Since the discovery of dopamine as a neurotransmitter in the late 1950s, schizophrenia has been associated with changes in the dopaminergic system. However, the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia cannot explain all the symptoms associated with this disorder. Therefore, research has also focused on the role of other neurotransmitter systems, including glutamate, g-aminobutyric acid, serotonin, and acetylcholine (ACh) in schizophrenia.


The effects of winter cover crops on root disease and growth of corn and soybeans are poorly understood. A 3-year field experiment investigated the effect of winter cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) and winter camelina (Camelina sativa [L.] Crantz), used either in all three years or in rotation with each other, on corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max. [L.] Merr.) growth, root disease, and yield. Corn following a cover crop of camelina had reduced root disease, a lower Pythium population in seedling roots, and greater growth and yields compared with corn following a rye cover crop. Camelina and rye cover crops before soybean had either a positive or no effect on soybean growth and development, root disease, and yield. Moreover, Pythium clade B populations were greater in corn seedlings after a rye cover crop compared with those following a camelina cover crop, whereas clade F populations were greater on soybean seedlings following a camelina cover crop compared with seedlings following a rye cover crop. A winter camelina cover crop grown before corn had less-negative effects on corn seedling growth, root disease, and final yield than a winter rye cover crop before corn. Neither cover crop had negative effects on soybean, and the cover crop in the preceding spring had no measurable effects on either corn or soybean.


The current study aims to investigate how Iranian EFL students make use of compliments in Persian and English. To that end, 50 students majoring in English as a foreign language from Isfahan and Tehran, and Sheikhbahaee universities were asked to respond to a Discourse Completion Test consisting of six situations in both English and Persian. They were asked to put themselves in those situations and respond to the compliments made on them. The results of the study showed that in addition to pre-existing categories of compliment responses, Iranians made use of other strategies not included in the pre-existing categories of compliments. Furthermore, in both English and Persian languages, students made use of compliments in the same order: accept, evade and reject strategies. The results of this study could add to crosscultural findings, differences or similarities regarding compliments as a beneficial way of studying speech acts.


The RAILPAG (Railway Project Appraisal Guidelines) aim at providing a common framework for the appraisal of railway projects across the EU. They are the result of a similar harmonisation exercise as that carried out under TINA (Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment) for transport projects in general in the Accession countries in 1999. The TINA Guidelines were adopted by the UN-ECE1 in 2003. The guidelines have been prepared following an initiative of the European Investment Bank. The EIB has received financial support from the European Commission (DGTREN) and technical support from experts representing DGTREN, other international financial institutions (IFIs) and the key associations of the rail industry, integrated in a Steering Committee. This report has mainly been carried out by the services of the EIB and has benefitted from some background work carried out by CENIT, Center for Innovation in Transport of the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, and Dr. Nils Bruzelius. This report is intended to be the first step towards a comprehensive harmonised methodology for appraisal of rail investments in the EU and, eventually, in countries of the European Neighbourhood
area. To further develop this framework, the EIB will continue to work closely with the European Commission, the other institutions that have participated in this exercise and other interested parties. EIB will maintain an internet site (www.railpag.com) where updated versions of the Guidelines and
new appraisal tools as well as other relevant documents, on-going research and comments will be posted. The objective is to achieve, in the medium term, a consensus on a harmonised detailed appraisal procedure that would be used by project promoters to present their projects to the European
Commission and to the IFIs for funding and, eventually, by planning services of public administration, rail infrastructure managers, rail companies and their consultants as a continuously updated reference to guide their appraisal work.


Using longitudinal data on fathers and their children, this study compares the extent of intergenerational mobility in Germany and the United States and introduces an estimation strategy that corrects estimates of intergenerational earnings elasticities for a possible lifecycle bias. In contrast to previous studies, we find that the extent of intergenerational mobility is more limited in the US than in Germany. Furthermore, while the errors-in-variables problems have been dealt with extensively in the literature, the inconsistencies in standard mobility measures due to lifecycle effects have attracted much less attention. The present paper proposes an estimation method that corrects for such inconsistencies. The extent of this lifecycle bias is found to be strong in Germany but only modest in the US.


Indian haute couture is conquering catwalks worldwide. For many, Indian fashion conjures multi-colored saris and gold embroidery, but the designers featured in this volume are turning that cliche on its head by creating global styles without losing sight of tradition. This book documents the scene, with an in-depth look at designers as diverse as Fightercock (a collaboration between Abhishek Gupta and Nandita Basu, who claim on one of their t-shirts that "The Revolution must wear Fightercock"), AtpuG varuaG (who won Breakthrough Designer of the Year at the MTV and Zoom Style Awards in 2006) and Kavita Bharthia (who is known for both Indian and Western styles, impeccably finished on handlooms, which incorporate cottons and silks, scarves, stoles and knits). Other featured designers include Gayatri Khanna, Anamika Khanna, Small Shop, Anuj Sharma, Ashish N Soni, Ayesha Depala, CUE, Deepika Govind, Drashta Sarvaiya, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Manish Arora, Nachiket Barve, Namrata Joshipura, Nimita Rathod, Nitin Bal Chauhan, Prashant Verma, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Ranna Gill, My Village, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Savio Jon, Shantanu & Nikhil, Shantanu Goenka, Swapnil Shinde, Varun Bahl, Wendell Rodricks and Bounipun. "Contemporary Indian Fashion" offers a host of experimental techniques for textiles, pattern cutting and sculptural draping, as well as the mixing of natural and synthetic fibers and unlikely juxtapositions such as jersey or chiffon with leather.


P 2, 3,4 PDepartment Of Civil Engineering, SNS College of Engineering Abstract: Electronic waste is an emerging issue posing serious pollution problems to the human and the environment. The disposal of which is becoming a challenging problem. For solving the disposal of large amount of E-waste material, reuse of E-waste in concrete industry is considered as the most feasible application. Due to increase in cost of normal coarse aggregate it has forced the civil engineers to find out suitable alternatives to it. E-waste is used as one such alternative for coarse aggregate. Owing to scarcity of coarse aggregate for the preparation of concrete, partial addition of E-waste with coarse aggregate was attempted. The work was conducted on M25 grade mix. The addition of coarse aggregate with E-waste in the range of 0%, 32%, 34%, 36%, and 38%. Finally the mechanical properties and durability of the concrete mix specimens obtained from the addition of these materials is compared with control concrete mix. The test results showed that a significant improvement in compressive strength was achieved in the E-waste concrete compared to conventional concrete and can be used effectively in concrete. The reuse of Ewaste results in waste reduction and resources conservation.


Extracted from text ... IN OUR July issue we warned that
exporters should sit up and take
note of SARS's VAT Interpretation
Note 30, which set out
the documentary proof that is
acceptable in instances where
goods are consigned or delivered
to a recipient at an address in an
export country in terms of section
11(l)(a) of the VAT Act.
This Interpretation Note (IN)
became effective from 1 April
2005.
However, Deloitte has advised
us that SARS has now released
Draft VAT Interpretation Note 30,
Issue 2, which is intended to
replace the original note once
finalised.
Important issues to note, says
Deloitte, ..


Six cases of aneurysm and thrombosis of the ulnar artery in the hand occurred. Based on a review of the clinical history and examination, surgical findings, and pathology, it appears that the initiating event in the development of aneurysms and thromboses of the ulnar artery was intimal injury associated with trauma. In addition to a description of the pathophysiology, three clinical groups are defined; hypothenar mass with or without Raynaud's phenomena, and Raynaud's phenomena without hypothenar mass. A positive Allen's test and absence of ulnar nerve palsy were important diagnostic features. Based on the clinical and pathophysiological findings, surgical excision of the lesion is considered to be the preferred method of treatment.


Shot noise processes are introduced to model aggregated parasitic count data arising from clumped superinfections coupled with different decay mechanisms of the ingested parasite clumps. The corresponding likelihood functions are derived by using Laplace transforms. The models are fitted to samples with Echinococcus granulosus parasites in dogs from Kazakhstan, Tunisia and China. It is shown that parameter estimates take plausible values and that the decay dynamics is comparable in the three samples. The results indicate that dogs cease to be infectious after about 8 months, and that infections of dogs occur at a low rate, but the ingested parasite load per clump is in the thousands.


In this article, I make an argument that the State including the Government of India is empowered by the Constitution of India to decide which classes qualify as "backward classes" for affirmative action measures under the constitution. The Supreme Court of India had directed the government to include the transgender population as a backward class and to extend to them affirmative action measures such as reservation in public appointments and university admissions. In response, the Union has filed a clarification petition stating that it is incompetent to suo motu include the transgender population as a backward class and that it can only do so upon the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes. This article is a response to the Union's clarification petition and it seeks to show that constitutionally, the competence to add a community to the backward class lies with the State authorities such as the Government of India and any suggestion to the contrary is an incorrect reading of the constitution. As this clarification petition is still pending in court, this article seeks to inform the view taken on this subject by both, the legal system and scholars.


OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to determine whether there are gender differences in the effect of exposure to work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors on low back, neck, shoulder, or hand-arm symptoms and related sickness absence.

METHODS
Data of a prospective cohort (study on musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism stress and health) with a follow-up period of three years were used. Questionnaires were used to assess exposure to risk factors and musculoskeletal symptoms. Sickness absence was registered continuously. Female-to-male gender ratios (GR) were calculated to determine whether there were any differences in the effect. A GR value >1.33 or <0.75 was regarded as relevant.

