated by a change in Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, resulting in caspase-9 activation. We also found the generation of reactive oxygen species is a critical mediator in DGE-induced cell growth inhibition. DGE clearly increased the activation of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and p38. In addition, antioxidants vitamin C and catalase significantly decreased DGE-mediated JNK activation and apoptosis. Moreover, blocking JNK by specific inhibitors suppressed DGE-triggered mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Taken together, these findings suggest that a critical role for reactive oxygen species and JNK in DGE-mediated apoptosis of human breast cancer.


Contemporary research has identified resilience the ability to rebound and learn despite obstacles and adversities as a key element to success in school. "Black Deaf Students: A Model for Educational Success" searches out ways to develop, reinforce, and alter the factors that encourage resilience in African American deaf and hard of hearing students. To find the individual characteristics and outside influences that foster educational achievement, author Carolyn E. Williamson conducted extensive interviews with nine African American deaf and hard of hearing adults who succeeded in high school and postsecondary programs. Until now, the majority of studies of African American deaf and hard of hearing students concentrated upon their underachievement. The only success stories available involved high-achieving African American hearing students. To create an effective model in "Black Deaf Students," Williamson focuses on the factors that contributed to her subjects successes in postsecondary programs, what they viewed as obstacles and how they overcame them, and their recommendations for facilitating graduation from postsecondary programs. Her work gives voice to a group rarely heard in research, which enables readers to view them as a heterogeneous rather than homogeneous group. Their stories provide vital information for parents, school personnel, community stakeholders, and those enrolled in education and mental health preparation programs. In addition, the insights about how these adults succeeded can be useful in facilitating positive outcomes for students who are going into two-year colleges, vocational training, and work settings."


Wide-azimuth long-offset OBC/OBN surveys provide a suitable framework to perform computationally-efficient frequency-domain full waveform inversion (FWI) with a few discrete frequencies. Frequency-domain seismic modeling is performed efficiently with moderate computational resources for a large number of sources with a sparse multifrontal direct solver (Gauss-elimination techniques for sparse matrices). Approximate solutions of the time-harmonic wave equation are computed using a Block Low-Rank (BLR) approximation, leading to a significant reduction in the operation count and in the volume of communication during the LU factorization as well as offering a great potential for reduction in the memory demand. Moreover, the sparsity of the seismic source vectors is exploited to speed up the forward elimination step during the computation of the monochromatic wavefields. The relevance and the computational efficiency of the frequency-domain FWI performed in the visco-acoustic VTI approximation is shown with a real 3D OBC case study from the North Sea. The FWI subsurface models show a dramatic resolution improvement relative to the initial model built by reflection traveltime tomography. The amplitude errors introduced in the modeled wavefields by the BLR approximation for different low-rank thresholds have a negligible footprint in the FWI results. With respect to a standard multifrontal sparse direct factorization, and without compromise on the accuracy of the imaging, the BLR approximation can bring a reduction of the LU factor size by a factor up to three. This reduction is not yet exploited to reduce the effective memory usage (ongoing work). The flop reduction can be larger than a factor of 10 and can bring a factor of time reduction of around three. Moreover, this reduction factor tends to increase with frequency, namely with the matrix size. Frequency-domain visco-acoustic VTI FWI can be viewed as an efficient tool to build an initial model for elastic FWI of 4-C OBC data.


A long-standing contrast in academic discussions of science concerns its perceived disenchanting or enchanting public impact. In one image, science displaces magical belief in unknowable entities with belief in knowable forces and processes and reduces all things to a single technical measure. In the other, science is itself magically transcendent, expressed in technological adulation and an image of scientists as wizards or priests. This paper shows that these contrasting images are also found in representations of science in super-hero comics, which, given their lowly status in Anglo-American culture, would seem an unlikely place to find such commonality with academic discourse. It is argued that this is evidence that the contrast constitutes an ambivalence arising from the dilemmas that science poses; they are shared rhetorics arising from and reflexively feeding a set of broad cultural concerns. This is explored through consideration of representations of science at a number of levels in the comics, with particular focus on the science-magic constellation, and enchanted and disenchanted imagery in representations of technology and scientists. It is concluded that super-hero comics are one cultural arena where the public meaning of science is actively worked out, an activity that unites "expert" and "non-expert" alike.


Obtained by different spraying technologies: in atmospheric plasma spray, High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) or laser cladding, the layers of hard alloys with a high content of WC and TiC find their industrial applications due to their high hardness and resistance to wear. Recognized as being a process associated with welding, the arc spraying process is a method applied industrially both in obtaining new surfaces and for reconditioning worn ones. This chapter presents the technology for obtaining ultra-hard layers based on WC and TiC - by the arc spraying process, using a classic spray device equipped with a conical nozzle system and tubular wire additional material containing ultra-hard compounds (WC, TiC). To study both the quality of deposits and the influence of thermal spray process parameters on the properties of deposits with WC and TiC content, we approached various investigative techniques, such as optical scanning microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and determination of adhesion, porosity, Vickers micro-hardness and wear resistance.


The last solar minimum, which extended into 2009, was especially deep and prolonged. Since then, sunspot activity has gone through a very small peak while the heliospheric current sheet achieved large tilt angles similar to prior solar maxima. The solar wind fluid properties and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) have declined through the prolonged solar minimum and continued to be low through the current mini solar maximum. Compared to values typically observed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, the following proton parameters are lower on average from 2009 through day 79 of 2013: solar wind speed and beta (∼11%), temperature (∼40%), thermal pressure (∼55%), mass flux (∼34%), momentum flux or dynamic pressure (∼41%), energy flux (∼48%), IMF magnitude (∼31%), and radial component of the IMF (∼38%). These results have important implications for the solar wind's interaction with planetary magnetospheres and the heliosphere's interaction with the local interstellar medium, with the proton dynamic pressure remaining near the lowest values observed in the space age: ∼1.4 nPa, compared to ∼2.4 nPa typically observed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. The combination of lower magnetic flux emergence from the Sun (carried out in the solar wind as the IMF) and associated low power in the solar wind points to the causal relationship between them. Our results indicate that the low solar wind output is driven by an internal trend in the Sun that is longer than the ∼11 yr solar cycle, and they suggest that this current weak solar maximum is driven by the same trend.


In the past few years, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has been using forward guidance about the federal funds rate in a more explicit way than ever before. This paper explores the market reaction to the forward guidance, with particular focus on the use of calendar dates and economic thresholds in the FOMC statement. The results show that market participants interpreted the FOMC's policy guidance as conveying important information about the Committee's policy reaction function. In particular, market participants came to expect the FOMC to wait for lower levels of unemployment for a given level of inflation before beginning to raise the target federal funds rate, thereby shifting to a more accommodative policy approach aimed at supporting the economic recovery.


Philosophy seems to consist of two parts, Logic and Metaphysics. I exclude Ethics, for two reasons. In the first place, as the science of the end and aim of life, [ethics] seems to be exclusively psychical, and therefore to be confined to a special department of experience, while philosophy studies experience in its universal characteristics. In the second place, in seeking to define the proper aim of life, ethics seems to me to rank with the arts, or rather with the theories of the arts, which of all theoretical sciences I regard as the most concrete, while what I mean by philosophy is the most abstract of all the real sciences.


The smash-hit satirical bestseller, more than 3 million copies sold worldwide Film a box-office hit in Germany, now available on NETFLIX A two-part BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation directed by and starring David Threlfall (Shameless) Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed - no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman. People certainly recognise him, albeit as a flawless impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, and the ranting Hitler goes viral, becomes a YouTube star, gets his own T.V. show, and people begin to listen. But the Fuhrer has another programme with even greater ambition - to set the country he finds a shambles back to rights. Look Who's Back stunned and then thrilled 1.5 million German readers with its fearless approach to the most taboo of subjects. Naive yet insightful, repellent yet strangely sympathetic, the revived Hitler unquestionably has a spring in his step.


