Abstract. Quantitative flood risk analyses support decisions in flood management policies that aim for cost efficiency. Risk is commonly calculated by a combination of the three quantified factors: hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Our paper focuses on the quantification of exposure, in particular on the relevance of building value estimation schemes within flood exposure analyses on regional to national scales. We compare five different models that estimate the values of flood-exposed buildings. Four of them refer to individual buildings, whereas one is based on values per surface area, differentiated by land use category. That one follows an approach commonly used in flood risk analyses on regional or larger scales. Apart from the underlying concepts, the five models differ in complexity, data and computational expenses required for parameter estimations and in the data they require for model application.The model parameters are estimated by using a database of more than half a million building insurance contracts in Switzerland, which are provided by 11 (out of 19) cantonal insurance companies for buildings that operate under a monopoly within the respective Swiss cantons. Comparing the five model results with the directly applied spatially referenced insurance data suggests that models based on individual buildings produce better results than the model based on surface area, but only if they include an individual building's volume.Applying the five models to all of Switzerland produces results that are very similar with regard to the spatial distribution of exposed-building values. Therefore, for spatial prioritizations, simpler models are preferable. In absolute values, however, the five model results differ remarkably. The two simplest models underestimate the overall exposure, and even more so the extreme high values, upon which risk management strategies generally focus. In decision-making processes based on cost-efficiency, this underestimation would result in suboptimal resource allocation for protection measures. Consequently, we propose that estimating exposed-building values should be based on individual buildings rather than on areas of land use types. In addition, a building's individual volume has to be taken into account in order to provide a reliable basis for cost–benefit analyses. The consideration of other building features further improves the value estimation. However, within the context of flood risk management, the optimal value estimation model depends on the specific questions to be answered. The concepts of the presented building value models are generic. Thus, these models are transferable, with minimal adjustments according to the application's purpose and the data available. Within risk analyses, the paper's focus is on exposure. However, the findings also have direct implications for flood risk analyses as most risk analyses take the value of exposed assets into account in a linear way.


The status of the causee argument in Hindi and other South Asian Languages has been contentious in recent literature as it takes instrumental/ablatice Case marker and hence, seems comparable to an instrumental/ablative adjunct (- se in Hindi, athi in Kashmiri, to: in Punjabi, and - n∂ in Manipuri). The question is whether the instrumental/ablative Case marker appearing on the causee and on an instrumental adjunct should only receive an analysis of accidental homophony or a more principled analysis between the two is possible? The paper here argues that such an analysis is certainly possible. The instrumental/ablative is an adjunct and in causatives, the causee argument is merged to the Voice head as its specifier (the position involving -se/athi/to:/n∂ being valued as a structural, rather than a lexical, Case). It is further argued that though, this position is υP-external, i.e. 'high' but not 'high' enough to count as the subject.


Despite the potential influence of matching decisions on the course of a placement, matching remains an understudied topic in child welfare research. The matching is a complex decision-making process in which a child welfare professional tries to predict which placement will result in the best outcome. A good fit between the foster child and the placement setting has the potential to mitigate the impact of an out-of-home placement. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 matching professionals in the Netherlands. Each interview lasted approximately 90 minutes and focused on the steps that they used in their matching process, the factors that they considered and also the differences that they saw between themselves and colleagues. Examples of recent matches were asked to clarify and illustrate their answers. After the interviews were transcribed, the researchers used thematic analysis to analyse the results. The results show that matching decisions are not only influenced by case factors, but also by organizational, personal and external factors. Especially the lack of resources has a great influence on the matching process and presents the practitioners with a constant struggle. Professionals saw matching as an important step in foster care and mentioned matching as the process of choosing a substitute family; however, in practice there often wasn't much of a choice and the steps that they took were also related to providing a good start of a placement.