RESULTS
Except for the effect of bending the wrist and the neck backwards (GR 1.52-2.55), men generally had a higher risk of symptoms (GR range 0.50-0.68) with equal exposure. For sickness absence, a GR value of >1.33 was found for twisting the upper body, working in uncomfortable postures, twisting the wrist, bending the neck backwards, and coworker and supervisor support (GR range 1.66-2.63). For driving vehicles, hand-arm vibration, squeezing, working above shoulder level or below knee level, reaching, twisting the neck, job demands, and skill discretion, the GR value was <0.75. For job satisfaction, a GR value of 0.50 was found for absence due to back symptoms, while the GR value was 1.78 for sickness absence due to neck, shoulder, or hand-arm symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS
Although women are expected to be more vulnerable to exposure to work-related risk factors, the results of this study show that, in many cases, men are more vulnerable. This study could not explain the gender difference in musculoskeletal symptoms among workers.


Background: Reishi ( Ganoderma lucidum ) is a well-known and popular edible mushroom eaten as vegetables all over the world. It has been used as alternative medicine for long years in China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and in eastern Russia. It is reported to exhibit a number of medicinal properties including antitumor, antioxidant, immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and hypoglycemic activities due to the presence of bioactive polysaccharide. Glucocorticoids, prescribed for the treatment of arthritis to protect inflammation and reduce pain, can induce hyperglycemia or aggravate the hyperglycemic condition reaching to very high glucose levels in diabetic patients. However, no report has been published for its activity on glucocorticoid-induced diabetes. Objective: To investigate the effect of Ganoderma lucidum on alloxan- and glucocorticoid- induced diabetes in Long - Evans rats. Methods: Alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered to Long-Evans rats as a single dose. The same volume of normal saline was injected to control rats. Three days after alloxan injection, rats with plasma glucose levels higher than 12 mmoL /L were considered as diabetic and they were included in the study. Reishi mushroom was collected from the Mushroom Development Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, where it was identified by a Taxonomist. Petroleum ether extract (PEE) Methanol extract (ME) were prepared by maceration and distillation techniques. The extracts were orally administered once in a day at doses of 200, 400, 600 and 800 mg/kg, respectively for 7 days. Metformin (150 mg/kg) was orally administered as a standard antidiabetic drug. Glucose levels were measured at 0 and 7th days of treatment. The rats were allowed to rest for 1 week without treatment. The animals were again injected with dexamethasone (2 mg/kg) through intra-muscular route for 3 days and glucose levels were monitored regularly. Rats were then further treated with PEE and ME and metformin for another 7 days and glucose levels were determined at 0 and 7th days of treatment. Results: The PEE and ME of Reishi mushroom dose-dependently reduced the plasma glucose levels in alloxan-and steroid-induced fasting diabetic rats. The maximum reduction of fasting plasma glucose levels observed by PEE (800 mg/kg) and ME (800 mg/kg) were 55.57% and 36.01% in alloxan-induced and 51.41% and 32.02% in steroid-induced diabetic rats, respectively. Whereas, metformin (150 mg/kg) resulted in the diminution of fasting blood glucose levels by 60.02 and 51.12% in the alloxan- induced and steroid-induced diabetic rats, respectively. Both the PEE (800 mg/kg) and ME (800 mg/kg) significantly   augmented plasma insulin levels (***P < 0.001 and **P < 0.01) and reduced HbA1c (**P < 0.01 and *P < 0.05) in alloxan-and steroid-induced diabetic rats. Besides, treatment of diabetic rats with PEE (800 mg/kg) and ME (800 mg/kg) controlled the 2-h post prandial elevated glucose levels in blood plasma. The same dose of the extracts also significantly reduced the levels of total cholesterol (TC) (***P < 0.001 and ***P < 0.01), triglyceride (TG) (***P < 0.001 and **P < 0.01) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) (***P < 0.001 and ***P < 0.001), as well as increased the level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) (**P < 0.01 and **P < 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that edible mushrooms-Reishi has antihyperglycemic, insulin-sensitivity, and hyperlipidaemic activity against both alloxan- and corticosteroid-induced diabetes rats. The bioactive chemicals responsible for those activities are most probably the polysaccharides available in the mushroom. Thus, usage of Reishi mushrooms as vegetables or as extract will be beneficial for the management of diabetes. Keywords: Antihyperglycemic, antidiabetic, insulin-sensitizer, anti-hyperlipidemic, Gano mushroom, Reishi mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum , alloxan-induced diabetes, Steroid induced diabetes, Glycated haemolgobin (HbA1c), Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), Hyperlipidemia


Hydrogen energy offers great promise as an energy alternative. Hydrogen technologies can reduce and eliminate the release of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel combustion, the main cause of global warming. One of the main challenges is hydrogen storage. Storing hydrogen in the solid-state hydride form holds a volumetric advantage over compressed and liquid hydrogen states. Solid hydrogen storage systems also have features of low-pressure operation, compactness, safety, tailorable delivery pressure, excellent absorption /desorption kinetics, modular design for easy scalability, and long cycle life. In this paper, solid hydrogen storage systems (such as portable power canisters, lightweight fiber wrapped vessels, and aluminum tubular vessels, developed by Texaco Ovonic Hydrogen Systems LLC) will be discussed. A system of four canisters each storing approximately 80 grams of reversible hydrogen is shown to run a 1 kW PEM fuel cell for more than 247 minutes at full power. Canisters show no plastic deformation after more than 500 charge/discharge cycles. The measured strain on canister surfaces indicates that DOT stress limits are not exceeded. The canisters are in the early commercialization stage for uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and auxiliary power unit (APU) applications. A lightweight fiber-wrapped vessel engineered with metal hydride and internal heat exchanger is being developed for onboard applications. At the system level, the vessel has a volumetric energy density of 50 grams of hydrogen per liter and a gravimetric density of 1.6 wt.%. The vessel is capable of storing 3 kg of hydrogen with a fast refueling capability. Ninety percent of the storable hydrogen can be refueled in 10 minutes at 1500 psig. The vessel can easily release the hydrogen at a rate of 350 slpm at 70°C. Aluminum tubular vessels are being designed and tested for bulk storage and infrastructure applications including stationary power, hydrogen shipment and hydrogen service stations. The tubular vessel dimensions may be designed for specific applications. For example, a tubular vessel 6 inches in diameter and 62 inches in length can store up to 1 kg of hydrogen.


Explosive mixtures have found widespread use in both military applications and as components of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Knowledge of how the components of these formulations interact with each other will benefit both military and anti-terrorism organizations. Since there are significant differences in the explosive properties desired by the military verses those involved in illicit activities, it is important to study both military and improvised formulations. The use of improvised explosive devices by terrorist organizations is a significant problem that has resulted in destruction of property and loss of both military and civilian lives in countries throughout the world. There are many different materials that can be used to make homemade explosives (HMEs), but they are often combinations of a fuel and an oxidizer. These materials are popular because they are generally readily available due to their use in various industrial and household processes. Knowledge of which fuel-oxidizer combinations are potentially dangerous can help anti-terrorist organizations focus resources on detecting potential threats and preventing the use of potential HME components. In the first manuscript, titled "Fueloxidizer Mixtures: Their Stabilities and Burn Characteristics", various fuel/oxidizer combinations were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetric analysis (SDT). It was found that the reaction between the fuel and the oxidizer was generally triggered by a thermal event such as a melt, phase change, or decomposition. When the fuel used was a polyalcohol or sulfur, the triggering event was often the melt of the fuel, which usually occurred at a lower temperature than that of the oxidizer. However, three of the oxidizers, potassium nitrate, potassium perchlorate, and ammonium perchlorate, generally did not react until they underwent a phase change or began to decompose, and as a result, reactions with these oxidizers tended to occur at much higher temperatures. Reactions with hydrocarbon fuels containing fewer or no alcohol groups also tended to occur at higher temperatures. Regardless of the fuel used, the mixtures containing potassium chlorate, ammonium perchlorate and ammonium nitrate generally released the greatest amount of heat, around 2000 J/g, while mixtures containing potassium dichromate were the least energetic, generally releasing less than 200 J/g. For some formulations, reactions did not occur until temperatures higher than 500°C. In order to reach higher temperatures, it was necessary to use unsealed samples in the SDT rather than the sealed capillaries used in the DSC. It was noted that when samples were not in sealed capillaries, other processes such as sublimation effectively competed with the exothermic reactions experienced by the formulations. As a result, the heat release values obtained by SDT for some formulations were artificially low. The second manuscript "Thermal Stability Studies on IMX-101 (Dinitroanisole/Nitroguanidine/NTO)" examines the interactions among the components of an insensitive munitions formulation, IMX-101, which has been developed and qualified for use as a replacement for TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene). IMX-101 contains the energetic materials 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), nitroguanidine (NQ), and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO). DNAN is a nitroarene that is very similar in structure to TNT, but with only two nitro groups, and with an anisole functional group in place of the methyl group in TNT. 2,4-Dinitrotoluene (DNT), which also contains only two nitro groups, is even more similar to TNT, because it is a toluene rather than an anisole. DSC and isothermal analyses were used to compare DNAN and DNT, to see if increased thermal stability made the use of DNAN more appealing than DNT in IMX-101 and other insensitive munitions formulations. The isothermal studies showed that neat DNAN was more stable than neat DNT. However, when mixed with either or both of the other components of the IMX-101 formulation, the thermal stability of both DNAN and DNT was decreased, with a greater impact on DNAN. The thermal decomposition of both DNAN and DNT was significantly accelerated by the presence of NQ. NTO also enhanced the decomposition of both nitroarenes, but this compound had a significantly greater impact on DNAN than on DNT. An examination of the decomposition products from the various mixtures showed that 2,4-dinitroaniline (DNA) was produced from the decomposition of both DNAN and DNT with either of the two additives; DNA was not observed during the neat decomposition of either nitroarene. It was thought that ammonia, which has been detected in either gaseous form or as ammonium ions during decomposition studies on both NQ and NTO, might be one cause of the decreased stability imparted to the nitroarenes by the two additives. Heating DNAN and DNT in the presence of ammonia generated from ammonium carbonate produced dinitroaniline and had an accelerating effect on the decomposition of the two nitroarenes, with the greater impact, both in the acceleration level and the amount of dinitroaniline produced, on DNAN.


