The instabilities that can arise in a stratified, rapidly rotating, magnetohydrodynamic system such as the Earth's core are often thought to play a key role in dynamo theory — that is, in the study of how the magnetic field in the system is maintained in the face of ohmic dissipation. An account of such instabilities is to be found in the M.A.C.- wave theory of Braginsky (1967), who, however, laid his greatest emphasis on the dissipationless modes, an idealization which leads to difficulties described below, ohmic and thermal diffusion is therefore restored, and three key dimensionless parameters are isolated: q, the ratio of thermal to ohmic diffusivities; A, a measure of the relative importance of Coriolis and magnetic forces; and R, a Rayleigh number, which is here the ratio of buoyancy to Coriolis forces. This study concentrates on a particular M.A.C.-wave model originally proposed by Braginsky. It consists of a horizontal layer containing a uniform horizontal magnetic field, B0, and rotated about the vertial, an adverse temperature gradient being maintained on the horizontal boundaries to provide the unstable density stratification. In the rotationally dominant case of large A, the principle of the exchange of stabilities holds, and the motions that arise in the marginal state are steady. The planform of the convection is in rolls orthogonal to B0. If q and A are sufficiently small the principle of the exchange of stabilities remains valid, but the planform consists of one or other of two families of rolls oblique to B0, or a combination of each. If q is large but A is small, the modes are again oblique, but overstability occurs, a type of oscillation which also arises when q is large and A takes intermediate values, although the motion is then in rolls transverse to B0. A theory is developed for the weakly nonlinear convection that arises when R exceeds only slightly the critical value Rc{q, A) at which marginal convection occurs. A critical curve q = ^D(A) is located which roughly divides the (qA) plane into regions of small q and of large q, although when q is large it separates the largeAq from the small. On the one side of the curve, where q or Xq are sufficiently small, it is concluded that, starting from an arbitrary initial perturbation, the convection that arises when R exceeds Rc will ultimately become a completely regular tesselated pattern filling the horizontal plane. On the other side of the curve the situation is considerably more complicated but it is argued that, for sufficiently large q and Aq, subcritical instabilities can occur and that supercritical bursting is likely; that is, the instability that arises from the general initial perturbation will focus into a small spot in a finite time. The relevance of the theory to sunspot formation is discussed. In an appendix, the form of the weakly nonlinear convection that arises when q differs only slightly from qB, and R only slightly from Rc, is considered in situations in which the exchange of stabilities holds.


Large-scale hydrological models and land surface models are so far the only tools for assessing current and fu- ture water resources. Those models estimate discharge with large uncertainties, due to the complex interaction between climate and hydrology, the limited availability and quality of data, as well as model uncertainties. A new purely data- driven scale-extrapolation method to estimate discharge for a large region solely from selected small sub-basins, which are typically 1-2 orders of magnitude smaller than the large region, is proposed. Those small sub-basins contain suffi- cient information, not only on climate and land surface, but also on hydrological characteristics for the large basin. In the Baltic Sea drainage basin, best discharge estimation for the gauged area was achieved with sub-basins that cover 5 % of the gauged area. There exist multiple sets of sub-basins whose climate and hydrology resemble those of the gauged area equally well. Those multiple sets estimate annual dis- charge for the gauged area consistently well with 6 % av- erage error. The scale-extrapolation method is completely data-driven; therefore it does not force any modelling error into the prediction. The multiple predictions are expected to bracket the inherent variations and uncertainties of the cli- mate and hydrology of the basin.


Geology and archaeology, carefully entwined, form the basis for deciding on a date of construction for the Great Sphinx at Giza. Over a decade after Robert Schoch's controversial Pre–Dynastic proposal, Colin Reader takes up the debate again in the new millennium, and suggests a less extreme re–dating to the Early–Dynastic era. In tracing the data that forms the backbone for the 'older Sphinx' theories, I have found that a model of groundwater seepage leading to increased salt weathering rates explains the currently visible erosion morphology without requiring a change in the accepted chronology. On the archaeological side, several surrounding Giza monuments place an important limit on the possibility for an older Sphinx.


While the demand for training that is conducted in cross-cultural settings has increased substantially (Sun & Ross, 2009), most training concepts have been developed with little consideration of national context. Those studies that have considered the impact of national context (Branine, 2005; Sofo, 2007; Sun & Ross, 2009; Yang, Wang, & Drewry, 2009) have not done so in a systematic or comprehensive manner. Accordingly, this research involved an exploratory study focusing on the influence of key national context factors, that is, sociocultural influences (Ralston, 2008) and business ideology (Ralston et al., 2006), on training in cross-cultural settings. The study explored the way in which these factors impact on Chinese trainees' perceptions of their training experience and the implications of those perceptions for the training process. In view of the exploratory nature of the study, an interpretivist philosophical perspective was adopted. A general framework of the training process was developed, based on an integration of three key strands of the literature relating to training, adult learning and national context, and utilised to provide focus and to anchor the range of data collected. A case study strategy was adopted based on two training programs, one involving Chinese managers trained in China and the other involving Chinese managers trained in Australia, both using semi-structured interviews. Each case study was divided into two stages with stage 2 occurring three months after stage 1 to capture information relating to retention and reproduction. Findings indicated that national context in China had a major impact on trainee expectations which, in the Australian program, emphasised the need to gain new insights to deal with current challenges in China. The Chinese program, however, emphasised the acquisition of detailed industry knowledge to deal with those challenges. Trainee work experience was found to have both positive influences relating to the expertise that adult learners brought to the training, and potentially negative influences relating to a tendency to be prematurely selective about which content should be regarded as useful and important. Findings highlighted problems associated with communication resulting from language differences, and also indicated that national context had a major influence in the pre-training, during-training and post-training stages of the training process. In terms of implications, findings indicated that national context factors must be explicitly addressed by training practitioners, first, through recognising the objectives and expectations associated with the training, and second, through communicating and disseminating relevant information about differences in national context and the likely impact, amongst all involved in the training process. Another key implication relates to the fact that the expertise, maturity and work experience of adult learners should be addressed and should inform the way training is conducted. Training approaches should therefore be developed that recognise the influences of both national context and adult learning. In terms of new contributions to knowledge, the study addresses the paucity of literature directly associated with the conduct of training in cross-cultural settings by integrating literature related to training, cultural studies and adult learning. This provides the basis for a more coherent study of training in cross-cultural settings. The study also addresses important gaps in previous literature, highlighting the importance of national context when training is conducted in cross-cultural settings and confirming the influence of factors that have already been given significant levels of attention in the cultural studies literature. Finally, the study highlights the fundamental importance of taking adult learning principles into account as part of the training process. As a result of globalisation, and greater efforts by underdeveloped and developing economies to benefit from the experiences of developed economies, it is likely that the popularity and importance of training that is conducted in cross-cultural settings will increase substantially in the near future. This study indicates that, given distinct differences between training that is conducted in cross-cultural settings and training that is conducted in single-culture settings, approaches that are adopted to the design and conduct of training need to be adjusted accordingly. The study seeks to highlight key differences to provide guidelines to practitioners and a basis for further academic research.


The financial impact of the global crisis on Latin America has in some respects been less severe than in previous crises. This reflects in part the development of domestic bond markets and improved net balance sheet positions of the economies, which have allowed gross capital inflow reversals to be partially offset by reductions in gross capital outflows. In addition, policy responses have helped to ease both external and domestic financial conditions. Nevertheless, considerable risks remain due to the ongoing economic downturn.


Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed the world, including elective health care services. To prevent the spread of infection, most countries have gone into lockdown and adjustments have been made to provide urgent medical care, including Orthopaedic services. In accordance with the guidelines from worst affected countries and neighboring India, Patan Hospital followed instructions from Ministry of Health and Population to provide only urgent and semi-urgent Orthopaedic services. This study aims to audit the patient profile during lockdown so as to have a clearer picture, which will enable us to be prepared for similar epidemic in the future.
Method: All patients admitted to the Orthopaedic ward of Patan hospital from 24 March to 27 April 2020, during the lockdown, were included. Clinical profile, including cause of admission, management, hospital stay were descriptively analyzed. Ethical approval was obtained.
Result: Out of 44 admissions, there were male 27 and female 17. Trauma cases were 38, and 18 were in age group 20-26 years. Admission due to infections were four. Conservative management were done in seven while 33 were treated surgically, out of which 30 accounted for trauma. Average 6.14 days hospital stay, range 1-22 days.
Conclusion: Trauma comprised of major bulk of patients seeking urgent Orthopaedic care. Hospital needs to be prepared with necessary measures to ensure safety of health care workers and yet provide urgent Orthopaedic services.
Keyword: COVID-19, lockdown, orthopaedics


Methods for tracking of RNA molecules inside living cells are critical to probe their dynamics and biological functions, but also to monitor delivery of therapeutic RNA. We here describe a method for fluorescence labeling of RNAs of any length, via the enzymatic incorporation of the minimally perturbing and intrinsically fluorescent tricyclic cytosine analogue tCO. Using this approach, we demonstrate incorporation of tCO in up to 100% of all natural cytosine positions of a 1.2 kb mRNA encoding for the histone H2B fused to GFP (H2B:GFP). The resulting transcript is fully compatible with both in vitro transcription and subsequent in cell translation. Spectroscopic characterization of the in vitro transcribed mRNA, shows that the incorporation rate of tCO is on par with cytosine, facilitating efficient labeling and controlled tuning of labeling ratios for different applications. Using live cell confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, we show that the tCO-labeled mRNA is efficiently and correctly translated into H2B:GFP upon electroporation as well as lipid-mediated transfection of human Huh-7 cells; correct translation was further confirmed in cell-free systems. Importantly, the spectral properties of the tCO-modified transcripts and their translation product, in this case H2B:GFP, allow for their straightforward and simultaneous visualization in live cells.


