Researchers in academia typically perform different tasks: research, teaching and services to the scientific community. We analyze the opportunity costs in terms of a potentially reduced publication productivity associated with becoming a dean in the German institutional setting where deans are non-professional expert-leaders who temporarily take the dean position. Theoretically, we distinguish between two different effects that relate deanship and publication productivity: a resource effect where publication productivity during and – as a result of potentially having developed a taste for service –also post deanship decrease as a result of a reduction of the available time for research and a self-selection effect where pre-deanship publication productivity is lower than that of peers who are not about to become dean. Based on a dataset of 1,110 business and economics researchers from German-speaking universities, we find evidence for a resource effect with leadership in academia reducing research productivity during and also post deanship. We find no evidence of a negative self-selection effect in the sense of less successful researchers being more likely to take the position of a dean. Reduced research productivity during and post deanship as compared to those researchers that never became dean is driven by those researchers who become dean in later periods of their career, i.e., presumably by those who deliberately shift their focus away from research and towards a stronger engagement in the scientific community in their late career years. Early career deans, on the contrary, seem to see their deanship more as a transitory role and are able to compensate the reduced resources during deanship, and they also do not suffer from a reduced publication productivity post deanship.


This volume provides a state-of-the-art treatment of research on language attrition, the non-pathological loss of a language through lack of exposure. It combines a review of past and present research with in-depth treatments of specific theoretical and methodological issues and reports on individual studies. Special prominence is given to the identification of problematic areas in attrition research, with a view to pointing out possible solutions. The book specifically addresses itself to those who wish to acquaint themselves with the research area of language attrition, providing them with both a thorough overview of the field and a basis on which to build their own research. The combination of experience and an innovative outlook present in this collection, however, make it a valuable source for those familiar with attrition as well. Especially useful to both beginners and veterans is the extensive annotated bibliography.


By means of the Ehrhart theory of inside-out polytopes we establish a general counting theory for nonattacking placements of chess pieces with unbounded straight-line moves, such as the queen, on a polygonal convex board. The number of ways to place $q$ identical nonattacking pieces on a board of variable size $n$ but fixed shape is (up to a normalization) given by a quasipolynomial function of $n$, of degree $2q$, whose coefficients are polynomials in $q$. The number of combinatorially distinct types of nonattacking configuration is the evaluation of our quasipolynomial at $n=-1$. The quasipolynomial has an exact formula that depends on a matroid of weighted graphs, which is in turn determined by incidence properties of lines in the real affine plane. We study the highest-degree coefficients and also the period of the quasipolynomial, which is needed if the quasipolynomial is to be interpolated from data, and which is bounded by some function, not well understood, of the board and the piece's move directions.


This study was conducted to know the maternal risk factors and outcome of low birth weight babies in Paediatric Department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Orissa. Two hundred cases of low birth weight babies irrespective of gestational age, without any congenital anomalies were included, after informed consent. Detailed history regarding maternal risk factors were taken and clinical examination done in all cases. Mothers height and weight were recorded. The babies were followed up during this hospital stay to determine the morbidity and mortality. Low maternal weight, multiparity, low socio economic status, illiteracy, inadequate antenatal care, maternal anemia, maternal malnutrition, maternal hypertension and PROM were the maternal risk factors associated with low birth weight babies. The most common cause of morbidity and mortality in low birth weight babies were sepsis, MODS, HIE, RDS, NEC, hypoglycemia, PDA, IVH, meningitis and feeding difficulties. Identification of high risk factors and appropriate management can reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality.


Flatwoods are an important ecological plant community in the southeastern Coastal Plain with approximately one-third of Florida's flatwoods in timberland. This study was conducted to investigate hydroperiod changes in the water table of both hydric and nonhydric soils following harvest in a Florida cypress [Taxodium distichum (L.)]-pine (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii Engelm.) flatwoods landscape. Shallow water-table wells were established on a 42-ha area and divided into three harvesting treatments containing mature slash pine plantations and pine-cypress swamps: control, dearcut (both hydric and nonhydric soils harvested), and cypress swamps only harvested (hydric soils only harvested). Water-table measurements were obtained at 2-wk intervals for 6 yr. Harvesting treatments occurred 2 yr into the study. Regression equations created from preharvest water-table data between the control block and harvested blocks allowed us to predict uncut water-table responses in the cut areas. These predicted values were compared with the actual postharvest observations. The water-table level increased 48 and 49 cm and 19 and 21 cm in the hydric and nonhydric soils in the dearcut and cypress swamps only cut, respectively, during the first 126 d after harvesting. Significant differences (P < 0.10) in water-table depth because of harvesting occurred throughout the four postharvest years, but the differences were less than seen initially, and the pattern was seasonal. Compared with the predicted uncut condition, water tables tended to be lower (drier) during the growing season and higher (wetter) during the nongrowing season. These seasonal fluctuations were presumably driven by changes in evapotranspiration rates resulting from differences in leaf area of the pine canopy and understory.


In the aftermath of Russia's August 1998 financial crisis, many observers hoped that genuine reform and restructuring would occur in the Russian banking sector. Unfortunately, almost a year and a half after the crisis, the sector hobbles along with only a few half-steps taken towards effective restructuring. Although some banks have been closed, consolidation into a few strong and competitive banking institutions has not occurred. While many analysts anticipated the emergence of only 450-500 strong and competitive banks, the reality is that over 1,300 banks still existed in late 1999 (from 1,700 banks at the beginning of 1998). In addition, authorities have revoked and reinstated the licenses of bankrupt banks in seemingly arbitrary ways. Major bankers have also been guilty of asset stripping in the aftermath of August 1998, and have successfully transferred assets from bankrupt entities to new banks. None of them have been called into account for their fraudulent practices. Finally, improved profitability and liquidity, the absence of an exchange rate crash, and growth of 1.9% in the Russian economy in 1999 create a positive environment for Russian banks to move forward. However, these bright spots are likely to prove meaningless unless Russian authorities take more focused and effective steps toward reform in the banking sector.


In this article, I query whether participation in the labour market
can hinder neo-republican freedom as non-domination. I briefly
present the view of Philip Pettit on the topic, based on the distinction
between offering a reward and threatening a punishment. I compare it
to the analysis of labour republicans, recently reconstructed by Alex
Gourevitch, according to whom, the exclusion of a group of individuals
from the control of productive assets represents a form of structural
domination. Then, I explain why I take a position that is different from
both. I hold that capitalist structural domination leads only to exploitation,
not interpersonal domination. In doing this, I consider two objections
that might be raised against my argument. The first one is based on
incomplete contracts and on a possible ideal benchmark for job offers.
The second one challenges the supposed arbitrariness of unequal property
relations within the capitalist social system.


Solid Lewis acids can be very selective in many important biomass reactions. Unfortunately, our understanding of solid Lewis acidity is very poor, making it difficult to design and select specific catalysts for a particular reaction. In this dissertation, characterization and examination of solid Lewis acids were performed through home-built instruments including Temperature-Programmed Desorption (TPD)/Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), calorimetry, and a multiphase continuous flow reactor. A number of important catalyst families were examined in this work, including bulk metal oxides, ion-exchanged zeolites and framework substitution Lewis acid zeolites. In this work, it has been shown that the adsorption features obtained from TPD-TGA, calorimetry experiments are very helpful in understanding reaction results from reactor study. Adsorption studies are able to determine Lewis site density, relative adsorption strength and activation energy of monomolecular reactions which are extremely valuable information for catalysts. Biomass reactions over Lewis acid catalysts are through multiple and complicated steps. Works in my study provides a valuable method to understand solid Lewis acidity in biomass reactions through an adsorption feature investigation. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering First Advisor Raymond J. Gorte


Glutathione (GSH) and enzymes related to this antioxidant molecule are often overexpressed in tumor cells and may contribute to drug resistance. Blockade of glutathione transferases (GSTs) has been proposed to potentiate the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chlorophyllin that has antioxidant properties, and also interferes with the activity of GST P1‐1, on breast cancers in vitro and in vivo. The in vivo studies were conducted using an N‐methyl‐ N‐nitrosourea (MNU)‐induced chemical carcinogenesis model in laboratory rats. DNA damage, GST activity, and GSH levels were determined in liver and tumor tissues. Treatment with chlorophyllin increased the GSH levels in the liver and significantly decreased DNA damage in the blood, liver, and tumor tissues. Even though tumorigenesis was delayed in rats receiving chlorophyllin before MNU injections, once the tumors emerged, the progression of tumor appeared to be faster than in the animals that received the carcinogen only. Out of nine breast cell lines, GST P1‐1 expression was detected in MCF‐12A, MDA‐MB‐231, and HCC38. Concomitant incubation with chlorophyllin and docetaxel did not significantly affect cell proliferation and viability. Chlorophyllin displayed genoprotective effects that initially delayed tumorigenesis. However, once the tumors were established, it may act as a promoter that facilitates tumor growth, potentially by a mechanism independent of cell proliferation and viability. Our results underline the pros and cons of antioxidant treatment in cancer, even if it has a capacity to inhibit GST P1‐1.


