Experts acquire domain‐specific skills as a result of the activities in which they participate throughout their development. We examine the domain‐specific activities in which two groups of elite youth soccer players participated between six and 12 years of age. Our goal was to examine early participation differences between those who progressed to professional status at 16 years of age and those who did not. Data were contrasted to a control group of recreational‐level players and examined in the context of the Developmental Model of Sport Participation, which supports the importance of late specialization and early diversity between six and 12 years of age. The elite players who went on to attain professional status accumulated more hours per year in soccer play activities, but not in soccer practice, competition or other sports, between six and 12 years of age, compared with those who did not progress. The two elite groups averaged more hours per year in soccer practice compared with recreational‐level players, but not soccer play, competition or other sports. We propose the "early engagement hypothesis" to explain our results. Accordingly, practice and play in the primary sport between six and 12 years of age contributes to the development of expert performance in English soccer.


In the present paper a revision is given of the Dutch material of two families of spiders in the van Hasselt Collection, viz., the Micryphantidae and the Linyphiidae. The greater part of the specimens have been collected by van Hasselt himself or by his family. Other well-known collectors, as Everts, ter Haar and Leesberg, also used to send him material. It is of further interest that van Hasselt has been in regular contact with Blackwall, Thorell, and Simon, important contemporary araneologists. Van Hasselt started to publish the results of his intensive collecting in the Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, as reports of his excursions; later, in 1885 and 1886, he composed a Catalogue of spiders collected in the Netherlands, which can be found in the same periodical. It was followed by three supplements in the years 1886, 1890, and 1898. The Catalogue and the supplements have also been issued separately; they must be regarded as reprints, only differing from the original by the numbering of the pages. The reprinted Catalogue, together with the first supplement appeared in 1886 (below it is referred to as sep. I), the reprinted second supplement (sep. II) and the third (sep. III) in 1890 and 1898 respectively. In the present paper I cite the Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, followed in brackets by a reference to the reprint. Van Hasselt preserved only a small number of specimens of each species, males and females in different tubes, without any reference on the label to the locality, except the origin from the Netherlands; consequently the number of records sometimes exceeds the number of specimens in the collection. In the cases of false or partly false identifications by van Hasselt, the localities


This thesis proposes that despite many experimental studies of thinking, and the development of models of thinking, such as Bruner's (1966) enactive, iconic and symbolic developmental modes, the imagery and inner verbal strategies used by children need further investigation to establish a coherent, theoretical basis from which to create experimental curricula for direct improvement of those strategies. Five hundred and twenty-three first, second and third year comprehensive school children were tested on 'recall' imagery, using a modified Betts Imagery Test; and a test of dual-coding processes (Paivio, 1971, p.179), by the P/W Visual/Verbal Questionnaire, measuring 'applied imagery' and inner verbalising. Three lines of investigation were pursued: 1. An investigation a. of hypothetical representational strategy differences between boys and girls; and b. the extent to which strategies change with increasing age. 2. The second and third year children's use of representational processes, were taken separately and compared with performance measures of perception, field independence, creativity, self-sufficiency and self-concept. 3. The second and third year children were categorised into four dual-coding strategy groups: a. High Visual/High Verbal b. Low Visual/High Verbal c. High Visual/Low Verbal d. Low Visual/Low Verbal These groups were compared on the same performance measures. The main result indicates that: 1. A hierarchy of dual-coding strategy use can be identified that is significantly related (.01, Binomial Test) to success or failure in the performance measures: the High Visual/High Verbal group registering the highest scores, the Low Visual/High Verbal and High Visual/Low Verbal groups registering intermediate scores, and the Low Visual/Low Verbal group registering the lowest scores on the performance measures. Subsidiary results indicate that: 2. Boys' use of visual strategies declines, and of verbal strategies increases, with age; girls' recall imagery strategy increases with age. Educational implications from the main result are discussed, the establishment of experimental curricula proposed, and further research suggested.


Entrepreneurship is playing an increasing role in the U.S. economy. Kirchoff and Phillips (1988) reported that small firms are the major source of new job creation. New business ventures accounted for 55% of new jobs between 1970 and 1980 (Hoy and Carland, 1983). New firm creation enhances economic growth and expansion. However, entrepreneurship is a risky process; while more than five hundred thousand businesses are started each year, only one in five survives for ten years (Wall Street Journal, 1982: 15).
Recognizing the need to understand the nature of this influential business segment, researchers have begun to focus on the nature of entrepreneurship. For purposes of this study, an entrepreneur is defined as one who innovates, creating a new business and assuming full authority and control of the venture (Cunningham and Lischeron, 1991). Although an entrepreneur clearly has managerial responsibilities, the venture creation process adds a unique element to entrepreneurship. Do entrepreneurs experience high levels of stress in the initiation and management of a new business? The three research questions posed by this study are:
1. Is the nature of entrepreneurial stress different from managerial stress,
2. What factors in venture creation and growth are related to entrepreneurial stress, and
? 3. Do personality and behavioral characteristics moderate the relationships between en-trepreneurial stressors and health and job satisfaction?
What causes stress? Kahn et al. (1964) and Kahn and Quinn (1970) view stress as a function of discrepancies between one's expectations and one's ability to meet demands, and discrepancies between the individual's expectations and his/her personality. When one is unable to fulfill one's role demands, stress occurs. To the extent that entrepreneurs' work demands and expectations exceed their abilities to perform as venture initiators, they are likely to experience stress. However, entrepreneurs and their role demands differ from those of managers as the next section shows.


A project software is categorized as successful if that project is delivered on time, within the specified budget, and having the expected quality. To achieve those goals, a project manager must be able to estimate realistic cost and effort for the project. However, the complex and intangible characteristics of software project cause difficulties in estimating the software project. The purpose of this research is to devising a system estimate expense and effort development project of software have matching with condition in the country. The developed estimation model in this study is a parametric method which uses local data so that it could yield higher validity for local software projects. The steps undertaken in this study are literature study, data analysis, mathematic modeling, implementation and testing. The conclusion is this application applicable to estimate expense and effort project of software with characteristic of information system by using function points metric. Keyword: project, software, Metrik Function Point, model, estimate realistic cost and effort


Claude Cahun, Maya Deren, and Cindy Sherman were born in differentcountries, in different generations;Cahun in France in 1894, Deren inRussia in 1917, and Sherman in the United States in 1954. Yet theyshare a deeply theatrical obsession that shatters any notion of aunified self. All three try out identities from different socialclasses and geographic environments, extend their temporal range intothe past and future, and transform themselves into heroes andvillains, mythological creatures, and sex goddesses. The premise ofInverted Odysseys is that this expanded concept of theself;this playful urge to "try on" other roles-is more than afeminist or psychological issue. It is central to our global culture,to our definition of human identity in a world where the individualexists in a multicultural and multitemporal environment. This book isan "odyssey" through historical, theoretical, critical, and literaryperspectives on the three artists viewed in the context of theseissues. Contributors include Lynn Gumpert, Lucy Lippard, Jonas Mekas,Ted Mooney, Shelley Rice, and Abigail Solomon-Godeau.Central to the book is Claude Cahun's "Heroines" manuscript, a seriesof fifteen stream-of-consciousness monologues written in the voices ofmajor women of literature and history, such as the Virgin Mary,Sappho, Cinderella, Penelope, Delilah, and Helen of Troy. Translatedby Norman MacAfee, these perverse and hilarious vignettes make theirEnglish-language debut here. This is also the first time that Cahun'stext has appeared in its entirety.The book accompanies an exhibit cocurated by Lynn Gumpert and ShelleyRice at the Grey Art Gallery, New York University.Published in cooperation with the Grey Art Gallery, New YorkUniversity.EXHIBITION SCHEDULE:Grey Art GalleryNew York, New YorkNovember 16, 1999 - January 29, 2000Museum of Contemporary ArtNorth Miami, FloridaMarch - May 2000


Strontium isotopes are applied to a wide range of scientific fields and to different types of materials, providing valuable information foremost about provenance and age, but also on diagenetic processes and mixing relationships between different Sr reservoirs. The development of in situ analytical techniques, such as laser ablation ICP-MS, has improved our understanding of Sr isotope variability in several fields of application, because of the possibility to discriminate small-scale changes and their spatial distribution. However, large outputs of Sr isotope data are produced by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS systems, which necessitate multiple offline steps to correct and assess the data. This requires the availability of simple and user-friendly tools, easily manageable by non-specialists too. With this in mind, we developed SrDR, an Excel-based interactive data reduction spreadsheet ('SrDR', Sr-Data-Reduction) for the processing of Sr isotopes measured by LA-MC-ICP-MS. The SrDR spreadsheet is easily customizable (a) to meet user-specific analytical protocols, (b) for different instruments (i.e. Nu plasma vs. Neptune), and (c) for diverse target materials (e.g. rare earth element enriched or depleted samples). We also include several examples relevant to low and high temperature geochemistry fields – a fossil tooth, a modern seashell, a speleothem sample and plagioclase crystals – to show how different sample materials are corrected for different interfering masses.


