IZA DP No. 14820 OCTOBER 2021 Individualism, Human Capital Formation, and Labor Market Success* There is an ongoing debate about the economic effects of individualism. We establish that individualism leads to better educational and labor market outcomes. Using data from the largest international adult skill assessment, we identify the effects of individualism by exploiting variation between migrants at the origin country, origin language, and person level. Migrants from more individualistic cultures have higher cognitive skills and larger skill gains over time. They also invest more in their skills over the life-cycle, as they acquire more years of schooling and are more likely to participate in adult education activities. In fact, individualism is more important in explaining adult skill formation than any other cultural trait that has been emphasized in previous literature. In the labor market, more individualistic migrants earn higher wages and are less often unemployed. We show that our results cannot be explained by selective migration or omitted origin-country variables. JEL Classification: D91, J24, I20, Z13


Elemental (C, H, O, N, Si, P) and biochemical composition (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, phosphorus compounds, chlorophyll and opal) in particulate organic matter, diatoms, other autotrophs, heterotrophs and detritus from natural plankton were established simultaneously by measuring relatively few components. Using standard techniques in marine chemistry on board ship, it is possible to infer a great deal about the composition and condition of the plankton. In addition, the organic matter content in terms of cell volume was determined for each group of plankton. Variation of chemical composition with depth was also considered. The ratio carbohydrates/lipids (Cbh/Lip) was used as an indicator of the chemical quality of the plankton.


As a grand narrative of progress, the utopian project of modernity is primarily concerned with notions of rationalism, universalism, and the development of a metalanguage. The triumph of the Moderate Enlightenment has seen logics of domination, accumulation and individualism incorporated into the project of modernity, with these logics giving rise to globalised capitalism as the metalanguage of modernity and neoliberal economics as the grand narrative of rational progress. The project of modernity is all but complete, requiring only the formality of an end. However, rather than utopia, the foreseeable endpoint of modernity is environmental collapse, with neoliberal economics also serving as a grand narrative of environmental destruction. As an anti-modern response, postmodernism has been a triumphant failure. While there is much to be gained from the postmodern critique of modernity, its incredulity towards metanarratives has left it incapable of forming an adequate response to modernity, especially in regards to action on climate change. Postmodernism is better characterized as a crisis located within modernity itself and it will be argued that rather than the pursuit of the modern or the post-modern, we need to re-imagine ourselves as proto- historical to overcome the impasse of late-capitalism.


An increasing need of running Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models on mobile devices with limited computing power and memory resource encourages studies on efficient model design. A number of efficient architectures have been proposed in recent years, for example, MobileNet, ShuffleNet, and MobileNetV2. However, all these models are heavily dependent on depthwise separable convolution which lacks efficient implementation in most deep learning frameworks. In this study, we propose an efficient architecture named PeleeNet, which is built with conventional convolution instead. On ImageNet ILSVRC 2012 dataset, our proposed PeleeNet achieves a higher accuracy and over 1.8 times faster speed than MobileNet and MobileNetV2 on NVIDIA TX2. Meanwhile, PeleeNet is only 66% of the model size of MobileNet. We then propose a real-time object detection system by combining PeleeNet with Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) method and optimizing the architecture for fast speed. Our proposed detection system2, named Pelee, achieves 76.4% mAP (mean average precision) on PASCAL VOC2007 and 22.4 mAP on MS COCO dataset at the speed of 23.6 FPS on iPhone 8 and 125 FPS on NVIDIA TX2. The result on COCO outperforms YOLOv2 in consideration of a higher precision, 13.6 times lower computational cost and 11.3 times smaller model size.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with schizophrenia in Germany differ in the number and frequency of medical screenings in primary care compared to healthy controls and whether such screenings are provided to schizophrenic patients by general practitioners (GPs) or psychiatrists. Methods: In a self-report and questionnaire-based cohort study we quantified the screenings for cardiovascular risks and somatic comorbidity. We examined 81 patients with an ICD- 10 F2 diagnosis (n=56 inpatients and n=25 outpatients) and 67 controls. Results: GPs were the initiators of significantly more screening assessments in the control group compared to the patients´ cohort. Controls were more often asked about their smoking habits and they significantly more often consulted medical specialists other than a GP or a psychiatrist. On the other hand, schizophrenic patients had undergone EEG or brain imaging procedures significantly more often than controls. Vaccination against tetanus appeared to be neglected in patients with schizophrenia. Conclusion: Adjustments in the German health care system are necessary to address the issues of medical screening in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders, thus bridging the gap between mental and physical health.


Now in its Fifth Edition, Nurse Practitioner's Business Practice and Legal Guide continues to provide a solid foundation for students and practicing nurses to build confident and effective practices. A must-have resource for every new or current nurse practitioner (NP), it defines what an NP is and does while explaining the legal scope with specific state and federal regulations. Completely updated and revised with essential state-by-state appendices, Nurse Practitioner's Business Practice and Legal Guide, Fifth Edition offers expert insights on prescribing, hospital privileges, negligence and malpractice, risk management, health policy, ethics, and measuring NP performance. Further, it addresses important issues such as: * Developing an employment relationship * Undertaking a business venture * Giving testimony before the state legislature * Composing a letter to an insurance company about an unpaid bill * Teaching at a school of nursing * Serving as president of a state or national organization Included with each new print book is an Access Code for a Navigate Companion Website containing the highly renowned Pearson Report, a state-by-state national overview of nurse practitioner legislation and healthcare issues, including rules and regulations, statistics, government policy, and reimbursement information.


The objective of IFPRI's multicountry research program on rural financial policies for food security of the poor is to identify policies and institutional arrangements that help the poor integrate themselves into sustainable savings and credit systems such that they have an increased capacity to invest, bear risk, and smooth consumption. The focus of the research on policy and program design and their effects on household investment and consumption requires field data collection at the institutional and household level. This paper presents the underlying conceptual framework and various methodological approaches that have been reviewed and tested by the team at IFPRI and at collaborating institutions. Methodologies are presented for analysis at the institutional level, mainly focusing on the determinants of the formation of financial institutions and the analysis of effects of program design on institutional conduct and performance, and at the household level, thereby addressing determinants of access to and participation in financial markets and related effects on household welfare.


Background Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from loss of immune regulation leading to the development of autoimmunity to pancreatic beta-cells, involving autoreactive T effector cells (Teffs). Regulatory T cells (Tregs), that prevent autoimmunity, require Interleukin-2 (IL-2) for maintenance of immunosuppressive functions and, alterations in the IL-2 pathway predispose to T1D. Using an adaptive trial design we aimed to determine the optimal regimen of aldesleukin (recombinant human IL-2) to physiologically enhance Tregs while limiting expansion of autoreactive Teffs. Methods DILfrequency is a single-center, non-randomised, open-label, response-adaptive study of participants aged 18 to 70 years with T1D. The initial learning phase allocated 12 participants to six different predefined dose-frequency regimens. Then, three cohorts of 8 participants were sequentially allocated dose-frequencies, based on repeated interim analyses of all accumulated trial data. The co-primary endpoints were percentage change in Tregs, Teffs and, CD25 (α subunit of the IL-2 receptor) expression by Tregs, from baseline to steady state. Trial registration ISRCTN40319192 and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02265809). Findings 115 participants were assessed between November 17th 2014 and May 22nd 2016, 38 participants were enrolled with 36 completing treatment. The optimal regimen to maintain a steady state increase in Tregs of 30% and CD25 expression of 25% without Teff expansion is 0.26 × 106 IU/m2 (95% CI (−0.007 to 0.485)) every 3 days (1.3 to 4.4). Tregs and CD25 were dose-frequency responsive, while Teffs were not. The commonest adverse event was injection site reaction (464/694 events), with a single participant developing transient eosinophilia at the highest dose (0.47 × 106 IU/m2). Interpretation This response-adaptive trial defined a well-tolerated aldesleukin regimen that specifically induces Treg expansion that can now be trialled to treat T1D. Funding Sir Jules Thorn Trust, Wellcome, JDRF, SNSF, NIHR


In this study, Mari Luomi examines how the resource-rich GCC countries are positioning themselves in the international relations of the green economy, focusing on the UAE's state-led efforts to acquire the means of implementation for a national green energy transition. The study addresses four questions: What strategies, external relations, and engagements have the UAE and other GCC states developed over recent years that support a transition to a green energy economy? How are these engagements providing the means of implementation for a green economy transition? Are the national policy frameworks aligned with such a transition? What lessons can be drawn from the UAE's experience by the other GCC states? The study concludes that, as the case of the UAE demonstrates, there are multiple ways in which the GCC states can actively employ their financial resources through external engagements to support a broader national green economy vision. However, enabling environments which are crucial for directing investments into green activities, jobs and infrastructure, are only beginning to emerge, and a lot of work still remains to be done in all six states, particularly in the areas of energy subsidy reform and sustainable job creation in productive sectors. The study closes with a number of related observations and recommendations.