1. The synthesis and release of nitric oxide may play a role in the pathogenesis of peripheral vasodilatation and hyperdynamic circulation observed in liver cirrhosis. In this work, we analysed the synthesis of nitric oxide by the lympho-mononuclear cells of peripheral blood from patients with chronic alcoholic and non-alcoholic liver disease and we identified the isoform of nitric oxide synthase involved in the increased nitric oxide synthesis. 2. Patients were classified following clinical and histological criteria in non-alcoholic cirrhotic, alcoholic cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic chronic liver disease. We studied clinical and analytical characteristics, haemodynamic parameters and endotoxin levels in these patients. 3. Cirrhotic patients showed an increase of cardiac output and a decrease of peripheral vascular resistance. These patients had higher levels of plasma endotoxin than those observed in the control group. N omega-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-inhibitable nitrite production from mononuclear lymphocyte cells was higher in patients than in the control group, the highest levels being in non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients, and the lowest levels in patients with non-cirrhotic alcoholic liver disease. 4. Immunocytochemistry studies revealed a positive immunoreactivity for the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase in lympho-mononuclear cells that was more evident in non-alcoholic than in alcoholic cirrhotic patients. By Northern blot, inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression was observed only in lymphomononuclear cells from non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients. 5. Our patients show a correlation between nitric oxide synthesis, endotoxin levels and haemodynamic parameters. 6. These findings indicate that lympho-mononuclear cell stimulation may play a role in elevated nitric oxide production in hepatic cirrhosis. Thus, this increased nitric oxide synthesis could be implicated in the pathogenesis of the haemodynamic disturbances frequently found in cirrhotic patients. This increase seems to be induced, at least in part, by activation of an inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase.


Measuring the discrepancy between two probability distributions is a fundamental problem in machine learning and statistics. We propose a new class of discrepancies based on the optimal loss for a decision task – two distributions are different if the optimal decision loss is higher on their mixture than on each individual distribution. By suitably choosing the decision task, this generalizes the Jensen-Shannon divergence and the maximum mean discrepancy family. We apply our approach to two-sample tests, and on various benchmarks, we achieve superior test power compared to competing methods. In addition, a modeler can directly specify their preferences when comparing distributions through the decision loss. We apply this property to understanding the effects of climate change on different economic activities and selecting features targeting different decision tasks.


The human beta1-adrenergic receptor (AR) and hamster beta2-AR transcripts can be post-transcriptionally regulated at the level of mRNA stability and undergo accelerated agonist-mediated degradation via interaction of their 3' untranslated regions (UTR) with RNA binding proteins. Using RNase protection assays, we have determined that chronic isoproterenol exposure of rat C6 glioma cells results in the accelerated reduction of beta1-AR mRNAs. To determine the role of cellular environment on the agonist-independent and agonist-mediated degradation of beta1-AR mRNAs, we transfected rat beta1-AR expression recombinants into both hamster DDT1MF2 cells and rat L6 cells. The rat beta1-AR mRNAs in the two transfectant cell pools retain longer agonist-independent half-lives than in the C6 environment and undergo accelerated degradation upon chronic agonist exposure. Using UV-cross-linking/immunoblot and immunoprecipitation analyses, we have determined that the rat beta1-AR 3' UTR recognizes a predominant M(r) 39,000 component, identified as the mammalian elav-like protein HuR, and several other minor components, including the heteronuclear protein hnRNP A1. HuR levels are more highly expressed in C6 cells than in DDT1MF2 and L6 cells and are induced after chronic isoproterenol treatment. Furthermore, C6 transfectants containing an HuR expression recombinant exhibit reduced beta1-AR mRNA half-lives that were statistically comparable with half-lives identified in isoproterenol-treated C6 cells. These results imply that HuR plays a potential role in the agonist-independent and agonist-mediated down-regulation of beta1-AR mRNAs.


We characterize the Hopf bifurcations that rule self-pulsing of spatially varying fields in distributed feedback structures with Kerr nonlinear response. Our analysis allows us to distinguish, inside the stop band, between fully unstable regions and those where stable high transmission mediated by localized waves is achievable dynamically. Outside the stop band, the grating reveals a complex behavior where islands of stability are interspersed between regions of self-pulsing and bistability. Numerical integration of the time-dependent coupled-mode equations validates our linear stability analysis and illustrates the dynamics.


This paper provides a robust structural identification of the effects of U.S. interest rates on an emerging economy's asset values. Using newly available intraday data, we investigate how surprises associated with U.S. macro data and FOMC announcements move the yield spread on a benchmark Brazilian government dollar-denominated bond and the Brazilian broad stock price index. Our study covers the period February 1999 to April 2005. We find that FOMC announcements that lead to an increase in U.S. interest rates are associated with a systematic increase in Brazil's bond spread and a systematic decline in the stock price index. Several U.S. macro data surprises, including for nonfarm payrolls and the CPI, prompt an increase in the Brazilian bond yield spread and a fall in Brazilian share prices. These combined findings suggest that, for Brazil during this period, the financial risks of higher U.S. interest rates in response to positive news about the U.S. economy dominated any benefits through trade or other channels in the determination of Brazilian asset valuations.


This report provides the results of measurements that were conducted on a 404.37 MHz wind profiler located in Platteville, Colorado. These measurements included: radiated spectra (both high and low mode), radiated harmonic and subharmonic power measurements, characterization of the antenna frequency response, determination of the radiated antenna gain values near ground level, susceptibility of profiler performance to interference from selected emission waveforms, and the effects on a typical land mobile/amateur operation from wind profiler emissions. In addition, the report presents a detailed wind profiler system description including operations/functions, system hardware, digital signal processing, as well as an analytical estimation of the interference effects on profiler performance. The information contained within this report can serve as an aid in conducting electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) analysis to determine compatibility between wind profilers and other systems.


The primary aim of ESA's proposed Euclid mission is to observe the distribution of galaxies and galaxy clusters, enabling the mapping of the dark architecture of the universe [1]. This requires a high performance detector, designed to endure a harsh radiation environment. The e2v CCD204 image sensor was redesigned for use on the Euclid mission [2]. The resulting e2v CCD273 has a narrower serial register electrode and transfer channel compared to its predecessor, causing a reduction in the size of charge packets stored, thus reducing the number of traps encountered by the signal electrons during charge transfer and improving the serial Charge Transfer Efficiency (CTE) under irradiation [3]. The proposed Euclid CCD has been modelled using the Silvaco TCAD software [4], to test preliminary calculations for the Full Well Capacity (FWC) and the channel potential of the device and provide indications of the volume occupied by varying signals. These results are essential for the realisation of the mission objectives and for radiation damage studies, with the aim of producing empirically derived formulae to approximate signal-volume characteristics in the devices. These formulae will be used in the radiation damage (charge trapping) models. The Silvaco simulations have been tested against real devices to compare the experimental measurements to those predicted in the models. Using these results, the implications of this study on the Euclid mission can be investigated in more detail.


This article reports the results of a survey administered to undergraduate and graduate business students at two universities to assess their perception of risky situations that are not easily or directly translatable into conventional measures of probability. Significant differences are found between men and women in four of the five situations. Contrary to expectations, the greater the uncertainty of the consequences, and the less familiar the subjects are with respect to possible monetary and other repercussions, the riskier the subjects' choices are. The authors surmise that age, social status, and other factors as well may influence perceptions of risk-taking.


Abstract. The influence of gravity waves on noctilucent clouds (NLC) at ALOMAR (69° N) is analysed by relating gravity wave activity to NLC occurrence from common-volume measurements. Gravity wave kinetic energies are derived from MF-radar wind data and filtered into different period ranges by wavelet transformation. From the dataset covering the years 1999–2011, a direct correlation between gravity wave kinetic energy and NLC occurrence is not found, i.e., NLC appear independently of the simultaneously measured gravity wave kinetic energy. In addition, gravity wave activity is divided into weak and strong activity as compared to a 13 yr mean. The NLC occurrence rates during strong and weak activity are calculated separately for a given wave period and compared to each other. Again, for the full dataset no dependence of NLC occurrence on relative gravity wave activity is found. However, concentrating on 12 h of NLC detections during 2008, we do find an NLC-amplification with strong long-period gravity wave occurrence. Our analysis hence confirms previous findings that in general NLC at ALOMAR are not predominantly driven by gravity waves while exceptions to this rule are at least possible.


In 2016, temperature recorders were recovered, temperatures were measured, and fluid samples were collected from Vent 1, a high temperature (338°C) hydrothermal discharge site on the southern Cleft Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Coupled with previous sampling efforts, this collection represents a 32‐year record of discharge from a single chimney structure, the longest record to date. Remarkably, the fluid has remained brine‐dominated for more than three decades. This brine formed during phase separation and segregation prior to initial observations in 1984. Although the chloride concentration of the discharging fluid has decreased with time, the fluid temperature has remained nearly constant for at least 3.3 years and probably for 15 or even 22 years. Compositions of the discharging fluids are consistent with inputs from a deep‐sourced brine, which was last equilibrated at >400°C at a depth consistent with the base of the sheeted dikes and the brittle‐ductile transition. This brine mixed (diffusion or dispersion) with a likely non‐phase‐separated, hydrothermal fluid prior to discharge. A survey of hydrothermal endmember fluids with chlorinities in excess of 700 mmol/kg shows, with the exception of Fe, a single trend between major ion concentrations and chlorinity even though data are from a range of crustal compositions, spreading rates, and water and magma depths. Calculated deep‐sourced brines from hydrothermal fluid data are similar to data based on fluid inclusions and estimates of brine assimilation in magmas. A better understanding of brines is required given their potential duration of discharge and capacity for mobilizing metals.


