Focusing on a very rich panel of exchange rate regimes in transition countries, this Paper asks the question of the appropriate exchange rate regime for countries aiming at joining the EU, that is, subsequently, the EMU. Four arguments plead in favour of the adoption of a fixed exchange rate regime: (i) countries sharing the same currency inside a Currency Union (CU hereafter) trade well above the average, because of lower transaction costs; (ii) emerging countries are not able to manage counter-cyclical policies; (iii) in a world of increasing financial instability, only corner solutions are feasible; (iv) last, but not least, fixing CEECs currencies could be a necessary step in a global strategy of entering the EU, that is, subsequently, the EMU. This Paper examines the first of these four arguments, that is, the fostering of trade, and provides evidence that the extra trade implied by fixing the currency is in fact close to nil, as in Padko and Wall [2000]. One corollary is that the benefit from membership into the EMU, if any, cannot be explained by the transaction cost argument only. Besides fixed effects, the explanation of the level of trade integration is to be found in the external constraint. The latter is affected by trade (positively if intra-industry trade dominates), and by monetary and fiscal policy. Increasing government spending and manipulating the exchange rate or moving towards more floating regimes might make business cycles more symmetric, relax the external constraint, and finally favour further trade integration. Given that the co-variation of East-West business cycles is already dominated by intra- industry trade, one can conclude that joining the EU, that is, two years later, the EMU, is realistic and compatible with any exchange rate regime. Empirical evidence from Transition Countries shows that the exchange rate regime is not correlated with any fundamentals – better macro-economic performance, higher growth, or deeper trade integration – and should not allow to discriminate between candidate countries for entering the EU (as for other nominal criteria).


Active shape changes and movement of whole cells, and translocations within cells are essential to life. For instance, during embryogenesis cell migration is a central theme. Wound healing depends on increased and directed motile activity of several cell types. Platelets change their shape dramatically during blood clotting and restoration of blood flow. Cells of the immune system extravasate (leave blood vessels) and migrate to sites of infection, where they carry out their defense reactions etc. Furthermore, increased motile activity is one of the hallmarks of malignant tumor cells. All these movements are carried out by a system of muscle proteins. They are present in all our cells, in fact in all eukaryotic cells. The proteins actin and myosin play central roles in this system. They form superstructures inside the cell, converting chemical energy into movements. In non-muscle cells, they are part of a highly dynamic system called the microfilament system, where the basic component are filaments formed from actin. Microfilaments are particularly concentrated beneath the plasma membrane, where they are linked, directly or indirectly, to transmembrane proteins - receptors, adhesion proteins, and ion channels. The dynamic activity of the microfilament system is based on the ability the cell has to change the system, both with respect to organization and activity, and it does so in response to the interactions that it has with the immediate surroundings. The protein profilin is one of the crucial components in the regulation of the microfilament system. It binds to actin and controls its polymerizability. In addition to that, it appears to be an important link between the transmembrane signalling and the mechanisms that polymerize actin into filaments. This thesis deals with the role of profilin in vivo. It reports on the localization of profilin in cells and describes the effects of microinjecting normal and mutant profilins, and a chemically crosslinked profilin:actin complex into cells. The results strengthen the view that profilin plays a role in the activation of the microfilament system, and provides evidence that the profilin:actin complex is the precursor for filament formation and that dissociation of the complex is a crucial step in the polymerization reaction. The thesis also describes effects on the microfilament system by microinjection of antibodies against two isoforms of PI3-kinase, an enzyme that is involved in the metabolism of a particular type of phospholipid present in the plasma membrane and linked to the control of the microfilament system.


Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology has recently been moving into everyday use contexts. Previous work has shown wearable RFID systems to be a viable mechanism for collecting data about a user's interactions with her environment. In this paper, we present wearable RFID systems as a promising new direction in tangible game interfaces. We provide an overview of the affordances of RFID for game-play, and present some existing and future wearable RFID-based games. We also describe the construction of a cheap, easy-to-build wearable RFID system and present a how-to resource for other researchers interested in building off our work.


Abstract. An accurate description of emissions is crucial for model simulations to reproduce and interpret observed phenomena over extended time periods. In this study, we used an approach based on activity data to develop a consistent series of spatially resolved emissions in the United States from 1990 to 2010. The state-level anthropogenic emissions of SO 2 , NO x , CO, NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic compounds), NH 3 , PM 10 and PM 2.5 for a total of 49 sectors were estimated based on several long-term databases containing information about activities and emission controls. Activity data for energy-related stationary sources were derived from the State Energy Data System. Corresponding emission factors reflecting implemented emission controls were calculated back from the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) for seven years (i.e., 1990, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2005), and constrained by the AP-42 (US EPA's Compilation of Air Pollutant Emissions Factors) dataset. Activity data for mobile sources including different types of highway vehicles and non-highway equipment were obtained from highway statistics reported by the Federal Highway Administration. The trends in emission factors for highway mobile source were informed by the 2011 National Transportation Statistics. Emissions for all non-energy-related sources were either scaled by the growth ratio of activity indicators or adjusted based on the NEI trends report. Because of the strengthened control efforts, particularly for the power sector and mobile sources, emissions of all pollutants except NH 3 were reduced by half over the last two decades. The emission trends developed in this study are comparable with the NEI trend report and EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) data, but better constrained by trends in activity data. Reductions in SO 2 , NO x , CO and EC (speciation of PM 2.5 by SMOKE, Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions) emissions agree well with the observed changes in ambient SO 2 , NO 2 , CO and EC concentrations, suggesting that the various controls on emissions implemented over the last two decades are well represented in the emission inventories developed in this study. These inventories were processed by SMOKE and are now ready to be used for regional chemistry transport model simulations over the 1990–2010 period.


Professional ethics implies abiding by ethical standards of nursing profession; to achieve this, there is a need for an appropriate method of teaching ethics. The aim of this study is to select a preferred method to train nursing professional ethics. A quasi-experimental study of two groups of before and after was used while nursing students were trained into two groups of multimedia software and Lecture. At first, all students were selected based on a census method; then random assignment was used to allocate them to the two groups. The number of samples in each group was 30. Using the nursing professional ethics questionnaire and after verifying the content validity and reliability, the tests were performed in three time spans of before training, immediately after training and four weeks after training. Data analysis was performed using t-test and variance analysis via SPSS software version 20. No statistically significant difference was observed between sex, academic semester, field interest, and knowledge but statistically significant difference was observed between age(p=0/000). The findings a statistically significant difference in mean scores of pre-test and post-test in multimedia group (p=0.025), mean scores of post-test in multimedia and durability of multimedia (p=0.001) and mean score of durability in Lecture and multimedia (p=0.009). Multimedia method is indicated to be more effective to teach professional ethics and can be used as such.


Traumatic brain injury can have severe deleterious consequences that may persist for decades following the initial injury. Whilst changes to individuals' physical abilities may be most readily observed, cognitive difficulties are some of the most prominent impairments following TBI. They have been shown to lead to difficulties reintegrating into the community—including returning to competitive employment, study, and social functioning. Nevertheless, relatively little is known regarding the extent to which concurrent cognitive abilities influence the magnitude or rate of functional recovery. In turn, there is still limited understanding of the factors that underpin and maintain cognitive impairment following TBI. As such, this dissertation aimed to examine the following: 1) The progression of functional outcome over the first year following TBI, and its relationship with personal characteristics and cognitive performance, and 2) To examine the utility of several new magnetic resonance imaging techniques in identifying injury-related brain changes, and their relationship with severity of injury and cognitive performance. The present dissertation demonstrated that in a sample of individuals with mild-to-severe TBI, older age, lower education, and longer post-traumatic amnesia were associated with poorer functional outcome over the first year following injury. Cognitive performance contributed uniquely to functional outcome over the first year over and above these other factors, with performance in the executive function domain most strongly associated with the progression of functional outcomes. In demonstrating that cognitive deficits were significantly related to outcomes over the first year following TBI, this dissertation examined the brain changes underpinning these impairments. Using a semi-automated image analysis method, widespread reduction in regional grey matter volume was found following TBI, a trend that increased with more severe TBI. Poorer retention of newly learned material, working memory, and executive functions were associated with reduced cortical volume in frontal, parietal, and occipital brain regions. Using diffusion tensor imaging, it was also apparent that individuals with moderate or severe TBI displayed significantly poorer white matter integrity compared to healthy controls. Information processing speed and executive abilities were related to the integrity of several white matter tracts, including the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, the internal capsule, and the corpus callosum. Lastly, the findings of this dissertation showed that susceptibility weighted imaging was superior to fluid attenuated inversion recovery in detecting the presence of lesions following mild-to-severe TBI. Susceptibility-weighted imaging quantified greater lesion volumes in both cortical and subcortical regions, and these were more strongly related to severity of injury. Nevertheless, both susceptibility-weighted imaging and fluid attenuated inversion recovery sequences showed that higher lesion volume was related to poorer memory and information processing speed. The findings of this dissertation are important, firstly in their demonstration that cognitive functioning significantly influences functional outcome following TBI. Subsequently, this dissertation highlights that several modern MRI techniques can be used to characterise the underlying pathology following TBI that is responsible for the production and maintenance of cognitive deficits.


