EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF A FLIPPED CLASSROOM COMPARED TO A TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM ON RETENTION OF INFORMATION AND COURSE ENGAGEMENT IN A RADIATION SAFETY COURSE By Stephanie Anne McHugh, MBA A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018 Major Director: Timmerie Cohen, PhD, Clinical Coordinator-Radiation Therapy, Department of Radiation Sciences The purpose of this study was to compare the flipped and traditional classroom pedagogies in relation to retention, critical thinking skills, and student engagement as measured by the multiple choice and short answer questions on the final exams, course evaluations, and CUCEI scores. Radiologic technologists, nuclear medicine technologists, and radiation therapists play vital roles in both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in patient care. Employers today are seeking graduates who know more, are better able to apply this knowledge, and solve more challenging problems (McLean, et al., 2016). This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the flipped and traditional classroom pedagogies at increasing retention and critical thinking skills, as measured by final exams, and student engagement, as measured by course evaluations. The model was delivered and assessed for 61 radiation science students at Virginia Commonwealth University's College of Health Professions Radiation Science program. Based on numerical results for the final exam and College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), no significant difference in critical thinking skills, retention, or student engagement was observed between the flipped and traditional pedagogies for radiation science students. For the purpose of this study, pedagogy referred to the application of a method of teaching, the flipped or traditional classroom, in relation to constructs of the Cognitive Learning Theory (CLT). For this study retention is defined as the amount of information that a student can retain for the length of a semester, 15 weeks. Critical thinking is defined as the students' successful ability to take several concepts and put them together to make an analysis of a given situation. Student engagement for this study was defined as the level of attention and interest for the material being taught. Further analysis of the results indicated that the demographics (gender, age, years in college, and race) did not affect preference for flipped or traditional pedagogy. Statistically significant results on the CUCEI subcategories of satisfaction and innovation indicate that students found the flipped classroom more enjoyable and innovative than the traditional classroom. These results support professor exploration of different teaching pedagogies that they are comfortable with. Further studies are needed to ensure model validity and generalizability of findings.


Since at least the early Middle English period the conception of the North of England as a region, which is culturally and linguistically separate from the South of the country, has been widespread (Beal 1993: 125–129). Nonetheless, there is no simple consensus about the extent of the North of England, either in common perception or linguistic description (Billinge and Baker, eds, 2004; Musgrove 1990; Russell 2004; Wales 2000, 2001, 2006). Certain supraregional features (Hickey 2013) are typical of the entire region and serve as identity markers while others point to a more finely grained and nuanced view of the region. The present-day North is characterised not least by a division of English into rural and urban varieties with the latter sharing or resisting general developments in urban British English today.


Dr wright presents an original reading of Freud, Winnicott and Bowlby, which takes the gaze between mother and baby as a metaphor for the entire developmental process. He argues further that psychoanalytic theories of development have neglected the importance of the face in early experience.Winner of The Margaret S Mahler 1992 Prize for Literature.


Writing is an essential professional skill. The goal of writing instruction in business communication classes is to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully meet future writing challenges. However, many writers struggle to transfer skills and knowledge from one context to another. The primary reason for this struggle is that despite years of writing instruction, most people are highly apprehensive about writing and do not consider themselves "writers." Writing instruction typically does little to lessen writing apprehension, but fostering writing self-efficacy can both diminish writing apprehension and further writing development.


Constituting a technical rearrangement of a valued linguistic space, the codification of one of the linguistic possibilities offered is the corollary of the extension of the public space beyond the immediate sphere of the actors. The spatial spheres in which the actors move about in their daily lives differ from each other and consequently influence their appropriation of space. A person's relationship to the world is conditioned historically and socially. Using French dialectology as basis, this article aims to study the manner in which space conveys the linguistic values in the changing society at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. Consideration of the extralinguistic factors – ethnographic, geographic, and historical – allows us to comprehend the topographical distribution of linguistic facts and to study the disappearance of a linguistic space of an agrarian and settled world due to the homogenizing pressure exerted by the standard language. The increasing verticalization of community structures has an impact on the reduction of linguistic spaces. The reconfiguration of the linguistic space influences the perception of the language by the actors.


The aim of the study is to determine the contribution of gamification to writing skills of middle school students. For this study, a lesson plan has been developed to relate Writing and Authorship Skills lesson to the gamification for middle school students. From this lesson plan, it was tried to determine the effectiveness of the teaching process. Therefore, the study was designed as action research. The research group is composed of seventh grade students. Criteria sampling technique was used to determine the participants. As a data collection tool, student diary, semi-structured interview form, semi-structured observation form, digital content of the students were used. Data obtained from the semi-structured interview form were analyzed by content analysis; other data were analyzed by descriptive analysis. Writing skills and gamification were related in the study. Turkish Language Teaching Program (2018) has been taken into consideration in the action plan which relates to gamification and writing skill. As a result of the study, it was seen that all participants were actively involved in the implementation process. In addition, it was concluded that gamification increased the interest of students towards the course, combined school and non-school life, facilitated classroom management, supported collaborative work, and developed creativity. As a result of this study, it is suggested that digital games can be used as a text type in Turkish language lessons with the method of gamification in order to positively affect motivation of the middle school students toward writing education.


The focus of this thesis lies on the joint application of ground-based and airborne electromagnetic methods for the investigation of a glacial valley. For the first time two different airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveying methods were employed to determine the resistivity structure of a single geological target: the frequency-domain helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) system operated by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Germany, and the time-domain SkyTEM system developed at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. For verification of the airborne results, ground-based transient electromagnetics (TEM) and 2D resistivity surveying were also performed. The target survey area was the Cuxhaven valley in northern Germany, a significant local groundwater reservoir. The course of this buried valley was revealed by drillings, and the shape determined by reflection seismics along several transects across the valley. Electrical and electromagnetic methods were applied to investigate the structure of the valley fill, consisting of gravel, sand, silt and clay. Here, the extension and the thickness of clay layers are of particular interest. They have a low hydraulic permeability and often serve as protection for underlying aquifers against pollution from the surface. The standard tools for presenting AEM data are apparent-resistivity maps and resistivity-depth sections. Although the large and dense data sets are favorable for 3D interpretation, it is still not common to perform 3D inversion in AEM, as the effort in terms of computing time is too high. Therefore, 1D inversion models are still used to display 3D resistivity distributions by stitching together the 1D layered inversion models. Besides the 3D inversion the combination of different data sets in one inversion scheme is an ongoing research issue. One approach is the classical joint inversion, which results in one resistivity model at the shared survey sites, whereas each site is regarded as individual. In this thesis I follow a different approach: spatially constrained inversion (SCI). SCI is a technique where different data sets are combined in one inversion scheme and spatial constraints are applied to the resistivity structure revealed at adjacent survey sites. Thus, the method is particularly useful for large data sets as obtained in AEM. Using spatial constraints, information can be propagated horizontally to adjacent models. With this technique it is then possible to resolve layers which are locally poorly resolved. SCI was originally developed at University of Aarhus for SkyTEM data. In this thesis I adapt the technique for the use on HEM data and apply it to both, SkyTEM and HEM data of the Cuxhaven valley using a priori information from geology, drilling, and seismics. Systematic studies of the SCI parameters show that a) the inversion results applying SCI are less dependent on the starting model in comparison to single-site inversion, b) HEM data resolve the base of a conductive layer which can be identified as the Lauenburg clay, and c) SkyTEM data reveal the base of the Cuxhaven valley which is also confirmed by a seismic section and high-moment TEM measurements. The influence of the valley geometry on the 1D inversion results were systematically studied by 3D forward modeling of different slope geometries. 1D inversions of the synthetic data across the slope were performed with and without constraints between neighboring sites. The resulting 1D models are affected by the slope and simulate a valley base at shallower depth than in the 3D model. Using constraints again decreases the dependency on the starting model. This thesis demonstrates that 1.) by the joint application of ground-based and airborne electromagnetic methods, 2.) by the application of the SCI including a priori information and 3.) by explaining 2D effects of valley slopes using a 3D forward code, a better understanding of the structure of the Cuxhaven valley is obtained.


One of the most pressing issues in punitive damages law today is how to protect defendants from multiple punitive damages awards for a single course of conduct, while still ensuring that wronged plaintiffs can recover punitive damages. Numerous commentators have proposed non-opt-out class actions for punitive damages as the best solution to the multiple punishment problem because they subject defendants to a single collective punitive damages award that can be distributed equitably across all injured plaintiffs. This Article takes a contrary view. It argues that mandatory classes improperly deprive class plaintiffs of their right to opt out and pursue their own individual claims while allowing defendants to self-servingly cap their punitive damages liability at an artificially low level that thwarts the punishment and deterrence purposes of punitive damages.First, this Article explains that because the Supreme Court has held that an individual plaintiff can collect punitive damages only for harm done to that plaintiff, allowing plaintiffs to opt out and pursue their own claims creates no risk of imposing duplicative punishment on defendants. Second, this Article suggests that mandatory classes are particularly inappropriate for class action settlements because settlements are not punitive in nature. In a class settlement, parties have incentives to manipulate the settlement fund's allocation of punitive damages in ways that bear no connection to wrongdoing or punishment, and that allow defendants to significantly reduce their punitive damages exposure. Instead, preserving class members' right to opt out best protects plaintiff autonomy and helps ensure that defendants pay an appropriate amount of punitive damages.