Over the past years there have been attempts to improve the development of techniques for caries detection and quantification. The demand for a non-destructive method has encouraged the use of micro-CT in studies of enamel de-remineralization. Our contribution to this development were presented in this work by evaluating the limitations of the method concerning energy and the size of the samples, by correlating the micro-CT results of mineral loss and lesion depth with a gold standard (TMR), and by suggesting a three-dimensional model for the study of dentin caries excavation methods.
After a literature review, which is the content of the first and second chapter of this work, we evaluated a second generation fan-beam commercial micro-CT (μCT 20, SCANCO Medical AG, Bassersdorf, Switzerland) for mineral content quantification. According to our results, the machine that works at 50 kVp and 160 μA is not feasible to quantify the mineral content of whole tooth. Thus, we strongly recommended to consider the limited acceleration voltage of the μCT 20 system and to limit sample evaluation to 6-mm thickness which is already an advantage over other analytic approaches which require the preparation of very thin, micrometric-sized samples.
The correlation of micro-CT and TMR was evaluated in our second experiment, written in chapter 5. After exposing 70-90 μm slices with natural carious lesion in enamel by a TMR equipment, micro-CT measurements (μCT 40; Scanco Medical AG, Bassersdorf, Switzerland) were made inserting these samples inside a whole tooth which was especially prepared in order to simulate a non-destructive evaluation. Also the effect of edge artefact was evaluated by using different threshold for the start of the lesion. Our observation showed the high Pearson correlation between both methods for evaluation of mineral loss and lesion depth and that the variation of the lesion parameter as 20 v% for the beginning of the lesion is a rational procedure. Above this value seems to be not necessary and 0 v% can lead to a higher variation of the values due to operator uncertainties within an artefact area.
With respect to the use of micro-CT in dentin excavation research, it was a valuable tool to distinguish between the three mineralization phase in the carious process; a very high demineralised dentin, a layer of increasing mineralization and a sound dentin layer. In this chapter we have compared a new enzyme solution (SFC-V, 3M ESPE AG, Seefeld, Germany)for dentin caries treatment in comparison with a well established method (Carisolv™ Gel Multimix; MediTeam Dental AB, Gothenburg, Sweden). The use of the threshold technique for the evaluation of the removed and remaining dentin after excavation seems to be worthwhile. The mathematical model could very well compare both solution and the remaining thickness of demineralised dentin with additional insight into its three-dimensional perspective.
In this work we tried to demonstrate the current possibilities of micro-CT imaging and quantification for the use in caries research. The system presents its limitation with respect to energy selection, scans artefacts, calibration and costs. However, our caries research domain demands a method which enables non-destructive analyses due to the dynamic characteristic of caries itself. The high correlation existed between the micro-CT system and the most reliable method of caries analyses stimulates the interest to persist the effort for the validation of the system.
New research should be encouraged to evaluate the equipment for the studies of enamel abrasion and artificial caries in enamel and dentin. Moreover, real time experiments and three-dimensional analysis of mineral loss could be done as also morphological insight of the development of caries. Longer term experiments could be also stimulated using the most tempting advantage of the method, which is the possibility of conducting longitudinal studies without destroying the samples.


Infertility in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) associated with diabetes leads to challenging situations seeking alternative treatments. In vitro maturation (IVM) followed by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) could overcome the challenges with promising pregnancies in such patients. In the treatment of a 32-year-old diabetic woman who also had PCOS, single immature oocyte was retrieved. Rescue IVM followed by ICSI yielded a grade 1 day 3 embryo which on transferring resulted in pregnancy and a healthy infant was delivered. Rescue IVM–ICSI could help in achieving pregnancy and live birth. Stimulation involving clomiphene and gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist is an effective and patient-friendly protocol for women with PCOS and diabetes and also for poor responders.


Abstrack : Physical Characteristic, Qualitative Terpenoid Experiment, Lotion, Lime Leaves. L ime leaves (Citrus hystrix DC.) contain active tannin compounds, steroid, terpenoid, and volatile oil which be formulated into repellent lotion. The aim of this research was to find out the physical test dosage form extract lotion of lime leaves covering organoleptic, homogeneity, pH, viscosity, dispersive power and adhesion, and also qualitative testing to find out the compounds content of terpenoid dosage form extract lotion of lime leaves. Methodology of this research used descriptive observational study by observes then describe about physical characteristic. The result of qualitative test terpenoid compound form extract lotion of lime leaves presented in narration and table. The result of this research was organoleptic experiment that showed if dosage form extract lotion of lime leaves have viscous and semi-solid, green color , fragrant smell typical of lime leaves. Homogeneity form was less homogeneous because there is still a little green particle. pH dosage form got the result for 6,27. Viscosity dosage form got the result for 4500 cp (centipoise). Dispersive power dosage form got the result for 6,6 cm. Adhesion got the result for 1,28 second and the result of qualitative experiment showed positive result and contains terpenoid with sorrel color. The conclusion from this research was the result from physical experiment dosage form extract lotion of lime leaves got appropriate with standard except homogeneity experiment and qualitative experiment of terpenoid compounds got the positive result contains terpenoid. Keywords : Physical Characteristic, Qualitative Terpenoid Experiment, Lotion, Lime Leaves. Link OJS 3 artikel IDENTIFIKASI KUALITATIF SENYAWA TERPENOID EKSTRAK n- HEKSANA SEDIAAN LOSION DAUN JERUK PURUT (Citrus hystrix DC)


Abstract We argue that to face climate change, all education, from kindergarten to tertiary, needs to be underpinned by environmental education. Moreover, as a site of reframing, education when coupled with philosophy is a possible site of influencing societal reframing in order to re-examine our relations to nature or our natural environment. However, we contend that as philosophy has been largely absent from curricula, it is vital to redress this issue. Further, the environment cannot be viewed simply as subject matter for study but, reconceptualised in the Indigenous sense as Place. Only in this way can we overcome the human-nature divide. We conclude that educators must look for what Plumwood calls 'experiences that do not fit the dominant story' to disrupt an important link in the chain of climate change by developing 'traitorous identities' able to challenge the dominant culture.


Preschool Mexican children consume 7% of their total energy intake from processed breakfast cereals. This study characterized the nutritional quality and labelling (claims and Guideline Daily Amount (GDA)) of the packaged breakfast cereals available in the Mexican market. Photographs of all breakfast cereals available in the 9 main food retail chains in the country were taken. The nutrition quality of cereals was assessed using the United Kingdom Nutrient Profiling Model (UKNPM). Claims were classified using the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) taxonomy and the GDA was defined according to the Mexican regulation, NOM-051. Overall, a total of 371 different breakfast cereals were analysed. The nutritional profile showed that 68.7% were classified as "less healthy". GDAs and claims were displayed more frequently on the "less healthy" cereals. Breakfast cereals within the "less healthy" category had significantly higher content of energy, sugar and sodium (p < 0.001). Most of the claims were displayed in the "less healthy" cereals (n = 313). This study has shown that there is a lack of consistency between the labelling on the front of the pack and the nutritional quality of breakfast cereals.


This study aims to develop the hospital clothing for dementia patient, which can bring them higher quality of life by giving them psychological and emotional satisfaction. As for the research method and contents, the authors searched the characteristics of aging society and dementia patient, mainly concentering on the related researches and publications. In addition, the characteristics of current domestic clothes design trend for dementia patient and design preference were studied by looking into previous studies. Also, on the characteristics of overseas design was examed by looking into sites on dementia, actual clothes and related catalogues. The development and evaluation of the design of clothes for dementia patient was conducted and which was based on the above researches. Then, the patients hospital clothing was designed and made. And also the discussion was followed with related field experts such as medical doctor and nurses, carer-givers, patient clothing manufacturers and professors of clothing textiles. Finally the authors designed and manufactured six patient clothes including one for male, one for female, two for common use in hospital, one for disable male dementia and one for disable female dementia. The developted clothes got high marks on beauty and symbolism in the evaluation by the experts. The design development of dementia patient clothes in this research will help the dementia patients' psychological comfortness and social protection.


England has been a key subject of Magnum photographer Martin Parr's work since he started taking pictures. Think of England is a comic, opinionated, affectionately satirical, colour-saturated photo-essay about the identity of England. As Scotland and Wales consolidate their status as nations and Great Britain begins to unravel, this book of new work contributes to the debate about what it means to be English. Quintessentially English himself, Parr's great achievement as a photographer is his ability to transform the obvious into the surprising, reinventing cliches of Englishness as provocative revelations. His tour of obvious England takes in Ascot and the charity shop, seaside resorts, herbaceous borders, the bring-and-buy stall, cucumber sandwiches and cups of tea, baked beans and bad footwear. Parr's work has already added to the visual vocabulary of England; this book, his first specifically on the subject of England, stretches it further. Simultaneously affectionate and brutally direct, all the photographs are shot with a ring flash camera (more usually used for medical photographs), which has been his medium of choice for the last four years.