Anisotropic spreading of liquids and elongated droplet shapes are often encountered on surfaces decorated with a periodic micropattern of linear surface topographies. Numerical calculations and wetting experiments show that the shape evolution of droplets that are slowly growing on a surface with parallel grooves can be grouped into two distinct morphological regimes. In the first regime, the liquid of the growing droplet spreads only into the direction parallel to the grooves. In the second regime, the three-phase contact line advances also perpendicular to the grooves, whereas the growing droplets approach a scale-invariant shape. Here, we demonstrate that shapes of droplets in contact with a large number of linear grooves are identical to the shapes of droplets confined to a plane chemical stripe, where this mapping of shapes is solely based on the knowledge of the cross section of the linear grooves and the material contact angle. The spectrum of interfacial shapes on the chemical stripe can be exploited to predict the particular growth mode and the asymptotic value of the base eccentricity in the limit of droplets covering a large number of grooves. The proposed model shows an excellent agreement with experimentally observed base eccentricities for droplets on grooves of various cross sections. The universality of the model is underlined by the accurate match with available literature data for droplet eccentricities on parallel chemical stripes.


Although development generally refers to a broad concept, the quest for development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been biased by ideological considerations which made abstraction of local conditions and people's aspirations. The prevalent development models have used increased national income as a sufficient statistics for broad-based development. This paper argues for an alternative and a more comprehensive and reflexive development framework that harnesses local and global knowledge and advocates generalized balanced growth and structural transformation to move Sub-Saharan African countries towards self-reliance—their collectively defined aspirational goal. Analytically, it shows that the potential development outcomes of the region under such an endogenous framework would be superior to the results achieved under the prevailing development models.


In multi-task learning, multiple tasks are solved jointly, sharing inductive bias between them. Multi-task learning is inherently a multi-objective problem because different tasks may conflict, necessitating a trade-off. A common compromise is to optimize a proxy objective that minimizes a weighted linear combination of per-task losses. However, this workaround is only valid when the tasks do not compete, which is rarely the case. In this paper, we explicitly cast multi-task learning as multi-objective optimization, with the overall objective of finding a Pareto optimal solution. To this end, we use algorithms developed in the gradient-based multi-objective optimization literature. These algorithms are not directly applicable to large-scale learning problems since they scale poorly with the dimensionality of the gradients and the number of tasks. We therefore propose an upper bound for the multi-objective loss and show that it can be optimized efficiently. We further prove that optimizing this upper bound yields a Pareto optimal solution under realistic assumptions. We apply our method to a variety of multi-task deep learning problems including digit classification, scene understanding (joint semantic segmentation, instance segmentation, and depth estimation), and multi-label classification. Our method produces higher-performing models than recent multi-task learning formulations or per-task training.


Background The consensus statement on the treatment of depression (Paykel & Priest, 1992) advocates the use of cognitive therapy techniques as an adjunct to medication. Method This paper describes a randomised controlled trial of brief cognitive therapy (BCT) plus 'treatment as usual' versus treatment as usual in the management of 48 patients with major depressive disorder presenting in primary care. Results At the end of the acute phase, significantly more subjects (P < 0.05) met recovery criteria in the intervention group (n=15) compared with the control group (n=8). When initial neuroticism scores were controlled for, reductions in Beck Depression Inventory and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores favoured the BCT group throughout the 12 months of follow-up. Conclusions BCT may be beneficial, but given the time constraints, therapists need to be more rather than less skilled in cognitive therapy. This, plus methodological limitations, leads us to advise caution before applying this approach more widely in primary care.


The human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and HER-2/neu are potential target antigens for CTL specific immunotherapy for common malignancies such as breast, lung, colon, and gastric carcinomas. Several CTL epitopes restricted by HLA-A2, the most common human histocompatibility molecule, have been previously reported. However, to develop CTL-based immunotherapies for the general population, it is necessary to identify epitopes restricted by other common histocompatibility alleles. Here, we describe two HLA-A3-restricted CTL epitopes from the CEA and HER-2/neu antigens. HLA-A3 binding synthetic peptides from CEA and HER-2/neu were tested for immunogenicity by in vitro primary CTL induction protocol using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from normal healthy volunteers. One peptide from CEA (CEA[9(61)]: HLFGYSWYK) and one peptide from HER-2/neu (HER2[9(754)]: VLRENTSPK) were shown to induce CTL that was capable of killing a tumor cell line expressing HLA-A3 and the corresponding tumor-associated antigen. Additional MHC binding studies with the most common HLA molecules belonging to the HLA-A3 superfamily (HLA-A*1101, -A*3101, -A*3301, and -A*6801), demonstrated that CEA[9(61)] binds five of five A3 supertype molecules with high affinity, and the HER2[9(754)] epitope was able to bind to four of the same five alleles. These results indicate that these two new CTL epitopes should be immunogenic in individuals expressing either HLA-A3, or other members of the HLA-A3 superfamily.


Although lower hybrid waves are effective at driving currents in present-day tokamaks, they are expected to interact strongly with high-energy particles in extrapolating to reactors. In the presence of a radial alpha particle birth gradient, this interaction can take the form of wave amplification rather than damping. While it is known that this amplification more easily occurs when launching from the tokamak high-field side, the extent of this amplification has not been made quantitative. Here, by tracing rays launched from the high-field-side of a tokamak, the required radial gradients to achieve amplification are calculated for a temperature and density regime consistent with a hot-ion-mode fusion reactor. These simulations, while valid only in the linear regime of wave amplification, nonetheless illustrate the possibilities for wave amplification using high-field launch of the lower hybrid wave.


This research aims to get the best dose of Urea to each sorghum               ( Sorghum bicolor L.) varieties. This research used a randomized block design, consisting of 2 factors with 3 replications. The first factor was 4 varieties sorghum, those Kawali, Numbu, Pahat and Mandau. The second factor was 3 levels of Urea treatment (60, 120 and 180 kg Urea/ha). Parameters measured were days to flowering (day), number of segments per plant (node), plant height (cm), stem diameter (cm), number of leaves (stands), panicle length (cm), seed weight per m 2 (g) and weight of 1000 seed (g). The mean separation of analysis of variance was tested using Duncan's multiple range test at 5%. The result indicates that application of 60 kg Urea/ha gave the best result on Pahat and Kawali varieties. Application of 120 kg Urea/ha and 180 kg Urea/ha on Pahat gave the best result compare to Kawali, Numbu and Mandau varieties. Keywords : Sorghum, Urea, Production.


How does journalism empower citizens through reporting and remembering news events, as they take shape in the era of social media in a society where the state power penetrates every aspect of social life and freedom of expression is not legally guaranteed? This inquiry is implemented through looking at the contemporary Chinese context, examining three sets of tensions that capture the characteristics of social media platforms: control/resistance, past/present, and global/local. It analyzes journalism and its reliance on collective memory in social media, by considering social media as an important venue where journalism interacts with other sets of discourses in a tradition of absolute state power. My study shows that in China, a society that enjoys a limited free flow of information, journalism uses social media platforms to mobilize symbolic resources for online activism targeting the Party-state system. These symbolic resources mainly derive from the past, both inside and beyond the Chinese context, leading to a debate of different versions of modernity in China. This is a study that spans three years along with the development of Sina Weibo (now Weibo), a microblogging service provided by Sina.com, one of the major Chinese portal websites. I argue that social media complicate the landscape of journalism, by taking a balancing position between market interests and political safety. In particular, micro-blogging has blurred the conventional distinction between professional and citizen journalism. Instead, the institutional and personal journalistic practices are working together contest censorship via social media platforms. Social media opens up spaces for journalists and ordinary citizens to rewrite history, and to use various resources provided by the past to criticize the present Party-state system and struggle for journalistic freedom. The global-local exchange of news and memory via social media platforms brings about a new version of Chinese identity, competing with the version promoted by the Partystate in contemporary social transition, and urging a thorough political reform to reach the goal of a "civilized nation." Social media, as shown in the case of Weibo, reflect the conflicting views of China's route to modernity--the debate between "Chinese characteristics" and "universal values," which produces the meanings of a modern Chinese nation and raises the relevance of citizenship. This conflict is situated in the complexities of historical and contemporary social transitions and China's dilemma in the embracing of a global world. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Communication First Advisor Barbie Zelizer This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1306


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Patients with celiac disease have permanent intolerance to gluten. Because of the high frequency of this disorder (approximately 1 in 100 individuals), we investigated whether oral tolerance to gluten differs from that to other food proteins.

METHODS
Using transgenic mice that express human HLA-DQ2 and a gliadin-specific, humanized T-cell receptor, we compared gluten-specific T-cell responses with tolerogenic mucosal T-cell responses to the model food protein ovalbumin.

RESULTS
Consistent with previous findings, the ovalbumin-specific response occurred in the mesenteric lymph nodes and induced Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells. In contrast, ingestion of deamidated gliadin induced T-cell proliferation predominantly in the spleen but little in mesenteric lymph nodes. The gliadin-reactive T cells had an effector-like phenotype and secreted large amounts of interferon gamma but also secreted interleukin-10. Despite their effector-like phenotype, gliadin-reactive T cells had regulatory functions, because transfer of the cells suppressed a gliadin-induced, delayed-type hypersensitivity response.

CONCLUSIONS
Ingestion of deamidated gliadin induces differentiation of tolerogenic, type 1 regulatory T cells in spleens of HLA-DQ2 transgenic mice. These data indicate that under homeostatic conditions, the T-cell response to deamidated gliadin is tolerance, which is not conditioned by the mucosal immune system but instead requires interleukin-10 induction by antigen presentation in the spleen.