Grain-protein concentration in hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is important to bread-making quality and human nutrition, and for its economic impact in marketing. The inheritance of high protein concentration in Minnpro, a cultivar released in 1989, was studied because progeny from its previous crosses in the breeding program appeared to have segregated in a qualitative fashion. Minnpro was crossed to MN7570, a lower-protein line, and 88 and 84 F₄- derived F₇ lines were grown in a simple lattice design at two locations in Minnesota in 1984. Traits measured were grain yield, grain-protein concentration, and the physiological traits (biological yield, harvest index, plant N concentration, N concentration index, total plant N, and N harvest index) associated with N uptake and redistribution. The latter traits were measured in order to determine their associations and the possible physiological relationship with the increased grain protein. For grain-protein concentration, the data fit a bimodal distribution at each location and across locations with a monogenic ratio (9 high:7 low) expected for randomly selected F₄-derived lines. As further evidence of probable qualitative inheritance of grain protein concentration, the genotype × location interaction was nonsignificant, and the correlation of the lines between locations for grain protein concentration was positive and high (r = 0.8, P < 0.01). Grain-protein concentration was positively associated with N concentration in the aerial vegetation on a per unit area basis but not with total aerial biomass. Thus, grain-protein concentration was associated with more efficient N redistribution per unit of aerial biomass, but not with the redistribution of a greater quantity of N per unit area. Contributions from the USDA-ARS and Minnesota Agric. Exp. Stn. Contribution no. 19 264.


The dynamics of the one-dimensional array of magnetic particles (dots) with the easy-plane anisotropy is investigated. The particles interact with each other via the magnetic dipole interaction and the whole system is governed by the set of Landau–Lifshitz equations. The spatially localized and time-periodic solutions known as discrete breathers (or intrinsic localized modes) are identified. These solutions have no analogue in the continuum limit and consist of the core where the magnetization vectors precess around the hard axis and the tails where the magnetization vectors oscillate around the equilibrium position.


Communication through visual symbols is a key aspect of human culture. However, to what extent can people distinguish between human-origin and artificial symbols, and the neuronal mechanisms underlying this process are not clear. Using fMRI we contrasted brain activity during presentation of human-created abstract shapes and random-algorithm created shapes, both sharing similar low level features. We found that participants correctly identified most shapes as human or random. The lateral occipital complex (LOC) was the main brain region showing preference to human-made shapes, independently of task. Furthermore, LOC activity was parametrically correlated to beauty and familiarity scores of the shapes (rated following the scan). Finally, a model classifier based only on LOC activity showed human level accuracy at discriminating between human-made and randomly-made shapes. Our results highlight the sensitivity of the human brain to social and cultural cues, and point to high-order object areas as central nodes underlying this capacity.


This project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing renewable microalgae biomass using as a main nutrient source a secondary wastewater stream. It is planned to purify the wastewater by the growth of algal biomass while producing a feedstock that can be used for the bioenergy sector. If important biomass density is achieved, this strategy will be adopted in a novel process named SunCHem (proposed at the EPFL-PSI SWT group) using hydrothermal treatment of microalgae to produce methane. Wastewater treatment coupled with algal biomass production is particularly suitable for an implementation in Colombia as it requires low capital investment and it allows the generation of added-value through the valorization of the biomass. In addition, the climatic conditions in Colombia (high annual solar irradiance) are favorable to the installation of this highly ecological sound process. This concept may be interesting to municipal utilities, industrial companies and agricultural firms, since it helps to solve many of their pollution issues. In a preliminary study it was demonstrated the efficient nutrient removal by Dunaliella salina microalgae using a primary treated wastewater effluent1. This microalgae strain reduced the nitrate and phosphate load in the wastewater at 84% and 90% respectively and its specific growth rate of 0.46 d-1 was comparable with that achieved using a standard nutrient media (0.47 d-1). We are currently comparing the ability of three microalgae (Chlorella, Scenedesmus and Ankistrodesmus) strains to remove nitrogen and phosphorus in a conventional media. These three microalgae were selected due to an appropriate carbon balance for their future hydrothermal conversion into methane.


Banks act as maturity transformers, who take liquid deposit and invest in illiquid assets. In this classical framework, we introduce uncertainty in the asset returns. We show that banks can insure individuals against the risk of illiquidity at the cost of increasing the riskIness of their portfolios. In an open financial market, they can better diversify their portfolio and decrease its risk. In that way, they can also increase the level of insurance against the risk of illiquidity. This improves individual welfare, but the banks' short-term deposit-reserve ratio and the fragility of the financial system result higher in an open economy than in an autarchic regime. For this reason, the mechanism of deposit insurance against bank runs becomes more difficult to implement by each country's central bank.


Thousands of New Zealanders were treated in the nation's mental hospitals in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Existing research has examined this history of institutionalisation from the perspectives of policy, psychiatric medicine and nursing culture, but to date little has been written about the built fabric of this type of institutional care. This dissertation asks what does the architectural approach taken to Seacliff Asylum (1878-84), Kingseat Hospital (1927-40) and Cherry Farm Hospital (1943-71) indicate about official attitudes to mental illness in New Zealand. Architecture was thought to be capable of performing a curative role in the treatment of mental illness; the administrators of New Zealand's mental hospitals stated this belief publically in various press releases and reports to the government between 1878 and 1957. This dissertation examines Seacliff, Kingseat and Cherry Farm against current thought regarding the treatment of mental illness and against best architectural practice in mental hospital design.   While these three institutions were the jewels in the crown of New Zealand's mental hospital network, only Kingseat could be considered an exemplary hospital of its time. The compromises that occurred in the construction of Seacliff, Kingseat and Cherry Farm hospitals indicate that meeting the needs of the mentally ill was only one of a number of agendas that were addressed by the officials involved in the design of these institutions. Many of these agendas were peripheral to the delivery of mental health care, such as the political desire for colonial propaganda and professional concerns of marginalisation, and conflicted with the attainment of ideal environments for the treatment of mental illness. The needs of the mentally ill were a low priority for successive New Zealand governments who exhibited a reluctance to spend taxpayer funds on patients who were not considered curable. The architects and medical advisors involved in the design of these facilities did attempt to meet the needs of these patients; however, they were limited by a design and procurement process that elevated political and operational concerns over the curative potential of these hospitals.   This dissertation also examines the role of individuals in the design of these institutions. Architect Robert Lawson was reproached for deficiencies in the curative potential of Seacliff Asylum. Similarly, medical administrator Theodore Gray has received criticism for limiting the development of New Zealand's wider network of mental hospital care. This dissertation establishes that Lawson and Gray deserve greater recognition for their relative contributions to the architecture created, within New Zealand, for the treatment of mental illness.


Abstract : This thesis presents a robust method for estimating the relaxations of a metallic object from its electromagnetic induction (EMI) response. The EMI response of a metallic object can be accurately modeled by a sum of real decaying exponentials. However, it is difficult to obtain the model parameters from measurements when the number of exponentials in the sum is unknown or the terms are strongly correlated. Traditionally, the relaxation constants are estimated by nonlinear iterative search that often leads to unsatisfactory results. An effective EMI modeling technique is developed by first linearizing the problem through enumeration and then solving the linearized model using a sparsity-regularized minimization. This approach overcomes several long-standing challenges in EMI signal modeling, including finding the unknown model order as well as handling the ill-posed nature of the problem. The resulting algorithm does not require a good initial guess to converge to a satisfactory solution. This new modeling technique is extended to incorporate multiple measurements in a single parameter estimation step. More accurate estimates are obtained by exploiting an invariance property of the EMI response, which states that the relaxation frequencies do not change for different locations and orientations of a metallic object. Using tests on synthetic data and laboratory measurement of known targets, the proposed multiple-measurement method is shown to provide accurate and stable estimates of the model parameters. The ability to estimate the relaxation constants of targets enables more robust subsurface target discrimination using the relaxations. A simple relaxation-based subsurface target detection algorithm is developed to demonstrate the potential of the estimated relaxations.


Abstract. The Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST) satellite detected intense and coherent 5–20 m electric field structures in the high-latitude topside auroral ionosphere between the altitudes of 350 km and 650 km. These electric fields appear to belong to electrostatic ion cyclotron (EIC) waves in terms of their frequency and wavelengths. Numerical simulations of the response of an electron plasma to the parallel components of these fields show that the waves are likely to excite a wave-driven parallel ion acoustic (IA) instability, through the creation of a highly non-Maxwellian electron distribution function, which when combined with the (assumed) Maxwellian ion distribution function provides inverse Landau damping. Because the counter-streaming threshold for excitation of EIC waves is well below that for excitation of IA waves (assuming Maxwellian statistics) our results suggest a possible two step mechanism for destabilization of IA waves. Combining this simulation result with the observational fact that these EIC waves share a common phenomenology with the naturally enhanced IA lines (NEIALS) observed by incoherent scatter radars, especially that they both occur near field-aligned currents, leads to the proposition that this two-step mechanism is an alternative path to NEIALS.