Seagrass is sea plant that is no less important to other coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves in terms of physical, ecological, and economic. Indonesia has 12 species of seagrasses from 58 species of seagrasses in the world. Not all regions in Indonesia has the same species seagrasses due to differences in environmental conditions or anthropogenic pressures, a study of seagrass species diversity in Indonesian waters need to be done. This research was conducted to indentify seagrass community structure in intertidal area of Wanci waters, Wakatobi Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province. Stations of observation was located in seagrass bed area that divided in to four stations. Sampling methods was conducted refers to McKenzie et al. (2001) by using quadratic transect 50 cm x 50 cm. In each the quadratic transect, there was recorded of species, and total of the plant. The result of research showed that there were 7 species of segrasses found in Wanci island waters namely Halophila ovalis, Halodule uninervis, Cymodocea rotundata, Thalassia hemprichii, Enhalus acroides, Thalasodendron, and Syringodium isoetifolium. The highest density of seagrass species was dominated by Thalassia hemprichii, Halodule uninervis, and Cymodocea rotundata. The overall distribution pattern of seagrass species were cluster. There is correlation between environmental parameters and seagrass density. Sand substrate has a high positive correlation to the density of seagrass whereas clay substrate, current velocity, salinity, and temperature had a negative correlation (low to high) to the density of seagrass in Wanci Island waters.


Study Design. Systematic review and meta-analysis. Objective. To assess the efficacy of opioids in adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Summary of Background Data. Opioids for CLBP has increased dramatically. However, the benefits and risks remain unclear. Methods. We updated a 2007 Cochrane Review through October 2012 of randomized controlled trials from multiple databases. Use of noninjectable opioids in CLBP for at least 4 weeks was compared with placebo or other treatments; comparisons with different opioids were excluded. Outcomes included pain and function using standardized mean difference (SMD) or risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and absolute risk difference with 95% CI for adverse effects. Study quality was evaluated using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. Results. Fifteen trials (5540 participants), including twelve new, met the criteria. Tramadol was better than placebo for pain (SMD, −0.55; 95% CI, −0.66 to −0.44) and function (SMD, −0.18; 95% CI, −0.29 to −0.07). Compared with placebo, transdermal buprenorphine decreased pain (SMD, −2.47; 95% CI, −2.69 to −2.25), but not function (SMD, −0.14; 95% CI, −0.53 to 0.25). Strong opioids (morphine, hydromorphone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and tapentadol), were better than placebo for pain (SMD, −0.43; 95% CI, −0.52 to −0.33) and function (SMD, −0.26; 95% CI, −0.37 to −0.15). One trial demonstrated little difference with tramadol compared with celecoxib for pain relief. Two trials (272 participants) found no difference between opioids and antidepressants for pain or function. Reviewed trials had low to moderate quality, high drop-out rates, short duration, and limited interpretability of functional improvement. No serious adverse effects, risks (addiction or overdose), or complications (sleep apnea, opioid-induced hyperalgesia, hypogonadism) were reported. Conclusion. There is evidence of short-term efficacy (moderate for pain and small for function) of opioids to treat CLBP compared with placebo. The effectiveness and safety of long-term opioid therapy for treatment of CLBP remains unproven. Level of Evidence: 1


Interacting galaxies often have complexes of hundreds of young stellar clusters of individual masses 10 4 6 M in regions that are a few hundred parsecs across. These cluster complexes interact dynamically, and their coalescence is a candidate for the origin of some ultracompact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). Individual clusters with short relaxation times are candidates for the production of intermediate-mass black holes of a few hundred solar masses, via runaway stellar collisions prior to the rst supernovae in a cluster. It is therefore possible that a cluster complex hosts multiple intermediate-mass black holes that may be ejected from their individual clusters due to mergers or binary processes, but bound to the complex as a whole. Here we explore the dynamical interaction between initially free-ying massive black holes and clusters in an evolving cluster complex. We nd that, after hitting many clusters, it is plausible that the massive black hole will be captured in an ultracompact dwarf forming near the center of the complex. In the process, the hole typically triggers electromagnetic ares via stellar disruptions, and is also likely to be a prominent source of gravitational radiation. We also discuss other implications of this scenario, notably that the central black hole could be considerably larger than expected in other formation scenarios for ultracompact dwarfs.


A hot surface is one of the
ignition sources which may lead to fires in the presence of aviation fluid
leakage. Bleeding ducts and exhaust pipes that are at elevated temperatures are
potential sources of ignition. A database
of Minimum Hot Surface Ignition Temperatures (MHSIT) resulting from experiments
conducted three decades ago at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Dayton,
OH has served as a valuable source of estimating safe operating temperatures. However,
MHSIT for some of the aviation fluids such as Jet-A and MIL-PRF-23699
(lubrication oil) are not readily available. Further, the ranges of the hot
surface and flammable liquids' temperatures and the range of the air stream
velocities need to be extended for use in higher pressure ratio and higher
performance aircraft engines developed since the generation and interpretation
of the original data. The air velocities (VA) in the modern engines
have increased by a factor of two and documenting their effects on the MHSIT
for a range of test fluid temperatures and air temperatures (TF, TA)
is important.

The
objectives of this study are to develop a generic test apparatus to study MHSIT
and to model an air-fuel mixture space to find the range of temperatures and
velocities that lead to ignition. Among various leakage scenarios, the test
apparatus simulates spray (atomized particles injected through a nozzle) and
stream (dripping from a 3 mm tube) injection. A semiempirical ignition model was
developed using an ignition temperature and delay time expression based on an
energy balance between the heat lost to the cross-stream flow, the heat added
from the hot surface and the heat released by the nascent chemical reactions to
estimate the MHSIT.

MHSIT is measured including the
effects of VA, TF, TA and the effects of
obstacles. Ignition probability is evaluated as a function of the hot surface
temperature. The probabilistic nature of the hot surface ignition process was established.
New flammable fluids (Jet-A & MIL-PRF-23699) have been tested and MHSIT
database was expanded. A large number of ignition experiments were completed to
evaluate ignition probability at various flow conditions of aviation fluids:
(1) Jet-A, (2) Hydraulic oil (MIL-PRF-5606) and (3) Lubrication oil
(MIL-PRF-23699). Uncertainty of the experimental measurements for these tests
have been documented. Air velocities were extended up to 7 m/s. Effects of
flammable liquid and air temperature on MHSIT were studied. The empirical constants
for the semi-empirical model were determined using these experimental data.The ignition probability is strongly correlated
with hot surface temperature and progressively weakly correlated with air
velocity, fluid parcel size, air temperature, and test fluid temperature. Parameters
investigated in this study are useful design choices considering MHSIT for a
given flow condition.


This dissertation contains three essays on self-enforcing implicit contracts in economic transactions and politics. Chapter 2 studies a repeated agency model with two tasks where the agent has private information on the first task and there is no verifiable performance signal for the second task. The equilibrium level of the first task is determined so as to guarantee the credibility of the relational contracts to provide incentives for the second task. It implies interesting economic results including non-monotonic relation between the discount factor and the total surplus, social desirability of unverifiability, and implications for organization design. Chapter 3 studies a model of political contribution of dynamic common agency where state-contingent agreements must be self-enforced. First, we investigate the punishment strategy for supporting the self-enforcing mechanism. The most severe punishment strategy on the principals takes the form of a two-phase scheme in general. Second, we characterize the payoff set of the equilibria on which the same decision is chosen by the agent through implicit agreements and examine whether it can achieve the same payoff as in the standard static menu auction model. It implies that there could be an equilibrium outcome in a static menu auction that cannot be supported in our model for any discount factor. Chapter 4 studies repeated political competition with policy-motivated citizen candidates. The dynamic relationship could cause strategic candidacy in two-candidate competition, such as in circumstances where two candidates stand for election and one of them has no chance to win. The candidate can choose her implementing policy depending 3 on the set of the rival candidates in the election and the rival candidate actually has an incentive to stand even with no chance to win since it can induce policy compromises from the winning candidate.


The objective of the article is the solution of the problem of theoretical foundation and methodical support of the formation of an integrated evaluation of investment projects on the basis of econometric methods. The result of the study is the development of the recommendations for the evaluation of the effectiveness of investment projects with the use of econometric methods that help to influence the value of the net present impact, profitability index, internal rate of return, payback period of the most significant factors that are crucial for the project both at the stage of development and at the stage of implementation. These factors have been determined on the basis of multifactorial regression models. In the following paper we present a novel approach to unstructured data processing by imposing a hierarchical graph-based structure on the data and decomposing it into separate subgraphs according to optimization criteria. In the scope of the paper we also consider the problem of automatic classification of textual data for the synthesizing the hierarchical data structure. The proposed approach uses textual information on the first stage to classify ideas, innovations, and objects of intellectual property (OIPs) to construct a multilayered graph. Numerical criteria are used to decompose constructed graph into separate subgraphs. In the scope of the research we apply the developed approach to the innovative ideas in a management case study.


Genetic algorithms typically use crossover, which relies on mating a set of selected parents. As part of crossover, random mating is often carried out. A novel approach to parent mating is presented in this work. Our novel approach can be applied in combination with a traditional similarity-based criterion to measure distance between individuals or with a fitness-based criterion. We introduce a parameter called the mating index that allows different mating strategies to be developed within a uniform framework: an exploitative strategy called best-first, an explorative strategy called best-last, and an adaptive strategy called self-adaptive. Self-adaptive mating is defined in the context of the novel algorithm, and aims to achieve a balance between exploitation and exploration in a domain-independent manner. The present work formally defines the novel mating approach, analyzes its behavior, and conducts an extensive experimental study to quantitatively determine its benefits. In the domain of real function optimization, the experiments show that, as the degree of multimodality of the function at hand grows, increasing the mating index improves performance. In the case of the self-adaptive mating strategy, the experiments give strong results for several case studies.


