We consider counterfactual explanations for private support vector machines (SVM), where the privacy mechanism that publicly releases the classifier guarantees differential privacy. While privacy preservation is essential when dealing with sensitive data, there is a consequent degradation in the classification accuracy due to the introduced perturbations in the classifier weights. For such classifiers, counterfactual explanations need to be robust against the uncertainties in the SVM weights in order to ensure, with high confidence, that the classification of the data instance to be explained is different than its explanation. We model the uncertainties in the SVM weights through a random vector, and formulate the explanation problem as an optimization problem with probabilistic constraint. Subsequently, we characterize the problem's deterministic equivalent and study its solution. For linear SVMs, the problem is a convex second-order cone program. For non-linear SVMs, the problem is non-convex. Thus, we propose a sub-optimal solution that is based on the bisection method. The results show that, contrary to non-robust explanations, the quality of explanations from the robust solution degrades with increasing privacy in order to guarantee a prespecified confidence level for correct classifications.


Natural systems provide time-controlled experiments on scales unreachable in the laboratory, and with complexities unapproachable by computer experiments. Since temperature (undercooling) cannot be directly scaled with time, in situ crystallization experiments provide information unavailable by other means. The kinetics of crystallization in simple silicate systems have been studied extensively for glass ceramic systems (e.g. Uhlmann, 1982; James, 1982), but predictive models for nucleation behavior, in particular, remain inadequate. Part of the problem in creating models of nucleation lies in the difficulty of experimentally isolating the nucleation process; crystal growth measurements are more accessible experimentally, and for this reason crystal growth is better understood (e.g. Dowty, 1980; Kirkpatrick, 1981; James, 1982; Baronnet, 1984). However, predictive models of crystal growth (e.g. Lasaga, 1982) require accurate models for the temperature and compositional dependence of both the thermodynamic and kinetic driving forces for crystallization, information that is currently limited. The CSE parameterization of the position of Ymax as a function of T, TL and T suggested by Dearnley (1983) provides a potentially useful model that requires further testing. Similarly, application of the adiabatic nucleation model of Meyer (1986) to simple systems suggests that the position of Tmax relative to TL has an approximately constant value of 0.55-0.60 (exceptions are low DSf minerals such as albite and quartz). Additionally, while experimental crystallization rate data is a necessary link between processes in natural melts and numerical models, experimental growth rate data is confined to simple systems and conditions of moderately large undercooling, while growth rate estimates in complex natural systems suggest that under most conditions, undercoolings remain very small. Quantitative textural studies of dikes suggest a pronounced dependence of growth rate on total crystallization time (e.g. Ikeda, 1977), which is in turn related to effective undercooling, a function of both total dike width and distance from the dike margin. By analogy, minimum crystallization rates may be estimated from programmed cooling experiments if a temperature interval of crystallization is assumed. Growth rates determined in this way show the same relationship between growth rate and total crystallization time seen in the dike studies, reflecting a systematic relationship between growth rate and cooling rate (effective undercooling) for plagioclase in basaltic systems. While the data are not available for other mineral systems, there is no reason to believe that similar patterns would not exist for other silicate minerals (i.e., the similarity in dendritic olivine growth rates estimated by Fowler et al.,1989, using fractal analysis to the growth rates of plagioclase under conditions of rapid cooling estimated from programmed cooling rate experiments). Analysis of measured crystal size frequencies provides a means of extracting effective (bulk) kinetic information from geologic systems that can help to constrain the dynamic feedback between physical models of magmatic systems and rates of chemical change.


Early Modern European Religion and Superstition in Reformation Europe. Edited by Helen Parish and William G. Naphy. (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. 2002. Pp. x, 239. $24.95.) This collection of nine essays purports to offer a discussion of "superstition," both as a historiographical concept and as a matter of religious debate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While one might presume such a loaded term to be a historiographical dead horse, Parish and Naphy warn against its lingering power. Unfortunately, their introduction confuses as much as it clarifies; they fail to supply solid conceptual background such as one might gain from Dieter Harmening's Superstitio. Moreover, the essays gathered here have no common theme beyond a concern with Reformation issues; they do not meaningfully explore the scope and significance of this general concept among early modern thinkers and polemicists. Basic questions regarding links between Reformation attacks on "superstition" and emerging Enlightenment attitudes remain unraised. Hence despite scattered points of value, the volume as a whole is disappointing. Bridget Heal's essay on the Virgin Mary in Protestant Nuremberg shows that beneath apparent continuity, a genuine reform of Marian devotion occurred. Characterizing such shifts in understanding as "word games," the editors come close to misrepresenting Real's perspective. Jason Nye discusses efforts by Catholic reformers of Rottweil to build a sense of Catholic identity by highlighting differences between traditional sacramental and devotional practices and those of Protestants. Maria Craciun argues that the ill-fated Jesuit mission to Transylvania was "militantly restorationist" rather than genuinely reformist. Both Nye and Craciun find Catholic reformers who preferred to denounce Protestantism as heresy rather than as superstition, a conscious perversion of truth rather than ignorant idolatry, but the editors muddy this distinction by maintaining that "heresy" was for Catholics "'superstition' . . . in the broadest sense." Eric Nelson argues that the "Jesuit legend," the dark image of a conspiratorial order threatening all Christendom, was created by both Catholics and Protestants. For Protestants, however, the threat had apocalyptic implications, while for Catholic critics it was mainly political and social. Are we meant to conclude that Protestant versions were more "superstitious?" Where "superstition" is a synonym for "myth," Protestant prophecy offers easy targets. Ute Lotz-Heumann finds increasingly explicit references to Archbishop James Ussher's presumed special prophetic gifts in the generation following his death (1656), and finds that such imagery "could be used to heighten Protestant national identity in times of crisis" (p. …


Abstract During investigations of the system Sc2O3-Al2O3-TiO2-SiO2, a new, unusual microporous compound, Cs3ScSi8O19, was synthesized as colourless plates from a CsF-MoO3 flux. The crystal structure was determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (Mo-Κα radiation, CCD area detector). The compound is orthorhombic, space group Pnma, with a - 11.286(2), b = 7.033(1), c = 26.714(5) Å, and Z = 4 (R1(F) = 2.6% and wR2all(F2) = 7.3%, using 3066 'observed' reflections with Fo > 4σ(Fo)). The crystal structure of Cs3ScSi8O19 represents a new microporous framework structure type ('MCV-1'), and the compound is exceptional in being the first representative of a mixed octahedral-tetrahedral framework structure, in which the [TO4]:[MO6] ratio is >6:1. The structure is based on isolated, nearly regular ScO6 octahedra [dav(Sc-O) - 2.112 Å] sharing comers with SiO4 tetrahedra to form an open framework with four-, six- and eight-membered rings; the latter are formed by SiO4 tetrahedra only. Two fully occupied Cs positions are located in large framework voids close to the six-membered rings, whereas four partly occupied and disordered Cs positions are close to very large framework voids bordered by the puckered eight-membered rings. The cavities are linked into channels parallel to [100] and [010]. The structure is compared with that of Cs2TiSi6O15 and related microporous scandium-, REE-, titano- and zirconosilicate minerals and compounds. Cs3ScSi8O19 or derivatives may be important in the context of immobilization of radioactive 137Cs waste, cationic conductivity or catalysis.


This Atlas presents statistical analyses of the simulations submitted to the Aqua-Planet Experiment (APE) data archive. The simulations are from global Atmospheric General Circulation Models (AGCM) applied to a water-covered earth. The AGCMs include ones actively used or being developed for numerical weather prediction or climate research. Some are mature, application models and others are more novel and thus less well tested in Earth-like applications. The experiment applies AGCMs with their complete parameterization package to an idealization of the planet Earth which has a greatly simplified lower boundary that consists of an ocean only. It has no land and its associated orography, and no sea ice. The ocean is represented by Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) which are specified everywhere with simple, idealized distributions. Thus in the hierarchy of tests available for AGCMs, APE falls between tests with simplified forcings such as those proposed by Held and Suarez (1994) and Boer and Denis (1997) and Earth-like simulations of the Atmospheric Modeling Intercomparison Project (AMIP, Gates et al., 1999). Blackburn and Hoskins (2013) summarize the APE and its aims. They discuss where the APE fits within a modeling hierarchy which has evolved to evaluate complete models and which provides a link between realistic simulation and conceptual models of atmospheric phenomena. The APE bridges a gap in the existing hierarchy. The goals of APE are to provide a benchmark of current model behaviors and to stimulate research to understand the cause of inter-model differences., APE is sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) joint Commission on Atmospheric Science (CAS), World Climate Research Program (WCRP) Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (WGNE). Chapter 2 of this Atlas provides an overview of the specification of the eight APE experiments and of the data collected. Chapter 3 lists the participating models and includes brief descriptions of each. Chapters 4 through 7 present a wide variety of statistics from the 14 participating models for the eight different experiments. Additional intercomparison figures created by Dr. Yukiko Yamada in AGU group are available at http://www.gfd-dennou.org/library/ape/comparison/. This Atlas is intended to present and compare the statistics of the APE simulations but does not contain a discussion of interpretive analyses. Such analyses are left for journal papers such as those included in the Special Issue of the Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan (2013, Vol. 91A) devoted to the APE. Two papers in that collection provide an overview of the simulations. One (Blackburn et al., 2013) concentrates on the CONTROL simulation and the other (Williamson et al., 2013) on the response to changes in the meridional SST profile. Additional papers provide more detailed analysis of the basic simulations, while others describe various sensitivities and applications. The APE experiment data base holds a wealth of data that is now publicly available from the APE web site: http://climate.ncas.ac.uk/ape/. We hope that this Atlas will stimulate future analyses and investigations to understand the large variation seen in the model behaviors.


