This article contains a relatively comprehensive review of current Czech law of security interests. Starting from a basis of socialist law of security interests, utterly useless in a market economy, the Czech legislator must be credited with having made some progress since 1989. However, that progress has been moderate at best. While Czech law of security interests contains some particular features conducive to taking security over business assets (such as a register of movables allowing the creditors to take non-possessory charges over chattels), confusion prevails about some of the most fundamental principles of this field of law, in particular the rules of priority. As will be shown in the article, these fundamental confusions and conceptual misunderstandings appear time and again in dubious and unclear statutory provisions that reduce legal certainty and increase transaction costs in the Czech credit market. In part 1, the article first defines its scope. Part 2 briefly discusses the economic theories of secured credit. Part 3 reviews what could be called the general principles of the law of security interests, including in particular the rules on priority. Part 4 briefly mentions consumer protection issues. Part 5 contains a discussion of the most typical assets taken as security, the ways these assets may be charged and the way the charges may be enforced. Part 5 concludes with some recommendations for legal reform.


Abstract:This paper uses longitudinal linked employer-employee data to study how firms' offshoring decisions affect labor market mobility and the wage growth of their employees. The results show that offshoring affects mobility primarily in occupations that are easily offshored. Wage growth, however, is weaker in the occupations that are offshorable, even if the employer has not offshored, and for employees whose initial employer has offshored some activities, irrespective of their occupation


We consider the task of fine-grained sentiment analysis from the perspective of multiple instance learning (MIL). Our neural model is trained on document sentiment labels, and learns to predict the sentiment of text segments, i.e. sentences or elementary discourse units (EDUs), without segment-level supervision. We introduce an attention-based polarity scoring method for identifying positive and negative text snippets and a new dataset which we call SpoT (as shorthand for Segment-level POlariTy annotations) for evaluating MIL-style sentiment models like ours. Experimental results demonstrate superior performance against multiple baselines, whereas a judgement elicitation study shows that EDU-level opinion extraction produces more informative summaries than sentence-based alternatives.


This empirical study investigates how the control package change in private equity performed buyout transactions. The overall research question is: How does the control package change following a buyout transaction performed by a private equity firm? The method applied is the multiple case study design with six buyout cases in the Scandinavian private equity industry. For each case there is conducted one interview with a private equity professional. The study applies the theoretical frame suggested by Malmi and Brown of management control system as a package and is based on prior research on buyouts and changes in the management control system. The study suggests that following a buyout transaction there exist a major opportunity to change and alter the use of the management control systems. There are not necessarily introduced new control tools, but the existing ones are developed to better fit the operating environment and an altered strategy. The use of the systems is in general intensified, and control is centralized. After buyout there appears to be a clear initiative of aligning the interests of the new owners with those of the management and employees, by connecting reward and compensation closer to company performance. The private equity firms appear to have an important role in the development of the management control systems after buyout. In the position as a majority owner the private equity firms take board position and play an active role, directing their investment. In changing the system the role of the private equity firms is foremost seen as an initiator. Nevertheless, when needed the private equity firms also assist in the implementation of changes.


We use a heterodyne Mach-Zehnder interferometer to simultaneously and simply measure the complex refractive index by only normal incidence on the specimen, instead of using a complicated measurement procedure or instrument that only measures the real or imaginary part of the complex refractive index. To study the tiny variation of the complex refractive index, the small complex refractive-index variation of a rare-concentration magnetic-fluid thin film, due to a weak field of less than 200 Oe, was processed by this interferometer. We also present the wavelength trend of the complex refractive index of magnetic fluids to verify the appearance of the slight change in a small wavelength range.


We examine the use of an ensemble method, Random Forests, to delimit subspecies using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Diagnosability, a measure of the ability to correctly determine the taxon of a specimen of unknown origin, has historically been used to delimit subspecies, but few studies have explored how to estimate it from DNA sequences. Using simulated and empirical data sets, we demonstrate that Random Forests produces classification models that perform well for diagnosing subspecies and species. Populations with strong social structure and relatively low abundances (e.g., killer whales, Orcinus orca) were found to be as diagnosable as species. Conversely, comparisons involving subspecies that are abundant (e.g., spinner and spotted dolphins, Stenella longirostris and S. attenuata), are only as diagnosable as many population comparisons. Estimates of diagnosability reported in subspecies and species descriptions should include confidence intervals, which are influenced by the sample sizes of the training data. We also stress the importance of reporting the certainty with which individuals in the training data are classified in order to communicate the strength of the classification model and diagnosability estimate. Guidance as to ideal minimum diagnosability thresholds for subspecies will improve with more comprehensive analyses; however, values in the range of 80%–90% are considered appropriate.


Prevailing tax discourse rationalizes growing economic inequality. Using the example of state and local economic development "subsidy wars," this article explores how conventional tax ideas present unequal sacrifice and risk as a public responsibility, driven by economic fact rather than unjust politics.
Over the last several decades, one contributing cause of inequality has been the escalating tax and spending incentives offered by local governments to attract private business investment. This competition operates to favor wealthy corporations over small businesses, without producing broad or lasting economic gains to communities, and it erodes resources for public education, infrastructure, social services, health care, and middle-class public sector jobs. Despite widespread criticism, this "race to the bottom" of austerity and inequality is normalized by tax ideas that imply governments inevitably must pay a steep market price for jobs in the competitive global economy. Conventional tax analysis identifies two primary goals: raising private revenue to "buy" public services or redistributing private revenue to address private disadvantages. That framing skews fiscal policies against the middle class as well as lower income citizens, by making government spending favorably to the non-wealthy appear to be profligate consumption or forced charity. In contrast, this neoliberal frame presents tax policies favoring wealthy elites as productive investment, given the assumption that public goods depend on private prosperity. That leads to fiscal policies that exacerbate rather than alleviate the problem that even middle class earnings and private savings are increasingly insufficient for health care, education, housing, and retirement. Instead, the tax frame should shift to recognize that democratic governments can collectively create capital and produce jobs to benefit ordinary citizens and non-wealthy communities without dependence on concentrated private capital.


Modern –day slavery, sex trafficking, illegal organ removal, and the use of child soldiers are criminal activities known collectively as Human Trafficking. Such activities may involve the coordinated efforts of three or more individuals to achieve some common benefit, and frequently, these activities involve more than one country. As such human trafficking activity is considered to be a form of transnational organized crime. This paper considers the legal frameworks internationally and in the United States to deal with these criminal activities. The paper discusses some data sets concerning the extent, and nature, of human trafficking activities. The paper notes some significant differences between data sources for some of the measures. Social and/or cultural factors may result in reporting biases in the data sets. Information is presented both for global aggregates and for Africa as a single region where possible.


Peptide signals of the CLE family provide both local and systemic regulation of plant-bacteria symbiosis. Legumes engage in a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that infect the plant's roots, forming nodules. However, plants control the number of nodules through a process called autoregulation of nodulation (AON, also abbreviated AUT) that involves a root-generated signal and a shoot-generated signal. Previous work in Lotus japonicus had suggested that members of the CLE family of signaling peptides, LjCLE-RS1 and LjCLE-RS2, were involved in regulating nodule formation. Mortier et al. have identified in Medicago truncatula a pair of CLE proteins, encoded by MtCLE12 and MtCLE13, that are homologous to the L. japonicus LjCLE-RS1 and LjCLE-RS2. Quantitative reverse transcription and promoter reporter analysis indicated that MtCLE12 and MtCLE13 were differentially expressed in the sites of root nodule formation and in stems and cotyledons. After root infection, MtCLE13 showed increased expression in a decreasing gradient from the inner cortical region (where cell proliferation occurs) to the outer cortical cells and pericycle, whereas MtCLE12 showed low expression at the earliest stages of nodule development and increased expression once round nodules had formed. Expression of MtCLE12 and MtCLE13 was lost in plants carrying mutations that rendered them nodulation-incompetent. The balance of cytokinin and auxin signaling regulates nodulation, and root application of the synthetic cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), but not auxin, increased the abundance of MtCLE13 transcripts. Ectopic expression of either gene completely suppressed nodule formation, suggesting that these two CLE members, like the related L. japonicus peptides, serve as negative regulators of nodulation. Composite plants containing both wild-type roots and roots overexpressing either or both MtCLE12 and MtCLE13 lost the ability to form nodules both in the wild-type roots and in the transgenic roots, suggesting that MtCLE13 and MtCLE12 served as long-distance signals to suppress nodulation. Plants with transgenic roots overexpressing either or both MtCLE13 and MtCLE12 exhibited longer petioles than wild-type plants. This effect on the leaf stem was lost in plants deficient for the receptor SUNN (sunn-1), and the inhibitory effect of ectopic MtCLE12 and MtCLE13 was partially blocked in sunn-1 plants. Thus, two members of the CLE family appear to mediate local and long-distance signals that regulate petiole growth and nodulation. V. Mortier, G. Den Herder, R. Whitford, W. Van de Velde, S. Rombauts, K. D'haeseleer, M. Holsters, S. Goormachtig, CLE peptides control Medicago truncatula nodulation locally and systemically. Plant Physiol. 153, 222–237 (2010). [Online Journal]


Abstract This paper presents a legal-economic analysis of the World Trade Organization's Article 22.6 arbitration report on the dispute over certain United States' antidumping methodologies. The Arbitrator sought to quantify the damages suffered by China due to US non-compliance with an earlier ruling. The case covered 25 antidumping duty determinations for which at least one of three methodologies (weighted average-to-transaction; single rate presumption; and zeroing) was incorrectly applied. Damage calculations rely heavily on how the counterfactual is defined – what would have been the duty had it not been for the inconsistent measures? The Arbitrator deemed a zero-duty counterfactual to be appropriate, but the justifications were in our view weak and illustrate the danger of an Arbitrator essentially performing re-litigation of violations that may or may not have occurred in the administrative investigations. We conclude that the Arbitrator may have gone above and beyond its mandate in this determination.


