The development of high performance materials and more efficient production methods makes a changeover from traditional manufacturing methods both possible and profitable. High temperature sintering is one potentially effective processing technique to capture future applications demanding high performance of the material system. In this paper, an analysis comparing conventional belt furnace sintering at 2050°F to high temperature sintering at 2280°F is presented. The study covers a comparison of sintering costs for a P/M gear made of two different low alloyed steels. Static and dynamic properties of these materials achieved at these temperatures are discussed.


There is widespread recognition today that we are living in a period of profound technological, social, economic and political change, and that this process of change is accelerating. Yet, there is less certainty about the nature and meaning of these changes—whether they should be regulated or liberalized, supported or resisted— and the kind of world they are leading to.
Despite these uncertainties and the difficulties of evaluating the significance of events and processes as they occur, four fundamental trends can be identified that are dramatically transforming the contemporary world and are shaping a new world. These trends are the continued rapid urbanization of the world's population, particularly in the developing countries, the globalization of economic, social, cultural and political activities, the intensification and globalization of an 'environmental crisis', and the changing relationship of the state to the civil society. Although it is true to say that all cities in the emerging global system are experiencing the effects of these processes, it is perhaps in the cities of the developing countries that the greatest problems and challenges are emerging.
Among many other disciplines and professional activities, efforts have also been made in the field of urban design during the last decade or so to find appropriate ways within the field for dealing with these challenges and to explore the potential contribution urban design can make to change the existing trend and facilitate the achievement of sustainability in urban areas. The degree of success, however, has not been the same in all countries and definitely in all areas. Moreover, the gap between the theory and practice remains critically vast everywhere. Therefore, this paper aims to first review the global achievements in sustainable urban design, both in theory (research) and practice, and then do a critical analysis of the challenges the idea has been facing in the contemporary urban design in Iran. To do so, the study focuses on the major substantive and procedural attributes of urban design at both macro and micro levels, and reveals the purposes they serve towards achieving sustainability in urban areas. At the end, a critical comparison is made between the international achievements in the area of sustainable urban design and the efforts made in Iran in this regard.


Understanding how rotationally supported discs transform into dispersion-dominated spheroids is central to our comprehension of galaxy evolution. Morphological transformation is largely merger-driven. While major mergers can efficiently create spheroids, recent work has highlighted the significant role of other processes, like minor mergers, in driving morphological change. Given their rich merger histories, spheroids typically exhibit large fractions of 'ex situ' stellar mass, i.e. mass that is accreted, via mergers, from external objects. This is particularly true for the most massive galaxies, whose stellar masses typically cannot be attained without a large number of mergers. Here, we explore an unusual population of extremely massive (M* > 1011M⊙) spheroids, in the Horizon-AGN simulation, which exhibit anomalously low ex situ mass fractions, indicating that they form without recourse to significant merging. These systems form in a single minor-merger event (with typical merger mass ratios of 0.11–0.33), with a specific orbital configuration, where the satellite orbit is virtually co-planar with the disc of the massive galaxy. The merger triggers a catastrophic change in morphology, over only a few hundred Myr, coupled with strong in situ star formation. While this channel produces a minority (∼5 per cent) of such galaxies, our study demonstrates that the formation of at least some of the most massive spheroids need not involve major mergers – or any significant merging at all – contrary to what is classically believed.


The Numeral Unit Spread Assessment Pedigree (NUSAP) system was implemented to evaluate assumptions in a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model for Salmonella spp. in minced pork meat. This QMRA model allows the testing of mitigation strategies for the reduction of human salmonellosis and aims to serve as a basis for science‐based policy making. The NUSAP method was used to assess the subjective component of assumptions in the QMRA model by a set of four pedigree criteria: 'the influence of situational limitations', 'plausibility', 'choice space' and 'the agreement among peers'. After identifying 13 key assumptions relevant for the QMRA model, a workshop was organized to assess the importance of these assumptions on the output of the QMRA. The quality of the assumptions was visualized using diagnostic and kite diagrams. The diagnostic diagram pinpointed assumptions with a high degree of subjectivity and a high 'expected influence on the model results' score. Examples of those assumptions that should be dealt with care are the assumptions regarding the concentration of Salmonella on the pig carcass at the beginning of the slaughter process and the assumptions related to the Salmonella prevalence in the slaughter process. The kite diagrams allowed a clear overview of the pedigree scores for each assumption as well as a representation of expert (dis)agreement. The evaluation of the assumptions using the NUSAP system enhanced the debate on the uncertainty and its communication in the results of a QMRA model. It highlighted the model's strong and weak points and was helpful for redesigning critical modules. Since the evaluation of assumptions allows a more critical approach of the QMRA process, it is useful for policy makers as it aims to increase the transparency and acceptance of management decisions based on a QMRA model.


One problem in international climate policy is the refusal of large developing countries to accept emission reduction targets. Brazil, China and India together account for about 20% of today's CO2 emissions. We analyse the case in which there is no international agreement on emission reduction targets, but countries do have domestic targets, and trade permits across borders. We contrast two scenarios. In one scenario, Brazil, China and India adopt their business as usual emissions as their target. In this scenario, there are substantial exports of emission permits from developing to developed countries, and substantial economic gains for all. In the second scenario, Brazil, China and India reduce their emissions target so that they have no net economic gain from permit trade. Here, developing countries do not accept responsibility for climate change (as they bear no net costs), but they do contribute to an emission reduction policy by refusing to make money out of it. Adopting such break-even targets can be done at minor cost to developed and developing countries (roughly $2 bn/year each in extra costs and forgone benefits), while developing countries are still slightly better off than in the case without international emissions trade. This result is robust to variations in scenarios and parameters. It contrasts with Stewart and Wiener (2003) who propose granting 'hot air' to developing countries to seduce them to accept targets. In 2020, China and India could reduce their emissions by some 10% from the baseline without net economic costs.


The coastal ocean is characterized by high exchange rates of organic matter, oxygen, and nutrients between the sediment and the water column. The solutes that are exchanged between the sediment and the overlying water column are transported across the benthic boundary layer (BBL) by means of turbulent diffusion. Thus, solute concentration gradients in the BBL contain valuable information about the respective fluxes. In this study, we present the instrumentation and sampling strategies to measure oxygen and nutrient concentration gradients in the BBL. We provide the theoretical background and the calculation procedure to derive ratios of nutrient and oxygen fluxes from these concentration gradients. The noninvasive approach is illustrated at two sampling sites in the western Baltic Sea where nutrient and oxygen concentration gradients of up to 5 and 30 µM m−1, respectively, were measured. Nutrient and oxygen flux ratios were used to establish a nitrogen flux balance between sediment and water column indicating that 20% and 50% of the mineralized nitrogen left the sediment in form of N2 (station A and B, respectively). The results are supported by sediment incubation experiments of intact sediment cores, measuring denitrification rates, and oxygen uptake. The presented flux ratio approach is applicable without knowledge of turbulent diffusivities in the BBL and is, therefore, unaffected by non‐steady‐state current velocities and diffusivities.


ABSTRACT Research in human–computer interaction (HCI) has identified meaning as an important, yet poorly understood concept in interaction design contexts. Central to this development is the increasing emphasis on designing products and technologies that promote leisure, personal fulfillment, and well-being. As spaces of profound historical significance and societal value, museums offer a unique perspective on how people construct meaning during their interactions in museum spaces and with collections, which may help to deepen notions of the content of meaningful interaction and support innovative design for cultural heritage contexts. The present work reports on the results of two studies that investigate meaning-making in museums. The first is an experience narrative study (N = 32) that analyzed 175 memorable museum visits, resulting in the establishment of 23 triggers that inform meaningful interaction in museums. A second study (N = 354) validated the comprehensiveness and generalisability of the triggers by asking participants to apply them to their own memorable museum experiences. We conclude with a framework of meaning in museums featuring the 23 triggers and two descriptive categories of temporality and scope. Our findings contribute to meaning research in HCI for museums through an articulation of the content of meaning-making in the cultural sector.


Nitrogen dioxide is a common air pollutant with growing evidence of health impacts independent of other common pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter. However, the worldwide distribution of NO2 exposure and associated impacts on health is still largely uncertain. To advance global exposure estimates we created a global nitrogen dioxide (NO2) land use regression model for 2011 using annual measurements from 5,220 air monitors in 58 countries. The model captured 54% of global NO2 variation, with a mean absolute error of 3.7 ppb. Regional performance varied from R2 = 0.42 (Africa) to 0.67 (South America). Repeated 10% cross-validation using bootstrap sampling (n = 10,000) demonstrated a robust performance with respect to air monitor sampling in North America, Europe, and Asia (adjusted R2 within 2%) but not for Africa and Oceania (adjusted R2 within 11%) where NO2 monitoring data are sparse. The final model included 10 variables that captured both between and within-city spatial gradients in NO2 concentrations. Variable contributions differed between continental regions, but major roads within 100 m and satellite-derived NO2 were consistently the strongest predictors. The resulting model can be used for global risk assessments and health studies, particularly in countries without existing NO2 monitoring data or models.