The stem cells can be considered as the miracle of creation, because, they are a major reservoir of the bioactive factors, molecules and cells. These reservoir cells play a major role in development and growth of the tissues and organs. Regardless of the differences in differentiation capacity of embryonic and adult stem cells, both the cells are rich sources of stem cells with therapeutic application. Moreover, manipulation of adult stem cells and reprogramming or reverting embryonic-like state cells can be considered as additional tools for stem cell applications. Stem cells from different sources with different potential (plasticity) may be used to obtain ideal cell lineage with a defined function. Bone marrow, embryo and cord blood are the major stem cell sources which are believed to act systemically for regeneration of tissues and organs in an organism. In addition to embryonic and adult stem cells, there are other sources such as skin, which is a good source of adult stem cells involved in local repair and regeneration of epidermal and dermal tissues (1). Embryonic stem cells (ES): ES cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst. The pluripotency, and their ability to replicate indefinitely are two distinctive properties of the ES. ES cells are readily differentiated into primary germ layers, viz., ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. Pluripotency distinguishes ES cells from adult stem cells which are multipotent cells with the capacity to produce limited number of cell types (2). The application of pluripotent stem cells in treatment of blood and immune-system related genetic disorders such as; juvenile diabetes; Parkinson's; blindness, spinal cord injuries and cancers is well established. The transplantation of oligodendrocytes derived from human ES cells into spinal cord-injured individuals was the world's first human ES cell human trial approved by FDA. The diversity of the stem cells present in different tissues implies that the body reserves all the cell types with stemness properties to guarantee important physiological processes and regeneration of organs. Placental stem cells: The placenta has become useful source of stem cells that offer advantages in terms of proliferation and plasticity when compared with adult cells (3). The epithelia, haematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells are major stem cells isolated from the placenta. Adult stem cells: The pluripotency of adult stem cells isolated from different tissues was approved by showing their differentiation potential into cell types from different germ layers. For example, neural stem cells derived from ectoderm can differentiate into ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Bone marrow: Bone marrow is a rich source of two important adult stem cell lineages: Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) and Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs). Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs); HSCs can give rise to all the blood cell types. The HSCs with self-renewal capacity can differentiate into different types of blood cells, including those involved in the human immune system. There are three types of HSC transplants; syngeneic, autologous, and allogeneic transplants. Human bone marrow grafting is currently considered as significant progress in HSCs therapy. HSCs are also applied in reconstitution of damaged hematopoietic cells and restoring the immune system following chemotherapy in certain diseases. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs): There are different sources of MSCs and their isolation is relatively easy. The placenta, adipose tissue (4), lung, bone marrow and blood, Wharton's jelly from the umbilical cord, dental pulp and periodontal ligament are often used to isolate MSCs. These cells can be differentiated into various cell lineages and considering their rapid proliferation, multipotency and immunomodulatory properties they are widely used for treatment of various diseases. So far several cell types have been differentiated from MSCs. Mammary stem cells: These cells provide the source of cells for growth of the mammary gland during puberty and gestation. These cells have been isolated from human and mouse tissue as well as from cell lines originated from the mammary gland that can give rise to both the luminal and myoepithelial cell types of the gland. Neural stem cells: The presence of stem cells in the mature animal brain tissue indicates that during the neurogenesis process generation of new neurons continues into adulthood. The subventricular zone, which lines the lateral ventricles, and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation are two major regions of the brain comprising adult neurogenesis. The generation of new neurons in the hippocampus is well established but under certain conditions such as tissue injuries in ischemia, neurogenesis can be induced in other regions in the brain. Testicular cells or spermatogonial progenitor cells: These multipotent stem cells have been derived from spermatogonial progenitor cells found in the testicles. Also multipotent stem cells have been derived from germ cells found in testicles which are known as Human Adult Germline Stem Cells (GSCs). The stem cells and the cells derived from them are capable of directly contribute to organ and tissue repair and regeneration. Intestinal stem cells, olfactory adult stem cells and hair follicles cells are other sources which have been used to isolate different stem cells. The advantage of these cells is that they can be harvested with ease from the patients. Perhaps, with the advancements made in the stem cell technologies, the scientists are becoming more optimistic about the therapeutic potential and safety of the stem cell therapy. The existence of stem cells in different tissues, with proliferation and differentiation capacity indicates that activation of these cells is regulated via pathways linked to development, repair and regeneration. However despite the advancements made in stem cell differentiation, no studies have succeeded in generating a functional organ such as a human liver. The very recent breakthrough in generation of a three-dimensional vascularized and functional human liver from human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by transplantation liver buds made in vitro-grown organ buds is promising for chronic liver diseases (5). Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: The implication of this study is to know recent developments in the stem cell technology and applications. To briefly describe the importance of different types of stem cells with their differentiation potential in cell therapy and regeneration medicine. Authors' Contribution: All the manuscript prepared by the author. Financial Disclosure: The author declares no competing financial interests.


The evolution of supernova remnants (SNRs) represents a useful and natural laboratory for gasdynamics studies. In this paper the results of several hydrodynamical simulations of the propagation and early phases of interaction of two SNRs embedded in a homogeneous interstellar environment are shown. In particular, the hydrodynamic evolution and collision of twin SNRs during their self-similar stage has been simulated using a two-dimensional Lagrangian hydrocode. In addition, the results of a detailed simulation that attempts to set the adequate conditions to reproduce the same phenomenon through laser ablation of two plastic plugs at the laboratory scale are presented. These results indicate that both large-scale and small-scale simulations display several common features that can be used to design an experiment aimed to validate the hydrodynamical codes. Of particular interest are the structures found around the juncture of the two colliding shells produced by the interaction of the remnants.


DAN GRAHAM'S VIDEO-INSTALLATIONS OF THE 1970S Michael Jake Shaffer, M.A. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010 Director: Dr. Eric Garberson, Associate Professor, Department of Art History This dissertation examines the video-installations created by American artist Dan Graham in the 1970s. It investigates the artist's relationship to Minimalism by analyzing themes Graham highlights in his own writings and in interviews. In particular, I explore how the artist's understanding of Herbert Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, and R.D. Laing informed his post-Minimalist work and how concepts gleaned from these sources are manifest in his video-installations. Also undertaken are discussions of the artist's interest in aestheticized play, the just-past present, the debate between Behaviourism and phenomenology, surveillance, and Modern architecture. In addition, I investigate Graham's position in Conceptual art, use of site-specificity, and the practice of institutional critique. At the outset, I provide an in-depth analysis of two of Graham's magazine pieces, Schema (March 1966) and Homes For America, that ties together the artist's reading of Marcuse and his rejection of Minimalist phenomenology. Next, I give an account of the artist's connection to early video art and his use of time-delay in works such as Present Continuous Past(s) and Two Viewing Rooms as a means to highlight the just-past present. Finally, I examine Graham's architectural video-installations Yesterday/Today, Video Piece for Showcase Windows in a Shopping Arcade, and Video Piece for Two Glass Office Buildings as instances of site-specific art and as part of the artist's practice of institutional critique. I also explore his references to the notions of art-as-window and art-as-mirror as an expansion of his engagement with Minimalism. Throughout, my discussion includes comparisons between Graham's work and that of other artists like Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, and Hans Haacke. In sum, this study offers an expanded understanding of how Graham employed video and installation in his art as a means to move beyond Minimalism and to interrogate contemporary American society.


This paper addresses the intergeneration transmission of education and investigates the extent to which early school leaving (at age 16) may be due to variations in permanent income, parental education levels, and shocks to income at this age. Least squares estimation reveals conventional results stronger effects of maternal education than paternal, and stronger effects on sons than daughters. We find that the education effects remain significant even when household income is included. Moreover, decomposing the income when the child is 16 between a permanent component and shocks to income at age 16 only the latter is significant. It would appear that education is an important input even when we control for permanent income but that credit constraints at age 16 are also influential. However, when we use instrumental variable methods to simultaneously account for the endogeneity of parental education and paternal income, we find that the strong effects of parental education become insignificant and permanent income matters much more, while the effects of shocks to household income at 16 remain important. A similar pattern of results are reflected in the main measure of scholastic achievement at age 16. These findings have important implications for the design of policies aimed at encouraging pupils to remain in school longer.