History has emerged as an increasingly prominent field of study in Indonesia at least since 1980's, after being neglected for several decades. New theoretical, philosophical, and empirical analyses of Indonesian history were tought widely at university and appear in professional journals and books. At the same time, a new generation of students and young scholars in a variety of fields was being made aware of the interrelationship between their fields with history. Above all however, there are growing doubts about the truth of Indonesian history at any level of society following current political changes after the resignation of Soeharto in May 1998. Indonesian history is considered primarily as a product of social and political engineering of the New Order rather than an appropriate scholarly apparatus. Consequently, Indonesian historiography is no longer appreciated and people are simply asking for a new history, a deconstructed history. The most vocal and trenchant criticism of existing historiography, however, has come not from within historian community. This is an irony. The need to deconstruct contemporary Indonesian history is not an important issue in academic or professional historian community. The polemic took place mostly in daily newspapers, popular weekly magazines, or tabloids rather than in highly recognised historian forum. Most prominent historians at the university obviously had chosen a different path from the one which was being led by recent popular viewpoint. Instead, politicians, journalists, and other social-humanities scholars took over the place of historians in discussing the truth of the past.


Behavioural finance is a paradigm receiving great attention in the last decades and shaking the foundations of modern finance. A broadly discussed behavioural bias is herding, i.e. the tendency of investors to imitate each others' decisions. Herding is a phenomenon with far-reaching implications for financial markets, but its importance becomes even larger if it is exhibited by institutional investors. The present study attempts to investigate whether mutual fund managers in Greece herd when investing in the Athens Stock Exchange in the period 2001 – 2006. For this purpose, semi-annual portfolio holdings of 31 mutual funds are analysed using the methodology proposed by Lakonishok et al. (1992). The study concludes that mutual fund managers undoubtedly herd, with the extent of herding being irrelevant to the price movements observed in the market. Managers herd primarily when they trade in large capitalisation stocks or stocks that belong to the most "famous" indices.


This paper explores the impact of the performance audits of a national audit office, Sweden's Riksrevisionen, on the public administration it audits. It does so by investigating how the auditee perceives their relationship with the auditor in terms of accountability and consulting with the aim to explore the role of the national audit office as an agent of change in the entities of the public administration. Riksrevisionen is found to take a consulting approach in their performance audits and the stronger the relationship is perceived as consulting, the higher the propensity to change. The same relationship is found with regard to the accountability relationship when the accountability pressure is perceived internally in the organization. When the accountability pressure is external no relationship with change can be corroborated.


In computer security, guidance is slim on how to prioritize or configure the many available defensive measures, when guidance is available at all. We show how a competitive co-evolutionary algorithm framework can identify defensive configurations that are effective against a range of attackers. We consider network segmentation, a widely recommended defensive strategy, deployed against the threat of serial network security attacks that delay the mission of the network's operator. We employ a simulation model to investigate the effectiveness over time of different defensive strategies against different attack strategies. For a set of four network topologies, we generate strong availability attack patterns that were not identified a priori. Then, by combining the simulation with a co-evolutionary algorithm to explore the adversaries' action spaces, we identify effective configurations that minimize mission delay when facing the attacks. The novel application of co-evolutionary computation to enterprise network security represents a step toward course-of-action determination that is robust to responses by intelligent adversaries.1


The UK's slow productivity growth since 2007 has been referred to as a "puzzle", as if it were a particularly UK-specific challenge. In this paper, we highlight how the United States and northern Europe experienced very similar slowdowns. The common slowdown in productivity growth was a slowdown in total factor productivity (TFP) growth; we find little evidence that capital deepening was an important independent factor. From a conditional-convergence perspective, most of the UK slowdown follows from the slowdown at the U.S. frontier. From the mid-1980s to 2007, the UK's relative productivity level moved closer to the level of the U.S. and northern Europe, driven by essentially complete convergence in market services TFP. In contrast, manufacturing lost ground relative to the U.S. frontier prior to 2007, and remains far below the frontier. The relative ground lost after 2007 is modest—cumulating to about 4 percentage points—and is largely attributable to somewhat unfavorable industry weights and industry-specific issues in mining, rather than a systematic UK competitiveness problem.


Background and Purpose: Although stroke is the leading cause of death in Brazil, little information exist on the acute treatment provided for stroke and its associated costs. This study addresses this gap by both clinically and economically characterizing the acute treatment of first-ever intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and ischemic stroke (IS) in Brazil. Methods: Retrospective medical chart review using data from two high-volume stroke centers in São Paulo, Brazil. Clinical and resource utilization data for all patients admitted to the stroke centers with a first-ever stroke between January 1, 2006 and May 31, 2007 were collected and the mean acute treatment costs per person were calculated by assigning appropriate unit cost data to all resource use. Cost estimates in Brazilian reals (BRL) were converted to US dollars (USD) using the 2005 purchasing power parity index. National costs of acute treatment for incident strokes were estimated by extrapolation of mean cost estimate per person to national incidence data for the two types of stroke. The mean costs of acute treatment on a national scale were examined in sensitivity analysis. Results: A total of 316 stroke patients were identified and their demographic and clinical characteristics, patterns of care, and outcomes were examined. Mean length of hospital stay was 12.0 ± 8.8 days for ICH and 13.3 ±23.4 days for IS. Ninety-one percent of the ICH patients and 68% of the IS patients were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Mean total costs of initial hospitalization were USD 4,101 (SD ±4,254) for ICH and USD 1,902 (SD ±1,426) for IS. In multivariate analysis, hemorrhagic stroke, development of pneumonia, neurosurgical intervention, stay in ICU, and physical therapy were all significant independent predictors of acute treatment costs. Aggregate national health care expenditures for acute treatment of incident ICH were USD 122.4 million (range 30.8–274.2) and USD 326.9 million for IS (range 82.4–732.2). Conclusion: Acute treatment costs of incident ICH and IS in Brazil are substantial and primarily driven by the intensity of hospital treatment and in-hospital complications. With the expected increase in the incidence of stroke in Brazil over the coming decades, these results emphasize the need for effective preventive and acute medical care.


The generation of Egyptian writers and other culture makers whose creative work started to come out during the transformative 1990s produced new distinct discourses on identity, including those related to gender. This article closely examines Miral al-Tahawy's novel Blue Aubergine (1998) as representative of the New Age feminist writing of Jil al-Tisʾinaat. This antiestablishment form of feminism rebelled against the ideologies of previous movements. It distorted the conventional binaries, such as secular versus Islamic, and promoted hybridity. Finally, it prioritized individual constructions of female identity and plurality of representation. The article investigates the novel's narrative aspects—hybridity, polyphony, intertextuality—which illustrate the quest for a new Egyptian female identity.


Image matching is a fundamental problem in Computer Vision. In the context of feature-based matching, SIFT and its variants have long excelled in a wide array of applications. However, for ultra-wide baselines, as in the case of aerial images captured under large camera rotations, the appearance variation goes beyond the reach of SIFT and RANSAC. In this paper we propose a data-driven, deep learning-based approach that sidesteps local correspondence by framing the problem as a classification task. Furthermore, we demonstrate that local correspondences can still be useful. To do so we incorporate an attention mechanism to produce a set of probable matches, which allows us to further increase performance. We train our models on a dataset of urban aerial imagery consisting of 'same' and 'different' pairs, collected for this purpose, and characterize the problem via a human study with annotations from Amazon Mechanical Turk. We demonstrate that our models outperform the state-of-the-art on ultra-wide baseline matching and approach human accuracy.