Several different applications of Fourier transform infrared (FT-ir) spectrometry being developed at Ohio University are described. A dual-beam FT-ir system which enables identifiable GC-ir spectra to be measured from less than 100 ng of material is described. A method for removing the solvent from the effluent from a high performance liquid chromatograph is proposed, together with a device for on-line LC-ir at the submicrogram level. Calculations showing the effect of the instrument line shape function of an FT-ir spectrometer used with or without apodization on Lorentzian absorption bands are described, and the implications of the results of these calculations on spectral subtraction and remote sensing experiments are discussed.


Over the years, many European countries have regulated their national book markets. Chief among the regulatory schemes is the resale price maintenance ("RPM") regime, under which booksellers must offer books for a fixed price for a limited time period. The suggested rationales for this legal regime are mainly: (1) viewing books as cultural goods that deserve special treatment; (2) advancing diversity in the book market; (3) creating a wide distribution of and accessibility to books; and (4) supporting small booksellers. This Article explores the normative rationales for the RPM regime's adoption and design in book markets. The RPM regime has been discussed and analyzed using a positive economic framework, but its application in reality has been missing a normative theoretical basis. This Article demonstrates that absent such a theoretical basis, policymaking is meaningless. Policymakers as well as courts cannot solely rely on positive economic analysis. Normative analysis is inevitable. This Article explores the missing normative analysis of RPM regimes in the context of book markets. It exposes an important blind spot in regulatory policy and judicial judgment. Lastly, the normative framework introduced in this Article may prove relevant for American RPM arrangements. Since American antitrust scrutiny of RPM schemes recently transformed from a per se rule to a rule of reason analysis, American policymakers and courts are expected to encounter a new wave of resurfacing RPM schemes. * Associate Professor, Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law. ** Professor, Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law. We thank Ori Faust and Amy Wolf for excellent research assistance. Washington University Open Scholarship 836 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [VOL. 97:835


The 1906 Zulu uprising against British colonial power and white settler rule in Kwazulu-Natal marks an important turning point in the modern history of South Africa. Inspired by the centralising tradition of the Zulu kingship, history and religion, the uprising was essentially "tribal". It was the last armed uprising in that part of Africa, preconditioning capitalist expansion in colonial Natal and the opening up of Zululand, conquered by the British in 1879. Initially the uprising appeared as a serious threat to white supremacy but was later, in the encounter between assegais and maxim guns, defeated. The uprising had two important results. On the national level, the need for white unity seemed urgent and in 1910 the South African Union was formed. Among blacks, the losses suffered by the armed rebels gave an impetus to a new, more modernist and pan-African nationalism. The African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1912 by representatives of the small, mission educated African Christian middle class elite. In Kwazulu-Natal itself the aftermath of the uprising and the aggressive "mopping-up" operations by colonial troops, brought fundamental restructuring and traumatic change among African communities. The self-sufficiency of the homestead economy was eroded, chiefly power and traditional religious authority weakened and an increasing amount of men forced into labour migration.The African Christians, some ten per cent of the black population, were often caught in between a hostile non-Christian surrounding, to whom they often were seen as traitors, and the contempt of a white racist society. Most of them were first generation converts living in the rural areas. To many of the Christians the uprising and its consequences became a test of loyalty and resulted in a questioning of the hitherto accepted identity and world view. This was particularly true for the black evangelists, the real pioneers of mission Christianity, caught between the loyalties to their white missionary employers and their followers in the African Christian congregations.The Zulu evangelists of the Church of Sweden Mission (CSM) prove in this respect an interesting case because of the CSM object of folk Christianisation, i.e. the conversion of entire ethnic groups, and the establishing of folk, or national, churches on the mission field. An ethnic group, with its national identity and distinctive character, was not to be suppressed by the mission. In South Africa this implied an acceptance of polygyny and lobolo (bride wealth). In Kwazulu-Natal, where the CSM had been present since the 1870s, missionaries strongly supported the study of Zulu history and language and encouraged their evangelists in fostering a Zulu national identity among the members of their congregations. In the years around 1906, however, the CSM nationalist agenda for the Zulu became much more problematic in relationships between Zulu evangelists, church members and white missionaries. Increased tensions between black and white before the uprising, the eventual outbreak of violence and the settler government's suppression of the rebel forces created a social and moral disruption. A number of identity-based conflicts were at hand in CSM congregations, e.g. in regard to attitudes towards African medicine and diviners or herbalists, Zulu historiography and spirit possession. In this respect the Zulu evangelists tried to appear both as leaders and spokesmen of their people and representatives of their employers, the CSM missionaries.The purpose of this paper is to review the role of CSM African evangelists as mediators between the old and the new in the identity-based conflicts surrounding the 1906 Zulu uprising. Clearly it was among the evangelists that the future leadership of the evolving Zulu church was to be found. Many of the African evangelists, representing a new political consciousness, were furthermore, in due time, to be counted among the local leaders of the future ANC.


Perforated metal sheets are frequently used in electric and electronic devices, and in most cases, these metal structures should comply with some electromagnetic compatibility constraints which impose certain conditions on penetrating electromagnetic radiation, quality of shielding, and other characteristics. Currently, many issues in electronic system design could be handled with advanced mathematical and computer models; however, direct reproduction of perforation in these models may result in a significantly increased computational cost. This work is concerned with modeling perforated metal sheets whose apertures have diameters significantly smaller than the wavelength of radiation. We suggest an original approach for computation of intrinsic impedance from the reflection and transmission coefficients obtained by FDTD simulation of the perforated sheet placed in a rectangular waveguide. The calculated impedance can be used to characterize the perforated segment as a solid metal plate which has the same effective material parameters, including electric conductivity. Functionality of the proposed technique is illustrated with a model of a microwave oven that has two perforated wall segments necessary for ventilation and lighting. After computing the impedance of these segments, they are replaced in the model by solid metal with equivalent effective conductivity, which allows for practical simulation of electromagnetic processes in the oven without any increase in the computational resources required. Computations show that the presence of perforated segments on the walls of this microwave oven makes a negligible impact on the frequency characteristics of the system—so in corresponding full-wave models, the segments can be replaced by solid metal walls without compromising accuracy of simulation.


The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has undergone significant and fairly regular changes on a time scale of 100 kyr during the at least last four glacial‐interglacial cycles. Here we present a novel coupled physical‐biogeochemical mechanism for these variations. Previous studies had to arbitrarily specify the behavior of the physical climate system in order to invoke a biogeochemical mechanism for the glacial CO2 changes, be it an arbitrarily specified change in the vertical ocean mixing [Toggweiler, 1999], or arbitrarily specified sea ice cover changes [Stephens and Keeling, 2000]. Instead, we present here a new, self‐consistent, qualitative physical mechanism for both the vertical mixing and sea ice cover changes. In this mechanism, the cooling of North Atlantic Deep Water due to northern hemisphere glaciation is transported southward by the thermohaline circulation, and cools the deep water upwelling in the Southern Ocean. This, in turn, affects the Southern Ocean stratification, reduces the rate of vertical mixing of the surface water with the deep water and increases the sea ice cover. We also explain the continuous time evolution between glacial and interglacial states rather than treat them as two steady states, and are able to model explicitly for the first time the amplification of the glacial‐interglacial variability of the physical climate system by the ocean biogeochemistry.


The Consumer Electronics Show, which is held every year in Las Vegas in early January, continues to be an important fair in the consumer sector, though increasingly the major manufacturers prefer to announce their new products at their own specific events in order to gain greater impact. Only the leading TV brands unveil their artillery of new models for the coming year. Despite this, it continues to break records: there were over 150,000 visitors (from more than 150 countries), the number of new products announced exceeded 20,000 and the fair occupied over 2 million square meters.


During the Vietnam War there existed a lack of consensus as to what the official policy of dealing with the crisis at hand should be. Starting with Eisenhower and continuing through Johnson, the consensus was that South Vietnam was an area of vital interest to the US that could not be lost to the Communists. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, the task of how to deal with Vietnam fell to Johnson. The following years witnessed a messy display of force, the loss of thousands of American lives, and the unsuccessful retreat of the US from Vietnam. Ever since, there has been an element of fear surrounding intervention and the use of force in places that could potentially take the US down this same route of failure. The lessons learned have varied and have coalesced into multiple strategies used by future administrations; however, is it fair to say that the memory of Vietnam and the "syndrome" that developed thereafter, are still driving forces behind creation of US foreign policy? This paper will try to demonstrate through three case studies (the First Gulf War, Somalia, and Afghanistan) that the need to avoid another Vietnam, not just the war itself but the consequences to such a loss, are still relevant factors in an Administration's decision as to whether or not to intervene abroad.


Background & Aim: Nesfatin-1 is a novel anorectic neuropeptide with potent metabolic regulatory effects. Our aim is to investigate the association of nesfatin-1 levels and cardiac syndrome X (CSX).

