The community of corporate law scholars in the United States is fragmented. One group, heavily influenced by economic analysis of corporations, is exploring the merits of increasing shareholder power vis-a-vis directors. Another group, animated by concern for social justice, is challenging the traditional, shareholder-centric view of corporate law, arguing instead for a model of stakeholder governance. The current disagreement within corporate law is as fundamental as in any area of law, and the debate is more heated than at any time since the New Deal. This paper is part of a debate on the audacious question, Can Corporate Law Save the World? In the first part of the debate, Professor Kent Greenfield builds on his book, THE FAILURE OF CORPORATE LAW: FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS AND PROGRESSIVE POSSIBILITIES, offering a provocative critique of the status quo and arguing that corporate law matters to issues like the environment, human rights, and the labor question. In response, Professor Smith contends that corporate law does not matter in the way Professor Greenfield claims. Corporate law is the set of rules that defines the decision making structure of corporations, and reformers like Professor Greenfield have only two options for changing corporate decision making: changing the decision maker or changing the decision rule. More specifically, he focuses on board composition and shareholder primacy. Professor Smith argues that changes in corporate law cannot eradicate poverty or materially change existing distributions of wealth, except by impairing the creation of wealth. Changes in corporate law will not clean the environment. And changes in corporate law will not solve the labor question. Indeed, the only changes in corporate law that will have a substantial effect on such issues are changes that make the world worse, not better.


Explore the world renowned collection of the Dallas Museum of Art in this lavishly illustrated, informative catalogue. Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection showcases the full range and exceptional quality of the rich holdings of one of America's premier art institutions. The guide features over 400 stunning color photographs of pieces from the Museum's outstanding encyclopedic collection. Works from the ancient Americas, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the ancient Mediterranean, Europe, and America are all represented, along with modern and contemporary pieces. Accompanying object entries offer descriptions, explanations of iconography, information on the artist or cultural history, and information on provenance and techniques.


We discuss some of the intrinsic difficulties related to the numerical investigation of near-field optical microscopy. We show how these difficulties can be handled within the framework of the Green's tensor technique. Investigating practical experimental configurations, we show the strong correlation between the motion of the tip and the near-field signal. In order to investigate this kind of artifacts, we propose a series of experiments based on photonic band gap systems immersed in evanescent fields. The electromagnetic properties of such a system can be changed without changing the topography of the system at all.


The studyinvestigates tourism development in Yobe State with particular reference on Dagona Waterfowl Sanctuary in the Chad Basin National Park. The study relied on personal observations, questionnaires and interviews to generate useful information with the view to examine the development of tourism potential of Dagona Waterfowl Sanctuary and assess the level of tourism patronage by tourist, as well as to examine the factors impinging on the development of the Sanctuary. Data were collected through structured and unstructured interviews with research participants. A random sampling techniques method was adopted for the data collection. Purposive sampling techniques was also applied to include persons aged 25 years and have attained secondary school level of education and above. 60 questionnaires were distributed in three locations of GadanKargo, Dala and Dagona villages neighboring communities in the study area, where 15, 15 and 30 questionnaires were allocated to each village respectively, and 52 were retrieved. Data were analyzed using descriptive approach. About 88% of the people interviewed showed that there is low level of tourist arrival to the Sanctuary, hence, the study identified the effects faced in ensuring tourism development in Yobe State, including insufficient funding, inadequate infrastructure facilities and publicity, and lack of master plan for its physical development among others, indicating the low level of tourism development at the bearest minimum. Appropriate recommendations have been suggested that can be implemented to achieve the objectives of developing tourism in Yobe State of Nigeria.


Abstract. Data of soil hydraulic properties forms often a limiting factor in unsaturated zone modelling, especially at the larger scales. Investigations for the hydraulic characterization of soils are time-consuming and costly, and the accuracy of the results obtained by the different methodologies is still debated. However, we may wonder how the uncertainty in soil hydraulic parameters relates to the uncertainty of the selected modelling approach. We performed an intensive monitoring study during the cropping season of a 10 ha maize field in Northern Italy. The data were used to: i) compare different methods for determining soil hydraulic parameters and ii) evaluate the effect of the uncertainty in these parameters on different variables (i.e. evapotranspiration, average water content in the root zone, flux at the bottom boundary of the root zone) simulated by two hydrological models of different complexity: SWAP, a widely used model of soil moisture dynamics in unsaturated soils based on Richards equation, and ALHyMUS, a conceptual model of the same dynamics based on a reservoir cascade scheme. We employed five direct and indirect methods to determine soil hydraulic parameters for each horizon of the experimental profile. Two methods were based on a parameter optimization of: a) laboratory measured retention and hydraulic conductivity data and b) field measured retention and hydraulic conductivity data. The remaining three methods were based on the application of widely used Pedo-Transfer Functions: c) Rawls and Brakensiek, d) HYPRES, and e) ROSETTA. Simulations were performed using meteorological, irrigation and crop data measured at the experimental site during the period June – October 2006. Results showed a wide range of soil hydraulic parameter values generated with the different methods, especially for the saturated hydraulic conductivity Ksat and the shape parameter α of the van Genuchten curve. This is reflected in a variability of the modeling results which is, as expected, different for each model and each variable analysed. The variability of the simulated water content in the root zone and of the bottom flux for different soil hydraulic parameter sets is found to be often larger than the difference between modeling results of the two models using the same soil hydraulic parameter set. Also we found that a good agreement in simulated soil moisture patterns may occur even if evapotranspiration and percolation fluxes are significantly different. Therefore multiple output variables should be considered to test the performances of methods and models.


We review the expected science performance of the New Gravitational-Wave Observatory (NGO, a.k.a. eLISA), a mission under study by the European Space Agency for launch in the early 2020s. eLISA will survey the low-frequency gravitational-wave sky (from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz), detecting and characterizing a broad variety of systems and events throughout the Universe, including the coalescences of massive black holes brought together by galaxy mergers; the inspirals of stellar-mass black holes and compact stars into central galactic black holes; several millions of ultra-compact binaries, both detached and mass transferring, in the Galaxy; and possibly unforeseen sources such as the relic gravitational-wave radiation from the early Universe. eLISA's high signal-to-noise measurements will provide new insight into the structure and history of the Universe, and they will test general relativity in its strong-field dynamical regime.


Pastoral guidance of a person with compulsive eating habits Looking at humankind and all the weight issues/problems, researchers ask one question: "Why do some people have problems with compulsive eating?" Throughout the years many studies has been done about Bulimia and Anorexia as eating behaviours, but not a lot of studies have been done about the theological area concerning research on compulsive eating disorders. From a Biblical and Christian-theological perspective, we find that God created the human as a being who is good and pure but as a result of disobedience, we are all sinners. Through sin, humankind is polluted, therefore humankind struggles to be in control of its own nature in itself. Because of sin, the whole trinity and harmony between God and His creation was disturbed. With a plan and a solution, God sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ to earth so that He could die for our sins on the cross. Jesus Christ, our Mediator, return to help us restore the balance between food and humankind. Looking at other social science research, we can see that eating disorders have been looked at and discussed in the medical world for at least the last century. An empirical research has been done with persons who believe that they are compulsive eaters. Through research, they discovered that the participants either had a very unpleasant childhood or during adulthood had had very difficult or unhappy relationships. It is because of these reasons that the researcher tried to establish that pastoral counseling could possibly help with healing. It can be a long and hard road to recovery because compulsive eating disorders can also be related to addiction. Research has shown that each person has to work on his/her relationships with


Through his publications on ancient Judaism and early Christianity Alan Segal has contributed immensely to clarifying ambiguities, unraveling complexities and recalling half-forgotten adversaries. His writing shows the way to cross many boundaries of thought and methodology. This characteristic of his research reflects the openness and ingenuousness of Alan himself, a direct and honest scholar and a treasured friend. I here analyze a few aspects of one of Segal's early books, Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World.1 The book surveys how rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity took shape primarily during the formative age of late antiquity. Segal treats the Hellenistic roots of these religions, the social world of first century Israel, Jesus, who is called a Jewish revolutionary, and Paul, who is described as a convert and apostle. Segal moves on in the book to summarize the origins of rabbinic Judaism and discusses how the twin offspring of ancient Israel, the rabbinic and Christian communities, went separate ways, as the matriarch Rebecca's twin children Jacob and Esau parted ways in the biblical account in Genesis. In comparing the theologies of these twins, Segal insists we ". . . must attend to the real social matrix in which the religious thought existed." I compare here Segal's Rebecca's Children with two comparable books and I ask a few perennial and fundamental questions about religious scholars who write about their own religions. The two other introductory surveys of the Second Temple and early rabbinic Judaism by Jewish scholars are Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah,2 and Lawrence H. Schiffman, From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism.3


"Soul food is just what the name implies. It is soulfully cooked food . . . good for your ever-loving soul . . . the shur-'nuf kinda down-home cookin' that I grew up on," writes Sheila Ferguson. Abundant in flavor and variety--ranging from classics such as barbecued spare ribs, fried chicken, cornbread, and collard greens to less well known but equally sumptuous recipes such as sweet potato biscuits, grits souffle, and wild fox grape wine--soul food is a truly American cuisine, originated in the deep South by slaves and later shaped and expanded by the rich diversity of African-American culture. In a book brimming with humor and vibrant personality, Sheila Ferguson presents 200 mouth-watering recipes, many of them part of her own family heritage. She explains the blend of African, Cajun, Creole, and other influences--such as gumbo and jambalaya--behind their enticing flavors, describing the meals of the slave quarters and elegant plantation houses and, along the way, passing on family anecdotes and kitchen secrets handed down from generation to generation. Some recipes, such as cornmeal griddlecakes, pigs' feet, smothered okra and tomatoes, or brown suga' pound cake, are old-fashioned country favorites. Others, such as sauteed scallops, vegetables seasoned with smoked turkey, and roast pheasant with wild rice stuffin', are well suited to today's more sophisticated palates. All are clearly explained, with an emphasis on the important details of preparation and ways to vary recipes to your own tastes. Through them you learn to use all of your senses in the style of the great soul food chefs, working by touch, taste, sight, smell, and even sound. But this is much more than a collection of recipes. Each dish is introduced by a brief narrative, written in Sheila Ferguson's distinctive, eloquent cadence. And the book is prefaced by a glossary and general introduction that explains how the cuisine we know today evolved. Old family photographs and a series of stunning, set-piece color shots lovingly evoke the spirit of soul food and illustrate fifty of the book's delicious dishes. This classic cookbook, embracing one of America's richest regional cuisines, provides a rare combination of exciting, appetizing recipes and compelling reading to delight the soul of cooks and food-lovers everywhere.