The cultivation of willow (Salix spp.) is being investigated as a potential feedstock for biomass energy in the Canadian prairies. For this purpose, and despite willow's high nutrient and water demand, high rates of productivity can ideally be achieved and maintained while minimizing inputs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, plantations of Salix purpurea 'Hotel' grown at seven sites across Canada—encompassing a large climate gradient and a variety of soils—provided an opportunity to assess the impacts of site quality on biomass production. Soil and climate variables as well as internal measures of nutrition and water stress were correlated with harvested biomass via linear, non-linear and multiple linear regression. Soil at nine sites were compared to reference sites in order to examine the effects of willow plantation establishment on soil nutrient pools and GHG efflux. The effects of initial nutrient concentration and growth rates on change were also examined. Greenhouse gas efflux (CO2, CH4, N2O) was directly measured using the vented chamber method at two of the sites. Lastly, a new method for measuring standing biomass via ground based digital imaging was developed and validated. Total elemental composition of soil, in particular the presence of Ca, was found to have the greatest correlation with willow productivity (r = 0.89, P < 0.01). Surprisingly, precipitation was not the dominant control for the majority of the sites. Nutritionally, N (r = 0.44, P < 0.01 total soil N) and K (r = 0.52, P < 0.01 foliar K) were dominant for increasing willow productivity although both N (P < 0.05) and K (P < 0.10) were depleted from the previous land use with willow plantation establishment. This indicates increasing nutrient deficiencies of N and K may be become problematic in future rotations for maintaining productivity. Carbon was consistently diminished in the upper 20 cm of soil (P < 0.05) regardless of previous conditions or productivity although previous land use is a contributing factor with less depletion on cultivated soils. However, soil CO2 emissions were greatest under larger trees indicating increased C cycling with increasing productivity. Seasonal differences in N2O emissions and CH4 consumption from traditional agriculture and mature tree stands were not detected. The calcareous soils common in the Canadian prairies provide opportunity for willow production, though fertilization with N and K may be required to sustain adequate growth.


When mud flows in California threatened to stop traffic on a freeway and erode a street from below, Caltrans worked around the clock to stabilize the slope using soil nailing and shotcrete. The heavily trafficked Marin 101, a State route traversing California, Oregon and Washington, was temporarily blocked in two southbound lanes as a result of a mudslide from its side slope. Also, the structural integrity of Tiburon Boulevard, a county street above the slide, was in jeopardy because of eroding slopes. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) removed the mud flow immediately before the start of the heavy, morning rush hour traffic toward the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. When Caltrans realized that repairing the steep slope would require more than simple rip rap or shotcrete, the geotechnical and structures departments worked around the clock preparing a general plan for soil nailing and shotcrete. Soil nailing has been used for soil stabilization in California since the late 1980's. Though the technique has come under scrutiny for the labor, equipment and materials cost, officials at Caltrans believed there was no alternative that would offer comparable anchorage for the steep slope. The shotcrete and soil nailing took seven weeks. The contractor worked between 8 and 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week—approximately 400 hours. The cost of the project is approximately $580,000. As a result of this project, Caltrans will be ready for this type of emergency project again by using soil nailing and shotcrete technology, and subsurface drains.


The aim of the research is to conduct an empirical investigation and reveal what types of globalization and innovation strategies in turbulent and unfavorable regional institutional environment are most likely to be associated with different trajectories of Russian manufacturing firms' performance in 2007-2012. We employ the results of empirical survey of 1000 medium and large enterprises in manufacturing (2009) linked to financial data from Amadeus database and the data on the regional institutional environment. We test that (1) introduction of innovations before the crisis ceteris paribus helped the firms to successfully pass the crisis and recover. We expect that (2) companies that became globalized before the crisis (via importing of intermediate and capital goods; exporting; FDI; establishment of partner linkages with foreign firms) ceteris paribus are more likely to successfully pass the crisis and grow. And (3) propose the positive effect of synergy of innovation efforts and globalization strategy of the firm. We expect that the abovementioned factors are complimentary and reinforce the ability of the firm to recover after crisis shock. We found strong support for the hypothesis that firms financing introduction of new products before the crisis and simultaneously managed to promote and sell them on the global market were rewarded by quick return to the growing path after global crisis. Other strategies, i.e. solely innovations without exporting play insignificant role while exporting without attempts to introduce new products contribute even negatively to post-crisis recover. Institutional environment also matters: in the regions with less level of corruption firms were more likely to grow after the crisis.


The use of derivatives in corporate risk management has grown rapidly in recent years. In this paper, the authors explore the factors that influence the use of financial derivatives in the U.S. insurance industry. Their objective is to investigate the motivations for corporate risk management The authors use regulatory data on individual holdings and transactions in derivative markets. According to modern finance theory, shares of widely held corporations are held by diversified investors who operate in frictionless and complete markets and eliminate non-systematic risk through their portfolio choices. But this theory has been challenged by new hypotheses that take into account market imperfections, information asymmetries and incentive conflicts as motivations for corporate managers to change the risk/return profile of their firm. The authors develop a set of hypotheses regarding the hedging behavior of insurers and perform tests on a sample of life and property-liability insurers to test them. The sample consists of all U.S. life and property-liability insurers reporting to the NAIC. The authors investigate the decision to conduct derivatives transactions and the volume of transactions undertaken. There are two primary theories about the motivations for corporate risk management - maximization of shareholder value and maximization of managerial utility. The authors discuss these theories, the hypotheses they develop from them , and specify variables to test their hypotheses. They posit the following rationales for why corporations may choose to engage in risk management and also specify variables that help them study the use of these rationales by insurance firms: to avoid the costs of financial distress; to hedge part of their investment default/volatility/liquidity risks; to avoid shocks to equity that result in high leverage ratios; to minimize taxes and enhance firm value by reducing the volatility of earnings; to maximize managerial utility. The authors argue that the use of derivatives for speculative purposes in the insurance industry is not common. The authors analyze the decision by insurers to enter the market and their volume of transactions. They use probit analysis to study the participation decision and Tobit analysis along with Cragg's generalization of the Tobit analysis to study volume. The results provide support for the authors' hypothesis that insurers hedge to maximize shareholder value. The analysis provides only weak support for the managerial utility hypothesis. Insurers are motivated to use financial derivatives to reduce the expected costs of financial distress. There is also evidence that insurers use derivatives to hedge asset volatility and exchange rate risks. There is also evidence that there are significant economies of scale in running derivatives operations - only large firms and/or those with higher than average risk exposure find it worthwhile to pay the fixed cost of setting up a derivatives operation. Overall, insurers with higher than average asset risk exposures use derivative securities.


In recent years blockchain consensus mechanisms based on Proof of Stake gained increasing attention as an alternative to Proof of Work, which requires high energy consumption. In its original version Proof of Stake hinges on the idea that, for a user, the likelihood to confirm the next block is positively related to the amount of currency units held in the wallet, and possibly also on the time length which the money has been unspent for. In a simple framework with risk neutral users we provide some early insights on the monetary equilibrium of Proof of Stake based platforms. In particular, we find that the aggregate demand and supply of currency may not coincide, which implies that users could hold suboptimal quantities of the currency. Furthermore, we also discuss how symmetric stationary states of the system could be implausible. As a consequence, a long run uniform distribution of money would seem unlikely unless appropriate measures are introduced.


Paget's disease of bone is characterized by highly localized areas of increased bone resorption accompanied by exuberant, but aberrant new bone formation with the primary cellular abnormality in osteoclasts. Paget's disease provides an important paradigm for understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating both osteoclast formation and osteoclast-induced osteoblast activity. Both genetic and environmental etiologies have been implicated in Paget's disease, but their relative contributions are just beginning to be defined. To date, the only gene with mutations in the coding region linked to Paget's disease is sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1), which encodes the p62 protein, and these mutations lead to elevated cytokine activation of NF-B in osteoclasts but do not induce a "pagetic osteoclast" phenotype. Further, genetic mutations linked to Paget's appear insufficient to cause Paget's disease and additional susceptibility loci or environmental factors may be required. Among the environmental factors suggested to induce Paget's disease, chronic measles (MV) infection has been the most studied. Expression of the measles virus nucleocapsid gene (MVNP) in osteoclasts induces pagetic-like osteoclasts and bone lesions in mice. Further, mice expressing both MVNP in osteoclasts and germline mutant p62 develop dramatic pagetic bone lesions that were strikingly similar to those seen in patients with Paget's disease. Thus, interactions between environmental and genetic factors appear important to the development of Paget's disease. In this article we review the mechanisms responsible for the effects of mutant p62 gene expression and MVNP on osteoclast and osteoblast activity, and how they may contribute to the development of Paget's disease of bone.


Software-Defined eXchanges (SDXes) promise to improve the interdomain routing ecosystem through SDN deployment. Yet, the naïve deployment of SDN on the Internet raises concerns about the correctness of the interdomain data-plane. By allowing operators to deflect traffic from default BGP routes, SDN policies can create permanent forwarding loops that are not visible to the control-plane.
 We propose Prelude, a system for detecting SDN-induced forwarding loops between SDXes with high accuracy without leaking private routing information of network operators. To achieve this, we leverage Secure Multi-Party Computation (SMPC) techniques to build a novel and general privacy-preserving primitive that detects whether any subset of SDN rules might affect the same portion of traffic without learning anything about those rules. We then leverage this primitive as the main building block of a distributed system tailored to detect forwarding loops among any set of SDXes. We leverage the particular nature of SDXes to further improve the efficiency of our SMPC solution.
 The number of valid SDN rules rejected by our solution is 100x lower than previous privacy-preserving solutions, and provides better privacy guarantees. Furthermore, our solution naturally provides network operators with some insights on the cost of the deflected paths.


