We give data structures, algorithms, and lower bounds for three problems on dynamic graph, i.e., graphs that are being modified on-line.
We consider the problem of maintaining the connected components of a graph undergoing edge insertions and backtracking edge deletions. We analyze several algorithms for the set union with backtracking problem, a variant of the classical disjoint set union (equivalence) problem in which an extra operation, de-union undoes the most recently performed union operation not yet undone. The most efficient such algorithms have an amortized running time of O(log n/log log n) per operation, where n is the total number of elements in all sets. We prove that any separable pointer-based algorithm for the problem requires $\Omega(\log n/\log \log n)$ time per operation, thus showing that our upper bound an amortized time is tight. We use these fast algorithms to build an algorithm with the same resource bounds that maintains the connected components of an undirected graph undergoing edge insertion and backtracking edge deletion. By a simple reduction, the lower bounds for set union with backtracking can be applied to the connected components problem.
We examine the twin problems of maintaining the bridge-connected components or the bioconnected components of a graph being changed by vertex and edge insertions. We give a basic algorithm that is suitable for both problems. With simple data structures, this algorithm runs in $O({n}{\log} n + m)$ time, where n is the number of vertices and m is the number of operations. We develop a modified version of the dynamic trees of Sleator and Tarjan that is suitable for efficient recursive algorithms, and use it to reduce the running time of the algorithms for both problems to $O(m\alpha(m,n))$, where $\alpha$ is a functional inverse of Ackermann's function. This time bound is optimal. All of the algorithms use $O(n)$ space.
We investigate the problem of maintaining a minimum spanning forest and the connected components of an embedded, edge-weighted planar graph undergoing changes in edge weight as well as edge and vertex insertion and deletion. To implement the algorithms, we develop a data structure called an edge-ordered dynamic tree, which is a variant of the dynamic tree data structure of Sleator and Tarjan. Using this data structure, our algorithms run in $O(\log n)$ amortized time per operation and $O(n)$ space.


During the 5-year period from 1980 to 1984, the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage due only to rupture of aneurysms was investigated in Izumo City, a small city with a population of 79,026. Additionally, to ascertain the relation of incidence to the size of the geographic area and/or population, a similar analysis was made on a larger area of Shimane Prefecture, including Izumo City, with a total population of 789,712. During this 5-year period, a total of 83 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage were hospitalized in Izumo City, 548 patients in Shimane Prefecture. Ruptured aneurysms were confirmed in 77 cases (93%) in Izumo City and 466 cases (85%) in Shimane Prefecture. The crude annual incidences of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage for Izumo City and Shimane Prefecture were 21.0 and 13.9 per 100,000 population for all ages, and the age-adjusted annual incidences (adjusted to the 1980 population of Japan) were 18.3 and 11.0 per 100,000 for all ages, respectively. For both Izumo City and Shimane Prefecture, the age-specific annual incidences peaked at the ages of 50-69 years, and the highest incidence was 92.3 per 100,000 men from Izumo City in the eighth decade of life. The annual incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage for Izumo City is the highest reported to date. If a wider area, such as Shimane Prefecture, were studied many patients in poor condition, particularly elderly patients, would be missed. To determine accurately the incidence of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, it thus might be better to conduct the study in a small city such as Izumo City.


We developed a multi-touch interface for the citizen science video game Foldit, in which players manipulate 3D protein structures, and compared multi-touch and mouse interfaces in a 41-subject user study. We found that participants performed similarly in both interfaces and did not have an overall preference for either interface. However, results indicate that for tasks involving guided movement to dock protein parts, subjects using the multi-touch interface completed tasks more accurately with fewer moves, and reported higher attention and spatial presence. For tasks involving direct selection and dragging of points, subjects using the mouse interface performed fewer camera adjustments.


Private student loan borrowers arguably have the fewest protections of any users of credit in the United States. In a scarcely debated amendment to federal bankruptcy law, in 2005 private student lenders gained the same protections against discharge previously afforded to federal student lenders. Yet, private student loan borrowers received none of the rights available to federal student loan borrowers. These include income-driven repayment, relief from repayment on disability, loan discharge for fraud or closed schools, and public service loan forgiveness. Private student loan borrowers thus have neither the bankruptcy protections afforded to non-student loan debtors nor the repayment and debt relief rights of student borrowers under the federal loan program.

This lack of consumer protection has particular consequence when considering the plight of for-profit school students saddled with private student loans. Some of the worst abuses in the proliferation of higher education debt have been perpetrated against for-profit school attendees. The vast majority of private student loans are co-signed, typically by older family members. This combination of private student loans and for-profit school attendance impacts a much broader range of consumers than would a comparable number of federal student loans.

We suggest two types of state legislation to protect these debtors. For prospective for-profit school private borrowers, we propose incorporating some of the protections of federal student loans through the use of a state equivalent to the Federal Trade Commission "Holder Rule." For all private student loans, we propose a requirement that private lenders engage in a mandatory settlement process, similar to those used by states during the recent foreclosure crisis, as a pre-requisite to using state courts for debt collection.


The key concerns in work on the politics of the Middle East in the past decade have been economic and political liberalization/democratization (or the absence thereof) and security, both domestic and international, along with a continued focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict. There has been an increasing recognition that these issues are strongly interrelated. Europe cannot avoid concerns over economic and political stability in the region affecting its own interests. Together with economic reasons for engagement with the region, this has brought about a desire to see economic and political reform take place. The Euro-Mediter-ranean Partnership Initiative (EMPI) is one result of this. The background against which these policies, concerns and hopes are evolving is 'globalization', both of the discourse of 'democracy' and in the growing hold of liberal market economics internationally. Recent research on the politics and political economy of the region, and on EMPI, however, shows that a combination of political-economic and related political-cultural factors, along with the Arab-Israeli conflict, continue to hamper political and economic reform in the Middle East, and that European policy as currently conceived is unlikely to affect this greatly. Yet such recent work also shows that aspects of globalization are changing the environment in which Middle Eastern regimes are having to function, while at the same time offering civil society new tools. Middle Eastern societies do, to varying extents, possess the necessary 'spaces' and traditions for human 'agency' to escape the constraints of domestic and international 'structures' and evolve new political cultures-including democratic ones. Existing judicial or legislative institutions may acquire volition of their own and reinforce this process. There is nothing in 'Islam' that necessarily obstructs such possibilities. And supposedly 'obsolete' monarchies might yet be among the most successful types of regime in coping with such change.


To make digital resources on the web verifiable, immutable, and permanent, we propose a technique to include cryptographic hash values in URIs. We show how such hash-URIs can be used for approaches like nanopublications to make not only specific resources but their entire reference trees verifiable. Digital resources can be identified not only on the byte level but on more abstract levels, which means that resources keep their hash values even when presented in a different format. Our approach sticks to the core principles of the web, namely openness and decentralized architecture, is fully compatible with existing standards and protocols, and can therefore be used right away. Evaluation of our reference implementations shows that these desired properties are indeed accomplished by our approach, and that it remains practical even for very large files.


The Effectiveness of Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) Intervention on Word Reading in Kindergarten Students Receiving Tier 3 Services C. Haley Cole Department of Communication Disorders Master of Science This study, a modification of Marshall (2011), evaluated the effectiveness of the Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention method to improve consonantvowel-consonant (CVC) reading in four students receiving Tier 3 services. The SEEL intervention method was also combined with the use of digital books on an iPad to investigate the effects of using technology in reading intervention sessions. Previous research indicates effectiveness for the foundational principles of SEEL, which include instruction in engaging, meaningful contexts that provide frequent and intense opportunities to practice. This research involved 4 kindergarten students who qualified for Tier 3 services based on their performance on an index of difficulty in early literacy skills. The study contrasted trained with untrained literacy targets of comparable difficulty and was conducted as a single-subject multiple-baseline-acrossbehaviors design. Intervention was delivered three times a week for 15-20 minutes, depending on the engagement of the participants. An analysis of the results showed improvement in three out of four participants in their reading ability of the target CVC words. It gave mixed results as to the effects of using technology in combination with the reading intervention. The analysis also looked at student engagement during both the hands-on manipulation of the materials and the reading and writing tasks performed on the iPad. It found that the engagement between these two parts of each session was similar; if a student had poor engagement for the SEEL intervention, he or she also had poor engagement for the iPad portion, and vice versa. This study provides further insight into the efficacy of SEEL and the use of technology; it also provides suggestions for future research in the area of reading intervention.


Many ubiquitous computing applications may be context-sensitive due to the ambient environments, mobile devices, and other detectable factors. A context-sensitive middleware provides the necessary support to context-sensitive application objects to participate in spontaneous and ad hoc communications with other applications in remote devices whenever suitable contexts exist. A context-sensitive middleware can provide this support effectively if its communication subsystem, such as an Object Request Broker (ORB), can properly discover other objects in devices. This capability is usually known as object discovery protocol. An energy-efficient object discovery protocol is needed to help prolong a device's battery life because many devices in ubiquitous computing environments are battery-powered and, thus, have limited energy sources. An energy-efficient object discovery protocol, RKS, for context-sensitive middleware for ubiquitous computing is presented. RKS reduces energy consumption by reducing the amount of information that needs to be sent to remote devices to discover objects. A novel feature of RKS is that it advertises its server-objects' availability only when it detects that these servers can be activated in the current context and when it finds that the neighbor devices have some potential clients that are willing to discover objects. Analytical comparisons of the energy-consumptions are given between RKS and two other protocols for object discovery in context-sensitive middleware. Furthermore, our experimental results, based on the implementations of these protocols and RKS on a context-sensitive middleware test bed, confirm our analytical results in that the RKS conserves more energy than the other two.