ABSTRACT This article traces processes of political and cultural identification in the settler press in Algeria at the turn of the twentieth century. These processes, the article argues, extended beyond the triangular dynamics of the settler colonial situation, to be shaped by the wider global networks which sustained the rapid growth of the settler press in this period. Press networks created inter-imperial connections which allowed Europeans in Algeria to compare themselves to other settler societies across the world, providing points of reference for their own debates about sovereignty. If historic and contemporary examples of rebellion set by Europeans in the USA, the Transvaal, and Cuba proved attractive to journalists who resented the political authority and cultural influence of the French state, they were also perceived as risky in a demographic context of settler diversity and minority. Instead, journalists drew upon their global networks to imagine a transnational model of 'Latin' community. Their claims to 'Latin' identity expressed a profound ambivalence towards French authority, allowing them to seek protection from the French state without abandoning their mixed European heritage to the assimilative projects of the 'one and indivisible' republican regime. While journalists' promotion of an internally differentiated 'Latin' cultural and racial community may have disrupted the 'register of sameness' amongst settlers, it ultimately reinforced the exclusion of Algerian Muslims and Jews as agents and subjects of news.


The production and application of knowledge has a long history within the automotive industry, from Fordism (the concept of economic and social system based on industrialized and standardized mass production), to the Toyota Production system (an integrated socio-technical system resulting in lean manufacturing and business process improvement) to more recent research, such as Balcet and Consoni (2007) who studied the product development process in four Brazilian affiliates of foreign carmakers (Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford and Fiat-Fasa) to evaluate how multi-national companies develop their innovation strategies and Mundim (2007) who underlined the importance of knowledge value assessment [within Renault] and the need for metrics capable of evaluating and controlling the knowledge creation process. The car manufacturing industry has embraced the concept of Knowledge Management (KM) embedding systematic approaches to find, understand, and use knowledge to achieve organisational objectives, reducing time and expense of trial and error, reinvention and duplication. However, when considering KM in the retail motor industry there is a dearth of research, which this paper attempts to address.The retail motor industry relies on the delivery of a consistent sales process, however the increasingly complex new car sales programmes operated by vehicle manufacturers make it extremely difficult for sales staff to interpret the data quickly. This impacts on customer experience and increases the risk of expensive errors to the business, resulting in poor, inaccurate and untimely performance information. To overcome this problem a well-known car retail franchise and a reputable UK university formed a knowledge transfer partnership to design, build and implement an enterprise information system based on KM principles. This paper outlines the initial stages of this project. Consideration is awarded to requirements analysis, data quality, system planning decisions and prototype development. Key milestones of system design and development will be highlighted and a working prototype demonstration will form part of the conference presentation.Inclusion of this paper will contribute to the mini track on 'Applying Knowledge Management in Business: Contributions from Industry'. The paper presentation will highlight the challenges and successes associated with KM implementation in the car retail trade. Perspectives from individuals, teams, management and across the organisation supply chain will create opportunity for audience participation and discussion. Aware of the growing priority of impact and application of academic research, the paper also contributes to the theory-practice debate. The tensions around this debate for academics across the world has been recognised by the editors of leading journals. Therefore we believe the feedback from the audience will not only shape the future development of the project, but publication of the research in Knowledge Management journals.


An estimate of total ice mass in the Arctic is an important parameter for global climate studies, but there are no direct means for providing this information. A surrogate measurement, spatial integration of ice thickness, is being pursued by several groups using active acoustic and electromagnetic methods. As a complement to these efforts, the passive estimation of ice thickness using ambient noise caused by thermal and mechanical stress cracks in the ice sheet is focused on. The acoustic signal received from propagating stress cracks is the convolution of an elemental fracture source function and the spatial distribution function (array) of the propagating crack. This analytic result predicts a tonal spectral component of O(1 kHz) that relates directly to ice thickness. Experimental data collected in the Beaufort Sea during the spring of 1994 demonstrates the presence of this spectral peak, which correlates well with the measured ice thickness at the site.


As one of the most significant phenomena of industrialized societies, tourism plays a key role in encouraging regional developments and enhancing higher standards of living for local communities in particular. Traveling is a formative experience endowed with lessons on various aspects of life. It allows us learning how to enhance the social position as well as the social relationships. However, people forget the need to travel and gain first-hand experiences as they have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of stress created by the disorders and routines of the urban dwelling style. In this paper, various spaces of such experiences were explored through a virtual tour with two underlying aims: 1) encouraging, informing, and educating the community in terms of tourism development, and 2) introducing a temporary release from the routines. This study enjoyed a practical-qualitative research methodology, and the required data were collected through observation and using a multiple-response questionnaire. The participants (19-48 years old) included 41 citizens of both genders (63.4% male and 36.6% female) from two regions in Tehran, selected by cluster-probability sampling. The results led to development of a spatial design for a virtual tour experience in Tehran where different areas are explored to both raise people's awareness and educate them on their cultural heritage. Keywords—Ecotourism, education, gamification, social interaction, urban design, virtual tour.


Climate change has become one of the most important global issues of our time, with far-reaching natural, socio-economic, and political effects. To address climate change and development issues from the perspective of evaluation, an international conference was held in Alexandria, Egypt. This book distills the essence of that timely conference, building on the experiences of more than 400 reports and studies presented. Developing countries may be particularly vulnerable to the expected onslaught of higher temperatures, rising sea levels, changing waterfall patterns, and increasing natural disasters. All societies will have to reduce their vulnerability to these changes, and this book describes how vulnerabilities may be addressed in a systematic manner so that governments and local communities may better understand what is happening. Different approaches are also discussed, including the use of human security as a criterion for evaluation as well as ways to deal with risk and uncertainty. "Evaluating Climate Change and Development" presents a rich variety of methods to assess adaptation through monitoring and evaluation. The volume deals with climate change, development, and evaluation; challenges and lessons learned from evaluations; mitigation of climate change; adaptation to climate change; vulnerability, risks and climate change; and, presents a concluding chapter on the road ahead. Collectively the authors offer a set of approaches and techniques for the monitoring and evaluation of climate change.


The prime concern of this thesis is the comparability of two types of assessment now prevalent in Advanced level GeE examinations. The more conventional linear scheme assesses all candidates terminally, and the only way to improve the grade awarded is to re-take the whole examination. In contrast, the relatively new modular schemes of assessment include testing opportunities throughout the course of study. This not only has formative effects but allows quantifiable improvements in syllabus results through the medium of the resit option. There are obvious differences between the two schemes, but this does not necessarily imply that they are not comparable in their grading standards. It is this standard which the thesis attempts to address by considering the different variabilities of each of the schemes, and how these might impinge upon the outcomes of the grading process as evidenced in the final grade distributions. A key issue is that of legitimate and illegitimate variabilities - the former perhaps allowing an improvement in performance while maintaining grading standards; the latter possibly affecting the grading standard because its effect was not fully taken into account in the awarding process.
 By looking at a linear and modular syllabus in mathematics, the differences between the two are investigated, and although not fully generalisable, it is clear that many of the worries which were advanced when modular schemes were first introduced are groundless. Most candidates are seen to use the testing flexibility to their advantage, but there is little evidence of over-testing. Perhaps the major finding is a negative one - that there is no clear evidence for any difference in grading standards between modular and linear schemes of assessment, although there are variabilities which go some way to explaining what appears to be enhanced performances by some of the weaker modular candidates.


When a cell is exposed to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), mRNA from the homologous gene is selectively degraded by a process called RNA interference (RNAi). Here, we provide evidence that dsRNA is amplified in Caenorhabditis elegans to ensure a robust RNAi response. Our data suggest a model in which mRNA targeted by RNAi functions as a template for 5' to 3' synthesis of new dsRNA (termed transitive RNAi). Strikingly, the effect is nonautonomous: dsRNA targeted to a gene expressed in one cell type can lead to transitive RNAi-mediated silencing of a second gene expressed in a distinct cell type. These data suggest dsRNA synthesized in vivo can mediate systemic RNAi.


A variety of animation effects such as herds and fluids contain detailed motion fields characterized by repetitive structures. Such detailed motion fields are often visually important, but tedious to specify manually or expensive to simulate computationally. Due to the repetitive nature, some of these motion fields (e.g. turbulence in fluids) could be synthesized by procedural texturing, but procedural texturing is known for its limited generality. We apply example-based texture synthesis for motion fields. Our technique is general and can take on a variety of user inputs, including captured data, manual art, and physical/procedural simulation. This data-driven approach enables artistic effects that are difficult to achieve via previous methods, such as heart shaped swirls in fluid animation. Due to the use of texture synthesis, our method is able to populate a large output field from a small input exemplar, imposing minimum user workload. Our algorithm also allows the synthesis of output motion fields not only with the same dimension as the input (e.g. 2D to 2D) but also of higher dimension, such as 3D volumetric outputs from 2D planar inputs. This cross-dimension capability supports a convenient usage scenario, i.e. the user could simply supply 2D images and our method produces a 3D motion field with similar characteristics. The motion fields produced by our method are generic, and could be combined with a variety of large-scale low-resolution motions that are easy to specify either manually or computationally but lack the repetitive structures to be characterized as textures. We apply our technique to a variety of animation phenomena, including smoke, liquid, and group motion.


