Ground-based microwave radiometers are becoming more and more common for remotely sensing the atmospheric temperature and humidity profile, as well as path integrated cloud liquid water content. Several studies have been published, which compare radiosonde profiles with temperature profiles derived from microwave radiometer measurements and find biases of up to 1 K. The retrieved temperature profile is based on radiometric measurements and radiative transfer calculations. Once the accuracy of radiometer measurements is known, these can be used to validate existing gas absorption models. As the absolute accuracy of microwave radiometer measurements is determined by the quality of the calibration, this work investigates the uncertainty of two calibration techniques, which are commonly used with microwave radiometers. Namely, these are the liquid nitrogen calibration and the tipping curve calibration (Han and Westwater, 2000). Both methods are known to have open issues concerning systematic offsets and calibration repeatability.
In this regard, this work focuses on the error assessment for the absolute calibration of the network suitable microwave radiometer HATPRO-G2 (Humidity And Temperature PROfiler - Generation 2), which makes up a significant part of the worldwide available systems (Rose et al., 2005). In order to capture dry high altitude conditions on the one side and mid-latitude, close to sea level conditions on the other side, the analysis is based on two deployments. Between August and October 2009, HATPRO-G2 was part of the Radiative Heating of Underexplored Bands Campaign - Part 2 (RHUBC-II) in Northern Chile (5320 m above mean sea level) conducted within the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program. Since 2010, it is part of the JOYCE (Julich ObservatorY for Cloud Evolution) site located in Germany 92 m above mean sea level. For each of the deployments, a detailed error propagation for both techniques is performed.

The uncertainty range of brightness temperature Tb measurements based on a single liquid nitrogen calibration is mainly caused by a reflective component from the liquid nitrogen surface of the cold calibration target. The overall calibration uncertainty is assessed for typical Tb values measured at each deployment. For RHUBC-II, the maximum uncertainty of $T_b$ has been determined to +-1.6 K in the K-band and to +-1.0 K in the V-band. For JOYCE, the maximum uncertainty is assessed to be +-1.5 K in the K-band and +-0.6 K in the V-band. When a standing wave phenomena at the cold calibration point is eliminated by averaging several calibrations, the uncertainty in the K-band can be reduced to +-0.8 K for both deployments. In the V-band, the uncertainties are reduced to values less or equal +-0.7 K for both deployments. Furthermore, the analyses of the liquid nitrogen calibration has revealed, that the pressure dependent boiling point correction for liquid nitrogen, originally used by HATPRO-G2, is only exact for standard pressure conditions. Therefore, the boiling point correction has been modified and is now valid for all altitudes. At the low pressure conditions of RHUBC-II (530 hPa), the improved boiling point correction shifts the cold target temperature compared to the previously used formulation by more than 1 K.

HATPRO-G2 has seven channels in the K-band and seven channels in the V-band. At standard pressure conditions, only the K-band channels are transparent enough to be calibrated by the tipping curve calibration. However, at 530 hPa, the technique can be applied to two low opacity channels in the V-band as well. This offers the unique opportunity of an independent validation of the liquid nitrogen calibration in the V-band. The analysis shows, that the uncertainty in the tipping curve calibration is mainly due to atmospheric inhomogeneities. For RHUBC-II, the total uncertainty is assessed to be +-0.1 K to +-0.2 K in the K-band and +-0.6 K and +-0.7 K for the two V-band channels at 51 GHZ and 52 GHz. For the low altitude deployment at JOYCE, the total uncertainties for K-band channels are +-0.2 K to +-0.6 K.

Finally, the well-characterized radiometer measurements are used to investigate current absorption models. The profiles of temperature, humidity, and pressure from 62 clear sky radiosondes are used for Tb simulations at zenith and compared to HATPRO-G2 measurements. Biases, outside the uncertainty range of the calibration can be ascribed to errors within the gas absorption coefficients. It is found that the results of the Atmospheric Model (AM)(Paine, 2012), which uses the most recent oxygen absorption parameters (Tretyakov et al., 2005, Makarov et al., 2011), are closest to RHUBC-II measurements.


We present comprehensive photometric and spectroscopic observations of the faint transient SN 2008S discovered in the nearby galaxy NGC 6946. SN 2008S exhibited slow photometric evolution and almost no spectral variability during the first nine months, implying a long photon diffusion time and a high-density circumstellar medium. Its bolometric luminosity (≃10^(41) erg s^(−)1 at peak) is low with respect to most core-collapse supernovae but is comparable to the faintest Type II-P events. Our quasi-bolometric light curve extends to 300 d and shows a tail phase decay rate consistent with that of ^(56)Co. We propose that this is evidence for an explosion and formation of ^(56)Ni (0.0014 ± 0.0003 M_⊙). Spectra of SN 2008S show intense emission lines of Hα, [Ca ii] doublet and Ca ii near-infrared (NIR) triplet, all without obvious P-Cygni absorption troughs. The large mid-infrared (MIR) flux detected shortly after explosion can be explained by a light echo from pre-existing dust. The late NIR flux excess is plausibly due to a combination of warm newly formed ejecta dust together with shock-heated dust in the circumstellar environment. We reassess the progenitor object detected previously in Spitzer archive images, supplementing this discussion with a model of the MIR spectral energy distribution. This supports the idea of a dusty, optically thick shell around SN 2008S with an inner radius of nearly 90 au and outer radius of 450 au, and an inferred heating source of 3000 K. The luminosity of the central star is L ≃ 10^(4.6) L_⊙ . All the nearby progenitor dust was likely evaporated in the explosion leaving only the much older dust lying further out in the circumstellar environment. The combination of our long-term multiwavelength monitoring data and the evidence from the progenitor analysis leads us to support the scenario of a weak electron-capture supernova explosion in a super-asymptotic giant branch progenitor star (of initial mass 6–8 M_⊙ ) embedded within a thick circumstellar gaseous envelope. We suggest that all of main properties of the electron-capture SN phenomenon are observed in SN 2008S and future observations may allow a definitive answer.


In this book, Maxine Berg explores the invention, making, and buying of new, semi-luxury, and fashionable consumer goods during the eighteenth century. It follows these goods, from china tea ware to all sorts of metal ornaments such as candlesticks, cutlery, buckles, and buttons, as they were made and shopped for, then displayed in the private domestic settings of Britain's urban middling classes. It tells the stories and analyses the developments that led from a global trade in Eastern luxuries beginning in the sixteenth century to the new global trade in British-made consumer goods by the end of the eighteenth century. These new products, regarded as luxuries by the rapidly growing urban and middling-class people of the eighteenth century, played an important part in helping to proclaim personal identities,and guide social interaction. Customers enjoyed shopping for them; they took pleasure in their beauty, ingenuity or convenience. All manner of new products appeared in shop windows; sophisticated mixed-media advertising seduced customers and created new wants. This unparalleled 'product revolution' provoked philosophers and pundits to proclaim a 'new luxury', one that reached out to the middling and trading classes, unlike the elite and corrupt luxury of old. Luxury and Pleasure in Eighteenth Century Britain is cultural history at its best, built on a fresh empirical base drawn directly from customs accounts, advertising material, company papers, and contemporary correspondence. Maxine Berg traces how this new consumer society of the eighteenth century and the products first traded, then invented to satisfy it, stimulated industrialization itself. Global markets for the consumer goods of private and domestic life inspired the industrial revolution and British products 'won the world'.


The upcoming mobile and ubiquitous computing world will need new forms of information sharing and services collaboration between mobile devices and wireless reachable application services to support mobile commerce. In this paper we present ezBusiness application architecture for mobile e-business in hybrid network environment. Six major components of the ezBusiness architecture are identified and the responsibility of each of them is addressed. A mobile commerce application called ezShop is built to demonstrate the validation of proposed ezBusiness architecture.


Water soluble components derived from black tea contain active antibacterial compounds, that can be utilized in combined antibiotic-herb therapy to combat bacterial resistance. This strategy is more advantageuos than using single therapy as it is more effective and has minimal side effects. However, it is not clear if the major bioactive compounds interacts with other water soluble compounds, which inturn affects their interaction with antibiotics. This research therefore aimed at comparing the antibacterial activities of hot water extract of black tea having 18μg/ml of theaflavins and 18μg/ml of isolated theaflavins and their combination with antibiotics such as ampicillin. Their combined effects with antibiotics were determined using disk diffusion and modified Checkerboard method. The chi-square test was used to test the null hypothesis, which stated that water soluble components have no effect on theaflavins interaction with antibiotics. The water soluble components of black tea extract were extracted with hot water and theaflavins in it was measured using Flavognost method. Similar amount of theaflavins were extracted using organic solvents and silica gel column chromatography. The concentrates of hot water extract and isolated theaflavins showed synergistic activity with selected antibiotics. However the level of synergism differed significantly at P<0.05, with isolated theaflavins having higher level. The difference in inhibitory effect between combined concentrates of hot water extract and isolated theaflavins with MIC (10.4 μg/ml) of ampicillin against S. typhi was significant at (χ2=0.56; P<0.05). The differences in inhibitory effect was also significant at (χ2=0.699; P<0.05) between the two black tea extracts combinations with MIC (4.3 μg/ml) of norfloxacin against P. aeruginosa. The combination of concentrates of hot water extract and isolated theaflavins with MIC (2 μg/ml) of ciprofloxacin differed significantly in level of inhibition at (χ2=1.98; P<0.05) against S. aureus. When the concentrates of the two black tea extracts were combined with MIC (5.25 μg/ml) of tetracycline, the inhibitory effect differed significantly at (χ2=2.27; P<0.05) against E. aeruginosa. It was also significant at (χ2=0.4; P<0.05) when concentrates of the two black tea extracts were combined with MIC (12 μg/ml) of chloramphenicol against E. coli. The differences in inhibitory effect observed were attributed to interactions within the tea infusion between water soluble components and theaflavins. Theaflavins in black tea infusion are being partially antagonized by one or more chemical components in it lowering the overall activity. However, the pattern of activity of isolated theaflavins and hot water extract of black tea were similar. This suggests that the theaflavins are the principal bioactive compounds in black tea infusion despite the existence of interaction. Isolated theaflavins and hot water extracts of black tea restored the activity of lower concentrations of antibiotics below MIC to susceptible breakpoints. The two black tea extracts together with antibiotics can be used in treatment and prevention of bacterial infections.