An analytical technique for aerosol samples which utilizes the resonance Raman effect is described. The aerosol particles were generated at 50 kHz by a vibrating orifice. The nominal particle size was 45 µm in diameter. The visible lines (4579, 4765, 4880, and 5145 Å) of a continuous argon-ion laser were used as the excitation source. Within the coverage of the laser wavelengths, effects of pre-resonance, resonance, and post-resonance Raman scattering were studied. Under the resonance condition, the enhancement of p-nitrosodimethylaniline is 5.5 × 104 when compared to that of nitrate ions. The corresponding concentration of detection limit is 10−6 molar.


In the literature on language teaching and learning, there are many variations upon the basic idea of autonomy. The problem is to explain how these different ways of representing autonomy and putting it into practice may be linked to broader political, ideological or philosophical outlooks. In previous work, for example, I have suggested that we might speak of 'technical', 'psychological' and 'political' versions of autonomy linked to 'positivistic', 'constructivist' and 'critical' outlooks (Benson, 1997). In this chapter, I want to explore this issue from a somewhat different point of view, by asking how the idea of autonomy may appear differently when viewed from a teacher's or learner's perspective and how this basic difference of perspective may be related to the three versions of autonomy mentioned above. The basic idea that I want to develop here is that of 'perspective', a term I use to refer to a way of viewing a phenomenon that is conditioned both by an individual's position in a power-inflected role relationship (in this case the teacher-student relationship) and by the experience that the individual acquires within this relationship. The underlying assumption is that teachers and students view the processes in which they are mutually engaged from very different perspectives and that this is likely to influence the ways in which they make sense of a notion such as autonomy. My argument is that, from the teachers' perspective, autonomy is primarily concerned with institutional and classroom learning arrangements within established curricula. In other words, from the teachers' perspective, autonomy tends to imply the learner taking control of arrangements whose underlying legitimacy is unquestioned. From the learners' perspective (which I view as tangential to, rather than opposed to, the teachers' perspective) autonomy is primarily concerned with learning, in a much broader sense, and its relationship to their lives beyond the classroom. I will illustrate this argument with a theoretical model and empirical data. In conclusion, I will also discuss its relevance to important issues in our field, such as learner resistance to autonomy and the concept of teacher autonomy.


— Corner distance matching Technique is proposed, which find the interest of points of every rived pieces. Any corner detector can be used window for finding where the intensity value is change most and mark that point as a corner. Points of interest are found and then for matching them distance between them is calculated. Distance can be matched and based on that it can be found that which two edges are of piece are matching.


This article provides a prospective study of mobility policies for the private car and public transit (PT) modes of transportation in the Paris Ile-de-France region. Different economic instruments are considered: pricing of car traffic or transit service, subsidizing PT, and investment in PT  to improve service quality. Policy scenarios are defined and assessed according to multiple criteria: users' benefits, PT  production costs and fare revenues, public subsidies, and environmental damage both local (air pollution) and global (carbon emissions). The social, economic, and environmental impacts are monetized and aggregated in a wellbeing function. While a first set of scenarios are specified directly, two other sets of scenarios are calculated by optimizing the wellbeing function with respect to action variables on the transit mode in the medium or long run. The regional mobility system is modeled in a structural way: concentric subregions, travel demand segmented by geographical and behavioral conditions, environmental impacts based on road and rail traffic, and car mode and transit mode depicted each as a set of technical components involving 1 to 3 structural factors that can make action levers. This model-based methodology allows for trading between different kinds of impacts and identifying performance-oriented policy packages.


In the wake of the Arab Spring, newly empowered factions in Tunisia and Egypt vowed to work together to establish democracy. In Tunisia, political elites passed a new constitution, held parliamentary elections, and demonstrated the strength of their democracy with a peaceful transfer of power. Yet in Egypt, unity crumbled due to polarization among elites. Presenting a new theory of polarization under authoritarianism, the book reveals how polarization and the legacies of repression led to these substantially divergent political outcomes. The book documents polarization among the opposition in Tunisia and Egypt prior to the Arab Spring, tracing how different kinds of repression influenced the bonds between opposition groups. It demonstrates how widespread repression created shared political identities and decreased polarization — such as in Tunisia — while targeted repression like that carried out against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt led opposition groups to build distinct identities that increased polarization among them. This helps explain why elites in Tunisia were able to compromise, cooperate, and continue on the path to democratic consolidation while deeply polarized elites in Egypt contributed to the rapid reentrenchment of authoritarianism. Providing vital new insights into the ways repression shapes polarization, the book helps to explain what happened in the turbulent days following the Arab Spring and illuminates the obstacles to democratic transitions around the world.