The objective of this study was to develop and assess a methodology of using pruning information (age and height) and ring width measurements on increment core samples taken at breast height from standing pruned Pinus patula trees for modeling the knotty core sizes in the pruned section of a tree. A total of 170 trees from 17 compartments, representing a wide variety of growth sites from the Mpumalanga escarpment, were selected and destructively sampled. Sample trees were selected to represent the productive timber volume available from the compartments using stratified sampling. Sample discs were removed at breast height (1.3m) and at six meter height. After drying and sanding, the cross-sectional surfaces of one surface of each of the discs were scanned on a document scanner and the ring widths measured, using an image analysis program. A preliminary study, using 30 discs, was undertaken to ascertain the appropriate number of radii per disc to measure. A comparison between results of two opposite radii, as opposed to four radii, showed that the difference in mean ring width resulting from the two approaches was statistically not significant. In practice this means that for ring width assessment, sampling of increment cores opposite to one another at breast height would be sufficiently accurate to study average ring width variation across the radius of a tree. A study was also conducted to determine to what accuracy ring widths at six metre height could be predicted from breast height measurements. It was shown that cumulative growth at six metre height can be predicted from cumulative growth at breast height, site index and cambial age at breast height as independent variables (R = 0.96). Ring width measurements at breast height can, therefore, be used to predict incremental growth throughout the pruned section. Combined with available information on the pruning history of a stand (pruning heights and pruning age), this study proved that quantitative knowledge on incremental growth can be used as a basis for estimating changes in knotty core sizes along the entire pruned section of the stem. Analysis of variation for the entire data set from ring width measurements showed that there was far greater variation in knotty core percentages (the percentage of diameter occupied by knotty core) between different compartments than within compartments. Within a tree, the knotty core percentages between three stem sections, 0-2.4m, 2.4–4.8m, and 4.8-7m, were found to increase significantly from the bottom section (49.1%) to the top section (65.4%). A single 2.4m log from the pruned section of each tree was removed and processed into sawn timber at a sawmill. After drying of the boards, a sub-sample of sawn boards from 17 logs, one log from each compartment, was selected and reconstructed into log form. From the reconstructed log (reconstructed to represent their original position in the log) the actual knotty core size was estimated by measuring the distance from the pith to the end of the branch stub. A comparison of the actual knotty core sizes and the modelled knotty core sizes of a sub-sample of trees showed only a modest relationship (R = 0.62). Reasons for this might be variability in pruning quality, inaccurate pruning records, nodal swellings and the methodology used to measure the actual knotty core sizes. Knowledge of knotty core sizes of standing trees can be used for many different purposes. Two applications that were assessed and found to be useful include decision support for cross cutting logs and for sawmill production planning purposes. Sawmill simulation software was used to evaluate value -and grade recoveries under different scenarios. Results showed that cross-cutting the pruned sections of logs from a compartment with large within-tree knotty core size variation into shorter logs, as opposed to keeping the pruned sections as single logs, result in increases in grade and value recovery. It was also shown that sawing of pruned logs from compartments with relatively small knotty cores, results in much better grade recoveries than logs from compartments with relatively large knotty cores (this information will be useful for production planning purposes). It can be concluded that the methodology proposed to reconstruct knotty cores from tree ring measurements has the potential to be used as a decision aid in the forest and forest products industry.


In the centuries before the arrival of Europeans, the Pueblo world underwent nearly continuous reorganization. Populations moved from Chaco Canyon and the great centers of the Mesa Verde region to areas along the Rio Grande, the Little Colorado River, and the Mogollon Rim, where they began constructing larger and differently organized villages, many with more than 500 rooms. Villages also tended to occur in clusters that have been interpreted in a number of different ways. This book describes and interprets this period of southwestern history immediately before and after initial European contact, A.D. 1275-1600 a span of time during which Pueblo peoples and culture were dramatically transformed. It summarizes one hundred years of research and archaeological data for the Pueblo IV period as it explores the nature of the organization of village clusters and what they meant in behavioral and political terms. Twelve of the chapters individually examine the northern and eastern portions of the Southwest and the groups who settled there during the protohistoric period. The authors develop histories for settlement clusters that offer insights into their unique development and the variety of ways that villages formed these clusters. These analyses show the extent to which spatial clusters of large settlements may have formed regionally organized alliances, and in some cases they reveal a connection between protohistoric villages and indigenous or migratory groups from the preceding period. This volume is distinct from other recent syntheses of Pueblo IV research in that it treats the settlement cluster as the analytic unit. By analyzing how members of clusters of villages interacted with one another, it offers a clearer understanding of the value of this level of analysis and suggests possibilities for future research. In addition to offering new insights on the Pueblo IV world, the volume serves as a compendium of information on more than 400 known villages larger than 50 rooms. It will be of lasting interest not only to archaeologists but also to geographers, land managers, and general readers interested in Pueblo culture.


A combination of high frequency measurements from the Cabauw measurement site and LES results is used to evaluate timescales and structures of turbulent transport of heat in the atmospheric boundary layer. On the basis of the cospectrum of vertical velocity and temperature, a dominant timescale of transport is introduced. An emperical equation is proposed to easily determine this timescale as a function of wind velocity, height and Obukhov length. Using this timescale, loss in Eddy Covariance measurements due to finite averaging time can be predicted on the basis of a model for the cospectrum shape. Eddy Covariance measurements from the Cabauw site show behaviour confirming this predicted loss behaviour. No evidence is found for the possible presence of unpredicted systematic flux on very large timescales. Attention is also given to the presence of a certain gap scale seperating turbulent and mesoscale motions, but it is found that these motions overlap in unstable conditions, making seperation impossible. As several authors have pointed at the phenomena of Turbulent Organized Structures as large contributors to large timescale flux, an attempt is made to identify these structures in measurement series. This is done with the help of two algorithms, based on criteria and wavelet analysis, demanding vertical coherence and rising, warm air. Detected structures within measured and LES simulated time series show great similarity, giving further confidence that detection is possible and appropiate. Thermals are found as coherent structures of warm and rising air, surrounded by cold and descending air. A statistical profile is made of the shape of thermals as they appear in timeseries, which is confirmed by LES results. Behaviour of the thermals involving size, velocity and temperature are investigated for different heights. The average flux within thermals is found to be well modelled by the mass flux approach when based on a thermal surface fraction of 10 percent.


Procedural sedation is an integral part of emergency medicine (EM) practice in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These countries have produced a large, robust literature supporting the safe and efficacious use of ketamine, propofol and other ED sedation agents for managing procedural pain and anxiety.1–3 In the UK and Ireland, EM and paediatric EM practitioners are striving to similarly establish procedural sedation as a fundamental part of their practice. McCoy et al describe, through a structured interview session with a group of EM consultants, the current issues impacting procedural sedation in the UK and the barriers to its adoption. Many of these same challenges and impediments were encountered in North America and Australia/New Zealand, and the lessons learned may be applicable and helpful in the UK and Ireland.4 As veterans of these challenges, here is our perspective.

The capability of paediatric emergency physicians to administer timely procedural sedation directly benefits patients and their families by providing a safe, effective and efficient outpatient way of managing procedural pain and anxiety. Emergency physicians from North America, Australia and New Zealand reading the McCoy et al report will be surprised by the acceptance of hospitalisation as standard practice for management of simple forearm fractures in children, especially in the UK where EM is an established specialty. Such an approach transforms a brief ED procedure and a 30–90 min recovery into an overnight bed, an admitting paediatrician, a theatre room and an anaesthetist. Instead of promptly returning to the comforts of home, …


Physical particle packing is becoming a hot topic in concrete technology as more and more types of granular materials are used in concrete either for ecological or for engineering purposes. Although various analytical methods have been developed for optimum mixture design, comprehensive information on particle packing properties is still missing, e.g. on the impact of the packing method on such properties. Computer simulation therefore provides a promising perspective for particle packing simulation. However, developing flexible algorithms for simulation of arbitrary shaped particle packing still remains a challenge for concrete researches. This study aim offers a solution for these problems. The strategy of simulating particles of arbitrary shape is based on an experimental approach to this problem. The simulation strategies are thereupon implemented into a DEM-based dynamic concurrent algorithm-based simulation (CAS) approach for particle packing. Finally, influences of particle shape, particle size and packing method on packing density are evaluated and discussed. This methodology renders possible producing virtual concrete on meso-level. In combination with FEM, the influence of particle packing on mechanical properties of concrete has been assessed in this way. In the same way the simulation of cement particle packing can be realized on micro-level. Upon simulation of hydration, the capacity of self-healing of cracks due to unhydrated cement is assessed by a DEM-based simulation system for different cement types and packing densities.


They stare down at us from the roofs and towers of our mediaeval churches: grotesque, monstrous and utterly mesmerising. The gargoyles grimacing and leering at us down the centuries, taking the form of anything from a centaur to a cretinous imp, were put there in the Middle Ages to ward off the evil that lies beyond the holy ground. But even in our modern era, our newspapers filled with tales of abduction and disaster, these magnificent works of sculpture and carving murmur to us of nightmares and nasty thoughts and intimations of our mortality. Mike Harding's travels have taken him not only from Cumbria to Somerset, but also to France, Italy and even northern India in search of the most memorable and malevolent gargoyles, celebrated here in his superb photographs and erudite, quirky text. Here, then, are mouth-pullers and monster musicians, poking tongues and priapic giants, heads sprouting water or silently howling with toothache -not to mention the gargantuan cats glaring at us in Gloucester Cathedral.