One-dimensional (1D) zinc oxide nanostructures are the main components of nanogenerators and central to the emerging field of nanopiezotronics. Understanding the underlying physics and quantifying the electromechanical properties of these structures, the topic of this research study, play a major role in designing next-generation nanoelectromechanical devices. Here, atomistic simulations are utilized to study surface and size-scale effects on the electromechanical response of 1D ZnO nanostructures. It is shown that the mechanical and piezoelectric properties of these structures are controlled by their size, cross-sectional geometry, and loading configuration. The study reveals enhancement of the piezoelectric and elastic modulus of ZnO nanowires (NW) with diameter d > 1 nm, followed by a sudden drop for d o 1 nm due to transformation of NWs to nanotubes (NTs). Degradation of mechanical and piezoelectric properties of ZnO nanobelts (NBs) followed by an enhancement in piezoelectric properties occurs when their lower dimension is reduced to o1 nm. The latter enhancement can be explained in the context of surface reconfiguration and formation of hexagon–tetragon (HT) pairs at the intersection of (2% 1% 10) and (01% 10) planes in NBs. Transition from a surface-reconstructed dominant to a surfacerelaxed dominant region is demonstrated for lateral dimensions o1 nm. New phase-transformation (PT) kinetics from piezoelectric wurtzite to nonpiezoelectric body-centered tetragonal (WZ BCT) and graphite-like phase (WZ HX) structures occurs in ZnO NWs loaded up to large strains of B10%.


Problem Statement: Social justice addresses inequality in society, including economic inequality, global migration, racism, xenophobia, prejudice against disabled people, and class discrimination. In Turkey, social studies curriculum aims to cultivate active, democratically minded citizens who value justice, independence, peace, solidarity, tolerance, freedom, and respect and demonstrate critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, social participation, and empathy. Purpose: Since social justice education affects teachers' values, beliefs, experiences, practices, and views on social justice, we aimed to understand social studies teachers' perceptions and experiences of social justice. Methods: Following a phenomenological research design selected in accordance with maximum variation sampling, we recruited 10 teachers for our sample. We collected data by conducting semi-structured interviews with the teachers and classroom observations of four of them. We analyzed data by following an inductive approach. Findings: Teachers perceived the concept of social justice in terms of equality, justice, discrimination, human rights, respect, and tolerance. Teachers expressed their sensitivity to equalitarianism, as well as their efforts to prevent discrimination in their daily lives, abide by social rules, protect the environment, and not violate disabled citizens. A few teachers reported their active engagement in the activities of non-governmental organizations, and all teachers generally indicated that the development of their perceptions of social justice had been affected by their families, educational backgrounds, living environment, and the schools where they work. The teachers expressed not discriminating students, exhibiting positive attitudes toward them, and to some extent, demonstrating aspects of human rights, democracy, and environmental protectionism during lessons. However, teachers indicated no perceptions of struggles against injustice and did not report having experiences with such struggles during lessons. In general, their experiences were affected by their perceptions, their experiences in non-governmental activities, curricula, and course textbooks, and the socio-cultural structure of their schools. Conclusions and Recommendations: Social studies teachers' perceptions of social justice were consistent with their experiences demonstrated during lessons. The teachers mentioned several examples of historical and recent social injustice, but did not conduct any discussions or solicit suggestions about how to overcome such injustices. It is thus necessary to reconsider pre- and in-service training programs within the context of social justice and education. Keywords: Social justice, Social studies, Citizenship education, Social justice education, Phenomenology


A small (1.5 km long) boulder barricade occurs at Cap a la Baleine on the north shore of Gaspe Peninsula, about 25 km NE of Matane, The boulder barricade is a low ridge at the low tide level formed by a pavement of small to medium size subrounded to rounded clasts of various lithologies. Boulders are closely packed together and compacted into the underlying clay substrate. There are two main groups of boulders. About 40% are Precambrian erratics from the Laurentidian Shield on the north shore of the St. Lawrence estuary, whereas the remaining are from Appalachian lithologies occurring on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, of which 54% are sandstone (graywacke). A few particular indicators are anorthosite, dolostone, quartzite and volcanic erratics. Boulders remaining on the tidal flat surface are a lag from the erosion of a clay diamict, an event which occurred during the Upper Holocene. Originally deposited in the Goldthwait Sea circa 13-13.5 ka, the boulders are most likely iceberg drifted erratics from two sources: the Laurentides Ice Sheet still occupying the St. Lawrence valley, and the Appalachian ice, the front of which corresponding to the present shoreline at the time. Today, the Cap a la Baleine boulder barricade forms a natural wave breaker slowing erosion of the tidal flat.


The wireless body area network has emerged a new technology for e-health care system. WBAN collects the sensitive data on a patient's body and these data are stored in cloud servers and shared by various users. Various research works are carried out due to its sensitiveness and privacy problems. In sensor networks, spoofing attack is trouble-free to initiate (i.e.) an attacker pretends to be someone else to gain access to restricted resources or to steal information. Most conventional security approaches used cryptographic authentication to prevent spoofing attacks. Due to their computational complexity these security approaches are not always desirable. This paper proposed an Integrated Secure Authentication (ISA) in e-health Care application using cloud environment to use spatial information of Received Signal Strength (RSS), a physical property associated with each node, that is difficult to modify, and not based on cryptography. Similarly, Tri Mode Algorithm is introduced that can secure the data storage and fully authenticated data sharing from the use of Trusted Third Party (TTP). The algorithm can be implemented on three stages SetUP, CheckUP and LockUP. A simulated and analytical result highlights the security, efficiency and simplicity of our proposed scheme is better than the existing approach.


Abstract The new mineral campostriniite, (Bi3+,Na)3(NH4,K)2Na2(SO4)6·H2O, was found in an active fumarole (fumarole FA, temperature ~350°C) at La Fossa Crater, Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy. It occurs on a pyroclastic breccia as white prismatic crystals up to 0.2 mm long, in association with adranosite, demicheleite-(Br), demicheleite-(I), argesite and sassolite. The mineral is monoclinic, space group: C2/c (no. 15) with a = 17.748(3), b = 6.982(1) c = 18.221(3) Å, β = 113.97(1)°, V = 2063(1) Å3 and Z = 4. The six strongest reflections in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are: [dobs in Å (I)(hkl)] 6.396(100)(110), 7.507(75)(2̄02), 2.766(60)(3̄16), 3.380(57)(312), 5.677(55)(111), 3.166(50)(4 0 2). The empirical formula (based on 25 anions p.f.u.) is Bi2.41N1.52Na2.41K0.48 S6.07H8.08O25. The calculated density is 3.87 g cm-3. Using single-crystal diffraction data, the structure was refined to a final R(F) = 0.051 for 3025 independent observed reflections [I > 2σ(I)]. Campostriniite is isostructural with görgeyite and belongs to the 7.CD group of the Strunz classification system. The structure contains two independent nine-fold coordinated sites, one of them located on a two-fold axis (M1) and the other one in general position (M2) essentially occupied by Bi3+ atoms and minor amounts of Na+ ions, an eight-fold coordinated site fully occupied by Na+ ions and another eight-fold coordinated site occupied by NH+4 and K+ ions; three independent sulfate anions in a general position and a water molecule coordinated to M1 and located on a two-fold axis are also present.


C4 trituration provings are a somewhat controversial method of uncovering the therapeutic value of homoeopathic remedies. The key advantage of this method over traditional proving methods is that a substance can be proved in a matter of hours, rather than weeks or months. However there is a lack of research to show whether the results of the two methods are comparable. AIM The aim of this study is to establish whether symptoms elicited in a C4 trituration proving are comparable to symptoms produced in traditional provings of the same substance. If a similarity can be demonstrated – even on a single substance – it may encourage further studies to determine the extent to which C4 provings can be used in association with, or instead of, traditional provings as a means of developing homoeopathic remedies. METHOD Ten triturators were recruited from an existing group of experienced triturators to prove an unknown substance. Data were harvested from debriefing sessions and from notes kept by triturators during the sessions, and these were transcribed and converted to rubrics. An unprejudiced repertorisation was undertaken in an (unsuccessful) attempt to identify the substance before unblinding. After the substance was revealed to be Borax, the rubrics from the C4 proving were statistically compared to rubrics associated with Borax in Radar 9.0, the electronic version of the repertory Synthesis: Repertorium Homoeopathicum Syntheticum (2004), which reflects traditional provings of this substance. The statistical comparison of rubrics was performed in SPSS; a Pearson Chi-Square test was applied to establish statistical significance; and a Cramer's V test was used to determine the strength of that association. RESULT The comparison failed to find a significant correlation between the rubrics from the C4 proving of Borax and traditional provings of the same substance. At a chapter level, there were significant associations between symptoms relating to Hearing and Kidneys but, for reasons discussed at length in the report, these results must be treated with circumspection. CONCLUSION While C4 provings are faster than the traditional method, as refined by Sherr, in view of the above findings it cannot be recommended that C4 provings be considered as a means of developing homoeopathic remedies instead of traditional provings, because C4 provings would not produce a complete symptom picture. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations arising from the study include that the exercise should be repeated with a different substance and group of provers, preferably with confidential debriefing of participants (as opposed to group debriefing, which is the norm for C4 provings), to verify these findings.


