Corrosion resistant materials are being considered for the metallic barrier of the Yucca Mountain Project`s high-level radioactive waste disposal containers. Nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloys and titanium alloys have good corrosion resistance properties and are considered good candidates for the metallic barrier. The localized corrosion phenomena, pitting and crevice corrosion, are considered as potentially limiting for the barrier lifetime. An understanding of the mechanisms of localized corrosion and of how various parameters affect it will be necessary for adequate performance assessment of candidate container materials. Examples of some of the concerns involving localized corrosion are discussed. The effects of various parameters, such as temperature and concentration of halide species, on localized corrosion are given. In addition, concerns about aging of the protective oxide layer in the expected service temperature range (50 to 250{degree}C) are presented. Also some mechanistic considerations of localized corrosion are given. 45 refs., 1 tab.


1 Abstract Curcumin is the primary curcuminoid found in the rhizome of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa), responsible for the spice's dist inctive yel low color. Research conducted within the past two decades suggests that the compound may be an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent form of dementia affecting nearly 5.2 million Americans. This paper investigates the efficacy of curcumin as treatment for the pathogenesis and symptoms of Alzheimer's. Research was conducted pertaining to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's, the in vitro applications of curcumin, the chemical properties of curcumin, and the in vivo clinical applications of curcumin. The pathogenesis of Alzheimer's is defined by the aggregation of amyloid-beta plaques, dissociation of tau protein, propagation of reactive oxygen species, and neuroinflammation. Alzheimer's is also characterized by symptoms of cognitive decline and memory loss. The physiochemical nature of curcumin enables it to interact with multiple biochemical pathways in the central nervous system (CNS), inhibiting the pathogenesis of the disease. In vitro applications of curcumin show much promise to this end. In vivo studies of curcumin on living subjects provide mixed results for the substance's efficacy on symptoms and pathogenesis. Furthermore, the complex chemical properties of curcumin make drug development very difficult. Curcumin shows much promise in inhibiting the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's, according to in vitro studies. However, the lack of definitive conclusions from in vivo applications and difficulty in overcoming curcumin's complex chemical properties for drug development show that the substance cannot yet be designated as an effective treatment for the disease.


Organizing for interdisciplinary research must overcome two challenges to collaboration: the cognitive incommensurability of knowledge and the political economy of research based in the disciplines. Researchers may not engage in interdisciplinarity because they would have to invest in new knowledge unrelated to their discipline or risk losing career-related rewards. Our field study of a university interdisciplinary research center shows that boundary spanning occurred as students interacted with scientific instruments in a symbiotic relationship through what we call symbiont practices: matching disciplinary language and methods with the experimental possibilities of instruments, developing co-specialization between students and instruments, and engaging disciplinary actors to design experiments using instruments. Instruments engendered incipient interdisciplinary possibilities, but they required the students – engaging in symbiont practices – to actualize that potential. Simultaneously, students required instruments in order to be classified, staffed on projects and placed in jobs. These practices resolved both the cognitive and economic challenges of boundary spanning by mobilizing material resources that were costly (cognitively and politically) for actors on either side of the disciplinary divide to engage. In conceptualizing interdisciplinary research as occurring through symbiont practices, we develop a sociomaterial perspective on boundary spanning.


The objective of this research is to show the capability of the self-organizing maps (SOMs) to organize, filter, classify and extract patterns from distributor, commercializer, aggregator or customer electrical demand databases (the objective known as data mining). This approach basically uses - to reach the above-mentioned objectives - the historic load demand curves of each user. To get a better classification, some anomalous data - holidays, wrong measurements due to recorder failures - should be filtered before starting the map training. This preliminary step has been performed through an SOM map too. To show the proposed method in the paper only two typical medium users are studied on the filtering stage: an industry and a university both located in Spain. Subsequently, the filtering process is applied to a larger group of customers to finally prove the customer clustering capacity of SOM. The results clearly show the suitability of SOM approach to improve data management and to find easily coherent clusters between electrical users.


Introduction: Communication is an essential part of nursing care. While conversations with patients mainly take place in patient rooms, the ward corridor is often used for communication between staff members and sometimes visiting family. As many patients suffer from hearing loss due to biological ageing, loud conversations between staff and patients which can be overheard in the corridor are no exception. The acoustic design of nursing wards should facilitate communication yet not compromise other tasks of the professional that take place here.

Aim: To gain insight in the relation between the auditory environment in a hospital ward on nurses' cognitive performance and quality of care.

Materials and Methods: A three day observational study and a follow up literature study have been conducted in a Dutch hospital ward. Researchers shadowed a nurse during three full shifts and kept a log of activities and environmental aspects which were combined into a general overview of the shift. The literature study was conducted to support the findings from the observations.

Results: Nursing consists of completing various tasks in the most efficient and patient-centered order. The biggest risks for patient safety and comfort seem to be medication errors and negligence. This is supported by Potter who introduced the term cognitive stacking in 2005. Voices and television sounds from patient rooms are loud and can be heard in the ward corridor. Ringing telephones and conversations between nurses and family are the most common sounds in the corridor. Literature findings suggest that interruptions of nursing care are an important aspect in medication errors and other care omissions. Most of these findings were, however, based on visual disruptions of the care process. In addition, while the distractive effects of background sounds have been investigated for a range of cognitive tasks, no such experiments are known for the cognitive stacking that is typical for nursing care and involves both the execution of several cognitive tasks and the decision-making of workflow priorities.

Conclusions: The results lead to the hypothesis that auditory events influence nurses' cognitive performance. Structured observations in multiple wards to quantify and analyze distractions are needed to strengthen this hypothesis.


Zinc (Zn) serves as a cofactor in several extracellular phosphatases, which allow microorganisms to acquire phosphorus from organic P compounds. In oligotrophic ocean water, where both phosphate and Zn concentrations are low, orthophosphate regeneration through enzymatic hydrolysis of organic compounds may be restricted by Zn availability. We examined the possibility of co‐limitation by P and Zn in batch cultures of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi grown at very low biomass. Both growth rates and extracellular phosphatase activity were inhibited by low Zn. Cultures grown at nanomolar P and subpicomolar, unchelated Zn concentrations had higher phosphatase activity and slower growth rates when grown on organic P than when grown on inorganic P. We calculated that the additional Zn demand for phosphatase activity in the culture with organic P amounted to 16% of the cellular Zn quota. This percentage would be lower at higher organic P concentrations. Extrapolating from our data, we surmise that Zn‐P co‐limitation may prevail in highly oligotrophic systems such as the Sargasso Sea, but it is not likely to be widespread in the ocean. Nonetheless, the observation of a significant enhancement of extracellular phosphatase activity in Zn‐amended water samples from the Bering Sea demonstrates the potential for Zn‐P colimitation during phytoplankton blooms.


The present study aims to investigate the interplay of verbal and nonverbal communication with respect to infants' perception of pointing gestures. Infants were presented with still images of pointing hands (cue) in combination with an acoustic stimulus. The communicative content of this acoustic stimulus was varied from being human and communicative to artificial. Saccadic reaction times (SRTs) from the cue to a peripheral target were measured as an indicator of the modulation of covert attention. A significant cueing effect (facilitated SRTs for congruent compared with incongruent trials) was only present in a condition with additional communicative and referential speech. In addition, the size of the cueing effect increased the more human and communicative the acoustic stimulus was. This indicates a beneficial effect of verbal communication on the perception of nonverbal communicative pointing gestures, emphasizing the important role of verbal communication in facilitating social understanding across domains. These findings additionally suggest that human and communicative (ostensive) signals are not qualitatively different from other less social signals but just quantitatively the most attention grabbing among a number of other signals.


We consider the thesis of Alexis de Tocqueville (1856) that economic development and increased mobility may generate political discontent not present in more stagnant economies. For many citizens, as they become aware of the potential for improved living standards, their aspirations may increase faster than actual living standards. Expanded opportunity may then paradoxically result in dissatisfaction with government rather than greater confidence. We develop a formal model to capture Tocqueville's (1856) verbal theory and test its predictions using a 2012–2013 face-to-face survey experiment conducted in Pakistan. The experiment utilizes established treatments to subtly manipulate either a participant's perceptions of her own economic well-being, her perceptions of society-wide mobility, or both. As predicted by the theory, political discontent rises when declining personal well-being coincides with high mobility to create unrealized aspirations. The results thus identify the conditions under which expanded economic opportunity can lead to political unrest.


Does Israel have the ability to conduct a military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities similar to its 1981 strike on Iraq's Osirak reactor? The Israeli Air Force has significantly upgraded its equipment since the early 1980s, but the Iranian nuclear complex is a much harder target than was the Osirak reactor. Iran has three facilities that are critical for nuclear weapons production: a uranium conversion facility, an enrichment facility, and a heavy-water production plant and associated plutonium production reactor. This article analyzes possible interactions of Israel's improved air force, including the addition of F-15I aircraft and U.S.-supplied conventional "bunker-buster" precision-guided munitions, with the Iranian target set and air defense systems. It concludes that Israel has the capability to attack Iran's nuclear infrastructure with at least as much confidence as it had in the 1981 Osirak strike. Beyond the case of Iran, this finding has implications for the use of precision-guided weapons as a counterproliferation tool. Precision-guided weapons confer the ability to reliably attack hard and deeply buried targets with conventional, rather than nuclear, weapons. Intelligence on the location of nuclear sites is thus the primary limiting factor of military counterproliferation.


