Large lakes may constitute a significant component of regional surface–atmosphere fluxes, but few efforts have been made to quantify these fluxes. Tracer-transport inverse models that infer the CO2 flux from the atmospheric concentration typically assume that the influence from large lakes is negligible. CO2 observations from a tall tower in Wisconsin segregated by wind direction suggested a CO2 signature from Lake Superior. To further investigate this difference, source–receptor influence functions derived using a mesoscale transport model were applied and results revealed that air masses sampled by the tower have a transit time over the lake, primarily in winter when the total lake influence on the tower can exceed 20% of the total influence of the regional domain. When the influence functions were convolved with air–lake fluxes estimated from a physical–biogeochemical lake model, the overall total contribution of lake fluxes to the tall tower CO2 were mostly negligible, but potentially detectable in certain periods of fall and winter when lake carbon exchange can be strong and land carbon efflux weak. These findings suggest that large oligotrophic lakes would not significantly influence inverse models that incorporate tall tower CO2.


In a previous papel' (1) results were presented to sho,y that an alcoholic extract of liver produced a pronounced growth stimulation in rats fed a natural diet. The results showed that the activity was not due to any of the knOíVnvitamins and that yeast did not possess similar activity. Bosshardt and collaborators have described a growth-stimulating effect of liver in rats (2), while Zucker and Zucker (3) described a syndrome involving kidney lesions in rats which was cured with liver. Liver has been shown to contain factors essential for the nutrition of the monkey (4) and for the growth stimulation of Streptococcus faecalis (5). The present investigation was undertaken to improve the assay procedure with rats and to prepare liver fractions which would show higher activity


The hypothesis of a "molecular clock"—a constant rate of mutation over evolutionary time—revolutionized phylogenetics, the study of evolutionary relationships among organisms. Using the assumption of this constant rate, one can determine the time since two organisms diverged from a common ancestor simply by toting up the number of DNA sequence differences between them. Thus, the molecular clock provided an important tool for constructing phylogenies, "trees" of relatedness, for organisms as diverse as primates and protists.

However, the constancy of the mutation rate, both between different groups and within a single group over time, has been repeatedly challenged. As a result, the molecular clock has been largely abandoned in recent years for constructing phylogenetic trees. In its place has arisen a model that accepts that each branch may have its own rate of mutation. Relatedness between two organisms can still be determined and trees can still be drawn, but without a constant mutation rate, no estimate can be made of the time since divergence, and thus the position in time of the last common ancestor—the "root" of the tree—cannot be calculated.

An alternative approach, termed a "relaxed molecular clock," has been developed to overcome the difficulties of both the molecular clock and unrooted phylogeny models. In a new study, Alexei Drummond, Andrew Rambaut, and colleagues describe a new approach to relaxed-clock analysis, showing that it can be used to simultaneously construct accurate trees and infer times of divergence.

Previous attempts to reintroduce a molecular clock into relaxed phylogenetics have posited differing, but correlated, rates of mutation along different branches. But filling in these rates requires specifying the topology of the tree—knowing who's related to whom—beforehand. This is often poorly known, and may be the very question phylogeneticists are trying to answer.

Drummond et al. took a different approach. Using a set of artificial DNA sequences generated and mutated to form a rooted tree, they tested five different models of rate variations to determine which most accurately modeled the simulated evolution of this group. The five models included a strict molecular clock, in which mutation rates were the same on all branches at all times, as well as various modifications in which rates were correlated or uncorrelated among the branches. Using the phylogenetic analysis program called BEAST, they found that the most robust model—the one that did best under various starting conditions—was neither the strict molecular clock nor the correlated models, but the "uncorrelated relaxed-clock" models, in which the mutation rates in each branch are allowed to vary but within particular constraints.

They then tested their models in several real sets of data, including viruses, marsupials, plants, bacteria, and yeast. In the plant dataset, which was known to have the most "clock-like" evolution, the strict molecular clock model did best, not surprisingly. But the relaxed-clock model performed best overall among all the datasets, drawing trees that were closest to known relationships with the fewest missteps. And, unlike in the unrooted phylogenic approach, they were able to assign times of divergence to each branch on the tree.

The model developed by the authors promises to bring the very important question of time back into phylogenetic analysis. The ability of the model to create accurate trees may also make it of use even to scientists whose main interests are in understanding phylogenetic relationships, rather than the timing of evolutionary divergence.


We study whether the accuracy of real-time estimates of the output gap produced by the OECD has improved over time by examining a panel dataset on real-time output gap revisions for 15 countries from 1991 Q1 — 2005 Q4. We use a simple panel data regression and a state space model, with common and country-specific factors, to assess whether the mean of the absolute value of output gap revisions has changed. We also apply a Mincer-Zarnowitz regression to determine whether the composition of measurement errors has shifted. Surprisingly, we do not find evidence that the size of output gap revisions has decreased over time; on the contrary, they seem to have increased. But the fraction of measurement errors due to omitted contemporaneous information has declined. This suggests that while the OECD's accuracy in output gap measurement has failed to improve, its estimates are becoming less noisy.


Large-scale software engineering requires communication and collaboration to successfully build and ship products. We conducted a survey with Microsoft engineers on inter-team coordination and found that the most impactful problems concerned finding and keeping track of other engineers. Since engineers are connected by their shared work, a tool that discovers connections in their work-related repositories can help. Here we describe the Codebook framework for mining software repositories. It is flexible enough to address all of the problems identified by our survey with a single data structure (graph of people and artifacts) and a single algorithm (regular language reachability). Codebook handles a larger variety of problems than prior work, analyzes more kinds of work artifacts, and can be customized by and for end-users. To evaluate our framework's flexibility, we built two applications, Hoozizat and Deep Intellisense. We evaluated these applications with engineers to show effectiveness in addressing multiple inter-team coordination problems.


Many infectious diseases have seasonal outbreaks, which may be driven by cyclical environmental conditions (e.g., an annual rainy season) or human behavior (e.g., school calendars or seasonal migration). If a pathogen is only transmissible for a limited period of time each year, then seasonal outbreaks could infect fewer individuals than expected given the pathogen's in-season transmissibility. Influenza, with its short serial interval and long season, probably spreads throughout a population until a substantial fraction of susceptible individuals are infected. Dengue, with a long serial interval and shorter season, may be constrained by its short transmission season rather than the depletion of susceptibles. Using mathematical modeling, we show that mass vaccination is most efficient, in terms of infections prevented per vaccine administered, at high levels of coverage for pathogens that have relatively long epidemic seasons, like influenza, and at low levels of coverage for pathogens with short epidemic seasons, like dengue. Therefore, the length of a pathogen's epidemic season may need to be considered when evaluating the costs and benefits of vaccination programs.


Floods are often catastrophic and can cause enormous damage. Simulations are used to predict risks and respond to them early, like in the decision-support system Visdom. A true-to-life representation of the entire scene is important, as the visualization of the results must be understandable also to non-experts, such as decision-makers or the general public. What is missing so far are shadows, although they are particularly well suited to recognize relations of objects to each other. This paper covers the implementation of shadows in Visdom, to increase the realism of the scene. This is very complex for scenes on city or even country scale and requires a lot of own strategies, as there are no ready-made solutions. We present an adaptation of cascaded shadow maps for our purposes, as well as a variety of improvements to increase the shadow quality in our application. The result of this work is a flexible visualization of soft shadows for a variety of different-sized scenes in real time, which increase the realism and spatial perception.


Financial technology ('FinTech') is transforming finance and challenging its regulation at an unprecedented rate. Two major trends stand out in the current period of FinTech development. The first is the speed of change driven by the commoditization of technology, Big Data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The second is the increasing number and variety of new entrants into the financial sector, including pre-existing technology and e-commerce companies. This paper considers the impact of these new entrants with their typically large pre-existing non-financial services customer bases. These firms (loosely termed 'TechFins') may be characterised by their capacity to leverage the data gathered in their primary business into financial services. In other words, TechFins represent an Uber moment in finance. This shift from financial intermediary (FinTech) to data intermediary (TechFin) raises implications for incumbent financial services firms, FinTech startups and regulators. This seachange calls for analysis to underpin regulatory approaches with a view to balancing the competing interests of innovation, development, financial stability and consumer protection.


ABSTRACT - At least historically,undergraduate research supervision has predominantly been seen as part of the
basic research function of academic staff. In many fields of study, success in research requires not only sophisticated experimental and analytical skills, but good
,mentoring and managerial skills as well. This paper presents an observational case study and perception based on the author's true experiences exploring the most
effective supervision of undergraduate students in the Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Due to
the need of a highly calibre first class honours undergraduates for the future pool of postgraduates and top notch academia in the Faculty and in UPM, the aim of this
paper is therefore to provide a good practice guideline for supervision of undergraduates final year project
reports/theses to ensure consistency of approach for staff and students across the faculty and university. Key topics covered include building an effective undergraduate
final year project/theses supervisory relationship, negotiating expectations, providing good communication and
feedback and providing motivation and guidance to them. Personal interviews of undergraduates' perceptions of their
supervision as they take their final year research projects were presented.
Students reported that only a select few of their supervisors were supportive and sympathetic to their needs. Only a few of the Faculty supervisors adopted the role of
resource person, directing undergraduates to references and contacts, discussing ideas and work undertaken. Only a few
students had considerable freedom in the conduct of their Jinal year project work. They were not able to choose their own research topic and supervisor but most determined the pace at which they worked. Some appeared to cope well with the autonomous role of a junior researcher while some commented on difficulties. Though the majority of students were given considerable freedom in their research the
results of the observation indicated some differences amongst supervisors.