Mount Chalmers is a Kuroko-style volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposit that is hosted
within the Early Permian Berserker beds of central, eastern Queensland. The Berserker beds occur within
tectonic units that comprise the New England Orogen. During the Early Permian horst-graben style
extension occurred throughout the New England Orogen and across the back arc region. These fault
basins accumulated marine sediments, commonly diamictites and volcanics. It is in one of these
extensional basins that the sediments. volcaniclastics and volcanics that form the Berserker beds were
probably deposited.
The Berserker beds are a complex unit of graded, mass flow emplaced, pumiceous breccias, volcanolithic
sandstone units, graded polymict, feldspar phyric pumiceous breccias, rhyolite intrusives, coherent
to auto-brecciated rhyolite flows and their autoclastic products, andesitic intrusives, lavas and their
autoclastic products. In the vicinity of the Mount Chalmers, mine the Berserker beds are represented by a
dynamic and constantly evolving stratigraphic succession of proximal and distal volcanics interbedded
with distally derived turbidites. A significant feature of this evolving and variable stratigraphy is the
cyclic nature of the volcanism that is represented by the change in volcanism from rhyolite dominant to
andesitic dominant and back to rhyolite again. The differing volcanic facies indicate that both subaerial
and submarine volcanism were occurring within the general vicinity of each other.
The Berserker beds contain a diverse invertebrate fauna and trace fossil assemblage. The invertebrate
fauna contains bryozoans, echinoderms, brachiopods and molluscs. The fossil assemblage and its mode of
preservation are typical of a shallow shelf (near wave base) sand and silt environment. The faunal
assemblage indicates a water depth in the range of 50 - 300 m. The trace fossils are mainly temporary
fodinichnia (feeding traces) structures and comprise mainly Teichichnus and Planolites, with scattered
Rhizocorallium and Zoophycus type burrows. The trace fossils have a restricted faunal diversity, and may
be assigned to the Cruziana ichnofacies. This ichnofacies is normally understood as characterising the
region between daily wave base and storm wave base, in low to moderate energy regimes.
The mineralisation at Mount Chalmers occurs in two main ore lenses, the Main Lode and the West Lode,
and one minor lens, the South Lode. The massive sulphide mineralisation occurs on the flank of a rhyolite
dome. The massive sulphide mineralisation consists of massive, layered and fragmental sulphides.
Underlying the massive sulphide mineralisation is an extensive well developed network stringer veins.
Footwall alteration at Mount Chalmers is dominated by silica along with extensive zones of chlorite
alteration. Dolomite, sericite and kaolinite alterations are spatially restricted to high angle normal faults. Textural, petrographic and microthermometric investigations of primary fluid inclusions yielded
homogenisation temperatures of 160-268°C and salinities of 5-8 NaC1 equiv. wt %. Semi-quantitative
SEM/WDS microprobe analyses of fluid inclusion decrepitates indicate that the Mt. Chalmers ore fluids
were enriched in potassium and calcium but depleted in magnesium relative to seawater. PIXE
microanalysis of fluid inclusions in quartz also indicates a significant base metal concentration in these
fluids. Cation composition and higher salinities relative to seawater suggests that a magmatic input of ore
metals during seawater leaching of the footwall volcanic pile was a distinct possibility.
The 634S values for pyrite from Mount Chalmers range from -17.6 to -1.6 960, with a median value of-5.7
'Yoo Chalcopyrite has a narrower range of 8 34S values compared to that for pyrite Both sphalerite and
galena have restricted ranges in their 634S values compared to pyrite and chalcopyrite. Barite has a broad
range in 834S values and has a skewed distribution. In combination with the fluid inclusion evidence, the
favoured model to explain the 8 34S values in sulphides and barite was hydrothermal fluid that was
probably dominated by evolved seawater, but one that had a minor, but significant input of sulphur from a
magmatic source. The departures from the "normal" range of 8 34S values to values as low as -17.1 960 can
be explained by the hydrothermal fluid interacting with biogenic sulphur within microniches within the
sediments as the fluids passed through the volcano-sedimentary pile.
Mount Chalmers has a very narrow range of 6 180 values (+9.1 to +9.8 960). Modelled w/r ratios for both
open and closed systems indicate that the Mount Chalmers hydrothermal fluid was dominated by
seawater, with the possibility of the minor input of magmatic fluid. Calculated high water fluxes over a
short time period (5,000 years) indicates that high water/rock ratios (>1) prevailed throughout most of the
life the Mount Chalmers hydrothermal system.
Palaeontological evidence shows that the Berserker beds were deposited in a shallow-submarine
environment (<300 m). Contact relationships between the volcanics and sedimentary facies reveals that
peperitic facies are widespread. Silicic and mafic magmas have intruded at shallow levels into volcano-sedimentary
pile. The Mount Chalmers VHMS mineralisation is spatially and temporally associated with
the intrusion of a rhyolitic lava dome(s) into the volcano-sedimentary pile. Studies to date on modern and
ancient VMS deposits have indicated that a minimum water depth between 1,000 to 1,500 m is required
to prevent boiling of hydrothermal fluids and therefore concentrate metal deposition on the seafloor.
However, these minimum water depths are in strong disagreement with the minimum water depth as
suggested by the palaeontological and fluid inclusion evidence for the Mt. Chalmers VHMS deposit,
indicating that is possible for a hydrothermal system to form an exhalative VHMS in a shallow-marine
environment. Fluid inclusion and isotopic evidence suggests that there was a minor but significant input
of metals, vapour and S from a magmatic source.


The concept of subculture has been criticised a great deal in recent research on youth and popular music. Two concepts have emerged as offering new ways of conceiving musical collectivities, particularly among young people: scenes, and tribes (or neo-tribes). I offer criticisms of the work of advocates of both terms. I also argue, however, that there is no possibility of a return to the concept of subculture in any adequate sociology of popular music, even if the concept may have some residual use in the sociology of youth. I discuss the potential advantages of the concepts of genre and articulation as a way of at least beginning to address some of the problems raised in the literature on subcultures, scenes and tribes, concerning the politics of musical collectivities. The common feature of the three terms under discussion is that they have been discussed by those concerned with the relationship between youth and popular music, and I close by reflecting on the relationship between the study of these two entities. I suggest that the assumption that there is a close relationship between youth and popular music was the result of particular historical circumstances and I argue that, while the study of young people's relationships with popular music remains a topic of interest, the privileging of youth in studies of music has actually become an obstacle to a more fully developed understanding of music and society.


Salt diapirs in the Norwegian Danish Basin are characterized by the occurrence of marked angular unconformities which dip towards the diapirs. These unconformities developed above salt pillows, showing that the pillows grew close to the surface, or even reached the surface, in the time interval predating diapir formation. By contrast, the unconformities above present-day pillows show that these pillows have never reached close to the surface, strongly suggesting that pillow growth to "near unroofing" was a necessary condition for a transition to diapirism. Evidence from pillows indicates that unroofing in some cases was an asymmetric process involving growth of the pillow on the footwall side of a fault which soles out on the top surface of the salt. A consequence of this mechanism is that a separate stage of salt structure growth, with a combination of both pillow and diapir features, must be included in a general model for the "classical" Zechstein basin salt structures.


E-government initiatives tend to come charged with expectations of improving the performance of public administrations by reducing inequalities in public service provision. The studies presented here elaborate on implications and consequences of systems to handle citizen complaints and public feedback related to the services provided to and managed for the population of different cities. Two cases from India and one from Europe have been chosen to explore what kind of consequences such systems can have in different settings. All cases are researched with a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Although such systems come wrapped within the rhetoric of universalism and more equitable access, empirical data show that, by facilitating 'participation of the fittest', they get exploited more effectively by those who are better off, already. Therefore bureaucracy tends to become more dependent on the social environment.


The new generation of the bh DCS-120 FLIM system features unprecedented temporal resolution, unprecedented timing reproducibility, high spatial resolution, high sensitivity, and near-ideal photon efficiency. Fluorescence lifetimes can be detected down to 10 ps. The decay data can be resolved into 4096 time channels, with a minimum time bin width of 405 fs. Pixel numbers as high as 4096 x 4096 are available. The system is available in a confocal version with excitation by ps diode lasers, or as a two-photon version with a Ti:Sa laser or a femtosecond fibre laser. The DCS-120 FLIM system uses fast scanning by galvanometer mirrors, confocal or non-descanned detection, detection, and FLIM by bh's multidimensional TCSPC technique. Data acquisition functions include precision dual-channel FLIM, laser wavelength multiplexing, multi-wavelength FLIM, time-series FLIM, ultra-fast time-series recording by temporal-mosaic FLIM, spatial mosaic FLIM, Z stack FLIM, phosphorescence lifetime imaging (PLIM), and fluorescence lifetime-transient scanning (FLITS). Data analysis is performed by next generation SPCImage NG. Lifetime analysis is running on a GPU, reducing calculation time from previously several minutes to a few seconds. Other features are the availability of image segmentation via a phasor plot or via 2D time-domain histograms, and automatic modelling of the system IRF. Together with the extraordinary timing stability of the recording system, repeated recalibration of the IRF is no longer necessary. Target applications of the new DCS-120 system are molecular imaging in live cells and tissues, protein-interaction experiments by FRET, metabolic imaging by NADH / FAD decay parameters, identification of cancer cells, and the recording of dynamic physiological processes of cell metabolism and neurology. https://www.becker-hickl.com