Great ideas don't just happen. Innovation springs from creative thinking—a method of the human mind that we can study and learn. In The Art of Ideas, William Duggan and Amy Murphy bring together business concepts with stories of creativity in art, politics, and history to provide a visual and accessible guide to the art and science of new and useful ideas.

 In chapters accompanied by charming and inviting illustrations, Duggan and Murphy detail how to spark your own ideas and what to do while waiting for inspiration to strike. They show that regardless of the field, innovations happen in the same way: examples from history, presence of mind, creative combination, and resolution to action. The Art of Ideas features case studies and exercises that explain how to break down problems, search for precedents, and creatively combine past models to form new ideas. It showcases how Picasso developed his painting style, how Gandhi became the man we know today, and how Netflix came to disrupt the movie-rental business. Lavishly illustrated in an appealing artistic style, The Art of Ideas helps readers unlock the secret to creativity in business and in life.


In an effort to increase the productivity of rice in Nepal, several modern varieties have been released. Farmers have adopted these varieties to varying degrees depending upon the types of production environment and the considerations for attributes. This paper attempts to identify factors that condition the adoption of selected modern varieties of rice using a multinomial logit model including both production and consumption attributes valued by the farmers and farm and farmer related variables. The results show that both categories of variables are significant in determining the demand for a specific variety. The results of this paper have implications for crop improvement and the modern variety adoption. Research approaches that incorporate farmers' preferences for various attributes of rice in breeding programs and extension strategies have to be adopted. Various types of methods such as demonstration and farmer- participatory trials could be effective vehicles in this regard. Also the research system should develop a range of varieties in order to meet the multiple concerns of the farmers as a single variety may not be able to fulfill all of their concerns.


Prior research has demonstrated the importance of water limitations and increasing temperatures on upland black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) tree growth, which is a dominant component of the North American boreal forest. However, little work has been done to investigate the connectivity between growth and hydro‐climate in peatland black spruce systems. The boreal forest is the largest global terrestrial biome and is highly threatened due to current and projected increases in temperatures for the northern latitudes. Here we explore the dynamics among annual black spruce growth, climate, and water table elevations using 45 years of in situ precipitation, temperature, and water table elevation coupled with dendrochronological analysis from six research peatlands at the Marcell Experimental Forest, MN, USA. From 1963 to 2010, we found weak relationships between water table elevation and black spruce growth at the six study sites. Instead, annual black spruce growth was most favourable during three climatic periods: (a) cool, moist conditions in mid‐summer; (b) warm mid‐spring temperatures; and (c) cool temperatures in the fall prior to the current growing season. The disconnect between black spruce growth and water table dynamics was surprising and suggests that either annual black spruce growth is minimally responsive to hydrological fluctuations at the timescale we analysed or there is great elasticity of black spruce growth to peatland water table and evapotranspiration dynamics under the range of hydrological fluctuations contained in our record.


It is necessary to understand the mechanisms that have enabled improvements of performance parameters such as thermodynamics efficiencies, thrust or power, specific fuel consumption and specific power in aero engines, thus reducing environmental impact. In this study, a thermodynamic analysis of a turboprop engine is performed at full and partial load conditions. The maximum overall and exergy efficiencies of the turboprop are found to be 30.7 and 29.2%, respectively. The minimum specific fuel consumption and maximum shaft power are found to be 0.2704 kg (kWh)−1 and 1948 shp at maximum load, respectively. More important, the optimum functional load conditions of the engine are observed at higher loads. The results from this study are expected to assist propeller aero–engine design work, where the first and second laws provide a more comprehensive assessment of performance, allowing the turboprop engine concept to be better tailored to specific types of regional transport aircraft.


PURPOSE
To quantify the burden and complexity associated with treatment of Medicare beneficiaries with stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS
Using the SEER-Medicare database, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries who were diagnosed with stage I NSCLC from 2007 to 2011 and who were treated with surgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy, or external beam radiation therapy. Main outcome measures were the number of days a patient was in contact with the health care system (encounter days), the number of physicians involved in a patient's care, and the number of medications prescribed. Logistic regression modeled the association between patient characteristics, treatment type, and high treatment burden (defined as ≥ 66 encounter days).

RESULTS
On average, 7,955 patients spent 1 in 3 days interacting with the health care system during the initial 60 days of treatment. Patients experienced a median of 44 encounter days with high variability (interquartile range [IQR], 29 to 66) in the 12 months after treatment initiation. The median number of physicians involved was 20 (IQR, 14 to 28), and the median number of medications prescribed was 12 (IQR, 8 to 17). Patients who were treated with surgery had high treatment burden (predicted probability, 21.6%; 95% CI, 20.2 to 23.1) compared with patients who were treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (predicted probability, 16.1%; 95% CI, 12.9 to 19.3), whereas patients who were treated with external beam radiation therapy had the highest burden (predicted probability, 46.8%; 95% CI, 43.3 to 50.2).

CONCLUSION
The treatment burden imposed on patients with early-stage NSCLC was substantial in terms of the number of encounters, physicians involved, and medications prescribed. Because treatment burden varied markedly across patients and treatment types, future work should identify opportunities to understand and ameliorate this burden.


Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), one of the foremost modern American poets, lived in Brasil during seventeen-odd years beginning in 1951. During this time she composed the poetry collection Questions of Travel, stand-alone poems, and fragments as well as prose pieces and translations. This study builds on the work of critics such as Brett Millier and Lorrie Goldensohn who have covered Bishop's poetry during her Brasil years. However, most American critics have lacked expertise in both Brasilian culture and the Portuguese language that influenced Bishop's poetry. Since 2000, in contrast, Brasilian critic Paulo Henriques Britto has explored issues of translating Bishop's poetry into Portuguese, while Maria Lucia Martins and Regina Przybycien have examined Bishop's Brasil poems from a Brasilian perspective. However, American and Brasilian scholars have yet to recognize Bishop's journey of acculturation as displayed through her poetry chronologically or the importance of her belated reception by Brasilian literary and popular culture. This study argues that Bishop's Brasil poetry reveals her gradual transformation from a tourist outsider to a cultural insider through her encounters with Brasilian history, culture, language, and politics. It encompasses Bishop's published and unpublished Brasil poetry, including drafts from the Elizabeth Bishop Papers at Vassar College. On a secondary level, this study examines a reverse acculturation in how Brasilian popular and literary communities have increasingly focused on Bishop since her death, culminating in the 2013 film, Flores Raras (Reaching for the Moon in English). Understanding this extremely rare and sustained intercultural junction of Bishop in Brasil, a junction that no American poet has made since, adds a crucial angle to twentieth-first century transnational literary perspectives.


The maximum length, weight, and age information of living things in an ecosystem are necessary for population dynamics and stock assessment studies. Hence, the recording of such data may be beneficial for scientific databases for life history and fisheries science. The common two-banded seabream ( Diplodus vulgaris Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) is a widespread demersal marine fish, which belongs to the Sparidae family and inhabits down to 90 m depth. Because it is a demanded seafood, it has commercial importance and usually available in the fish market almost every month of the year in Turkey. A single specimen of common two-banded seabream with 31.9 cm in total length and 467.00 g in total weight, which was caught off Ibrice Bight (Saroz Bay) with handline by a professional fisherman on 12 June 2015, was obtained from a fishmonger. This study aims to present the maximum size record of this species for the Aegean Sea with Turkish waters.


Currently, a number of historical Afrikaans universities (i.e. North-West University, the University of the Free State and the University of Johannesburg) are experimenting with the use of simultaneous interpreting (using the whispered mode) as an alternative to parallel-medium teaching.
Simultaneous interpreting is discussed as a useful language policy management mechanism against the backdrop of a changing linguistic context at tertiary institutions. In the case of the University of Johannesburg's Kingsway Campus, a dramatic shift has taken place in the linguistic profile of learners over the past nine years. This shift has not only led to a need to reformulate the institution's language policy, but also poses challenges to the relevance of the languages of learning and teaching traditionally used, namely English and Afrikaans.
It was therefore decided to experiment with the use of simultaneous interpreting to provide teaching and thus additional linguistic support in the four languages prescribed by the University's language policy, namely English, Afrikaans, Sesotho sa Leboa and isiZulu. The project aimed at establishing how a multilingual context would impact on learners' language attitudes and what the repercussions of such attitudes would be on interpreting in the classroom.
This article reports on some of the factors found to influence the use of simultaneous interpreting at the University of Johannesburg, namely the hegemony of English, the extent of the linguistic diversity that has become characteristic of tertiary classrooms, and the impact of language attitudes.