This thesis demonstrates some of the possibilities mass spectrometry can provide to gain new insight into structure and function of protein complexes. While technologies in native mass spectrometry are still under development, it already allows research on complete proteins and protein complexes up to a seemingly unlimited size. This would not have been possible without the technical developments in all related fields, for example ionization, instrumentation and sample preparation and handling. An example for further instrumentation development is given in chapter two of this thesis. Here we attempted to improve one of the instruments frequently used in native mass spectrometry, the Q ToF, by modifying the pressures, nature of collision gas and orifi ces of the collision cell. These changes on the Q ToF allowed us to obtain the results that are described in chapter 2 to 4 of this thesis. Nowadays mass spectrometry aims to bridge between data of high throughput proteomic screens of protein networks in the cell and high resolution structural data obtained by methods like x ray, cryo EM and NMR. The most direct result obtained by native mass spectrometry for protein complexes is often the stoichiometry. While with homogeneous complexes this is visible at fi rst sight most of the times, heterogeneous complexes often need to be dissociated by tandem mass spectrometry. In chapter 3 we determined the stoichiometry of the purifi ed portal ring and the assembly of the portal ring with the fi rst tail accessory factor gp4 of bacteriophage P22. Besides determining the stoichiometry we were also able to make conclusions about the binding behavior and structural changes that occur upon the assembly. Charge state distributions generated in the ESI process arouse the suspicion that the portal might undergo a major conformational change upon binding of gp4. A new technique called ion mobility mass spectrometry confi rmed this structural change. These results gave new insights into the maturation process of P22. Several interactome studies have shown that it is possible to establish interaction networks of endogenously expressed proteins in yeast by affi nity pulldowns combined with mass spectrometry. While these studies have shown that proteins almost always work in interaction with other proteins they fail to give information about the structure and stoichiometry of the proteins. Native mass spectrometry can provide new and complementary information here. We have analyzed the architecture of the multisubunit RNA polymerases Pol II and Pol III. The measurements presented in chapter 4 resulted in insights into the subunit architecture of Pol II and III. We here compared the results gained from Pol II, where detailed structural properties are known, with Pol III. The data demonstrates that each of the 17 subunits of Pol III is present as a single copy. Our analysis provided new information about the heterodimeric subcomplexes in Pol III. The obtained model for the Pol III subunit architecture might guide future biochemical and structural studies of this central cellular enzyme


"Great empires of history do decline and have declined, as Spengler showed, but no law of history allows accurate predictions of when or how these declines take place ... Those who point to a recent American decline are correct, but prophecies of America's impending demise as a leading force in the world remain untested and unproved. The United States has declined from the position of preeminent power it had reached in the middle years of the twentieth century. Future historians may well record that this extraordinary era of American preeminence was when the United States had its greatest influence on the world's peoples, nations, and history." "Mutable Destiny: The End of the American Century?" Winter 1998 In chronicling the rise, flourishing, and decline of the powers of the world as he knew it in the fifth century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus stated that he would tell of the small cities and the great, for the cities "which were great once are small today; and those which used to be small were great in my own time." Judging that "human prosperity never abides long in the same place," Herodotus set forth a pattern for the study of subsequent historical epochs. The United States assumed a position of preeminence during the twentieth century, succeeding Alexander the Great's Hellenistic Empire of the fourth century BC, the Roman Empire of the first century, the Chinese and Mongol Empires of the thirteenth, and the British Empire of the nineteenth century. The decline and fall of the empires of the past are recorded by historians, but the story of the world role of the United States is still being written. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Few issues should matter more to the current phase of world history than whether the United States is rising or declining in power. After all, for the greater part of the past century, when the United States rose to a summit of wealth and power among the world's nations, US influence extended globally through the example of a democratic republic and through trade, currency, overseas credit, humanitarian aid, and military force. At stake is the kind of world Americans want and the kind of world it will be--whether, as envisioned by intellectuals, it will be the United States at the forefront of the clash of civilizations, a struggle of modernization against tribalism, or an interdependent dialogue among civilizations instead of unilateral action. A debate has been waged for many years over the decline of the power that creates this US-led world. Only a short time ago, the United States was proclaimed a "hyperpower" or a global "empire" capable of exerting overwhelming force to ensure world order and market capitalism. The other side of the debate takes the position that the United States is a vulnerable military superpower riding for a fall, burdened by the costs of overreaching with its forces abroad and reduced to closing its factories at home and outsourcing jobs as it imports goods for consumption from once impoverished countries. While borrowing capital to pay for its wars and trade deficit, the country is consequently risking its standard of living and the wherewithal to pay for military force, let alone humanitarian aid. Since decline is, by definition, a sense of contrast between existing vulnerability and the condition of strength in the past, the conclusion based on the historical record seems inescapable that the long-term relative decline of the United States as a world power is continuous. The United States has not ceased to be a world power. It has, however, fallen from the position of preeminent power it had reached in the middle of the twentieth century. The decline is not absolute but relative to other rising world powers. The trend is not inexorable, and the loss of any condition of power is not necessarily permanent, depending essentially on the will and actions of the society. So what is the direction of US power? …


New shape control implementations and dynamics studies on the National Spherical Torus eXperiment (NSTX) (Ono et al 2000 Nucl. Fusion 40 557–61) are summarized. In particular, strike point position, X-point height and squareness control, and two new system-identification methods/control-tuning algorithms were put into operation. The PID controller for the strike point was tuned by analysing the step response of the strike point position to the poloidal coil currents, employing the Ziegler–Nichols method. An offline system identification of the plasma response to the control inputs based on ARMAX (Ljung 1999 System Identification: Theory for the User (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall)) input–output models was implemented. With this tool, rough estimates of the improvements were realized and several control improvements were identified. An online automatic relay-feedback PID tuning algorithm, which has the advantage of tuning the controller in one shot, was implemented, thus optimizing the use of experimental time. Using these new capabilities, all four upper/lower/inner/outer strike points were simultaneous controlled and a combined X-point height, strike point radius control was implemented. The new and improved control with better accuracy and robustness enabled successful plasma operations with the liquid lithium divertor. Additionally this year, the first independent squareness control was developed. This will enable better optimization of the NSTX shape for stability and high performance in the future.


Lean manufacturing is now one of the most powerful manufacturing systems in the world. Numerous plants around the world have attempted to implement or adopt it to enhance their efficiency. However, little studies regarding lean manufacturing have been done in Malaysia especially in the electrical and electronics industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate the approach of adopting lean, the tools and techniques implemented, the changes in the organizations, the problems encountered as well as the lessons learnt. This paper describes the results and findings of four industrial case studies conducted in different electrical and electronics companies in Malaysia. Interviews were conducted with the key personnel to answer some issues which were crucial in this study. Comparisons and discussion were made among the case companies. One of the key findings obtained is that people in the organization should possess the lean mindset and act in the lean way in order to make a lean initiative successful. This is perhaps the first study that investigates the actual implementation of lean manufacturing in the Malaysian electrical and electronics industry. The information presented in this paper can be used or emulated by other companies in the same industry to improve their operational performance.

 Key words: Lean manufacturing, implementation, case studies, electrical and electronics, Malaysia.


The fundamental and applied engineering knowledge required issues to develop stable and functional bioactive papers and paper fluidic devices for health and environmental diagnostics were investigated. Bioactive papers are designed to be wetted by a biofluid or some solution of interest; biomolecule retention and behaviour on paper must be maximized. Two enzymes, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were directly physisorbed on paper or retained on paper with a polymer. Three model polymers were investigated: a high molecular weight cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM), an anionic polyacryilc acid (PAA) or a high molecular weight polyethylene oxide (PEO). The reactivity and the thermal stability of enzymatic bioactive papers were quantified using an advanced colorimetric technique. The enzymes adsorbed on paper retained their functionality and selectivity. Adsorption on paper increased the enzyme thermal stability by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude compared to the same enzyme in solution. The thermal degradation of the adsorbed enzyme follows two sequential first order reactions, indication of a reaction system. The model polymers used as retention aids were efficient at increasing the enzyme concentration on paper (by 50%) and to prevent enzyme desorption/leaching upon the rewetting of the paper. The polymers affect the thermal stability and the aging of ALP enzyme on paper; the rapid initial deactivation becomes predominant, while it was negligible for the enzyme simply physisorbed on paper. As a result, the thermal stability significantly decreases. A mathematical model predicting the enzymatic paper's half-life time was developed. The reaction kinetics of ALP enzymatic paper reacting with its substrate was measured and shown to follow a first order reaction with respect to the enzyme concentration. ALP immobilized on paper has a reaction rate 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than the free ALP in buffer solution. No increase in reaction rate was achieved by immobilizing ALP on paper with polymer as retention aids; this suggests that enzyme orientation was not significantly affected through preferentially linking with its anionic or cationic groups. Paper bioassays to identify antigens and antibodies in a biofluid, such as blood, were investigated. Two series of experiments were performed. In the first, blood samples were mixed with different amounts of antibodies and a droplet of the mixture was deposited onto a paper strip. Agglutinated blood phase separated, with the red blood cells forming a distinct spot upon contact with paper while the serum wicked; in contrast, stable blood wicked uniformly. In the second series, blood droplets were deposited onto the paper strips pretreated with solutions of antibodies. The wicking of blood droplets on paper strips was characterized. Blood agglutination by interaction with a specific antibody caused a chromatographic separation. The concept of blood typing using a paper diagnostic was demonstrated with a prototype. The feasibility of thermal ink jet printing was demonstrated for the precise deposition of biomolecules on paper and poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) with a protein (albumin-FITC) and an enzyme (HRP) as model biomolecules. Complex patterns of HRP and albumin-FITC were ink jet printed on paper. Microfluidic channels were also printed on paper to demonstrate the concept of paper based bioassays as diagnostic devices. Discreet and continuous concentration gradients of proteins on PCL scaffolds were achieved by ink jet printing; these protein concentration gradients can serve as potential guidance cues for cell growth generation in tissue engineering. Ink jet printing of biomolecules onto paper involves liquid-liquid interaction; acceptance of biomolecules on the porous surface is rather affected by the solid-liquid interaction. Both phenomena reduce print resolution. The liquid-liquid and solid-liquid interaction were quantified and modelled for sessile droplets. Satellite drops from the ink jet nozzle can form non-coalescence droplets (NCD), due to liquid-liquid interaction, and roll from their target. The Weber number (We) of falling liquid drops was used to quantify the NCD generation. To quantify the solid-liquid interaction, the liquid wicking of a droplet impacting an open V-groove at different velocities (groove angle, β= 60o, 90o, 120o) was studied. A new mathematical model was developed to calculate liquid wicking distance in V-groove. The dynamics of wetting of sessile liquid droplets impinging, at different impact velocities, a groove surface (120o) was investigated experimentally. The dynamics of V-groove wicking and wetting is important to optimize paper for ink jet printing and microfluidic devices.