Organic/inorganic nanocomposites were synthesized from poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and properly modified silica nanoparticles by in situ polymerization. Methacryloylpropyltrimethoxysilane was selected as nanoparticle surface modifier because it is characterized by unsaturated end groups available to radical reactions, making possible to suppose their participation in the acrylic monomer polymerization. As a result of the above hypothesized reactions, a phase constituted by polyacrylic chains grafted onto modified silica surface was isolated. 29Si and 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance experiments permitted to analyze this phase in terms of composition and chain mobility as well as to highlight interaction mechanisms occurring between growing PMMA oligoradicals and functional groups onto silica surface. It was demonstrated that this PMMA grafted onto silica surface acts as an effective coupling agent and assures a good dispersion of nanoparticles as well as a strong nanoparticle/matrix interfacial adhesion. As a result of strong interactions occurring between phases, a significant increase of the glass transition temperature was recorded. Finally, the abrasion resistance of PMMA in the hybrids was significantly improved as a result of a different abrasion propagation mechanism induced by silica particles thus overcoming one of the most serious PMMA drawback. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010


The epic story of the Foundation is one of the great classics of science fiction by the Grand Master of the genre. Isaac Asimov's legendary saga, winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Novel Series, has enthralled generations of readers - and continues to amaze. All records of Earth have been removed systematically from the libraries of Foundation worlds. Now Councilman Golan Trevize and Professor Janov Pelorat traverse the galaxy in search of humanity's ancestral planet. On worlds beyond the Foundation's influence, superstition and taboo shroud the subject of their quest. To name Earth is to utter an obscenity. Fortunately, the space travellers find allies - and Pelorat finds a lover named Bliss - among the telepaths of the planet Gaia. As they near their destination, Bliss picks up thought waves of intelligent beings. What she cannot tell is whether or not those beings are human.


Professor Roemer's goal in this book is to give a rigorous view of classical Marxian economic theory by presenting specific analytic models. The theory is not extended to deal with new problems, but it is deepened: Marxian theory is given micro-foundations and upon those foundations the author begins to rebuild a tightly constructed Marxian economics. The book begins, after a methodological introduction, with an examination of the Marxian notion of equilibrium and the theory of exploitation, and goes on to deal with the theory of the falling rate of profit. The next section explores one of the points made in the first section of the book, that the Marxian theory of exploitation can be constructed completely independently of the labor theory of value as a theory of exchange. Technical study of this problem allows comment on various issues, such as the relative importance of 'marginal utilities' and 'class struggle' in determining relative prices. The final part examines models of various Marxian concepts.


Molecular marker is applicable to many aspects of plant improvement and crop production. The main objective of plant breeding to produce crops with improved characteristics with the utilization of the available genetic variability and producing sufficient genetic variability of crops by different breeding techniques. There are possibilities to improve the desired traits through conventional breeding methods in the presence of genetic diversities. However, there are several challenges to make the significant improvement on the crop through conventional breeding. Conventional breeding is almost always based on phenotypic variation of the crops, which is affected by environments (non-heritable components) and crop improvement cycle takes long time. However, molecular marker is designed to meet this challenges regardless of its cost and it's not affected by environment where ever the experiment is conducted either in laboratory or field condition. Molecular marker procedures are playing a significant role to increase the effectiveness in breeding and shorten the development crop improvement stages. Molecular markers also used develop resistant crop to pests and diseases, develop tolerant crop to environmental conditions and improve the crop in required quality. In facing the challenge of improving several lines for quantitative traits, marker assisted selection strategies use DNA markers in one key selection step to maximize their impact. With the development of molecular marker technology, the fate of plant breeding has changed. Different types of molecular markers have been developed in identification and characterization germplasm, DNA sequences in identification of the genomic regions involved in the expression of the target traits, to analysis the genetic variation, cytogenetic, quantitative genetics, biotechnology and genomics and it's applied in genetic diversity analysis in crop improvement. It is possible to increase agricultural productivity through addressing the problems of yield reduction and its links with pest management and climate change using advanced breeding technologies. There are several major challenges in the application of molecular markers to agronomically important traits. Some of them are: economic factors, lack of grants to researchers, lack of adequately trained personnel. Generally, the integrating molecular marker technologies with the conventional breeding strategies are increasingly important to realize genetic gains with greater speed and precision.


A homozygous mutation in the kinase domain of ZAP-70, a T cell receptor-associated protein tyrosine kinase, produced a distinctive form of human severe combined immunodeficiency. Manifestations of this disorder included profound immunodeficiency, absence of peripheral CD8+ T cells, and abundant peripheral CD4+ T cells that were refractory to T cell receptor-mediated activation. These findings demonstrate that ZAP-70 is essential for human T cell function and suggest that CD4+ and CD8+ T cells depend on different intracellular signaling pathways to support their development or survival.


The National Establishment Time Series (NETS) is a private sector source of U.S. business microdata. Researchers have used state-specific NETS extracts for many years, but relatively little is known about the accuracy and representativeness of the nationwide NETS sample. We explore the properties of NETS as compared to official U.S. data on business activity: The Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP) and Nonemployer Statistics (NES) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). We find that the NETS universe does not cover the entirety of the Census-based employer and nonemployer universes, but given certain restrictions NETS can be made to mimic official employer datasets with reasonable precision. The largest differences between NETS employer data and official sources are among small establishments, where imputation is prevalent in NETS. The most stringent of our proposed sample restrictions still allows scope that cover s about three quarters of U.S. private sector employment. We conclude that NETS microdata can be useful and convenient for studying static business activity in high detail.


Key messagesPreserving intact ecosystems is financially more effective than restoring degraded ones. We therefore propose a moratorium on further conversion of mangroves. By doing so, there is the potential to generate $3 billion (USD) in abatement costs annually.A science-backed plan, including mapping, for restoring priority degraded blue carbon ecosystems will build climate change resilience and improve livelihoods.Activating the existing regulatory framework and its governance at provincial level is essential to meet national low carbon development goals and align with global agenda.Opportunities for funding restoration include public and private partnerships, and new innovative finance solutions. Income from the blue economy (fishing, shipping and eco-tourism) in productive zones could also contribute to restoration.


Scientists and engineers in diverse fields such as manufacturing, medicine, and design use experiments to learn about processes and the behavior of systems. Experiments study how the settings of a series of factors affect one or more response variables. For example, an engineer trying to develop a reliable painting process for automobile components might set up an experiment to study how paint viscosity and temperature (two factors) affect a numeric measure of paint surface quality (a response variable). Because an experiment can require significant resources, the experimenter often must make trade-offs between the number of experimental trials, the order of these trials, and the expected amount and type of information gained as a result of running the experiment. Design of experiments is the field of statistics that addresses the problem of creating layouts (ordered lists of factor combinations, or trials, to be tested) that will provide the experimenter with statistically sound results yet account for the constraints under which the experiment must be run.


This dissertation is devoted to the development of distorti onolerant communication techniques by exploiting the spatial and/or temporal correlati on in a broad range of wireless communication systems under various system configurations. Si gnals observed in wireless communication systems are often correlated in the spatial and/or temporal domains, and the correlation can be used to facilitate system designs and to improve syste m performance. First, the optimum node density, i.e., the optimum number of nodes in a unit area, is identified by ut ilizing the spatial data correlation in the oneand two-dimensional wirel ess sensor networks (WSNs), under the constraint of fixed power per unit area. The WSNs distortion i s quantized as the mean square error between the original and the reconstructed signals. The n we extend the analysis into WSNs with spatial-temporally correlated data. The optimum samp ling in the space and time domains is derived. The analytical optimum results can provide insi ghts and guidelines on the design of practical WSNs. Second, distributed source coding schemes are developed by exploiting the data correlation in a wireless network with spatially distribut ed sources. A new symmetric distributed joint source-channel coding scheme (DJSCC) is proposed by u tilizing the spatial source correlation. Then the DJSCC code is applied to spatial-temporall y correlated sources. The temporal correlated data is modeled as the Markov chain. Correspondi ngly, two decoding algorithms are proposed. The first multi-codeword message passing algorit hm (MCMP) is designed for spatially correlated memoryless sources. In the second algorithm, a h idden Markov decoding process is added to the MCMP decoder to effectively exploit the data cor relation in both the space and time domains. Third, we develop distortion-tolerant high mobil ity wireless communication systems by considering correlated channel state information (CSI) in the time domain, and study the optimum designs with imperfect CSI. The pilot-assisted channel est imation mean square error is expressed as a closed-form expression of various system parameters th roug asymptotic analysis. Based on the statistical properties of the channel estimation error , we quantify the impacts of imperfect CSI on system performance by developing the analytical symbol e rr r rate and a spectral efficiency lower bound of the communication system.