Fifteen crossbred cattle bulls of about 22-24 months age (mean body weight ranged from 291.0 to 298.1 kg) were randomly divided into 3 groups of 5 animals following randomized block design. Animals in group 1 were fed concentrate mixture containing wheat bran 97%, mineral mixture 2% and salt 1% plus ad libitum chopped green sugarcane tops (SCT) as a roughage source. Animals in group 2 were fed concentrate mixture containing lentil chuni 97%, mineral mixture 2% and salt 1% while group 3 concentrate contained wheat bran 48.5%, lentil chuni 48.5%, mineral mixture 2% and salt 1% plus ad libitum chopped green SCT to meet their maintenance requirements. During metabolism trial period, the mean total intake and digestibility of DM in groups 1, 2 and 3 was 8.09±0.41, 8.41±0.49 and 7.86±0.16 kg/d and 60.24, 63.24 and 65.05%, respectively. The intake of CP (p<0.05) and EE (p<0.01) was significantly higher in group 2 and group 1, respectively as compared to remaining 2 groups, which were comparable. Digestibility of CP and EE was significantly (p<0.01) higher in group 3 and that of CP was comparable with group 2. The intake and digestibility of total carbohydrates, NDF, ADF, Hemi-cellulose and cellulose were similar among 3 groups. The mean body weight changes in group 1, 2 and 3 were 173.4, 253.4 and 203.4 g/d, respectively, which was significantly (p<0.05) higher in group 2. The total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) intakes were significantly higher in group 2 and group 1, respectively. The total volatile fatty acids, ammonia-N, trichloro-acetic acid precipitable nitrogen (TCA ppt.-N; p<0.05), total-N concentrations and pH were significantly (p<0.01) higher in group 3, however, pH and TCA ppt.-N was comparable with group 2 and 1, respectively. From the results, it may be deduced that the feeding of chopped green SCT supplemented with a concentrate mixture having both wheat bran (48.5%) and lentil chuni (48.5%) has shown a better performance with respect to intake and digestibility of nutrients and growth as well. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2002. Vol 15, No. 10 : 1422-1427)


In an increasingly authoritarian Turkish context that precludes any
serious chance of making tangible political gains, challenging common conception
of 'the political' may expand our understanding of power dynamics. Attempting
to track power relations outside the most official, legitimate, conventional and
formalised forms of politics provides alternative and sharper insights into how the
political is being reframed and how actors retain, uphold, perpetuate or transform
their capacity for agency. In an interdisciplinary perspective, but drawing mainly
on anthropological literature and methodology, the issue addresses four questions
– both empirically in the Turkish case and more conceptually: politicisation,
visibility, social stratification and domination.


A workshop sponsored by the North Carolina Collection at East Carolina University to familiarize middle school teachers with the Eastern Carolina Digital History Exhibits and provide lesson plans for the site revealed (1) the need for teachers and librarians to work more closely together in the design and use of new digital history resources and (2) the benefits of cooperative efforts. Although the K–12 community generally welcomes digital resources, teachers face important challenges, such as redesigning the curriculum. What the teachers had to say, as well as a few other unexpected findings, proved beneficial to the librarians in creating sites. Small workshops were shown to be useful to both teachers and librarians.


BACKGROUND
Currently, the majority of newborns in Poland are born to mothers who have been immunized against measles. The aim of this study was to compare the maternal measles antibody titers of infants born to mothers who had been infected by measles wild virus (group I) with those born to mothers who had been vaccinated (group II).

MATERIAL/METHODS
Serum samples were tested for measles antibodies from 79 infants in the 7th month of life and from 27 mothers between 17 and 41 years of age. Two commercial enzyme immunoassays (EIA) and a plaque neutralization test (PNT) were used.

RESULTS
Only 12.7% of all infants showed measles antibodies in EIA. However, antibodies could be detected by PNT in all the infants, although only 36.6% showed titers of >1:8, which corresponds to protective antibody values of >0.2 IU/ml. The mean geometrical titer was significantly higher among infants from group I than in group II (1:7.16 vs. 1:3.71, p=0.0038). Protective antibody titers were detected in 50% of infants from group I and only 18.2% in group II (p<0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
Passive acquired immunity in infants born to mothers who have had measles lasts longer than in infants born to vaccinated mothers. Nearly two thirds of infants (65.4%) in the 7th month of life did not have sufficient maternally derived neutralizing antibodies to protect against measles. Our data suggest that the recommended age for the first dose of measles vaccine during measles epidemics should be lowered to 9 months, with re-vaccination at 12-15 months.


Abstract We numerically assess the influence of non-uniform magnetic flux density and connected load resistance on turbulent duct flows in a liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) electrical power generator. When increasing the magnetic flux density (or Hartmann number), an M-shaped velocity profile develops in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field; the maximum velocity in the sidewall layer of the M-shaped profile increases to maintain the flow rate. Under the conditions of a relaminarized flow, the turbulence structures align along the magnetic field and flow repeatedly like a von Kármán vortex sheet. At higher Hartmann numbers, the wall-shear stress in the sidewall layer increases and the sidewall jets transit to turbulence. The sidewall jets in the MHD turbulent duct flows have profiles similar to the non-MHD wall jets, i.e. a mean velocity profile with outer scaling, Reynolds shear stress with the opposite sign in a sidewall jet, and two maxima for the turbulent intensities in a sidewall jet. The Lorentz force suppresses the vortices of the secondary mean flow near the Hartmann layer for low Hartmann numbers, whereas the secondary vortices remain near the Hartmann layer for high Hartmann numbers. An optimal load resistance (or load factor) to obtain a maximum electrical efficiency exists, because the strong Lorentz force for a low load factor and unextracted eddy currents for a high load factor reduce efficiency. When the value of the load factor is changed, the profiles of mean velocity and r.m.s. for the optimal load factor produce almost the same profiles as the high load factor near the open-circuit condition.


This living paper reviews the present High Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities of the Tinker-HP molecular modeling package. We focus here on the reference, double precision, massively parallel molecular dynamics engine present in Tinker-HP and dedicated to perform large scale simulations. We show how it can be adapted to recent Intel Central Processing Unit (CPU) petascale architectures. First, we discuss the new set of Intel Advanced Vector Extensions 512 (Intel AVX-512) instructions present in recent Intel processors (e.g., the Intel Xeon Scalable and Intel Xeon Phi 2nd generation processors) allowing for larger vectorization enhancements. These instructions constitute the central source of potential computational gains when using the latest processors, justifying important vectorization efforts for developers. We then briefly review the organization of the Tinker-HP code and identify the computational hotspots which require Intel AVX-512 optimization and we propose a general and optimal strategy to vectorize those particular parts of the code. We intended to present our optimization strategy in a pedagogical way so it could benefit to other researchers and students interested in gaining performances in their own software. Finally we present the performance enhancements obtained compared to the unoptimized code both sequentially and at the scaling limit in parallel for classical non-polarizable (CHARMM) and polarizable force fields (AMOEBA). This paper never ceases to be updated as we accumulate new data on the associated Github repository between new versions of this living paper.


Protein dynamics of human adult hemoglobin and its mutants restricted in R and T quaternary states following ligand photolysis were studied by time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy. In the time-resolved spectra, we observed spectral changes of in-plane stretching modes of heme and the iron-histidine stretching mode of the Fe-His bond for all the hemoglobin samples. The βD99N mutant, which adopts the R state in both the ligand-bound and the deoxy forms, showed similar temporal behaviors in time-resolved resonance Raman spectra as wild-type recombinant hemoglobin until 10 μs, consistent with the fact that the mutant undergoes only the tertiary structural changes in the R state. The βN102T mutant, which adopts the T state in both the ligand-bound and the deoxy forms, showed much slower tertiary structural changes, suggesting that the EF helical motion is decelerated by the change of the intersubunit interactions. The present data indicate that the allosteric kinetic response between the interhelical hydrogen bonds of the EF helices and the intersubunit hydrogen bonds is bidirectional. The implications of these results for understanding the allosteric pathway of Hb are discussed in detail.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Use and Abuse of History has become a key text of current historiography; this is a book that poses fundamental and disturbing questions about the use and abuse of history. Engaging and challenging, this book confronts the reader with the many 'histories' that exist and have existed around the world, from the Zulu kingdoms to Communist China. This title has now been extensively revised by Marc Ferro, a well respected historian, and presents the different narratives that constitute the histories of countries as diverse as India, Iran, Trinidad and the United States makes for fascinating reading in their own right. What makes this book so valuable, though, is what these narratives tell us about the societies which create them - how much is history distorted in order to condition the minds of those who are taught it? Use and Abuse of History appeals to anyone with a general interested in history.


Chronic hepatitis C remains a significant medical and economic burden in Canada, affecting nearly 1% of the population. Since the last consensus conference on the management of chronic hepatitis C, major advances have warranted a review of recommended management approaches for these patients. Specifically, direct-acting antiviral agents with dramatically improved rates of virological clearance compared with standard therapy have been developed, and several single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with an increased probability of spontaneous and treatment-induced viral clearance have been identified. In light of this new evidence, a consensus development conference was held in November 2011; the present document highlights the results of the presentations and discussions surrounding these issues. It reviews the epidemiology of hepatitis C in Canada, preferred diagnostic testing approaches and recommendations for the treatment of chronically infected patients with the newly approved protease inhibitors (boceprevir and telaprevir), including those who have previously failed pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy. In addition, recommendations are made regarding approaches to reducing the burden of hepatitis C in Canada.