Methods: The study group consist of 80 patients who underwent coronary angiography and were diagnosed as CSX according to the presence of exercise-induced typical angina pectoris and ischemia on myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with angiographically normal coronary arteries. For control subjects, we recruited 80 healthy genderand age-matched individuals who were seen for health check-ups.

Results: The cases had significantly lower levels of Serum Nesfatin-1 than the subjects (p < 0.001). There is significant correlation between low Nesfatin-1 levels and the CSX presence (OR, 0.982; 95% CI; 0.969-0.995; p=0.005).

Conclusion: The study results of CSX indicated lower levels of serum Nesfatin-1 compared to the control group. Nesfatin-1 might function as a pathogenic factor for CSX through an inflammatory response as well as an impaired endothelium. We commend this labor to you and expect further research from you on the association of Nesfatin-1 and CSX.


The dissertation is about scientific uncertainty in the policy process, that is when scientific knowledge about an issue is lacking or the existing knowledge is uncertain. The aim of the study is to understand if and how scientific uncertainty affects the policy process. For that purpose, the development of climate change policy in Sweden is studied, from 1975 until 2007. The material studied consists of interviews with politicians, bureaucrats and scientists, newspaper articles and debate articles, as well as governmental and agency material. The theoretical framework developed and used in the dissertation builds on John Kingdon's multiple streams framework as well as insights from Science and Technology Studies, relating to the production of knowledge and the relation between scientists and society.

The study shows that scientific uncertainty is only one among many factors that affect the policy process and that it has a limited influence. The area where scientific uncertainty, in the case studied, has had most influence is in the selection and formulation of policies. There policy makers have used a number of ways to make decisions in the face of uncertainty. These include reframing the issue so that uncertainties are no longer relevant, relying on the precautionary principle, requesting more research, and basing decisions on the judgment of scientists. The most common way of managing uncertainty has been to reframe the issue. In the case studied, scientific uncertainty has made scientists very influential as to how climate change has come to be understood as a political problem. Yet they have had a very limited influence over the formulation of climate policy.


BACKGROUND
The intestinal dysbiosis is common in chronic liver disease and can induce to inflammatory responses and mediate the collagen deposition in the liver.

AIM
To evaluate the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for the treatment of liver fibrosis in a model of chronic cholestatic liver disease in rats.

METHODS
Male adult Wistar rats (n = 29) were submitted to common bile duct ligation (BDL groups) or manipulation of common bile duct without ligation (Ctrl groups).Two weeks after surgery, each group was randomly divided to receive 1 ml of PBS (Ctrl and BDL) or PBS containing 2.5 x 107 CFU of LGG (Ctrl-P and BDL-P) through gavages for 14 days. Euthanasia occurred 33 days after surgery when samples of blood and liver tissue were collected.

RESULTS
The hepatic gene expression of Tlr4, Tnfα, IL-6, Tgfβ, and metalloproteinase-2 and -9 were higher in the BDL groups in comparison to Ctrl. The ductular reaction evaluated by immunocontent of cytokeratin-7 (CK7) and the content of collagen were increased in BDL groups. Also, there was an imbalance in the antioxidant defenses (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and an increase in the oxidative stress marker sulfhydryl in BDL groups. The treatment with LGG significantly reduced gene expression of IL-6, collagen deposition, and ductular reaction in hepatic tissue of animals from BDL-P groups.

CONCLUSION
The treatment with the probiotic LGG was able to reduce liver fibrosis, ductular reaction, and hepatic gene expression of IL-6 in a model of cholestatic liver disease in rats.


Abstract. Aqueous phase chemical processes of organic compounds in the atmosphere have received increasing attention, partly due to their potential contribution to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Here, we analyzed the aqueous OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene and its reaction products including carbonyl compounds and organic acids, regarding the acidity and temperature as in-cloudy conditions. We also performed a laboratory simulation to improve our understanding of the kinetics and mechanisms for the products of aqueous isoprene oxidation that are significant precursors of SOA; these included methacrolein (MACR), methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), methyl glyoxal (MG), and glyoxal (GL). We used a novel chemical titration method to monitor the concentration of isoprene in the aqueous phase. We used a box model to interpret the mechanistic differences between aqueous and gas phase OH radical-initiated isoprene oxidations. Our results were the first demonstration of the rate constant for the reaction between isoprene and OH radical in water, 1.2 ± 0.4) × 1010 M−1 s−1 at 283 K. Molar yields were determined based on consumed isoprene. Of note, the ratio of the yields of MVK (24.1 ± 0.8 %) to MACR (10.9 ± 1.1%) in the aqueous phase isoprene oxidation was approximately double that observed for the corresponding gas phase reaction. We hypothesized that this might be explained by a water-induced enhancement in the self-reaction of a hydroxy isoprene peroxyl radical (HOCH2C(CH3)(O2)CH = CH2) produced in the aqueous reaction. The observed yields for MG and GL were 11.4 ± 0.3 % and 3.8 ± 0.1 %, respectively. Model simulations indicated that several potential pathways may contribute to the formation of MG and GL. Finally, oxalic acid increased steadily throughout the course of the study, even after isoprene was consumed completely. The observed yield of oxalic acid was 26.2 ± 0.8 % at 6 h. The observed carbon balance accounted for ~50 % of the consumed isoprene. The presence of high-molecular-weight compounds may have accounted for a large portion of the missing carbons, but they were not quantified in this study. In summary, our work has provided experimental evidence that the availably abundant water could affect the distribution of oxygenated organic compounds produced in the oxidation of volatile organic compounds.


One of the design features of language is its systematicity: to a considerable extent, the rules of grammar relate not to the world outside, but only to other rules. They exist in autonomy from external motivations. Subject-verb inversion in the Germanic languages as a marker of interrogatives is a well-known example of such an externally unmotivated rule. The notion of systematization implies a process whereby such rules have evolved from pre-systematic externally motivated origins. In this particular case: Greenberg's constituent order universal #11 proposed that only those languages with sentence-initial interrogative words will ever allow subject-verb inversion in questions. There is, however, an obvious functional basis for fronting question words: Jespersen's principle of actuality. Moreover, of the languages which front question words, many demarcate focussed from presupposed material by a focus-marking flag. In other languages, it may be that the verb itself may function as such a flag, that is, subject-verb inversion may be the functional analog of a demarcative focus marker. The best evidence for the functional unity of focus marking and subject-verb inversion is their complementary distribution, sometimes within the same language. The genuine systematicity of subject-verb inversion may then be the outcome of functional external motivations, and a series of analogical steps. More generally, it may be that other aspects of the autonomization or emancipation of language can be explained by reference to processes that are attested in observed language change. Analogy leads to systematization (and possibly even to recursiveness), as ritualization leads to displacement, and its linguistic aspects (sound change and grammaticalization) lead to arbitrariness, discreteness, and double articulation.


The lower Chesapeake Bay and adjacent coastal waters serve as the primary summer nursery areas for juvenile sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plum beus) in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. The large population of juvenile sandbar sharks in this ecosystem benefits from increased food availability that fuels rapid growth and from limited exposure to large shark predators. Juvenile growth and survival is the most critical life history stage for sandbar sharks, and juvenile nursery grounds will continue to play an important role in the slow recovery o f this stock from severe population declines due to overfishing. The goal of this study was to assess the possible impacts o f juvenile sandbar sharks as apex predators on the lower Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and to evaluate the energetic benefits o f using this nursery. The bioenergetics model was used as a tool to predict energy consumption rates o f individual sandbar sharks based on their energetic demands: metabolism, growth, and loss o f waste. Metabolic rate is the largest and most variable component o f the energy budget, particularly for species such as the sandbar shark that must swim continuously to ventilate their gills. The standard (basal) and routine metabolic rates o f juvenile sandbar sharks were measured in two laboratory respirometry systems, using oxygen consumption rate as a proxy for metabolic rate. These data span the entire range o f body sizes and water temperatures characteristic o f the Chesapeake Bay population. Standard metabolic rates o f sandbar sharks were similar to values obtained for related shark species by extrapolation of power-performance curves. The effects o f body size and temperature on standard metabolic rate were similar to previous results for elasmobranchs and teleost fishes. In fifteen sharks, routine metabolic rate while swimming averaged 1.8 times the standard metabolic rate when the sharks were immobilized. Data obtained from the literature support the theory that limited gill surface areas and narrow metabolic scopes o f many elasmobranchs help to explain their slow growth rates, since growth has the lowest rank o f the multiple metabolic demands placed on the oxygen delivery system. These new metabolic rate data were then combined with other species-specific data to construct a bioenergetics model for juvenile sandbar sharks for the time they spend in Chesapeake Bay each summer. This model predicted higher daily rations than previous estimates for this species that were based on simple bioenergetics models or stomach contents and gastric evacuation rate models. However, the predicted rations agree with reconstructed meal sizes of juvenile sandbar sharks and are comparable to those o f ecologically similar shark species. When extrapolated from individuals to the population level, the model predicted a negligible effect o f predation by juvenile sandbar sharks on the lower Chesapeake Bay ecosystem; the consumption rate o f juvenile sandbar sharks pales in comparison to other carnivorous fishes and to humans, the true apex predators in the system.