Photoelasticity is one of the most widely used techniques for experimental stress and strain analysis. With the availability of low cost digital image processing systems, a separate branch of photoelasticity known as digital photoelasticity came into existence providing whole-field values of the isoclinics (θ) and isochromatics (N) in a true sense. Among the several methods available for data acquisition, phase shifting / polarization stepping techniques are most widely used for their simplicity and accuracy. In this paper a new digital photoelastic method based on phase shifting using monochromatic light source is presented. It provides full field values of θ and N. The arrangement is carefully chosen with the intention of reducing the influence of quarter wave mismatch error in the evaluation of θ and N. The methodology is validated for the benchmark problem of a disk under diametral compression.


This paper investigates the subsequent return implications of accruals within a sample of large, developed, international equity markets and assesses whether similar institutional features account for the accrual anomaly across countries. I investigate the returns implications of accruals in 17 countries over the 1989 to 2003 time period. In general, the results of country-specific analysis indicate that the accrual anomaly is a global phenomenon. After decomposing total accruals, I find, in general, that accrual mispricing is largest for working capital accruals, specifically current asset accruals. However, the results of further analysis suggest that there is no dominant factor that explains the accrual anomaly internationally. Overall, the results indicate that the accrual anomaly is present in international markets yet the factor(s) driving the accrual anomaly appear to vary across markets. Is the Accrual Anomaly a Global Anomaly?


This paper is concerned with a programming language construct for typed name binding that enforces αequivalence. It proves a new result about what operations on names can co-exist with this construct. The particular form of typed name binding studied is that used by the FreshML family of languages. Its characteristic feature is that a name binding is represented by an abstract (name,value)-pair that may only be deconstructed via the generation of fresh bound names. In FreshML the only observation one can make of names is to test whether or not they are equal. This restricted amount of observation was thought necessary to ensure that there is no observable difference between αequivalent name binders. Yet from an algorithmic point of view it would be desirable to allow other operations and relations on names, such as a total ordering. This paper shows that, contrary to expectations, one may add not just ordering, but almost any relation or numerical function on names without disturbing the fundamental correctness result about this form of typed name binding (that object-level αequivalence precisely corresponds to contextual equivalence at the programming meta-level), so long as one takes the state of dynamically created names into account.


An experimental study of the dynamics of a quantum-dash Fabry-Pérot passively mode-locked laser diode is presented. Firstly, the switching on and off characteristic times of the mode-locking mechanism with pulsed biasing current are assessed. Secondly, the locking and unlocking characteristic times to the injection of a 10-Gbps pseudo-random binary sequence of nonreturn-to-zero data are determined. The dynamics is analysed through the instantaneous frequency of the ~40 GHz beat-tone signal measured at the output of the laser under investigation, which after a frequency down-conversion stage, is recorded by a real-time oscilloscope. Experimental results indicate that a time of 5 ns characterizes the establishment of the passive mode-locking mechanism for a pulsed biasing current. A time of 20 ns has been measured for the synchronization of the quantum-dash laser diode to the injected 10 Gbps data sequence. In addition, the mode-locked laser diode de-synchronizes and switches to the free-running condition in also 20 ns after a holding time of ~ 100 ns.


CD8+ T cells taken directly from mice expressing a Kb-specific T cell receptor (TCR) transgene expressed the transgenic TCR in a bimodal profile as detected by flow cytometric analysis using a clonotype- specific monoclonal antibody. Those cells expressing the lower density of the transgenic TCR expressed the transgenic beta chain and two different alpha chains on their surface. One alpha chain was the product of the alpha transgene, whereas the other was derived by endogenous rearrangement. This report provides the first demonstration that T cells isolated directly from mice may express two different TCR clonotypes on their surface. The potential consequences of this finding for studies using TCR transgenic mice and for the induction of autoimmunity are discussed.


Besides stability, a high degree of transparency is also an essential requirement in order to enable operators to safely and precisely perform bilateral teleoperation tasks. An existing approach based on the wave transformation technique can make a two-channel teleoperation system insensitive to time delays by making the time-delayed communication channel passive. In this paper, we propose a novel method for incorporating this technique in a four-channel architecture, which is the optimal architecture from a transparency point of view, and derive the corresponding absolute stability condition. It is analytically demonstrated that the proposed teleoperation architecture is capable of providing ideal transparency when transmission delays are present, and criteria for its stable operation are derived. We also show that a three-channel variant of the proposed four-channel control architecture can offer a comparable performance with less implementational complexity. Experimental results in support of the developed theory are provided.


Feminist sociolegal studies have recently taken up the technicalities of doctrines, documents, and regulations to better understand the law. In an affiliated move, feminist science studies turned to the materialities of theories, practices, and nonhuman organisms to make critical sense of science. These methodological turns focus not on gender, per se, but on precise mechanisms of law and science that structure, reinforce, and reconfigure power and inequality. Drawing on these methodological approaches, this article attends to the technicalities and materialities of patent ownership and benefit sharing in South Africa in regards to San peoples' struggles over the patenting of the Hoodia gordonii plant. An examination of patent documents, benefit-sharing agreements, legislative appendixes, and the biology of plants generates an understanding of how patent ownership, rather than being natural or value-neutral, is a historical and sociocultural process shaping, refashioning, and being inscribed across multiple scales of nation-state jurisdictions, divergent ways of knowing, and biochemical orderings of plants.


PURPOSE
To define the spectrum of the epileptic syndromes and epilepsies (other than the idiopathic epilepsies of childhood with occipital paroxysms) that can be associated with fixation-off sensitivity (FOS), delineate the electrographic types of FOS abnormalities and identify the patterns that can be associated with clinical seizures, and examine whether there may be a pure form of fixation-off sensitive epilepsy.

METHODS
We reviewed the clinical and video EEG data of all our patients with FOS over the last 12 years. Children with idiopathic focal epilepsies and occipital EEG paroxysms were excluded.

RESULTS
From January 1995 to December 2006, 19 of about 8,500 patients had had one or more video-EEGs with FOS, yielding an approximate incidence of 0.2%. From the 14 patients with full clinical and EEG data available, 12 had various epilepsies that included IGE phenotypes (7), symptomatic or probably symptomatic focal (3), cryptogenic generalised (1), and adult onset idiopathic photosensitive occipital (1), and two had no seizures. Seven patients (50%) were photosensitive. FOS EEG abnormalities were occipital in six patients, generalised in eight, and generalised with posterior emphasis in two patients. Seven of these patterns were associated with habitual seizures in seven patients, but actual FOS-induced seizures (absences) were documented with video EEG in only one patient; three others had some historical evidence suggesting that, under some circumstances, their FOS EEG abnormalities might generate clinical seizures.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite the association of FOS with generalised and focal, symptomatic and cryptogenic and mild or pharmaco-resistant epilepsies, closer analysis of our data, and supportive evidence from functional imaging and physiological observations on alpha rhythm generation, disclose a prominent role of the occipital areas, even when FOS EEG abnormalities and seizures are ostensibly generalised. Although FOS appears to be of relatively low epileptogenicity, an electroclinical profile of pure FOS epilepsy may exist [Published with video sequences].


: ACD/ChemSketch, MarvinSketch and ChemOffice programs were used to calculate several molecular descriptors of 138 volatile compounds (32 hydrocarbons, 29 ketones, 28 aldehydes, 23 alcohols, 7 carboxylic acids, 6 halogenated compounds, 4 furans, 2 pyrazines, 1 ester, 1 sulphur compounds, 1 pyridine, 1 amine and three other compounds). The best descriptors were selected to establish the quantitative structure retention relationship (QSRR) of linear retention indices of volatile compounds using multiple linear regressions (MLR), multiple non-linear regressions (MNLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods. We propose quantitative models according to these analyses. The models were used to predict the linear retention indices of the test set compounds and agreement between the experimental and predicted values was verified. The descriptors showed by QSRR study were used for study and designing of new compounds. The statistical results indicate that the predicted values are in good agreement with the experimental results. To validate the predictive power of the resulting models, external validation multiple correlation coefficient was calculated and has both in addition to a performance prediction power, a favorable estimation of stability.


PURPOSE
Square-wave jerks (SWJs) during visual fixation and pursuit tracking of targets of varying speed and predictability were investigated in the present study.