The floral fragrance glands (osmophores) of 18 species of Stanhopea and Sievekingia were examined through a series of developmental studies at light and electron microscope levels including late bud stages through postanthesis. Various characters were identified to be of potential systematic value and were recorded for each species. These characters included: texture of the osmophore surface, number of distinct cell layers comprising the osmophore, nature of lipid inclusions in osmophore cells, and presence or absence of plastoglobuli in osmophore amyloplasts. These characters were combined with traditional features of floral lip morphology for cladistic analysis. Sievekingia was the postulated outgroup. Stanhopea ecornuta showed the largest number of plesiomorphic characters. Stanhopea pulla, S. annulata, and S. candida were only slightly more derived. Stanhopea anfracta, S. gibbosa, S. martiana, S. oculata, S. radiosa, S. ruckeri, S. saccata, S. shuttleworthii, S. tigrina, S. vasquezii, and S. wardii form a monophyletic group that can be recognized by a labellum with an articulated epichile and a bicornuate mesochile (or hypochile). Stanhopea tricornis may be a hybrid between a species of Sievekingia and Stanhopea.


The proper theological significance of Kyd's Spanish Tragedy has often been misconstrued, and the play oversimplifyingly read as a referendum on revenge or Catholicism. In this essay I argue that the play (and revenge tragedy more broadly) can be better understood as a meditation on the longstanding theological and philosphical problem of agency--the question of the capacity of humans to will and act--and the ethics consequent to it. Despite Kyd's apparent avoidance of explicitly Christian conflicts, The Spanish Tragedy is deeply and broadly about the conditions, limitations, and responsibilities of human action. My analysis of the play's discourses of action suggests that they are very subtle, and that Hieronimo, in spite of Kyd's religious evasiveness, displays some commitments that criticism has often overlooked or misunderstood. His insistent pursuit of revenge exists in complex tension with a frame that both encourages and contains it in the respectively allegorical and executive functions of Revenge. In the end, I contend, the play affirms both the possibility of human action, and the necessity of transcendent limitations upon it; these dynamics of divine and human agencies generate multiple levels of ethical significance for the latter which resist reductive reading.


Global-scale hydrological models are routinely used to assess water scarcity, flood hazards and droughts worldwide. Recent efforts to incorporate anthropogenic activities in these models have enabled more realistic comparisons with observations. Here we evaluate simulations from an ensemble of six models participating in the second phase of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Inter-comparison Project (ISIMIP2a). We simulate monthly runoff in 40 catchments, spatially distributed across eight global hydrobelts. The performance of each model and the ensemble mean is examined with respect to their ability to replicate observed mean and extreme runoff under human-influenced conditions. Application of a novel integrated evaluation metric to quantify the models' ability to simulate timeseries of monthly runoff suggests that the models generally perform better in the wetter equatorial and northern hydrobelts than in drier southern hydrobelts. When model outputs are temporally aggregated to assess mean annual and extreme runoff, the models perform better. Nevertheless, we find a general trend in the majority of models towards the overestimation of mean annual runoff and all indicators of upper and lower extreme runoff. The models struggle to capture the timing of the seasonal cycle, particularly in northern hydrobelts, while in southern hydrobelts the models struggle to reproduce the magnitude of the seasonal cycle. It is noteworthy that over all hydrological indicators, the ensemble mean fails to perform better than any individual model—a finding that challenges the commonly held perception that model ensemble estimates deliver superior performance over individual models. The study highlights the need for continued model development and improvement. It also suggests that caution should be taken when summarising the simulations from a model ensemble based upon its mean output.


This multi-university, three-year longitudinal study examined the relationship among seven secondary science teachers' personal, student and scientific epistemologies. Paying close attention to each participant's use of metaphor when speaking about his/her learning, students' learning and the products/processes of science, we were able to discern each participant's epistemological stance as indicating the acquisition metaphor of learning or the participation metaphor of learning or some combination of the two (pluralistic). We compared video recordings of each participant's classroom teaching practice to develop an understanding for how their epistemological stance might relate to that practice. Based on our results, we contradict the current paradigm that beliefs guide practice, by positing that practice might actually determine beliefs. Where teachers having more field experiences were more likely to talk about learning through doing (participation) and those whose practice emphasized knowledge transfer, adhered to the acquisition metaphor for student learning. If teacher practice influenced their beliefs, this has profound implications for the structure of teacher education programs.


The purpose of this paper is to present the general topic of lake processes to an engineering audience from a geological point of view. It is apparent that the shores of larger lakes present many problems in common with the sea coast, but the absence of tides, and of first-rank storms, means that geological processes are less marked, and structures may in general be smaller. In contrast to many coastal areas, the Great Lakes probably have less consolidated materials in their banks and bluffs, inasmuch as the basins lie mainly in glacial deposits. Hence rates of erosion may be much greater than on harder coastal rocks. The effect of long-period changes in level also introduce problems of selecting distances above and below lake datum in structures, to allow for the more shoreward wave action during times of high levels. The much leaner shore drift along lakes as compared to the oceans also means that problems of beach development and maintenance may be more difficult to solve. Greater reliance on imported sand in closed systems seems to be the trend in some larger communities where the demand for recreational beaches is great.


Traffic congestion has been cited as the most conspicuous problem in traffic management. It has far-reaching economic, social and political effects. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) research and development programs have been assigned the task of developing sophisticated techniques and counter-measures to reduce traffic congestion to manageable levels, and also achieve these objectives using area-wide traffic management methods. During times of traffic congestion, the traffic network in a transient, time-dynamic state, and resembles a dynamic network. In addition, in the context of ITS, the network can accurately detect such transient behavior using traffic sensors, and several other information gathering devices. In conjunction with Operations Research techniques, the time-varying traffic flows can be routed through the network in an optimal manner, based on the feedback from these information sources. Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) methods have been proposed to perform this task. An important step in DTA is the calculation of user-optimal, system-optimal, and multiple optimal routes for assigning traffic. One would also require the calculation of user-optimal paths for vehicle scheduling and dispatching problems.
The main objective of this research study is to analyze the effectiveness of time-dependent shortest path (TDSP) algorithms and k-shortest path (k-SP) algorithms as a practical routing tool in such intelligent transportation networks. Similar algorithms have been used to solve routing problems in computer networks. The similarities and differences between computer and ITS road networks are studied. An exhaustive review of TDSP and k-SP algorithms was conducted to classify and determine the best algorithms and implementation procedures available in the literature. A new (heuristic) algorithm (TD-kSP) that calculates multiple optimal paths for dynamic networks is proposed and developed. A complete object-oriented computer program in C++ was written using specialized network representations, node-renumbering schemes and efficient path processing data structures (classes) to implement this algorithm. A software environment where such optimization algorithms can be applied in practice was then developed using object-oriented design methodology. Extensive statistical and regression analysis tests for various random network sizes, densities and other parameters were conducted to determine the computational efficiency of the algorithm. Finally, the algorithm was incorporated within the GIS-based Wide-Area Incident Management Software System (WAIMSS) developed at the Center for Transportation Research, Virginia Tech. The results of these tests are used to obtain the empirical time-complexity of the algorithm. Results indicate that the performance of this algorithm is comparable to the best TDSP algorithms available in the literature, and strongly encourages its possible application in real-time applications.
Complete testing of the algorithm requires the use of real-time link flow data. While the use of randomly generated data and delay functions in this study may not significantly affect its computational performance, other measures of effectiveness as a routing tool remains untested. This can be verified only if the algorithm itself becomes a part of the user-behavior feedback loop. A closed loop traffic simulation/system-dynamics study would be required to perform this task. On the other hand, an open-loop simulation would suffice for vehicle scheduling/dispatching problems.


Abstract:In the latter half of the 1940s, senior U.S. national security officials opposed Zionist aspirations for an independent state and sought to keep the Truman administration from actively facilitating that effort. Even though President Harry Truman himself expressed strong public backing for the new state of Israel, the reality, as recognized at the time by Israel's leaders and by prominent U.S. liberal political leaders and journalists, was that the United States was less firm, less consistent, and less consequential in supporting the establishment of the state of Israel than were the Soviet Union and the Communist states of Eastern Europe, especially Czechoslovakia and Poland. The situation that existed in 1947–1948, with significant U.S. government opposition and Soviet-bloc support for Israel, is evident from declassified files of the U.S. State Department and public records of the United Nations (UN).


Mouse spleen or thymus lymphocytes incubated with monospecific H-2 or Ia alloantisera and then coated with a xenogeneic antimouse Ig serum become specifically resistant to the alloantiserum (and complement) they have been incubated with. This so called "lysostrip method" was used to investigate the molecular interrelationships of antigens in the mouse lymphocyte membrane. The results of this investigation confirm that H-2K and H-2D antigens are carried by two distinct populations of molecules. They provide evidence that the Ia antigens move in the membrane independently of both H2-K and H-2D antigens; and finally they demonstrate absence of any physical linkage between Ig receptors in B cells, on the one hand, and Ia, H-2K, and H-2D molecules on the other hand.