Electrophysical agents (EPA) are a fundamental element of therapy practice and are vital for the treatment of a variety of conditions. Many of these agents employ some form of electromagnetic fields (EMF), in which radiofrequency (RF) is a major component. The therapeutic effects of RF are mainly linked to their effects on pain relief and potential effects on tissue repair. Although RF across various frequency ranges has been in use, reviews have shown that the frequency ranges currently used in therapy practice have narrowed to within 30 kHz–30,000 kHz (30 MHz). The most commonly used and hence the most commonly researched are shortwave therapies (SWT) that operate at 27.12 MHz, which is presently used predominantly in its pulsed form (PSWT). In addition to SWT, devices employing significantly lower RF ranges have also been used widely despite their lack of evidence. Capacitive Resistive Monopolar Radiofrequency (CRMRF) that operates at 448 kHz is one such RF. This programme of research was designed to investigate the physiological and clinical efficacy of CRMRF delivered using the 'Indiba Activ 902' device. The project also evaluated the scope and evidence for RF-based EPAs in therapy, through a comprehensive review of literature. A total of 120 relevant clinical studies on either acute (30 studies) or chronic (90 studies) conditions were reviewed. Notable evidence was identified for chronic OA knee and acute postoperative pain and wound healing. Some evidence also exists for chronic low back pain and healing of chronic wounds. Only eight studies reported devices that employed RF outside the shortwave frequency band. In a randomised crossover laboratory study on asymptomatic adults, the effects of contrasting doses of CRMRF on skin temperature (SKT), skin blood flow (SBF), nerve conduction velocity (NCV), deep blood flow and the extensibility of tissues were examined against a placebo dose and a control condition with no treatment. The study further compared CRMRF results with that of PSWT. The results showed that high (moderately thermal) and low (sub/minimally thermal) doses of CRMRF significantly enhanced and sustained SKT (p<0.001), while only the high dose meaningfully increased SBF (p<0.001). High dose PSWT increased SKT marginally (p<0.001) but did not sustain it. Further, the high and low dose CRMRF significantly enhanced blood flow volume at depth (p=0.003), while PSWT failed to show any significant impact. None of the treatments significantly affected deep blood flow velocity, tissue extensibility or NCV. These results were reproduced on a cohort of patients affected by OA knee in a randomised controlled trial (RCT), and the effects appeared more pronounced in the patients than in the asymptomatic people. More importantly, the RCT showed that a four-week high dose CRMRF treatment (eight sessions) produced statistically and clinically significant gains in


This chapter considers how concepts designed to regulate state-to-state interaction apply to conflicts involving nonstate actors - be they guerilla groups, terrorist organizations, or private military contractors. The "principle of distinction" holds that civilians and combatants are clearly distinguishable protagonists on or near the battlefield. "Reciprocity" in international law refers to the expectation by a belligerent state that other state parties to a conflict will respect similar legal and behavioral norms - non-use of prohibited weaponry, minimization of collateral damage, and humane treatment of prisoners of war. I focus on reciprocity and distinction because they constitute meta-issues whose resolution determines the applicability of accepted legal principles to virtually all modern conflicts. A close examination of these topics suggests that reciprocity and the principle of distinction are of central importance in conflicts involving nonstate actors. On the issue of distinction, I argue for a more expansive understanding of the notion of combatant - an understanding that allows for the greater application of international humanitarian law to nonstate actors, an easier implementation of the principle of distinction, and improved protection of civilian populations. On the issue of reciprocity, I argue that most of international humanitarian law is binding in most conflicts on most actors (whether or not the parties behave reciprocally). The only situation in which a state may not be bound by all of humanitarian law is when an opposing nonstate party repeatedly violates international humanitarian law in an international armed conflict.


Urban development, or architectural design in fragile (sensitive) territories is always complicated, especially when one considers national, regional, reserve parks, or other territories that have a lot of sociocultural meaning to society, and local communities. Following strict rules and planning regulations is not always the answer as it sometimes becomes a formal procedure for bureaucrats to ban innovative solutions. One of the main reasons for such complicated development in sensitive territories is a lack of proper models of the design process. The article analyzes three design through research project cases developed by authors, which share common goal - to improve the quality of the environment using innovative and contemporary solutions, deal with landscape sustainability and local identity issues by involving community into design process. Presented samples reveal three different design through research and participatory design models. In each case site planning projects are initiated by different groups, therefore motives for the project implementation differ. That determines the sample of public inclusion, scope of fulfilled research, design solutions and capabilities for sustainability of the project. Comparative analysis of these cases summarize strengths and weaknesses of each model and form recommendations for similar territorial development in the future. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.20.3.19302


In the context of bioscience (as much as in the field of bioart) that engages with tissue bioengineering, the life of the cultured cells is closely intertwined with the issues of biohazardous waste, contagion, death, and control (over the manipulated 'living'). While looking at one of the exhibitions during which Australian bioartists The Tissue Culture & Art Project showed their 'semi-living' sculpture the Victimless Leather Jacket, which unexpectedly became contaminated with fungi, I will examine the material-discursive entanglements of the ideas of death, life, and the uncontainability of the latter that are enacted through the bioartwork as well as bioartistic practices in a broader sense.


International Election Monitoring has become ever more important in the national as well as the international context. Plenty of (regional) International Organizations (and NGOs) send Election Observers Missions (EOMs) to countries in order to assess the quality of their democratic process and elections. Whereas the influence of EOMs is largely undisputed, their independence, impartiality and accountability have been less discussed. This paper describes the legal set-up of EOMs in order to assess their independence. It also uses accountability mechanisms as discussed in international law scholarship (ILA Report and the Global Administrative Law project) in order to analyze the accountability mechanisms currently in place for EOMs.


The black and white image of a two-tiered bench seating the cream of surviving Nazi leadership, framed by white-helmeted Allied sentries and dark-wood paneling, is by now the definitive meme for the birth of international criminal law (ICL). Less associated with that grainy photograph, though, is the origin of an important sub-branch of ICL – one that I call "atrocity speech law." For among the defendants in that iconic Nuremberg dock were Julius Streicher, editor-in-chief of the rabidly anti-Semitic tabloid Der Sturmer, and Hans Frtizsche, head of the Radio Division of Joseph Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry. Nearly two years later, the Third Reich's Press Chief, Otto Dietrich, assumed his place on the same set of pews as part of the Ministries trial of the so-called "subsequent Nuremberg proceedings." From the judgments rendered in respect of these three defendants, Allied judges formulated a set of nascent but influential principles regulating the relationship between hate speech and large-scale human rights violations. This article, an invited submission for a special symposium issue on the Nuremberg trials, revisits those cases, which centered on persecution as a crime against humanity. In doing so, the article provides an overview of Nazi Holocaust propaganda, the rhetorical template for the modern mass-murder campaign. Within this historical context, it traces the development of atrocity speech law in the decades since, paying particular attention to the normative wellsprings of incitement to genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). And its analysis regarding persecution's subsequent development provides an indispensable point of repair for understanding the jurisprudential split between the ICTR (concluding that hate speech on its own can satisfy persecution's conduct element) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (reaching the opposite conclusion). As the article points out, on balance, the Nuremberg jurisprudence favors the ICTR approach. With important contemporary cases before domestic courts, the ICTY and the International Criminal Court, the Nuremberg propaganda judgments will continue to function as important doctrinal touchstones going forward. This article, which develops and expands on the Nazi propaganda sections featured in my recently-released Oxford University Press book, "Atrocity Speech Law: Foundation, Fragmentation, Fruition," permits readers to see the Nuremberg judgments in a new light and understand their likely normative impact on international hate speech law for generations to come.


This article explores the way in which seven main Israeli institutions presented between 1949 and 2004 the causes for the main historical event of the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflict – the 1948 Palestinian exodus, which led to the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. This is done by analyzing all the publications of three state institutions – the national Information Center, the army (IDF), and the Ministry of Education, and four Israeli-Jewish societal institutions – the research community, 1948 war veterans, NGOs, and newspapers. In addition, findings from a 2008 pubic opinion survey regarding the Israeli-Jewish memory of the exodus are presented. Various explanatory asepcts of this Israeli memory of the exodus are addressed.


Art and Interpretation is a comprehensive anthology of readings on aesthetics. Its aim is to present fundamental philosophical issues in such a way as to create a common vocabulary for those from diverse backgrounds to communicate meaningfully about aesthetic issues. To that end, the editor has provided selections from a wide variety of challenging works in aesthetic theory, both classical and modern. The approach is often cross-disciplinary. Within the discipline of philosophy it seeks to balance readings from the analytic tradition with continental European, hermeneutical postmodern (including deconstructionist), and feminist readings.The anthology is thus broadly conceived, but by grouping the readings into sections such as 'Expression and Aesthetic object, ' 'Psychology and Interpretation, ' 'Marxist Theory, ' and 'Culture, Gender, and Difference, ' it aims as well to provide depth of coverage for each topic or issue. The book opens with a historical section containing substantial selections from Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Shelley and Nietzsche; these readings introduce themes that recur and are developed in the remainder of the anthology.


PURPOSE AND METHODS
In order to investigate the characteristics of the exercise-related transient abdominal pain (ETAP) commonly referred to as "stitch," a questionnaire was administered to a total of 965 regular sporting participants involved in six sports.

RESULTS
The percentage of respondents claiming to have experienced ETAP within the past year for the respective sports were: running (69%, N = 439), swimming (75%, N = 103), cycling (32%, N = 76), aerobics (52%, N = 126), basketball (47%, N = 121), and horse riding (62%, N = 100). ETAP appears to be most prevalent in activities that involve repetitive torso movement, either vertical translation or longitudinal rotation. ETAP appears to be a single condition, common in its manifestation to most sufferers, and was described by respondents as a well-localized pain (79%), mostly experienced in the right or left lumbar regions of the abdomen (78%). The sensation of ETAP may be related to the severity of pain with less intense ETAP being described as cramping, aching, or pulling, and greater severity ETAP as sharp or stabbing in nature. Fourteen percent of respondents indicated that they experience shoulder tip pain (STP), which being the diaphragmatic-referred site could suggest irritation of the diaphragm. Respondents claiming to have experienced ETAP were more likely to report STP (r = 0.14, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
The findings of the present study provide perspective on previously suggested etiologies of ETAP, which include diaphragmatic ischemia and stress on the visceral "ligaments," and form the basis for examining alternative etiologies such as cramp of the musculature and irritation of the parietal peritoneum.