The robotic technology, especially the intelligent robotics that can autonomously conduct numerous dangerous and uncertain tasks, has been widely applied to planetary explorations. Similar to terrestrial mining, before landing on planets or building planetary constructions, a drilling and coring activity should be first conducted to investigate the in-situ geological information. Given the technical advantages of unmanned robotics, utilizing an autonomous drill tool to acquire the planetary soil sample may be the most reliable and cost-effective solution. However, due to several unique challenges existed in unmanned drilling and coring activities, such as long-distance time delay, uncertain drilling formations, limited sensor resources, etc., it is indeed necessary to conduct researches to improve system's adaptability to the complicated geological formations. Taking drill tool's power consumption and soil's coring morphology into account, this chapter proposed a drilling and coring characteristics online monitoring method to investigate suitable drilling parameters for different formations. Meanwhile, by apply - ing pattern recognition techniques to classify different types of potential soil or rocks, a drillability classification model is built accurately to identify the current drilling forma - tion. By combining suitable drilling parameters with the recognized drillability levels, a closed-loop drilling strategy is established finally, which can be applied to future inter - planetary exploration.


In determining benchmark doses for risk assessment and regulation of carbamate anticholinesterase pesticides like formetanate, oxamyl, and methomyl, one needs to quantitate low levels of cholinesterase inhibition. For improved accuracy while using fewer subjects, we developed an assay based on the recognized ability of carbamates to protect cholinesterase from irreversible inactivation. This assay measures enzyme that survives diisopropylfluorophosphate exposure in vitro and then reactivates by decarbamylation after small molecules are removed with size-exclusion centrifugation. The 99% silencing of unprotected cholinesterase yields a low background. Comparisons of recovered activity with initial activity (representing carbamate-free enzyme) use each sample as its own control. As a result, carbamate-protection assays can demonstrate a statistically significant 2-3% inhibition of brain cholinesterase in a single experimental group of modest size. When applied to brain samples from formetanate-treated rats, such an assay predicted a benchmark dose of 0.19 mg/kg for 10% inhibition (BMD10), with a lower 95% confidence limit of 0.15 mg/kg (BMDL10). Protection assays should enable precise determinations of benchmark doses for other carbamates, as well as accurate assessment of in vivo inhibition half-lives under low-dose scenarios.


Examination of benthic foraminifera from six vibracores collected from a relict flood tidal delta near the Virginia/North Carolina border documents the assemblages associated with a former inlet and provides geologic evidence of this former inlet that once defined the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina along the Outer Banks. Three distinct foraminiferal assemblages were identified. The oldest assemblage contained abundant and diverse forms, dominated by Elphidium excavatum and several other calcareous species typical of shallow nearshore areas. Sediment immediately below and above this diverse calcareous assemblage was barren or nearly barren of foraminifera. A medium-salinity agglutinated marsh assemblage characterized mainly by Trochammina inflata with fewer Tiphotrocha comprimata overlies the uppermost barren unit. The core top assemblage was dominated by low-salinity marsh species Jadammina macrescens , Miliammina petila and Miliammina fusca .

A comparison of these vertically-stacked assemblages with the modern geographic distribution of assemblages in the Outer Banks estuarine system and on the nearby continental shelf reveals a succession of depositional environments proceeding from estuarine and flood tidal delta to medium salinity marsh to lower salinity marsh. These changes in depositional environments reflect a rapid and dramatic increase in salinity caused by the opening of an inlet followed by a gradual decrease in salinity due to inlet shoaling and eventual marsh colonization of the flood tidal delta. These changes cannot be determined through sedimentological studies alone; micropaleonto-logical analysis is required.

We conclude this distinctive trend of changing depositional environments constitutes paleontological evidence of the origin and evolution of Old Currituck Inlet that breached the barrier spit prior to 1585AD, actively built a flood tidal delta for more than 145 years, and then closed in 1731AD allowing the flood tidal delta to become colonized by marsh species.


Hegel's use of the master-servant relationship in the Phenomenology of Spirit sets the stage for the problem of recognition. Since Alexandre Kojève presented his lectures on Hegel, a long philosophical tradition has been isolating the fourth chapter of Phenomenology of Spirit as a freestanding essay on anthropology or social philosophy. However, I contend the account of recognition provided in this chapter does not ground Hegel's theory of ethical life. In this paper, I shall defend an allegorical reading of the master-servant dialectic that privileges Hegel's response to Kant. In doing so, I will take issue with McDowell's and Pippin's epistemological readings of this chapter. Both authors have argued that Hegel's strategy entails a critique of Kant's theory of apperception. While McDowell and Pippin have different views about the function of desire and the process constituting self-consciousness, I will object that both McDowell and Pippin fail to acknowledge the relevance of motivation and affectivity for self-consciousness.


We used histochemical techniques [assays for adenine triphosphatase (ATPase) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDHase) activity] to identify muscle fiber types in the larynx of Xenopus laewis. Male muscle is made up of one fiber type, medium-sized fibers (-9 e(m2) that stain lightly for acid-stable ATPase and intensely for SDHase activity. In contrast, the female has 3 fiber types: small fibers (-6 pm*) that stain intensely for ATPase and SDHase, medium-sized fibers (- 13 pm*) with moderate staining for ATPase and dark staining for SDHase, and large fibers (-15 pm*) with little SDHase or ATPase activity. Long-term castration (6 months) has no effect on histochemical staining of adult male fibers. Long-term testosterone treatment (5 months) increases the proportion of medium-sized, moderately staining fibers in adult females, and reduces the proportion of both the small, darkly staining fibers and the large, lightly staining fibers. At metamorphosis, both males and females have 3 fiber types whose ATPase activity is similar to that of the adult female. However, no SDHase activity is observed. Treatment of juveniles for 3 weeks with testosterone results in nearly complete masculinization of muscle fibers, as judged by increased crosssectional area, homogeneous ATPase staining, and a marked increase in SDHase activity. Thus, juvenile muscle is considerably more responsive to testosterone than is adult female muscle. We propose that the uniform metabolic properties of male laryngeal muscle contribute to the production of the rapid (66 Hz) mate call vocalizations characteristic of this species. Further, our results suggest that androgens direct the masculinization of laryngeal muscle fibers during postmetamorphic development.


Genomic sequences in higher eucaryotic organisms contain a substantial amount of (almost) repeated sequences. Tandem Repeats (TRs) constitute a large class of repetitive sequences that are originated via phenomena such as replication slippage, are characterized by close spatial contiguity, and play an important role in several molecular regulatory mechanisms. Certain types of tandem repeats are highly polymorphic and constitute a fingerprint feature of individuals. Abnormal TRs are known to be linked to several diseases. Researchers in bio-informatics in the last 20 years have proposed many formal definitions for the rather loose notion of a Tandem Repeat and have proposed exact or heuristic algorithms to detect TRs in genomic sequences. The general trend has been to use formal (implicit or explicit) definitions of TR for which verification of the solution was easy (with complexity linear, or polynomial in the TR's length and substitution+indel rates) while the effort was directed towards identifying efficiently the sub-strings of the input to submit to the verification phase (either implicitly or explicitly). In this paper we take a step forward: we use a definition of TR for which also the verification step is difficult (in effect, NP-complete) and we develop new filtering techniques for coping with high error levels. The resulting heuristic algorithm, christened TRStalker, is approximate since it cannot guarantee that all NP-Complete Tandem Repeats satisfying the target definition in the input string will be found. However, in synthetic experiments with 30% of errors allowed, TRStalker has demonstrated a very high recall (ranging from 100% to 60%, depending on motif length and repetition number) for the NP-complete TRs. TRStalker has consistently better performance than some stateof-the-art methods for a large range of parameters on the class of NP-complete Tandem Repeats. TRStalker aims at improving the capability of TR detection for classes of TRs for which existing methods do not perform well.


Abstract. The organic aerosol (OA) concentration is simulated in the Guanzhong Basin, China from 23 to 25 April 2013 utilizing the WRF-CHEM model. Two approaches are used to predict OA concentrations: (1) a traditional secondary organic aerosol (SOA) module; (2) a non-traditional SOA module including the volatility basis-set modeling method in which primary organic aerosol (POA) is assumed to be semivolatile and photochemically reactive. Generally, the spatial patterns and temporal variations of the calculated hourly near-surface ozone and fine particle matters agree well with the observations in Xi'an and surrounding areas. The model also yields reasonable distributions of daily PM2.5 and elemental carbon (EC) compared to the filter measurements at 29 sites in the basin. Filter-measured organic carbon (OC) and EC are used to evaluate OA, POA, and SOA using the OC ∕ EC ratio approach. Compared with the traditional SOA module, the non-traditional module significantly improves SOA simulations and explains about 88 % of the observed SOA concentration. Oxidation and partitioning of POA treated as semivolatile constitute the most important pathway for the SOA formation, contributing more than 75 % of the SOA concentrations in the basin. Residential emissions are the dominant anthropogenic OA source, constituting about 50 % of OA concentrations in urban and rural areas and 30 % in the background area. The OA contribution from transportation emissions decreases from 25 % in urban areas to 20 % in the background area, and the industry emission OA contribution is less than 6 %.


