ABSTRACT We utilize Transportable Array data to survey regional seismicity in east Texas and northwest Louisiana. Through analyst review and a waveform‐matching technique, we identify 58 earthquakes occurring between April 2010 and July 2012. The earthquakes spatially cluster within two main zones, near Timpson, Texas, and within Bienville Parish, Louisiana; minor clusters occur in the Texas–Louisiana border region. Although the Timpson earthquakes have been studied previously, we identify many undetected earthquakes that occurred in 2010, about two years prior to the 17 May 2012 M w  4.8 earthquake, which has been linked to wastewater injection. The Bienville Parish sequence, which consists of magnitude 0.5–1.9 earthquakes in mid‐ to late‐2011, occurred about 10 km from wells that began injecting at relatively modest rates (∼40,000 barrels (bbl) per month) in late 2010 but within a few kilometers of production wells that were being hydraulically fractured around the same time period. An additional cluster of seismicity was observed, near Center, Texas, with some seismicity occurring in the months prior to the start of wastewater injection and the largest earthquake in that sequence occurring when injection exceeded 200,000  bbl/month; this may be a case in which injection into a seismically active area promoted a larger earthquake. Finally, there was also seismicity observed near the Toledo Bend Reservoir in Louisiana. The evidence concerning some of the sequences indicates they might be associated with either hydraulic fracturing or recent increases in wastewater injection at wells within the unconventional Haynesville shale gas play. The results of this study highlight the need for more extensive seismic monitoring in the central and eastern regions of the United States of America.


A control scheme for star-connected cascade static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs) operating under unbalanced conditions is proposed. The STATCOM is assumed to be connected to an equivalent three-phase star-connected power supply. By selecting the line-to-neutral voltages of the equivalent power supply, zero average active power in each phase can be obtained under unbalanced compensation currents or unbalanced supply voltages. Furthermore, to implement a separate control for the three-phase dc-link voltages, the average active power in each phase can also be adjusted to a target value determined by the dc-link voltage control loop. Then, by forcing the converter neutral voltage to be equal to the counterpart of the equivalent power supply, the STATCOM can be decoupled into three single-phase systems and the line-to-neutral voltage of the equivalent power supply can be used as the input voltage to the corresponding phase leg. Accordingly, reference current tracking and dc-link voltage maintaining can be simultaneously achieved under unbalanced conditions. The valid operating range of the star-connected cascade STATCOM under unbalanced conditions is also analyzed. The proposed control scheme has been tested using the power systems computer-aided design/electromagnetic transient in dc system (EMTDC) simulation results and the experimental results based on a 30-kVAr cascade STATCOM laboratory prototype are proposed.


One of the fundamental aspects in cohesive zone modeling is the definition of the traction-separation relationship across fracture surfaces, which approximates the nonlinear fracture process. Cohesive traction-separation relationships may be classified as either nonpotential-based models or potential-based models. Potential-based models are of special interest in the present review article. Several potential-based models display limitations, especially for mixed-mode problems, because of the boundary conditions associated with cohesive fracture. In addition, this paper shows that most effective displacement-based models can be formulated under a single framework. These models lead to positive stiffness under certain separation paths, contrary to general cohesive fracture phenomena wherein the increase of separation generally results in the decrease of failure resistance across the fracture surface (i.e., negative stiffness). To this end, the constitutive relationship of mixed-mode cohesive fracture should be selected with great caution.


Motivated by a recent experiment (Catani J. et al., Phys. Rev. A, 85 (2012) 023623) we study breathing oscillations in the width of a harmonically trapped impurity interacting with a separately trapped Bose gas. We provide an intuitive physical picture of such dynamics at zero temperature, using a time-dependent variational approach. The amplitudes of breathing oscillations are suppressed by self-trapping, due to interactions with the Bose gas. Further, exciting phonons in the Bose gas leads to damped oscillations and non-Markovian dynamics of the width of the impurity, the degree of which can be engineered through controllable parameters. Our results, supported by simulations, reproduce the main features of the dynamics observed by Catani et al. despite the temperature of that experiment. Moreover, we predict novel effects at lower temperatures due to self-trapping and the inhomogeneity of the trapped Bose gas.


This paper addresses the potential of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to become the first true green payment program, one which is not directly linked to farm income goals as all conservation programs have been in the past, even in contrast to the Conservation Reserve Program and the now obsolete Agricultural Conservation Program. EQIP is thus discussed as a new generation of conservation programs which are General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade-legal (no payments to farmers which may influence trade) and more targeted to actual agro-environmental problems than the traditional conservation programs. In the next sections, the paper raises two important questions: First, to what extent should green payments substitute for traditional commodity payments, as they are being phased out? If taking water quality problems into account, EQIP does not reach the geographic areas of the highest commodity program payments, although substitution was never intended and has inherent problems. The paper then looks at EQIP as a green payment program, discussing to what extent EQIP reflects the desired characteristics of a GATT-legal green payment program. Three such characteristics are discussed as hurdles for a successful EQIP implementation: a program has to be targeted, tailored and transparent. Additionally, rent-seeking by various private interests, lack of science-based data, agency and farmer inertia and the complexity of the program are all challenges which must be faced. The study concludes with a discussion of the future of green payments.


Vulnerability due to inter-connectivity of multiple networks has been observed in many complex networks. Previous works mainly focused on robust network design and on recovery strategies after sporadic or massive failures in the case of complete knowledge of failure location. We focus on cascading failures involving the power grid and its communication network with consequent imprecision in damage assessment. We tackle the problem of mitigating the ongoing cascading failure and providing a recovery strategy. We propose a failure mitigation strategy in two steps: 1) Once a cascading failure is detected, we limit further propagation by re-distributing the generator and load's power. 2) We formulate a recovery plan to maximize the total amount of power delivered to the demand loads during the recovery intervention. Our approach to cope with insufficient knowledge of damage locations is based on the use of a new algorithm to determine consistent failure sets (CFS). We show that, given knowledge of the system state before the disruption, the CFS algorithm can find all consistent sets of unknown failures in polynomial time provided that, each connected component of the disrupted graph has at least one line whose failure status is known to the controller.


A familiar theme in Greek myth is that of the deadly gift that passes between a man and a woman. Analysis of exchanges between men and women reveals the gendered nature of exchange in ancient Greek mythic
 thinking. Using the anthropological categories of male and female wealth (with examples drawn from many cultures), it is possible to arrive at an understanding of the protocols of exchange as they relate
 to men and especially to women. These protocols, which are based in part on the distinction between metals and other durable goods as "male" and textiles as "female," are closely related to the gendered
 division of labor. Anxiety about women as exchangers derives in part from their status as objects exchanged in marriage (as exemplified by Helen in the Iliad), and partly from a misogynist and pessimistic
 strand of Greek thought (embodied by Hesiod9s Pandora) that discounts any female economic contribution to the oikos. Indeed, the majority of destructive exchanges take place within the context of
 marital crisis. While some texts, beginning with the Odyssey, show the positive side of women9s economic role, tragedy tends to follow the Hesiodic distrust of women as exchange partners. Passages
 from the Agamemnon and the Trachiniai are analyzed to show how in situations of perverted reciprocity brought about by marital discord, even women9s traditional gifts of textiles may become
 deadly.


Anthropology and the Pharmaceutical Nexus Sjaak van der Geest University of Amsterdam Adriana Petryna, Andrew Lakoff, and Arthur Kleinman, Global Pharmaceutical: Ethics, Markets, Practices. Cambridge University Press, January 2006, 312 pp. Medicines constitute a meeting point of almost any imaginable human interest: material, social, political and emotional. They are medical, of course, and symbolic (which is also medical). As chemical substances, they bring about physical changes in the body. As ritual symbols, they express concern and give comfort. They are indeed emblems of concern but also commodities in a hard and merciless market. They are political weapons in the hands of the powerful. They play their many roles at different levels of social and political organization: in international policy and funding, in national politics, in local health institutions, in consulting rooms and shops, on the street corner, in households and, ultimately, in the private lives of individual patients. They are merchandise in formal and informal, public and secret, legal and illegal transactions. Thus one may indeed speak of a "pharmaceutical nexus" as do the editors of this fascinating new book on Global Pharmaceutical (Petryna et al. 2006). Studying medicines in order to know how the world functions, and understand the work of medicines in the wider context of culture and society, seems an obvious choice for anthropologists, but it has taken some time to realize this. With very few exceptions, medicines were only mentioned in passing; they were always "traditional medicines," magical remedies and herbal concoctions. One such exception was Evans-Pritchard (1937:424-78) who devoted more than average attention to the typology, perception and use of Zande local medicines in order to make his point about the rationality of Azande reasoning. The fashion and convention of early anthropology-especially the sentimental focus on exoticism-prevented researchers from looking at ubiquitous Western-produced pharmaceuticals as cultural phenomena worthy of anthropological scrutiny. One of the few exceptions was Cunningham (1970) who wrote about "injection doctors" in Thailand, a topic that was apparently exotic enough to capture his attention, even though it concerned a familiar Western practice, injection. I became interested in pharmaceuticals during my fieldwork on sexual relationships and birth control in a Ghanaian rural town (Bleek 1976). I discovered that young people were putting their trust in a contraceptive that had a social life of its own, entirely outside the world of professional medicine and/or official Family Planning services. Tracing that "contraceptive," I made a second discovery: it was a laxative. From that moment onward my own cultural blinders were lifted and I started to see pharmaceuticals everywhere: in "provisions" shops selling daily necessities, in market stalls, in drugstores that were supposed to sell "over the counter medicines" only but were in fact selling an abundance of prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics. I was amazed both at their omnipresence in daily life and their almost total neglect by anthropologists who claimed to describe that very same daily life. At the same time, however, I realized that this negligence formed part of a general pattern. Anthropologists had turned away from phenomena that seemed too familiar to them: schools, Christian churches with their "boring" religious services, hospitals and everything related to what was assumed to be "Western medical practice," including pharmaceuticals. My interest in the familiar (yet unfamiliar) world of pharmaceuticals coincided with (1) the gradual home-coming of anthropology, (2) the birth of medical anthropology as a distinct specialization, (3) a world-wide outcry about the practices of multinational pharmaceutical firms and (4) the launching of the WHO's Action Program on Essential Drugs. Here, I will discuss only the two last two of these phenomena. …