The main role of a lubricant is to form a protective, low shear strength film between rubbing surfaces and thereby reduce friction and surface damage. The science, or art, of both the lubricant and the mechanical designer is to develop combinations of lubricant and mechanical system best able to form such films. This task is not straightforward since modern technology is continually demanding lower friction and better protection over an ever-widening range of operating conditions. Furthermore, environmental concerns are also producing both design constraints and the need for rapid change. The aim of this paper is to show how progress is being made by experimental research which looks inside rubbing contacts to see how lubricants behave therein. The paper focuses on concentrated contacts, as found in gears, cams and rolling element bearings, and describes a number of techniques for probing such contacts to observe just how a range of lubricant types, from greases to emulsions, behave in such contacts to reduce friction and form films.


The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signal transduction and transcriptional regulation are efficiently recapitulated when GR is expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this report we demonstrate that the in vivo GR phosphorylation pattern, hormone dependency and interdependency of phosphorylation events were similar in yeast and mammalian cells. GR phosphorylation at S246 exhibited inhibitory effect on S224 and S232 phosphorylation, suggesting the conservation of molecular mechanisms that control this interdependence between yeast and mammalian cells. To assess the effects of GR phosphorylation the mutated GR derivatives T171A, S224A, S232A, S246A were overexpressed and their transcriptional activity was analysed. These receptor derivatives displayed significant hormone inducible transcription when overexpressed in S. cerevisiae. We have established an east inducible methionine expression system, which allows the close regulation of the receptor protein levels to analyse the dependence of GR function on its phosphorylation and protein abundance. Using this system we observed that GR S246A mutation increased its activity across all of the GR concentrations tested. The activity of the S224A and S246A mutants was mostly independent of GR protein levels, whereas the WT, T171A and S232A mediated transcription diminished with declining GR protein levels. Our results suggest that GR phosphorylation at specific residues affects its transcriptional functions in a site selective were manner and these effects


The article systematically analyzes the preconditions, state and trends of global processes of standardization of organic products. It is determined that organic production tendencies and export diversification in economically developed countries are taking place in the direction of "Slow Food". In order to promote the world experience and ensure the competitive agrarian production in Ukraine, certain directions have been developed to ensure the sustainable export of agricultural products using innovations, conjuncture, standardization and product life cycle.
Keywords: Standardization; organic production; diversification; export; efficiency
References:
Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. (2017). On Approval of the Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy and Society of Ukraine for 2018-2020 and approval of the plan of measures for its implementation. Retrieved from www.me.gov.ua/Documents/Detail?lang=uk-UA (in Ukr.).
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Lifeline is an earthquake engineering term denoting those systems that are necessary for human life and urban contest. Those systems are commonly used to transport water, oil, natural gas and other material. Their disruption due to earthquakes can have a devastating impact on urban context both for human losses both economic stability. Therefore, due to their vulnerabilities, it is important to assess and mitigate seismic risk of lifelines since they are intricately linked with industries, communities and security they serve. The earthquake safety of lifeline systems has attracted great attention in recent years since significant amount of damage was observed during several past earthquakes.
This thesis focuses on the seismic performance evaluation of gas distribution networks. The basic function of a gas system is to deliver gas from sources to costumers. A gas distribution system is essentially composed by pipelines, reduction stations, valves and demand nodes. Those systems are essentially located underground. As consequences gas networks are subjected to both transient ground deformation due to seismic waves, which is felt over a wide geographical area, and ground failure due to geotechnical hazards such as liquefaction and landslide, which determine localized ground failure. Moreover since buried pipelines systems generally cover large areas, a sophisticated hazard analysis is required. In particular the quantification of regional hazard is based on a large vector of spatially correlated ground motion intensities and requires the modeling of the joint distribution of intensity measures at all sites of interest. Dependencies among ground motion parameters at different sites imply the estimation of spatial correlation models to be used for the hazard assessment but since each component that characterizes the system may be sensitive to different ground motion parameters, the possibility of the existence of a cross-correlation between these parameters has also to be taken into account. Fragility analysis of gas systems is generally based on empirical data collected throughout past earthquakes. In the case of pipeline components, the usual practice is to evaluate the repair rate as a unit length of pipe, with respect to a parameter representative of ground shaking or ground failure. For processing facilities, that include many subcomponents, a quantitative vulnerability assessment is quite difficult. A possible approach is to consider these facilities as systems and to aggregate the fragility of each component into a global systemic vulnerability through the use of fault tree analysis. Further in order to evaluate the interaction between component response to earthquake and lifeline performance, system performance indicators provide a measure of the impact of the earthquake on the system functionality.
Building on the results from past international research projects, existing tools for the vulnerability assessment, and seismic risk analysis of lifelines systems, the SYNER-G project ("Systemic Seismic Vulnerability and Risk Analysis for Buildings, Lifeline Networks and Infrastructures Safety Gain"), has been funded by the European Commission (2009-2012) with the aim to address criticalities. In relation of the objectives of this project, this thesis had the aim to determine methodologies for the probabilistic seismic risk analysis of gas distribution networks and to apply these methods to a real gas system. In literature, there are very few studies on seismic risk analysis of networks that take into account all the aspects of the component of risk (hazard, vulnerability and loss). Moreover there are fewer studies that try to calibrate the analysis on a real system, making the study interesting for network operators. The thesis, in fact, has achieved this goal with special emphasis to the medium and low pressure network of a real system, namely the L'Aquila gas distribution system managed by ENEL Rete Gas s.p.a., for which not only detailed information on the network were retrieved, but also data related to damages occurred on the network followed the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. A geographic information system (GIS) database was developed containing data on system physical and operational characteristics provided by the network operator to chracterize the seismic behavior of all components. L'Aquila region has been characterized both in terms of transient ground deformation hazard and permanent ground deformation hazard. In particular European and Italian spatial correlation models have been estimated and used for the simulation of probabilistic scenarios earthquakes and the ground failure hazard has been characterized in terms of landslide potential. Probabilistic simulations have been performed to evaluate the system response in terms of performance indicators for different combinations.


Abstract In Senegal, school-based sexuality education has evolved over 20 years from family life education (FLE) pilot projects into cross-curricular subjects located within the national curriculum of primary and secondary schools. We conducted a literature review and semi-structured interviews to gather information regarding the scale and nature of FLE scale-up. Data were analysed using the ExpandNet/WHO framework, conceptualising scale-up from a systems perspective as composed of interrelated elements and strategic choices. Key enabling factors that facilitated the scale-up of FLE included (1) programme clarity, relevance and credibility; (2) programme adaptability to young people's evolving sexual and reproductive health priorities; (3) the engagement of a strong and credible resource team comprising government and civil society agencies; (4) a favourable policy environment; and (5) deliberate strategic choices for horizontal and vertical scale-up. Barriers included sociocultural conservatism that creates resistance to content areas deemed to be culturally sensitive, resulting in partial scale-up in terms of content and coverage, as well as structural barriers that make it difficult to find space in the curriculum to deliver the full programme. Lessons learned from Senegal's experience can strengthen efforts to scale-up school-based sexuality education programmes in other culturally conservative low- and middle-income countries.


A controlled source Near Vertical Reflection (NVR) Seismic experiment along a ~100 km profile yields the first high quality seismic image of the crust and Moho across the southern Karoo Basin in South Africa. The highly reflective crust comprises upper, middle and lower layers. In the upper crust, folded and gently south-dipping continuous reflectors up to the Escarpment, represent the bedding of the Karoo and Cape Supergroups respectively. Decollement structures occur locally along carbonaceous shales of the Whitehill Formation. A well-defined mid-crustal layer that hosts the Beattie Magnetic Anomaly (BMA), occurs below a seismically imaged unconformity. The mid-crustal layer is ~20 km thick in the vicinity of the BMA and is likely to be a subsurface continuation of the 1.0 to 2.0 Ga granitoid gneisses of the Bushmanland sub-province in the 1.2 to 1.0 Ga Namaqua-Natal Orogenic Belt. The internal seismic fabric of this layer is interpreted as a tectonic fabric dipping to the north. The probable source of the BMA appears at 7 to 15 km depth, as a narrow feature in a ~10 km wide tectonically complex zone confined to the upper mid-crust. The underlying lower crustal layer is wedge-shaped: ~24 km thick in the north and decreasing to ~12 km thick beneath the Cape Fold Belt. This lower crustal layer may represent granulite-gneisses of the Namaqua sub-province. The internal seismic fabric in the upper part of this layer dips both to the north and south, but a north-dipping fabric dominates the lower part. A clearly imaged undulating Moho occurs at a depth of ~43 km in the north, with a nick point at ~42 km depth, ~35 km along the profile, and then deepens to ~45 km in the south beneath the tectonic front of the Cape Fold Belt. A possible ~1 to 2 km thick lowermost crustal layer of high seismic reflectivity, overlies the Moho and may represent underplated mafic material. The reflectivity seen in this NVR seismic image bears similarities to seismic transects across the coeval Mesoproterozoic Grenville orogen in Canada.