While on one hand, social entrepreneurship, as a new
movement, is being spearheaded by individuals to make the
world a better place, on the other hand, small islands, dominated by Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) seem to have
overlooked this emerging concept in their tourism management
initiatives. The work of Seraphin (2012) highlighted two important social entrepreneurship schemes in Haiti, but
failed to shed light on its relevance and implications for island tourism. Similarly, in Mauritius, the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure is engaged in various tourism management initiatives aligned with the governmental vision called 'Maurice Ile Durable' (MID), but, social entrepreneurship is not considered in the tourism plan.
With these gaps as foundations, this paper examines the
concept of social entrepreneurship and investigates its role
in promoting global citizenship in island tourism destination management. Starting with a brief presentation of Mauritius and Haiti as tourism destinations, this paper examines two small islands heavily dependent on tourism. Exploratory in nature, it unfolds with some meaningful observations on the Haitian and Mauritian tourism industries. The paper thereafter develops new insights on the role of social entrepreneurship in island tourism and suggests its merit as a tool for island destination management.


The extent of cyanobacterial blooms has been mapped using different satellite sensors from weather satellites to synthetic aperture radars. Quantitative detection of chlorophyll in cyanobacterial blooms by remote sensing, however, has been less successful. The first civilian hyperspectral sensor in space, Hyperion, acquired an image of cyanobacterial bloom in the western part of the Gulf of Finland on 14 July 2002. A chlorophyll concentration map was produced from this image using a spectral library that was created by running a bio‐optical model with variable concentrations of chlorophyll. The results show that chlorophyll concentrations in the bloom area were much higher than reported by conventional water‐monitoring programs, ships‐of‐opportunity, and satellite measurements. The reason why both in situ and satellite methods underestimate the amount of phytoplankton during cyanobacterial blooms is vertical and horizontal distribution of cyanobacteria, because cyanobacteria can regulate their buoyancy and are not uniformly distributed within the top mixed layer of water column in calm weather conditions. Aggregations of cyanobacteria form dense subsurface blooms and surface scums during extensive blooms. This study demonstrates that it is difficult to collect representative water samples from research vessels using standard methods because ships and water samplers destroy the natural distribution of cyanobacteria in the sampling process. Flowthrough systems take water samples from the depths at which the concentration of cyanobacteria is not correlated with the amount of phytoplankton that remote sensing instruments detect. The chlorophyll estimation accuracy in cyanobacterial blooms by many satellites is limited because of spatial resolution, as significant changes in chlorophyll concentration occur even at a smaller spatial scale than 30 m.


26-year-old electron spin resonance (ESR) and optical data pertaining to isochronal annealing studies of x-ray induced defect centers in a GeO2-SiO2 glass are revisited here with the object of extracting new insights regarding the fundamental natures of these defects. It is concluded that (i) the paramagnetic Ge(1) and Ge(2) centers are two energetically inequivalent configurations of a single trapped-electron defect, in analogy to what is known to be the case for the Ge(II) and Ge(I) centers respectively in α quartz [Isoya et al., J. Chem. Phys. 69, 4876 (1978)], and (ii) the germanium lone pair center (GLPC) stably traps holes only in pairs and hence remains ESR silent.


This paper presents a model curriculum for students studying organizational and end-user information systems (OEIS). Developed by the Organizational Systems Research Association (OSRA), the curriculum contains seven required and six elective courses which sit on a foundation of general education and core business courses. Core courses include an introduction to OEIS; computer user support; planning, design, implementation, and evaluation; technical training and delivery methods; telecommunications and networking; cases in information technology; and an internship. The elective courses comprise eBusiness and web technologies, collaborative technologies and knowledge management, network administration, operating systems, information systems security, and special topics. College and university faculty members in a variety of disciplines are invited to consider this model when revising or expanding their information systems curricula.


This paper describes the design and development of a conceptual framework for creating and implementing a cyberinfrastructure model to support interdisciplinary science associated with geologic carbon sequestration at the University of Wyoming. "Cyberinfrastructure" is a term increasingly used within the scientific community to represent information infrastructure networks connecting technology, data, and people to support research activities and the dissemination of its results. In this study, a cyberinfrastructure was designed for a multi-team, multi-task project case study centered on carbon sequestration research in the Moxa Arch, Wyoming. The design was based on a needs assessment conducted to identify information technology practices and requirements for each science team, resulting in a prototype carbon capture and storage knowledgebase workflow model. Major components of the workflow model include social networking functionality and geographic information system–based data management and visualization. The long-term goal of the effort is to build a cyberinfrastructure that fosters and enhances collaboration across research involved with geologic characterization, reservoir modeling, and long-term monitoring of geologic sequestration activities in Wyoming and throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.


The purpose of this paper is to assess the current state of the software industry in Finland. The GDP share of the IT industry in Finland has doubled during the last 10 years, being currently approximately 2 percent. In 2006, the Finnish IT industry consisted of approximately 8000 firms with 46 000 employees, of which the contribution of the software industry was 33 000 employees. In terms of firm size classes, the variances in profitability and productivity were large in software firms. There are signs that middle-sized software firms (30-70 employees) suffer from lower than average productivity and profitability, and their productivity growth rate has also been lower than in other size classes. On the whole, the labour productivity in the software industry seems to be at a rather low level, which may partly result from the handicraft nature of software development work.


Watershed scale soil moisture estimates are necessary to validate current remote sensing products, such as those from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR). Unfortunately, remote sensing technology does not currently resolve the land surface at a scale that is easily observed with ground measurements. One approach to validation is to use existing soil moisture measurement networks and scale these point observations up to the resolution of remote sensing footprints. As part of the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02), one such soil moisture gaging system, in the Walnut Creek Watershed, Iowa, provided robust estimates of the soil moisture average for the watershed. Twelve insitu soil moisture probes were installed across the watershed. These probes recorded soil moisture at a depth of 5 cm from June 29, 2002 to August 19, 2002. The sampling sites were analyzed for temporal and spatial stability by several measures including mean relative difference and Spearman rank. Representative point measurements were scaled up to the watershed scale (~25 km) and shown to be accurate indicators with low variance and bias of the watershed scale soil moisture distribution. This work establishes the validity of this approach to provide watershed scale soil moisture estimates in this study region for the purposes of satellite validation. Also, the potential errors in this type of analysis are explored. This analysis is an important step in the implementation of large-scale soil moisture validation using existing networks such as the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) and several Agricultural Research Service watersheds as a basis for calibrating satellite soil moisture products. Cosh is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Jackson is a Scientist at USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705. E-mail: email@example.com. Bindlish is with SSAI, Lanham, MD 20706. Prueger is a Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory, Ames, IA, 50010.


Courts around the world today are empowered to strike down unconstitutional constitutional amendments. But can a court strike down amendments that restore parts of the original constitution? The Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court did precisely this in Bangladesh v. Asaduzzaman Siddiqui (2017), holding unconstitutional an amendment that restored the judicial removal provision that existed in the original 1972 Constitution. This article analyzes Siddiqui within the comparative constitutional amendment literature and the broader South Asian context. Despite the apparent incongruity of applying the basic structure doctrine to an original constitutional provision, we argue that Siddiqui is defensible on both theoretical and pragmatic grounds. The amendment that was invalidated in this case represented an unconstitutional departure from the judicial removal practice that had existed for several decades and was entrenched by a previous amendment, which "dismembered" the original constitution and safeguarded constitutional democracy in Bangladesh. At a regional level, Siddiqui is similar to recent judgments in India and Pakistan in which apex courts assert their control and limit political influence in judicial appointment and removal proceedings. Such judicial self-dealing, we argue, is more justified in Bangladesh and Pakistan than in India due to their checkered histories with democracy and political interference with judicial functions.


Summary After divorce almost 50% of fathers lose touch with their children. Two explanations have been offered. The continuity hypothesis states that post-divorce relationships match pre-divorce contact. The discontinuity hypothesis, following Kruk (1991), states that fathers who have been highly involved are more likely to become disengaged because of the pain of separation from their children. In two Greek studies, mothers (Study 1) and mothers and fathers (Study 2) were interviewed about the precursors of the father's current relationship with the child. The results from both studies provide strong support for the continuity hypothesis. Discrepancies between these and Kruk's data may be explained by the impact of expectations and practices concerning fathers in different cultures upon their involvement after divorce. In Greece disengagement appears to be the consequence of low paternal investment in parenting.