Necessary and sufficient conditions for the zero solution of the nonlinear neutral integro-differential equationbegin{eqnarray*}&&frac{d}{dt}Big(r(t)Big[x(t)+Q(t, x(t-g_1(t)),...,x(t-g_N(t)))Big]Big)\ &&= -a(t)x(t)+ sum^{N}_{i=1}int^{t}_{t-g_i(t)}k_i(t,s)f_i(x(s))ds end{eqnarray*} to be asymptotically stable are obtained. In the process we invert the integro-differential equation and obtain an equivalent integral equation. The contraction mapping principle is used as the main mathematical tool for establishing the necessary and sufficient conditions.


By thinking loudly about putting the regulation of cryptocurrencies on the agenda of the G20, governments seem to have managed to keep the Bitcoin bubble from inflating into a systemic risk, so far. In a tongue-in-cheek sense, this behavior of supervisory and regulatory authorities can be described as the distributed ledger technology of financial supervision. It is distributed because it does not have a clear center. The G20 seems to be the common reference point for many actors, but it does not speak itself. It is like a shared code.


Trade in agricultural commodity has significantly played a vital role in world's economic growth and development. Drawing its strength from the agricultural industry, such important roles include contribution to quality food production, job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and industrial inputs. The objective of the article was to examine trade competitiveness and revealed comparative advantages of global tropical fruits and to measure the stability and duration of Balassa indices by applying Kaplan-Meier survival function and Markov transition probability matrices. Results reveal that Spain, Ecuador, and The United States were the main exporters of the examined tropical fruits in the periods evaluated, together giving 29% of all products exported. The top10 countries, therefore, consisted 60% of concentration, dominated by fresh or dried banana, including plantains, which constitutes more than 25% of trade, followed by fresh apples which represents more 18% of the total tropical fruits trade for all the periods. The Balassa indices, however, were the highest for Costa Rica and Ecuador. Typically, comparative advantages seem to diminish for most of the countries as manifested by the stability tests and mobility indices.


We construct a finite dimensional representation of the face type, i.e dynamical, elliptic quantum group associated with $sl_N$ on the Gelfand-Tsetlin basis of the tensor product of the $n$-vector representations. The result is described in a combinatorial way by using the partitions of $[1,n]$. We find that the change of basis matrix from the standard to the Gelfand-Tsetlin basis is given by a specialization of the elliptic weight function obtained in the previous paper[Konno17]. Identifying the elliptic weight functions with the elliptic stable envelopes obtained by Aganagic and Okounkov, we show a correspondence of the Gelfand-Tsetlin bases (resp. the standard bases) to the fixed point classes (resp. the stable classes) in the equivariant elliptic cohomology $E_T(X)$ of the cotangent bundle $X$ of the partial flag variety. As a result we obtain a geometric representation of the elliptic quantum group on $E_T(X)$.


Matrix components in the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fish require analytical methods with high selectivity and sensitivity. A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) sample treatment method was optimized and applied, using HPLC-fluorescence for quantification of five low molecular weight PAHs: naphthalene (Nap), acenaphthene (Ace), phenathrene (Phe), fluoranthene (Flu) and pyrene (Pyr) in muscle of carp fish. Important in this study was the testing of different sorbents for clean-up in QuEChERS and comparison with Soxhlet extraction. Polymers and magnetite modified with γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-MPS) were equally as selective towards PAHs as primary secondary amine (PSA) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes were the least selective. The concentration of PAHs in carp fish from Hartebeespoort Dam using QuEChERS extraction method was comparable to Soxhlet extraction and ranged from 0.8-739 μg kg-1. In this study, the minimum concentration of PAHs in carp fish was 0.8 μg kg-1 for fluoranthene and the maximum was 739 μg kg-1 for Ace using QuEChERS method. The study revealed that polymers and magnetite modified with γ-MPS could be used as alternative clean-up sorbent in QuEChERs and that the concentration of PAHs in carp fish in the dam are a source of concern.


The Women Writing Women Collective was a collegial and collaborative response to the isolation that is often experienced by women scholars as they pursue their academic careers. For 5 years, a group of women gathered on a monthly basis to share their writing. In doing so, the group members provided a sounding board for each other as they engaged with writing and scholarship through reflective, reciprocal, and responsible critique and curiosity. As a writing collective, we began to recognize and deconstruct specific institutional constraints, practices, and theoretical stances that had influenced our perspectives and experiences of what it means to be women writing in the academy. Within this process of critical reflective practice, our scholarship, our writing, and our sense of community was strengthened. Within this article, we share our experiences of women writing and learning together


We present a new approach and a novel architecture, termed WSNet, for learning compact and efficient deep neural networks. Existing approaches conventionally learn full model parameters independently and then compress them via ad hoc processing such as model pruning or filter factorization. Alternatively, WSNet proposes learning model parameters by sampling from a compact set of learnable parameters, which naturally enforces {parameter sharing} throughout the learning process. We demonstrate that such a novel weight sampling approach (and induced WSNet) promotes both weights and computation sharing favorably. By employing this method, we can more efficiently learn much smaller networks with competitive performance compared to baseline networks with equal numbers of convolution filters. Specifically, we consider learning compact and efficient 1D convolutional neural networks for audio classification. Extensive experiments on multiple audio classification datasets verify the effectiveness of WSNet. Combined with weight quantization, the resulted models are up to 180 times smaller and theoretically up to 16 times faster than the well-established baselines, without noticeable performance drop.


Oxidative stress and generation of reactive oxygen species are believed to be implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD). Erythrocyte activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, the blood glutathione system, and plasma levels of thiobarbituric-acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were measured in 80 PD patients. These biochemical parameters were also measured in 29 age-matched controls. Patients with PD had significantly higher red blood corpuscle (RBC) activity of SOD. The mean RBC activity of catalase in PD patients did not differ significantly from those of controls. RBC catalase activity was significantly lower in advanced cases of PD compared to early cases. Oxidized glutathione was significantly higher in RBCs of PD patients, although there were no changes in total glutathione and reduced glutathione compared to controls. TBARS content was increased in patients with PD. Levodopa therapy, age and duration of illness did not significantly influence the measured parameters. Our study supports the previous hypothesis that oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. Perspectives for treatment of PD in the future could include antioxidant therapy.


Organizations responding to business challenges have long been concerned about the technologies they are using and the contributions of these technologies to their ability to make the necessary changes quickly and effectively. This dissertation posits that the relationship between the Information Systems (IS) group and the business is also of concern to organizations responding to business challenges. In addition, a new way of classifying challenges is outlined, suggesting that both equivocality and stakeholder complexity of the business challenge predict whether there will be successful systems agility. An empirical study involving 131 IS and business managers confirms that the IS to business relationship, equivocality, and stakeholder complexity make a difference in systems agility success, with interesting results regarding the moderating effect of relational capital in equivocal agility challenges.


The Talk of the Party: Political Labels, Symbolic Capital, and American Life. By Sharon E. Jarvis. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. 304p. $80.00 cloth, $27.95 paper. How did the term "liberal" become a dirty word in American politics? Why are Democrats "accused" of being liberal as a campaign tactic? These types of questions motivate Sharon Jarvis's book. The language of politics, especially partisan politics, is a topic visited by political scientists and other social scientists with modest frequency, but Jarvis offers a different, and fresh, perspective that bridges public opinion approaches with rhetorical analysis. This method should prove appealing to a variety of social scientists and students and illuminate new ways of studying political language.


Nineteen psychologists and 19 graduate students scored two Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition patient protocols. Mean IQs and indexes were similar across groups, but the ranges for Verbal IQ (VIQ), Performance IQ (PIQ), and Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) on one protocol were 25, 22, and 11 points, respectively. For both protocols taken together, percentages of agreement with the "actual" IQs for psychologists were only 26.3 for VIQ, 36.8 for PIQ, and 42.1 for FSIQ. For students, percentages were 15.8 for VIQ, 23.7 for PIQ, and 31.6 for FSIQ. The percentages of FSIQs that fell within ± 1 standard error of measurement of the actual IQs were 89.5 for psychologists and 76.3 for students. Scoring error also had a negative impact on index scores. Both groups were confident about their scoring accuracy.


