We present game-theoretic models of opinion formation in social networks where opinions themselves co-evolve with friendships. In these models, nodes form their opinions by maximizing agreements with friends weighted by the strength of the relationships, which in turn depend on difference in opinion with the respective friends. We define a social cost of this process by generalizing recent work of Bindel et al., FOCS 2011. We tightly bound the price of anarchy of the resulting dynamics via local smoothness arguments, and characterize it as a function of how much nodes value their own (intrinsic) opinion, as well as how strongly they weigh links to friends with whom they agree more.


Abstract Landscape change provides a suitable framework for investigating population-level responses to novel ecological pressures. However, relatively little attention has been paid to examine the potential influence of landscape change on the geographic scale of population differentiation. Here, we tested for morphological differentiation of red-necked nightjars Caprimulgus ruficollis breeding in a managed property and a natural reserve situated less than 10 km apart. At both sites, we also estimated site fidelity over 5 years and quantified the potential foraging opportunities for nightjars. Breeding birds in the managed habitat were significantly larger in size—as indexed by keel length—than those in the natural one. However, there were no significant differences in wing or tail length. Immigration from neighboring areas was almost negligible and, furthermore, no individual (out of 1130 captures overall) exchanged habitats between years, indicating strong site fidelity. Food supply for nightjars was equally abundant in both habitats, but the availability of foraging sites was remarkably higher in the managed property. As a result, nightjars—particularly fledglings—in the latter habitat benefited from increased foraging opportunities in relation to those in the natural site. It seems likely that the fine-scale variation in nightjar morphology reflects a phenotypic response to unequal local conditions, since non-random dispersal or differential mortality had been determined not to be influential. High site fidelity appears to contribute to the maintenance of body-size differences between the two habitats. Results from this nightjar population highlight the potential of human-induced landscape change to promote population-level responses at exceedingly small geographic scales.


This paper gives a brief review of the major achievements in European research on physical weed control methods for agricultural and horticultural crops. Most of the work has emerged from an increasing awareness and concern about pesticide consumption in many Western European countries. Also an increasing interest in organic farming has further pushed the development of more sustainable weed control methods. Generally, the research has been joint projects between engineers and agronomists and the results have so far revealed some prospects as well as limitations for non-chemical methods to become useful solutions, not only for the organic growers but also for the conventional ones. A number of investigations have focussed on rather simple low-tech mechanical weeding principles, such as harrowing, brush weeding, hoeing, torsion weeding, and finger weeding, aiming at describing the weeding mechanisms for a better optimisation of the usage. In some crops, such as transplanted vegetables, potatoes, maize, winter oil seed rape, and partly small grain cereals, mechanical weed control has been quite effective and may become a relevant alternative to chemical weed control. However, current mechanical methods generally work with low selectivity, as they do not distinguish between weed and crop plants when applied into the crop row. Attempts to change the constructions and materials of the weeding tools have not decisively improved the selectivity and more intelligent methods capable of controlling only the weeds are therefore needed. The first step in that direction was the introduction of electronic steering systems for automatic guidance of inter-row hoes. They are based on image analysis of the crop row, and the technology is considered to be a kind of platform for the development of more advanced systems for robotic weeding in the rows of row crops, such as sugar beets, maize, and most vegetables. However, recent studies have shown that such an ambition may be difficult to fulfil because weed plants growing right beside the crop plants are the most harmful ones in terms of suppressing the crop plants. Whether any computer-based system would be able to guide a cutting device with sufficient accuracy and speed to remove those weeds in a practical situation in row crops seems questionable. Hence, other projects have been started with a view to avoid this challenge, trying to look for less complicated methods with more short-termed prospects of being applicable in practice. Steaming the soil prior to crop establishment and in bands corresponding to crop rows appears to have some potential in that context since an almost complete intra-row weed control can be achieved without affecting the crop. However, as with most other thermal methods, high energy consumption is a key-issue that needs to be solved.


The technology of quantum tunnelling devices, namely III/V double barrier Resonant Tunnelling Diodes (RTD) and Si/SiGe Interband Tunnelling Diodes (ITD), is studied for logic circuit applications. The homogeneity and reproducibility of MBE grown InP-based RTD devices with mesa technology is presented. Si/SiGe ITD have been grown by MBE on high resistivity (n-) Silicon substrates. A novel self-aligned diode is processed using optical lithography and dopant-selective wet chemical etching. Comparing RTD and ITD data the differences are due to the vertical spacing of the doped layers within the device. A nanoelectronic circuit architecture based on an improved MOBILE threshold logic gate is used. SPICE simulations are carried-out in order to evaluate tolerable clock and supply voltage fluctuations in comparison to device fluctuations.


Ideally, robots used for motor rehabilitation, in particular, during assessment, should minimally perturb the voluntary movements of a subject. In this paper, we show how a state-of-the-art back-drivable robot, i.e., a robot that can be moved by the user with a low perceived mechanical impedance, when used for assessment can still perturb the voluntary movements of a subject. In particular, we show that, despite its low mechanical impedance, a robot may still not comply with the intrinsic kinematic constraints, which are of neural origin and are adopted by the human brain to solve redundancy in motor tasks. Specifically, the redundant task under consideration is the 2-D pointing task, which is performed by a subject with the sole use of the wrist [3 degree of freedom (DOF) kinematics]. Wrist orientations during pointing tasks are assessed in two different scenarios. In the first experiment, a lightweight handheld device is used, which introduces no loading effect. In the second experiment, similar pointing tasks are performed with the subject interacting with a state-of-the-art robot for wrist rehabilitation. In the first case, intrinsic kinematic constraints arise as 2-D surfaces embedded in the 3-D space of wrist configuration. Such surfaces are typically subject-dependent and reveal personal motor strategies. In the second case, a strong influence of the robot is remarked. In particular, 2-D surfaces still arise but are similar for all subjects and are referable to a mechanical origin (excessive loading by the robot). The assessment approach described in this paper, including both the experimental apparatus and data-analysis method, can be used as a test for the degree of back-drivability of mechanisms and robots in relation to constraints of neural origin, thus allowing the design of robots that can actually cope with such constraints. The clinical potential impact is also discussed.


Metallic nickel films of thickness between 3 nm and 50 nm on SiO2/Si substrate were first deposited by magnetron sputtering system. T-shape nanocontacts for both pure metallic Ni-Ni and metallic oxide Ni-NiO-Ni were then patterned by electron-beam and ultra-violet lithography combined with focused ion beam milling method. The dimension of each of the nanocontacts along the horizontal direction with the thin film was systematically changed from 10 nm to 50 nm. Different oxidisation methods were used to investigate the influence of oxygen on transport properties upon the metallic oxide Ni-NiO-Ni nanocontacts. Magnetoresistances were observed lower than 1% at room temperature in both series. No evidence was found of large ballistic magnetoresistance based on such repeatable microfabrication methods.


ABSTRACT We propose a simple model selection test for choosing among two parametric likelihoods, which can be applied in the most general setting without any assumptions on the relation between the candidate models and the true distribution. That is, both, one or neither is allowed to be correctly specified or misspecified, they may be nested, nonnested, strictly nonnested, or overlapping. Unlike in previous testing approaches, no pretesting is needed, since in each case, the same test statistic together with a standard normal critical value can be used. The new procedure controls asymptotic size uniformly over a large class of data-generating processes. We demonstrate its finite sample properties in a Monte Carlo experiment and its practical relevance in an empirical application comparing Keynesian versus new classical macroeconomic models. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.


The high altitudes of Arunachal Pradesh, India, located in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot, remain zoologically unexplored and unprotected. We report results of recent mammal surveys in the high altitude habitats of western Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 35 mammal species (including 12 carnivores, 10 ungulates and 5 primates) were recorded, of which 13 are categorized as Endangered or Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. One species of primate, the Arunachal macaque Macaca munzala, is new to science and the Chinese goral Nemorhaedus caudatus is a new addition to the ungulate fauna of the Indian subcontinent. We documented peoples' dependence on natural resources for grazing and extraction of timber and medicinal plants. The region's mammals are threatened by widespread hunting. The snow leopard Uncia uncia and dhole Cuon alpinus are also persecuted in retaliation for livestock depredation. The tiger Panthera tigris, earlier reported from the lower valleys, is now apparently extinct there, and range reductions over the last two decades are reported for bharal Pseudois nayaur and musk deer Moschus sp.. Based on mammal species richness, extent of high altitude habitat, and levels of anthropogenic disturbance, we identified a potential site for the creation of Arunachal's first high altitude wildlife reserve (815 km2). Community-based efforts that provide incentives for conservation-friendly practices could work in this area, and conservation awareness programmes are required, not just amongst the local communities and schools but for politicians, bureaucrats and the army.