On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and several key phenotypic features, it was ascertained that the culture cited as the type strain of the species Hyphomonas rosenbergii, ATCC 43869(T), does not conform to the description of the species, [Weiner, R. M., Melick, M., O'Neill, K. & Quintero, E. (2000). Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 50, 459-469]. The type strain does not exist in any other established culture collection or with the authors who described this species. Therefore, it cannot be included in any scientific study. It is proposed that the Judicial Commission place the name Hyphomonas rosenbergii on the list of rejected names if a suitable replacement type strain is not found or a neotype is not proposed within two years following the publication of this Request for an Opinion.


BACKGROUND Though patient census has been used to describe resident physician workload, this fails to account for variations in patient complexity. Changes in clinical orders captured through electronic health records may provide a complementary window into workload. We aimed to determine whether electronic order volume correlated with measures of patient complexity and whether higher order volume was associated with quality metrics. METHODS In this retrospective study of admissions to the internal medicine teaching service of an academic medical center in a 13-month period, we tested the relationship between electronic order volume and patient level of care and severity of illness category. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between daily team orders and two discharge-related quality metrics (receipt of a high-quality patient after-visit summary (AVS) and timely discharge summary), adjusted for team census, patient severity of illness, and patient demographics. RESULTS Our study included 5,032 inpatient admissions for whom 929,153 orders were entered. Mean daily order volume was significantly higher for patients in the intensive care unit than in step-down units and general medical wards (40 vs. 24 vs. 19, P < .001). Order volume was also significantly correlated with severity of illness (P < .001). Patients were 12% less likely to receive a timely discharge summary for every 100 additional team orders placed on the day prior to discharge (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.82-0.95). CONCLUSIONS Electronic order volume is significantly associated with patient complexity and may provide valuable additional information in measuring resident physician workload.


Despite significant advances in macro and micro level theories, explanation and prediction of urban unrest remains challenging. This dissertation contributes to ongoing efforts to improve understanding of urban unrest through specification of a novel model that utilizes meso-level mechanisms to link insights from existing theories. I show that, during times of structural constraints on state capacity, the ability of state actors to identify and avoid aggrieving sectors of the urban population with high underlying potential for mobilization plays a key role in connecting macro level causes to micro level outcomes and in explaining why some periods of structural constraints lead to urban unrest while others do not. To test my model, I engage in a comparative historical analysis of Argentina and Venezuela during the close of the twentieth century. This is supplemented with a quantitative evaluation of my model of urban unrest using large-n, cross national survey data of Latin American nations between the years of 1990 and 2012. Empirical data largely confirms several propositions generated from the model. I conclude with proposals for further refinement and expansion of this model of urban unrest.


The economical competitiveness of various power plant alternatives is compared. The comparison comprises merely electricity producing power plants. Combined heat and power (CHP) producing power will cover part of the future power deficit in Finland, but also condensing power plants for base load production will be needed. The following types of power plants are studied: nuclear power plant, combined cycle gas turbine plant, coal-fired condensing power plant, peat-fired condensing power plant, wood-fired condensing power plant and wind power plant. The calculations are carried out by using the annuity method with a real interest rate of 5 % per annum and with a fixed price level as of January 2008. With the annual peak load utilization time of 8000 hours (corresponding to a load factor of 91,3 %) the production costs would be for nuclear electricity 35,0 €/MWh, for gas based electricity 59,2 €/MWh and for coal based electricity 64,4 €/MWh, when using a price of 23 €/tonCO2 for the carbon dioxide emission trading. Without emission trading the production cost of gas electricity is 51,2 €/MWh and that of coal electricity 45,7 €/MWh and nuclear remains the same (35,0 €/MWh) In order to study the impact of changes in the input data, a sensitivity analysis has been carried out. It reveals that the advantage of the nuclear power is quite clear. E.g. the nuclear electricity is rather insensitive to the changes of nuclear fuel price, whereas for natural gas alternative the rising trend of gas price causes the greatest risk. Furthermore, increase of emission trading price improves the competitiveness of the nuclear alternative. The competitiveness and payback of the nuclear power investment is studied also as such by using various electricity market prices for determining the revenues generated by the investment. The profitability of the investment is excellent, if the market price of electricity is 50 €/MWh or more.


Abstract Lumbar fusion cages are devices used in spinal fusion procedures for disorders such as spondylosis and degenerative disc diseases that may occur due to age, trauma or genetic reasons. These devices are most frequently made of metals and polymers. The mechanical properties of such devices should be comparable to the bone to avoid stress shielding. Besides, cages should interact with the cells to prevent extrusion and achieve satisfactory fusion. In this study, poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) were compounded to create products with HAp contents up to 40% (w/w), processed by hot melt extrusion and injection molded to produce composites with maximum polymer-mineral interaction. The morphology, interaction with the plates and rate of proliferation of human osteoblast-like (HOB) cells were studied in vitro. We learned that cells interact more with HAp when the HAp content is higher than 20%. Tensile and compressive properties of PMMA were significantly increased with increasing HAp content; from an elastic modulus (E) of 2.08 to 3.92 GPa in tension, and from 349 to 562 MPa in compression. High HAp content of the samples increased the roughness from 0.69 μm for pure PMMA to 1.35 μm for 40% (w/w) HAp loaded PMMA, increased cell proliferation and as a result the cells presented filopodia indicating a satisfactory level of interaction with the cage surface. Based on mechanical and in vitro studies, a HAp content of around 30% (w/w) was found to be appropriate for good cell adhesion and satisfactory mechanical properties for use in the construction of a fusion cage. It was concluded that when PMMA and HAp were compounded at an optimal value, a cage material with adequate mechanical properties and increased cell attachment can be obtained for use in spinal fusion applications.


Using a simple model we estimate the achievable characteristics of bit-oriented optical memories using photochromic recording media. For readout by sensing the absorption of the medium, which will degrade the stored information, the required write energy per bit is of the same order as or lower than that for common ablative or pit-forming write-once media, and the required sample concentration appears to be achievable. To be able to erase at the same rate as data are written, the erase source must have a power output as much as an order of magnitude greater than that of the write source, and this may present a serious problem. For readout by sensing the refractive-index change in the medium, to achieve a nondegradative readout, the required erase exposure and sample concentration both appear to be impractically large.


This document describes a new optional type of OSPF area, somewhat humorously referred to as a "not-so-stubby" area (or NSSA). NSSAs are similar to the existing OSPF stub area configuration option but have the additional capability of importing AS external routes in a limited fashion.


This study evaluates the effect of Chile's pension system rules and regulations on individuals' contribution and working decisions. In 1980 Chile was the first country to switch from a pay-as-you-go system to a privatized system based on individual investment accounts; then it has since been a model for pension reforms in many other Latin American countries. The Chilean system has also been considered by U.S. policy makers as a possible prototype for reform. This paper develops and estimates a dynamic behavioral model of individual decision-making about formal or informal sector employment and about pension contributions, accounting for regulations that govern the timing and level of pension benefits. Model parameters are obtained by the method of simulated maximum likelihood applied to longitudinal data from a new household survey, the Social Protection Survey (2002 to 2004), and administrative data from the pension regulatory agency. The estimated model is used to simulate the impact on employment and contribution patterns of changing the system rules. Reducing the number of quarters required to obtain the Minimum Pension and increasing the size of that pension increases work in the formal sector and contributions in the informal sector.


Scholars are increasingly exploring crowdfunding, a novel and rapidly growing source of new venture financing. A key part of this research has sought to explain what factors are important to the crowdfunding investment decision. In this dissertation, I seek to contribute to research concerning investor decision-making by exploring how a founder's communication of reasons for investors to trust them influences equity-based crowdfunders' investment likelihood. Specifically, I consider the research question: "Do founders' assertions about their competence and integrity persuade crowdfunders to contribute capital to their venture in exchange for equity?" I also incorporate founders' demographic characteristics as boundary conditions that may influence whether investors develop competence- and integrity-based trust with founders. I test my ideas through the use of policy capturing, a methodology that provides an internally valid test of how investors are making decisions about the ventures in which they invest. Results provide evidence that founders' assertions about their trustworthiness have a positive influence on investment likelihood. Additionally, under certain circumstances, shared demographic characteristics between founders and investors serve as boundary conditions that influence whether founders' communication of their trustworthiness will affect investment decisions.


Aim: The aim of this study was to determine short and long-term morbidity and mortality rates after emergency colorectal surgery for benign and malignant disease in a high volume tertiary referral hospital in order to define factors predictive for outcome. Material and Methods: Characteristics and outcome of 196 consecutive emergency and 292 consecutive elective colorec- tal procedures were studied. A total of 91/196 emergency procedures were performed for malignant disease. The proce- dures reviewed included both palliative and curative procedures performed on an unselected patient population. Results were analysed by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: The total 30-day mortality for emergency and elective surgery was 20% and 3 % respectively, 36-month mortal- ity was 48% and 27%. The frequency of major or moderate complications after emergency procedures was 39%. The strongest predictors for 30 day mortality after emergency surgery were ASA score (Odds Ratio 2.5) and age (OR 1.5). Predictors for early postoperative complications were faecal contamination during surgery (OR 4.2) and ASA score (OR 2.0). The strongest predictor for 3 year mortality after emergency surgery was malignant disease (OR = 5.0). Other predic- tors for long-term outcome were procedures performed and degree of specialization of the surgeon. Conclusions: Short-term outcome is associated with patient and disease related factors, whereas long-term outcome is also correlated to the primary diseases, procedures performed and the degree of specialization of the surgeon. Decisions concerning the level of qualifications required for emergency procedures should be based upon patient and disease related factors as well as the procedure to be performed.