Miniaturization in electronics through improvements in established "top-down" fabrication techniques is approaching the point where fundamental issues are expected to limit the dramatic increases in computing seen over the past several decades. Here we report a "bottom-up" approach in which functional device elements and element arrays have been assembled from solution through the use of electronically well-defined semiconductor nanowire building blocks. We show that crossed nanowire p-n junctions and junction arrays can be assembled in over 95% yield with controllable electrical characteristics, and in addition, that these junctions can be used to create integrated nanoscale field-effect transistor arrays with nanowires as both the conducting channel and gate electrode. Nanowire junction arrays have been configured as key OR, AND, and NOR logic-gate structures with substantial gain and have been used to implement basic computation.


Jill Price has the first diagnosed case of a memory condition called "hyperthymestic syndrome" -- the continuous, automatic, autobiographical recall of every day of her life since she was fourteen. Give her any date from that year on, and she can almost instantly tell you what day of the week it was, what she did on that day, and any major world event or cultural happening that took place, as long as she heard about it that day. Her memories are like scenes from home movies, constantly playing in her head, backward and forward, through the years; not only does she make no effort to call her memories to mind, she cannot stop them. The Woman Who Can't Forget is the beautifully written and moving story of Jill's quest to come to terms with her extraordinary memory, living with a condition that no one understood, including her, until the scientific team who studied her finally charted the extraordinary terrain of her abilities. As we learn of Jill's struggles first to realize how unusual her memory is and then to contend, as she grows up, with the unique challenges of not being able to forget -- remembering both the good times and the bad, the joyous and the devastating, in such vivid and insistent detail -- the way her memory works is contrasted to a wealth of discoveries about the workings of normal human memory and normal human forgetting. Intriguing light is shed on the vital role of what's called "motivated forgetting"; as well as theories about childhood amnesia, the loss of memory for the first two to three years of our lives; the emotional content of memories; and the way in which autobiographical memories are normally crafted into an ever-evolving and empowering life story.


Previous studies on the relationship between ecosystem productivity, size and food-chain length have been restricted to comparisons between locations.
We examined the effect of temporal variability in productivity on trophic structure of a floodplain ecosystem, hypothesising that during the wet-flood pulses, the increased resource availability might lead to higher food-chain lengths.
We examined multiple common sampling locations and species during a severe El Nino drought which followed a consecutive series of historically wet La Nina years, comparing trophic position and dietary sources.
While carbon stable isotopes showed no significant difference between the two phases, nitrogen stable isotopes indicated that most species were feeding higher in the food chain in the wet phase.
The results suggest that oscillations in climate phase-driven changes have effects on food-chain lengths through changes in productivity, without the introduction of new sources of carbon or changes to the composition of higher-order predators.


This thesis explores the processes of team innovation. It utilises two studies, an organisationally based pilot and an experimental study, to examine and identify aspects of teams' behaviours that are important for successful innovative outcome. The pilot study, based in two automotive manufacturers, involved the collection of team members' experiences through semi-structured interviews, and identified a number of factors that affected teams' innovative performance. These included: the application of ideative & dissemination processes; the importance of good team relationships, especially those of a more informal nature, in facilitating information and ideative processes; the role of external linkages in enhancing quality and radicality of innovations; and the potential attenuation of innovative ideas by time deadlines. This study revealed a number key team behaviours that may be important in successful innovation outcomes. These included; goal setting, idea generation and development, external contact, task and personal information exchange, leadership, positive feedback and resource deployment. These behaviours formed the basis of a coding system used in the second part of the research. Building on the results from the field based research, an experimental study was undertaken to examine the behavioural differences between three groups of sixteen teams undertaking innovative an task to produce an anti-drugs poster. They were randomly assigned to one of three innovation category conditions suggested by King and Anderson (1990), emergent, imported and imposed. These conditions determined the teams level of access to additional information on previously successful campaigns and the degree of freedom they had with regarding to the design of the poster. In addition, a further experimental condition was imposed on half of the teams per category which involved a formal time deadline for task completion. The teams were video taped for the duration of their innovation and their behaviours analysed and coded in five main aspects including; ideation, external focus, goal setting, interpersonal, directive and resource related activities. A panel of experts, utilising five scales developed from West and Anderson's (1996) innovation outcome measures, assessed the teams' outputs. ANOVAs and repeated measure ANOVAs were deployed to identify whether there were significant differences between the different conditions. The results indicated that there were some behavioural differences between the categories and that over the duration of the task behavioural changes were identified. The results, however, revealed a complex picture and suggested limited support for three distinctive innovation categories. There were many differences in behaviours, but rarely between more than two of the categories. A main finding was the impact that different levels of constraint had in changing teams' focus of attention. For example, emergent teams were found to use both their own team and external resources, whilst those who could import information about other successful campaigns were likely to concentrate outside the team and pay limited attention to the internal resources available within the team. In contrast, those operating under task constraints with aspects of the task imposed onto them were more likely to attend to internal team resources and pay limited attention to the external world. As indicated by the earlier field study, time deadlines did significantly change teams' behaviour, reducing ideative and information exchange behaviours. The model shows an important behavioural progression related to innovate teams. This progression involved the teams' openness initially to external sources, and then to the intra-team environment. Premature closure on the final idea before their mid-point was found to have a detrimental impact on team's innovation. Ideative behaviour per se was not significant for innovation outcome, instead the development of intra-team support and trust emerged as crucial. Analysis of variance revealed some limited differentiation between the behaviours of teams operating under the aforementioned three innovation categories. There were also distinct detrimental differences in the behaviour of those operating under a time deadline. Overall, the study identified the complex interrelationships of team behaviours and outcomes, and between teams and their context.


This Brochure provides an overview of the activities of the Vice presidency for Private Sector and Non-Sovereign Guaranteed Operations. The IDB Group includes four private sector windows that offer complementary products and services: The Structured and Corporate Finance Department (SCF), The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and The Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ). These four windows work together to promote development through the region's private sector. The IDB provides funding and technical assistance to a broad range of private sector players whose operations and projects have a positive impact on the social and economic development of the region. They range from microenterprises to large companies, and also include financial institutions and other partners, such as mixed-capital entities and civil society organizations. In recent years, the Bank has considerably expanded the range of sectors in which we provide financing for innovative and sustainable private sector projects.


The site of type D (chondroitin 6-sulfate) oligosaccharide unit addition to human thyroglobulin (hTg) was localized. Furthermore, hTg and its fractions endowed with chondroitin 6-sulfate oligosaccaride units (hTg-CS) and devoid of it (hTg-CS-), were compared, with respect to their ability to induce experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) in CBA/J(H-2k) mice, by subcutaneous administration, in the presence of complete adjuvant.
HTg was chromatographically separated into hTg-CS and hTg-CS- molecules, on the base of their uronic acid content. In an ample number of hTg preparations, the fraction of hTg-CS in total hTg ranged from 32.0 to 71.6 percent. By exploiting the electrophoretic mobility shift and metachromasia conferred by chondrotin-6-sulfate upon the products of limited proteolysis of hTg, chondroitin 6-sulfate was first restricted to a carboxy-terminal region, starting at residue 2513. A single chondroitin 6-sulfate-containing nonapeptide was isolated in pure form from the products of digestion of hTg with endoproteinase Glu-C, and its sequence was determined as being LTAGXGLRE (residues 2725-2733, X being Ser2729 linked to the oligosaccharide chain). In an in vitro assay of enzymatic iodination, hTg-CS produced higher yields of 3,5,5'-triiodothyronine (T3) (171%) and 3,5,3',5'-tetraiodothyronine (T4) (134%), than hTg-CS-. Unfractionated hTg behaved as hTg-CS. Thus, chondroitin 6-sulfate addition to a subset of hTg molecules enhanced the overall level of T4 and, particularly, T3 formation. Furthermore, the chondroitin 6-sulfate oligosaccharide unit of hTg-CS protected peptide bond Gly2713-Lys2714 from proteolysis, during the limited digestion of hTg-CS with trypsin.
Although immunization with all forms of hTg was accompanied by thyroid cell damage, as judged from the increase of T4 in blood, a higher degree of mononuclear infiltration of the thyroid was associated with unfractionated hTg, in comparison both with hTg-CS and with hTg-CS-. Thus, it appears that both hTg subfractions contributed to the immunopathogenic potency of unfractionated hTg, as neither one reproduced fully the histological picture associated with the latter. Significant differences were observed also upon restimulation in vitro of splenic lymphocytes obtained from mice immunized in vivo with the different forms of hTg. Restimulation in vitro with hTg-CS of splenocytes from mice immunized with the same antigen was followed by low-level, dose-dependent proliferation and IFN-γ production, whereas cross-stimulation with hTg-CS- of the same cells was followed by proliferative and secretory responses of even lower degree. On the other hand, restimulation in vitro with hTg-CS- of splenocytes primed in vivo with the same antigen was followed by higher-level, dose-dependent increases of IFN-γ production, accompanied by proliferative responses of low degree and inversely related with the antigen dose, while cross-stimulation with hTg-CS of the same cells was followed by dose-dependent increases, both of proliferation and IFN-γ production, of the highest level observed in this study. Similar results were obtained when splenocytes, primed in vivo with hTg-CS-, were restimulated with purified glycopeptide hTg-CSgp, containing the chondroitin 6-sulfate unit, but not with its non-glycosylated, synthetic homologue. These data indicate that hTg-CS- was more effective than hTg-CS in priming autoreactive T lymphocytes, recognizing thyroiditogenic epitopes shared between murine and human Tg, whereas hTg-CS was a stronger inducer of proliferation of antigen-sensitized T cells. Moreover, different molecular signals, including structural determinant(s) associated with the chondroitin 6-sulfate chain, were required, in addition to epitope recognition, for the activation of T cell proliferation, together with IFN-γ production.
These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanism of regulation of the hormonogenic efficiency and of the T4/T3 ratio in hTg, and may bear important implications in the processing and presentation of hTg as an autoantigen, and in the mechanisms of activation of Th-1-mediated and cytotoxic lymphocyte responses involved in EAT.


