This thesis unpacks the dynamic nature and architecture of the global e-waste (electronic and electrical waste) recycling network. It analyses the functions of formal (guided by regulatory apparatus) and informal sectors (usually outside the regulatory orbit) involved in waste production and processing and their structural inter-linkages to situate the process and practise of informality in e-waste in the realm of formal capitalist economy. Additionally, it investigates the impact of regulatory interventions on the waste network and the actors therein. It focuses on the spatiality of waste treatment where the narrative of the physical material starts in the formal sector of electronics manufacturing and consumption and travels along quasi-legal channels of e-scrap trade and traffic to reach the informal sector (often in developing countries) for its end-of-life management. Till date, the systemic interconnections between formality and informality in waste processing operations have not been analysed in the waste scholarship. Despite critically reviewing the widespread presence and preponderance of informality with its definite characteristics, the literature has largely disregarded its relationship with formality and the broader lexicon of production and exchange. This research addresses this important omission in the literature and examines the drivers of informality and myriad formal-informal associations in e-waste transfer and treatment in the changing contours of the global economy. The following research question guides the structure and argument of this thesis.Main Research Question: What drives informality in e-waste movement and management?The research follows the trajectory of the international waste stream and examines how these path(way)s are embedded in the socio-economic processes of formality and informality. It uses the qualitative field work conducted in Netherlands, Belgium and India (Delhi) in 2011 and 2012. The fieldwork covers all the stakeholders engaged directly or indirectly in the e-waste network starting with the manufacturers, consumers to the traders, collectors, dismantlers, recyclers and second-hand sellers in both formal and informal sectors as well as the state and NGOs. The production, distribution and consumption of electronics, its waste and the recovered elements are not disjoint despite their apparent dispersion across geographical and political borders. Rather it is a functionally and organizationally inter-connected network characterised by a continuum of formal-informal material transfer, socio-economic transactions and financial arrangements between different players performing diverse functions. The analytical foundation of this study is laid by the Global Production Network (GPN) approach which follows the spatial e-waste flow in the post-consumption stage and locates the role and position of the various actors engaged in the process. It deconstructs the inter-connections between the formal and the informal actors by drawing on the rich formality-informality discourse. It uses the Global Value Chain (GVC) framework to specifically interrogate the vertical and horizontal governance patterns and power imbalances between the different players and additionally employs the idea of informal social networks from the industrial clusters literature to understand the ties of family, kinship and community between them. The study also engages with the diverse (re)valuations of e-waste and the (re)creation of secondary products that are used for further consumption and production. The value generated, circulated and captured in the waste recycling stream by the participating actors is understood using the Marxian exposition of circuits of capital. The e-waste network is institutionally embedded in particular geographical settings, socio-cultural milieus and regulatory framework leading to spatially differential comprehensions and treatment of e-waste. The roles of the regulatory and civic initiatives in conditioning and configuring this network are scrutinised to deliberate on the different paradigms of its management. The research illustrates that the fluidity between formality and informality in waste processing is crucial in (re)fashioning and (re)constructing waste for further use. It suggests that commodity production, consumption, waste generation and treatment are conjoined internationally in which value is created and circulated across sectoral and geographical boundaries. In effect, it reflects on the politics and practices of waste production and management and questions the design and enforcement of state policies towards eco-friendly processing of e-waste.


In recent years, the international community has expanded efforts in programme evaluation to improve the accountability of development projects. This paper presents approaches to implementing state-of-the-art evaluations in rural electrification projects, taking into account specific challenges that researchers face in such interventions. Furthermore, it suggests a particular approach to assess impacts before an intervention is implemented by surveying the yet non-electrified target region of the project and, in addition, an already electrified region. Besides delivering robust evidence on impacts, results from such ex-ante evaluations provide insights for the project design, thereby reducing the gap between evaluation researchers and practitioners.


The flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) PKS 2123−463 was associated in the first Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) source catalogue with the γ-ray source 1FGL J2126.1−4603, but when considering the full first two years of Fermi observations, no γ-ray source at a position consistent with this FSRQ was detected, and thus PKS 2123−463 was not reported in the second Fermi-LAT source catalogue. On 2011 December 14 a γ-ray source positionally consistent with PKS 2123−463 was detected in flaring activity by Fermi-LAT. This activity triggered radio-to-X-ray observations by the Swift, Gamma-ray Optical/Near-Infrared Detector (GROND), Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), Ceduna and Seven Dishes Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) observatories. Results of the localization of the γ-ray source over 41 months of Fermi-LAT operation are reported here in conjunction with the results of the analysis of radio, optical, ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray data collected soon after the γ-ray flare. The strict spatial association with the lower energy counterpart together with a simultaneous increase of the activity in optical, UV, X-ray and γ-ray bands led to a firm identification of the γ-ray source with PKS 2123−463. A new photometric redshift has been estimated as z = 1.46 ± 0.05 using GROND and Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) observations, in rough agreement with the disputed spectroscopic redshift of z = 1.67. We fit the broad-band spectral energy distribution with a synchrotron/external Compton model. We find that a thermal disc component is necessary to explain the optical/UV emission detected by Swift/UVOT. This disc has a luminosity of ∼1.8 × 1046 erg s−1, and a fit to the disc emission assuming a Schwarzschild (i.e. non-rotating) black hole gives a mass of ∼2 × 109 M⊙. This is the first black hole mass estimate for this source.


Inter and intra-examiner reliability of ultrasound elastography for assessment of anterior thigh soft-tissue in healthy adults Background: To date there are few studies of acceptable methodological quality investigating the reliability of elastography ultrasound use in the lower limb. The aim of the study was to investigate the inter and intra-reliability of EUS assessment of anterior thigh soft-tissues. Methods: Twelve healthy subjects (9 females, 3 males, mean ± SD age=28.9 ± 5.8 years, height = 169.6 ± 9.2cm, weight 69.6 ± 13.4kg) were recruited using convenience sampling. A repeated measures testretest design was used to compare EUS measures between (inter) and within (intra) 3 examiners (2 novices, 1 expert) using acoustic radiation force impulse elastography. The subjects attended one session where each examiner collected measures from each subject two times. Colour hue histograms were derived from elastogram images. Results: Extraction reliability for images was excellent with ICC of 0.99 (95% CI= 0.99 – 1.00). The intra-examiner reliability was 'fair to good' for the experienced examiner and mostly 'excellent' for the novices. The inter-examiner reliability ranged between 'fair to good' and 'excellent'. Conclusions: There was acceptable reliability for both inter and intra-examiner reliability for EUS assessment of anterior thigh soft-tissue stiffness. However, the small number of examiners may limit the generalisability of these findings. MeSH


The tangled text tradition of the Livre de voyages, written by Jean de Mandeville in 1356 (or 1357), is usually supposed to fall into two branches: the Continental Version and the Insular Version. The Livre has been translated in different languages, including Castilian. The Castilian text exists only in 16th-Century printed books: it shows errors, lacunae, interpolations, misinterpretations of the French original. A comparison between the Spanish 16th-Century printed text and both the Insular and the Continental Versions suggests that the translator had access to a hybrid witness, similar to P15.


This critical and thought-provoking book explores the causes and consequences of Europe's failed political and economic institutions. Europe's recession has created new challenges as market turmoil has shaken the foundations of the twin pillars of the new drive for European integration – political and monetary unions. This book critically assesses the patchwork solutions continually offered to hold the troubled unions together. Failed political policies, from the prodigious 'Common Agricultural Policy' to ever more common fiscal stimulus packages, are shown to have bred less than stellar results in the past, and to have devastating implications for future European growth. The contributors outline the manner through which European monetary union has subsidized and continues to exacerbate the burgeoning debt crisis. Most strikingly, the interplay between Europe's political and economic realms is exposed as the boondoggle it is, with increasingly bureaucratic institutions plaguing the continent and endangering future potential.


Abstract Vulnerability to disasters is not inherent to particular social groups but results from existing marginality. Marginalisation from social, political and economic resources and recognition underpins vulnerability and impedes recovery. Yet concurrently, disasters can reveal the resilient capacities of some marginal groups, who often develop specific means of coping with marginality. This article applies these perspectives to the experiences of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) people during the 2011 disaster in Queensland, Australia, which resulted from catastrophic flooding of Brisbane and South-East Queensland. The findings come from a survey conducted by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QAHC) a year after the floods, which sought to understand LGBT experiences, resources and needs. An agreement was established between QAHC and university researchers to facilitate data analysis. This article analyses some key findings using the concept of marginality to understand both vulnerability and resilience. This framework helps grasp the particular issues facing LGBT people. The data reveal vulnerability due to social and political marginality, including discrimination and inhibited access to assistance, but simultaneously examples of resilience borne by self-reliance and coping strategies developed in a context of marginality. Understanding LGBT marginality, vulnerability and resilience helps contribute to inclusive and effective disaster preparation, response and recovery.