For many years, law and economics scholars, as well as politicians and regulators, have debated whether corporate criminal enforcement overdeters beneficial corporate activity or in the alternative, lets corporate criminals off too easily. This debate has recently expanded in its polarization: On the one hand, academics, judges, and politicians have excoriated enforcement agencies for failing to send guilty bankers to jail in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis; on the other, the U.S. Department of Justice has since relaxed policies that encouraged individual prosecutions and reduced the size of fines and number of prosecutions. A crucial and yet understudied piece of evidence in this debate is to understand how corporate crime rates have responded to changes in enforcement practices. And yet, unlike most other types of crime, the government does not provide data about corporate crime levels. Therefore, we cannot easily determine whether these policy changes are effectively deterring future incidents of crime.

In this paper, we take important first steps in determining whether corporate crime, and financial institution crime in particular, is on the rise. Specifically, we proxy for corporate crime using three novel sources: the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), consumer complaints made to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and whistleblower complaints made to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Each source reveals an increase in complaints or reports indicative of corporate misconduct in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. We also examine levels of public company recidivism and find that they are also on the rise. And we document a potential explanation: recidivist companies are much larger than non-recidivist companies, but they receive smaller fines than non-recidivist companies (measured as a percentage of market capitalization and revenue). Put simply, for large companies, criminal penalties may be just another cost of doing business—and quite a low cost at that. We conclude by offering recommendations for enforcement agencies and policymakers. In particular, our results suggest that enforcers are unlikely to achieve optimal deterrence using fines alone. Enforcement agencies should therefore consider other ways of securing deterrence, such as by seeking penalties against guilty individuals and the top executives who facilitate their crimes.


The effect of shading (i.e. reduction of sunlight availability) on fruit growth physiology has been widely studied in apple (Malus domestica Borkh.), but little knowledge exist about fruit growth responses to changes in the light spectrum. The aim of the present research was to study the effect of use of colored nets with differential sunlight transmission in the blue (B, 400-500 nm), red (R, 600-700 nm) and far-red (FR, 700-800 nm) spectra on apple fruit growth and physiological associated responses. Three year old 'Fuji' apple trees were covered with 40% photo-selective blue and red shade nets, 40% neutral grey shade net, and 20% neutral white net as control. Red and blue net reduced in the same proportion (27%) the photosynthetically active radiation with respect to control. However, blue net increased by 30% and reduced by 10% the B:R and R:FR the light relations, respectively. Maximal fruit growth rate under blue and grey nets was 15-20% greater than control. Fruit weight under blue net was 17% greater than control, but no significant differences in fruit weight were found among red net and control. Leaf photosynthesis and total leaf area under blue net were 28% and 30% higher than control, respectively; with ensuing positive effect on tree net C assimilation rate and total dry matter production. Results suggest that shifting the B, R, and FR light composition with photo-selective nets could be a useful tool to manipulate the photosynthetic and morphogenetic process regulating the carbohydrate availability for apple fruit growth.


In this article, we analyse the effects of the carousel value-added tax fraud in the European carbon market and the legislative measures that the EU Member States could adopt to deal with this phenomena. We use a computable general equilibrium model, called GTAP-E and the version 6 of the GTAP database to evaluate the economy-wide and terms of trade effects. The policy test has been designed for five European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. According to our findings, the legislative measures aimed to remove the VAT fraud in the European Emission Trading System will have positive effects in terms of GDP and welfare in the selected EU Member States.


This case presents excerpts from the speeches of observers to the 2008 financial crisis, including former and current central bankers, a private banker, and a Nobel-prize winning economist. They present different interpretations of the causes of the financial crisis, and make proposals about how a similar crisis might be stopped in the future. The goal of the case is to provide students with alternative perspectives and broad historical data so that they can evaluate both causes of and responses to the crisis.


Cost improvements and delayed discharges or 'bedblocking' are historical, ongoing and topical issues (Gaughan et al 2016). Crucial for many inpatients in the discharge pathway are access and home visits (Marks 1994, Parker et al 2002).

Many patients require Occupational Therapy home assessments prior to hospital discharge (Sheppard et al 2010). They are labour and resource intensive (Sampson et al 2014). Clinical practice also suggested that although necessary, arranging and conducting visits can delay discharges. It was hypothesized greatly reducing Occupational Therapists physically visiting homes could significantly reduce the costs to conduct the visits and speed up discharges.

A NHS Trust, University collaborative delivered a secure videoconferencing and note taking prototype. Immediate service deployment was inappropriate; consequently an emulation of adapted practice in realistic home assessment settings plus clinician and public consultation regarding the service development is reported. A registered volunteer or relative being the home visitor with a smart phone or tablet and the hospital based Occupational Therapist operating a personal computer. A simple to use videolink allowed the therapist to instruct the visitor and make notes.

Therapists evolved draft practice protocols progressively learning from scenarios that were increasingly better home assessment simulations. They also provided feedback for system improvements and obtained information to analyse cost and time savings.

Findings: Patients' discharge could be quicker through an approach offering easier patient involvement in the home assessment. For stroke and wheelchair services there was an estimate of £81,000 savings per year without accounting for reduced bed blocking.


Objective
 Positional plagiocephaly and/or brachycephaly (PPB) is associated with cognition, motor, and other developmental outcomes, but little is known about the social-behavioral adjustment of children with PPB. The primary aim of this study was to compare the social-behavioral development of preschool and school-age children with and without PPB and to examine the potential moderating effects of PPB severity on group differences.
 Design
 Two hundred twenty children with a history of PPB and 164 controls participated in at least one behavioral assessment at 4-11 months, 18 months, 36 months, and 7 years. The frequencies of observed problem behaviors and social competence were estimated using the Child Behavior Checklist Ages 1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5), Caregiver-Teacher Report Form(C-TRF), CBCL/6-18, and Teacher Report Form.
 Results
 Children with PPB were similar to controls on the internalizing, externalizing, or total problems composites. At 7 years, CBCL/6-18 total competence scores were significantly lower in children with histories of PPB than controls. In analyses stratified by PPB severity, we found that children with moderate/severe PPB had slightly higher scores on the C-TRF internalizing scale at 36 months and lower total competence scores at age 7 years. Children who had a history of mild PPB were similar to controls on all outcomes.
 Conclusions
 This study is the first to examine social and behavioral outcomes in a large cohort of children with and without a history of PPB. We found limited evidence of an association between PPB and parent and teacher-reported social-emotional and behavioral adjustment through early school-age.


Although a large proportion of the human brain is dedicated to processing incoming sensory information, much of this processing is not accessible to consciousness. In an effort to understand what differentiates conscious from unconscious processing, we are concerned here with methodological issues in exploring the limits of unconscious processing. We first consider a conscious perceptual experience and establish an operating characteristic to disambiguate perceptual sensitivity from decision criterion. We then apply the same method to dissociate explicit measures of perception from implicit measures of sensory processing. Finally, we evaluate post-decision wagering as a proposed method for measuring awareness.


This research explores users' intention to use teleconsultation technology. The study also explores the influence of facilitating conditions on the acceptance of the technology in the health care environment in Malaysia. Further, the study compares the level of user acceptance in two organizational settings: (1) between emergency and non-emergency environment, and (2) between referring and referral hospital. This research presumes on the basis of exploratory and descriptive study engaging a survey of healthcare providers who practice in public hospitals in Malaysia. The study reports a high level of acceptance and acceptable extent of facilitating conditions of teleconsultation technology. Thus, some facilitating conditions demonstrate significant correlations with the acceptance of teleconsultation. Interestingly, the study exhibits valuable insights concerning the acceptance of teleconsultation technology in the respective settings being compared. Overall, the findings provide useful insights for both practitioners and future researchers of health information technology adoption studies in the relevant context.


We modify the Diamond and Dybvig (1983) model of banking to jointly study various regulations in the presence of credit and run risk. Banks choose between liquid and illiquid assets on the asset side, and between deposits and equity on the liability side. The endogenously determined asset portfolio and capital structure interact to support credit extension, as well as to provide liquidity and risk-sharing services to the real economy. Our modifications create wedges in the asset and liability mix between the private equilibrium and a social planner's equilibrium. Correcting these distortions requires the joint implementation of a capital and a liquidity regulation.


A key factor in the success of deep neural networks is the ability to scale models to improve performance by varying the architecture depth and width. This simple property of neural network design has resulted in highly effective architectures for a variety of tasks. Nevertheless, there is limited understanding of effects of depth and width on the learned representations. In this paper, we study this fundamental question. We begin by investigating how varying depth and width affects model hidden representations, finding a characteristic block structure in the hidden representations of larger capacity (wider or deeper) models. We demonstrate that this block structure arises when model capacity is large relative to the size of the training set, and is indicative of the underlying layers preserving and propagating the dominant principal component of their representations. This discovery has important ramifications for features learned by different models, namely, representations outside the block structure are often similar across architectures with varying widths and depths, but the block structure is unique to each model. We analyze the output predictions of different model architectures, finding that even when the overall accuracy is similar, wide and deep models exhibit distinctive error patterns and variations across classes.