This research concerns the design development of an innovative antimicrobial textile, exploring its potential application in humanitarian contexts. 'SuperTowel' is a microfibre towel treated with a permanent anti-microbial bonding, designed as a soap alternative in emergency situations, when handwashing is critical for disease control but it is also inconvenient and difficult to practice. The product has a dual mode of action: rubbing the skin with the fabric provides mechanical removal of bacteria and dirt from hands, and the antimicrobial treatment disinfects the towel.

The project structure includes iterative cycles of laboratory tests, design experimentation and field trials in Eritrea and Tanzania, hence spanning three disciplines and methodologies, leading to a viable, impactful outcome.

Two design experimentation phases include two-day workshops to explore design possibilities, providing developer Real Relief with creative directions improving the application of their SuperTowel fabric for hand cleansing in a humanitarian context.

Design workshop 1, in February 2018, led and facilitated by Stevens, and included Real Relief's Technical Director and a WASH specialist Research Fellow from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and RCA MA students. The workshop led to prototypes used in subsequent lab and field trials, increasing functional efficacy (better dirt removal), and increased likelihood of timely use. Lab tests found three of the four prototypes derived from workshop 1 were better at removing E.coli than handwashing with soap (while also using less water).

Workshop 2 in February 2020 aims to refine structural design, pattern, and visual communications to improve intuitive understanding of the product's purpose and mode of use, and to develop a communications package to be used by distributors, such as NGO field officers and volunteers. A second round of field trials in Africa follows.


Cardiotrophin-l (CT-1) and Urocortin (UCN) are peptides which have previously been shown to have protective effects in cardiac myocytes and which induce heat shock protein expression. CT-1 is a member of the interleukin-6 family of cytokines. UCN is a peptide expressed in the brain that binds to the corticotrophin releasing hormone receptors. In this investigation the ability of CT-1 and UCN to protect cells against a lethal stress was tested in neonatal and adult sensory neurons. CT-1 has a protective effect against hypoxic ischaemia in neonatal sensory neurons; in contrast although CT-1 induces the expression of HSP 70 in adult sensory neurons it does not have a protective effect. Results from studies using the kinase inhibitors PD 98059, SB 203580 and LY 294002 suggest that CT-1 is activating the P42/44 MAPK pathway in neonatal sensory neurons. The western blots also reveal a higher level of phosphorylated P42 MAPK in the adult sensory neurons than in the neonatal sensory neurons suggesting that CT-1 does not have a protective effect in the adult neurons because this pathway is already activated. Surprisingly, UCN does not have a protective effect in sensory neurons. In the neonatal cells this could be explained by a lack of receptor expression since RT-PCR revealed an absence of mRNA for both receptors 1 and 2, however; in the adult neurons mRNA was present for both receptors. In conclusion CT-1 but not UCN has an age dependent protective effect in sensory neurons. CT-1 is not the only treatment known to have a protective effect that is lost with age, for instance ischaemic preconditioning is protective in young hearts but not in senescent hearts. The induction of heat shock proteins by mild stress is protective against further stress in young animals but the induction of HSPs is impaired with age. Investigations into the possible therapeutic benefit of increasing heat shock protein expression have previously been performed but this work was carried out using young animals and cells from young animals. This investigation therefore progressed to explore whether increasing heat shock protein expression in neurons from aged animals could protect them from lethal stresses. An HSV-1 based viral vector was used to individually overexpress three members of the heat shock family, HSP 27, HSP 70 and HSP 56, in sensory neurons of aged and neonatal Sprague Dawley rats in vitro. Transcription of the HSP genes in this vector is controlled by a CMV promoter, producing high levels of protein expression. The protective effect of the three proteins against heat shock and hypoxic ischaemia was tested in sensory neurons from aged and neonatal rats. As has been previously shown, in neonatal sensory neurons HSP 27 and HSP 70 protect against cell death due to heat shock. Encouragingly, both HSP 27 and HSP 70 protect the sensory neurons of aged animals against heat shock, although only HSP 27 gave a significant level of protection against hypoxic ischaemia in aged sensory neurons. In conclusion, it is possible to protect neuronal cells of aged animals against stress if the levels of heat shock proteins can be restored.


Arsenic and lead heavy metals are polluting agents still present in water bodies, including surface (lake, river) and underground waters; consequently, the development of new adsorbents is necessary to uptake these metals with high efficiency, quick and clean removal procedures. Magnetic nanoparticles, prepared with iron-oxides, are excellent candidates to achieve this goal due to their ecofriendly features, high catalytic response, specific surface area, and pulling magnetic response that favors an easy removal. In particular, nanomagnetite and maghemite are often found as the core and primary materials regarding magnetic nanoadsorbents. However, these phases show interesting distinct physical properties (especially in their surface magnetic properties) but are not often studied regarding correlations between the surface properties and adsorption applications, for instance. Thus, in this review, we summarize the main characteristics of the co-precipitation and thermal decomposition methods used to prepare the nano-iron-oxides, being the co-precipitation method most promising for scaling up processes. We specifically highlight the main differences between both nano-oxide species based on conventional techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, zero and in-field Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, the latter two techniques performed with synchrotron light. Therefore, we classify the most recent magnetic nanoadsorbents found in the literature for arsenic and lead removal, discussing in detail their advantages and limitations based on various physicochemical parameters, such as temperature, competitive and coexisting ion effects, i.e., considering the simultaneous adsorption removal (heavy metal–heavy metal competition and heavy metal–organic removal), initial concentration, magnetic adsorbent dose, adsorption mechanism based on pH and zeta potential, and real water adsorption experiments. We also discuss the regeneration/recycling properties, after-adsorption physicochemical properties, and the cost evaluation of these magnetic nanoadsorbents, which are important issues, but less discussed in the literature.


To identify and describe the basis upon which instructors make curricular and pedagogical decisions, we have developed an artifact-based interview and an analysis technique based on multilayered concept maps. The policy capturing technique used in the interview asks instructors to make judgments about concrete instructional artifacts similar to those they likely encounter in their teaching environment. The analysis procedure alternatively employs both an a priori systems view analysis and an emergent categorization to construct a multilayered concept map, which is a hierarchically arranged set of concept maps where child maps include more details than parent maps. Although our goal was to develop a model of physics faculty beliefs about the teaching and learning of problem solving in the context of an introductory calculus-based physics course, the techniques described here are applicable to a variety of situations in which instructors make decisions that influence teaching and learning.


The pharmacotherapy of asthma is a complex and evolving topic. A detailed understanding of the pathophysiologic processes involved in the asthmatic response forms the basis for understanding the actions of drugs used to treat this condition. Likewise, a solid comprehension of the medicinal chemistry and pharmacologic properties of the numerous agents involved in the treatment of asthma is critical for rationalizing drug choices and understanding potential side effects. Asthma is addressed at several points in the PharmD curriculum at South University including in the Pathophysiology (quarter 2), Integrated Sequence III (quarter 6), and Critical Care (quarter 9) courses. Various teaching strategies are employed throughout, along with weekly case-based recitations. The content presented here includes a synopsis of the pathophysiology and pharmacology from our Integrated Sequence III block on inflammatory diseases and asthma. A short review of pertinent pathophysiology is followed by a detailed presentation on the various classes of asthma drugs which includes their chemistry, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and interactions. This presentation is designed to prepare students for asthma therapeutics, which follows next in the schedule. The complexities of asthma pharmacotherapy are stressed along with current controversies and future drug development.


— The MyD88 is an evolutionarily conserved host-expressed adaptor protein that is essential for proper TLR/ IL1R immune-response signaling. A previously identified complete cDNA (1626 bp) of OfMyD88 comprised an ORF of 867 bp encoding a protein of 288 amino acids (32.9 kDa). The gDNA (3761 bp) of OfMyD88 revealed a quinquepartite genome organization composed of 5 exons (with the sizes of 310, 132, 178, 92 and 155 bp) separated by 4 introns. All the introns displayed splice signals consistent with the consensus GT/AG rule. A bipartite domain structure with two domains namely death domain (24-103) coded by 1 st exon, and TIR domain (151-288) coded by last 3 exons were identified through in silico analysis. Moreover, homology modeling of these two domains revealed a similar quaternary folding nature between human and rock bream homologs. A comprehensive comparison of vertebrate MyD88 genes showed that they possess a 5-exonic structure. In this structure, the last three exons were strongly conserved, and this suggests that a rigid structure has been maintained during vertebrate evolution. A cluster of TATA box-like sequences were found 0.25 kb upstream of cDNA starting position. In addition, putative 5'-flanking region of OfMyD88 was predicted to have TFBS implicated with TLR signaling, including copies of NF κ B1, APRF/ STAT3, Sp1, IRF1 and 2 and Stat1/2. Using qPCR technique, a ubiquitous mRNA expression was detected in liver and blood. Furthermore, a significantly up-regulated transcriptional expression of OfMyD88 was detected in head kidney (12-24 h; >2-fold), spleen (6 h; 1.5-fold), liver (3 h; 1.9-fold) and intestine (24 h; ~2-fold) post-Fla challenge. These data suggest a crucial role for MyD88 in antibacterial immunity of teleosts.