This study investigated the fate of selected pharmaceuticals and estrogens and the characteristics of bulk organic matter during pellet softening and proposed a possible hybridization with nanofiltration (NF) treatment. A groundwater softening system called pellet softening was used to remove calcium ions from groundwater by crystallizing calcium carbonate on the surface of sand grains that were used as seeding material. This crystallization was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron micrographs were used to characterize the surface of the sand grains during pellet softening. The fluorescence excitation–emission matrix showed that humic-like substances were slightly removed and that specific UV absorbance values decreased after pellet softening. The humic fraction determined by liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection was slightly more attenuated than the fractions of biopolymers, building blocks, low molecular weight acids, and low molecular weight neutrals. Therefore, the aromatic content per unit of dissolved organic carbon was preferentially attenuated during pellet softening. The average removal efficiencies of the three estrogens and 12 selected pharmaceuticals during the softening process were 59 and 5.7%, respectively. However, there was a greater reduction of pharmaceuticals during NF.


This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the levels of compliance for the first four years (1994 to1997) following the introduction of the Australian Accounting Standard (AAS 27). The annual reports of all 177 local government councils in NSW were analysed revealing a high level of compliance with the standard. The main cause for non-compliance was the complexity of the recognition and treatment of assets. In addition a number of problems were identified, in particular the timeliness of the reports and the disproportionately high levels of depreciation expenses reported in the operating statement. The increased complexities of the financial management in Local Government imposed by AAS 27 required professional accounting competencies more appropriately derived from a degree level education which contributed to a high turnover of accounting staff during the four years. Finally, the paper questions the viability of the proposed dismantling of AAS 27 and the possible impact this might have upon the sector. ABSTRACT This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the levels of compliance for the first four years (1994 to1997) following the introduction of the Australian Accounting Standard (AAS 27). The annual reports of all 177 local government councils in NSW were analysed revealing a high level of compliance with the standard. The main cause for non-compliance was the complexity of the recognition and treatment of assets. In addition a number of problems were identified, in particular the timeliness of the reports and the disproportionately high levels of depreciation expenses reported in the operating statement. The increased complexities of the financial management in Local Government imposed by AAS 27 required professional accounting competencies more appropriately derived from a degree level education which contributed to a high turnover of accounting staff during the four years. Finally, the paper questions the viability of the proposed dismantling of AAS 27 and the possible impact this might have upon the sector.


This paper addresses a largely overlooked actor in China's foreign relations, the International Department of the Communist Party of China (ID-CPC). Using publicly available documentation, we systematically analyze the patterns of the CPC's external relations since the early 2000s. Building on an intense travel diplomacy, the ID-CPC maintains a widely stretched network to political elites across the globe. The ID-CPC's engagement is not new; but since Xi Jinping took office, the CPC has bolstered its efforts to reach out to other parties. We find that party relations not only serve as an additional channel to advance China's foreign policy interests. Since President Xi has come to power, party relations also emerged as a key instrument to promote China's vision for reforming the global order. Moreover, China increasingly uses the party channel as a vehicle of authoritarian learning by sharing experiences of its economic modernization and authoritarian one-party regime. The cross-regional analysis of the CPC's engagement with other parties helps us to better understand the role of the CPC in Chinese foreign policy-making, pointing to a new research agenda at the intersection of China's foreign relations, authoritarian diffusion, and transnational relations.


The growth of actions for violation of privacy presents a significant risk for defendants and an opportunity for civil claims to provide a mechanism for accountability. However, several key issues that would determine the scope of liability remain unsettled. In most cases, courts have concluded that the existence of statutes dealing with personal information does not exclude the possibility of civil actions, which is important given the limits of statutory remedies. Negligence claims in this context may face issues regarding the duty of care, particularly where the defendant is a public authority, and proof of injury, given that recovery for harms such as stress or economic loss is limited. Therefore, the availability of statutory or common law privacy torts, which do not require proof of actual damage, is very important, but the elements of these torts are evolving and may be difficult to prove against an organization where the main perpetrator of the violation is an individual employee or third party. Vicarious liability for a breach of privacy by a "rogue" employee is possible, but will depend on whether the facts show that the employer organization materially increased the risk of the violation. The current state of the law raises questions about the ability of these claims to effectively provide compensation or deterrence, but in the absence of legislative reform, the progressive development of the law on some of these issues could help to clarify and expand the options available to address ongoing threats to privacy.


Hegel's Encyclopaedia Logic constitutes the foundation of the system of philosophy presented in his Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences. Together with his Science of Logic, it contains the most explicit formulation of his enduringly influential dialectical method and of the categorical system underlying his thought. It offers a more compact presentation of his dialectical method than is found elsewhere, and also incorporates changes that he would have made to the second edition of the Science of Logic if he had lived to do so. This volume presents it in a new translation with a helpful introduction and notes. It will be a valuable reference work for scholars and students of Hegel and German idealism, as well as for those who are interested in the post-Hegelian character of contemporary philosophy.


John Calvin's (1509-64) influence reaches from the Reformation to Karl Barth and beyond. Outstanding as biblical scholar, preacher and practical Church reformer, Calvin intended all his work to serve the Word of God. Although couched in 16th-century terms, his theology drew on the wealth of previous Christian thought and continues to be relevant to the situation of the Church today. This book is a comprehensive introduction to the whole range of Calvin's theology. Concentrating on Calvin's major work "The Institutes of the Christian Religion", Parker explains its relevance to Christians of all times. This volume should give readers a full and serious sense of Calvin both as a Christian and as a thinker


Addressing plant-soil relationships within restoration science may improve success and reduce costs. Here we assess the question of topsoil storage time: how does stockpile age impact plant biomass and soil microbial activity, particularly root symbionts such as rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)? Working in Western Australia and in sandy soils, we grew a legume species Acacia saligna (Fabaceae) in one-, two-, three-, five- and ten-year-old stockpile soils under controlled glasshouse conditions. We assessed whether plant biomass, specific root length, and root diameter decreased with stockpile age. Further, we investigated how stockpile age affected the distribution and the number of effective nodules, nodule biomass and AMF colonization in roots. These above and belowground traits were chosen because they reflect the A. saligna response to growing in soils stockpiled for 1–10 years. We hypothesised that in older stockpiles there would be fewer rhizobial and AMF propagules which would constrain A. saligna growth, whereas in younger stockpiles there would be more rhizobial and AMF propagules, and A. saligna growth would be facilitated via these root symbionts. Using generalized linear mixed models, we found that total plant biomass was the lowest but AMF percent colonization was the highest when A. saligna was grown in ten-year-old soils, suggesting that AMF spores and hyphae are present in old stockpiles. Our results demonstrate that AMF communities may be initially disrupted by soil disturbance and storage, and then begin to re-establish between 5–10 years after stockpiling. However, other soil microbial communities, such as fungal pathogens that were not assessed in this study may have been responsible for decreased A. saligna biomass in older soils. Further research, particularly on other soil microbial communities, is needed to understand restoration success using stockpiled soil older than ten years.


Actions that affect environmental quality both influence and respond to macroeconomic variables. Further, many environmental and macroeconomic consequences of current actions will have uncompensated effects that outlive the actors. This paper presents an overlapping-generations model of environmental externalities and capital accumulation: consumption of the old generates long-lived garbage as a by-product, while young agents invest in both capital and destruction of the existing garbage stock. The model also assumes external increasing returns: increases in the capital stock increase the future productivity of capital. In the model, increases in the natural rate of degradation do, and improvements in society's ability to dispose of garbage may, encourage capital accumulation. Multiple Pareto-ranked equilibria can arise as a consequence of the interaction between garbage and capital accumulation. Underaccumulation of garbage, analogous to dynamically inefficient overaccumulation of capital, can arise in the model.


AIM
To explore the ability of nurses to be adequately ready for and to respond to a disaster caused by a natural hazard.

BACKGROUND
During a disaster involving a healthcare facility, nurses are commonly the largest group of healthcare workers impacted. The range of problems facing nurses working in healthcare facilities in Australia and New Zealand at the time of disasters triggered by earthquakes and bushfires have been underexamined.

METHODS
A qualitative enquiry was used to explore matters facing nurses working in residential healthcare facilities during a natural disaster. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify the key themes from fifteen in-depth interviews with nurses.

FINDINGS
Participants preserved a robust sense of professional duty, personal obligation and responsibility to their family, patients and the facility, demonstrating the ability to adapt, cope and respond despite experiencing diverse personal, structural and organizational barriers.

DISCUSSION
Support was provided for using interactive systems and socio-ecological frameworks to better understand the contributions that individuals, teams and organizations make to facilitate the development and maintenance of adaptive capacity and resilience in a nursing workforce. An ecological model of adaptive capacity can be operationalized to guide education, training for nurses and the development of organizational systems and strategies.

CONCLUSION
This study identified factors that help and hinder a nursing workforce's ability to prepared for, adapt to and learn from natural hazard disasters.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY
This understanding of disaster preparedness and how this may be applied to enable the growth of adaptive nurses provides an insight for a global audience which also adds to nurse education, service delivery, organizational and policy development.