ABSTRACT Background: A diverse range of opportunities for high school students to undertake Independent Research Projects (IRPs) in science and this is a beneficial aspect of high school science provision. In Higher Education, the importance of students undertaking research as part of their learning, including presenting at authentic, academic conferences, is increasingly recognised. Purpose: To date, research has little considered the experiences of high school students who present their scientific research at conferences, to audiences of academics and peers, and this study seeks to contribute to understanding in this area. Sample: Twenty seven high school science students from four state-maintained schools. Design and methods: This qualitative research incorporates the 'Students as Partners' (SaP) approach. SaP is present in the ways in which teachers and students worked in research and in contributing to authentic conferences. SaP is also reflected in the composition of the author team of this article; the first author worked for the organisation that delivered the conferences, the second author was a school student who participated in a focus group, having previously presented her research at one of these conferences, and the third author is based in a higher education institution. Student experiences were shared through five focus groups held at the students' schools and thematic analysis was used to explore these experiences. Results: High school students benefit from the opportunity to present their research at academic conferences, but they need support and guidance in the pre-conference and post-conference phases as well as at the conference to gain the most from the experience. Conclusion: Future research must consider the ways in which students from under-represented groups can be supported to view IRPs and presenting research at conferences as opportunities that are open to them if these opportunities are to be genuinely open to all students.


Radio pulsars in binary orbits often have short millisecond spin periods as a result of mass transfer from their companion stars. They therefore act as very precise, stable, moving clocks that allow us to investigate a large set of otherwise inaccessible astrophysical problems. The orbital parameters derived from high-precision binary pulsar timing provide constraints on binary evolution, characteristics of the binary pulsar population, and the masses of neutron stars with different mass-transfer histories. These binary systems also test gravitational theories, setting strong limits on deviations from general relativity. Surveys for new pulsars yield new binary systems that increase our understanding of all these fields and may open up whole new areas of physics, as most spectacularly evidenced by the recent discovery of an extremely relativistic double-pulsar system.


This essay offers a new defense of judicial review of the Constitution's federal structure. It begins by showing that federalism is best understood not as a system that creates rights for states but one that provides benefits for the citizens of the nation. It achieves this goal by distributing powers best exercised at the national level to the federal government and those best exercised more locally to the states. The benefits of this distribution include catering to diverse preferences of citizens in different states and creating horizontal competition among the states for efficient provision of government services.Because these benefits flow to citizens rather than to government officials, the structure of federalism creates a classic principal-agent problem. We show in the paper that citizens will be poor monitors of these officials, because they are rationally ignorant of politics, particularly structural issues, like federalism, and because they are an extremely large group, giving them incentives to free ride on the monitoring of others. We then show that state officials have incentives to take advantage of this lax monitoring and themselves undermine federalism. State officials may surrender their powers and acquiesce in congressional overreaching in the areas of the Commerce Clause, section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, the spending power and sovereign immunity. To give just one example, we show that while horizontal competition among the states may benefit citizens, state officials may benefit from avoiding competition and seeking a cartel sustained by a federal regulation. For such reasons, the political process cannot be counted upon to protect the proper distribution of powers, because state officials as well as federal officials have few incentives for its preservation. Because our theory of federalism is not a states' rights theory, we also believe that judicial review is appropriate when states usurp federal power or otherwise undermine federalism. State officials have strong incentives to undermine structural federalism in such areas as the dormant Commerce Clause and the Compact Clause. We thus call for more judicial enforcement in some of these areas as well. Ours is thus a unified theory of judicial review that justifies judicial enforcement of federalism against both federal and state governments. We end by sketching the beginnings of a theory explaining why the federal judiciary, given its structure and incentives, will improve the enforcement of this most essential constitutional distribution of power.


The National Industrial Policy Framework and the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa emphasise the importance of promoting select 'priority sectors'. This paper provides a review of existing research concerning SMME development in the three priority sectors of tourism, business process outsourcing and offshoring (BPO & O) and, creative industries. The paper argues for the importance of undertaking sector-differentiated research on SMME development in South Africa in order to complement other research which is focussed on sector development as a whole.


Manufacturing of superconducting Nb3Sn based Cable-in-Conduit Conductor (CICC) for Toroidal Field (TF) coils for the ITER tokamak under the responsibility of the ITER Domestic Agency for the Republic of Korea, ITER Korea, has been in progress since early 2012. Production of sufficient CICC needed to fabricate the first TF coil solely using Korean (KO) conductor has been achieved. Furthermore, low temperature performance verification tests near ITER operating conditions on a second CICC sample, following tests on a sample from the first KO CICC destined for an ITER TF coil, have recently been performed at the EPFL-CRPP SULTAN facility in Villigen, Switzerland. This paper provides an overview on all CICC that is destined for the first ITER TF coil to be fabricated with KO CICC, along with a brief summary of the results of the low temperature performance verification tests on KO CICC samples.


* How "data everywhere" transforms business, technology, and the way you live * A pioneering look at grand, new efficiencies forthcoming As communications, computing, and data storage converge, data is becoming utterly ubiquitous...and that changes everything. In this book, two leading data management visionaries reveal how data transforms the way you do business, the technologies you use, the investments you make, the life you live, and the world you live in. Chris Stakutis and John Webster draw on interviews with nearly 50 leading experts: technologists, sociologists, entrepreneurs, consultants, researchers, media leaders, and futurists alike. You'll discover how today's "primordial soup" of wired and wireless gadgetry is quickly coalescing into something immensely more powerful, driving applications you thought were pure science fiction. You'll also gain deep insight into the profound implications of ubiquitous data capture: implications that touch everything from your bedroom to the battlefield: * The emerging "Connectivity Divide." Which side of the chasm are you on?* Inescapable data's technical components: Async communications, * pervasive computing devices, wireless, and XML * Global calendars, momentary enterprises: Transforming your life and business * Uncontrolled information availability: Its risks to your security and well-being * The future of technical infrastructure, grids, smart storage, and beyond * Radical, new modes of information delivery: Nonnumeric, nontextual, unobtrusive * Future tech: From holographic displays to fertility "wall clocks" * Your DNA on a chip: The heart of your personal health and wellness program A(c) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.


Traffic safety applications relying on cooperative systems are currently being considered by several research projects worldwide. An important question is if existing wireless technologies can meet the communication requirements from this emerging field of applications? Part of the answer to the question is that the communication requirements depend on implementation. The data traffic from realizations based on "cooperative awareness" or on "hazard warnings" are very different. This article discusses the communication requirements of some typical traffic safety applications, how these requirements are affected by different realizations and finally what is required from a wireless access technology to support these applications.


Factors Affecting Nurse Educators' Decision to Teach Linda J. Thomas November 30,2010 The field of nursing currently faces a shortage of both nurses and nursing faculty. Yet, little is known about why clinical nurses opt to become nursing faculty. Qualitative investigations into this phenomenon are particularly rare. This study addressed these gaps in the context of career choice of faculty associate degree nursing (ADN) programs. The qualitative analysis was guided by Astin's (1984) psychosocial model of career choice. The central research question was, "What factors influence the career choice of nurse educators currently teaching in Kentucky associated degree nursing programs?" Faculty from the 20 ADN programs in public community colleges and 4-year institutions in Kentucky were studied. Two instruments were developed: Background Questionnaire for Nurse Educators (BQ) and Nurse Educator Interview Schedule (IS). Using purposeful sampling, one individual from each program comprised a matrix representing educational attainment, years of nursing faculty experience, and college size. Responses from semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data for the 19 participants were entered into a Coded Master Analytical Tool (43 interview questions and 10 background survey items). Faculty interviews were synthesized into the Summarized IS Response Matrix and analyzed for concepts, themes, and patterns. Results were organized by the seven research questions and subquestions, mapped to the BQ and IS. Several findings had not been previously noted in the literature. Only the iv most prominent findings are noted here, including: (a) flexibility and role autonomy are key reasons for moving from clinical nursing to educator role; (b) faculty are sustained by psychic rewards of student relationships and success; (c) feedback from fellow faculty, administrators, and students is valuable; (d) new faculty lacked confidence in lecture preparation, examinations, and curriculum development, were comfortable with clinical evaluation and technology; (e) promotion/tenure and external service were confusing and negatively perceived; (f) love ofteaching and lifelong learning were important aspects of their job; and (g) these different benefits compensated for lack of salary parity. The 19 responses resulted in few differences across the subgroups for educational attainment, years of nursing faculty experience, and college size.