Enclosing functional nanoparticles in stable inorganic supports is important for generating ultra-stable catalytic active sites with good performance and material utilization efficiency. Here we describe a simple method to synthesize ultra-thin Ag nanocrystals with dimensions that are defined by the ∼1.4 nm 2D interlayer separating a layered silicate nanostructure. We call the particles "nanoplates" because they are <1.4 nm thick in one direction and their in-plane dimensions are defined by reaction time. The layered silicate is pillared with dialkylurea, which serves both as a reducing agent for the Ag precursor and immobilizes the Ag nanoplates in the interstitial nanospace. The supported Ag nanoplates showed catalytic activity for hydrolysis of NH3BH3 and generation of H2 at room temperature. These supported Ag nanocatalysts had performance much higher than spherical Ag nanoparticles. They, moreover, had performance and stability comparable to costly supported Pt nanoparticles.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Software visualisation consists of applying various multimedia techniques for significant
improvement of human understanding of computer software. If the subject of such visualisation
is an algorithm, and computer generated animation is essential for its realisation, we say
of algorithm animation.
Successful algorithm visualisations usually go beyond isomorphic mappings of program
data or code to graphical representation of program semantics. They inherently provide a high
level of abstractness, supplying an extra information on the semantics and meaning that is
behind the code. The postulate of designing highly abstract visualisations is by most authors
stated as being in a deep contradiction with postulate of automation of the designer's work.
The goal of the presented work is partial reconciling these two contradicted postulates. We
can prove that some elements that significantly increase the level of abstractness may be introduced
to the visualisation in a strictly automatic mode, without any additional effort of the
visualiser. To obtain this result, an original method of algorithm animation based on data flow
tracing has been proposed. The key idea of the new method is to acquire information for visualisation
by observing elementary operations of data flow rather then by examining temporary
data structure values used in traditional solutions. In more advanced versions of this method,
Petri net formalism has been applied for dynamic analysis of data flow in a non-local range. It
allowed creating an engine for automatic suppression of unimportant or unwanted data.
The data flow method has been implemented in a system for algorithm animation called
Daphnis, which is the practical result of the research. The visualisations created relatively
easily with the Daphnis system achieve level of abstractness, which, in the solutions existing
so far, required much effort involving precise, manual designing and tuning. Daphnis in its
current version is a general purpose, easy-to-use system, with wide repertoire of graphical
means. This repertoire may be broadened thanks to the open architecture of the system. The
system is suitable for both didactic and engineering applications.
The text of manual contains an introduction to the software visualisation with a review of
solutions existing so far. Next, the method of algorithm animation based on data flow tracing
is described in detail. Finally, the Daphnis system is presented, both from the user's and designer's
point of view. Sample visualisations are also included.


Abstract Three variance reduction techniques for the ongoing development of Monte Carlo isotopic inventory analysis are implemented as alternatives to improve the precision of Monte Carlo simulations. The Forced Reaction technique is designed to force an atom to undergo a predefined number of reactions in a given control volume. Biased Reaction Branching is primarily focused on improving statistical results of the isotopes that are produced from rare reaction pathways. Biased Source Sampling is aimed at increasing frequencies of sampling rare initial isotopes as the starting Monte Carlo particles. A variety of test problems is uniquely designed to demonstrate the validity and the improvement, relative to the analog problem, of each technique. The increases in precision due to the variance reduction techniques usually come at the expense of longer computing times per history. A figure of merit (FOM) is developed as a tool to monitor the efficiency of Monte Carlo simulations with variance reduction schemes. A number of statistical characteristics of Monte Carlo isotopic inventory calculations are used to construct a variety of FOM formulations. Two of them offer robust FOMs: one based on the relative error of a known target isotope (1/R2T) and one based on the overall detection limit corrected by the relative error (1/DkR2T). Figures of merit are later used to quantitatively assess the efficiencies of Monte Carlo simulations under different scopes of interest. Given a defined set of variance reduction parameters to produce desired effects, the efficiency measurements from an FOM agree with the expected performance.


This paper presents a corpus-based study on the argument structure of Latin verbs that are prefixed with spatial preverbs. Preverbation involves prefixing verbs, and is therefore a morphological phenomenon; however, studying the argument structure of preverbed verbs is a good chance to explore the syntax-semantics and syntax-lexicon interfaces. Through a diachronic investigation of the interactions between the morpho-syntactic realisations of the arguments of preverbed verbs and their lexical-semantic properties, I aim at demonstrating the merits of an original, corpus-based quantitative approach. The results on preverbs partially support a more general trend from Latin synthetic case-based morpho-syntax to the analytic syntax of the Romance languages, although they also show that this trend is not unidirectional and linear. The source data for the analysis cover Early, Classical and Medieval Latin and are drawn from state-of-the-art computational resources for Latin.


SUMMARY
The discovery of a liver nodule during postcancer follow-up suggests malignancy recurrence. However, patients previously treated for pediatric cancers are at greater risk of developing benign hepatic tumors, raising the problems of getting an accurate noninvasive diagnosis. Here we report 3 cases of focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver in patients previously treated for pediatric neoplastic diseases. Radiologic findings and needle-biopsies remained insufficient in 2 cases to rule out metastasis or a potentially threatening tumor. Only surgical resection led to positive diagnosis and prevented complications. However, a review of the literature shows that if the nodule presents with typical features of focal nodular hyperplasia a close imaging follow-up is all that is recommended.


The brief's key findings are: *The Federal Reserve's 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances provides an opportunity to examine trends in retirement savings over the past few years. *The good news is increased use of target date funds; the bad news is no improvement in participation rates, significant leakages, and high fees. *Surprisingly, for working households nearing retirement, median combined 401(k)/IRA balances actually fell from $120,000 in 2010 to $111,000 in 2013. *Younger households did see rising balances but retirement savings levels are clearly inadequate, and about half of all households have no 401(k) assets at all.


Identification of ecosystem turnover in the palaeo-vegetation record is important for understanding the resilience of ecosystems to past environmental change. There is uncertainty over the ability of different types of palaeo-vegetation proxies to detect ecosystem turnover. The aim of this paper is to compare the sensitivity of two palaeo-vegetation proxies – pollen and phytoliths – to changes within and between three key tropical South American ecosystems: evergreen forest, dry forest and savannah. A quantitative approach is used to assess the sensitivity of these two proxies to vegetation changes, based on the variability of proxy assemblages from 1-ha ecological plots in ecotonal south-west Amazonia. This modern dataset of proxy variability within evergreen forest, dry forest and savannah plots is then used to define thresholds for proxy variability which differentiate floristic changes within an ecosystem from ecosystem turnover. These thresholds are applied to two palaeo-vegetation records from NE Bolivia. Our results show that pollen is more sensitive than phytoliths to changes within evergreen forest, but phytoliths are more sensitive than pollen to changes within dry forest. Both proxies were equally sensitive to changes within the savannahs. These are important considerations for palaeoecologists selecting proxies for the study of ecosystem turnover in the palaeo-record. Application of the thresholds to the palaeo-record demonstrated the utility of this quantitative approach for assessing the magnitude of vegetation change in the palaeo-record. This quantitative approach is therefore a useful tool to improve the identification of ecosystem turnover in the palaeo-record.


This book re-examines fundamental assumptions about the American legal profession and the boundaries between 'professional' lawyers, 'lay' lawyers, and social workers. Putting legal history and women's history in dialogue, it demonstrates that nineteenth-century women's organizations first offered legal aid to the poor and that middle-class women functioning as lay lawyers, provided such assistance. Felice Batlan illustrates that by the early twentieth century, male lawyers founded their own legal aid societies. These new legal aid lawyers created an imagined history of legal aid and a blueprint for its future in which women played no role and their accomplishments were intentionally omitted. In response, women social workers offered harsh criticisms of legal aid leaders and developed a more robust social work model of legal aid. These different models produced conflicting understandings of expertise, professionalism, the rule of law, and ultimately, the meaning of justice for the poor.


A series of electrically conducting metal oxides with the pyrochlore structure (A2B2O7−y, with A = Pb or Bi and B = Ru, Ir or Os) were synthesized via precipitation/crystallization in alkaline medium and/or via solid-state reaction. The electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 0.1 M KOH was studied using a rotating disk electrode. Lead and bismuth ruthenate pyrochlores showed significantly lower overpotentials for the OER than the state-of-the-art IrO2 catalyst. Specific activities (at 1.5 V vs. RHE) of 3.0 ± 0.2 A m−2, 1.3 ± 0.2 A m−2 and 0.06 ± 0.01 A m−2 were obtained for Pb2Ru2O6.5, Bi2.4Ru1.6O7, and IrO2 respectively. Specific activities for iridate-based pyrochlores (0.3–0.5 A m−2) were 5–10 times lower than those for ruthenate-based pyrochlores. Lead osmate pyrochlore showed the lowest OER activity among all the pyrochlores evaluated, with a specific activity of 0.10 ± 0.07 A m−2. It is proposed that the reaction path for the OER involves several oxygen intermediate species (–O2−, –OOH, –OO2−, –OH) bonded to the B-site (Ru, Ir or Os) in the pyrochlore, and that the catalytic activity depends on the bonding strength between the B-cation site and the oxygen species. This hypothesis was supported by the fact that OER activity correlated with Ru concentration in lead-rich lead ruthenate pyrochlores. The decrease of the specific OER activity depended on the occupancy of the 3d orbitals and on the period in the periodic table occupied by the B-cation. The OER activity decreased for pyrochlores with B cations having more d electrons than Ru, and when the B cation occupied period 6. The observed trend in activity was similar to that observed for the oxygen reduction reaction on transition metals, and was related to the strength of the bonding between the adsorbed oxygen species and the B-cation. The exceptional OER activity and stability of lead ruthenate pyrochlore catalysts were evaluated in a solid-state alkaline water electrolyzer. The overpotentials obtained were 0.1–0.2 V lower than for IrO2 and the performance was stable for at least 200 h.


The South African demographic statistics echo the global trend of an ageing population. This fact poses challenges to the country's labour supply, to health care, retirement and intergenerational relations. The elderly are faced with specific challenges such as negative views regarding older people, discrimination and prejudice based on age, changing roles, the loss of a support system when children emigrate, financial problems, abuse and neglect, emotions of fear and depression, and the struggle to find meaning in life and suffering. The field of study that concerns ageing and older adulthood is called gerontology. Joan Erber defines it as 'the study of the biological, behavioural, and social phenomena that occur from the point of maturity to old age.' It is an interdisciplinary field where different disciplines seek to address the problems associated with ageing. Biologists focus on the biological processes of ageing, psychologists focus on aspects like mental abilities, personality and behaviour, whilst sociologists study the social roles, group behaviour and status of older people. The question may be asked what is being done regarding the spiritual and emotional needs of the elderly. This is the niche of practical theology, as indicated by one definition of practical theology that it is 'a place where religious belief, tradition and practice meet contemporary experiences, questions and actions and conducts a dialogue that is mutually enriching, intellectually critical, and practically transforming' according to Pattison and Woodward. The aims of this exploratory article are (1) to investigate to what extent research in practical theology has addressed the spiritual and emotional needs of the elderly and (2) to identify opportunities where practical theology may provide service in the field of gerontology.