Retinal vascular diseases are a leading cause of blindness and visual disability. The advent of adaptive optics retinal imaging has enabled us to image the retinal vascular at cellular resolutions, but imaging of the vasculature can be difficult due to the complex nature of the images, including features of many other retinal structures, such as the nerve fiber layer, glial and other cells. In this paper we show that varying the size and centration of the confocal aperture of an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) can increase sensitivity to multiply scattered light, especially light forward scattered from the vasculature and erythrocytes. The resulting technique was tested by imaging regions with different retinal tissue reflectivities as well as within the optic nerve head.


Article Info Background: The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) among Iranian taxi drivers has not been well defined. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HTN and to identify factors influencing its prevalence among Iranian taxi drivers in 2018. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a total sample of 321 taxi drivers in Kermanshah province in 2018. The participants were classified into two groups, including the HTN group (SBP ≥ 140 or DBP ≥ 90) and the non-HTN group (SBP < 140 or DBP < 90). A self-administrated questionnaire, including questions about demographic information, medical history, and work-related factors was employed to collect data. Results: According to the observations, 59.8% of the participants (192/321) suffered from HTN. According to the adjusted logistic regression model and the per one unit increase, there was significantly higher odds of HTN for age (odds ratio [OR] =1.04 and 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.02, 1.06) and work history (OR=1.08 and 95% CI=1.03, 1.13); in contrast, there was a lower risk of HTN for sleep duration (OR=0.83 and 95% CI=0.69, 0.99) and Work Days Per Week (WDPW) (OR=0.73 and 95% CI=0.57, 0.94). In the categorical analysis, a significantly higher risk of HTN was observed in the drivers with age ≥ 45, work history ≥ 5, Work Hours Per Day (WHPD) >10, WDPW ≤ 6, married, and poor economic status ≤ a 2-million Toman income per month. Conclusions: This study introduces taxi drivers as a high-risk HTN group in the society. Hence, they should be informed of HTN risk factors and undergo regular checkups.


SOMMARIO: 1. Fenomeno migratorio, istanze di protezione internazionale e risposte degli ordinamenti europei - 2. Riconoscimento dello status di rifugiato e fattore religioso - 3. La recente pronunzia n. 28152 del 2017 della Corte di Cassazione - 4. La valorizzazione della prospettiva di genere nel sistema di protezione internazionale - 5. L'intersezione religione/genere quale pivot di una protezione rafforzata di soggetti particolarmente deboli . The Intersection between Religion and Gender Protection: Which Impact on the Dynamics of Hospitality? (Preliminary Remarks to Court of Cassation, Section I, 24 November 2017, No. 28152) ABSTRACT: The intersection between immigration, citizenship, integration in the EU countries is a challenging topic for scholars and religion is becoming a crucial factor. Transnational space allows the development of new meanings, negotiation of identities, interaction of religious actors and practices and integration/participation has an impact on the identity of migrants. The increase of migrations from non-European countries, and the impact of new religious needs underlines the question of whether religious belonging is a factor of either empowerment or disempowerment in the host society. At the same time, migrations in an era of economic crisis emphasize skepticism and hostility towards Islamic groups; refugees and asylum seekers, and the questions connected with international protection have become other controversial issues, contributing to the development of a growing anti-immigrant attitude. Modern democracies are expected to offer answers to increasing demands of international protection; at the same time international protection is becoming a strategic tool to obtain hospitality in European countries, and to avoid the limits connected  to access for economic reasons. Recent Italian case law witnesses the development of a gender-sensitive perspective and focuses on the increasing link between religion, gender and international protection.


Abstract Numerous environmental factors as well as oceanic circulation patterns and geographic constraints all contribute to the abundance, distribution, and diversity of present‐day marine phytoplankton assemblages. These same factors presumably affected the Paleozoic marine phytoplankton, which was dominated by organic‐walled acritarchs and prasinophytes. During the Late Silurian (Gorstian, Ludfordian, and Prídolf) and earliest Devonian (Lochkovian), important paleogeographic, paleooceanographic, and geochemical changes were occurring as well as major compositional changes and diversity fluctuations in the marine organic‐walled phytoplankton. Innovative morphologies appeared during the Late Silurian, in both low and high latitude assemblages, but with significant quantitative differences. This was followed by a turnover in assemblage composition during the Silurian/Devonian transition, and an initial radiation of new acritarch and prasinophyte taxa in the Early Devonian. Observed changes in total phytoplankton diversity during the Gorstian through earliest Lochkovian are based on organic‐walled microphytoplankton data derived from published and unpublished key stratigraphic sections where independent age control has been firmly established. These key sections are from: Missouri and Oklahoma, U.S.A. and western Newfoundland, Canada (Laurentia); Gotland, Sweden, and Podolia, Ukraine (Baltica); the Welsh Basin and Borderland (Avalonia); northern France and northern Spain (Armorica); and Libya in northern Africa, and Argentina and Bolivia, South America (Gondwana). Regional biodiversity changes for the organic‐walled microphytoplankton were determined for the warm low latitude areas (Baltica, Laurentia, and Avalonia) and temperate to cool higher latitude areas (northern and southern Gondwana). The Late Silurian‐earliest Devonian organic‐walled phytoplankton was divided into three major categories to facilitate comparison of compositional fluctuations, both within stratigraphic sections as well as between geographic areas. The three categories, based on overall morphology, are marine chlorophytes and prasinophytes, marine acritarchs, and nonmarine types, including coenobial forms. This triparate grouping is both broad and detailed enough to mark critical changes in both the phytoplankton assemblages, as well as the paleoenvironment. In general, high phytoplankton diversity peaks occurred during the Early and Late Gorstian in the warm low latitude areas, followed by varying fluctuations during the Ludfordian and Prídolí for both the warm low latitude and cool high latitude areas. An initial radiation of new phytoplankton taxa and the appearance of more cosmopolitan assemblages mark the beginning of the Lochkovian.


Abstract Inflammation is not merely a detrimental response to biomaterials. It can be considered as a natural agent of tissue remodeling, which is pivotal for the approach of in situ cardiovascular tissue engineering. Recently, a biodegradable synthetic scaffold was shown to remodel into a fully functional healthy blood vessel via an inflammation-mediated response. In fact, it was shown that initial infiltration of immune cells (i.e. monocytes) is indispensible for long-term remodeling of scaffolds and functionality of neo-tissues. This remodeling process is orchestrated by potent signaling molecules, of which monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) was identified as a key player. However, the exact mechanism remains unclear. We hypothesize that MCP-1 initiates a desired wound healing cascade by recruiting favorable monocyte and macrophage (M2 type) subpopulations in the implanted scaffold. To investigate the interactions between circulating cells and scaffolds, we have developed and validated a meso-fluidics setup that exposes small-scale 3D scaffolds to a circulating cell suspension in pulsatile flow with pressure and shear stress on the scaffold surface in the physiologic range for aortic valve and small diameter arteries. Electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds were loaded with fibrin gel with and without MCP-1 and placed into the fluidics setup. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMC) were isolated from healthy donors by density gradient centrifuging. The cells were resuspended in culture medium and circulated in the fluidics setup for up to 72 hours at a pulsatile flow (1Hz), with a peak pressure of approximately 100 mmHg and peak shear stress of 1.5 Pa on the scaffold surface. The cell suspensions were characterized at various time points by flow cytometry. The hPBMC suspension at the start consisted of CD45+ lymphocytes and monocytes. After 16 hours in the fluidics setup, the distinct monocyte subpopulation (8-20% of hPBMC) was no longer present in the medium, regardless of MCP-1 presence. This suggests monocyte activation by the scaffold, resulting in cell adhesion and monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation. Moreover, whole-mount immunostaining of the scaffolds demonstrated that addition of MCP-1 resulted in a significant increase in CD163 expression, which indicates the presence of a favorable monocyte subpopulation and macrophage polarization towards a wound healing M2 phenotype. Our results show that the PCL/fibrin scaffold evokes a response from circulating monocytes, resulting in rapid cell adhesion and infiltration. Moreover, this initial response can be modulated using MCP-1 to promote favorable M2 macrophage polarization, initiating the wound healing cascade that is necessary for long term remodeling of the synthetic scaffold.