BACKGROUND
Ixekizumab, a monoclonal antibody that selectively targets interleukin-17A, has been established as safe and effective in 3 Phase 3 trials for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The lifetime incidence of psoriatic nail disease is 80%-90% of patients, and approximately 50% of patients with psoriasis have nail involvement.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The design of UNCOVER-3, a Phase 3, multicenter, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled trial that evaluated the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab for moderate to severe psoriasis, has been published previously. Patients were randomized to receive blinded placebo, etanercept (50 mg twice weekly) or 80 mg ixekizumab every 2 weeks (IXEQ2W) or every 4 weeks (IXEQ4W) for 12 weeks. At week 12, all patients were assigned to open-label ixekizumab 80 mg every 4 weeks through week 60. In this 60-week post hoc subset analysis, we evaluated only those patients with significant baseline nail involvement, defined as fingernail NAPSI ≥16 and at least 4 fingernails involved.

RESULTS
Ixekizumab Q2W or Q4W resulted in greater improvement in nail psoriasis than placebo or etanercept by week 12 of administration, as measured by percent NAPSI reduction (IXEQ2W 39% improvement, IXEQ4W 40%, etanercept 28%, placebo -4.7%). At week 24, significantly more patients receiving ixekizumab exhibited no signs of nail involvement (IXEQ2W/Q4W 34%, IXEQ4W/Q4W 30%). Similar gains were observed at 60 weeks in all treatment groups.

CONCLUSION
Ixekizumab led to improvement in fingernail psoriasis by week 12 compared with placebo. Continued improvement in fingernail psoriasis with ixekizumab was observed, with >50% of patients achieving complete fingernail psoriasis resolution (NAPSI=0) at week 60. J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(8):958-961.


In this paper we evaluate the use of Carl Jung's theories of Psychological Type assessed using the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator in the Software Engineering field. The current level of implementation and its quality is established and the results discussed to provide insight into what we currently know, and suggestions on what could be important to investigate for the future. Upon gathering MBTI data from a range of sources it is apparent that there is agreement on the types of personalities often discovered inside software engineering. Thinking and judging personality preferences are commonly found, while feeling and perceiving is far less common. This differs substantially from results representative of the American population, and supports the belief that software engineers are more commonly represented by specific types of people. However, there is discrepancy between four of the 16 types identified in the MBTI, suggesting that there is still some understanding to be gained about personality in software engineering, and we do not by any means know the exact breakdown of types present within the industry.


The substrate processing mechanism of CDC48A through the plant UBXcontaining cofactor family Junrui Zhang In plants, AAA-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) Cell Division Control Protein 48 (CDC48) uses the force generated through ATP hydrolysis to pull, extract, and unfold ubiquitylated or sumoylated proteins from the membrane, chromatin, or protein complexes. The resulting changes in protein or RNA content are an important means for plants to control protein homeostasis and thereby adapt to shifting environmental conditions. The activity and targeting of CDC48 are controlled by adaptor proteins, of which the plant ubiquitin regulatory X (UBX) domain-containing (PUX) proteins constitute the largest and most versatile family. However, few PUX proteins have been structurally or functionally characterized and how they participate in the substrate processing of CDC48A is not fully understood. Here, we first performed a comparative bioinformatic analysis, in which we found that the PUX proteins can be functionally divided into six types. We used this classification as a guide for our experimental efforts to elucidate how PUX proteins mediate client recognition and delivery for CDC48A-mediated unfolding. As a first step in this experimental analysis, we cloned and expressed a number of PUX protein constructs, we assessed their interaction features, and obtained crystals for several PUX domains. These bioinformatic and experimental results provide a basis for the in-depth structural and functional analysis of how PUX proteins control the CDC48A segregase.