In this paper we investigate the effects of different regulatory contracts on operational cost performance for Norwegian urban transport companies. Exploiting the panel nature of our data (11 years and 1136 company-year observations), we propose a method to estimate regional time varying inefficiency measures that overcomes some of the shortcomings of existing approaches. In particular, the proposed method does not restrict the time pattern of the inefficiency measure (as in Liu (1993)) and, unlike the method proposed by Coelli and Battese (1995) is robust to potential correlation between a firm's inefficiency and input use (right hand side variables). In addition, unlike previous studies on the impact of regulatory contracts on performance, in this paper the potential endogeneity of the regulatory contract is addressed. The main result of this paper is that the contract type does not seem to affect efficiency across counties. This contradicts previous research on this subject. The interpretation of this negative result is an open question. Perhaps in practice, due to the bargaining power of firms, the power of the yardstick and subsidy-cap type of contracts is lower than one would expect from the formal analysis of the regulations. However, this negative result may explain why the authorities have been constantly searching for new regulatory instruments during the last decade. This paper also shows that a careful empirical analysis is required in order to infer the effects of contract types on firm performance, otherwise the results may be quite misleading.


This paper aims to explore the constructs of learner autonomy and teacher autonomy in the context of classroom-based language teaching: particularly, interrelational considerations that might inform pedagogical decisions. The concept of interrelating – implying affective engagement and connection where the term interacting does not – is central to the present paper's focus on the interpersonal dynamics of the teacher-learner context, especially in so far as these dynamics might influence a learner's capacity to be autonomous. In defining learner autonomy and related terms, the paper presents theory emerging from the author's recent research into teachers' and learners' perceptions of learner autonomy and the teacher-learner relationship, which conceives of the traditional teaching-learning context as a Dynamic Interrelational Space. It is argued that developing a learner's capacity to be autonomous is meaningful only in terms of interrelational dynamics: i.e., that learner autonomy depends upon the capacity of the learner and the teacher to generate and maintain a particular interrelational climate defined in terms of influence or restraint from influence. Factors that might precipitate the breakdown of the teacher-learner relationship, and thus the educative quality of the learning process, are discussed. The paper reviews the implications of the Dynamic Interrelational Space for both the learner's and teacher's creating an interrelational climate conducive to the development and maintenance of learner autonomy, and for the teacher's seeking to generate an interrelational climate conducive to his or her autonomy as a teacher within institutional and bureaucratic constraints. The author's research shows that, similarly to teachers and learners, teachers and their course coordinators or directors create interrelational climates that are also characterized by changing tensions involving influence and restraint from influence. An appreciation of these dynamics, and of the capacities that appear to underpin the will to empower, can help teachers in ensuring both their learners' autonomy and their own.


Typically referred to as the "red scare" or "McCarthy" era, the period from 1947 to 1954 was characterized by an ideological conflict which consumed all aspects of American culture. As prominent historians have argued, a salient feature of the time was the reflexive tendency of many individuals, organizations, and institutions to embrace the prevailing Zeitgeist that a serious internal threat to the United States existed. As a result, American society was propelled into a period of fervent anti-communism which produced one of the most severe episodes of political repression the United States has ever experienced. Public education was not exempt from this mounting tide of repression. Significantly, although several historians have portrayed the "red scare's" dramatic impact on American schooling, the organized teaching profession's response to "red scare" attack has escaped serious historical scrutiny. The National Education Association (NEA), however, warrants special attention for many reasons, two of which appear salient. First, at mid-century the NEA boasted the world's largest teaching organization and claimed a membership in excess of 450,000 educators. As an organization the NEA reached into every facet of public education and touched upon concerns and issues encountered by educators at local, state, and national levels. Attention to the policies and actions of the NEA during the "red scare" era, therefore, enriches historical understanding of this vital period in postwar American education. Second, by the establishment, in 1941, of the National Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Education, the NEA created the only educational agency explicitly and expressly charged to protect and to defend pubic school teachers from unjust attack. Close examination of the work of the Defense Commission, as it was commonly known, offers a broad and detailed perspective on the impact of the "red scare" on American public education and the effectiveness of the NEA's response to it.


Administrative language must follow the requirements of regular language applicable in all of its areas, including pronunciation, stress, vocabulary, formation of terminology and grammar forms, cases, prepositions and other structures of syntax. What is not appropriate for general language cannot be appropriate for administrative language. This article focuses on uncommon expressions used in the Codes of the Lithuanian Republic and their commentaries. It also analyses the causes of unusual vocabulary that is not acceptable in general language. Words and word compounds in administrative language should be used in the same meaning as they are used in general language. Where resources of general language are limited, different expressions are to be found. For example, new meanings may be provided: an adjective 'pilnas, -a' is used as the opposite for 'sutrumpintas ('pilnas ir sutrumpintas dokumento pavadinimas', 'pilnas ir sutrumpintas įmonės pavadinimas')'. Each of such cases must be justified by usage. These matters must be distinguished from the language mistakes that appear in dictionaries of administrative language. It is inappropriate to use the expressions that are unacceptable to general language, such as 'betarpiskas', 'issireiskimas', 'pasisakyti', 'pasisakymas', 'prisilaikyti'. These words might appear due to the influence of other languages. Rejection of appropriate terminology impoverishes administrative language. Some inadequacy in application of general language may be due to uncharacteristic meaning of our own expressions, for example, 'įvykdyti pažeidimą', 'patalpinti įtariamąjį', 'patalpinti skelbimą', 'pilnai atlyginti', 'glausti terminai', applied instead of common vocabulary. Moreover, vocabulary mistakes emerge because of the similar expressions, such as 'dvigubas' and 'dvejopas', 'įrenginys' and 'įrengimas'. For the sake of language correctness, it is necessary to ensure that uncharacteristic expressions are not included in the Codes of the Republic of Lithuania, particularly when it is possible to avoid wrong usage.


Can Coffee Ameliorate the Cancer Risks Associated with Low-Moderate Alcohol Consumption in Men?
Alcohol consumption has been reported to increase the risks of several types of cancer, even with moderate levels of consumption. However, in men, but not women, the cancers associated with alcohol consumption have been observed to have decreased incidence in coffee consumers. Possible mechanisms through which coffee might exert a protective effect against these cancers are discussed.


In the early 1990s, Brazil started a debate about the role of the state in the economy in general, and the energy sector in particular. A major privatisation process of state assets began in which energy, and in particular the electricity utilities, were earmarked for special attention, given their monopolistic structure and perceived low productivity and inefficiency. Thus, the privatisation of the Brazilian power industry cannot be analysed in isolation, but as an integral part of the overall privatisation process currently happening in the country. The privatisation program in Brazil is progressing well despite its complexity, its magnitude and conflicting political interests. The proceeds from the privatisation of state owned assets from 1991 to April 2001 reached $102.2 billion ($84.1 billion from sales, and $18.0 billion worth of debt transferred). The total proceeds from the first three months of 2001 alone were more than $1.8 billion. The sectors with the highest proceeds from sales were telecommunications (33%) followed by electricity with 31%. The share of the public sector of energy distribution has been reduced from 98% in 1995 to 37% in 2000, and that of energy generation from 78% to 22% over the same period, (see [1]). The monopolistic structure of the electricity industry posed serious questions with regard to its economic and financial viability. The price structure of the previous two or so decades was partly at the root of the problem. The program of reforms is having profound implications for the energy sector e.g. the creation of ANEEL (the National Energy Electricity Agency) with power to ensure free competition in the energy market. However, the new energy policy thinking was more a direct result of the need to find answers to increasing economic and financial difficulties, than the desire to modernise the electricity industry. The main aims of this paper are: 1) to present a historical overview of the transition period experienced by the Brazilian electricity sector in the last decade; 2) to present a critical analysis of the institutional procedures being implemented; and 3) to assess the new opportunities and challenges emerging from this privatisation process.


The economic and policy framework for investment decisions in the power generation sector in China are investigated. Our analysis combines a review of the existing legal framework with a survey of stakeholders in industry and government. Based on interviews with over 60 stakeholders, we find a consistent picture emerges of the role of the major institutions and the decision criteria used in investment decisions for conventional thermal power technologies. In contrast, the evolving legal framework for investment in lower-carbon technologies, as reflected primarily in the renewable energy law, produces no clear consensus regarding decision criteria from either government or industry stakeholders. The overall objectives are widely acknowledged, but there is considerable disagreement amongst stakeholders over its implementation. From an investment analysis of risks versus returns, most respondents perceive advanced thermal power investments and small hydro as being more attractive than lower carbon alternatives such as wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV) power.