Several months past due, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008 (P.L. 110-246) is now law. Reform, budget, and national and international politics were central issues fueling a debate that resulted in this new bill. Whether this new Farm Bill will ultimately succeed in providing an adequate farm and food safety net and whether it is a "good" or "bad" bill depends on one's perspective. As to cost, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scores the bill at $307 billion for a 5–year period (2008–2012), with 68% going to nutrition, 11% to commodity programs, 8% of estimated expenditures to conservation programs, and 13% to the rest of the bill. Highlights of the 2008 FCEA: 1. New titles added to the bill include Horticulture and Organic Agriculture; Livestock; Commodity Futures; and, Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance. 2. Commodity programs were reauthorized but with reductions in payment limits, some commodity program payment rate changes, inclusion of a new revenue program, crop insurance reform, and a new permanent disaster assistance program. 3. More funds will go to conservation programs with substantial growth in the renamed Conservation Security Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Farm and Ranch Protection Program (FRPP), Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP), and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). 4. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) will be fully implemented September 2008 with additional commodities and revised labeling, record–keeping, and compliance rules. 5. More than two–thirds of the act's funds go to nutrition programs, with more funding for food stamps, food banks, locally–produced food, and school and seniors' food programs. 6. Energy provisions include more support for cellulosic ethanol and less for grain ethanol, with a new sugar– for–bioenergy program. 7. Funding for agricultural Research and Extension activities are made more competitive, with increased opportunities for the private sector and nonland grant colleges of Agriculture to pursue scarce Federal dollars. 8. The Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) is to be reorganized with the creation of a new National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Supporters say that the new bill continues to provide a safety net to producers. Benefits cited for the bill are that it allows for maintenance of a domestic safe, varied, and affordable food and fiber supply and stimulates investment in both agriculture and other U.S. economic sectors2. The current bill is also said to bring reform by reducing distribution of tax dollars to wealthy producers, ascribing payments to individuals, and providing additional food security to consumers who are in need.


In Philippians John Reumann offers both classical approaches and new methods of understanding this New Testament book. With fresh commentary on the social world and rhetorical criticism, and special focus on the contributions of the Philippian house churches to Paul's work and early Christian mission, Reumann clarifies Paul's attitudes toward and interactions with the Philippians.
 Departing from traditional readings of Philippians in light of Acts, Reumann allows Paul to speak in his own right. His three letters from Ephesus shed new light on relationships, and we come to see how he approves some aspects of the dominant "culture of friendship" in Greco-Roman Philippi while disapproving others. He seeks to help the Philippians discern how to be citizens of the heavenly kingdom and also Caesar's state, though there is an undercurrent of "Christ vs. Caesar." Scholars, students, and general readers alike will find much of interest in John Reumann's deeply researched and insightful new volume.


The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the existing ICT infrastructure
in Kenya affects the provision of e-banking services at Barclays Bank of Kenya. The
study also compares e-banking applications in Kenyan banks with best practice examples
from other countries. Other areas studied are the existing ICT and e-banking security
systems as well as the policy and regulatory framework that governs e-banking systems in Kenya.
The dilemma still facing the banking and ICT sectors in Kenya is whether the existing
ICT infrastructure is adequate and efficient enough to satisfy the demand for voice and
data communications required in the provision of e-banking services. The problems that
require attention are lack of appropriate equipment to serve a modem financial system
and provide the full range of e-banking services, inadequate telephone landlines due to
vandalism and failure of Telkom Kenya to expand its network. Other problems include
lack of reliable Internet connection, high access costs for landlines and Internet,
inadequate capital investment for the provision of sufficient ICT services, dumping of
contraband traffic on Telkom's network, cyber crime due to lack of proper e-banking
security systems and lack of a suitable policy and regulatory framework for Information Communication Technologies.
A qualitative research methodology and a typical case study research design are adopted
in the study. Barclays Bank of Kenya is examined as a case study. The activities of the
banking and ICT key industry players, Central Bank of Kenya, Telkom Kenya,
Communications Commission of Kenya and Today's Online, are also examined. In
addition four other commercial banks namely, Standard Chartered, Citibank, Kenya
Commercial Bank and Commercial Bank of Africa are contacted and their senior
management interviewed concerning this study. Data is collected from interviews,
archives, newspapers, published reports and the Internet.
The study findings reveal that Barclays Bank Kenya offers different forms of e-banking
services namely, Internet banking, online banking, telephone banking and mobile
banking. However, the poor state of the ICT infrastructure hinders the growth of ebanking
services in Barclays and other Kenyan banks. The existing security measures for
landlines and e-banking systems in Kenya are also incapable of preventing most forms of
risks and threats and need to be improved. Kenya also lacks a sound policy and regulatory
framework to efficiently curb these ICT and e-banking risks.
The study concludes by recommending that the Kenyan government should encourage the
private sector and development partners to invest in ICT infrastructure and that a
comprehensive review of existing laws relating to ICT and e-banking systems be done and amendments formulated.


Whilst energy use is fundamental to human existence, it is also at the heart of many environmental problems we face in the 21st century. Deteriorating air quality and the global warming phenomenon can all be attributed to our use of fossil fuels. The re-emergence of nuclear power as an alternative also prompts major concerns. Sustainable alternatives such as wind and hydroelectric power also face opposition.

Energy, Society and Environment explores the ways in which energy interacts with society and the environment. The book is structured to provide:

· an understanding of energy related environmental problems

· an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of technological solutions

· knowledge of the social and institutional obstacles to implementing these solutions

· an understanding of the strategic issues facing sustainable energy use.

The revised edition reflects recent changes in the area. Chapters on nuclear and wind energy have been revised in response to recent debates. Coverage of fossil fuels has also been strengthened, whilst there is greater emphasis on environmental and energy policy in the context of the debate surrounding the Kyoto accord. Additional case-studies have been added which highlight alternative energy solutions.

Energy, Society and Environment examines the potential and limits of technological solutions to energy-related environmental problems and suggests that social, economic and political solutions may also be necessary to avoid serious environmental damage in the future. Global case-studies are used throughout to ground the debates and illustrate the interaction between technological and social aspects.


Abstract Acquired angioedema is a rare but a well-recognized complication of lymphoproliferative disorders. It occurs as a result of overactivation of the compliment system due to reduced C1 esterase inhibitors with subsequent release of bradykinin. A 59-year-old gentleman with chronic lymphocytic leukemia experienced recurrent episodes of angioedema while on chemotherapy. Investigations confirmed low C1 inhibitor activity in a few occasions. Acute episodes were treated with replacement therapy. Chemotherapy was stopped after cycle 4 as remission was achieved. He experienced a further episode of clinically more severe acquired angioedema after stopping chemotherapy. He was treated with C1 inhibitor concentrate in the high-dependency unit. Subsequently, antifibrinolytics were started as long-term prophylaxis. He had no recurrence of angioedema since then. Conclusion High clinical suspicion and early diagnosis of this rare complication of chronic lymphocytic leukemia is crucial for reducing the morbidity and mortality in these patients. Although treatment directed to the underlying condition is beneficial in most cases with angioedema, this is not invariable and chemotherapy cannot be justified for those who are in remission.


P38-mitogen activated protein kinases (of which there are 4 isoforms; α, β, γ and δ) are serine/threonine kinases that are activated in response to stress stimuli. Classically studies have only examined the role of p38α in the myocardium. However, p38γ is also highly and preferentially expressed in the myocardium. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of p38γ in the progression of pathological hypertrophy following abdominal aortic banding. Comparisons of cardiac function and structure of wild type (WT) and p38γ knock out (KO) mice in response to abdominal aortic banding found that KO mice develop less ventricular hypertrophy than their corresponding WT controls, and have preserved cardiac function. We observed that basal p38γ myocardial staining is primarily localised at the membranes and throughout the cytoplasm. Following aortic constriction nuclear staining of p38γ incre ases but no accumulation of p38α is observed. This suggests that the two isoforms play distinct roles in the heart. To elucidate its signaling pathway and identify endogenous substrates of p38γ we have generated an analogue sensitive p38γ, which is mutated at a gatekeeper residue, to specifically track endogenous substrates in the myocardium. The mutation allows only the mutant kinase, but not WT kinases, to utilise analogues of ATP that are expanded at the N-6 position and contain a visible tag on the γ-phosphate. Transfer of this tag to substrates allows subsequent isolation and identification. Using this technique we have been able to identify, amongst other substrates, Cypher and Calpastatin as novel targets of p38γ.


The aim of the thesis is to explore the distinct identities of places with complex biographies. In particular, it investigates the processes through which sound can enact dialogues between places and people, thus exposing these identities. Place, and more specifically the history of place, is understood as a field that is involved in a process of continuous negotiation and performance. Throughout the thesis, it is contended that the identities of "charged places" can be experienced similarly to how we experience ambience or background noise. Through the ostensible silence that characterises the places under study – a silence not necessarily acoustic, but rather one that relates to the absence of what was or what should have been there – a noisy narrative may develop in our mental realm. Imagination and daydream is the ultimate condition for creating what Gaston Bachelard (1958) terms the "poetic image", which will enable us to "listen" to the place through its histories and to delve into its "aural aura".

The specific topic of investigation is how a sound artist, following a place-specific trajectory, may foster a meaningful conversation between the audience and the place, thus exposing the place's biographical essences, and furthermore how they may "orchestrate" an aural aura in order to establish this communication.

The four works presented in the portfolio constitute a practical approach through which a response is given to the above inquiries. Each of the four works addresses fields that involve socio-political, philosophical, cultural and aesthetic concerns relevant to the island of Cyprus, as well as more practical artistic matters, such as interactivity, collaboration and ephemerality.

The thesis concludes that place-specific sound art with a guerrilla-art style, can be an effective way of expressing and communicating nuances and concepts that relate to the biography of places.