Naturalisation, the process whereby a non-national becomes a citizen, is a space where the national boundaries are demarcated institutionally and symbolically. Despite this, social psychology has generally disregarded citizenship as a topic of research. Against this background, this thesis argues that citizenship is a dynamic concept embedded in a system of self-other relations. The thesis examines processes of national identity construction within the naturalisation context of the United Kingdom. In particular, this research explores representations of citizenship held by three key stakeholders: naturalised citizens, citizenship officers and the British government. Thirty-three interviews with new British citizens, twenty interviews with citizenship officers and four key policy documents on earned citizenship have been analysed. Building on the theory of social representations and on a dialogical understanding of human thinking and identity, the thesis draws links between identity and processes of knowledge construction. Identity is defined as a process of positioning towards social representations and others. In studying processes of identity construction and negotiation, emphasis is placed on the quality of self-other relations and on the antinomic and argumentative nature of thinking about the social world. This research shows that Britishness, within this context, is constructed on the basis of the opposing themes of progress and decline. Consequently, identity construction takes the form of a complex negotiation between opposing positions or voices. For new citizens, 'becoming British' is constructed as both enrichment for the self and as identity threat. Furthermore, for citizenship officers, migrants are seen as both a resource and a burden, which resonates with the official distinction between skilled (elite) and unskilled (non-elite) migrants. These findings illustrate the interplay between the symbolic and institutional aspects of positioning processes and highlight the need for further social psychological study of citizenship.


This paper present some new empirical evidence on the extent of world capital-market integration. The first set of tests carried out uses data from different countries to compare internationally expected marginal rates of substitution between consumption on different dates. If residents of different countries have access to a nominally risk-free bond denominated in dollars, say, their common expected marginal rate of substitution of future for present dollars should equal the gross nominal return on dollar bonds. Tests of the international equality of expected marginal substitution rates yield evidence consistent with a substantial degree of international capital-market integration after, but not before, 1973. These tests are naturally based on a particular model of intertemporal consumption choice, but direct estimation of the inter-country relationships implied by that model lends support to its assumptions. These last findings are relevant to the current debate in macroeconomics about the role of intertemporal substitution. The second set of tests conducted in this paper concerns correlations between countries' saving and investment rates. For a sample often countries, correlations between annual changes in saving and investment rates over the period 1948-1984 look quite similar to those found in quarterly data. Surprisingly, however, the correlation coefficients are often lower before the mid-1960s than afterward This finding throws further doubt on the interpretation of saving-investment correlation coefficients as structural parameters reflecting the response of domestic investment to shifts in national saving.


Past mining projects in northern Canada have often adversely affected local First Nation communities and people. Promises of employment and economic benefits have sometimes not materialised. Environmental changes have affected people's subsistence and traditional activities. Lack of trust and ineffective communications led to perceptions about effects and associated changes in subsistence and traditional use patterns. Given past experiences, First Nation governments and citizens are often skeptical about whether mine closure and remediation projects will deliver positive results for their communities.
Mine closure and remediation at abandoned mines offers an opportunity to not only reclaim the environment, but also to rebuild relationships with local First Nations and provide long-term social and economic benefits. The Canadian Government is funding several mine closure projects in Yukon, Canada and is working with a number of First Nation governments as well as the Government of Yukon in planning for these projects.
This paper explores the administrative planning structures and processes established among Canada, Yukon and First Nation governments for two of these government-sponsored abandoned mine closure projects. All three levels of government hope that these processes will facilitate effective involvement and participation of First Nations in the planning phase of the mine closure. The First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun based in Mayo, Yukon is involved in closure planning for the United Keno Hill Mines property. The Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation based in Carmacks, Yukon is involved in closure planning for the Mt. Nansen Mine. Governance structures for closure planning at these two mines are substantially different, but both First Nations have similar overall objectives for the closure projects. Both First Nations face capacity challenges that can limit their abilities to participate effectively. The paper discusses the strategies utilised by both First Nations and how they have performed. Both First Nations recognise that further work will be required to guide other phases of the closure continuum including implementation and post-closure.


Its high nutritive quality and ability to survive in harsh conditions makes pearl millet a suitable crop for arid and semi-arid regions, but anti-nutrient factors reduce the bioavailability and digestibility of its nutrients. Fermentation reduces anti-nutrients and hence increases protein digestibility and mineral bioavailability. Thus, the present work examines the effects of fermentation on the nutritive, physiochemical and functional properties and anti-nutrient composition of pearl millet flour. Natural fermentation at 20°C, 25°C and 30°C and pure culture fermentations with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces diastaticus, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus brevis were performed. Analysis revealed an increase in moisture and fat content and a decrease in protein content following all types of fermentation. Although the variation in protein levels in different fermentations was not significant, ranging from 10.29% to 9.83%, the effect on thiamine content was significant as it decreased with an increase in temperature in the range 20–30 ̊C in natural fermentation but was increased in pure culture yeast fermentations as compared with bacterial fermentations at their favourable temperatures, respectively. Total soluble sugar content decreased in pure culture fermentation but increased in natural fermentation. Fermentation decreased pH, thereby increasing titratable acidity. Oil and water absorption capacities were increased, while least gelation concentration was decreased in all types of fermentations. Also, anti-nutritional factors like tannins and phenolic compounds were significantly decreased in all fermentations. We conclude that fermentation is an efficient process to improve the quality of pearl millet flour.


This article empirically investigates the information content and signalling power of decreases and omissions of cash dividend payments in an imputation tax environment. Consistent with prior literature We find significantly negative long term abnormal returns subsequent to dividend reductions, with some support for less negative long term abnormal returns arising in the case of unfranked dividend reductions Overall, our study shows conclusively that dividend reductions in Australia constitute a strong signal regarding the future prospects of the firm and, as such, our results are at variance with the results obtained in the U.S. The tax system in Australia differs from that in the U.S. and we do find some evidence of differential tax effects across the franking status of dividends.


This research addresses the use of thin steel C sections with large circular, hexagonal and diamond web openings in applications where service integration in beams is required or where thermal bridging of members crossing the building envelope has to be minimised. The effect of these openings in terms of combined bending and shear effects on stainless steel and thin steel C sections is evaluated. The behaviour of thin steel C sections with large web openings in shear is a new subject and the knowledge gap is mainly concerned with the local buckling around and between openings which affect the ability of the perforated section to resist shear. Simply supported beams were considered in this research. The main part of the research was divided into various parts as follows:
Simple theories were developed for the design of thin steel with circular web openings (Tangential Stress Method) and with hexagonal web openings. The Tangential Stress Method is a method in which the tangential stresses around the web openings are determined as a function of the applied shear force.

A total of 16 tests on pairs of C sections with web openings was carried out. Three groups of beams were tested as follows:
1- Stainless steel C sections of 210 mm depth and 70 mm width with 150 mm diameter openings at 50, 100 and 250 mm edge distances were tested. Two groups of stainless steel were tested; Austenitic and Lean Duplex (LDX) grades of 2 and 3 mm thickness. For beams with isolated and widely spaced web openings, Vierendeel bending associated with local buckling was the mode of failure. Beams with closely spaced web openings failed by web-post buckling.
2- Galvanized steel sections of 250 mm depth and 63mm flange width with 150 and 180 mm diameter web openings at 60 and 90 mm edge distances were tested in 1.5 and 1.8 mm steel thicknesses. The failure of the C sections with isolated web openings was due to Vierendeel bending associated with local buckling. For closely spaced web openings, the failure was due to web-post buckling and twisting of the top flange.
3- Galvanized C sections with diamond and hexagonal web openings were tested to investigate the shape of the web openings effect on the behaviour of the beams subject to shear. The diamond-shaped openings were 180 mm deep and hexagonal openings were 167 mm deep. The failure of beams with isolated diamond-shaped web openings was due to buckling of the un-supported web next to the openings. For the C sections with pairs of openings, it was due to web-post buckling and twisting of the top flange.
The bending resistances of the two C sections were then predicted from the parametric study and were compared with the design resistance calculated using section properties to BS EN 1993-1-3 and BS EN 1993-1-4. The tangential stresses using the method presented in Chapter 4 were calculated at the failure loads in all tests for beams with circular web openings and compared to the measured steel strengths fy at 0.2% strain. The ratio of the direct tangential stress to steel proof strength σ/fy varied between 0.70 and 1.21 for the stainless steel beams and between 0.5 and 0.8 for the galvanized steel beams. This shows that the Tangential Stress Method is reasonably accurate.

Linear and non-linear finite element (FE) models were defined to investigate the behaviour of the thin C sections. ABAQUS software was used for the finite element analysis. An extensive parametric study was conducted to study the effects of opening diameter, opening spacing, and span to depth ratio of the beams. The failure load for each beam was determined using the Riks Analysis Method (explained in Chapter 8) ignoring the effect of web imperfection which was found to have a little effect of on the failure load. The comparison between buckling analysis with different imperfection values and the Riks analysis for the two beams sections is presented in Chapters 10 and 11 for the various openings configurations. The results from the FEA were in good agreement with the test results and showed the effect of the opening depth to the beam depth ratio (h0 /h), opening spacing (so) and the thickness of the web (tw) on the section resistance. The section resistance obtained from the finite element analysis for all models was in good agreement with the test results and the proposed theory.

In the final part of this research, the additional deflection due to the loss of the shear and bending stiffness at the position of web openings was investigated and simple formulas were developed in Chapter 6 to predict the additional deflection of perforated beams. Linear finite element analysis was considered for comparison and the results were in good agreement with the proposed theory.


A dimorphic yeast Kluyveromyces marxianu var. marxianus NRRLy2415 which exhibits a wide range of mean morphological forms was used as a model organism to investigate the role of cell morphology on the dead-end and crossflow filtration behaviour. Varying the culturing conditions produced cell suspensions of different mean morphology. Batch fermentations were used to produce yeast-like morphologies and continuous cultures produced cells more mycelial in nature. Semi-automated image analysis was used to measure the mean specific surface area, Sv, and the mean ratio of cell length to equivalent cylindrical diameter, ?dm- The parameter L&m was used to describe the mean cell morphology, whereby increasing values of Ldm indicate that the mean cell morphology is more mycelial in nature.