Rolf-Dieter Kluge. Anton P. Cechov-eine Enfhrung in Leben and Werk. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1995. 149 pp. Select Bibliography. Index of Names. Index of Works Cited. Paper. Chekhov enthusiasts will recall Rolf-Dieter Kluge most directly as editor of Anton P. Cechov: Werk und Wirkung (1990), a large two-volume collection of studies prepared for the Badenweiler conference (1985) that address an abundance of Chekhov-related topics. With Anton P. Cechov-eine Einfuhrung in Leben und Werk, Kluge reveals his own attitude toward the Russian writer. His account of Chekhov's life and work regularly refers to the humanity of the author and his literary characters as they exist in a world lacking orientation. These observations are punctuated by attentive close readings of Chekhov's works. Kluge's vision of the writer is a general, yet sensitive, one that blends Chekhov the citizen who observed and diagnosed joy, mundanity and anguish, with Chekhov the artist who compassionately and creatively portrayed individuals as they experience such feelings. The book has six chapters. In the first, Kluge highlights aspects of Chekhov's childhood, literary achievements and medical activities. He situates Chekhov's social outlooks amid reforms and issues of the time, such as public justice and punishment, and places Chekhov's writing within the literary environment, most notably as it pertained to Suvorin and Tolstoy. The second and third chapters concern Chekhov's literary endeavours in the 1880s. Here, Kluge introduces a mass of information in twenty-nine pages. To his credit, Kluge achieves this introduction without making the chapters seem like checklists of features that mark Chekhov's efforts in the stsenka, short story, longer prose and early dramatic works. Kluge points to Russian predecessors, such as Griboedov, Gogol and Turgenev, from whose work Chekhov's style, types and ideas can be gauged. He discusses how the freedom, restrictions and demands connected to writing for the "little presses" affected Chekhov's writing, chiefly his conciseness, precision and focus on everyday themes, and, in turn, how these means of presentation coincidentally expressed social criticism. Kluge recalls aspects of literary impressionism and naturalism in the early works and touches delicately on such issues as how Chekhov handled the themes of love and sexual relations. One expects such topics will be raised in an introductory study of Chekhov; however, with assertions such as "Chekhov's literary heroes do not give up the search for self-determination" (p. …


Numerical modelling of the effects of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) on the stability of the internal kink mode suggests that ICRH should be considered as an essential sawtooth control tool in ITER. Sawtooth control using ICRH is achieved by directly affecting the energy of the internal kink mode rather than through modification of the magnetic shear by driving localized currents. Consequently, ICRH can be seen as complementary to the planned electron cyclotron current drive actuator, and indeed will improve the efficacy of current drive schemes. Simulations of the ICRH distribution using independent RF codes give confidence in numerical predictions that the stabilizing influence of the fusion-born alphas can be negated by appropriately tailored minority 3He ICRH heating in ITER. Finally, the effectiveness of all sawtooth actuators is shown to increase as the q = 1 surface moves towards the manetic axis, whilst the passive stabilization arising from the alpha and NBI particles decreases.


Section 2 of the Thirteenth Amendment gives Congress the "power to enforce" the ban on slavery and involuntary servitude "by appropriate legislation." The conventional view of Section 2 regards this language as an allusion to McCulloch v. Maryland's explication of Congress's executory powers, and holds that Congress has substantial, and largely unreviewable, power to determine both the ends and the means of Section 2 legislation. This Essay argues that the conventional view departs from the original meaning of Section 2. It demonstrates that McCulloch preserved a role for judicial review with respect to both the ends and means of federal legislation. This role was clearly part of the understanding and anticipated application of McCulloch by the time the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 enacted. This Essay concludes that Section 2 preserves a role for meaningful judicial review and grants Congress power to regulate conduct that threatens the reinvigoration of slavery or involuntary servitude, but not near-plenary power over all civil or human rights.


The main goal of this project is to investigate how changes in support grid mixing vane angles affect the single phase heat transfer coefficient for rod bundle flows. Since other studies have been done on these types of flows, the present study also serves the purpose of further solidifying conclusions made in those works. A split-pair mixing vane support grid without weld nugget cutouts is thought to have optimum flow characteristics at a vane angle of 29 degrees. Results obtained from this work have shown this to be true. Vane angles were modified to angles of 37 °, 33° and 21° using a custom designed tool and visually inspected using gauge blocks. Data was also taken at the original angle of 29° as a baseline. Temperature measurements were directly obtained from the rod surface using a sensor comprised of 4 E-type thermocouples. Because of the known behavior of rod bundle subchannel flows, temperature measurements were taken between -5 and 40 hydraulic diameters with respect to the support grid's trailing edge. At each axial location, the sensor was rotated at 22.5° increments for a total of 16 angular measurement positions at the inner surface of the rod. Forced convection heat transfer was achieved by way of direct resistance heating of the rods and a high speed, pressure driven air flow. The maximum flow rate available is utilized for each test but ranged from 24,000 to 30,000 (Re) because of ambient air temperature variations. For repeatability purposes, current and voltage were set at approximately 700 amps and 4 volts respectively for each test. Results from this study along with parallel research include but are not limited to the following; circumferentially averaged Nusselt Numbers, azimuthal heat transfer variations and average turbulent kinetic energy. From a systems perspective,


Brain near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is emerging as a potential alternative to functional MRI (fMRI). To date, no study has explicitly compared the two techniques in terms of measurement variability, a key parameter dictating attainable statistical power. Here, NIRS and fMRI were simultaneously recorded during event-related visual stimulation. Inter-subject coefficients of variation (CVs) for peak response amplitude were considerably larger for NIRS than fMRI, but inter-subject CVs for response latency and intra-subject CVs for response amplitude were overall comparable. Our results may represent an optimistic estimate of the CVs of NIRS measurements, as optode positioning was guided by structural MRI, which is normally unavailable. We conclude that fMRI may be preferable to NIRS for group comparisons, but NIRS is equally powerful when comparing conditions within participants. The discrepancy between inter- and intra-subject CVs is likely related to variability in head anatomy and tissue properties which may be better accounted for by emerging NIRS technology.


The article presents the findings of the research concerning the period of emerging adulthood, in other words the transition phase between adolescence and early adulthood, conducted in the years 2010-2011. It has been demonstrated that becoming an adult, both in the objective dimension (taking on adult social roles – family and vocational ones) and subjective dimension (feeling of adulthood, identity characteristics and identity status, feeling of being on-time and off-time) is closely related to factors external to the individual as well as to the individual's psychological profiles. A crucial point in entering adulthood is the completion of education. Non studying individuals assume more social roles related to adulthood, consider themselves to be more adult and to a greater extent undertake identity commitments than studying persons. People with various levels and kinds of physical disability not only take on fewer roles related to adulthood than nondisabled persons but they also hold a stronger conviction that the roles are undertaken "off time" in comparison with their non-disabled peers. On the other hand, intellectual disability is linked to lower intensity of exploration and more tenuous commitments than in the group of people without disabilities. The analysis of research results is located in the context of delaying and/or postponing the process of entering adulthood which can be observed currently not only in Poland.


Despite progress on a number of goals, the world was not moving fast enough towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the pre-COVID era. The Decade of Action started with the hit of the COVID-19 crisis, which stressed the urgent need to tackle the root causes of vulnerabilities. This paper explores the roles of different critical actors towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), namely national governments; local and regional governments and local communities; and the business sector as well as the interactions among these actors that facilitate the implementation of the SDGs. The paper also discusses how the SDGs provide an operational framework for building back better during the response and recovery phases from the crisis and how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the policy scene to reimagine the roles played by the different actors. Lastly, the paper elaborates on three critical factors that would shape the degree of progress in the next decade, namely dependable data, adequate finance and effective implementation of development policies.


This paper describes the architecture and design of Cubrick, a distributed multidimensional in-memory database that enables real-time data analysis of large dynamic datasets. Cubrick has a strictly multidimensional data model composed of dimensions, dimensional hierarchies and metrics, supporting sub-second MOLAP operations such as slice and dice, roll-up and drill-down over terabytes of data. All data stored in Cubrick is chunked in every dimension and stored within containers called bricks in an unordered and sparse fashion, providing high data ingestion ratios and indexed access through every dimension. In this paper, we describe details about Cubrick's internal data structures, distributed model, query execution engine and a few details about the current implementation. Finally, we present some experimental results found in a first Cubrick deployment inside Facebook.


The aim of this study was to investigate the status of artisanal fisheries in the lower Phongolo River floodplain in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used that included the development of a questionnaire and a systematic survey among the five villages bordering the Ndumo Game Reserve. Data were collected over a 5-day period by a group of 16 fieldworkers and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 21. The results revealed that fish was the third most consumed protein in the area, that people consumed fish on average twice a week, that at least six fish species (and one recently introduced crayfish species) were consumed regularly, and that most fish were obtained from local vendors, who in turn bought it from local fishermen and -women. Fishing activities also appeared to occur predominantly along the river system and targeted mainly red-breasted tilapia ( Tilapia rendalli ) and Mozambique tilapia ( Oreochromis mossambicus ) and, to a slightly lesser extent, African sharptooth catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ) and brown squeaker ( Synodontis zambezensis ). Conservation implications: Given that Ndumo residents predominantly catch fish by means of non-commercial methods, that they do so for reasons of personal consumption and subsistence, and that they mostly target rivers and dams rather than the ecologically sensitive pans in the region, it would seem likely that fishing in the region might be sustainable for the moment. However, it is recommended that studies on the local fish populations and their reproductive rates be conducted so that the actual impact on local fish populations can be determined more accurately. This study serves to provide the necessary baseline data on fish utilisation in the region, which would enable the impact of artisanal fishing on fish reserves in the Ndumo region to be determined once population studies have been completed.