Enhanced licensed-assisted access (eLAA) is an operational mode that allows the use of unlicensed band to support long-term evolution (LTE) service via carrier aggregation technology. The extension of additional bandwidth is beneficial to meet the demands of the growing mobile traffic. In the uplink eLAA, which is prone to unexpected interference from WiFi access points, resource scheduling by the base station, and then performing a listen before talk (LBT) mechanism by the users can seriously affect the resource utilization. In this paper, we present a decentralized deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based approach in which each user independently learns dynamic band selection strategy that maximizes its own rate. Through extensive simulations, we show that the proposed DRL-based band selection scheme improves resource utilization while supporting certain minimum quality of service (QoS).


More and more American older adults are relocating to retirement communities, and they experience challenges in adjusting to new surroundings that may increase their depression and mortality. An instrument not previously tested in the United States, the Index of Relocation Adjustment (IRA), may help in early identification of poor relocation adjustment. This study examined the psychometric properties of the IRA using secondary data from a convenience sample of 104 older adults who relocated to 6 retirement communities in Northeast Ohio. Cronbach's alpha was .86. The IRA was correlated with measures of positive cognitions (r = .48, p < .01) and relocation controllability (r = –.62, p < .01), suggesting construct validity. Results indicated a single factor reflecting relocation adjustment with loadings for all items ranging from .62 to .83. The IRA is potentially useful as a screening measure for early detection of poor adjustment among relocated older adults.


The aim of this work is to develop a comprehensive yet practical driver model to be used in studying driver–vehicle interactions. Drivers interact with their vehicle and the road through the steering wheel. This interaction forms a closed-loop coupled human–machine system, which influences the driver's steering feel and control performance. A hierarchical approach is proposed here to capture the complexity of the driver's neuromuscular dynamics and the central nervous system in the coordination of the driver's upper extremity activities, especially in the presence of external disturbance. The proposed motor control framework has three layers: the first (or the path planning) plans a desired vehicle trajectory and the required steering angles to perform the desired trajectory; the second (or the musculoskeletal controller) actuates the musculoskeletal arm to rotate the steering wheel accordingly; and the final layer ensures the precision control and disturbance rejection of the motor control units. The physics-based driver model presented here can also provide insights into vehicle control in relaxed and tensed driving conditions, which are simulated by adjusting the driver model parameters such as cognition delay and muscle co-contraction dynamics.


This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different types of organic wastes (grass and newspaper wastes, cow dung and their combination) on physicochemical properties during vermicomposting using Eisenia fetida. Three set-ups were conducted in which three experiments were for composting (controls) indicated as C1 for newspaper waste, C2 for grass waste and C3 for cattle dung and the corresponding replicates for vermicomposting processes for grass and cattle dung were T1 to T7 and mixed of newspaper, grass and cattle dung were T8-T13. A significant difference was detected among weight and number of Eisenia fetida in treatments, which the highest weight and population growth of worms occurred in T7 (60% of newspaper, 30% of cattle dung and 10% of grass waste). Compared to control treatment (without earthworms), vermicomposting treatment resulted in a decrease of organic carbon and C/N ratio after 30 days. Vermicomposting caused significant reduction in organic carbon (3.9-32.8% ) and C/N ratio (7.9–33.6%). The heavy metals degradation was evaluated after 90 days and at the end of the experiment the concentration of As, and Cd significantly decreased. This study clearly indicates that vermicomposting is a suitable technology for bioconversion of newspaper waste, grass clipping and cow dung to valuable material.


Desktop users commonly work on multiple tasks. The TaskTracer system provides a convenient, low-cost way for such users to define a hierarchy of tasks and to associate resources with those tasks. With this information, TaskTracer then supports the multi-tasking user by configuring the computer for the current task. To do this, it must detect when the user switches the task and identify the user's current task at all times. This problem of "task switch detection" is a special case of the general problem of change-point detection. It involves monitoring the behavior of the user and predicting in real time when the user moves from one task to another. We present a framework that analyzes a sequence of observations to detect task switches. First, a classifier is trained discriminatively to predict the current task based only on features extracted from the window in focus. Second, multiple single-window predictions (specifically, the class probability estimates) are combined to obtain more reliable predictions. This paper studies three such combination methods: (a) simple voting, (b) a likelihood ratio test that assesses the variability of the task probabilities over the sequence of windows, and (c) application of the Viterbi algorithm under an assumed task transition cost model. Experimental results show that all three methods improve over the single-window predictions and that the Viterbi approach gives the best results.


Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a computer-based analysis of the dynamics of fluid flow, and it is widely used in chemical and process engineering applications. However, computation usually becomes a herculean task when calibration of the CFD models with experimental data or sensitivity analysis of the output relative to the inputs is required. This is due to the simulation process being highly computationally intensive, often requiring a large number of simulation runs, with a single simulation run taking hours or days to be completed. Hence, in this research project, the kriging meta-modelling method was coupled with expected improvement (EI) global optimisation approach to address the CFD model calibration challenge. In addition, a kriging meta-model based sensitivity analysis technique was implemented to study the model parameter input-output relationship.

A novel EI measure was developed for the sum of squared errors (SSE) which conforms to a generalised chi-square distribution, where existing normal distribution-based EI measures are not applicable. This novel EI measure suggested the values of CFD model parameters to simulate with, hence minimising SSE and improving the match between simulation and experiments. To test the proposed methodology, a non-CFD numerical simulation case of the semi-batch reactor was considered as a case study which confirmed a saving in computational time, and an improvement of the simulation model with the actual plant data.

The usefulness of the developed method has been subsequently demonstrated through a CFD case study of a single-phase flow in both a straight type and convergent-divergent type annular jet pump, where both a single turbulent model parameter, C_μ and two turbulent model parameters, C_μ and C_2e where considered for calibration. Sensitivity analysis was subsequently based on C_μ as the input parameter.

In calibration using both single and two model parameters, a significant improvement in the agreement with experimental data was obtained. The novel method gave a significant reduction in simulation computational time as compared to traditional CFD. A new correlation was proposed relating C_μ to the flow ratio, which could serve as a guide for future simulations. The meta-model based calibration aids exploration of different parameter combinations which would have been computationally challenging using CFD. In addition, computational time was significantly reduced with kriging-assisted sensitivity analysis studies which explored effect of different C_μ values on the output, the pressure coefficient.

The numerical simulation case of the semi-batch reactor was also used as a basis of comparison between the previous EI measure and the newly proposed EI measure, which overall revealed that the latter gave a significant improvement at fewer number of simulation runs as compared to the former.

The research studies carried out has hence been able to propose and successfully demonstrate the use of a novel methodology for faster calibration and sensitivity analysis studies of computational fluid dynamics simulations. This is essential in the design, analysis and optimisation of chemical and process engineering systems.


In the last decade, Franco-Moroccan directors have begun to explore culturally taboo and unrepresented sexual communities within Morocco. This article examines how two pioneering films, Abdellah Taïa's Salvation Army and Nabil Ayouch's Much Loved, contribute to an emerging cultural politics in the Arab-speaking world that is reframing marginalized or invisible sexualities. While these films address issues of sexual tourism, incest, and prostitution, among others, the focus of this article is on the films' critiques of internalized homophobia, sexual tourism, and the sociopolitical power structures that occlude, marginalize, or shame those males outside of the heterosexual matrix. Analyzing the films' portrayal of the semiotics of forbidden desire, internalized homophobia, and the circulation and spatialization of queer sexualities in Morocco, this article argues that Salvation Army and Much Loved complicate our understanding of Arab masculinities and add to a growing queer visibility that stretches from the Maghreb to the Gulf.


In this paper, we introduce a new image representation based on a multilayer kernel machine. Unlike traditional kernel methods where data representation is decoupled from the prediction task, we learn how to shape the kernel with supervision. We proceed by first proposing improvements of the recently-introduced convolutional kernel networks (CKNs) in the context of unsupervised learning; then, we derive backpropagation rules to take advantage of labeled training data. The resulting model is a new type of convolutional neural network, where optimizing the filters at each layer is equivalent to learning a linear subspace in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). We show that our method achieves reasonably competitive performance for image classification on some standard "deep learning" datasets such as CIFAR-10 and SVHN, and also for image super-resolution, demonstrating the applicability of our approach to a large variety of image-related tasks.