Skull removal and the modelling of facial features on dry human skulls occurred in central Anatolia during the late Neolithic period (ca. 6000–5000 BC) at the site of Kosk Hoyuk. This paper describes significant new evidence for plastered and undecorated skulls from Kosk Hoyuk that is inconsistent with prior interpretations of these remains as that of an ancestor cult. Rather, this new evidence strongly suggests a funerary ritual in the Near East that focused on the skulls of males, females and children. It also highlights the need for continued bioarchaeological research on such skulls. This paper describes newly discovered plastered skulls and skulls that were cached but not necessarily decorated from Kosk Hoyuk, Turkey. It provides the archaeological context, visual description, and osteological analysis of the remains of 12 adult skulls, ten modelled and two plain. In addition, a plastered child's skull was reported in the past. A bioarchaeological study of the primary material indicates that the skulls of males and females were removed from their bodies after natural decomposition, without manual defleshing, followed by applications of plaster modelling. The skulls of both sexes and all ages were modelled in a similar manner, although crania of three females exhibited healed depressed fractures. Plastered skulls from Kosk Hoyuk were recovered along with funerary offerings of beads, bone tools, and possibly copper, and derived from a variety of intramural contexts. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The main goal of project DUNE was to estimate the impact of atmospheric deposition on an oligotrophic ecosystem based on mesocosm experiments simulating strong atmospheric inputs of eolian mineral dust. Our mesocosm experiments aimed at being representative of real atmospheric deposition events onto the surface of oligotrophic marine waters and were an original attempt to consider the vertical dimension after atmospheric deposition at the sea surface. This introductory paper describes the objectives of DUNE and the implementation plan of a series of mesocosm experiments conducted in the Mediterranean Sea in 2008 and 2010 during which either wet or dry and a succession of two wet deposition fluxes of 10 g m -2 of Saharan dust have been simulated based on the production of dust analogs from erodible soils of a source region. After the presentation of the main biogeochemical initial conditions of the site at the time of each experiment, a general overview of the papers published in this special issue is presented. From laboratory results on the solubility of trace elements in dust to biogeochemical results from the mesocosm experiments and associated modeling, these papers describe how the strong simulated dust deposition events impacted the marine biogeochemistry. Those multidisciplinary results are bringing new insights into the role of atmospheric deposition on oligotrophic ecosystems and its impact on the carbon budget. The dissolved trace metals with crustal origin - Mn, Al and Fe - showed different behaviors as a function of time after the seeding. The increase in dissolved Mn and Al concentrations was attributed to dissolution processes. The observed decrease in dissolved Fe was due to scavenging on sinking dust particles and aggregates. When a second dust seeding followed, a dissolution of Fe from the dust particles was then observed due to the excess Fe binding ligand concentrations present at that time. Calcium nitrate and sulfate were formed in the dust analog for wet deposition following evapocondensation with acids for simulating cloud processing by polluted air masses under anthropogenic influence. Using a number of particulate tracers that were followed in the water column and in the sediment traps, it was shown that the dust composition evolves after seeding by total dissolution of these salts. This provided a large source of new dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the surface waters. In spite of this dissolution, the typical inter-elemental ratios in the particulate matter, such as Ti / Al or Ba / Al, are not affected during the dust settling, confirming their values as proxies of lithogenic fluxes or of productivity in sediment traps. DUNE experiments have clearly shown the potential for Saharan wet deposition to modify the in situ concentrations of dissolved elements of biogeochemical interest such as Fe and also P and N. Indeed, wet deposition yielded a transient increase in dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) followed by a very rapid return to initial conditions or no return to initial conditions when a second dust seeding followed. By transiently increasing DIP and DIN concentrations in P- and N-starved surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea, wet deposition of Saharan dust can likely relieve the potential P and/or N limitation of biological activity; this has been directly quantified in terms of biological response. Wet deposition of dust strongly stimulated primary production and phytoplanktonic biomass during several days. Small phytoplankton ( 3 μm) significantly increased after the second one, indicating that larger-sized cells need further nutrient supply in order to be able to adjust their physiology and compete for resource acquisition and biomass increase. Among the microorganisms responding to the atmospheric inputs, diazotrophs were stimulated by both wet and dry atmospheric deposition, although N 2 fixation was shown to be only responsible for a few percent of the induced new production. Dust deposition modified the bacterial community structure by selectively stimulating and inhibiting certain members of the bacterial community. The microbial food web dynamics were strongly impacted by dust deposition. The carbon budget indicates that the net heterotrophic character (i.e., ratio of net primary production to bacteria respiration 2 source. Nonetheless, the system was able to export organic material, half of it being associated with lithogenic particles through aggregation processes between lithogenic particles and organic matter. These observations support the "ballast" hypothesis and suggest that this "lithogenic carbon pump" could represent a major contribution of the global carbon export to deep waters in areas receiving high rates of atmospheric deposition. Furthermore, a theoretical microbial food web model showed that, all other things being equal, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometric mismatch along the food chain can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem response to nutrient inputs from dusts, with changes in the biomass of all biological compartments by a factor of ~ 2-4, and shifts from net autotrophy to net heterotrophy. Although the model was kept simple, it highlights the importance of stoichiometric constrains on the dynamics of microbial food webs.


Flagellar movement of human spermatozoa held by their heads with a micropipette was recorded by means of a video-strobe system. Spermatozoa were studied in normal Hanks' solution, Hanks' solution with increased viscosity, cervical mucus, and hyaluronic acid.

When flagellar movement in normal Hanks' solution was observed from the direction parallel to the beating plane, segments of the flagellum in focus did not lie on a straight line but on two diverging dashed lines. The distance between the two dashed lines was about 20% of the bend amplitude in the major beating plane. These observations indicate that flagellar beating of human spermatozoa in normal Hanks' solution is not planar. In contrast, segments of the flagellum in focus lay on a straight line when the spermatozoa were observed in Hanks' solution with increased viscosity, cervical mucus, or hyaluronic acid. In normal Hanks' solution, free swimming spermatozoa rotated constantly around their longitudinal axes with a frequency similar to the beat frequency, whereas little or no rotation of spermatozoa occurred in Hanks' solution with increased viscosity, in cervical mucus, or in hyaluronic acid.

We conclude that human spermatozoa in normal Hanks' solution beat with a conical helical waveform having an elliptical cross section, the semiaxes of which have a ratio of 0.2. The three-dimensional geometry of the flagellar movement is responsible for the rotation of the sperm around their longitudinal axes.


First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world part myth, part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense love and warrior ideals, in which the otherworld is explored and men mingle freely with the gods. From the vivid adventures of the great Celtic hero Cu Chulaind, to the stunning Exile of the Sons of Uisliu' a tale of treachery, honour and romance these are masterpieces of passion and vitality, and form the foundation for the Irish literary tradition: a mythic legacy that was a powerful influence on the work of Yeats, Synge and Joyce.


This Article, published as part of a Symposium on "The Rehnquist Court and the First Amendment," responds to another Article, titled "Property and Speech," by Professor Robert A. Sedler. In the Article, Professor Saxer builds upon Professor Sedler's analysis that the First Amendment can be used as a "sword" against property owners who seek to exclude free expression with claims of private ownership rights and as a "shield" against government attempts to restrict individual rights by regulating property use. While Professor Sedler concludes that, because the First Amendment has been used to significantly interfere with property rights, protection of free expression is strong in the United States, Professor Saxer posits that such a conclusion may show just how weak property rights have become. Professor Saxer argues that the Rehnquist Court has reduced the protection of private property rights against government action, while restricting private property owners' rights to exclude private actors who trespass or substantially interfere with their use and enjoyment of property interests. Professor Saxer also addresses a category of government action not mentioned by Professor Sedler – the government's use of eminent domain, which can be used as a "sword" against undesirable land uses, even if those uses are protected by the First Amendment. Professor Saxer contrasts the treatment of church property and adult businesses in the eminent domain context. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) acts as a "shield" against government land use decisions that impact religious land uses by requiring heightened judicial scrutiny. However, adult business land uses are not similarly protected against eminent domain actions.


A height-tapered double cantilever beam specimen was introduced for the study of loading rate effects on Mode I delamination fracture toughness of graphite/epoxy composite. The material investigated was AS4/3501-6 graphite/epoxy. The height contour of the specimen was designed to provide a slightly decreasing compliance with increasing crack length in order to produce a stable and smooth crack propagation at high rates of loading. Furthermore, the specimen geometry selected allowed the attainment of much higher crack propagation velocities than was possible with uniform or width-tapered double cantilever beam specimens. The specimens were machined from 24-ply and 48-ply unidirectional plates. A 5.08-cm-long (2-in.) initial crack was machined at the narrow end of the specimen. The specimens were loaded in an Instron electrohydraulic machine at constant crosshead (opening deflection) rates ranging from 7.5 X 10 - 3 mm/s (1.8 X 10 - 2 in./min) to 460 mm/s (1.07 X 10 3 in./min) corresponding to crack extension rates of up to 26 m/s (61 500 in./min). This represents a 500-fold increase in crack velocity over that studied in previous work. Crack extension was monitored by means of a conductive-paint circuit applied along the path of the propagating crack. Continuous records were obtained of the load, deflection, and crack extension for determination of the strain energy release rate. The latter was calculated by the beam analysis method extended to include the effects of transverse shear and kinetic energy. It was found that the strain energy release rate increases with crack velocity up to a value of approximately 1 m/s (2360 in./min); thereafter, it decreases with increasing crack velocity. The maximum value of the strain energy release rate was approximately 46% higher than the quasi-static value.