The potential for and ubiquity of multiscale mapping is growing as a result ofcontemporary research and development efforts in digital cartography. Past workon multiscale mapping discusses use of the ScaleMaster diagram,a conceptualschematic for organizing, maintaining, and sharing the scale-dependent designspecifications of a multiscale mapping project. Here, we present a typology ofmultiscale mapping operators that can be implemented at the decision pointsidentified within the ScaleMaster diagram in order to maintain legible map designswhen changing scale. The ScaleMaster typology of multiscale mapping operatorsdraws in part on extant literature on generalization, which primarily focusesupon changes to the geometry of map features. We argue that this past work ongeneralization should be appended with other work in map design to generatea comprehensive list of decisions available to a cartographer when changingscale. This extension results in four higher-level categories of multiscale mappingoperators: content, geometry, symbol, and label. In the following, each operator inthe ScaleMaster typology is introduced and explained, with discussion organized according to the four higher-level categories. For each operator, we include aformal definition, a standard two-character code for use in the ScaleMaster diagram, a sample illustration, a description of its use in the cartographicliterature, and our approach to reconciling contradicting uses (whereappropriate). The key contribution of this work is the synthesis and integrationof existing generalization and map design research into a logical framework foruse as a classroom teaching tool, a pragmatic guide for completing multiscalemapping projects, and a conceptual foundation for future scientific research.


We describe the development and analysis of a global model based on Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) (Guenther et al., 2006) for estimating isoprene emissions from terrestrial vegetation. The sensitivity of calculated isoprene emissions to descriptors including leaf age, soil moisture, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and regional variability of emission factors is analyzed. The validity of the results is evaluated by comparison with compilations of published field‐based canopy‐scale observations. Calculated isoprene emissions reproduce above‐canopy flux measurements and the site‐to‐site variability across a wide range of latitudes, with the model explaining 60% of the variance. Although the model underestimates isoprene emissions, especially in northern latitude localities, this disagreement is significantly corrected when regional variability of emission factors for particular plant functional types is considered (r2 = 0.78). At the global scale, we estimate a terrestrial biosphere isoprene flux of 413 TgC yr−1 using the present‐day climate, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and vegetation distribution, and this compares with other published estimates from global modeling studies of 402 to 660 TgC yr−1. The validated model was used to calculate changes in isoprene emissions in response to atmospheric CO2 increase, climate change, and land use change during the 20th century (1901–2002). Changes in all of these factors are found to impact significantly on isoprene emissions over the course of the 20th century. Between 1901 and 2002, we estimate that at the global scale, climate change was responsible for a 7% increase in isoprene emissions, and rising atmospheric CO2 caused a 21% reduction. However, by the end of the 20th century (2002), anthropogenic cropland expansion has the largest impact reducing isoprene emissions by 15%. Overall, these factors combined to cause a 24% decrease in global isoprene emissions during the 20th century. It remains to be determined whether predicted 21st century warming and increased use of isoprene‐emitting crops for biofuels (e.g., oil palm) will more than offset any future CO2 suppression of isoprene emission rates.


The use of organolanthanide complexes as emitting centres in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been the focus of many studies over the last decade [1,2]. Many previous studies have focused on the use of B-diketonates as ligands from which energy transfer to the ion takes place, with an additional ligand to satisfy the coordination requirement of the lanthanide ions. In contrast to this approach we have carried research into the coordination of Eu3+ based on pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (DPA) ligands. In this case the coordination requirements of the Eu3+ ions are fully met by the 3 ligands thus reducing the deleterious quenching effects of neighbouring bonds including O-H. We have further modified these DPA ligands with the aim of studying the effect of halogenation and other modifications on the energy transfer from ligand to Eu3+ ion and on the non-radiative relaxation of the excited Eu3+ ion. Absorption, photoluminescence and photoluminescence-excitation spectra are reported for each of the modified complexes along with the 5D0 to 7F2 emission lifetime measured in a number of environments. We also present some preliminary Judd-Ofelt calculations on the complexes. The results of this study confirm that these ligands form highly stable complexes that easily dissolve in a number of solvents. Strong characteristic emission is observed at 615 nm with lifetimes ranging from 1.2 ms to 2.9 ms depending on depending on the ligand and solvent. The potential of these and further modified complexes for use in OLEDs is also discussed.


Outsourcing has become one of the most powerful, organisation-shaping management tools available today. However, the UN's experience in outsourcing is limited to providing troops for peacekeeping operations.  The purpose of the paper is to develop an outsourcing scorecard for the UN and similar organisations.  Forty national and international organisations were surveyed through questionnaires, review of relevant literatures and records. The research established that by identifying core competencies, goals and objectives, risks, selection of provider as well as measurements and evaluation of providers performance using an outsourcing scorecard, support functions can be outsourced successfully. Other criteria indicated as important is peace-building, suitable for humanitarian organisations. The scorecard developed by the research could provide the UN with a number of benefits, such as maximization of efficiency and savings in costs.  The paper develops the first outsourcing scorecard to guide the UN and similar organisations in identifying services that can be outsourced successfully.


The alkaline complexes of NW Scotland lie in a zone sub-parallel to the Moine thrust and represent the NW edge of the otherwise overwhelmingly calc-alkaline late-orogenic magmatism of the Caledonian fold-belt. The emplacement of intrusives in Assynt overlapped the thrust movements and new U-Pb zircon ages for the Loch Ailsh intrusion (439 ± 4 Ma) provide are liable bracket, when combined with existing age data for the Loch Borralan intrusion (430 ± 4 Ma), for the main movements on the Ben More thrust plane. A detailed history of the main tectonic and igneous events in the Moine Thrust Zone is tabulated. Zircons from the undeformed Cnoc-nan-Cuilean syenite, emplaced in Moine rocks near Loch Loyal, give an age of 426 ± 9 Ma, in contrast to the deformed Glen Dessary syenite for which earlier work gave 456 ± 5 Ma. The linear distribution of the alkaline complexes to the west of the calc-alkaline plutons, and the ultra-potassic character of the Loch Borralan complex (the most westerly), are consistent with, but do not prove, generation related to a W-dipping subduction zone. The persistence of the magmatism, over 30 Ma, in a belt being shortened by thrusting, suggests a source in the mantle lithosphere. The absence of magmatism further to the NW and the production of calc-alkaline magmas to the SE of this zone, is compatible with a model in which the thermal state of the lithosphere exercises the most important control on the nature of Late Caledonian magmatism.


Determining the factors in protein stability and identifying how amino acid types contribute to the protein folding mechanism are hot topics in biomolecular sciences. By determining these factors and amino acid types, protein structures and their functions can be better understood. Our motivation is to detect the importance of the net charge distribution and the amino acid interactions in protein stability and to find important amino acid types that play key roles in protein folding. In the first part of this thesis, the stability of proteins is inspected by analyzing the charge distribution. In the second part, interactions in proteins are evaluated by constructing amino acid networks. Once generated, the redundant part of these networks is deleted by breaking the interactions between amino acids choosen by several sets of predetermined criteria. These subnetworks are compared to each other through analyzing their matrix structures by making use of singular value decomposition. In the first part of the thesis, the structure of the protein is examined according to the charge distribution at different accessible surface areas (ASAs) and depths of amino acids. ASA does not discriminate between atoms just below the protein surface and those in the core of the protein. In order to differentiate the location of such buried residues, the depths of amino acids from the protein surface are calculated. It is inferred from these calculations that there is a layer composition of protein structures. At the innermost and the outermost parts of the protein, there is a net negative charge, while the middle has nearly neutral. This layered composition gives stability to the protein. Also, the ASA and depths are evaluated based on subsets of proteins with different secondary structure types. It is inferred from these analyses that the layered structure does not display any tracktable differences for different protein secondary structure types (α, β, α/β, α+β); i.e. this distribution is universal to all proteins. In the second part of thesis, the amino acid network of all proteins are constructed using each amino acid as node and the interaction between them as an edge. The interactions between amino acids are deleted (either randomly, or according to predetermined rules) to identify the redundancies in the network. We conclude that when seventy percent of the edges is randomly deleted, the path length does not change more compared to the full amino acid network. In addition, the amino acid subnetworks which consist of specific type of amino acids are constructed and these subnetworks are compared according to their similarity to the whole amino acid network. The subnetworks which are composed of long-range interactions between the hydrophobic amino acids only are more similar to the amino acid networks constructed from using all interactions. This result supports a protein folding mechanism where a hydrophobic core is formed, followed by the rearrangement of the rest of the amino acids around this core. Also, all amino acid subnetworks and whole amino acid network are evaluated by projecting their contact maps onto a set of large eigenvectors that are related to the collective motions in proteins. The projection results show that the hydrophobic amino acid subnetwork is more similar to full amino acid network in this projected space. The amino acids in this subnetwork are also found to be more conserved than others.


This report presents initial findings from the second round of data collection in Peru between late 2006 and early 2007. It provides a broad outline of key child poverty indicators, as well as changes that have taken place since the first round of research in 2002. Although the economic and policy context in Peru has become more favourable – following recent economic growth and increased awareness of the importance of early childhood – inequalities between different groups persist. The findings show that rural and ethnic minority children are more likely to experience poorer nutrition and educational outcomes, and have lower levels of access to electricity, safe water and sanitation facilities. The data also show how such inequalities interrelate, for example, poor access to services appears to influence nutritional patterns of stunting and being underweight. Interestingly, urban children report higher levels of subjective wellbeing than their rural counterparts, and ethnic minority children lower levels, perhaps due to perceptions of discrimination. Evidence of gender inequalities is also found with faltering growth and lower levels of pre-school enrolment among girls, especially in rural areas. Primary school enrolment is more equal but boys are already at an advantage in learning and making the transition to school, following their time at pre-school. Similarly, differences in nutritional status between urban and rural children seem to be defined in the early stages of life. All these findings underline the importance of investing in early childhood. Future Young Lives research will continue to investigate the inequalities in Peru with particular reference to socio-economic status, the urban-rural divide, gender and ethnicity. It is hoped that empirical evidence of this kind will play a greater role in shaping child-related policies in future.