The elongate-necked aquatic plesiosaurs existed for 135 Myr during the Mesozoic. The function of this elongate neck is a point of debate. Using computed tomography and three-dimensional (3D) modelling, the range of motion (ROM) of the plesiosaur Nichollssaura borealis neck was assessed. To quantify the ROM, the intervertebral mobility was measured along the cervical vertebral column. This was done by manipulating the 3D models in the lateral and dorsoventral directions during two trials. The first assessed the mean intervertebral ROM between pairs of cervical vertebrae along the entire column, and the second assessed ROM with reduced intervertebral spaces. The results suggest that there may be preference for lateral neck movements in N. borealis, which could correspond to an ecological function related to prey capture. This study demonstrates that 3D modelling is an effective tool for assessing function morphology for structures where no good modern analogue exists.


This paper presents a set of image operators for detecting regions in space-time where interesting events occur. To define such regions of interest, we compute a spatio-temporal second-moment matrix from a spatio-temporal scale-space representation, and diagonalize this matrix locally, using a local Galilean transformation in space-time, optionally combined with a spatial rotation, so as to make the Galilean invariant degrees of freedom explicit. From the Galilean-diagonalized descriptor so obtained, we then formulate different types of space-time interest operators, and illustrate their properties on different types of image sequences.


Thucydides' classic work on the history of the Peloponnesian War is the root of Western conceptions of history—including the idea that Western history is the foundation of everyone else's. Here, Marshall Sahlins takes on Thucydides and the conceptions of history he wrought with a groundbreaking new book that shows what a difference an anthropological concept of culture can make to the writing of history.

Sahlins begins by confronting Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War with an analogous "Polynesian War," the fight for the domination of the Fiji Islands (1843-55) between a great sea power (like Athens) and a great land power (like Sparta). Sahlins draws parallels between the conflicts with an eye to their respective systems of power and sovereignty as well as to Thucydides' alternation between individual (Pericles, Themistocles) and collective (the Athenians, the Spartans) actors in the making of history. Characteristic of most histories ever written, this alternation between the agency of "Great Men" and collective entities leads Sahlins to a series of incisive analyses ranging in subject matter from Bobby Thomson's "shot heard round the world" for the 1951 Giants to the history-making of Napoleon and certain divine kings to the brouhaha over Elian Gonzalez. Finally, again departing from Thucydides, Sahlins considers the relationship between cultural order and historical contingency through the recounting of a certain royal assassination that changed the course of Fijian history, a story of fratricide and war worthy of Shakespeare.

In this most convincing presentation yet of his influential theory of culture, Sahlins experiments with techniques for mixing rich narrative with cultural explication in the hope of doing justice at once to the actions of persons and the customs of people. And he demonstrates the necessity of taking culture into account in the creation of history—with apologies to Thucydides, who too often did not.


The aim of this paper is to quantify the effects of changes in functional income distribution on selected macroeconomic variables in Croatia in period from 2000-2012. We use structural VAR approach with identification scheme based on a priori restrictions that are derived from theoretical framework of Post-Keynesian macroeconomic model. Our main hypothesis, which is confirmed in the empirical analysis, is that the accumulation of capital in Croatia was primarily determined by income from labor, i.e. that Croatia had wage-led accumulation. We also found that labor market dynamics was dominantly influenced by demand side shocks and that positive effects of the rise in exports, resulting from the gain in competitiveness (after reducing wage share in income) outweigh negative effects of weaker demand on the capacity utilization. So in our opinion export share increase should become policy priority, as domestic demand is currently constrained by high private and public debt levels. To the extent that increase in exports might require decline in the relative share of labor, negative impact on the investments in non-tradable sector would need to be offset with higher investments in tradable sector of Croatian economy.