The sphere of social protection of the population occupies an important place in the socio-political life of the country. For the qualitative development of the social protection system, it is necessary to ensure the priority flow of funds in this area. Budgetary funds, which are the main source of financing, are a financial guarantee for the citizens of the country to receive the necessary level of social services. The study analyzes the dynamics of financing social protection from budget funds. The problems of financial support in this area have been identified. The peculiarity of financing the system of social protection of the population in Ukraine is that it was conceptually and practically formed on the basis of a significant role of the state, thereby directing a significant part of the expenditures of budgets of all levels to this industry. The dynamics of changes in financing of social expenditures from all types of budgets of Ukraine and their structure has been investigated. Part of budget expenditures on social protection in the structure of total budget expenditures is growing much more slowly than total budget expenditures due to the stagnation of almost all of its components. In monetary terms, the gap between deductions for social protection of the population becomes even more noticeable. And although in recent years in Ukraine the size of public expenditures directed to social protection of the population has increased, many types of social benefits and allowances have turned out to be insufficiently ineffective. This increases the unproductive burden on public finances and creates significant distortions in social protection. The main directions for the further development of the sphere of social protection should be the optimization of powers for the implementation of expenditures between the authorities of all levels. Endowing local and regional authorities with revenues sufficient to finance the assigned powers through decentralization of budgetary funds will help to achieve a balance between regional and local budgets. This will help optimize the social security system and improve the quality of life of the Ukrainian population.


The Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a central, guiding, role over the whole of Chinese society in the current era. The Central Propaganda Department oversees the Propaganda and Education System (xuanjiao xitong) which monitors, instructs and censors all of China's newspapers and magazines, film, television and radio broadcasting, the Internet, the publishing industry, and all aspects of cultural and information production from the highest to the lowest levels of society. In this paper I outline the structure and role of the Central Propaganda Department and the system of thought control it oversees. I consider some recent innovations in the system in the last fifteen years; which combine with traditional methods for a more strengthened approach to control. I examine ongoing preoccupations in the thought work of China's propaganda high priests. And finally, I argue that contrary to assumptions made by earlier researchers, the Central Propaganda Department and China's propaganda system have experienced a rebirth, not a decline, in the period since 1989.


A drug developed to inhibit receptor tyrosine kinases also binds to an E3 ubiquitin ligase to promote the degradation of β-catenin. Axitinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is used to treat some forms of cancer because it targets several receptors that stimulate angiogenesis. In a screen of clinically approved drugs that inhibited Wnt signaling in cultured human prostate cells, Qu et al. found that axitinib promoted destruction of the Wnt-responsive transcription factor β-catenin. In the absence of a Wnt signal, β-catenin is targeted for destruction through a complex that contains the tumor suppressor APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) and the E3 ubiquitin ligase βTrCP (β-transducin repeats–containing protein). Wnt signaling inhibits the destruction complex, thus stabilizing β-catenin and enabling it to enter the nucleus to regulate gene expression. Axitinib blocked Wnt signaling in several assays in cultured human colon cancer cells and in zebrafish, and oral administration of axitinib reduced adenoma formation in Apc+/– mice. Axitinib reduced the abundance of β-catenin in colon cancer cells in a manner dependent on the proteasome but not dependent on APC or βTrCP. The cultured cells used in these experiments did not have receptors known to be targeted by axitinib; therefore the authors isolated proteins from these cells that bound to axitinib in vitro. Binding to axitinib increased the thermal stability of the E3 ubiquitin ligase SHPRH (SNF2, histone-linker, PHD and RING finger domain–containing helicase). Overexpressing SHPRH in colon cancer cells reduced the abundance of endogenous β-catenin as well as forms of β-catenin that cannot be targeted for degradation by the APC destruction complex. In the presence of a proteasome inhibitor, wild-type SHPRH increased the ubiquitylation of β-catenin, but a catalytically impaired form of SHPRH did not. Depleting SHPRH by RNA interference increased the abundance of β-catenin and prevented the axitinib-induced reduction of β-catenin. These findings identify an off-target effect of axitinib that may be useful for treating cancers driven by aberrant Wnt signaling, including those in which the function of the APC complex is impaired. Y. Qu, N. Gharbi, X. Yuan, J. R. Olsen, P. Blicher, B. Dalhus, K. A. Brokstad, B. Lin, A. M. Øyan, W. Zhang, K.-H. Kalland, X. Ke, Axitinib blocks Wnt/β-catenin signaling and directs asymmetric cell division in cancer. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 9339–9344 (2016). [PubMed]


ABSTRACT. Rezende S.deF., Fontenele M.R., Masuda C.A., de Oliveira P.L., Araujo H.M.M., Bittencourt V.R.E.P. & Leite M.de S. Toll-like receptors in fat body and salivary gland tissues in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus. [Receptores Toll-like em corpo gorduroso e glândula salivar do carrapato bovino Rhipicephalus microplus]. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinaria, 38(supl. 3):47-53, 2016. Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Ciencias Veterinarias, Anexo 1, Instituto de Veterinaria, Universidade Federal Rural do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, BR 465, KM 47, Seropedica, RJ 23890-000, Brasil. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in the recognition of pathogen components and subsequent activation of the innate immune response, which then leads to development of immune responses. In arthropods the fat body and salivary glands are important organs in the defense system against invading pathogens. In this study, we identified for the first time the presence of TLRs in fat body and salivary gland tissues of cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus. Our results show that the expression of TLRs in fat body tissue are not found in all cells, but is specific to some cell types, in salivary glands TLRs protein expression occur in acini structure. We suggest that immune pathways are active in both fat body and salivary glands in the tick. The potential use of TLRs as a target for vaccine formulations against is discussed.


The objectives were to study and develop metacognitive skills of 1,616 early childhood in-service teachers in Child Development Center, Thailand. The quasi-experimental design were implied. Research Tools were Metacognitive Self-Assessment Questionnaire and scoring rubrics for early childhood students' assessment. Data were analyzed through fundamental statistics and inferential statistics. The research results were as follows: The teachers who joined with the program had got higher metacognitive skills score for both knowledge of cognition and knowledge of regulation than the other one. The teachers who had different supportive factors, different attitude towards pedagogy and different self-efficacy, would have got statistically significant difference in metacognitive skills in each dimension at the 0.01 level. Metacognitive skill score after participation in were higher than before in each dimension at the 0.01 level. Posttest score of early childhood students' metacognitive skills were statistically significant higher than pretest score in each dimension at the 0.01 level.


Neurophysiologists often use histograms to explore patterns of activity in neural spike trains. The bin size selected to construct a histogram is crucial: too large bin widths result in coarse histograms, too small bin widths expand unimportant detail. Peri-stimulus time (PST) histograms of simulated nerve fibers were studied in the current article. This class of histograms gives information about neural activity in the temporal domain and is a density estimate for the spike rate. Scott's rule based on modem statistical theory suggests that the optimal bin size is inversely proportional to the cube root of sample size. However, this estimate requires a priori knowledge about the density function. Moreover, there are no good algorithms for adaptive-mesh histograms, which have variable bin sizes to minimize estimation errors. Therefore, an unconventional technique is proposed here to help experimenters in practice. This novel method maximizes the entropy of histogram-bar heights to find the unique bin size, which generates the highest disorder in a histogram (i.e., the most complex histogram), and is useful as a starting point for neural data mining. Although the proposed method is ad hoc from a density-estimation point of view, it is simple, efficient and more helpful in the experimental setting where no prior statistical information on neural activity is available. The results of simulations based on the entropy method are also discussed in relation to Ellaway's cumulative-sum technique, which can detect subtle changes in neural activity in certain conditions.


Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are becoming a popular choice for meeting energy requirements of the present day due to their high efficiency and reformation capabilities. SOFCs are made of ceramic oxides with well-defined physical and thermal properties enabling a high operating temperature range (600-800°C). Efficiency of a SOFC is typically well represented by its output voltage. Resistances across various components of the SOFC viz. anode, electrolyte and cathode diminish the maximum output voltage thus directly affecting the efficiency of the fuel cell. Each of the layers in a SOFC has generic as well as specific requirements warranting specialized fabrication processes. While such processes are many in number, they face limitations on size of the particles usable for the process, cost, ability to create graded porosity, thickness, etc. The main thrust of this work is the employment of a novel direct-write tool, namely the Optomec Aerosol Jet deposition system for fabricating the electrolyte layer of a SOFC that addresses some of the practical limitations of traditional SOFC fabrication techniques. While Optomec's Aerosol Jet deposition technique has been employed in several applications including printed electronics, a structured approach to identifying process parameters for printing materials was not found in literature. This work identifies and models process parameters significant to the deposition of nanocrystalline ceria with thickness of the deposited layer as response variable through design of experiments. Initial feasibility tests determined printability of the test ink and established a working range for the desired process parameters under investigation. A full factorial design with five factors and two levels was executed as the screening design. Three of five factors were determined as significant from the screening experiments. A regression equation was generated with the three significant terms from screening. Validation runs executed indicated lack of curvature within the design space for the significant parameters. Coefficients of terms from the regression equation were updated after regression analysis of a higher order design of experiments with three levels and the three significant parameters from screening. The updated regression equation provides a model with a reduced standard error and better fit of residuals as compared to the model from screening. A brief study on drying methods post-deposition and its impact on the quality of the printed film is also presented in this work.