Background and Aims
Habitat fragmentation threatens global biodiversity. Many plant species persist in habitat fragments via persistent life cycle stages such as seed banks, generating a species extinction debt. Here, seed banks are hypothesized to cause a temporal delay in the expected loss of genetic variation, which can be referred to as a genetic extinction debt, as a possible mechanism behind species extinction debts.

Methods
Fragmented grassland populations of Campanula rotundifolia were examined for evidence of a genetic extinction debt, investigating if the seed bank contributed to the extinction debt build-up. The genetic make-up of 15 above- and below-ground populations was analysed in relation to historical and current levels of habitat fragmentation, both separately and combined.

Key Results
Genetic diversity was highest in above-ground populations, though below-ground populations contained 8 % of unique alleles that were absent above-ground. Above-ground genetic diversity and composition were related to historical patch size and connectivity, but not current patch characteristics, suggesting the presence of a genetic extinction debt in the above-ground populations. No such relationships were found for the below-ground populations. Genetic diversity measures still showed a response to historical but not present landscape characteristics when combining genetic diversity of the above- and below-ground populations.

Conclusions
The fragmented C. rotundifolia populations exhibited a genetic extinction debt. However, the role of the seed banks in the build-up of this extinction debt is probably small, since the limited, unique genetic diversity of the seed bank alone seems unable to counter the detrimental effects of habitat fragmentation on the population genetic structure of C. rotundifolia.


We hypothesize that miR-3151, localized to a GWAS-identified chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) risk locus (8q22.3), is a tumor suppressor miRNA silenced by promoter DNA methylation in CLL. The promoter of miR-3151 was methylated in 5/7 (71%) CLL cell lines, 30/98 (31%) diagnostic primary samples, but not normal controls. Methylation of miR-3151 correlated inversely with expression. Treatment with 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine led to promoter demethylation and miR-3151 re-expression. Luciferase assay confirmed MAP-kinase activating death domain (MADD) and phosphoinositide-3-kinase, regulatory subunit 2 (PIK3R2) as direct targets of miR-3151. Moreover, restoration of miR-3151 resulted in inhibition of cellular proliferation and enhanced apoptosis, repression of MADD and PIK3R2, downregulation of MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling, and repression of MCL1. Lastly, miR-3151 methylation was significantly associated with methylation of miR-203 and miR-34b/c in primary CLL samples. Therefore, this study showed that miR-3151 is a tumor suppressive miRNA frequently hypermethylated and hence silenced in CLL. miR-3151 silencing by DNA methylation protected CLL cells from apoptosis through over-expression of its direct targets MADD and PIK3R2, hence constitutive activation of MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling respectively, and consequently over-expression of MCL1.


The effect of N fertilizer on soil organic matter mineralization is uncertain. This uncertainty has led to suggestions that inorganic N fertilizer may enhance soil N mineralization, thereby decreasing soil organic matter. This uncertainty has also led to confusion about how to measure crop system fertilizer N use efficiency (FNUE). Two options exist to measure FNUE: The indirect 'N difference' method compares N uptake in a zero N control plot compared to N uptake in a fertilized plot (FNUE = (N uptake in fertilized – N uptake in control)/N fertilizer input). The direct 'N tracer' method uses isotopically labeled N fertilizer to directly measure the uptake of individual N atoms. The 'N difference' method always measures higher FNUE and this result has been hypothesized to be due to a 'priming effect' or enhancement of added-N on soil N mineralization. The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of inorganic N fertilizer application on soil organic matter mineralization via measurement of gross ammonification. We measured gross ammonification rates in long-term N fertilizer rate experiments at two sites located in central and southern Iowa. In 2015, plots with continuous corn that had received one of three historic N fertilizer rates for the past 15 years: 0, 202 (long-term AONR) and 269 kg N/ha (highest rate) at the central Iowa site and 0, 224 (rate increment just below the AONR) and 269 (long-term AONR, at the highest rate) at southern Iowa site, were split into two subplots that received either the agronomic optimum N rate (AONR) or zero N fertilizer. Gross ammonification was measured at the V5 and V12 maize growth stages. Across all historical N fertilizer rates at the V5 maize growth stage, N fertilizer input at the AONR significantly reduced gross ammonification rates by 15 and 12% as compared to zero N at the central and southern Iowa sites, respectively; whereas there was no effect at the V12 stage. At both sites, the effect of N fertilizer on gross N ammonification rate decreased with an increase in historic N application rate from zero to highest. Because C and N mineralization occur in tandem, our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that N fertilizer application reduces soil organic matter. Moreover, our results suggest that the 'N difference' method is more accurate than the 'N tracer' method for measurement of FNUE, because gross N mineralization is positively associated with soil C mineralization.


The main focus of the paper was on Research Informed Teaching (RiT) and Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) theory and practice, and the work the presenters and others are doing to incorporate RiT and EBL approaches into the UG and PG programmes at Staffordshire University Law School. The initiative helps to promote the research-teaching nexus having regard to the Staffordshire University Plan 2012-17 and the university's Academic Strategy (2012).

The four main types of project identified by Griffiths (2004) were considered: research-led work informed and led by the specialist research interests of teaching staff, and utilising their published work; research-oriented work, (similar to 'type 1' but putting increasing emphasis on the understanding of the processes by which knowledge is produced); research-based work; and last but not least research-informed work and outputs - the main focus of the paper. The presenters went on to discuss the work being undertaken by the Enquiring Minds project - part of the Faculty's Institute of Industrial Law - and some of the earlier projects aimed at bringing students into the academic community, promoting more information literate student researchers, and aimed at other ways of promoting the rese3arch-teaching nexus.
The presenters also discussed current work that is being undertaken by three of the EMs team as part of a proposed three-year project entitled 'Research Informed Teaching: An Evaluation of the Use of Author-Lecturers' Publications and their Publishers' Web-Based Materials as a Teaching and Learning Resource' (Keith Puttick, Judith Tillson, Christine Harrison). Project aims and objectives are to assess the value of author lecturers' publications as a teaching and learning resource(traditionally a cornerstone of the 'nexus', but which merits enquiry in an era when on-line and web-based resources have come to the fore. Among other things the project is investigating the use and applications of publications and web-based resources based on such publications, and their use in the Law lecturing context. A key part of this is concerned with examining such resources' use and applications when supported by tools like PebblePad3 and other on-line systems like Blackboard 9 (used for, among other things, formative and formal assessment).


Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is one of the excellent photocatalysts used for degradation of environmetal pollutants.  In this work, 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt.% of zinc (Zn)-loaded TiO 2 nanofibers of mean size 45-80nmwere synthesized by electrospinning method. These electrospun nanofibers were calcined at 600°C to enable the transformation of Rutile (R) phase to Anatase (A), elimination of reaction moieties from the TiO 2 matrix and subsequently formation of Zn clusters. The effect of Zn loading on the morphology, crystal structure, phase transformation, and band gap of these electrospun nanofibers have been characterized by Scannining Electron Microscopy  (SEM), (EDX), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Photoluminescence (PL), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy and UV-Visible Spectroscopy. These nanofibers exhibited a red-shift in the absorbance edge and a significant enhancement of light absorption in the wavelength range of 250–550nm. These electrospun nanofibers were investigated for photodecomposition of methylene blue (MB), and photocatalytic decolorization rates were determined by pseudo-first-order equation. The rate constants for the pure and those of 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt% Zn-loaded TiO 2 nanofibers were computed to be 0.1439min -1 , 0.1608min -1 , 0.1876min -1 , 0.20123 min -1 and 0.2251min -1 respectively.


The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is presented in Asia and other parts of the world as an alternative 'agro-ecological' and 'farm-based' innovation in rice production. SRI calls for modifications in crop-management practices without relying on external inputs, which makes it different from innovations based on new rice varieties, which became dominant since the Green Revolution. SRI practices are therefore said to be appropriate for resource-poor smallholder farmers.Previous studies on SRI have focused mainly on the yield effects in comparison with other crop management practices, overall costs and benefits of SRI or deviations from recommended practices. These studies have largely neglected farmers' underlying strategies. This thesis provides an understanding of whether and how SRI can be called a 'farm-based' innovation. Rather than returning to earlier debates about SRI's adoption and disadoption, the study looks as how farm households and communities in Western Himalayan region of India responded to the introduction of SRI. The main objective of this research was to understand how farmers respond to an intervention like SRI and what this tells us about SRI as a socio-technical system. The main research question addressed by this thesis is how SRI, conceived as a set of practices introduced from outside the communities, was incorporated into the local rice farming system. Specifically, the thesis examines how existing work groups were adjusted to accommodate the new method, how the SRI practices were interpreted and adjusted to fit with the local social and agro-ecological arrangements, and how the new method influenced existing rice farming practices in the locality. The research was carried out in three contrasting villages of Uttarakhand, located in the Bhilangana sub-basin of the Western Himalayan region of India. SRI was introduced in this area in 2008. Fieldwork in the three villages was conducted throughout two rice seasons.The theoretical resources drawn upon for this research include the concept of "socio-technical system", "agriculture as performance", and the culture of "task groups". Together these concepts help to understand rice farming as a collective and mutually shaping social and technical performance rather than the activity of an individual farmer. The thesis shows how existing and new rice farming practices and task groups are reconfigured through socio-technical innovations within a given agro-ecological setting. SRI acted as a catalyst, initiating a process of readjustments in the socio-technical configurations of rice farming, varying according to the local context. Farm households, while incorporating SRI into the existing farming system, try to seek complementarity and synergy between various rice farming methods. This allows fluidity among task groups and leads to the extension and diversification of the repertoire of methods used, taking into account the dynamics of the larger socio-economic conditions. The thesis highlights farmers' adaptive capacities to reconfigure practices, reorganize social formations, and reschedule routines in response to farming interventions, in order to maximize the exploitation of agro-ecological niches, minimize uncertainty in farm production and rationalize the employment of the available work force. The study indicates a potential for task groups as units for effectively promoting new agricultural interventions. The groups performing farm operations are crucial in developing and adjusting farmers' managerial skills to cater to the needs of the rice crop in light of the social and economic conditions of the community. For instance, elements of the set of SRI practices, like the use of younger seedlings, fewer seedlings per hill and wider spacing of hills were shown to have influenced practices in nominally 'non-SRI' plots. Changes in customary ritual like Din Bar announcing the date of rice transplanting, elevation in the status of Village Level Resource Persons (VLRPs), emergence of different forms of raised bed nurseries (RBNs), and inclusion of young women in transplanting groups reflect how introduction of SRI brought about changes in the social structure and institutions. This thesis thus highlights the role and importance of the human management component in farming activities and agricultural development. This provided insights into the integration of social and technical dimensions of crop cultivation, particularly the dynamics of rice farming using SRI but also for agronomy as a whole.