ABSTRACT  Since the 1970s, "self-determination" has been the dominant trope for expressing national aspirations for Indigenous Australians. Through the principles of self-determination, the liberal multicultural state has attempted to deliver postcolonial justice to its first peoples. In this new century, the sheen of the self-determination era has faded. Once heralded as the antidote to the racist assimilation era, it is now depicted as the cause of social ills. In this article, I draw on an ethnographic study of White antiracists working in Indigenous health in northern Australia to analyze the brand of liberal rationality that dominated the discourse of the self-determination era. By engaging with a "tribe" of White people who identify with the aims of the self-determination era, we can decipher the logic of self-determination as an instrument of the liberal state and better understand the internal contradictions and ambiguities that have led to its recent demise.


Dynamic Shading: An Analysis Siva Ram Edupuganti Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Brian R. Johnson Department if Architecture Efficient use of energy is vital. Electric lighting contributes to a significant part of the total energy use in the US. Efficient use of daylighting offers a significant reduction in overall energy use. However, because the light available changes dynamically; the design of static shading systems adhering to both high and low levels of light is difficult. This thesis explores dynamic shading systems and analyses the benefits of an adaptive system when compared to a static system. The main goal of the thesis is to analyze a dynamic shading system in different conditions and compare it with a static system; in order to establish the advantages and disadvantages both quantitatively and qualitatively in terms of daylighting. Unfortunately, most of the daylighting metrics are not developed with a dynamic system in mind. So the thesis will also look to utilize a metric which takes account of the dynamism. The analysis process developed in this research involves building a series of simulation models in Ecotect. Each model represents one physical configuration of the system. Using Radiance and DaySim, Annual Illuminance Profiles are computed consisting of "snapshot" simulations at hourly intervals for a specific city. Custom software written in Java for individual static positions processes these profiles and computes the metrics adopted. Further, an hypothesized Dynamic system is computed by combining the individual static positions. Finally, the behavior and benefits of the Dynamic system is evaluated by comparing the Static and Dynamic system results for different latitudes.


Abstract. Hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxyl (HO2) radicals are key species driving the oxidation of volatile organic compounds that can lead to the production of ozone and secondary organic aerosols. Previous measurements of these radicals in forest environments with high isoprene, low NOx conditions have shown serious discrepancies with modeled concentrations, bringing into question the current understanding of isoprene oxidation chemistry in these environments. During the summers of 2008 and 2009, OH and peroxy radical concentrations were measured using a laser-induced fluorescence instrument as part of the PROPHET (Program for Research on Oxidants: PHotochemistry, Emissions, and Transport) and CABINEX (Community Atmosphere-Biosphere INteractions EXperiment) campaigns at a forested site in northern Michigan. Supporting measurements of photolysis rates, volatile organic compounds, NOx (NO + NO2 and other inorganic species were used to constrain a zero-dimensional box model based on the Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism, modified to include the Mainz Isoprene Mechanism (RACM-MIM). The CABINEX model OH predictions were in good agreement with the measured OH concentrations, with an observed-to-modeled ratio near one (0.70 ± 0.31) for isoprene mixing ratios between 1–2 ppb on average. The measured peroxy radical concentrations, reflecting the sum of HO2 and isoprene-based peroxy radicals, were generally lower than predicted by the box model in both years.


We report on the modeling of an electrically pumped nonlinear source for spontaneous parametric down-conversion in an AlGaAs single-sided Bragg waveguide. Laser emission from InAs quantum dots embedded in the waveguide core is designed to excite a Bragg pump mode at 950 nm. This mode is phase matched with two cross-polarized total-internal-reflection fundamental signal and idler modes around 1900 nm. Besides numerically evaluating the source efficiency, we discuss the crucial role played by the quantum dots in the practical implementation of the phase-matching condition along with the tuning capabilities of this promising active device.