Knowledge of how an unburied pipeline interacts with the seabed during operational buckling is critical both to check the fatigue life of a pipeline in the buckling zone and to make accurate predictions of the pipeline end-expansions and walking. This paper explains how site-specific seabed conditions affect pipe-soil interaction (PSI) for buckling pipelines during their operational life.The paper first demonstrates that for many soil conditions, cyclic PSI models that only consider the 'berm push' resistance fail to capture all the key elements of the pipeline-seabed interaction during cyclic buckling. An additional mechanism associated with the changing pipeline trajectory which develops after many pipeline lateral movements ('sweeps') is identified. For some soil and pipeline conditions this second mechanism provides the main component of the seabed resistance after many operational cycles. Appropriate analysis methodologies are discussed which allow the 'berm-push' and trajectory mechanisms to be considered in light of soil conditions and pipeline input conditions.Secondly, published design approaches to assess cyclic PSI during buckling have typically assumed that the seabed around pipelines is not mobile (i.e. unscourable). However, in some situations, the combination of pipeline geometry, seabed properties and metocean conditions may lead to seabed scour around the pipeline and surrounding soil berms. This may therefore affect how the lateral soil resistance develops during the operational lifetime of a pipeline and should be considered in design. The paper discusses this issue, presenting results from CFD scour analyses of a particular berm geometry for different metocean conditions. The implications of berm scour on pipe-soil interaction for this geometry is explained.© 2014 ASME


This study explored mindfulness amongst eight self-injuring psychiatric adolescents. A mixed-method design was used. Interviews and clinical records comprised the qualitative data, while quantitative data was gathered using the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ: Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer & Toney, 2006). Thematic analysis was used to generate themes and subthemes. Findings suggest that those who sometimes act mindfully tend to be more self-critical, report more severe injuries and more often self-punish. Those who often act mindfully self-injure more often, they show more self-compassion and report less severe injuries and less lethal methods. Mindfulness-based interventions might be useful in increasing mindfulness and decreasing self-injuring behaviour in psychiatric patients.


Newbigging Sandstone Quarry in Fife is one of a number of former quarries in the Burntisland-
Aberdour district which exploited the pale-coloured Grange Sandstone from Lower
Carboniferous rocks. The quarry supplied building stone from the late 19th century, working
intermittently from 1914 until closure in 1937, and again when reopened in the 1970s to the
1990s. The stone was primarily used locally and to supply the nearby markets in the Scottish
Central Belt.
Historical evidence indicates that prior to sandstone extraction, the area was dominated by largescale
quarrying and mining of limestone, and substantial sandstone quarrying is likely to have
begun after the arrival of the main railway line in 1890. It is probable that removal of the
sandstone was directly associated with limestone exploitation, and that the quarried sandstone
was effectively a by-product of limestone production. Sandstone extraction was probably viable
due to the existing limestone quarry infrastructure (workforce, equipment, transportation) and the
high demand for building stone in Central Scotland in the late 19th century.
The geology within Newbigging Sandstone Quarry is dominated by thick-bedded uniform
sandstone with a wide joint spacing, well-suited for obtaining large blocks. However, a
mudstone (shale) band is likely to be present within a few metres of the principal (north) face of
the quarry, around which the sandstone bed thickness and quality is likely to decrease. The
mudstone bed forms a plane sloping at a shallow angle to the north, so that expansion of the
quarry in this direction is likely to encounter a considerable volume of poor quality stone.
Additionally, an east-west trending fault is present approximately 100 metres north of the quarry
face, which is also likely to be associated with poor quality (fractured) stone.


This thesis examines aspects of professional development that a literacy coach might focus on in order to provide a positive impact on professional literacy practice of classroom teachers. An extensive literature review was conducted to determine an answer. The selected studies sort into four categories: high quality professional development for educators, specific types and methods of delivery of professional development, delivery of professional development through technology, and literacy coaching as a form of professional development. Findings from the high quality category indicate high quality professional development appears to be that which matches school district goals, is relevant to the participants, and consists of active participation and collaboration. From the types and delivery methods category, findings are that beneficial delivery methods are those that model for participants the strategies being taught and provide a large amount of time for follow-up support. Specifically for professional development in technology, a hands-on use delivery method appears to be effective, while peer coaching with observations appears to be an effective delivery method for professional development generally. Findings from the delivery of professional development through technology category indicate that online professional development through message boards appears to be a more comfortable way for some professionals to learn; however, other professionals prefer a more focused and moderated forum for their online professional development. Findings from the category of literacy coaching as a form of professional development reveal that literacy coaches seem to be most effective at changing teacher practice when they demonstrate and model how to use a strategy, when they discuss assessments and assessment results with the educators, when they provide feedback after observations, and generally when they have a good rapport with the teachers.


This paper deals with a software package for the numerical analysis in transient and steady-state modes of power electrical networks or variable speed drives with arbitrary topologies. The package is composed of a series of units, each representing a specific cell in the network : voltage supply, electrical machine, mechanical system, transmission line, circuit-breaker, phase shifting transformer, static converter with control and command organ, regulator, etc. SIMSEN is highly flexible and efficient. It is implanted on microcomputer or on workstation. The network or the variable speed drive to be simulated is assembled using a graphic input interface by adequatly choosing and linking the building units, so as to fulfill a desired topology. An existing system may be easily extended or modified. A simple procedure can be used in order to define a new unit or to modify an existing one. The initial conditions of operation can be partly or entirely specified by the user. A transient mode of operation may include several successive perturbations. The simulation results are displayed through an efficient graphic interface. An original feature of SIMSEN is its ability to analyse electrical networks involving semi-conductors (diodes rectifiers, thyristor or GTO current converters, voltage inverters, etc.). Thus, systems having a complex structure can be simulated. Practical examples of applications to such systems constitute the main part of this paper : constant or variable speed groups involving induction and synchronous machines, HVDC networks, reactive power static converter SVC. These examples show how SIMSEN can be used for an optimized design of complex networks.


Lunacy, the legendary notion of minds unhinged by the moon, continues to captivate the popular imagination. Although it violates the assumptions of modern science and psychiatry, such belief remains common among mental health workers. Furthermore, several studies have found a small, unexplained correlation between behaviour and the lunar cycle. The book is divided into two parts. It begins with a historical account of the lunacy concept, followed by an investigation of hypothetical mechanisms for a lunar effect.


Abstract. The discovery of two new non-marine ameirids from the southern Yilgarn region significantly extends the geographic range for this group in Australia and exposes weaknesses in the conservation and environmental impact assessment (EIA) of subterranean species potentially threatened by mining developments. Megastygonitocrella embe, sp. nov. differs from seven previously described Australian congeners by the armature of the second leg endopod and absence of spinules on the somites. A key to world species of Megastygonitocrella is presented. Phylogenetic analysis based on 57 morphological characters and 30 species belonging to the Stygonitocrella s.l. group suggests that Antistygonitocrella pardalotos, gen. et sp. nov. has no close relatives anywhere in the world. Superficial similarities between the two new species are either plesiomorphies or homoplasies. The habitats of these new short-range endemic species are fractured-rock aquifers developed in Archaean greenstone, where the groundwater is characterised by acid conditions, high salinity and low dissolved oxygen. The population of A. pardalotos is threatened by a mining development. Despite the advanced level of environmental protection policy in Western Australia, our taxonomic study highlights limitations in EIA practices and discusses potential improvements which have global relevance in regions where short-range endemics coincide with extraction of mineral resources.


Highway planning and design must be participated in fully by those most affected by the project. Throughout the planning process contact must be maintained with elected officials and citizen groups representing regional interests and those representing the local community. The interdisciplinary team approach is a great advance in urban transportation planning but it is not the solution to all problems. More attention is required during the planning process to ways and means for implementing the plans. The paper describes new procedures being used in urban highway planning. It stresses community participation and the importance, as part of the planning process itself, of seeking out ways and means for implementing the plans. While compromises and concessions must be made to many viewpoints, sight must not be lost of the fact that an adequate transportation system is an absolute requirement of an urbanized society.