The complexity of engineered nanomaterials with regard to their structure and system-dependent properties, and limits of instrumentation to fully characterize nanomaterials in aqueous suspensions or biological media make it difficult to understand how material structure invokes biological response. In this work, a data visualization tool was developed to explore the results of 151 zebrafish assays stored in the Nanomaterial-Biological Interactions Knowledgebase. Visualizations generated using the tool indicated that some nanomaterials exhibited a tendency to cause death, others, sublethal abnormalities. The visualizations also showed that combinations of characteristics, such as the material of the core, shell, and surface, more than any individual characteristic, influenced toxicity. Notably, the size of the nanoparticle did not appear significant in determining toxicity across studies. There was an indication that surface charge could affect toxicity, but a distinct relationship between charge and biological response was not identified. Through exploration of the Knowledgebase using the tool, it was determined that it is possible to alter the toxicity of a nanomaterial of a certain core composition by adding different combinations of a shell and/or a functional outer surface, suggesting that proper design choices, as required to achieve a specific function of a material, could mitigate or exacerbate toxicity.


The present paper examines the wage effects of continuous training programs using individual-level data from the German Socio Economic Panel (GSOEP). In order to account for selectivity in training participation we estimate average treatment effects (ATE and ATT) of general and firm-specific continuous training programs using several state-of-the-art propensity score matching (PSM) estimators. Additionally, we also apply a combined matching difference-in-differences (MDiD) estimator to account for unobserved individual characteristics (e.g. motivation, ability). While the estimated ATE and ATT for general training are significant ranging between about 4 and 7.5%, the corresponding wage effects of firm-specific training are mostly insignificant. Using the more appropriate MDiD estimator, however, we find a more precise and highly significant wage effect of about 5–6%, though only for general training and not for firm-specific training. These results are consistent with standard human capital theory insofar as general training is associated with larger wage increases than firm-specific training. Furthermore, we conclude that firms may intend to use specific training to adjust to new job requirements, while career-relevant changes may be conditioned to general training.


A reliable assessment of the edge strength becomes an important issue when designing structural glass elements in buildings. However, in the literature the edge strength of glass, dependent on the edge quality, is not well documented. Therefore, in this study an edge strength model was established and validated for commonly used edge finishings, namely ground, arrissed and cut. After testing at a high stress rate, the fracture mirror zone depth and the flaw depth were measured. For every edge finishing a reliable ratio between the fracture mirror zone depth and the initial flaw depth was found. A strength model based on the measurement of the mirror zone depth was established and validated, as the measurement of the mirror zone is much easier than the measurement of the flaw depth. Also, the mirror zone depth is independent of the loading rate and can be useful for forensic engineering.


Teak is produced in industrial plantations in more than 43 countries. National and international demand for teak timber exceeds the sustainable yield from natural forests and plantations. High demand creates opportunities for enterprising farmers. Teak is now grown in smallholder agroforestry systems in many tropical countries. These systems enable farmers to diversify production, reduce farm risk, contribute to food security, and generate much-needed income. They also meet commercial needs for timber and improve environmental conditions. This paper reports the contributions of teak systems to smallholders' livelihoods in Indonesia, where farmers have been producing teak for over 50 years. Indonesian farmers cultivate teak as one component in integrated multispecies agroforestry systems. Annual cropping is an important aspect of these systems, producing commodities for both household consumption and market sale. Besides supplying food for households, smallholder teak systems provide 40% of household income from agricultural and timber crops. Teak and other tree crops allow households to re-allocate labor to off-farm employment when those opportunities are lucrative. However, farmers suffer from limited resources, labor, and access to information, which constrain the productivity of their teak systems. Specific recommendations are provided regarding how smallholders can adopt improved silvicultural and marketing management. Roles for government, support agencies, and industry that would provide benefits to all parties are outlined. Policy changes that would motivate smallholders to improve the management of their teak systems are identified. Conclusions and recommendations are applicable to smallholder teak systems across the tropics.


Among the seven national institutions of the former socialist Yugoslav period that appear to have been assigned to the category of 'contested' and 'unwanted' heritage, the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina stands out. Originally built as a Museum of Revolution, it bears a legacy of a specific identity and cultural narrative developed in the socialist period, which has been projected in the architecture displaying the hallmarks of early Modernism. Even though the Museum was listed as a national monument by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments in 2012, the building is in an alarmingly advanced state of disrepair, with little indication that such trend will be reversed any time soon.The paper firstly discusses the Museum in the context of current international developments and the aspects related to museum architecture. Secondly, the Museum is observed through a critical heritage lens and within phenomena of a deliberate destruction of heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2003 the Museum has a permanent exhibition The Besieged Sarajevo, illustrating the practical modes of survival during the 1990s war, consisting of artefacts donated by citizens. Other exhibition themes, ranging from the labour movement traditions, the legacy of World War I, life in former Yugoslavia, the Dayton Peace Agreement mapping, and The Obliteration of Cultural Heritage project, posit critical questions for and about the contemporary society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This work combines two disciplinary fields, architecture and public history, to inquire into selected contemporary activities of the Museum. Its resilience is viewed as representative, symbolic, and symptomatic of an over-reaching cultural, political, and economic condition in the country.


In their recent article in this Journal, Cary et al. critique our prior article, Federalism, Substantive Preemption, and Limits on Antitrust: An Application to Patent Holdup. In that article, we assess the marginal costs and benefits of applying antitrust tools to the so-called patent holdup problem, contend that the costs of applying antitrust rules tools outweigh the benefits, and argue that our analysis is consistent with recent Supreme Court antitrust jurisprudence. Cary et al. focus on the question of how to apply antitrust analysis to the problem of patent holdup in the standard-setting context. However, we believe that the antecedent question of whether it makes economic sense to use antitrust rather than alternatives, such as contract and patent law, to police patent holdup is an important consideration that has received too little attention.We claim that when an alternative legal structure competently regulates the relevant activity, the marginal benefits of applying antitrust enforcement to this activity may be outweighed by the costs of doing so (including error and litigation costs). From a consumer welfare perspective, when applying antitrust enforcement will result in over-deterrence and decrease welfare, antitrust should be rejected in favor of those alternatives. We believe that a marginal analysis of the value of antitrust in the patent holdup context demonstrates that: (1) the costs of false positives are high because it is difficult to reliably identify anticompetitive conduct, (2) the benefits are small because competent alternative regulatory regimes exist in contract and patent law, and (3) shedding antitrust liability in favor of these alternative structures would move legal penalties for patent holdup closer to the de-trebled magnitude that optimal deterrence theory recommends. We also claim that the Supreme Court's recent antitrust jurisprudence embraces the type of marginal analysis we offer, including endorsing considerations of the costs associated with both judicial error and the direct costs of administration and litigation as inputs into analyses aimed at identifying the optimal scope and content of antitrust law. Moreover, notwithstanding Cary et al.'s claims to the contrary, the Supreme Court has expressly endorsed an analysis of the comparative advantages and costs of antitrust law relative to other regulatory structures. Thus, our analysis is consistent with the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Sherman Act.


: Context : A Multivocal Literature Review (MLR) is a form of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) which includes the grey literature (e.g., blog posts, videos and white papers) in addition to the published (formal) literature (e.g., journal and conference papers). MLRs are useful for both researchers and practitioners since they provide summaries both the state-of-the art and –practice in a given area. MLRs are popular in other fields and have recently started to appear in software engineering (SE). As more MLR studies are conducted and reported, it is important to have a set of guidelines to ensure high quality of MLR processes and their results. Objective : There are several guidelines to conduct SLR studies in SE. However, several phases of MLRs differ from those of traditional SLRs, for instance with respect to the search process and source quality assessment. Therefore, SLR guidelines are only partially useful for conducting MLR studies. Our goal in this paper is to present guidelines on how to conduct MLR studies in SE. Method : To develop the MLR guidelines, we benefit from several inputs: (1) existing SLR guidelines in SE, (2), a literature survey of MLR guidelines and experience papers in other fields, and (3) our own experiences in conducting several MLRs in SE. We took the popular SLR guidelines of Kitchenham and Charters as the baseline and extended/adopted them to conduct MLR studies in SE. All derived guidelines are discussed in the context of an already-published MLR in SE as the running example. Results : The resulting guidelines cover all phases of conducting and reporting MLRs in SE from the planning phase, over conducting the review to the final reporting of the review. In particular, we believe that incorporating and adopting a vast set of experience-based recommendations from MLR guidelines and experience papers in other fields have enabled us to propose a set of guidelines with solid foundations. Conclusion : Having been developed on the basis of several types of experience and evidence, the provided MLR guidelines will support researchers to effectively and efficiently conduct new MLRs in any area of SE. The authors recommend the researchers to utilize these guidelines in their MLR studies and then share their lessons learned and experiences.