ABSTRACT Introduction The continuous technical improvement in sensitivity and specificity placed mass spectrometry as an alternative method for analyzing clinical samples. In parallel to the rapid development of discovery proteomics, targeted acquisition has been implemented as a complementary option for measuring a small set of proteins with high sensitivity and robustness in a large sample cohort. The combination of trapped ion mobility with a rapid time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer improves the sensitivity even further and triggers the development of prm-PASEF. Areas covered This article discusses the development of prm-PASEF and its advantages over the existing targeted and discovery methods for analyzing clinical samples. We are also highlighting the different requirements for the use of prm-PASEF on clinical samples. Expert opinion prm-PASEF takes advantage of a dual ion-mobility trap enabling highly multiplexed targeted acquisition. It allows the implementation of a short chromatographic separation setup without sacrificing the number of targeted peptides. Analyzing clinical samples by prm-PASEF holds the promise to significantly improve throughput while maintaining sensitivity to detect the selected target proteins.


The conjunction of posthumanism and ethics asks us to reconsider both the modernist legacy of critique and poststructuralist ethical rhetorics of absolute alterity. Bruno Latour's recent reconsideration of politics and ethics through a "nonmodern" account of nature and culture offers us a distinctive alternate mode of thinking the relationship among critic, world, and ethos. This article summarizes Latour's recent "compositionist" ethical thinking and uses that thinking to reread two exemplary works of modernist ethics: Rainer Maria Rilke's "Archaïscher Torso Apollos" and Virginia Woolf's experimental novel Jacob's Room. To modernist and poststructuralist ethical positions, this account contrasts a "compositionist" ethics, oriented toward the sustainable assembly of the claims of nonhuman as well as human actors within our accounts of modernist ethics.


ARTICLE REVIEWED: Kassin, S. M., Meissner, C. A., & Norwick, R. J. (2005). "I'd Know a False Confession if I Saw One": A Comparative Study of College Students and Police Investigators, Law and Human Behavior, 29(2), 211-227. When police investigators interrogate a suspect, one of the primary goals is to obtain a confession (Joseph, 1995; Kassin, 1997 as cited in Russano, Meissner, Narchet & Kassin, 2005). Consequently, it is vital for police investigators to elicit true confessions when interrogating suspects. However, in some cases, false confessions can be evoked from a suspect. Kassin and Wrightsman (1985) suggest that there are three types of false confessions: (1) voluntary false confessions that are offered in the absence of pressure from police investigators, (2) coerced-compliant false confessions that arise due to coercion from police and a perception of immediate gratification, and (3) coerced-internalized false confessions that are elicited when a suspect actually accepts that they committed the crime in question. In recent years, media reports have drawn attention to several cases in both Canada and the United States in which a defendant has allegedly given a false confession. Today, when it is suspected that there might be a coerced confession, a judge must be able to determine its admissibility during a pretrial hearing (Lassiter, Geers, Handley, Weiland & Munhall, 2002). Since confession evidence has the potential to be highly influential in court cases, the ability to distinguish between true and false confessions has become a crucial aspect of a police investigator's job. This is especially important given recent research by Kassin and Fong (1999) indicating that police investigators who are trained to detect deception cues are actually less accurate, yet more confident, when distinguishing between truthful and deceptive statements than the average person. In addition, Meissner and Kassin (2002) determined that police investigators were more likely than the average person to believe true confessions to be false, indicating an investigator bias toward determining guilt. To further substantiate this research Kassin, Meissner, and Norwick (2005) tested the trained police investigator's assumption that "I'd know a false confession if I saw one." This two-phase experiment was conducted to address three major goals. The first goal was to compare the judgment accuracy and confidence of untrained observers to that of police investigators. Second, Kassin et al. (2005) hoped to determine the origin of the investigator response bias and finally, a third goal was to examine if the judging of confessions is influenced by the medium of their presentation (i.e., audiotape or videotape). EXPERIMENT 1 Researchers began by recording, both on audiotape and videotape, true and false confessions provided by a group of 17 male prison inmates from a Massachusetts state correctional facility. These confessions were then presented to a sample of 118 observers, 57 federal, state, and local police investigators (47 males and 10 females) and 61 male and female college students, who judged each as either a true or false confession. Each observer also rated their level of confidence in their judgment on a 1-10 point Likert scale (with 1 representing "not at all confident" and 10 representing "very confident"). Both police and college participants were assigned to small groups and randomly assigned to observe the confessions either on audio or videotape. Consistent with previous research, Kassin et al. (2005) found that overall students were more accurate in their observations than police investigators. Specifically, students who observed confessions in the audiotape condition were the most accurate group while police investigators in the videotape condition were the least accurate in their judgments. The results also indicate that, while students were more accurate in their confession judgments, police investigators were more confident (levels of confidence were not affected by the medium of presentation). …


In this paper, we address the problem of localizing a camera-equipped Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) flying in urban streets at low altitudes. An appearance-based global positioning system to localize MAVs with respect to the surrounding buildings is introduced. We rely on an air-ground image matching algorithm to search the airborne image of the MAV within a ground-level Street View image database and to detect image matching points. Based on the image matching points, we infer the global position of the MAV by back-projecting the corresponding image points onto a cadastral 3D city model. Furthermore, we describe an algorithm to track the position of the flying vehicle over several frames and to correct the accumulated drift of the visual odometry, whenever a good match is detected between the airborne MAV and the street-level images. The proposed approach is tested on a dataset captured with a small quadroctopter flying in the streets of Zurich.


One day, when Winnie and Wilbur are flying over the museum, they see a crowd of people gathered around a huge dinosaur skeleton in the courtyard. It's a Triceratops and there's a competition to draw or make a model of what the dinosaur would have looked like when it was alive. Winnie is really keen to take part! But she just isn't sure what the skeleton might have looked like so she decides the only way to find out is to magic herself and her (not-so-willing) cat Wilbur back into the time of the dinosaurs! Once they arrive in the prehistoric swamp, Winnie and Wilbur hide behind a tree and it's not long before they spot a Triceratops munching the greenery. Pencils and sketchbook in hand, Winnie just can't capture the dinosaur on paper so instead she jumps onto his back and Winnie, Wilbur, and a rather surprised Triceratops crash into the museum courtyard just as the prize is about to be presented by Professor Perkins. The Triceratops is even more surprised when he is given the prize! Then Winnie and Wilbur take him home and it's time for one last magic-wand moment so that Winnie's prehistoric friend can really fit in to his new surroundings.


The purpose of the study is to determine the relationships between belief, attitude, subjective norm, intention, and behavior towards the choice of infant food based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). An analysis on a sample of 108 mothers indicates that the TRA could be used in predicting choice decision of infant food formulas by explaining 57 percent of the variance in the behavioral intention. The subjective norm component had a higher predictive power than the attitudinal component. Of this normative component, parents or relatives and doctors were found to be more influential. Intention to choose an infant formula was also influenced by family income. The belief outcomes in evaluating a premium infant formula and economic infant formula were found to be different. For premium infant formula, brand trusted, closest to breast milk and nutrients content were identified as the dominant attributes. In contrast, availability, affordable, and nutrients content were identified as the prime beliefs in evaluating economic infant formula. Implications of the findings are discussed.


The National Credit Act 34 of 2005 has introduced a new era of consumer credit regulation and practice, bringing about wholesale changes to the consumer credit industry. It is an extremely complex and lengthy piece of legislation which seeks to include within its ambit, and to regulate in a concise manner, all conceivable sectors of the consumer credit market. An important aspect of the legislation is the placing of limits on the cost of credit, which is a significant new development in the case of the micro-lending industry.
This article will begin with a brief discussion of the micro-lending industry prior to the Act : its growth and size with no interest-rate limits; the impact of excessive interest rates; and possible legal recourse for consumers. The article will then focus squarely on the cost of credit provisions : the legislative framework for the cost of credit; the prescribed limits on the cost of credit; and a thorough analysis of the new cost of credit. The full implications of the maximum prescribed interest rates, initiation fee and service fee will be considered separately. The combined impact of these credit costs will then be demonstrated and comprehensively analysed, and their socio-economic impact reviewed. Finally, suggested amendments to the National Credit Regulations will be proposed in order to address their shortcomings in regard to the cost of credit.