Background: Systematic genome-wide reductions of methylated cytosine (5-mC) levels have been observed in colorectal cancer tissue and are suspected to play a role in carcinogenesis, possibly as a consequence of inadequate folate intake. Reduced 5-mC levels in peripheral blood leukocytes have been associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer and adenoma in cross-sectional studies. Methods: To minimize disease- and/or treatment-related effects, we studied leukocyte 5-mC levels in prospectively collected blood specimens of 370 cases and 493 controls who were cancer-free at blood collection from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Leukocyte 5-mC level was determined by a high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)/tandem mass spectrometry method and expressed as the relative amount of methyl to total cytosine residues, or %5-mC. We estimated the association between colorectal cancer risk and %5-mC categories by computing ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) through logistic regression modeling. Results: We observed no dose-dependent association between colorectal cancer and%5-mC categories (lowest vs. highest tertile: OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.80–1.63; Ptrend = 0.51). However, among subjects whose 5-mC levels were at the highest tertile, we observed an inverse association between natural folate intake and colorectal cancer (highest tertile of natural folate vs. lowest: OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.17–0.71; Ptrend = 0.003; Pinteraction = 0.003). Conclusions: This prospective investigation show no clear association between leukocyte 5-mC level and subsequent colorectal cancer risk but a suggestive risk modification between 5-mC level and natural folate intake. Impact: Adequate folate status may protect against colorectal carcinogenesis through mechanisms involving adequate DNA methylation in the genome. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 21(11); 2014–21. ©2012 AACR.


This thesis examines the legal and policy regime applicable to the petroleum activities on the continental shelf of China. The distinguishing characteristics of this regime are revealed by way of a comparative analysis of the salient features of the offshore petroleum laws of China, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The modern Chinese offshore petroleum law and policy is essentially the product of the development of the domestic petroleum industry. The formulation of the contemporary regime was greatly influenced by the petroleum policies implemented by previous governments of China. The thesis therefore examines the history of the development of the modern Chinese petroleum experience and the current situation of China's offshore oil and gas industry. This establishes a context within which the presentation of the promulgation of China's offshore petroleum law and policy in the 1980s can be analyzed.
China opened its continental shelf for foreign oil and gas development somewhat later than other countries with offshore petroleum resources. Accordingly, China had the opportunity to study the experiences of other states, and to adopt selectively elements from foreign regimes to the advantage of its economic development. China's offshore petroleum law and policy displays not only unique Chinese characteristics but also incorporates features common to many other offshore petroleum jurisdictions. The thesis identifies these special characteristics and common elements. The two together comprise the Chinese legal regime governing offshore hydrocarbon activities.
The goal of the policy of opening the offshore area to foreign oil companies is the promotion of the development of China's economy while safeguarding its sovereignty and economic interests. The analysis of China's offshore law and policy indicates how the Chinese government intends to reach this goal by means of law-making, and also how the interests of foreign investors are protected and the benefits accruing are shared. Accordingly, special attention is paid to an analysis of the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Exploitation of Offshore Petroleum Resources in Cooperation with Foreign Enterprises, and the Model Petroleum Contract drafted by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
China's offshore petroleum law and policy was formulated in the early 1980s. Since then, great changes have taken place in the international petroleum industry. The government of China has accordingly seen the need to modify its offshore petroleum policy from time to time. The thesis offers some comments on the modification of China's policies.
The thesis presents a comparative analysis of the oil and gas laws of China, the United Kingdom and Canada, undertaken to show the differences in approach and substance between China and advanced oil producing countries in terms of legislation governing the development of the petroleum industry. Lacunae in the Chinese regime are also identified.
The thesis concludes with some suggestions on how China's offshore…


The road restraint systems on public streets are used to prevent a vehicle to veer off the road or its breakthrough to the opposite side of the road. The road restraint systems designed according to the EN 1317 standard are intended to provide certifiable levels of vehicle containment, to redirect errant vehicles and to provide guidance for pedestrians and other road users. Its proper design is therefore crucially important for safety of all road users. Practical observations of installed systems indicate that the current design of road restraint system is far too stiff. This results in unacceptable decelerations during the vehicle impact. The global stiffness of the road restraint system is largely attributed to the design of the distance spacer in the initial phase of an impact. The purpose of this research is to evaluate several new designs of a distance spacer with increased strain energy absorption due to controlled deformation during the vehicle impact. The impact severity and stiffness of various designs have been evaluated with dynamic nonlinear elasto-plastic analysis of a three-dimensional road restraint system within the framework of the finite element method with LS-DYNA. The computational analyses prove that the currently used distance spacer is indeed too stiff and that new designs assure controllable elasto-plastic deformation and crash energy absorption which in turn decreases the decelerations of an impact vehicle and consequently increases the safety of vehicle passengers.


Depression typically runs a relapsing and recurrent course.1 Without ongoing treatment people with recurrent depression have a very high risk of repeated depressive relapses throughout their life, even after successful acute treatment. Major inroads into the substantial health burden attributable to depression could be offset through interventions that prevent depressive relapse among people at high risk of recurrent episodes.2 If the factors that make people vulnerable to depressive relapse can be attenuated, the relapsing course of depression could potentially be broken. Currently, most depression is treated in primary care, and maintenance antidepressants are the mainstay approach to preventing relapse.3 The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends that to stay well, people with a history of recurrent depression should continue taking antidepressants for at least two years. However, many patients experience side effects, and some express a preference for psychosocial interventions, which provide long term protection against relapse.4 Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT)5 was developed as a psychosocial intervention for teaching people with a history of depression the skills to stay well in the long term (see box for a description of MBCT).

#### Description of mindfulness based cognitive therapy

Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (www.bemindful.co.uk/mbct/about) is a psychosocial, group based, relapse prevention programme for people with a history of depression who wish to learn long term skills for staying well. It combines systematic mindfulness training—meditation exercises targeted at enhancing awareness and developing self compassion—with elements from cognitive behavioural therapy.

MBCT is based on a theoretical premise similar to that on which cognitive behavioural therapy is based, and it uses strategies from that therapy too. However, MBCT helps people to learn that the negative thoughts that can signal the start of a depressive episode are fleeting events in the mind that they can choose to engage with or not. Through …


High levels of a protein called LRP6 can make cancer cells more aggressive, according to Washington University researchers affiliated with the Siteman Cancer Center. The protein's ability to enhance tumor development suggests that the gene that codes for LRP6 is an oncogene - a gene that contributes to tumor development when overactivated. "Because no one has ever connected LRP6 to proliferation in tumors, we believe we may have identified a new oncogene," says Guojun Bu, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of cell biology and physiology. The findings will be reported in the Dec. 2 issue of the journal Oncogene. The article currently is available online. "In several types of human cancer, such as breast and colon cancer, a key cell signaling pathway that regulates cell growth and development is overactive because a gene coding for a pathway component has mutated," Bu says. Increased signal activity from this pathway can lead to abnormal cell proliferation and ultimately to cancer, but researchers have been unable to identify the pathway component responsible for certain types of cancer such as breast cancer. "We believe LRP6 may be the missing link, the long-sought component that turns up the activity of this signaling pathway," Bu says. To uncover LRP6's role in cancer, Bu's team took slow-growing cancer cells and altered the LRP6 gene so that it made more of the protein. They found that the cancer cells began proliferating more rapidly as a result. When the researchers introduced these aggressive cells into mice, the animals developed tumors twice as large as those caused by the original, slow-growing cancer cells. Having seen the effect of high-levels of LRP6 in laboratory experiments, Bu and his team looked for higher-than-normal LRP6 gene activity in human tumor samples. "We used patient-matched tumor specimens from the Siteman Cancer Center," Bu says. "We found both colon and breast cancer samples with increased LRP6 gene activity. "The most interesting was breast cancer," he adds. "We found the LRP6 gene had higher than normal activity in five of the eight breast tumors we tested. So it appears that an increase of LRP6 alone may lead to breast cancer in these cases." Next, Bu and his colleagues plan to screen a larger group of breast cancer samples to see how frequently the LRP6 gene is overactivated in tumor tissue. Because LRP6 is an essential component of a key signaling pathway and located in an exposed position on the surface of cells, Bu believes the protein may be a good target for drugs that decrease its function to slow down or prevent the progression of some types of cancer.


Several modern-day cooling applications require the incorporation of mini/microchannel shear-driven flow condensers. There are several design challenges that need to be overcome in order to meet those requirements. The difficulty in developing effective design tools for shear-driven flow condensers is exacerbated due to the lack of a bridge between the physics-based modelling of condensing flows and the current, popular approach based on semi-empirical heat transfer correlations. One of the primary contributors of this disconnect is a lack of understanding caused by the fact that typical heat transfer correlations eliminate the dependence of the heat transfer coefficient on the method of cooling employed on the condenser surface when it may very well not be the case. This is in direct contrast to direct physics-based modeling approaches where the thermal boundary conditions have a direct and huge impact on the heat transfer coefficient values. Typical heat transfer correlations instead introduce vapor quality as one of the variables on which the value of the heat transfer coefficient depends. This study shows how, under certain conditions, a heat transfer correlation from direct physics-based modeling can be equivalent to typical engineering heat transfer correlations without making the same apriori assumptions. Another huge factor that raises doubts on the validity of the heat-transfer correlations is the opacity associated with the application of flow regime maps for internal x condensing flows. It is well known that flow regimes influence heat transfer rates strongly. However, several heat transfer correlations ignore flow regimes entirely and present a single heat transfer correlation for all flow regimes. This is believed to be inaccurate since one would expect significant differences in the heat transfer correlations for different flow regimes. Several other studies present a heat transfer correlation for a particular flow regime however, they ignore the method by which extents of the flow regime is established. This thesis provides a definitive answer (in the context of stratified/annular flows) to: (i) whether a heat transfer correlation can always be independent of the thermal boundary condition and represented as a function of vapor quality, and (ii) whether a heat transfer correlation can be independently obtained for a flow regime without knowing the flow regime boundary (even if the flow regime boundary is represented through a separate and independent correlation). To obtain the results required to arrive at an answer to these questions, this study uses two numerical simulation tools – the approximate but highly efficient Quasi-1D simulation tool and the exact but more expensive 2D Steady Simulation tool. Using these tools and the approximate values of flow regime transitions, a deeper understanding of the current state of knowledge in flow regime maps and heat transfer correlations in shear-driven internal condensing flows is obtained. The ideas presented here can be extended for other flow regimes of shear-driven flows as well. Analogous correlations can also be obtained for internal condensers in the gravity-driven and mixed-driven configuration.