Photograph of businesses at Four Corners in Sabine Pass, Texas. Signs on the front of a building facing to the front say "Grand Prize," "The Jetties Sea Food Inn," "Sea Food Dinners 50 [cents] 75 [cents] $1.00," and "Entrance." Signs on a building facing to the right side say "The Jetties Seafood Inn" and "Coca-Cola." A row of cars are parked outside the buildings.


To describe the development in blood pressure (BP) in relation to urinary albumin excretion (UAE) more exactly, 44 initially normoalbuminuric type I diabetic patients and 21 healthy individuals were included in a 3.1-year follow-up study by using ambulatory BP (AMBP) monitoring. Six patients developed microalbuminuria according to accepted criteria (progressors; UAE at follow-up was >20 μg/min). Initial UAE was higher in this group (9.0 ×/÷ by 1.4 μg/min) compared with both the nonprogressors (5.2 ×/÷ by 1.6 μg/min) and the control subjects (3.9 ×/÷ by 1.6 μg/min), P < 0.01. The values were almost identical for initial 24-h AMBP between the progressors and the two other groups. The transition to microalbuminuria (31.7 ×/÷ by 1.8 μg/min) was associated with an increase in 24-h systolic AMBP of 11.5 ± 8.3 mmHg, which was significantly higher than the increase in the nonprogressors (3.1 ± 7.7 mmHg) and the control subjects (2.2 ± 6.1 mmHg, P = 0.02). Significant correlations were detected between development in UAE and development in systolic and diastolic 24-h AMBP (r = 0.39, r = 0.41, P < 0.01). In addition, an increase in UAE, even including increases within the normoalbuminuric range, was always associated with an increase in 24-h AMBP (P < 0.01). Ordinary clinical measurements did not reveal any of these differences or correlations. In conclusion, a close association between increases in UAE and 24-h AMBP emerges in this study. Initial BP was not increased in the progressors. microalbuminuria is associated with significant BP increases but only when AMBP monitoring is analyzed.


123°00′W) occurs primarily during relaxation from upwelling, when warm water flows poleward from the Gulf of the Farallones. During 1994 and 1995 we sampled planktonic larval distributions and hydrography both south and north of Point Reyes during upwelling to test whether high concentrations of crab and rockfish larvae were concentrated in the source of the relaxation flow to the south of Point Reyes. An upwelling plume off Point Reyes and an "upwelling shadow," indicated by warmer, less saline water in the northern Gulf, were evident in both years, as were frontal regions that marked the boundaries between water types of three different types: (1) newly upwelled, (2) oceanic, and (3) San Francisco Bay outflow. In addition, there was a fourth type, termed Gulf water, that was a mixture of these three types. Concentrations of larvae of cancrid, pinnotherid, and "coastal" crabs and rockfishes were high south of Point Reyes but were low or absent in the newly upwelled water north of the point. Within the upwelling shadow, these meroplankton taxa were associated with different water masses. Several intertidal crab species and early‐stage cancrid crabs were concentrated in San Francisco Bay outflow water, and coastal Gulf water late‐stage cancrid crabs, early‐ and late‐stage pinnotherid crabs, and rockfishes were concentrated at the frontal region between newly upwelled and Gulf water. Of the taxa examined, only rockfishes were found offshore in oceanic water. The high concentrations of meroplankton observed suggest that the Gulf of the Farallones is an important retention area for larvae that settle into coastal populations in the Gulf and to the north via poleward transport during upwelling relaxation.


American tort law includes a significant strand of liability tied to an intriguing concept variously termed "peculiar risk," "special danger," and "special risk inherent in the work," among others. Peculiar risk presents a basis for liability different from other standards or actions that trigger liability in tort law - it is different from intent, recklessness, negligence, nuisance, and abnormally dangerous activity. Both England and the United States endorsed versions of the doctrine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet, by 1965, American and English tort law had sharply diverged on the doctrine. American courts continued to apply it; meanwhile, the doctrine had been severely limited in England and rejected in several other common law countries. The divide between the American approach and treatment of the doctrine outside the U.S. is a puzzle. In countries that have rejected or severely limited the doctrine, the critiques have included decisional indeterminacy and shaky historical and normative justifications. Yet a doctrine subject to these criticisms elsewhere has remained well accepted in the United States in the last thirty years - a thirty-year period characterized by extensive tort reform across the bandwidth of tort law.This Article explores three points about this divide between American tort law and the tort law of other common law countries: when and how the divide occurred; why this doctrine - whose breadth and indeterminacy spelled its disfavor elsewhere - remained well-accepted in America despite the intensity and duration of American tort reform; and whether the American version of the doctrine offers lessons for tort law outside the United States.


Although a great deal of research has been conducted on sustainability, technology initiatives and practices and their individual connection with leadership, very little research has been conducted on identifying the leadership practices within a technology innovation and the effect those practices have on sustainability. Effective leadership practices can assist leaders in effectively sustaining innovations.
 This study examined leadership practices in four high schools that had implemented and sustained IMPACT as an innovation. The study utilized existing data gathered from IMPACT schools. Data were gathered in surveys, site visits and year end reports. The primary question of this study was: What set of leadership practices is important to the successful sustainability of an innovation? A complementary mixed method research design was used to inform this study (Yauch & Steudel, 2003). This method utilized quantitative and qualitative methods gathered concurrently. The analyses of the findings from this study identified leadership practices in the sustaining schools were the same leadership practices identified in the literature. Leadership practices were anchored in the culture of the school, which is supported by the fact that none of the three sustaining schools had exactly the same predominant leadership practices.


Why policies should be based on careful consideration of their costs and benefits rather than on intuition, popular opinion, interest groups, and anecdotes. Opinions on government policies vary widely. Some people feel passionately about the child obesity epidemic and support government regulation of sugary drinks. Others argue that people should be able to eat and drink whatever they like. Some people are alarmed about climate change and favor aggressive government intervention. Others don't feel the need for any sort of climate regulation. In The Cost-Benefit Revolution, Cass Sunstein argues our major disagreements really involve facts, not values. It follows that government policy should not be based on public opinion, intuitions, or pressure from interest groups, but on numbers-meaning careful consideration of costs and benefits. Will a policy save one life, or one thousand lives? Will it impose costs on consumers, and if so, will the costs be high or negligible? Will it hurt workers and small businesses, and, if so, precisely how much? As the Obama administration's "regulatory czar," Sunstein knows his subject in both theory and practice. Drawing on behavioral economics and his well-known emphasis on "nudging," he celebrates the cost-benefit revolution in policy making, tracing its defining moments in the Reagan, Clinton, and Obama administrations (and pondering its uncertain future in the Trump administration). He acknowledges that public officials often lack information about costs and benefits, and outlines state-of-the-art techniques for acquiring that information. Policies should make people's lives better. Quantitative cost-benefit analysis, Sunstein argues, is the best available method for making this happen-even if, in the future, new measures of human well-being, also explored in this book, may be better still.


Two dominant estuarine marsh plants, Juncus roemerianus and Spartina alterniflora, were exposed for 35 d to three dose levels of atrazine with measured concentrations of approximately 0.03, 0.25, and 3 mg/L to assess peroxidase (POD) activity, lipid peroxidation, chlorophyll changes, and growth rates. The objective of the study was to evaluate toxicity of atrazine and to measure multiple endpoints to assess their value as biomarkers of atrazine stress or resistance. In S. alterniflora, exposure to 3.1 mg/L of atrazine did not significantly inhibit growth, generated no lipid peroxidation products, and did not affect chlorophyll production, but did significantly enhance POD activity. In contrast, in J. roemerianus, atrazine exposure significantly inhibited growth at 3.8 mg/L, produced lipid peroxidation products and inhibited chlorophyll production in a dose‐response fashion, and did not elicit a POD response. In combination, POD activity and lipid peroxidation are useful indicators of atrazine stress to these plants. Results of the study indicate that J. roemerianus would decline or die off if exposed to chronically high environmental concentrations of atrazine, whereas minimal damage would occur to S. alterniflora.