Estimates of the atmospheric concentration of CO 2 , [CO 2 ] atm , for the "hothouse" climate of the early Eocene climatic optimum (EECO) vary for different proxies. Extensive beds of the mineral nahcolite (NaHCO 3 ) in evaporite deposits of the Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, USA, previously established [CO 2 ] atm for the EECO to be >1125 ppm by volume (ppm). Here, we present experimental data that revise the sodium carbonate mineral equilibria as a function of [CO 2 ] and temperature. Co-precipitation of nahcolite and halite (NaCl) now establishes a well-constrained lower [CO 2 ] atm limit of 680 ppm for the EECO. Paleotemperature estimates from leaf fossils and fluid inclusions in halite suggest an upper limit for [CO 2 ] atm in the EECO from the nahcolite proxy of ∼1260 ppm. These data support a causal connection between elevated [CO 2 ] atm and early Eocene global warmth, but at significantly lower [CO 2 ] atm than previously thought, which suggests that ancient climates on Earth may have been more sensitive to a doubling of [CO 2 ] atm than is currently assumed.


Collisions of femtosecond solitons in silica core photonic crystal fibers are investigated experimentally and theoretically. Clear spectral signatures of the significant energy exchange between the interacting pulses are reported. Two primary and competing effects causing energy exchange are interpulse Raman scattering, which is insensitive to the phase difference of the colliding solitons, and the phase sensitive interaction via the Kerr nonlinearity.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can no longer be considered as a disease affecting only the lungs. Increasing evidence supports the presence of a systemic inflammatory component which is thought to provide the link between COPD and the co-morbidities commonly associated with this disease. These include cardiovascular disorders, skeletal muscle dysfunction, diabetes, and osteoporosis. The majority of current therapies for COPD have been developed to improve airway obstruction or to target airway inflammation, leaving an unmet medical need with respect to the systemic inflammatory component of COPD and its extra-pulmonary manifestations. This review describes systemic biomarkers in COPD and their relationship with both the local lung and systemic manifestations of the disease. A summary is provided of the most promising biomarkers that have been investigated in COPD and its co-morbidities. Such biomarkers may be used to assess and manage the systemic effects of COPD, and may guide future development of novel therapeutic interventions to provide a more holistic approach to treating this multi-faceted disease.


This article investigates decision makers' strategic use of European integration and globalisation discourses to justify and coordinate national sector reforms. This is done using the example of banking sector reforms in two small European Union (EU) member states, Ireland and Denmark. Two key arguments are put forward: (1) National governments' ability to make credible claims about their ability to influence the direction of European integration is crucial in enabling them to justify sector reforms. Thus, as a full member of the European Monetary Union (EMU), Irish decision makers are able to make credible claims about their influence on European financial integration, an option not available to Danish decision makers since Denmark is not a Eurozone member; (2) Globalisation comprises a particularly compelling set of discourses which enables decision makers to carry through sector reforms in line with European integration measures, even in the absence of national commitment to the latter. Discourses of globalisation have thus become 'the last resort' for Danish decision makers in justifying and coordinating reforms that are in line with EU regulations and recommendations.


Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is described as a modified, smaller cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. The veno-venous (VV) ECMO circuit drains venous blood, oxygenate the blood, and pump the blood back into the same venous compartment. Draining and reinfusing in the same compartment means there are a risk of recirculation. The draining position within the venous system, ECMO pump flow, return flow position within the venous system and the patients cardiac output (CO) all have an impact on recirculation. Using two single lumen cannulas or one dual lumen cannula, but also the design of the venous cannula, can have an impact on where within the venous system the cannula is draining blood and will affect the efficiency of the ECMO circuit. VV ECMO can be performed with different cannulation strategies. The use of two single lumen cannulas draining in inferior vena cava (IVC) and reinfusing in superior vena cava (SVC) or draining in SVC and reinfusing in IVC, or one dual lumen cannula inserted in right jugular vein is all possible cannulation strategies. Independent of cannulation strategy there will be a risk of recirculation. Efficiency can be reasonable in either strategy if the cannulas are carefully positioned and monitored during the dynamic procedure of pulmonary disease. The disadvantage draining from IVC only occurs when there is a need for converting from VV to veno-arterial (VA) ECMO, reinfusing in the femoral artery. Then draining from SVC is the most efficient strategy, draining low saturated venous blood, and also means low risk of dual circulation.


We show that the presence of a cavity modifies the behaviour of Brillouin-assisted slow light and can be used to significantly enhance the achievable pulse delays. Moreover, the cavity introduces an additional wavelength dependence into the delay versus gain relationship which can be used to provide an extra degree of control within a slow light system. The degree of delay enhancement depends critically both on the cavity finesse and the Brillouin pump power. Our experiments show that delay enhancements greater than 100% can be obtained accompanied by only relatively modest increases in pulse distortion.


South African komatiites apparently do not host Ni sulfide ores similar to those found associated with komatiites in Western Australia, Zimbabwe, or Canada. The present paper examines whether the lack of mineralization could be related to the greater age of the South African komatiites, relative to most mineralized komatiites elsewhere. Many younger komatiites formed at shallower mantle levels than older komatiites. Therefore, they were potentially less S undersaturated during eruption and may have required less contamination to achieve S supersaturation. Further, they could possibly interact with more evolved and/or S-rich crust during eruption and/or intrusion. Alternatively, the age of komatiites may have little importance in controlling their mineralization potential. The lack of sulfide ores in the South African komatiites could then be related to (i) the relatively small size of the greenstone belts, (ii) the absence of lava channels in which sulfide ores tend to be concentrated, or (iii) the lack of a S-rich contaminant necessary to trigger S supersaturation in the lavas.


World-renowned economist, Professor of Economics at the University of California, and the author of several books on international economy and the monetary system, Barry Eichengreen, gave the 2017 Ragnar Nurkse memorial lecture entitled Ragnar Nurkse and the International Financial Architecture. The lecture was held at Eesti Pank on January 12th 2017. In his lecture, Professor Eichengreen gave an overview of Ragnar Nurkse's book International Currency Experience: Lessons of the Inter-War Period that was published in 1944 and discussed whether the conclusions of the book still hold true today. The 2017 Ragnar Nurkse memorial lecture was held in honour of the 110th birth anniversary of the Estonian economist who achieved global recognition in the 1940s and 1950s. His research on monetary policy issues, international trade, international policy coordination, and development economics has provided valuable information, lessons, and guidelines. Eesti Pank started the regular lecture series dedicated to Ragnar Nurkse in 2007


The research identified and examined the major obstacles impeding the growth and innovation of Women Micro and Small Enterprises (WMSEs) in Bhutan. The research was carried out using World Bank's Bhutan Enterprise Survey data (2015) and in-depth interviews of eighty-one micro and small businesswomen. It was noted that increasing number of Bhutanese women has started to participate in economic activities in the recent years. However, the growth in WMSEs has ensued largely in the form of gain in number but not in terms of business innovation and upward progression in the entrepreneurial ladder. These imply that numerous obstacles continue to impede the growth and innovation of WMSEs in Bhutan. What are these obstacles? How could they overcome these obstacles? Using mixed-method, the research has attempted to answer these critical questions. Through triangulation of the results from the quantitative and qualitative analysis, the study concluded that the obstacles needing immediate attention are poor access to finance; labour shortage; inadequate business skills (managerial, financial and technical); competitions among similar enterprises, lack of proper business premises (location, rent and space), lack of formal education, lack of training opportunities, and seasonality of businesses.


This paper suggests and supports a design idea for improving dynamical navigation: adding an intermediary, adaptive obstacle representation level between perception and repeller representations. We illustrate our idea with our specific example of an adaptive obstacle representation level, which cleanly integrates into multiple existing navigation systems, treating each perceived obstacle entity as a locally sensitive, obstacle-valued function that returns an obstacle representation upon which steering and obstacle avoidance are based. Moreover, other elements of the navigation systems remain unaltered, thus preserving and extending original design virtues such as behavioral flexibility, computational efficiency, and dynamic responsiveness. Extensive simulations, validated with tests of real robots, demonstrate that our new representations compare favorably to previously employed representations on measures of effectiveness within a tested scenario, robustness over varying scenarios and ranges of parameter values, and computational efficiency.


The possibility that developmental dyslexia results from low-level sensory processing deficits has received renewed interest in recent years. Opponents of such sensory-based explanations argue that dyslexia arises primarily from phonological impairments. However, many behavioural correlates of dyslexia cannot be explained sufficiently by cognitive-level accounts and there is anatomical, psychometric and physiological evidence of sensory deficits in the dyslexic population. This thesis aims to determine whether the low-level (pre-attentive) processing of simple auditory stimuli is disrupted in compensated adult dyslexics. Using psychometric and neurophysiological measures, the nature of auditory processing abnormalities is investigated. Group comparisons are supported by analysis of individual data in order to address the issue of heterogeneity in dyslexia. The participant pool consisted of seven compensated dyslexic adults and seven age and IQ matched controls. The dyslexic group were impaired, relative to the control group, on measures of literacy, phonological awareness, working memory and processing speed. Magnetoencephalographic recordings were conducted during processing of simple, non-speech, auditory stimuli. Results confirm that low-level auditory processing deficits are present in compensated dyslexic adults. The amplitude of N1m responses to tone pair stimuli were reduced in the dyslexic group. However, there was no evidence that manipulating either the silent interval or the frequency separation between the tones had a greater detrimental effect on dyslexic participants specifically. Abnormal MMNm responses were recorded in response to frequency deviant stimuli in the dyslexic group. In addition, complete stimulus omissions, which evoked MMNm responses in all control participants, failed to elicit significant MMNm responses in all but one of the dyslexic individuals. The data indicate both a deficit of frequency resolution at a local level of auditory processing and a higher-level deficit relating to the grouping of auditory stimuli, relevant for auditory scene analysis. Implications and directions for future research are outlined.


Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Predictive molecular markers are crucial in patient management, but the only recommended predictive biomarkers are estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER2. There are many new targeted therapies, and although the target pathway expression is readily analyzed on conventional pathology, the dynamic response cannot be assessed and pathway expression is no guarantee it has a major driver role, even if mutated. Selecting therapies requires considering the patient, the molecular characteristics of the tumor, and the microenvironment of the tumor. Thus, the integration of molecular pathology, imaging, and early tumor biological response to therapy may provide evidence of drug activity and allow more rapid changes of therapy. The adaptive response of the tumor is a key resistance mechanism that can be assessed readily in the neoadjuvant setting. Although there are no markers that meet all surrogacy criteria, their use could provide crucial information on mechanisms of drug sensitivity/resistance. Validation of such markers requires a major emphasis on neoadjuvant trials to relate early-biomarker response to outcome.


Study Design In-vitro radiation exposure study. Objective To determine the radiation exposure to the eyes, extremities, and deep tissue during percutaneous pedicle screw placement. Summary of Background Data Image-guided minimally invasive spinal surgery is typically performed with the use of fluoroscopy, exposing the surgeon and patient to ionizing radiation. The radiation dose to the surgeon has not been reported and risk to the surgeon performing this procedure over the long term is uncertain. Methods Percutaneous pedicle screws were placed in a cadaveric specimen from L2-S1 bilaterally using a cannulated pedicle screw system. Two fluoroscopes were used in the anteroposterior and lateral planes. The surgeon wore a thermolucent dosimeter ring on the right hand and badge over the left chest beneath the lead apron. Complete surgical time was recorded and a computed tomography scan was performed to assess screw placement. Radiation exposure was measured for total time of fluoroscopy use; average exposure per screw, surgical level, and dose to the eyes was calculated. This data was used to define the safety of percutaneous pedicle screw placement. Results Total fluoroscope time for placement of 10 percutaneous pedicle screws was 4 minutes 56 seconds (29 s per screw). The protected dosimeter recorded less than the reportable dose. The ring dosimeter recorded 103 mREM, or 10.3 mREM per screw placed. All screws were within the bone confines with acceptable trajectory. Exposure to the eyes was 2.35 mREM per screw. Conclusions On the basis of this data, percutaneous pedicle screw placement seems to be safe. A surgeon would exceed occupational exposure limit for the eyes and extremities by placing 4854 and 6396 screws percutaneously, respectively. Lead protected against radiation exposure during screw placement. The "hands-off" technique used in this study is recommended to minimize radiation exposure. Lead aprons, thyroid shields, and leaded glasses are recommended for this procedure.


This paper reviews the 2011 Sector Strategy on Institutions for Growth and Social Welfare (SIGS) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or Bank). The Strategy was produced as a requirement of the IDB-9 agreement. The review finds that the Strategy replicates a number of patterns observed in prior sector strategies. SIGS represents the first time that the Bank uses a modern definition of institutions; however, the concept of institutions is not incorporated as a guiding principle for setting priorities. Like other strategies, SIGS largely reflects the current work of the Bank, and also reflects the most common ideas and thinking of the time. This said, SIGS also emphasizes areas of work that had not been central to the Bank before, such as work with transparency and work in formalizing firms. The Strategy document itself has strengths but also a number of deficiencies. SIGS is more specific than prior strategies, although it still proposes quite a broad spectrum of activities. It contains a good diagnostic of the needs facing small and medium-sized enterprises and of innovation, although diagnostics in most other areas are relatively weak. Although SIGS maintains the IDB-9's focus on the Bank's comparative advantage, it does not analytically assess that comparative advantage, and it presents no evidence that the sectors prioritized reflect any particular operational or structural advantage of the Bank--except that they mostly represent sectors in which the Bank already works. SIGS's results framework is very poor, largely reflecting the inadequacies of the IDB-9 results framework, as applied to institutions. SIGS was not designed as an operational strategy, so it does not assess the Bank's operational capabilities to respond to the Region's needs in priority areas. SIGS has had little impact on the way the Bank works. Bank staff is generally unaware of the Strategy, and those who are aware of it do not report using it as a main input in country dialogue or project preparation. The Institutions for Development Department (IFD) is an exception: its staff do report using SIGS. However, the review of IFD's portfolio does not show clear evidence that project selection has changed in favor of SIGS priorities. IFD has produced a significant body of analytical work, which in some cases addresses institutional issues. Nonetheless, IFD's approach to implementing 'intersector alliances' has not included directly working across Bank departments to strengthen institutions broadly in the Bank's work. However, SIGS has served a useful purpose as a mechanism to reemphasize the importance of the issue of institutions for the IDB, and, to some degree, to consolidate and demarcate the areas of work within IFD.


On September 22, 2004, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Supervision (OFHEO) made public a report that was highly critical of accounting methods at Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise that plays a leading role in the secondary mortgage market. OFHEO charged Fannie Mae with not following generally accepted accounting practices in two critical areas: (1) amortization of discounts, premiums, and fees involved in the purchase of home mortgages and (2) accounting for financial derivatives contracts. According to OFHEO, these deviations from standard accounting rules allowed Fannie Mae to reduce volatility in reported earnings, present investors with an artificial picture of steadily growing profits, and, in at least one case, to meet financial performance targets that triggered the payment of bonuses to company executives. On November 15, 2004, Fannie Mae reported that it was unable to file a
third-quarter earnings statement because its auditor, KPMG, refused to sign off on the accounting results. On December 15, 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), after finding inadequacies in Fannie's accounting policies and methodologies,
directed Fannie Mae to restate its accounting results since 2001. Shortly thereafter, the company's CEO and CFO resigned. It is estimated that earnings since 2001 will be revised downwards by as much as $12 billion, but the formal restatement of earnings is not expected before late 2006.


As a rule, multinational enterprises (MNEs) are taxed separately by the countries in which they operate on the basis of the income produced in each jurisdiction. While being in operation for several decades, the system has never worked satisfactorily. Integration is only serving to amplify these difficulties, since intra-firm transactions take on increasing importance in the operations of MNEs, and financial market integration is expanding the opportunities for tax-planning in profit allocation and the debt-financing of capital spending. In this new Policy Brief the authors set out possible approaches to designing an efficient trans-border corporate tax system for the European Union.


Canadians often associate indentured labour with a remote past, and a racially stratified labour market with the legacy of slavery and colonization in other countries. The existence of a Canadian immigration scheme known as the Foreign Domestic Movement (FDM) program challenges this naive complacency and raises the possibility that these phenomena are neither passe nor confined beyond Canada's borders.The FDM program is designed to import domestic workers who will provide childcare and other services on a live-in basis. Virtually all live-in domestic workers are women, and the majority of these are Filipina. Foreign domestic workers enter on temporary work permits but are permitted to apply for permanent residence in Canada after 2 years as live-in domestic workers. The author examines the provisions of the FDM scheme and its role in the social construction of the foreign domestic worker. The author employs the concept of the "inside/outsider" to describe the phenomenon of partial inclusion and exclusion experienced by foreign domestic workers. Four themes inform the article. First, that the assigned character of the foreign domestic worker is forged through the power relations of North/South nations, master/servant, man/woman, white/non-white, citizen/alien. Second, that the state reproduces, at the level of immigration law and policy, the invisibility of the domestic worker in the home/workplace. Third, that the FDM program may actually operate to facilitate exploitation of domestic workers in the workplace. Fourth, that the case of foreign domestic workers presents both a site for feminist inquiry and an opportunity to contemplate the competing interests of women whose race, class or citizenship shape the means available for mediating the effect of patriarchy on their lives.After this article was submitted for publication, the FDM program was replaced by the Live-in Caregiver program. In a postscript, the author describes the new scheme and offers preliminary observations about the changes in light of her critique of the FDM program.


There is a scarcity of information regarding the optimum water requirement for papaya ( Carica papaya ) grown under semiarid conditions with drip irrigation in the tropics. A two-year study was conducted to determine water requirement, yield, and fruit quality traits of papaya cv Red Lady subjected to five levels of irrigation. The irrigation treatments were based on Class A pan factors that ranged from 0.25 to 1.25 in increments of 0.25. Drip irrigation was supplied three times a week on alternate days. Results showed significant effects of irrigation on number of fruits, yield and fruit length. Irrigation treatments did not have a significant effect on brix (sweetness). Highest marketable fruit weight (75,907 kg/ha) was obtained from plants irrigated according to a pan factor of 1.25. It was concluded that papaya grown under semiarid conditions should be irrigated according to a pan factor of not less than 1.25.


This paper examines how the distribution of prices changes with the number of competitors in the market. Using gasoline price data from the Netherlands we find that as competition increases, the distribution of prices spreads out: the low prices go down while the high prices go up, on average. As a result, competition has an asymmetric effect on prices. These findings, which are consistent with a theoretical model where consumers differ in the information they have about prices, imply that consumers' gains from competition depend on their shopping behavior. In our data, all consumers, irrespective of the number of prices they observe, benefit from an increase in the number of gas stations. The magnitude of the welfare gain, however, is greater for those consumers that are aware of more prices. We conclude that an increase in the number of gas stations has a positive but unequal effect on the welfare of consumers in the Netherlands.