Twenty-fi ve years ago, initial plans for reconstructing the Rodinia supercontinent were being drafted, based on the growing recognition of correlatable mid-Neoproterozoic (0.8–0.7 Ga) rifted passive margins, many of which were established on the eroded remnants of late Mesoproterozoic (1.3–1.0 Ga) orogenic belts. The 1990s witnessed a surge of interest in Rodinia, with many regional studies of tectonostratigraphy and U-Pb geochronology generally conforming to the "inside-out" reconstruction model: juxtaposition of west Laurentia with east Australia/ Antarctica, north Laurentia with Siberia, and east Laurentia with Baltica and cratons that would later form West Gondwana. This standard model of Rodinia appeared to be converging toward a solution with only minor variations by the turn of the millennium, but new paleomagnetic data and tectonostratigraphic information obtained in the succeeding decade chipped away at various aspects of the reconstruction; several cratons seemed to require exclusion from the supercontinent (thus questioning its very validity), or the landmass might have assembled much later (≤0.9 Ga) than originally envisaged (thus weakening the link to global Mesoproterozoic orogenesis). Although a consensus model of Rodinia's assembly and fragmentation has arisen from the International Geoscience Programme Project 440 working group, the reconstruction is supported by rather sparse defi nitive-quality data. As the quest for Rodinia matures to a third decade of scrutiny, the search for its predecessor Nuna (a.k.a. Hudsonland or Columbia) is only now reaching a stage of global synthesis between tectonostratigraphic and paleomagnetic data. According to most defi nitions, Nuna assembled at 1.9–1.75 Ga, or perhaps as late as 1.6 Ga, and fragmented during the interval 1.5–1.2 Ga. Because mafi c dike swarms are ideal targets for paleomagnetic study, and because they are now amenable to routine dating by U-Pb on baddeleyite, the global abundance of Paleo-Mesoproterozoic dike swarms might make Nuna more imminently solvable than Rodinia. Prior to the assembly of Nuna, various "supercraton" connections such as Vaalbara, Superia, and Sclavia are only beginning to take form. Unmetamorphosed, early Paleoproterozoic (2.5–2.0 Ga) mafi c dike swarms are commonplace features across the interiors of Archean cratons, and their joint paleo magnetic and geochronologic study can help reassemble the cratons into their supercraton parent landmasses. Progressively older geologic times require consideration of a greater number of potentially independent terranes, each needing individual kinematic constraints. Furthermore, the initial stabilizing events of most extant cratons during Neoarchean time (3.0–2.5 Ga) therefore render global reconstructions older than that interval improbable.


The recently proposed IEEE P802.3ba 100 Gb/s Ethernet (100 GbE) standard has adopted 100 Gb/s transmission over 10 and 40 km of single-mode fiber (SMF) using four-channel (4 × 25 Gb/s) wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) systems, which is neither cost-effective nor spectrally efficient compared with a single-channel system exploiting the combination of higher-order modulations and optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (O-OFDM). This paper demonstrates that a spectrally efficient (4 bits/s/Hz) single-channel 100 Gb/s system can be designed based on 64-quadrature amplitude modulation (64-QAM) and directly detected O-OFDM (DDO-OFDM) with an effective OFDM signal bandwidth of 24 GHz. Such a system can not only offer error-free (at bit error ratio of 10-3 without forward error correction) transmissions over the targeted maximum distance of 40 km of SMF but also achieves a power margin of 16 dB without any inline amplifier or dispersion compensation. This confirms that the proposed system has the potential to offer 100 Gb/s Ethernet for both point-to-point short communication links and 1:32 split passive optical networks (PONs). The bit rate of the system is then increased to 1 Tb/s employing WDM, and it is found to have equal potential for point-to-point short communication links and 1:16 split PON. Finally the reach limits of both of the proposed systems are quantified.


In 1970, John W. Gardner founded Common Cause, the first national government reform lobby. Common Cause lobbyists—and the organization— soon earned a reputation for integrity and influence among Members of Congress and the American public. For almost thirty years, Common Cause operated according to action principles set forth by early leaders (or Gardner's Rules). Yet, by the mid-1990s organizational survival was in question.

Existential crises increased pressure on the organization to amend Gardner's Rules. A tipping point was reached when top positions were filled by leaders relatively new to Common Cause. Their reorganization plans introduced significant changes to the group's operations and culture.

New leaders amended long-held action principles. For example, the Common Cause Education Fund (a 501c3 arm enabling tax-deductible contributions but limiting lobbying activities) was added as a means to gain foundation grants. State office campaigns received more attention and resources. Grassroots mobilization became a primary advocacy strategy instead of filling a supporting role for professionalized lobbying.

In addition, financial considerations forced leaders to sacrifice descriptive representation processes. Leaders increasingly took on trustee-like roles, selecting and promoting issues that citizens chose to support. Yet, the ubiquity of internet activism suggests at some level leaders must listen to their supporters. Thus, a case study of Common Cause is a means to explore dual representation, or how an elite leadership represents the "what before the who."

Historical analysis of Common Cause from 1991 to 2017 contributes a longitudinal perspective of organizational maintenance and advocacy dynamics through evolving contexts. When combined with prior case studies by Andrew S. McFarland (1984) and Lawrence S. Rothenberg (1992), this project creates a sequence of analytical research about one interest group spanning over forty-five years, a unique contribution to the field. Moreover, it provides a lens for studying how key aspects of the U.S. political system—interest groups, collective action, lobbying, and representation—work as the environment changes.


Space missions have evolved considerably in the last fifty years in both complexity and ambition. In order to enable this continued improvement in the scientific and commercial return of space missions new control systems are needed that can manage complex combinations of state of the art hardware with a minimum of human interaction.

Distributed multi-agent systems are one approach to controlling complex multisatellite space missions. A distributed system is not enough on its own however,the spacecraft must be able to carry out complex tasks such as planning,negotiation and close proximity formation flying autonomously. It is the coupling of distributed control with autonomy that is the focus of this thesis.

Three contributions to the state of the art are described herein. They all involve the innovative use of multi-agent systems in space missions. The first is the development of a multi-agent architecture, HASA, specifically for space missions. The second is to use embedded agents to autonomously control an interferometric type space telescope. The third is based on software agents that coordinate multiple Earth observation missions coupled with a global optimisation technique for data extraction.

The HASA architecture was developed in reaction to the over generality of most multi-agent architectures in the computer science and robotics literature and the ad-hoc, case-by-case approach, to multi-agent architectures when developed and deployed for space missions. The HASA architecture has a recursive nature which allows for the multi-agent system to be completely described throughout its development process as the design evolves and more sub-systems are implemented. It also inherits a focus on the robust generation of a product and safe operation from architectures in use in the manufacturing industry.

A multi-agent system was designed using the HASA architecture for an interferometric space telescope type mission. This type of mission puts high requirements on formation flying and cooperation between agents. The formation flying agents were then implemented using a Java framework and tested on a multi-platform distributed simulation suite developed especially for this thesis. Three different control methods were incorporated into the agents and the multi-agent system was shown to be able to acquire and change formation and avoid collisions autonomously.

A second multi-agent system was designed for the GMES mission in collaboration with GMV, the industrial partner in this project. This basic MAS design was transferred to the HASA architecture. A novel image selection algorithm was developed to work alongside the GMES multi-agent system. This algorithm uses global optimisation techniques to suggest image parameters to users based on the output of the multi-agent system.


Knowledge of the longterm trajectory of nonadherence to immunosuppressants can inform decisions regarding organ allocation, adherence monitoring, and intervention efforts. The Medication Adherence in Children Who Had a Liver Transplant (MALT) prospective multisite study followed 400 pediatric and adolescent liver transplant recipients for 2 years, using the Medication Level Variability Index to monitor adherence. We hypothesized that adherence is an unstable (fluctuating) phenomenon: that patients who are adherent in year 1 may become nonadherent in year 2, and vice versa. However, we also hypothesized that a majority (more than 50%) of nonadherent patients remain nonadherent over time. We further hypothesized that the longer nonadherence lasts, the higher the likelihood of adverse events (rejection). Finally, we explored the effect of socioeconomic factors on the evolution of adherence over time. Most (59.7%) of the MALT patients who were nonadherent in year 1 remained so in year 2; 18.5% of patients who were adherent in year 1 became nonadherent in year 2. Only 4.4% of patients who were adherent in both year 1 and year 2 had a rejection, compared with 22.9% of patients who were nonadherent during 1 of the years, and 34.9% of those who were nonadherent in both years (P < 0.001), establishing a "dose‐dependent" effect of adherence on transplant outcomes. Single‐parent households were associated with worsening adherence. Our results suggest that good baseline adherence does not guarantee adherence later on, that nonadherence is likely to persist in the absence of interventions, and that monitoring of adherence and interventions to improve it should be expected to last for years if transplant outcomes are to be improved. Liver Transplantation 24 80–88 2018 AASLD.


Gender and poverty combine to put a burden on the status of women farm workers. On top of that, women's contribution in agriculture, albeit important to the overall agricultural chain, is commonly overlooked. This study looked into the time-use of women in agriculture, relative to men in the largest rice producing community in the Philippines. The methodology included key informant interviews of nine women, a survey questionnaire to a total of 159 individuals form the farming household, and a time-motion study of women's work in raising livestock during a whole day. The data revealed that women are involved in all aspects of the agricultural production although there is a differentiation in the time allocation between the men and female farmers. Women worked 2.6 hours per day on the average compared with 6 hours per day for men. Statistical analysis also showed that women's work in the home is not lessened even as she devotes more time on the field. Hence, she experiences double burden. More than half of the women (60%) stated that they do not own the land, in contrast to only 29.6% among the men. The study supports that gender matters and males dominate on decisions regarding crop production (usually a man's decision), usage of money earned from activities, and in the determination of the purpose of livestock. However, women provide labor and take direction. From this perspective perspective, this study highlights the role of women and their contribution to agriculture, ultimately supporting the need for agricultural statistics to include gender and not be gender-blind.