A detailed multi-year analysis of the breeding biology, diet and foraging strategies of
Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) from the Bechervaise Island colony in East
Antarctica was carried out in relation to gender and environmental conditions such as
sea ice extent. Data on breeding success and foraging activities (location, trip duration,
and diving behaviour) were collected during the 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 austral
summers along with dietary samples. Analyses included data and samples from four
previous seasons in addition to the new material.
Several hundred penguins of known sex within the colony were individually identified
by means of implanted electronic tags to allow automated detection of their travel to and
from their nest sites. Multi-year data on the nest and mate fidelity and breeding success
of these birds were available for analysis. The breeding success and variations in
foraging strategies (trip duration, diet, dive depth, and foraging location) of tagged
individuals were analysed in detail over a number of seasons to study the ways in which
these variables change from year to year and to determine how the variations relate to
environmental factors.
Subcutaneously implanted transponders have proved to be a reliable means of
identifying individual penguins, and the usefulness of these passive electronic tags was
evaluated as the research project progressed. Survival of Adelie penguins carrying
transponders over seven seasons was found to be equal to or better than that of birds
with flipper bands, although not statistically significant on an annual basis.
Survivorship of fledglings tagged as chicks was greater than that determined by previous
researchers using banded populations of fledglings.
Occasional problems associated with the use of implanted transponders were observed.
The transponder removed from one bird had developed a slimy biofilm harbouring
potentially pathogenic organisms incorporated at the time of implantation. If such
contamination was to be common the long-term survival of groups of birds carrying implanted transponders could be lowered below that of unmarked populations.
Migration of transponders away from the injection site into potentially hazardous
locations, which might jeopardise survival in some individuals, was also demonstrated.
Such risk factors could limit the use of implanted identification devices in long-lived or
endangered species. However, introduction of bacteria can be minimised by careful
injection techniques and cleansing of instruments and skin with iodine or alcohol. The
choice of a suitable implantation site, such as midway down the back, from which
transponders may migrate without impinging upon vital structures, is also important. It
was concluded that transponders, when used with care, provide a viable alternative to
flipper bands in demographic studies of penguins.
Consistent sex differences in foraging trip duration, feeding locality and diet of breeding
Adelie penguins were demonstrated at two widely separated locations over several
breeding seasons. Differences in foraging behaviour were most pronounced during the
guard stage of chick rearing. Female penguins made on average longer foraging trips
than males, ranged greater distances more frequently and consumed larger quantities of
krill (Euphausia superba). In contrast, males made shorter journeys to closer foraging
grounds during the guard period and fed more extensively on fish throughout chick
rearing. Mean guard stage foraging trip durations over four seasons at Bechervaise Island, East
Antarctica and over two seasons at Edmonson Point, Ross Sea ranged between 31-73 hr
for females and 25-36 hr for males. Ninety percent of males tracked from Bechervaise
Island by satellite during the first three weeks post-hatch foraged within 20 km of the
colony, while the majority (60%) of females travelled to the edge of the continental
shelf 80--120 km from the colony to feed during this period.
The overall composition of the Adelie penguin diet varied between seasons at both
locations. However, krill comprised a greater proportion of the diet of female penguins
than that of male birds at each colony during the guard period. Males on the other hand tended to eat greater amounts of fish and amphipods than did females. These sex
differences, although consistent from year to year, were however not statistically
significant.
Analyses of the body masses of males and females departing on foraging trips of long
and short duration (> and <40 hr respectively) showed that the departure weights of
birds prior to long trips were significantly lighter than were those prior to short trips.
Birds, particularly males, were heavier at the start of the guard stage than at the end, and
both sexes gained weight slightly over the creche period.
The observed gender differences in trip duration, foraging location and diet are
discussed in terms of energy requirements, intraspecific partitioning of foraging and
territorial behaviour. The existence of a two-fold foraging strategy due to a trade-off
between the allocation of food to chicks and the storage of parental body reserves is
postulated. The relevance of such a foraging strategy to the breeding success of
penguins in the Mawson region is discussed in relation to krill, fish and zooplankton
distribution in the area.
Variations in the diving patterns of 18 Adelie penguins rearing chicks were examined
over two breeding seasons in relation to foraging trip duration, gender and change in fast
ice extent. Mean dive depth, duration and percent bottom time overall were 18.5 m,
1.02 min and 26.4% respectively. Maximal depths reached on individual trips ranged
from 14 to 112 m. Twenty-seven percent of all dives were to depths <5 m; 54% were
 50 m. No diurnal patterns of diving frequency or
depth were apparent.
Penguins making short trips (<40 hr) rarely dived deeper than 50 m, with 91% of all
dives <40 m in depth. Most short trips took place during the guard stage when fast ice
was present around the island. Long trips (>40 hr) occurred during both the guard and
creche stages, and showed a bimodal pattern of dive depths with the secondary peak
occurring at 40-70 m. Mean dive depth, duration and percent bottom time all increased as the ice extent reduced. The birds, particularly males, showed a tendency to make
shorter trips and perform shorter, shallower dives when fast ice was present than when
there was open water.
Male birds undertaking short trips showed significantly greater variability in mean dive
depths and durations than did females on short trips or birds of either sex on long trips.
Penguins of both sexes making long trips spent on average approximately fifty percent
more time on the bottom than did those making short trips. Logistic regression analysis
identified percentage of time on the bottom as the strongest indicator for discrimination
between trips of long and short duration. No predictor variables were identified that
could be used to discriminate between the trips of males and females.
The extensive foraging range of Adelie penguins in the Mawson region enables birds to
forage in three distinct oceanographic zones each dominated by different micronekton
communities. Most birds ingested larger quantities of krill (E. superba) on long trips
than short, while consumption of fish was more common on short trips. The
relationship between diet composition and diving behaviour on trips of different
duration is discussed. Changes in diving behaviour as environmental conditions alter
may reflect the capacity of penguins to modify their foraging strategies in response to
spatial and temporal variations in the distribution of their prey.
The results of the studies described in this thesis provide some new insights into the
foraging ecology of Adelie penguins in the Mawson region of East Antarctica. These
may help facilitate the modification and improvement of existing ecosystem-based
monitoring programs such as the Convention for the Conservation of Marine Living
Resources (CCAMLR) Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP), and also aid the
interpretation of data from such programs.


This paper presents recent research findings in the psychoacoustics of 3D multichannel sound recording and rendering. The addition of height channels in new reproduction formats such as Auro-3D, Dolby Atmos and 22.2, etc. enhances the perceived spatial impression in reproduction. To achieve optimal acoustic recording and signal processing for such formats, it is first important to understand the fundamental principles of how we perceive sounds reproduced from vertically oriented stereophonic loudspeakers. Recent studies by the authors in this field provide insights into how such principles can be applied for practical 3D recording and upmixing. Topics that are discussed in this paper include the interchannel level and time difference relationships in terms of vertically induced interchannel crosstalk, the effectiveness of the precedence effect in the vertical plane, the aspect of tonal coloration resulting from vertical stereophonic reproduction, the effect of vertical microphone spacing on envelopment, the effect of interchannel decorrelation, and the use of spectral cues for extending vertical image spread.


This article explores the relationship between racial composition of neighborhoods and approval and origination of mortgages. It measures independent neighborhood effects, above and beyond applicant race effects preceding the recent housing market crisis for rental and owner–occupied homes. Mortgage applications are selected from the dozen most populated metropolitan areas in New England. Applications are linked to corresponding neighborhood data and generalized linear mixed modeling is applied. Data include prehousing market crash Housing Mortgage Disclosure Act data matched to American Community Survey 5–year data for over one million applications. Findings indicate, although controlling for income, gender, and race of the applicant, poverty and tenure, and additional socioeconomic variables, neighborhood racial composition has a statistically significant effect on whether mortgages are approved and originated. Minority presence is correlated with a negative effect on mortgage origination regardless of race of the individual loan applicant. More specifically, whites' applications are also turned down in minority neighborhoods, especially black neighborhoods.


Allergic asthma is characterized by airway inflammation in response to chronic allergen exposure, resulting in remodeling of the airway wall accompanied by dysfunctional airway physiology. However, a link between the immune-inflammatory response to allergen and changes to airway structure and physiology has not yet been fully elucidated. Moreover, the impact of inhaled corticosteroids and beta(2)-agonists, the primary pharmacotherapy for asthma, on this process has not been completely evaluated. In this study, we employed a murine model of chronic exposure to a common environmental aeroallergen, house dust mite, to recapitulate the phenotype of clinical asthma. By examining the therapeutic effects of corticosteroid/beta(2)-agonist combination therapy with budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FORM) in this model of airway disease, we endeavored to determine the impact of BUD/FORM on lung inflammation, structure, and physiology. BUD/FORM was delivered either while allergen exposure was ongoing (concurrent therapy) or following the cessation of allergen exposure (postexposure therapy). Our results show that airway inflammation was substantially reduced in BUD/FORM-treated mice in the concurrent therapy group, whereas in the postexposure therapy group airway inflammation spontaneously resolved. In contrast, BUD/FORM was most effective in resolving several aspects of airway remodeling and bronchial hyperreactivity when delivered in conjunction with allergen withdrawal. This study demonstrates that although both BUD/FORM therapy and allergen avoidance independently reduce airway inflammation, only BUD/FORM therapy in conjunction with allergen avoidance can effectively reverse airway remodeling and bronchial hyperreactivity induced by chronic allergen exposure.


Introduction:
 Conflicting results surround the relationship between dog ownership and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Registration of dog ownership has been mandatory in Sweden since 2001 and it is estimated that 83% of dogs are registered. The aim of this study was to use the Swedish national dog registers to assess the association of dog ownership and incident cardiovascular disease.

 Methods:
 The study cohort was defined from the Register of the Total Population including all Swedish residents aged 40-75 years in 2001. The personal identity number was used to link records to the Longitudinal Integration Database for Health Insurance and Labor Market Studies, the National Patient Register and the Cause of Death Register for socioeconomic variables and health outcomes. Dog exposure was defined as being registered or having a partner registered as a dog owner in either the Swedish Board of Agriculture and/or the Swedish Kennel Club dog registers. Study participants with cardiovascular events before baseline or immigrating to Sweden after 1987 were excluded. Outcomes were examined independently and included coronary heart disease, heart failure, ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. Cox proportional hazards regression using age as time-scale was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Study subjects were censored at death, emigration or 31st December 2012. Models were adjusted for sex, marital status, presence of children <18 years in the household, country of birth, province of residence, education level and income.

 Results:
 The study population included 3 113 864 individuals, of whom 169 395 (5.4%) were dog owners. At baseline, the median age was 55 years in non-owners (interquartile range, IQR, 48 -62) and 52 years in dog owners (IQR 46-58). Dog ownership was inversely associated with hemorrhagic stroke (30 513 events, HR 0.93 [95% CI 0.88-0.98]), ischemic stroke (91 160 events, HR 0.94 [0.91-0.98]) and heart failure (67 740 events, HR 0.95 [0.91-0.99]). There was no association with coronary heart disease (165 275 events, HR 0.99 [0.97-1.01]).