This paper focuses on the use of cognitive approaches for digital forensic readiness planning. Research has revealed that a well-thought-out and legally contextualized digital forensic readiness strategy can provide organizations with an increased ability to respond to security incidents while maintaining the integrity of the evidence gathered and keeping investigative costs low. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge in digital forensics related to the design and implementation of digital forensic readiness plans aimed at maximizing the use of digital evidence in organizations. The study uses interviews as part of a mixed-methods approach. In particular, it employs a mix of informal conversational and standardized open-ended interview styles conducted with industry experts over a variety of communication media.


The concept of diet-induced 'acidosis' as a cause of disease has been a subject of interest for more than a century. The present article reviews the history of our evolving understanding of physiological pH, the physiological support for the concept of 'acidosis', the causes of acidosis, how it is recognised, its short-term effects as well as the long-term clinical relevance of preventative measures, and the research support for normalisation of pH. Further, we suggest differentiation of the terms 'acidosis' and 'acidaemia' as a way to resolve the conflation of these topics which has led to confusion and controversy. The available research makes a compelling case that diet-induced acidosis, not diet-induced acidaemia, is a real phenomenon, and has a significant, clinical, long-term pathophysiological effect that should be recognised and potentially counterbalanced by dietary means.


Aims: This paper reports on mainly quantitative findings from a mixed methods evaluation of a new model of emotional support and counselling for people with moderate visual impairment. Method: The CORE Outcome Measure was completed with service users at baseline and post-intervention to assess the impact of the new service on psychological wellbeing and social functioning. Their perceived needs and expectations of the service were also explored. Results: Of the 35 individuals providing data at each assessment time, mean item scores on the CORE fell significantly (p<.001), taking the sample from within a clinical population before therapy, to a mean score below this following therapy. A more positive outlook accompanied this improvement in functioning. Discussion: Findings from the study augment the growing evidence that emotional support and counselling services can play an important role alongside and within related vision services. Implications for practice: The study indicates that therapeutic input for the visually impaired client group may need to target both wellbeing (feelings about oneself and the future) and problems (depression, anxiety, physical health, and trauma). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a dual model of emotional support and counselling offers considerable benefit for people with visual impairment.


This text continues to be one of the most current, authoritative overviews of the theories and research in psychopathology and intervention. Its widely praised scientific clinical approach blends the clinical and empirical/experimental as the authors examine each disorder from multiple perspectives. The text emphasizes different paradigms with a particular emphasis on the diathesis-stress paradigm as necessary for understanding most psychopathologies.


DNA methylation is a common epigenetic mark that affects gene regulation, genomic stability and chromatin structure. In mammals, methylation is mainly found in the CpG dinucleotides. The CpG methylation signals can be recognised by the Methyl-CpGBinding Protein (MBP) family which includes MeCP2, MBD1, MBD2, MBD3, MBD4 and Kiaso. MeCP2 and MBD1-4 (except mammalian MBD3) recognise methyl-CpG via their MBD domain whereas Kaiso interprets methylation through its Zn finger DNA binding domain. The TRD domains of MeCP2, MBD1 and MBD2 have been reported to recruit transcriptional co-repressors to the methylated DNA. A thymine DNA glycosylase domain is located at the C-terminal region of MBD4. This study concerns the molecular details of the methyl-CpG recognition by the MBD domain of MeCP2. To achieve this, the MeCP2 MBD domain has been expressed, purified and co-crystallised with a 20 bp DNA fragment from the BDNF promoter. The DNA-protein cocrystal diffracted X-rays to a maximum resolution of 2.5Å using synchrotron sources. It belongs to space group C2 with unit cell dimensions: a = 79.71Å, b = 53.60Å, c = 65.73Å, and β = 132.1 ̊. The X-ray structure of the MeCP2 MBD-DNA complex was solved using the SAD method. Structural analyses of the refined X-ray structure reveal that the methyl groups of the DNA make contact with a predominantly hydrophilic surface that includes tightly bound water molecules. From a structure of the MBD domain in MBD1, established by NMR, the binding specificity of the MBD domain had been thought to depend on hydrophobic interactions between the cytosine methyl groups and a hydrophobic patch within the MBD domain. The findings of this study suggest that MeCP2 recognises the hydration pattern of the major groove of methylated DNA rather than cytosine methylation per se. The X-ray structure also identifies a unique role of T158 and R106, the sites of the two most frequent Rett missense mutations. Both residues stabilise the tandem Asx-ST motif at the C-terminal region of MBD domain. Disruption of this tandem motif destabilises the DNA-protein interaction. The BDNF sequence in this study contains an AT run which displays unique properties of AT tract DNA. Previously, mutation of the AT run has been reported to decrease MeCP2 binding specificity. This study however demonstrated that a significant reduction can only be observed when both AT runs close to the methyl-CpG have been mutated. The X-ray structure of the MeCP2 MBD-DNA complex in this study rationalises the effects of the most common Rett mutations and provides a general model for methylated DNA binding that is dependent on structured water molecules.


There is a charge sometimes made in metaphysics that particular commitments are 'hypothetical', 'dubious' or 'suspicious'. There have been two analyses given of what this consists in—due to Crisp (2007) and Cameron (2011). The aim of this paper is to reject both analyses and thereby show that there is no obvious way to press the objection against said commitments that they are 'dubious' and objectionable. Later in the paper I consider another account of what it might be to be 'dubious', and argue that this too fails. I use Bigelow's (1996) Lucretian properties as a vehicle for the discussions of dubiousness that follow. As a consequence, the paper ends up offering a partial defense of Lucretianism.


Tropical peatlands provide a number of ecosystem services - including biodiversity, habitat, carbon and water cycling, and commodity products - and have among the highest carbon densities of any forest on earth. Almost half of tropical peatlands supporting the growth of peat swamp forests are in Indonesia. Rates of deforestation there and hence C emissions are very high, but few studies have examined C dynamics of these forests. We present the initial results of the development of a model of peat accumulation in tropical swamp forests over millennia. In this study, the Holocene Peat Model (HPM), which has been successfully applied to northern peatlands, was modified for tropical ecosystems. HPMTrop is a one-dimensional, non-linear, dynamic model with a monthly time step that simulates mass remaining in annual peat cohorts as a balance between vegetation inputs and decomposition. We utilized as model parameters published data on vegetation characteristics, including net primary production (NPP); NPP partitioning into leaves, wood, and roots; and litter decomposition rates. A stochastic mix of wet and dry years controlled the peat swamp water table depth. Over 8,000 years, HPMTrop simulated a peat accumulation of 3.9 m, which is equivalent to a net accumulation of about 2,200 Mg Cha-1. At the end of the simulation, 55% of the accumulated peat carbon was derived from wood inputs, 31% from roots, and 14% from leaves. In a modeled scenario of dominance by non-tree vegetation (sedge), peat accumulation was dramatically lower; only about 1 m (about 550 Mg Cha-1) over 8,000 years. These modeled C accumulation rates will be compared with peat accumulation estimated of peat cores collected from Berbak National Park, Jambi, Indonesia, and Tanjung Puting National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia, using radiocarbon dating.


We analyze the benefits and problems of in vivo optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the human retina at A-scan rates in excess of 1 MHz, using a 1050 nm Fourier-domain mode-locked (FDML) laser. Different scanning strategies enabled by MHz OCT line rates are investigated, and a simple multi-volume data processing approach is presented. In-vivo OCT of the human ocular fundus is performed at different axial scan rates of up to 6.7 MHz. High quality non-mydriatic retinal imaging over an ultra-wide field is achieved by a combination of several key improvements compared to previous setups. For the FDML laser, long coherence lengths and 72 nm wavelength tuning range are achieved using a chirped fiber Bragg grating in a laser cavity at 419.1 kHz fundamental tuning rate. Very large data sets can be acquired with sustained data transfer from the data acquisition card to host computer memory, enabling high-quality averaging of many frames and of multiple aligned data sets. Three imaging modes are investigated: Alignment and averaging of 24 data sets at 1.68 MHz axial line rate, ultra-dense transverse sampling at 3.35 MHz line rate, and dual-beam imaging with two laser spots on the retina at an effective line rate of 6.7 MHz.


CONTEXT
Estimating life expectancy is challenging in advanced dementia, potentially limiting the use of hospice care in these patients.

OBJECTIVE
To prospectively validate and compare the performance of the Advanced Dementia Prognostic Tool (ADEPT) and hospice eligibility guidelines to estimate 6-month survival in nursing home residents with advanced dementia.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A prospective cohort study conducted in 21 nursing homes in Boston, Massachusetts, of 606 residents with advanced dementia who were recruited between November 1, 2007, and July 30, 2009. Data were ascertained at baseline to determine the residents' ADEPT score (range, 1.0-32.5; higher scores indicate worse prognosis) and whether they met Medicare hospice eligibility guidelines. Survival was followed up to 6 months.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Assessment and comparison of the performance of the ADEPT score and hospice guidelines to predict 6-month survival using sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve.

RESULTS
At baseline, the residents' mean (SD) ADEPT score was 10.1 (3.1) points and 65 residents (10.7%) met hospice eligibility guidelines. Over 6 months, 111 residents (18.3%) died. The AUROC for the ADEPT score's prediction of 6-month mortality as a continuous variable was 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.72). The AUROC for Medicare hospice eligibility guidelines was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.51-0.59), the specificity was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.86-0.92), and the sensitivity was 0.20 (95% CI, 0.13-0.28). Using a cutoff of 13.5 on the ADEPT score, which also had specificity of 0.89, the AUROC was 0.58 (95% CI, 0.54-0.63) and the sensitivity was 0.27 (95% CI, 0.19-0.36).