Abstract. At the present time, little is known about how broad salinity and temperature ranges are for seawater thermodynamic models that are functions of absolute salinity (SA), temperature (T) and pressure (P). Such models rely on fixed compositional ratios of the major components (e.g., Na/Cl, Mg/Cl, Ca/Cl, SO4/Cl, etc.). As seawater evaporates or freezes, solid phases [e.g., CaCO3(s) or CaSO42H2O(s)] will eventually precipitate. This will change the compositional ratios, and these salinity models will no longer be applicable. A future complicating factor is the lowering of seawater pH as the atmospheric partial pressures of CO2 increase. A geochemical model (FREZCHEM) was used to quantify the SA−T boundaries at P=0.1 MPa and the range of these boundaries for future atmospheric CO2 increases. An omega supersaturation model for CaCO3 minerals based on pseudo-homogeneous nucleation was extended from 25–40°C to 3°C. CaCO3 minerals were the boundary defining minerals (first to precipitate) between 3°C (at SA=104 g kg−) and 40°C (at SA=66 g kg−). At 2.82°C, calcite(CaCO3) transitioned to ikaite(CaCO36H2O) as the dominant boundary defining mineral for colder temperatures, which culminated in a low temperature boundary of −4.93°C. Increasing atmospheric CO2 from 385 μatm (390 MPa) (in Year 2008) to 550 μatm (557 MPa) (in Year 2100) would increase the SA and t boundaries as much as 11 g kg−1 and 0.66°C, respectively. The model-calculated calcite-ikaite transition temperature of 2.82°C is in excellent agreement with ikaite formation in natural environments that occurs at temperatures of 3°C or lower. Furthermore, these results provide a quantitative theoretical explanation (FREZCHEM model calculation) for why ikaite is the solid phase CaCO3 mineral that precipitates during seawater freezing.


Methane utilization by methanotrophic bacteria is an attractive application for biotechnological conversion of natural or biogas into high-added-value products. Haloalcaliphilic methanotrophic bacteria belonging to the genus Methylomicrobium are among the most promising strains for methane-based biotechnology, providing easy and inexpensive cultivation, rapid growth, and the availability of established genetic tools. A number of methane bioconversions using these microbial cultures have been discussed, including the derivation of biodiesel, alkanes, and OMEGA-3 supplements. These compounds are derived from bacterial fatty acid pools. Here, we investigate fatty acid biosynthesis in Methylomicrobium buryatense 5G(B1). Most of the genes homologous to typical Type II fatty acid biosynthesis pathways could be annotated by bioinformatics analyses, with the exception of fatty acid transport and regulatory elements. Different approaches for improving fatty acid accumulation were investigated. These studies indicated that both fatty acid degradation and acetyl- and malonyl-CoA levels are bottlenecks for higher level fatty acid production. The best strain generated in this study synthesizes 111 ± 2 mg/gDCW of extractable fatty acids, which is ~20% more than the original strain. A candidate gene for fatty acid biosynthesis regulation, farE, was identified and studied. Its deletion resulted in drastic changes to the fatty acid profile, leading to an increased pool of C18-fatty acid methyl ester. The FarE-regulon was further investigated by RNA-seq analysis of gene expression in farE-knockout mutants and farE-overexpressing strains. These gene profiles highlighted a novel set of enzymes and regulators involved in fatty acid biosynthesis. The gene expression and fatty acid profiles of the different farE-strains support the hypothesis that metabolic fluxes upstream of fatty acid biosynthesis restrict fatty acid production in the methanotroph.


The dimensional analysis of the backwater effect caused by debris jams results in the Froude number of the approach flow in the initial situation prior to debris jam formation and the debris density as decisive parameters. For the more precise detection of the influence of both parameters the results of different hydraulic model test series at the Laboratory of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering of the Technical University of Munich concerning debris jams at spillways as well as at racks for the retention of wooden debris were uniformly evaluated. On the one hand a significant increase of the backwater effect with a rising Froude number of the approach flow could be shown. This is in good correlation to recent test results for debris jams at retention racks at the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. On the other hand a significant increase of the backwater effect could also be shown for a rising debris density. However, the test results also show that significantly different backwater effects can occur in different test runs with identical test conditions. These differences are a result of the randomness of debris jam development, and therefore, a more exact quantification of the dependence of the backwater effect on the Froude number of the approach flow and on the debris density is not considered useful for the present results.