The prospect of tort litigation against private parties has been gaining increasing attention by lawyers. While only three such cases have been filed thus far, observers (including the organizers of this symposium) clearly expect the number to increase significantly. Indeed, if successful, these and future cases will have a huge impact on the industries sued and, as hopeful lawyers have mused, could make the tobacco litigation look small by comparison. But will these cases succeed? As law students all dutifully learn in their first year Torts class, a prima facie negligence claim must satisfy four elements - duty, breach, causation, and injury. Most discussion and analysis of climate change cases to date have focused on the third and fourth elements of causation and injury. How can plaintiffs persuasively link the particular emissions of cars driven one place with reduced snow pack somewhere else? And, even if a causal link can be established between the offending action and the harm, what is the proper measure of the emitter's liability in the face of multiple sources of greenhouse gases over an extended time period? These are challenging issues, and surely deserve careful attention. What remains surprising, though, is that little beyond passing mention has been written about the first two elements - the duty of care and its breach. Suppose one could establish that emissions from a utility company or an automobile manufacturer's cars proximately caused greater storm surges that, in turn, harmed a particular coastal community, or proximately reduced snow pack and led to water shortages for a specific farming community. Key questions still remain. Did the utility or car manufacturer owe a duty of care to these specific communities? If so, what was the nature of that duty and was it breached? To improve our understanding of the short and long-term potential for climate change tort litigation, this article focuses on the duty of care and its breach. The first section addresses general doctrine. What role does the duty of care play in tort actions? The second section then explores the likely scenarios for tort climate actions, including a summary of the tort-based actions brought thus far. Who are the likely plaintiffs and defendants? How have litigants attempted to satisfy the duty of care elements in climate litigation? The final sections assess the duty of care for a range of tort actions - negligence, product liability, private nuisance and public nuisance - that may in the future form the basis of climate-based claims.


Predicting future condition and reliability of the deteriorating structures is vital for their effective management. Probabilistic models have been developed to estimate and predict the extent of deterioration in concrete structures but their input parameters are fraught with uncertainties, hence limiting the effective use of the models for long term predictions. On the other hand, continuous innovations in the sensing and measurement technology have led to the development of monitoring instruments that can provide continuous (or almost continuous) real time information regarding structural performance. Thus, powerful decision support tools may be developed by combining information obtained through structural health monitoring with probabilistic performance prediction models.The potential benefits of improving performance prediction using health monitoring systems and their implications on the management of deterioration prone structures are presented in this paper. A typical structural element of a bridge (e.g. slab, beam or a cross beam etc) subjected to chloride induced deterioration is considered. It is shown that the confidence inpredicted performance can be improved considerably through the use of health monitoring methods and hence, the management activities such as inspections, repair and maintenance etc can be adjusted whilst keeping consistent target performance levels. A comparison of various probabilistic models for the input parameters (e.g. exposure conditions, threshold chloride concentration etc) indicates that the effects of uncertainty can be minimised through the in service health monitoring systems.


ABSTRACT This paper critically reviews the case of a social work student whose professional training was terminated by his University. This followed the student's expression of his religious views about homosexuality on a public social media platform. The student sought a judicial review of this decision on human rights grounds. The High Court dismissed the student's challenge but the Court of Appeal overturned this decision to dismiss on the grounds of proportionality and referred the student back to the University to determine further action. This case is discussed in the context of the complicated positions taken up during the process leading to this legal Judgment, as they have implications for curriculum and pedagogical strategies, fitness to practice processes, and the experience of LGBTQ+ students. The discussion considers how, in light of this Judgment, social work educators can continue to address sexuality as a social justice issue. Critical and queer perspectives can support transformative learning where binary thinking about sexuality and religion is challenged and students can appreciate the impact of their values on others. Recommendations are made for addressing disparities in how sexuality, sexual, and gender diversity are addressed in professional education.


To contrast continental and alpine subglacial weathering regimes and thereby assess the role of large ice masses in chemical weathering, borehole and outlet water samples were collected from multiple locations on a major, land-terminating outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Boreholes, reaching ice depths to 824 m, were drilled to the bed with hot-water methods in four areas of the ice sheet ablation zone along a 45 km transect extending inland from the outlet terminus. The bulk chemical composition of these samples shows substantially less influence of sulfides and carbonates than found in alpine glaciers, suggesting that the sediment under this region of the ice sheet has become depleted of accessory minerals. The waters show wide variability in chemical composition over both large and small temporal-spatial scales, suggesting large ranges in length of subglacial water storage and in rates of abrasion and comminution of subglacial earth materials. The dissolved solids concentrations found in the Greenland Ice Sheet are comparable to and in some cases exceed those of alpine glaciers, suggesting that large ice masses are capable of generating substantial dissolved loads through silicate weathering mechanisms.


The general principles of chromosome segregation are highly conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution. However, it is unknown whether there are differences in spindle or kinetochore composition or architecture which influence the efficiency chromosome segregation in different cell types. Here we show that the transition of human retinal pigment epithelial cells to a mesenchymal phenotype causes a stabilisation of kinetochore-microtubule attachments and an increase in the frequency of chromosome mis-segregation, due to inefficient error-correction, during mitosis. We find that this is caused by microtubule detyrosination during the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and that parthenolide, a tubulin carboxypeptidase inhibitor, efficiently reverts mes-enchymal cells to the epithelial mode of chromosome segregation. We propose that reprogramming the post-translational modifications of the mitotic spindle decreases mitotic fidelity and may contribute to CIN in mesenchymal cell populations during tumorigenesis.


The field of organic photovoltaics has advanced a great deal over the last decade, with device efficiencies now exceeding 11%. A large part of this success can be attributed to the development of donor polymer materials, from their humble beginnings as homopolymers to the highly tuned push–pull copolymer and terpolymer materials that are now being reported on a regular basis. Through the careful use of chemical modification, it has been possible to design and synthesize a wide variety of donor polymers, allowing optimization of both the optoelectronic and structural properties of the materials. In doing so, more favourable active layer blends have been achieved and therefore significant improvements in device performance have been observed. Herein we discuss how the chemical design of donor polymers for organic photovoltaics has led to the emergence of high-performance materials.


In the era of large scientific data sets, there is an urgent need for methods to automatically prioritize data for review. At the same time, for any automated method to be adopted by scientists, it must make decisions that they can understand and trust. In this paper, we propose Discovery through Eigenbasis Modeling of Uninteresting Data (DEMUD), which uses principal components modeling and reconstruction error to prioritize data. DEMUD's major advance is to offer domain-specific explanations for its prioritizations. We evaluated DEMUD's ability to quickly identify diverse items of interest and the value of the explanations it provides. We found that DEMUD performs as well or better than existing class discovery methods and provides, uniquely, the first explanations for why those items are of interest. Further, in collaborations with planetary scientists, we found that DEMUD (1) quickly identifies very rare items of scientific value, (2) maintains high diversity in its selections, and (3) provides explanations that greatly improve human classification accuracy.


This section gives access to links pertaining to history, culture, traditional knowledge, historical sites and events. It also contains links to information about archaeology, sociology and archives pertaining to Aboriginal people.


Copper(I) halide clusters are recently considered as good candidate for optoelectronic devices such as OLEDs . Although the copper halide clusters, in particular copper iodide, are very well known since the beginning of the 20th century, only in the late '70s the interest on these compounds grew dramatically due their particular photophysical behaviour. These complexes are characterized by a dual triplet emission bands, named Cluster Centred (3CC) and Halogen-to-Ligand charge transfer (3XLCT), the intensities of which are strictly related with the temperature. The CC transition, due to the presence of a metallophylic interactions, is prevalent at ambient temperature while the XLCT transition, located preferentially on the ligand part, became more prominent at low temperature. Since these pioneering works, it was easy to understand the photophysical properties of this compounds became more interesting in solid-state respect to solution with an improvement in emission efficiency. In this work we aim to characterize in SS organocopper(I)iodide compounds to valuate the correlation between the molecular crystal structure and the photophysical properties. It is also considered to hike new strategies to synthesize CuI complexes from the wet reactions to the more green solvent free methods. The advantages in using these strategies are evident but, obtain a single crystal suitable for SCXRD analysis from these batches is quite impossible. The structure solution still remains the key point in this research so we tackle this problem solving the structure by X-ray powder diffraction data. When the sample was fully characterized we moved to design and development of the associated OLED-device. Since copper iodide complexes are often insoluble in organic solvents, the high vacuum deposition technique is preferred. A new non-conventional deposition process have also been proposed to avoid the low complex stability in this practice with an in-situ complex formation in a layer-by layer deposition route.