It was shown that a linear relationship was found to exist between the mean specific resistance, a av, and applied pressure, AP, over the entire range of pressures employed and for all morphologies of K. marxianus filtered. The linear relationship, i.e. a av = a 0(l + A:cAP) allowed the null stress resistance, a 0, to be determined, thus uncoupling cake packing and compressibility effects. The voidage of cell pellets formed in a bench-top centrifuge was measured for a range of cell suspensions of different mean morphologies, and in all cases, the pellet voidage decreased linearly with centrifugation speed. This decrease became more pronounced as L(\m increased. The extrapolated null stress pellet porosity, s0, was correlated with ?dm by the expression s0= l -1/(1.24+0.0621dm)- The ratio 0-opc/ S ] decreased with increasing Ldm, a finding that was qualitatively consistent with the pellet voidage data and the Kozeny-Carman equation. Considerably better agreement with the experimental data was obtained when the Kozeny constant, k0, was treated as a variable and related to Zdm by the equation k0 = 10.1 + 0.34Zdm.

It was shown that as L{im increases that filter cake compressibility defined as kc increases. The reversibility of filter cake compression was determined by measuring the specific resistance of a pre-formed filter cake, exposing the cake to a higher pressure and then re-determining a av at the lower pressure. It was found that the compression of filter cakes of K. marxianus and bakers yeast was predominantly reversible, whereas with filter cakes of calcium carbonate, compression was completely irreversible. A model was presented to qualitatively describe filter cake compression. The model was found to predict a near linear relationship between a av and AP, as was found to occur with K. marxianus and other yeast suspensions. It was also shown that the Tiller relationship relating a av and AP could be reduced to a linear expression if the index of compressibility, n \, is equal to 2. Furthermore it was shown theoretically that the coefficient of compressibility increases with null stress porosity, thus partially explaining the increase in kc with Ldm.

Crossflow filtration studies were conducted with a tubular carbosepharose membrane. In crossflow filtration experiments, cake formation, fouling and evolution of mean specific resistance of suspensions of K. marxianus was studied. Suspensions washed in saline and unwashed suspensions of K. marxianus grown in different media and of various mean morphologies, were used to analyse cake formation and fouling. It was shown that fouling is significant during crossflow filtration whilst it is negligible during dead-end filtration. Varying the cell morphology influenced the filtration behaviour more than using different growth media for both washed and unwashed cell suspensions.

Spent media separated from the cells by dead-end filtration was used to study the effect of media components on fouling. The filtration flux of spent medium was found to be independent of the growth conditions and only slightly influenced by the culturing media. For unwashed suspensions there appeared to be considerable rejection of macrosolutes during crossflow filtration that resulted in fluxes an order of magnitude lower than for washed suspensions. By switching the feed to saline solution during the pseudo steady state period it was shown that the cell cake remains largely intact and thus is not significantly influenced by shear.

A novel technique to determine cake mass during crossflow filtration was developed. The cake mass was determined by conducting dry weight analysis on samples withdrawn from the feed reservoir during filtration and subsequently doing a mass balance on the system. For the washed cell suspensions, it was shown that with increasing L&m, the mass of cake formed decreased from approximately 6g to 2g. Furthermore preferential deposition of small cells does not appear to occur with washed yeast-like suspensions as indicated by the cake formation rate and image analysis data. However, preferential deposition of smaller cells was found to occur with unwashed yeast suspensions and possibly occurred with both washed and unwashed mycelial suspensions. Recovery of filter cakes comprised of yeast cells was significantly higher than with mycelial filter cakes, indicating possible differences in cake structure and cell membrane interactions.

The specific resistance of washed cell suspensions increases throughout filtration and is higher than observed during dead-end filtration even if membrane fouling is considered. This indicated a degree of cake fouling by fines occurring during crossflow filtration. Also the specific resistances of the recovered crossflow filter cakes, measured by dead-end filtration, were significantly greater than those for the feed suspensions. The apparent specific resistances of mycelial filter cakes were greater than those determined for yeast morphologies. This is in contrast to deadend filtration where the specific resistance was less for mycelial suspensions than for yeast suspensions.

The effect of varying the crossflow velocity with washed yeast-like suspensions was studied. It was shown that the cake mass decreased and filtrate flux increased with increasing crossflow velocity. Furthermore it was shown the specific resistance decreases with crossflow velocity. It was shown that this was probably attributable to the pressure drop across the filter cake decreasing due to decreasing cake mass, and hence less cake compression. There was also evidence of fouling decreasing with increasing crossflow velocity.


Can you be a stranger in your own country? A Japanese-American raised in California, 24-year-old Katie Kitamura returns to Japan to discover the country she left behind. Traveling across this foreign landscape, she visits middle-class gambling halls, fight stadiums and giant shopping meccas, luxury care homes and cramped apartments housing four generations under a single roof. And she wonders in which version of modern Japan she might have belonged. Defined by its adventurous youth culture, but with the fastest-aging population in the world, renowned for its strict social code, but producing the black-comedy violence of the Battle Royale films, the Japan she discovers is an often contradictory land of Godzilla toys and war memorials, of futuristic manga characters and brightly colored vending machines.


This study compares the progressive-restricted standard error (PR-SE) exposure control procedure to three commonly used procedures in computerized adaptive testing, the randomesque, Sympson–Hetter (SH), and no exposure control methods. The performance of these four procedures is evaluated using the three-parameter logistic model under the manipulated conditions of item pool size (small vs. large) and stopping rules (fixed-length vs. variable-length). PR-SE provides the advantage of similar constraints to SH, without the need for a preceding simulation study to execute it. Overall for the large and small item banks, the PR-SE method administered almost all of the items from the item pool, whereas the other procedures administered about 52% or less of the large item bank and 80% or less of the small item bank. The PR-SE yielded the smallest amount of item overlap between tests across conditions and administered fewer items on average than SH. PR-SE obtained these results with similar, and acceptable, measurement precision compared to the other exposure control procedures while vastly improving on item pool usage.


The concept of quasi-periodic
property of a function has been introduced by Harald Bohr in 1921 and it
roughly means that the function comes (quasi)-periodically as close as we want
on every vertical line to the value taken by it at any point belonging to that
line and a bounded domain Ω. He proved that the functions defined by ordinary
Dirichlet series are quasi-periodic in their half plane of uniform convergence.
We realized that the existence of the domain Ω is not
necessary and that the quasi-periodicity is related to the denseness property
of those functions which we have studied in a previous paper. Hence, the
purpose of our research was to prove these two facts. We succeeded to fulfill
this task and more. Namely, we dealt with the quasi-periodicity of general
Dirichlet series by using geometric tools perfected by us in a series of
previous projects. The concept has been applied to the whole complex plane (not
only to the half plane of uniform convergence) for series which can be
continued to meromorphic functions in that plane. The question arise: in what
conditions such a continuation is possible? There are known examples of
Dirichlet series which cannot be continued across the convergence line, yet
there are no simple conditions under which such a continuation is possible. We
succeeded to find a very natural one.


Conservative or liberal, we are all constitutionalists. (1) I. INTRODUCTION Constitutional law professors watch the Supreme Court of the United States: It's a key component of the job. But it is unusual to see a former constitutional law professor in the White House, where he actually holds the power to appoint federal judges. (2) The election of President Barack Obama thus presents a rare opportunity to explore the ways in which a president's time as a constitutional law professor may be reflected in his approach to judicial appointments. This essay begins with a brief description of President Obama's years on the law faculty at the University of Chicago, putting his experience as a law professor in the overall context of what his life was like at that time. The initial section also explores his other writings and some other likely influences on his constitutional philosophy. The essay then proceeds to discuss the implications of his time as law professor on the three stand-out aspects of President Obama's judicial appointments--specifically the diversity in his appointments to the federal district courts, courts of appeals, and Supreme Court; the slow pace at which he has nominated candidates for the federal bench; and the moderate nature of his appointees. While the diversity of President Obama's appointees may be unsurprising, given the courses he taught and his public statements about the judiciary and constitutional interpretation generally, that he nominated slowly may be surprising. However, this approach might not be all that unexpected when one considers President Obama's general philosophy of constitutional interpretation and his time as a law professor. II. OBAMA THE PROFESSOR President Obama was a lecturer at the University of Chicago law school for twelve years. During that time, he taught Constitutional Law III, which included equal protection and substantive due process. He also taught a course called Racism and the Law and a course that addressed voting rights. (3) Thus, he did not teach the overall general constitutional law curriculum. Subjects he did not cover in his courses would likely have included the structure of the federal government and the first amendment, just to name a couple of broad constitutional topics that he would not have taught. His emphasis as a teacher was instead on equality and privacy principles. Equality would of necessity have been reflected in his coverage of equal protection, but it would also have made an appearance in his courses on voting rights and racism, for constitutional cases in these areas are grounded in principles of equality and participation. But it is not only the classes he taught that might help explain the Obama approach to judicial appointments. While President Obama was influenced during his law school days by his own constitutional law professor, Laurence Tribe, for whom he also served as a research assistant, (4) the more seasoned teacher he became at Chicago seemed to modify some of his views through interaction there with his friend and colleague Cass Sunstein, who is now on the faculty at Harvard. (5) How much Sunstein's view of the constitution influenced President Obama is speculation. Obama did appoint Sunstein to a senior position in the Office of Administration and Budget (6) and listed him as an adviser on Constitutional Law during his campaign. (7) Of course, he appointed Tribe to a position in the Justice Department and listed him as a campaign adviser as well. (8) But of the two, Obama spent more time teaching with Sunstein, who does not view the courts as the principal means of engaging in progressive reform. Instead, Sunstein advocates minimalism, which he describes as "narrow, incremental decisions, not broad rulings that the nation may later have cause to regret." (9) In addition, Sunstein prefers democratic solutions, urging the Supreme Court to, as Professor Rosen put it, be self-aware about the limits of its knowledge--refusing to decide certain cases and agreeing to decide other cases as narrowly as possible in order to save the most hotly contested questions in national life for democratic resolution. …