Shared memory systems are becoming increasingly complex as they typically integrate several storage devices. That brings different access latencies or bandwidth rates depending on the proximity between the cores where memory accesses are issued and the storage devices containing the requested data. In this context, techniques to manage and mitigate non-uniform memory access (NUMA) effects consist in migrating threads, memory pages or both and are generally applied by the system software. We propose techniques at the runtime system level to further mitigate the impact of NUMA effects on parallel applications' performance. We leverage runtime system metadata expressed in terms of a task dependency graph, where nodes are pieces of serial code and edges are control or data dependencies between them, to efficiently reduce data transfers. Our approach, based on graph partitioning, adds negligible overhead and is able to provide performance improvements up to 1.52X and average improvements of 1.12X with respect to the best state-of-the-art approach when deployed on a 288-core shared-memory system. Our approach reduces the coherence traffic by 2.28X on average with respect to the state-of-the-art.


To further enhance the early diagnose precision and efficiency for rotor crack under condition of strongly noise, AE signals is applied to extract fault feature of early rotor cracks with the advantages of strong anti-noise ability, clear fault feature. Based on the Pseudo Wigner-Ville Distribution (PWVD), the amplitude and frequency as feature vector are extracted from the AE signal in this paper, which are used to diagnose and predict the fault types of different rotor cracks depth by support vector machine (SVM). The experiment is done to verify the proposed method applied to fault diagnosis of cracked rotor.


Her body dumped into the canal. How did the water greet the fist of her heart? Nichts. Das ist alles. Is that what the sky said, the horse-drawn tram? And that bird, how could it sing so blithely? And the slap of the wave, did its bluster extend beyond the pier, the cobbled street where a one-legged soldier took a quick piss and turned away? Rosa's blood joined to Berlin's phantom limb recalling wholeness before one war blasted the innocence of fathers, and another began the corruption of their sons.


The first 524 Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) were established between 1999 and 2003. They were aimed at families with children up to the age of 4 living in disadvantaged areas. The aim was to bring together early education, childcare, health services and family support to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and children.

This report discusses the economic issues arising out of the evaluation of the impact of Sure Start local programmes in England. It takes the outcomes for children and families at the age of five years reported in the National Evaluation of Sure Start and where possible estimates economic values for those outcomes. Where a direct estimation of economic value is not possible at this stage, probable sources of future economic values are discussed.

It should be read in conjunction with the impact report, which describes the details of the methodology of the study and the full range of outcomes for children and their families when the children were 5-years-old.


Background: Intensive care unit is a potential area for drug-related problems. As many of the patients treated are complex patients, clinical pharmacy intervention could find drug therapy problems. Materials and Methods: Drug information liaisons daily attended ward rounds with intensivists and screened the patient for drug therapy assessment using the American Society for Health-System Pharmacists clinical skills competition DTA format. This was a prospective study done for 6 months from August 2012 to January 2013. Simple statistics were used to tabulate the drug-related problems assessed. Results: A total of 72 patients were screened for drug therapy problems, for which 947 drug doses were prescribed in the study period. The total number of prescriptions was 148. The average number of drugs per prescription was 6.39 and the average number of drugs per patient was 13.15. A total of 243 problems were identified; on an average, 1.67 problems were present per prescription. The total number of drug interactions identified was N = 192 (78.2%); majority of them (61.4%) were of type C (not serious). So, 55.73% of them were monitored and not stopped or substituted. The second type of problem was a correlation between drug therapy and medical problem (7.4%). Appropriate drug selection and drug regimen was the third problem, and the adverse drug reactions and therapeutic duplications accounted for approximately 2% of the drug-related problems identified. Conclusion: Drug interactions constituted the major problem of ICUs, but not many were serious or significant. Consensus in assessment of drug-related problems and convincing intensivists with good quality evidences are required for better acceptance of interventions.


The effective use of electronic portfolios in educational institutions confirms their value as an important teaching and learning tool. An electronic portfolio is a digital archive or collection of artifacts (audio/video clips, text, graphics, and coursework) that represent the owner of the electronic portfolio, whether it is an individual, group, or institution. Personal reflection on one's work or philosophies is a key element in many electronic portfolios. Some question whether electronic portfolios really benefit the educational process. This author overviews recent literature related to the use of electronic portfolios and discusses the issues and challenges of implementing and effectively using electronic portfolios in higher education institutions.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a member of the TNF superfamily, has garnered interest as it is relatively non-toxic to normal cells, but selectively induces apoptotic cell death in multiple types of transformed or malignant cells. Bufalin is the major digoxin-like immunoreactive component of Sum Su, which is obtained from the skin and parotid venom gland of the toad. Bufalin is known to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells. The present study investigated whether bufalin promoted TRAIL-induced apoptotic cell death. In the present study, a combined treatment using bufalin and TRAIL significantly increased TRAIL-mediated inhibition of cell viability and increased apoptosis in T24 human bladder cancer cells. The apoptotic effects were associated with the upregulation of death receptor proteins and the downregulation of cellular Fas-associated death domain-like interleukin-1β-converting enzyme inhibitory protein and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein. Furthermore, the data revealed that bufalin and TRAIL activated caspase-3, −8 and −9 and subsequently increased the degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Taken altogether, the nontoxic doses of bufalin and TRAIL sensitized T24 cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Therefore, bufalin may provide an effective therapeutic strategy for the safe treatment of human bladder cancers that are resistant to TRAIL.


This paper explains what protection and access control is all about in a form that is general enough to make it possible to understand all the forms that we see an existing systems, and perhaps to see more clearly than we can now the relationships among them. These different mechanisms are mostly independent, and superficially they look almost completely different. However, it turns out that there is a fair amount of unity at the basic conceptual level in the way in which protection is done.


The Applied Statistics Education and Research Collaboration (ASEARC) aims to "involve joint development and delivery of subjects and courses. ... There would be e ciency benefits involved in sharing subjects. There would also be significant benefits in... students accessing subjects that would otherwise not be available to them, developed and presented by experts who would not usually be accessible. In parallel with the subject review the technological and administrative environment will also be assessed ... " A 300-level subject covering Sample Surveys and Experimental Design has now been taught jointly to the Universities of Wollongong and Newcastle for two years, first using video-conferencing and then the Access Grid. In both years the subject was delivered by the same two lecturers. We provide an initial review of the subject. We discuss its organisation, the use of the technology, changes in our teaching and administrative styles needed to cope with this mode of delivery, feedback from students, and our reaction to all of these. An overview of the subject results is given.


Background: We previously reported perfect specificity and low sensitivity of skin tests in proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-induced immediate hypersensitivity reactions in a prospective multicenter study. Here, in a retrospective study, we aimed to further evaluate the diagnostic workup procedures and characteristics of the patients with suspected PPI hypersensitivity. Methods: This national multicenter study was conducted as a retrospective chart review of patients with a history of PPI-induced immediate hypersensitivity reaction. A total of 60 patients were included. Results of diagnostic workup procedures (standardized skin-prick, intradermal, and oral-provocation tests with PPIs) and the characteristics of the patients were analyzed. Results: Lansoprazole was the most commonly suspected drug with 41 patients (68.3%), followed by pantoprazole in 12 patients (20.0%), esomeprazole in 6 (10.0%), rabeprazole in 4 (6.7%), and omeprazole in 1 (1.7%). Anaphylaxis (40 patients, 66.7%) was the most common clinical presentation followed by urticaria (17 patients, 28.3%). Diagnostic skin tests with the culprit PPI were positive in 13/26 patients (50.0%). Diagnostic oral-provocation tests were negative in 6/8 patients; 5 of these 6 patients had skin test results with the culprit PPI, and all were negative. Ten patients had at least 1 cross-reactivity. Extensive cross-reactivity (between >2 PPIs) was detected in 4 patients. Conclusions: Lansoprazole was the most frequently implicated drug and anaphylaxis was the most frequent manifestation of PPI-induced hypersensitivity reactions. Physicians should be aware of the possible cross-reactivity among PPIs; however, a safe, alternative PPI can usually be detected by a thorough drug allergy workup.


Ozone therapy is a modestly invasive procedure based on the regeneration capabilities of low ozone concentrations and used in medicine as an alternative/adjuvant treatment for different diseases. However, the cellular mechanisms accounting for the positive effects of mild ozonization are still largely unexplored. To this aim, in the present study the effects of low ozone concentrations (1 to 20 µg O3/mL O2) on structural and functional cell features have been investigated in vitro by using morphological, morphometrical, cytochemical and immunocytochemical techniques at bright field, fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. Cells exposed to pure O2 or air served as controls. The results demonstrated that the effects of ozone administration are dependent on gas concentration, and the cytoskeletal organization, mitochondrial activity and nuclear transcription may be differently affected. This suggests that, to ensure effective and permanent metabolic cell activation, ozone treatments should take into account the cytological and cytokinetic features of the different tissues.