Abstract The endangered Maui Parrotbill (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) is an excavating, insectivorous Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the high elevation rain forests of east Maui, Hawaii. From March 1994 to June 1997, we studied various aspects of their breeding ecology. We color-banded 18 individuals, located and monitored 9 active nests, and took behavioral data during 440 hrs of nest observation. Both members of a pair maintained a year-round, all-purpose territory that included nest sites and food resources. Maui Parrotbill were monogamous within and between years; we found no evidence of polyandry, polygyny, or helpers at the nest. Nests were cup-shaped, composed mainly of lichen interlaced with small twigs, and positioned in the outer canopy forks of mature ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees. Modal clutch size was one. Females performed most nest construction and all incubation and brooding; males provisioned females and assisted in feeding nestlings after their fourth day. Fledglings depended on parental care for 5–8 months, during which their bill strength increased and foraging skills improved. We calculated the overall nest success rate by the Mayfield Method as 0.42 for the 1995/1996 and 1996/1997 breeding seasons combined. Nest failure and fledgling disappearance coincided with events of high rainfall. Their breeding ecology most closely resembled the Akiapolaau (Hemignathus munroi), another excavating, insectivorous Hawaiian honeycreeper found on Hawaii Island. As with the Akiapolaau, the threat of extinction is persistent and results from both the constraints of inherent life history traits and artificial ecological changes. We advocate the protection and expansion of habitable forest areas and an ongoing program to monitor and mitigate the effects of invasive species.


The first step towards forecasting the price and output of the cattle industry is understanding the dynamics of the livestock production process. This study follows up on the Weimar and Stillman (1990) paper by using data from 1970 to 2005 to estimate the parameters that characterizes the cattle output supply. The model is then used to estimate forecast values for the periods 2006 and 2007. Bayesian limited information likelihood method is used to estimate the parameters when endogeneity exists between these variables. The forecasting ability of the model for a two-step ahead forecast for majority of the variables are relatively good and test statistic of the forecast are reported.


We need to teach AI to students in and outside of traditional computer science degree programs, including those designer-engineer hybrid students who will design and implement games or engage in technical games research later. The need to rethink AI curriculum is pressing in a design education context because AI powers many emerging practical techniques such as drama management, procedural content generation, player modeling, and machine playtesting. In this paper, we describe a 5-year experimental effort to teach a Game AI course structured around a broad and expanding set of roles AI can play in game design (e.g., Adversary and Actor, as well as Design Assistant and Storyteller). This course sets up computer science and computer game design students to transform practices in the game industry as well as create new forms of media that were previously unreachable. Our students gained mastery over the relevant techniques and further demonstrated (via novel prototype systems) many new roles for AI along the way.


The Gas-to-liquids (GTL) processes produce a large fraction of by-products whose
disposal or handling ordinarily becomes a cost rather than benefit. As an alternative
strategy to market stranded gas reserves, GTL provides middle distillates to an
unsaturated global market and offers opportunities to generate power for commercial
purposes from waste by-product streams, which normally are associated with increased
expenses incurred from additional handling cost. The key concept investigated in this work is the possibility of integrating the GTL
process with power generation using conventional waste by-product steam streams.
Simulation of the integrated process was conducted with the aim of identifying the
critical operating conditions for successful integration of the GTL and power generation
processes.
About 500 MW of electric power can be generated from 70% of the exit steam
streams, with around 20 to 25% steam plant thermal efficiency. A detailed economic
analysis on the LNG, stand-alone GTL, and Integrated GTL Power-Generation plants
indicates that the integrated system is more profitable than the other options considered.
Justifying the technology and economics involved in the use of the by-product
streams to generate power could increase the net revenue and overall profitability of GTL projects. This technology may be transferable to GTL projects in the world, wherever a
market for generated power exists.


Aim/Purpose: This research study aimed to explore ecommerce fraud practitioners' experiences and develop a grounded theory framework to help define an ecommerce fraud incident response process, roles and responsibilities, systems, stakeholders, and types of incidents.

Background: With a surge in global ecommerce, online transactions have become increasingly fraudulent, complex, and borderless. There are undefined ecommerce fraud roles, responsibilities, processes, and systems that limit and hinder cyber incident response to fraudulent activities.

Methodology: A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to investigate and develop a theoretical foundation of ecommerce fraud incident response based on fraud practitioners' experiences and job descriptions. The study sample consisted of 8 interviews with ecommerce fraud experts.

Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by helping define a novel framework that outlines an ecommerce fraud incident response process, roles and responsibilities, systems, stakeholders, and incident types.

Findings: An ecommerce fraud incident response framework was developed from fraud experts' perspectives. The framework helps define processes, roles, responsibilities, systems, incidents, and stakeholders. The first finding defined the ecommerce fraud incident response process. The process includes planning, identification, analysis, response, and improvement. The second finding was that the fraud incident response model did not include the containment phase. The next finding was that common roles and responsibilities included fraud prevention analysis, tool development, reporting, leadership, and collaboration. The fourth finding described practitioners utilizing hybrid tools and systems for fraud prevention and detection. The fifth finding was the identification of internal and external stakeholders for communication, collaboration, and information sharing. The sixth finding is that research participants experienced different organizational alignments. The seventh key finding was stakeholders do not have a holistic view of the data and information to make some connections about fraudulent behavior. The last finding was participants experienced complex fraud incidents.

Recommendations for Practitioners: It is recommended to adopt the ecommerce fraud response framework to help ecommerce fraud and security professionals develop an awareness of cyber fraud activities and/or help mitigate cyber fraud activities.

Future Research: Future research could entail conducting a quantitative analysis by surveying the industry on the different components such as processes, systems, and responsibilities of the ecommerce fraud incident response framework. Other areas to explore and evaluate are maturity models and organizational alignment, collaboration, information sharing, and stakeholders. Lastly, further research can be pursued on the nuances of ecommerce fraud incidents using frameworks such as attack graph generation, crime scripts, and attack trees to develop ecommerce fraud response playbooks, plans, and metrics.


Political scientists have contributed to the world of electoral systems as scientists and as engineers. Taking stock of recent scientific research, we show that context modifies the effects of electoral rules on political outcomes in specific and systematic ways. We explore how electoral rules shape the inclusion of women and minorities, the depth and nature of political competition, and patterns of redistribution and regulation, and we consider institutional innovations that could promote political equality. Finally, we describe the diverse ways that political scientists produce an impact on the world by sharing and applying their knowledge of the consequences of electoral rules and global trends in reform.


Rebecca Elson was an astronomer. Her work took her to the boundary of the visible and measurable. "Facts are only as interesting as the possibilities they open up to the imagination", she wrote. Her research involved "dark matter" - hidden mass which can be inferred only from its influence on observable objects: "As if, from fireflies, one could infer the field". Her poems, too, make inferences and speculate, setting out always from meticulous observation and not deterred by a knowledge of how little we can know of the universe. She agreed with Einstein's "A clear explanation that anyone can understand": she makes it possible for general readers to imagine how space curves, how each of us centres a universe of our own, and how much more there may be than our technologically enhanced perceptions allow us to experience. Extracts from notebooks record the ways in which she refined her understanding. "A Responsibility to Awe" collects her best poetry and extracts from her notebooks. An autobiographical essay provides background to this alert imagination, from her upbringing as a geologist's daughter in Canada to her scientific career around the world.


Literary is the expression of life human in the form of experience, thoughts, feelings, ideas, enthusiasm and conviction in a concrete description by using language as a medium. Novel as one of literary works has purpose for entertainment enjoyment, and information. Reading novel means reading the life of society because the novel is embodiment of human's feelings and thought. The purpose of the study is to find out the answer of the research problem: 1. What is the dominant conflict faced by the main character, 2. Why does the dominant conflict happen to the main characters, 3? How is the conflict solved? In this study, the writer of this thesis used the descriptive design because this thesis just describes, "what exist" with respect to condition and situation. The approach that is used in this study is an objective approach because the thesis writer just wants to research the content of this novel with emphasizes on the main character and the thesis writer did not need to study the author life. The result of this study show that the conflicts arise because of the tragedy of Harry Stanford death. More over, Tyler has planned to kill his father, he wants to revenge to his father because when he was child his father always hurt with him, so he wants to kills his father and get his inheritance. He kills his father with orders the bodyguard's his father.


This paper proposes an alternative cognitive account of the notion of speaker commitment in terms of speaker involvement and processing. The focus will be on the role of the speaker as conceptualizer. Invoking conceptualizer-related processing instead of speaker commitment has the advantage of avoiding reliance on non-speakerrelated dimensions to determine degrees of speaker commitment for introducing some propositional content. Our theoretical claim is based on two case studies from Spanish. First, canonical direct que 'that'-clauses and oblique de que 'of that'-clauses present an occasional switch to the alternate oblique and non-oblique construction, known as dequeismo and queismo, respectively. Dequeismo has hitherto been related to notions such as doubt, hearsay, or distancing, i.e., to weak speaker commitment. Context analysis, however, shows that this approach is descriptively inadequate and that the phenomenon can best be accounted for in terms of speaker involvement: the speaker-conceptualizer is highly involved in selective information retrieval. Queismo, by contrast, minimizes stage-managing, thus yielding low speaker involvement. In both cases, the relative strength of the speaker's commitment is to be inferred on other grounds.Second, the Spanish modals poder, deber and tener que have been described in terms of weak, intermediate and strong speaker commitment. Yet, it will be shown that speaker involvement in downplaying the force structure decreases from poder to tener que. The more the deontic background can be subjectified the more the speaker is involved in the subjective construal. Here, weak commitment thus correlates with strong speaker involvement, and vice versa.