CONCLUSIONS
When prospectively validated at the bedside and used as a continuous measure, the ability of the ADEPT score to identify nursing home residents with advanced dementia at high risk of death within 6 months was modest, albeit better than hospice eligibility guidelines. Care provided to these residents should be guided by their goals of care rather than estimated life expectancy.


MADS-box genes are important regulators of reproductive development in seed plants, including both flowering plants and conifers. In this thesis the evolution of the AGAMOUS subfamily of MADS-box genes, and what the ancestral function of this group of genes might have been in the early seed plants about 300 million years ago, was addressed by the discovery of two novel conifer genes, both basal to all previously known AGAMOUS subfamily genes. DAL20, the most basal of these genes, was exclusively expressed in roots, unlike all previously known AGAMOUS subfamily genes. I also studied the evolutionary mechanisms leading to functional diversification of duplicated genes in two different subfamilies of MADS-box genes; the AGAMOUS and AGL6 subfamilies. Focus was on studying changes in gene expression pattern, representing changes in the transcriptional regulation between the genes, and on comparing the functional properties of the gene products, representing changes in the protein-coding sequence between the genes. Duplicated genes in the AGL6 subfamily were found to have evolved by both mechanisms. In the AGAMOUS subfamily I found duplicated spruce genes; DAL2 and DAL20, that appear to have functionally diversified mainly by changes in the transcriptional regulation. Conifer AGAMOUS subfamily genes were also used in a comparative developmental-genetics approach to evaluate hypotheses, based on the morphology of fossil and extant conifer seed cones, on the identity of the female reproductive organ, the ovuliferous scale, and the evolution of seed cone morphology in the conifer families Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae. Seed cones in these families have been hypothesized to have homologous ovule-bearing organs, but I found substantial differences in the expression patterns of orthologous AGAMOUS subfamily genes in seed cones of these families that are not compatible with this hypothesis, indicating that the evolutionary history of conifer seed cones is more diverse than previously thought.


The anti-inflammatory effect of the aqueous leaf extract of Coleus aromaticus was evaluated using the carrageenan induced rat paw edema. The extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg produced significant (P < 0.001) reduction in paw edema when compared with control. The percentage inhibition of paw edema of Coleus aromaticus at 500 mg/kg was significant when compared to diclofenac sodium 10 mg/kg at 3rd and 4th hours of study. The results obtained suggest that the aqueous extract of Coleus aromaticus exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity, which may be due to inhibition of mediators released from 2nd phase of inflammation.


As a strong electron donor, indoline has been used in developing organic sensitizers for fabricating efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Herein we report porphyrin dyes based on modified indoline donors. Firstly, XW29 and XW31 featured with a methylphenyl-substituted indoline and a bulkier dialkylfluorene-substituted indoline, respectively, are synthesized. XW31 exhibits a Jsc of 22.06 mA cm−2 as compared with that of 21.26 mA cm−2 for XW29. Consequently, XW31 achieves a higher power conversion efficiency of 10.46% than that of 10.14% for XW29. On this basis, to further broaden the spectral response, a benzothiadiazole (BTD) unit is incorporated as the auxiliary electron acceptor to obtain XW30 and XW32, respectively. The IPCE spectra are thus successfully extended to 850 nm. However, due to possibly aggravated dye aggregation, charge recombination and less effective dye regeneration induced by the BTD unit, moderate efficiencies of ca. 8.6% are obtained. Through coadsorption, elevated efficiencies of ∼9.9% are achieved for XW30 and XW32. These results provide further insights into developing efficient porphyrin dyes by combining the dialkylfluorene moiety with the indoline donor.


The twentieth century has witnessed repeated occasions when Japan and Russia have taken each other's measure and decided on policy accordingly. In the years 1985 to 1999 such mutual testing occuned again amidst adjustments in the direction of each country's global role. As has often been the case, the RussoJapanese relationship was not the main event on the world stage. Both countries placed higher priority on relations with the United States and with China. But to rank this bilateral relationship below two others is not to belittle the stakes involved. For Russia, Tokyo's strategy to look east or west and within Asia to focus in the northeast or the southeast has throughout the century made a great difference in war or peace, in development or isolation. For Japan, Moscow's strategy to balance west and east, and in the east to concentrate on China or Japan, has had telling consequences for other foreign policy choices. At stake in this bilateral relationship have been the development of Siberia and the Russian Far East; the security environment in Northeast Asia including Korea; the prospects of triangular or quadrangular relations with China and the United States; and the balance of power among the world's great powers.


This paper provides the first analysis of the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database, a new set of indicators that measure how adults in 148 economies save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. The data show that 50 percent of adults worldwide have an account at a formal financial institution, though account penetration varies widely across regions, income groups and individual characteristics. In addition, 22 percent of adults report having saved at a formal financial institution in the past 12 months, and 9 percent report having taken out a new loan from a bank, credit union or microfinance institution in the past year. Although half of adults around the world remain unbanked, at least 35 percent of them report barriers to account use that might be addressed by public policy. Among the most commonly reported barriers are high cost, physical distance, and lack of proper documentation, though there are significant differences across regions and individual characteristics.


There is no such thing as an accidental sacrifice. Sacrifice is always pre-meditated, and if not entirely goal-oriented, at the very least inherently meaningful as a process in itself. This paper is about how we might begin to understand sacrifices that do not conform to these rules. It concerns the question: does sacrifice exist outside of its (often) dramatic, self-conscious elaboration? Within the Brazilian Catholic tradition everyday life – ideally characterised by monotonous, undramatic, acts of self-giving – is 'true sacrifice'. For ordinary Catholics, the challenge is not how to self-sacrifice, but how to make one's mundane life of self-sacrifice visible whilst keeping one's gift of suffering 'free'. In this paper I describe, ethnographically, the work entailed as one of 'revelation' and use the problems thrown up to reflect upon both the limits and advantages of Western philosophical versus anthropological understandings of Christian sacrificial practices to date.


Reward learning enables the application of reinforcement learning (RL) to tasks where reward is defined by human judgment, building a model of reward by asking humans questions. Most work on reward learning has used simulated environments, but complex information about values is often expressed in natural language, and we believe reward learning for language is a key to making RL practical and safe for real-world tasks. In this paper, we build on advances in generative pretraining of language models to apply reward learning to four natural language tasks: continuing text with positive sentiment or physically descriptive language, and summarization tasks on the TL;DR and CNN/Daily Mail datasets. For stylistic continuation we achieve good results with only 5,000 comparisons evaluated by humans. For summarization, models trained with 60,000 comparisons copy whole sentences from the input but skip irrelevant preamble; this leads to reasonable ROUGE scores and very good performance according to our human labelers, but may be exploiting the fact that labelers rely on simple heuristics.


PURPOSE: Pacing strategies during exercise are attributed to optimising the balance between the artefacts of fatigue and regulation of substrate metabolism. Pace judgement is set within a continuum of information from the ability to anticipate metabolic demands and select an appropriate strategy through to the accumulation of prior experience for completion of such a task that has a known end-point. Therefore the purpose of this study was to evaluate the importance of athlete experience to successfully regulate pace and attain a predicted end time during a marathon. METHOD: Following local institutional ethical approval n= 777 runners competing in the 2015 London Marathon agreed to participate. Using an on-line survey and opportunistic questionnaire at a pre-marathon event participants were asked to predict their race time. Athlete experience (EXP) was established based on the number of previously completed marathons using a Likert scale from 0 to greater than 10 with increments of 1 race. Athlete age was also recorded. All race data was downloaded from the race website generating 5Km split times, then converted to speed and normalised (%) to the final split time/speed (m.s-1). Prediction time (PT) was used a proxy for end-point and compared to finish time (FT). RESULTS: FT for whole group (WG) was 15479 ±3311s compared to the group PT 15003 ±2972s a significant difference of 476s (P= 0.0001). An R2of 0.863 observed for WG compared to 0.799 (EXP-0) and 0.852 (EXP-5) when comparing FT to PT. Significant differences observed between PT and FT for all EXP groups apart from EXP-5 (P= 0.0001). EXP-0 showed significant difference across all split times apart from 35-40 km (P=0.0001) with a decrease in normalised speed from 5km (109.0 ±7.6) –40km (89.9 ±7.4%). The EXP-5 group showed significant changes in pace between 25-30 km (P= 0.001) (ES= 0.35) and 30-35 km (P= 0.0001) (ES= 0.44), decrease in pace from 5km (105.0 ±5.7%) to 40km (93.7 ±5.6%). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that successful marathon pacing is dependent on the experience of the athlete reflecting the development of the pacing template. Additionally experience is associated with better attainment of prediction time suggesting that less experienced runners should run with more experienced athletes with similar end-point targets.


Abstract The Usangu wetlands, containing the Ihefu swamp, are one of the most valuable inland wetlands in Tanzania. Over the last decade, outflow from the swamp has ceased for extended periods in the dry season. This has had severe consequences for downstream ecosystems, including the Ruaha National Park. Results from a simple hydrological model developed for the Ihefu swamp indicate that, between 1958 and 2004, dry season inflows declined by approximately 60% and the dry season area of the swamp decreased by approximately 40% (i.e. from 160 km2 to 93 km2). The model also shows that to maintain minimum downstream environmental flows requires a minimum inflow of 7 m3s‐1, which is approximately 65% greater than occurs currently. There is significant potential for improving water use efficiency. However, given the socio‐economic importance of current levels of water withdrawal, this inflow may be difficult to achieve. Consequently consideration needs to be given to other options, including upstream storage and water management within the wetland itself. This paper highlights that a simple model supplying relatively low‐confidence, but indicative, results can provide a useful basis for contemplating water management options.