A general equilibrium model of individual specialization is presented in which agents trade off the productivity and price implications of producing a narrower range of goods. Agents with highly specific skills turn out to benefit most from large markets. The model is able to replicate features of the long-term evolution of the US income distribution, with specialization-biased technical change and the increase in employed population playing key roles. Among the results is that, at least along one dimension of ability, the skill premium is increasing in the relative supply of skills.


We tested whether nest visitation rate of parent pied Flycatch ers (Ficedula hypoleuca) is decreased by an experimentally increased predation risk. We simulated predation risk by placing a stuffed Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium passerinzm) in the nest vicinity and by playback of pygmy owl's whistling. We used Blackbird (Turdus merula) treatment as a control. Surprisingly, the parental nest visitation r ate was about 25Va higher in the treatment thar in the control group. The treahnents were reversed on the same day. Pairs of the "confol treatment" in the first phase increased their nest visitation rate by 167, as a response to the "owl treatment". Four possible explanations exist. parents may increase delivery in order (1) to silence the begging of the nestlings, who might otherwise betray the nest location to the owl, or (2) to increase the growth rate of the nestlings so that they fledge sooner, probably disperse better and so elude the danser. Altematively, (3) the parents may view a predator as a threat to themselves. Ld remain in the vicinity of the nest where they are most familiar and therefore safest. In addition, (4) increased nest visitation might form part of nest defense behaviour against the owl.


Approximately one million deaths are attributed to malaria every year. Latest reports of multi-drug treatment failure of falciparum malaria underscore the desideratum to understand the molecular substratum of drug resistance. The mutations in the digestive vacuole transmembrane protein Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) are mainly responsible for chloroquine resistance (CQR) in Plasmodium falciparum . Multiple mutations in the PfCRT are concerned in chloroquine resistance, but the evolution of intricate haplotypes is not yet well understood. P. falciparum resistance to chloroquine is the standard antimalarial drug and is mediated primarily by mutant forms of the PfCRT. In this chapter, we present the mechanism of action of the chloroquine, the structural changes of the gene after the mutations as well as different haplotypes of the PfCRT.


This rubric is intended to assist in the assessment of CRUK Population Research data management plans, against the criteria required by the funder.
It is not intended to be used as a template for researchers to follow when writing a data management plan.
The rubric has been divided into 'performance criteria' (on the left hand side) which cover the information the funder expects to be covered by the data management plan. Each performance criteria is followed by three descriptions of how it might be addressed, each indicating a different level of response. The descriptions are intended as examples of how the performance criteria might be addressed and are not considered to be exhaustive.
The rubric also lists the documents and resources on which it was based.


This study examines the relationship between environmental responsibility and financial performance of international oil companies in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In pursuance of this, a sample of twelve (12) international oil firms was used for the study. Secondary data were obtained from the audited annual financial reports of the selected companies and Federal Ministry of Environment covering the period of 2009 to 2018. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, panel causality test and fixed effect, selected as the appropriate strategy after using the Hausman test. Based on the data analysis, the study reveals that there is a bi-directional relationship between environmental responsibility and firms' financial performance. The study further reveals that there is a positive relationship between environmental responsibility and firms' financial performance. When environmental responsibility interacts with corporate governance, the impact is found to have a significant positive relationship with firms' financial performance. The study also finds that growth opportunities and firm size are positively and significantly related to firms' financial performance. Based on the findings, the study recommends effective regulation, strong institutional mechanism and good corporate governance structures to enforce or engender environmental sustainability and compel firms to adopt the culture/strategy of sustainable finance. Such strategy will alleviate the curse of dependency and poverty that comes with the destruction of the environment and the means of sustenance of the people in oil producing communities.


This dissertation is focused on building scalable Attribute Based Security Systems (ABSS), including efficient and privacy-preserving attribute based encryption schemes and applications to group communications and cloud computing. First of all, a Constant Ciphertext Policy Attribute Based Encryption (CCP-ABE) is proposed. Existing Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) schemes usually incur large, linearly increasing ciphertext. The proposed CCP-ABE dramatically reduces the ciphertext to small, constant size. This is the first existing ABE scheme that achieves constant ciphertext size. Also, the proposed CCP-ABE scheme is fully collusion-resistant such that users can not combine their attributes to elevate their decryption capacity. Next step, efficient ABE schemes are applied to construct optimal group communication schemes and broadcast encryption schemes. An attribute based Optimal Group Key (OGK) management scheme that attains communication-storage optimality without collusion vulnerability is presented. Then, a novel broadcast encryption model: Attribute Based Broadcast Encryption (ABBE) is introduced, which exploits the manyto-many nature of attributes to dramatically reduce the storage complexity from linear to logarithm and enable expressive attribute based access policies. The privacy issues are also considered and addressed in ABSS. Firstly, a hidden policy based ABE schemes is proposed to protect receivers' privacy by hiding the access policy. Secondly,a new concept: Gradual Identity Exposure (GIE) is introduced to address the restrictions of hidden policy based ABE schemes. GIE's approach is to reveal the receivers' information gradually by allowing ciphertext recipients to decrypt the message using their possessed attributes one-by-one. If the receiver does not possess one attribute in this procedure, the rest of attributes are still hidden. Compared to hiddenpolicy based solutions, GIE provides significant performance improvement in terms of reducing both computation and communication overhead. ii Last but not least, ABSS are incorporated into the mobile cloud computing scenarios. In the proposed secure mobile cloud data management framework, the light weight mobile devices can securely outsource expensive ABE operations and data storage to untrusted cloud service providers. The reported scheme includes two components: (1) a Cloud-Assisted Attribute-Based Encryption/Decryption (CA-ABE) scheme and (2) An Attribute-Based Data Storage (ABDS) scheme that achieves information theoretical optimality.


While bacteria have demonstrated antibiotic resistance since the advent of antibiotics, the threat that these resistant microbes pose has recently gained much more attention in scientific and public communities. Antibiotics work by disrupting functions and structures in bacteria that animal cells lack. Bacteria acquire resistance to these drugs through genetic mutations that allow them to sidestep the effects of the antibiotic. When this occurs, antibiotics may not be able to treat an illness caused by resistant bacteria. An alternative therapy is the use of bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria.
In this experiment, we grew cultures of ampicillin-resistant and ampicillin-sensitive K12 strain E. coli and applied three strains of T4 bacteriophage, T4r+, T4r, and T4rIIA, to different cultures of the resistant and sensitive E. coli. After the bacteriophages had time to infect and lyse the bacteria, we determined the lysed percentage of each culture.
The results of this work showed that the wild type T4r+ caused the greatest amount of lysis of E. coli. There was not a significant difference in percentage lysed between cultures containing resistant and sensitive E. coli infected with the same strain of bacteriophage. These results suggest that the T4r+ bacteriophage may be the most effective in treating an E. coli infection, regardless of the ampicillin resistance of the E. coli.


INTRODUCTION: Intestinal parasitic infections are the major public health problems of Nepal. Apart from causing mortality and morbidity, infection with intestinal parasites has been associated with stunting of linear growth, physical weakness and low educational achievement in school children. The drinking water is considered as the major cause for parasitic infection. This study aims to determine the prevalence of parasitic infection among the children visiting kindergarten of the Kathmandu, Khusibhu area. MATERIALS AND METHODS : Cross sectional study was done in randomly selected Kindergarten of Khusibhu area. A total of 101 samples were examined. The study was focused in isolating intestinal parasites using normal saline and iodine wet mount method. Both macroscopic and microscopic studies were performed. RESULTS: Among the samples 45.5% (n=46) showed parasitic infection in which the Giardia lambia infection was found the highest 56.5% (n=26) and infection with Ascaris lumbricoides was found lowest 8.7% (n=4). Infection rate was found to be high in children drinking filtered water than among those drinking boiled and filtered water. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of parasitic infection in children is mainly associated with hygiene and food habit of the children. Hence good education about the hygienic practice helps in the prevention of the infection. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijim.v2i3.8205 Int J Infect Microbiol 2013;2(3):111-113


This article offers a reply to Werner Bonefeld's recent contribution to the debate on value and abstract labour, in which he critically engages with our previous articles dealing with these questions. We argue that Bonefeld's criticisms are not simply based on disagreements over these controversial issues, but also on a misunderstanding of our stance on abstract labour and value. In addition to clarifying our position, the article provides some brief critical remarks on Bonefeld's own intervention in the debate and shows that his contribution fails to offer a solid analysis of the fundamental categories of the critique of political economy.


People with movement disorders are plagued with debilitating conditions, which significantly degrade their quality of life. Traditional rehabilitation typically involves intensive interaction between patients and therapists. While effective, traditional rehabilitation cannot keep abreast of the increasing patient population primarily attributed to a higher surviving rate after diseases and/or injuries. Furthermore, patients living in the rural areas have fairly limited access to rehabilitation services. In the past two decades, tremendous efforts have been put into developing rehabilitation and assistive robots to facilitate the rehabilitation training while relieving the physical involvement of therapists and/or lowering the related cost. Most notably, the rehabilitation and assistive robots have been significantly advanced with developments in actuators, sensors, microprocessors, and mobile software platforms. However, unlike traditional robotics, the intimate interaction between robot and human in rehabilitation robots indicates that the success is also closely related to a thorough understanding of the human neuromuscular aspects and human-machine interaction.