The objective of this research was to investigate adhesion of different fouling deposits with different contact surfaces using atomic force microscopy (AFM). In this thesis, AFM has been employed to measure:
(i) The adhesive interactions between a colloidal silica microparticle and stainless steel, PTFE-coated stainless steel, glass and ceramic surfaces, in the presence of a number of solutions and suspensions of ingredients found in commercially available toothpaste.
(ii) To compare the measurements from the AFM and micromanipulation to see the differences and similarities. The micromanipulation technique was developed to measure the adhesive strength of different deposits. The method uses a T-shaped probe made of stainless steel chip, dimension 30 x 6 x 1 mm connected to the output aperture of a transducer (Model BG-1000, Kulite Semiconductor, Leonia, NJ. USA) which was itself mounted on a three dimensional micromanipulator (MicroInstruments, Oxon, UK). The two measurement methods are capable of giving quantitative results for the strength of the forces involved in adhesion; fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) deposits, toothpaste and confectionary stimulant deposits have been studied, and their interactions with stainless steel, glass and PTFE surfaces measured.
(iii) Further investigation of AFM adhesion measurements, with caramel, whey protein and sweet condensed milk (SCM) deposits after heating at 30oC, 50oC, 70oC, and 90oC. The two selected spherical microparticles used were stainless steel and PTFE, which were attached to the end of an AFM tip.
The data shows that, for removal in all cases using micromanipulation, the pulling energy increases with increasing height above the surface and the slope of the lines of pulling energy versus thickness is similar. Stainless steel shows the highest pulling energy with slightly higher energies than glass and PTFE, whilst PTFE show the lowest interaction. For the AFM data, PTFE again gives much lower adhesion forces. This is due to the different molecular interactions between different surfaces and caramel. There is thus partial agreement between the two methods. The micromanipulation method measures a range of parameters – such as the deformation and flow of the deposits, and so it might not be expected that there would be complete agreement. Here stainless steel and glass show very similar behaviour, as opposed to the differences seen using AFM; the different surface roughness of the two materials might also be expected to have an effect.
At different temperatures the results from the different contact positions on the deposits; with an approach speed to the deposits for all experiments was 3μm/s, then a 5 second pause on the deposit and then the rate of retract was 0.25μm/s. Significant (more than an order of magnitude) differences are seen between forces for the same and different deposits, and between different surfaces for the same deposits. Lower forces are seen at 90oC in all cases; at the higher temperature, the force between surface and deposit is less. To design systems to resist fouling, these results suggest that measurements at different process temperatures are needed; data at room temperature has overpredicted the interactions.
The results suggest that the AFM force curve measurement technique could be used to study a variety of food deposits that have undergone different processing conditions. The method can help in optimising removal of food deposits in terms of food cleaning protocols. AFM could be a valuable technique in measuring surface properties, and in relating behaviour to surfaces.
The capability of the AFM to provide better understanding of materials structure, surface characteristics and the interactive forces at the meso- and nanoscale level. The AFM will enhance the understanding of large-scale engineering processes, especially as materials are increasingly being designed down to the submicrometre level.


The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, was enacted by Congress in October of 1998.1 Section 1201(a)(1) of the Act, known as the "anti-circumvention" provision, states that "[n]o person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a [digital] work protected under this title.".2 Sections 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b) combine to form the "anti-trafficking" provisions, which provide that no one shall distribute technology that can accomplish this circumvention.3 Congress constructed a two-year delay in implementation of these provisions, thus, on October 28, 2000, circumvention of effective technological controls became punishable by both civil and criminal actions.4 Unfortunately, the presence of these provisions, along with courts refusal to recognize traditional copyright privileges and defenses in this area of "paracopyright,"5 chills programmers' speech.


We consider a problem about navigation of a mobile robot with a camera in indoor environment. A new visual control method using a vanishing point of parallel lines at both sides of the corridor is introduced, and we call this the vanishing point visual control method. This method gives a lot of useful information on the design. Therefore we can't need a priori information except both widths of the corridor and the robot, but we can easily design the visual feedback system for guidance and obstacle avoidance by using this method. The idea is based on perspective geometry such as perspective projection, epipolar geometry, vanishing point, and projective transformation.


In the context of the National Student Survey (NSS) that identifies a clear relationship between student satisfaction and feedback (HEFCE, 2007 as cited by JISC, 2010) the consideration of alternative mechanisms to enhance student feedback has never been timelier. Further, given the context of the 'digital native' generation and the increasing move towards the full integration of delivery and support for all aspects of student learning via virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard Learn there is an increasing higher education evidence base that demonstrates the need for and benefits of more innovation in the use of technology in supporting assessment and feedback for learning (Nortcliffe and Middleton, 2007, Merry and Orsmond, 2008 and Rotheram, 2007). The objective of this research was to provide a potentially more effective mechanism for student feedback, and to engage students more fully with the process and mechanisms for feedback, and ultimately amend activities in light of the findings, in accordance with reflective practice (McKernan, 2008) and action research (Norton, 2009). This project was initiated from a feedback discussion session facilitated by The Student Union Student Engagement Manager, who led discussion with our final year students on the SU "Focus on Feedback" Guide. What emerged from this session was that students were very familiar with the various different types of assessment, but were far less familiar with key aspects feedback, with the biggest issues surrounding the terminology of, and opportunities for feedback. As a department we initiated a number of initiatives in light of this including uploading the "Focus on Feedback" guide to Course Support Areas; incorporating the introduction of the guide within the Study Skills module in year one; initiating projects that opened up more dialogue with students surrounding feedback and utilising more innovation in approaches to feedback.The project design was the use of two small case studies of audio feedback in practice across a level 5 and level 6 module for individual essays in semester two, academic year 2011-12. The results of the project indicate that students liked the convenience, effectiveness, flexibility and personalised nature of this feedback, but raised concerns with some aspects of the technology and access. The findings of this project have been used to implement further use of this technology for feedback and activities have been redesigned for the current academic year based on the feedback students provided. In addition a wider study involving more modules, more members of staff and a wider variety of assessments for both formative and summative feedback is now underway in our Department. These outcomes are as a direct result of engaging students in this feedback process.


There is a growing consensus that online platforms have a systematic influence on the democratic process. However, research beyond social media is limited. In this paper, we report the results of a mixed-methods algorithm audit of partisan audience bias and personalization within Google Search. Following Donald Trump's inauguration, we recruited 187 participants to complete a survey and install a browser extension that enabled us to collect Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) from their computers. To quantify partisan audience bias, we developed a domain-level score by leveraging the sharing propensities of registered voters on a large Twitter panel. We found little evidence for the "filter bubble'' hypothesis. Instead, we found that results positioned toward the bottom of Google SERPs were more left-leaning than results positioned toward the top, and that the direction and magnitude of overall lean varied by search query, component type (e.g. "answer boxes"), and other factors. Utilizing rank-weighted metrics that we adapted from prior work, we also found that Google's rankings shifted the average lean of SERPs to the right of their unweighted average.


The diverse, aquatic Hydrocharitaceae have defied stable classification for nearly two centuries. Anatomical and morphological convergence characterize many aquatic plants and undoubtedly have hindered the ability of researchers to ascertain accurately those features representing reliable phylogenetic markers within Hydrocharitaceae. Most prior classifications of the family have emphasized few characters to define major taxonomic subdivisions (i.e., they were highly artificial). Previous studies using molecular data have shown that DNA sequences provide novel indications of phylogeny not indicated previously by morphologically based classifications; however, they have not yet recommended alterations to the classification for the family. We conducted a more comprehensive phylogenetic study of Hydrocharitaceae to better elucidate evolutionary relationships among the genera that in turn could be used to provide insight for improvements in classification. We analyzed different data sets (55 morphological characters; chloroplast rbcL, matK, trnK intron sequences; nuclear ribosomal ITS region sequences) singly and in various combinations using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods of phylogenetic reconstruction. Phylogenetic analysis of combined data yielded a fully resolved tree depicting four well-supported, major clades within Hydrocharitaceae. We use these results to propose a phylogenetic classification of Hydrocharitaceae recognizing four subfamilies that correspond to these clades: Anacharidoideae, Hydrilloideae, Hydrocharitoideae, and Stratioideae. Phylogenetic analysis also indicated the pattern of derivation with respect to submersed lifeforms, hydrophilous pollination, and marine habitation in the family. Character reconstructions indicated that several features, (e.g., ovule type; occurrence of detaching male flowers), once thought to provide strong phylogenetic markers in Hydrocharitaceae, actually are highly homoplasious and have acutely mislead past attempts at classification of the family.


Management of fungal biofilms represents a significant challenge to oral healthcare. As a preventive approach, minimising adhesion between intra-oral devices and microorganisms would be an important step forward. Denture stomatitis (DS) is a multifactorial denture-associated inflammation of the oral mucosa where candidal biofilms are one of the contributing factors. Therefore, understanding candidal biofilms on dentures and finding novel strategies to control these biofilms are of significance. Interference with the adhesion step of biofilm formation is hypothetically effective strategy to control biofilms.