Europe is in a period of rapid transition. The Single European Market has been completed, and many barriers to the free mvoement of goods, services, labour and capital have been removed. However the moves towards deeper European union, with full monetary union by 1999, have proved more problematic. Outside the EU, the collapse of communism has added more countries to the queue of EFTA nations applying for EU membership. This book, based on articles originally published in Economics and business Education which are here extensively revised and updated, takes a timely look at the European economy. Lively and accessible throughout, the book will be compelling reading for introductory students of economics.


The organic food market continues to grow yet market share remains low. The majority of consumers in this market tend to switch between organic and conventional food products rather than being heavy users of organic branded products. The purpose of this research is to present a deeper investigation of the factors that can lead to the purchase or non-purchase of organic food in order to gain a better understanding of this switching behaviour. A qualitative grounded theory approach was utilised involving in-depth interviews with 21 participants in Australia. These were primary shoppers who switch between organic and conventional food. An emergent conceptual framework was developed from the data which identifies factors that influence whether or not organic food is bought. This framework includes three layers: consumer context; choice of retail outlet; and point-of-purchase. Depending on the specific situation, these factors influence buyers to different extents and hence their collective impact determines whether that individual purchases organic food on a given shopping event. The framework can be used by organic food marketers as a checklist to developing an understanding of their consumers and a basis for developing strategy.


Abstract Protogamasellus mica was extracted from a sugarcane field in Australia and cultured on bacterial-feeding nematodes. Studies with various nematodes in laboratory arenas showed that one mite and its progeny reduced nematode numbers by between 26 and 50 nematodes/day. A bacterivore (Mesorhabditis sp.), a fungivore (Aphelenchus avenae), and two plant parasites (root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica and root-lesion nematode, Pratylenchus zeae) were all reduced at much the same rate despite the fact that the nematodes are quite different in size and motility and belong to different trophic groups. When sugarcane was grown in the greenhouse for 8 wk, stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus annulatus), a plant parasite that feeds ectoparasitically on roots, was almost eliminated from pots inoculated with the mite, and numbers of microbivores and root-lesion nematode were markedly reduced. Huge reductions in nematode populations were also observed when mites were added to microcosms containing small quantities of defaunated soil. These results show that P. mica multiplies rapidly when nematodes are available as a food source and has the capacity to play a role in regulating populations of both plant-parasitic and free-living nematodes. Future research should focus on understanding the crop and soil management practices required to enable this mite and other predatory species to thrive.


Large increases in concentration of particles smaller than 20 nm diameter are relatively common over the central Arctic Ocean in summer and have occasionally been observed over lower latitude oceans. These events often do not readily fit theoretical models of homogeneous nucleation from known precursor gases. It is shown that aggregates and gels of marine biological origin are often common over remote oceans and have a partially granular structure. Previous work in the central Arctic Ocean in summer has shown evidence of release of particles of the order of 40 nm diameter in the presence of evaporating fogs. It is suggested here that under some circumstances disintegration of the primary particles may be more complete, releasing particles smaller than 5 nm that would then be mistaken for recently nucleated particles. Examination of particles present during an apparent nucleation event at Cape Grim, Tasmania supports this interpretation. Correlation coefficients of concentrations of particles of different sizes during the period before apparent nucleation events suggests a distinct difference between vigorous true nucleation events and those over the central Arctic Ocean in summer where little subsequent growth is observed.


To produce compelling images, a real-time renderer is responsible for simulating many real-world visual effects. These effects range from modeling the material properties of surfaces to evaluating complex lighting conditions, to the animation of surfaces. Production real-time renderers contain hundreds of thousands of lines of code that define these shading effects. Like any complex software system, it is desirable for these code bases to be implemented in a flexible and extensible framework that embodies the key rendering concepts. In addition, authoring real-time renderers is particularly challenging because of the need to meet extreme performance goals, which involves efficiently using the massively parallel GPUs, and highly specializing code that executes in various GPU pipeline stages. In response to these challenges, we contribute a shading system design pattern called shader components, that serve as a guideline to authoring shading systems in a modular fashion that is consistent with developers' mental organization of rendering concepts, while retaining key optimizations required to achieve the desired performance goal. We present the design of the Slang shading language and its compilation system, which extends HLSL with a minimal set of general-purpose language features, including generics with interface constraints, associated types, and interface/structure extensions, to facilitate implementation of the shader components while providing an incremental path of adoption for current HLSL developers. We demonstrate how to rearchitect a large open source renderer to adopt shader components using Slang's compiler services, and show via a thorough evaluation that the resulting shading system is substantially simpler, easier to extend with new features, and achieves higher rendering performance than the original HLSL-based implementation.


Differential grading occurs when students in courses with the same content and curriculum receive inconsistent grades across teachers, schools, or districts. It may be due to many factors, including differences in teacher grading standards, district grading policies, student behavior, teacher stereotypes, teacher quality, and curriculum adherence. If it occurs systematically, certain types of students may receive higher or lower grades relative to other students, despite having similar content mastery or ability. Using three years of statewide data on Algebra I and English I courses in North Carolina public high schools, I find that student characteristics are stronger predictors of differential grading than teacher, school, or district characteristics. Female, Limited English Proficient, and 12th grade students earn statistically significant higher grades than other students, holding test scores and student, teacher, school, and district characteristics constant. Low-income students, conversely, earn lower grades than other students, all else constant. With the exception of Algebra I low-income students, these differences are large enough to move a student one grade category on a plus/minus 7-point A-F grading scale. Black students earn higher Algebra I grades but lower English I grades than white or Asian students with the same test score, but these effect sizes are smaller than other student characteristics. Interactions between student and teacher race and gender yielded small estimates that were not consistent between subjects.


Chronic pain is a long-term condition, which has a major impact on patients, carers and the health service. Despite the Chief Medical Officer setting chronic pain and its management as a national priority in 2008, the utilisation of health services by patients with long-term conditions is increasing, people with pain-related problems are not seen early enough and pain-related attendances to accident and emergency departments is increasing. Early assessment with appropriate evidence-based intervention and early recognition of when to refer to specialist and specialised services is key to addressing the growing numbers suffering with chronic pain. Pain education is recommended in many guidelines, as part of the process to address pain in these issues. Cardiff University validated an e-learning, master's level pain management module for healthcare professionals working in primary and community care. The learning outcomes revolve around robust early assessment and management of chronic pain in primary and community care and the knowledge when to refer on. The module focuses on the biopsychosocial aspects of pain and its management, using a blog as an online case study assessment for learners to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and application to practice. The module has resulted in learners developing evidence-based recommendations, for pain management in clinical practice.


Service quality, and the ServQual model, with origins in face-to-face marketing before the age of the internet, has been drafted into the role of explaining the perceived outcomes of computer-mediated self-service encounters. These however differ in important ways from face-to-face service encounters. In this conceptual paper, we offer a number of arguments as to why researchers of computer-mediated services should not look back to ServQual for the basis of their theoretical constructs, models and survey items. We suggest by way of alternative that established information systems theory has greater salience and explanatory power for this phenomenon. We also offer some areas of theory that we believe have potential for the study of online service quality that have so far received little attention.


Agents exhibit pure intergenerational altruism if they care not just about the consumption utility experienced by future generations, but about their total wellbeing. If all generations are altruistic, each generation's wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of its descendants. Thus pure intergenerational altruism causes generations' preferences to be interdependent. While existing models study the relationship between pure intergenerational altruism and conventional time preferences, they assume that altruistic preferences are homogeneous across society. In effect, agents impose their own preferences on future generations, whether they share them or not. By contrast, we study pure intergenerational altruism when agents' preferences are heterogeneous and fully non-paternalistic, i.e. they evaluate the wellbeing of future agents according to their own sovereign intergenerational preferences. We demonstrate that homogeneous models of intergenerational altruism over (under) estimate the weight an agent places on future utilities if she is less (more) altruistic than average. Moreover, all non-paternalistic agents agree on the appropriate long-run utility discount rate, regardless of their preferences. In general, existing derivations of exponential or quasi-hyperbolic time preferences from homogeneous models of pure intergenerational altruism are not robust to heterogeneity.


Tasks and interactional feedback have received much attention in instructed second language acquisition research in recent years. However, little research exists that has investigated feedback and task factors together during naturally occurring teacher–student interaction in classroom settings. To bridge this gap, the current study explored the amount, type, and immediate use of teacher feedback during naturally occurring classroom interaction depending on: (1) whether feedback is provided during tasks versus nontasks; (2) during focused versus unfocused tasks; and (3) whether it occurs during pre-, during-, or posttask phases. The data set included transcripts of 23 videotaped lessons from nine university-level intermediate Spanish foreign language classrooms. Our analyses revealed that task factors affected the amount and type of teacher feedback as well as the number of opportunities for and incidence of learner modified output. Our findings suggest the value of taking task-related variables into account in classroom feedback research and with respect to teacher feedback decisions.