This article shows that increases in the educational attainment and labor market experience of the U.S. work force have led to an advance in labor productivity of more than 0.2 percentage points per year since the early 1960s. Estimates show, however, some declaration in the pace of labor quality improvements toward the end of the 1990s. Forecasts call for a continued decline over the remainder of the current decade.


Aim & background: Astaxanthin is a unique carotenoid of predominantly marine origin providing the pink-red color to certain microalgae and accumulating in various animals higher in the food chain. It is an antioxidant without pro-oxidant properties or known side-effects following oral intake. Methods: We investigated astaxanthin kinetics in plasma and erythrocytes (RBC) of four healthy adults after a single oral 40 mg dose. Plasma- and RBC-astaxanthin were measured during 72h. Subsequently, an 8 mg/day dose was given during 17 days. Plasma- and RBC-astaxanthin were measured each morning. Results: Plasmaastaxanthin reached a peak (from 79 to 315 nmol/L) after 8h and then declined (half-life, 18h). Within 72h, plasma-astaxanthin had returned to baseline. RBC-astaxanthin reached a peak (from 63 to 137 nmol/L packed cells) at 12h and subsequently disappeared (half-life, 28h). During the daily dose, plasmaastaxanthin increased until day 10 (187 nmol/L) and then decreased to a steady concentration similar to that reached after 2 days. RBC-astaxanthin appeared to be highly variable (group median concentration, 86 nmol/L packed cells). Conclusion: We found high intra- and inter-individual variations, especially in RBC, possibly due to non-standardized time difference between astaxanthin intake and sampling, fl uctuating background intake from the diet, variable bioavailability, large distribution volume, degradation or others. Oral astaxanthin is rapidly absorbed and incorporated into RBC. The subsequent rapid decline suggests that, for a higher-than-baseline status, astaxanthin should be taken daily, at least in an early phase when total body equilibrium, if any, has not been reached yet. Key words : Antioxidant ; carotenoid ; humans ; half-life ; status ; absorption .


Knowledge management (KM) is the research field aimed to create, organize, and store explicit knowledge for easy access and manipulation, whereas e-learning is concerned with delivering a suite of knowledge contents to a group of learners via the Internet. Since e-learning techniques have grown quickly nowadays to complement the conventional learning system, integration of KM and e-learning has been a tendency to improve the creation, organization, and delivery of a learner-oriented knowledge management system. Particularly, knowledge portal systems are usually efficient vehicles to realize this integration for we can create new content types on the portal sites to serve e-learning purpose. Nevertheless, a knowledge portal site allows the members to create and share their knowledge objects; implying that the website containing group knowledge grows itself unlimitedly and unexpectedly. To display the sitemap of a knowledge portal and observe the concept map of group knowledge, we have developed a visualization tool referred to as the Site-And-Concept (SAC) map generator. In this paper, we apply this map generator on a knowledge-portal-based e-learning system. Users can convert the generated concept maps into SCORM-compliant course packages with sequencing and navigation supports. They can further edit the learning content and share it to peer learners, and thus establish a collaborative learning environment.


We study the relationship between the frequency of a function and the speed at which a neural network learns it. We build on recent results that show that the dynamics of overparameterized neural networks trained with gradient descent can be well approximated by a linear system. When normalized training data is uniformly distributed on a hypersphere, the eigenfunctions of this linear system are spherical harmonic functions. We derive the corresponding eigenvalues for each frequency after introducing a bias term in the model. This bias term had been omitted from the linear network model without significantly affecting previous theoretical results. However, we show theoretically and experimentally that a shallow neural network without bias cannot represent or learn simple, low frequency functions with odd frequencies. Our results lead to specific predictions of the time it will take a network to learn functions of varying frequency. These predictions match the empirical behavior of both shallow and deep networks.


Fiber optic Fabry-Perot sensors are commonly interrogated by spectral interferometric measurement of optical path difference (OPD). Spurious jumps in sensor output, previously attributed to noise, are often observed in OPD-based measurements. Through analysis and experimentation based on intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (IFPI) sensors, we show that these discontinuities are actually caused by a time-varying interferogram phase term. We identify several physical causes for varying initial phase and derive a threshold value at which it begins to cause errors in the sensor output. Finally, we present a total phase measurement method as an alternative to OPD-based techniques to reduce the occurrence of output signal jumps.


Greenland's largest floating ice tongue at the Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier (79 North Glacier) is thinning, most likely triggered by enhanced submarine melting. The strength of the cavity circulation beneath the floating ice tongue is essentially responsible for the ocean heat flux to the glacier ice and variability in the circulation may have consequences on the basal melt rate. Analyzing four moored records (summers 2016-2017) from the 79 North Glacier calving front, this study characterizes the variability of the cavity circulation and the relative importance of its local and regional drivers. The focus lies on the variability
in the currents in Dijmphna Sund, the most relevant export pathway for glacially modifed waters out of the glacial cavity. Variability is split into three groups. (1) Half of the variance of the time series is concentrated at sub-daily to daily time scales (T = 0.25 - 2 days) and is associated with barotropic tides. (2) Periods of 2-30 days comprise one third of the variance. At those time scales, currents in Dijmphna Sund are weakly linked to sea ice conditions close to the coast and enhanced wind speeds. (3) In periods larger than 30 days, 1/6 of the variance is found. Low-pass filtered Empirical Orthogonal Functions reveal
a strong link between the export of glacially modified waters through Dijmphna Sund and the inflow into the glacial cavity. This intra-annual variability of the cavity circulation was also observed by a mooring on the continental shelf 170km south of the 79 North Glacier. The time series from the calving front and the one from the continental shelf are significantly correlated (R = 0.65) and shifted by a time difference of 27 - 29 hours. The time delay fits well to travel times of baroclinic waves. This suggests that large-scale wave
activity may be the main driver of the intra-annual variability of the cavity circulation.


—In this paper, we propose P HOENIX D OMAIN , a general and novel attack that allows adversaries to maintain the revoked malicious domain continuously resolvable at scale, which enables an old, mitigated attack, Ghost Domain. P HOENIX D OMAIN has two variations and affects all mainstream DNS software and public DNS resolvers overall because it does not violate any DNS specifications and best security practices. The attack is made possible through systematically " reverse engineer " the cache operations of 8 DNS implementations, and new attack surfaces are revealed in the domain name delegation processes. We select 41 well-known public DNS resolvers and prove that all surveyed DNS services are vulnerable to P HOENIX D OMAIN , including Google Public DNS and Cloudflare DNS. Extensive measurement studies are performed with 210k stable and distributed DNS recursive resolvers, and results show that even after one month from domain name revocation and cache expiration, more than 25% of recursive resolvers can still resolve it. The proposed attack provides an opportunity for adversaries to evade the security practices of malicious domain take-down. We have reported discovered vulnerabilities to all affected vendors and suggested 6 types of mitigation approaches to them. Until now, 7 DNS software providers and 15 resolver vendors, including BIND, Unbound, Google, and Cloudflare, have confirmed the vulnerabilities, and some of them are implementing and publishing mitigation patches according to our suggestions. In addition, 9 CVE numbers have been assigned. The study calls for standardization to address the issue of how to revoke domain names securely and maintain cache consistency.


Objective To better understand associations between organizational culture (OC), organizational management structure (OS) and quality management in hospitals. Design A multi-method, multi-level, cross-sectional observational study. Setting and participants As part of the DUQuE project (Deepening our Understanding of Quality improvement in Europe), a random sample of 188 hospitals in 7 countries (France, Poland, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Czech Republic) participated in a comprehensive questionnaire survey and a one-day on-site surveyor audit. Respondents for this study (n = 158) included professional quality managers and hospital trustees. Main outcome measures Extent of implementation of quality management systems, extent of compliance with existing management procedures and implementation of clinical quality activities. Results Among participating hospitals, 33% had a clan culture as their dominant culture type, 26% an open and developmental culture type, 16% a hierarchical culture type and 25% a rational culture type. The culture type had no statistically significant association with the outcome measures. Some structural characteristics were associated with the development of quality management systems. Conclusion The type of OC was not associated with the development of quality management in hospitals. Other factors (not culture type) are associated with the development of quality management. An OS that uses fewer protocols is associated with a less developed quality management system, whereas an OS which supports innovation in care is associated with a more developed quality management system.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor receptor I (TNFRSF1A) and receptor II (TNFRSF1B) genes are associated with the anemia observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODS
We studied a group of Caucasian patients (n = 160) with established RA on whom longitudinal data of hemoglobin (Hb) levels over 5 years were recorded. A second group of patients (n = 102) with early RA was used for a confirmation study. Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to genotype patients for the A36G polymorphism in the TNFRSF1A gene, and the T676G polymorphism in TNFRSF1B. Serum levels of ferritin were determined by ELISA and used to differentiate between iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and anemia of chronic disease (ACD). Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
The TNFRSF1A GG genotype was associated with lower 5-year mean area under the curve Hb levels compared with other genotypes (p = 0.01). Analysis of anemic status showed an increased frequency of anemia in patients carrying a G allele, with the highest frequency in GG homozygotes. The TNFRSF1A GG genotype was significantly associated with IDA in established RA (OR 4.3, p = 0.01), and this was confirmed in a group of patients with early RA (OR 4.8, p = 0.04). Analysis of the combined groups also showed a weak association of the G allele with ACD (OR 2.2, p = 0.04). No association was found between TNFRSF1B variants and anemia when the cohorts were analyzed separately, but an association between carriage of the T allele and ACD was found when the 2 groups were combined (OR 11.5, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Our data suggest that polymorphisms within the TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B genes are associated with IDA and/or ACD in patients with RA.