To understand the relationship between denture candidal load, denture material type and C. albicans biofilm forming heterogeneity in DS, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) molecular method and crystal violet (CV) assay were used. This study investigated two novel strategies to control C. albicans biofilms through interfering with adhesion: natural polyphenol curcumin (CUR) and modifying the topography of the denture material surface. Based on the optimised effective CUR concentrations, CUR adsorption to PMMA denture material was spectrophotometrically analysed. Based on these data, the effect of adsorbed CUR to PMMA and CUR pre-exposure on adhesion of C. albicans were assessed. The effect of CUR on Candida-Candida adhesion was investigated and the expression profile of selected adhesion and aggregation-associated genes was assessed using qPCR method. Micro/nano-fabricated polycarbonate and PMMA materials were replicated using injection and compression moulding techniques, respectively and were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Adhesion of C. albicans on the micro and nano-scaled patterns was assessed using microscopic and qPCR molecular methods, respectively. The physical characteristics of the materials were assessed using theta tensiometer and a white light profiler.

The data demonstrated that although C. albicans was detected in greater quantities in diseased individuals, it was not associated with increased biofilm biomass. Denture substrata were shown to influence biofilm biomass, with poly(methyl methacrylate) providing the most suitable environment for C. albicans to reside.
Subsequent studies showed that CUR concentrations of 50 μg/ml could prevent adhesion to PMMA. This effect was enhanced by the CUR pre-treatment of yeast cells (>90% inhibition, p < 0.001). Investigation of the biological impact of CUR showed that it preferentially affected immature morphological forms (yeast and germlings), and actively promoted aggregation of the cells. Transcriptional analyses showed that CUR temporally modulated adhesion and aggregation associated genes. Finally, PMMA denture material was replicated to show nano features. These topographies influenced adhesion of C. albicans, depending on the candidal morphological form and the shape. Nano-pit spatial arrangements variably affect the adhesion of C. albicans, where SQ arrangement demonstrated a significant anti-adhesive capacity. Differential adhesin expression was observed on these surfaces, which were affected by the wettability and roughness of surfaces tested.

In summary, C. albicans is an important determinant of denture disease, so preventing its adhesion and biofilm formation were worthwhile objectives. This thesis has shown that CUR molecules and SQ nano-pit topographies reduced C. albicans adhesion, demonstrating that chemical and physical inhibition strategies are useful. The data presented in this thesis showed the high potential of the novel strategies to be used against C. albicans biofilms, and encourages the further investigation of these approaches against polymicrobial denture biofilms.


The origin of the cephalopods from the Monoplacophora is briefly considered. The first rare Upper Cambrian Plectronoceras are now known to be succeeded by a later Cambrian radiation involving the Plectronoceratida, Ellesmeroceratida, and two other orders, all well documented from Chinese occurrences. The greatest success of the nautiloid cephalopods came in the Ordovician Period with three evolutionary pulses in the Tremadoc, Arenig, and later Ordovician. Three particular Palaeozoic problems are treated: gigantism in cephalopods, the orthocone operculum Aptychopsis, and the Chinese Pagoda Limestone as an example of an 'Orthoceras' limestone. Devonian developments included the origin of the ammonoids through their first suborder, the Bactritina; the origin of the coleoids; and the beginning of the long history of the coiled Nautilida. After a brief aside on the classification of the cephalopods, the Nautilida are treated in terms of their survival after the extinction of the ammonoids. Finally, there are comments on the living Nautilus.


Frequency estimation is a fundamental problem in signal processing, with applications in radar imaging, underwater acoustics, seismic imaging, and spectroscopy. The goal is to estimate the frequency of each component in a multisinusoidal signal from a finite number of noisy samples. A recent machine-learning approach uses a neural network to output a learned representation with local maxima at the position of the frequency estimates. In this work, we propose a novel neural-network architecture that produces a significantly more accurate representation, and combine it with an additional neural-network module trained to detect the number of frequencies. This yields a fast, fully-automatic method for frequency estimation that achieves state-of-the-art results. In particular, it outperforms existing techniques by a substantial margin at medium-to-high noise levels.


ABSTRACT In a previous study tolerance to amphotericin B (AMB) was found among Candida parapsilosis and C. dubliniensis strains by seeding the whole volumes of wells used for MIC determinations, and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) for non-C. albicans Candida strains were demonstrated to be above the levels safely achievable in serum. As an extension of that study, we performed time-kill assays with 26 blood culture isolates (6 C. albicans, 5 C. parapsilosis, 5 C. krusei, 4 C. glabrata, 3 C. lusitaniae, and 3 C. tropicalis isolates), 3 oropharyngeal C. dubliniensis isolates, 3 AMB-susceptible isolates (ATCC 90028, ATCC 22019, ATCC 6254), and 6 AMB-resistant isolates (ATCC 200955, ATCC 200956, ATCC 200950, ATCC 200951, ATCC 200952, ATCC 200953) using RPMI 1640 medium and 0.12 to 32 μg of AMB per ml and determined the numbers of CFU per milliliter at 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 h. MFCs and time-kill patterns were species specific (MFCs, ≤1 μg/ml for all C. dubliniensis and C. albicans isolates except AMB-resistant strain ATCC 200955; MFCs, 2 to >16 μg/ml for the other isolates). The times required to reach the fungicidal endpoint (99.9% killing) at four times the MIC were 2 h for C. albicans and C. dubliniensis, 16 h for C. glabrata, 24 h for C. parapsilosis and C. lusitaniae, and ≥40 h for C. tropicalis and C. krusei. The killing rate increased as the AMB concentration was increased up to 2 μg/ml. The highest killing rates were achieved for C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, and C. lusitaniae, while viable C. tropicalis, C. krusei, and C. parapsilosis cells were present after 48 h (MICs, ≤2 μg/ml) when AMB was used at 2 μg/ml. Time-kill curves and MFCs can detect viable cells after 48 h when AMB is used at ≥2 μg/ml. The failure of AMB treatment could be due to its poor killing activity against some species at the concentrations reached in patients' serum.


Abstract. Understanding the mechanics of bed load at the flood scale is necessary to link hydrology to landscape evolution. Here we report on observations of the transport of coarse sediment tracer particles in a cobble-bedded alluvial river and a step-pool bedrock tributary, at the individual flood and multi-annual timescales. Tracer particle data for each survey are composed of measured displacement lengths for individual particles, and the number of tagged particles mobilized. For single floods we find that measured tracer particle displacement lengths are exponentially distributed; the number of mobile particles increases linearly with peak flood Shields stress, indicating partial bed load transport for all observed floods; and modal displacement distances scale linearly with excess shear velocity. These findings provide quantitative field support for a recently proposed modeling framework based on momentum conservation at the grain scale. Tracer displacement is weakly negatively correlated with particle size at the individual flood scale; however cumulative travel distance begins to show a stronger inverse relation to grain size when measured over many transport events. The observed spatial sorting of tracers approaches that of the river bed, and is consistent with size-selective deposition models and laboratory experiments. Tracer displacement data for the bedrock and alluvial channels collapse onto a single curve – despite more than an order of magnitude difference in channel slope – when variations of critical Shields stress and flow resistance between the two are accounted for. Results show how bed load dynamics may be predicted from a record of river stage, providing a direct link between climate and sediment transport.


Offshore wind energy is fast developing and with it a growing understanding of the challenge to maintain high levels of turbine availability and to keep down maintenance costs. Loss of turbine availability is, of course, related to component failure rate but is also highly dependent on access to the turbine, and this in turn reflects the wind and sea conditions occurring at the site as well as the operational limits of the vessels and plant being used. A computational approach has been developed on the basis of probability calculations, enabling very fast estimates to be made of offshore access probabilities and expected delays. These can be used directly to explore the impact of different parameters such as key component reliability, time to repair and access constraints at specific offshore sites. The methodology used is derived and explained in detail. Different numerical techniques are available to calculate the probability distributions and their parameters as required by the methodology. These are presented and contrasted. Example applications of the methodology are provided for two specific sites that provide a degree of validation and also allow comparison of the different numerical approaches to probability distribution identification. It is shown that the accessibility calculated using the developed method is believable in the context of operational access data for the sites in question.


TNFα is a proinflammatory cytokine, and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. A recent study in our lab has demonstrated that a prolonged (24–48 h) treatment with TNFα increased the Ca2+ influx evoked by TRPV1 activators in vagal pulmonary sensory neurons (Am J Physiol 299: 483–492, 2010). The present study was carried out to test the acute effect of transient TNFα treatment on the TRPV1 sensitivity in isolated rat pulmonary sensory neurons. Our results showed: 1) A brief treatment with a low concentration of TNFα (1.44 nM; 9 min) induced a biphasic TRPV1 hypersensitivity in these neurons: the inward current evoked by capsaicin (average concentration 100 nM; 3 s) was enhanced both immediately following the TNFα treatment (Δ=280%), and after a long delay (peak at ~90 min; Δ=382%). 2) The immediate phase of the potentiating effect of TNFα was almost completely abolished by pretreatment with a COX‐2 inhibitor, NS‐398 (10 μM; 10 min), whereas the delayed phase was only partially attenuated. 3) In contrast, the same TNFα treatment did not generate any potentiating effect on the response to ATP (0.3 – 1.0 μM) challenge in these neurons. In summary, a brief treatment with TNFα induced both immediate and delayed potentiating effects on the TRPV1 sensitivity in isolated pulmonary sensory neurons, and a production of COX‐2 arachidonic acid metabolites is probably involved in the immediate sensitizing effect of TNFα. (Supported in part by NIH grant HL96914 & NSC98‐2917‐I038‐101 fellowship from ROC)


This paper presents the study of vocal videostroboscopic videos to detect morphological pathologies using an active contour segmentation and objective measurements. The ad-hoc designed active contour algorithm permits to obtain a robust and fast segmentation using vocal folds images in RGB format. In this work, we have employed connected component analysis as a post-processing tool. After the segmentation process the image is analyzed and the pathology can be localized automatically and we can extract some features of each fold (such as the size of the polyp or cyst, the glottal space, the position…). Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective. Our proposal segments correctly the 95% of database test videos and it shows a great advance in design. The objective measurements complete a new method to diagnose vocal folds pathologies.