The Black Arts Movement (BAM) has become an increasingly popular subject of critique in recent years. Despite the participation of some of the most prolific women writers, artists, and activists of this period, including Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Mari Evans, Audre Lorde, and June Jordan (some of whom did not define themselves as "black artists"), male artists and intellectuals are given credit for shaping and codifying the aesthetic and political ideologies of the BAM. Cherise Pollard reminds us that: As they articulated black manhood through the pen, the gun, the penis, and the microphone, male poets in the Black Arts Movement defined and reified revolutionary black male identity.... [M]any [black women poets] worked both within and against the men's assumptions about the relationships between race and gender and art and politics. (Pollard 173) The work produced by women writers and artists characterized the ideological and propagandistic relationships between race, sex, and art in ways that deserve careful examination. In his extensive project, Afro-Blue: Improvisations in African-American Poetry and Culture, Tony Bolden provides an overview of this subject as it relates to women poets, stating that "much of black vernacular culture, like American culture generally, is male-centered, and [i]s a product of that culture." An acknowledgement of the ways in which male writers and intellectuals of the BAM, such as Haki Madhubuti, Maulana Karenga, Amiri Baraka, and Larry Neal "had not yet learned to question the narrow framework in which gender is theorized in black culture" is integral to an exploration of the ideals of this period (25). Indeed, scholars are now beginning to recognize the complexities of the aesthetics of this historical period in ways that move beyond popular critiques of its masculinist ideological foundations. Such interests privilege other aspects of BAM that recognize its artists' varied approaches to executing its ideals. Black American writers of preceding generations had debated, discarded, and negotiated questions of cultural representation, nationhood, and the role of the black writer in the articulation of such concepts, and BAM writers of the 1960s and '70s would continue to do the same. Looking at the goals of the BAM through the context of local initiatives, in such cities as Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, and Chicago, is useful for engaging the ways in which BAM principles were experimented with and sustained by black artists in particular communities. Although New York is often understood to be at the center of most of the artistic productivity of the BAM, due in part to a migration of innovative black writers there during the 1950s and '60s (Nielsen 79), the Movement would be shaped in other regions of the U. S. as well. In Chicago, for instance, black artists were affiliated with the Organization for Black American Culture (OBAC), a multi-media initiative that would continue to thrive well into the decade of the eighties. As James Smethurst suggests in a valuable historical survey of BAM, "the numerous direct exchanges and interconnections between African American cultural and political activists in Chicago and Detroit made the Black Arts movement in those cities exceptionally vital" (180). For members of OBAC, both writing and the production of other media of expression was germane to the communication of the organization's specific objectives. For example, under the direction of such members as artist Jeff Donaldson, one of the "captains" of AFRICOBRA, the visual arts branch of OBAC, the efforts of local artists to translate its ideals into visual media would be realized in the construction of the in/famous "Wall of Respect" on Chicago's South Side. As Margo Natalie Crawford writes, The OBAC visual arts workshop decided to shape the mural around the following categories: rhythm and blues, jazz, theater, statesmen, religion, literature, sports, and dance. …


Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) remains one of the most significant long-term complications after allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation. Diagnostic biomarkers for cGVHD are needed for early diagnosis and may guide identification of prognostic markers. No cGVHD biomarker has yet been validated for use in clinical practice. We evaluated both previously known markers and performed discovery-based analysis for cGVHD biomarkers in a 2 independent test sets (total of 36 cases ≤1 month from diagnosis and 31 time-matched controls with no cGVHD). On the basis of these results, 11 markers were selected and evaluated in 2 independent replication cohorts (total of 134 cGVHD cases and 154 controls). cGVHD cases and controls were evaluated for several clinical covariates, and their impact on biomarkers was identified by univariate analysis. The 2 replications sets were relatively disparate in the biomarkers they replicated. Only sBAFF and, most consistently, CXCL10 were identified as significant in both replication sets. Other markers identified as significant in only 1 replication set included intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), anti-LG3, aminopeptidase N, CXCL9, endothelin-1, and gelsolin. Multivariate analysis found that all covariates evaluated affected interpretation of the biomarkers. CXCL10 had an increased significance in combination with anti-LG3 and CXCL9, or inversely with CXCR3(+)CD56(bright) natural killer (NK) cells. There was significant heterogeneity of cGVHD biomarkers in a large comprehensive evaluation of cGVHD biomarkers impacted by several covariates. Only CXCL10 strongly correlated in both replication sets. Future analyses for plasma cGVHD biomarkers will need to be performed on very large patient groups with consideration of multiple covariates.


Tertiary marine rocks occur in small scattered
outcrops around Tasmania's north and west coasts,
on some islands in Bass Strait, and below sea
level in Mussel Roe Bay. All occurrences except
those in Mussel Roe Bay and on Preservation
Island have been recorded previously. From 64
samples, about 300 categories (form, subspecies,
species, genus etc,) of foraminifera have been
identified. Planktonic species are generally poorly
preserved, but good faunas have been identified
from Fossil Bluff, Brittons Swamp and Marrawah,
the latter in company with Lepidocyclina howchini
Chapman and Crespin and Amphistegina lessonii
d'Orbigny.
All rocks are of Early and Middle Miocene age
(Longfordian Batesfordian, Carter's Faunal
Units 6, 8 and 9) with the possible exception of
one sample from Mussel Roe Bay which may be
Late Oligocene (Janjukian, Faunal Unit 5).
All sediments are of shallow water origin,
deposited in depths of less than 20, usually less
than 10, fathoms. Water temperatures were those
of the Warm Temperate to Subtropical Zones in
Faunal Unit 6 time, Subtropical during Faunal
Unit 8 time and Tropical during Faunal Unit 9
time. Waters may have been slightly warmer in
the north-east than in the north-west during Faunal
Unit 6 time.
Sediments at about 100 feet below sea level in
Mussel Roe Bay, and at less than 150 feet above
sea level at Wynyard, King Island, Cape Grim,
Mt Cameron West, Marrawah, Daisy Creek and
Granville Harbour formed during a marine transgression
throughout Faunal Units 5 and 6, There
seems to be a Faunal Unit 7 hiatus which may
represent regression.
Higher level sediments (above sea level on
Cape Barren and Preservation Islands) and at
170-310 feet above sea level at Brittons Swamp,
Redpa, and Marrawah formed during another,
more extensive transgression in the time of Faunal
Units 8 and 9.
Comments are made on the age of some basalts
in the north-west of the State; on the relation of
these outcropping sediments to those of the Bass
Basin; on the common occurrence of large and
planktonic foraminifera in a single sample from
Marrawah; and a palaeogeographic map is presented.


Summary We have described changes in abundance of phenological phases of individual plant populations during one vegetative season in an oligotrophic dry meadow. We found that, the capability to record species presence or to estimate species cover is probably dependent on species phenological stage. Many grassland species start their reproductive cycle before mowing, but not all species are able to finish their reproductive cycle before that event. Some species and many individuals (mostly graminoids) never finish their reproductive cycle. We found that the largest changes in phenological phase composition occur immediately before the mowing time. Furthermore, we attempt to find the predictors of phenological peaks position among species' traits. We compare positions of phenological peaks between graminoids and forbs and between dominant and non-dominant species. Graminoids were found to start their reproductive cycle earlier than forbs. Phenological transition from flowering to fruiting seems to be slower for graminoids than for forbs. Transition of forbs species is slower during the spring then in the summer. On the mentioned gradient of time (from spring to the autumn) is the transition of forbs still faster. Dominant species concentrate their reproductive cycle in the middle of the vegetative season, non-dominant species "exploit" the edges of vegetative season. Positions of phenological peaks are significantly different between graminoids and forbs.


This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of a range of contemporary Northern Irish dramas dealing with the Troubles. Each of the plays has set out to present an 'alternative' to a specific set of discourses in the representation of the conflict in Northern Ireland: a rebuttal of Republican claims for support south of the border; an exposition of the role of the police in brutalising nationalists; an alternative vision for the future of Protestantism. Each, nonetheless, is constrained in its intent by the limitations of the representations provided, in its failure to embrace more fully the totality of the situation. The omission of the role of the British from representations of the violence has contributed to discourses which have camouflaged the actual role of the British state in the conflict. It is an omission characteristic of virtually all plays about the Troubles. Such limitations led each of the plays to a complicity with a wider discourse in which the conflict is seen as internal to Northern Ireland where the Troubles are represented as an impenetrable dance macabre where history, politics and religion have provided the accompaniment for two opposing but hopelessly interlocked tribes. The 'alternative Ulster' which emerges is an alternative to the enlightened, the civilised, rational, the taken for granted of the rest of Britain. Northern Ireland is a place where normality has been suspended and where ordinary human beings enter at their peril: a heart of darkness just across the Irish Sea.


This paper provides performance bounds for compressed sensing in the presence of Poisson noise using expander graphs. The Poisson noise model is appropriate for a variety of applications, including low-light imaging and digital streaming, where the signal-independent and/or bounded noise models used in the compressed sensing literature are no longer applicable. In this paper, we develop a novel sensing paradigm based on expander graphs and propose a MAP algorithm for recovering sparse or compressible signals from Poisson observations. The geometry of the expander graphs and the positivity of the corresponding sensing matrices play a crucial role in establishing the bounds on the signal reconstruction error of the proposed algorithm. The geometry of the expander graphs makes them provably superior to random dense sensing matrices, such as Gaussian or partial Fourier ensembles, for the Poisson noise model.We support our results with experimental demonstrations.