Symbolic or categorical sequences occur in many contexts and can be characterized, for example, by integer‐valued intersymbol distances or binary‐valued indicator sequences. The analysis of these numerical sequences often sheds light on the properties of the original symbolic sequences. This work introduces new statistical tools for exploring auto‐correlation structure in the indicator sequences, for the specific case of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. It is known that the probability distribution of internucleotide distances of DNA sequences deviates significantly from the distribution obtained by assuming independent random placement (i.e. the geometric distribution) and that the deviations can be used either to discriminate between species or to build phylogenetic trees. To investigate the extent to which auto‐correlation structure explains these deviations, the 0–1 indicator sequence of each nucleotide (A, C, G and T) is endowed with a binary auto‐regressive (AR) model of optimum order. The corresponding binary AR geometric distribution is derived analytically and compared with the observed internucleotide distance distribution by appropriate goodness‐of‐fit testing. Results in 34 mitochondrial DNA sequences show that the hypothesis of equal observed/expected frequencies is seldom rejected when a binary AR model is considered instead of independence (76/136 versus 125/136 rejections at the 1% level), in spite of χ2 ‐testing tending to reject for large samples, regardless of how close observed/expected values are. Furthermore, binary AR structure also leads to a median discrepancy reduction of 90% for G, 80% for C, 60% for T and 30% for nucleotide A. Therefore, these models are useful to describe the dependences within a given nucleotide and encourage the development of a model‐based framework to compact internucleotide distance information and to understand DNA differences among species further.


Those of you who have already downloaded the MATLABbased ComplexGUI virtual tool, made available after the publication of its tutorial, please note that we have just prepared its Web-based version, which is ready for you at DOGUS MODSIM lab [see ibid., vol 53, no 4, August 2011, pp 252-260]. One does not need to have a MATLAB compiler anymore: all you need to do is to connect http:// modsim.dogus.edu.tr and remotely run the package. In the author's tutorial he omitted mentioning a wonderful feature article by Prof. Juan R. Mosig (2003) that is reference herein. If you are interested in the use of complex functions and their mappings in electromagnetics (EM), you should read Prof. Mosig's feature article fi rst, and then play with our ComplexGUI package, either remotely at DOGUS MODSIM lab or locally in your com puter with the downloaded package. Also in this issue, the author introduces a canonical structure, with both funda mental analytical and numerical methods, and supply several MATLAB codes. This is an absolute requirement towards using commercial packages, and discussing their pros and cons [see L. Sevgi, "Complex Electromagnetic Problems and Numerical Simulation Approaches," Piscataway, NJ, IEEE Press/Wiley, 2003].


The Detroit WWTP had experienced intermittent high BOD in the dechlorinated final plant effluent from September 2003 to October 2004 and was not related to wet weather events. No NPDES violations occurred. A short-term cost effective laboratory investigation was initiated during the months that the intermittent high BOD values were occurring to determine possible causes. The results of the laboratory study were as follows: 1. Sulfide will increase the BOD in the final effluent; 2. The synergistic effect of manganese (II) and oil & grease will increase BOD; 3. Manganese (II) or Cobalt (II) present with excess sulfur dioxide did not cause high BOD.


Abstract. This study applies the Carbon-Generic Estuary Model (C-GEM) modeling platform to simulate the estuarine biogeochemical dynamics – in particular the air–water CO2 exchange – in three idealized tidal estuaries characterized by increasing riverine influence, from a so-called "marine estuary" to a "riverine estuary". An intermediate case called "mixed estuary" is also considered. C-GEM uses a generic biogeochemical reaction network and a unique set of model parameters extracted from a comprehensive literature survey to perform steady-state simulations representing average conditions for temperate estuaries worldwide. Climate and boundary conditions are extracted from published global databases (e.g., World Ocean Atlas, GLORICH) and catchment model outputs (GlobalNEWS2). The whole-system biogeochemical indicators net ecosystem metabolism (NEM), C and N filtering capacities (FCTC and FCTN, respectively) and CO2 gas exchanges (FCO2) are calculated across the three idealized systems and are related to their main hydrodynamic and transport characteristics. A sensitivity analysis, which propagates the parameter uncertainties, is also carried out, followed by projections of changes in the biogeochemical indicators for the year 2050. Results show that the average C filtering capacities for baseline conditions are 40, 30 and 22 % for the marine, mixed and riverine estuary, respectively, while N filtering capacities, calculated in a similar fashion, range from 22 % for the marine estuary to 18 and 15 % for the mixed and the riverine estuaries. Sensitivity analysis performed by varying the rate constants for aerobic degradation, denitrification and nitrification over the range of values reported in the literature significantly widens these ranges for both C and N. Simulations for the year 2050 suggest that all estuaries will remain largely heterotrophic, although a slight improvement of the estuarine trophic status is predicted. In addition, our results suggest that, while the riverine and mixed systems will only marginally be affected by an increase in atmospheric pCO2, the marine estuary is likely to become a significant CO2 sink in its downstream section. In the decades to come, such a change in behavior might strengthen the overall CO2 sink of the estuary–coastal ocean continuum.


LXX quotations in the Petrine and Pauline speeches in Acts. This article is an attempt to summarize the results of the author's doctoral thesis. Three aspects of the problem under investigation are discussed, i e the texthistorical, methodological and henneneutical aspects. The following became clear after analyzing the citations in the Petrine and Pauline speeches: (a) the reconstructed LXX Textvorlage which Luke has used, reflects a strong Semitic style; (b) some quotations were already used in pre-Lukan times, but seem to be checked and reinterpreted by Luke; (c) his use of Scripture functions on two levels: infonnative, focusing on the past with a strong christological trend, and nonnative, focusing on the present and future with an appealing nature for the current listeners/readers; and (d) Luke's understanding of Scripture fits in within his salvation history, presented from a Theo-centric perspective, pneumatological-prophetically mediated, and with emphasis on the eschatology, christology and soteriology.


Abstract. Transport and mixing processes in fluid flows are crucially influenced by coherent structures and the characterization of these Lagrangian objects is a topic of intense current research. While established mathematical approaches such as variational methods or transfer-operator-based schemes require full knowledge of the flow field or at least high-resolution trajectory data, this information may not be available in applications. Recently, different computational methods have been proposed to identify coherent behavior in flows directly from Lagrangian trajectory data, that is, numerical or measured time series of particle positions in a fluid flow. In this context, spatio-temporal clustering algorithms have been proven to be very effective for the extraction of coherent sets from sparse and possibly incomplete trajectory data. Inspired by these recent approaches, we consider an unweighted, undirected network, where Lagrangian particle trajectories serve as network nodes. A link is established between two nodes if the respective trajectories come close to each other at least once in the course of time. Classical graph concepts are then employed to analyze the resulting network. In particular, local network measures such as the node degree, the average degree of neighboring nodes, and the clustering coefficient serve as indicators of highly mixing regions, whereas spectral graph partitioning schemes allow us to extract coherent sets. The proposed methodology is very fast to run and we demonstrate its applicability in two geophysical flows – the Bickley jet as well as the Antarctic stratospheric polar vortex.


Significant changes and advances in technology in the twenty-first century, and the rapid evolution and development of the internet in particular, have shaped the production, publication, and consumption of, and access to, a wide range of media. For adaptors of Shakespeare, such advances can be exploited as new and innovative ways through which to interpret, perform, and understand Shakespeare. This thesis argues that a possibility space emerges from the restrictions of video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, enabling the creation and online distribution of original internet-disseminated short film adaptations of Shakespeare on a scale — and with a potential audience — previously unimaginable to those without significant financial resources. I explore the effect that the enforced brevity of the possibility space has on filmmakers' adaptations of Shakespeare and ask how this space enables newly creative and innovative approaches to adapting Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' speech, Ophelia's image (and death), and a distilled Romeo and Juliet narrative. I aim to show that a generally circulated cultural memory of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet is crucial for this kind of short-form adaptation, as the brevity of the format relies on audience familiarity with the images and texts deployed to fill in any gaps. I demonstrate that image-based adaptations, such as Ophelia's death, are predominantly reductive due to a strong visual tradition that results in repeated reproduction of the same image, whereas text-based adaptations, such as Hamlet's speech, allow exploration and amplification due to the nebulous nature of the text and exploitation of the possibilities of film; the Romeo and Juliet love story, bound up in both text and image, is more visually resonant than adaptations of Hamlet's speech, but less so than those of Ophelia's death. Ultimately, I conclude that although the possibility space always exists, it is not always leveraged in the same way: it can, and does, offer internet-disseminated short filmmakers the opportunity to approach familiar Shakespearean material in new and innovative ways, but this creative potential can be overlooked in favour of static, mimetic replication that uses Shakespeare to confer legitimacy without writing back.


Abstract : The authors obtain results similar to those for LQG problems on the control system structure for optimal linear quadratic regulator problems with Poisson noise disturbances. If the coefficient matrices of the system dynamics and the performance index are constant, the optimal control of the finite time problem converges to the time-invariant control of the infinite time problem quasi-uniformly, almost surely. Both the long-term average cost criterion and the discounted cost criterion are investigated for infinite time problems.