Understanding the cognitive underpinnings of moral judgment is one of most pressing problems in psychological science. Some highly-cited studies suggest that reliance on intuition decreases utilitarian (expected welfare maximizing) judgments in sacrificial moral dilemmas in which one has to decide whether to instrumentally harm (IH) one person to save a greater number of people. However, recent work suggests that such dilemmas are limited in that they fail to capture the positive, defining core of utilitarianism: commitment to impartial beneficence (IB). Accordingly, a new two-dimensional model of utilitarian judgment has been proposed that distinguishes IH and IB components. The role of intuition on this new model has not been studied. Does relying on intuition disfavor utilitarian choices only along the dimension of instrumental harm or does it also do so along the dimension of impartial beneficence? To answer this question, we conducted three studies (total N = 970, two preregistered) using conceptual priming of intuition versus deliberation on moral judgments. Our evidence converges on an interaction effect, with intuition decreasing utilitarian judgments in IH—as suggested by previous work—but failing to do so in IB. These findings bolster the recently proposed two-dimensional model of utilitarian moral judgment, and point to new avenues for future research.


BACKGROUND
In people without cervical pathologies, changing to a latex or polyester pillows is reported to decrease waking cervical symptoms. Whether this also occurs for people with spinal degeneration in the neck is unknown.

AIM
This pilot study tested recruitment strategies for people with cervical spine degeneration, and the effect of different pillows on cervical waking symptoms, sleep quality, cervical range of motion, neck disability index and quality of life.

DESIGN
A randomised sequential-block double-blind controlled trial.

SETTING
A community based study.

POPULATION
Adult volunteers (18+ years) with regular waking cervical symptoms (headache, cervical pain and/or stiffness, scapular pain), confirmed radiologic evidence of cervical spine degeneration, side sleeper and 'usual' use of one pillow.

METHODS
Participants were recruited, through community advertising at medical and physiotherapy practices, local community groups, and via newspaper, radio and websites. After screening for eligibility they tested latex and polyester pillows for 28 days each, interspersed with 28 days on 'usual' pillow for washout, and comparison. Subjects ceased using a trial pillow if it affected sleep quality or waking symptoms. Cervical range of motion, neck disability index and quality of life were measured pre-post each pillow trial, whilst waking symptoms and sleep quality were assessed daily.

RESULTS
Of 117 local volunteers, 92 had radiologically-confirmed cervical spondylosis, and a further 45 (48.9%) were excluded for medical conditions, sleep position and/or pillow use. Approximately 70% 'usual' pillows were polyester. Overall no pillow significantly altered any outcome measure. Considering trends however, the polyester pillow significantly increased side flexion range of movement on waking and showed some effect on nocturnal - waking cervical pain. The latex pillow did not perform well on any outcome measure. Significantly more subjects completed the polyester pillow trial than the latex pillow trial (post hoc power 80% vs 55%).

CONCLUSIONS
Well-powered studies to truly detect pillow impact on waking symptoms and sleep quality require 400+ symptomatic subjects.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT
It has previously been reported that using a latex or polyester pillow significantly improves waking cervical symptoms in the general population. This pilot study did not replicate these results in people with known cervical spine degeneration.


There are two divergent perspectives on the impact of subcontracting on firms in the informal sector. According to the benign view, formal sector firms prefer linkages with relatively modern firms in the informal sector, and subcontracting enables capital accumulation and technological improvement in the latter. According to the exploitation view, formal sector firms extract surplus from stagnant, asset-poor informal sector firms that use cheap family labour in home-based production. However, direct, firm-level evidence on the determinants and impact of subcontracting is thus far lacking in the literature. We apply a modified Heckman selection model to Indian National Sample Survey data on informal manufacturing enterprises (2005–2006). We find that home-based, relatively asset-poor, and female-owned firms are more likely to be in a subcontracting relationship. Further, we perform selectivity-corrected Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition and calculate treatment effects to show that subcontracting benefits smaller firms, firms in industrially backward states and rural firms; it is harmful for larger firms, firms in industrially advanced states, and urban firms. Our results suggest that the effects of subcontracting are more complex than those predicted by the divergent perspectives. Policy-makers need to engage with this complexity.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
To raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis of primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) in the adolescent.

RECENT FINDINGS
Menstrual cycle irregularity or amenorrhea in the adolescent has historically been treated with oral contraceptives or ignored, with no evaluation done to determine the cause. However, it is now becoming clear that the health consequences of menstrual irregularities differ depending on the cause, and evaluation to determine the cause of menstrual irregularity is warranted. Although POI is classically diagnosed when menstrual cycle irregularity is accompanied by high circulating levels of gonadotropins and low estradiol, anti-Mullerian hormone is emerging as a biomarker of increasing importance. When POI is diagnosed, further evaluation including karyotype, FMR1 premutation analysis, and 21-hydroxylase or adrenal antibody is warranted. Girls at high risk for the development of POI (e.g. because of planned cancer treatment) should be offered the option of oocyte or ovarian tissue cryopreservation.

SUMMARY
POI should be ruled out in adolescents with menstrual cycle irregularity. Early diagnosis of POI facilitates the individualization of therapy, as the health consequences of POI differ from those of other causes of menstrual cycle irregularity. In addition, recognition of premature oocyte depletion allows for the option of fertility preservation to be discussed when oocytes are still present.


Blepharophimosis, ptosis, epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder characterized by small palpebral fissures and other craniofacial malformations, often with (type I) but could also without (type II) premature ovarian failure. While mutations of the forkhead transcription factor FOXL2 are associated with and likely be responsible for many BPES cases, how FOXL2 affects craniofacial development remain to be understood. Through a large-scale piggyBac (PB) insertion mutagenesis, we have identified a mouse mutant carrying a PB insertion ∼160 kb upstream of the transcription start site (TSS) of Foxl2. The insertion reduces, but not eliminates, the expression of Foxl2. This mutant, but not its revertant, displays BPES-like conditions such as midface hypoplasia, eyelid abnormalities and female subfertility. Further analysis indicates that the mutation does not affect mandible, but causes premature fusion of the premaxilla-maxilla suture, smaller premaxilla and malformed maxilla during midface development. We further identified an evolutionarily conserved fragment near the insertion site and observed enhancer activity of this element in tissue culture cells. Analyses using DNase I hypersensitivity assay and chromosome conformation capture assay in developing maxillary and periocular tissues suggest that the DNA region near the insertion site likely interacts with Foxl2 TSS. Therefore, this mutant presents an excellent animal model for mechanistic study of BPES and regulation of Foxl2.


There is growing interest across the UK in whether European models of social pedagogy might offer a helpful conceptual framework within which to locate direct work with people. Pilot programmes that seek to introduce and apply social pedagogical principles in practice settings are emerging, including in Scotland. A joint BA run by The University of Aberdeen in conjunction with Camphill Schools was the first qualifying programme in social pedagogy in the UK. Many of these pockets of interest can seem only loosely connected to one another. 'Scottish Conversations' based around The University of Edinburgh, was conceived of to bring together practitioners, academics and policy makers with an interest in social pedagogy, to explore the possibilities and implications of introducing social pedagogical ways of working in Scotland. Considerable work has already been undertaken on this by the children's charity 'Children in Scotland', supported by The Scottish Government. Our intention here is to draw upon this and to encapsulate, within one document, key themes from the literature on social pedagogy, and to consider its relevance and possible application in a Scottish context. Specifically, we suggest that social pedagogy offers a means through which distinctively Scottish ideas around social welfare and education might be reframed in a way that resonates with current concerns about the role and direction of social work and social care more broadly. In this sense, we do not restrict our focus to areas of practice such as residential child care with which social pedagogy is most often associated, but consider its features to have relevance across a broad range of provision and professional groupings.


Gene expression microarrays are the most commonly available source of high-throughput biological data. They have been widely employed in recent years for the definition of cell cycle regulated (or periodically expressed) subsets of the genome in a number of different organisms. These have driven the development of various computational methods for identifying periodical expressed genes. However, the agreement is remarkably poor when different computational methods are applied to the same data. In view of this, we are motivated to propose herein a hybrid computational method targeting the identification of periodically expressed genes, which is based on a hybrid aggregation of estimations, generated by different computational methods. The proposed hybrid method is benchmarked against three other computational methods for the identification of periodically expressed genes: statistical tests for regulation and periodicity and a combined test for regulation and periodicity. The hybrid method is shown, together with the combined test, to statistically significantly outperform the statistical test for periodicity. However, the hybrid method is also demonstrated to be significantly better than the combined test for regulation and periodicity.