This thesis is concerned with the formation and structure of silicified deposits in biology. The major system studied is silicified macrohairs from the lemma of the grass Phalaris canariensis L.. The macrohairs consist of silica and polysaccharides. Chemical and structural studies on the mineral phase utilised electron microscopy (transmission (TEM), scanning (SEM) and ultra high resolution (HRTEM)), energy disoersive X-ray analysis (EDXA), solid state nuclear magnetic resonance ( ⁹ Si nmr), infrared spectroscopy, birefringence and nitrogen adsorption experiments. Results showed that the silica is chemically 'pure', hydrated, amorphous at a resolution of 1OA and a variety of structural morphologies were observed which are related to the maturity of the macrohair. Analytical studies at different times after emergence of the inflorescence utilising EDXA and scanning proton microprob eanalysis (SPM) showed that the inorganic elements Si, K, P, S and Cl are spatially organised within the macrohairs during silicification. It is proposed that the macrohairs are silicified under strict cellular control. The organic matrix in the mature macrohairs was investigated by acid hydrolysis and chromatography. The changing emphasis of polysaccharide synthesis in the macrohairs as mineralisation occurs was followed by in vivo radioactive labelling of inflorescences at different stages using ⁱ⁴C glucose and Harabinose. Analysis o fpolysaccharides synthesised involved acid hydrolysis and enzymic digestions (Amylase and Driselase), followed by paper and thin layer chromatography with scintillation counting of the products. Results showed that at the early stages of mineralisation, arabinoxylans and cellulose are the major polymers synthesised but as the macrohair matures, largely non-cellulosic glucans (as yet unidentified) are synthesised. It is proposed that the change in emphasis of polysaccharide synthesis during wall development is related to the size and ultrastructural arrangements of silica particles observed. The organic matrix was also observed to give additional order to the system, the resulting material being totally impervious. A second system, chosen for comparison, is mineralised teeth from the radula of the common limpet Patella vulgata. The mature teeth contain silica, iron oxide (goethite) and an organic matrix. Investigations on the silicified phase utilising electron microscopy revealed morphological structural variations. Analytical studies involving EDXA and SPM analysis showed that there are complex temporal and spatial variations in the inorganic composition (P, S, Ca, Fe, Si, Cu) in all regions of the teeth. It is proposed that these changes can be correlated with changes in composition of the organic matrix. A comparison is made of the silica from the two systems.


This article reviews atmospheric changes associated with 44 solar eclipses, beginning with the first quantitative results available, from 1834 (earlier qualitative accounts also exist). Eclipse meteorology attracted relatively few publications until the total solar eclipse of 16 February 1980, with the 11 August 1999 eclipse producing the most papers. Eclipses passing over populated areas such as Europe, China and India now regularly attract scientific attention, whereas atmospheric measurements of eclipses at remote locations remain rare. Many measurements and models have been used to exploit the uniquely predictable solar forcing provided by an eclipse. In this paper, we compile the available publications and review a subset of them chosen on the basis of importance and novelty. Beyond the obvious reduction in incoming solar radiation, atmospheric cooling from eclipses can induce dynamical changes. Observations and meteorological modelling provide evidence for the generation of a local eclipse circulation that may be the origin of the 'eclipse wind'. Gravity waves set up by the eclipse can, in principle, be detected as atmospheric pressure fluctuations, though theoretical predictions are limited, and many of the data are inconclusive. Eclipse events providing important early insights into the ionization of the upper atmosphere are also briefly reviewed. This article is part of the themed issue 'Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse'.


An experimental investigation of the interaction of shock waves with discrete gas inhomogeneities is conducted in the GALCIT 15 cm diameter shock tube. The gas volumes are cylindrical refraction cells of 5 cm diameter with a 0.5 µm thick membrane separating the test gas (helium or Freon 22) from the ambient air and large spherical soap bubbles containing the same gases. The incident wave Mach numbers are nominally 1.09 and 1.22. The wave pattern and the deformation of the gas volumes are documented by shadowgraphs. The transmitted and diffracted wave pressure profiles are recorded by pressure transducers at various distances behind the cylinders. The basic phenomena of acoustic wave refraction, reflection and diffraction by cylindrical acoustic lenses, with indices of refraction appropriate to the gases used in the experiments, are illustrated with computer-generated ray and wave-front diagrams. In the case of a Freon 22-filled cylinder, the wave diffracted externally around the body precedes the wave transmitted from the interior which goes through a focus just behind the cylinder, while in the case of the helium-filled cylinder the expanding transmitted wave runs ahead of the diffracted wave. Both sets of waves merge a few cylinder diameters downstream. The wave patterns inside the cylinder, showing initially the refracted waves and later the same waves reflected internally, present some interesting phenomena. The mechanisms by which the gas volumes are transformed into vertical structures by the shock motion are observed. The unique effect of shock acceleration and Rayleigh-Taylor instability on the spherical volume of helium leads to the formation of a strong vortex ring which rapidly separates from the main volume of helium. Measurements of the wave and gas-interface velocities are compared to values calculated for one-dimensional interactions and for a simple model of shock-induced Taylor instability. The behavior of thin liquid membranes accelerated by shocks under varying conditions is documented by high speed photography. In a related experiment, shock waves of Mach number between 1.005 and 1.36 interact with a dense random array of 2 mm diameter helium filled soap bubbles. Experimental results (based on shadowgraphs and pressure measurements) show that very weak shock waves (Ms ≤ 1.01) are strongly scattered by the array, which is left undisturbed by the shock, and that stronger shock waves, only locally disturbed by each bubble, maintain undisturbed pressure profiles because of nonlinear effects, while the array undergoes shock-induced mixing. A simple criterion for multiple scattering shows that the combined effect of many bubbles is necessary in order to produce important modifications on the shock wave pressure profile.


The (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel is the most common protein fold. Similar structural properties for folding intermediates of (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel proteins involved in tryptophan biosynthesis have been reported in a number of experimental studies; these intermediates have the last two beta-strands and three alpha-helices partially unfolded, with other regions of the polypeptide chain native-like in conformation. To investigate the detailed folding/unfolding pathways of these (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel proteins, temperature-induced unfolding simulations of N-(5'-phosphoribosyl)anthranilate isomerase from Escherichia coli were carried out using a special-purpose parallel computer system. Unfolding simulations at five different temperatures showed a sequential unfolding pathway comprised of several events. Early events in unfolding involved disruption of the last two strands and three helices, producing an intermediate ensemble similar to those detected in experimental studies. Then, denaturation of the first two betaalpha units and separation of the sixth strand from the fifth took place independently. The remaining central betaalphabetaalphabeta module persisted the longest during all simulations, suggesting an important role for this module as the incipient folding scaffold. Our simulations also predicted the presence of a nucleation site, onto which several hydrophobic residues condensed forming the foundation for the central betaalphabetaalphabeta module.


This paper studies how cultural norms and enforcement policies influence illicit corporate activities. Using confidential IRS audit data, we show that corporations with owners from countries with higher corruption norms engage in higher amounts of tax evasion in the U.S. This effect is strong for small corporations and decreases as the size of the corporation increases. In the mid-2000s, the United States implemented several enforcement measures which significantly increased tax compliance. However, we find that these enforcement efforts were less effective in reducing tax evasion by corporations whose owners are from countries with higher corruption norms. This suggests that cultural norms can be a challenge to legal enforcement.


Background
A hepatobiliary (HIDA) scan is a study historically done to evaluate for cholecystitis and more recently shown to be an effective way to measure liver function. Volumetric analysis on computed tomography (CT) is the most common way to evaluate future liver remnant prior to planned partial hepatectomy or radiation therapy. The aim of this study is to determine to what degree do lobar CT volume ratios correlate with distribution of functionality.
Experimental Design
A retrospective review and analysis of the images for 63 patients with liver cancer, imaged between 2016 and 2018, was performed. All functional HIDA scans were processed using MIM software. Total liver function, with lobar ratios, were obtained. Whole liver and lobar volume analysis on CT was also performed.
Results
The mean age was 63.6 [Symbol] 11.0 years with a male to female ratio of 1.3:1. The mean total liver volume on CT was 1611.3 [Symbol] 590.5 mL (Right lobe: 961.5 [Symbol] 405.3 mL, Left lobe: 649.8 [Symbol] 331.7 mL). The mean ratio of right to left lobar volumes was 59.5 [Symbol] 13.5 % to 40.6 [Symbol] 13.5%. The mean ratio of right to left lobar liver function was 60.7 [Symbol] 20.7% to 39.5 [Symbol] 21.1%.
Conclusion and Potential Impact
The overall average ratio between right and left lobe liver function appears to closely relate to the volumetric ratio between the lobes. These promising results suggest that liver function is fairly homogenous, which could provide great value in planning future liver operations and radiation therapy.