If 'you analyze the context of Christian witness in Germany you are confronted with the difficulty that the ideological and religious developments of our time cannot be reduced to a few types. There are numerous publications written with the intention of scrutinizing our present time in order to discover promising currents and trends with future prospects. Recently, such attempts have tended to be increasingly unsuccessful. If you compare different diagnostic analyses, the difference in their results will be obvious. In a rapidly changing modem world, even trend forecasts are subject to a tendency rapidly to grow old (1). Some people claim to know not only about the present but also about future developments, and base their forecasts on experience and intuition. Such forecasts must be regarded as rather dubious. In addition, every trend seems to be accompanied by an anti-trend. Characteristic trends in our present civilization obviously produce counterforces. Thesis as well as anti-thesis describes reality and helps to interpret developments of our time. 1. Trends and anti-trends * Cultural exchange and internationalism have been accompanied by the tendency to revert to nationalism, radicalism, violence and hatred of foreigners. Tolerance and intolerance have grown simultaneously. On the basis of the developments we can observe in our society, both ideas make sense. On the one hand, there is the idea that cultural and religious differences will be less important in the future. On the other hand, there is the prospect of a "clash of civilizations". (2) * Secularization has been gaining ground. The fall of the Berlin wall undoubtedly gave a new push towards secularization. However, we can also observe since the early 1970s a development characteristic of our postmodern time, i.e., a "return of religion", the emergence of new religious movements and the search for a new religiosity. For the most part this religious search has lost touch with Christian tradition. At the same time, there is a growing Islamic and Buddhist presence in our society, caused by migration. Buddhism is a "trend-religion" in the Western world, including Germany. (3) * In connection with the increase of secularization, religion is often regarded as a private matter. Religion has been pushed away into a private sphere; at the same time, secular life has become more and more religious. (4) The many religious themes and motifs used for advertising purposes are obvious examples of this phenomenon. "My blood for you" does not only occur in the liturgy of the Lord's supper, but is also a slogan of the German Red Cross Organization. You can read it on your way to the railway station or underground. * On the one hand, our society is characterized by individualism. On the other hand, we can observe the existence of community movements. These criticize the negative and destructive results of the "excessive individualism" of Western societies. They say individual rights and the individual's responsibility for the community need to have a new balance. The movements aim at a renewal of society by refraining from an idealization of the free individual. Instead, they want to strengthen the civic sense and social institutions, such as the family. (5) Processes of individualization have been accompanied by the emergence of many groups. * Hopes of a religious as well as of a secular character still play an important part and are characterized by the expectation of progress and growth. At the same time, such hopes are regarded sceptically and there are corresponding anti-movements. Progress in science and technology, for example in the field of genetic research, is nurturing optimistic visions of an ideal world and of human life unaffected by illness and suffering. For others this progress is feeding an apocalyptic pessimism: They are expecting the end of history and the end of humankind as it now exists. …


textabstractThe rise of consumerism and the increasing availability of information through the Internet have increased patients' demand for care that is more in line with their preferences. Because of this trend the expectation that hospitals act according to each individual patient's preferences is becoming even more prominent. Hospitals could respond by implementing flexible health care policies that offer patients more choice.
In this dissertation we explore two types of flexible health care policies from the consumer perspective: priority access pricing and customized care. We do this by (1) investigating how consumers evaluate price-based priority access allocation policies (i.e., allocation policies in which patients are offered the option to pay extra for faster health care access), and by (2) demonstrating how the collective costs and benefits of customized health care policies (i.e., policies that offer individuals the possibility to "create" their own health care program) can be used to evaluate customized care. Throughout, special attention is given to the role of collective health outcomes.
Besides our scientific conclusions, our findings are also relevant for hospitals and policy makers that consider implementing new allocation policies. They can be used to provide assistance in future health care decision making.


As pointed out by Field and Field [1] there is a natural tendency among people to think that enacting a law automatically leads to the rectification of the problem to which it is addressed.
The implementation and effectiveness of a groundwater use limit as well as pricing policy crucially depends on enforcement capacity, sanctioning systems, and the need for the generation of information and its management. Key issue in groundwater management is the size of the groundwater user community. Groundwater aquifers can be very small, with only tens or hundreds of users, but generally there is a large extent of individual users. Enforcement ultimately requires energy and resources thus it turns into a costly activities.
Implementing an on-farm monitoring and control system typically involves a fixed component such as installing measuring devices, setting up administration and facilities, and a variable component that increases with the water proceeds (i.e. monitoring and collection activities). Monitoring/detection, may include both measuring the performance of water users and monitoring their compliance with regulation, as well as the development of monitoring technologies [2].
The aim of this research is to define a framework analysis of groundwater monitoring and control in agriculture in order to assess its cost. In Mediterranean region, irrigation water accounts for the largest volume of groundwater withdraw by many individual small users. The magnitude of cost for an individual monitoring may oversize the expected economic return of groundwater control.  The case of Capitanata irrigation basin (Apulia region, South of Italy) is used to carry out the cost assessment of at-farm-gate monitoring and control systems on irrigation groundwater.
Reference

 Field, B.C.; Field, M.K. Environmental economics: An introduction. McGraw-Hill: New York, 2002.
 McCann, L.; Colby, B.; Easter, K.W.; Kasterine, A.; Kuperan, K.V. Transaction cost measurement for evaluating environmental policies. Ecological Economics 2005, 52, 527-542.


We perform a theoretical study of enhancement of magnetooptical rotation on reflection of light from a periodic system with a defect. Using calculations based on a coupled mode approach and the transfer matrix method we demonstrate that an asymmetric placing of a single defect allows arbitrary Kerr rotations with better than 99% reflectivity from very short devices.


ABSTRACT The over-representation of Indigenous offenders in Canadian prisons highlights the importance of research on the generalizability of potential static risk factors for this group. The current investigation examined whether 87 static indicators currently assessed in Canadian federal prisons were differentially present and related to outcomes (revocations, general recidivism, and violent recidivism) for Indigenous (n = 1500) and non-Indigenous (n = 6684) male federal offenders. The follow-up was eight months for revocations and five years for any/violent recidivism. Indigenous offenders scored significantly higher risk than non-Indigenous offenders on the majority of the indicators (particularly criminal history indicators). Generally, most criminal history indicators and some offence severity indicators predicted revocations, general, and violent recidivism for Indigenous offenders; however, several of the indicators had significantly lower accuracy for Indigenous offenders (particularly criminal history indicators). Overall, Indigenous offenders are a higher risk population and several static risk indicators do not perform as well for this group as for non-Indigenous offenders. Nonetheless, there were numerous static indicators that did predict outcomes for Indigenous offenders. The current findings suggest that it is possible to meaningfully assess static risk for recidivism among Indigenous offenders.


Head-to-head and tail-to-tail 180 degrees domain walls in a finite isolated ferroelectric sample are theoretically studied using Landau theory. The full set of equations, suitable for numerical calculations, is developed. The explicit expressions for the polarization profile across the walls are derived for several limiting cases and wall widths are estimated. It is shown analytically that different regimes of screening and different dependences for the width of charged domain walls on the temperature and parameters of the system are possible, depending on spontaneous polarization and concentration of carriers in the material. It is shown that the half-width of charged domain walls in typical perovskites is about the nonlinear Thomas-Fermi screening length and about one order of magnitude larger than the half-width of neutral domain walls. The formation energies of head-to-head walls under different regimes of screening are obtained, neglecting the poling ability of the surface. In the nonlinear regimes of screening, this energy is equal to the energy necessary for the creation of electron-hole pairs in the amount sufficient to screen the spontaneous polarization, which is proportional to the band gap of the ferroelectric. It is shown that either head-to-head or tail-to-tail configurations can be energetically favorable in comparison with the monodomain state of the ferroelectric if the poling ability of the surface is large enough. If this is not the case, the existence of charged domain walls in bulk ferroelectrics is merely a result of the domain-growth kinetics. Formation energies of the other possible states, i.e., the multidomain state with antiparallel domains separated by neutral walls and the state with the zero polarization, were compared with the formation energy of the charged domain wall. It was shown that, at large enough sample thicknesses, a charged domain wall can be energetically favorable in comparison with the states mentioned above. This size effect could explain why charged domain walls were observed experimentally in bulk lead titanate but not in barium titanate. The results obtained for the case of an isolated ferroelectric sample were compared with the results for an electroded sample. It was shown that a charged domain wall in an electroded sample can be either metastable or stable, depending on the work-function difference between electrodes and ferroelectrics and the poling ability of the electrode-ferroelectric interface.


PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of electromagnetic waves (EMWs) emitted by a mobile phone on the intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eyeball. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 166 eyes from 83 individuals in the 40–70 age range who referred to "Khatam-al-Anbia Hospital, Mashhad, Iran" in 2016. There were two groups of participants, and the first one consisted of 41 participants who had normal eyes, whereas the second one comprised 42 participants who suffered from open-angle glaucoma disease. The IOP in both groups was measured and recorded by a specialist before and after talking 5 min on the cellphone with the help of the Goldman method. Statistical analysis such as paired t-test and analysis of variance was performed and all tests are statistically significant at (P < 0.05). For this purpose, the SPSS software (version 16) was applied. RESULTS: IOP in the glaucoma eye (42 eyes) ipsilateral to mobile phone before and after the intervention was 18.64 ± 6.7 and 23.53 ± 6.3, respectively (P < 0.001). However, IOP in the control group (41 eyes) ipsilateral to mobile phone before and after the intervention was 12.95 ± 3.5 and 13.39 ± 2.8, respectively (P = 0.063). IOP change in the opposite glaucomatous eye to mobile phone in glaucoma group (39 eyes) and normal group (44 eyes) was not significantly different before and after the phone call (P = 0.065 and P = 0.85, respectively). CONCLUSION: We found that the acute effects of EMWs emitted from the mobile phones can significantly increase the IOP in glaucoma eye, while such changes were not observed in normal eyes.