There has been a rapid expansion of the learning support (LS) teaching service in Ireland since 1999 with approximately one in fifteen primary-school teachers currently working as learning support teachers (LSTs). Although there is a small body of quantitative research on LS teaching, there are no qualitative studies on LSTs themselves. This gap in the research is unfortunate because of the importance of studying teachers' lives and perspectives as a key to understanding teaching, a now well-established position in biographical research on education.

Using life-history interviews within a social constructivist paradigm, this study investigates the identity and work practices of ten LSTs in primary schools in the east-coast of Ireland. The study is based on the assumption that valuable insights into the work and identity of LSTs can be gained by examining their views and beliefs and the discourses through which they understand themselves and their work. A combination of grounded theory and discourse analysis is used to examine the language they use to construct themselves as LSTs and the discourse of LS teaching.

The evidence from the study shows that there is a recognisable way of using language and engaging in specific practices that can be described as a discourse of LS teaching. The LSTs are both constructors of and constructed by the discourse of LS teaching. Their accounts show that they perceived themselves, and believed others perceived them to be, different from mainstream class-teachers. Using the overarching concept of 'difference', three themes were distilled from the LSTs' accounts and used to analyse the data: their craft knowledge, the teaching of reading and parenthood. Their accounts display a potent union of theory and practice which was guided by their professional craft knowledge. They presented themselves as expert teachers of reading, comfortably embracing different models, thereby displaying their multiple positions and the complexity of the reading process. Drawing on their experiences of parenthood they constructed an identity for themselves as teacher-parents and parent-teachers.

The findings have implications for the provision of in-service and professional development for LSTs. If, as their accounts suggest, the discourse of LS teaching pushes LSTs and their pupils into marginalised positions, it is important to scrutinise this discourse so that the exclusionary assumptions underpinning it are explored. The insider perspectives gained from the life-history accounts offer worthwhile insights into the intuitive craft of teaching in general and the teaching of reading in particular.


Hydrological modeling was used for projecting average annual water availability in Nigeria in the future, comparing a baseline (1976–2005) with a 30-year future (2036–2065) period, simulated under an ensemble of ten climate projections. Simulations converged in projecting by mid-century an increase in water flows for almost half of the country. Models agreed also in projecting decrease and stability in water flows for 13% of the country, while uncertainty covers about one-third of Nigeria. Lack of agreement among different climate models on precipitation and inflow makes it difficult to project how much water will be effectively available in the future for irrigation. Reservoir size is usually designed to ensure sufficient storage providing a given yield based on past climate. The objective of this paper is evaluating what storage investments are suitable for meeting irrigation development targets under as many climate outcomes as possible. A simple methodology for more robust investment planning is suggested and the risk of over- or under-designing storage based on past climate is exemplified. This preliminary study shows that, for more than half of the country, using the historical climate as a guide to the design of future storage might lead to inappropriate investment decisions, resulting in excessive or insufficient capital outlays. The conclusions of the paper do not entail endorsement by the World Bank or its Board of Directors.


The New World is comparatively generous in the law's provision of citizenship to all persons born within national boundaries, including the children of undocumented persons and temporary visitors. A striking feature of citizenship practices in the Americas is the near uniformity of reliance on jus soli. Indeed, the jus soli principle "has primarily become a Western Hemisphere tradition." The predominance of jus soli is said to account for the relatively low rate of statelessness in the Americas compared with other parts of the world. But the definitions of "stateless" in international law instruments and in practice lack precision and thus confound easy measurements of political, civic, and economic status.
Even jus soli laws that are meant to ensure that people are not born stateless depend on the willingness of a marginalized population to register a birth or for nations to recognize that birth based on the time that undocumented parents reside in the country. In this lead chapter I explore the limitations of the international legal definition of statelessness in order to illustrate two points. First, what should be termed "effective statelessness" is a necessary adjunct to the concept of de jure statelessness. Without this conceptual pairing, we cannot judge the actual relationship between a state and those who belong to it. In the Americas, as I will show, a substantial number of persons entitled to citizenship cannot prove it, or such proof is disregarded by government officials. At the same time, these persons do not qualify for protection under international law because they are not legally "stateless."
Second, without some measure of "effective statelessness," claims that the Americas should be viewed as a relative success story because of the jus soli norm are questionable. Jus soli prevents statelessness only where it is accompanied by meticulous and generally recognized documentation. Effective statelessness can exist in any nation, and it is a hidden problem in the Americas, jus soli notwithstanding.
Effective statelessness occurs due to poor documentation of births and administrative ineptitude, as well as intentional discrimination. In the Americas, including the United States, the predominant reasons for effective statelessness include inability to prove nationality, as well as the failure of countries to document or recognize their own citizens. International law treaties on statelessness fail to provide a sufficient safety net and thus offer no meaningful remedy to the problems of ineffective citizenship addressed here.


The flow of a liquid into an empty channel is simulated. The simulation is based on a recently published model for general fluid/liquid/solid systems which eliminates the shear stress singularity at the moving contact line between the liquid/fluid interface and the solid. This model is carefully analyzed for low Reynolds and Capillary numbers, adapted to the channel inflow problem, and implemented. Very convincing numerical results are presented.


Dependency parsing is considered a key technology for improving information extraction tasks. Research indicates that dependency parsers spend more than 95% of their total runtime on feature computations. Based on this insight, this paper investigates the potential of improving parsing throughput by designing feature representations which are optimized for combining single features to more complex feature templates and by optimizing parser constraints. Applying these techniques to MDParser increased its throughput four fold, yielding Syntactic Parser, a dependency parser that outperforms comparable approaches by factor 25 to 400.


The rate of unemployment in Hajdú-Bihar County is several percent higher than the national average and the actual number of unemployed people is the highest, resulting in considerable social problems. The majority of families living under the minimum subsistence level cannot cover their housing maintenance costs. These costs include the rents of tenement flats, public charges, water, electricity, gas and district heating charges. Cutting the number of unemployed people and stimulating economic activity is a high priority. Important tools towards achieving these goals include the promotion of non-agricultural activities by households engaged in agriculture, incentives for rural microenterprises, the development of rural and agro-tourism and support for traditional arts and crafts. As for general subjective well-being, although its average value is positive, merely 50% of the population is contented. Naturally it does not mean that we are unhappy. 4 respondents out of 5 claim that they are rather happy. This may suggest that the picture is not so pessimistic as it is revealed by questions about living conditions.


An interpretive oral history technique was used to identify factors most important in the implementation stage of information technology innovation diffusion. Electronic mail, end user literature searching, and aspects of the computer-based patient record were the innovations selected for study at academic health sciences centers. Transcripts of thirty-four interviews with key individuals were analyzed to determine six categories of factors. Word counts were then used to determine underlying emphases. Analysis of variance tested whether there were significant differences in uses of words by categories of individuals, by those at different institutions, and when different innovations were described. Results indicate that the innovations themselves correlate significantly with different word categories, where category of individual and institution do not. Words related to the computer based patient record characterize further critical factors in implementing that particular innovation.


This book offers the first systematic investigation of the phenomenon of soft law within the framework of the EC (the first pillar of the EU),and its use by the European Commission and Council of Ministers. It focusses upon how soft law fits into the Community legal system, and how it is used, and, in particular, how it relates to Community legislation. Differentiation of the Community instruments, including the instruments of soft law, is often thought to enhance the effectiveness, legitimacy and transparency of the Community. This book asks whether soft law indeed provides a satisfactory alternative to legislation from this perspective and, if so, in what cases and under what conditions. Furthermore, the author asks to what extent the use of soft law implies good governance, and throws fresh light on this very heterogenous phenomenon, by looking at frequently used instruments in many different areas of Community law, such as competition law, state aid, environment, social policy etc., in the process identifying their different characteristics, aims, functions and legal effects. What emerges is that the conditions under which soft law is used may be problematic in relation to increasing the legitimacy, effectiveness and transparency of Community action. This is a work which will interest legal practitioners confronted with the use of soft law and the question of its possible legal effect in an increasing number of sectors and academics interested in the vexed question of how the increased use of soft law can be justified in a Community legal order built upon the rule of law. It is also critical of developments taking place within the framework of the European Convention and the proposed European Constitution, and goes beyond the immediate problems of soft law to touch upon issues such as competence, legal protection, division of powers between the EC and the Member States, institutional balance, lawmaking by the Community Courts, the scope of Community legal principles and the influence of soft law on the progressive development of both Community and national law.


A new optical carbon dioxide sensor for environmental monitoring is presented. It combines a robust and long-term stable sensing material with a compact read-out device. The sensing material relies on a NIR pH indicator immobilized into ethyl cellulose along with a quaternary ammonium base. The perfluorinated polymer Hyflon AD 60 used as a protection layer significantly enhances the long-term and mechanical stability of the sensor foils, as well as the robustness against poisoning gases, e.g. hydrogen sulfide. The sensor can be stored under ambient conditions for more than six weeks, whereas sensors covered with silicone rubber deteriorate within one week under the same conditions. The complete sensor device is applicable after a three-point (re)calibration without a preconditioning step. The carbon dioxide production and consumption of the water plant Egeria densa was measured in the laboratory. Furthermore, results of profiling carbon dioxide measurements during a research cruise on the Baltic Sea at water depths up to 225 m are presented.