An inmate counterculture presents a barrier to the institutional goal of long-term reform. If the counterculture is a reaction to deprivations caused by incarceration, increasing autonomy would help co-opt the counterculture to cooperation with the institutional program. Data concerning autonomy for inmates and their adaptation to incarceration were collected from over 400 residents and 160 staff members at institutions for juvenile offenders. The research design avoided confounding autonomy with inmate characteristics and institutional setting, and included a broad range of measures of inmates' adaptation. Inmate reports of greater autonomy were associated with adaptations that were considerably more favorable to institutional goals. There was little relationship between staff reports of autonomy and either inmate reports of autonomy or inmate adaptation. This can be explained by a lack of variance in staff perceptions of groups, meaning that staff members failed to discriminate differences that were substantial in the eyes of inmates.


We introduce an improved, one‐dimensional, non‐steady‐state dual‐permeability model (MACRO 5.1). The model simulates water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone of structured soils by coupling a high‐conductivity–low porosity macropore domain to a low‐conductivity–high porosity domain representing the soil matrix. Mass exchange between the domains is approximated by first‐order expressions. The numerical solutions are briefly described, focusing on the dual‐permeability formulation. The solution method for water flow in macropores was verified by comparing simulation results with analytical solutions for a "kinematic wave". The model was tested against high time‐resolution measurements of water flow and nonreactive (Cl−) solute transport in transient microlysimeter experiments. The objective was to test the identifiability of four key model parameters determining the degree of preferential flow using the generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) procedure. The parameters were chosen either because they are difficult or impossible to measure directly or because they were considered sensitive on the basis of earlier experience with the model. The measurements, indicating strong preferential flow, were adequately reproduced by the model simulations (overall model efficiency = 0.62). The GLUE procedure conditioned the saturated matrix hydraulic conductivity, the macroporosity, and the mass exchange coefficient (diffusion pathlength), indicating that these parameters would be identifiable in inverse modeling approaches based on microlysimeter experiments. The conditioning of the kinematic exponent was poor, which was attributed primarily to correlation with the macroporosity.


Different types of natural sorbents such as camel bone, cow bone, sheep bone and Nile Rose plant were used for the retention of some toxic heavy metals such as Pb2+, Mn2+, Ni2+ and Cu2+ ions from waste water produced from chemical industry factories using batch technique. Characterizations of the natural sorbents were done using different analytical tool such as X-ray fluorescence and x-ray diffraction spectrometers. Factors affecting on the retention process of the studied toxic cations such as contact time, pH of the medium and the concentration of the metal cations were investigated. The data indicated that the Kd values of Cu2+, Mn2+, Ni2+ and Pb2+ ions are increased with increasing the pH of the solution from 1.0 to 5.0 with the selectivity sequence; Pb2+>Ni2+>Mn2+>Cu2+. Also, the data of isotherm indicated that all the investigated cations were physically sorbed on animal bones and Nile Rose plant sorbents with sorbent surface of heterogeneous type. Finally, column chromatographic was carried out from the results obtained.


High Achievers (students whose Educational Psychology grades were 90% and above) and Low Achievers (students whose grades were 79% and below) were compared on how they process, retrain, and retrieve information. The Information of Learning Processes, an instrument used to collect the data, consists of four independent scales: Deep Processing, Elaborative Processing, Fact Retention, and Methodical Study, showed differences between the two groups on Deep Processing and Fact Retention scales. In each case, the High Achievers reported significantly higher scores than the Low Achievers. The data can be interpreted that the High Achievers analyze information, retain and retrieve it better than do the Low Achievers. The question raised is how will these learning styles affect these students (who are potential teachers) in teaching and evaluation of their students. ********** Educational psychologists and researchers have attempted to understand how students differed in processing, retaining, and retrieval of the information. To explore these differences, researchers used various types of personality, attitudinal, cognitive style, and ability measures (Cowell & Entwistle, 1971; Cropley & Field, 1969; Schmeck, 1983). Most researchers agreed that learning is related to ones personality, attitude, and thinking. They also agreed that learning strategies are modifiable due to ones perception of how information learned is to be measured and evaluated. However, some of these earlier learning measures were not very useful in assessing classroom activities (Schmeck, 1983). Consistent with the thinking of Craik and Lockhart (1972) that memory is a 'by product of thinking: traces left behind by past information-processing,' Schmeck (1983) defined learning strategy as "a pattern of how information-processing activities are used to prepare for an anticipated test of memory" (p.234). Schmeck (1983) agreed with Tallmadge and Shearer (1969, 1971) that the "learning style would be a more useful concept than the traditional personality and cognitive style constructs in accounting for the variances in academic performances" (p.233). Agreeing with Craik and Lockhart (1972) on their levels of processing model, Pask's (1976) operational learning strategies, and achievement motivation theory, Schmeck, Ribich, and Ramanaiah, (1977) saw the need for developing a learning assessment from a behavioral-process orientation. They developed the Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP) which assesses information-processes in academic settings. That is, the inventory assesses how students' process, retain, and retrieve the information they study. The ILP provides four independent scale scores (Schmeck et al., 1977). The Deep Processing (DP) scale assesses the extent to which one critically evaluates, conceptually organizes, and compare and contrasts information under study. The Elaborative Processing (EP) scale assesses the extent to which one translates new information into his/her own terminology. The Fact Retention (FR) scale assesses how one processes specific factual information. The Methodical Study (MS) scale assesses whether one uses systematic techniques recommended in 'how-to-study' manuals. This inventory has been used extensively throughout the country in various classroom settings. Numerous studies (Albaili, 1993; Gadzella, 1995; Gadzella, Ginther, & Williamson, 1986; Gadzella, Stephens, & Baloglu, 2002; Miller, Alway, & McKinney, 1987; Schmeck, 1982; Schmeck & Grove, 1979; Schmeck & Phillips, 1982; Schmeck et al., 1997) have shown that there are significant relationships between students' learning style responses and their course grades and GPAs, respectively. However, are there differences between high and low academic achievers on the ILP scores. In one study (Gadzella, 1995), scores on the ILP scales (for 86 freshmen enrolled in psychology classes) were compared with the students' course grades. …


Generation X is the 13th generation to be born since the American Revolution. Sometimes referred to as the 13ers, this generation was born between the years 1964 and 1977. This purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the mentor relationship from the perspective of Generation X. A qualitative approach was used for the collection of data. This included focus groups, interviews and literature analysis. Participants indicated that the mentor relationship was a relationship that they value in the workplace. Each generation has its own unique story. Generation X , sometimes referred to as the 13th generation, since they are the 13th generation to be born since the American Revolution, has been the subject of much discussion. Generation X is considered to be those individuals born between 1963 and 1977. As of 1996, they accounted for approximately one third of the 125 million people in the United States' workforce (Tulgan, 1995). The term was coined by advertising executives to categorize or label those forty million plus young Americans they considered difficult to pin down as a target market. The term gained mainstream notoriety in 1991 with the publication of "Generation X" by Douglas Copeland. In the book, Copeland painted an unflattering picture of a generation which are extremely independent, ambivalent about the future, and has little to no faith in traditional organizations (Copeland, 1991). Since the publication of Copeland's work, the American media has been filled with stories about this peculiar new generation that faced terrible employment prospects, exhibited perverse tastes and behavior patterns, and was even more politically apathetic than its predecessors. Then researchers found that some of the characteristics the media attributed to Xers contradicted each other. Other Xer labels were not supported by trend data, and still others applied to a minority of young adults (Tulgan, 1995). Sweeping generalizations about any generation are bound to produce inaccuracies. But equally mistaken is the notion that there is nothing different or noteworthy about today's young adults. In fact, trend data from national surveys such as the Current Population Survey and the National Endowment for the Art's Survey of Public Participation in the Arts demonstrate that the current crop of 18to-29-year-olds differs from its predecessors in several important regards. Their economic situations and prospects are different, as are their educational enrollment and attainment patterns. Their media and recreation habits are different, also. Even their relationships with their parents are different than were those of Baby Boomers (Zill & Robinson, 1995). Taking a close look at these facts is the best way to separate the truth about today's young adults from the media-fueled hype. Life experiences shape the way people view the world. The following demographic information should offer us insight into this unique group: a) This is the first generation to grow up with a large percentage of both parents employed outside of the home. In addition, 40% of these young adults spent at least some time in a single-parent family by the age of 16 (Zill and Robenson, 1995). Consequently, they tend to be independent problem solvers who are good at getting a job done on their own. b) Many, if not most, of this generation grew up with computers. As Brown (1995) has reported, they are technologically literate and are very familiar with quick access to the internet for locating the most up to date information on issues. Personal computers shaped the lives of many of this generation both as children and young adults. The introduction of personal computers in the early 1980's initiated an information revolution as these children became the first generation to use multimedia technology at home as well as in school, and for many the internet replaced video games as the electronic entertainment of choice. …


We present a comprehensive analysis of the imaging characteristics of a scanning microwave microscopy (SMM) system operated in the transmission mode. In particular, we use rigorous three-dimensional finite-element simulations to investigate the effect of varying the permittivity and depth of sub-surface constituents of samples, on the scattering parameters of probes made of a metallic nano-tip attached to a cantilever. Our results prove that one can achieve enhanced imaging sensitivity in the transmission mode SMM (TM-SMM) configuration, from twofold to as much as 5× increase, as compared to that attainable in the widely used reflection mode SMM operation. In addition, we demonstrate that the phase of the S21-parameter is much more sensitive to changes of the system parameters as compared to its magnitude, the scattering parameters being affected the most by variations in the conductivity of the substrate. Our analysis is validated by a good qualitative agreement between our modeling results and experimen...