Industrialised Building System (IBS) is defined as a construction technique in which
components are manufactured in a controlled environment (on or off site), transported,
positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site work. The Malaysian
construction industry has been urged to change from a conventional method to IBS to attain
better construction quality and productivity, reduce risks related to occupational safety and
health, alleviate issues for skilled workers and dependency on manual foreign labour, and
achieve the ultimate goal of reducing the overall cost of construction. The use of IBS has been
made compulsory in the construction of public buildings and the adoption was supported by
the government through programmes, incentives and encouragement policies stipulated under
the IBS Roadmap 2003-2010.
Despite acknowledging its benefits, the construction industry is still not rapidly embracing
IBS. This is mainly due to its traditional and conservative nature where anything new or
different faces implementation barriers. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge to help
traditional contractors to successfully transform to IBS. The availability of such knowledge
could help to accelerate the uptake of IBS.
The aim of the research is to identify the critical success factors for IBS uptake and develop a
framework to support the transformation of contractors to the IBS. The research adopted a
multiple-case-studies approach. The main part of this thesis is a presentation and discussion
of case studies with contractors in Malaysia. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case
analysis and pattern matching where nine critical success factors and two enablers have been
identified as significant to the success of IBS.
From the critical success factors, this research proposes a framework which was validated
with an industry focus group. Strategy, people and process were identified as the main
elements of the framework. The framework depends largely on the strategy, meetings of
human capability and capacity, and improvements to the process. The enabling factors are
Information Technology (IT) and continuous improvement.
The outcome of this research showed that the main problems that are preventing contractors
from embracing IBS are rarely purely technical in origin. They are more related to the
organisational strategy and soft issues which underpin the capability of the organisation to
successfully implement IBS. This led to the fact that IBS is best handled as a holistic process
and requires a total synchronisation of construction, manufacturing and design. In addition,
factors such as project management, procurement, rationalisation, standardisation, repetition,
collaboration, integration, supply chain partnering, planning, skills and training were found to
be essential and they need to be carefully considered during the transformation process.


This paper argues that the incorporation of new references in the Thirteenth Finance Commission mandate relating to 'ecology, environment and climate change' and 'quality of public expenditure' pose new challenges. The challenges arise because the operationalization of these items require various reforms-legal, administrative, costing, valuation, institutional, and monitoring which require political will as well as reorientation in public expenditure management techniques. In this regard, there is a need for the Commission to look at the issues in a holistic manner, integrate environment considerations in public policy making and initiate ecological fiscal reforms, thereby achieving the sustainable development. The paper also suggests that for sustainable management of shared environmental resources like river basin, forest etc. the regional governance structures need to be established. The Commission should provide financial incentives for regional cooperation. This paper also reviews the UN's environmental policy and India's pollution prevention and control policy and discusses various ecotaxes on polluting inputs and outputs and provides rationale for such taxes.


We have simulated the formation of a massive galaxy cluster (M$_{200}^{\rm crit}$ = 1.1$\times$10$^{15}h^{-1}M_{\odot}$) in a $\Lambda$CDM universe using 10 different codes (RAMSES, 2 incarnations of AREPO and 7 of GADGET), modeling hydrodynamics with full radiative subgrid physics. These codes include Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), spanning traditional and advanced SPH schemes, adaptive mesh and moving mesh codes. Our goal is to study the consistency between simulated clusters modeled with different radiative physical implementations - such as cooling, star formation and AGN feedback. We compare images of the cluster at $z=0$, global properties such as mass, and radial profiles of various dynamical and thermodynamical quantities. We find that, with respect to non-radiative simulations, dark matter is more centrally concentrated, the extent not simply depending on the presence/absence of AGN feedback. The scatter in global quantities is substantially higher than for non-radiative runs. Intriguingly, adding radiative physics seems to have washed away the marked code-based differences present in the entropy profile seen for non-radiative simulations in Sembolini et al. (2015): radiative physics + classic SPH can produce entropy cores. Furthermore, the inclusion/absence of AGN feedback is not the dividing line -as in the case of describing the stellar content- for whether a code produces an unrealistic temperature inversion and a falling central entropy profile. However, AGN feedback does strongly affect the overall stellar distribution, limiting the effect of overcooling and reducing sensibly the stellar fraction.


Authoritative and prolific teachings of the Roman Catholic Church have proposed a model for intimate heterosexual relationships between men and women which might be called the "communion and mutual service model." This model is grounded in an anthropology of both sexes based upon humanity's creation in a Trinitarian God's image and likeness. It consequently understands man and woman as radically equal, and inherently social. It also views sexual differences as oriented to interpersonal communion. In this view, however, heterosexual relations suffer a hereditary brokenness as a consequence of original sin; each sex manifests this differently and in relation to the other. The Church proposes finally that Christ's life, death, and resurrection show humanity the way of triumph over broken love. For intimate heterosexual pairs, that way requires "finding oneself by losing oneself."A competing model, the "suspicion model" of intimate heterosexual relations - reacting to past or ongoing situations of oppression, discrimination, or even violence against women – neglects attention to the equality of males, despairs of securing male commitment to spouses or children, and often seeks a strict equality of functional outcomes for both sexes.Family law in the United States is currently grappling with questions that engage the anthropological issues raised by both models, including but not limited to: marriage stabilization efforts, divorce law reform, same-sex marriage and fatherhood initiatives. This paper sets forth the elements of the communion and mutual service and the suspicion models of male-female relationships. It describes and compares secular models of intimate heterosexual relationships currently proposed by scholars of law and/or religion, which models overlap with the communion and mutual service model. Finally, it considers how the communion and mutual service model might correct and illuminate the suspicion model while supporting particular directions in a variety of controverted laws affecting heterosexual, intimate relationships.


Dancers frequently experience pain and injury due to the physical demands of performance. Previous research primarily focuses on professional dancers over the age of 18 years, and Irish dance has been largely unexplored, with research from a sociological perspective particularly lacking. To address these gaps, the purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the culture of Irish dance on young female dancers' views and experiences of pain and injury. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with eight girls (aged 11–16 years) from an Irish dance academy in North West England. We analysed the data by engaging in thematic analysis, and drew on Bourdieu's concepts (habitus and capital, in particular) to explain our findings. Key themes within the data were: the values of Irish dance, trust and teamwork, and strength and weakness. The findings show that Irish dancers make sacrifices to achieve success, and the culture of Irish dance encourages them to dance through pain and injury in order to appear strong. While dancers recognise the potential consequences of injury and believe it is beneficial to take time away from training to recover, they are often encouraged (and encourage each other) to persevere through pain and injury. The findings suggest that there are some potentially harmful consequences of the Irish dance culture, as pain and injury are normalised. We suggest that coaches (and parents/guardians) should encourage young dancers to engage with self-care, and ensure they are not risking their future health and well-being by dancing through pain and injury.


The entrepreneurial process is the result of the interaction between the individual entrepreneur and the surrounding environment or entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is heterogeneously endowed with knowledge, institutions, resources, and demand for products. Such a perspective raises an important policy question: Are metropolitan areas with disproportionally high shares of entrepreneurs or self-employed people systematically linked to particular attributes of the entrepreneurial eco-system or support system? In this paper non-farm proprietorship (NFP) employment data is utilized as a proxy for entrepreneurship. To examine the spatial patterns of NFP employment by MSA, data on the percent share of NFP employment relative to total employment was collected for 356 MSAs. It is hypothesized that NFP employment by MSA will be linked to both key predictor variables that capture higher qualities of life and access to capital (i.e., opportunity-based entrepreneurship) and, on the other hand, underperforming entrepreneurial eco-systems featuring poorly educated labor pools and high unemployment rates (i.e., necessity driven self-employment). Based primarily on previous research, 26 independent variables were amassed according to their expected relationships with NFP employment. Data on all independent variables was obtained from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, or the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ultimately, it was determined that NFP employment by MSA seems to be best explained by metro-wide ecosystems that have a high percent FIRE, median age, percent Hispanic, and median home value.


The aim of this article is to highlight the singular nature of the process by which the archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe became the leading producer of sugar in the world between 1530 and 1560. The pioneering role played by this diminutive equatorial archipelago in the emergence of the Atlantic economy has not been sufficiently appreciated. However, this was where two models of economic and labor organization - European and African - systematically mingled together for the first time. This was also where the system of production for growing and processing sugarcane, which Europe subsequently implemented in the tropics on a large scale, was first developed.Researchers who have published on the economy of Sao Tome have, naturally, emphasized the importance of sugar production in the history of the archipelago. But, almost always, they have focused on commercial aspects, directly associating production on Sao Tome with the island of Madeira and as depicting it as a continuation of the model implemented in the latter archipelago.1 In turn, global histories concerning sugar have generally either totally ignored the archipelago or paid very little attention to it due, perhaps, to the fact that the most productive phase on the island of Sao Tome was relatively short.2 One of the most notable exceptions is an essay on historical geography by Jock Galloway who, while analyzing the global history of sugar from its origins to the twentieth century,3 acknowledged the singular nature of the Sao Tome and Principe archipelago and its role in the process of implementing a sugar plantation system, breaking with past experiences.4 This approach was later reprised by Joseph C. Miller in an article highlighting Sao Tome's contribution towards instituting what he calls the "sugar mill complex" 5 and that has subsequently become a classic on Atlantic slavery. However, neither Galloway nor Miller investigate the broad chronological and thematic scopes required to understand the natural and historical conditions amidst which the plantation system emerged on the Island of Sao Tome: both have underestimated the African contribution, which in their work is essentially limited to the labor force factor. This contribution aims to go beyond these confines based upon a comprehensive analysis of available sources.I. Sao Tome, from initial colonization to the first sugar millsThe Portuguese first set foot on the Island of Sao Tome sometime around 1480, later than what was believed for a long time.6 When the first explorers arrived, they found an unpopulated territory with a rugged terrain but with good ports, lush vegetation, fertile soil and an abundance of water. Since it is impossible to approach the unknown except by juxtaposing it with the familiar, they inevitably compared it to the Island of Madeira. When news of the island's discovery reached Lisbon, this analogy conditioned the early years of colonization until experience subsequently demonstrated that these two islands had similarities and differences in equal measure.The Portuguese Crown was initially interested in Sao Tome not just for economic reasons, but above all for strategic purposes, even though these are sometimes confused. When the early explorers reached this equatorial island, Portugal had already begun to explore the Gold Coast, also known as the "Mina Coast", a generic name for the entire stretch of coast along the Gulf of Guinea, extending from Cape Palmas to the Volta River. Here, the Portuguese were finally able to realize one of the objectives that had been nurtured from the time they had begun to explore the African coast: to buy gold in relatively abundant quantities, taking advantage of the supplies brought to the coast from the interior. However, gold was a coveted product, avidly sought by all European powers. Once news of this trade reached their territories, French, Spanish, Flemish and British ships soon flocked to the region. As a result, and to ensure safe storage, in 1481, King Joao II ordered that a fortified factory be built there urgently: this was the structure that became known as the castle of Sao Jorge da Mina (St. …


In 2008 the art critic Tom Lubbock was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The tumour was located in the area controlling speech and language, and would eventually rob him of the ability to speak. He died early in 2011. Marion Coutts was his wife.