This study is the first assessment of the perceived effectiveness of a parenting newsletter written specifically for fathers or father figures. The Father Times newsletter was distributed weekly for six weeks to all families of kindergarten children at a local school. One hundred seventy-seven fathers responded to a self-report questionnaire regarding usage of the parenting newsletter, perceptions of the newsletter as a resource, and impacts on fathers' attitudes, knowledge, behaviors, and father-child relationship quality. Two-thirds of fathers in the sample reported changing at least "somewhat" in all nine outcomes explored. Neither father age nor number of children in the home influenced fathering outcomes, but fathers with lower levels of education reported greater impacts from reading the newsletter. While the newsletter targeted fathers, 70% of mothers also read the newsletter suggesting that targeting fathers may be an effective way to continue to bring parent education to mothers. It further suggests that a fathering newsletter could be a useful tool for coparenting discussions. We conclude that directly reaching out to fathers and father figures can bridge the divide between men and parent education programs, pro-viding an effective alternative to traditional parent education programs.


This paper studies nepotism by government officials in an authoritarian regime. We collect a unique dataset of political promotions of officials in Vietnam and estimate their impact on public infrastructure in their hometowns. We find strong positive effects on several outcomes, some with lags, including roads to villages, marketplaces, clean water access, preschools, irrigation, and local radio broadcasters, as well as the hometown's propensity to benefit from the State's "poor commune support program". Nepotism is not limited to only top-level officials, pervasive even among those without direct authority over hometown budgets, stronger when the hometown chairperson's and promoted official's ages are closer, and where provincial leadership has more discretionary power in shaping policies, suggesting that nepotism works through informal channels based on specific political power and environment. Contrary to pork barrel politics in democratic parliaments, members of the Vietnamese legislative body have little influence on infrastructure investments for their hometowns. Given the top-down nature of political promotions, officials arguably do not help their tiny communes in exchange for political support. Consistent with that, officials favor only their home commune and ignore their home district, which could offer larger political support. These findings suggest that nepotism is motivated by officials' social preferences directed towards their related circles, and signals an additional form of corruption that may prevail in developing countries with low transparency.


Purpose
This paper aims to explore the requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives using requirements engineering techniques, identifying the optimal techniques configuration and serving as a management tool for knowledge engineers.

Design/methodology/approach
The method is selection attributes. Knowledge management enablers are characterized and mapped with the coverage capabilities of requirements engineering techniques, using the attributes of the elicited object and a box-plot analysis. The information is gathered from 280 references, 32 companies and 16 experts in requirements engineering.

Findings
Requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives are got optimally by combining interviews, use cases, scenarios, laddering and focus group techniques. The requirements of structure and processes are more complex to identify, while culture requirements are the best covered.

Research limitations/implications
Knowledge management enablers are analyzed according to the current studies and comprehension of engineering techniques.

Practical implications
Knowledge engineers need to consider the coverage capabilities of engineering techniques to design an optimal requirement identification and meet the objectives of organizational knowledge acquisition initiatives. Requirement engineers can improve the requirements identification by a staged selection process.

Social implications
The requirements of knowledge management initiatives that impact the community can be identified and traced to ensure the knowledge objectives. Requirements related to culture and people, like shared values, beliefs, and behaviors, are also considered.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study about formal requirement identification of knowledge management initiatives in the organizational context, providing the optimal configuration. A novel staged process is proposed for requirements engineering techniques selection, analyzing the enablers at component level and identifying the attributes associated with the elicited object.


The mechanisms of splenic control in the Antarctic fish, Pagothenia borchgrevinki, were investigated using isolated spleen and mesenteric artery strips in vitro and perfused spleen preparations in situ. Splenosomatic index (SSI) [100 x (spleen wt/body wt)] and hematocrit were determined in animals treated with atropine and phentolamine. Atropine injection increased the SSI from 0.60 +/- 0.06 to 0.89 +/- 0.04, whereas phentolamine decreased SSI to 0.45 +/- 0.03. In atropine-injected fish, hematocrit was 18.6 +/- 1.4 before and 6.6 +/- 0.8% 3 h after injection. Electrical stimulation of the splenic nerves produced biphasic flow responses. In 11 of 12 tested preparations, atropine (3 x 10(-7) to 10(-6) M) abolished the response, suggesting a major cholinergic component in the splenic innervation. Isolated spleen strip preparations contracted in response to carbachol, a response that was antagonized by atropine. The response to acetylcholine was markedly enhanced by the specific cholinesterase inhibitor BW-284c51. Catecholamine effects were somewhat irregular, and maximal contraction force with epinephrine and norepinephrine was 41 and 56%, respectively, of the carbachol response. The results suggest a mainly, if not solely, cholinergic autonomic control of the borch spleen, and a major function of the cholinergic innervation in the control of hematocrit in this species.


The responsible management of the rehabilitation and decommissioning of mine sites and the affected environs requires an effective regulatory, policy, and financial securities framework in place. While mining jurisdictions may have confidence in the adequacy of their policy and regulatory systems, financial security mechanisms (posted by mining companies in the form of unconditional performance bonds) are often also used to minimise negative mining-related outcomes. In theory, such mining securities ensure sufficient funds are available to a government to rehabilitate mine sites in the event operators fail to meet their mine rehabilitation and closure obligations. However, four major challenges are often encountered with these mechanisms: 1) They are commonly insufficient to cover appropriate mine closure activities and environmental remediation in the case of a default; 2) Bonds are tied to individual tenements and not damages outside of the designated zone; 3) Mining companies bear significant administrative costs associated with the creation and posting of bonds, and; 4) They do not solve the problem of historical abandoned mine sites. Conventional environmental bond mechanisms also create disincentives to mining company investment (particularly small companies) and little financial benefit for governments (benefits are largely captured by the banking sector). While Western Australia has long been considered as a sophisticated and advanced mining intensive jurisdiction, as of 2011 the state environmental bond system was estimated to cover less than 25% of the total obligation of mine site rehabilitation costs that may be required. These concerns led to the creation of an innovative policy approach: the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012. This paper discusses the background to the significant inefficiencies in the previous arrangements (which remain typical across the developed world), how they expose governments and mining companies to significant environmental obligations and financial challenges, and how they disincentivise mining activity. The paper also summarises how the Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) anticipates and underwrites the full closure costs for mine rehabilitation, how it is a cost-neutral source of funds for governments to remediate existing abandoned mines, and how it 'frees up' mining company capital. It is estimated that after only ten years the MRF will cover the full clean-up cost of even the largest mine in Western Australia should any complete default occur as a worst case scenario. The interest earned by the government on the principal MRF funds will also be available for rehabilitation and remediation of previously abandoned mines, additional environmental monitoring, and impact assessment and remediation research and development. The paper concludes with how such a system may be adaptable to the African context.


The fast progress of theranostic nanomedicine has catalyzed the generation of diverse inorganic nanosystems with intrinsic multifunctionalities for versatile biomedical applications. However, these inorganic biomaterials suffer from the critical issue of low biodegradation rates and subsequently long-term accumulation-induced biosafety risk. Furthermore, the components of some inorganic nanosystems are not the necessary elements/components of the body, unavoidably causing immune response and inducing the toxic potential. The emergence of ultrathin two-dimensional black phosphorus (B.P.) nanosheets as a robust platform promises the clinical translation and biomedical applications of inorganic nanosystems based on their intriguing nature of easy biodegradation and single phosphorus composition, as necessarily required in vivo. This review summarizes and discusses the very recent developments and paradigms of ultrathin B.P. nanosheets in versatile biomedical applications, ranging from design/fabrication strategies, theranostic nanomedicine (PDT/PTT/chemotherapy, synergistic therapy and fluorescence/photoacoustic-based bio-imaging) to biosensing applications. The unique biological behavior and toxicity issue of these B.P. nanosheets are also discussed to guarantee their safe clinical translation. It is highly expected that the elaborately designed/engineered B.P. nanosheets will emerge as one of the most representative biodegradable inorganic nanosystems for versatile and immense biomedical applications to benefit the health of human beings.