The aim of this work is to study pediatric pneumatic ventricle (PVAD) performance, versus VAD rate (VADR) and native heart rate (HR) ratio Rr (VADR/HR). The study uses a hybrid model of the cardiovascular system (HCS). HCS consists of a computational part (a lumped parameter model including left and right ventricles, systemic and pulmonary arterial and venous circulation) interfaced to a physical part. This permits the connection of a VAD (15 mL PVAD). Echocardiographic and hemodynamic data of a pediatric patient (average weight 14.3 kg, HR 100 bpm, systemic pressure 75/44 mm Hg, CO 1.5 L/min) assisted apically with asynchronous PVAD were used to set up a basal condition in the model. After model tuning, the assistance was started, setting VAD parameters (ejection and filling pressures, systole duration) to completely fill and empty the PVAD. The study was conducted with constant HR and variable VADR (50-120, step 10, bpm). Experiments were repeated for two additional patients' HRs, 90 and 110 bpm and for two values of systemic arterial resistance (Ras ) and Emax . Experimental data were collected and stored on disk. Analyzed data include average left and right ventricular volumes (LVV, RVV), left ventricular flow (LVF), VAD flow (VADF), and total cardiac output (COt). Data were analyzed versus Rr. LVV and RVV are sensitive to Rr and a left ventricular unloading corresponds in general to a right ventricular loading. In the case of asynchronous assistance, frequency beats are always present and the beat rate is equal to the difference between HR and VADR. In the case of pulsatile asynchronous LVAD assistance, VADR should be chosen to minimize frequency beat effects and right ventricular loading and to maximize left ventricular unloading.


An inner edge of habitable zone is characterized by runaway greenhouse limit and water loss limit. Kasting et al. (1993) and Kopparapu et al. (2013) estimated these limits by one-dimensional radiation transfer model. These studies assumed the isothermal atmosphere at 200K. This assumption, however, has a significant effect on the water loss limit because the limit is depend on the temperature of cold trap.Kasting et al. (2015) estimated the temperature profiles on planets with N 2, CO2 and H2O atmosphere by one-dimensional radiative-convective model. Their calculations suggest that the water loss limit can be estimated by an isothermal model, provided that one uses a stratospheric temperature of 150 K. Leconte et al. (2013) and Wolf & Toon (2015) calculated the temperature profiles by GCM and estimated that the stratosphere temperatures ware 140 ~ 150 K. These models used k-distribution method.Arking & Grossman (1972) estimated the temperature profiles of radiative equilibrium state by using an idealized semi-analytical non-grey radiative model. This study showed that in a non-grey atmosphere, the temperature increases with increasing mean opacity below a certain height and decreases with increasing mean opacity above that height. It also found that there is no lower limit to the temperature at the top of the atmosphere: it can approach zero arbitrarily closely as the width of the lines is decreased. This result implies that estimating temperature of upper part of atmosphere needs a high resolution calculation.In the temperature profiles estimated by previous studies, tropopause pressure is much lower than that in present-day Earth: 1000 ~ 1 Pa. On the other hand, these studies used the modified models from present Earth models. To estimate the temperature of higher tropopause, a radiative transfer model which calculates opacity of each wavelength accurately enough for estimating temperatures in lower pressure tropopause than that of Earth is required. We estimate the temperature by using such a one-dimensional, line-by-line radiative transfer model. The model atmosphere is assumed to consist of H2O and N2. The troposphere and stratosphere is assumed to be fully saturated and isothermal, respectively. The value of a heating rate in tropopause are calculated for various surface and tropopause temperatures. The wavenumber resolution of this model is 10 cm, in 0 –3000 cm; 10 cm, 3000 –76576 cm. The result shows the existence of two regime: one is dry regime, and the other is wet regime. In a dry regime, the tropopause temperature is about 120 K, that is independent of surface temperature. A wet regime, in which water vapor becomes a major constituent, appears when the surface temperature is higher than 345 K. The model atmosphere does not experience a water loss phase, instead skipping directly to a runaway greenhouse.


The modern trends of development of agricultural technologies and their technical support and methodical approach to the formation of an effective technical and technological base of agrarian enterprises. It is established that the main factors influencing the efficiency and environmental friendliness of agricultural production are technologies and technical means for their implementation. In economically developed countries, technological innovations provide 70-90% growth in gross domestic product. The methodical approach to formation of effective technical and technological base of the agricultural enterprises on the basis of innovative technologies and the newest technical means with the technical and operational parameters coordinated with volumes of mechanized works and rational terms of their performance is offered. The main paradigm of the latest technologies for crop production is greening, which is based on the harmonization of the relationship between technology and soils, which will reduce the physical degradation of soils and preserve their fertility. To ensure efficient production of crop products in the agricultural enterprise should be formed technical and technological base on the basis of science-intensive technologies and the latest technical means with technical and operational parameters consistent with the scope of work and rational agro-technical terms of their implementation.


Background: Phthalates have antiandrogenic effects and may disrupt lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Racial/ethnic subpopulations have been documented to have varying urinary phthalate concentrations and prevalences of childhood obesity. Objective: We examined associations between urinary phthalate metabolites and body mass outcomes in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children and adolescents. Methods: We performed stratified and whole-sample cross-sectional analyses of 2,884 children 6–19 years of age who participated in the 2003–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariable linear and logistic analyses of body mass index z-score, overweight, and obesity were performed against molar concentrations of low-molecular-weight (LMW), high-molecular-weight (HMW), and di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) metabolites, controlling for sex, television watching, caregiver education, caloric intake, poverty–income ratio, race/ethnicity, serum cotinine, and age group. We used sensitivity analysis to examine robustness of results to removing sample weighting, normalizing phthalate concentrations for molecular weight, and examining different dietary intake covariates. Results: In stratified, multivariable models, each log unit (roughly 3-fold) increase in LMW metabolites was associated with 21% and 22% increases in odds (95% CI: 1.05–1.39 and 1.07–1.39, respectively) of overweight and obesity, and a 0.090-SD unit increase in BMI z-score (95% CI: 0.003–0.18), among non-Hispanic blacks. Significant associations were not identified in any other racial/ethnic subgroup or in the study sample as a whole after controlling for potential confounders, associations were not significant for HMW or DEHP metabolites, and results did not change substantially with sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: We identified a race/ethnicity–specific association of phthalates with childhood obesity in a nationally representative sample. Further study is needed to corroborate the association and evaluate genetic/epigenomic predisposition and/or increased phthalate exposure as possible explanations for differences among racial/ethnic subgroups.


This research aimed to identify theeducational approaches that pre-service elementary mathematics teachers adopt for their first teaching practice (TP) and the reasons for their choices. It was carried out with thirteen pre-service teachers (PTs). These PTs were observed during their first TP in a real school setting, and interviews were conducted after the TP. Our observations led us to the conclusion that PTs generally tended to utilize traditional teaching approaches. The interviews revealed that PTs' epistemological beliefs and beliefs about learning and teaching mathematics are largely in line with constructivist theory, and that their tendency for traditional approaches was due to: the influence of past educational experiences, the teaching styles of in-service teachers working at practice schools and their negative opinions about constructivist approaches, the limitations of their university educations, their lack of experience, and choosing the easier option. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for teacher training in mathematics.


Cryptography is ubiquitous and plays a key role in ensuring data secrecy and integrity as well as in securing computer systems more broadly. Introduction to Modern Cryptography provides a rigorous yet accessible treatment of this fascinating subject. The authors introduce the core principles of modern cryptography, with an emphasis on formal definitions, clear assumptions, and rigorous proofs of security. The book begins by focusing on private-key cryptography, including an extensive treatment of private-key encryption, message authentication codes, and hash functions. The authors also present design principles for widely used stream ciphers and block ciphers including RC4, DES, and AES, plus provide provable constructions of stream ciphers and block ciphers from lower-level primitives. The second half of the book covers public-key cryptography, beginning with a self-contained introduction to the number theory needed to understand the RSA, Diffie-Hellman, and El Gamal cryptosystems (and others), followed by a thorough treatment of several standardized public-key encryption and digital signature schemes. Integrating a more practical perspective without sacrificing rigor, this widely anticipated Second Edition offers improved treatment of: Stream ciphers and block ciphers, including modes of operation and design principles Authenticated encryption and secure communication sessions Hash functions, including hash-function applications and design principles Attacks on poorly implemented cryptography, including attacks on chained-CBC encryption, padding-oracle attacks, and timing attacks The random-oracle model and its application to several standardized, widely used public-key encryption and signature schemes Elliptic-curve cryptography and associated standards such as DSA/ECDSA and DHIES/ECIES Containing updated exercises and worked examples, Introduction to Modern Cryptography, Second Edition can serve as a textbook for undergraduate- or graduate-level courses in cryptography, a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners, or a general introduction suitable for self-study.


Test-Theory Correlation Study for an Ultra High Temperature Thrust Magnetic Bearing. (December 2008) Vijesh Reddy Desireddy, B.E., Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Alan B. Palazzolo Magnetic bearings have been researched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a very long time to be used in wide applications. This research was to assemble and test an axial thrust electromagnetic bearing, which can handle 1000 lb-f of axial thrust load, when rotating at high speed, in a high temperature environment of 1000 F. This high temperature magnetic bearing system would be used in high performance, high speed and high temperature applications like space vehicles, jet engines and deep sea equipment. An experimental procedure was developed to measure actual load capacity of the designed bearing in the test rig. All the results obtained from the experiment were compiled and analyzed to determine the relation between bearing force, applied current and temperature. The thesis incorporates the assembly, testing of the electromagnetic bearing at various speeds and temperatures and compare predicted to measured force vs. speed, current, gap and temperature. The results showed that the high temperature thrust magnetic bearing is capable of handling 1000 lb-f at 1000F and 5500 rpm.