The publicly available free computer program, SimChemistry, was used as an active learning tool in the chemical engineering curriculum at the University College of Boras, Sweden. The activity involved students writing their own simulation programs on topics in the area of molecular structure and interactions. Evaluation of the learning experience was done using interviews and by comparing learning outcomes with previous teachings of the topics. Overall, the outcome was interactively engaging group work, high quality construction of simulations, and a much better ability to explain molecular-level chemical concepts and their relations. An interesting perception that emerged during the interviews was that many of the students were unable to explicitly describe the improvement in learning that they had experienced. However, they did recognize that learning had occurred, and all firmly and positively recommended that the initiative be continued for subsequent courses.


Abstract Against the background of recent debate on Grammaticalization Theory, this study will provide an overview of some Italian quantifying expressions whose original head is a measure noun. The binominal expressions analysed indicate a quantity, either large or small; as such, they can be substituted by canonical quantifiers such as molto "much" or un po' "a little". I claim that their functioning as quantifier is the result of a process of grammaticalization, through which the original head noun of the complex construction has been reanalysed as quantifier. At a closer look, however, the degrees of grammaticalization appear different for specific items, as well as the sources providing the recruitment of new quantifiers. The specific collocational patterns that trigger the pragmatic inferences prior to their semanticization and reanalysis have not as yet received sufficient attention. Adopting a diachronic Construction Grammar approach, the paper discusses various case studies and provides a number of descriptive and theoretical insights concerning the rise of distinct grammaticalization patterns.


Aims to enhance theoretical and practical understanding of quality management in tourism and hospitality. This book contains 28 chapters by international experts, highlighting the tensions and challenges in tourism and hospitality services management.


Theories that posit complex causation, or multiple causal paths, pervade the study of politics but have yet to find accurate statistical expression. To remedy this situation I derive new econometric procedures, Boolean probit and logit, based on the logic of complexity. The solution provides an answer to a puzzle in the rational deterrence literature: the divergence between theory and case-study findings, on the one hand, and the findings of quantitative studies, on the other, on the issue of the role of capabilities and willingness in the initiation of disputes. It also makes the case that different methodological traditions, rather than settling into "separate but equal" status, can instead inform and enrich one another.


Sustainable polymeric materials put emphasis on mastering the whole life-cycle of polymeric materials. This includes the choice of raw materials, selection of synthesis and processing, environmental impact during long-term use followed by detailed knowledge about recycling and waste management. Within this large efforts are put in the design and development of new biocomposites using renewable fibres instead of inert ones. The thesis deals with surface modifications of agricultural fibres and the design of biocomposites with optimal long-term properties balancing the potential risk for biodegradation. The first part of this thesis involved surface modifications of oil palm fibres and production of biocomposites with PP as matrix. The chemical surface modifications of oil palm fibres explored propionylation, PPgMA grafting via solution modification and reactive blending and vinyltrimethoxy silanization as methods. All modified fibre/PP biocomposites showed improvements in the mechanical properties followed also by an improvement of water resistance. In comparison with unmodificed fibres/PP matrix the highest water resistance after the surface modifications of oil palm fibres were observed for silanization followed by PPgMA modified, PPgMA blending and propionylation.The second part aimed at producing fully biodegradable biocomposites and analysing the resulting properties with respect to potential risk for biodegradation. Sisal fibres were incorporated in PLA and PHBV and the resulting risk for biodegradation using a fungus, Aspergillus niger, monitored. Neat PLA and PHBV were compared with the corresponding biocomposites and already without fibres both polymers were notably biodegraded by Aspergillus niger. The degree of biodegradation of PLA and PHBV matrices was related to the extent of the growth on the material surfaces. Adding sisal fibres gave a substantial increase in the growth on the surfaces of the biocomposites.Correlating the type of surface modification of sisal fibres with degree of biodegradation, it was demonstrated that all chemically modified sisal/PLA biocomposites were less biodegraded than unmodified sisal biocomposites. Propionylated sisal/PLA demonstrated the best resistance to biodegradation of all biocomposites while sisal/CA/PLA demonstrated high level of biodegradation after severe invasion by Aspergillus niger.In general, the biodegradation correlated strongly with the degree of water absorption and surface modifications that increase the hydrophobicity is a route to improve the resistance to biodegradation.Designing new biocomposites using renewable fibres and non-renewable and renewable matrices involve the balancing of the increase in mechanical properties, after improved adhesion between fibres and the polymer matrix, with the potential risk for biodegradation.


We analyze voluntary private contributions to public goods and the role seed money plays in signaling the public good's quality to potential subsequent contributors. We present a theoretical model and analyze two sets of naturally occurring data from crowd-funding platforms. After developing the theoretical background we find statistically significant switch points which distinguish between seed contributions to subsequent contributions. A positive change in contribution behavior after the switch suggests an increase in the perceived value of the public good. We find that the signal comprises the number of contributors and the average contribution (as proportion of targeted goal).


How sleep affects memory in older adults is a critical topic, since age significantly impacts both sleep and memory. For declarative memory, previous research reports contradictory results, with some studies showing sleep-dependent memory consolidation and some other not. We hypothesize that this discrepancy may be due to the use of recall as the memory measure, a demanding task for older adults. The present paper focuses on the effect of sleep on relearning, a measure that proved useful to reveal subtle, implicit memory effects. Previous research in young adults showed that sleeping after learning was more beneficial to relearning the same Swahili-French word pairs 12 hours later, compared with the same interval spent awake. In particular, those words that could not be recalled were relearned faster when participants previously slept. The effect of sleep was also beneficial for retention after a one-week and a 6-month delay. The present study used the same experimental design in older adults aged 71 on average but showed no significant effect of sleep on consolidation, on relearning, or on long-term retention. Thus, even when using relearning speed as the memory measure, the consolidating effect of sleep in older adults was not demonstrated, in alignment with some previous findings.


Cat Tien National Park is a hotspot in Vietnam for biodiversity research and conservation. The park, with its extensive areas of primary forest, wetland habitats and large mammal populations, is known worldwide for its outstanding landscapes and biodiversity. Prior to 2007, several bat surveys were carried out in the park. However, data on the park's bats is still limited and the status of previous records of a number of species is unclear. Between 2008 and 2015, the author conducted a series of bat surveys in the park with emphases on taxonomy and echolocation. Bats were captured using mist nets and four-bank harp traps. Echolocation calls were recorded from inside a flight tent and in natural habitats. Results from the surveys and a literature review indicated that Cat Tien National Park is currently known to be home to 47 bat species belonging to 22 genera and 7 families. Of these, 19 species belonging to 10 genera and 5 families were recorded during field surveys between 2008 and 2015. This paper provides the most recent review of bat species from Cat Tien National Park. Remarks on taxonomy and echolocation frequencies of species complexes are also given in order to assist further research, training, education, management and conservation.


Molecular characterization of different measles virus (MV) strains is essential to combat the disease. Sixty measles MV strains were obtained from throat swabs or urine of patients in Turkey between 2012 and 2013 and characterized. MV RNA sequences (n = 60) were analysed for 456 nucleotides representing hypervariable domain of the nucleoprotein (N) gene. Of the 60 strains analysed 53 were the D8 genotype, 6 were B3, 1 was D4, and 1 was A. This report describes MV genotype D8 that was involved in a measles outbreak in Turkey. Sequences of most genotype D8 strains (n = 51) were identical to the sequence of variant D8‐Frankfurt‐Main, which has been associated with outbreaks throughout Europe. Despite the lack of epidemiologic information, a phylogenetic analysis suggested that the genotype D8 MV may have been brought to Turkey from elsewhere. Phylogenetic and epidemiological findings suggested that strains identified in tourists and associated with importation included one strain of genotype D8, one strain of genotype B3, and one strain of genotype D4. These findings from the 2012 to 2013 outbreak in Turkey confirm that pockets of unimmunised individuals are making the country susceptible to measles outbreaks. To prevent further outbreaks, deliberate and sustained effort must be made to reach, and immunise susceptible age groups. Towards measles elimination process, continued molecular surveillance of measles strains in Turkey will help identify transmission patterns of virus and evaluate vaccination efforts. J. Med. Virol. 88:1867–1873, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Machiavellianism is a personality trait that is characterized by manipulative and exploitative attitude toward others, lack of empathy, and a cynical view of human nature. In itself or as part of the Dark Triad it has been the target of several studies investigating romantic relations. Nevertheless, the relationship between Machiavellianism and romantic ideals has not been revealed yet. An undergraduate sample of 143 (92 females) with an average age of 19.83 years (SD = 1.51 years) filled out self-report measures of Machiavellianism (Mach-IV Scale) and romantic ideals (Ideal Standards Scale and NEO-FFI-IDEAL). According to our results, Machiavellianism correlated negatively with the importance of partner's warmth-trustworthiness, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and with the importance of intimacy and loyalty in their ideal relationships. Machiavellianism correlated positively with the ideal partner's possession over status and resources. Explorative factor analysis revealed three components of ideal partner's characteristics. Machiavellianism loaded significantly on two out of three components. Results are discussed with regard to Ideal Standards Model and the Big Five model of personality.