Personalization methods in federated learning aim to balance the benefits of federated and local training for data availability, communication cost, and robustness to client heterogeneity. Approaches that require clients to communicate all model parameters can be undesirable due to privacy and communication constraints. Other approaches require always-available or stateful clients, impractical in large-scale cross-device settings. We introduce Federated Reconstruction, the first model-agnostic framework for partially local federated learning suitable for training and inference at scale. We motivate the framework via a connection to model-agnostic meta learning, empirically demonstrate its performance over existing approaches for collaborative filtering and next word prediction, and release an open-source library for evaluating approaches in this setting. We also describe the successful deployment of this approach at scale for federated collaborative filtering in a mobile keyboard application.


There's been a dramatic explosion in additional insured litigation, suggesting that there should be a better risk allocation THIS article discusses recurring problems arising in construction industry declaratory litigation seeking judicial interpretations of additional insured endorsements (AIEs).(1) Its thesis is that endorsement language is often inadequate to express the risk allocation and insuring relationships these litigants have attempted to create, or may have assumed were created, by merely requiring that one party be named an additional insured on another person's policy. This article sets forth strategies and proposals that, if adopted, should help to preclude, minimize or simplify declaratory litigation seeking construction of these endorsements. Part I introduces general vocabulary, discusses the construction industry players and identifies some of the advantages and disadvantages of using AIEs to allocate risk. Part II identifies three recurrent categories of construction industry additional insured declaratory litigation, focussing primarily on the recent flood of cases in New York's trial and appellate courts, and identifies underlying problems in standard endorsement language. Part III discusses negotiating and contractual-based strategies available to construction industry participants and their counsel to help avoid or minimize the problems discussed and identified in the Part II cases. I. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF AIEs A. Statement of Problem and Basic Definitions Agreements to procure insurance (APIs) are contractual arrangements in which one party to a contract agrees to procure insurance for another party's benefit. Such agreements are enforceable in New York.(2) In the construction industry, the API is frequently satisfied through inclusion of an AIE in one party's insurance policy. Under the AIE, the party promising to procure the insurance (the "promisor") makes the party for whose benefit insurance is being obtained (the "promisee") an additionally insured person under the promisor's policy (an "additional insured").(3) Where the promisee negotiates its inclusion as an additional insured on the promisor's policy, it attempts to shift its own risk of loss to the promisor and, derivatively, the promisor's insurance carrier. The additional insured often assumes it has purchased adequate insurance coverage for its involvement with the named insured on the policy (the "named insured"). Frequently, the carrier providing the additional insured coverage, which is normally the named insured's own carrier (the "additional insured carrier") and the additional insured have very different ideas about the nature and scope of AIE-created coverage.(4) When a claim is made following what the additional insured may believe to be a covered occurrence, the additional insured carrier may refuse defense or indemnification, or both. It may choose to involve the additional insured's commercial general liability (CGL) carrier in the claim. That carrier probably will have issued a separate policy in which the additional insured is the CGL carrier's named insured.(5) This places the additional insured in exactly the opposite position it expected when it required, through its API, that it be named an additional insured on someone else's policy-its own carrier ends up involved in a claim, through declaratory litigation, resulting in an increase in the additional insured's CGL policy premiums.(6) Such disputes, for reasons discussed below, tend to result in particularly protracted and expensive litigation fro all parties. Although AIEs now (and generally) are regarded as a cost effective and adequate means of providing insurance coverage (the "traditional view"),(7) AIEs have not, in many construction cases, been cost effective or adequate contractual mechanisms to shift risk. B. Construction Industry Players The parties to construction industry risk-shifting lawsuits usually include the owner of a property (the "owner"). …


C1(-)-inhibitor (C1(-)-INH) proteins from normal persons and members of eight different kindred with dysfunctional C1(-)-INH proteins associated with hereditary angioneurotic edema (HANE) were compared with respect to their inhibitory activity against purified preparations of C1s-, plasma kallikrein, activated forms of Hageman factor, and plasmin. Each dysfunctional C1(-)-INH protein showed a unique spectrum of inhibitory activity against these enzymes. Although none of the dysfunctional C1(-)-INH proteins significantly impaired amidolysis by plasmin, all but one inhibited activated Hageman factor. One purified dysfunctional C1(-)-INH (Ta) inhibited purified C1s- to a normal degree. Another C1(-)-INH (Za) had almost seven times as much inhibitory activity as normal C1(-)-INH against activated Hageman factor, but had decreased activity against C1s- and no activity against plasmin. Analyses of mixtures of plasmin and C1(-)-INH proteins in SDS gel electrophoresis revealed variability in the patterns of complex formation and cleavage of dysfunctional proteins after exposure to C1s- and plasmin. Some bound to plasmin and were cleaved, even though none significantly impaired the amidolytic activity of plasmin. Two were cleaved by C1s-, whereas neither normal or other dysfunctional C1(-)-INH were cleaved. Dysfunctional C1(-)-INH proteins from patients with HANE are thus heterogeneous in their inhibitory properties and there must be different structural requirements for the inhibition of the various plasma enzymes that can be regulated by normal C1(-)-INH. The data suggest that in addition to common sites of interactions between these proteases and C1(-)-INH, there are also points of contact that are specific for each protease. Genetic mutations leading to structural changes at some of these sites may have differing effects on the interaction between individual proteases and abnormal C1(-)-INH proteins. These alterations may allow these proteins to serve as probes for structural requirements for inhibitory actions of normal C1(-)-INH.


In this thesis I present three separate studies on three different topics in General Relativity.

The first study investigates the accuracy with which the mass and angular momentum of a black hole can be determined by measurements of gravitational waves from the hole, using a laser-interferometer gravitational-wave detector. The black hole is assumed to have been strongly perturbed, perhaps by coalescence with a binary companion, and the detector measures the waves produced by its resulting vibration and ring-down. The uncertainties in the measured mass and angular momentum arise from the unavoidable presence of noise in the detector. It is found that the faster the hole rotates, the more accurate the measurements will be, with the uncertainty in the angular momentum decreasing rapidly with increasing rotation speed. It is also found that the errors in the mass and angular momentum are highly correlated.

The second study is an analysis of the gravitational collapse of an infinitely long, cylindrical dust shell. This analysis is expected to be helpful in understanding the behavior during collapse of more realistic, finite-length bodies. It is found that the collapse evolves into a naked singularity in finite time, as measured by a distant observer or by one riding on the shell. Analytical expressions for the variables describing the collapse are found at late times, near the singularity. The picture is completed with a numerical simulation that follows the collapse from the start until very close to the singularity. The singularity is found to be strong, in the sense that an observer riding on the shell will be infinitely stretched in the direction parallel to the symmetry axis, and infinitely compressed in the azimuthal direction. The gravitational waves emitted from the collapse are also analyzed.

The last study focuses on a different kind of phenomenon, namely, the consequences of the existence of closed timelike curves in a spacetime that contains a wormhole. One might expect that the closed timelike curves would cause difficulty for the initial value problem for systems that evolve in such a spacetime: a system with apparently well-posed initial conditions might have no self-consistent solutions to its evolution equations. We study the simple case of a macroscopic, classical particle with a hard-sphere potential (a "billiard ball"), and we focus attention on initial conditions for which the evolution, if followed naively, is self- inconsistent: the ball enters one mouth of the wormhole and then comes out of the other mouth at an earlier time, then collides with its younger self, preventing itself from ever entering the first mouth. We find, surprisingly, that for all such "dangerous" initial conditions, there are an infinite number of self-consistent evolutionary solutions, involving a glancing collision and any number of wormhole traversals. We also find that for many non-dangerous initial conditions, there also exist an infinity of possible evolutions.