[Excerpt] In 2004, U.S. light vehicle sales were up slightly, reversing a moderate slide that began in 2001. The 1.3 percent gain brought the market total to 16.8 million units, approximately the same level as 2002, and the fourth highest sales on record. The trend, which began in 2001 of offering low or no cost financing along with high rebates has cast a cloud over the otherwise sunny sales outcome for the year. American consumers have continued the long-term shift towards a preference for light trucks over passenger cars. Trucks passed cars in 2001, hitting over half the market for the first time that year. In 2004, light trucks accounted for over 55 percent of the U.S. passenger vehicle market. Light truck sales reached 9.3 million units, up 3.6 percent over 2003. Passenger car sales were down 1.4 percent compared to 2003, reaching only 7.5 million units.


In this paper, agglomeration of micro- and nano- RDX and its influence on properties of NG/TEGDN/NC propellants were studied. Particle sizes of loaded RDX were 0.34μm, 0.97μm, 3.70μm and 7.6μm. The propellants were prepared with RDX directly mixed or dispersed uniformly in advance, and with ethyl acetate and the mixture of acetone and alcohol, at 35 ℃ , respectively. Combustion characteristics and mechanical properties were investigated by using standard closed vessel and universal material testing machine at 20 ℃ . The fracture surface was characterized using scanning electron microscope. Results obtained indicate that both 0.34μm and 0.97μm RDX were agglomerated or had a crystal size growth in the propellants manufactured with all the three solvents, while worse with ethyl acetate. The burning rate pressure exponent and tensile strength decreased with the decreasing RDX particle size, while the impact strength on the contrary, except that the impact strength of propellants with 0.34μm and 0.97μm RDX was worse than that with 3.70μm and 7.6μm RDX due to the influence of agglomeration and that with 0.34μm dropped down obviously.


As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic play out globally, the banking industry has been affected in both positive and negative ways, with the crisis creating both opportunities and threats for the collaborations between FinTech and banks. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of FinTech products (FTPs) on commercial bank's performance in China. Required data are collected with a quantitative approach and two self-designed questionnaires were distributed to customers and employees of commercial banks in China. The gathered data were examined using the structural equation modeling technique. The results of this study reveal that the perceived usefulness (PU) of FTPs has positive and significant impacts on customer satisfaction, low expectation of bank employee assistance, bank's service quality and employee work efficiency. Additionally, the perceived difficulty of use (PD) of FTPs has negative and significant impacts on customer satisfaction and low expectation of assistance. Interestingly, there is a positive and significant relationship between PD and banks' service quality and work efficiency, meaning that the service quality and work efficiency can reduce some shortcomings of using FTPs. This study recognizes the need to enhance the understanding of FTPs on non-financial firm performance.


Background: Dexamethasone is reported to induce both tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting effects. The purpose of this study was to identify the genomic impact of dexamethasone in glioblastoma stem cell (GSC) lines and its prognostic value; furthermore, to identify drugs that can counter these side effects of dexamethasone exposure. Methods: We utilized 3 independent GSC lines with tumorigenic potential for this study. Whole-genome expression profiling and pathway analyses were done with dexamethasone-exposed and control cells. GSCs were also co-exposed to dexamethasone and temozolomide. Risk scores were calculated for most affected genes, and their associations with survival in The Cancer Genome Atlas and Repository of Molecular Brain Neoplasia Data databases. In silico Connectivity Map analysis identified camptothecin as antagonist to dexamethasone-induced negative effects. Results: Pathway analyses predicted an activation of dexamethasone network (z-score: 2.908). Top activated canonical pathways included "role of breast cancer 1 in DNA damage response" (P=1.07E–04). GSCs were protected against temozolomide-induced apoptosis when coincubated with dexamethasone. Altered cellular functions included cell movement, cell survival, and apoptosis with z-scores of 2.815, 5.137, and –3.122, respectively. CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (CEBPB) was activated in a dose dependent manner specifically in slow-dividing "stem-like" cells. CEBPB was activated in dexamethasone-treated orthotopic tumors. Patients with high risk scores had significantly shorter survival. Camptothecin was validated as potential partial neutralizer of dexamethasone-induced oncogenic effects. Conclusions: Dexamethasone exposure induces a genetic program and CEBPB expression in GSCs that adversely affects key cellular functions and response to therapeutics. High risk scores associated with these genes have negative prognostic value in patients. Our findings further suggest camptothecin as a potential neutralizer of adverse dexamethasone-mediated effects.


An important class of problems involves training deep neural networks with sparse prediction targets of very high dimension D. These occur naturally in e.g. neural language models or the learning of word-embeddings, often posed as predicting the probability of next words among a vocabulary of size D (e.g. 200,000). Computing the equally large, but typically non-sparse D-dimensional output vector from a last hidden layer of reasonable dimension d (e.g. 500) incurs a prohibitive O(Dd) computational cost for each example, as does updating the $D \times d$ output weight matrix and computing the gradient needed for backpropagation to previous layers. While efficient handling of large sparse network inputs is trivial, the case of large sparse targets is not, and has thus so far been sidestepped with approximate alternatives such as hierarchical softmax or sampling-based approximations during training. In this work we develop an original algorithmic approach which, for a family of loss functions that includes squared error and spherical softmax, can compute the exact loss, gradient update for the output weights, and gradient for backpropagation, all in $O(d^{2})$ per example instead of $O(Dd)$, remarkably without ever computing the D-dimensional output. The proposed algorithm yields a speedup of up to $D/4d$ i.e. two orders of magnitude for typical sizes, for that critical part of the computations that often dominates the training time in this kind of network architecture.


Background: To identify new treatments to prevent stroke, it is important that we have reliable data on potential novel risk factors. Methods: We studied seven novel vascular risk factors [apo-lipoprotein (b), C-reactive protein, Chlamydia pneumoniae, fibrin-D dimer, fibrinogen, Helicobacter pylori and lipoprotein (a)] and compared the amount of published data on their relations with ischaemic stroke versus acute coronary events by systematic review of all studies published up to 2003. Results: From a total of 22,875 abstracts reviewed, 266 eligible studies were identified (167 case-control studies and 99 cohort studies). Two hundred and eleven (79%) studies included coronary events as an outcome for the purpose of a risk factor analysis. In 186 (70%) studies, coronary events were the only outcome that was analysed. Only 73 (27%) studies included stroke or TIA as an outcome event, and only 45 studies (17%) reported risk factor analyses for ischaemic stroke separately. These results were qualitatively consistent across the risk factors studied and the relative lack of data on risk factors for stroke was even greater in prospective cohort studies. Conclusion: Data on novel risk factors for stroke are lacking compared with the equivalent data for acute coronary events, and there are very few data on specific subtypes of ischaemic stroke.


From a numerical analysis of deep water Neogene and Quaternary Ostracoda from D.S.D.P. sites in the S. W. Pacific, it is shown that the Miocene to Quaternary interval saw a large scale invasion by bathyal stocks of the abyss. This invasion was progressive and cumulative and resulted in abyssal faunas being much more diverse in the Quaternary than they had been in the Miocene. This major palaeoecological shift also occasioned a concommitant decline in bathyal faunas over the same interval. The breakdown of bathyal and abyssal isolation resulted from the Miocene onwards, in a progressive increase in the number of species which were able, contemporaneously, to live at both bathyal and abyssal palaeodepths. The study shows deep water faunas of this age to be much more diverse than previous studies have indicated. Ninety-one genera with autochthonous deep water species are encountered in this study. These genera are listed with the numbers of species of each genus and their depth distribution for Miocene, Pliocene and Quaternary respectively. Overall species diversity declines from the Miocene to the Pliocene but steeply increases into the Quaternary. It is suggested that the Pliocene impoverishment may in part be an artefact, occasioned by abnormally high Miocene diversity. It is shown that the phenomena outlined above are, to varying degrees, illustrated by all of the 6 groups into which the fauna is divided. It is suggested that certain of these phenomena, such as the major downslope migration from the Miocene onwards, may be detectable in other parts of the world's oceans.