In short bursts of beautiful, textured prose, Coutts describes the eighteen months leading up to her partner's death. This book is an account of a family unit, man, woman, young child, under assault, and how the three of them fought to keep it intact.

Written with extraordinary narrative force and power, The Iceberg is almost shocking in its rawness. It charts the deterioration of Tom's speech even as it records the developing language of his child. Fury, selfishness, grief, indignity and impotence are all examined and brought to light.

Yet out of this comes a rare story about belonging, an 'adventure of being and dying'. This book is a celebration of each other, friends, family, art, work, love and language.


Distributed ledger technology (DLT), including blockchain, enables secure processing of transactions between untrustworthy parties in a decentralized system. However, DLT is available in different designs that exhibit diverse characteristics. Moreover, DLT characteristics have complementary and conflicting interdependencies. Hence, there will never be an ideal DLT design for all DLT use cases; instead, DLT implementations need to be configured to contextual requirements. Successful DLT configuration requires, however, a sound understanding of DLT characteristics and their interdependencies. In this manuscript, we review DLT characteristics and organize them into six groups. Furthermore, we condense interdependencies of DLT characteristics into trade-offs that should be considered for successful deployment of DLT. Finally, we consolidate our findings into DLT archetypes for common design objectives, such as security, usability, or performance. Our work makes extant DLT research more transparent and fosters understanding of interdependencies and trade-offs between DLT characteristics.


Published in association with The Royal Institute of International Affairs Technologies for generating electricity from primary renewable sources hydro, wind, solar cells, wave and tidal power - are developing rapidly. So too are Europe s electricity systems, which are undergoing momentous change as governments and the European Commission move to introduce competition and new environmental policies into the sector. This study examines the implications of these combined trends for the role of primary renewables in European electricity. In the centralized electricity monopolies of old, the small unit scale and the dispersed, fluctuating nature of most of these sources were serious drawbacks. But in the emerging liberalized electricity systems, this book argues, renewables will be able to develop into major commercial industries based on their special characteristics and continuing technical improvements. With appropriate complementary policies, the regulatory liberalization now sweeping European electricity could lead to renewable sources contributing as much as half of Europe s electricity within three decades.


C# is an object-oriented programming language that is similar to Java in many respects but more comprehensive and different in most details. This book offers a quick and accessible reference for anyone who wants to know C# in more detail than that provided by a standard textbook. It will be particularly useful for C# learners who are familiar with Java. This second edition has been updated and expanded, reflecting the evolution and extension of the C# programming language. It covers C# versions 3.0 and 4.0 and takes a look ahead at some of the innovations of version 5.0. In particular, it describes asynchronous programming as found in 5.0.Despite the new material, C# Precisely remains compact and easy to navigate. It describes C# in detail but informally and concisely, presenting lambda expressions, extension methods, anonymous object expressions, object initializers, collection initializers, local variable type inference, type dynamic, type parameter covariance and contravariance, and Linq (language integrated query), among other topics, all in aabout 250 pages. The book offers more than 250 examples to illustrate both common use and subtle points. Two-page spreads show general rules on the left and relevant examples on the right, maximizing the amount of information accessible at a glance.The complete, ready-to-run example programs are available at the book's Web site, http://www.itu.dk/people/sestoft/csharpprecisely/


With growing infrastructural pressure induced by urban densification combined with rural development and the increasing demands of industrialisation, South Africa is facing two related challenges. The first is a lack of sufficient energy to satisfactorily fulfil the needs of the expanding economy. The second is that South Africa has limited access to water. Electricity generation using the traditional coal-burning power stations requires vast amounts of water, for amongst other things, steam generation to drive the turbines and water is also used in the cooling process. Thus, as the demand for electricity grows, so too does the pressure on the country's strained water supplies. The growing demand for electricity favours the building of new traditional coal- burning power stations, which emit vast amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, negatively affecting the environment. This leads to a degree of conflict between stakeholders, namely the energy producers, government bodies, and environmentalists. This paper uses Hirshleifer's Conflict Success Function to highlight the 'urgency' of replacing traditional fuel-based power stations with alternative renewable energy generators, using South Africa as a case study.


Background: Neonatal sepsis is known as a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. It is hard to diagnose clinically sepsis due to its nonspecific manifestations. Blood culture has been the gold standard for neonatal sepsis. Unfortunately, it takes time to get the result, it is costly, and it is not easily performed. Buffy coat smear with Gram stain in attempt to diagnose neonatal sepsis is less costly and easily performed. Objective: To know the diagnostic value of buffy coat smear with Gram staining to diagnose neonatal sepsis. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out at the Maternal-Perinatal Installation of Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, between October 131, 2003 to March 3111, 2004. The inclusion criteria was clini-cally sepsis neonates (0-28 days old). Neonates with blood disorder, congenital anomaly, or had got antibiotic previously were excluded from this study. The buffy coat smear with Gram staining was examined and than was blindly validated with blood culture. Result: There were 127 neonates enrolled in this study. Buffy coat smear with Gram stain to diagnose neonatal sepsis produced sensitivity 77% (95% Cl, 65-88), specificity 85% (95% Cl, 77-93), positive predictive value (PPV) 78% (95% Cl, 67-90), negative predictive value (NPV) 84% (95% Cl, 76-92), positive likelihood ratio 5,24 (95% Cl, 2,98-9,24), and negative likelihood ratio 0,3 (95% Cl, 0,16- 0,45). Conclusion: Buffy coat smear with Gram stain was sufficiently accurate as diagnostic test for neonatal sepsis. The diagnostic value of buffy coat is expected to be useful for clinicians to predict neonatal sepsis earlier and guide them in making decision for clinical management. Keywords : neonatal sepsis - diagnostic test - buffy coat - gram positive staining


We investigated the wavelength dependence of imaging depth and clearness of structure in ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography over a wide wavelength range. We quantitatively compared the optical properties of samples using supercontinuum sources at five wavelengths, 800 nm, 1060 nm, 1300 nm, 1550 nm, and 1700 nm, with the same system architecture. For samples of industrially used homogeneous materials with low water absorption, the attenuation coefficients of the samples were fitted using Rayleigh scattering theory. We confirmed that the systems with the longer-wavelength sources had lower scattering coefficients and less dependence on the sample materials. For a biomedical sample, we observed wavelength dependence of the attenuation coefficient, which can be explained by absorption by water and hemoglobin.


X-linked lymphoproliferative (XLP) disease is a primary immunodeficiency caused by a defect in the SH2D1A gene. At least 3 major manifestations characterize its clinical presentation: fatal infectious mononucleosis (FIM), lymphomas, and immunoglobulin deficiencies. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a syndrome characterized by immunoglobulin deficiency leading to susceptibility to infection. In some patients with CVID, a defective btk or CD40-L gene has been found, but most often there is no clearly identified etiology. Here, 2 unrelated families in whom male members were affected by CVID were examined for a defect in the XLP gene. In one family previously reported in the literature as having progressive immunoglobulin deficiencies, 3 brothers were examined for recurrent respiratory infections, whereas female family members showed only elevated serum immunoglobulin A levels. A grandson of one of the brothers died of a severe Aspergillus infection secondary to progressive immunoglobulin deficiency, FIM, aplastic anemia, and B-cell lymphoma. In the second family, 2 brothers had B lymphocytopenia and immunoglobulin deficiencies. X-linked agammaglobulinemia syndrome was excluded genetically, and they were classified as having CVID. The occurrence of FIM in a male cousin of the brothers led to the XLP diagnosis. Because the SH2D1A gene was found altered in both families, these findings indicate that XLP must be considered when more than one male patient with CVID is encountered in the same family, and SH2D1A must be analyzed in all male patients with CVID. Moreover, these data link defects in the SH2D1A gene to abnormal B-lymphocyte development and to dysgammaglobulinemia in female members of families with XLP disease.