METHODS
SWJs were measured in 91 subjects as they fixated a target or a remembered target location and tracked targets that varied in velocity and predictability.

RESULTS
Percentages of subjects making SWJ and mean SWJ frequency per minute in the high- and low-predictability conditions were 99% and 9.34 and 91% and 2.78, respectively. SWJ rates were significantly lower when observers fixated remembered target locations rather than visual targets and during tracking of faster-moving and less predictable targets. Differences in task conditions cannot be explained by volitional influences to control the first saccade in the SWJ. There was also no influence of age on SWJ rate.

CONCLUSIONS
Reduced SWJ rates after manipulations that increased task demands on visual pursuit of targets suggest an inverse relationship between current demands imposed by visual tasks and rates of intrusive saccades. These findings suggest that signals from cortical attentional systems may suppress inappropriate saccades that would divert the eyes from objects of interest during conditions imposing high task demands on the visual system.


Codes of conduct are essential to ensure that public employees fulfil their obligations in an ethical manner and that societal values are protected against unethical conduct. The South African public service is characterised by manifestations and allegations of unethical conduct. This article deals with the role of codes of conduct in enhancing ethical conduct in the South African public service. The article begins by identifying the role of moral development theory in promoting ethical conduct in society, and specifically in the public service. Two types of codes of conduct are, namely phantom codes of ethics and (formal) codes of conduct. Attention is also paid to the objectives, characteristics, advantages and limitations of codes of conduct. Finally, the article deals with how the South African public service can make codes of conduct living documents. It argues that rule-based codes of conduct do little to promote cultures of excellence. To foster an ethos of professionalism, therefore, public service departments should move from codes of conduct to codes of ethics.


Think globally, act locally' has become a call to environmentalist mobilization, proposing a closer connection between global concerns, local issues and individual responsibility. A History of Environmentalism explores this dialectic relationship, with ten contributors from a range of disciplines providing a history of environmentalism which frames global themes and narrates local stories.Each of the chapters in this volume addresses specific struggles in the history of environmental movements, for example over national parks, species protection, forests, waste, contamination, nuclear energy and expropriation. A diverse range of environments and environmental actors are covered, including the communities in the Amazonian Forest, the antelope in Tibet, atomic power plants in Europe and oil and politics in the Niger Delta. The chapters demonstrate how these conflicts make visible the intricate connections between local and global, the body and the environment, and power and nature. A History of Environmentalism tells us much about transformations of cultural perceptions and ways of production and consuming, as well as ecological and social changes. More than offering an exhaustive picture of the entire environmentalist movement, A History of Environmentalism highlights the importance of the experience of environmentalism within local communities. It offers a worldwide and polyphonic perspective, making it key reading for students and scholars of global and environmental history and political ecology.


As more and more multimedia applications are integrated in mobile devices, a significant amount of energy is devoted to digital signal processing (DSP). Thus, reducing energy consumption for DSP systems has become an important design goal for battery operated mobile devices. Since supply voltage scaling is one of the most effective methods to reduce power/energy consumption, this study examines aggressive voltage scaling to achieve significant energy savings by allowing some output quality degradation for error tolerant image processing system. The objective of proposed research is to explore ultra-low energy image processing system design methodologies based on efficient accuracy (quality)-energy tradeoffs.
This dissertation presents several new analyses and techniques to achieve significant energy savings without noticeable quality degradation under aggressive voltage scaling. In the first, this work starts from accurate error analysis and a model based on input sequence dependent delay estimation. Based on the analysis, we explain the dependence of voltage scalability on input image types, which may be used for input dependent adaptive control for optimal accuracy-energy tradeoffs. In addition, this work includes the system-level analysis of the impact of aggressive voltage scaling on overall energy consumption and a low-cost technique to reduce overall energy consumption. Lastly, this research exploits an error concealment technique to improve the efficiency of accuracy-energy tradeoffs. For an image compression system, the technique minimizes the impact of delay errors on output quality while allowing very low voltage operations for significant energy reduction.


In the presence of a time-inconsistency problem with agency contracts, we show that competitive markets can implement allocations that Pareto-dominate those achieved by a benevolent government, and they induce more effort. We analyze a model with moral hazard and a two-sided lack of commitment. After agents have chosen their work, firms can modify contracts and agents can switch firms. If the ex post market outcome satisfies a weak notion of competitiveness and sufficiently separates individuals, it is Pareto superior to a government's allocation with a complete breakdown of incentives. Moreover, competitive markets without commitment implement more effort in equilibrium under general conditions.


Silicon dioxide (SiO2) films grown on silicon monocrystal (Si) substrates form the gate oxides in current Si-based microelectronics devices. The understanding at the atomic scale of both the silicon oxidation process and the properties of the Si(100)-SiO2 interface is of significant importance in state-of-the-art silicon microelectronics manufacturing. These two topics are intimately coupled and are both addressed in this theoretical investigation mainly through first-principles calculations. We first address the atomic structure at the interface. We construct atomistic models of the Si(100)-SiO2 interface accounting for the density of coordination defects, the amount and location of partially oxidized Si atoms, and the mass density profile, as measured in electron-spin-resonance, photoemission, and X-ray reflectivity experiments, respectively. A variety of model interfaces are obtained, differing by the degree of complexity in the transition region. The nature of the transition structure at Si(100)-SiO2 interface is investigated by addressing the inverse ion-scattering problem. In particular, we refer to a new set of ion-scattering measurements carried out in the channeling geometry to achieve sensitivity to Si displacements at the interface. To interpret these experimental data, we perform ion-scattering simulations on a selected set of model interfaces presenting different atomic-scale features in the transition region at the Si(100)-SiO2 interface. Silicon displacements larger than 0.09 A are found to propagate for three layers into the Si substrate. Transition structures consistent with these distortions include Si-Si in-plane dimers, O-protrusion, and/or disordered bond patterns at the Si(100)-SiO2 interface. A transition structure with regularly ordered O bridges results inconsistent with experiments. We then address the silicon oxidation process. We first focus on the diffusion limited regime occurring during the growth of thick oxide films. In particular, we provide an atomic-scale description of the long-range oxygen migration through the disordered SiO2 oxide. The O2 molecule is firmly identified as the transported oxygen species and is found to percolate through interstices without exchanging oxygen atoms with the network. The associated activation energy is found in agreement with experimental values. Then, we address the O2 diffusion rate through the thin oxide layer at the Si-SiO2 interface. In particular, we investigate the combined effect of a percolative diffusion mechanism and of a dense oxide layer located close to the silicon substrate. We find that when a thin densified layer is present at the Si(100)-SiO2 interface, the O2 diffusion rate drops below its value for bulk amorphous SiO2 for oxide thicknesses larger than 2 nm. These results support the blocking layer model introduced to explain the failure of the Deal and Grove model in describing the oxidation kinetics of thin oxide films. Finally, the atomic scale mechanisms responsible for oxidation at the Si(100)SiO2 interface are addressed. First we focus on the properties of negative oxygen species in amorphous SiO2. We initially focus on the relative energetics of neutral and negative oxygen species in both the atomic and the molecular state. The energy landscape and the dissociation properties of the O2- and O22- are also considered. We find that, in amorphous SiO2, the negative oxygen species incorporate in the oxide network and are accommodated by significant network distortions. The investigation of the dissociation processes of the negatively charged molecular oxygen species in amorphous SiO2 highlights the dependence of the dissociation energies on the disordered nature of the network and on the charge carried by the oxygen molecule. In a second stage, we address the atomistic processes occurring at the Si(100)SiO2 interface. We consider the neutral O2 molecule and the negatively charged molecular species. In the case of the neutral O2 molecule, different spin states are investigated. For all these species we study sequentially the network incorporation and the dissociation process. We find that at the Si(100)-SiO2 interface all these species incorporate in the network either spontaneously or by crossing small energy barriers. In the vicinity of the interface, the neutral O2 molecule attacks and penetrates into Si-Si bonds. This process is favored by the charge transfer from the Si-Si bonds to the molecular species. The triplet spin state of the O2 molecule narrows the channels for network incorporation. Indeed, molecules in the triplet spin state preferentially incorporate in the network in correspondence of the upper layer of the Si substrate. Negatively charged species spontaneously incorporate in any Si-Si bond of the oxide, regardless from distance from the interface. Their incorporation is often associated to the formation of network defects, confirming their ability to modify the network. After the incorporation process, the dissociation and hence the oxidation of Si-Si bonds is spontaneous. We find either vanishing or very small dissociation energies. The energy required for crossing the small barriers is provided by the energy gained during the incorporation process. These results are consistent with a variety of experimental observations.


We empirically investigate the demand for tied goods sold through competing retail channels. Tied good pricing strategies commonly involve a low price on the initial purchase (i.e. the primary good) to drive adoption, and a substantial markup on aftermarket goods to capture value. However, if the goods are sold through downstream channels, retail market power and a misalignment of incentives could distort the relative prices of primary and aftermarket goods. To evaluate whether retail competition is strong enough to prevent such distortions, we explore the commonly noted example of razors and blades, which are sold through drug, grocery, mass merchandising, and club stores. We specify a forward-looking demand model that incorporates dynamics arising from the tied good nature of the products and the stockpiling and durability aspects of razors and blades. Furthermore, we allow intertemporal substitution in the purchase of both razors and blades to occur across channels as well as time. This modeling feature enables a novel approach to measuring retail competition in single category demand analyses. Our estimates indicate that there is substantial cross-channel substitution in razors, but some retail market power in blades. However, the channel with the most market power in blades, club stores, specializes in high volume customers that would adopt a razor even if blade prices are higher. This suggests that the manufacturer can achieve its desired level of razor adoption without vertical restraints, though blade sales may be slightly reduced by double marginalization.