This volume completes the revision of the oecophorine genera of Australia, a subfamily which has diversified enormously in this country and represents some 20% of the Australian lepidoptera.

The generic revision of the Australian Oecophorinae, continued in this third volume, includes the large Barea group of genera, the small Tisobarica group, some genera previously omitted in the first two volumes from the Wingia and Chezala groups, and some miscellaneous genera of unknown relationship. This volume deals with 96 genera, 73 of which are referred to the Barea group, two to the Tisobarica group, four to the Wingia and Chezala groups, and 17 to the group of unplaced genera. As in the first two volumes, nearly all of the genera are endemic.

An account of the morphology of each genus is provided, including the genitalia of both sexes, illustrated by 772 photographs of mounted and live adults and genitalia of type species or representative species, SEMs of the heads of most of the type species, as well as line drawings of the wing venation. The species referred to each genus are given, with full synonymy, original references, label data and repositories of the primary types; where necessary, lectotypes are designated. Available up-to-date information on the distribution, biology and host relationships of the larvae is provided, as well as a key to the genera of the Barea group.


Objective- Hearing impairment is a major problem worldwide, significantly delaying acquisition of speech in children. Unfortunately delayed detection of hearing impairment especially in developing countries, adds a significant burden on the society and the nation. Hence early detection of hearing impairment is imperative and the need of the hour lies in developing an easy, cost effective and reliable method for testing large number of infants, Oto acoustic Emissions(OAE's) being one such test. The objective of this study was to asses the effectiveness and utility of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAE) as a screening tool for assessment of hearing impairment in infants and to assess the relationship between selected risk factors and hearing loss.
Design-This cross sectional study involving a two stage DPOAE testing, with Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry as a confirmatory test for infants failing the two stage test .
Materials and method-One thousand infant were selected randomly and screened with DPOAE at age of 24-72 hours. Infants who gave refer result were screened with DPOAE and infants failing the second screen underwent BERA testing.
Result-Of the one thousand infants screened with DPOAE,119 infants had hearing loss on initial screen however on subsequent testing with DPOAE and later testing with BERA only 4 infants with hearing loss were detected.
Conclussion-Hence initial DPOAE screen followed by BERA in failure cases is helpful for early identification of infants with hearing loss, hence allowing for timely intervention.


This paper aims to contribute to understanding the dynamics of industrial symbiosis. More specifically, we focus on the dynamics of anchoring as they can be observed in the Chinese context of eco-industrial development. We define anchoring as those activities that (typically local) actors perform to create local physical and institutional conditions conducive to the emergence and further development of industrial symbiosis in a specific regional industrial system. We argue that, in the study of industrial symbiosis dynamics, it is conceptually more useful to focus on anchoring as an activity, rather than anchor tenants as actors. Based on a systematic literature review, we distinguish two types of anchoring activities: institutional and physical. We analyze anchoring dynamics in the case of Qijiang Industrial Symbiosis (Chongqing Municipality) in China. We have identified the physical and institutional anchoring activities, the actors responsible for these activities, and how different anchoring activities build on each other over time. Our case study shows that the attempt to bring about industrial symbiosis in the Qijiang industrial park can be described in a richer way than just 'governmental planning'.


Building on recent work analyzing online content to identify accessibility trends and challenges, this poster paper presents preliminary analysis of one month of tweets using the #a11y hashtag. Our analysis of ~4000 tweets suggests that the most active users of this hashtag are accessibility professionals, with less representation from end users in creating new tweets. By far the most common mention is of visual accessibility concerns, although other types of accessibility are represented. Qualitative assessment of the tweets reveals that #a11y is used primarily for design and development tips or resources, self-promotion tweets, and comments on the accessibility of virtual and physical experiences. Finally, we highlight open questions and plans for future work with this type of data.


Was the 2000 presidential campaign merely a contest between Pinocchio and Dumbo? And did Dumbo miraculously turn into Abraham Lincoln after the events of September 11? In fact, Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman argue in The Press Effect, these stereotypes, while containing some elements of the truth, represent the failure of the press and the citizenry to engage the most important part of our political process in a critical fashion. Jamieson and Waldman analyze both press coverage and public opinion, using the Annenberg 2000 survey, which interviewed more than 100,000 people, to examine one of the most interesting periods of modern presidential history, from the summer of 2000 through the aftermath of September 11th. How does the press fail us during presidential elections? Jamieson and Waldman show that when political campaigns side-step or refuse to engage the facts of the opposing side, the press often fails to step into the void with the information citizens require to make sense of the political give-and-take. They look at the stories through which we understand political events--examining a number of fabrications that deceived the public about consequential governmental activities--and explore the ways in which political leaders and reporters select the language through which we talk and think about politics, and the relationship between the rhetoric of campaigns and the reality of governance. They explore the role of the campaigns and the press in casting the 2000 general election as a contest between Pinocchio and Dumbo, and ask whether in 2000 the press applied the same standards of truth-telling to both Bush and Gore. The unprecedented events of election night and the thirty-six days that followed revealed the role that preconceptions play in press interpretation and the importance of press frames in determining the tone of political coverage as well as the impact of network overconfidence in polls. The Press Effect is, ultimately, a wide-ranging critique of the press's role in mediating between politicians and the citizens they are supposed to serve.


Three groups, Soba et al., Hughes et al., and Matthews et al., have implicated Dscam in dendritic self-avoidance of dendritic arborization (da) neurons in Drosophila larvae. Typically, different branches of the often-elaborate dendritic arborization of a particular neuron avoid contacting each other, a phenomenon called self-avoidance. Similarly, the dendrites of certain classes of neurons avoid those of neurons of the same type (tiling), although they may coexist with dendrites of neurons from different classes (see Kidd and Condron). In insects, the gene Dscam (Down's syndrome cell adhesion molecule) can encode 38,016 distinct isoforms, which exhibit isoform-specific homophilic interactions; the particular isoform repertoire expressed in a given neuron is distinct from that of its neighbors (see Zinn). Dscam was expressed in all four classes of da neurons; elimination of its activity in individual neurons abrogated dendritic self-avoidance so that sister branches crossed each other and ran in bundles. Expression of single Dscam isoforms rescued self-avoidance, an effect that required the intracellular domain. However, Pak (p21-activated protein kinase), which mediates some downstream effects of Dscam, did not appear to be involved. Overexpression of the same Dscam isoform in neurons that would not otherwise avoid each other elicited avoidance of neighboring dendrites. Indeed, overexpression of a common Dscam isoform across classes or in all da neurons or expression of a single isoform in all da neurons of Dscam mutant larvae led to interclass dendritic avoidance. In contrast to its effects on self-avoidance, loss of Dscam function in these neurons failed to affect tiling in class III and IV da neurons. Moreover, mutation of components of a signaling pathway implicated in tiling failed to affect self-avoidance in class I, II, and III da neurons or dendritic bundling in class IV da neurons. All three groups concluded that the mechanisms involved in Drosophila dendritic self-avoidance are distinct from those that mediate tiling, with Dscam playing a critical role in self-avoidance. Diversity of Dscam isoforms may enable individual neurons to distinguish their own dendrites from those of their neighbors and respond appropriately. M. E. Hughes, R. Bortnick, A. Tsubouchi, P. Bäumer, M. Kondo, T. Uemura, D. Schmucker, Homophilic Dscam interactions control complex dendrite morphogenesis. Neuron 54, 417-427 (2007). [Online Journal] P. Soba, S. Zhu, K. Emoto, S. Younger, S.-J. Yang, H.-H. Yu, T. Lee, L. Y. Jan, Y.-N. Jan, Drosophila sensory neurons require Dscam for dendritic self-avoidance and proper dendritic field organization. Neuron 54, 403-416 (2007). [Online Journal] B. J. Matthews, M. E. Kim, J. J. Flanagan, D. Hattori, J. C. Clemens, S. L. Zipursky, W. B. Grueber, Dendrite self-avoidance is controlled by Dscam. Cell 129, 593-604 (2007). [Online Journal] T. Kidd, B. Condron, Avoiding the SCAMs. Neuron 54, 350-352 (2007). [Online Journal] K. Zinn, Dscam and neuronal uniqueness. Cell 129, 455-456 (2007). [Online Journal]


Rumble devices have been used in many countries as a means of alerting drivers to hazards such as junctions and bends. Many different devices and arrangements have been used, generally bands of coarse surface texture (rumble areas) or narrow strips of material (rumble strips) laid across the carriageway. This report assesses the types of rumble strips and rumble areas which have been used at 35 sites in the UK, to ascertain which devices are the most effective. It covers the types of rumble devices used, the layouts and dimensions of the devices and the effects on speeds, accidents, driver behaviour, noise and vibration. Guidelines for the installation of rumble devices are included to enable engineers to select suitable locations and layouts. (A)


Undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is closely associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent infection. The EBV-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) oncogene is believed to be important in NPC pathogenesis by virtue of its ability to activate multiple cell signaling pathways to induce proliferation, transformation, angiogenesis and invasiveness as well as modulation of energy metabolism. In this study, we report that LMP1 increases cell uptake of glucose and glutamine, enhances LDHA activity and lactate production, but reduces pyruvate kinase activity and pyruvate concentration. LMP1 also increases the phosphorylation of PKM2, LDHA and FGFR1 as well as expression of PDHK1, FGFR1, c-Myc and HIF-1α regardless of oxygen availability. This suggests that LMP1 promotes aerobic glycolysis. In addition to FGFR1, LMP1 also upregulates FGF2, the FGFR1 ligand, setting up a constitutive activation loop of FGFR1 signaling to promote aerobic glycolysis. FGFR1 inhibitors also abolish LMP1-mediated cellular transformation (proliferation and anchorage-independent growth) as well as cell migration and invasion in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that a high level of phosphorylated FGFR1 is common in primary NPC specimens, and that this correlated with the expression of LMP1. Inhibition of FGFR1 activity in NPC cells results in the suppression of cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth. Our current findings demonstrate that LMP1-mediated FGFR1 activation contributes to growth and transformation of epithelial cells, thereby implicating FGF2/FGFR1 signaling activation in the EBV-driven pathogenesis of NPC. Citation Format: Kwok Fung Lo, Christopher W Dawson, Lawrence S Young, Kwok Wai Lo. Activation of the FGFR1 signaling pathway by the epstein-barr virus-encoded LMP1 promotes aerobic glycolysis and transformation of human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-093. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-093


Analysis of the financial statements of a company is an important means to obtain information about how the company operated in the previous period. Interpretation of the evolution of financial indicators does not always prove to be easy, requiring multiple calculations and combined approaches, while the knowledge and understanding of type of business reviewed are essential in the proper interpretation of the results. Thus, the conclusions of the analysis carried out in a professional manner will be able to correctly describe the evolution of the company and to substantiate the user's decisions.


Four samples of silts were collected from the bottom and the bank of the beach "Marbella" in Callao and four samples of cultivated land were taken at level of rhizosphere obtained from a vineyard of "Grocio Prado" Grassland's town in the Country of Chincha. The microbial heterotrophics populations with chitinolytic activity present in these environments was determined quantitatively, being described its main phenotypic characteristics. For the quantification of the populations the method of the Most Probable Number (NMP) was used. The tubes with positive growth were sowed in tubes with Granulated Chitin Agar and Colloidal Chitin Agar that were incubated at environmental temperature for two weeks. With the developed colonies the following tests were carried out: Oxidation/Fermentation of Glucose, Oxidase, Catalase, motility, presence of flagellum, tintoreal capacity, production of spores and semiquantitative chitinolytic activity. The phenograms were elaborated with the NTSYS v.1,7 program. The biggest density of chitinolytic bacteria was found in rhizosphere reaching levels of ³1,6 x 105, as long as in marine silts the density oscillated among 2,2 x 102 to 1,6 x 104 NMP/g. After the analysis of clustering of the phenotypes shown by the studied consortia it was found that they presented distinctive characteristic, exhibiting both of them a great phenotypic diversity.


Postmenopausal osteoporotic bone loss occurs mainly due to cessation of ovarian function, a condition associated with increased free radicals. Vitamin E, a lipid-soluble vitamin, is a potent antioxidant which can scavenge free radicals in the body. In this study, we investigated the effects of alpha-tocopherol and pure tocotrienol on bone microarchitecture and cellular parameters in ovariectomized rats. Three-month-old female Wistar rats were randomly divided into ovariectomized control, sham-operated, and ovariectomized rats treated with either alpha-tocopherol or tocotrienol. Their femurs were taken at the end of the four-week study period for bone histomorphometric analysis. Ovariectomy causes bone loss in the control group as shown by reduction in both trabecular volume (BV/TV) and trabecular number (Tb.N) and an increase in trabecular separation (Tb.S). The increase in osteoclast surface (Oc.S) and osteoblast surface (Ob.S) in ovariectomy indicates an increase in bone turnover rate. Treatment with either alpha-tocopherol or tocotrienol prevents the reduction in BV/TV and Tb.N as well as the increase in Tb.S, while reducing the Oc.S and increasing the Ob.S. In conclusion, the two forms of vitamin E were able to prevent bone loss due to ovariectomy. Both tocotrienol and alpha-tocopherol exert similar effects in preserving bone microarchitecture in estrogen-deficient rat model.


After the citrus leafminer (CLM), Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillarii- dae), invaded Florida in 1993, the endoparasitoid Ageniaspis citricola Logvinovskaya (Hy-menoptera: Encyrtidae) was introduced in 1994 in a classical biological control program. Subsequent to its establishment, only limited information has been obtained regarding the seasonal abundance of A. citricola and its host in central Florida citrus groves. During 2005, we monitored replicated plots treated with oil or imidacloprid once on 23 Jun 2005, along with untreated control trees, in a Polk County commercial Valencia orange grove on a weekly basis when tender new growth (= flush) was available. As expected, CLM abundance in the early spring flush was nearly undetectable due to the lack of suitable flush during winter when CLM populations decline nearly to zero. Also as expected, A. citricola was not found during this time. During the second flush (Jun through Jul) CLM populations increased and A. citricola appeared, parasitizing up to 39% of the pupae in the untreated controls and up to 33% in the blocks treated with oil. Imidacloprid did not significantly reduce the number of CLM larvae but did reduce Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, nymphal densities. Peak abundance of the CLM occurred during the third flush cycle on 5 Oct from trees treated once with oil, with a mean (SD) of 1.3 (0.8) CLM mines per leaf. Parasitism by A. citricola increased through the season, peaking at 56% of the CLM that had pupated prior to the 16 and 23 Nov samples in the untreated control trees and at 37% in the oil-treated trees; A. citricola was not found in imidacloprid-treated trees on those dates. During the growing season, a high proportion (up to 100% in some samples) of the CLM mines were empty, presumably due to predation. The data confirmed, for the first time, that A. citricola is an impor- tant natural enemy of those CLM larvae that escaped predation in this citrus-growing area in Florida. Nymphs of the Asian citrus psyllid were significantly reduced for 3 weeks after the imidacloprid treatment. However, shoots on trees treated with imidacloprid were significantly shorter than shoots on untreated trees and the number of shoots produced in imida- cloprid-treated trees was reduced, raising concerns that imidacloprid might affect growth of citrus flush. Brown citrus aphids were nearly absent throughout the growing season.


Recently, ten knowledge areas (KAs) of project management have been published by the PMBOK® Guide. They comprise specific skills and experiences to ensure accomplishing project goals, and include management of: integration, scope, cost, time, quality, communications, procurement, risk, human resources and stakeholders. This research paper focuses on the ten required KAs for a project manager or a project to be successful. It aims at applying the Softcomputing modeling techniques to describe the relations between the 47 processes and the KAs. Such a model will enable users to predict the overall competencies of the project management. Thus, it provides an assessment tool to envisage, visualize and indicate the overall performance and competency of a project. The proposed Softcomputing Knowledge Areas Model (SKAM) is a two-stage model. The first stage involves ten models. Each model describes relations between a specific KA and its related processes. The outputs of these ten models will feed into the second stage that will represent the relationship between all the ten KAs and the overall predicted competencies of a project. A combination of Subtractive Clustering and Neurofuzzy modeling techniques are used. Three measures are used to validate the adequacy of the models: the mean average percentage errors, the correlation coefficient and the maximum percentage errors. The highest achieved values for these measures are0.5751, 0.9999 and 4.7283, respectively. However, although the preliminary findings of the proposed SKAM model are promising, more testing is still required before declaring the adequacy of applying the Softcomputing modeling approach in the project management field.


Health is wealth. Good health is one of the most essential necessities after the basics: food shelter and clothing. Diseases are a threat to individuals' enjoyment of good health. Epidemics or communicable disease however threaten communities, disrupting day-to-day activities, plummeting or totally incapacitating man-power and directly or indirectly affecting the economy of such a society. The Federal Ministry of Health has targets some twenty-one priority diseases in the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system for eradication one of which is Cholera. However, Cholera outbreaks in Nigeria were at their peak last year (2010). The influx of various technologies and technological know-how within the country the application of information technology in Nigeria is obviously not yet near world standard, particularly in the IDSR implementation. This paper presents a framework with a GIS core that incorporates other technologies such as mobile computing to fast track the collation of epidemic related data for prediction and management purposes. As a result of the ubiquitousness of Java-enabled phone (Java based applications) and the widespread integration of Global Positioning Systems (GPSs) into such phones, Location-based services can be used to enhance the ease of use and usefulness of data gathered by public health officials carrying out active surveillance. The components of the framework include a desktop server application, alongside an automated SMS gateway for notification to the populace, a mobile client application with capabilities to serve in different capacities both public health workers and individual public users. 2012 Trade Science Inc. INDIA


A series of shallow large earthquakes with the MJ7.3 mainshock (April 15, 2016) struck the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan. The mainshock was a slip along the Futagawa Fault, a segment of the EW-running Oita-Kumamoto Tectonic Line. By this tectonic line the Beppu-Shimabara Graben is bounded sharply on the south, where NS-extensional crustal deformation is now taking place and earthquakes (including the 2016 aftershocks) are largely NS-dipping normal faulting. We conducted a seismic tomographic study for the crustal Vp and Vs anomalies using arrival time data from the Hi-Net stations in Kyushu. The most outstanding tomographic feature in this region is a belt of low Vp and Vs anomalies at depths of the upper crust geographically coinciding with the Beppu-Shimabara Graben (Fig.1). This belt is characterized by such an approximate equality that dVs/Vs ≈dVp/Vp (<0) in marked contrast to the relation in other regions or at greater depths where dVs/Vs < dVp/Vp (<0). This observation can be interpreted in terms of water-saturated, oblate-spheroid pores created by the extensional deformation of the upper crust in the Beppu-Shimabara Graben. The approximate equality between dVs/Vs and dVp/Vp holds if the aspect ratio αof pore geometry is either ~0.04 (flat pore) or ~1 (spherical pore). Once αis specified, the water volume fraction and hence density anomaly dρ/ρ (<0) can be calculated from the observed dVp/Vp or dVs/Vs. We calculate Bouguer anomalies from the density anomaly distribution so obtained. The Bouguer map calculated for spherical pores shows a remarkable negative anomaly belt in agreement with the Beppu-Shimabara Graben signature on the observed Bouguer map (Fig.2). The agreement is very poor if pores are flat. This result demonstrates a unique role of gravity data when it is combined with seismic P and S wave data. The Oita-Kumamoto Tectonic Line, including the Futagawa Fault, is a bimaterial boundary, to the north of which the material is slower in both Vp and Vs and less dense. The rupture process of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake was likely to be affected by this bimaterial nature of the fault.