This paper tackles the problem of learning value functions from undirected state-only experience (state transitions without action labels i.e. (s,s',r) tuples). We first theoretically characterize the applicability of Q-learning in this setting. We show that tabular Q-learning in discrete Markov decision processes (MDPs) learns the same value function under any arbitrary refinement of the action space. This theoretical result motivates the design of Latent Action Q-learning or LAQ, an offline RL method that can learn effective value functions from state-only experience. Latent Action Q-learning (LAQ) learns value functions using Q-learning on discrete latent actions obtained through a latent-variable future prediction model. We show that LAQ can recover value functions that have high correlation with value functions learned using ground truth actions. Value functions learned using LAQ lead to sample efficient acquisition of goal-directed behavior, can be used with domain-specific low-level controllers, and facilitate transfer across embodiments. Our experiments in 5 environments ranging from 2D grid world to 3D visual navigation in realistic environments demonstrate the benefits of LAQ over simpler alternatives, imitation learning oracles, and competing methods.


Today Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory, is a tropical modern metropolis of 120,000 people. Darwin's hinterland displays a complex mixture of rural living; a multi-million dollar horticulture industry; conservation and water catchment protection areas; and Aboriginal lands. However, surprisingly this development did not occur through the traditional pattern of the transformation of rural land from agriculture. Darwin shows a startlingly different picture. Most of the lands in the hinterland, even in the 1950s, were tropical savannas essentially unchanged for thousands of years, except by the Aboriginal traditional owners of the land who hunted and gathered and managed the landscape with fire. The development of Darwin, when mapped using GIS software, shows that counterurbanisation occurred in the 1960s when the savannas were transformed into rural residential lots. Later agriculture grew out of counterurbanisation from the enterprises of residential hobby farmers. This thesis examines why the development of Darwin departs from the traditional model. Part of the explanation lies in the colonial history of Darwin. Historically Darwin was established as an administrative outpost for firstly the South Australian and later the Commonwealth Government rather than being a city that evolved organically. Land sold to speculators in the 1860s was not taken up until the 1960s. Commonwealth experimentation with agriculture continually failed because the environment did not respond to traditional European farming methods. Unlike most tropical savannas in northern Australia, the pastoralists never established a stronghold over Darwin's hinterland. Finally and significantly, the land in the hinterland was mainly freehold land, while land in the urban area was successively made leasehold through compulsory acquisition by the Commonwealth Government. The implication of this case study of Darwin is that settlement does not have to be premised on agriculture. Access to freehold land and the capacity to commute aided by the Commonwealth's tight control of land and housing supply were the initial drivers of counterurbanisation in Darwin.


A Cu-BTC@Fe3O4 composite was prepared and exhibited good catalytic activity toward the synthesis of S-aryl phosphorothioates. The three-component reaction involved the coupling of in situ generated aryl diazonium salts from aniline, R2P(O)H, and sulfur powder, allowing the facile and direct formation of C(aryl)–S–P bonds. A broad scope of substrates survived the reaction conditions to afford the corresponding products in good to excellent yields. Moreover, this heterogeneous catalyst could be magnetically recovered and reused without significant loss of its activity after six cycles.


In this paper, the effect of oxygen component in fuel on the exhaust emissions has been investigated for an indirect injection diesel engine. It was tested to estimate change of engine performance and exhaust emission characteristics for the commercial diesel fuel and oxygenated blended fuel which has four kinds of mixed ratio. And, the effects of exhaust gas recirculation(EGR) on the characteristics of NOx emission have been investigated. Ethylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether(EGBE) contains oxygen component 27% in itself, and it is a kind of effective oxygenated fuel of mono-ether group that the smoke emission of EGBE is reduced remarkably compared with commercial diesel fuel, that is, it can supply oxygen component sufficiently at higher loads and speeds in diesel engine. It was found that simultaneous reduction of smoke and NOx was achieved with oxygenated fuel and cooled EGR method.


Antibiotics medication is prescribed against bacterial infections. Several drug molecules are known to possess antimicrobial activity in addition to their known pharmacological actions like antihistamines, tranquilizers, Antihypertensive, antipsychotics and anti-inflammatory agents. In a quest to explore a newer antimicrobial drug, the present study proposes a novel synthetic process for Quinoxaline- 6-Carabaldehyde, expected to exhibit antimicrobial potency may be due to quinoxaline moiety in the core molecule structure. The structure and purity of the synthesized drug was established by spectral and elemental techniques. It was evaluated for antimicrobial potency in vitro and in vivo. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the drug against the bacteria was determined by agar and broth dilution methods in vitro. The antibacterial activity was confirmed by animal experiments. Toxicity and protective efficacy of the drug were tested in vivo. The drug inhibited most of the bacterial isolates tested at 25-100 μg/ml concentration and a few were sensitive even at a lower concentration (10 μg/ml). It was found to be bacteriostatic against "Shigella dysenteriae 7", and bactericidal against "S. aureus NCTC 6571, 8530 and 8531".When administered to swiss white mice the drug protected the animals challenged with 50 MLD of "Salmonella typhimurium NCTC 74". The drug showed inhibitory action against several pathogenic bacteria. It also offered significant protection to mice against the bacterial challenge.


Arguments about money represent one of the most common reasons for divorce. South African and several Western cultures consider communication about money as uncivil and taboo – even more so than sex and death. The aim of this investigation is to determine newly married couples' views of gender roles in marriage with regard to financial management. Various factors can lead to personal financial problems and marital problems, namely financial illiteracy, financial phobia, low income, an excessive standard of living, compulsive buying and indebtedness. In general, men are more confident with regard to financial management, a phenomenon that is also confirmed by the results of this study. This was a quantitative study and questionnaires were distributed amongst couples that have been married for less than 10 years. Both spouses had to complete a questionnaire, and in order to ensure frankness they were requested not to share their answers with each other. The results show that both genders consider men to be superior concerning financial behaviour. The women indicated that they are not as self-confident with regard to their own ability and knowledge of financial management, despite major advances in the empowerment of women and the fact that many women are breadwinners in their homes. The indication by men that they have little faith in their wives' abilities to discern between luxuries and essentials was statistically significant. The sensitivity of the topic was once again emphasised by, in particular, the strong reaction from men about the completion of the questionnaires. Future research in this domain is essential, but it is recommended that anonymity be regarded as a critical point in gaining a larger response rate.


Richard Stickney (d.1834) was a young Quaker from the North of England. His
sister, Esther, was a friend of George Washington Walker, the Quaker who accompanied
James Backhouse on a missionary journey to Australia in 1831, and she asked him to
look for her only brother, young Richard, who had run away to sea on an Australia
bound ship, because of hardships in his job. By 1834, however, he had written to his
sisters from Sydney but, before G.W. Walker was able to trace him there, his uncle
Isaac Stickney received news of his nephew's death by drowning in November 1834 at
the mouth of the Manning River N.S.W., from Thomas Soltit who kept the "Jolly Tar"
public house where Stickney lodged in Sydney. Isaac Stickney wrote to Governor Burke
of New South Wales enclosing Soltit's letter and asking for further information. This,
together with information and papers from the Port Master, was given to Backhouse
and Walker, who discovered that Richard had used an assumed name "Robert Smith" and
had been employed by Thomas Steel as one of the seamen sailing up the East Coast for
cedar on a small coasting craft which sank near the mouth of the Manning River, and
that Steel had Stickney'S watch, gun and some old books (nautical works and 3 or 4
religious Friends' works).
Stickney's own letter to his sister Sarah in 1834, with these papers, expressed
regret at the grief he had caused his family and described his impressions of Sydney.
He found that "the country born inhabitants are now becoming numerous and will soon
form a sufficiently distinct people, they are a facsimile of the Americans both in body
and mind, tall rawboned and muscular, with a most exalted opinion of themselves indeed
in most athletic exercises as cricket, rowing or boxing they bear away more than
their share of prizes. They are mostly ignorant to the last degree." The "currency
lasses" he thought "not very elegant" but "there is one accomplishment not generally
reckoned in the female list in which they excell they can most of them .swim." He
remarked too that 99 percent of the children had fair hair. Richard Stickney attended
the Friends (Quaker) Meeting House in Sydney when he had time.
George Washington Walker wrote to Esther Stickney also of Quaker matters, his
journey, botanical specimens, etc.


In the century between the accession of Elizabeth I and the restoration of Charles II, a horticultural revolution took place in England, making it a leading player in the European horticultural game. Ideas were exchanged across networks of gardeners, botanists, scholars, and courtiers, and the burgeoning vernacular book trade spread this new knowledge still further-reaching even the growing number of gardeners furnishing their more modest plots across the verdant nation and its young colonies in the Americas. Margaret Willes introduces a plethora of garden enthusiasts, from the renowned to the legions of anonymous workers who created and tended the great estates. Packed with illustrations from the herbals, design treatises, and practical manuals that inspired these men-and occasionally women-Willes's book enthrallingly charts how England's garden grew.