This is the first of two reports that gauges the extent to which car-owning households in California have considered purchasing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) (collectively, ZEVs). It explores which households have or have not considered ZEVs and, in those differences, seeks suggestions for how to promote greater consideration across an increased number and broader variety of households. The analysis is based on an on-line survey of car-owning households in California conducted in February 2017; the sample size was n = 1,681. The primary measure is the extent to which respondents have already considered a ZEV for their household: 4-of-5 car-owning households in California had given either no or nearly no consideration to ZEVs. Combined, less than 10 percent had given the highest two levels of consideration; active shopping or ownership. Other measures of awareness, name recognition, incentive knowledge, and driving experience were commensurately low. Relying on socio-economic and demographic variables to segment markets is unlikely to succeed. Variables describing respondents' decision contexts and resources are important, especially whether respondents can reliably access electricity at a home parking location. General attitudes regarding air quality, the relative public health and environmental effects of electricity vs. gasoline, and experience with HEVs add further explanatory power. Ultimately though, variables specific to ZEVs are more strongly associated with ZEV consideration: interest in ZEV technology; familiarity with ZEVs including name recognition, driving experience, and recognizing and recalling PEV charging, assessments of ZEV charging/fueling duration, driving range, purchase price, safety and reliability; and, whether people know a ZEV owner. The modeling done here is of differences between people at one point in time not of changes to people over time. Still, the suggestion is that to increase ZEV market growth it is essential to increase peoples' awareness and knowledge, providing them with the basis for informed assessments, and thus prompt serious consideration of ZEVs for their households. It should not be expected that all the people who have so far paid no or little attention will be quickly converted to ZEV shoppers and owners. However, there seems little prospect to grow the ZEV market unless the vast majority of car-owning households in California can be engaged in the transition to electric-drive. View the NCST Project Webpage


specific contexts are typical threats to a study's external validity, the extent to which results can be generalized. For example, outside the lab, participants would need to obey environmental cues, get distracted by traffic, and face different weather conditions. Internal validity and external validity are often competing aspects. To increase the external validity while maintaining a high internal validity, additional variables need to be controlled with the same rigor that walking speed is controlled. Considering realistic contexts in traditional lab studies is therefore often not even possible because we know too little about what the realistic contexts are. Even if we do know the important factors, the number of participants required to determine statistically significant results grows exponentially with the number of considered factors. Instead of conducting the study inside a sterile lab, the ideal solution for these challenges would be to conduct studies in all the situations where the studied behavior actually occurs. Taking the above example, we ideally would study typing behavior during the normal Then, the experimenters measure changes in a number of observations: the assumed effects. If situations are the same except for the manipulated aspect, this aspect is the only possible cause for the observed effect. Unfortunately, it is a non-trivial challenge to keep situations absolutely the same because every study suffers from unsystematic variance; results may differ due to the time of the day, the weather, or an unlimited number of other factors. Internal validity describes to what extent we are certain that an effect was caused by a suspected cause. Internal validity can be increased by ruling out unsystematic variance. To limit unsystematic variance, one can conduct all trials in a stable environment. For example, BergstromLehtovirta et al. used a treadmill to study the effect of walking speed on how well students can target visual shapes on phones' touchscreens [1]. Thus, they could rule out many sources of unsystematic variance, such as weather conditions. However, drawing conclusions from these findings on how people interact with phones in daily life is challenging. Studies in HCI research are often conducted in a highly controlled environment with a small, convenient sample. Such studies can have a high internal validity but often lack external validity. That is, the findings themselves can be reliable but cannot always be generalized to real contexts. To address this problem, researchers recently started to use app stores to bring mobile HCI research into people's lives, as opposed to bringing people into the lab. Here, we present two studies in which we published apps on Google Play. This allowed us to collect usage data from thousands of people who used the apps in their "natural habitat," which leads to high external validity of the findings. We argue that app stores are powerful tools for increasing the ability to generalize results when studying mobile and pervasive systems. Human subject studies are the cornerstone of human-computer interaction research. Experiments are a common type of study used to uncover cause-and-effect relationships. Participants are exposed to a number of almost identical situations, in which experimenters manipulate one or several aspects: the suspected causes. App Stores: External Validity for Mobile HCI


Abstract Didim Peninsula, on the Aegean coast of Turkey, has been experiencing a relatively slow but steady social and ecological transformation since the 1990s. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism declared this area a tourism development region in 2005; thus, major investments and developments are already planned. This may negatively impact the surrounding ecologically important ecosystems in the study area. Understanding and monitoring Didim's development is necessary to guide the ministry in promoting sustainable planning and management, as well as mitigating the adverse effects on the ecosystems. The present work aims to detect land use and cover changes of the Didim Peninsula between 1994 and 2005 by using satellite images and remote sensing and geographic information system technologies. Orthorectified Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (2005) and Spot 2X (1994) images are used in the object-oriented classification. The main analytical procedures include image preprocessing, image classification, accuracy assessment, postclassification change detection, and normalized difference vegetation index analyses. Results show three distinct processes taking place in the study area: expansion of artificial surfaces and arable lands; ongoing succession of the vegetation cover, mainly in the central and southwest areas; and transformation from a dense and vigorous vegetation cover to a less dense and sometimes discontinuous vegetation cover, mainly in the east and northeast. Identified trends may have significant consequences in terms of the response that ecosystems give to these changes. A strategy to promote sustainable land use management should be generated timely manner.


Context. The evolution of interstellar clouds of gas and dust establishes the prerequisites for star formation. The pathway to the formation of stars can be studied in regions that have formed stars, but which at the same time also display the earliest phases of stellar evolution, i.e. pre-collapse/collapsing cores (Class-1), protostars (Class 0), and young stellar objects (Class I, II, III). Aims. We investigate to what degree local physical and chemical conditions are related to the evolutionary status of various objects in star-forming media. Methods. rho OphA displays the entire sequence of low-mass star formation in a small volume of space. Using spectrophotometric line maps of H-2, H2O, NH3, N2H+, O-2, OI, CO, and CS, we examine the distribution of the atomic and molecular gas in this dense molecular core. The physical parameters of these species are derived, as are their relative abundances in rho Oph A. Using radiative transfer models, we examine the infall status of the cold dense cores from their resolved line profiles of the ground state lines of H2O and NH3, where for the latter no contamination from the VLA 1623 outflow is observed and line overlap of the hyperfine components is explicitly taken into account. Results. The stratified structure of this photon dominated region (PDR), seen edge-on, is clearly displayed. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and OI are seen throughout the region around the exciting star S 1. At the interface to the molecular core 0.05 pc away, atomic hydrogen is rapidly converted into H-2, whereas OI protrudes further into the molecular core. This provides oxygen atoms for the gas-phase formation of O-2 in the core SM1, where X(O-2) similar to 5 x 10(-8). There, the ratio of the O-2 to H2O abundance [X(H2O) similar to 5 x 10(-9)] is significantly higher than unity. Away from the core, O-2 experiences a dramatic decrease due to increasing H2O formation. Outside the molecular core rho Oph A, on the far side as seen from S 1, the intense radiation from the 0.5 pc distant early B-type star HD147889 destroys the molecules. Conclusions. Towards the dark core SM1, the observed abundance ratio X(O-2)/X(H2O) > 1, which suggests that this object is extremely young, which would explain why O-2 is such an elusive molecule outside the solar system.


Football (soccer) performance requires a diversity of physical attributes and biomotor abilities, such as strength, power, jump mechanics, repeat sprint ability, change of direction and on-ball skills. In-season training focus is often based on metabolic conditioning activities such as small sided games, tactical and technical football drills and traditional running drills in order to further develop and maintain aerobic and anaerobic capacity. However, this often comes at the expense of strength training, which may be compromised for additional time on the pitch. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to provide an evidenced-based approach, to the periodisation of strength and power during a football season. Secondly, the increased popularity of incorporating on-pitch pre-rehabilitation and injury prevention programs that utilise unstable exercises during the entire season to maintain strength and power will also be discussed. Collectively, literature suggests that strength and power maintenance can be achieved with one strength session per week for football athletes. However, it is important for strength and conditioning coaches to continue the development of strength and power characteristics during a football season, which not only assists on-pitch performance but may also attribute to reduction of injury risk. Evidence supporting the effectiveness of on-pitch pre-rehabilitation programming centred on unstable training is lacking at this time.


Algebraic systems with partial operations have different ways to interpret equality between two terms of the language. A strong identity is a formula which says that two terms are equal in the algebra if the existence of one of them implies the existence of the other one and in the case of existence their values are equal. A class of partial algebras defined by a set of strong identities is called a strong variety. In the characterization of strong varieties in the case of partial algebras by means of a Birkhoff-type theorem there appeared a new concept, regularity of partial homomorphisms and partial subalgebras. Here we define and study these operators from two different perspectives. Firstly, in their relation with other well known concecpts of partial homomorphisms and partial subalgebras, as well as with the po-monoid of Pigozzi for the H, S and P operators. Secondly, in regard to the preservation of the different types of formulae that represent equality in the case of partial algebras for these operators. Finally, we give a characterization of the strong varieties as classes closed under regular homomorphisms, regular subalgebras, direct products and that satisfy a closure condition.


The fat reserves of small birds are built up daily as insurance against starvation. They are believed to reflect a trade–off between the risks of starvation and predation such that in situations of high predation risk birds are expected either to reduce their fat reserves in response to mass–dependent predation risk or to increase them in response to foraging interruptions. We assessed the effect on fat reserves of experimentally altering the perceived (but not the actual) risk of predation of wild great tits at a winter feeding site. The perceived predation risk was alternated between 'safe' and 'risky'. Increasing the perceived risk of predation involved 'swooping' a model sparrowhawk over the feeder at four unpredictable times each day, using a remote mechanism. We produce evidence that the experiment was successful in altering the perceived risk of predation. As predicted from the hypothesis of mass–dependent predation risk, great tits (Parus major) carried significantly reduced fat reserves during the 'risky' treatment. Furthermore, dominant individuals were able to reduce their reserves more than subordinates. As birds returned to feeders within seconds after a predator 'attack', the reduction in fat reserves cannot be attributed to an interruption in feeding.


The dynamics of Vestfonna ice cap (Svalbard) are dominated by fast-flowing outlet glaciers. Its mass balance is poorly known and affected dynamically by these fast-flowing outlet glaciers. Hence, it is a challenging target for ice flow modeling. Precise knowledge of the basal conditions and implementation of a good sliding law are crucial for the modeling of this ice cap. Here we use the full-Stokes finite element code Elmer/Ice to model the 3-D flow over the whole ice cap. We use a Robin inverse method to infer the basal friction from the surface velocities observed in 1995. Our results illustrate the importance of the basal friction parameter in reproducing observed velocity fields. We also show the importance of having variable basal friction as given by the inverse method to reproduce the velocity fields of each outlet glacier-a simple parametrization of basal friction cannot give realistic velocities in a forward model. We study the robustness and sensitivity of this method with respect to different parameters (mesh characteristics, ice temperature, errors in topographic and velocity data). The uncertainty in the observational parameters and input data proved to be sufficiently small as not to adversely affect the fidelity of the model.