 Conclusion:
 Our study provides evidence that dog owners are at a lower risk for ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke and heart failure. This relationship could be explained by a positive effect of dog ownership on daily exercise and psychosocial health or be due to unmeasured confounding. Although the cohort was free from cardiovascular disease at baseline, we cannot exclude the possibility that those individuals that buy a dog have better overall health than those that do not.


Growing up in Diverse Societies provides a comprehensive analysis of the integration of children of immigrants in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. It is based on the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), which included harmonised interviews with almost 19,000 14-15-year-olds. Growing up in Diverse Societies studies the life situation, social relations, and attitudes of adolescents in different ethnic minority groups, and compares these systematically to the majority youth in the four countries. The chapters cover a wide range of aspects of integration, all addressing comparisons between origin groups, generations, and destination countries, and elucidating processes accounting for differences. The results challenge much of the current thinking on the state of integration. In some respects, such as own economic means, delinquency, and mental health, children of immigrants are surprisingly similar to majority youth, while in other respects there are large dissimilarities. There are also substantial differences between ethnic minority groups, with the economic and cultural distance of the origin regions to the destination country being a key factor. For some outcomes, such as language proficiency or host country identification, dissimilarities seem to narrow over generations, but this does not hold for other outcomes, such as religiosity and attitudes. Remaining differences partly depend on ethnic segregation, some on socioeconomic inequality, and others on parental influences. Most interestingly, Growing up in Diverse Societies finds that the four destination countries, though different in their immigration histories, policy approaches, and contextual conditions, are on the whole rather similar in the general patterns of integration and in the underlying processes.


We investigate whether and when the social network among legislators aid a
lobby group in influencing voting decisions of legislators. The baseline model
involves a group of legislators that are connected via an exogenously given network.
Each legislator can vote for the status-quo policy or an alternative policy.
A lobby can credibly promise payments to legislators if they vote for the alternative.
The lobby chooses these payments to maximize the sum of legislators'
probabilities of voting for the alternative policy subject to a budget constraint.
Legislators value the payment they receive, and all legislators are assumed to
have a common preference bias towards (or against) the status quo policy. The
key feature of the model is that a legislator derives additional utility from voting
in line with those legislators with whom she is directly connected in her
network.


We have theoretically and experimentally investigated using a dual parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) in an RF photonic link to cancel the second harmonic distortion due to the photodiode. Biasing the DP-MZM for single sideband modulation, the second harmonic generated by the DP-MZM can be set out of phase with the second harmonic generated at the photodiode. We measure the output intercept point of the second harmonic distortion of the link to be 55.3 dBm, which is an improvement of over 32 dB as compared to only the photodiode.


Main concepts of quasi-stationary distributions (QSDs) for killed processes are the focus of the present volume. For diffusions, the killing is at the boundary and for dynamical systems there is a trap. The authors present the QSDs as the ones that allow describing the long-term behavior conditioned to not being killed. Studies in this research area started with Kolmogorov and Yaglom and in the last few decades have received a great deal of attention. The authors provide the exponential distribution property of the killing time for QSDs, present the more general result on their existence and study the process of trajectories that survive forever. For birth-and-death chains and diffusions, the existence of a single or a continuum of QSDs is described. They study the convergence to the extremal QSD and give the classification of the survival process. In this monograph, the authors discuss Gibbs QSDs for symbolic systems and absolutely continuous QSDs for repellers. The findings described are relevant to researchers in the fields of Markov chains, diffusions, potential theory, dynamical systems, and in areas where extinction is a central concept. The theory is illustrated with numerous examples. The volume uniquely presents the distribution behavior of individuals who survive in a decaying population for a very long time. It also provides the background for applications in mathematical ecology, statistical physics, computer sciences, and economics.


Innovation and standardization might seem polar opposites, but over many years various scholars have noted close connections between the two. This Handbook assembles a broad range of thinking on this subject, with contributions from several disciplinary perspectives by over 30 leading scholars and experienced practitioners. Collectively, they summarize and synthesize the existing body of knowledge – theory and evidence – pertaining to standards and innovation, and provide insights into how this knowledge can be useful to scholars, industrial strategists, policy-makers and standards practitioners.


Objective We evaluated blood concentrations of kynurenine pathway metabolites, natural and induced regulatory T cells (nTreg, iTreg), and Th17 cells in order to examine the activity of the kynurenine pathway and its relation to immune status in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Methods Plasma concentrations of tryptophan, kynurenine, kynurenic acid, anthranilic acid, and 3-hydroxykynurenine were quantified in 26 patients with PAH (vs 30 healthy controls) at baseline and after 6 months, and assessed them in relation to clinical parameters, frequencies of lymphocyte subsets, and outcome. Results The PAH group presented higher concentrations of tryptophan (52.9 (IQR 46.3–57.5) vs 40.3 (35.2–46.3) µmol/L, p=0.00003), kynurenine 2.8 (2.4−3.4) vs 1.9 (1.5–2.3) µmol/L, p=0.000007), kynurenine/tryptophan ratio (0.051 (0.044–0.064) vs 0.043 (0.039–0.055), p=0.03), iTreg frequencies (10.5 (8.8–13.9)% vs 6.8 (5.2–9.5)%, p=0.002) and iTreg/Th17 (1.73 (1.2–2.8) vs 0.93 (0.61–1.27), p=0.003) together with lower ratios of kynurenic acid/kynurenine, 3-hydroxykynurenine/kynurenine, and anthranilic acid/kynurenine. Kynurenine concentrations and kynurenine/tryptophan ratio correlated positively with iTreg/Th17, and inversely with Th17 subsets, whereas kynurenic acid/kynurenine and anthranilic acid/kynurenine ratios correlated positively with Th17. Adverse outcomes occurred in 9 of 26 patients and they showed higher baseline concentrations of kynurenine (3.6 (2.8–4.3) vs 2.7 (2.1–3.2) µmol/L, p=0.033). Median kynurenine values ≥3.4 µmol/L (67% sensitivity, 94% specificity) identified patients with a worse clinical course. Conclusions PAH is characterised by upregulated tryptophan metabolism and enhanced biosynthesis of kynurenine. Elevated kynurenine concentration is associated with an adverse clinical course. Dysregulated immunity, delineated by Treg-Th17 imbalance, is directly related to diverse activation of the kynurenine pathway, indicating the potential interplay between kynurenines and the immune system in PAH.


Pleistocene climate fluctuations rearranged ecosystems, and influenced the contemporary distribution of modern species. Although specialist species were often restricted to isolated refugia by Pleistocene climate change, generalist species may have been less constrained in their distribution and movements. We used a combination of genetic data and previously published fossil data to investigate the phylogeography and contemporary population structure of a generalist species, the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). We sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene (601 base pairs) and amplified 8 microsatellite loci from 314 striped skunk specimens. Phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome-b gene revealed the presence of 4 distinct phylogroups, and examination of microsatellite data indicated a pattern of secondary contact among these clades. We infer from these data that during the Rancholabrean stage prior to the Illinoian glaciation, striped skunks emerged from a southern refugium in the Texas–Mexico region and colonized the southeastern United States, forming a 2nd, later refugium in the east. This colonization was followed by a 2nd dispersal event from the southern source population to west of the Rocky Mountains during the Illinoian glacial period. During the Sangamonian interglacial stage, 2 distinct subclades formed on either side of the Sierra Nevada. During the Holocene, the subclade that colonized the Great Basin then expanded east across the northern Rockies and recolonized the Great Plains to create an area of secondary contact with the southern phylogroup. Secondary contact occurred to a lesser extent with individuals from the eastern phylogroup east of the Mississippi River. It appears that periodic Pleistocene glacial expansions and retreats caused a series of range expansions and secondary contact events in this native North American species to create a complex pattern of population structure today.


This essay aims to use my family history as a prism to examine the religious beliefs and practices of the Chinese diaspora in twentieth century Singapore. It contends that religion played a vital role in shaping the communal identity and contributing to the spiritual well-being of the Chinese migrants. By exploring the migrant experience, and analyzing the religious beliefs and practices of my Ah Ma as told to me, this essay attempts to answer three big questions: what did religion mean to the overseas Chinese community in general and my Ah Ma—a Chinese immigrant woman—in particular?; what were these religious beliefs and practices, and what functions did they serve?; and finally, how could the study of my Ah Ma's religious beliefs offer an alternative narrative to Singapore's history?


We present a mathematical model for the formation of an avascular tumor based on the loss by gene mutation of the tumor suppressor function of p53. The wild type p53 protein regulates apoptosis, cell expression of growth factor and matrix metalloproteinase, which are regulatory functions that many mutant p53 proteins do not possess. The focus is on a description of cell movement as the transport of cell population density rather than as the movement of individual cells. In contrast to earlier works on solid tumor growth, a model is proposed for the initiation of tumor growth. The central idea, taken from the mathematical theory of dynamical systems, is to view the loss of p53 function in a few cells as a small instability in a rest state for an appropriate system of differential equations describing cell movement. This instability is shown (numerically) to lead to a second, spatially inhomogeneous, solution that can be thought of as a solid tumor whose growth is nutrient diffusion limited. In this formulation, one is led to a system of nine partial differential equations. We show computationally that there can be tumor states that coexist with benign states and that are highly unstable in the sense that a slight increase in tumor size results in the tumor occupying the sample region while a slight decrease in tumor size results in its ultimate disappearance.