The process of cognitive aging in global sense can be characterised by changes of the fluid and crystallised intelligence. In the context of this explanation the basic question is which cognitive functions and regulatory mechanisms play the basic role of the determinants for cognitive aging. Probable, mechanism of associative memory play a central role in top-down direction of cognitive processing. This type of memory connect the resources/networks of long term memory with the current processing in working memory. Another set of mechanisms concerns with bottom-up direction based on procedural memory, which is fundamental for the functioning of the mind as whole (Tulving theory,1985). Unfortunately, our knowledge about associative memory and its relations to working and procedural memory is incomplete and unclear. The importance of associative memory are partly, empirically supported by classic research on decreasing the cognitive components of intelligence aging, since the fluid and crystallized intelligence where discovered (Horn, Cattell, 1967). Changes of the mind functioning and its cognitive growth/aging can be characterised as a complex chain from primary, biologically determined mind, through Piagetian and Vygotsky's type of mind to relatively balanced mind.


he Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF), recently reformulated by itsinventor G. Evensen, is one of the most used filter algorithms fordata assimilation in meteorology and oceanography. The EnKF algorithmpromises to provide good data assimilation results while beingrelatively simple to implement and to apply. On the other hand, thealgorithm exhibits problems related to its computational cost forlarge-scale problems and approximations made by the EnKF. Thecomparison with the SEIK filter, introduced by D.T. Pham, shows thatthis alternative formulation of an ensemble based Kalman filterexhibits better properties with regard to computational costs andrequired approximations than the typical formulation of the EnKF. Wediscuss the differences between the two filter algorithms andadvantages of each filter. The practical consequences of the differentalgorithmic formulations are shown using results from an applicationof both filter algorithms to the finite element model FEOM in aconfiguration for the North Atlantic.


Rationale: Parasympathetic regulation of heart rate is mediated by acetylcholine binding to G protein–coupled muscarinic M2 receptors, which activate heterotrimeric Gi/o proteins to promote G protein–coupled inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channel activation. Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins, which function to inactivate G proteins, are indispensable for normal parasympathetic control of the heart. However, it is unclear which of the more than 20 known RGS proteins function to negatively regulate and thereby ensure normal parasympathetic control of the heart. Objective: To examine the specific contribution of RGS6 as an essential regulator of parasympathetic signaling in heart. Methods and Results: We developed RGS6 knockout mice to determine the functional impact of loss of RGS6 on parasympathetic regulation of cardiac automaticity. RGS6 exhibited a uniquely robust expression in the heart, particularly in sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodal regions. Loss of RGS6 provoked dramatically exaggerated bradycardia in response to carbachol in mice and isolated perfused hearts and significantly enhanced the effect of carbachol on inhibition of spontaneous action potential firing in sinoatrial node cells. Consistent with a role of RGS6 in G protein inactivation, RGS6-deficient atrial myocytes exhibited a significant reduction in the time course of acetylcholine-activated potassium current (IKACh) activation and deactivation, as well as the extent of IKACh desensitization. Conclusions: RGS6 is a previously unrecognized, but essential, regulator of parasympathetic activation in heart, functioning to prevent parasympathetic override and severe bradycardia. These effects likely result from actions of RGS6 as a negative regulator of G protein activation of GIRK channels.


Background: For the past two decades, cationic lipids have remained one of the most widely used non-viral gene delivery vectors due in large to their safety and ease of use despite having low efficiency. We and others believe that the key to improving the effectiveness of non-viral agents is unlocking the still unsolved mechanism behind lipid gene delivery. Our objective is the rational design, synthesis and evaluation of the DNA complexation and in vitro delivery efficiency of novel lipid vectors in an effort to gain structure-function data which may give insight towards the non-viral mechanism. Objectives: Here we report preliminary data on two novel pyridinium-based cationic lipid vectors, designated as TFSA (saturated acyclic structure) and TFUA (unsaturated acyclic structure), both possessing a pyridinium headgroup with a delocalized positive charge, and two saturated (TFSA) or monounsaturated (TFUA) C15 hydrophobic alkyl chains. In the case of the unsaturated analogue, the double bonds are located at the terminal ends of the alkyl chains. Methods: Liposomes were prepared from these novel pyridinium-based cationic lipids in combination with a commercial vector, EPC, together with a co-lipid, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) or cholesterol. Lipid-DNA complexes (lipoplexes) were then formulated by incubating the liposomes with plasmid DNA. Lipoplexes were characterized by gel retardation, DNAse I degradation, as well as biocompatibility and β-galactosidase (β-gal) transfection assays using Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO-K1) cells. Fluorescent GFP-plasmid DNA was used to track DNA inside cells using epifluorescence microscopy. Results: The novel lipid formulations were shown to effectively complex DNA and protect it from DNAse I degradation. They were biocompatible with CHO-K1 cells, and performed better when they were formulated with cholesterol over DOPE as co-lipid. Furthermore, the formulation containing the unsaturated compound (TFUA/EPC/DOPE) revealed transfection efficiencies far above TFSA/EPC/DOPE, and superior to the commercial transfection agent EPC formulated alone with DOPE. Results from the GFP-plasmid tracking experiments were consistent with the relative β-gal expressions observed in the transfection assay. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that our novel pyridinium-based cationic lipid vectors are effective gene transfer agents, suitable for further investigations into the mechanism of non-viral gene delivery.


This research paper discusses the basic fundamentals of local government in theoretical perspective. The aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the conceptual framework of local government with its significance in the modern era. Various approaches of local government are discussed in the light of previous empirical researches. The paper also attempts to explore the role of good governance in the development of society's infrastructure. In developing countries the role of LG (local government) is unlike in the developed countries but to great extent its essentiality is widely accepted by large number of researches and legal experts in order to build strong foundation therefore the role, approaches and its significance are undertaken in this paper to evaluate local government in depth. On the basis of identified notions, the framework to build strong governance is developed".


Content-based page sharing is a technique often used in virtualized environments to reduce server memory requirements. Many systems have been proposed to capture the benefits of page sharing. However, there have been few analyses of page sharing in general, both considering its real-world utility and typical sources of sharing potential. We provide insight into this issue through an exploration and analysis of memory traces captured from real user machines and controlled virtual machines. First, we observe that absolute sharing levels (excluding zero pages) generally remain under 15%, contrasting with prior work that has often reported savings of 30% or more. Second, we find that sharing within individual machines often accounts for nearly all (>90%) of the sharing potential within a set of machines, with inter-machine sharing contributing only a small amount. Moreover, even small differences between machines significantly reduce what little inter-machine sharing might otherwise be possible. Third, we find that OS features like address space layout randomization can further diminish sharing potential. These findings both temper expectations of real-world sharing gains and suggest that sharing efforts may be equally effective if employed within the operating system of a single machine, rather than exclusively targeting groups of virtual machines.


BACKGROUND
Use of smokeless tobacco (ST) can lead to nicotine addiction and long-term use can lead to health problems including periodontal disease and cancer.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of behavioural and pharmacologic interventions for the treatment of ST use.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Dissertation Abstracts Online, and Scopus. Date of last search: March, 2007.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomized trials of behavioural or pharmacological interventions to help users of ST to quit with follow up of at least six months.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two authors independently extracted data.

MAIN RESULTS
Two trials of bupropion SR did not detect a benefit of treatment at six months or longer (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.86, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.47 to 1.57). Four trials of nicotine patch did not detect a benefit (OR 1.16, 95% CI: 0.88 to 1.54), nor did two trials of nicotine gum (OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.59 to 1.63). There was statistical heterogeneity among the results of 12 behavioural interventions included in the meta-analyses. Six trials showed significant benefits of intervention. In post-hoc subgroup analyses, behavioural interventions which include telephone counselling or an oral examination may increase abstinence rates more than interventions without these components.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Behavioural interventions should be used to help ST users to quit and telephone counselling or an oral examination may increase abstinence rates. Pharmacotherapies have not been shown to affect long-term abstinence.


According to the minimum description length (MDL) principle, data
compression should be taken as the main goal of statistical inference.
This stands in sharp contrast to making assumptions about an underlying
``true'' distribution generating the data, as is standard in the
traditional frequentist approach to statistics. If the MDL premise of
making data compression a fundamental notion can hold its ground, it
promises a robust kind of statistics, which does not break down when
standard, but hard to verify, assumptions are not completely satisfied.
This makes it worthwhile to put data compression to the test, and see
whether it really makes sense as a foundation for statistics. A natural
starting point are cases where standard MDL methods show suboptimal
performance in a traditional frequentist analysis. This thesis analyses
two such cases.

In the first case it is found that although the standard MDL method
fails, data compression still makes sense and actually leads to the
solution of the problem. In the second case we discuss a modification of
the standard MDL estimator that has been proposed in the literature,
which goes against its data compression principles. We also review the
basic properties of Renyi's dissimilarity measure for probability
distributions.


With increasing emphasis being placed on concentrating development in urban areas and improving the quality of life in British cities and towns, the importance of accommodating necessary development without compromising the valued heritage and architectural quality of urban areas is now becoming central to sustainable urban development. Urban conservation policy and practice has the potential to contribute to this and other aspects of sustainability. This paper explores this contribution and develops an analytical framework which draws out the key linkages between conservation area policy and sustainable development. The framework is then used to research the potential and actual contribution of urban conservation policy and practice in England, using a selective survey and two case studies (i.e. Winchester and Basingstoke). The main conclusions from the research are that: Conservation area policy can make a significant contribution to the principles of sustainable development; Most local planning authorities in England have not fully woken-up to this potential and have not developed policies or practices to address it; and Urban conservation policy needs to develop a more proactive approach in which local planning authorities actively guide and encourage new development with regard to use, design, layout, methods of construction, materials and energy efficiency.