In the 1970's Congress established an environmental protection regulatory system by passing laws which, like many preceding regulatory statutes, set relatively broad goals and timetables and left substantial discretion to the implementing agency on how best to achieve those goals. As demonstrated in the recent reauthorizations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)' and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA),2 however, Congress is no longer confident that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)' will exercise such discretion as intended by Congress. As a result, Congress itself has had to assume the role of regulator, making some of the detailed technical and administrative determinations typically left to the implementing agency. Instead of authorizing EPA to regulate the disposal of chemical wastes, Congress has prescribed the limits. Instead of relying on EPA to meet deadlines, Congress has established self-enforcing standards to be implemented in the absence of agency action. Instead of allowing EPA to establish technical standards of safety, Congress has set minimum requirements that EPA may not reduce.


In economics, an externality is an indirect effect of consumption or production activity on agents other than the originator of such activity. We observe that internet is enabling the design of information services that become smarter more they are used because of the data generated in the process. We give examples from web search to make the notion of data externality concrete and propose that thinking and designing for data externality could be an interesting direction for future data research.


We entered the 21st century with concerns about rowdy and anti-social youth. Moving towards the end of the decade, communities are panicking about youth weapon carrying and violence. Crime and disorder policies have been hotly debated in the UK recently - problems spring up quickly, action is demanded and very soon a government initiative is launched. In the second part of his two-part guest series for Crimestoppers, Professor Peter Squires looks at whether ASBOs are working, and questions if failing methods of dealing with anti-social behaviour among young people has led to the violent crimes they are now being associated with.


An investigation into the water permeation characteristics of marine laminates, based on epoxy resins has been undertaken using a simple gravimetric method. The effect of commercial, non-metallic barrier systems (coatings and films), in conjunction with minor mechanical damage, on the water transmission rate (WTR) of water through the composite materials has been assessed. Moisture barriers effectively reduce the steady-state water transmission rate (SS- WTR). Laminates incorporating an impermeable reinfo~cing fibre (glass, Dyneerna or their hybrid combination) performed significantly better than laminates reinforced. with hygroscopic Kevlar fibres. ATH fire retardant reduced SS- WTR at lower temperatures, but at higher temperatures the performance was significantly reduced. The effectiveness of the moisture barriers became more noticeable at higher temperatures. Minor mechanical damage such as impact and abrasion affects the integrity of the coatings. The moisture barrier treated laminates performed markedly better than untreated materials on cyclic loading.
Water uptake curves for the untreated, undamaged laminates indicated non-ideal Fickian diffusion, although positive deviation in the initial portion of the Dyneerna fibre laminate curves indicated dual-mode, Langmuirian diffusion. Diffusion coefficients were calculated and found to follow the same trend as the SS- WTR suggesting that the water transmission was a diffusion controlled process.


Smart communities are at the heart of social innovation. Based on networks of people and knowledge, these communities are able to foster social knowledge building. Moreover, this social knowledge building process may produce through interaction more adequate and improved decision-making processes; focusing on work, learning, or policy definition. Smart communities' analysis and benchmarking is of paramount importance for investigating the evolution of each community, and for producing models of social interaction, knowledge building and learning that concurrently create the basis of collective intelligence.Against this background, this special issue of the IxD&A journal brings together four educational technology studies covering different facets of smart communities, with an emphasis on their underlying technologies.
The authors discuss the phenomenon as follows.
In first article in this issue, "Designing Smart Knowledge Building Communities", Ambar Murillo Montes de Oca, Nicolae Nistor (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Germany), Mihai Dascalu and E˜tefan Trausan-Matu (University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania) take a larger perspective on knowledge building communities (KBC). KBCs represent environments where participants are engaged in collaborative discourse, along with the development and the use of conceptual artifacts, while the collective knowledge base is gradually being expanded upon. Automatic tools are suggested for such communities in order to foster and monitor the development and use of collaborative discourse and conceptual artifacts. Finally, recommendations for the design of smart KBCs are provided.
In keeping with the previous definition of KBC, in the article "Newcomer Integration in Online Knowledge Building Communities: Automated Dialogue Analysis in Integrative vs. Non-Integrative Blogger Communities" the authors Nicolae Nistor (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Germany), Costin-Gabriel Chiru (University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania) and Nicolas Bresser (Universitat der Bundeswehr, Munchen, Germany) search for predictors of newcomer integration in existing KBCs by employing an automated analysis tool for comparing two dialogues in terms of lexical chain occurrences and inter-animation moments.
Further on, Zinayida Petrushyna, Ralf Klamma and Matthias Jarke (Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany) in their article "The Impact of Culture On Smart Community Technology: The Case of 13 Wikipedia Instances" perceive smart communities as being capable of providing themselves with technologies for monitoring social behaviors inside communities. Nevertheless, the underlying technologies that support knowledge building should consider the cultural background of community members. Since users with different cultural backgrounds build knowledge in different ways, social network analysis can be employed to define the different requirements for the technologies used in smart communities across different cultures.
Taking a different perspective, Thomas Kohler, Sander Munster and Lars Schlenker (Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany), attempt in their paper "Smart communities in virtual reality. A comparison of design approaches for academic education" to define smart communities by adopting "virtual reality" (VR) for a wide variety of purposes, among which potential educational scenarios are of particular interest. Overall, VR offers the possibility to create complex learning and working environments in terms of social interaction in communication and collaboration processes. Subsequently, smart communities should also establish a VR ecosystem while providing support for a variety of educational communities that make use of ICT for teaching and learning. Beyond the widespread adoption of ICT, smart communities can especially profit from the use of VR technologies in order to bridge spatial and time gaps in members' collaborations.
All in all, natural language processing techniques, discourse analysis, social networks analysis, virtual reality and other analytics tools concur to outline a comprehensive toolkit aimed at capturing the multiple facets of social interaction and of learning processes that take place in smart communities.


Synopsis: The blowout of BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, provided the first major test of the national oil spill containment and response apparatus put in place by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. News media coverage of the blowout displayed a lack of awareness of the Act or the mechanisms it had put in place to respond to major oil spills. Many questions raised by the media are answered or explained by the statute and its regulations. This article discusses the Act's provisions as they relate to the Macondo blowout, its effectiveness in dealing with the spill, and the prospects for amending the law. I. THE MACONDO BLOWOUT The blowout of British Petroleum?s (BP) Macondo well in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico was the largest accidental oil spill in the world, greater than both the Ixtoc blowout off the coast of Mexico and the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.1 Eleven crew members of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig were killed, others were injured, the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen were impacted, countless marine animals and organisms were destroyed, and marshes and beaches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida were fouled. The blowout dominated news coverage from April 20, 2010, until the blowout was finally capped on July 15, 2010. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed.2 There have been hearings before a joint investigatory panel of the Coast Guard and the Department of the Interior,3 an investigation by a commission appointed by President Obama,4 and extensive Congressional hearings.5 In the aftermath of the spill, resource damage assessment has begun, but will take time to complete. Some 185,000,000 gallons (4.4 million barrels) of oil were discharged,6 and, while clean-up efforts and natural processes appear to have removed much of the oil from the water surface, the effects on the Gulf of Mexico may last for decades. Media attention, once intense, is now focused elsewhere.7 The intensive media coverage raised many questions that were left unanswered before the media moved on to other issues. Among these are questions regarding who was in charge, delayed emergency response efforts, the laxity of federal oversight, the culpability of the companies involved,8 the impact of the oil on the ecosystem, the use of dispersants, and the ability of the environment to recover. Resolving the larger questions concerning resource damage will take years and involve disciplines outside the law. It is not the purpose of this article to resolve these issues or assess blame for the spill. Rather, the purpose of this article is more modest and limited: to address those questions that relate to the adequacy and effectiveness of the existing legal regime for responding to offshore oil spills. II. THE OIL POLLUTION ACT OF 1990 The current regulatory framework for oil spill response to a large degree reflects reactions to earlier oil spill disasters. The Exxon Valdez spill in March of 1989 led to the enactment of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90 or the Act).9 OPA 90 amended section 311 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §1321, which was enacted after the 1969 Santa Barbara blowout. The Port and Tanker Safety Act of 1978, which also amended section 311, was a reaction to the Argo Merchant tanker spill off Nantucket in 1976. OPA 90 was the capstone of a fifteen year legislative effort to "consolidate and rationalize the oil spill response mechanisms under various federal laws" that was pushed to completion in reaction to Exxon Valdez.10 OPA 90 provides a comprehensive legal framework that establishes federal management and control of oil spills, and federal control of containment, removal, recovery and clean-up efforts. It holds each "responsible party" liable for the costs of containment, clean-up, and damages sustained as a result of the spill. It creates a single, unified fund called the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to pay clean-up and removal costs of up to $1 billion, and it creates stronger enforcement authorities, penalties, spill prevention countermeasures, and response mechanisms. …


In this paper we attempt to define the notion of 'lexeme' in relation to signed languages. We begin by defining signs as a distinct kind of visual-gestural communicative act, different from other communicative uses of gesture. This is followed by a discussion of the most important categories of productive forms in signed languages, referred to simply as signs. The close relationship between the formational aspects of these signs and their meaning is also discussed and exemplified. We then describe the criteria for recognizing lexemes as a subset of signs, and distinguishing variant and modified forms. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications the notion of lexeme has for our understanding of the lexicon of signed languages and for signed language lexicography.