Depth of field (DOF), the range of scene depths that appear sharp in a photograph, poses a fundamental tradeoff in photography---wide apertures are important to reduce imaging noise, but they also increase defocus blur. Recent advances in computational imaging modify the acquisition process to extend the DOF through deconvolution. Because deconvolution quality is a tight function of the frequency power spectrum of the defocus kernel, designs with high spectra are desirable. In this paper we study how to design effective extended-DOF systems, and show an upper bound on the maximal power spectrum that can be achieved. We analyze defocus kernels in the 4D light field space and show that in the frequency domain, only a low-dimensional 3D manifold contributes to focus. Thus, to maximize the defocus spectrum, imaging systems should concentrate their limited energy on this manifold. We review several computational imaging systems and show either that they spend energy outside the focal manifold or do not achieve a high spectrum over the DOF. Guided by this analysis we introduce the lattice-focal lens, which concentrates energy at the low-dimensional focal manifold and achieves a higher power spectrum than previous designs. We have built a prototype lattice-focal lens and present extended depth of field results.


The theory of compressed sensing has demonstrated that sparse signals can be reconstructed from few linear measurements. In this work, we propose a new class of iteratively reweighted least squares (IRLS) for sparse recovery. The proposed methods use a two state Gaussian scale mixture as a proxy for the signal model and can be interpreted as an Expectation Maximization algorithm that attempts to perform the constrained maximization of the log-likelihood function. Under some conditions, standard in the compressed sensing theory, the sequences generated by these algorithms converge to the fixed points of the maps that rule their dynamics. A condition for exact sparse recovery, that is verifible a posteriori, is derived and the convergence is proved to be quadratically fast in a neighborhood of the desired solution. Numerical experiments show that these new reconstructions schemes outperform classical IRLS for lp -minimization with p\in(0, 1] in terms of rate of convergence and accuracy


While NFIB v. Sebelius largely upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it did not do so as as to the proposed expansion of Medicaid. Seven of the nine US Supreme Court Justices (all except Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor) endorsed a 'coercion' argument that gave individual States a right of objection grounded in the Constitution's Spending Clause, wherein individual states could refuse to expand Medicaid as demanded by the federal government without being directly penalized by a denial of federal funding. Two Justices in dissent focused on the lack of judicial administrability of such a standard, and suggested it would open up a Pandora's box of future constitutional challenges without any clear rules. In this article, part of a symposium on philosophical analysis of the Court's decision published in the peer-reviewed journal Ethical Perspectives, I discuss what I see as a more fundamental question: by what theory is the Medicaid expansion coercive, and even if coercive, by what theory is it coercive in a problematic way that justifies constitutional redress?The Court's failure to address this issue stems, in part, from confusion over what it means for an offer to be coercive. In some sense, Justice Kagan seemed to recognize this issue in a question to Paul Clement, the lawyer for the challengers to the ACA, at oral argument: "Why is a big gift from the federal government a matter of coercion?" Kagan asked. "It's just a boatload of federal money for you to take and spend on poor people's health care," Kagan added. "It doesn't sound coercive to me, I have to tell you." The exchange is all the more curious because, despite her scepticism, Kagan signed on to the Court's holding that the Medicaid expansion was coercive.I will examine this issue by first discussing whether Medicaid itself and the ACA's expansion are coercive (as stand-alone offers). I will then examine whether the offer to change from the existing Medicaid program to the ACA's Medicaid expansion was problematic. I will analyze these questions under the assumption that the Court is not committing a category error by treating States as the kinds of entities subject to this kind of coercion inquiry. In my conclusion, however, I briefly consider whether that assumption is warranted.


This paper presents a case study of an elite female coach and her career termination from a 20+ year career following a critical life incident. A novel autobiographical approach was adopted whereby the participant undertook expressive writing to describe her experiences before, during, and following coaching an athlete at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Thematic analysis indicated seven phases related to the participant's experiences of the critical incident: Build up to the event, the event, the aftermath, recovery and reflection on the event, sampling of new avenues, enlightenment, and career rebirth. The findings reinforce the high demands placed upon elite coaches, the subsequent threats to physical and mental well-being, and the importance of having robust psychological skills and suitable social support to cope with these demands. Implications for preparing and supporting coaches for successful career transition are discussed.


Abstract The relationship between the class of Latin, Graeco-Latin and Hyper-Graeco-Latin squares which can be formally classified as orthogonal fractional replicate plans and the totality of Latin, Graeco-Latin and Hyper-Graeco-Latin squares is discussed. A vXv square for which the t letters of the alphabet that represents the treatments each occur k times in every row and column, so that v = tk, is defined to be an equal frequency square. The properties of these squares are discussed and compared with the properties of k Latin, Graeco-Latin or Hyper-Graeco-Latin squares of side t. A vXv square for which the t < v letters occur in each row and column with frequencies proportional to the number of times they occur in the entire square is defined to be a proportional frequency square. The structure of the analysis of variance for several proportional frequency squares is developed and illustrated with an example of the analysis of data from three 5×5 proportional frequency squares with three treatments.


Abstract In the area of Şile, NW Turkey, Upper Cretaceous calc-alkaline volcanic rocks with compositions ranging from andesite to rhyolite have been recognized. The most widespread rocks of the suite are andesites, which can be grouped into altered and fresh. The oldest altered andesites are the parent rocks for the kaolin deposits of the study area. The Upper Cretaceous volcanic suite consists of spilite, basalt, andesite, trachyandesite, trachyandesitic and hyaloandesitic dacite, rhyolite lavas, tuffs and agglomerates. The highly altered andesites are composed of plagioclase, pyroxene, hornblende, biotite, augite and very fine opaque minerals. During the Turonian, an E−W trending extensional magmatic arc was developed in the Istanbul Tectonic Zone of the oceanic Western Black Sea basin and intermediate volcanic rocks were emplaced, mostly calc-alkaline andesites, suggesting multi-stage magmatism. The significant features of the andesites are: (1) enrichment of LILE (Rb, Ba, K) over HFSE (Zr, Nb, Hf, Ti, Th, U, Y) and LREE (La -Sm), resulting in high Ba/Nb, Th/Nb, Ba/La, K/Ti and Th/La ratios; (2) depletion of LREE over HFSE, MREE and HREE, generating high La/Nb, Ce/Ti, La/Sm and La/Y values; and (3) depletion of Nb, Sr and Ti; all of which are typical of island arc magmatism, with possible back arc signature. The Th-Hf-Ta diagram for tectonomagmatic classification shows that the Şile calc-alkaline rocks are similar to volcanic rocks from the Mariana Arc, the Aeolian Arc of Salina, Italy, the Skaros island in the Aegean Sea and Sardinia's ignimbrites. Moreover, relatively low La/Th and Ce/Pb ratios suggest that the source region of volcanism was enriched in LILE with respect to REE, indicating crustal contamination during melting. Highly weathered andesitic rocks, rich in smectite, were transported gradually and deposited in a lacustrine basin, a coal-forming dysaerobic environment, in which they were subject to postdepositional alteration, or in situ kaolinization, to form a kaolin deposit in the presence of humic and fulvic acids. The mobility of major and trace elements and REEs during the progressive kaolinization of andesitic materials has been investigated to reveal the geochemical characteristics of Upper Cretaceous volcanic parent rocks and to explain mineralogical processes in a kaolin deposit as a daughter rock 'end-product' . Alteration is characterized by the loss of Si, Fe, Ca, Na and K, and by the gain of Al, Ti, Zr and LOI. Moreover, Ho, Er and Yb are immobile, and Hf, Zr and Nb are mobile. Th and U are slightly enriched in clay horizons with respect to the andesitic rocks. In addition, Cr, Ga, Nb and Ta enrichments indicate variable sources of terrigenous sediments and differential mobilities of elements in lake waters rich in organic acids. The anatase concentration increases in the <2 μm size fractions as subspherical particles and these precipitate at acidic conditions (pH ≈5) during early diagenesis.


An onshore shallow marine sandbody has been investigated in several extensive quarry outcrops in the Norfolk area of eastern England in terms of its sedimentology (sedimentary structures, geometry and architecture), sequence stratigraphy and reservoir-scale heterogeneity. In addition to conventional sedimentological logging techniques, vertical profiles were analysed using a steady-state electronic probe permeameter to investigate permeability heterogeneity. Permeability analysis was also complemented by spectral gamma ray profiles, which were used to characterize facies associations in terms of their total radioactivity and relative proportions of potassium, uranium and thorium. It was found that lithofacies type and bounding surface have the dominant control on permeability heterogeneity and thus flow unit compartmentalization. This study aims to complement pre-existing outcrop analogue datasets which attempt to model fluid flow more accurately in analogous subsurface reservoirs. It also serves to highlight the difficulty in accurately identifying and modelling subsurface shallow marine/estuarine tidal channel depositional systems for well/drainage and or production strategies.