From a historic perspective, the north-east Arctic cod stock, which is found in the Barents SeaSvalbard region, has been the most productive gadoid stock in the Atlantic. Variation in catch has always been large, but during the last 1015 years catch and stock abundance have reached the lowest level on record. Three major causes of variation have been discussed: (i) stock reduction through exploitation; (ii) environmental influences on recruitment; and (iii) species interaction effects on maturation, growth and mortality. In addition, interactions among these three sources might be important. The influence of each specific factor is difficult to evaluate from incidental observations and short-term time series. In this respect, the time series on catches and on biological and environmental information of this stock, which partly extend back to the 19th century, occupy a unique position in comparison to data on most other stocks.

In this paper, fluctuations in catch and stock abundance are compared with changes in recruitment, size/age and growth. This information is discussed in view of historic variation in ecology and environment. The stock has been under particularly high exploitation pressure since the mid-1970s. Further, large changes in growth rates and poor recruitment to the commercially exploited stock are characteristic of late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. The analysis shows that substantial long-term variation might underlie short-term variability, and more importantly, that long-term changes roughly coincide with similar fluctuations in the environment. Such factors might substantially affect the relationship between spawning stock and recruitment, which is also apparent from the difference in conclusions reached by various published studies. Consequently, it is suggested that using a steady-state perspective for the population dynamics may lead to mismanagement and to a reduction of the long-term yield from this stock.


Tunable near-infrared optical parametric oscillation in an organic crystal has been achieved for the first time to our knowledge. A 1.9-mm-thick nonlinear molecular crystal of N-(4-nitrophenyl)-l-prolinol was pumped at a wavelength of 0.5927 μm and a pulse duration of 1 ns (FWHM). Tunability from 0.9 to 1.7 μm and a maximum but nonoptimized total conversion efficiency of ~5% were obtained with considerable improvement in performance still available. In addition, the optical parametric oscillation threshold estimation method and the importance of a high nonlinearity for optical parametric oscillation operation at the 1-ns time scale are discussed.


Abstract This paper highlights the important role that design plays when it comes to women's overall experiences of ther gynaecological examination. It exemplifies how the examination can become renegotiable through the practice of a critical design. We will reflect this in the design of the contemporary gynaecological examination chair (GEC). We used women's experiences as a starting point for the design of an Androchair (a conceptual male equivalent of the GEC), in order to make the experiences critically visible. Inspired by the view of the gynaecological examination as a performance where the Androchair is represented as a prop and was placed on a stage as a discussion object during a public seminar. The Androchair allowed for both critical and multiple readings of the GEC and through that, the gynaecology examination at large. Moreover, it stimulated a discussion about alternative ideas towards achieving a more positive experience.


It has been reported in the literature that interrogative sentences behave quite differently regarding subject-verb inversion in Spanish and Catalan: whereas the former allows 'classical' VS inversion, and particularly VSO, the latter systematically resorts to right-dislocation in all cases (V(O)#S). In this paper we scrutinize this observation from a corpus-based perspective, and including into the syntactic picture the prosodic and pragmatic features of interrogatives. We show that Catalan interrogatives clearly favor RD, in sharp contrast with Spanish, which favors in situ realization of background material. This latter option has important consequences for the prosodic patterns of Spanish interrogatives, which mark final focus constituents with a pitch rising and that final background material with a slight pitch fall.


This article is the foreword to a symposium, "Can the Seamless Garment Be Sewn? The Future of Pro-Life Progressivism," held at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and published in volume 2, issue 2 of the University of St. Thomas Law Journal. Pro-life progressivism is an approach that combines opposition to abortion and euthanasia with a number of positions typically deemed progressive or leftward-leaning, such as support for strong anti-discrimination (including sex-discrimination) laws, strong anti-poverty programs with governmental involvement, strong environmental protection, skepticism about the use of American military force, and concern for the rights and dignity of those accused and convicted of crimes. In political debate today these positions are typically seen as contradictory. But this symposium examines the combination of positions, for virtually the first time in legal scholarship, and examines whether the approach has intellectual coherence and political viability. Symposium contributors, both proponents and critics of pro-life progressivism, include legal scholars, moral philosophers, social scientists, political activists, and a member of Congress. This Foreword introduces the symposium papers by first describing three main streams of thought that flow into pro-life progressivism: the Catholic social-justice tradition, especially the consistent ethic of life articulated by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin; pro-life feminism represented by groups such as Feminists for Life; and the left wing of evangelical Protestantism, represented by figures such as Jim Wallis, the symposium's keynote speaker. The Foreword then notes that this approach faces daunting political hurdles as it seeks to offer a missing fourth option in American public life in distinction to the familiar political options of conservatism, liberalism, and libertarianism. After describing other aspects of the intellectual and political atmosphere for pro-life progressivism, the Foreword summarizes the papers from the three symposium panels: an overview panel with both proponents and critics (from the left and right) of pro-life progressivism, a law and policy panel advancing and critiquing specific proposals in a pro-life progressive agenda, and a politics panel assessing the viability and future of this approach in politics and culture.


Of the more than sixty early Shakespeare quartos, only two were issued without title page dates. It has been conjectured (although not definitively) that Q4 Romeo and Juliet and Q4 Hamlet date from 1622 and 1625, respectively. Scholarly interest in whether one or both quartos influenced the text of the First Folio has fueled recent attempts to adduce bibliographical evidence to date the two quartos with more certainty. Hailey shows that a date for Q4 Hamlet of 1619–21, on the basis of deterioration of Smethwick's publisher's device, is faulty, while an effort to date Q4 Romeo and Juliet by its paper stocks proves to be inconclusive. Rightly understood, however, the comparative analysis of paper stocks, including but not limited to their watermarks, can be a powerful forensic tool for dating imprints more precisely. Hailey explains how and why paper can be useful for dating, and he describes his method for collecting and analyzing paper data. Primarily on the evidence of their paper stocks, Q4 Romeo and Juliet is dated with a high degree of probability to 1623; Q4 Hamlet is demonstrably dated to 1625. Thus, neither of these quartos could have influenced the First Folio text, and the unique shared readings between Q4 and Folio Hamlet texts must result from the Folio's influence on Q4.


The aim of this work is the application of techniques developed in the domain of corpus linguistics to a collection of ancient Greek texts, taking into account not only the canonical text established by modern editors, but also the variant readings recorded in the critical apparatus or in the repertories of conjectures. The dissertation is divided in three connected parts: construction, mapping and analysis of the corpus.

The first part is devoted to corpus construction and it is focused on the techniques to improve the OCR accuracy on classical critical editions. This task is challenging because critical editions are multilingual, the set of characters to recognize is wide and the quality of last centuries paper is variable. Three OCR engines are applied to the same texts and a Bayesian classifier, joint to a specific spell-checker, evaluates the most probable output. It is demonstrated that the improvement is significative and, in the best cases, it is more than 3%.

The second part is devoted to the alignment of the contents extracted from critical apparatus and repertories of conjectures to the reference text. TOGLIERE A parser has been developed to classify the chunks of information (verse number, Greek word sequences, textual operation, scholar that suggested the conjecture). Alignment algorithms used to find the precise position of the conjecture in its context are illustrated in detail.

The third part is devoted to the study of the semantic spaces of ancient Greek. The chapter is focused on the specificity of the corpus, that is morphologically complex, literary (both poetry and prose) and diachronical (from VIII century B.C. to XV century A.D.). The word senses in documents belonging to different genres are explored, and the diachronical change of meaning is observed.

Finally, a couple of meaningful conjectures extracted in the first part is analysed, evaluating the most interesting reciprocal relations in the semantic space.


Safety cues are frequently used in online stores to relieve consumers' risk perceptions concerning online purchases. This paper uses regulatory focus theory (RFT) to predict the persuasiveness of online safety cues. According to RFT (Higgins, 1997), people process information differently depending on whether they strive for achieving gains (promotion focus) or avoiding losses (prevention focus). The aim of the present study is to examine the impact of the regulatory focus compatibility of Web content on online consumer behavior. Using different online stores, two experiments show that the effect of online safety cues depends on the consumers'regulatory focus. A pilot study demonstrates that safety-oriented Web content lowers consumers' risk perceptions, but only when in a prevention focus. The main study replicates and extends this finding by showing that online safety cues both lower consumers' risk perceptions and engender more favorable attitudes and intentions, depending on the regulatory focus.


This document describes our approach to building an Offensive Language Classifier. More specifically, the OffensEval 2019(Zampieri et al., 2019b) competition required us to build three classifiers with slightly different goals: 1. Offensive language identification: would classify a tweet as offensive or not. 2. Automatic categorization of offense types: would recognize if the target of the offense was an individual or not. 3. Offense target identification: would identify the target of the offense between an individual, group or other. In this report, we will discuss the different architectures, algorithms and pre-processing strategies we tried, together with a detailed description of the designs of our final classifiers and the reasons we choose them over others. We evaluated our classifiers on the official test set provided for the OffenseEval 2019 competition(Zampieri et al., 2019a), obtaining a macro-averaged F1-score of 0.7189 for Task A, 0.6708 on Task B and 0.5442 on Task C.