Two kinds of amorphous Li+ conductor, B2O3-0.7Li2O-0.7LiCl-xAl2O3-0.1V2O5,(x= 0.05 and 0.15), were studied with differential thermal analysis, conductivity measurement, X-ray diffraction and ESR spectroscopy. We find that: (1)V2O5 not only is amorphous network former, but also changes the process of crystallization;(2) For both the B2O3-Li2O-LiCl-Al2O3-V2O5 glasses and the P2O5-Li2O-LiCl-Al2O3 glasses,ionic conductivity of the tablet sample is 26 times higher than that of 60 mesh powder sample of the same material; the whole piece of glass has an obviously lower activation energy and a conductivity that is two orders higher than that of the tablet sample, so it is more suitable for ion transport; (3) Adding V2O5 less than 3.9mol% to amorphous Li+ conductor B2O3-0.7Li2O-0.7LiCl-xAl2O3 (0≤x≤0.15) does not cause electron-conductivity to increase rapidly. Further more, this makes it possible to apply the technique of ESR to study the micro structure of and electron movement in the material.


The topic of this paper is a game on graphs called Edge Hop. The game's goal is to move a marked token from a speci c starting node to a speci c target node. Further, there are other tokens on some nodes which can be moved by the player under suitable conditions. In addition, the graph has special properties. For instance: Every node can only hold a xed amount of tokens and the marked token is only allowed to travel once across each edge. We show that the decision question whether the marked token can reach the goal node is NP-complete. For this we construct several gadgets to show a reduction via Directed Hamiltonian cycles. These gadgets can further be used as a framework for complexity analysis of combinatorial puzzles and similar questions. As an example we will show the NP-hardness of Game about Squares and of 2048.


In this wonderful little 'money bible', Stuart Wilde presents the ten laws of abundance and money, showing us that we can align effortlessly with good fortune! Stuart reveals the psychological aspects of the money game, as well as the deeper secrets of prosperity. He reminds us that comprehending the ebb and flow of money in our lives is one of the great spiritual lessons of life, as are physical balance, love and interpersonal relationships. Throughout history, philosophers and great religious leaders have taught that there is divine abundance, which ebbs and flows through our lives as the seasons do. Money is just a symbol of the infinite goodness that gave us life. Basically, Stuart lets us know that we can be rich and be spiritual. With wealth, we can help others strengthen themselves so that they can also accumulate money. Abundance, Stuart reminds us, is our birthright!


Pyoderma gangrenosum is an immune-mediated inflammatory and rare skin disease with an extremely challenging diagnosis. The clinical evolution of the disease is the basis for the diagnosis that involves pustular superficial lesions, painful erythematous halo, rapid progression to painful and sterile ulcerations, unresponsiveness to antibiotics or new surgical interventions, and finally, ready improvement with the use of immunosuppressive drugs. Delayed diagnosis may cause numerous hospitalizations and prolonged therapy, whereas early recognition can prevent the progression of the ulcerations and their morbidities. We report a case of pyoderma gangrenosum that evolved after surgery and was associated with intraoperative radiotherapy for the conservative treatment of breast cancer. In addition, we reviewed reported cases in the literature and therapeutic options. It is conjectured that intraoperative radiotherapy might be related to some immune-mediated stimuli that could trigger the clinical condition.


Cyberterrorism has come to be one of the most threatening forms of terrorism in 2019. In the face of the negative implications cyberattacks can have on affected firms and consumers, this article focuses on the flip side of the coin: I hypothesize that cyberattacks can produce abnormal positive returns for the stock prices of insurance and security companies. Heretofore practically ignored by most businesses, companies that specialize in insurance and security dealing with cyberterrorism are experiencing increased positive interest and attention. I conducted an event study analysis to investigate how the stock prices of insurance and security companies changed one day and one week after major cyberattacks on large firms. Such cyberattacks investigated range from the 2013 Yahoo attack to the globally destructive Petya Ransomware attack. Using the P-value as a measure of significance, I found that, on average, the companies realized a consistent, positive abnormal return in 11 of the 15 events one day after an attack. This evidence supported my hypothesis as investors understand that increased cyber activity results in increased cyber-awareness. Both insurance and security companies will likely increase premiums and experience higher quarterly revenues. Moreover, it was found that security companies experienced more positive, abnormal returns than insurance companies, as consumers gravitate towards security in hopes of greater protection.


Accumulating evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a critical role in the progression of a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Thus, enhancing mitochondrial function could potentially help ameliorate the impairments of neural plasticity and cellular resilience associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. A series of studies was undertaken to investigate the effects of mood stabilizers on mitochondrial function, and against mitochondrially mediated neurotoxicity. We found that long-term treatment with lithium and valproate (VPA) enhanced cell respiration rate. Furthermore, chronic treatment with lithium or VPA enhanced mitochondrial function as determined by mitochondrial membrane potential, and mitochondrial oxidation in SH-SY5Y cells. In-vivo studies showed that long-term treatment with lithium or VPA protected against methamphetamine (Meth)-induced toxicity at the mitochondrial level. Furthermore, these agents prevented the Meth-induced reduction of mitochondrial cytochrome c, the mitochondrial anti-apoptotic Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COX) activity. Oligoarray analysis demonstrated that the gene expression of several proteins related to the apoptotic pathway and mitochondrial functions were altered by Meth, and these changes were attenuated by treatment with lithium or VPA. One of the genes, Bcl-2, is a common target for lithium and VPA. Knock-down of Bcl-2 with specific Bcl-2 siRNA reduced the lithium- and VPA-induced increases in mitochondrial oxidation. These findings illustrate that lithium and VPA enhance mitochondrial function and protect against mitochondrially mediated toxicity. These agents may have potential clinical utility in the treatment of other diseases associated with impaired mitochondrial function, such as neurodegenerative diseases and schizophrenia.


During the development of an engineered product, developers often need to create an embedded systema prototypethat demonstrates the operation/function of the device and proves its viability. Offering practical tools for the development and prototyping phases, Embedded Systems Circuits and Programming provides a tutorial on microcontroller programming and the basics of embedded design. The book focuses on several development tools and resources: Standard and off-the-shelf components, such as input/output devices, integrated circuits, motors, and programmable microcontrollers The implementation of circuit prototypes via breadboards, the in-house fabrication of test-time printed circuit boards (PCBs), and the finalization by the manufactured board Electronic design programs and software utilities for creating PCBs Sample circuits that can be used as part of the targeted embedded system The selection and programming of microcontrollers in the circuit For those working in electrical, electronic, computer, and software engineering, this hands-on guide helps you successfully develop systems and boards that contain digital and analog components and controls. The text includes easy-to-follow sample circuits and their corresponding programs, enabling you to use them in your own work. For critical circuits, the authors provide tested PCB files. Software, code, and other materials are available at www.crcpress.com.


Summary 1. Brazil is one of the world's major producers of food and biofuels. Agricultural expansion has driven rapid economic development but has also had major impacts on biodiversity and the conservation of ecosystem services in the country. 2. Here, we analyse recent advances in applied ecological research on the consequences of agricultural expansion for biodiversity in Brazil, identify knowledge gaps, and discuss how ecological science can help guide the development of more sustainable agricultural systems. 3. The majority of native vegetation in Brazilian biomes is found within private lands, emphasizing the importance of recent reforms to the Brazilian Forest Act legislation. Using the example of the Forest Act, we critically assess the extent to which ecological research has provided guidance for policy decisions to date. We identify important knowledge gaps regarding the ecological impacts of agricultural expansion in Brazil and the general disconnection between ecological science and environmental policy processes. 4. Synthesis and applications. Increased efforts are needed from both researchers and policy makers to engage from the earliest stage possible in the identification, assessment and communication of environmental issues and possible management solutions. Narrowing the gap between research and policy is essential if the academic community is to capitalize effectively on recent governmental investments in research and provide the necessary evidence basis for reconciling agricultural production and environmental conservation in Brazil.


We draw a parallel between the dramatic increases of systematic variations in exchange rates and international bank lending. We find that when a country's currency has a larger share of systematic variations, lending flows by international banks to that country become more sensitive to global lending - they also become more systematic. This parallel is particularly prevalent for large commodity exporters, including Canada. Global financial intermediation may open a new channel between the real economy and exchange rates.


An occurrence of Proterozoic nephelinite and basanite lavas and pyroclastic rocks and associated phonolites indicates that the processes that generate modern alkaline magmas in intraplate settings were operative in the Early Proterozoic. These lavas occur near the top of a 1.9 Ga continental-margin sequence in the Cape Smith fold and thrust belt of northern Quebec. The lavas are classified as nephelinites, basanites, and phonolites on the basis of high field strength and rare earth element contents, although large ion lithophile elements, including alkalis, appear to have been strongly depleted by greenschist facies metamorphism and alteration. Certain major elements define trends consistent with low-pressure fractionation dominated by clinopyroxene, which is the only mafic phenocryst present in the lavas. The mafic and felsic lavas have identical 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratios, consistent with consanguinity and a lack of contamination by older crust of the Superior province. Values for ϵ Nd (1.96 Ga) of +2 represent an enriched mantle source relative to +4 to +5 for the contemporaneous mid-oceanic-ridge basalt reservoir.