The paper is the final chapter of a textbook on WTO Law published by Law Press, Beijing, in 2012. The textbook contains multiple chapters on more basic aspects of WTO Law in Chinese. Some of the more advanced chapters are reproduced in English and Chinese. Finally, the present chapter appears only in English. The goal of the textbook is to familiarize Chinese upper level law students not only with WTO Law but also with the English terminology. In line with this overall goal, the present chapter first provides an easily accessible introduction to the desirable promotion of innovation via intellectual property rights on the one hand, and the undesirable barriers to international trade created by nationally determined intellectual property rights on the other hand. The chapter then proceeds with an examination of a number of WIPO agreements as early forms of international agreements designed to reduce barriers to trade while maintaining the promotion of innovation. It points out the main weaknesses of WIPO and the consequential desire to develop a stronger mechanism for international protection of intellectual property in the framework of the WTO. Finally, the TRIPS Agreements is analyzed for its ability to provide universal filing priority, universal recognition of minimum substantive standards for all major intellectual property rights, and universal enforceability of those rights.Although primarily addressed to Chinese students of international trade law, the chapter should benefit all readers seeking an accessible and reasonably short introduction to intellectual property rights in the context of international trade.


Models treating the simple properties of social groups have a common shortcoming. Typically, they focus on the local properties of group members and the features of the world with which group members interact. I consider economic models of bureaucratic corruption, to show that (a) simple properties of groups are often constituted by the properties of the wider population, and (b) even sophisticated models are commonly inadequate to account for many simple social properties. Adequate models and social policies must treat certain factors that are not local to individual members of the group, even if those factors are not causally connected to those individuals.


This paper presents a wearable lower extremity exoskeleton developed as a platform for research work to develop devices that can enhance and assist the human walking and load carrying capability. The first prototype was produced with an integrated inner/outer exoskeleton system and a footpad mounted with sensors. Simulation model and feedback control with the ZMP method had also been established by using Adams and Matlab, respectively. The design principle and system methodology were then extended to the testing and implementation of active knee devices. Current robotic orthotic devices have advantages over passive devices because they are capable of aiding the knee, sharing the body weight acting on the knee, and thus reducing the knee stress without affecting the mobility of the user. The ultimate goal of the current research is to design a portable active orthotic device that can be used for rehabilitation and strength enhancement purposes.


Weather conditions produced by different climates are powerful forces of nature capable
of influencing human activities, behaviors, attitudes, and mobility; and traditions,
industry, economics, and government in society. These factors are each capable of affecting
crime and violence and are unique to each culture and region. Beginning with
a literary perspective, examples are provided from famous cultural works, such as Greek
mythology, Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, religious readings, and popular culture to
illustrate how some climatic variables have become associated to antisocial human behaviors
and emotions. A review of the research examining these connections follows,
paying particular attention to instances of interpersonal and political violence in various
regions, as well as other problems, such as drug production/consumption, wildlife
trade, conflict, and genocide, to demonstrate how these may be influenced by climate
and culture. The linkages between these three variables are explained through the application
of relevant theories in the behavioral sciences and specifically criminology. A
better understanding of the interplay between climate, culture, and crime will offer new
insights on the etiology of crime and violence in different regions, which, in an increasingly
globalized and warming world, will lead to the development of more effective prevention
and control strategies.


Coral reef is a productive ecosystem with high biodiversity in the sea and being targeted to find a useful bioactive compound. However, the serious problem in development of bioactive compounds from marine invertebrate is the supply problem, because to get a small amounts of active compounds a massive numbers of sea organisms are needed. Tunicate is an animal in coral reef ecosystem that produces many bioactive compounds with pharmacological activities, such as, antibacterial, antitumor, and anticancer compounds. It has been reported that bacterial symbionts of coral reef invertebrates may synthesize the same compounds as the host. The purposes of this research are to isolate and to identify microbes which have antibacterial activity against MDR bacteria based PCR 16S rRNA and to detect the existence of PKS and NRPS biosynthetic gene fragments from tunicate bacteria of Didemnum molle. Out of 15 bacterial isolates, one isolate showed antibacterial potential against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus sp. Molecular identification result showed that TS2A5 bacterium has a homology of 99 % with Virgibacillus sp. strain GSP17 16S ribosomal RNA gene. This isolate was also capable of amplifying NRPS gene fragment.


Several 19th and 20th century studies on Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus brood parasitism suggest that Red-backed Shrikes Lanius collurio used to be one of its common hosts in central Europe. However, since the late 1960s parasitism ceased to occur in Red-backed Shrikes in Hungary. Using data from bird ringing records in the Czech Republic and Slovakia we evaluate whether this finding holds on a broader scale. We found a rapid decline in the parasitism rate, expressed as the frequency of Common Cuckoo chicks encountered in Red-backed Shrike nests, during 1964–2006. During the first decade of the study, on average 2.19% of Shrike nests contained a Cuckoo chick, while in the last decade Cuckoos occurred in 0.37% of the nests only. This suggests a six-fold decline over the study period. Parasitism rates showed strong regional variations which were positively related to the size of regional host populations. In addition to the high ability of Shrikes in discriminating Cuckoo eggs, as found in previous studies, we suggest that decreases in regional host population numbers might lead to host abandonment within a few decades. Whether these two factors work in tandem, or independently, remains to be answered.


Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) infection on post-metamorphic frogs and salamanders is commonly diagnosed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of skin scrapings taken with mildly abrasive swabs. The technique is sensitive, non-lethal, and repeatable for live animals. Tadpoles are generally not sampled by swabbing but are usually killed and their mouthparts excised to test for the pathogen. We evaluated a technique for non-lethal Bd diagnosis using quantitative PCR (qPCR) on swabs scraped over the mouthparts of live tadpoles. The sensitivity of non-lethal (swabbing) and lethal (removal of mouthparts) sampling was assessed using 150 Bd-infected Rana subaquavocalis tadpoles. Swabbing was consistently less sensitive than lethal sampling, but still detected Bd. Experimental Bd prevalence was 41.1% when estimated by destructively sampling mouthparts and 4.7 to 36.6% (mean = 21.4%) when estimated with swabs. Detection rates from swabbing varied with investigator and time since infection. The likelihood of detecting Bd-infected tadpoles was similar regardless of size and developmental stage. Swabbing mouthparts of live tadpoles is a feasible and effective survey technique for Bd, but, because it is less sensitive, more tadpoles must be sampled to estimate prevalence at a confidence level comparable to destructive sampling.


Let $f$ be a binary word and let ${\cal F}_d(f)$ be the set of words of length $d$ which do not contain $f$ as a factor (alias words that avoid the pattern $f$). A word is called even/odd if it contains an even/odd number of 1s. The parity index of $f$ (of dimension $d$) is introduced as the difference between the number of even words and the number of odd words in ${\cal F}_d(f)$. A word $f$ is called prime if every nontrivial suffix of $f$ is different from the prefix of $f$ of the same length. It is proved that if $f$ is a power of a prime word, then the absolute value of the parity index of $f$ is at most 1. We conjecture that no other word has this property and prove the conjecture for words $0^r1^s0^t$, $r,s,t \geq 1$. The conjecture has also been verified by computer for all words $f$ of length at most 10 and all $d\le 31$.


ABSTRACT How African politicians, especially legislators, behave on a daily basis is still largely unknown. This article gives a unique empirical account of the daily accountability pressures and the strategies that Members of Parliament (MPs) in Ghana employ in responding to the demands that they face. While literature on political clientelism focuses on explanatory factors like lack of political credibility, political machines capable of effective monitoring, autonomy of brokers, high levels of poverty, and political competiveness, the role of institutions has been overlooked. While the existing literature suggests that political clientelism is an optimal strategy in the context of weak institutions, the present analysis finds that the institution of the office of Member of Parliament in Ghana is strong, but shaped by informal norms in ways that favour the provision of private goods in clientelistic networks. The analysis also points to theoretical lessons on how political clientelism can endogenously undermine the conditions for its own existence.


The development of compact femtosecond lasers that are capable of being pumped by laser diodes or are based on laser diodes directly is described. Particular attention is paid to crystal-based femtosecond sources having high efficiencies and those operating at high repetition rates in the telecommunications window at around 1500nm. Work in progress on the design and development of mode-locked quantum-dot diode lasers that operate into a femtosecond regime is also described.


Two new phloroglucinol-coupled sesquiterpenoids, eucalmaidials A and B (1 and 2), were isolated from the juvenile leaves of Eucalyptus maideni, along with eight known macrocarpals (3–10), eucalyptone (11), and three known triterpenoids (12–14). Eucalmaidials A and B represent a new skeleton of phloroglucinol-coupled iphionane. Their structures were elucidated by extensive NMR spectroscopic analysis and theoretical calculation of the 13C NMR chemical shifts. The biosynthetic pathway of 1 and 2 was also postulated. Compounds 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10–14 were evaluated for their antifungal and antibacterial activities. Compound 1 exhibited antifungal activity against Candida glabrata with an IC50 value of 0.75 μg mL−1.