Introduction I. Constitutional and Statutory Restrictions on Port Operations A. The Tonnage Clause B. The Shipping Act C. Plaquemines. Courts' Exacting Standard Under the Shipping Act II. Addressing the Funding Problem A. Congressional Proposals 1. H.R. 526: ON TIME Act 2. H.R. 2355: MOVEMENT Act of 2009 3. H.R. 2707: National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund 4. Congressional Analysis B. National Infrastructure Bank C. Structured User Fees 1. PierPASS 2. Security-Related Fees 3. Clean Truck Program D. Port Authority Cargo-Based Fees 1. Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach--Infrastructure Fee 2. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey--Cargo Facility Charge 3. Analysis of Cargo-Based Fee Validity III. Proposed Reform Conclusion INTRODUCTION "[W]e can put Americans to work today building the infrastructure of tomorrow. From the first railroads to the interstate highway system, our nation has always been built to compete." (1) "Our infrastructure used to be the best, but our lead has slipped.... [W]hen our own engineers graded our nation's infrastructure, they gave us a D.'" (2) President Barack Obama's State of the Union Addresses in 2010 and 2011 focused on the need to rebuild trade-related infrastructure as an aspect of revitalizing the United States' economic condition. (3) American seaports are a central component of the President's discussion. (4) Port (5)-related activities contribute more than $649 billion annually to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, sustain more than thirteen million jobs, and contribute over $212 billion annually in federal, state, and local taxes. (6) United States seaports--much like the rest of the United States' infrastructure--are in desperate need of improvement. (7) Federal, state, and industry actors agree that freight rail and roadways servicing seaports require significant repair and expansion. (8) What they cannot agree upon, however, is how to generate the funds necessary to meet current and future capacity needs. (9) Modern container ports (10) have witnessed a sea change in how global trade is conducted. (11) From 1990 to 2007, trade in containerized cargo--i.e., cargo transported in a truck trailer body that can be detached from the frame of the truck for loading into a vessel or rail car (12)--in the United States' four largest container ports increased as follows: Ports of New York and New Jersey (279%), Port of Los Angeles (395%), Port of Long Beach (456%), and Port of Savannah (621%). (13) Driven by the surging market in containerized trade, the size of ships calling on U.S. ports has grown from 4500 twenty-foot equivalent units ("TEUs") (14) to 12,000 TEUs, (15) which has increased the number of trucks and miles of freight rail necessary to transport cargo from seaports to interior manufacturing and distribution points. (16) Consequently, many roadways have become inadequate, (17) resulting in roadway congestion, (18) increased fuel emissions, (19) and related environmental and public health concerns. (20) Additionally, East Coast ports are uniquely concerned with port-related capacity and infrastructure issues. (21) Historically, the largest ships transporting containerized cargo have been unable to pass through the Panama Canal in calling on East Coast ports. (22) This is about to change. The Panama Canal is currently being expanded to accommodate ships carrying up to 12,000 TEUs. (23) The anticipated completion of the Panama Canal Expansion Project in 2014 has forced ports on the eastern seaboard to dredge channels deeper to accommodate the larger ships (24) and expand intermodal facilities (25) to transport containerized cargo quicker and more efficiently. (26) Containerized cargo is here to stay, but what is less certain is how the United States will fund new infrastructure and development to accommodate its proliferation within the shipping industry. …


Objectives
Introduction: Inflammation is a complex biological response of the body tissues to foreign particles or pathogens.Research shows that an alkaline state maintained by the cells is healthier while an acidic pH increases the risk for numerous problems including chronic inflammation. The usual adverse effects of the anti-inflammatory drugs, necessitate the search for novel compounds of herbal origin. Red beetroot (Beta vulgaris rubra), is a vegetable plant known to possess various beneficial properties and is considered as a promising therapeutic tool in a range of clinical pathologies associated with oxidative stress and inflammation due to the betalain pigments contained. The present study refers to three cases suggesting options in which beetroot might be used to handle in different situations of inflammation.

Methods
Case description: Raw beetroot was administered as a common, affordable, safe to use natural remedies and a possible alternative to the common pharmaceutical over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs. Its efficiency was evaluated in few particular situations involving inflammation, as : episodes of gingivitis and toothache, migraine headaches, or as part of a more elaborate plan to recover from Bell's palsy. All three cases are individuals in the age range 50-65.

Results
Eating raw beetroot and chewing thoroughly proved to be an efficient way to alleviate symptoms of gingivitis (probably linked to tooth infection). Gum inflammation was fully resolved within a week. In another case, it helped reduce deep pulsating headache and recurrent pain which prevented sleep as well as ease of the tension, thus headache was ameliorated within 30 min and good night rest could be resumed. Another challenge was given to help accelerate recovering from Bell's palsy condition (this time, under a more elaborate plan which included also vitamin B12 supplements and massage therapy) and the complete recovery and returning to normal function could be obtained within 8 weeks instead of 3-6 months.

Conclusions
Beetroot proved to be a potential highly effective anti-inflammatory remedy, easy accessible and safe to use. Further investigations would be essential in order to validate the bioactive components involved, its efficiency in other forms of inflammation and implications for clinical practice, as well as defining the best way to use it.

Funding Sources
No.


Bleached Ananas comosus leaf fiber has been grafted using potassium persulphate (K2S2O8) as an initiator under the catalytic influence of ferrous sulphate (FeSO4.7H2O) in presence of air by AN monomer. The maximum graft level at optimum conditions, viz., monomer concentration, initiator concentration, catalyst concentration as well as reaction time, fiber amount and temperature have been determined. The percentage of grafting increases with the increase of monomer concentration, initiator concentration, catalyst concentration, fiber amount, time and temperature up to certain limits and thereafter it decreases. The optimum conditions of grafting for Acrylonitrile (AN) are 1.51 mol/liter monomer concentration, 0.005 mol/liter initiator concentration, 0.002 mol.L-1 catalyst concentration, 120 min. reaction time,0.1 gm fiber amount and 500C temperature. The maximum percentage of grafting and grafting efficiency at optimum condition was 70 %.


This paper describes work undertaken within the context of the P3 (Project and Process Prompter) Project which aims to develop the Prompter tool, a 'decision-support tool to assist in the planning and managing of a software development project'. Prompter will have the ability to help software project managers to assimilate best practice and 'know how' in the field of software project management and incorporate expert critiquing to assist with solving the complex problems associated with software project management. This paper focuses on Prompters agent- based approach to tackling the problems of distributed, platform independent support.


Safeguarding adults is a priority in adult social care, and training is one of the main ways in which policy and guidance around it is implemented. Training transfer refers to the use of new learning on the job, and while the transfer literature is well developed, it does not extend to safeguarding adults training. This research aimed to identify, develop and refine a programme theory of safeguarding adults training transfer by identifying factors that facilitate or inhibit the use of safeguarding adults training in practice, and the impact that the training has. A cross sectional mixed methods realist synthesis approach was used to evaluate two safeguarding adults training programmes provided in Cornwall, UK between 2009 and 2011. Realist synthesis aims to uncover what works, for whom, in which circumstances and how, and develops policy makers' programme theories of interventions using evidence. A systematic review of training transfer generally, and then of health and social care transfer specifically led to a revision of the policy makers' programme theory of training. Empirical research in the form of a factorial survey and narrative analysis of qualitative interviews was then undertaken, to further revise the programme theory to be specific to safeguarding adults training. Findings emphasise the importance of considering the effect of the training culture and transfer climate on safeguarding adults training effectiveness. Factors such as opportunity to use learning and supervisor support are important to transfer and the conflict between adult learning principles and mandatory training was explored. Safeguarding adults-specific supports were also highlighted, emphasising the importance of supporting practice using mechanisms other than training. Recommendations are provided regarding how the safeguarding related transfer climate can be improved. Limitations of the study include a high likelihood of sampling bias. The limitations of individual methods and problem of generalising findings obtained from a case study of Cornwall were reduced using the realist synthesis approach.


ABSTRACT In this study, we reviewed 76 journal articles on employing drawing assessment as a research tool in science education. Findings from the systematic review suggest four justifications for using drawing as a type of research tool, including assessment via drawing as (a) an alternative method considering young participants' verbal or writing abilities, and affective or economic reasons, (b) a unique method that can reveal aspects not easily measured by other methods, (c) a major method that reflects characteristics of science subjects, and (d) a formative assessment to diagnose students' ideas to benefit their learning. Furthermore, five research trends of studies using drawing as assessment tools are identified, including: (a) students' conceptions of scientists from the Draw-a-Scientist-Test (DAST) and evolving studies, (b) students' understanding or mental models of science concepts, (c) participants' conceptions of science learning or teaching, (d) students' inquiry abilities and modelling skills via drawing, and (e) technology to support drawing. For each trend, we synthesised and commented on the current findings. A framework conceptualising phases and issues when designing research and instruments employing drawing assessments is proposed. The review provides insights into the design and future direction of research employing drawing assessments in science education.


Sumatran Tiger is the one and only tiger's species which is still survive by Indonesia after Bali Harimau and Java Harimau which is have become extinct already.The conversion of Forest become other landsuch asHTI(Industrial Plantation Forest) andpalm oilplantationsattend effect ofconflictbetweenhumansandtigers. The dataof this studyis expected tobe areference forconflictmitigation. This observation used by using transectmethod in 5 m width. The observation observe toward the sign ofthe existence oftigersandtheir animalspeciesin form oftrail, dirt, scratches, the rest of theanimal. Every existence of the tiger there will be a vegetation analysis by making plot. The Result found that there is existence of tiger at 3 transect and 3 segment of secondary forest, 3 transect and 6 segment at HTI. Meanwhile, there is no founding of tiger existence at palm oil. The effect transforming of conversion becoming palm oil is there is no existence of the tiger itself, it because of the high of human's activity. Key Words : Sumatera Tiger, animal enemy, sign of existence, the effect of conversion.


Using a density functional scheme, the authors investigate the electronic properties of an epitaxial silicon oxynitride layer on a 6H-SiC(0001) surface, as recently realized experimentally. Simulated scanning-tunneling-microscopy images of filled and empty states agree well with the experiment, lending support to the proposed atomic structure. In accord with the experiment, the local density of states indicates that the electronic band gap in the thin silicate layer at the surface is close to that of bulk SiO2. The authors show that this effect results from the surface of the epitaxial adlayer acting as a high-barrier potential for the SiC states induced in the oxide band gap.