After punk's arrival in 1976, many art students in the northern English city of Leeds traded their paintbrushes for guitars and synthesizers. In bands ranging from Gang of Four, Soft Cell, and Delta 5 to the Mekons, Scritti Politti, and Fad Gadget, these artists-turned-musicians challenged the limits of what was deemed possible in rock and pop music. Taking avant-garde ideas to the record-buying public, they created Situationist antirock and art punk, penned deconstructed pop ditties about Jacques Derrida, and took the aesthetics of collage and shock to dark, brooding electro-dance music. In No Machos or Pop Stars Gavin Butt tells the fascinating story of the post-punk scene in Leeds, showing how England's state-funded education policy brought together art students from different social classes to create a fertile ground for musical experimentation. Drawing on extensive interviews with band members, their associates, and teachers, Butt details the groups who wanted to dismantle both art world and music industry hierarchies by making it possible to dance to their art. Their stories reveal the subversive influence of art school in a regional music scene of lasting international significance.


Hypothesis Schizophrenic women show deficits in a variety of cognitive domains including executive function, attention, memory, and language. The female sex hormone estrogen acts as a neuroactive hormone that is assumed to have interesting effects on the central nervous system and on the cognitive functions in specific. Aim of the work To determine the memory impairment in a sample of schizophrenic female patients, as well as its relation to the level of their female sex hormone estradiol, to evaluate the usefulness of hormonal therapy as an adjunct therapy to antipsychotic drugs in female schizophrenic patients to improve their cognitive functions. Participants and methods This is a comparative study that included 30 schizophrenic female patients who were admitted for a long time as inpatients of Al Abasseia Psychiatric Hospital, and a control group that matched in age and education. They were subjected to a psychiatric interview, neurological examination, general examination, the scale for the assessment of positive symptoms, and scale for the assessment of negative symptoms, serum estradiol level during 3 consecutive weeks, and the Luria–Nebraska neuropsychological battery, which is a multidimensional battery designed to assess a broad range of neuropsychological functions. (We focused on the items that tested memory functions). Results There were statistically significant differences between both groups in the clinical scales C10 (memory) of the Luria–Nebraska neuropsychological battery, as well the factor scales concerned with memory ME1 (verbal memory) and ME2 (visual and complex memory). The mean estradiol level was inversely correlated with the mean of the memory scales; that is, an increased estradiol level was correlated with better performance of the patient group in memory scales. Conclusion Female schizophrenic patients performed significantly worse in the memory scale (C10), as well as the factor scales concerned with memory ME1 (verbal memory) and ME2 (visual and complex memory); the increased estradiol level was correlated with better performance of the patient group in memory scales, which may be of value in these patients when providing hormonal therapy as an adjunct therapy to antipsychotic drugs.


Experience in northern and developed countries suggests that a well functioning rental sector (potentially including both social and private renting) is an important component of a complete and effective housing system, offering more solutions to meet a full spectrum of demands and needs. As such, it is appropriate to explore the opportunities for the Bank to support the rental options alongside the traditional lending and program focus that has generally favored homeownership. This paper seeks to outline the existing tenure patterns across Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, identify the prerequisite features of effective rental sectors- based on experience in developed OECD countries-, and outline the necessary steps to develop and expand the rental sector in LAC countries. This includes consideration of both the private (private investors) and community rental sector (community based nonprofit and cooperative ownership).


The effect of fluctuating ultraviolet radiation levels on the copepod Boeckella gracilipes was investigated in Lake Escondido (Patagonia, Argentina). The animals were incubated either at fixed depths or rotating in in situ plankton wheels of different diameters. The observed mortality was significantly higher in rotating treatments. Static incubations can be used to predict the mortality of vertically moving B. gracilipes, providing that the doses of UVA and UVB are known. The results suggest that under moderate wind conditions, the plankton of shallow lakes are exposed to potentially damaging levels of solar radiation, even in relatively turbid waters.


We present ChronoFab, a 3D modeling tool to craft motion sculptures, tangible representations of 3D animated models, visualizing an object's motion with static, transient, ephemeral visuals that are left behind. Our tool casts 3D modeling as a dynamic art-form by employing 3D animation and dynamic simulation for the modeling of motion sculptures. Our work is inspired by the rich history of stylized motion depiction techniques in existing 3D motion sculptures and 2D comic art. Based on a survey of such techniques, we present an interface that enables users to rapidly explore and craft a variety of static 3D motion depiction techniques, including motion lines, multiple stroboscopic stamps, sweeps and particle systems, using a 3D animated object as input. In a set of professional and non-professional usage sessions, ChronoFab was found to be a superior tool for the authoring of motion sculptures, compared to traditional 3D modeling workflows, reducing task completion times by 79%.


There is a common phrase used in India, Na Stree Swathantrayam Arhati, which translates into women not deserving independence. This ideology gives women a disadvantage at an early age in life. This study strives to strengthen the ability of women that are enduring disabilities, gender issues, and inequality in the home and work place. There has been increased research on the topic in India especially due to the increased discrimination against women in the country. Women's empowerment can be viewed as women gaining control or power over their lives and this study strived to gain that. This particular study is based on the 4 questions discussed in Giele's (2008) life course research. The 4 questions cover topics of early adulthood, childhood and adolescence, current and future adulthood. An additional question was added to focus on strategies that women use for work-life balance. The 20 interviews that were administered and completed online were from a wide array of women in the field of finance. Throughout all the interviews one could feel the frustration of how difficult it was to create a work-life balance because of their identity and culture. There were 3 forms of criteria that needed to be met to participate in this study and they included: (a) have to be an Indian woman, (b) living in India, and (c) worked or working in finance. The findings from this study has brought forth 56 strategies for work-life balance and within the 56 strategies nine themes emerged. From the 20 women interviewed 20 of them lived in India. They all had a finance background and were between the ages of 28-54. Overall 15 were Hindu, 2 Muslim, 2 Buddhist, and 1 Jainist. A majority of them were married with at least one child. There were 3 divorcees and 1 widow that participated as well. According to the


The growing volumes of food globally lost or wasted and implications for food security and sustainability have raised the concern of researchers, governments, international organizations and grass-root movements. Much research and experiences investigating food waste causes and drivers focus on one specific segment of the food supply chain and limit the analysis to the situation of one or few countries, while the few studies of wider geographical scope also target other relevant and diversified objectives (e.g., food waste definition, quantification, environmental and economic impacts, and recommendations for interventions). This study, carried out by a network of European institutions involved in research and initiatives against food waste, focuses on the analysis of a broad area, Europe, through a wide and systematic literature review and consultation with stakeholders in international focus groups. The food supply chain was divided into seven segments and three main contexts were defined for the examination of food waste sources: Technological, Institutional (related to organisational factors, i.e., business management, economy, legislation, and policy), and Social (related to consumers' behaviours and lifestyles). Results suggest a wide and multifaceted problem, interconnected across all stages of the food supply chain, from primary production, to final consumption. Within each context, the identified drivers have been grouped according to the possibilities and the type of interventions for food waste reduction. A final cross-contextual prioritization distinguished food waste sources related to (A) inherent characteristics of food; (B) social and economic factors; (C) individual non-readily changeable behaviours; (D) other priorities targeted by private and public stakeholders; (E) diversified factors, such as mismanagement, inefficient legislation, lack of awareness or information; and sub-optimal use of available technologies, which could be more promptly changed. Such diversification of causes calls for specific monitoring systems, targeted policy measures, and actions of individual stakeholders at each stage of the food supply chain.


The vast majority of the empirical literature on crime has focused on the effects of "supply-side" shocks such as the severity of laws and enforcement. In this paper we analyze the effects of a large and unexpected "demand-side" shock: the drop in daytime population in Washington, DC caused by the government shutdown of October 1-16, 2013. We derive implications from a simple theoretical model where criminals choose effort and allocate it across different criminal activities. We test these implications using the city of Baltimore as the comparison group, and employing difference-in-differences methods. Consistent with the model's predictions (and inconsistent with alternative explanations), we find a 3% decline in crime in DC during the shutdown period, with the net effect resulting from a 9% decline during the day hours, and a 5% increase in crime during the evening and night hours, indicating reallocation of criminals' effort induced by the shutdown.


Background: The literature regarding the management of factitious disorder (FD) is diverse and generally of case reports or case series. To date there has been no systematic review of the effectiveness of management techniques. Methods: Systematic review of all evidence reporting the management and subsequent outcome in FD. Data were extracted and outcomes were assessed using an adaptation of the Global Improvement Scale. Results were analysed by parametric statistical tests; a meta-analysis was not possible. Results: Thirty-two case reports and 13 case series were eligible for inclusion. Analysis of the case reports found no significant difference in outcomes between confrontational and non-confrontational approaches [t(29) = 0.72, p = 0.48], between treatment with psychotherapy compared to no psychotherapy [t(30) = 0.69, p = 0.48], and when psychiatric medication had been prescribed compared with not [t(30) = 0.35, p = 0.73]. A trend was observed that a longer length of treatment lead to better outcomes, but this was not significant [F(5, 26) = 1.17, p = 0.35]. The consecutive case series demonstrated that many FD sufferers were not engaged in treatment and were lost to follow-up but did not provide any strong evidence regarding the effectiveness of different management approaches. Conclusions: There is an absence of sufficient robust research to determine the effectiveness of any management technique for FD. The establishment of a central reporting register to facilitate the development of evidence-based guidelines is recommended.