Approximately 7350 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are diagnosed annually in the United States. The incidence of HL has a bimodal pattern, with the highest incidence seen in young adults and in elderly patients. The disease is composed of 2 distinct entities: the more commonly diagnosed classical HL and the rare nodular lymphocyte-predominant HL. Classical HL includes the subgroups nodular sclerosis, mixed cellularity, lymphocyte depletion, and lymphocyte rich. Selection of the appropriate therapy is based on accurately assessing the stage of disease. Patients with early-stage disease are treated with combined modality strategies using abbreviated courses of combination chemotherapy followed by involved-field radiation therapy, whereas those with advancedstage disease receive a longer course of chemotherapy without radiation therapy. Currently, more than 80% of all patients with newly diagnosed HL are expected to be long-term survivors. Although many patients respond well to initial therapies and have durable long-term remissions, a subset of patients has resistant disease and experiences relapse even after subsequent high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. New therapies are clearly needed for these patients.


Author manuscripts have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but have not yet been edited. Abstract Elimination of cisplatin resistant (CR) lung cancer cells remains a major obstacle. We have shown that CR tumors have higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and can be exploited for targeted therapy. Here we show that increased secretion of the antioxidant thioredoxin-1 (TRX1) resulted in lowered intracellular TRX1, and contributed to higher ROS in CR tumors in vivo and in vitro. By reconstitutingTRX1 protein in CR cells, we increased sensitivity to cisplatin but decreased sensitivity to elesclomol (ROS inducer). Conversely, decreased TRX1 protein in parental cells reduced the sensitivity to cisplatin but increased sensitivity to elesclomol. CR cells had increased endogenous oxygen consumption and mitochondrial activity but decreased lactic acid production. They also exhibited higher levels of argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS) and fumarase (FH) mRNA which contributed to oxidative metabolism (OXMET) when compared to parental cells. Restoring intracellular TRX1 protein in CR cells resulted in lowering ASS and FH mRNAs which in turn sensitized them to arginine deprivation. Interestingly, CR cells also possessed significantly higher basal levels of acetyl-CoA-carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). Over-expressing TRX1 lowered ACC and FAS proteins expressions in CR cells. Chemical inhibition and siRNA of ACC resulted in significant cell death in CR compared to parental cells. Conversely, TRX1 over-expressed CR cells resisted to TOFA-induced death. Collectively, lowering TRX1 expression through increased secretion leads CR cells to higher ROS production and increase in dependency on OXMET. These changes raise an intriguing therapeutic potential for future therapy in cisplatin resistant lung cancer. Author manuscripts have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but have not yet been edited.


Abstract Plato justifies the concentration and exercise of power for persons endowed with expertise in political governance. This article argues that this justification takes two distinctly different sets of arguments. The first is what I shall call his 'ideal political philosophy' described primarily in the Republic as rule by philosopher‐kings wielding absolute authority over their subjects. Their authority stems solely from their comprehension of justice, from which they make political judgements on behalf of their city‐state. I call the second set of arguments Plato's 'practical political philosophy' underlying his later thought, where absolute rule by philosopher‐kings is undermined by the impure character of all political knowledge. Whereas the complete comprehension of justice sanctions the absolute political power of those with this expertise, partial knowledge of justice disallows for such a large investment of power. Plato's practical political philosophy argues for a mixed theory of governance fusing the institutions of monarchy with democracy in the best practical city‐state. Thus, Plato comes to realize the insurmountable difficulties of his ideal political thought, preferring a more practical political philosophy instead.


I examine the role of the U.S. shale oil boom in driving global oil prices. Using a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model that identifies separate oil supply shocks for the U.S. and OPEC, I find that U.S. supply shocks have exerted considerable negative pressure on the oil price. More specifically, U.S. supply shocks explain up to 13% of the oil price variation over the 2003–2015 period, considerably more than what has been found in other studies. However, the timing of the downward pressure on prices is delayed relative to the boom in U.S. shale oil production. This mismatch implies a temporary friction in the transmission of U.S. supply shocks to the rest of the world likely caused by logistical and technological challenges in the downstream supply chain.


The demand for mobility in modern societies leads to the development of smaller and wireless networked computational devices. The resulting service environments for future mobile service networks will be complex. The individual character of future services requires highly flexible service infrastructures and development frameworks. We propose agent technology for the implementation of mobile services to reduce the complexity of mobile service infrastructures. We present JIAC IV, a Java-based agent framework designed with the service as a modelling abstraction. JIAC IV delivers a highly integrated set of tools for the analysis, design, and development of agent-based software services. Utilising the JIAC IV agent toolkit, a service developer focuses on application logic using agent services and the co-operation between agents. This will lead to faster service development cycles despite the increasing complexity of the environments. Encapsulation and communication between independent functional units can be a way to manage future complexity of service networks, and software agents are its technological implementation.


Tax evasion, by its very nature, is difficult to observe. In this paper, we present a case study of tax evasion in China. The novel feature of our approach is that at a very disaggregated level of individual products, we can measure evasion relatively precisely, by comparing the values that China reports as imports from Hong Kong, with what Hong Kong reports as exports to China. We can match up this evasion gap' with the tariff (and VAT tax) schedule at the product level. The result is striking: using the data in 1998, we find that on average, a 1 percent increase in the tax rate results in a 3 percent increase in evasion; these results hold using data from 1998. The result is similar when a first-difference specification is used with data in 1997 and 1998. This relationship is nonlinear: the evasion elasticity is larger at high tax levels. Furthermore, the evasion gap is negatively correlated with the tax rates on closely related products, suggesting that part of the evasion takes place by mis-reporting the type of imports, in addition to under-reporting the value of imports. This effect is even more pronounced when the evasion gap is measured using quantities rather than values.


Providing a comprehensive examination of the origins, development, and status of committees and committee systems in both the House and Senate, this edition carries on the book's tradition of comprehensive coverage, empirical richness, and theoretical relevance in its discussion of these essential and distinguishing features of our national legislature. While the second edition focused on the 'post-reform' committee systems, addressed the shifts in the internal distribution of power, and hinted at the forces that had already begun to undermine the power of committees, this edition updates that analysis and looks at the reforms that evolved under the Republicans. It offers complete coverage of the rules and structural changes to the House and Senate committee systems. It extends its discussion of committee power and influence in the context of the 'Contract with America', Republican reforms, and the inter-party warfare on Capitol Hill.


INTRODUCTION
Chronic subjective tinnitus is associated with cognitive disruptions affecting perception, thinking, language, reasoning, problem solving, memory, visual tasks (reading) and attention.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate existence of any association between tinnitus parameters and neuropsychological performance to explain cognitive processing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study design was prospective, consisting 25 patients with idiopathic chronic subjective tinnitus and gave informed consent before planning their treatment. Neuropsychological profile included (i) performance on verbal information, comprehension, arithmetic and digit span; (ii) non-verbal performance for visual pattern completion analogies; (iii) memory performance for long-term, recent, delayed-recall, immediate-recall, verbal-retention, visualretention, visual recognition; (iv) reception, interpretation and execution for visual motor gestalt. Correlation between tinnitus onset duration/ loudness perception with neuropsychological profile was assessed by calculating Spearman's coefficient.

RESULTS
Findings suggest that tinnitus may interfere with cognitive processing especially performance on digit span, verbal comprehension, mental balance, attention & concentration, immediate recall, visual recognition and visual-motor gestalt subtests. Negative correlation between neurocognitive tasks with tinnitus loudness and onset duration indicated their association. Positive correlation between tinnitus and visual-motor gestalt performance indicated the brain dysfunction.

CONCLUSION
Tinnitus association with non-auditory processing of verbal, visual and visuo-spatial information suggested neuroplastic changes that need to be targeted in cognitive rehabilitation.


AMPK activity is stimulated by IKK-mediated phosphorylation in cancer cells and downstream of inflammatory cytokines. An inflammatory way to activate AMPK In its best-known function as a sensor of energy status, the kinase AMPK is activated by phosphorylation mediated by the tumor suppressor LKB1. Antonia and Baldwin characterized a different pathway for AMPK activation involving TAK1, a kinase associated with inflammatory pathways. They found that this process required phosphorylation of AMPK by the TAK1 target IKK and that it occurred independently of LKB1 and, in certain cell lines, independently of TAK1 as well, indicating that TAK1-independent pathways that activate IKK could also stimulate AMPK. Combining an IKK inhibitor with the cancer drug phenformin improved its ability to kill LKB1-deficient cancer cells, highlighting a new potential treatment for cancers lacking this tumor suppressor. The 5′ AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an energy sensor that is activated upon phosphorylation of Thr172 in its activation loop by the kinase LKB1, CAMKK2, or TAK1. TAK1-dependent AMPK phosphorylation of Thr172 is less well characterized than phosphorylation of this site by LKB1 or CAMKK2. An important target of TAK1 is IκB kinase (IKK), which controls the activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. We tested the hypothesis that IKK acted downstream of TAK1 to activate AMPK by phosphorylating Thr172. IKK was required for the phosphorylation of Thr172 in AMPK in response to treatment with the inflammatory cytokine IL-1β or TNF-α or upon TAK1 overexpression. In addition, IKK regulated basal AMPK Thr172 phosphorylation in several cancer cell types independently of TAK1, indicating that other modes of IKK activation could stimulate AMPK. We found that IKK directly phosphorylated AMPK at Thr172 independently of the tumor suppressor LKB1 or energy stress. Accordingly, in LKB1-deficient cells, IKK inhibition reduced AMPK Thr172 phosphorylation in response to the mitochondrial inhibitor phenformin. This response led to enhanced apoptosis and suggests that IKK inhibition in combination with phenformin could be used clinically to treat patients with LKB1-deficient cancers.