This special issue primarily aims to gather the latest achievements in rehabilitation robots, exoskeletons, and prostheses including the following topics: (a) development of rehabilitation robots, exoskeleton, and upper/lower limb prostheses driven by bionics; (b) functional evaluation of rehabilitation robots, exoskeleton, and upper/lower limb prostheses with an emphasis on human movement biomechanics; (c) musculoskeletal modeling and simulation of human movements while wearing exoskeleton or prostheses; (d) noninvasive human-machine interface based on electromyography and/or electroencephalogram; (e) sensors for monitoring kinematics/kinetics, as well as biological signals in real time; (f) innovative actuators and control algorithms applied to rehabilitation robots, exoskeletons, and prostheses.

In this special issue, collective studies address the aforementioned key elements via both technical and biomechanical approaches. A reconfigurable robotic hand exoskeleton was proposed to meet the fast growing need in hand rehabilitation. A novel control algorithm integrating sliding model control with cerebellar model articulation controller neural network was implemented in lower limb exoskeleton to enhance the coordination between patient and exoskeleton. An upper limb exoskeleton was enhanced with integrated optical cameras to offer more accurate estimation of joint posture than traditional motion capture system. A hybrid upper limb rehabilitation system consisting of a shoulder-elbow-forearm exoskeleton and a robotic manipulator was validated and tested in the clinic. The characteristics of muscle-tendon stimulation such as perception threshold and vibration frequency significantly influenced the muscle forces as well as the reaction time. Patellar retention was found to be superior to patellar replacement in knee arthroplasty via a comprehensive computer simulation. These collective studies, as part of the latest representative work, offered some new insights into the development and implementation of rehabilitation and assistive robots.

Fan Gao

Guanglin Li

Huapeng Wu

Qining Wang

Jie Liu

Justin Keogh


We introduce deep shadow maps, a technique that produces fast, high-quality shadows for primitives such as hair, fur, and smoke. Unlike traditional shadow maps, which store a single depth at each pixel, deep shadow maps store a representation of the fractional visibility through a pixel at all possible depths. Deep shadow maps have several advantages. First, they are prefiltered, which allows faster shadow lookups and much smaller memory footprints than regular shadow maps of similar quality. Second, they support shadows from partially transparent surfaces and volumetric objects such as fog. Third, they handle important cases of motion blur at no extra cost. The algorithm is simple to implement and can be added easily to existing renderers as an alternative to ordinary shadow maps.


Polyherbal therapy is said to be a current pharmacological principle having the advantage of producing maximum therapeutic efficacy with minimum side effects. We assessed the antidiabetic efficacy and hence the impact on biochemical indices of toxicity by a combination of extracts from neem and bitterleaf. Thirty rats, 25 diabetic and 5 non-diabetic rats, were used for the study. The diabetic rats were divided equally into five groups and respectively treated: saline (diabetic control), extracts from neem and bitterleaf combined, neem only, bitterleaf only and chlorpropamide for a 24 day period. After oral administration of the first dose of extract (400 mg kg-1 b.w.) and chlorpropamide (4.286 mg kg-1 b.w.), blood glucose was monitored in vivo at various time intervals for 9 h, thereafter daily administration continued for 24 days. Whereas single dose treatment with neem only showed peak reduction (28.56%) an hour after, treatments with combined extracts, bitterleaf and chlorpropamide had their peak reductions all at the 7th hour (24.78, 47.31 and 60.51%, respectively). Percentage reductions in blood glucose relative to their initial values at the end of treatment were 71.05, 44.95, 88.63 and 75.83 for combined extract, neem, bitterleaf and chlorpropamide respectively. The decrease in blood glucose for the groups treated with combined extracts and bitterleaf only compared well (p<0.01) with chlorpropamide and non diabetic control, but not with neem alone. Determination of markers of hepatotoxicity in serum including GPT and GOT activities, total protein, albumin and urea indicated that, of the four treatments, neem provides the best protection against hepatic dysfunction. In the group treated with combined extracts these alternate selective advantages of neem and bitterleaf were expressed as a positive synergy, hence more beneficial than individual treatments.


The processing and communication capabilities of the smart grid provide a solid foundation for enhancing its efficiency and reliability. These capabilities allow utility companies to adjust their offerings in a way that encourages consumers to reduce their peak hour consumption, resulting in a more efficient electrical grid. The smart grid achieves this through the introduction of smart meters; which collect and transmit consumers' detailed power consumption information in an automated way. Despite their benefits, these readings introduce a major privacy threat to residential consumers as they reveal details that could be used to infer information about the activities of the occupants of a home.

In this thesis, we first propose a method for scheduling a community's power consumption such that it becomes almost flat. Our methodology utilizes distributed schedulers that allocate time slots to soft loads probabilistically based on pre-calculated and pre-distributed demand forecast information. This approach requires no communication or coordination between scheduling nodes and the computation performed at each scheduling node is minimal. Obtaining a relatively constant consumption makes it possible to have a relatively constant billing rate and eliminates operational inefficiencies. We also analyze the fairness of our proposed approach, the effect of the possible errors in the demand forecast, and the participation incentives for consumers.

In the second part of the thesis, we question the need to disclose high frequency readings produced at the home's level. Instead, we propose equipping smart meters with sufficient processing power enabling them to provide their corresponding utility company with a set of well-defined services based on these readings. For demand side management, we propose the collection of high frequency readings at a higher level in the distribution network, such as at local step-down transformers, as this readily provides the accumulated demand of all homes within a branch. In addition, we study the effect of the proposed approach on consumers' privacy, using correlation and relative entropy as measures. We also study the effect of load balancing on consumers' privacy when using the proposed approach. Finally, we assess the detection of appliances using high frequency readings collected for demand side management purposes.


Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a disease of widespread economic importance that affects numerous plant species, including Arabidopsis thaliana. We describe a pathosystem between A. thaliana and biovar 3 phylotype I strain BCCF402 of R. solanacearum isolated from Eucalyptus trees. A. thaliana accession Be-0 was susceptible and accession Kil-0 was tolerant. Kil-0 exhibited no wilting symptoms and no significant reduction in fitness (biomass, seed yield, and germination efficiency) after inoculation with R. solanacearum BCCF402, despite high bacterial numbers in planta. This was in contrast to the well-characterized resistance response in the accession Nd-1, which limits bacterial multiplication at early stages of infection and does not wilt. R. solanacearum BCCF402 was highly virulent because the susceptible accession Be-0 was completely wilted after inoculation. Genetic analyses, allelism studies with Nd-1, and RRS1 cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence marker analysis showed that the tolerance phenotype in Kil-0 was dependent upon the resistance gene RRS1. Knockout and complementation studies of the R. solanacearum BCCF402 effector PopP2 confirmed that the tolerance response in Kil-0 was dependent upon the RRS1-PopP2 interaction. Our data indicate that the gene-for-gene interaction between RRS1 and PopP2 can contribute to tolerance, as well as resistance, which makes it a useful model system for evolutionary studies of the arms race between plants and bacterial pathogens. In addition, the results alert biotechnologists to the risk that deployment of RRS1 in transgenic crops may result in persistence of the pathogen in the field.


Heat pump clothes dryers (HPCDs) can be as much as 50percent more energy-efficient than conventional electric resistance clothes dryers, and therefore have the potential to save substantial amounts of electricity. While not currently available in the U.S., there are manufacturers in Europe and Japan that produce units for those markets. Drawing on analysis conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) current rulemaking on amended standards for clothes dryers, this paper evaluates the cost-effectiveness of HPCDs in American homes, as well as the national impact analysis for different market share scenarios. In order to get an accurate measurement of real energy savings potential, the paper offers a new energy use calculation methodology that takes into account the most current data on clothes washer cycles, clothes dryer usage frequency, remaining moisture content, and load weight per cycle, which is very different from current test procedure values. Using the above methodology along with product cost estimates developed by DOE, the paper presents the results of a life-cycle cost analysis of the adoption of HPCDs in a representative sample of American homes. The results show that HPCDs have positive economic benefits only for households with high clothes dryer usage or for households with high electricity prices and moderately high utilization.


Track-II talks in the Middle East -- unofficial discussions among Israeli and Arab scholars, journalists, and former government and military officials -- have been going on since soon after the 1967 Six Day War and have often paved the way for official negotiations. This book, a unique collaboration of Israeli and Palestinian authors, traces the history of these unofficial meetings, focusing on those that took place in the 1990s beginning just after the Gulf War. These talks were carried on without media coverage, and this book is the first sustained account of what took place. It is the inside story -- the authors themselves participated in some of these discussions and interviewed participants in others.After describing the background of early Arab-Israeli discussions, the authors present six case studies of Track-II talks in the 1990s: the 1992-1993 discussions in Norway that led to the Oslo accords; Palestinian-Israeli talks held in the early 1990s under the auspices of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Israeli-Syrian meetings of 1992-1994; the 1994-1995 Stockholm talks convened by the Swedish government; talks held in 1995-1996 between Israeli settlers and representatives of the Palestinian Authority; and arms control and regional security discussions throughout the decade. Despite their different perspectives, the book's two Israeli and two Palestinian authors are able to reach shared conclusions about the effectiveness and consequences of Track-II talks. Track-II Diplomacy not only makes a valuable contribution to the historical record of Arab-Israeli diplomacy but also offers insights into the role of informal and non-official discussions in resolving conflicts.


By measuring and calculating oblique-incidence transmittance spectra of a negative-index photonic metamaterial layer, the authors infer the in-plane dispersion relation of the magnetization wave. From the geometry and the dispersion shape, the authors conclude that coupling is predominantly via magnetic dipoles for wave propagation along the magnetic-dipole direction. These magnetization waves are the classical analog of magnon excitations of quantum-mechanical spins.