Numerous studies have appeared that describe the importance of resistance integrons (RIs) and superintegrons (SIs) in antibiotic resistance, microbial physiology, and environmental adaptation in phylogenetically diverse gram-negative bacteria. This chapter describes the genetic organization of an integron; summarizes the different classes of RIs and highlights their importance in antibiotic resistance; describes the organization of an SI; and highlights the structure of the key component of the integron, the integrase, and its binding to an attC site. There are two types of recombinases: tyrosine recombinases (integrases) and serine recombinases (resolvases or invertases). The attC site is an imperfect inverted repeat located at the 3' end of the gene. Cassettes are always integrated in the same orientation and are cotranscribed from one or two common promoters (P1 or P2) located in the 5' conserved segment (CS). To date, five distinct integron classes have been found associated with cassettes that contain antibiotic resistance genes. Three main classes of integrons (classes 1, 2, and 3) have been described in gram-negative bacteria. The similarity between the three integrases (40 to 58% genetic identity) suggests that their evolutionary divergence extended beyond the introduction of antibiotics into clinical medicine.


The shift towards a green consumerism has been globally evident since the 1980s. Government, business and individuals have become increasingly aware of the concept of "green" to reduce the environmental footprint of goods and services. These movements have also spawned a dramatic increase in the number of researches into consumer's green behaviours. Major advances in green consumption literature in the past years have been made with a focus on the following dimensions: personal beliefs (Kilbourne & Pickett, 2008); environmental knowledge (Chan, 2001); environmental attitudes (do Paco et al., 2013); environmental values (Koller et al., 2011); social influence and government policies (Ozaki, 2011) and a set of environmental barriers (Bray et al., 2011). Many of these prior studies have involved models derived from the field of psychology (Ozaki & Sevastyanova, 2011), sociology (Gadenne et al., 2011), and institutional change (Shove, 2010).

Although prior studies have paid significant attention to the role of customer perceived value in marketing performance and customers' purchase decision making process, empirical research on the concept of perceived green value (PGV) is scarce. The term is operated as a unidimensional construct in Chen & Chang (2012) and Haws et al.' (2014) studies, which are only concerning about the environmental consciousness aspect. However, these findings are limited by not explicitly capturing various motivations for the concept. Therefore, the first objective of this research is to corroborate and further advance the construct of PGV developed by Chen & Chang (2012) and Haws et al (2014) in the green marketing literature. Specifically, it conceptualises the construct as a second-order construct that is created from five reflective first-order constructs: ecological, functional, symbolic, experiential and epistemic values.

Second, past literature fails to examine the factors needed to reflect explicitly the value-costs attributes of customers' purchase behaviours towards green products. To date, there has been limited research into comprehensively understanding customers' perceptions and the decision making process towards the value vs. monetary cost comparison of green products. Therefore, aiming to supplement existing knowledge on green consumption behaviour, this research adapts the consumption value theory and utility theory framework in the context of green consumption. The Utility Theory provides the conceptual underpinning of this issue by asserting that consumers' perceived utility of buying a product is derived from the difference between the values of a product (acquisition utility) and the price paid (transaction utility) in a purchase (Thaler, 1985). The second objective of this research is to provide an overview of the interacting effects of PGV with acquisition and transaction utility perceptions on green purchase intention.

Third, despite their ethical perceptions, it is often the case that greenly minded consumers rarely purchase green products. This gap is important, yet poorly understood by researchers (Carrington et al., 2010). To bridge this gap, this research further adds support to extant research by showing that the impact of the utilities of consumption on green products purchase intention depends on different types of customers. We introduce three moderating factors: customer innovativeness, customer knowledge and price sensitivity, to further identify the utility-intention gap. Given the weak utility-intention relationships found in many prior studies (e.g. Apaolaza-Audrain et al., 2012), an improved way of assessing the factors through which different customers may weight on purchase intention are warranted.

This doctoral research uses the mixed research method. In the first study, this doctoral research integrates the literature on scales of consumption value and ecological value (e.g. Keller et al., 2011; Chen and Chang, 2012) in a green consumption context. The PGV measures were then refined and confirmed through unstructured interviews with people capable of understanding green products. Then a questionnaire is distributed to the customers (n=296) in an online database. The second study adopts the survey strategy and aims to test the whole research model (n=437). The confirmatory factor analysis and validity analysis suggest that the PGV has a high order factor and it has five dimensions: ecological, functional, symbolic, experiential, and epistemic. The Structural Equation Modelling results highlight the importance of PGV having a strong effect on customer's green product purchase intention. Moreover, it found that the link between PGV and purchase intention is mediated by the acquisition and transaction utilities. The results also suggest that the moderating roles of customer innovativeness and environmental concern in the acquisition utility-purchase intention relationship are proven to be significant, while price sensitivity also has a negative moderating effect on the transaction utility-purchase intention relationship.

This research extends the existing green consumption research by first testing a practical five-dimensional scale of perceived green value. The reliabilities, factor analysis and validity tests confirm the multidimensional construct of PGV scale and its five dimensions demonstrate that consumers assess green products, not just in functional terms of expected performance, but also in terms of individuals' concern to the environment (ecological value), self-expressive benefits of what the green product communicates to others (symbolic value), the enjoyment derived from the green product (experiential value), and interest in green products (epistemic value). Moreover, this research adapts utility theory to build up the conceptual model and adopts the economic view to investigate the mediating roles of acquisition utility and transaction utility in the value-intention relationship. In addition, this doctoral research provides empirical support for the utility-intention gap. The inclusiveness of the moderating effects of individual factors on the utility-intention link calls for the development of better framework to trace the paths involved. This research fills this gap by considering customer innovativeness, environmental concern and price sensitivity to clarify the moderating effects on the probability of customer's green product purchase intention.


This new second edition of the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms offers in-depth treament of the most important idioms in current British and American English This new second edition of the Dictionary of Idioms offers in-depth coverage of the most important idioms in English, and provides additional information about their frequency, contexts, meanings, and usage. Thousands of examples from the Bank of English have been used to illustrate clearly how the idioms are used in the language today. New to this edition is fascinating information about the origins of hundreds of idioms, essential for learners wishing to gain a fuller understanding of the language. Clearly laid-out and easy-to-use, the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms will prove to be fascinating and invaluable to teachers and learners of English at all levels.


This project will focus on developing an enhancement of the vehicle alarm security
system via SMS. The system will manipulate a mobile phone to send SMS (Short
Message Service). Even though the SMS can be sent using the features available in the
mobile, the objective of this project is to activate the SMS sending by the mobile phone
using external program, connected physically to the mobile phone. The study of
telecommunication is an interesting field because it involves digital signal processing,
signal and systems, programming and more. This inspires people to improvise the
technology into daily use. In this project, the technology of telecommunication, to be
specific; SMS, is integrated or improvised to the present vehicle security system. Instead
of human to human telecommunication, this system creates new entity which is machine
to human telecommunication. This system is an upgrading and improving vehicle
security system by integrating SMS features to alert vehicle owners whenever intrusion
occurs. This project involves hardware and software parts construction and the
integration of both parts to create the system. We succeed in achieving the objective and
in fact, add another feature to the system which will initiates a call to the owner after
sending the SMS. In the end of this project, we will document all the hardware and
software development and provide a simulation model of the system.


We compare the effects of a moderate hypocaloric, high-protein diet and resistance training, using two different protein supplements, versus hypocaloric diet alone on body compositional changes in overweight police officers. A randomized, prospective 12-week study was performed comparing the changes in body composition produced by three different treatment modalities in three study groups. One group (n = 10) was placed on a nonlipogenic, hypocaloric diet alone (80% of predicted needs). A second group (n = 14) was placed on the hypocaloric diet plus resistance exercise plus a high-protein intake (1.5 g/kg/day) using a casein protein hydrolysate. In the third group (n = 14) treatment was identical to the second, except for the use of a whey protein hydrolysate. We found that weight loss was approximately 2.5 kg in all three groups. Mean percent body fat with diet alone decreased from a baseline of 27 ± 1.8 to 25 ± 1.3% at 12 weeks. With diet, exercise and casein the decrease was from 26 ± 1.7 to 18 ± 1.1% and with diet, exercise and whey protein the decrease was from 27 ± 1.6 to 23 ± 1.3%. The mean fat loss was 2.5 ± 0.6, 7.0 ± 2.1 and 4.2 ± 0.9 kg in the three groups, respectively. Lean mass gains in the three groups did not change for diet alone, versus gains of 4 ± 1.4 and 2 ± 0.7 kg in the casein and whey groups, respectively. Mean increase in strength for chest, shoulder and legs was 59 ± 9% for casein and 29 ± 9% for whey, a significant group difference. This significant difference in body composition and strength is likely due to improved nitrogen retention and overall anticatabolic effects caused by the peptide components of the casein hydrolysate.