Collagenous colitis (CC) is characterised clinically by chronic watery diarrhoea and histopathologically by an increased submucosal collagen layer. An epidemiologic study of CC during 1984 to 1993 showed a female:male ratio of 9:1. The median age at diagnosis was 64 (28-78) years. The prevalence was 15.7/105 on December 31, 1993, and the mean annual incidence was 1.8/1()5 inhabitants. Age specific incidence showed a peak of 14.6/105 in females 70-79 years old, which approaches the incidence for ulcerative colitis in the same age group. Faecal stream diversion in 9 patients with severe, medically intractable CC induced histologic and clinical remission. This observation indicates that a noxious agent in the faecal stream constitutes an etiologic factor in CC. Faecal stream diversimi offers a treatment alternative in patients with severe CC who do not respond to medical treatment. Sera from 38 patients with CC and matched controls were analysed for specific autoantibodies, immunoglobulins and complement. The mean value of I gM was significantly increased in patients; 2.5 g!L compared to 1.4 gn ... in controls (p=0.002). ANA and pANCA occurred more frequently in patients, although the difference did not reach statistical significance. The result.;; of all other immunoglobulins, complement factors, and specific antiboctles were similar in patients and controls. The findingsof an increased IgM level in patients, might give some support to a hypothesis of autoimmunity in CC. The ANA- and pANCA positive patients could constitute a subpopulation among CC patients. Procollagen III propeptide (P-III-NP) is a product of collagen Ill metabolism. No significant difference between the serum level of P-III-NP in 38 patients (3.8±2.0 P-g!L) and 38 matched controls (3.7±1.3 ~g!L) was found, and P-III-NP did not correlate to clinical activity. There was a significant correlation, however, between P-III-NP and age in both patients and controls. The study showed that colonoscopy is still required to diagnose CC and cam~-9t be replaced, at present, by a simple blood test. A register of patients with CC was set up at the Orebro Medical Center Hospital. Twenty five Swedish hospitals contributed with patient records to this register which comprised of data from 163 patients. Data showed that CC usually followed a chronic intermittent benign course. The onset was sudden in up to 42% of the patients. The most common symptoms were chronic watery diarrhoea, sometimes nocturnal, abdominal pain and weight loss. Routine laboratory data were most often normaL Evaluation of the treatment showed a response rate of 59% for sulphasalazine, and 40% respectively SO% for olsalazine and mesalazine. Prednisolone was effective in about 80% of the patients, but the required dosage was often high, and the effect not sustained after withdrawal. Metronidazole, erythromycin and penicillin had response rates from 55% to 100%. Cholestyramine and loperamide offer treatmentalternatives of which about two thirds of the patients benefit.


Elderly care is one of the more high profile contemporary issues that confronts care professionals, the Government and its citizens. Central to these are concern how care is best regulated and the cost effectiveness of decisions to cut care delivery across the public and private sectors. Defining what constitutes good care delivery is a continuing challenge to health care managers and staff, as the benchmark is in constant flux due to advances in modern medicine and the progression of new and dangerous ill-health conditions. Culture, personal values and expectation changes from generation to generation also blur the definition of what constitutes good care. This thesis offers a contemporary analysis of care and examines how regulatory systems have been too ad hoc and often retrospective; leading to deficiencies in the pro-activity and holistic response elderly care requires to tackle its issues. This is one of the most rapidly evolving areas of regulation in a period of intense media attention and public concern over elderly care. A considerable degree of permanence can be identified towards the action plan of the Government in engaging a variety of reactionary regulatory strategies.

In the later analysis in the thesis, it is suggested that additional specialist and dedicated regulation may still prove to be necessary to secure care quality and undertake preventative measures against the abuse of this vulnerable section of the community. Public concern and medical interest continues to reveal cases of severe neglect of the elderly in many private care homes. The Care Quality Commission, the main regulator since 2009, undertakes inspections and reports on care quality, but doubts remain as to how effective the measures in place guard the quality of care in practice. The second Francis Report on the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation (5th February 2013) highlighted many failings in the National Health Service and showed how the most vulnerable and elderly to be particularly at risk. Reports of poor care of the elderly continue to confirm that stricter monitoring and inspections are needed.

The aims and objectives of this thesis, are to understand how elderly care regulation has addressed systemic regulatory failures and provides a case study of lessons learnt from past omissions and mistakes. At the time of writing, the Care Quality Commission has undertaken tougher inspection regimes by currently adopting a system of special measures, and new regulations are being considered. Over its approximately six years of activity since it 'plugged a regulatory hole' it's now progressively much improved inspectorate function has even just embraced 'whistle-blowing' as part of its 'work in progress' profile. There is continued pressure on the regulator to meet expectations of ensuring high quality care, and it is also a response to the changing role of care homes; reflecting the diverse range of care and the ageing population.

This thesis provides an analysis of how elderly care has evolved over many centuries and varied in its standards of delivery. Defining appropriate levels for care standards is one approach, adopting a holistic approach is another, but the culture of care is one that needs to be fostered through family members who are often engaged in the delivery of elderly care, as well as the community at large. Developing care through purely legal mechanisms, such as the setting of care standards has its limitations, but will undoubtedly also feature as part of any perceived solution. There are signs that the changing culture in care homes and those that provide care, is a recent and most welcome shift in regulatory goals and objectives. It is argued that this change reflects positively on the current care system which has been driven by some better education of care workers and greater empathy with the elderly; an empathy which is driven by the growing reality with every new generation that most of us will live well into our elderly years due to the advancement of modern medicine.

Reflected also is increased lack of trust in people, where in the past assumptions about care delivery standards by individuals were relied upon instead, and how to engage with the continuous re-design of oversight regulatory structures issues of legitimacy and increasing public trust.

The Care Quality Commission is developing its own identity and offers a form of social regulation that is set apart from the main economic regulators. There are many lessons which can be learnt when working from within the National Health Service through the use of internal networks, access to current government policy and funding arrangements. Despite strong ministerial engagement in this area, the Care Quality Commission has been able to maintain its own voice and, in recent months, has developed its expertise to address public concerns about elderly care. Despite this, the statistics show that at least one third of care homes are regarded as less than satisfactory, suggesting that much work remains to be undertaken. Co-ordinating clinical and social care of the elderly is part of patient safety. It also connects with regulating the professional standards of health and social care professionals.


Bank scope economies have been derived from either the standard or generalized (Box-Cox) multiproduct translog (or other logarithmic) functional form. Reported results have ranged from strong economies to diseconomies and are far from conclusive. The problem is functional form. An alternative composite form is shown to yield stable SCOPE results both at the usual point of evaluation and for points associated with quasi-specialized production (QSCOPE). Unstable results are obtained for the other forms. Scope economies are shown to exist for large U.S. banks in 1988 and to depend on the number of banking outputs specified. The scope estimates are also separated into their two sources - fixed-cost and cost-complementarity effects.


The purpose of this study is to examine the ability of students in an Introduction to American Government class to make decisions and participate in politics. Throughout simulations designed to emulate Congress, students create legislation, attempt to gain support for it, and pass new laws dealing with four separate topics during the semester; my focus is, specifically, on the issue of prayer in public schools. Often, it seemed that students were conforming to the beliefs of the friends they had made in the class instead of supporting and promoting their own beliefs. While dissent was encouraged and some students were being persuaded by their classmates, some appeared to be completely abandoning their opinions so that they would not stand out from the group. By the end of the semester, students were changing their opinions more in the simulations than at the beginning and more readily admitting that it was for reasons other than legitimate persuasion. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Political Science First Advisor Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein Second Advisor Dr. Edward Sidlow


Thin films based upon organic materials are at the heart of much of the revolution in modern technology, from advanced electronics, to optics to sensors to biomedical engineering. This volume in the "Materials Characterization" series introduces the major common types of analysis used in characterizing of thin films and the various appropriate characterization technologies for each. Materials such as Langmuir-Blodgett films and self-assembled monolayers are first introduced, followed by analysis of surface properties and the various characterization technologies used for such. Readers will find detailed information on: various spectroscopic approaches to characterization of organic thin films, including infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy X-Ray diffraction techniques, High Resolution EELS studies, and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy; concise summaries of major characterization technologies for organic thin films, including Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Dynamic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).


When the first American satellite, Explorer I, was launched into space in 1958 it inadvertently discovered one the most significant features of our local space environment: the Van Allen Radiation Belts. This region contains highly energetic protons and electrons from the sun which become trapped in the Earth's magnetic field. These particles are extremely hazardous for spacecraft, causing damage to electronics and endangering astronauts on the International Space Station. Certain natural or artificial events, such as solar coronal mass ejections or high-altitude nuclear explosions, can enhance the radiation belts and decrease satellite lifetimes by orders of magnitude. Therefore, there is a strong motivation to develop a means by which to deplete the radiation and protect our assets in space from this threat. We present one promising remediation mechanism based on the interactions between these particles and very-low-frequency electromagnetic waves known as whistlers. One important property of whistler waves is that they can be guided along narrow inhomogeneities of plasma density called ducts. We have analyzed several events of ducted whistlers observed by the Van Allen Probes satellites and reproduce them with numerical simulations based on whistler theory. We demonstrate quantitative agreement between our simulations and the observations, indicating that our model successfully explains the existing satellite observations and can be used to predict the results from future experiments of launching whistler waves into the radiation belts from ground stations and space-based transmitters.


Ticket assignment/dispatch is a crucial part of service delivery business with lot of scope for automation and optimization. In this paper, we present an end-to-end automated helpdesk email ticket assignment system, which is also offered as a service. The objective of the system is to determine the nature of the problem mentioned in an incoming email ticket and then automatically dispatch it to an appropriate resolver group (or team) for resolution.The proposed system uses an ensemble classifier augmented with a configurable rule engine. While design of a classifier that is accurate is one of the main challenges, we also need to address the need of designing a system that is robust and adaptive to changing business needs. We discuss some of the main design challenges associated with email ticket assignment automation and how we solve them. The design decisions for our system are driven by high accuracy, coverage, business continuity, scalability and optimal usage of computational resources.Our system has been deployed in production of three major service providers and currently assigning over 90,000 emails per month, on an average, with an accuracy close to 90% and covering at least 90% of email tickets. This translates to achieving human-level accuracy and results in a net saving of more than 50000 man-hours of effort per annum. Till date, our deployed system has already served more than 700,000 tickets in production.