Theberge (1997) has argued the modification of instruments to lead to a change of playing or even to establish completely new playing techniques. The introduction of amplification marked such a cornerstone of guitar playing. Overloaded valves caused the amplifier to distort, and this new sound has led to new practices on the electric guitar.
Research on the electric guitar in blues, rock, and metal music has mostly been focused on historical reconstruction, structural analysis, or cultural interpretation. Studies on how distortion affects the guitar's playability are still on the fringes, yet such knowledge from the musician's perspective is needed to interpret guitar performances within the larger cultural context. This article aims at contributing acoustic evidence to the practice of electric guitar playing by investigating the effects of distortion on the instrument's playability and expressiveness. The study followed an experimental design. Parts of five songs from six decades of rock music were re-recorded with different guitar sounds for analysing acoustic features. Visual representations like spectrograms, frequency curves, and dynamic waveforms were combined with acoustic feature extraction for a detailed analysis of the interrelation of sound and playing.
The findings offer explanations of how the changing of acoustic features affects electric guitar playing. In some regards, distortion enhances the guitar's potential as an expressive solo instrument confirming theoretical claims in academic literature. Yet, it can also reduce expressiveness and tonal variety, and force the player to put more effort into phrasing. The results contribute to an empirical foundation for future musicological and cultural studies oriented research to build on. In addition, the findings may be insightful for musicians, educators, producers, arrangers, composers, and bandleaders due to the pivotal role of the electric guitar's characteristic sound in popular music.


In this paper we consider the creation of future computer-based design environments to support a team-based preliminary design process. Adopting the view of Bucciarelli [1988], we see design as a social process among the team members. Each team member has his (or her) own view of the artifact to be designed, and each operates in his own "object world." We list a set of attributes we see as needed for a computer-based environment to support this process. After suggesting that the activity of design is a form of continual evolutionary model development by the participants, we argue that it can be captured by providing a support system to record and organize models as they are developed and shared. Based on our work with creating the modeling language ASCEND, we propose a number of specific concepts on which the design of such a support system can be based. 1 Paper presented at Foundations of Computer Aided Process Design (FOCAPD) Conference, Snowmass, CO, July 9-14, 1989. 2 This work has been supported by the Engineering Design Research Center, an NSF Research Center. 3 Current address: Eastman Kodak, Rochester, NY. 1 ^


Project management offices (PMOs) are frequently referred to as necessary, or even indispensable, for carrying out projects in multi-project settings, which often occur in public authorities' Information Technology (IT) projects; particularly in times of today's sweeping digitalization. Hence, this research studied Swedish public authorities and their IT departments' use of PMOs; a survey was directed to IT project managers. Findings showed that even though PMOs are commonly described as significant, those that applied PMOs were fewer than those that did not. This research searched for correlations between the existence of PMOs and 88 variables that resulted in relatively few, mostly weak correlations. A hypothesis test did not show significant association between PMOs' usage and project models' usage. The research contributions are principally that PMOs do not appear to be that significant after all for Swedish public authorities, and to have reasonable expectations on PMOs. For practice, the implications foremost concern the importance of understanding conceivable pros and cons.


In this study, a new method was developed to automate vehicles. Numerous vehicle control systems have been realized for electronic steering, driving, and braking. Higher-standard vehicle control systems have increased costs. This study focused on cloud vehicle control using roadside sensors and computers. If a high-standard vehicle control system can be realized by using vehicles with no sensors or computers, this can create a new service model for transport. The key point was to obtain state quantities of vehicles and to maintain vehicle-to-roadside communication. The proposed method obtains state quantities of vehicles with roadside sensors by using the iterative closest point algorithm. The vehicle positions are correlated with communication information. The control quantities of the vehicles are received by roadside computers. Experiments using electric vehicles showed that the proposed method can realize high-standard vehicle control for self-driving vehicles.


At a time when the world is facing a shortage of health workers, policymakers are looking for innovative strategies that can help them develop policy and programmes to bolster the global health workforce. The Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice highlights the current status of interprofessional collaboration around the world, identifies the mechanisms that shape successful collaborative teamwork and outlines a series of action items that policy-makers can apply within their local health system. The goal of the Framework is to provide strategies and ideas that will help health policy-makers implement the elements of interprofessional education and collaborative practice that will be most beneficial in their own jurisdiction.


Abstract This paper tests an empirical implication of heterogeneous firm models along the lines of Melitz (2003) in the context of falling trade costs. Using the EU's intensive liberalization phase (1993-2002) as a natural experiment, we investigate freer trade's impact on the frequency of market reorientation across the productivity distribution of active firms to shed light on the presence of a minimum productivity (size) threshold for profitable sales abroad. Contrary to the models' predictions, firms that switch from non-exporting to exporting over the studied period are not concentrated in a particular size range. Our findings, based on a rich data set of French manufacturing enterprises, suggest a scope for fine-tuning of the theoretical framework.


Congress authorized the Treasury Department to use outside entities (contractors and financial agents) to implement the TARP bailout program. Treasury embraced this authority, engaging in the wholesale delegation of the administration of TARP to these outsiders. While outsourcing government work is common, one aspect of Treasury's outsourcing is not: its imposition of fiduciary-based ethics standards on these outsiders.This Article examines Treasury's imposition of ethics standards on its contractors and financial agents. It identifies one provision in Treasury's agreements with these outsiders that until now has escaped scrutiny: the requirement that outsider personnel submit manuscripts relating to their TARP work to Treasury prior to publication, even if the manuscript does not contain any confidential information. This requirement for pre-publication review is unusual outside the intelligence field. This Article recommends that before imposing additional ethics standards on government contractors, the government should examine Treasury's experience more closely to determine the costs and benefits of imposing such standards.


Commercial non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are considered as toxic to the environment since they induce side effects when consumed by humans or aquatic life. Ibuprofen is a member of the NSAID family and is widely used as an anti-inflammatory and painkiller agent. Photolysis is a potentially important method of degradation for several emerging contaminants, and individual compounds can undergo photolysis to various degrees, depending on their chemical structure. The efficiency oftitanium dioxide (TiO2) and photocatalysis was investigated for the removal of ibuprofen from the aquatic environment, and the performance of these different processes was evaluated. In heterogeneous photocatalysis, two experiments were carried out using TiO2 as (i) dispersed powder, and (ii) TiO2 immobilized on the active surface of commercial coated glass. The kinetics of each photoreaction was determined, and the identification of the photoproducts was carried out by liquid chromatography coupled with Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LC-FTICR MS). The overall results suggest that the TiO2 active thin layer immobilized on the glass substrate can avoid recovery problems related to the use of TiO2 powder in heterogeneous photocatalysis and may be a promising tool toward protecting the environment from emerging contaminants such as ibuprofen and its derivatives.


We seek to sense the three dimensional (3D) volumetric distribution of scatterers in a heterogenous medium. An important case study for such a medium is the atmosphere. Atmospheric contents and their role in Earth's radiation balance have significant uncertainties with regards to scattering components: aerosols and clouds. Clouds, made of water droplets, also lead to local effects as precipitation and shadows. Our sensing approach is computational tomography using passive multi-angular imagery. For light-matter interaction that accounts for multiple-scattering, we use the 3D radiative transfer equation as a forward model. Volumetric recovery by inverting this model suffers from a computational bottleneck on large scales, which include many unknowns. Steps taken make this tomography tractable, without approximating the scattering order or angle range.


With the proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs), EV battery charging will be a significant load on the power grid, and thus it will have to be optimized. Many proposed optimizations rely on predicted EV information, such as future trip start time and battery State-of-Charge (SoC), for load management, charging scheduling, V2G profit optimization, etc. Prediction in turn would benefit from real-time information about the EVs, while they are on the road, i.e., before arriving at the charging facility. A real-time reporting framework is thus necessary so that EVs can report status information to the utility in a timely fashion. In this paper we present Lynx, an authenticated anonymous real-time reporting protocol. Lynx allows an EV to send anonymous reports using pseudonyms that are unlinkable to its true identity. At the same time, the utility can verify that the reports come from some authentic EV without knowing the exact identity of the EV that sends the report. To encourage EV participation, Lynx allows the utility to issue anonymous receipts to EVs, which can be used later by the EVs to anonymously claim credits. Lynx minimizes computation overhead during real-time reporting, and our implementation on Raspberry Pi 2 shows that report generation and verification can be done within 10 ms.


Personal health records (PHRs) are valuable assets to individuals because they enable them to integrate and manage their medical data. A PHR is an electronic application through which patients can manage their health information. Giving patients control over their medical data offers an advantageous realignment of the doctor-patient dynamic. However, today's PHR management systems fall short of giving reliable, traceable, trustful, and secure patients control over their medical data, which poses serious threats to their authenticity and accuracy. Moreover, most of the current approaches and systems leveraged for managing PHR are centralized that not only make medical data sharing difficult but also pose a risk of single point of failure problem. In this paper, we propose Ethereum blockchain-based smart contracts to give patients control over their data in a manner that is decentralized, immutable, transparent, traceable, trustful, and secure. The proposed system employs decentralized storage of interplanetary file systems (IPFS) and trusted reputation-based re-encryption oracles to securely fetch, store, and share patients' medical data. We present algorithms along with their full implementation details. We evaluate the proposed smart contracts using two important performance metrics, such as cost and correctness. Furthermore, we provide security analysis and discuss the generalization aspects of our solution. We outline the limitations of the proposed approach. We make the smart contract source code publicly available on Github.