With household travel surveys (HTSs) to produce a regional-scale policy model, this research develops a methodology for predicting context-based vehicle-trip reductions applied to ITE's Trip Generation Handbook at a site-level development. This methodology may be used as a supplement to ITE trip generation rates, providing justification to vehicle-trip reductions based on known contextual vehicle mode splits. With the 2006 HTS of the Puget Sound Regional Council, Washington State, non-home-based trip ends were selected, and common built environment measures were extracted. A clustering analysis was then applied to all trip ends to determine clustered groups or contexts. With contexts, sociodemographic characteristics, and trip characteristics as model variables, a binary logistic model was developed to predict the mode split. Mode splits were then calculated for all context types (Type A through Type H) with the use of average built environment, sociodemographic characteristics, and trip characteristics variables. External establishment survey rates and mode splits, published from reports in California, were then used to verify the prediction power of the model on the basis of the type of establishment's context. For each establishment survey, the same built environment measures were extracted, and the location was classified into contexts with a linear discriminate analysis. In general, mode splits predicted across contexts showed variation expected for areas with greater residential or employment density, land use mix, and connectivity. Establishment data showed that predicted values fell within the observed range or fell on the conservative side of estimation. Future applications of this research are discussed.


Spinal cord injury (SCI) is classified as neurological disorder that affects motor and sensory function below the injury level. Studies show that application of low-intensity electrical stimulation (LIES) to neural tissue increases neurochemical factors responsible for regeneration as nerve growth factor. Stem cell (SC) therapy for patients with SCI can result in the replacement of injured neurons after trauma. The electromechanical delay (EMD) is defined as time elapsed between the onset of muscle electrical activation and onset of force production. A dog diagnosed with incomplete thoracolumbar SCI followed by disc hernia between the vertebral segments LI and L2, was evaluated by electromyography and mechanomyography after surgical decompression procedure, one SC transplantation and LIES. We observed motor response and decrease in the EMD from 8.25ms to 5.75ms after the procedures. The wavelet decomposition of EMG signals showed reestablishment of vastus lateralis muscle activity 30 days after the procedure. In addition, the EMGRMS increased from 3.3 µVRMS to 157 µVRMS. The preliminary results of this case report indicate positive effects of the hybrid therapy involving stem cells and low-intensity electrical stimulation after surgical decompression.


Cascading, or cascade use, is concept that has many different definitions, but a common theme is a sequential use of resources for different purposes. The cascading concept was first presented in the early 1990s but has become an intensively debated topic primarily in the most recent decade. In the available literature on cascading of wood, there are few studies that discuss policy implementation. As this is currently heavily debated, there is an important gap here that we aim to fill. In this paper, we (a) critically review the conceptual history of cascading and (b) highlight the complexities involved in its implementation in policy frameworks. Originally, cascading was discussed as a broad framework for how society better should manage natural resource flows. In more recent debates on woody biomass however, cascading is often presented as simply a hierarchy, wherein material use of wood should hold priority over energy use of wood. This is partly based on an idea that certain forms of wood utilization are inherently more valuable than others, an assumption that becomes problematic when implemented in policy. In reality, how and for what a certain wood resource is used varies with time and place and historical examples of implementation of hierarchical policy frameworks indicate a high risk of unwanted consequences, such as unstable policy structures and tendencies toward a negotiation economy. Cascading of woody biomass can have benefits from both an economical and environmental perspective. However, cascading systems should emerge bottom‐up, not be imposed top‐down through politically determined hierarchies. WIREs Energy Environ 2018, 7:e279. doi: 10.1002/wene.279


Trace gas concentration measurements in the stratosphere and troposphere are critically required as inputs to constrain climate models. For this purpose, measurement campaigns on stratospheric aircraft and balloons are being carried out all over the world, each one involving sensors which are tailored for the specific gas and environmental conditions. This paper describes an automated, portable, mid-infrared quantum cascade laser spectrometer, for in situ carbon monoxide mixing ratio measurements in the stratosphere and troposphere. The instrument was designed to be versatile, suitable for easy installation on different platforms and capable of operating completely unattended, without the presence of an operator, not only during one flight but for the whole period of a campaign. The spectrometer features a small size (80 × 25 × 41 cm3), light weight (23 kg) and low power consumption (85 W typical), without being pressurized and without the need of calibration on the ground or during in-flight operation. The device was tested in the laboratory and in-field during a research campaign carried out in Nepal in summer 2017, onboard the stratospheric aircraft M55 Geophysica. The instrument worked extremely well, without external maintenance during all flights, proving an in-flight sensitivity of 1–2 ppbV with a time resolution of 1 s.


I am interested in humans, bodies, movements, directions and how they affect each other. How we move towards each other or away from each other, inside a home or outside. How we relate to each other and to what people say and do. Co-operations between people that occasionally, possibly, do not work; how certain relationships, like certain materials, can have various breaking-points; that materials can be laden with numerous preconceptions, for instance what they should be used for.Beginning from the perspective of a feminist commune, I have explored the concepts of family, belonging, and loneliness. I have interviewed, observed, photographed, and through living in the commune during shorter periods of time, I have taken part in their every-day life. Through this investigation I have become more aware of my view on loneliness and belonging, regarding both myself and others. Can we as humans stand alone, or is interdependence necessary to reach our full potential? Can we experience loneliness in spite of co-existence? And can we feel togetherness in our loneliness?I have created objects in which I hope the observer can recognise themselves, in the emotions I wish to communicate. It may be about shame; shame for not fitting in; not belonging; a nagging sensation that you are not "right". It may be the dark side which can arise through togetherness; like being situated in an environment where you are surrounded by people but still do not feel you belong; but also the feeling of release that a self-imposed seclusion can give. Through my jewellery I want to show that the way in which something or someone is decorated can raise standards, values and preconceived ideas.


Links Between High Economic Distress and School Engagement as Mediated Through Negative Marital Interaction and Parental Involvement Lauren A. Barnes School of Family Life, BYU Doctor of Philosophy A review of research on family economic distress and its association with teen well-being shows a clear need to expand our knowledge about the connections between economic distress and key teen outcomes. Economic distress can act as an unexpected negative shock to the family system and can influence parent relationship quality, functioning, and involvement in children's lives. In turn, changes in systemic quality, functioning, and involvement can impact adolescents positively or negatively. Using observational coding and questionnaire self-report, this study examined the relationship between economic distress and negative marital interaction and the impact this has on parental involvement as a predictor of child school engagement while controlling for gender of the child. A structural equation model analysis was fit to data from 323 two-parent families. The average age of children for the study was 14.31 years of age. Results showed that economic distress is associated with marital relationship interactions, as well as parental involvement, which also impacts school engagement. Therapists should be mindful of and address current economic distress which their clients are experiencing and be aware of the possible associations with all parts of the family system. Possible interventions in the parentcouple system and increasing both mother and father involvement are suggested.


Purpose: Our previous screening efforts found that inhibition of PAPSS1 increases the potency of DNA-damaging agents in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. Here, we explored the clinical relevance of PAPSS1 and further investigated it as a therapeutic target in preclinical model systems. Experimental Design: PAPSS1 expression and cisplatin IC50 values were assessed in 52 lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. Effects of PAPSS1 inhibition on A549 cisplatin sensitivity under hypoxic and starvation conditions, in 3D spheroids, as well as in zebrafish and mouse xenografts, were evaluated. Finally, the association between PAPSS1 expression levels and survival in patients treated with standard chemotherapy was assessed. Results:Our results show a positive correlation between low PAPSS1 expression and increased cisplatin sensitivity in lung adenocarcinoma. In vitro, the potentiation effect was greatest when A549 cells were serum-starved under hypoxic conditions. When treated with low-dose cisplatin, PAPSS1-deficient A549 spheroids showed a 58% reduction in size compared with control cells. In vivo, PAPSS1 suppression and low-dose cisplatin treatment inhibited proliferation of lung tumor cells in zebrafish xenografts and significantly delayed development of subcutaneous tumors in mice. Clinical data suggest that NSCLC and ovarian cancer patients with low PAPSS1 expression survive longer following platinum-based chemotherapy. Conclusions: These results suggest that PAPSS1 inhibition enhances cisplatin activity in multiple preclinical model systems and that low PAPSS1 expression may serve as a biomarker for platin sensitivity in cancer patients. Developing strategies to target PAPSS1 activity in conjunction with platinum-based chemotherapy may offer an approach to improving treatment outcomes. Clin Cancer Res; 23(21); 6555–66. 2017 AACR.


ABSTRACT The childbirth education training course aims to help nurses establish the basic ability to care for pregnant women. However, in traditional teaching, it is often difficult for learners to distinguish the meaning of different childbirth signs. While virtual reality (VR) may be connected in most people's minds with videos designed for immersive entertainment, in fact its early purpose was for nursing education. Initial forms of Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (SVVR) were used to prepare and train nursing students, pilots, and military personnel. In this paper, an exploratory study using social learning theory embedded in SVVR for childbirth education training is presented; moreover, the learning performances of nursing students who participated in SVVR classroom learning and those who learned with the traditional approach were compared. The experimental results show that, compared with the traditional instruction, the learning motivation and learning satisfaction of the students who learned with SVVR were better, showing the potential of this powerful medium for enhancing nursing students' learning performance in the context of childbirth education.


A growing number of scholars and policymakers are calling attention to the relationship between technology standards, protocols, human rights, ethics, and values—also claiming that human rights can be secured (or violated) via the Internet's standards and architecture. However, this assertion of governance through Internet architecture can oversimplify the complex relationship between technology and society. This article argues that human rights are primarily a political and institutional accomplishment, not a simple matter of technical design. By articulating a challenge to uncritical and imperfectly theorized efforts to link standards-setting and protocol development to "values" and human rights objectives, we hope to foster a more realistic approach to Internet standardization and governance processes and a more balanced and well-informed theoretical debate. Situated in the theoretical literature on science, technology, and society, our analysis is also informed by extensive empirical exposure to standardization and Internet governance processes. It includes two short case studies in which standards development and rights issues have intersected in ways that illuminate the relationship between rights and standards, and which can be interpreted to falsify certain claims.