A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) enantioselective receptor for the (R)-thalidomide enantiomer was synthesized and evaluated for its ability to deliver the drug to cancer cells. Polymer networks with precisely engineered binding sites were built into the assembled nanoparticles by a self-organizing template in the prepolymerized mixture using methacrylic acid, a fluorescently active 2,6-bis(acrylamido)pyridine and N,N 0 methylene-bis-acrylamide, via both a covalent approach and a physical approach. The fine-tuning of particle diameters was carried out by changes to the polymerizing synthesis method, the type of solvent and the amount of the poloxamer that led to an optimal formulation of the nanoparticles with sizes as small as 100 nm. Data from the 1 H- nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed the important structural motifs of an (R)-thalidomide-selective cavity for two dif- ferent polymerization processes. We have investigated their ability for enantiomer recognition and the potential ability to protect the chiral MIP with a self-assembled poloxamer structure. Moreover, the effect of the smaller molecular size can not only enable favorable imaging properties but also facilitate enhanced green fluorescence intensity for the deposited MIP and the (R)-thalidomide in the poloxamer nanoparticles in a cell-line in which the grafted MIP being higher than the deposited one. It was also demonstrated that the deposited MIP nanoparticles had the potential to make the drug effective for attacking multidrug-resistant cells. Thus, the polox- amer nanoparticles containing a thermoresponsive MIP could maximize the release of the nontoxic (R)-thalidomide at the tumor tis- sue, with the help of a proper temperature shift at the site. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41930.


Understanding precisely the nature of competition in primary healthcare has an important role to play in understanding how to improve the delivery of healthcare services. This is particularly the case in Ireland, where the private sector plays such a large role in primary care. If we do not understand competition, well-intentioned regulations and policies are less likely to be effective and more likely to result in excessive costs and under-utilisation of primary healthcare. This in turn can increase Ireland's overall health expenditure and contribute to a higher cost of living in Ireland and thus lower competitiveness. This paper shows how well-designed regulations and systems for State funding of primary healthcare can ensure that competition works well and contributes to the better availability and quality of services at the lowest possible cost. The most common barriers to entry and expansion in primary healthcare markets are outlined and pricesetting mechanisms examined. Examples are used to illustrate the benefits to consumers and the State where these obstacles to competition have been removed, and the difficulties where they remain. Conclusions are drawn on the implications of this analysis for the governance of regulatory bodies, for regulatory Codes of Conduct, and for achieving value for money. It is time for the culture of the healthcare professions to move towards one where it is no longer considered "unprofessional" to provide a competitive service.


Nature-based solutions (NBS) are usually defined as complementary or alternative solutions to "grey infrastructures" (traditionally made with cement) aimed at conserving and regenerating the functionality of natural and semi-natural ecosystems. The research to date shows a considerable potential of NBS to address the current challenges related to climate change and geo-hydrological risks. Despite significant interest in NBS by researchers and practitioners, knowledge concerning their practical implementation, monitoring, and evaluation is still lacking. This is particularly true for large-scale NBS. The present paper discusses how such solutions can be implemented in the context of hydro-meteorological risk reduction in small Mediterranean catchments with a strong tourist vocation. The work presented here is situated within the RECONECT Project (Regenerating ECOsystems with Nature-based solutions for hydro-meteorological risk rEduCTion), which aims to contribute to a European reference framework on NBS by demonstrating, upscaling, and replicating large-scale NBS in rural and natural areas. The Italian case study of RECONECT is the Portofino Natural Regional Park, which represents a unique natural landscape element with high ecologic, social, and economic (touristic) value, which is threatened by a range of geo-hydrological hazards, such as flash floods, hyper-concentrated floods, shallow landslides, rockfalls, and storm surges. This paper also presents details of NBS interventions in two pilot catchments (San Fruttuoso and Paraggi) visited by thousands of tourists throughout the year. It addresses some of the key aspects related to monitoring meteorological and hydrological processes, as well as remote sensing activities (i.e., LiDAR surveys), which are necessary for the identification of critical-instability areas along waterways and the reconstruction of dry stone walls. Lastly, a discussion of relevant mitigation and adaptation strategies that are potentially replicable at national and international levels is also provided.


Background Exposure to particulate matter air pollution (PM) has been associated with cardiovascular diseases. Objectives In this study we evaluated whether annual exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with systemic inflammation, which is hypothesized to be an intermediate step to cardiovascular disease. Methods Six cohorts of adults from Central and Northern Europe were used in this cross-sectional study as part of the larger ESCAPE project (European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects). Data on levels of blood markers for systemic inflammation—high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen—were available for 22,561 and 17,428 persons, respectively. Land use regression models were used to estimate cohort participants' long-term exposure to various size fractions of PM, soot, and nitrogen oxides (NOx). In addition, traffic intensity on the closest street and traffic load within 100 m from home were used as indicators of traffic air pollution exposure. Results Particulate air pollution was not associated with systemic inflammation. However, cohort participants living on a busy (> 10,000 vehicles/day) road had elevated CRP values (10.2%; 95% CI: 2.4, 18.8%, compared with persons living on a quiet residential street with < 1,000 vehicles/day). Annual NOx concentration was also positively associated with levels of CRP (3.2%; 95% CI: 0.3, 6.1 per 20 μg/m3), but the effect estimate was more sensitive to model adjustments. For fibrinogen, no consistent associations were observed. Conclusions Living close to busy traffic was associated with increased CRP concentrations, a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, it remains unclear which specific air pollutants are responsible for the association. Citation Lanki T, Hampel R, Tiittanen P, Andrich S, Beelen R, Brunekreef B, Dratva J, De Faire U, Fuks KB, Hoffmann B, Imboden M, Jousilahti P, Koenig W, Mahabadi AA, Künzli N, Pedersen NL, Penell J, Pershagen G, Probst-Hensch NM, Schaffner E, Schindler C, Sugiri D, Swart WJ, Tsai MY, Turunen AW, Weinmayr G, Wolf K, Yli-Tuomi T, Peters A. 2015. Air pollution from road traffic and systemic inflammation in adults: a cross-sectional analysis in the European ESCAPE project. Environ Health Perspect 123:785–791; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408224


In this thoughtful and authoritative book, Malise Ruthven provides an analysis of the terrible events of September 11 in New York and Washington. He discusses the role of the global market, the mystique of the twin towers and of New York and examines the tangled web of grievances, especially in the Middle East, that form the substance of the bombers' complaints against Western modernity. Ruthven traces the motivations of the men who flew the planes and killed so many thousands of innocent people, to their roots in certain currents of Islamic thought. He looks in detail at the work of the influential "fundamentalist" visionaries who have embraced a purist version of the Muslim faith, that is, in fact, very modern in its embrace of technology and rejection of tolerance. In particular, Ruthven gives a chilling insight into the mind of the man said to be the lead hijacker, Mohammed Atta. Malise Ruthven does not shrink from criticizing Western, particularly US policy for contributing to the instability that offers fertile ground to such spectacular terrorism. He examines the conduct of war in Afghanistan up to the end of 2001. His book, while it offers little to comfort the reader, does offer same guidelines for the future.


Indonesia is a multilingual speech community with two main groups of languages, Standard Indonesian and ethnic languages. Thus, there are still many ethnic groups who maintain the use of their ethnic languages. This situation can also be observed in Petra Christian University (PCU) that in respect to multi-ethnicity and multi-cultural, can be regarded as Indonesia in a much smaller scale. One of the ethnic groups in PCU who still maintain the use of ethnic language is students from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. Hence, those Kupang students still use Kupang Malay (KM) as their ethnic language. KM itself has deep functions for Kupang people as regional pride, regional identity, and as a tool of communication. Thus, the writer used Holmes?s theory of sociolinguistics (1992) as her main theory in order to accomplish her research about language code varieties used by some students from Kupang of the year 2000 in PCU. Furthermore, the writer explained about the theory of code choices in relating to code mixing and code switching, theory of domain from Fishman?s work, about the standard languages and she also explained about the theory of KM itself After that, in analysing the data, she used a qualitative descriptive approach combining with a very limited of quantitative approach. Because of that, some Kupang students have the important role as her sources in gathering the data. Thus, their language repertoires were necessary, when she, as the main instrument, collected the data by observing or even by interviewing them. From the analysis, she found out that those Kupang students made some code choices in communicating with people, as the result of some social factors that influenced them to use those codes. Here, the social factors are the participants, the topic of conversation, the function of their speech, educational effect, and the setting in case of with whom they are living. Moreover, in using those codes varieties, they often mixed and switched their languages in order to convey meanings. On the other hand, those Kupang students used KM as the most dominant code or variety of language because of their feelings of belonging, and their feelings of longing while they used their mother tongue in non-native speakers of KM area. After all, the writer concludes that those Kupang students of the year 2000 used their mother tongue or first language dominantly in order to maintain KM as a local language, which functions as a symbol of regional pride, a symbol of regional identity, and as a means of communication. Thus, they maintain KM in order to show their loyalty to their ethnic language although they live in the area/region of non-native speaker of KM.


This new edition takes account of significant changes in food and feed law and procedure made since 2000 pursuant to the European Commission White Paper on Food Safety, the work of the Food Standards Agency and developments of wider relevance, such as the Human Rights legislation and the establishment of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Written in a straightforward and easy to use style, the 3rd edition of this practical book provides quick and easy access to the legislation that affects practitioners on a daily basis.