We read with interest the study of Mathian et al (1), suggesting that direct serum IFNα determination with a highly sensitive assay might be useful for disease activity monitoring in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). More generally, the identification of reactive biomarkers is highly desirable in many disease states, including idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Abstract. The project CARIBIC ( http://caribic-atmospheric.com ) aims to study atmospheric chemistry and transport by regularly measuring many compounds in the free troposphere and the upper troposphere/lowermost stratosphere (UT/LMS) by using passenger aircraft. Here we present CO2 concentrations and isotope results, and analyze the data together with supporting trace gas data. 509 CARIBIC-2 samples (highest precision and accuracy δ13C(CO2) and δ18O(CO2) data) from June 2007 until March 2009, together with CARIBIC-1 samples (flights between November 1999 and April 2002, 350 samples in total, 270 for NH, mostly δ13C(CO2) data) give a fairly extensive, unique data set for the NH free troposphere and the UT/LMS region. Total uncertainty of the data is the same as reported for the global monitoring program by NOAA-ESRL. To compare data from different years a de-trending is applied. In the UT/LMS region δ13C(CO2), δ18O(CO2) and CO2 are found to correlate well with stratospheric tracers, in particular N2O; δ18O(CO2) appears to be a useful, hitherto unused, tracer of atmospheric transport in the UT/LMS region and also inter-hemispheric mixing. By filtering out the LMS data (based on N2O distributions), the isotope variations for the free and upper troposphere are obtained. These variations have only small latitudinal gradients, if any, and are in good agreement with the data of selected NOAA stations in NH tropics. Correlations between δ13C(CO2) and CO2 are observed both within single flight(s) covering long distances and during certain seasons. The overall variability in de-trended δ13C(CO2) and CO2 for CARIBIC-1 and CARIBIC-2 are similar and are generally in agreement, which underscores agreement between high and low resolution sampling. Based on all correlations, we infer that the CO2 distribution in the NH troposphere along CARIBIC flight routes is chiefly regulated by uplift and pole-wards transport of tropical air up to approximately 50° N. The main reason for variability of signals in the troposphere (which is larger for the higher resolution sampling during CARIBIC-2) is mixing of different tropospheric air masses affected by different CO2 sources and sinks. The effect of stratospheric flux appears to be limited. All in all it is demonstrated that CARIBIC produced new important and reliable data sets for little explored regions of the atmosphere. A logical next step will be global scale modeling of 13C and especially 18O, which is linked to the hydrological cycle.


Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have emerged as alternative plasmonic materials in recent years to replace noble metals. The advantages of TCOs include CMOS compatibility, tunability of optical and structural properties, and reduced losses. In this work, we demonstrate how post-deposition annealing of indium tin oxide (ITO) films in oxygen atmosphere allows for tuning their optical dispersion properties to the mid-infrared spectral range while simultaneously reducing their absorption losses. In particular, we show a materials strategy that extends the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) point of ITO from the near-infrared to the mid-infrared range. This is demonstrated by fabricating periodic arrays of ITO discs of varying diameters and characterizing their plasmonic resonances in the mid-infrared range from λ = 5 to 10 µm. The developed ITO plasmonic structures pave the way to the development of novel infrared active devices for sensing and spectroscopy on a silicon-compatible platform.


We extend approaches for skinning characters to the general setting of skinning deformable mesh animations. We provide an automatic algorithm for generating progressive skinning approximations, that is particularly efficient for pseudo-articulated motions. Our contributions include the use of nonparametric mean shift clustering of high-dimensional mesh rotation sequences to automatically identify statistically relevant bones, and robust least squares methods to determine bone transformations, bone-vertex influence sets, and vertex weight values. We use a low-rank data reduction model defined in the undeformed mesh configuration to provide progressive convergence with a fixed number of bones. We show that the resulting skinned animations enable efficient hardware rendering, rest pose editing, and deformable collision detection. Finally, we present numerous examples where skins were automatically generated using a single set of parameter values.


BACKGROUND
Cryolipolysis has been shown to be a safe and effective noninvasive procedure for the reduction of localized subcutaneous fat.

OBJECTIVES
The authors examine the safety, efficacy, and procedural growth of cryolipolysis (via the CoolSculpting device; Zeltiq, Pleasanton, California) in a single plastic surgery practice.

METHODS
A retrospective chart review was conducted for 528 consecutive patients who underwent cryolipolysis treatment from January 2010 to December 2012. The number of patients, the number of treatment cycles, the average number of cycles per patient, all treatment areas, and all procedural complications were recorded and analyzed. Overall practice growth with the device was also analyzed.

RESULTS
Over the study period, 1785 anatomic sites were treated with 2729 cycles, primarily in the lower abdomen (28%, n = 490 cycles), upper abdomen (11%, n = 189), left flank (19%, n = 333), right flank (19%, n = 333), inner thigh (6%, n = 111), outer thigh (5%, n = 87), and back (6%, n = 99). The age distribution for men and women was similar (46.6 ± 12.8 years for women and 46.5 ± 12.3 years for men; overall range, 18-79 years). Only 3 cases of mild or moderate pain/neuralgia were reported and resolved in 4 or fewer days. No adverse events were reported. Procedure volume showed consistent growth, with treatment cycles increasing by 823% by 2012.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results in this single plastic surgery practice, cryolipolysis is a safe and effective nonsurgical body contouring method associated with high patient satisfaction that can generate steady, significant business growth.


IMPORTANCE
Surgical site infection (SSI) has emerged as the leading publicly reported surgical outcome and is tied to payment determinations. Many hospitals monitor SSIs using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), in addition to mandatory participation (for most states) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), which has resulted in duplication of effort and incongruent data.

OBJECTIVE
To identify discrepancies in the implementation of the NHSN and the ACS NSQIP at hospitals that may be affecting the respective SSI rates.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A pilot sample of hospitals that participate in both the NHSN and the ACS NSQIP.

INTERVENTIONS
For each hospital, observed rates and risk-adjusted observed to expected ratios for year 2012 colon SSIs were collected from both programs. The implementation methods of both programs were identified, including telephone interviews with infection preventionists who collect data for the NHSN at each hospital.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Collection methods and colon SSI rates for the NHSN at each hospital were compared with those of the ACS NSQIP.

RESULTS
Of 16 hospitals, 11 were teaching hospitals with at least 500 beds. The mean observed colon SSI rates were dissimilar between the 2 programs, 5.7% (range, 2.0%-14.5%) for the NHSN vs 13.5% (range, 4.6%-26.7%) for the ACS NSQIP. The mean difference between the NHSN and the ACS NSQIP was 8.3% (range, 1.6%-18.8%), with the ACS NSQIP rate always higher. The correlation between the observed to expected ratios for the 2 programs was nonsignificant (Pearson product moment correlation, ρ = 0.4465; P = .08). The NHSN collection methods were dissimilar among interviewed hospitals. An SSI managed as an outpatient case would usually be missed under the current NHSN practices.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Colon SSI rates from the NHSN and the ACS NSQIP cannot be used interchangeably to evaluate hospital performance and determine reimbursement. Hospitals should not use the ACS NSQIP colon SSI rates for the NHSN reports because that would likely result in the hospital being an outlier for performance. It is imperative to reconcile SSI monitoring, develop consistent definitions, and establish one reliable method. The current state hinders hospital improvement efforts by adding unnecessary confusion to the already complex arena of perioperative improvement.


The quality of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is intimately affected by packaging material and storage temperature. In this study, the influence of packaging materials and elevated temperature on EVOO quality was investigated during six months. At ambient temperatures, oil maintained EVOO when stored in glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HDPE), cans and Pottery in terms of chemical tests (acidity, peroxide value, K232, and K270). Loss of phenols was the highest in pottery-stored oil and the lowest was found in glass-stored oil. Only PET-stored oil maintained the EVOO grade in terms of sensory evaluation when stored at room temperature. At elevated temperature, oil stored in all packaging materials lost extra virgin quality in terms of chemical tests. The loss of phenols was the largest in HDPE and smallest in cans-stored oil. Sensory evaluation, maintained glass-stored oil and PET-stored oil as EVOO. This study has reaffirmed that at both storage temperatures, the best container in maintaining the EVOO quality was glass and the worst was pottery. Grading of stored olive oil under investigation using sensory evaluation solely was not sufficient. Also it was clear that the absorption coefficient K270 was the most sensitive determinant chemical test that determines the quality of stored olive oil and could be used as a rapid indicator test.


Dates are important dietary component in the Arab region. Dates production in Qatar is essential for the country's long term food security plan. In this project, we set to investigate the global sources of variation in the dates metabolome. To this end, fully ripened date samples from 138 different varieties were collected from 14 countries including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, US, Iran and Iraq. In total, 402 different metabolites were measured using GC and LC platforms by two different collaborating centers and the resulting data subsequently analyzed using the multivariate analysis software kit Simca. The analysis revealed a global trend whereby certain dates varieties contained more amino acids and less carbohydrates, secondary metabolites, nucleotides and unsaturated fatty acids than other varieties. Integrating this dataset with another set of 30 samples from the same varieties but at the stage of pre and early-ripening revealed that the same metabolic signature underlies the differences between the varying stages of the fruit development process. In summary, at the population level, dates composition differs most according to the progression of the ripening process of the fruit. The local environment and the conditions of harvest and post harvest would directly affect the kinetics of the ripening and while some dates follow full natural ripening process, others might be artificially dried at the start of the ripening process owing to unfavourable weather conditions. Beside environment, genetic factors can also influence the ripening process as it was observed that the dry types of dates possess a metabolic profile similar to that of the soft types at the early phase of ripening. This is consistent with the fact that the dry types of dates typically go through a short ripening phase owing to their low moisture content. The metabolic differences between the soft and dry types of dates may have dietary implication for people with metabolic conditions such as diabetes.