Abstract Given that the communities which are most vulnerable to HIV often have little control over their own lives and their health-related behaviour, HIV prevention policies increasingly recommend that HIV prevention projects work to build relationships with powerful external groups (i.e., build "bridging social capital"). To aid conceptualisation of how community organisations may build such social capital, this paper outlines a typology of strategies for influencing local stakeholders. We present a study of two successful Indian sex workers' organisations, VAMP and DMSC, focusing on how the organisations have influenced three groups of stakeholders, namely police, politicians and local social organisations. Interviews with project employees (45), with representatives of the three groups of stakeholders (12) and fieldwork diaries recording 6 months of observation in each site provide the data. Three approaches emerged. "Persuading" refers to the practice of holding information-giving meetings with stakeholders and requesting their support. It appears to build "weak social ties". "Protesting" entails a collective confrontation with stakeholders, and appears to be useful when the stakeholder has a public image to protect that would be tarnished by protest, and when the protestors can stake a legitimate claim that their rights are being denied. In "exchanging favours", the sex workers' organisations find creative ways to position themselves as offering valued resources to their stakeholders (such as useful information on criminal activities for the police, a stage and audience for politicians or a celebration for local social organisations) as incentives for their support. In conclusion, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, the implications for social capital theorising and implications for community HIV prevention.


Two distinguished scholars offer eight steps to help organizations discover and embrace an authentic higher purpose—something that will dramatically improve every aspect of any enterprise, including the bottom line.
 What does a lofty notion like purpose have to do with business basics like the bottom line? Robert E. Quinn and Anjan J. Thakor say pretty much everything. Leaders and managers are taught that employees are self-interested and work resistant, so they create systems of control to combat these expectations. Workers resent these systems, and performance suffers. To address the performance issues, managers double down on the coercion, creating a vicious cycle and a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 But there is a better way. Quinn and Thakor show that when an authentic higher purpose permeates business strategy and decision-making, the cycle is broken. Employers and employees see themselves as working together toward an inspiring goal, not just trying to hit quarterly targets. They fully engage, become proactive contributors, and, ironically, easily exceed those quarterly targets.

 Based on their widely acclaimed Harvard Business Review article, Quinn and Thakor offer eight sometimes surprising steps for shifting from a transaction-oriented mind-set focused on constraints to a purpose-oriented mind-set focused on possibility. This iconoclastic book will help any organization discover its authentic purpose and weave it into the fabric of everything it does, leading to unprecedented levels of personal satisfaction, service and product innovation, and economic growth.


Atmospheric air-filled hollow core (HC) fibers, representing the simplest yet reliable form of gas-filled hollow core fiber, show remarkable nonlinear properties and have several interesting applications such as pulse compression, frequency conversion and supercontinuum generation. Although the propagation of sub-picosecond and few hundred picosecond pulses are well-studied in air-filled fibers, the nonlinear response of air to pulses with a duration of a few picoseconds has interesting features that have not yet been explored fully. Here, we experimentally and theoretically study the nonlinear propagation of ~6 ps pulses in three different types of atmospheric air-filled HC fiber. With this pulse length, we were able to explore different nonlinear characteristics of air at different power levels. Using in-house-fabricated, state-of-the-art HC photonic bandgap, HC tubular and HC Kagomé fibers, we were able to associate the origin of the initial pulse broadening process in these fibers to rotational Raman scattering (RRS) at low power levels. Due to the broadband and low loss transmission window of the HC Kagomé fiber we used, we observed the transition from initial pulse broadening (by RRS) at lower powers, through long-range frequency conversion (2330 cm-1) with the help of vibrational Raman scattering, to broadband (~700 nm) supercontinuum generation at high power levels. To model such a wide range of nonlinear processes in a unified approach, we have implemented a semi-quantum model for air into the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation, which surpasses the limits of the common single damping oscillator model in this pulse length regime. The model has been validated by comparison with experimental results and provides a powerful tool for the design, modeling and optimization of nonlinear processes in air-filled HC fibers.


1. A variant very-low-density lipoprotein was associated with severe hypertriglyceridaemia. Urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the tetramethylurea-soluble apolipoproteins of these very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) showed that the apolipoprotein C-II content was less than 10% of that in VLDL from hypertriglyceridaemic (3-120 mmol/l) controls. 2. VLDL were incubated with bovine milk lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and a 9,10-3H-labelled triglyceride emulsion. The VLDL deficient in apolipoprotein C-II were a poor activator of LPL, compared with the effect of VLDL with normal content of apolipoprotein C-II obtained from either normal or hypertriglyceridaemic sera. 3. The efficacies of various VLDL as substrates fo activated LPL were examined. Apolipoprotein C-II-deficient VLDL were a poor substrate for the activated enzyme compared with normal or hypertriglyceridaemic VLDL, and compared wtih an artificial triglyceride emulsion. 4. The abnormal VLDL were obtained from a subject with an IgG3 lambda myeloma protein. Intravenous infusion of normal plasma containing apolipoprotein C-II was followed by rapid, complete, but short-lived (5-10 days) clearance of serum triglyceride. The effect was observed on three occasions until treatment of the myeloma was effective. 5. The monoclonal protein behaved as a cryoglobulin, and formed large particle complexes with triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, especially at temperatures below 37 degrees C. The apolipoprotein C-II deficiency, and consequent hypertriglyceridaemia, may be secondary to an autoantibody directed against apolipoprotein C-II. VLDL from relatives with hypertriglyceridaemia, but without myeloma, had normal apolipoprotein content, activated LPL, and were efficient substrates for the enzyme.


OBJECTIVE
Children with steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS), despite being in remission on glucocorticoids, continue to have growth retardation and short stature. The mechanism is uncertain as both chronic glucocorticosteroids and the nephrotic syndrome may independently affect growth. We investigated the changes in the IGFs and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) in a group of short SDNS children, and studied the changes prospectively with 1 year's treatment with GH.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Total and 'free' IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and acid-labile subunit (ALS) were studied in eight SDNS boys (mean age=12.6 years; mean bone age=9.1 years) on long term oral prednisolone (mean dose 0.46 mg/kg per day) before, during, and after, 1 year's treatment with GH (mean dose 0.32 mg/kg per week). Pretreatment comparisons were made with two control groups, one matched for bone age (CBA; mean bone age=9.2 years), and another for chronological age (CCA; mean chronological age=13 years). Subsequently, three monthly measurements of serum and urine IGFBPs were carried out in the GH-treated SDNS patients using Western ligand blot and Western immunoblot.

RESULTS
Pre-treatment serum total IGF-I levels and the IGF-I/IGFBP-3 ratio were elevated significantly in SDNS compared with CBA, and were similar to CCA. Serum free IGF-I levels were elevated significantly compared with both control groups, but serum IGFBP-3 did not differ significantly. Urinary IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3 and ALS were detectable in the SDNS children only. With GH treatment, IGF-I and IGFBP-3, but not IGF-II, increased significantly compared with pre-treatment values, and returned to baseline after cessation of GH treatment. Urinary IGFBPs did not change significantly with GH treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
There is persistent urinary loss of IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3 and ALS in children with SDNS in remission with growth retardation. However, the significant elevation in serum IGF-I suggests that glucocorticoid-induced resistance to IGF is the main factor responsible for the persistent growth retardation in these children. Exogenous GH was able to overcome this resistance by further increasing serum IGF-I.


We set out a model of monopsonistic competition, where each employer competes equally with every other employer. The employment effects of minimum wages depend on the degree of distortion in the labor market. If fixed costs per firm are high then the labor market is relatively non-competitive and minimum wages increase employment. Conversely, low fixed costs make for a more competitive labor market where minimum wages reduce employment. This contrasts with the results of a Salop style model with localized employer competition where a minimum wage unambiguously raises employment. We also find that the welfare effect of a small minimum wage is unambiguously positive.


This paper analyzes the role of the United States in the global economy and examines the extent of global spillovers from changes in U.S. growth, monetary and fiscal policies, and uncertainty in its financial markets and economic policies. Developments in the U.S. economy, the world's largest, have effects far beyond its shores. A surge in U.S. growth could provide a significant boost to the global economy. Tightening U.S. financial conditions -- whether due to contractionary U.S. monetary policy or other reasons -- could reverberate across global financial markets, with adverse effects on some emerging market and developing economies that rely heavily on external financing. In addition, lingering uncertainty about the course of U.S. economic policy could have an appreciably negative effect on global growth prospects. While the United States plays a critical role in the world economy, activity in the rest of the world is also important for the United States.


Web servers often need to manage encrypted transfers of data. The encryption activity is computationally intensive, and exposes a significant degree of parallelism. At the same time, cheap multicore processors are readily available on graphics hardware, and toolchains for development of general purpose programs are being released by the vendors. In this paper, we propose an effective implementation of the AES-CTR symmetric cryptographic primitive using the CUDA framework. We provide quantitative data for different implementation choices and compare them with the common CPU-based OpenSSL implementation on a performance-cost basis. With respect to previous works, we focus on optimizing the implementation for practical application scenarios, and we provide a throughput improvement of over 14 times. We also provide insights on the programming knowledge required to efficiently exploit the hardware resources by exposing the different kinds of parallelism built in the AES-CTR cryptographic primitive.