: Nonlinear threshold responses to biotic or abiotic forcing may produce multiple population trajectories dependent upon initial conditions, which can reinforce population recovery or drive local ex -tinction, yet experimental tests of this phenomenon are lacking in marine ecosystems. In field experiments at 4 sites in 2 tributaries of lower Chesapeake Bay, we examined demographic responses (density and survival) of eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica populations to reef height and associated gradients in sediment deposition and habitat complexity. After 2 yr, oyster reefs exhibited diverging trajectories to ward either degradation or persistence, dependent upon initial reef height. Reefs higher than 0.3 m supported greater oyster density, survival, and reef complexity, whereas sediment deposition was reduced. Reefs lower than 0.3 m experienced heavy sediment deposition and were eventually buried. These observations (1) provide experimental evidence for threshold dynamics in marine species, (2) suggest that the collapse of oyster populations was largely due to anthropo genic habitat degradation that eliminated positive feed backs and which may have created an alternative reef trajectory towards local extinction, and (3) indicate an avenue by which oyster restoration is achievable. Feedback mechanisms driven by reef height result in thresh- old responses of oyster populations leading to diverging reef trajectories toward degradation or persistence.


Background and Purpose Alterations in blood fatty acid (FA) composition are associated with cardiovascular diseases. We investigated whether plasma FA composition was related to stroke severity and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods We prospectively enrolled 156 patients with first-episode cerebral infarction, within 7 days of symptom onset. The proportion of FAs was analyzed using gas chromatography, and the summation of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3-PUFA), 18:3 ω3 α-linolenic acid, 20:3 ω3 eicosatrienoic acid, 20:5 ω3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and 22:6 ω3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was reported as Σω3-PUFAs. Stroke severity was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score on admission. Poor functional outcome was defined by modified Rankin scale (mRS) ≥3 at three months after the index stroke. Results Lower proportions of EPA (β=-0.751), DHA (β=-0.610), and Σω3-PUFAs (β=-0.462) were independently associated with higher NIHSS score, after adjusting for stroke subtype, hemoglobin, high density lipoprotein, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, fasting glucose, 16:0 palmitic acid, and Σsaturated fatty acids. Moreover, a lower proportion of DHA (odds ratio [OR]: 0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04-0.88), and Σω3-PUFAs (OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05-0.84) showed an independent relationship with poor functional outcome after adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, NIHSS score, stroke subtype, and 16:0 palmitic acid. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that ω3-PUFAs correlated with stroke severity on admission and functional outcomes at 3 months. ω3-PUFAs are potential blood biomarkers for prognosis of acute non-cardiogenic ischemic stroke patients.


In recent years, municipal solid waste (MSW) management has drawn an attention due to the increasing risk of its environmental pollution and becoming energy source potential. Municipal solid waste can be reused efficiently in an energy recovery systems if a proper method is selected in a power plant. Up to now, the typical disposal and energy recovery method of MSW is sanitary landfill and currently there are some developments on MSW incineration systems. As an energy recovery system, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) can be an alternative technique in order to increase an overall energetic efficiency of a MSW power plant using excessive energy of exhaust gas sent to atmosphere. In this respect, a proper fluid that operates in ORC should be determined for satisfying maximum amount of energy recovery. In this study, a model in which ORC system is used for energy production from the exhaust gas is proposed for an existing MSW power plant located in Gaziantep city. The thermodynamic analyses were carried out for the adapted ORC system using pentafluoropropane, R245fa as a working considering the energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system. Keywords—Municipal solid waste, Organic Rankine cycle, Power plant, Waste to energy.


From the Publisher:
Practice for CCNA exam #640-607 with hands-on networking lab scenarios

Build your own home internetworking lab from the ground up and use it to master essential internetworking skillsSelect Cisco router components and navigate within Cisco IOS SoftwareGain access to Cisco routers and switches and configure a terminal server to access each lab routerConfigure hostnames and set passwordsConfigure router interfaces such as Ethernet, Token Ring, Loopback, and SerialConfigure multiple routing protocols, including RIP, IGRP, and EIGRPImplement route redistribution to share routing information between routing domainsConnect remote offices to the main network with ISDN DDRIntegrate IPX into the networkControl access with standard and extended access listsTroubleshoot common network failures

Understanding the concepts covered on the Cisco Certified Network Associate exam is no longer sufficient to succeed on the test. With the release of CCNA exam #640-607, Cisco has introduced performance-based testing elements to measure your ability to perform hands-on tasks in a time critical environment. In order to be completely prepared to succeed on the exam as well as in your daily job as a CCNA engineer, you must be able to apply conceptual knowledge effectively in a production environment as well as understand how router configuration steps impact a network. CCNA Practical Studies is the first book of its kind, providing you with a series of detailed lab scenarios that illustrate the application of key internetworking topics.

CCNA Practical Studies is a comprehensive reference that helps you gain essential hands-onexperience in home-, work-, or remote access-based lab environments. An equally effective supplement to concept-based study guides or stand-alone reference for applying CCNA knowledge pre- or post-test, this book presents numerous examples that cover the entire range of CCNA topics. Starting at the physical layer of the OSI model, you use a layered approach to learn how to build a small network. Each chapter tackles a major subject area such as router configuration, routing protocols, bridging and switching, ISDN, access lists, IPX, and more. Each subject presents a mini-lab, walking you through the lab scenario and explaining in detail the commands used, why the authors chose the specific commands, and the resulting configurations. Comprehensive configuration and troubleshooting labs are added to the end of the book, allowing you to understand how routing technologies interact. This step-by-step lab scenario approach is designed to teach you how to apply the knowledge acquired in the process of becoming a CCNA. Whether you are preparing for the CCNA exam, seeking to enhance your on the job skills, or looking to gain confidence before your next job interview, you will find the lessons laid out in this book invaluable.

CCNA Practical Studies is part of a recommended study program from Cisco Systems that includes training courses and materials from Cisco's Learning Partner Program, hands-on experience, and Coursebooks and exam guides from Cisco Press.


Under current legal doctrine, states have successfully asserted sovereign immunity from a variety of important bankruptcy provisions. Numerous commentators have argued that states undermine fundamental objectives of bankruptcy law by asserting immunity from bankruptcy actions. This article argues that, for the most part, sovereign immunity is consistent with basic bankruptcy policies. Bankruptcy law already reflects the fact that governmental units are not like private creditors by granting governmental units various priorities and regulatory exceptions. Because current bankruptcy law generally enforces non-bankruptcy property rights and entitlements, states can also largely determine their own priorities and privileges in bankruptcy by defining their entitlements under state law. Finally, to the extent that bankruptcy law should advance redistributive policies or protect non-ownership interests, it should defer to governmental entities, which are uniquely positioned to redistribute wealth and to protect the public good. It is true that state governments may undermine the goals of bankruptcy law if they impose unnecessary administrative costs on debtors' estates or if they refuse to follow important procedural bankruptcy rules. However, state governments will suffer political and/or economic costs of engaging in such behavior. Congress, in contrast, does not suffer the full cost of exposing state governmental units to bankruptcy actions. If states can assert or waive immunity from bankruptcy actions, they should strike a better balance between bankruptcy law and states' regulatory responsibilities than the current balance of these interests under the Bankruptcy Code.


Most of the interesting algorithmic problems in the geometry of numbers are NP-hard as the lattice dimension increases. This article deals with the low-dimensional case. We study a greedy lattice basis reduction algorithm for the Euclidean norm, which is arguably the most natural lattice basis reduction algorithm, because it is a straightforward generalization of the well-known two-dimensional Gaussian algorithm. Our results are two-fold. From a mathematical point of view, we show that up to dimension four, the output of the greedy algorithm is optimal: the output basis reaches all the successive minima of the lattice. However, as soon as the lattice dimension is strictly higher than four, the output basis may not even reach the first minimum. More importantly, from a computational point of view, we show that up to dimension four, the bit-complexity of the greedy algorithm is quadratic without fast integer arithmetic: this allows to compute various lattice problems (e.g. computing a Minkowski-reduced basis and a closest vector) in quadratic time, without fast integer arithmetic, up to dimension four, while all other algorithms known for such problems have a bit-complexity which is at least cubic. This was already proved by Semaev up to dimension three using rather technical means, but it was previously unknown whether or not the algorithm was still polynomial in dimension four. Our analysis, based on geometric properties of low-dimensional lattices and in particular Voronöı cells, arguably simplifies Semaev's analysis in dimensions two and three, unifies the cases of dimensions two, three and four, but breaks down in dimension five.


Janet George is a mother of three, grandmother of seven, and a breast cancer survivor. Her story began after a routine mammogram. Janet's mother died of breast cancer, so regular mammograms have always been part of her healthcare. Janet was notified that a small tumor had been found during a routine mammogram, and her cancer was diagnosed after a wire localization biopsy.