Background : Pesticides are being used today to control a variety of insects, weeds and plant diseases. Some of these pesticides can act as toxins to plants, animals and humans when found in significant concentrations. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine pesticide residues in locally consumed vegetables. This was done by analyzing vegetable samples from supermarkets and local markets in Nairobi and its environs. Materials and methods: A total of 112 samples (kales 94, French beans 18) were collected from the study area and analyzed using gas chromatography for pesticide residues. Samples collection was done during the hot/dry season and cold/wet season. Results : The pesticide residues were found especially during the hot/dry season and were mainly organophosphates. However, on washing and cooking the residue levels reduced were by 17% and 40% -respectively. Adherence to recommended pre harvest intervals resulted in 99% reduction of the pesticide residues. Conclusion: This study clearly shows that adherence to good agricultural practice would significantly lower the levels of pesticide residues in vegetables. Keywords: Pesticides residues, vegetables


The object technology model is constantly evolving to address the software crisis problem. This novel idea which informed and currently guides the design style of most modern scalable software systems has caused a strong belief that the object-oriented technology is the ultimate answer to the software crisis, i.e. applying an object-oriented development method will eventually lead to quality code. It is important to emphasise that object-orientedness does not make testing obsolete. As a matter of fact, some aspects of its very nature introduce new problems into the production of correct programs and their testing due to paradigmatic features like encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism and dynamic binding as this research work shows.
 Most work in testing research has centred on procedure-oriented software with worthwhile methods of testing having been developed as a result. However, those cannot be applied directly to object-oriented software owing to the fact that the architectures of such systems differ on many key issues.
 In this thesis, we investigate and review the problems introduced by the features of the object technology model and then proceed to show why traditional structured software testing techniques are insufficient for testing object-oriented software by comparing the fundamental differences in their architecture. Also, by reviewing Weyuker's test adequacy axioms we show that program-based testing and specification-based testing are orthogonal and complementary. Thus, a software testing methodology that is solely based on one of these approaches (i.e. program-based or specification-based testing) cannot adequately cover all the essential paths of the system under test or satisfactorily guarantee correctness in practice. We argue that a new method is required which integrates the benefits of the two approaches and further builds upon their individual strengths to create a more meaningful, practical and reliable solution.
 To this end, this thesis introduces and discusses a new automaton-based framework formalism for object-oriented classes called the Class-Machine and a test method that is based on this formalism. Here, the notion of a class or the idea behind classification in object-oriented languages is embodied within a machine framework. The Class-Machine model represents a polymorphic abstraction for heterogeneous families of Object-Machines that model a real life problem in a given domain; these Object-Machines are instances of different concrete machine types. The Class-Machine has an extensible machine implementation as well as an extensible machine interface. Thus, the Class-Machine is introduced as a formal framework for generating autonomous Object-Machines (i.e. Object-Machine Generator) that share common Generic Class-Machine States and Specific Object-Machine States. The states of these Object-Machines are manipulated by a set of processing functions (i.e. Class-Machine Methods and Object-Machine Methods) that must satisfy a set of preconditions before they are allowed to modify the state(s) of the Object-Machines. The Class-Machine model can also be viewed as a platform for integrating a society of communicating Object-Machines. To verify and completely test systems that adhere to the Class-Machine framework, a novel testing method is proposed i.e. the fault-finders (f²) - a distributed family of software checkers specifically designed to crawl through a Class-Machine implementation to look for a particular type of fault and tell us the location of the fault in the program (i.e. the class under test). Given this information, we can statistically show the distribution of faults in an object-oriented system and then provide a probabilistic assertion of the number and type of faults that remain undetected after testing is completed.
 To address the problems caused through the encapsulation mechanism, this thesis introduces and discusses another novel framework formalism that has complete visibility on all the encapsulated methods, memory states of the instance and class variables of a given Object-Machine or Class-Machine system under test. We call this the Class Machine Friend Function (CMƒƒ). In order to further illustrate all the fundamental theoretical ideas and paradigmatic features inherent within our proposed Class-Machine model, this thesis considers four different Class-Machine case studies. Finally, to further show that the Class-Machine theoretical purity does not mitigate against practical concerns, our novel object-oriented specification, verification, debugging and testing approaches proposed in this thesis are exemplified in an automated testing tool called: The Class-Machine Testing Tool (CMTT).


From the Pliocene to the modern, the Earth's climate has undergone a vast and significant change from a world dominated by continental ice restricted only to Antarctica with a rhythmic 41 kyr beat, through a period of declining atmospheric CO2 and cooling culminating with the bihemispheric glaciation known today, dominated by 100 kyr cyclicity. Ocean circulation is often given a central role in the dynamics of the late Neogene although many questions, such as the role of the North Atlantic in glacial-interglacial CO2 change remain. It is a well-studied region however and as such provides an ideal location for further study with novel proxies that may potentially provide new insights. Similarly, atmospheric CO2 is often thought to be the most crucial single variable driving Plio-Pleistocene climate change. Atmospheric CO2 reconstructions so far published beyond the end of the 800 ka Dome C ice core record are however few and of relatively low resolution and/or precision. This is at present hampering our understanding of CO2-climate interaction for climates warmer than the present and must be addressed as a priority given humanity's ever-increasing CO2 emissions and anthropogenic global warming. This thesis aims to address these issues using boron-based proxies in foraminiferal carbonate. The potential power of these boron based proxies to directly quantify the marine carbonate system in the past has an enormous draw, both as a pH-CO2 proxy, but also for identifying the role of the deep ocean circulation changes in ocean carbon storage and release on orbital timescales. The first half of this thesis aims to better address the role of ocean circulation in rapid climate change and carbon storage over glacial-interglacial cycles. ?11B and B/Ca records from benthic foraminifera (Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi) from three cores in the North Atlantic spanning the last full glacial cycle and making up a depth, latitude and longitude transect are presented. These show that over this period, North Atlantic circulation is both dynamic and complex, presenting new and demonstrable links between climate change and the deep ocean carbonate system. Within this record a high-resolution section was taken focusing on the last 40 thousand years to search for any rapid changes in circulation associated with Heinrich events. It is demonstrated here that the boron based proxies can remove ambiguity from the existing records of deep ocean circulation change and challenge the established theory of deep water formation (DWF) shutdown in the Northern hemisphere during H-events. In the second half of this thesis atmospheric CO2 records, beyond the reach of the ice cores, derived from the ?11B of planktonic foraminifera (Globigerinoides ruber) from the tropical Atlantic basin and Caribbean Sea are presented. Here the relationship between the climate system (both in terms of ice-volume/sea level and temperature) is examined in climate states warmer than today. These include a suborbitally resolved record from 1.0-1.2 Ma to observe the nature of CO2 cycles before the 'over thickening' of the Laurentide ice sheet and the associated switch from 41 kyr to 100 kyr climate cycles at the Mid Pleistocene Transition (MPT). This study reveals the existence, around 1 million years ago, of high amplitude CO2 cycles with a 41 kyr cyclicity, and a mean CO2 level around 25 ppm above the Late Pleistocene. The relationship between CO2 and ice volume/SL prior to the MPT is significantly different to that post MPT, implying that CO2 decline and some other boundary condition change, probably related to the sub-glacial regolith, were both responsible for this most recent major climatic transition. Also reconstructed is a multisite reconstruction of atmospheric CO2, extending through the last 3.5 million years, including the onset of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (iNHG). In order to gain a quantitative understanding of the role of CO2 decline in Plio-Pleistocene cooling a comprehensive compilation of sea surface temperature data is also presented. A combination of this record of "global" sea surface temperature data with the longterm CO2 data confirms that Plio-Pleistocene cooling was driven by CO2 decline amplified by the ice-sheet albedo feedback.


During the past decade, the phenomenon of recurring conflict has come to play an increasingly visible role in thinking about the nature of peace and conflict, more explicitly recognising the cyclical nature of escalation and the intricate nexus between often artificially separated conflict phases of prevention, escalation and post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation (see e.g. World Bank, 2011). Even more so than before, in the twenty-first century, violent conflict seems to have become one mechanism employed in creating vicious circles, enclosing whole societies - or in the words of Paul Collier the 'bottom billion' (2007) - in a seemingly endless, self-sustaining trap.


This article analyses the evolution, reproduction, and sustenance of what I refer to as the 'informal state' in Uganda – a distinct mode of organising and broadcasting power that simultaneously centralises and fragments the state system. The 'informal state' is manifest in the construction of structures parallel to the legal and constitutional ones. This article departs from other studies of stateness in Africa that accent colonial legacies, illicit economic activities, and social conflict in accounting for the so called 'African state' that supposedly fails to approximate to the model (modern) state. Instead I argue that Uganda's 'informal state' is a consequence of three key factors: the country's postindependence experience with wide-spread insecurity and political instability in the 1970s and 1980s, the belief in militarism as an ideology by the new (post1986) group of rulers along with the imperatives of retention of political power, and foreign-aid flows as reward for embracing neoliberal economic reforms. The article also shows that the 'informal state' system reproduces its survival and legitimates its rule through maintaining aspects of legal-rational state structures, ceding power to varied constituencies as well as expanding the patronage network through the creation of numerous agencies.