This paper reviews analytical work carried out by central banks that participated in the Autumn Meeting of Central Bank Economists on "The evolving inflation process" which the BIS hosted on 28-29 October 2005. The paper first discusses efforts to document the univariate statistical properties of inflation and how they have changed over the last decades. It then reviews studies of disaggregated or micro inflation data and evidence from surveys of firms concerning their pricing behaviour. Using this micro evidence as background, the paper also attempts to understand the proximate causes for any changes in the inflation process, such as disparities in the price behaviour of tradables and non-tradables or movements in energy prices. The paper then summarises central bank research on changes in the ultimate determinants of factors impinging on the inflation process, for example a changing monetary policy regime, increased globalisation or a legislative reform of the labour market.


This paper is based on the content of the talk held at the ICPIC Conference in Madrid, titled "Improvising as a way of inquiring and inventing" in which the jazz metaphoe for education and philosophy is introduce. The arguments proposed are adapted to respond also to some critical issues put forward by Gert Biesta in his paper about philosophical work with children and the related experience in schools through Philosophy for/with Children programmes.  My contribution to the discussion deals with two main foci. The first one is theoretical and considers improvisation as expression of human cognitive constructivism and form of adaptive/exaptive human agency in the environment. Improvisation is interpreted as a privileged form of "complex thinking", in which the three components identified by Lipman - critical, creative and caring thinking - are integrated and mutually implemented. The second focus is pragmatic and proposes eight "jazz" doors to embody education in the dimension of improvisation, opening teaching to the authentic experience of changing implied in growing/aging, in which the stability of identities are always at risk. A jazzing way to Philosophy for/with Children is proposed as antydote to the risk of learnification of education and capitalization of human skills to which – according to Biesta – Philosophy for/with Children seems to be exposed in its school application, while proposing a jazz framework for a new "poor pedagogy".


The prohibition on refoulement is a fundamental human right enshrined in both customary international law and treaty law. (1) In Arar v. Ashcroft, (2) the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit considered plaintiff Maher Arar's claim for, inter alia, damages under the Torture Victims Prevention Act (T.V.P.A.) arising from his extraordinary rendition to Syria. (3) Arar alleged that the defendants, all U.S. government officials, rendered him to Syria with the knowledge or intention that he would be tortured and interrogated by Syrian authorities. (4) The Second Circuit held that Arar failed to state a claim under the T.V.P.A. and dismissed the case. (5) On September 26, 2002, authorities at John F. Kennedy airport in New York detained Arar, a dual citizen of Syria and Canada, while he was in transit from Tunisia to Canada. (6) Arar was told that he was inadmissible to the United States because the U.S. government had determined he was a member of al Qaeda. (7) Pursuant to this determination, Director of the Regional Office of the I.N.S.J. Scott Blackman, authorized Arar's removal from the United States without further process. (8) Although Arar designated Canada as the country to which he wished to be sent, U.S. officials instead allegedly flew him to Jordan where he was handed over to Syrian officials, driven to Syria and placed in detention. (9) In Syria, Arar was allegedly held in an underground cell six feet long and three feet wide for approximately twelve months. (10) During his detention, Arar claimed that he was subjected to "physical and psychological torture," including regular beatings and threats of severe physical harm. (11) Arar further alleged that the defendants provided Syrian authorities with information about him, suggested subjects for interrogation, and received "all information coerced from [Arar] during interrogations." (12) Following his release from Syrian detention, Arar filed a civil action in 2004 against numerous individuals, including: former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft; Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.) Director Robert Mueller; Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge; former Immigration and Naturalization Service (I.N.S.) Commissioner James W. Ziglar; Regional Director of the Regional Office of the I.N.S. J. Scott Blackman; and several other named and unnamed employees of the F.B.I. and I.N.S. (13) Arar alleged, inter alia, that the defendants "acted in concert with Jordanian and Syrian officials, and under color of Syrian law, to conspire and/or aid and abet in violating his right to be free from torture" in violation of the T.V.P.A. (14) Arar requested compensatory and punitive damages under the T.V.P.A. for violations of his international human rights. (15) The District Court dismissed Arar's complaint in August 2006. (16) On appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the District Court dismissal of Arar's claims. (17) The Alien Tort Statute (A.T.S.) grants the federal district courts original jurisdiction over any civil action by an alien for a tort committed in violation of the "law of nations" or a treaty of the United States. (18) Torts in violation of the law of nations include, inter alia, torture, extrajudicial killing, war crimes, disappearance, and arbitrary detention. (19) To gain jurisdiction under the A.T.S., the plaintiff must show that the treaty is either self-executing and provides for a private right of action or, if the treaty is non-selfexecuting, that it has been implemented through domestic legislation. (20) Where a tort violates both "the law of nations" prong of the A.T.S. and the "treaty of the United States" prong of the statute, plaintiffs are not barred from raising claims under either prong of the A.T.S. (21) Under customary law, the principle of non-refoulement prohibits States from rejecting, returning, removing, or expelling an individual to a country where there is a substantial risk of facing torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or persecution. …


Three-dimensional (3D) object tomography from a two-dimensional recorded hologram is a process of high-dimensional data inference from undersampled data. As such, recently, techniques developed in the field of compressive sensing and sparse representation have been applied for this task. While many applications of compressive sensing for tomography from digital holograms have been demonstrated in the past few years, the fundamental limits involved have not yet been addressed. We formulate the guarantees for compressive sensing-based recovery of 3D objects and show their relation to the physical attributes of the recording setup.


Canalization of developmental processes ensures the reproducibility and robustness of embryogenesis within each species. In its extreme form, found in ascidians, early embryonic cell lineages are invariant between embryos within and between species, despite rapid genomic divergence. To resolve this paradox, we used live light-sheet imaging to quantify individual cell behaviors in digitalized embryos and explore the forces that canalize their development. This quantitative approach revealed that individual cell geometries and cell contacts are strongly constrained, and that these constraints are tightly linked to the control of fate specification by local cell inductions. While in vertebrates ligand concentration usually controls cell inductions, we found that this role is fulfilled in ascidians by the area of contacts between signaling and responding cells. We propose that the duality between geometric and genetic control of inductions contributes to the counterintuitive inverse correlation between geometric and genetic variability during embryogenesis.


Computing has taken the chief role in the society during recent years and has compelled the diferent institutions that shape our society to adapt to the new situation. In the area of public Administration is notable the modernization and adaptation process started by the local institutions which are closer to the citizens: the city councils. In this period full of changes, the new information and communication technologies take the main role and lead us to a new local Administration where limits of time and space disappear. There is a change in the way services are offered and in the relationship between citizens and their city councils. In this investigation the authors have studied if the municipal webs are operative and functional allowing people to transact and to manage official documents without presenting oneself at city council.


The aim of this study is to diagnose the imbalance of Korea in terms of population and power elite distribution between 1994 and 2005. Indices like location quotient and concentration coefficient are used for this research. Major findings of this research are as follows: Firstly, the population share of the Capital Region has increased from 44.9% to 48.1% between 1994 and 2005. During the same period about 3.36 million people have been increased in the region, which are equivalent to more than 90% of the national total population increase. However, all the other regions except for Chungnam-Daejon and Jeju Province have experienced slight decrease in population share. Secondly, it is confirmed that the power elites show much higher preference for living in Seoul than the people in general. The regional share of power elite residents of Seoul was 53.8% in 1994 and 51.9% in 2005, which shows about 2.4 times higher than that of Seoul's population. Thirdly, the development of new towns around Seoul in the early 1990's has influenced significantly on the dispersion of power elites to those suburban cities. Fourthly, the nationwide enforcement of local autonomy since 1995 seems to have influenced little on mitigating the imbalance of population and power elite distribution in Korea. Finally, those indices of imbalance calculated in this research would be preciously utilized for the future policy effectiveness evaluation of the various ongoing mega-projects that are designed and executed to achieve balanced national growth.


In order to ensure and to improve quality in the agro-food sector quality systems have to undergo a permanent change: simple end-of-the-pipe monitoring is therefore being replaced with management oriented concepts. Farmers are also increasingly requested to implement quality systems. This paper gives an overview of quality regimes in the agro-food sector and compares three systems in the domains of pork production, potato growing and the cultivation of hop. 315 Bavarian farmers were interviewed in order to identify factors which may influence the satisfaction with quality systems. Differences between the three quality regimes were moderate with respect to the overall satisfaction. Hop growers judged their system to improve production efficiency while the others did not to this extent. Socio-demographic factors do not have any significant impact on farmers' satisfaction with the quality systems. Key factors are gains in image, in sales and in production efficiency. The results of this study helps for a successful development of the plenty quality systems actually offered.


This paper studies the following problem in stock cutting: when it is required to cut out complicated designs from parent material, it is cumbersome to cut out the exact design or shape, especially if the cutting process involves optimization. In such cases, it is desired that, as a first step, the machine cut out a relatively simpler approximation of the original design, in order to facilitate the optimization techniques that are then used to cut out the actua1 design. This paper studies this problem of approximating complicated designs or shapes. The problem is defined formally first and then it is shown that this problem is equivalent to the Minima1 Nested Polygon problem in geometry. Some properties of the problem are then shown and it is demonstrated that the problem is related to the Minimal Turns Path problem in geometry. With these results, an efficient approximate algorithm is obtained for the origina1 stock cutting problem. Numerica1 examples are provided to illustrate the working of the algorithm in different cases.