Wideband Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) is the emerging protocol for the next generation (3G) wireless communication systems. W-CDMA has been designed to add features such as multimedia capabilities, high data rates and multi-rate services to the existing wireless communication framework. Several standards for third generation systems have been proposed and developed by different industrial committees in countries such as the U.S, Europe and Japan. All these standards have accepted CDMA in one form or another as the multiple access method for wireless communications requirements. In this work, we study the implementation issues involved for one of the proposed Rate Compatible Punctured Convolution Coding (RCPC) to increase information rate in WCDMA, the detection algorithms for base-stations. It was found that these proposed algorithms for detection have different processing and precision requirements. In the rate compatible punctured convolution from each coded symbol some of the bits are punctured in order to achieve the higher information rate. At the same time decoding becomes quite easy even if some of the bits from the coded symbol are not available. We have written these algorithms for a single user at ideal conditions based on theory but not practically.


Importance
Although intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment represents the first-line therapy for many retinal diseases, the issue of their systemic safety is debatable.

Objectives
To assess whether intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy might be associated with increased risk of mortality and which variables are associated with the increase.

Data Sources
PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase databases, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were systematically searched from inception to May 6, 2019.

Study Selection
Randomized clinical trials comparing intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment with control groups and with follow-up of at least 6 months were selected.

Data Extraction and Synthesis
Data were independently collected by 2 investigators. Meta-analyses were conducted using the frequentist and Bayesian methods. For the frequentist approach, random- and fixed-effects models were used, with random-effects models considered the primary technique. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were computed. For the bayesian approach, uninformative and informative priors were used. Odds ratios with 95% credible intervals (CrIs) were computed. Meta-regression analyses were based on random-effects models.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcome measure was the all-cause death rate. Secondary outcomes included meta-regression analyses on the following variables: type of drug, number of injections, follow-up time, diagnosis, and cardiovascular risk.

Results
Of 2336 studies identified, 34 unique studies with 8887 unique participants were included in the present meta-analysis. For the frequentist analysis, fixed- and random-effects models yielded similar estimates (ORs, 1.34 [95% CI, 0.95-2.07; P = .09] and 1.34 [95% CI, 0.89-2.01; P = .17], respectively). For the Bayesian approach, noninformative and informative priors yielded similar results (ORs, 1.34 [95% CrI, 0.79-2.34; 0.13 probability of OR≤1.00] and 1.40 [95% CrI, 0.82-2.32; 0.11 probability of OR≤1.00], respectively). Meta-regression analyses showed the following risk for 1 injection more: frequentist OR of 1.12 (95% CI, 1.04-1.22; P = .005) and Bayesian OR of 1.06 (95% CrI, 0.98-1.15; 0.06 probability of OR≤1.00).

Conclusions and Relevance
In this study, no difference was found in the mortality rate between intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment and control groups. Additional data seem warranted to determine whether the mortality rate is increased in patients receiving a greater number of injections.


The process of taking a new material from invention to deployment can take 20 years or more. Since the announcement of the Materials Genome Initiative in 2011, new attention has been paid to accelerating this timeframe to address key challenges in industries from energy, to biomedical materials, to catalysis, to polymers, particularly in the development of new materials discovery techniques. Materialsinformatics, or algorithmically analyzingmaterials data at scale to gain novel insight, has been lauded as a path forward in this regard. An equal challenge to discovery, however, is the acceleration from discovery to market. In this paper, we address application of an informatics approach to materials selection, manufacturing, and qualification and identify key opportunities and challenges in each of these areas with a focus on reducing time to market for new advanced materials technologies.


The propagation of sound waves on lipid monolayers supported on water has been previously studied during the melting transition. Since changes in volume, area, and compressibility in lipid membranes have biological relevance, the observed sound propagation is of paramount importance. However, it is unknown what would occur on a lipid bilayer, which is a more approximate model of a cell membrane. With the aim to answer this relevant question, we built an experimental setup to assemble long artificial lipid membranes. We found that if these membranes are heated in order to force local melting, a thermo-mechanical perturbation propagates a long distance. Our findings may support the existence of solitary waves, postulated to explain the propagation of isentropic signals together with the action potential in neurons.


and adaptability, firms can achieve effective business performance. Whilst this topic has been researched worldwide, little research has been done in Australia. This paper helps fill this gap in the literature using the automobile industry. The research findings suggest that a link between corporate cultural traits and business performance exists in the Australian automobile industry. Compared to other cultural traits, adaptability has the greatest influence over business performance. Of the business performance measures assessed, both non-financial and financial, customer satisfaction as a non-financial measure was considered the most important one. In comparing cultural traits and business performance, consistency and mission were found to be important predictors of profitability; and adaptability and mission important predicators of sales growth.


Manzamine A has been isolated from various Okinawa Sponges of the genus Haliclona and was first characterised by Higa and co-workers in 1986. The unusual and synthetically challenging structure consists of a pentacyclic core containing an array of 5-, 6-, 8-, and 13-membered rings with a pendant -carboline unit. The complex structure of manzamine A combined with its biological activities has made it a highly attractive synthetic target. The synthetic endeavors in the Clark group to develop a novel approach towards the total synthesis of manzamine A (i) with the main focus on the synthesis of the ABC ring fragment as advanced intermediates will be disclosed. In the first synthetic approach towards the total synthesis of manzamnine A (i), bicyclic enone iii was constructed from amine ii and served as a model system to validate the proposed intermolecular Diels-Alder reaction. Despite several attempts utilising various dienes, the Diels-Alder adduct was not obtained and an alternative bicyclic system was investigated. After accomplishing the synthesis of the simple AB fragment v from propargylamine (iv), the Diels-
Alder reaction was yet again investigated. Due to the failure of the Diels-Alder reaction, this route towards the total synthesis of manzamine A (i) was abandoned. The second approach introduces the conjugate addition reaction towards the total synthesis of manzamine A (i). Instead of the Diels-Alder approach, 1,4 addition to enone v was explored. Initial attempts to perform the 1,4-addition reaction and subsequent aldol condensation reaction afforded
the dehydrated aldol condensation products vii via silyl enol ether vi. Additional investigations to prevent the dehydration reaction taking place proved unsuccessful. Thereafter, various methods for the introduction of a substituent in the position to the ketone were investigated. These included alkylation using chloromethyl phenylsulfide, halogenation using NBS or NCS, Rubottom oxidation using DMDO, direct amination using manganese(V) complexes, azidation using sodium azide and CAN as well as aziridination using PhI=NTs. A number of adducts viii-x
were succesfully prepared. Finally, the last part of the thesis describes the efforts towards the synthesis of a model system resembling the CD ring-system. The macrocyles xiii and xiv were easily synthesised from dienes xi and
xii, although the RCM of diene xi gave rise to isolation problems.


Summary
The study of National Tourism System in Jordan aims to shed some light on the structure of tourism industry in Jordan by illustrating the real resources present in the country, assessing the quality of services, and then exploring the management efficiency, ie. Governance dimension.
The work has been based on the structure provided by the Resource-based Theory (RBT) which gives a significant weight to the existed resources in the territory and considers them as an important factor for the development of the product. Moreover RBT draws a connection between the various components in the area and the evolution and sustainability of tourism product.
The author used the Resource-Service-Governance framework to show the relationship between these three elements in order to understand to how extent they affect the final product and its image. Five Jordanian tourist destinations were chosen, for this purpose, as a research field. That was useful to portray the reality of the Jordanian product, and to give a holistic idea about the local tourism systems adopted in these destinations.
It is quite clear that the first dimension of the framework (Resources) represents the cornerstone from which to launch any tourist destination by exploiting these resources that can attract both tourists and investors.
The analysis of tourism resources in Jordan is considered necessary before putting into place any global master plan for development. Moreover, exploring the nature of resources in Jordan leads us to put in order our priorities of work, focusing on the economic projects and programmes that can generate rapid and sustainable economic results.
The second dimension (services) also has a crucial role in the life of the tourist destination. Indeed, a destination with poor tourist facilities (accessibility, accommodation, food and beverage services, and entertainment) will not be able to attract the numbers of tourists that it deserves even if it is rich in resources.
The third dimension of the framework is Governance, and here we highlight the impact of policies and strategies adopted by both the public and private sectors to develop the tourism industry in the country. The form of the role played by governance is extremely crucial and significant in the development of tourist sites. In most cases, this role is assumed by government bodies, politicians, and decision makers who undertake practical procedures to realise their visions.
Moreover, the concept of "Governance" sheds some light on the managerial aspects of the tourist destination, the degree of coordination between the various stakeholders, and the role given to those stakeholders in terms of the policies and strategy making. Indeed, many countries, especially the developing ones, have started to involve the private sector more in the planning process since it has became an important partner on the development path. Jordan, for example, has launched a great initiative that aims to bridge the gap between the private and public sector, and to build an integrative relationship between them instead of a hostile and unfriendly one.
The author attempted to demonstrate several aspects of the Jordanian products such as; evolution of tourist sites, the competitiveness of Jordan as a tourist destination, quality of tourism services, the impact of the transport sector on the performance of Jordanian tourism system, price-quality relationship in the Jordanian product, relationship between private and public sector, decision making process, relationship between various public bodies and private sector, the role of private sector in the enactment of regulations and laws, the role of private sector in the promotion of product, and finally the efficiency of tourism statistical system and its impact on the availability of tourist database in Jordan.