Massive data transfers in modern data-intensive systems resulting from low data-locality and data-to-code system design hurt their performance and scalability. Near-data processing (NDP) designs represent a feasible solution, which although not new, has yet to see widespread use. In this paper we demonstrate various NDP alternatives in nKV, which is a key/value store utilizing native computational storage and near-data processing. We showcase the execution of classical operations (GET, SCAN) and complex graph-processing algorithms (Betweenness Centrality) in-situ, with 1.4x-2.7x better performance due to NDP. nKV runs on real hardware - the COSMOS+ platform.


The purpose of the current study was to identify potential ligands and develop a novel diagnostic test to highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus (HPAI), subtype H5N1 viruses using phage display technology. The H5N1 viruses were used as an immobilized target in a biopanning process using a 12-mer phage display random peptide library. After five rounds of panning, three phages expressing peptides HAWDPIPARDPF, AAWHLIVALAPN or ATSHLHVRLPSK had a specific binding activity to H5N1 viruses were isolated. Putative binding motifs to H5N1 viruses were identified by DNA sequencing. In terms of the minimum quantity of viruses, the phage-based ELISA was better than antiserum-based ELISA and a manual, semi-quantitative endpoint RT-PCR for detecting H5N1 viruses. More importantly, the selected phages bearing the specific peptides to H5N1 viruses were capable of differentiating this virus from other avian viruses in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.


Apigenin is a low toxicity and non-mutagenic phytopolyphenol and protein kinase inhibitor. It exhibits anti-proliferating effects on human breast cancer cells. Here we examined several human breast cancer cell lines having different levels of HER2/neu expression and found that apigenin exhibited potent growth-inhibitory activity in HER2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells but was much less effective for those cells expressing basal levels of HER2/neu. Induction of apoptosis was also observed in HER2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. However, the one or more molecular mechanisms of apigenin-induced apoptosis in HER2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells remained to be elucidated. A cell survival pathway involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and Akt is known to play an important role in inhibiting apoptosis in response to HER2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells, which prompted us to investigate whether this pathway plays a role in apigenin-induced apoptosis in HER2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells. Our results showed that apigenin inhibits Akt function in tumor cells in a complex manner. First, apigenin directly inhibited the PI3K activity while indirectly inhibiting the Akt kinase activity. Second, inhibition of HER2/neu autophosphorylation and transphosphorylation resulting from depleting HER2/neu protein in vivo was also observed. In addition, apigenin inhibited Akt kinase activity by preventing the docking of PI3K to HER2/HER3 heterodimers. Therefore, we proposed that apigenin-induced cellular effects result from loss of HER2/neu and HER3 expression with subsequent inactivation of PI3K and AKT in cells that are dependent on this pathway for cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis. This implies that the inhibition of the HER2/HER3 heterodimer function provided an especially effective strategy for blocking the HER2/neu-mediated transformation of breast cancer cells. Our results also demonstrated that apigenin dissociated the complex of HER2/neu and GRP94 that preceded the depletion of HER2/neu. Apigenin-induced degradation of mature HER2/neu involves polyubiquitination of HER2/neu and subsequent hydrolysis by the proteasome.


Truly eye-opening ...There is almost no situation that Harford cannot dissect with his sharp economist's tools ...economics has never been this cool' NEW STATESMAN If humans are so clever, why do we smoke and gamble, or take drugs, or fall in love? Is this really rational behaviour? And how come your idiot boss is so overpaid? In fact, the behaviour of even the unlikeliest of individuals - prostitutes, drug addicts, racists and revolutionaries - complies with economic logic, taking into account future costs and benefits, even if we don't quite realise it. We are rational beings after all.


Making Home(s) in Displacement critically rethinks the relationship between home and displacement from a spatial, material, and architectural perspective. Recent scholarship in the social sciences has investigated how migrants and refugees create and reproduce home under new conditions, thereby unpacking the seemingly contradictory positions of making a home and overcoming its loss. Yet, making home(s) in displacement is also a spatial practice, one which intrinsically relates to the fabrication of the built environment worldwide. Conceptually the book is divided along four spatial sites, referred to as camp, shelter, city, and house, which are approached with a multitude of perspectives ranging from urban planning and architecture to anthropology, geography, philosophy, gender studies, and urban history, all with a common focus on space and spatiality. By articulating everyday homemaking experiences of migrants and refugees as spatial practices in a variety of geopolitical and historical contexts, this edited volume adds a novel perspective to the existing interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of home and displacement. It equally intends to broaden the canon of architectural histories and theories by including migrants' and refugees' spatial agencies and place-making practices to its annals. By highlighting the political in the spatial, and vice versa, this volume sets out to decentralise and decolonise current definitions of home and displacement, striving for a more pluralistic outlook on the idea of home.


The history of the site TopChretien is that of a "success story". This pioneer website was set up in 1999; its purpose is evangelism on the sixth continent: Internet. It was able to build a large audience and today it presents itself as the first Christian French-speaking portal. Since its inception, the site has continued to grow, to expand, to explore all the possibilities offered by new technologies, so that it now offers through all its applications a global religious culture ; it grew into a larger network, called Jesus.net, which proposes online guidance and counseling, online religious practices and sacred spaces. Believers in Protestantism are not subjected to any hierarchical control: the role of self-proclaimed charismatic leaders should be emphasized, and initiatives are teeming in a virtual world where deregulation and decompartmentalization are facilitated. This contribution proposes to present this successful network built outside the ecclesial structures. Based on interviews and surveys of stakeholders, our study analyzes the vision and strategy developed by the founder (pastor of a Pentecostal church) and his entourage. The initial idea of the website was substantially amended: the site was basically simple and non-specialized (an internet directory of Christian sites); but the dynamic created by the explosive growth of the Internet led creators of TopChretien to develop a new vision: by pooling their individual and collective experience, they will be able to innovate to adapt the use of the Internet to the religious question.


Recently, it has been shown that the Ba1−xSrxZn2Si2O7 crystal phase has a negative coefficient of thermal expansion. However, technological applications of this material as low thermal expansion glass ceramics are limited by the undesired surface crystallization of the corresponding glass. Surface nucleation, however, can be turned into bulk nucleation by adding nucleating agents. Here, glasses in the base system BaO–SrO–ZnO–SiO2 with small additions of ZrO2 and WO3 were synthesized and their crystallization behavior was investigated using thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and density functional theory simulations. The addition of WO3 leads to the formation of volume crystals with a scheelite crystal structure (Ba1−xSrxWO4) in high number density. The limited incorporation of Si4+ ions into these crystals is discussed. Possible crystal lattice sites for Si4+ were located by density functional theory simulations. In a much lower number density, crystals with a crystal structure similar to the high-temperature polymorph of BaZn2Si2O7 and the Ba1−xSrxZn2Si2O7 composition crystallize as well. These crystals can reach a larger size than the scheelite crystals that occur in parallel. The overall microstructure is thus formed by small dendritic crystals with a scheelite structure and huge Ba1−xSrxZn2Si2O7 crystals. Both of them seem to grow independently of each other. In spite of the high anisotropy of both phases, the microstructure is revealed to be free of cracks.


Abstract. Terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) have become an integral tool for extrapolating local observations and understanding of land–atmosphere carbon exchange to larger regions. The North American Carbon Program (NACP) Multi-scale synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP) is a formal model intercomparison and evaluation effort focused on improving the diagnosis and attribution of carbon exchange at regional and global scales. MsTMIP builds upon current and past synthesis activities, and has a unique framework designed to isolate, interpret, and inform understanding of how model structural differences impact estimates of carbon uptake and release. Here we provide an overview of the MsTMIP effort and describe how the MsTMIP experimental design enables the assessment and quantification of TBM structural uncertainty. Model structure refers to the types of processes considered (e.g., nutrient cycling, disturbance, lateral transport of carbon), and how these processes are represented (e.g., photosynthetic formulation, temperature sensitivity, respiration) in the models. By prescribing a common experimental protocol with standard spin-up procedures and driver data sets, we isolate any biases and variability in TBM estimates of regional and global carbon budgets resulting from differences in the models themselves (i.e., model structure) and model-specific parameter values. An initial intercomparison of model structural differences is represented using hierarchical cluster diagrams (a.k.a. dendrograms), which highlight similarities and differences in how models account for carbon cycle, vegetation, energy, and nitrogen cycle dynamics. We show that, despite the standardized protocol used to derive initial conditions, models show a high degree of variation for GPP, total living biomass, and total soil carbon, underscoring the influence of differences in model structure and parameterization on model estimates.


Prepared by the Environmental Technology Evaluation Center (EvTEC) and the Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center (HITEC), CERF Service Centers. This report provides an update on technology and is intended to assist the Federal Highway Administration's Priority Technology Program (PTP) and departments of transportation in all 50 states. It identifies barriers that hinder the widespread use of bioremediation in the highway environment, as well as methods to overcome these barriers. The evaluation is based on design, construction, performance, and quality assurance information outlined in the HITEC and EvTEC Protocols. The three case studies examine PTP projects in Alabama, Indiana, and Mississippi.