In a 2010 lecture, Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the well-known British newspaper, The Guardian reminded the audience of the importance of subsidies in media. He was not referring only to public funding for public broadcasters such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), but to advertising. Advertising is at the heart of media, and media occupy a commodified space. Yet despite the intimacy of this connection, the relationship is not without constraints. Commercial interests have not been allowed unrestrained access to these communication channels. Although there are major differences in policy and regulatory attitudes to commercial communications, both the US and the UK have required commercial communications to be transparent. The US has maintained a consistent policy and regulatory approach towards the use of paid-for content. The UK, however, has recently undergone a significant policy and regulatory change and permitted some forms of product placement, although it has retained the principle of editorial independence. The introduction of product placement in the UK provides an opportunity to re-examine the relationship between commercial interests and the media. Are the protections which have been put in place sufficient to alleviate disquiet, or do practices such as product placement put at risk at some fundamental level — and in a way that cannot be fully ameliorated by regulatory design — the public's ability to access trusted content? To consider these questions the chapter follows two paths. First, it reviews in more detail the two principles that may be seen as protections to mitigate the impact of commercial interests: the transparency principle and the independence principle. It does this by examining how they are reflected in regulatory design, using the US and the UK as illustrations. Secondly, it considers the place of commercial interests and the disquiet around such interests by posing three lines of inquiry. The first considers whether there is an inherent limitation in the rules that weaken their effectiveness in constraining the influence of commercial content. The second inquiry reviews the disquiet by considering the principle of access. The final line of inquiry examines the problem using Sandel's argument from corruption, which suggests that the value of certain goods are diminished or corrupted by the market. The chapter asks whether media content is such a good.


The standard household production model does not incorporate multitasking, although time-diary data reveal that individuals regularly multi-task. We formulate a model where time spent in child care can be sole-tasked or multitasked with other household production activities. This model implies associations between household productivity factors and both child outcomes and parental time use. We then use data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and the Australian Time Use Surveys to examine the empirical validity of these implications. Consistent with our model's predictions, household productivity factors are associated both with child outcomes and parental time use.


[1] The interactions between aerosols and solar radiation are determined by a combination of aerosol properties (i.e., types), surface properties (i.e., albedo) and clouds. These determining factors vary for different regions. We examine how these differences contribute to the impact of aerosols on the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface radiation. In this study, the AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) aerosol climatology is used, in conjunction with surface albedo and cloud products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to calculate the aerosol direct radiative effect (ADRE) and its normalized form (NADRE). The NADRE is defined as the ADRE normalized by optical depth at 550 nm and is mainly determined by internal aerosol optical properties and geographical parameters. These terms are evaluated for cloud-free and cloudy conditions and for all-mode and fine-mode aerosols. Single-scattering albedo is an important variable determining ADRE of biomass burning. Because of stronger absorption by the smoke over South Africa the average NADRE over South America is ∼35% larger at the TOA but ∼38% smaller at the surface than that over South Africa. The surface albedo is another important factor in determining ADRE, especially for mineral dust. As the surface albedo varies from ∼0.1 to ∼0.35, it is observed that the dust NADRE ranges from −44 to −17 Wm−2 τ−1 at the TOA and from −80 to −48 Wm−2 τ−1 at the surface over the Saharan deserts, Arabian Peninsula, and their surrounding oceans. We also find that the NADRE of fine-mode aerosol is larger at the TOA but smaller at the surface in comparison to that of all-mode aerosol because of its larger single-scattering albedo and smaller asymmetry factor. Cloudy-sky ADRE is usually not negligible for the observed cloud optical thickness, but the TOA ADRE with clouds is sensitive to the relative location of aerosols and cloud layer.


Introduction. The incidence of caesarean sections has shown a global rising, surpassing the optimal level of 15% recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). One of the risks of elective caesarean section for the newborn is represented by a higher incidence of respiratory disorder cases. Methods. We performed a retrospective study over a period of three years (20132015) in "Bucur" Maternity  "St. Ioan" Emergency Hospital, regarding the frequency of respiratory disorders in newborns. The study involved newborns resulted from pregnancies of over 34 weeks of amenorrhea. The method of birth, gestational age, sex, APGAR score, blood pH from the umbilical cord, the type of respiratory disorder and applied treatment were analysed. The data was considered statistically significant only for p<0.05. For comparison we excluded the cases where fetal distress constituted indication of the caesarean section. Results. The analysis shows a high incidence of respiratory disorders after birth through caesarean section, more than / of the babies born through caesarean section requiring special care versus approximately / of those born vaginally, for gestational ages lower than 36 weeks. Regarding term pregnancies, the values obtained show the same difference, 25% versus 6%. Conclusions. The gathered data can constitute a base for the reanalysis of the advantages of caesarean sections compared to the maternal and neonatal risks, especially in the case of elective interventions on prematures.


In the first part of the paper typical quotations are given to show how inadequately the theoretical side of the problem has been treated by earlier writers. The main body of the paper is devoted to the derivation of new, unexpectedly simple functions of the index of refraction which give directly the minimum value of the reflecting power and the associated values of the angles of incidence and refraction when the index is either less than 2−31/2 or greater than 2+31/2. This is followed by paragraphs which present, without detailed proofs, new formulae for the index of refraction and the angle of incidence in terms of the minimum value of the reflecting power, and for the index and reflecting power with the angle of incidence as independent variable. The closing paragraphs make the account complete by dealing with the behavior of the minimum of reflecting power corresponding to normal incidence, that is, to values of the index of refraction falling within the interval 2−31/2 to 2+31/2.


Data from the Third National Forest Inventory shows there are about
0.23 million ha of logged-over peat swamp forests (PSF) in Peninsular
Malaysia. It is important to improve the productivity of these areas by
planting commercial tree species in order to sustain its role as an important
source of high quality timber species. The main objectives of this study are to
determine appropriate planting technique and identify suitable timber species
to rehabilitate highly degraded PSF. Field planting that represents the core
of the study was conducted in Compartment 101, Raja Musa Forest
Reserve, Selangor, Malaysia. The area was classified as highly degraded
PSF and occupied mostly by weeds especially Imperata cylindrica. Four
different planting techniques were tested, namely open planting, open
planting with mulching, open planting with topsoil and open planting with
nurse tree. Six indigenous PSF species were used, namely Anisoptera
marginata, Calophyllum ferrugineum, Durio carinatus, Ganua motleyana, Gonysty/us bancanus and Shorea p/atycarpa. Light intensity and foliar
analysis were also measured. Light intensity was measured in the nursery to
examine the response of the same species used in the field planting to
different light intensities. Meanwhile, foliar analysis was conducted to
compare the nutrient status of the seedlings among the four different planting
techniques.


The paper considers the experience of the European Investment Bank and addresses policy lessons for developing countries as they seek finance for development. The paper argues that the key lesson for developing countries is that the traditional role of a development bank in closing market gaps in long-term, low-cost and stable infrastructure lending and in anticyclical financing remains relevant for developing countries but needs to be directed towards new goals. The paper also proposes that an optimal structure is a regionally owned development bank, as this would allow critical advantages of regional ownership, control and responsiveness.


National interests in greater energy independence, concurrent with favorable market forces, have driven increased production of corn-based ethanol in the United States and research into the next generation of biofuels. The trend is changing the national agricultural landscape and has raised concerns about potential impacts on the nation's water resources. This report examines some of the key issues and identifies opportunities for shaping policies that help to protect water resources.


In rocky shores, desiccation is triggered by daily tide changes, and experimental evidence suggests that local distribution of algal species across the intertidal rocky zone is related to their capacity to tolerate desiccation. In this context, the permanence of Pyropia columbina in the high intertidal rocky zone is explained by its exceptional physiological tolerance to desiccation. This study explored the metabolic pathways involved in tolerance to desiccation in the Chilean P. columbina, by characterizing its transcriptome under contrasting conditions of hydration. We obtained 1,410 ESTs from two subtracted cDNA libraries in naturally hydrated and desiccated fronds. Results indicate that transcriptome from both libraries contain transcripts from diverse metabolic pathways related to tolerance. Among the transcripts differentially expressed, 15% appears involved in protein synthesis, processing and degradation, 14.4% are related to photosynthesis and chloroplast, 13.1% to respiration and mitochondrial function (NADH dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidase proteins), 10.6% to cell wall metabolism, and 7.5% are involved in antioxidant activity, chaperone and defense factors (catalase, thioredoxin, heat shock proteins, cytochrome P450). Both libraries highlight the presence of genes/proteins never described before in algae. This information provides the first molecular work regarding desiccation tolerance in P. columbina, and helps, to some extent, explaining the classical patterns of ecological distribution described for algae across the intertidal zone.