In reading the literature about Canada-U.S. environmental relations with respect to acid deposition over the past decade, several things stand out. First, underlying these interactions is the daunting aspect (for the Canadians) that the relationship is based upon dependency and asymmetry. As Stephen Clarkson (1985), John Carroll (1982, 1986), and Don Munton (1981) have so often pointed out, factors such as the total emissions of pollutants, meteorology, the prevailing weather, geology, and the varying capacity of the terrain to neutralize damage have established a multidimensional problem whereby the U.S. benefits much less from Canadian actions than Canada does from American actions. Second, Canada used a multifaceted foreign policy approach in hopes of gaining its single most important environmental policy objective - U.S. reductions in emissions which are the primary cause of transboundary flows of acid pollutants. At one time or another, Canada attempted to influence U.S. policy decisions through quiet diplomacy (formal diplomatic avenues), interventionist public diplomacy (going public), international diplomacy (agreements and conferences), personal diplomacy (interactions between the Prime Minister and the President), and strengthening its own domestic environmental programs (Munton and Castle 1992:322-327). Third, Canada went far beyond its normal diplomatic activities and directly intervened in the American political process. Disregarding a long tradition of non-interference in U.S. domestic policy making, Canada (at both the national and provincial levels) extended its efforts to directly lobby the American public, media, non-governmental organizations and Congress. In essence, Canada resorted to a lobbying effort clearly in line with any other U.S. lobby. This effort was not only substantial [millions of dollars were spent (Spears 1990:C6)], it was clearly out of line with what Canadians hd previously perceived as normal behaviour in the Canada-U.S. bilateral relationship (Munton and Castle 1992:322). The purpose of this particular case study is to examine these Canadian efforts to influence the development of U.S. acid rain policy, with an emphasis on the lobbying process. Specifically, it looks at efforts by Canada to directly influence members fo the U.S. Congress. The idea is not only to provide insight into how and why Canada approached this effort, but also to provide a reading of what impact this effort had.


The performance and the versatility of today's PCs exceeds many times the power of the fastest number crunchers in the 90s. Yet the computational hunger of many scientific applications has led to the development of GPU- and FPGA-accelerator cards. In this paper the programming environment and the performance analysis of a super desktop with a combined GPU/FPGA architecture is presented. A unified roofline model is used to compare the performance of the GPU and the FPGA taking into account the computational intensity of the algorithm and the resource consumption. The model is validated by two image processing kernels which are compiled using OpenCL for the GPU and a C-to-VHDL compiler for the FPGA. It is shown that an FPGA compiler outperforms handwritten code and is highly productive, but also uses more resources. While both the GPU and FPGA excel in particular applications, both devices suffer from the limited I/O bandwidth to the processor.


COMMUNION WITH GOD AND COMFORTABLE DEPENDENCE ON HIM: ANNE DUTTON'S TRINITARIAN SPIRITUALITY Huafang Xu, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Chair: Dr. Michael A. G. Haykin This dissertation seeks to retrieve a crucial aspect of the spiritual heritage of Anne Dutton, her Trinitarian spirituality as it was developed in the historical context of eighteenth-century Trinitarian controversies in England and especially the Particular Baptists' defense of the Trinity. It argues that Dutton's Trinitarian spirituality is not only doctrinally orthodox, but also full of doxological devotion and practical comfort. It typifies the 1689 London Baptist Confession's statement about the Trinity being the foundation of "communion with God and comfortable dependence on him." The first three chapters serve introductory and biographical purposes. Chapter 1 introduces the purpose of the thesis, the primary sources to be examined, and the organization of the dissertation. Chapter 2 presents a historical literature review of Dutton and her works. Chapter 3 sketches a portrait of Dutton in the four biblical images of the sinner, sojourner, servant and saint. Chapter 4 supplies the historical context for Dutton's Trinitarian spirituality. It attends to both the Trinitarian controversies in eighteenth-century England and the defense of the Trinity by such Particular Baptist ministers as John Gill, Benjamin Beddome, Benjamin Wallin, and Andrew Fuller. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the nature and work of the Trinity. Chapter 5 presents Dutton's thought about the ontology of the Trinity, which highlights the co-deity and co-equality of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Chapter 6 studies her doctrine of the work of the Trinity. In addition to the tripartite work of the Father in election, the Son in redemption, and the Spirit in particular application, attention is also given to Dutton's expostulations of the adoption of the Father, advocateship of the Son and the sealing of the Spirit. Both the distinctive work of the triune God and their unity are underscored in the economy of human salvation. Chapters 7 and 8 deal with Dutton's application of the Trinity in Christian experience. Chapter 7 examines her view of communion with the triune God primarily from her work, Walking with God and from comparison with John Owen's work on the topic. The ways of this communion, which entail the primary way of Christ and the derivative ways of faith, worship, providence, and holiness are then illustrated by her spiritual autobiography. Chapter 8 discusses Dutton's use of the Trinity in her epistolary counseling of the afflicted souls. They were directed to depend on the sovereign grace of the Father, the love of the Son, and the comfort of the Spirit. This dissertation concludes with a call for re-centering Christian devotion and practices, such as worship, education, and counseling, on the Trinity as the way to revive the Christian life in praxis as well as in doctrine.


Energetic proton transport through self-generated Alfven waves in impulsive (γ-ray) flares is studied using the method of Monte Carlo simulations. Protons are traced inside a flux tube after they are released from a point source located inside the loop until they hit the boundary of the 1-D simulation box and escape. As they stream from the source towards the boundaries, the particles generate Alfven waves through the streaming instability. We consider both open and closed field lines. In the closed field line case, the escaping particles precipitate and produce observable secondary emissions; for the open field line, particles precipitate only from one end of the field line, and escape freely to the interplanetary medium from the other end. For a sufficiently large number of accelerated protons per unit area, n0VA/Ωp where n0 is the plasma density, VA the Alfven speed, and Ωp the proton gyro-frequency, the particle flux from the source produces a turbulent trap that expands at Alfven speed in both directions from the source. The resulting γ-ray emission from the loop legs consists of a precursor, related to the quick propagation of particles when the trap has not formed yet, and of a delayed brightening in the loop leg closer to the source, related to the opening of the turbulent trap as the self-generated waves reach the solar surface. For impulsive injections lasting L/(2VA), where L is the loop length, the second emission may be suppressed by adiabatic deceleration in the expanding turbulent trap. For open field lines, our model is capable of producing the small ratio of the numbers of interplanetary-to-interacting protons typically observed in impulsive flares, if the proton source is located close to the Sun.


Australia continues to face teaching shortages in rural schools. Indeed, preservice teachers may be reluctant to apply for rural teaching positions, particularly as most have had no rural teaching experiences. What may motivate non-rural preservice teachers to seek employment in rural schools? This study investigates 17 preservice teachers' first experiences of teaching and living in rural areas. These second and third-year preservice teachers were involved in a five-day rural experience, which included interacting with local communities, living with host families, observing teaching practices, and teaching rural middle-school students. These self-nominated preservice teachers were placed in a variety of rural schools centred around a feeder high school. This qualitative study used a narrative inquiry to explain participants' experiences. Data from written transcripts before their rural placements and reflections on their teaching and rural experiences indicated very significant attitudinal changes for teaching in rural areas and dispelled misconceptions about rural living and teaching. Non-rural universities can contribute towards motivating their preservice teachers to seek employment in rural areas. Providing these preservice teachers with a rural experience can create attitudinal changes for teaching and living in rural areas.


This article examines the notorious mid-nineteenth-century American trial of Amelia Norman, who was acquitted - very much against the weight of the evidence - of attempting to kill the man who seduced her. In particular, we explore the role in the trial and its aftermath of the affective energies and cultural expectations set in motion by best-selling American sentimental novels like Hannah Foster's "The Coquette" and Susanna Rowson's "Charlotte Temple." In Norman's case, once newspapers, defense lawyers, and reformers such as Lydia Maria Child recast the defendant as a sentimental heroine, the trial became about seduction, not attempted murder. The sentimental emplotment of Norman's life marshaled a powerful set of emotional responses and moral judgments on her behalf. For example, Norman claimed insanity. And since sentimental heroines are supposed to go mad when they are seduced and abandoned, the jury was prepared to interpret her symptoms according to her lawyers' very strategy for establishing her innocence. Ultimately, however, Norman embodied the plight of the sentimental heroine at the same time that she contested her fictional counterpart's fate. In this way, her trial spectacularized the disparity which the sentimental novel conjures up and displaces but never resolves. Going further, the common law theory of coverture, which severely limited the legal personhood of married women, has received a great deal of scholarly attention. Cases like Norman's remind us that unmarried women were also subject to draconian constraints on their legal personhood. The tort of seduction is a key example. Legal historians trace the development of the seduction tort from its common-law origins, when men's property interest in women's bodies formed the basis of the cause of action, to 1851, when Field Code authors (including Norman's lawyer, David Graham) persuaded several states to grant seduced women standing to bring their own cause of action. Consequently, courts were forced to reckon with the seduced woman as a moral agent capable of consenting to sex. As trials like Norman's demonstrate, sentimental novels helped lay the groundwork for this shift in the law by elucidating a subjectivity for the seduced woman. Yet the doctrinal implications of Norman's precedent-setting trial had a second, more ambiguous strain. Other women facing similar charges used the same legal strategy to gain acquittals in a substantial number of cases. Indeed, Norman's sentimental strategy proved so powerful that men on trial for killing their wives' seducers appropriated it to bring their own stories before juries and to reinforce male sexual norms through the so-called honor defense. In the end, then, Norman's trial fostered legal reform, but it also suggested - as Lydia Maria Child's fictionalization of the case in "Rosenglory" recognized - that only sustained and multifaceted efforts to change cultural as well as legal norms could improve the sexual status of women. In addition to its legal, literary, and historical insights that it provides, we also intend this article to contribute to debates on the nature of scholarship in law and literature. Scholars such as Wai Chee Dimock have argued for a focus on the historical and historically shifting relations between law and literature - a view we endorse. Where we differ from Dimock is in our diversion of attention away from abstract ideas of law laid out by treatise writers and philosophers in favor of law experienced and manipulated by individuals. So, too, we are interested less in representations of concepts such as justice in legal and literary texts than we are in the ways in which literature (broadly conceived) can create provisional and fragile opportunities for concrete instantiations of justice and even generate legal change (for good or ill). We would argue that to the extent legal change motivates rather than simply mirrors cultural change, it needs literature to be effective. This project, then, responds to Gregg Crane's call for attention to the complex and slippery historical interactions of law and literature that shape and are shaped by an ever changing cultural idiom of justice. The extended story of Amelia Norman, in short, not only constitutes a case study in the inescapable interaction between the overlapping and interdependent discourses of law and literature, but also reveals the literary and legal consequences of that interaction.