One of the most pressing problems now facing commercial lawyers is to explain the principles which determine when a remedy is proprietary and when it is not. This book provides a broad overview of the subject. It examines representative business transactions which commonly give rise to legal or equitable interests in personal property. Its aim is to distil the fundamental principles understanding the relevant legal analyses. The result is to provide a more theoretically rigorous analytical framework for proprietary interests in personal property. The practical advantages of this are potentially twofold: new commercial transactions can be more effectively structured; in addtion, disputes between contracting parties can be more reliably resolved. Two features of the analysis are significant. The first is the elastic nature of proprietary interests in personal property. Although proprietary interests can be broadly classified as ownership or security interests, these are relative concepts which may be affected significantly by impinging contractual arrangements. The second feature is the necessary and intimate integration of law and equity. Equitable proprietary interests are remarkabldy prevalent; this prevalence is directly related to the apparent ease with which equity is able to convert particular personal obligations into proprietary interests.


This Article presents the first in a series of studies of stock market reactions to the legal outcomes of patent cases. From a sample of patents litigated during a 20-year period, we estimate market reactions to patent litigation decisions and to patent grants. These estimates reveal that the resolution of legal uncertainty over patent validity and patent infringement is, on average, worth as much to a firm as is the initial grant of the patent right. Each is worth about 1.0-1.5% excess returns on investment. There are significant differences between such market reactions before and after the establishment in 1982 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. There are also significant differences among the reactions of patent holders to resolved uncertainty depending on their litigation posture as plaintiffs or defendants. Interestingly, there is no similar effect for appellate decisions relative to trial decisions. The normative implications of these findings proceed, not from the magnitude of the quantitative results — which are statistically meaningful but modest — but rather from our illustration that uncertainty in the value of patent rights is quantifiable and so can be correlated with patentee and litigant behavior in developing patent policy.


Vaughan Williams9s celebrated set of Robert Louis Stevenson settings, Songs of Travel , has lately garnered liberal scholarly attention, not least on account of the vicissitudes of its publication history. Following the cycle9s premiere in 1904 it was issued in two separate books, each gathering stylistically different songs. Though a credible case for narrative coherence has been advanced in numerous accounts, the cycle9s peculiar amalgamation of materials might rather be read as a signal to its projection of multiple voices, which unsettle the longstanding critical tendency to map a single protagonist through its progress. The division marked by the cycle9s publication history may productively be understood to reflect a tension inherent in its aesthetic propositions, one constitutive of much of Vaughan Williams9s work, which frequently mediates between the individualistic and the collective, the "artistic" and the "accessible," and, as I suggest, the subjective voice of the individual artist in its invitation to the participation of a singing and listening community. I propose that Vaughan Williams9s early songs frequently frame the idea or demand the engagement of a listener9s contribution, as particular modes of singing and listening—and singing- as -listening—are figured and invited within the music9s constitution. Composed as he was searching for an individual creative voice that simultaneously sustained a nascent commitment to the social utility and intelligibility of national art music, these songs explore the possibility of achieving a self-consciously collective authorial subjectivity, often reaching toward a musical intersubjectivity wherein boundaries between self and other—and between composer, performer, and listener—are collapsed. In the recognition of such processes lies a means of examining the tendency of Vaughan Williams9s work toward projecting a powerfully subjective voice that simultaneously claims identification with no single agency.


Sparsity has been one of the major drives in signal processing in the last decade. Structured sparsity has also lately emerged as a way to enrich signal priors towards more meaningful and accurate representations. In this paper we propose a new structured sparsity signal model that allows for the decomposition of signals into structured molecules. We define the molecules to be linear combinations of atoms in a dictionary and we create a decomposition scheme that allows for their identification in noisy signals while being robust to small errors in the internal molecule structure. We show the effectiveness of our scheme for recovering and identifying corrupted or occluded signals on both synthetic and real data.


For a decade and a half, since she first appeared in the Birmingham Centre's collective volume "The Empire Strikes Back," Hazel Carby has been on the frontline of the debate over multicultural education in Britain and the US. This book brings together her most important and influential essays, ranging over such topics as the necessity for racially diverse school curricula, the construction of literary canons, Zora Neale Hurston's portraits of "the Folk," C.L.R. James and Trinidadian nationalism and black women blues artists, and the necessity for racially diverse school curricula. Carby's analyses of diverse aspects of contemporary culture are invariably sharp and provocative, her political insights shrewd and often against the grain. A powerful intervention, "Culture in Babylon" will become a standard reference point in future debates over race, ethnicity and gender.


Behavioral science is increasingly being used to develop interventions to influence important behaviors throughout society. We explore three ways that time interacts with psychological processes to affect the impact of behavioral interventions. The first is how and when there would be a lag between the moment in which an intervention is administered and the moment in which the target behavior is to be performed. The second is when and why there would be marginal benefits to continued administration of treatment over time. The third is how behavioral interventions might generate persistent treatment effects even after the intervention is discontinued. Our hope is that scholars find these frameworks productive for advancing and organizing future research, and that they help those who develop behavioral interventions to make them more effective.


In exploration seismology, seismic waves are emitted into the structurally complex Earth. Its response, consisting of a mixture of arrivals including primary reflections, conversions, multiples, and transmissions, is used to infer the internal structure and properties. Waves that interact multiple times with the inhomogeneities in the medium probe areas of the subsurface that are sometimes inaccessible to singly scattered waves. However, these contributions are notoriously difficult to use for imaging because multiple scattering turns out to be a highly nonlinear process. Conventionally, imaging algorithms assume singly scattered energy dominates data. Hence these require that energy that scatters more than once is attenuated. The principal focus of this thesis is to incorporate the effect of complex nonlinear scattering in the construction of subsurface elastic images. Reciprocity theory is used to establish an exact relation between the full recorded data and the local (zero-offset, zero-time) scattering response in the subsurface which constitutes our image. Fully nonlinear, elastic imaging conditions are shown to lead to better illumination, higher resolution and improved amplitudes in pure-mode imaging. Strikingly it is also observed that when multiple scattering is correctly handled, no converted-wave energy is mapped to any image point. I explain this result by noting that conversions require finite time and space to manifest. The construction of wavefield propagators (Green's functions) that are used to extrapolate recorded data from the surface to points in the Earth's interior is a crucial component of any imaging technique. Classical approaches are based on strong assumptions about the propagation direction of recorded data, and their polarization; preliminary steps of wavefield decomposition (directional and modal) are required to extract upward propagating waves at the recording surface and separate different wave modes. These algorithms also generally fail to explain the trajectories of multiply scattered and converted waves, representing a major problem when constructing nonlinear images as we do not know where such energy interacted with the scatterers to be imaged. A secondary aim of this thesis is to improve on the practice of wavefield extrapolation or redatuming by taking advantage of the different nature of multi-component data compared with single-mode acoustic data. Two-way representation theorems are used to define novel formulations in elastic media which allow both upand downward propagating fields to be back-propagated correctly without ambiguity in the direction, and such that no cross-talk between wave modes is generated. As an application of directional extrapolation, the acoustic counterpart of the new approach is tested on an ocean-bottom cable field dataset acquired over the Volve field, North Sea. Interestingly, the process of redatuming sources to locations beneath a complex overburden by means 6 0 | Abstract of multi-dimensional deconvolution also requires preliminary wavefield separation to be successful: I propose to use the two-way convolution-type representation as a way to combine full pressure and particle velocity recordings. Accurate redatumed wavefields can then be obtained directly from multi-component data without separation. Another major challenge in seismic imaging is to construct detailed velocity models through which recorded data will be extrapolated. Nowadays the information contained in the extension of subsurface images along either the time or space axis is commonly exploited by velocity model building techniques acting in the image domain. Recent research has shown that when both extensions are taken into account, it is possible to estimate the data that would have been recorded if a small, local seismic survey was conducted around any image point in the subsurface. I elaborate on the use of nonlinear elastic imaging conditions to construct such so-called extended image gathers: missing events, incorrect amplitudes, and spurious energy generated from the use of only primary arrivals are shown to be mitigated when multiple scattering is included in the migration process. Finally, having access to virtual recordings in the subsurface is also very useful for target-oriented imaging applications. In the context of one-way representation, I apply the novel methodology of Marchenko redatuming to the Volve field dataset as a way to unravel propagation effects in the overburden structure. Constructed wavefields are then used to synthesize local, subsurface reflection responses that are only sensitive to local heterogeneities, and detailed images of target areas of the subsurface are ultimately produced. Overall the findings of this thesis demonstrate that, while incorporating multiply scattered waves as well as multi-component data in imaging may be not a trivial task, such information is vital for achieving high-resolution and true-amplitude seismic imaging.