Academic) Leadership is an area of increasing interest for the engineering profession. Strategic documents assert the need for engineers to take more prominent leadership roles to better inform complex policy decisions. Engineering leadership scholars assert, however that adequate models of how engineers lead do not exist and that traditional leadership models are contrary to the collaborative norms of engineering practice. To address this gap in engineering leadership literature, this dissertation develops a model of how engineering students lead in team-based design project environments, an example of the collaborative environment that is commonplace in engineering practice. This quantitative study used a combination of round-robin (360-degree) survey data and course grades to examine the Full Range of Leadership within mechanical engineering-centric capstone design teams. Using a combination of cluster analyses, social network analyses, and regression analyses in a three manuscript approach, this dissertation 1) validated a Mechanical Engineering capstone version of the Full Range of Leadership, 2) determined the degree of shared leadership within the teams and how to classify teams based on their degree of shared leadership, and 3) related shared leadership to both team effectiveness and team attributes. The study resulted in a shared leadership model for engineering design teams. The model represents leadership as a three-form, shared phenomenon within teams. The amount of leadership within the team relates positively to both the group process and satisfaction measures of team effectiveness, but not to task performance. This relationship is moderated by the distribution of leadership, indicating that a limited amount of shared leadership may be more effective. Selected team attributes are related to the degree of shared leadership within the teams. The results broaden our conceptualization of leadership beyond an individual phenomenon, making it a shared phenomenon that is an integral component of design teamwork as it relates to design team effectiveness. Investigating Shared Leadership in Undergraduate Capstone Design Teams Brian John Novoselich ABSTRACT (Public) Leadership is an area of increasing interest for the engineering profession. StrategicPublic) Leadership is an area of increasing interest for the engineering profession. Strategic documents assert the need for engineers to take more prominent leadership roles to better inform complex policy decisions. Engineering leadership scholars assert, however, that adequate models of how engineers lead do not exist and that traditional leadership models are contrary to the collaborative norms of engineering practice. To address this gap in engineering leadership literature, this dissertation develops a model of how engineering students lead in team-based design project environments, which is a collaborative environment that is commonplace in engineering practice. This quantitative study used a combination of round-robin (360-degree) survey data and course grades to examine the leadership within senior-level, undergraduate mechanical engineering capstone design teams. Using a combination of analytical methods in a three manuscript approach, this dissertation 1) validated a new version of the Full Range of Leadership model for senior-level mechanical engineering students, 2) determined the degree of shared leadership within the teams and how to classify teams based on their degree of shared leadership, and 3) related shared leadership to both team effectiveness and team attributes. The study resulted in a three-form, shared leadership model for engineering design teams. The amount of leadership within the team relates positively to a team's extra effort and team member satisfaction, but not to the team's course grades. These relationships are diminished as leadership is more distributed across team members, indicating that a limited amount of shared leadership may be more effective. Certain team attributes also relate to the degree of shared leadership within the teams. The results broaden our conceptualization of leadership beyond an individual phenomenon, making it a shared phenomenon that is an integral component of design teamwork as it relates to design team effectiveness.


In Automatic Music Transcription, onset information is useful for correcting timing issues of multi-pitch estimation processes and obtain note-level representations of audio signals. Although this idea has been often used in transcription systems, it is still unclear to which degree its use is beneficial. We address this question by studying the influence of the accuracy of onset information in piano music transcription. Results indicate that note tracking results improve when the onset information provided is accurately estimated and properly included with the correct strategy. Additionally, results depict an important accuracy gap in note tracking when considering ground-truth onset information compared to using an automatic onset estimation algorithm, showing the need for more accurate onset detection methods for music transcription systems.


The central objects of study in this thesis are quantized coordinate algebras. These algebras originated in the 1980s in the work of Drinfeld and Jumbo and are noncommutative analogues of coordinate rings of algebraic varieties. The organic nature by which these algebras arose is of great interest to algebraists. In particular, investigating ring theoretic properties of these noncommutative algebras in comparison to the properties already known about their classical (commutative) counterparts proves to be a fruitful process. The prime spectrum of an algebra has always been seen as an important key to understanding its fundamental structure. The search for prime spectra is a central focus of this thesis. Our focus is mainly on Quantum Grassmannian subalgebras of quantized coordinate rings of Matrices of size m × n (denoted Oq(Mm,n)). Quantum Grassmannians of size m × n are denoted Gq(m, n) and are the subalgebras generated by the maximal quantum minors of Oq(Mm,n). In Chapter 2 we look at the simplest interesting case, namely the 2 × 4 Quantum Grassmannian (Gq(2, 4)), and we identify the H-primes and automorphism group of this algebra. Chapter 3 begins with a very important result concerning the dehomogenisation isomorphism linking Gq(m,n) and Oq(Mm,n−m). This result is applied to help to identify H-prime spectra of Quantum Grassmannians. Chapter 4 focuses on identifying the number of H-prime ideals in the 2×n Quantum Grassmannian. We show the link between Cauchon fillings of subpartitions and H-prime ideals. In Chapter 5, we look at methods of ordering the generating elements of Quantum Grassmannians and prove the result that Quantum Grassmannians are Quantum Graded Algebras with a Straightening Law is maintained on using one of these alternative orderings. Chapter 6 looks at the Poisson structure on the commutative coordinate ring, G(2, 4) encoded by the noncommutative quantized algebra Gq(2, 4). We describe the symplectic ideals of G(2, 4) based on this structure. Finally in Chapter 7, we present an analysis of the 2 × 2 Reflection Equation Algebra and its primes. This algebra is obtained from the quantized coordinate ring of 2 × 2 matrices, Oq(M2,2).


We provide a survey about generic attacks on cryptographic hash constructions including hash-based message authentication codes and hash combiners. We look into attacks involving iteratively evaluating identical mappings many times. The functional graph of a random mapping also involves iteratively evaluating the mapping. These attacks essentially exploit properties of the functional graph. We map the utilization space of those properties from numerous proposed known attacks, draw a comparison among classes of attacks about their advantages and limitations. We provide a systematic exposition of concepts of cycles, deep-iterate images, collisions and their roles in cryptanalysis of iterated hash constructions. We identify the inherent relationship between these concepts, such that case-by-case theories about them can be unified into one knowledge system, that is, theories on the functional graph of random mappings. We show that the properties of the cycle search algorithm, the chain evaluation algorithm and the collision search algorithm can be described based on statistic results on the functional graph. Thereby, we can provide different viewpoints to support previous beliefs on individual knowledge. In that, we invite more sophisticated analysis of the functional graph of random mappings and more future exploitations of its properties in cryptanalysis.


Inferring causal structure from data is a challenging task of fundamental importance in science. Observational data are often insufficient to identify a system's causal structure uniquely. While conducting interventions (i.e., experiments) can improve the identifiability, such samples are usually challenging and expensive to obtain. Hence, experimental design approaches for causal discovery aim to minimize the number of interventions by estimating the most informative intervention target. In this work, we propose a novel Gradient-based Intervention Targeting method, abbreviated GIT, that 'trusts' the gradient estimator of a gradient-based causal discovery framework to provide signals for the intervention acquisition function. We provide extensive experiments in simulated and real-world datasets and demonstrate that GIT performs on par with competitive baselines, surpassing them in the low-data regime.


This paper addresses the issue of philosophy of names within the context of biological taxonomy, more specifically how names refer. By contrasting two philosophies of names, one that is based on the idea that names can be defined and one that they cannot be defined, I point out some advantages of the latter within phylogenetic systematics. Due to the changing nature of phylogenetic hypotheses, the former approach tends to rob taxonomy from its unique communicative value since a name that is defined refers to whatever fits the definition. This is particularly troublesome should the hypothesis of phylogenetic relationship change. I argue that, should we decide to accept a new phylogenetic hypothesis, it is also likely that our view of what to name may change. A system where names only refer acknowledge this, and accordingly leaves it open whether to keep a name (and accept the way it refers in the new hypothesis) or discard a name and introduce new names for the parts of the tree that we find scientifically interesting. One of the main differences between a phylogenetic system of definition (PSD) and a phylogenetic system of reference (PSR) is that the former is governed by laws of language while the latter by communicative needs of taxonomists. Thus, a PSR tends to give primacy to phylogenetic trees rather than phylogenetic definitions of names should our views of which phylogenetic hypothesis to accept change. © 1998 The Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters


This book,written by a team of academics, judges and distinguished practitioners from the UK and abroad discusses the implications of the incorporation of the ECHR into Scots law. The contributors consider the impact of the Human Rights Act in light of the new constitutional settlement for Scotland and their experiences of other rights regimes in Europe, the Commonwealth, and the United States. The contributions span the fields of Private, Public, European Community and Comparative law and draw on human rights law and practice in the UK, the European Community, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States and Sweden, where the ECHR was recently incorporated. Topics include: analyses of the Human Rights Act and Scotland Act; human rights and the law of crime, property, employment, family and private life; Scottish court practice and procedure; Scots law and the European dimension; and building a rights culture in Scotland.


Abstract Influenced by processes of globalization and localization, many fields of social and commercial practice – including legal services – across Africa are undergoing rapid transformation. It should come as no surprise that these processes of globalization and transformation include the ongoing transformation of corporate lawyering. Lawyers from Johannesburg to Algiers – not to mention Khartoum and Ouagadougou – are experiencing and participating in rapid global change in their profession and everyday work. This article identifies some of the questions and issues that emerge from this process, as well as providing a vignette of the South African corporate legal sector and tentatively outlining the emergence of an African corporate lawyering field. It does so in order to propose a research agenda into the trends and potential pathways of growth in this field. It does so in four steps, moving from a theoretical frame to one of the Global South to a portrait of the South African jurisdiction and ending with an agenda for African corporate lawyering.


Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the etiological agent of diphtheria, a potential fatal disease caused by a corynephage toxin. The expression of this diphtheria toxin is controlled via an iron‐dependent repressor with various functions (DtxR). Some mutations in the dtxR gene are associated with diminished activity or even with total loss of DtxR function. We conducted a molecular study to characterize the dtxR alleles harbored by 34 isolates of C. diphtheriae recovered from Romanian patients between 1961 and 2007. Three of the seven alleles identified in this study have not previously been described. Two new DtxR types were identified, one of which has an unusual polypeptide length. All the new DtxR types were found in toxigenic isolates, suggesting that they effectively regulate the expression of diphtheria toxin. Furthermore, one of the new DtxR identified was also found in a non‐toxigenic isolate, making it a potential source of toxigenic isolates after lysogenic conversion.


Neutrophils are a type of innate immune cell that play a critical role in the acute inflammatory response by recognizing, phagocytizing and killing pathogens. Although their presence during infection is immensely significant for pathogen clearance, current research suggests that an overly robust neutrophil response may be detrimental to the host. Expression levels of the zebrafish chemokines Cxcl8-l1 and Cxcl8-l2, which are responsible for inducing neutrophil migration to a site of infection, have been shown to increase under inflammatory conditions caused by various PAMPs and infectious stimuli. Cxcl8 expression levels under inflammatory conditions caused by human viral infections, such as Influenza A virus infection, have yet to be studied. The aim of this study is to utilize the zebrafish as a model to characterize the neutrophil response to IAV infection. Using the MPX-mCherry transgenic zebrafish line (red fluorescence-tagged neutrophils) and IAV-GFP (green fluorescence-tagged Influenza A virus), we hope to quantify neutrophil migration to a localized IAV infection in the swimbladder. Localized infection with IAV-GFP resulted in increased numbers of neutrophils in the swimbladder region and surrounding tissues, suggesting that neutrophils do migrate to a localized IAV infection. Additionally, through the systemic infection of AB zebrafish embryos, we hope to investigate how levels of expression of neutrophil migratory genes: Cxcl8-l1 and Cxcl8-l2, may be altered upon IAV infection. Preliminary data have revealed that the Cxcl8 genes are up-regulated during IAV infection, particularly between 12 and


This study examines the implications of food standards required by international buyers and markets for exporters, manufacturers and producers and governance in the tea value chain in Sri Lanka. Currently Sri Lanka is one of the world's largest tea producers and exporters, but the industry is increasingly subject to stringent product standards, process standards, multiple private standards, and standards covering social and environmental issues. The study explores governance in the chain, stakeholders' perception of food standards, their response to emerging standards and the impact of these on governance. It adopts a qualitative case study. It involved interviews with 45 key informants in the tea industry. In addition, documentary analysis and direct observations were utilised to triangulate the data collected and analysed.

The study reveals the following key findings. First, the Sri Lankan tea value chain is complex, consisting of a number of stakeholders (smallholders, collectors, regional plantation companies, private factories, brokers, and exporters) who undertake various tasks (cultivation, collection, manufacturing, marketing, and exporting) and add value to the product as it moves along the chain. While the overall chain can be best described as buyer-driven, different parts of it (cultivation, manufacturing, marketing and exporting) are governed in distinct ways (market, relational, captive and hierarchical).

Second, the tea value chain is increasingly governed by a number of public and private standards that cover not only the product but also the production process. These standards are set and monitored locally and internationally by governments and private businesses and organisations. Compliance with public mandatory standards is high, because they are required by regulation, whereas compliance varies in the case of public and private voluntary standards and depends on end-consumers and markets. Compliance has brought a number of benefits to stakeholders (efficiency, discipline, reduction in wastage, market access and product and process assurance), despite the costs (capital costs, consultant fees and training costs, new staff and additional time, and input costs). Most stakeholders perceived benefits to outweigh their costs.

Third, the industry complied with emerging standards rather than adopting a strategy of voice or exit; most stakeholders saw the benefit of compliance and fell into line. The industry complied both proactively and reactively – proactively in the case of voluntary standards, but reactively in response to mandatory standards. The industry rarely adopted a strategy of voice or exit.

Fourth, complying with standards has neither altered the governance relationships between exporters and their international buyers nor those between exporters and the manufacturers. However, the linkages between manufacturers and smallholders further up in the value chain appear to have become closer and tighter subsequent to the introduction of food standards; it was observed that factories are increasingly assisting and monitoring smallholders.

Given the growing importance of standards in global value chains, the government of Sri Lanka and industry associations should together provide necessary support to stakeholders to meet the challenges of standards to ensure the continuity of Sri Lanka's prominent position in the international market, because this is increasingly under threat. This will require a multi-pronged approach, which would include promoting awareness of standards, providing financial assistance, training workers, improving institutional capacity, targeting low-income markets, harmonising standards and participating in standard-setting bodies.

The study has contributed to the existing literature on global value chains and standards by mapping the tea chain in Sri Lanka, exploring the governance types in the chain, documenting various food standards in the industry and their implications for governance.


Microinfarcts are a common clinical feature of the aging brain, particularly in patients with cognitive decline or vascular or Alzheimer's dementia. However, the natural history of these lesions remains largely unexplored. Here we describe a mouse (C57BL/6J) model of multiple diffuse microinfarcts induced by unilateral internal carotid artery injection of cholesterol crystals (40–70 μm). Microinfarcts were spread throughout the deep cortex, subcortical tissue, and hippocampus and were comprised of a core positive for CD68 (a marker for reactive microglia and macrophages), surrounded by large regions of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive reactive astrogliosis. Widespread reactive gliosis, including mislocalization of the astrocytic water channel aquaporin 4 persisted long after injury, recovering only after 1 month after stroke. Within the cortex, neuronal cell death progressed gradually over the first month, from ∼35% at 3 d to 60% at 28 d after stroke. Delayed demyelination was also observed in lesions, beginning 28 d after stroke. These findings demonstrate that microinfarct development follows a distinct course compared to larger regional infarcts such as those induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion. The long-lasting gliosis, delayed neuronal loss, and demyelination suggest that the therapeutic window for microinfarcts may be much wider (perhaps days to weeks) than for larger strokes.


When you pick out something to wear in the morning, you choose the clothes that best fit your mood and personality that day. Same with the music we listen to and even the cars we drive. We instinctively surround ourselves with the things that are reflective of our personalities, so why not our computers? Skinning Windows XP will show you how to take the Microsoft Windows Graphical User Interface to a whole new visual and functional level. Through step-by-step instructions, you will learn how to customize your Windows XP theme, icons and backgrounds using skinning software. Not sure what skinning software is or where to find it? You'll learn about that, too. You will become familiar with the Windows desktop structure and components and learn how to alter the elements to create a personalized desktop experience. Along with a 16-page, full-color insert with before and after shots of skins for inspiration, Skinning Windows XP will help you technologically express yourself.


Over the past two decades equal channel angular processing (ECAP) and other severe plastic deformation (SPD) processes have been shown, in the laboratory scale, to produce material with promising properties for industrial applications. In particular, ultrafine grain (UFG) metals produced by ECAP process, for example, have been shown to exhibit higher strain rate sensitivity at lower temperatures and higher strain rates. These factors translate to improved hot formability. However, scale up of these processes to manufacture industrial size components has not been widely undertaken. In this study, billets of annealed AA6061 with 12.5 mm (0.5-in), 50 mm (2-in) and 100 mm (4-in) square cross section were ECAP processed. For the first time, these larger SPD billets were used as starting stock for subsequent hot forging. Several parts were forged on an industrial scale press with the UFG material, as well as conventional stock materials. These parts varied in complexity, as well as size in order to cover the variability in industrial components. This paper will present the effect of scaling up on the mechanical properties, microstructure, and the hot workability of the alloy from the laboratory scale (12.5 mm) to industrial scale (100 mm). Results show that both the forging temperature of the billets and the starting billet size can be substantially decreased compared to conventional forging practice. Therefore, the use of SPD materials, as forging stock, results in decreased energy usage and increased material yield. Results presented will include examples of forged parts, estimated energy savings associated with the use of SPDUFG stock, and properties after forging and subsequent heat treatment.


Once considered a rare clinical condition, trichotillomania is now recognized as a psychological disorder that is more prevalent than previously thought. The behavioral treatment of a 21-year old college woman with a longstanding history of chronic hair pulling is described in this case study. The extent of the trichotillomania was measured during an 11-day baseline period (self-monitoring, photographs) followed by 4 months of behavioral treatment including prominent components of habit-reversal training. The results of the interventionwere suggestive of a substantial reduction in hair pulling incidents, hair regrowth in the affected parts of her scalp, and self-reported improvements in mood, anxiety, and self-esteem. Limitations of these data are reviewed and recommendations for clinicians who intend on treating trichotillomania are provided.


This article presents a new perspective on the impact of migration and remittances on labour market participation and time allocation in migrant-sending families. Departing from the common finding that labour market participation is lower in migrant households, we investigate whether the reasons for inactivity, i.e. leisure consumption, home production and higher education are affected by migration. Based on household survey data from Moldova, our results challenge the assertion that those who stay behind consume more leisure. Instead, living in a migrant household implies higher probabilities of intra-household labour substitution and a substantially higher likelihood of university enrolment.