The endemic Hawaiian raspberries Rubus hawaiensis and R. macraei (both subgenus Idaeobatus) had been thought to be closely related species until recent molecular studies demonstrated otherwise. These studies suggest that they are the products of separate colonizations to the Hawaiian Islands. Affinities of R. hawaiensis to R. spectabilis of western North America were clearly confirmed. However, no clear relation to R. macraei has been published. This study was initiated to examine species of subg. Idaeobatus from the surrounding Pacific region as well as species from other subgenera to better evaluate biogeographic and phylogenetic affinities of R. macraei by means of chromosome analysis and molecular data using the chloroplast gene ndhF. Results show that R. macraei clusters in a clade with species of blackberries, subg. Rubus, and of these it is most closely linked to R. ursinus. Chromosomally, R. macraei is 2n = 6x = 42, a number that would be a new report for subg. Idaeobatus. However, polyploidy is common in subg. Rubus. Analyses indicate that R. macraei and R. hawaiensis are derived from separate colonizations from North America and that similarities between them are due to convergent evolution in the Hawaiian environment.


Abstract
 A molecular and morphological study using two chloroplast molecular markers (rps4 and trnL-F) was carried out with specimens belonging to Hymenoloma mulahaceni, a species described at the end of the 19th century from the Sierra Nevada Mountains in southern Spain as a member of Oreoweisia. The comparison with Asian, European, and North American material of Dicranoweisia intermedia proved the conspecifity of both taxa, which was corroborated by molecular data. Therefore, the distribution area of H. mulahaceni is extended to U.S.A., Canada, Greenland, and several Asian countries (Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan). We also tested the monophyly of Hymenoloma sensu Ochyra et al. (2003), by including in the analysis the Holarctic taxa assigned to the genus together with Chilean material identified as H. antarcticum (putatively synonymous with the type of Hymenoloma) and H. crispulum. Phylogenetic analysis of basal haplolepidous taxa taking into account different genera, mainly of the Dicranales but also of Bryoxiphiales and Scouleriales, confirmed the monophyly of Hymenoloma and suggested a close relationship with the Scouleriaceae sensu Hedderson et al. (2004), while Dicranoweisia was resolved within Rhabdoweisiaceae. Molecular data helped us to show that Hymenoloma brevipes, morphologically closely related to H. crispulum, is a distinct taxon from H. antarcticum. This challenges the earlier records of H. crispulum from the Southern Hemisphere but a comprehensive revision is necessary to confirm its status in the region. A key to the genera Dicranoweisia and Hymenoloma and the European species of Hymenoloma is included.


Precision Viticulture (PV) is a concept that is beginning to have an impact on the wine-growing sector. Its practical implementation is dependant on various technological developments: crop sensors and yield monitors, local and remote sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), VRA (Variable-Rate Application) equipment and machinery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and systems for data analysis and interpretation. This paper reviews a number of research lines related to PV. These areas of research have focused on four very specific fields: 1) quantification and evaluation of within-field variability, 2) delineation of zones of differential treatment at parcel level, based on the analysis and interpretation of this variability, 3) development of Variable-Rate Technologies (VRT) and, finally, 4) evaluation of the opportunities for site-specific vineyard management. Research in these fields should allow winegrowers and enologists to know and understand why yield variability exists within the same parcel, what the causes of this variability are, how the yield and its quality are interrelated and, if spatial variability exists, whether site-specific vineyard management is justifiable on a technical and economic basis.


Hydrological processes, including runoff generation, depend on the distribution of water in a catchment, which varies in space and time. This paper presents experimental results from a headwater research catchment in New Zealand, where we made distributed measurements of streamflow, soil moisture and groundwater levels, sampling across a range of aspects, hillslope positions, distances from stream and depths. Our aim was to assess the controls, types and implications of spatial and temporal variability in soil moisture and groundwater tables. We found that temporal variability in soil moisture and water table is strongly controlled by the seasonal cycle in potential evapotranspiration, for both the mean and extremes of their distributions. Groundwater is a larger water storage component than soil moisture, and this general difference increases even more with increasing catchment wetness. The spatial standard deviation of both soil moisture and groundwater is larger in winter than in summer. It peaks during rainfall events due to partial saturation of the catchment, and also rises in spring as different locations dry out at different rates. The most important controls on spatial variability in storage are aspect and distance from the stream. South-facing and near-stream locations have higher water tables and showed soil moisture responses for more events. Typical hydrological models do not explicitly account for aspect, but our results suggest that it is an important factor in hillslope runoff generation. Co-measurement of soil moisture and water table level allowed us to identify relationships between the two. Locations where water tables peaked closer to the surface had consistently wetter soils and higher water tables. These wetter sites were the same across seasons. However, patterns of strong soil moisture responses to summer storms did not correspond to the wetter sites. Total catchment spatial variability is composed of multiple variability sources, and the dominant type is sensitive to those stores that are close to a threshold such as field capacity or saturation. Therefore, we classified spatial variability as "summer mode" or "winter mode". In "summer mode", variability is controlled by shallow processes, e.g. interaction of water with soils and vegetation. In "winter mode", variability is controlled by deeper processes, e.g. groundwater movement and bypass flow. Double streamflow peaks observed during some events show the direct impact of groundwater variability on runoff generation. Our results suggest that emergent catchment behaviour depends on the combination of these multiple, time varying components of storage variability.


These Proceedings showcase recent advancements in all facets of the geo-industry. Geo-Frontiers was conceived to present the frontier of civil, geotechnical, and geoenvironmental engineering. For the first time, three key events were scheduled under one tent to expose each attendee to the ASCE Geo-Institute Congress 2005, the GMA Geosynthetics 2005 Conference and the 18th Annual GRI Conference. Geo-Frontiers brought together practitioners, designers, manufacturers, contractors, researchers, and students from these and related events representing the interconnected geo-industry. The technical program for Geo-Frontiers was developed based on solicitation of proposals for technical session topics. From these proposals, sixty sessions were chosen and organized into ten tracks: (1) Advances in Pavement Engineering, (2) Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, (3) Erosion Control, (4) Foundation Engineering, (5) GRI Annual Conference, (6) Professional Issues, (7) Site Characterization and Modeling, (8) Slopes, Soil Reinforcement, and Retaining Structures, (9) Soil Improvement and Grouting, and (10) Waste Containment and Remediation. The technical sessions included panel discussions, oral presentations, and poster presentations. Nearly 400 papers were submitted to the various sessions and tracks, and these papers were organized into fourteen individual volumes based loosely on the track topics. The fourteen volumes contained on this CD are: .Advances in Deep Foundations; .Advances in Pavement Engineering; Calibration of Constitutive Models; Contemporary Issues in Foundation Engineering; Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics; .Erosion of Soils and Scour of Foundations; GRI - 18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress; Innovations in Grouting and Soil Improvement; International Perspectives on Soil Reinforcement Applications; Legal and Liability Issues in Geotechnical Engineering; Site Characterization and Modeling; Slopes and Retaining Structures under Seismic and Static Conditions; Soil Dynamics Symposium in Honor of Richard D. Woods; and Waste Containment and Remediation.


The temporal trajectories of the spectral energy in auditory critical bands over 250 ms segments are approximated by an all-pole model, the time-domain dual of conventional linear prediction. This quarter-second auditory spectro-temporal pattern is further smoothed by iterative alternation of spectral and temporal all-pole modeling. Just as Perceptual Linear Prediction (PLP) uses an autoregressive model in the frequency domain to estimate peaks in an auditory-like short-term spectral slice, PLP uses all-pole modeling in both time and frequency domains to estimate peaks of a two-dimensional spectrotemporal pattern, motivated by considerations of the auditory system.


In recent years there has been a shift from the expectation that students will be supporting their learning with desktop and laptop computers to the increasing use of tablet computers (Payne, Wharrad, & Watts, 2012). This move has been reflected by initiatives from universities in the US and UK that have provided medical students with tablets to support their studies (Mathis, 2011; The University of Manchester, 2013). Noting this trend and considering how tablets might better support medical students, lecturers within the medical school at Lancaster University sought to find out whether their students – who had been provided with a laptop when they began their studies – perceived that they would be better served in their medical degrees by issuing them with either a laptop or a tablet. In March-April 2013, 137 students completed an online questionnaire which included open questions in which they were also encouraged to qualify their reasons. The quantitative results showed clearly that the students wanted to retain the provision of laptops rather than receiving tablets and this view was reinforced by responses to the open questions. For example, the responses showed that the medical students had a clear preference for writing up reports on a laptop rather than on a tablet. Even so, responses to the questions suggested some limitations in how far the students understood and used the capabilities of tablet computers even amongst those who already owned a tablet and/or a smart phone. Results were surprising in light of the noted trend towards tablet provision and uptake amongst medical students and therefore warrant further consideration. Emerging findings suggest that many of the medical students do not perceive tablets as suitable devices for writing, which brings forward issues relating to the concept of affordances (Parchoma, in press) and possibly medical students' levels of digital literacy. These and other ideas will be much further developed by the point of the conference. The paper is currently work in progress. A literature review is underway; quantitative results have been analysed and coding has just begun for the analysis of the qualitative results. The results of the study will be presented at the conference for feedback.