Understanding and quantifying the temperature dependence of population parameters, such as intrinsic growth rate and carrying capacity, is critical for predicting the ecological responses to environmental change. Many studies provide empirical estimates of such temperature dependencies, but a thorough investigation of the methods used to infer them has not been performed yet. We created artificial population time series using a stochastic logistic model parameterized with the Arrhenius equation, so that activation energy drives the temperature dependence of population parameters. We simulated different experimental designs and used different inference methods, varying the likelihood functions and other aspects of the parameter estimation methods. Finally, we applied the best performing inference methods to real data for the species Paramecium caudatum. The relative error of the estimates of activation energy varied between 5% and 30%. The fraction of habitat sampled played the most important role in determining the relative error; sampling at least 1% of the habitat kept it below 50%. We found that methods that simultaneously use all time series data (direct methods) and methods that estimate population parameters separately for each temperature (indirect methods) are complementary. Indirect methods provide a clearer insight into the shape of the functional form describing the temperature dependence of population parameters; direct methods enable a more accurate estimation of the parameters of such functional forms. Using both methods, we found that growth rate and carrying capacity of Paramecium caudatum scale with temperature according to different activation energies. Our study shows how careful choice of experimental design and inference methods can increase the accuracy of the inferred relationships between temperature and population parameters. The comparison of estimation methods provided here can increase the accuracy of model predictions, with important implications in understanding and predicting the effects of temperature on the dynamics of populations.


Correlation-based learning (CBL) has been suggested as the mechanism that underlies the development of simple-cell receptive fields in the primary visual cortex of cats, including orientation preference (OR) and ocular dominance (OD) (Linsker, 1986; Miller, Keller, & Stryker, 1989). CBL has been applied successfully to the development of OR and OD individually (Miller, Keller, & Stryker, 1989; Miller, 1994; Miyashita & Tanaka, 1991; Erwin, Obermayer, & Schulten, 1995), but the conditions for their joint development have not been studied (but see Erwin & Miller, 1995, for independent work on the same question) in contrast to competitive Hebbian models (Obermayer, Blasdel, & Schulten, 1992). In this article, we provide insight into why this has been the case: OR and OD decouple in symmetric CBL models, and a joint development of OR and OD is possible only in a parameter regime that depends on nonlinear mechanisms.


Voluntary Organizations and Public Sector Delivery examines how aspects of voluntary sector employment are affected by its engagement with the growing trend to the market-based outsourcing in the delivery of public services within industrialized countries. The volume draws together a team of well-recognized academic contributors from the UK, Canada, Australia and the United States to explore how the process of outsourcing is impacting the internal and external labor markets of voluntary organizations, and the implications for the policy objectives underlying the externalization of the delivery of public services to them. These themes of change in employment are covered in depth in the UK with dedicated chapters exploring, workforce patterns and skill needs, HR policies and practices, recruitment and selection, graduate recruitment, unionization, pay and conditions and psychological contracts in organizations. The book also contains a significant international comparative dimension with individual chapter analysis of employment issues in Australia, Canada and the United States, as well as an Anglo-German comparison


Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFCs) can be used for concentration of carbon dioxide in Natural Gas Combined Cycles (NGCCs) exhaust gas, at the same time increasing electrical energy: when used in combination with Gas Separation Membranes (GSMs) for final segregation of CO2, they constitute an interesting carbon capture solution. This paper analyses distributed parameter models for fuel cells and membranes in a global plant simulation, so as to propose an optimized NGCC-MCFC-GSM process configuration that takes into account both fuel cell operational constraints and the specific limitations of membrane technology. The integration obtained produces very good results, presenting in all scenarios better economic indicators than conventional amine absorption NGCC retrofit. Furthermore, a great margin for performance improvement exists if the fuel cell maximum hot-spot temperature limit is tackled.


This paper studies price bargaining when both parties have left-digit bias when processing numbers. The empirical analysis focuses on the auto finance market in the U.S., using a large data set of 35 million auto loans. Incorporating left-digit bias in bargaining is motivated by several intriguing observations. The scheduled monthly payments of auto loans bunch at both $9- and $0-ending digits, especially over $100 marks. In addition, $9-ending loans carry a higher interest rate and $0-ending loans have a lower interest rate. We develop a Nash bargaining model that allows for left-digit bias from both consumers and finance managers of auto dealers. Results suggest that both parties are subject to this basic human bias: the perceived difference between $9- and the next $0-ending payments is larger than $1, especially between $99- and $00-ending payments. The proposed model can explain the phenomena of payments bunching and differential interest rates for loans with different ending digits. We use counterfactual to show a nuanced impact of left-digit bias, which can both increase and decrease the payments. Overall, bias from both sides leads to a $33 increase in average payment per loan, compared to a benchmark case with no bias.


Abstract Background: It is of clinical importance to examine the nasal cavity pre-operatively on surgical treatments. However, there is no simple and easy way to measure airflow in the nasal cavity. Objectives: Visualize the flow features inside the nasal cavity using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, and study the effect of different breathing rates on nasal function. Method: A three-dimensional nasal cavity model was reconstructed based on computed tomographic images of a healthy Malaysian adult nose. Navier-Stokes and continuity equations for steady airflow were solved numerically to examine the inspiratory nasal flow. Results: The flow resistance obtained varied from 0.026 to 0.124 Pa.s/mL at flow-rate from 7.5 L/min to 40 L/min. Flow rates by breathing had significant influence on airflow velocity and wall shear-stress in the vestibule and nasal valve region. Conclusion: Airflow simulations based on CFD is most useful for better understanding of flow phenomenon inside the nasal cavity.


JVRB, 6(2009), no. 6. - Efficient image blurring techniques based on the pyramid algorithm can be implemented on modern graphics
hardware; thus, image blurring with arbitrary blur width is possible in real time even for large images. However, pyramidal blurring methods do not achieve the image quality provided by convolution filters; in particular, the shape of the corresponding filter kernel
varies locally, which potentially results in objectionable rendering artifacts. In this work, a new analysis filter is designed that significantly reduces this variation for a particular pyramidal blurring technique. Moreover, the pyramidal blur algorithm is generalized to allow for a continuous variation of the blur width. Furthermore, an efficient implementation for programmable graphics hardware is presented. The proposed method is named "quasi-convolution pyramidal blurring" since the resulting effect is very close to image blurring based on a convolution filter for many applications.


The U.S. faces a large medium-term federal budget deficit and an unsustainable long-term fiscal gap. Left unattended, these shortfalls will hobble and eventually cripple the economy. The only plausible way to close the gap is through a combination of spending cuts and/or tax increases. This paper discusses why a federal Value Added Tax (VAT) should be part of a constructive solution to the fiscal problem.


Tax practitioners were recently placed on notice by the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, in his budget speech when he pointed out that the role of tax practitioners and other intermediaries will come under scrutiny. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) raised the issue of registration of tax practitioners for the first time in the Budget Review of 2002 and said the regulation of tax practitioners was required to "promote better compliance and ensure that taxpayers receive advice consistent with the tax legislation" and to ensure "appropriate sanctions in the event of non-compliance with tax legislation".


The corticolous and saxicolous pyrenocarpous crustose lichen species from Kenya and Tanzania were investigated. In total, 32 species could be identified, most of which are new to the respective countries. Some of these were not yet reported from tropical Africa, but so far only known from e.g. the Canary Isles. The following 12 species are apparently reported for the first time from Africa: Anisomeridium terminatum, Mycomicrothelia confusa, Polymeridium contendens, Porina mastoidiza, P. subinterstes, P. tetraloculans, Pyrenula acutalis, P. dermatodes, P. laetior, P. pyrenuloides, P. quassiaecola, and Verrucaria praetermissa. Thelenella modesta is reported for the first time from the Southern Hemisphere.


Over the last two years, Apologia Church, led by reformed pastor and apologist Jeff Durbin, has posted a number of videos on YouTube of Durbin witnessing to Latter-Day Saints on the streets of Tempe, AZ. Thousands of people have watched these videos. His approach is apologetic in nature as he uses a reasoned argument to prove that LDS teaching is not in line with what Scripture teaches. In these videos one will see Durbin talking at the Mormon temple about the nature of God, the divinity of Christ, and the authority of Scripture. At first glance, this may seem like a worthwhile approach in witnessing to Mormons. However, a closer evaluation of this reformed apologetic approach is necessary as many within Lutheran circles would not endorse such an approach. Why is that? Is there a role for apologetics in witnessing to Mormons? This thesis will explain the reasons why apologetics, as used in Durbin's reformed apologetic approach, should be secondary to the proclamation of sin and grace.


Faculty and students in schools of music spend major portions of their time in environments (e.g., practice rooms, rehearsal rooms, and teaching studios) with sound levels that may put them at risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). NIHL is caused by exposure to loud sound levels, typically for prolonged and/or repeated periods of time. NIHL is characterized by a sharp decrease in hearing sensitivity between 3000-6000 Hz, called a noise notch, with a return to better sensitivity at the frequencies above the notch. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines acoustic overexposure with a time/intensity trade-off. NIOSH recommendations state that 85 decibels (dB) is a sound level sufficient to warrant a hearing protection program. Their recommendations suggest that an individual may be exposed to 85 dB for 8 hours without risk to hearing damage, which is equal to a 100% dose of noise for that day. For every 3 decibels increase in intensity, the time allowed for exposure is cut in half. Anything over a 100% dose per day exceeds the NIOSH guidelines for noise exposure and may put someone at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. The following studies were undertaken with music students and faculty members to determine the amount of noise exposure musicians were experiencing in their daily routines.