Biplane and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) have brought about important advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular anomalies by allowing for blood flow measurements, estimation of the regional wall stress and study of myocardium motion. Segmentation of the coronary arteries is a critical first step towards an automated interpretation of angiographs. We present an analysis of neural network methods based on a Radial Basis Function (RBF) and back-propagation (BP) network applied to segmentation of the coronary arterial tree. The results of the neural network based segmentation are compared with segmentation techniques based on a delineation algorithm. Features like vessel diameter and centerline coordinates are extracted for segmented images and compared for the various segmentation methods. The network methods are based on first evaluating the best number of cluster partitions and then automatically obtaining the vectors for training. The pixel gray-level values in a small neighborhood along with information of ridges are utilized to provide the training vectors. The ridge locations indicate high likelihood of continuous points on the artery. A discussion of the learning and generalization characteristics for segmentation, by the networks, is presented for multi-view DSA images and tube phantom simulations.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the role of abuse-related injury and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity in mediating the effects of assaultive intimate partner violence (IPV) severity, psychological IPV severity, and child abuse severity on chronic pain severity in women survivors of IPV.

METHODS
Using data collected from a community sample of 309 women survivors of IPV, structural equation modeling was used to test a theoretical model of the relationships among the key variables.

RESULTS
The theoretical model accounted for almost 38% of the variance in chronic pain severity. PTSD symptom severity was a significant mediator of the relationships of both child abuse severity (beta = 0.13) and assaultive IPV severity (beta = 0.06) with chronic pain severity. Lifetime abuse-related injury was also a significant mediator of the relationships between both child abuse severity (beta = 0.05) and assaultive IPV severity (beta = 0.06) and chronic pain severity. Child abuse severity made the largest significant contribution to the model (beta = 0.35). Assaultive IPV severity had a significant indirect effect (beta = 0.12) on chronic pain severity while psychological IPV severity had a significant direct effect (beta = 0.20).

CONCLUSIONS
Management of chronic pain in IPV survivors requires attention to symptoms of PTSD, abuse-related injury, and lifetime experiences of violence. Ensuring that acute pain from injury is adequately treated and followed over time may reduce the extent of chronic pain in abused women. The results also support the importance of routine assessment for IPV and child abuse.


This thesis examines the question: How is biomedical research in the field of dementia enacted? I address this question using ethnographic fieldwork, interviews and document analysis conducted between September 2010 and March 2014, which examine the relations involved in the emergence of a national dementia research agenda in the UK. Over the last decade in the UK 'dementia' has become characterised as the public health crisis of our time. The sense of crisis around the conditions covered by this umbrella term is exacerbated by a global trend toward increased longevity and acute awareness of the limitations of existing treatments. In 2011 the UK Department of Health, in collaboration with national research organisations, announced the launch of an integrated dementia research strategy. Taking a historical and emergent perspective on research into aging, neurodegenerative diseases and the concept of 'dementia', this examination demonstrates how the evolving research initiative marks a shift in the process of co-production which exists between science, policy and publics in the UK.
Using a detailed examination of linguistic and visual material from the perspective of science policy and practice, the thesis demonstrates how shifts in biotechnology make conditions described under the umbrella of 'dementias' differently visible. The scientific narratives which accompany this changing visibility, present dementias as a challenging target for social and scientific intervention. In response to this complexity, the research agenda focuses on the relationships and interactions between the multiple stakeholders involved. A rhetoric-based analysis demonstrates how researchers use such collaborations to try and remake the connections between aging, dementia, science and social responsibility. I argue that this process of breaking and remaking such connections is part of persuasive attempt to embed patients, participants and publics in the conduct of clinical research.
This ethnographic description demonstrates how this process of embedded engagement is not without challenge. Researchers feel increasingly exposed to public expectations and frustrations which exist beyond the control of the 'citadel' of science (Martin 1998). Thus through cyclical re-workings of narratives of success and failure, hope and possibility, researchers involved in the development of new interventions for dementia diagnosis and treatment attempt to balance the tension between the rhetoric of future potential products and their day-to-day experience of the scientific process. Thus the thesis demonstrates how the development of new interventions is a continual negotiation of uncertainties and anxieties for both researchers and their participants. The thesis contributes to a growing literature on the complexity of biomedical research and knowledge making.


Neanderthals in Western Europe are associated with a plethora of stone tool assemblages and their internal variation has been linked to different causal factors and behavioural interpretations. This thesis presents a new contribution to the study of Middle Palaeolithic variability by focusing specifically on the Late Middle Palaeolithic period (MIS 5d-3) and the typo-technological, spatial and temporal differences amongst bifacially worked tools. Currently, in Western Europe distinct types of Late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools are associated with two macro-regional entities, the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA) and the Keilmessergruppe (KMG). These two entities, centred in Southwestern France and Germany, also link to two different research traditions which use a variety of competing terms, typologies and definitions. This study uses a new classificatory approach to overcome these epistemological issues and facilitates for the first time wider-scale comparisons, incorporating the regions located in between the MTA and KMG core areas. Bifacial tools from 14 key assemblages were analysed through an extensive attribute analysis, creating a database with primary data for 1,303 bifacial tools. This data was then incorporated with other published site information allowing for a detailed assessment of both the typo-technological characteristics of the bifacial tools and their variability. Firstly, the results indicate that genuine differences exist among Late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tool assemblages regardless of the classificatory framework. Secondly, exploration of the data using three different scales of analysis allowed for the recognition of different variation patterns and interpretations. At a micro-scale, it is clear that a large amount of typo-technological variability exists among Late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools, which can mainly be attributed to differences in local conditions, such as raw material and function. At a macro-scale the MTA/KMG dichotomy was confirmed by a distinct divide between classic handaxes and backed bifacial tools west and east of the Rhine. Additionally, a third entity, the Mousterian with bifacial tools (MBT), is located in between the MTA and KMG core areas and contains a wide variety of bifacial tools, including MTA and KMG types. At a meso-scale, several previously identified regional entities were merged into the MTA and MBT, but specific spatio-temporal units do exist, e.g. bout coupe handaxes in MIS3 Britain. At both this meso-and macro-scale the observed patterns cannot be explained merely by referring to differences in local settings, but require an additional sphere of interpretation, argued here to be culture. The MTA and KMG can be seen as two distinct cultural traditions, reflecting different lines of learned behavior, as expressed by different ways of making bifacial tools. The sporadic spread of KMG elements across Western Europe is indicative of Neanderthal population dynamics and the MBT is interpreted as the results of MTA-KMG interactions in an overlap zone where foreign influences were more easily absorbed. Finally, the distinct presence and absence of certain bifacial tool types in specific regions allow to argue for the presence of a collective cultural capacity among Neanderthals.


Background: Hair dye poisoning, with main toxic component paraphenylene diamine, is a medical emergency. It is on increasing trend in developing countries due to wide availability and low cost of hair dyes. It carries a high mortality and does not have any specific antidote. Case Report: Twenty three years old patient presented with breathelessness along with difficulty in speaking for one hour after consuming hair dye. He developed cervicofacial edema followed by rhabdomyolysis, myoglobinuria and acute kidney injury, classical of hair dye poisoning. Laboratory investigations revealed blood urea of 100 mg/dl and serum creatinine of 3.8 mg/dl. The serum creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels were 1230 U/L and urine myoglobin was positive. He was treated conservatively for acute kidney injury and discharged in stable condition. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and treatment of poisoning due to hair dyes leads to improved prognosis, so widespread awareness is needed about this emerging form of poisoning.


This study involves two village chicken populations sampled from Horro and Jarso regions of Western and Eastern Ethiopia respectively. This study maps the phenomic and genomic landscape of the two chicken populations using morphological markers and a high density (600K) SNP array. Although the two chicken populations tend to display nondescript morphological characteristics, they show a subtle variation except for rare morph variants that have been in most instances scored on Jarso chickens. Morphological analysis uncovers a vast array of intrapopulation variation. Genetic diversity and population structure analyses assign the two chicken populations to two distinct genepools representing their population of origin. A high intrapopulation genetic diversity is uncovered, which shows a broad genetic base (high genetic diversity) of the two chicken populations. We hypothesized that a clearly evident genetic divergence observed between the two chicken populations may be attributed to difference in demographic history, origin (routes of introduction to Africa), breeding history of the two chicken populations and demographic structure of subsistence farmers. Absence of gene flow owing to their distant geographic location and ecological variation may have also contributed to this divergence. A population structure analysis performed on a random subset of the two Ethiopian chicken populations along with village chickens sampled from other African countries, Asia and Latin America, commercial populations and the junglefowl species reveals a unique genetic structure of Ethiopian chickens, which implicates the need for further study on the genetic landscape of the latter. To infer the extent of inbreeding we performed a run of homozygosity analysis (ROH). Our analysis indicates that ROH is more intense in Jarso than Horro chickens and in macrochromosomes than microchromosomes. The extensive ROH mapped in some chickens implicates the need to restructure the existing traditional breeding practice of subsistence farmers. Our analysis confirms the commonness of ROH in genic regions. For the first time, we detect twenty three putative uniparental disomy in twenty two Ethiopian village chickens. Signature of selection analysis detects divergently selected genomic regions in the two chicken populations indicating a considerable divergent selection imposed on the two populations. Genes involving in melanogenesis pathway are among those subjected to a divergent selection. However, some overlapping regions were also mapped in the two chicken populations implicating the ubiquitous impact of natural selection on genes regulating vital biological processes. A genome-wide association study performed on pigmentation (earlobe, plumage and shank) traits and variants of crest, comb and a lightly feathered shank maps a number of putative loci that may underlie variations in these traits. Our GWAS analysis on pigmentation traits produced a long list of loci than that have been known to involve in the genetic control of pigmentation in the chicken, with most of these have been mapped in the mouse. We also refined further the causative variants underlying a lightly feathered shank mutation. Our GWAS analysis map a number of putative novel loci that may underlie the genetic control of the traits analysed and this has laid a foundation for subsequent work that would involve targeted sequencing and a candidate gene approach. This study is the first of its kind in Africa that uses a large number of samples and a high density SNP array to unlock phenomic and genomic landscape of the true type village chickens.