This paper presents a protocol proposal that makes Ethernet suitable for supporting modern real-time systems. Applications that could benefit from the proposed protocol are mainly those composed of heterogeneous distributed components, which are specified in terms of both hard and soft timing constraints. Indeed, using the proposed protocol, hard and soft real-time tasks can efficiently and predictably share an Ethernet bus. The bus utilization can be optimized by an appropriate allocation of the available bandwidth into hard and soft communication. Moreover, the protocol, compatible with standard Ethernet hardware, can implement a decentralized medium access control, increasing communication flexibility and reliability.


Growing evidence makes a strong case that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to complex traits, with implications across many fields of biology from dissecting developmental processes to understanding aspects of human health and disease. In ecology, recent studies have merged ecological experimental design with epigenetic analyses to elucidate the contribution of epigenetics to plant phenotypes, stress response, adaptation to habitat, or species range distributions. While there has been some progress in revealing the role of epigenetics in ecological processes, many studies with non-model species have so far been limited to describing broad patterns based on anonymous markers of DNA methylation. In contrast, studies with model species have benefited from powerful genomic resources, which allow for a more mechanistic understanding but have limited ecological realism. To understand the true significance of epigenetics for plant ecology and evolution, we must combine both approaches transferring knowledge and methods from model-species research to genomes of evolutionarily divergent species, and examining responses to complex natural environments at a more mechanistic level. This requires transforming genomics tools specifically for studying non-model species, which is challenging given the large and often polyploid genomes of plants. Collaboration between molecular epigeneticists, ecologists and bioinformaticians promises to enhance our understanding of the mutual links between genome function and ecological processes.


Roadside verges in Britain support 238,000 hectares of vegetated land and approximately 10 hectares of vegetated central reserves. These areas have the potential to be engineered in such a way that they deliver a range of ecosystem services including flood regulation and biodiversity conservation in addition to their primary functions such as comfort of sidewalk users (mostly un-vegetated), protection of spray from passing vehicles, a space for benches, bus shelters, street lights and other public amenities, and visual improvement of the roads and designated green belts. Previous research has shown that in soils, calcium-rich materials such as recycled crushed concrete or natural crushed dolerite undergo carbonation. This effectively captures CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in the form of CaCO3 precipitated between soil particles. Engineering this process can potentially assist the UK in achieving its ambitious target to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. Rates of carbonation measured at urban brownfield sites in the UK suggest that treating 12,000 hectares of land containing suitable amendments could remove 1 million tonne CO2 annually. However, brownfield sites are often subjected to re-construction activities which would reduce the rate of CO2 absorption from the atmosphere by sealing. To optimize the rate of carbonation, engineered soils need to be constructed at locations subjected to least post-construction activities and roadside verges and central reserves represent a key opportunity in this regard. This paper calculates limits to CaCO3 formation within the first 1 m of pore spaces of soils at roadside verges and central reserves in Britain considering a soil porosity of 20%.


Nowadays, trust and reputation models are used to build a wide range of trust-based security mechanisms and trust-based service management applications on the Internet of Things (IoT). Considering trust as a single unit can result in missing important and significant factors. We split trust into its building-blocks, then we sort and assign weight to these building-blocks (trust metrics) on the basis of its priorities for the transaction context of a particular goal. To perform these processes, we consider trust as a multi-criteria decision-making problem, where a set of trust worthiness metrics represent the decision criteria. We introduce Entropy-based fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (EFAHP) as a trust model for selecting a trustworthy service provider, since the sense of decision making regarding multi-metrics trust is structural. EFAHP gives 1) fuzziness, which fits the vagueness, uncertainty, and subjectivity of trust attributes; 2) AHP, which is a systematic way for making decisions in complex multi-criteria decision making; and 3) entropy concept, which is utilized to calculate the aggregate weights for each service provider. We present a numerical illustration in trust-based Service Oriented Architecture in the IoT (SOA-IoT) to demonstrate the service provider selection using the EFAHP Model in assessing and aggregating the trust scores.


Abstract We still know remarkably little about the voting behavior of immigrant populations, and in particular, the children of immigrants – who grow up in the same society as their contemporaries, but may be subject to different patterns of socialization. This article uses verified voting behavior in Swedish municipal elections to offer at least two new perspectives on these questions. First, we are able to separate out the impacts of family socialization, general societal socialization, and citizenship acquisition on electoral participation. Second, we are also able to add to our knowledge of the differences in political participation levels between different groups of foreign-background voters.


Abstract Objective Older people are vulnerable to zinc deficiency, which may impact upon their mood. This randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind intervention study aimed to investigate the effect of oral zinc gluconate supplementation (15 mg/d; 30 mg/d; and placebo) on subjective mood (affect) in older Europeans. Subjects Healthy volunteers (n 387) aged 55–87 years were recruited. Setting Volunteers in Rome (Italy; n 108) and Grenoble (France; n 91) were aged 70–87 years and those in Coleraine (Northern Ireland; n 93) and Clermont-Ferrand (France; n 95) were aged 55–70 years. Design Mood was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale on four occasions per day over 4 d at baseline, 3 and 6 months post-intervention. Results Mixed ANOVA indicated that neither positive nor negative affect altered in response to zinc (15 mg/d or 30 mg/d) compared to placebo in either the 55–70 years or the ≥70 years age group. Conclusions These results suggest that zinc does not benefit mood in healthy older people.


BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of Thymoglobulin (a rabbit-derived polyclonal antibody) to Atgam (a horse-derived polyclonal antibody) for induction in adult renal transplant recipients.

METHODS
Transplant recipients (n=72) were randomized 2:1 in a double-blinded fashion to receive Thymoglobulin (n=48) at 1.5 mg/kg intravenously or Atgam (n=24) at 15 mg/kg intravenously, intraoperatively, then daily for at least 6 days. Recipients were observed for at least 1 year of follow-up.

RESULTS
By 1 year after transplantation, 4% of Thymoglobulin-treated patients experienced acute rejection compared with 25% of Atgam-treated patients (P=0.014). The rate of acute rejection was lower with Thymoglobulin than Atgam (relative risk=0.09; P=0.009). Rejection was less severe with Thymoglobulin than Atgam (P=0.02). No recurrent rejection occurred with Thymoglobulin compared with 33% with Atgam (P=NS). Patient survival was not different, but the composite end point of freedom from death, graft loss, or rejection, the "event-free survival," was superior with Thymoglobulin (94%) compared with Atgam (63%; P=0.0005). Fewer adverse events occurred with Thymoglobulin (P=0.013). Leukopenia was more common with Thymoglobulin than Atgam (56% vs. 4%; P<0.0001) during induction. The mean absolute lymphocyte count remained below baseline with Thymoglobulin throughout the study (P<0.007), but with Atgam, significant lymphocyte reductions occurred only at day 7. The incidence of cytomegalovirus disease was less with Thymoglobulin than Atgam at 6 months (10% vs. 33%; P=0.025).

CONCLUSIONS
Brief (7-day) induction with Thymoglobulin resulted in less frequent and less severe rejection, a better event-free survival, less cytomegalovirus disease, fewer serious adverse events, but more frequent early leukopenia than induction with Atgam. These results may in fact be explained by a more profound and durable beneficial lymphopenia.


Measuring and monitoring use levels in parks and protected areas (PPAs) remains an ongoing challenge for managers worldwide. Understanding visitation levels is particularly important as contemporary use trends in PPAs have become increasingly dynamic due to many factors that influence demand, including for example, the popularizing of locations via social media. In this paper, we present a novel, mobile device data analysis approach for understanding use levels in PPAs, measured as vehicle arrivals to formal and informal park entrances. We initiated this research in effort to develop an alternative use estimation technique, particularly in situations where visitors may enter a PPA in a more diffuse manner, via informal entrance locations that are difficult to monitor by conventional direct counting methods. Our approach uses a readily available mobile data analysis platform, Streetlight InSight®, developed for transportation planners that is capable of accessing and processing a vast resource of mobile device data. We tested this approach in a network of urban-proximate PPAs in Orange County, California, via both currently available data processing procedures, and sampling and calibration techniques we developed. Our results compare favorably to available use estimates in the study area that employ standard counting techniques. For example, we statistically compared monthly estimates calculated via the Streetlight model and direct counts at a popular entrance location and found no significant difference. We also examined a time period of a known park closure due to a forest fire event to determine if erroneous data were being collected and estimated use at or near zero. Although our method verification relies mainly on face validity due to limited availability of other use estimates in our study location, our results suggest that acceptable use estimates can be obtained in a wide range of PPA applications. This approach has several substantial advantages to PPA management. First, since mobile data are available, managers can obtain current use level estimates in PPAs with a significantly reduced need for field devices and field staff time and effort. Second, retrospective data back to 2014 are available, making it possible to examine trends over the last several years even if no on-site counts were ever obtained. Last, parks with multiple, diffuse entry locations can be assessed more comprehensively, since locations can be identified and use estimated via a digital mapbased interface. Subscribe to JPRA


The past few years have seen the introduction of a number of 3D and 4D printing techniques used to process tough hydrogel materials. The use of 'color' 3D printing technology where multiple inks are used in the one print allows for the production of composite materials and structures that can further enhance the mechanical performance of the printed hydrogel. This article reviews a number of 3D and 4D printing techniques for fabricating functional hydrogel based devices.