We address the high social impact household savings could generate if channeled (at least, partially) into social impact investments in a win-win formula for both households and society as a whole. More specifically, we focus on two financial products which both have a monetary return along with a well-defined social impact: Social Bonds (SB) and Social Impact Bonds (SIB). While social bonds reduce the net return in favor of setting up a social program, social impact bonds are a breakthrough concept that combines traditional investment, be it risky or risk-free, with a social connotation in a unique public/private partnership.


Post occupancy evaluations of buildings are noted for their ability to provide vital feedback regarding a building's performance in use. In addition to obtaining physical measurements of thermal performance and energy consumption, it is crucial to obtain feedback on user experience and satisfaction with the building environment to gain a true picture of the effectiveness of low energy buildings. This paper will report findings of a study aimed at investigating building performance and occupant experience of the Torrent Research Centre in Ahmedabad, India. The Centre comprises six laboratory and office blocks, four of which incorporate a passive downdraft evaporative cooling system (PDEC). Air-conditioning is restricted to the two equipment intensive laboratories. While a number of earlier publications have reported on the configuration of the environmental control systems and the thermal performance of this building, this paper will provide insights into the occupants' experience and feedback on the building and will detail the comparative performance of the PDEC and air-conditioned blocks. Occupant perception of overall comfort (summer, winter and monsoon), temperature, air movement and quality, lighting, noise, productivity, health, design, image and workplace needs was evaluated using the Building Use Studies workplace survey. The co-location of PDEC and air-conditioned blocks offers a unique opportunity to compare performance while overcoming issues arising from contextual differences such as conditions of work, attitudes and expectations of employees likely to occur between respondents in different countries. The findings reveal occupant satisfaction in both the PDEC and air-conditioned blocks to be well above Building Use Studies' international benchmarks. In addition to their lower energy consumption, the overwhelmingly positive user satisfaction responses of the PDEC blocks validate the integration of alternative climate control systems such as evaporative cooling in contemporary buildings in India. Conference theme: Human issues: social, cultural, economic, thermal comfort


Abstract The freshwater dinoflagellates Prorocentrum playfairii (corrected from the original spelling playfairi) and P. fovealata from two lagoons in Tasmania, Australia, have been successfully cultured for the first time. Cultures were established in order to elucidate their possible toxicity, ecophysiology and genetic affinities with better-known marine congeneric species. Growth experiments indicated P. playfairii to be a slow-growing [0.09 divisions (div.) d−1], truly freshwater species that will only grow in salinities of 0–5 practical salinity units (psu). In contrast, P. foveolata tolerated salinities of 0–30 psu and exhibited a significantly faster growth rate (0.47 div. d−1). Both P. playfairii and P. foveolata grew under a wide temperature range (10–30°C and 10–25°C, respectively), indicating a tolerance to temperature fluctuations typical of shallow, enclosed water bodies. Both species were negative for toxins such as those from marine species of Praracentrum causing diarrhetic shellfish poisoning in humans. Molecular sequencing of the large-subunit ribosomal DNA suggested that P. playfairii and P. foveolata are more closely related to toxic benthic marine Prarocentrum (such as P. lima and P. cf. belizeanum), than pelagic marine Praracentrum (such as P. gracile, P. rhathymum, P. triestinum and P. campressum). We speculate that P. playfairii and P. foveolata most likely evolved from a common ancestor to marine benthic Praracentrum and have since adapted to freshwater habitats.


The phase-separated structure of poly(isobutyl methacrylate)-block-poly(octadecyl methacrylate) (PiBMA-b-PODMA) monolayer and single poly(isobutyl methacrylate) (PiBMA) chain dispersed therein were investigated by scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), which enabled us to observe with high spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of light. The conformation of the individual homo-PiBMA chains was quantitatively evaluated from the fluorescence intensity distribution. We found that the homo-PiBMA chains were almost located at the center of the PiBMA domain. The homo-PiBMA chain was oriented itself depending on its location in the PiBMA domain. When the homo-PiBMA chain locates at the center of the PiBMA domain, it tends to orient itself in the direction parallel to the interface between the two microdomains. When the homo-PiBMA chain locates near the interface, it orients itself in the direction perpendicular to the interface.


With the rollover of a new century, society in America has become more dynamic. These changes in student demographics throughout the U.S. have spawned an increased need for awareness by teachers for their students' needs across curriculums. This study examined attitudes of high school students toward fitness and sports activities taught in physical education, and the perceived effectiveness of their physical education curriculum for improving their fitness and skill levels. This research has focused on providing teachers with multicultural training with the hope that through this training, teachers will convey the importance of respect and sensitivity for all cultures to their students. Overall, successful physical education teachers in the culturally diverse school setting (e.g., urban schools) tend to maintain high expectations for student accomplishment, provide the best possible learning environments, and implement activities that aid increased student involvement.


Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels are therapeutic targets for several disorders affecting humans, including epilepsy, neurodegeneration and neuropathic pain. Typically, drugs treating these conditions exert a use- and voltage-dependent inhibition of Na currents, an action attributed to the stabilisation of the slow inactivated state which is
formed during prolonged depolarisation. The binding site has been suggested to reside in the channel pore at a site only accessible from the intracellular environment. What gives different chemicals having this action in common selectivity for certain disorders (e.g. neuroprotection versus epilepsy) remains a mystery. Several channel subtypes exist, with types Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 being major isoforms found in the brain, raising the possibility that different subtypes exhibit differential drug sensitivity.
To investigate this issue and explore the site of drug action further, the action of several Nav channel modulators, including lidocaine (a local anaesthetic) and sipatrigine (a neuroprotective agent), were studied on Na currents generated by Nav1.2a and Nav1.6 channels stably
expressed in cell lines, and by acutely dissociated native cells, using electrophysiological techniques. The findings indicated that different drugs have some selectivity for particular channel subtypes. In addition, to study the slow inactivated state more selectively, fast inactivation was inhibited chemically. Inhibition of this mechanism altered both normal channel function and drug action.
Drug effect during external and internal application to cells was also compared. Seemingly contrary to the current hypothesis of an internal site of action, drugs were more potent following external application, suggesting that their site of action may be different from the putative
intracellularly-accessible "local anaesthetic receptor". These experimental results were tested using a mathematical simulation of drug diffusion during whole-cell voltage-clamped electrophysiological recordings, to determine whether variations in the physicochemical properties of these drugs could explain their different potencies on
internal and external application.


The growing need to understand a Kenyan child in learning situations today indeed broadens our quest to understand literacy and related text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies. Media today constitute socialization avenues for children in the contemporary society. They play a relation in family and school life for children regarding children's socialization and cultural transformation. Therefore there is a need to harness the benefits of the 21st century information technologies in children's learning. The paper's main concern is on media's symbolic meaning involving interpretation, negotiations and making compromises for potential meaning of representational forms. Firstly it recognizes how media have meshed into contemporary society. Therefore we are pedagogically faced with presentation problems in children's literature where African values, beliefs and codes of behaviour can be inculcated. Secondly it argues that children's literature calls for a rethinking, such that it is made 'integrative' and new media such as television, videos, and internet use are given a role in contributing to learning. Thirdly, representation strategies to embrace the information age are described. Keywords: Pedagogy, literacy skills, multimedia technologies, integrative approach, multiliteracy , multiculturalism.


Both in Europe and in the United States, major steps have been taken to render credit rating agencies more accountable. But do these steps address the causes of the debacle in the subprime mortgage market that triggered the 2008-2009 crisis? Surveying the latest evidence on how and why credit ratings became inflated, this paper argues that conflicts of interest cannot be purged on a piecemeal basis. The fundamental choice is between (1) implementing a "subscriber pays" model that compels rating agencies to compete for the favor of investors, not issuers, and (2) seeking to deemphasize or eliminate the role of credit ratings to reduce the licensing power of rating agencies. Although it strongly favors the first option over the second, it also recognizes that the "public goods" nature of ratings makes it unlikely that a "subscriber pays" system will develop on its own without regulatory interventions. Thus, it considers how best to encourage the development of a modified system under which the investor would choose and the issuer/deal arranger would pay for the initial rating on structured finance transactions.


Taboo words are generally offensive and considered inappropriate for being used in most occasions. However, people, altho ugh they were considered as well educated persons, still used taboo words in some occasions. This research attempted to find out the types of English taboo, the circumstances in which the taboo words were mostly used, and the purposes of the use of English taboo words. In conducting this research, the writer used a qualitative-descriptive approach and he became the instrument that collected and analyzed the data from Cruel Intentions film. The writer only analyzed the taboo words that were spoken by Sebastian and omitted the taboo words used by other characters. The writer identified the types of English taboo words used by Sebastian and classified them based on Wardaugh?s theory of taboo words? types. The writer continued to analyze kinds of circumstances in which Sebastian used English taboo words by basing on Holmes? theory of social factors, which included the description of the addressee, the setting, and the topic of the conversation. The writer also analyzed the function of each English taboo word that was uttered by Sebastian. In conclusion, the writer concluded that Sebastian mostly used taboo words when he was talking to those who had intimate solidarity with him and in the informal setting. The taboo words used by Sebastian mostly occurred when the conversation was talking about emotional pressures. Furthermore, the taboo words used by Sebastian were mostly functioned to provide catharsis for his emotional pressures.