Software-defined networking (SDN) has gained a tremendous attention in the recent years, both in academia and industry. This revolutionary networking paradigm is an attempt to bring the advances in computer science and software engineering into the information and communications technology (ICT) domain. The aim of these efforts is to pave the way for completely programmable networks and control-data plane separation. Recent studies on feasibility and applicability of SDN concepts in cellular networks show very promising results and this trend will most likely continue in near future. In this work, we study the benefits of SDN on the radio resource management (RRM) of future-generation cellular networks. Our considered cellular network architecture is in line with the recently proposed Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Release 12 concepts, such as control-data plane split, heterogeneous networks (HetNets) environment, and network densification through deployment of small cells. In particular, the aim of our RRM scheme is to enable the macro base station (BS) to efficiently allocate radio resources for small cell BSs in order to assure quality-of-service (QoS) of moving users/vehicles during handoffs. We develop an approximate, but very time- and space-efficient algorithm for radio resource allocation within a HetNet. Experiments on commodity hardware show algorithm running times in the order of a few seconds, thus making it suitable even in cases of fast moving users/vehicles. We also confirm a good accuracy of our proposed algorithm by means of computer simulations.


A fungal biofilter composed of woodchips was designed in order to remove micropollutants from the effluents of waste water treatment plants. Two fungi were tested: Pleurotus ostreatus and Trametes versicolor in order to evaluate their efficiency for the removal of two micropollutants: the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen and the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole. Although Trametes versicolor was able to degrade quickly naproxen, this fungus was not any more active after one week of operation in the filter. Pleurotus ostreatus was, on contrary, able to survive more than 3 months in the filter, showing good removal efficiencies of naproxen and sulfamethoxazole during all this period, in tap water but also in real treated municipal wastewater. Several other experiments have provided insight on the removal mechanisms of these micropollutants in the fungal biofilter (degradation and adsorption) and also allowed to model the removal trend. Fungal treatment with Pleurotus ostreatus grown on wood substrates appeared to be a promising solution to improve micropollutants removal in wastewater.


In this paper we present airport logistics, which is a framework of resource management in the air transportation system. Focus is on the processes supporting turn-around. A detailed simulation model of various processes involved in turn-around is developed, by which the interaction between these processes are analyzed. We show that integrating optimization and simulation is a powerful tool to demonstrate efficiency improvements in airport logistics, using scheduling de-icing trucks as an example. An optimization algorithm for scheduling de-icing trucks is developed and simulations are performed comparing different schedules. The schedule obtained when considering total airport performance in the optimization algorithm gives minimum flight delay and waiting times in the simulations.


In this increasingly interconnected world, it is second nature for people to communicate, socialise and share information through a huge number of media platforms, often simultaneously. Technology to support this is constantly progressing, with new mechanisms emerging all the time. People are quick to adopt the newest communication mechanisms such as instant messaging services, social networking platforms such as Facebook and photo sharing sites such as Flickr.

As new technologies emerge, they bring with them new risks to users' privacy and security. Technical security vulnerabilities are often patched incrementally until a stable and relatively secure platform is attained. However, research suggests that human factors are potentially the biggest weakness in an otherwise well-secured system. Users are unpredictable, fallible and more importantly can be misled or persuaded.

A rapidly growing social interaction technology is the use of Quick Response (QR) codes as physical shortcuts to Internet resources. QR codes are matrix barcodes that are traditionally used to identify automotive components. QR codes are touted for their ease of use and convenience and are increasingly being used for marketing and social interaction. This is commonly done by placing a QR code on an advertisement or poster, which when scanned by a person with their mobile phone, directs them to a website.


In this paper we consider a stochastic model describing the varying number of flows in a network. This model features flows of two types, namely file transfers (with fixed volume) and streaming traffic (with fixed duration), and extends the model of Key, Massoulie, Bain and Kelly [23] by allowing more general bandwidth allocation criteria. We analyse the dynamics of the system under a fluid scaling, and show Lyapunov stability of the fluid limits under a natural stability condition. We provide natural interpretations of the fixed points of these fluid limits. We then compare the fluid dynamics of file transfers under (i) balanced multipath routing and (ii) parallel, uncoordinated routing. We show that for identical traffic demands, parallel uncoordinated routing can be unstable while balanced multipath routing is stable. Finally, we identify multi-dimensional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes as second-order approximations to the first-order fluid limit dynamics.


PURPOSE
The study's purpose was to characterize accelerometer-derived estimates of physical inactivity collected during five consecutive weeks in middle-age women.

METHODS
Data were obtained from 63 participants (95.5%) enrolled in the Evaluation of Physical Activity Measures in Middle-Age Women Study. Inactive time (min · d(-1)) was estimated as the sum of activity counts <100, and inactive-to-active transitions were defined as an interruption in which a period of inactivity was immediately followed by a minute or more above 100 counts. A repeated-measures ANOVA using PROC MIXED (SAS/STAT software, v. 9.2) was used to describe hourly, daily, and weekly variation in estimates of physical inactivity.

RESULTS
Participants were 52.7 ± 5.5 yr, 85.7% non-Hispanic white, and 63.5% postmenopausal, with a body mass index of 26.7 ± 5.1 kg · m(-2). Inactive time gradually increased as the day continued, particularly on weekend days. When compared with weekdays, average inactive time was lower on Saturday and Sunday (all P < 0.01 except for Saturday vs Monday, P < 0.10); Saturdays were not significantly different from Sundays. Breaks in inactive time were significantly lower on Sunday when compared with weekdays and Saturday (all P < 0.05), and fewer breaks were noted on Saturday when compared with Wednesday and Friday (both P < 0.01). After adjustment for total wear time or inactive time, most day-to-day differences were attenuated. Week-by-week differences in physical inactivity estimates were also not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that inactive time increases as the day continues and that daily physical inactivity estimates are more stable after 1) adjustment for wear time or 2) when averaged over the week. Researchers should carefully consider the intended application of physical inactivity estimates before data collection and processing, analysis, and final data reporting.


Introduction The clinical importance of postoperative episodic hypoxemia is still unclear, and therefore largely under-studied. As a result, there is limited understanding of its relationship with early postoperative respiratory complications (PRC, defined as intubation within three days of surgery) and hospital resource utilization. Materials and methods This single center study was performed using a retrospective observational design. We described population based definitions of desaturation from continuous SpO2 monitoring data captured in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU), namely median SpO2 in PACU, duration of desaturation below median, nadir desaturation, and length of oxygen therapy relative to PACU duration. These measures were evaluated against the occurrence of early PRC in logistic regression models. Measures that were independently associated with early PRC were accepted as the primary study exposures. Stratified logistic regression models were planned if significant interaction occurred with high risk surgical procedures. Models were adjusted by including several patient conditions, procedural, and anesthesia risk factors. Propensity matching on desaturation occurrence was planned to evaluate the relationship with postoperative resource utilization. Results Among 125,740 patients included in the univariate analyses, 351 patients (0.3%) developed early PRC. Nadir desaturation <89% [14.3% of patients; adjusted odds ratio 2.02; 95% CI 1.52, 2.68; p<0.001] and PACU oxygen therapy requirements greater than 60 min [adjusted odds ratio 1.92 (>60 min) to 3.04 (>90 min); p<0.001] were identified as independent predictors of early PRC occurrence. A modest interaction was observed between desaturation and higher surgical risk. Propensity matching for postoperative oxygen requirement was performed in 37,354 matched patients. Matched analysis demonstrated significant increase in day of surgery charges, respiratory charges, total charges, hospital length of stay, reintubation and use of invasive or non-invasive ventilatory support. Conclusions In summary, we report that prolonged PACU oxygen therapy and nadir desaturation <89% in PACU as captured in a retrospective database are independently associated with early PRC. This study describes resource implications of PACU desaturation in a large academic medical center in North America.