Orbital parameters model is one of the fully constrained physical models for geometrical correction of satellite imagery. The model has been developed to cover the physical conditions prevailing in the acquisition period of satellite platforms. The multiplicity of parameters in the modeling and correlation between them causes difficulties in solving the system of equations. Generally, problems are greatly reduced by adding the model parameters in the form of quasi observations and controlling trend of corrections by the values of each parameter's weights. However, it is difficult to determine the correct values of quasi observations' weight due to the approximate precision of auxiliary data. Furthermore wrong weights of quasi observations impose additional parameters in the model structure. In this article, by providing some scenarios, the level of correlations between orbital model parameters and also the capability of rigid orbital model in the covering effect of perturbations are evaluated. The obtained results proved that unconsidered perturbations, occurring in a specified domain, are coverable by other correlated parameters of rigid orbital parameters model. This ability of the rigid orbital parameters model is more evident when quasi observations are not applied in the model.


Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent formulation of DFT (TDDFT) have been employed to elucidate the structural characteristics, the antioxidant ability, and the UV-Vis absorption properties of a series of coumarin–chalcone derivatives recently synthesized. In addition, to investigate the role of adjacent hydroxyl groups on the antioxidant properties, five additional hybrids were designed and considered in this study. Different antioxidant mechanisms have been investigated. They are hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), electron transfer followed by proton transfer (SET-PT), and sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET). Based on the obtained results, the HAT mechanism is proposed as the most important one for the antioxidant protection exerted by this class of compounds. The UV spectra of coumarin–chalcone hybrids are characterized by a band in the region between 300 and 450 nm arising from different electronic transitions. Our investigation confirms the antioxidant properties of these hybrids, and shows that poly-substitution of ring A enhances the antioxidant power of this class of compounds. One of the derivatives, designed in the present work, the 5,6,8-trihydroxy-7-methyl-3-(3′,4′-dihydroxybenzoyl) coumarin, seems to be the most promising candidate as an antioxidant. Accordingly, our calculations strongly encourage the synthesis of coumarin–chalcone hybrids as an important strategy to develop novel compounds with improved antioxidant properties.


Background: A conventional Nepalese society still regards sexuality as a taboo and sexual activities outside marriage are rarely accepted. However, attitudes of young Nepalese people towards sexual relationships have steadily changed with the modernization of society and culture. There is also a view that young men and women in Nepal are now more comfortable in each other's company and also initiate sexual relations before marriage. Aim: To explore factors encouraging premarital sex among young people of Nepal. Methods: Ten focus groups and 31 individual in-depth interviews with rural and urban young people were carried out by same sex researchers. Results: Most participants were aged 18-22 years. Findings indicate that curiosity towards sex and sexuality issues, personal appearance, peer pressures, exposure to print and electronic media and financial motives are key factors in encouraging premarital sexual intercourse. Conclusion: There is a need to disseminate more information on the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, targeting young people which would encourage them to engage in safer sexual behaviour.


This article argues against the now-conventional idea that the remedial concept of make-whole compensation - understood to refer to a damages payment that corresponds to the losses a tort victim has suffered - is somehow an essential feature of substantive tort law. The article proceeds mainly by reviewing historical materials, including judicial decisions and treatises. These suggest that the prevailing notion of tort damages was until the late Nineteenth Century one of "fair" rather than "full" compensation. They also suggest that the modern tendency to equate tort with the idea of making whole rests on a subtle but critical re-characterization of the concept of injury, which once predominantly referred to a doing - a wronging of the victim by the tortfeasor - but now predominantly refers to an outcome - a loss suffered by the victim. Appreciation of these contrasts, I argue, sheds light on various contemporary debates, including those concerning the propriety and purposes of punitive damages. It also helps us to see that the tendency of modern academics, starting with Holmes, to define tort in terms of a notion of indemnification or restoration is in fact an attempt to impose a particular and controversial theory of tort onto tort doctrine and practices. Finally, I argue that a recovery of the traditional division between substantive tort law and the law of remedies, as well as an appreciation of the fair compensation conception of tort damages, will help academics grasp more clearly what tort law is and what sort of work it is well-suited and poorly-suited to do within our legal system.


Topological insulators in proximity to a superconductor and topological superconductors are
interesting states of matter, not least because of their potential to host Majorana fermions.
Thin
akes of the topological insulator Bi1:5Sb0:5Te1:7Se1:3 (BSTS) are studied in Nb-BSTSNb
junctions of di�erent lengths. These nanojunctions are produced by photo and e-beam
lithography and standard sputtering techniques. Four-point transport measurements were
performed at temperatures of about 30 mK and in magnetic �elds up to 3 T. The smallest
two junction were shorted due to an e-beam overexposure, but showed Josephson e�ects
attributed to weak links of Nb ears or microbridges. The observed hysteresis in the I; V -
curves of these junctions were attributed to electron heating (hot electrons). Larger junctions
(realized junction lengths between 52 and 250 nm) revealed no superconductivity but did
reveal interesting resistance peaks at zero bias (ZBRP). These ZBRP are attributed to 2D
electron-electron interactions (EEI). The observed side resistance peaks are speculated to be
indicative of p-wave induced superconductivity in BSTS. The magnetoresistance was found
to be suppressed at lower magnetic �elds. This is attributed to weak antilocalization (WAL)
(perhaps in combination with EEI). Although the �tting parameters of the 2D HLN-equation
deviate from the expected values, the shape does correspond. Several explanations for the
deviation are presented.
Additionally,
akes of the topological superconductor Cu0:3Bi2:1Se3 (CBS) are investigated.
Samples with gold leads deposited on CBS
akes were manufactured using photolithography
and sputter deposition techniques. Four-point transport measurements down
to 1.5 K were performed to test if the
akes poses superconductivity. Whereas the bulk
crystal was superconducting before and after the measurements on
akes of the same crystal,
the
akes itself were not superconducting (resistance in the order of 1
). This is attributed
to non-uniform Cu doping by intercalation, giving rise to a small superconducting volume
fraction or, possibly, to an easier cleaving of non-superconducting
akes.


![Figure][1]

CREDIT: DENNIS KUNKEL MICROSCOPY, INC.

Redness, swelling, heat, pain. These well-known hallmarks of inflammation were described over 2000 years ago by Celsus and are familiar to anyone who has gotten an infected cut or sprained their ankle. Fortunately, the symptoms of acute inflammation dissipate rapidly, and although inconvenient, they are also reassuring—they represent the immune system in action. The immune system clears the infection, guides the repair of damaged tissue, and the symptoms disappear.

Unfortunately, the very thing that is so beneficial during an infection can contribute substantially to the pathogenesis of several age-related chronic diseases such as metabolic disease/type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disease. In these diseases, saturated fatty acids, apolipoprotein B–containing lipoproteins, and the formation of protein aggregates, respectively, trigger activation of the immune system that results in inflammation. Thus, the immune system goes into overdrive. Because the stimulus that triggers the inflammation isn't easily cleared, it persists and contributes substantially to disease.

This special section in Science highlights the detrimental, but also in some cases beneficial, role of inflammation in neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. Aguzzi et al. (p. [156][2]) focus on the role that microglia, resident macrophage-like cells in the brain, play in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, prion diseases, and traumatic brain injury. Although microglia can worsen disease, they are also important mediators of tissue repair and so also play protective roles in the brain. Swirski and Nahrendorf (p. [161][3]) discuss the harmful and protective roles that leukocytes play in atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. For instance, although leukocytes are important for tissue repair after a heart attack, their mobilization can worsen atherosclerotic plaques and lead to another infarction. Tabas and Glass (p. [166][4]) use rheumatoid arthritis as a model to discuss how to develop therapies to target inflammation in cardiovascular disease. Finally, Odegaard and Chawla (p. [172][5]) discuss how inflammation associated with obesity contributes to metabolic disease, but also point out the important role played by the immune system in maintaining an insulin-sensitive environment.

In Science Signaling , Research Resources by Warner et al. and auf dem Keller et al. highlight regulators of a receptor implicated in Crohn's disease (discussed in a Podcast with Gabriel Nun) and the role of a matrix metalloproteinase in skin inflammation, respectively. A Perspective by Steinman discusses proinflammatory cytokines and diseases of the central nervous system, and a Perspective by Silke and Strasser focuses on the regulation of apoptosis and programmed necrosis in vivo.

These articles highlight the complicated roles that the immune system plays in chronic disease, suggest areas where more research and research tools are needed, and illuminate potential therapeutic strategies. Hopefully, careful manipulation of the immune system will add much-needed therapeutic tools to the arsenal to combat these already difficult-to-treat diseases.