While Jean Paul is often associated with notoriously long, digressive novels, this article makes the case for the reading of Jean Paul above all as an author of the small. By taking the example of his minor work "Meine Miszellen," the article examines how his reference to the discursive-literary tradition of 19th-century romantic miscellanies serves as an experimental testing ground for his poetics and epistemology of the small, as encapsulated by his concept of humor as the "inverted sublime." From there the article seeks to distinguish Jean Paul's poetics of the small from the romantic fragment by demonstrating how humor, in contrast to irony, serves as a material strategy for reflecting on the fragmentary character of his texts. The article ends by suggesting that Jean Paul's emphasis on the small and fragmentary is not restricted to his fleeting minor works, but extends to later novels like Leben Fibels. (BK)


This paper surveys significant research on the problem of rendering expressive music by means of AI techniques with an emphasis on Case-Based Reasoning. Following a brief overview discussing why we prefer listening to expressive music instead of lifeless synthesized music, we examine a representative selection of well-known approaches to expressive computer music performance with an emphasis on AI-related approaches. In the main part of the paper we focus on the existing CBR approaches to the problem of synthesizing expressive music, and particularly on TempoExpress, a case-based reasoning system developed at our Institute, for applying musically acceptable tempo transformations to monophonic audio recordings of musical performances. Finally we briefly describe an ongoing extension of our previous work consisting on complementing audio information with information of the gestures of the musician. Music is played through our bodies, therefore capturing the gesture of the performer is a fundamental aspect that has to be taken into account in future expressive music renderings. This paper is based on the "2011 Robert S. Engelmore Memorial Lecture" given by the first author at AAAI/IAAI 2011.


Objective: To determine frequencies of various acute complications in patients undergoing hemodialysis.Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: Department of Nephrology Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi, from Jan 2016 till Mar 2016.Material and Methods: A total of 150 patients who underwent haemodialysis at MH were enrolled in the study after informed consent on justification of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients were evaluated for the frequency of various intra-dialytic complications and data were analysed using SPSS version 19.Results: Out of the 150 enrolled patients, males were 125 (83.33%) and females were 25 (16.67%). A total of 2520 haemodialysis session were performed. Hypotension was the most frequently observed complication during 318 (12.62%) dialysis sessions, followed by hypertension in 208 (8.25%) and fever in 193 (7.66%) sessions. Other complications were muscle cramps in 116 (4.60%), shivering in 94 (3.73%), headache in 70 (2.78%), nausea/vomiting 60 (2.38%), itching 41 (1.62%), chest pain 37 (1.47%), hypoglycaemia 31 (1.23%), seizures 23 (0.91%) and arrhythmias in 13 (0.52%) dialysis sessions.Conclusion: Haemodialysis, one of the renal replacement therapies, is a life-saving treatment modality but it is not without complications despite the advances in technology. However frequency with which they occur is low and majority are not life threatening.
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'Modern Japananese sculpture' is a topic that has been studied very little in the Western world, and works made in this period (1868-present) are rarely seen outside of their native country. One of our tasks at the Henry Moore Institute is to look at areas of sculpture studies that are understudied and try to encourage scholarship where there is none. A Study of Modern Japanese Sculpture sets out to begin new dialogues on sculpture between Japan and the UK, introducing what we are tentatively calling 'modern Japanese sculpture' to Britain. This issue of Essays on Sculpture is bilingual, with both English and Japanese used throughout the journal. Introduced by Lisa Le Feuvre (Head of Sculpture Studies, the Henry Moore Institute), with an in-conversation between Lisa Le Feuvre, Edward Allington (Professor of Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London) and Sophie Raikes (Assistant Curator (Sculpture), the Henry Moore Institute), and the following essays:
On the Artists in the Exhibition: Histories and Biographies
Akira Fujii (Chief Curator, Kodaira Hirakushi Denchu Art Museum, Tokyo)

On Medium and Materials: Differing Ideas of Realism
Hirotake Kurokawa (Professor in the Department of Sculpture, Mushashino Art University, Tokyo)

Perspectives on Japanese Sculpture: Infrastructure for Sculptors during the 1910s to 1930s
Shūji Tanaka (Professor, Faculty of Education and Welfare Science, Oita University)

Modern Japanese Sculpture: A Response
Rosina Buckland (Senior Curator, the National Museum of Scotland)

Reflections on Modern Japanese Sculpture
Clare Pollard (Curator of Japanese Art at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)


Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), which typically involves endoscopic camera and laparoscopic instruments may seem to be the ideal surgical procedure for its apparent benefits. However, in comparison to open surgeries, the spatial and mechanical tool limitations posed on surgeons are so high that often MIS is foregone for complex cases and even when it is possible, the procedure requires a high dexterity, caliber, and experience from the surgeon. Particularly, suturing procedure through MIS is known to be extremely challenging. We are working toward the development of a robotic hand-held surgical device for laparoscopic interventions that enhances the surgeons' dexterity. The instrument produces two independent DOFs, which is sufficient for enabling MIS suturing procedure in vivo. The end-effector's orientation is controlled by an intuitive and ergonomic controller and its position is controlled directly by the surgeon. Different control modes, handles, and end-effector kinematics are primarily evaluated using a virtual reality simulator before choosing the best combination. A proof-of-concept prototype of the device has been developed.


Ever since Aristotle's Poetics, both the theory and the practice of theater have been governed by the assumption that it is a form of representation dominated by what Aristotle calls the mythos,or the plot.This conception of theater has subordinated characteristics related to the theatrical medium, such as the process and place of staging, to the demands of a unified narrative. This readable, thought-provoking, and multidisciplinary study explores theatrical writings that question this aesthetical-generic conception and seek instead to work with the medium of theatricality itself. Beginning with Plato, Samuel Weber tracks the uneasy relationships among theater, ethics, and philosophy through Aristotle, the major Greek tragedians, Shakespeare, Kierkegaard, Kafka, Freud, Benjamin, Artaud, and many others who develop alternatives to dominant narrative-aesthetic assumptions about the theatrical medium. His readings also interrogate the relation of theatricality to the introduction of electronic media. The result is to show that, far from breaking with the characteristics of live staged performance, the new media intensify ambivalences about place and identity already at work in theater since the Greeks. Praise for Samuel Weber: What kind of questioning is primarily after something other than an answer that can be measured ...in cognitive terms? Those interested in the links between modern philosophy nd media culture will be impressed by the unusual intellectual clarity and depth with which Weber formulates the ...questions that constiture the true challenge to cultural studies today...one of our most important cultural critics and thinkers-MLN


This book aims to show that economics in general and non market valuation methods in particular, together with participatory and engineering tools, can facilitate the design and implementation of the different European policies in relation to mitigation of water stress. The results presented in this book derive from AquaStress, an EU funded integrated project, delivering interdisciplinary methodologies to help mitigate water stress problems. The project draws on both academic and practitioner skills to generate knowledge in technological, operational management, policy, socio-economic, and environmental domains. The book is divided in three parts and as the AquaStress project, is case study driven. Part I begins with a review of the up-to-date use of non-market valuation economic methods in the design and implementation of EU water policies. Part II of the book proceeds to discuss and analyze participatory and engineering tools that can facilitate the determination of efficient water resources policies and the consequent implementation of the EU WFD, using case studies of test sites from Bulgaria, Italy, Morocco and Poland. Part III of the book, brings us back to the use of economic tools and focuses on policy appraisal through social cost-benefit analyses and the choice/estimation of the socially efficient discount rate to be used in such analyses. The book concludes with specific policy recommendations for all case-studies considered in previous chapters. This work would be of most interest to water resources managers and policy makers as well as consultants working on the implementation of the WFD. It would also be helpful to students and scholars of water resource management.


Despite their many workplace advances, women remain constrained by an enduring social expectation that they will manage their families' domestic lives. Women will not achieve full workplace equality until men do more at home, and men will not enter the domestic sphere if they face employment retaliation for doing so. Men at Work, Fathers at Home addresses this problem by critically evaluating the legal challenges that fathers and other male caregivers face in proving claims of workplace discrimination. Drawing from Supreme Court precedent and gender theory, the Article explains how masculine norms deter men from asserting their caregiving needs at work, while undermining their ability to prosecute discrimination claims in court. By examining how these men can combat biases against male caregiving, the Article seeks to advance the goal of gender equality for both sexes.


While establishing herself as one of the premier African American sculptors of the 1920s, Augusta Savage began teaching children's art classes in her basement studio. Later, as the Director of the Harlem Community Art Center, Savage networked with philanthropists, political leaders, and African American artists/performers/writers to discuss how their collective efforts might increase support for artists of color during the Great Depression. Despite challenges associated with racial/gender inequalities, Savage taught some of the most noteworthy African American artists of the 20th century. Although there are numerous studies covering artists of the New Negro Movement, few focus on the concurrent legacy of African American art education. This study discusses the conditions that seemingly hindered Savage as a professional sculptor but defined her as an activist/educator. It additionally examines Savage's efforts to facilitate opportunities for a future generation with a specific focus on her political agency/social responsibility to African Americans in the 1930s.