The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident resulted in extensive radioactive contamination of the surrounding forests. In this study, we analyzed fallout 137Cs, 134Cs, and 131I in rainwater, throughfall, and stemflow in coniferous forest plantations immediately after the accident. We show selective fractionation of the deposited radionuclides by the forest canopy and contrasting transfer of radiocesium and 131I from the canopy to the forest floor in association with precipitation. More than 60% of the total deposited radiocesium remained in the canopy after 5 month of the initial fallout, while marked penetration of the initially deposited 131I through the canopy was observed. The half‐lives of137Cs absorbed in the cypress and cedar canopies were calculated as 620 days and 890 days, respectively for the period of 0–160 days. The transfer of the deposited radiocesium from the canopy to the forest floor was slow compared with that of the spruce forest affected by fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident.


It is settled law that an officer may initiate a traffic stop when there is articulable and reasonable suspicion that the person stopped has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. In Kansas v. Glover, the Supreme Court has an opportunity to clarify what constitutes "reasonable suspicion." The Court will determine whether it is reasonable for an officer to seize a vehicle if the registered owner has a revoked license and there is no information to suggest that the person driving is the owner of the car. This Commentary argues the Court should uphold the Kansas Supreme Court decision and find that the burden of reasonable suspicion was not met. Glover turns on whether the fact that a vehicle is registered to someone with a revoked license is enough to warrant reasonable suspicion. This Commentary posits that, in this instance, the State did not meet its burden as it relied on one questionable factor that was not based on an officer's training. More generally, common sense and the Court's own precedent support the idea that the State needs more justification to pull over a vehicle than the mere fact it is registered to someone with a suspended or revoked license. The current standard for reasonable suspicion is so slight that there is no need to lower it further, and the enhancement in public safety that would result from this less demanding standard is outweighed by the social costs of increased traffic stops.


Tandem repeats (TRs) are often present in proteins with crucial functions, responsible for resistance, pathogenicity and associated with infectious or neurodegenerative diseases. This motivates numerous studies of TRs and their evolution, requiring accurate multiple sequence alignment. TRs may be lost or inserted at any position of a TR region by replication slippage or recombination, but current methods assume fixed unit boundaries, and yet are of high complexity. We present a new global graph-based alignment method that does not restrict TR unit indels by unit boundaries. TR indels are modeled separately and penalized using the phylogeny-aware alignment algorithm. This ensures enhanced accuracy of reconstructed alignments, disentangling TRs and measuring indel events and rates in a biologically meaningful way. Our method detects not only duplication events but also all changes in TR regions owing to recombination, strand slippage and other events inserting or deleting TR units. We evaluate our method by simulation incorporating TR evolution, by either sampling TRs from a profile hidden Markov model or by mimicking strand slippage with duplications. The new method is illustrated on a family of type III effectors, a pathogenicity determinant in agriculturally important bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum. We show that TR indel rate variation contributes to the diversification of this protein family.


The dose-response relationship between plasma insulin concentration and total glucose uptake, glucose oxidation, and glucose storage was examined in 22 healthy young volunteers by employing the euglycemic insulin clamp technique in combination with indirect calorimetry. Insulin was infused at five rates to achieve steady-state hyperinsulinemic plateaus of 62 ± 4, 103 ± 5, 170 ± 10, 423 ± 16, and 1132 ± 47 μU/ml. With increasing plasma insulin concentrations within the physiologic range, there was a linear increase in glucose uptake with a half maximally effective insulin concentration of 72 μU/ml. Glucose uptake by all tissues of the body reached 80% of its maximum value (12.6 mg/kg · min) at a plasma insulin concentration of ∼200 μU/ml. In contrast to total glucose uptake, glucose oxidation plateaued more quickly, achieved a maximum rate of only 4.0 mg/kg · min, and displayed a lower half maximally effective insulin concentration of 40 μU/ml. The increase in glucose uptake with progressively increasing plasma insulin levels was primarily the result of an increase in glucose storage, with a half maximally effective insulin concentration of 105 μU/ml and maximum rate of 8.7 mg/kg · min. Glucose storage represented over 60–70% of total glucose uptake at all insulin concentrations. After achieving maximum rates of insulin-mediated glucose uptake (plasma insulin concentration = 1132 μU/ml), hyperglycemia (+125 mg/dl) was superimposed on hyperinsulinemia to further enhance glucose transport. Under these conditions, total glucose uptake (32.5 mg/kg · min, P < 0.001) was markedly augmented but no significant increase in glucose oxidation was observed. These results indicate a true saturation of the glucose oxidation pathway. With pro-gressively increasing doses of insulin, the glucose storage represents the major route of glucose disposal.


Habitat changes in temperate forests are more vulnerable to climate change than tropical or boreal forests. This study assessed forest habitat suitability and diversity to determine the impact of climate change on the Korean Peninsula. We used the MaxEnt (Maximum Entropy) species distribution model, three key climate indices, and two representative climate change scenarios, using short and long-term data. Two of the three key climate indices related to temperature were more capricious than the precipitation-related index in the future. In the baseline prediction, both statistical and qualitative validation using the actual vegetation map showed excellent results. Regarding forest habitat suitability, northward migration and substantial increase were definitely distinctive in warm temperate evergreen forest. On the other hand, subalpine forest areas decreased significantly due to climate change; the suitable area for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 8.5 2070s decreased by more than half. With regard to forest habitat diversity, regions with high diversity declined due to climate change. In the RCP 8.5 scenario, areas where all three forest types are suitable no longer appeared; however, in the case of RCP 4.5 2050s, suitable areas for two forest types increased, which implies climate change is not only negative in terms of diversity. As this negative prediction of future change is discouraging, active mitigation and adaptation are required to prevent these changes. The sustainability of future ecosystems is still dependent on our efforts.


This paper follows the experiences of the Networked Virtual Reality Resource Centres for Art and Design (NVRCADs) project funded by the JISC Technologies Applications Programme (JTAP) to introduce the VRML and Java into art and design education in Britain. It considers the difficulties that the project encountered not only in teaching VRML but also, somewhat unexpectedly, with 3D computing in general.

These problems range from institutional problems through to problems with using 3D software not specifically written for art and design - specifically, students perceived problems with the language and concepts within the software. The paper considers the approach that the project has taken to attempt to solve these problems. In particular, the paper discusses the CDROM that the NVRCADs have written which attempts to reconcile the students' conception of three dimensionality with the engineering and programming based concepts of VRML thereby providing students with knowledge they can easily map onto their own. The paper asks whether this approach could not be more widely used in 3D computer teaching within art and design.


Turkish and Kurdish HLA profiles are studied for the first time. The comparative study of their allele frequencies, characteristic haplotypes, genetic distances with other Mediterraneans is complemented by neighbor-joining dendrograms and correspondence analyses. Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Iranians, Jews, Lebanese and other (Eastern and Western) Mediterranean groups seem to share a common ancestry: the older "Mediterranean" substratum. No sign of the postulated Indo-European (Aryan) invasion (1200 B.C.) is detected by our genetic analysis. It is concluded that this invasion, if occurred, had a relatively few invaders in comparison to the already settled populations, i.e. Anatolian Hittite and Hurrian groups (older than 2000 B.C.). These may have given rise to present-day Kurdish, Armenian and Turkish populations.


Determination of human hand poses from hand master measurements of joint angles requires an accurate human hand model for each operator. A new method for human hand calibration is proposed, based on open-loop kinematic calibration. The parameters of a kinematic model of the human index finger are determined as an example. Singular value decomposition is used as a tool for analyzing the kinematic model and the identification process. It was found that accurate and reliable results are obtained only when the numerical condition is minimized through parameter scaling, model reduction and pose set selection. The identified kinematic parameters of the index finger with the Utah Dextrous Hand Master show that the kinematic model and the calibration procedure have an accuracy of about 2 mm.


Scholars in science and technology studies have debated the various ways in which technologies are (or are not) political. Here, I examine how users themselves understand and articulate the politics of a specific technology—residential solar electric technology—and how understandings of politics interact with motivations to adopt. Based on interviews with 48 individuals in 36 households across the state of Wisconsin who have adopted residential solar electric technology, I consider the user's perspective on the question: "What's political about residential solar electric technology use?" These users were asked about the politics of this technology and how their understanding of the technology's politics shaped their own motivation for adoption. These solar electric technology adopters saw solar electric technology as both imbued with political character based on the current national political scene and as inherently, innately political. They described how solar electric technology interacts with the politics of environmentalism, challenges "politics-as-usual" and can bring about decentralization and redistribution of wealth. In short, to the users of solar electric technology, this technological artifact is, indeed, political; it both interacts with, and offers an alternative to, current American political structures. Further, their perspectives on the politics of solar technology shaped their understandings of motivations for and limitations to adoption of this alternative technology.


Every advance carries with it potential problems, and longitudinal analysis is no exception. This paper focuses on the problems related to the massive amounts of data generated by longitudinal surveys. It is argued that a proliferation of data may be to the good but it will not necessarily lead to better scientific knowledge. Most demographers think the logical positivist way that theory arises out of empirical generalisations, but massive empirical investigations have only led to disappointing theoretical outcomes in demography. This paper discusses one way out of this impasse - to adopt a different view of theory, a model-based view of science. Theoretical models based on empirical generalisation should become the main representational device in science.