 [1]: pending:yes
 [2]: /lookup/volpage/339/156?iss=6116
 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1230719
 [4]: /lookup/volpage/339/166?iss=6116
 [5]: /lookup/volpage/339/172?iss=6116


Livestock cause around 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union. Despite the large quantities, no economic policy is in place to reduce emissions from the sector. In this paper, we introduce consumption taxes on animal products in the European Union to reduce GHG emissions. Impacts are simulated using the CAPRI model, which was created to analyze the impacts of agricultural policy reforms within the EU. Tax levels of 16, 60 and 290 Euro per ton of GHG emissions are used in the estimations. Our results show that consumption taxes have small mitigation effects, up to 4.9% of total agricultural emissions from the EU-27, mainly due to inelastic demand. The main source of reductions is beef and France is the country where most reductions would take place, given high levels of production and consumption in the country, combined with a large demand elasticity of beef.


A growing number of designs of future unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications utilise DC for the primary power distribution method. Such systems typically employ large numbers of power electronic converters as interfaces for novel loads and generators. The characteristic behaviour of these systems under electrical fault conditions, and in particular their natural response, can produce particularly demanding protection requirements. Although a number of protection methods for multi-terminal DC networks have been proposed in the literature, these are not universally applicable and will not meet the specific protection challenges associated with the aerospace domain. Through extensive analysis, this study seeks to determine the operating requirements of protection systems for compact DC networks proposed for future UAV applications, with particular emphasis on dealing with the issues of capacitive discharge in these compact networks. The capability of existing multi-terminal DC network protection methods and technologies are then assessed against these criteria in order to determine their suitability for UAV applications. Recommendations for best protection practice are proposed and key inhibiting research challenges are discussed.


Thesis (M.A.)--Georgetown University, 2010.; Includes bibliographical
 references.; Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. Trade between the People's Republic of
 China (PRC) and Africa reached US$100 billion in 2008. Africa now provides one-third of
 China's oil supplies. China invests in a distinct manner - the close connection between
 business and the central government leads to "energy diplomacy" and
 state-financed infrastructure and loans given to oil-producing countries. As part of the
 package deal of oil investment, Beijing offers an alternative development model that contrasts
 with the "strings attached" Western versions. However, the unique
 characteristics of PRC investment also gives rise to accusations from the West claiming that
 China undermines stability in African countries in which it invests.; In this research, I have
 identified certain critical variables, as described by existing conflict literature, that
 connect the presence of natural resources to civil conflict. They include elements such as the
 geographical location of oil resources, the method of extraction, the existence of
 disproportionate benefit between governments and citizens, and characteristics of state
 weakness. Upon examining these variables in the cases of Sudan, Angola, and the Republic of
 Congo, it was found that these variables have limited interaction with the distinguishing
 characteristics of PRC investment. The "no strings attached" manner of
 operating allows state weakness to persist in these countries, but its influence on stability
 is on the periphery of a larger picture of state fragility. Additionally, while China's
 practice of using Chinese nationals on oil and infrastructure projects does interact with the
 variable of disproportionate benefit, the Sudan case implies that the longer China invests in
 a country, the more locals it employs.; Policy recommendations flow from this analysis.
 African countries should insist on earlier employment of their nationals and write such
 requests into oil deals struck with the Chinese National Oil Companies. With regard to the
 United States, policymakers in Washington, DC should reexamine the tone with which they engage
 both Africa and China in the African context. On balance, the investment practices of the
 Chinese National Oil companies should not cause alarm with regard to stability on the African
 continent.


Research design has a notable impact on the nature of management and organizational research, and there have been numerous mentions, largely anecdotal, of differences in research design between journals published in the UK and USA. This article describes a systematic study of these supposed differences through content-analysis of 295 articles about organizational learning published in eight leading British- and US-based journals over the past 20 years. The results demonstrate substantial differences in data sources, data collection, and the scale of investigations. We discuss their impact on gaps in the study o f organizational learning and o f fer our own thoughts on possible solutions (as well as challenges) for bridging these gaps.


An effective data collection method for evaluating software development methodologies and for studying the software development process is described. The method uses goal-directed data collection to evaluate methodologies with respect to the claims made for them. Such claims are used as a basis for defining the goals of the data collection, establishing a list of questions of interest to be answered by data analysis, defining a set of data categorization schemes, and designing a data collection form. The data to be collected are based on the changes made to the software during development, and are obtained when the changes are made. To ensure accuracy of the data, validation is performed concurrently with software development and data collection. Validation is based on interviews with those people supplying the data. Results from using the methodology show that data validation is a necessary part of change data collection. Without it, as much as 50 percent of the data may be erroneous. Feasibility of the data collection methodology was demonstrated by applying it to five different projects in two different environments. The application showed that the methodology was both feasible and useful.


Uncontrolled hypertension and its complications continue to be major health problems that disproportionately affect poor minority communities. Although dietary modification is an effective treatment for hypertension, it is not clear how hypertensive minority patients view diet as part of their treatment, and what barriers affect their abilities to eat healthy diets. We conducted nine focus groups with 88 African American and Latino patients treated for hypertension to assess their knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs concerning hypertension. Participants generally agreed that certain foods and food additives play an important role in the cause and treatment of hypertension. However, they found clinician-recommended diets difficult to follow in the context of their family lives, social situations, and cultures. These diets were often considered expensive, an unwelcome departure from traditional and preferred diets, socially isolating, and not effective enough to obviate the need for medications. These findings suggest the importance of culturally sensitive approaches to dietary improvements.


The paper addresses the major premise of the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) program in Kenya which states that increased crop production in the semi-arid areas will lead to a reduction in livestock numbers since dependence on livestock for subsistence needs will be reduced. Theoretical support for this position derives from a "school of thought" in pastoral studies which posits that indigenous livestock production systems in Eastern Africa are maintained mainly for the purpose of supplying a steady source of food (i.e., pastoral products) for the pastoral population. Evidence from Njemps Location, Baringo District suggests that while increased crop production has substituted grain for pastoral products in the diet, it has not undermined the role of livestock as a form of investment. It is further argued that a focus on "statistical" averages in livestock holdings, rather than the range and variation in property ownership, informs development planners little about which group or groups of livestock owners will respond to increased opportunities for agriculture. Capital and labour requirements for irrigated agriculture in Njemps are such that the wealthier livestock owners are the individuals which are most capable of taking advantage of crop production aopportunities. The dilemma in Njemps Location arises due to the fact that groups of livestock owners are responding to irrigated agriculture for different reasons: the rich pastoralists are investing in agriculture as a mechanism for supporting their livestock holdings, while the poorer families are being forced into agriculture out of necessity to meet subsistence needs and these latter households have only a minimal impact on the livestock sector. Because of this second group of households it is argued that crop production, especially low cost methods of dryland farming, should be encouraged in Njemps Location, but should not be perceived as a mechanism for supporting range management programs.


The thesis is concerned with the theme of energy savings in the Building industry. It describes passive house development in detail with a focus on the construction part of buildings with low energy consumption. At first, there is an overview of the actual situation concerning the new European Union's restrictions and a basic classification of energy efficient buildings is introduced. Further, construction compositions in two energy standards are designed for a few selected construction systems suitable for a passive house. They are evaluated from different points of view and compared to each other. Finally, an estimate of the passive house value is given as well as return of extra investments with regards to energy price increase. Key words The thesis is concerned with the theme of energy savings in the Building industry. It describes passive house development in detail with a focus on the construction part of buildings with low energy consumption. At first, there is an overview of the actual situation concerning the new European Union's restrictions and a basic classification of energy efficient buildings is introduced. Further, construction compositions in two energy standards are designed for a few selected construction systems suitable for a passive house. They are evaluated from different points of view and compared to each other. Finally, an estimate of the passive house value is given as well as return of extra investments with regards to energy price increase. Key words The thesis is concerned with the theme of energy savings in the Building industry. It describes passive house development in detail with a focus on the construction part of buildings with low energy consumption. At first, there is an overview of the actual situation concerning the new European Union's restrictions and a basic classification of energy efficient buildings is introduced. Further, construction compositions in two energy standards are designed for a few selected construction systems suitable for a passive house. They are evaluated from different points of view and compared to each other. Finally, an estimate of the passive house value is given as well as return of extra investments with regards to energy price increase.


Direct tension tests are indispensable for obtaining an accurate understanding of the deformation and failure characteristics of rocks in tension. For this technical note, the authors collected original papers published in international journals and surveyed the previously reported methods and results of direct tension tests on rocks. Some important factors affecting the strength and stress–strain curve are discussed, such as the shape, size, anisotropy, and water content of the specimen; the loading rate; and the confining pressure. The relationship between the results of the direct tension tests and those of other tests also is discussed. Although various types of testing apparatuses have been adopted in direct tension tests on rocks, the dependence of test results on the apparatuses has not been investigated. In this study, direct tension tests were conducted using various testing apparatuses in seven laboratories. The results of the direct tension tests showed that direct tensile strengths were not dependent on the type of test apparatus used or whether a flexible linkage system was used. The results of the tuff in this study showed that the coefficient of variation of the direct tensile strengths is smaller than that of the Brazilian tensile strengths. Moreover, the results revealed that the coefficient of variation of the direct tensile strengths is comparable to that of the uniaxial compressive strengths of the tuff. The authors noted that to obtain the stress–strain curve from the pre-failure region to the post-failure region, it is necessary to conduct a test with a high-stiffness machine and without a flexible linkage system. This technical note summarized the results of the standardization activity by the authors in the Japanese Geotechnical Society.