The postcranial skeleton of Vagaceratops (= Chasmosaurus ) irvinensis (CMN 41357), lacking only the tail, most of the left front and left hind limbs, and portions of the pelvis, is preserved in articulation. It is one of the most complete, best articulated ceratopsid skeletons known. Both the manus and vertebral column exhibit conspicuous pathologies, possibly an indication of advanced age at the time of death. The vertebral column comprises a syncervical, six additional cervical vertebrae, and 12 dorsals. A partial synsacrum is represented by two dorsosacrals, four sacrals, two caudosacrals, and a partial third caudosacral centrum. The ribcage, although crushed, is nearly complete. The sternum is unusually wide compared with other ceratopsids. As in other chasmosaurines, the humerus bears a prominent deltopectoral crest that forms the anterior edge of the broad, rectangular proximal humeral expansion. The medial tuberosity is separated from the dorsal surface of the humerus by a distinct notch. The insertion for the latissimus dorsi is conspicuous. The deltopectoral crest extends a full half of the distance to the distal end of the humerus. Epipodials of the forelimb are relatively short compared to the corresponding propodial. The ulna has a long, distinctly triangular olecranon, broadly rounded anterolateral process, prominent medial process, and a deeply concave trochlear notch. The terminal phalanges on the fourth and fifth manual digits are relatively large, and unlike other ceratopsids have distinct distal ?articular facets. The fourth trochanter of the femur is relatively proximal in position. This study and other recent studies of ceratopsid postcrania suggest that potentially useful taxonomic variation is present in the number of dorsosacrals, size of the groove on the ventral surface of the sacrum, morphology of the last dorsal and dorsosacral ribs, morphology of the scapula and proximal expansion of the humerus, morphology of the ulna, ratio of humerus/epipodium, morphology of the fifth manual digit, and position of the fourth trochanter of the femur.


Many of the speed, flow and density relationships postulated in different literatures are based on empirical evidences collected under favourable conditions. Those that veered into comparative analysis under contrasting conditions often use forced curves to describe the relationship between speed and flow mainly because the graph is not a function. However, the paper is an attempt to postulate that dynamic speed-flow, speed-density and flow-density functions have similar behavioural pattern. In the study, speed and flow relationship under adverse road surface condition depicted with potholes and edge subsidence among others was investigated. The study was carried out in Nigeria where adverse road surface condition on principal roads is prevalent under daylight, dry weather and off-peak conditions. It is based on the hypothesis that adverse road surface condition has significant impact on otherwise uninterrupted traffic stream. The paper compared empirical survey data from 11 locations on roadway segments with control and adverse sections. Optimum speeds for control and adverse road sections were estimated and compared. The study found 50% reduction in optimum speed and concluded that significant speed reduction will occur under adverse road surface condition. Keywords adverse-conditions, dynamic, speed-flow, speed-reduction, transportation, traffic safety, highway safety, road surface quality Language: en


Abstract Copper slag (CS) is a by-product of the copper extraction process, which can be used as coarse and/or fine aggregate in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements. This study used CS as a replacement of the fine aggregate with a percentage of up to 40% by total aggregate weight. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of CS on the rutting potential of the asphalt concrete mix using two methods. One method is based on the Dynamic modulus |E*| testing result. Actual pavement temperature data from a test section were used with the developed |E*| master curves. EverStressFE finite element program was used to perform a linear elastic load-deformation analysis for a pavement section and to determine the vertical resilient strain in a 40-mm HMA surface layer. The M-E PDG permanent deformation model was used with and Excel Visual Basic for Applications code to predict the accumulated rutting for different CS mixes for 10 million ESALs. The other method used the data from the flow number (FN) test. Based on the |E*| approach, the results indicated that adding 5% CS in the mix increased the predicted rutting from 0.59 to 0.98 mm at 10 million ESALs (increase by 68%). When 40% CS was used, rutting increased by more than 700% compared with the control mix. After analysing the FN results with the Francken model, the results indicated a decrease in FN as CS content is increased, indicating higher rutting potential. The decrease in FN ranged from 9% for 5% CS to 95% for 40% CS. The mixes containing up to 10% CS satisfied the minimum FN criteria for rutting. A calibration process for the M-E PDG distress prediction models that allows the use of waste and by-product materials such as CS should be considered in the future.


PI3Ks have been shown to have many important functions in T cells, including in cell growth and survival, chemotaxis and differentiation; however, the role of SHIP-1 as a negative regulator of PI3K signalling has not been so thoroughly investigated. The use of knockout mouse models has given an insight into the role of SHIP-1 in murine T cells, but these are compromised by loss of function during development which impinges upon mature T cell function. In addition, some work has been undertaken to investigate the role of SHIP-1 in human leukaemic T cell lines, but it is not clear how these findings might translate to SHIP1' s function in normal cells. Therefore the work in this thesis was undertaken to investigate the role of SHIP-1 in primary human T lymphocytes. Initial experiments demonstrated that SHIP-1 was active both in unstimulated cells and in response to a variety of stimuli. Using a lentiviral method to deliver shRNA against SHIP-1 and a constitutively active form of SHIP-1 it was found that whilst constitutive activation of SHIP-1 led to cell death, silencing of SHIP-1 expression resulted in viable cells which failed to proliferate. Furthermore, silencing of SHIP-1 revealed its crucial role in the regulation of basal PI3K signalling, actin polymerisation, cell morphology and basal motility. Interestingly, there was no additional defect in chemotaxis, in agreement with findings that SHIP-1 and TAPP PH domain probes did not localise to specific regions of the cell membrane during chemotaxis. In addition, silencing of SHIP-1 caused an abnormal profile of cytokine production and in particular, CD4+ T cells were skewed towards becoming Tregs. The observations in this study suggest that whilst the role of SHIP-1 in primary human T cells has some similarities to its role in both murine T cells and leukaemic cell lines, there are also significant differences which it will be crucial to take into account when designing drugs to target SHIP-1. The final results section comprises work completed for Novartis, the sponsor of this PhD. In this section it was found that knockout of PI3Kγ in mice resulted in elevated production of IL17A and IL-17F along with abberant expression of IL-17 receptors and loss of PI3K signalling in response to IL-17A. These findings are of particular relevance for PI3Kγ inhibitors that are in clinical trials for inflammation and autoimmune diseases.


We introduce DeepInversion, a new method for synthesizing images from the image distribution used to train a deep neural network. We ``invert'' a trained network (teacher) to synthesize class-conditional input images starting from random noise, without using any additional information about the training dataset. Keeping the teacher fixed, our method optimizes the input while regularizing the distribution of intermediate feature maps using information stored in the batch normalization layers of the teacher. Further, we improve the diversity of synthesized images using Adaptive DeepInversion, which maximizes the Jensen-Shannon divergence between the teacher and student network logits. The resulting synthesized images from networks trained on the CIFAR-10 and ImageNet datasets demonstrate high fidelity and degree of realism, and help enable a new breed of data-free applications - ones that do not require any real images or labeled data. We demonstrate the applicability of our proposed method to three tasks of immense practical importance - (i) data-free network pruning, (ii) data-free knowledge transfer, and (iii) data-free continual learning.


While in metropolitan countries gender stereotypes has been a topic of extensive research, this has not been the case in African countries including South Africa. Such a deficit served as a motivation for investigating the extent to which gender stereotypes among adolescents prevail in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The sample was based on 599 Junior Secondary School students in grades 7-9 in Mthatha Eastern Province, South Africa. A questionnaire on gender stereotypes consisting of ten statements was administered to 239 girls and 360 boys drawn from five Junior Secondary Schools participating in the study. A chi square was used for statistical analysis. Based on the entire sample, the responses for each one of the ten statements in the questionnaire, early adolescents scored statistically significant on gender stereotypes. Further analysis based on gender showed statistically significant differences in gender stereotypes. The findings confirmed the findings of researchers in gender stereotypes in metropolitan countries. As reported in the literature, South African early adolescents experience gender stereotypes as observed in other cultures. Such results have implications for children, parents, teachers, educational institutions and society at large.


This thesis will describe SaaS (Software as a Service) business in a global environment. The prior focus will be to give suggestions of models and good examples of how to scale local business into global markets. The necessary theoretical framework on software product and scalability issues is given. Qualitative research is carried out to find out how the suggested models are adopted among selected ad serving companies. The results from three different companies were analyzed to find similarities and the extension of strategy described in theory.The main aim is to illustrate how scalability fits into each company's business model rather than gain results for the whole industry. Software industry is changing towards the SaaS business model. This paper describes the significant advantages over the traditional software distribution. SaaS can be easily accessible over the internet and provide more scalability for software vendors. Apart from cost efficiency SaaS gives flexibility in maintaining and updating the product. Most importantly it enables vendors to tap into the global customer base, as there is less dependency on local distribution. Scalability has become a major factor for the success of software vendors. The stability of brand solutions is challenged by fast growing startup companies. Main theoretical framework of scalability criteria lies on the Stampfl, Prugl and Osterloh (2013) model. It suggests most important components of designing and implementing scalable businesses. General insight of market expansion strategies are based on Gupta and Govindarajan (2000) framework and adopted to software industry. Qualitative research methods were chosen for this study. Interviews were carried out with three vendors representing advertising technology companies. They qualified the important scalability issues and studied the strategies of expansion. Qualitative study allowed focusing on essential information that lies among the responsibilities of company managers. Research result shows the similar path of scaling among the three interviewed companies. Importance of experience among startup owners and the need of a first engaging customer are highlighted as crucial. Findings suggest vendors to invest in well-developed system fundamentals that do not limit the scalability on later stages. Results prove that majority of development is coming from existing client requests. They are treated with highest priority due to the nature of business to business relations. Nevertheless, categorization of clients is needed to decide if developments should be entered in product roadmap. The strategy of "launch vehicle" was confirmed by one of the vendor which has several products on its portfolio. Global expansion is described in the theory and was discussed on interviews. SaaS companies express great strive towards scaling their business internationally. Presence on global software markets like US is treated as the only chance for winning competitors in a long run. They never stop looking for growth and exploring new possibilities that would help them getting there.