Ontologies have proven to be an essential element in many applications. They are used in agent systems, knowledge management systems, and e-commerce platforms. They can also generate natural language, integrate intelligent information, provide semantic-based access to the Internet, and extract information from texts in addition to being used in many other applications to explicitly declare the knowledge embedded in them. However, not only are ontologies useful for applications in which knowledge plays a key role, but they can also trigger a major change in current Web contents. This change is leading to the third generation of the Web-known as the Semantic Web-which has been defined as the conceptual structuring of the Web in an explicit machine-readable way. New ontology-based applications and knowledge architectures are developing for this new Web. A common claim for all of these approaches is the need for languages to represent the semantic information that this Web requires-solving heterogeneous data exchange in this heterogeneous environment. Our goal is to help developers find the most suitable language for their representation needs.


Authenticated encryption schemes are usually expected to offer confidentiality and authenticity. In case of release of unverified plaintext (RUP), an adversary gets separated access to the decryption and verification functionality, and has more power in breaking the scheme. Andreeva et al. (ASIACRYPT 2014) formalized RUP security using plaintext awareness, informally meaning that the decryption functionality gives no extra power in breaking confidentiality, and INT-RUP security, covering authenticity in case of RUP. We describe a single, unified model, called AERUP security, that ties together these notions: we prove that an authenticated encryption scheme is AERUP secure if and only if it is conventionally secure, plaintext aware, and INT-RUP secure. We next present ANYDAE, a generalization of SUNDAE of Banik et al. (ToSC 2018/3). ANYDAE is a lightweight deterministic scheme that is based on a block cipher with block size n and arbitrary mixing functions that all operate on an n-bit state. It is particularly efficient for short messages, it does not rely on a nonce, and it provides maximal robustness to a lack of secure state. Whereas SUNDAE is not secure under release of unverified plaintext (a fairly simple attack can be mounted in constant time), ANYDAE is. We make handy use of the AERUP security model to prove that ANYDAE achieves both conventional security as RUP security, provided that certain modest conditions on the mixing functions are met. We describe two simple instances, called MONDAE and TUESDAE, that conform to these conditions and that are competitive with SUNDAE, in terms of efficiency and optimality.


Title of Document: BEYOND THE BEAUTY SALON: SPORT, WOMEN OF COLOR AND THEIR HAIR Jennifer E. Collins, Masters of Arts, 2011 Directed By: Assistant Professor, Jaime Schultz, Kinesiology Research concerning women of color in sport tends to center around several topics: barriers to participation, racial stereotyping, symbolic annihilation, and the intersecting axes of power that influence their involvement and representation. Furthermore, while there exists a rich body of literature that hair has inspired in black feminist scholarship, these works have overlooked the experiences of black female athletes. In this project I seek to bridge these two bodies of knowledge through focus groups and personal interviews with black female collegiate athletes. Specifically, I examine three issues related to hair in the context of black women's athletic experiences: 1) as a particular racialized, gendered, and sexualized expression of self; 2) as a signifier of "other" in sport and society; and 3) as a possible cultural barrier to specific athletic endeavors. By bridging the disconnect between the two fields, I will address the ways that hair is an embodied cultural form influencing the physical culture of women of color. BEYOND THE BEAUTY SALON: SPORT, WOMEN OF COLOR AND THEIR HAIR


By employing large hollow-core Kagome fiber in a double-clad configuration, the performance of a potentially rubidium vapor-based fiber laser is explored. The absorbed power and laser efficiency versus pump power are calculated utilizing a simple laser model. Our results show that a Kagome-based high-power fiber laser is feasible provided that the value of the collisional fine-structure mixing rate will be elevated by increasing the ambient temperature or by increasing the helium pressure.


: Although fibrosis is becoming increasingly recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in modern societies, targeted anti-fibrotic therapies are still not approved for most fibrotic disorders. However, intense research over the last decade has improved our understanding of the underlying pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases. We now appreciate fibrosis as the consequence of a persistent tissue repair responses, which, in contrast to normal wound healing, fails to be effectively terminated. Profibrotic mediators released from infiltrating leukocytes, activated endothelial cells and degranulated platelets may predominantly drive fibroblast activation and collagen release in early stages, whereas endogenous activation of fibroblasts due epigenetic modifications and biomechanical or physical factors such as stiffening of the extracellular matrix and hypoxia may play pivotal role for disease progression in later stages. In the present review, we discuss novel insights into the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases using systemic sclerosis (SSc) as example for an idiopathic, multisystem disorder. We set a strong translational focus and predominantly discuss approaches with very high potential for rapid transfer from bench-to-bedside. We highlight the molecular basis for ongoing clinical trials in SSc and also provide an outlook on upcoming trials. Abstract Although fibrosis is becoming increasingly recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in modern societies, targeted anti-fibrotic therapies are still not approved for most fibrotic disorders. However, intense research over the last decade has improved our understanding of the underlying pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases. We now appreciate fibrosis as the consequence of a persistent tissue repair responses, which, in contrast to normal wound healing, fails to be effectively terminated. Profibrotic mediators released from infiltrating leukocytes, activated endothelial cells and degranulated platelets may predominantly drive fibroblast activation and collagen release in early stages, whereas endogenous activation of fibroblasts due epigenetic modifications and biomechanical or physical factors such as stiffening of the extracellular matrix and hypoxia may play pivotal role for disease progression in later stages. In the present review, we discuss novel insights into the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases using systemic sclerosis (SSc) as example for an idiopathic, multisystem disorder. We set a strong translational focus and predominantly discuss approaches with very high potential for rapid transfer from bench-to-bedside. We highlight the molecular basis for ongoing clinical trials in SSc and also provide an outlook on upcoming trials. and more specific approach as recently with a small molecule αvβ1 inhibitor


Discovery
and development of Central Nervous System (CNS) drugs is hampered by high
attrition rates. One of the reasons is the lack of blood-based biomarkers that
represent the interaction between the drug and the neurological systems of
interest. Here we present a systems-pharmacology approach that combines a
multi-biomarker approach (e.g. metabolomics) with pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic
(PK/PD) modeling to reveal quantitative pharmacological characteristics that
are relevant to dopaminergic drug action. Moreover, we set out to identify
biomarkers that can be obtained from the blood as non-invasive sampling site.

In the
first section of this thesis the methodology is introduced in the context of
translational CNS drug development. Moreover, a systematic search is performed
to available biomarkers of dopaminergic drug action. Then, in the second part,
the multi-biomarker PK/PD approach is applied to biomarkers from the
neuroendocrine system as connection between brain and blood. In the third
section, the methodology is developed using the simultaneous, time-resolved
metabolomics response in brain extracellular fluid and plasma.

By
applying multi-biomarker PK/PD modeling we revealed quantitative
pharmacological characteristics of dopaminergic drugs with regard to multiple
biological processes. Moreover, we identified potential blood-based biomarkers
of dopaminergic effect in the brain.


Thoracic surgery is a field encompassing many diverse operative techniques ranging from open surgeries involving thoracotomies and sternotomies to less invasive operations such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), endoscopy, and bronchoscopy. The popularity and acceptance of VATS has been increasing over time. Ethical considerations must be used to navigate patient misconceptions of VATS surgery, creating an appropriate informed consent process, determining appropriate patients for VATS, training future thoracic surgeons in VATS, and advancing thoracic surgery innovation. Thoracic surgeons are the gateway to determine what operation and what technique is appropriate to offer to each patient. This requires strict adherence to ethical standards as well as self-regulation.


Previous studies indicate that primary somatosensory cortical area 3b in macaques contains a somatotopic map of the hand, encompassing representations of each digit. However, numerous observations including recent findings in anesthetized New World monkeys indicate that that the digit representations within the map are not discrete. We assessed the generality and spatial extent of these effects in awake macaques. We show that, within a given digit representation, (1) there is response to stimulation of all other digits tested, extending across most or all of the digit map, and (2) response to stimulation of the locally preferred digit is modulated by concurrent stimulation of each of the other digits. Control experiments rule out effects of attention and mechanical spread of stimulation. We thus confirm that, even at the first level of somatosensory cortical processing, inputs from potentially all of the digits frame the context within which the input to a single digit is represented.


This Working Paper is drawn from research by TIPS prepared for the Global Green Growth Institute, the Economic Development Department and the Department of Trade and Industry. The research explored the impact of electricity price increases on the competitiveness of selected mining sector and smelting value chains in South Africa, looking at whether this has incentivised mining-related companies to invest in renewable energy, cogeneration and energy efficient.The research concluded that the response of mining value chains to the shift to a green economy cannot be business-as-usual. Successful management of the global green transition will require short-term pragmatism and longer-term planning in the South African mining industry, linking business, government, labour, non-governmental organisations and the research community in support of sustainable development.Key policy recommendations included addressing institutional and legal confusion around environmental regulations; enforcing environmental and social 'licences to operate'; accelerating and supporting the use of renewable energy and cogeneration; and the need to better understand the interplay between industrial development, trade and the green economy in South Africa, particularly the potential risks and opportunities.