OVER THE COURSE of the past decade, the World Wide Web has played a progressively increasing role in political campaigning. Gary Selnow (1998) noted that 1996 was the first year that political campaigns used the Web for mass campaigning, since then its use has increased dramatically in local, state, and federal elections (Benoit & Benoit, 2000; Bimber, 1998; D'Alessio, 1997, 2000; Dulio, Goff, & Thurber 1999; Poupolo, 2001; Schneider & Foot, 2002; Whillock, 1997). By early summer 2003, for example, ten presidential campaigns had already established an active Web presence for the 2004 presidential race. Indeed, former presidential candidate Howard Dean's campaign Web site played a prominent role in Dean's overall campaign strategy. The present study will focus on campaigns for U.S. House during Autumn 2002. As in other federal election categories, House candidate campaign Web sites have increased in number since 1996 when only 16 percent of House candidates had their own sites. That percentage increased to 40.6 percent in 1998; 53 percent in 2000; and 62 percent in 2002. (1) Many reasons exist for these increases. Candidates for Congress have discovered that their campaign sites provide a relatively low budget mechanism for soliciting campaign contributions and mobilizing volunteers. These sites also serve as points of origin for information about the campaign. And they are widely used by the press to identify candidates' stands on the issues, planned appearances, and responses to opponents' criticisms and issues raised by the public. As one political consultant observed, campaign Web sites have developed from "a token tool to an absolutely must have tool" (Williams, 2001, p. A17). This notion is widely accepted by political consultants and trade journals such as Campaigns & Elections (Cornfield, Safdar, & Seiger, 1998; Dorsey & Green, 1997; Faucheux, 1998). Web sites have made such an indelible mark on the campaign process that the Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet (IPDI, 2002) published Online Campaigning 2002: A Primer. Targeted at candidates and campaign managers, this primer offered instruction on how to strategically use the Internet in campaigns and outlined a set of "best practices" for Internet campaign Web sites. Ultimately, as Schneider and Foot (2002) suggest, most campaigns feel there is a need for some Internet presence. Although political campaigns see the necessity of Web-based campaigning, campaign Web sites have yet to realize their full potential as a medium to improve communication between candidates and Web users and to influence voters. Their failure to do so is partly due to many candidates' inclination to treat their Web site as if it were a static campaign flyer. In contrast, the Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet (IPDI) advised campaign managers to avoid "brochureware" (by which they meant print campaign materials that are merely uploaded to a campaign Web site) because such an approach neither attracts and engages Web users nor effectively utilizes the Web medium. Foot and Schneider (2002) argued that although most campaigns in the 2002 election used basic features (termed brochureware), and adaptations of other traditional campaign practices (online donation, news and press releases), few campaigns used features for which the Internet is particularly well adapted such as interactive polls, alternate language versions, disabled access versions, and site specific search engines. We contend that an important element in the move away from brochureware will involve developing campaign sites that harness the interactive potential of the Internet. In this essay, we offer a rhetorical perspective to what has been a largely media-based discussion of interactivity in political campaign Web sites. Drawing from previous literature in interactivity and Bakhtin's dialogism and heteroglossia, we argue for a new framework--text-based interactivity--through which researchers can attend to previously understudied aspects of interactivity (elements of rhetorical form, content, and design). …


Abstract. Developing countries have to be very cautious in utilizing the land as they affect the food security, cause damage to environment and an ecological imbalance might be created in the process of establishing industries to raise the standard of living of the people from poverty. India, as a developing nation with sufficient amount of arable land at present is producing surplus food which is sufficient for all the population, in the recent decades loosing productive agricultural land without proper scientific solution for industries. This is a major concern because it causes not only food scarcity but dependency on the other nations even though we have lot of industries. We need to maintain a balance between Agriculture and manufacturing sectors to have smooth run of the country's economy. The purpose of the study is to assess the land use changes in the areas for recent years which have potential for industrial establishment through land suitability analysis (LSA) to emphasize both agriculture and industries with sustainable development. Geographic information Systems (GIS) and Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) are combined to distinctly identify the suitable zones for industries. Six criteria in Analytical hierarchy Process (AHP) and nine criteria in Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are evaluated by spatial analysis using ArcGIS software. Considerable amount of productive agricultural land is diverted to non agricultural purposes during last 12 years i.e., from 2004–2016, which is at first taken for industrial establishment. Results obtained by the methodology we followed have given considerable accuracy by cross checking the previously established industries with suitability regions. Thus GIS and MCDM can assist the policy makers and planning officials to get a better overview with the resources they possess to carry forward with less damage to environment and agricultural land.


Assessment of tourism's contribution to the economy of a country or a region is extremely complicated because of the nature of tourism. A tourism satellite account (TSA) is a major recent contribution in this area. It involves building a specific tourism account in the context of a national account. After more than 20 years of development, the current trend in TSA research is to refine and implement the method. This paper summarizes the methodology developments of TSA and explores the feasibility of adopting a TSA in municipal area. Thus, it discusses the TSA system from a municipal perspective. Because it is a new topic, a qualitative method is adopted by using a case study in Suzhou, China. The paper discusses and provides a definition of TSA from varied perspectives. It also provides a technical framework for a municipal TSA, illustrates the driving forces and institutional attitudes behind the development of such a TSA, and examines the limitations and advantages of the TSA methodology in a municipal context.


Covering the breadth of a large topic, this book provides a thorough grounding in object--oriented concepts, the software development process, UML and multi--tier technologies. After covering some basic ground work underpinning OO software projects, the book follows the steps of a typical development project (Requirements Capture -- Design -- Specification & Test), showing how an abstract problem is taken through to a concrete solution. The book is programming language agnostic -- so code is kept to a minimum to avoid detail and deviation into implementation minutiae. A single case study running through the text provides a realistic example showing development from an initial proposal through to a finished system. Key artifacts such as the requirements document and detailed designs are included. For each aspect of the case study, there is an exercise for the reader to produce similar documents for a different system.


Abstract. Climate change is expected to strongly impact the hydrological and thermal regimes of Alpine rivers within the coming decades. In this context, the development of hydrological models accounting for the specific dynamics of Alpine catchments appears as one of the promising approaches to reduce our uncertainty of future mountain hydrology. This paper describes the improvements brought to StreamFlow, an existing model for hydrological and stream temperature prediction built as an external extension to the physically based snow model Alpine3D. StreamFlow's source code has been entirely written anew, taking advantage of object-oriented programming to significantly improve its structure and ease the implementation of future developments. The source code is now publicly available online, along with a complete documentation. A special emphasis has been put on modularity during the re-implementation of StreamFlow, so that many model aspects can be represented using different alternatives. For example, several options are now available to model the advection of water within the stream. This allows for an easy and fast comparison between different approaches and helps in defining more reliable uncertainty estimates of the model forecasts. In particular, a case study in a Swiss Alpine catchment reveals that the stream temperature predictions are particularly sensitive to the approach used to model the temperature of subsurface flow, a fact which has been poorly reported in the literature to date. Based on the case study, StreamFlow is shown to reproduce hourly mean discharge with a Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.82 and hourly mean temperature with a NSE of 0.78.


Techniques of vision-based motion analysis aim to detect, track, identify, and generally understand the behavior of objects in image sequences. With the growth of video data in a wide range of applications from visual surveillance to human-machine interfaces, the ability to automatically analyze and understand object motions from video footage is of increasing importance. Among the latest developments in this field is the application of statistical machine learning algorithms for object tracking, activity modeling, and recognition. Developed from expert contributions to the first and second International Workshop on Machine Learning for Vision-Based Motion Analysis, this important text/reference highlights the latest algorithms and systems for robust and effective vision-based motion understanding from a machine learning perspective. Highlighting the benefits of collaboration between the communities of object motion understanding and machine learning, the book discusses the most active forefronts of research, including current challenges and potential future directions. Topics and features: provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments in vision-based motion analysis, presenting numerous case studies on state-of-the-art learning algorithms; examines algorithms for clustering and segmentation, and manifold learning for dynamical models; describes the theory behind mixed-state statistical models, with a focus on mixed-state Markov models that take into account spatial and temporal interaction; discusses object tracking in surveillance image streams, discriminative multiple target tracking, and guidewire tracking in fluoroscopy; explores issues of modeling for saliency detection, human gait modeling, modeling of extremely crowded scenes, and behavior modeling from video surveillance data; investigates methods for automatic recognition of gestures in Sign Language, and human action recognition from small training sets. Researchers, professional engineers, and graduate students in computer vision, pattern recognition and machine learning, will all find this text an accessible survey of machine learning techniques for vision-based motion analysis. The book will also be of interest to all who work with specific vision applications, such as surveillance, sport event analysis, healthcare, video conferencing, and motion video indexing and retrieval.