Collocations between two satellite sensors are occasions where both sensors observe the same place at roughly the same time. We study collocations between the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on-board NOAA-18 and the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) on-board CloudSat. First, a simple method is presented to obtain those collocations and this method is compared with a more complicated approach found in literature. We present the statistical properties of the collocations, with particular attention to the effects of the differences in footprint size. For 2007, we find approximately two and a half million MHS measurements with CPR pixels close to their centrepoints. Most of those collocations contain at least ten CloudSat pixels and image relatively homogeneous scenes. In the second part, we present three possible applications for the collocations. Firstly, we use the collocations to validate an operational Ice Water Path (IWP) product from MHS measurements, produced by the National Environment Satellite, Data and Information System (NESDIS) in the Microwave Surface and Precipitation Products System (MSPPS). IWP values from the CloudSat CPR are found to be significantly larger than those from the MSPPS. Secondly, we compare the relation between IWP and MHS channel 5 (190.311 GHz) brightness temperature for two datasets: the collocated dataset, and an artificial dataset. We find a larger variability in the collocated dataset. Finally, we use the collocations to train an Artificial Neural Network and describe how we can use it to develop a new MHS-based IWP product. We also study the effect of adding measurements from the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS), channels 8 (11.11 μm) and 11 (8.33 μm). This shows a small improvement in the retrieval quality. The collocations described in the article are available for public use.


In the era of globalization and information technology, modularization is an approach to solve economic system complexity and the essence of new industrial structure. The source of industrial innovation comes from technology and organization modularization and system integration. Industrial upgrade takes effect through interaction of the following factors: competition of modular firms, knowledge creation, knowledge flow, modular option and absorptive capability. The modular and architectural innovation promotes the industrial upgrade.


Lung capillary blood volume (Qc) and the membrane diffusing capacity (Dm) can both be determined from the combined measurement of nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) transfers using the single-breath method. In ten healthy subjects, no differences was observed between the values of transfer factor of the lungs for carbon monoxide (TLCO) recovered after a 3 s or 9 s breath-holding time (tBH). The NO-CO method could thus be used with a short tBH and a low fraction of inspired nitric oxide (FINO) (8 ppm). However, in ten patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD), the values of both transfer factor of the lungs for nitric oxide (TLNO) and TLCO were underestimated by around 20% at a short tBH (3 s). In COLD patients, the NO-CO method therefore requires a longer tBH and a higher inspired fraction of NO (30 ppm) than in healthy subjects. Similar values of Dm and Qc were obtained using the NO-CO method and the two-step conventional method, at two levels of the oxygenation. The former method gave less scatter. Furthermore, TLNO is independent of the fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) and directly proportional to carbon monoxide membrane diffusing capacity (DmCO).


This study analyses recent trends in the mobility of health professionals in Europe. It first identifies the drivers of this mobility, then analysis its main push-and-pull factors, and finally shows how different European countries are affected by these recent movements of health professionals. Our analysis focuses specifically on the patterns of mobility among medical doctors and nurses between 2010 and 2017. A number of indicators have been collected that provide a comprehensive picture of how the pattern of supply and demand for health professionals has changed over the past decade, illustrating the role that the mobility of health professionals across European countries plays in these developments. We find that a number of European countries have benefited from the mobility of health professionals, but this has accentuated imbalances in a number of other countries. Furthermore, a gravity model is used to identify the push-and-pull factors of mobility in a sample of 32 European countries over 2000‑2017. Wage differentials in the health sector across the European countries certainly make some of the countries more successful at attracting health professionals than other countries that are failing to retain them. Consequently, the latter group of countries are facing huge challenges to provide health assistance to their own rapidly ageing populations.


Due to urgency and demand, numerous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunoassays are rapidly being developed and placed on the market with limited validation on clinical samples. Thorough validation of serological tests are required to facilitate their use in the accurate diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, confirmation of molecular results, contact tracing, and epidemiological studies. This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of nine commercially available serological tests. These included three enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and six point-of-care (POC) lateral flow tests. The assays were validated using serum samples from: i) SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive patients with a documented first day of disease; ii) archived sera obtained from healthy individuals before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in China; iii) sera from patients with acute viral respiratory tract infections caused by other coronaviruses or non-coronaviruses; and iv) sera from patients positive for dengue virus, cytomegalovirus and Epstein Barr virus. The results showed 100% specificity for the Wantai SARS-CoV-2 Total Antibody ELISA, 93% for the Euroimmun IgA ELISA, and 96% for the Euroimmun IgG ELISA with sensitivities of 90%, 90%, and 65%, respectively. The overall performance of the POC tests according to manufacturer were in the rank order of AutoBio Diagnostics > Dynamiker Biotechnology = CTK Biotech > Artron Laboratories > Acro Biotech ≥ Hangzhou Alltest Biotech. Overall, these findings will facilitate selection of serological assays for the detection SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies towards diagnosis as well as sero-epidemiological and vaccine development studies.


It is shown that infinite impulse response (IIR) filters lead to more general wavelets of infinite support than finite impulse response (FIR) filters. A complete constructive method that yields all orthogonal two channel filter banks, where the filters have rational transfer functions, is given, and it is shown how these can be used to generate orthonormal wavelet bases. A family of orthonormal wavelets that have a maximum number of disappearing moments is shown to be generated by the halfband Butterworth filters. When there is an odd number of zeros at pi it is shown that closed forms for the filters are available without need for factorization. A still larger class of orthonormal wavelet bases having the same moment properties and containing the Daubechies and Butterworth filters as the limiting cases is presented. It is shown that it is possible to have both linear phase and orthogonality in the infinite impulse response case, and a constructive method is given. It is also shown how compactly supported bases may be orthogonalized, and bases for the spline function spaces are constructed. >


This multiple case study investigates English language (EL) teacher educators' cognitions and practices related to pedagogical technology integration. The focus concerns five native-English speaking teacher educators (TEs) within a teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) training program at a South Korean university. The goal was to determine 1) TESOL-TEs' cognitions regarding the pedagogical purposes and efficacies of 21st–century digital technologies, 2) TESOL-TEs' uses of such technologies in their practice, and 3) factors related to TESOL-TEs' decisions of whether and how to integrate technologies into their praxis.

Data collected over twenty weeks in 2013 included four rounds of semi-structured interviews and two sets of classroom observations for each of the five focal participants, interviews with program administrators, written reflections, field notes, photographs, and document review. Data were coded using King's (2004) template analysis method. Categories were based on constructs from the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra and Koehler, 2006) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT, Venkatesh et al., 2003) and UTAUT 2 (Venkatesh et al., 2012).

The focal participants displayed high levels of TPACK and used Web 2.0 applications extensively to facilitate interactions in their roles as teacher educators. It was found that UTAUT factors guided TEs' decisions and use behaviour to varying degrees, but that the mediating factor of age did not relate to TEs' decisions in the manner predicted by the UTAUT. TEs' cognitions both coincided with and diverged from their practices.

This study contributes to research gaps on the roles, cognitions, and technology-related practices of TESOL-TEs in South Korea. Research on TEs in different contexts is recommended to gain further insights into the connections among these factors. TESOL program administrators and TEs will particularly benefit from the light shed on teacher educator cognitions and practices in this study.


This paper presents a technique for dependence analysis on programs with pointers or dynamic recursive data structures. It differs from previously proposed approaches in analyzing structure access conflicts between traversal patterns before gathering alias and connection information. Conflict analysis is conducted under the assumption that each unique path leads to a distinct storage location, and hence traversal patterns can be analytically compared to identify possible conflicts. The rationale of this assumption is that if statements are deemed to be dependent by this approach, they are inherently sequential regardless of the shapes of the data structures they traverse. Consequently, there is no need to perform alias/connection analysis on the statements that construct such data structures. Furthermore, the information of traversal patterns gathered in conflict analysis phase can direct alias/connection analysis algorithm to focus on statements that are crucial to optimizations or parallelization. A such traversalpattern-sensitive pointer analysis algorithm will also be presented.