The only in-depth biographical account of the lead singer of Joy Division, written by his widow. Revered by his peers -- Bono described his voice as "holy" -- and idolized by his fans, Ian Curtis left behind a legacy rich in artistic genius. He was a mesmerizing performer on stange, yet also introverted and prone to mode swings. Engimantic to the last, Ian Curtis died by his own hand on 18 May 1980. "Touching from a Distance" describes Curtis's life from his early teenage years to his premature death on the eve of Joy Division's first American tour. It tells how, with a wife, child and impending international fame, he was seduced by the glory of an early grave. What were the reasons for his fascination with death? Were his dark, brooding lyrics an artistic exorcism? In "Touching from a Distance" Curtis's widow, Deborah, explains the drama of his life and the tragedy of his death. Includes discography, gig list and a full set of Curtis's lyrics, some of which appear in print for the first time.


The Lethakane shear zone is a transcurrent ductile shear zone with a dextral displacement of c. 50 km which developed under low amphibolite-to greenschist-facies conditions in the Limpopo orogenic belt of eastern Botswana. Three distinct minor structures occur within the shear zone: mylonitic foliation (Sa), strain-slip or fracture cleavage (Sb) and minor shear zones (Sc). The non-penetrative structures Sb and Sc have transcurrent movement senses and occur in conjugate sets orientated sub-parallel and sub-perpendicular to the shear zone margins. The penetrative fabric Sa is restricted to quartz-bearing rocks and has the same sigmoidal relationship to minor shear zones as that described for schistosity in ductile shear zones by Ramsay & Graham (1970). This relationship confirms the view, first proposed by Johnson (1967), that mylonitic foliation defines the XY plane of the finite strain ellipsoid and is thus analogous to schistosity. The restriction of Sa to quartz-bearing rocks indicates that, under low amphibolite-facies conditions, the contrast between the ductile behaviour of quartz and the brittle behaviour of feldspars is the essential factor controlling deformation processes in the Lethakane shear zone.


Synthetic and physicochemical studies on appropriately functionalized ODN-conjugates have been performed to evaluate their abilities to act as antisense agents against RNA or as intramolecular DNA cross-linking agents. Intercalating aromatic systems [phenazine (Pnz), dipyridophenazine (DPPZ)] and metallointercalators such as Ru2+(phen)2(DPPZ) and Ru2+(tpy)(DPPZ)L [where L = chemically or photochemically labile ligand, phen = phenanthroline, tpy = terpyridine], which are covalently tethered to the oligo-deoxynucleotides (ODNs), have been chosen for this purpose. The ODN-conjugates were typically prepared by automated solid phase synthesis using phosphoramidite building blocks, or on solid supports, both functionalized with the chromophore groups. The photosensitive metal complex, Ru2+(tpy)(DPPZ)(CH3CN), has been incorporated by post-synthetic coupling to the amino-linker modified ODNs via an amide bond. The intercalating ability of the tethered chromophores gave enhanced stability of the duplexes and triplexes formed with ODN-conjugates and their complementary targets: DNA, RNA, or double-stranded DNA. The conjugation of DPPZ chromophore to ODN (at 3', 5' or at the middle) led us to incorporate Ru2+(phen)2(DPPZ) through the DPPZ ligand, for the first time. The corresponding (Ru2+-ODN)•DNA duplexes showed dramatic stabilization (ΔTm = 19.4 – 22.0oC). The CD and DNase I footprinting experiments suggest that the stabilization is owing to metallointercalation by threading of the Ru2+(phen)2 moiety through the ODN•DNA duplex core, thus "stapling" the two helical strands from the minor to major groove. On the other hand, Ru2+(tpy)(DPPZ)(CH3CN)-ODN conjugates represent a new class of oligonucleotides containing the photoactivatible Ru2+ complexes, which can successfully crosslink to the complementary strand. The mechanism of cross-linking upon photoirradiation of [Ru2+(tpy)(DPPZ)(CH3CN)-ODN]•DNA involves in situ conversion to the reactive [Ru2+(tpy)(DPPZ)(H2O)-ODN]•DNA which are subsequently cross-linked through the G residue of the complementary DNA strand. All starting materials and products have been purified by HPLC and/or by PAGE and subsequently characterized by MALDI-TOF as well as ESI mass spectroscopy. Terminal conjugation of the planar Pnz and DPPZ groups through the flexible linkers were also shown to improve thermal stability of the ODN•RNA hybrid duplexes without alteration of the initial AB-type global helical structure as revealed from CD experiments. As a result, RNase H mediated cleavage of the RNA strand in the intercalator-tethered ODN•RNA duplexes was more efficient compared to the natural counterpart. The RNase H cleavage pattern was also found to be dependent on the chemical nature of the chromophore. It appeared that introduction of a tether at the 3'-end of the ODN can be most easily tolerated by the enzyme regardless of the nature of the appending chromophore. The tethered DPPZ group has also been shown to chelate Cu2+ and Fe3+, like phenanthroline group, followed by the formation of redox-active metal complex which cleaves the complementary DNA strand in a sequence-specific manner. This shows that the choice of appropriate ligand is useful to (i) attain improved intercalation giving Tm enhancement, and (ii) sequence-specifically inactivate target RNA or DNA molecules using multiple modes of chemistry (RNase H mediated cleavage, free-radical, oxidative pathways or photocross-linkage).


Supporting the development of trusted and usable science remains a key challenge in contested spaces. This paper evaluates a collaborative research agreement between the North Slope Borough of Alaska and Shell Exploration and Production Company—an agreement that was designed to improve collection of information and management of issues associated with the potential impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic. The evaluation is based on six categories of knowledge co-production indicators: external factors, inputs, processes, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. Two sources of data were used to assess the indicators: interviews with steering committee members and external science managers (n = 16) and a review of steering committee minutes. Interpretation of the output and outcome indicators suggests that the Baseline Studies Program supported a broad range of research, though there were differences in how groups perceived the relevance and legitimacy of project outcomes. Several input, process, and external variables enabled the co-production of trusted science in an emergent boundary organization and contested space; these variables included governance arrangements, leveraged capacities, and the inclusion of traditional knowledge. Challenges to knowledge co-production on the North Slope include logistics, differences in cultures and decision contexts, and balancing trade-offs among perceived credibility, legitimacy, and relevance. Reinforced lessons learned included providing time to foster trust, developing adaptive governance approaches, and building capacity among scientists to translate community concerns into research questions.


Critics from both the right and the left claim that modern antitrust doctrine, rooted in consumer welfare, is inadequate to handle the challenges of the twenty-first century economy. They express nostalgia for 1960s antitrust, when the field had no clear objectives and cases were decided on impressionistic notions of "fairness" and good corporate citizenship. This article exposes the intellectual void at the heart of this new populist movement and begins by following Justice Holmes' tenet that "a page of history is worth a volume of logic." More than 80 years ago, the A&P grocery chain was a vertically integrated retailer that made use of unprecedented scale and innovation to offer consumers a wider range of products than the competition and at lower prices. Yet A&P's very success, which came at the expense of smaller and less efficient competitors, triggered a backlash: first from Congress, in the form of the Robinson–Patman Act, and then from the Justice Department, in the form of successful prosecution under the Sherman Act. These attacks on A&P bear an eerie resemblance to attacks today on leading online innovators. Increasingly integrated and efficient retailers—first A&P; then "big box" brick-and-mortar stores; and now online retailers—have challenged traditional retail models by offering consumers lower prices and greater convenience. For decades, critics across the political spectrum have reacted to such disruption by urging Congress, the courts, and the enforcement agencies to stop these American success stories by revising antitrust doctrine to protect small businesses rather than the interests of consumers. Using antitrust law to punish pro-competitive behavior makes no more sense today than it did when the government attacked A&P for offering consumers too good a deal on groceries. In addition, antitrust doctrine does not need an overhaul. It is shaped by many economic perspectives, follows no one "School," and is flexible enough to address any monopoly abuses in today's economy. It is also well-calibrated to serve its central function: promoting consumer welfare. It does so not only by prohibiting conduct that harms consumers in the long run, but also by avoiding interference with conduct that might appear problematic to non-economists but that demonstrably benefits consumers over time. Antitrust remains a work in progress, but it is far superior to any alternative that the critics propose.


1 ABSTRACT A clam p-on, sonar-based flow measurement technology for simultaneously measuring volumetric flow rate and process fluid sound speed is described. The technology utilizes sonar array processing techniques to perform two independent measurements to characterize the process fluid, each well-suited for single and multiphase flows. Firstly, the meter provides mixture volumetric flow by tracking the speed at which naturally occurring flow-generated pressure fields convect past an array of strain-based sensors clamped-on to existing process pipe. Secondly, the meter provides compositional information by measuring the speed at which naturally occurring sound waves propagate through the process fluid using the same clamp-on sensors. Measuring the speed of sound of a process fluid utilizing this sonar technique is analogous to measuring process fluid density and has many compositional based applications. A primary example of this is using process sound speed to accurately measure the amount of entrained gases in liquid–continuous mixtures. The ability to measure volumetric flow and process sound speed reliably and accurately in single and multiphase applications with a non-intrusive, clamp-on device significantly enhances the observability of the many industrial processes. Data is presented from sonarbased volumetric flow and sound speed-based compositional measurements for a wide range of industrial applications, encompassing single phase liquid applications to large diameter, abrasive multiphase applications, widely-recognized as difficult, long-standing flow measurement challenges.