Arsenite is a major environmental chemical and a known reproductive toxicant via the depression of spermatogenesis and androgenesis in males. The possibility of sodium arsenite reproductive toxicity been caused by autooxidation was investigated in this study taking advantage of the anti-oxidant properties of ginger and its androgenic activities. The effect of exposure to sodium arsenite (10 mg/kg BW/day) by gavage via oral cannula without or with aqueous ginger extract (500mg/kg BW/day) co-treatments for 30 days was evaluated in adult male rats. The weight of the reproductive organs, sperm count, motility, and morphology were evaluated. Plasma FSH, LH and testosterone levels were assayed. Lipid peroxidation (indexed by MDA) and antioxidants enzymes likes GSH, SOD, CAT were assessed. Sodium arsenite treatment decreased the reproductive organs weight: testis, epididymis, prostate and seminal vesicle; sperm functions: count, motility and normal morphology; plasma hormones level: FSH, LH and testosterone. There was a decrease in the activities of GSH, SOD and CAT as well as an increase in MDA concentration. Co-administration of aqueous ginger extract with arsenite was found to protect against adverse change in the reproductive organ weight, attenuate the decrease in sperm functions, enhance plasma reproductive hormones level along with increased antioxidants activities and reduced peroxidation. This study showed that sodium arsenite apart from being a hormonal disrupter also causes oxidative stress which contributed to the reproductive damage in the male rats. The protective effects of ginger on reproductive toxicity and oxidative stress as evidenced by the clear restoration of sperm functions, testicular steroidogenesis and reproductive organo-somatic indices could be attributed to its antioxidants and androgenic properties.


Being able to read thermal simulation results and to adapt one's design accordingly has become an essential skill for graduating and practicing architects. This article proposes and evaluates an innovative way of how this skill can be taught via a 90-min in-class exercise or 'game' based on DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus. The game was tested in a class of 47 architecture students who competed to generate the lowest energy use intensity (EUI) for an office building in Boston. Design upgrades were associated with a cost premium and the overall upgrade budget was capped. The EUIs of the 10 final submissions were 22–31% below the base variant. While student essays revealed a clear preference for game-based learning vis-a-vis conventional teaching methods, the authors further propose that the game nourishes the emergence of an energy modelling 'culture' within schools of architecture that may lead to enhanced communication between architects and energy modellers.


ABSTRACTThe treatment of youthful offenders in correctional settings presents psychologists with a range of challenging ethical concerns. The inherent discord between psychologically based goals and correctional objectives yields a complicated ethical landscape for clinicians. These concerns can be partially addressed through the APA's revised Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (2010) and field-specific practice guidelines but also require extensive further guidance to ensure competent and ethical practice. This article analyzes current information about youthful offenders, outlines disparities in stakeholder goals, provides an overview of ethical considerations of treating youthful offenders in correctional settings, and offers recommendations for education and practice.


Studying the energy efficiency of large-scale computer systems requires models of the relationship between resource utilization and power consumption. Prior work on power modeling assumes that models built for a single node will scale to larger groups of machines. However, we find that inter-node variability in homogeneous clusters leads to substantially different models for different nodes. Moreover, ignoring this variability will result in significant prediction errors when scaled to the cluster level. We report on inter-node variation for four homogeneous five-node clusters using embedded, laptop, desktop, and server processors. The variation is manifested quantitatively in the prediction error and qualitatively on the resource utilization variables (features) that are deemed relevant for the models. These results demonstrate the need to sample multiple machines in order to produce accurate cluster models.


Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a particularly important crop for food security, providing 20% of worldwide calorie intake. Food production is not meeting the projected global demand of an increase of 2.4% p.a. Improvement of resource capture in wheat could help meet this demand. Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth and development; however, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) for cereal production is only 33%. Domestication of modern varieties of wheat may have lost potentially beneficial agronomic traits, particularly in the root system. Optimisation of root system architecture could profoundly improve nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUpE) and in turn increase the yield potential of the crop. Using ancestral wheat germplasm and mapping populations, desirable traits may be identified and bred back into commercial wheat varieties to increase yield potential. Using a high-throughput hydroponic root phenotyping system, N-dependent root traits have been identified in wheat mapping populations. Using transcriptomic analyses, the gene expression profile of a candidate N-dependent root QTL has been identified. Using a new root phenotyping system, X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT), a three-dimensional representation of wheat roots can now be imaged in soil. A selection of the same mapping lines have been used for 3D μCT analysis based on field NUpE parameters to identify promising root traits in both seedlings and mature plants.


The average depth and heat flow of oceanic lithosphere as functions of age are well described by cooling plate models in which old lithosphere approaches an asymptotic thermal structure, causing average depth and heat flow to flatten. However, some areas are significantly shallower or deeper than the global average for their age. One possibility is that the deviations reflect variations in lithospheric temperature structure. Another is that the deviations reflect processes including excess volcanism or dynamic effects of mantle flow. The first hypothesis assumes that the average flattening reflects thermal perturbations to halfspace cooling, so the temperature structures of areas that are unusually deep for their age reflect continued halfspace cooling and thus should have lower heat flow. Although this hypothesis predicts lower heat flow at deeper sites in old lithosphere, the deep sites are divided approximately evenly between ones with high and low heat flow. Instead, the anomalously deep sites occur primarily at passive continental margins, perhaps because of dynamic topography due to sublithospheric mantle processes and in only a few cases thinner crust formed at slow spreading rates immediately after rifting. Similarly, preferentially high heat flow is essentially not observed at anomalously shallow sites, primarily on hotspot swells, indicating that the swells do not result from hotspots significantly reheating the lithosphere. Thus, in general, neither shallow nor deep areas reflect primarily perturbed lithospheric thermal structure. Hence a plate model is more useful than a halfspace model in describing how ocean depth and heat flow vary with lithospheric age, and excluding the vast majority of the seafloor while ascribing significance to the small fraction matching the halfspace model is pointless.


As modern healthcare evolves, it is essential for nurses to understand and work with a diverse range of people to provide quality care. But it is often difficult to grasp the many roles of those in healthcare services. This book provides a clear, practical and up-to-date guide to the various people that nurses work with, including the essential role of service users themselves, and how to work with them to improve care. This new edition includes increased coverage of teamwork and improving mental health. It is updated throughout including discussion of LiNKS, the Care Quality Commission and Every Child Matters.


Abstract Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder that causes symmetrical polyarthritis of large and small joints. RA affects about 0.5–1% of the population and is more common in females than males. In recent years, it has been increasingly recognised that early diagnosis and management of RA is important to prevent joint destruction, which has been shown to occur early on in the disease process. The primary effects of the disease on joints and muscles, together with physical inactivity, usually result in diminished joint range of motion, muscle weakness, decreased endurance performance, depression, poor cardiovascular health and osteoporosis. The principles of management of RA should include non-pharmacological and pharmacological management. Non-pharmacological modalities (including lifestyle interventions) are well recognised as important components of the treatment of early arthritis, including RA. The main lifestyle interventions for RA are physical exercise, dietary intervention, psychological intervention and education. The guidelines for these lifestyle interventions in patients with RA are reviewed.


In this report, we discuss alternative scenarios for restoring growth and increasing employment in the Greek economy, evaluating alternative policy options through our specially constructed macroeconometric model (LIMG). After reviewing recent events in 2013 that confirm our previous projections for an increase in the unemployment rate, we examine the likely impact of four policy options: (1) external help through Marshall Plan–type capital transfers to the government; (2) suspension of interest payments on public debt, instead using these resources for increasing demand and employment; (3) introduction of a parallel financial system that uses new government bonds; and (4) adoption of an employer-of-last-resort (ELR) program financed through the parallel financial system. We argue that the effectiveness of the different plans crucially depends on the price elasticity of the Greek trade sector. Since our analysis shows that such elasticity is low, our ELR policy option seems to provide the best strategy for a recovery, having immediate effects on the Greek population's standard of living while containing the effects on foreign debt.


This article analyses the Chilean independent and not-for profit station Radio Tierra In the general context of the work of two key Chilean sociologists, José Joaquín Brunner and Manuel Antonio Garretón, in particular the latter's theory of an epochal transformation in the relationship between culture and neo-liberalism in Chile over the preceding 30 years. More specifically, it suggests that Radio Tierra makes evident the emergence of a new form of social communication which, in contrast to the traditional liberal model of communication of, and for, information, is more attuned to the new functions of culture in the expansion and implementation of citizenship under conditions of (neo-liberal) globalization. After a discussion of the contemporary media scene and the role of public journalism and alternative communication in Latin America, the article then focuses on the communicational, political and cultural work of Radio Tierra. In 1990, along with the transition to democracy, Radio Tierra (RT) was born in Santiago as an independent station. Using its trajectory, I will try to concretely show some important connections between globalization, neo-liberalism and culture in contemporary Chile.


In the sixty years since General Kalashnikov created the AK's distinctive silhouette, the gun has been at the centre of conflicts across the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The weapon that made him a 'Hero of the Soviet Union' has also appeared on t-shirts and vodka bottles, featured in videos and song lyrics and been re-fashioned in crystal - a gift from Putin to George W. Bush. Power, politics and passion combine in the story of a weapon that has shaped the modern world. Using testimonies of people who have experienced the gun at first-hand - including a Sudanese child soldier, a Vietcong veteran and a Yorkshire teenager - Michael Hodges provides a compelling account of how the AK47 became an icon that ranks alongside Coca-Cola as one of the most recognisable brands in the world.