We present the first determination of the Galactic polarized emission at 353 GHz by Archeops. The data were taken during the Arctic night of February 7, 2002 after the balloon--borne instrument was launched by CNES from the Swedish Esrange base near Kiruna. In addition to the 143 GHz and 217 GHz frequency bands dedicated to CMB studies, Archeops had one 545 GHz and six 353 GHz bolometers mounted in three polarization sensitive pairs that were used for Galactic foreground studies. We present maps of the I, Q, U Stokes parameters over 17% of the sky and with a 13 arcmin resolution at 353 GHz (850 microns). They show a significant Galactic large scale polarized emission coherent on the longitude ranges [100, 120] and [180, 200] deg. with a degree of polarization at the level of 4-5%, in agreement with expectations from starlight polarization measurements. Some regions in the Galactic plane (Gem OB1, Cassiopeia) show an even stronger degree of polarization in the range 10-20%. Those findings provide strong evidence for a powerful grain alignment mechanism throughout the interstellar medium and a coherent magnetic field coplanar to the Galactic plane. This magnetic field pervades even some dense clouds. Extrapolated to high Galactic latitude, these results indicate that interstellar dust polarized emission is the major foreground for PLANCK-HFI CMB polarization measurement.


Can a work of art care for someone? Can it address a need for comfort or love? My research focuses on simple gestures and actions that seek to fulfill these questions. This research spans a wide array of sculptural and performative strategies in order to give breadth to these goals and to access a multitude of audiences in different contexts. The work importantly bridges both traditional art venues as well as more public venues in order to participate in multiple conversations pertaining to the role of socially engaged art practices. By utilizing both ends of the locational spectrum for the placement of the work, the projects are able to pressure the conversations within the institution of art by incorporating ideas of love into the academic dialogue, while also encouraging and challenging those outside of the art world to activate an attitude of love in their daily lives. I generate experiences to engage the audience's mind and body, whether by making a tea bag, as in the case of The Sipper's Digest from 2012, or occupying a chair provided as an anonymous gift, such as in The Chair Incident from 2011. In other projects such as Love is a Verb from 2012, the audience is challenged to enact positive living through action rather than merely through words. Each project is rooted in the idea that we are corporeal beings with a need for something that transcends our physicality, and that our bodies are the conduits through which we experience these gestures as well as being the spaces in which we have the capacity to act in life-giving ways. Through these modes of working, audience participation is at the center of each project, with the


A method of multi-channel receiving for high bit rate heterodyne direct-detection optical orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexing (OOFDM) system is proposed to reduce the sampling rate demand of analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The sampling rate of ADCs can be reduced to 1/N that of the original signal bandwidth in an N-channel receiving system. Aided by a succeeding digital signal processing (DSP) at the receiver, aliasing free signal can be recovered. A back-to-back experimental result is given for a 4-channel system, based on which, a down conversion process for heterodyne can be reduced. The signal rebuilding algorithm is given and analyzed in its complexity and noise tolerance.


Water treatment residues (WTRs), which are by-products from the production of potable water, are chemically benign, inorganic materials which are suitable for disposal by land application. Their high phosphorus (P) sorption capacities have, however, generated some concern in an agronomic context where P is recognised as a growth limiting plant nutrient. The extent to which labile P pools are reduced or enhanced by WTR amendments is, therefore, a central issue with respect to their disposal by land application. Therefore, the aim of this study was, through the use of empirical adsorption isotherm equations and chemical fractionation of P within the residues, to investigate the chemical processes responsible for the retention and release of P from 15 South African WTRs. Chemical characterisation revealed considerable variation in residue properties relevant to P sorption-desorption processes. pH, exchangeable Ca and organic carbon content ranged from 4.77 to 8.37, 238 to 8 980 mg kg and 0.50 to 11.6 %, respectively. Dithionate, oxalate and pyrophosphate extractable Al fractions ranged from 741 to 96 375, 1 980 to 82 947 and 130 to 37 200 mg kg, respectively. Dithionate, oxalate and pyrophosphate extractable Fe ranged from 441 to 15 288, 3 865 to 140 569 and 230 to 90 000 mg kg respectively. Therefore mechanisms of retention were hypothesised to be residue specific, being dependent on the unique chemical properties of the sorbent. Elevated Ca and amorphous Al and Fe concentrations did, nevertheless, suggest that all residues had the capacity to adsorb high amounts of P and to retain this P in forms unavailable for plant uptake. These arguments were confirmed by the sorption study where labile P was, for all residues, found to constitute a small fraction of total applied P even at high application concentrations (128 mg P L). Sequential P fractionation revealed that most of the inherent P (which ranged from 1 149 to 1 727 mg P kg) and applied P were retained in highly resistant mineral phases or fixed within the organic component. Thus P replenishment capacities were restricted even though residual P concentrations were often within adequate ranges for plant growth. Phosphorus adsorption data was described by four empirical adsorption isotherm equations in an effort to determine possible mechanisms of retention. Sorption data was, for most of the WTRs, described by the Temkin isotherm while the Freundlich and linear models fitted data for two residues each. A key finding was that the distribution coefficient (Kd) tended to increase with the quantity of P adsorbed (S) as opposed to decrease or remain constant in accordance with model assumptions. Therefore, the models could not be used for mechanistic interpretation, even though iii they provided excellent descriptions of the data. The direct relationship between Kd and S suggested a mechanism of retention involving the activation of sorption sites. This notion was supported by the fractionation study which showed that P addition results in the transfer of an increasing quantity of organically bound P to resistant residual forms. Model affinity parameters were strongly correlated to dithionate and pyrophosphate extractable Al and Fe which suggested that P was adsorbed primarily through ligand exchange mechanisms. The mobility of P bound to organic fractions did indicate that P was retained through weaker forces of attraction such as monodentate ligand exchange, charge neutralisation or proton transfer. Evidence to support the notion that P is immobilised through the formation of Ca phosphates was lacking. Based on P fractionation data, it was suggested that strong chemisorption mechanisms and the diffusion of P into WTR micropores were largely responsible for the minimal quantity of P desorbed by disequilibria desorption processes. A greater quantity of P was desorbed in the presence of oxalate and citrate which suggested that plants may increase bio-available pools through the release of organic ligands. Phosphorus desorbed in the presence of these ligands did, however, decline with P addition which confirmed that the affinity of the WTR surface for P increases with P application. Therefore, it was concluded that the application of P to WTRs is an uneconomical process unless sorption sites are already saturated or immobilisation processes are inhibited. In light of these findings, it was suggested that the absence of plant P deficiencies under the field application of WTRs is due primarily to inhibited sorption.


The design of tools, equipment, machines, furniture, clothing and facility layout depends on the principles of anthropometry. This is to reduce accident and overuse syndromes in order to promote productivity as well as safety and wellbeing. Meanwhile the anthropometry data are not readily available. This study examined the suitability of school furniture to the anthropometric characteristics of primary school pupils in selected schools in the South-Western Nigeria. Eight hundred and sixty four (864) children, between the ages 5-11 years of age were divided into 3 groups on the basis of the furniture size being used. Their anthropometry was carried out, and data obtained were related to the furniture dimensions while the match percentages were computed. The results revealed a low percentage of match between the furniture dimensions (seat height 31.2%, seat depth 29.0%, desk height 22.1% and underneath desk height 30.7%) and the anthropometry data. Based on this, it is recommended that pupils should be given the chance to choose the furniture that fits their body size among different sizes of furniture.


More than five years after the start of the Sovereign debt crisis in Europe, its impact on labour market outcomes is not clear. This paper aims to fill this gap. We use qualitative firm-level data for 24 European countries, collected within the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) of the ESCB. We first derive a set of indices measuring difficulties in accessing the credit market for the period 2010-13. Second, we provide a description of the relationship between credit difficulties and changes in labour input both along the extensive and the intensive margins as well as on wages. We find strong and significant correlation between credit difficulties and adjustments along both the extensive and the intensive margin. In the presence of credit market difficulties, firms cut wages by reducing the variable part of wages. This evidence suggests that credit shocks can affect not only the real economy, but also nominal variables.


In this work we are dealing with the possible and more likely development ideas and opportunities which could happen in Serbia. These ideas are based on the Governmental policies and even more on the need of the Serbian economy and its citizens. For a long period of time the economy was struggling and every small step towards development is noticeable. Apart from having the same idea of joining the EU different governments in the past and now claim that they will lead Serbia on the shortest and most efficient path to the EU. Their political ideas diff er somehow but certainly the decisions they are making are just following one pattern. Everyday citizens and businesses just experience the same as in any other country which has its economy in transition. Much depends on the determination to make a certain step towards economic development. Sometimes it looks like the steps were made with a big delay and that everyone except the government was ready to certain changes. Some big structural changes are not properly done and there is not enough care taken of parallel practices of states in transition. The new procedure of debt collection in Serbia is done with an intention to make debtors pay more easily. Unfortunately on the end we see that the system does not work perfectly since the state itself has some problems of getting its tax money collected. In every aspect of life we see a big influence of politics to the economy, some would say that there is no economy without being involved in politics. This unfortunate situation is following Serbia and many Western Balkan countries for a long period of time. It is hard to expect economic development with such a bad attitude which is somehow always proved in practice. The redistribution of wealth is also problematic, having in mind that the tax policy serves only as a tool to fill the budget which is anyway not just in the sense of just redistribution. The budget of Serbia has many loopholes and certainly the current economic development is not ready to support it. There is a clear need to adjust politics to economy and make the state treat better the hand which is feeding it.