Retirement is a major concern among employees in Malaysia. Planning for retirement is important to ensure a comfortable life during retirement. Employees who do not plan for retirement early enough may find that they may not achieve their retirement objective if they start planning later in their life. This study was carried out to identify the level of awareness of retirement planning among International Islamic University Malaysia employees. The methodology of this study was conducted online through the use of questionnaires distributed to the respondents to gain primary data about their awareness on retirement planning. A total of 107 employees responded to the online survey through Google form and WhatsApp. The overall findings of the study indicate that most of the respondents have good level of awareness of retirement planning but their laid back attitude kept them from starting to save and invest for retirement. Also, the demographic factors which are age and gender have a significant impact towards retirement planning. Apart from that, some implications have been made for pre-retirees in order to increase their awareness of retirement planning.
Keyword: Retirement planning, IIUM, survey, awareness


Mandarin Chinese as an aspect language (Norman, 1988:163) has a rich inventory of aspect markers, including perfective -le1, -guo and imperfective -zhe, zai. Of these -le is the most studied marker because of its mysterious behaviors. For example, is it necessary to differentiate between the perfective -le and the COS le? Does -le indicate completion or termination? Are there any constraints on the interaction of -le with various situation types? All of these issues have aroused much controversy because different authors have invented different "acceptable" examples to support their arguments. Many of these examples, however, are rarely found in real language, though they are good for the purpose of argumentation. In this study, I will take another approach to address these issues and find evidence from authentic language data. An L1 Chinese corpus of 124,164 Hanzi (Chinese characters) was compiled for this purpose. The corpus was first automatically segmented and POS-tagged, and post-editing was conducted by hand for the tagging of the marker LE to ensure consistency and accuracy. Then all the clauses containing -le and le are extracted into two databases and the situation type of each instance is judged on the basis of human decision. A total of 1,208 occurrences of LE are found in our data, of which 1019 are the perfective -le and 166 are the COS le. In the other 23 instances where LE appears in the sentence-final position, the morpheme has the dual function indicating both perfectivity and change of state. Other functions of LE, e.g., as a full verb, as a modal particle and as a bounded morpheme, are also found in the corpus. Because they are irrelevant to our study here, these functions are not counted. The high frequency of LE and its rich functions justify this corpus as a good basis for the case study of this morpheme, albeit the small corpus size. This paper is concerned with the three questions raised at the beginning and is organised as follows: Section 1 discusses the one-morpheme approach vs. the two-morpheme approach; Section 2 considers the type of closure indicated by the perfective -le; Section 3 examines the interaction between the perfective -le and situation types and Section 4 concludes.


The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an expansive, membrane-enclosed organelle composed of smooth peripheral tubules and rough, ribosome-studded central ER sheets whose morphology is determined, in part, by the ER-shaping proteins, reticulon and CLIMP-63, respectively. Here, STimulated Emission Depletion (STED) super-resolution microscopy shows that reticulon4a (RTN4a) and CLIMP-63 also regulate the organization and dynamics of peripheral ER tubule nanodomains. STED imaging shows that lumenal ERmoxGFP, membrane Sec61βGFP, knock-in calreticulin-GFP and antibody-labeled ER resident proteins calnexin and derlin-1 are all localized to periodic puncta along the length of peripheral ER tubules that are not readily observable by diffraction limited confocal microscopy. RTN4a segregates away from and restricts lumenal blob length while CLIMP-63 associates with and increases lumenal blob length. RTN4a and CLIMP-63 also regulate the nanodomain distribution of ER resident proteins, being required for the preferential segregation of calnexin and derlin-1 puncta away from lumenal ERmoxGFP blobs. High-speed (40 ms/frame) live cell STED imaging shows that RTN4a and CLIMP-63 regulate dynamic nanoscale lumenal compartmentalization along peripheral ER tubules. RTN4a enhances and CLIMP-63 disrupts the local accumulation of lumenal ERmoxGFP at spatially defined sites along ER tubules. The ER shaping proteins reticulon and CLIMP-63 therefore regulate lumenal ER nanodomain heterogeneity, interaction with ER resident proteins and dynamics in peripheral ER tubules.


In efforts to limit transboundary movement of pathogens and reduce the economic and socioeconomic impact of disease in aquaculture, there is considerable scope for more effective use of DNA-based methods of pathogen detection. These technologies offer rapid results with potentially high sensitivity and specificity, at relatively low cost. However, few, if any, of the available tests have been assessed appropriately against other diagnostic methods or standardized and validated for specified applications. Implementation of standardized practices that produce reliable, useful and comparable data will require a significant investment in research, training and infrastructure development. This review recommends the development of programmes of managed cooperative research to assist more effective use of DNA-based detection tests, focusing on improving the knowledge base by identification of new and emerging pathogens, relating pathogens in the Asia region to those described elsewhere, and defining the extent of genetic variation between related pathogens. The review also recommends the development of a laboratory accreditation programme in order to achieve standardization of sampling methods and test procedures complementary to the activities of the International Office of Epizootics (OIE) in obtaining internationally agreed test standards for molecular diagnostic technologies.


Ice samples were taken in winter 1996 for determining the quality and quantity of sediment inclusions (suspended matter). The study area was the coast of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The data are from 13 sites and include for the water fraction of a melted ice sample pH, electric conductivity and soluble matter, and for the suspended matter within the ice include the total mass, organic proportion and concentrations of some chemical elements. Three lakes were sampled for regional freshwater references. The soluble matter was mainly due to the salts in sea water and amounted to around 1 g/l (25-50% of the water salinity), and the pH was 4.0-7.5. The sediment content was mostly 1-10 mg/l; larger values resulted from industrial and traffic fallout on ice and snow and from sea bottom sand. Of toxic metals, lead and zinc showed enriched concentrations in ice and snow. The snow cover was also investigated and the result was close to those of the ice samples, but the pH and amount of soluble matter was lower in the snow. A potential ecological risk exists in spring as the ice and snow meltwater, with possibly a very low pH and enriched in pollutants, is mixed with the surface water layer. This layer is particularly thin beneath the fast ice zone.


ABSTRACT Synaptotagmin-like protein 2 (Slp2-a/Sytl2) is a Rab27 effector protein that regulates transport of Rab27-bearing vesicles and organelles through its N-terminal Rab27-binding domain and a phospholipid-binding C2A domain. Here we demonstrate a Rab27-independent function of Slp2-a in the control of renal cell size through a previously uncharacterized C2B domain. We found that by recruiting Rap1 GAPs to the plasma membrane of MDCK II cells through the C2B domain, Slp2-a inactivates Rap signaling and modulates the size of the cells. Functional ablation of Slp2-a resulted in an increase in the size of MDCK II cells. Drosophila Slp Bitesize was found to compensate for the function of Slp2-a in MDCK II cells, thereby indicating that the mechanism of the cell size control by Slp proteins has been evolutionarily conserved. Interestingly, blockade of the activity of ezrin, a downstream target of Rap, with the glucosylceramide synthase inhibitor, miglustat, effectively inhibited cell spreading of Slp2-a-knockdown cells. We also discovered aberrant expression of Slp2-a and increased activity of ezrin in pcy (Nphp3pcy) mice, a model of polycystic kidney disease that is characterized by renal cell spreading. Our findings indicate that Slp2-a controls renal cell size through regulation of Rap–ezrin signaling independently of Rab27.


Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) has rapidly become an important species for aquaculture, although their intensive culture remains constrained by poor spawning synchrony and low fecundity, adding significant cost to hatchery production. Previous research has indicated that spawning synchrony may be improved in some fish species by photoperiod manipulation. There is limited information on the effects of photoperiod manipulation on tilapia. In this paper, the reproductive performance of 32 individually housed Nile tilapia was evaluated under four different photoperiods: short day (6L:18D), normal day (12L:12D), long day (18L:6D), and continuous illumination (24L:0D). Significantly larger eggs (P< 0.05) were produced under normal daylength (12L:12D) compared to other treatment groups. Fish reared under long daylength (18L:6D) exhibited significantly higher (P < 0.05) total fecundity (2408F 70 eggs spawn ) and relative fecundity (7.2F 0.2 eggs g 1 body weight) concomitant with a significant reduction in inter-spawn-interval (ISI, 15F 1 days) in comparison with the rest of the trials. This investigation shows that long daylength (18L:6D) helps improve some important reproductive traits in Nile tilapia, and suggests that such methodology may be used to alleviate the production problems caused by low fecundity and poor spawning synchrony, and thus play a valuable future role in tilapia culture. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.