We discuss some historical background concerning a modified version of the
Navier-Stokes equations for the motion of an incompressible fluid. The classical
(Newtonian) linear relation between the Cauchy stress tensor and the rate of
strain tensor yields the Navier-Stokes equations. Certain nonlinear relations are
also consistent with basic physical principals and result in equations with
"stronger" dissipation. We describe a class of models that has its genesis
in Kolmogorov's similarity hypothesis for 3-dimensional isotropic turbulence
and was formulated by Smagorinsky in the meteorological context of rapidly
rotating fluids and more generally by Ladyzhenskaya. These models also
describe the motion of fluids with shear dependent viscosities and have received
considerable attention. We present a dyadic model for such modified Navier-Stokes
equations. This model is an example of a hierarchical shell model.
Following the treatment of a (non-physically motivated) linear hyper-dissipative
model given by Katz-Pavlovic, we prove for the dyadic model a bound for the
Hausdorff dimension of the singular set at the first time of blow up.
The result interpolates between the results of solvability for sufficiently
strong dissipation of Ladyzhenskaya, (later strengthened by
Necas et al)
and the bound for the dimension of the singular set for the Navier-Stokes
equations proved by Caffarelli, Kohn and Nirenberg. We discuss the implications
of this dyadic model for the modified Navier-Stokes equation themselves.


A simple one pot orthogonal procedure for synthesizing α-aldehyde, ω-thiol heterotelechelic poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) is introduced. Firstly we designed a xanthate chain transfer agent with an acetal protected aldehyde functionality in the leaving group, then we synthesized α-acetal ω-xanthate end-functional PVP, via a RAFT-mediated polymerization. The end-groups were modified via a facile, modular protocol, by first aminolysing the ω-xanthate end-groups to form thiols, using an excess of a primary amine, and subsequently acidifying the reaction medium to simultaneously convert excess primary amine to its (non-interfering) quaternary ammonium salt form, as well as effect the acid-catalysed deprotection of the acetal into an aldehyde functionality, to access the α-aldehyde, ω-thiol-PVP. Finally, we demonstrated the utility of these end-groups by performing conjugations with model small molecules. This study establishes a facile procedure for accessing different and bio-relevant end-functional groups with a biocompatible vinyl polymer, suitable for making drug delivery vehicles.


A high level basketball teamis closely connectedlywith basketball players training. Basketball training is complex, including basic skills, physical fitness, coordination, practice. It is an effective way to find out the specific contribution for each training factor for the purpose of improving the level of athletes so as, to carry out targeted training. For this, combining the Jacobimatrix inverse eigenvalue problem, this paper conducts the research on the basketball training factors. Firstly, the inverse eigenvalue problems for Jacobi matrix are introduced and improved. Then, the Jacobi matrix inverse eigenvalue problems are applied to the specific problems of basketball training, and basketball training factors into matrix form are analyzed, fromwhich the contribution can be turned out on howthe training of various factors influence on improving the level of athletes. This way also will make contributions to promote the basketball level in china.


Andre Gunder Frank asks us to re-orient our views away from Eurocentrism - to see the rise of the West as a mere blip in what was, and is again becoming, an Asia-centered world. In a bold challenge to received historiography and social theory he turns on its head the world according to Marx, Weber, and other theorists, including Polanyi, Rostow, Braudel, and Wallerstein. Frank explains the Rise of the West in world economic and demographic terms that relate it in a single historical sweep to the decline of the East around 1800. European states, he says, used the silver extracted from the American colonies to buy entry into an expanding Asian market that already flourished in the global economy. Resorting to import substitution and export promotion in the world market, they became Newly Industrializing Economies and tipped the global economic balance to the West. That is precisely what East Asia is doing today, Frank points out, to recover its traditional dominance. As a result, the 'center' of the world economy is once again moving to the 'Middle Kingdom' of China. Anyone interested in Asia, in world systems and world economic and social history, in international relations, and in comparative area studies, will have to take into account Frank's exciting reassessment of our global economic past and future.


Ancient Babylonian astronomers used their observations plus simple arithmetic to predict the positions of celestial bodies. Now, new evidence reported on p. 482 reveals that these astronomers, working several centuries B.C.E., also employed sophisticated geometric methods that foreshadow the development of calculus, more than 1400 years earlier than expected. Astroarchaeologist Mathieu Ossendrijver of Humboldt University in Berlin based his findings on a re-examination of clay tablets, one of them unknown until recently, dating from 350 B.C.E. to 50 B.C.E. He discovered that the ancient astronomers charted the movements of Jupiter, the planet equated with Babylonian9s chief god, and used a forerunner of calculus to do it: They calculated the area under a curve—a basic operation in calculus—in a graph of Jupiter9s velocity versus time. And they did it more than 2000 years ago.


Since independence in 1980, the government of Zimbabwe has embarked on a programme of land reform, the National Land Policy (NLP), designed to redress the inequitable ownership of land during the colonial and minority regime eras by redistributing land for resettlement from large-scale farmers, inevitably belonging to the white minority population, to communal farmers belonging to the black majority, and thus address some of the iniquities of Rhodesia's history. In order to implement this policy the Land Acquisition Act 3 of 1992 was adopted, empowering the president and other authorities to acquire land for the resettlement of the black rural population. This author predicted that a judicial challenge to the constitutionality of the legislation was inescapable. That prediction has since been fulfilled in the case of Davies and Others v The minister of Land, Agriculture and Water Development, which eventually came before the Supreme Court in 1996. The purpose of the present article is to consider the pronouncements of the Zimbabwean courts on this controversial issue.


The COSC project is focused on the mid Paleozoic Caledonide Orogen in Scandinavia in order to better understand orogenic processes, both in the past and in today's active mountain belts. It relates to two of ICDP's main themes – the fundamental physics of plate tectonics and heat, mass and fluid transfer through Earth's crust, and on improving interpretation of geophysical data used to determine the structure and properties of the Earth's crust. Lateral transport of Caledonian allochthons over distances of several hundreds of kilometers in the Scandes, by a combination of thrusting and ductile extrusion, is comparable to that recognized in the Himalayas. The Caledonides in Scandinavia provide special opportunities for understanding Himalayan-type orogeny and the Himalayan Orogen itself, thanks to the deep level of erosion and the paucity of superimposed post-Paleozoic deformation. The surface geology in combination with the seismic, magnetotelluric, magnetic and gravity data provide control of the geometry of the Caledonian structure, both of the allochthon and the underlying parautochthon-autochthon, and define the locations for drilling. The latter will investigate both the high-grade, ductile Caledonian nappes and the underlying allochthons and basement, with two c. 2.5 km deep boreholes, located near Åre and Järpen in western Jämtland. The two boreholes will also provide unique information about other important aspects of the Scandinavian bedrock, including the heat flow and potential for geothermal energy, mineralization in the Seve nappes and alum shales, the uplift history of the Scandes, the Holocene paleoclimatological changes and the deep biosphere.


Density functional theory (DFT) is the work–horse of modern materials modeling techniques, but scattered
evidence indicates it often fails for important surface properties. This thesis investigates how DFT
estimates of the surface energy (σ) and molecular adsorption energies of ionic systems are affected by
the choice of exchange–correlation (xc) functional. Accurate diffusion Monte–Carlo (DMC) and quantum
chemistry (QC) calculations are presented for these quantities showing marked improvement over
DFT and agreement of much better than chemical accuracy.
DFT estimates of σ are presented for the (001) surfaces of LiH, LiF, NaF and MgO. Five xc functionals,
LDA, PBE, RPBE, Wu–Cohen and PW91 are used. A clear xc functional bias is demonstrated
with σLDA > σWC > σPBE > σPW91 > σRPBE.
To improve the picture detailed pseudopotential DMC calculations are presented for LiH and LiF.
The lattice parameters and cohesive energies agree with experiment to better than 0.2 % and 30 meV
respectively. For LiH novel all–electron DMC calculations are also presented showing significant improvement
over pseudopotential DMC.
Accurate all–electron Hartree–Fock calculations of σ for LiH(001) and LiF(001) are presented
along with calculations of the LiF bulk using specially adapted Gaussian basis–sets. Combined with
existing QC correlation estimates the bulk and surface properties of LiH and LiF show excellent agreement
to both experiment and DMC and allow a longstanding disagreement between two experimental
estimates for σLiF to be resolved.
Finally the adsorption energy curve for water on LiH(001) is obtained by both DMC and incremental
QC techniques leading to agreement of better than 10 meV. DFT and dispersion corrected DFT
estimates are also presented highlighting the large xc functional dependence.
Thus we demonstrate that is possible and necessary to obtain agreement between higher levels of
theory and produce benchmark values beyond DFT.


This guide outlines resources for California statutory materials, such as statutes, codes, initiatives, referenda, uncodified statutes and superceded law available in the UCLA Law Libray as well as online.


Many fish species migrate to form fish spawning aggregations. The temporal and spatial predictability of these migrations and spawning aggregation locations makes species vulnerable to overfishing, as the majority of an adult population within a large region may be harvested quickly with minimal effort. Historically, the Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792), was an important fishery species throughout its range, but due to spawning aggregation overfishing, it is now rare in many reef ecosystems. In The Bahamas, stocks continue to decline despite the implementation of spawning aggregation protections. While more Nassau grouper spawning aggregations have been reported in The Bahamas than any other country, very few have been validated, and the dynamics of spawning migrations to and from these sites is poorly understood. Here, we used acoustic telemetry to describe, for the first time, Nassau grouper migrations along Andros Island, The Bahamas, which is bordered by one of the longest barrier reefs in the world. We report the likely extirpation of a historically important spawning aggregation and suggest Nassau grouper are migrating to a previously undocumented spawning location. Fish migrated in groups during the January 2015 full moon along the barrier reef shelf edge traveling roundtrip distances of 71.5–260.3 km [x = 164.5 (SD 65.7) km, n = 9]. These results are critical to assess the efficacy of current management strategies in The Bahamas. Thus far, all known spaning aggregations have been reported to the scientific community by fishers. Data from our study, however, suggest the presence of a potential spawning aggregation informed by passive telemetry and warrants further investigation.