In tune with the falling film evaporation heat transfer test results described in Part 1, flow visualization of the boiling process and intertube flow mode transitions from droplet to column and sheet flows have been observed, and the onset of dryout results were obtained. A new empirical approach to describe falling film evaporation with a dominance of nucleate boiling that takes into account the onset of dryout has been proposed and is applicable to plain and enhanced tubes. The method predicts most of the current local measurements for R-134a to within ±20% for conditions without dryout (the desired design condition) and has also been extended to cover conditions with partial dryout. Furthermore, a criterion for predicting the onset of dryout as a function of heat flux has also been proposed for the four types of tubes.


China is considering a national emissions trading scheme, to follow several pilot schemes, as part of the suite of policies to reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. A carbon tax or tax-like scheme could be an alternative. However there are special challenges in a fast-growing economy where the energy sector is heavily regulated. This paper analyses policy design options based on principles, China's circumstances, and Australian and European experiences. The main findings are the following. (1) Features such as variable permit supple, price floor/ceiling or a fixed permit price are desirable to provide a stable price signal, especially in China's case. A carbon tax can be a viable alternative or complement to emissions trading. (2) Any free permits or other assistance to industry should be carefully designed to preserve incentives to cut emissions, limited so that governments can use carbon revenue to support households or pay for other policy measures, and regularly reviewed to avoid lock-in of unnecessary payments. (3) Broad coverage of emissions pricing is necessary for effectiveness, including in electricity supply and demand. Carbon pricing can be partly effective in the electricity sector ahead of comprehensive energy sector reform, ultimately however market-based energy pricing is needed. (4) Carbon pricing should be seen in the broader context of economic policy reform. It offers opportunities to support broader goals of fiscal, energy and environmental policy.


OBJECTIVES
To determine first year dental students' perceptions of intimidation by instructors and bullying by fellow students.

METHODS
Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of first year dental students from seven dental schools representing five countries; one each from Romania, South Africa, Australia and the U.S.A., and three from Malaysia. Self-report questionnaires were administered to participants at least six months after they had commenced their dental degree course during 2005-6.

RESULTS
Over a third (34.6%) reported that they had been intimidated or badly treated by their tutors/instructors and 17% reported that they had been bullied or badly treated by their fellow students in the recent past. There were statistically significant differences in reports of intimidation by instructors between the different dental schools. Intimidation by instructors was associated with a history of medication use for stress, anxiety and depression, and perceived stress in the past month. There were no statistically significant variations in reports of bullying by fellow students between different dental schools. Bullying by fellow students was associated with dieting to lose weight, self-reported general health and perceived stress.

CONCLUSIONS
This multi-national study highlights that intimidation and bullying is prevalent within dental teaching and training environments. Future research is needed to explore their impact on students' wellbeing and academic progress as well as on patient care.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Dentists are the best recruiters for the profession. If the dental school experience is a negative one it can have significant impact on the future of the profession


This paper is concerned with an influence of a modulator starting phase on psychometric functions of amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) detection, for low modulation rates, i.e. fmod = 2 and 5 Hz. For a sinusoidal carrier at a frequency of 0.25, 1 and 6 kHz it is shown that there is no effect of a sinusoidal modulator starting phase. Data shown in this paper are consistent with predictions of models based on excitation pattern changes and with a concept according to which AM/FM detection at low modulation rates depends mainly on maximum and minimum values of signal amplitude/frequency. Time intervals between beginning of a signal and the moment when the signal reaches maximum/minimum value of amplitude/frequency and a pattern of physical parameter changes as a function of time seem to be less crucial when the changes are continuos in time.


Electrostatic stresses that can influence the observed signal with stress-optical constants form a contribution to the quadratic electro-optic (Kerr) effect measured at low frequencies. A new formula is proposed to correct for the influence of these stresses in order to obtain the true Kerr constant.


In "Confessions of a Deluded Westerner," Michael Brent insists no contributions to Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will (Repetti) even address free will because none deploy the criteria for free will that Western (incompatibilist) philosophers identify: the ability to do otherwise under identical conditions, and the ability to have one's choices be up to oneself. Brent claims the criteria and abilities in that anthology are criteria for intentional action, but not all intentional actions are free. He also insists that Buddhism, ironically, cannot even accept intentional action, because, on his analysis, intentionality requires an agent, which Buddhism rejects. I have four responses: (i) Brent ignores the other half of the debate, compatibilism, in both Western and Buddhist philosophy, represented in the anthology by several contributors; (ii) the autonomy of Buddhist meditation virtuosos is titanic compared to Brent's autonomy criteria, which latter are relatively mundane and facile, rather than 1 Philosophy Department, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York. Email: email@example.com. 842 Repetti, It Wasn't Us something Buddhists fail to rise up to; (iii) such titanic Buddhist autonomy challenges, and possibly defeats, all major Western arguments against free will; and (iv) several contributors address the possibility of agentless agency. These responses could have been taken right out of the anthology, not only from my contributions.


Retarding field analyzers (RFAs) are essentially the only practical tool with which to measure the distribution of ion energies in the boundary plasma of magnetic fusion devices. The technique has long been attempted in such facilities with varying degrees of success, but, by virtue of the delicate nature of these material probes and the hostile environment in which they are inserted, its use has been limited to smaller plasma machines with easier access and more tolerable plasma conditions. This article describes in detail a new RFA probe head recently constructed and tested on the large JET tokamak facility and now being used for plasma physics studies. Emphasis is placed on the details of design and mechanical construction as they relate to the particularly harsh conditions imposed both by the JET boundary plasma and the requirement that the probe be used to sample this plasma by insertion via a multiple plunge, fast reciprocating drive system. Some preliminary physics results are also included demonstrating both successful operation of the new device and discussing its limitations.


Introduction Paramedics are frequently exposed to acute and/or chronic environmental, operational and patient-related factors that increase their risk of physical and psychological injury. However, there has been wide variation in reported paramedic injury rates. This systematic review aims to synthesise the evidence to examine the incidence and nature of occupational injury among paramedics. Methods This systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PROSPERO 2020: CRD42020164556). A systematic search of four electronic databases was conducted for the years 2004–2019. Peer-reviewed studies examining the incidence and proportions of paramedic occupational injury within civilian emergency medical services (EMS) were included. Injury types, mechanisms, contributing factors and incidence of injury were synthesised narratively. Results Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. The incidence of injury ranged from 29.7 to 345.6 injuries per 1000 workers per year. Sprains and strains were the most reported injury types, and the trunk and upper limbs were the main sites. Body motion was the most frequently reported mechanism of injury, accounting for 35%–55% of all injuries. Female paramedics had a proportionally higher rate of injury compared with male paramedics. Paramedics aged 25–34 years accounted for the majority of fatal (mean 34.0%) and non-fatal (mean 51.7%) injuries. Conclusion This review highlights the increased risk of occupational injury among paramedics and provides further insight into their overall injury profile.


The spectral behavior of antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides with hollow core has been investigated. In particular, rectangular-core and arch-shaped-core waveguides have been studied, by means of the finite-element method, providing the dispersion and confinement loss curves in the wavelength range between 600 and 1000 nm. A detailed analysis of the curves has shown that the high losses that were observed at the anticrossing points are associated with the transition from guided to surface modes, which is computed here for the first time, to the authors' knowledge, in this kind of waveguides. Results are provided for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations.


Why some powers manage to coordinate their security efforts while others confront each other as rivals is still one of the most relevant and debated questions in the field of IR theory. The dissertation wants to give a contribution to this important debate. In particular, the main goal of the research is to analyse the dynamics of great power interactions after the end of hegemonic conflicts, that is to understand why, following the defeat of the common enemies, some of the winning allies continue to cooperate, while others begin to engage in political and military competition. In order to understand this difference, the study compares the explanatory value of two rival theoretical perspectives: neorealism, in its main version of the balance of power framework, and a liberal approach focused on domestic politics. The thesis is divided in two sections. In the first, I do summarize the main assumptions and predictions of the theories, from which I derive two different sets of hypotheses on the evolution of post-war great power relations. In the second part, I test the hypotheses by focusing on two cases of post-war alignment dynamics: 1) the relations among Austria, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain and France after the Napoleonic wars; 2) the relations among the US, the UK, France and Italy after the end of WWI. The historical cases disconfirm the logic of the balance of power and confirm the liberal hypotheses, seeing that the results of the analysis show changes in the domestic structures of the great powers had a much larger impact on the emergence of new alliances and rivalries than did the international distribution of power. In the conclusion of the dissertation, I provide the reader with a discussion of the main theoretical implications of the empirical findings.