The construction and validation of soldier combat models requires data on the conspicuity of camouflaged targets in the field, and human targets in particular. So far, this data is lacking. Also, it si currently unknown to what degree luminance contrast and motion contribute to target conspicuity. These data are needed to enable the validation and further development of human visual search performance modules in soldier combat models like SCOPE or IWARS. In this study we measured the conspicuity of a person wearing a Dutch army camouflage uniform, while he was either standing still, walking or running along a forest in the background, both for viewing with the naked eye (NE) and for viewing dynamic thermal scene recordings (IR). We varied the viewing distance (80m and 230 m), the camouflage pattern (woodland and desert), the type of background (pine-tree and deciduous forest), and season (summer and winter), The IR (thermal) conspicuity of the person was much larger than his NE (visual) conspicuity. In both cases the effects of movement were large and saturated as a function of retinal target speed. For NE, we find large effects of shading that can not explained by local luminance contrast variations. Also for NE, conspicuity was reduced in winter, probably as a result of an increase in scene clutter. The results suggest that conspicuity is not only a function of retinal target motion and global luminance contrast, but also depends on the amount of clutter in the scene.


Abstract Former glaciation style is dictated by physiography and ice dynamics and is encoded in glacial landsystem imprints. As a holistic evaluation of sediment–landform associations and their genetic relationships to the processes involved in terrain development, glacial landsystems can facilitate a preliminary prediction of expected subsurface conditions using depositional surface morphology and wider physiographic setting. This chapter provides exemplars representative of the widely variable glacial depositional environments of the British Isles. The glacial deposits of the British Isles are viewed in terms of the dominant landsystems in the Quaternary sediment–landform record and can be grouped under four categories: (1) ice-sheet-related deposits and (2) upland (hard bedrock) glacial deposits, organized according to subglacial footprints, ice-marginal complexes and supraglacial assemblages; (3) glaciofluvial sediment–landforms, organized according to whether they are ice-contact or proglacial in nature; and (4) subaqueous depositional sequences, related to ice-proximal and ice-distal environments. These glacial landsystems are related to the concept of Quaternary domains in an attempt to translate sediment–landform assemblages into a format that has practicability in engineering geology. In this respect the regional distribution of landsystems resonates to some degree with the classification schemes of 'glaciogenic subgroups' and 'till formation domains'. Beyond the glaciogenic subgroup and domain classifications, landsystems further identify localized complexities and ensure a higher level of detail for site investigations where intensive Quaternary geological assessments have yielded a range of data including geomorphological mapping and outcrop investigations with three-dimensional analyses of borehole archives.


A novel lidar ceilometer prototype based on divided lens optics has been designed, built,
characterised, and tested. The primary applications for this manufacturable ground-based
sensor are the determination of cloud base height and the measurement of vertical visibility.

First, the design, which was developed in order to achieve superior performance at a
low cost, is described in detail, along with the process used to develop it. The primary
design considerations of optical signal to noise ratio, range-dependent overlap of the transmitter and receiver channels, and manufacturability, were balanced to develop an instrument with good signal to noise ratio, fast turn-on of overlap for detection of close range returns, and a minimised number of optical components and simplicity of assembly for cost control purposes.

Second, a novel imaging method for characterisation of transmitter-receiver overlap as a
function of range is described and applied to the instrument. The method is validated by an
alternative experimental method and a geometric calculation that is specific to the unique
geometry of the instrument. These techniques allow the calibration of close range detection
sensitivity in order to acquire information prior to full overlap.

Finally, signal processing methods used to automate the detection process are described. A novel two-part cloud base detection algorithm has been developed which combines extinction-derived visibility thresholds in the inverted cloud return signal with feature
detection on the raw signal. In addition, standard approaches for determination of visibility based on an iterative far boundary inversion method, and calibration of attenuated backscatter profile using returns from a fully-attenuating water cloud, have been applied to the prototype.

The prototype design, characterisation, and signal processing have been shown to be
appropriate for implementation into a commercial instrument. The work that has been carried out provides a platform upon which a wide range of further work can be built.


Psychologists use Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to view the brain 'in action', measuring changes in blood flow that identify which regions are used to, for example, remember words, perceive pain or engage emotions. The statistical methodology of these brain mapping studies, however, depends on mass-univariate linear modelling, a rich and stable suite of tools for fitting and making inference on brain image data. I will review the standard mass-univariate analysis methods and highlight their shortcomings, in particular their inability to explicitly model the spatial structure of the fMRI signals. I will present a hierarchical spatial model for multi-subject fMRI analyses, where latent population- and individual-centres fit the focal signals. The model uses priors for identifiability and full posterior sampling to provide inference on a variety of measures of interest unavailable in a mass-univariate framework, including population prevalence of activation and inter-subject spread of activation about population centres. I show evaluations of the model with simulations and demonstrate it with real data.


Boreal forests of Northern Eurasia are experiencing ongoing changes in climate, strong impacts by humans including transformation of previously untouched landscapes, and dramatically accelerating disturbance regimes. Current global and regional climatic models predict for this region the most dramatic climatic change over the globe. Unregulated and often destructive anthropogenic impacts on the environment and natural landscapes may substantially accelerate the negative consequences of climatic change. Complexities of the situation are evident: need to take decisions for underspecified dynamics systems under uncertainties; relevancy to consider dual strategy that integrates mitigative and adaptive measures, particularly under no-regret and win-win considerations; necessity to derive minimum mitigation standards from the limits of adaptation; inevitability of non-linear responses and feedbacks and probability to meet surprises in the biosphere's behavior; etc. It defines a need for development of new philosophy of cognition and policy making by using open, iterative, distributed-modular systems based on shared pools of models, tools libraries, and data sets.

Such a situation defines an obligatory need to comprehensively use methodologies of applied system analysis and integrated modeling. Following the basic steps of applied systems analysis (fixation of the problem; diagnostics; (list of) stakeholders; problem mess; setting the goal; criteria; experimental research; analysis of input information; selection of the strategy, development and improvement of the model; depiction of alternatives; and decision making implementation) put the modeling on a solid scientific basis. Integrated models that include components of different nature (ecological, economic, social) are considered as a major tool of perception of future trajectories of forests in a changing world in spite of the fact that application of integrated modeling generates many cognitive problems, trade-offs and challenges.

A central point of adaptation and mitigation strategies is development of robust policies. Robust policies should (1) ensure long-term stability of systems. behavior against multiple events (scenarios); (2) account for extreme events that require specific models; (3) consider uncertainties in a possible comprehensive and explicit form; (4) allow for flexibility to form a diversity of decisions dependent on associated risks and costs, performance indicators of stakeholders, (5) consider in an explicit spatio-temporal way ecological, economic and social dimensions, (6) collective risk; (7) include safety criteria, constraints, and performance indicators of involved agents.

Adaptation and mitigation measures in the forest sector could be effective if they are part of a wide strategy which would involve all relevant sectors of national economy, particularly energy, industry, agriculture, tourism etc. combined in common political and institutional frameworks. Adaptation and anticipatory strategy should be an inherent part of transition to sustainable forest management. However, background philosophy of classical forestry becomes less and less reliable in a continuously changing world. Thus, modeling becomes a working tool for practical adaptive forest management. Adaptive forest management is defined as a management approach that acknowledges the lack of unequivocal and definite knowledge about the ways in which forest ecosystems work, and the uncertainty that dominates interactions with them.

We consider major requirements to and specifics of adaptation and mitigation strategies in boreal forests which include inter alia: (1) a concept of sustainable development and sustainable forest management of regions of high latitudes; (2) integrated land observing systems; (3) a new system of specially protected territories; (4) new strategy and institutional background of forest fire protection; (5) legislative and normative base of adaptation and mitigation as a background of adaptive forest management; (6) system of adaptation of structure of boreal landscapes to climate change; and (7) considering management of major biogeochemical cycles, primarily carbon cycle, as a crucial issue of future strategies. We illustrate some practical results obtained by IIASA-ESM Integrated Modeling Cluster and other approaches. These examples show that recommended strategies could result in higher stability and productivity of forest ecosystems, increased abundance of favored species and reduced fragmentation of forests. However, the biggest problem deals with difficulties to reduce losses from worsening the environment and disturbances. No single strategy appears able to achieve all possible forest management objectives, and adaptation and mitigation strategies should be connected to regional climatic, ecological and social peculiarities.


Although ocean circulation plays a vital role in the climate system, its response to major carbon-cycle perturbations during the mid-Cretaceous, including mid-Cenomanian event I (MCE I) and the Cenomanian-Turonian oceanic anoxic event (OAE 2), is poorly constrained. Here we present Nd isotope evidence for episodic increases in the influence of boreal seawater in the European epicontinental sea during MCE I. The start of this circulation reorganization lagged the onset of the δ13C positive excursion defining MCE I. This sequence of change is similar to that observed during OAE 2 in the same area, showing a consistent response of regional circulation to changes in the global carbon cycle. Brief intervals of invasion of boreal fauna to mid-latitude seas, two during MCE I and one during OAE 2 (Plenus cold event), all started after the influence of boreal seawater was enhanced, implying a slower biological response to climate cooling rather than passive transport of fauna by boreal waters. The lack of an Nd isotope positive excursion in our record across MCE I supports a volcanic origin for prominent increases in seawater Nd isotope values found in the European epicontinental sea and the tropical Atlantic during OAE 2. The observed tight circulation–carbon cycle coupling may help the upper ocean replenish nutrients from deep waters and/or volcanic sources, providing a critical feedback allowing continuation of MCE I and OAE 2 over long durations.