The objective of the present study was to determine the optimum condition of decaffeination process with chitosan in a model system using Response Surface Methodology. A 1000ppm caffeine solution was mixed with chitosan in varried concentrations, temperatures and process times. After filtration, caffeine in the filtrate was determined. The lower caffeine in the filtrate the more effective the decaffeination process. Result of the experiment showed that among chitosan concentrations of 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 mg per 100 ml caffeine solution, the concentration of 70mg was the most effective. Among temperatures applied of 28, 40, 60, 80, 90, and 100 o C, the most effective was of 90 o C. And among the process times of 15, 30, 60, and 90 minutes, 15 minutes was the most effective. Result of optimatization using RSM showed that the optimum condition of decaffeination process were concentration of chitosan of 69,52mg, temperature of 89,71 o C, and process time of 14,88 minutes. Under this condition the process diminished 79,56% of caffeine from the model system.


Solving optimization problems with unknown parameters often requires learning a predictive model to predict the values of the unknown parameters and then solving the problem using these values. Recent work has shown that including the optimization problem as a layer in the model training pipeline results in predictions of the unobserved parameters that lead to higher decision quality. Unfortunately, this process comes at a large computational cost because the optimization problem must be solved and differentiated through in each training iteration; furthermore, it may also sometimes fail to improve solution quality due to non-smoothness issues that arise when training through a complex optimization layer. To address these shortcomings, we learn a low-dimensional surrogate model of a large optimization problem by representing the feasible space in terms of meta-variables, each of which is a linear combination of the original variables. By training a low-dimensional surrogate model end-to-end, and jointly with the predictive model, we achieve: i) a large reduction in training and inference time; and ii) improved performance by focusing attention on the more important variables in the optimization and learning in a smoother space. Empirically, we demonstrate these improvements on a non-convex adversary modeling task, a submodular recommendation task and a convex portfolio optimization task.


Climate models and satellite observations both indicate that the total amount of water in the atmosphere will increase at a rate of 7% per kelvin of surface warming. However, the climate models predict that global precipitation will increase at a much slower rate of 1 to 3% per kelvin. A recent analysis of satellite observations does not support this prediction of a muted response of precipitation to global warming. Rather, the observations suggest that precipitation and total atmospheric water have increased at about the same rate over the past two decades.


Nisia Floresta Brasileira Augusta (1810-85) published prolifically in Brazil and Europe on the position of women and other subjects central to Brazilian national identity after independence. As such she is a hugely significant figure in the development of women's writing and feminist discourse in Brazil, yet this book is the first full length study of her work of to be published in English. Through a close analysis of the writer's engagement with the discourses of women's rights, education, slavery, literary Indianism, political ideology and nation-building, this study challenges some of the more monolithic constructions of the writer that still prevail in Brazilian literary historiography. Beginning with a fresh analysis of Floresta's writing on women, this book identifies the influences and motivations that determined her stance and reassesses the writer's position in Brazil's feminist canon. A consideration of her participation in further social and political discourses exposes the hagiographic and reductive nature of her definition as an abolitionist and republican. It also reveals the problematic intersections of gender, race and class in her work. In particular, this study highlights the important part that patriotism plays in shaping the writer's approach to these issues, indicating how the patriotic rhetoric she consistently employs lends additional power and influence to her work, but simultaneously curtails and distorts the positions she adopts and the appeals she makes. Charlotte Hammond Matthews is a Lecturer in Portuguese at the University of Edinburgh.


Abstract Teaching quantitative methods at the undergraduate level is a difficult yet rewarding endeavor due to the challenges instructors face in presenting the material. One way to bolster student learning is through the use of statistical software packages. Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet program capable of many basic statistical procedures, which has yet to be evaluated for use in quantitative methods courses. This article contains pros and cons to using Google Sheets in the classroom and provides an evaluation of student attitudes toward using Google Sheets in an introductory quantitative methods class. The results suggest favorable student attitudes toward Google Sheets and which attitudes toward Google Sheets show a positive relationship with quantitative self-efficacy. Thus, based on the positive student attitudes and the unique features of Google Sheets, it is a viable program to use in introductory methods classes. However, due to limited functionality, Google Sheets may not be useful for more advanced courses. Future research may want to evaluate the use of third-party Google Sheets applications, which can increase functionality, and the use of Google Sheets in online classes.


In this study, experiments are conducted to investigate tyre-enveloping characteristics. Four different types of tyres are tested. Parameters such as different tyre inflation pressures, vertical loads and types of obstacles (cleats) are considered. In addition to vertical stiffnesses of all tyres, vertical and horizontal force variations while traversing different obstacles at low speed are studied. The effects of inflation pressure and vertical load on variations of force and moment are investigated. Static test results showed that after a certain vertical displacement, all curves in force–deflection diagrams plotted with and without cleat intersect regardless of cleat and tyre types, depending on the inflation pressure of the tyre, which can be called typical static tyre-enveloping characteristics. Test results at low speed show that there is a considerable influence of the vertical load on vertical and lateral force responses of a tyre.


The reaction of a-pinene and dibromocarbene produced a fairly unstable product, 2,7,7-trimethyl-3,3-dibromotricyclo[4.1.1.02,4]octane, from which 3-bromo-7,7-dimethyl-2-methylenebicyclo[4,1,1]oct-3-ene and 3-bromo-2,7,7-trimethylbicyclo [4,1,1]octa-2,4-diene were obtained in chloroform at room temperature and in various other media and conditions. Two new compounds, 3-bromo-2,7,7-trimethylbicyclo [4.1.1]oct-3-en-2-ol and 2-(4-bromo-5-methylcyclohepta-3,5-dien-1-yl) propan-2-ol, were observed in aqueous acetone in addition to the previous two. The stability and formation mechanism of the formed products are discussed


Branding has become ubiquitous, with new brands becoming word-of-mouth successes literally overnight, and many welcome the easy familiarity they bring to daily life. But now brand proliferation is threatening not only to stifle true choice in the marketplace, but to render hard-won brand identities - some decades in the making - meaningless. With today's unprecedented access to thousands of brands a day, via Twitter, Facebook, and the rest, the balance of brand power is shifting irrevocably away from the businesses behind them. In "Brandstorm," branding guru Liz Nickles argues that, as a result, the brand is no longer a value proposition in itself, and that marketers and brand managers must stop the dilution and focus on meaningful, market-specific reinvention for those brands that can stand the test of time. She offers the success secrets behind leading brands like Ralph Lauren, Justin Bieber, and Revlon, and how to channel them today.


The rise of private equity funds represents a new stage in capitalism. These funds combine financial resources and capital markets expertise with detailed operational knowledge of the operations of takeover targets to maximize the creation and expropriation of value on behalf of investors. Their significant size and aggressive buyout record suggests that we may be witnessing the confirmation of Michael Jensen's 1989 prediction, made in the midst of the first wave of leveraged buyouts, of the "eclipse of the public corporation." Critics of private equity share a view of the corporation rooted in a decades old characterization by Berle and Means of the nature of the modern corporation. Rethinking the framework of Berle and Means is an important first step in responding appropriately to the rise of private equity funds.


Word 2010 is a powerful Word-processing application that allows users to create text documents containing; tables, graphics objects from other applications such as spreadsheets and PowerPoint slides. In this Word 2010 introduction ebook you will learn about tabs, tables and formatting. Furthermore chapters are dedicated to for example editing and printing.

In Word 2010 tabs is an important feature which allows you to create simple tables of data that line up along a particular vertical position. In this eBook you will learn how to use tabs to create a list and set leader tabs within a document. As well you find explanations for how you can insert a table, enter and format text on tables, and how to navigate text.

An important part of this eBook is dedicated to formatting in Word 2010. For example how can you change the font style and size of characters, indent paragraphs and apply borders? Read this eBook and improve your Word skills.


The strand of Nineteenth-Century Anarchism known as Anarchist-Communism conceived of the abolition of both state and market, and their replacement by a system of free distribution of goods organized through federated communes. While briefly this was the most developed and sophisticated
strand of anarchism, it suffered an eclipse in the face of both the failure of the Russian Revolution, and the rise of the essentially a-theoretical industrial syndicalism that blossomed in many countries during the early decades of the twentieth century.
With the expansion of the state and capitalism after WWII new forms of contestation appeared, most notably, in terms of Anarchist Communist theory, in the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s two currents emerged which represented the first significant development in anarchist communist theory for fifty years. These were the Social Ecology of Murray Bookchin, and a current which grew up around the Detroit underground paper Fifth Estate, later known as "Anarchist
Primitivism". It is these two strands that are the subject of this research.
Not surprisingly these two perspectives, appearing around a decade apart, and both in the same country, dealt with many of the same issues. What is more surprising is that in virtually every area, the conclusions they arrive at are completely different. In this research I locate these two
strands historically as developments of Anarchist Communist theory, and examine their theories in four key areas: The Primitive, History, Reason and Rationality, and Technology. Examination of these areas serves to define the projects themselves, as well as highlighting how they disagree.
To explain why they disagree, this work uses a methodological approach suggested Quentin Skinner. Skinner argued that in order to fully understand a text in the history of ideas, it is necessary to understand the author's intention in writing it. The study therefore examines not only the texts, but also the backgrounds of the writers concerned, their aims in producing it, and their approaches to debate with other theorists and perspectives. Through a combination of textual analysis and
recovering the intentions of the writers, the high levels of disagreement can be accounted for.