This thesis focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the sources of business cycle fluctuations in the United Kingdom (UK), based on Structural Vector Auto-Regressions (SVARs) with long-run restrictions.
We first investigate the sources of historical economic fluctuations in UK labour productivity and employment from 1855 to 2014. To do this, we use a long UK dataset produced by the Bank of England (BoE). Under long-run identification restrictions, we decompose shocks into technology and non-technology shocks, where technology shock is the only permanent shock affecting labour productivity. By identifying structural breaks, we find that the impact of a technology shock on labour is negative, but statistical significance depends on the sub-sample period. We found insignificance for
the post-World War II period regardless of labour input. Also, we found that non-technology shock is better at capturing recession dates, and this is consistent with the US. Thus, the technology-driven Real Business Cycle (RBC) hypothesis is rejected for the UK. The analysis also reveals important changes in the volatility of shocks over time, and it is interesting how different sources or events have influenced the economic fluctuations in the UK over time.
Secondly, we analyse the effects of technology shocks on outputs and labour inputs across UK industries. For that purpose, we estimate sectoral VARs in which technology shocks are assumed to be responsible for permanent changes in each industry's productivity. Using three different measures of productivity: i) labour productivity, ii) Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and iii) 'purified' TFP, we estimate unconditional and conditional correlations between labour and different measures of productivity. Our
results suggest that the effects of technology improvement vary considerably across different UK industries; however,overall the effect of productivity shock on hours is mostly contractionary regardless of the measure of productivity we use at a sectoral level, in line with the aggregate level, as opposed to the situation in the United States (US) as in Chang and Hong (2006).
Finally, we further our study on the relationship between productivity and the
labour market in the UK since 1970. The main result for the US was that there was a large sign switch of co-movements of correlations of productivity and unemployment in the mid-1980s from negative to positive, close to zero. For the UK we found that there was also a large sign switch, but unlike in the US this moved from positive to negative in the mid-1990s. These changes are reflected in the impulse responses to identified shocks. Thus, to understand why there was a sign switch we use a New-Keynesian's search model of unemployment as in Barnichon (2010) with nominal rigidities and variable labour effort, by which we compare the effects of technology shocks (i.e. aggregate supply shocks) to the contribution of non-technology shocks (i.e. aggregate demand shocks). We found that, in order to generate impulse responses to fit the empirical responses, we need a more sclerotic labour market for the UK, especially in terms of higher vacancy cost for the later part of the sample, which is inconsistent with the current conditions of the labour market in the UK.


The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protection is rapidly increasing in the United States and many other countries. There is some concern that the child welfare field will travel down the same road as it did with intensive family preservation services; that is, tremendous enthusiasm later derailed by rigidly designed evaluations that showed unimpressive effects. The work of John Braithwaite suggests an alternative path for finding justifiable excitement about these interventions. Drawing upon Braithwaite's writings and ongoing evaluation research, this article suggests a few steps we can take towards an integrative strategy for developing effective family involvement interventions.


"The Methods of Ethics" 1874 edition, 498pp "The Method of Ethics" 7th edition 1907, 564pp "The Principles of Political Economy" 3rd edition 1901, 616pp "Outlines of the History of Ethics for English Readers" 6th edition 1931, 368pp "The Elements of Politics" 3rd edition 1908, 702pp "Practical Ethics: a Collection of Addresses and Essays" 1898 edition, 268pp "Lectures on the Ethics of T.H. Green, Mr Herbert Spencer, and J. Martineau" 1902 edition, 294pp "Philosophy, its Scope and Relations: an Introductory Course of Lectures" 1902 edition, 270pp "The Development of European Polity" 1903 edition, 480pp "Miscellaneous Essays and Addresses" 1904 edition, 382pp "Lectures on the Philosophical Lectures of Kant and Other Philosophical Lectures and Essays" 1905 edition, 484pp "Henry Sidgwick: A Memoir", Arthur Sidgwick and Eleanor Sidgwick, 1906 edition, 646pp "Presidential Addresses to the Society of Physical Research, 1882-1911", Henry Sidgwick (nine addresses), Mrs Henry Sidgwick, et al, 1912 edition, 344pp "Miscellaneous Essays of Henry Sidgwick, 1870-99", c.300pp "Reviews by Henry Sidgwick, 1871-99", c.200pp.


In focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), scarring or hardening of the tiny blood vessels within the kidney leads to leakage of protein into the urine. FSGS is a major cause of end-stage renal disease, and its prevalence is increasing. Disruption of cytoskeletal and structural proteins is known to play a role in pathogenesis. Now, Winn et al. describe an alternative route to the disease. Studying a large family with a hereditary form of FSGS, they find that the causative mutation occurs in the gene encoding transient receptor potential cation channel 6 (TRPC6), a protein believed to mediate calcium entry into cells. Because channels are often amenable to pharmacological manipulation, this study raises the possibility that TRPC6 may be a useful therapeutic target in chronic kidney disease. M. P. Winn, P. J. Conlon, K. L. Lynn, M. K. Farrington, T. Creazzo, A. F. Hawkins, N. Daskalakis, S. Y. Kwan, S. Ebersviller, J. L. Burchette, M. A. Pericak-Vance, D. N. Howell, J. M. Vance, P. B. Rosenberg, A mutation in the TRPC6 cation channel causes familial focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Science 308, 1801-1804 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


In Lee is a professor in the School of Computer Sciences at the College of Business and Technology at Western Illinois University in the US. He is a two-time winner of the Research Excellence Award in the College of Business and Technology at WIU. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of E-Business Research. He has published his research in such journals as Communications of the ACM, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Production Research, Decision Support Systems, Computers and Operations Research, International Journal of Production Economics, Business Horizons, Knowledge and Process Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Management Decision, Computers and Education, International Small Business Journal, Computers in Human Behavior, Business Process Management Journal, Computers and Industrial Engineering and others. Prior to his academic career, he worked for a number of multinational corporations. He has also served as a consultant for various government agencies and private organizations. His current research interests include web technology development and management, investment strategies for computing technologies and mobile services. He received his PhD in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In Lee (Western Illinois University, USA)


he Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) is an academic Center at Bridgewater State University in Mas-sachusetts. By running a training program for graduate and undergraduate students in higher education, MARC offers free re-search, programs and services to K-12 schools in Massachusetts. Every-one benefits: future educators receive unique field training, and K-12 schools receive high-quality, no-cost programs and services. One important characteristic of MARC's mission is to transmute significant research findings into concrete, useable information for K-12 teachers in the field. The sheer amount of information available today about bullying and cyberbullying can make any educator's head spin. But despite the plethora of new research and findings, the cur-rent state of knowledge does permit us to make certain generalizations. Here are a handful of tips that any educator can use to help cope with, and reduce, bullying behaviors.


The differential mobility analyzer (DMA) is a device that sizes aerosol particles based on their electrical mobility. The relationship between particle size and mobility depends, among other factors, on three gas specific parameters, namely, dynamic viscosity, mean free path, and Cunningham slip correction factor C c . Provided these parameters are known, DMA theory is expected to be valid independent of gas type. The present study demonstrates the sizing accuracy of DMAs for gases other than air using monodisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres with nominal diameters of 60 nm, 149 nm, and 343 nm in He, Ar, H 2 , CO 2 , and N 2 O. Eliminating possible systematic errors due to uncertainties in DMA geometry and nominal PSL diameter by normalizing the measured PSL diameters to their respective diameters measured in air, the sheath flow rate Q sh and C c are expected to be the main sources for measurement errors. Since C c data are lacking for PSL spheres in gases other than air, an expression given by Allen and Raabe (1985b) was used to approximate C c . The experimental results of the present study are consistent with a 2% accuracy of this expression for C c , which is considerably better than the 5% accuracy estimated by Rader (1990) for a similar expression for oil drops. Finally, we discuss other aspects of operating a DMA with gases other than air, namely, flow meter calibration and dependence of electrical breakdown voltage on gas type. In the present study a thermal mass flow meter (MFM) was used to measure Q sh . Calibration of this MFM revealed that the gas specific MFM correction factors ( K factors) provided by the technical literature can be highly inaccurate (here between -12% and +31%). More accurate K factors are presented.


Epoxy resin in organic solvent is cured and thin films are prepared by solvent evaporation method. In the present work, the said organic solvent is used as curing agent in the sample. Both the concentration of polymer as well as curing agent is varied in wt/wt ratio and films are prepared for FTIR spectroscopic response. The FTIR observation of title compound confirms functional groups and the role of curing agent. Dielectric studies are carried out at different temperatures. Mechanical studies are also performed on the sample which confirms the toughness, textural and tensile strengths.


The book itself was created by Pds Entertainment LLC (Ascap) and I wrote a section for it that spanned 3 pages - the book abstract is as follows: THIS IS A MUSICIAN'S GUIDE WITH PLENTY OF BUSINESS SENSE Music is your passion and you'd make it your business but you've discovered that sometimes the combination makes it a real "offbeat." Don't knock it yet! Hottest New Artist the book gives you information you need with real answers to many of the questions you've been seeking. In this Hottest New Artist book, you get: • An overview of how the music industry works, with a clear-cut look at the skills you need to succeed in it. • Essential information on protecting your intellectual property and being paid what you're owed. • You'll gain Insight to find that agent, negotiate contracts, and selling your music and songs. • Sound advice for working with others collaborating on songs, or communicating with family about your music. • Steps and procedure used in the industry when submitting material for considerations from radio, label or other industry professionals. • True stories from artists breaking down barriers and getting through the noise and ahead in music business.


The objective of this work is the valorization of Ammi visnaga L. by chemical characterization, as well as the study of the antioxidant activity of its essential oil. The extraction of essential oil from seeds and umbels of this plant is carried out by hydrodistillation, and yields are 0.26% for dry umbels, 0.14% for fresh umbels, 0.02% for dry seed, while the dried umbel in an oven had a yield of 0%. The analysis of the essential oil of A. visnaga by Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) identified 29 principle compounds (Campholenal (13.6%)), longipinene (5.53%), longifolene (5.48%), estragole (6.53%) and β-Mentha 1-b-8-ol (25.57%). Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of this essential oil was evaluated by the method of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and showed a significant efficiency in radical DPPH reducing with an IC50 value of essential oil of 56.053 ± 0.856 μg/ml.