We describe the discovery of how a traditional control chart for the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) to detect drought compares favourably to a theoretically appropriate statistical (logistic regression) model of drought as a function of PDSI. Our empirical results are based on monthly observations of PDSI, precipitation and temperature made in Kansas since 1895. Results from the study suggest that a relatively simple statistical approach based on Shewhart control charts may provide a more accessible method for relevant government agencies to predict droughts, improving resource management and preparation. Moreover, utilizing such an approach over more sophisticated methods may come at little expense regarding prediction errors.


The linkage between a physical device simulator for small- and large-signal characterization and CAD (computer-aided design) tools for both linear and nonlinear circuit analysis and design is considered. Efficient techniques for the physical DC and small-signal analysis of MESFETs are presented. The problem of physical simulation in a circuit environment is discussed, and it is shown how such a simulation makes possible small-signal models accounting for propagation and external parasitics. Efficient solutions for physical large-signal simulation, based on deriving large-signal equivalent circuits from small-signal analyses under different bias conditions, are proposed. The small- and large-signal characterizations allow physical simulation to be performed efficiently in a circuit environment. Examples and results are presented. >


Nominally democratic institutions such as political parties and legislatures are common in dictatorships, which rely on them to maintain control of the state. Parties and legislatures provide a means through which dictatorships co-opt potential opponents, distribute rents to supporters and mitigate elite conflicts. Indeed, regimes with these institutions have longer tenures than those without them. Using evidence from postwar dictatorships, this study demonstrates that parties and legislatures also enhance the ability of authoritarian regimes to withstand leadership transitions. Transfers of power are inherently destabilizing. Yet we find that dictatorships with parties and legislatures are far less likely to be associated with instability because these institutions insulate regimes from the disruptive effects of unconstitutional leadership transfers. ********** Dictatorships are commonly perceived as repressive regimes in which power lies in the hands of a single individual, not with political institutions. Though this is true of some dictatorships, for much of the authoritarian world the reality is far more complex. Many authoritarian regimes grant partial political rights to their citizens, incorporate some level of power sharing between leaders and elites and rely on other strategies beyond repression for their survival. (1) Perhaps most surprising is the frequency with which dictatorships incorporate nominally democratic institutions, such as political parties and legislatures, into the regime apparatus. Indeed, legislatures and political parties serve important functions in both democracies and dictatorships, but before turning to this discussion, it is important to clarify what we mean by political parties and legislatures. We define political parties as organized groups with roughly similar objectives and views that seek to influence policy through the process of getting candidates elected to public office. (2) Political parties in democracies represent the citizenry, help aggregate interests, channel public opinion and educate and socialize voters. Though political parties in dictatorships are not always able to influence policy, they serve a number of important functions, like coordinating elections and organizing the masses to prevent coup attempts. Moreover, parties allow the regime to recruit supporters, providing an additional means of controlling society and gaining legitimacy in the eyes of foreign observers. They also help co-opt elites by facilitating power-sharing deals and manage elite conflicts by distributing the spoils of power. We define legislatures as independent bodies of elected or selected individuals vested with the responsibility of making, amending or repealing laws. (3) These institutions also serve as a forum for elites to discuss policies, map out political agendas, coordinate actions or simply air grievances. (4) Dictatorships rely on parties and legislatures because they help to prolong their survival. (5) Indeed, regimes that use these institutions are longer lasting than those that do not. (6) On average, dictatorships with neither a party nor a legislature rule for three and a half years, dictatorships with at least one party rule for eight and a half years and dictatorships with at least one party and a legislature rule for eighteen years. (7) These differences are substantial. Regimes with at least one party last more than twice as long as their institution-free counterparts, a relationship that is even more pronounced when they also possess legislatures. (8) Because parties and legislatures are so important in extending the longevity of regimes, of the 236 authoritarian regimes in power from 1946 to 2009, only four used neither a party nor a legislature during their tenures. (9) Dictatorships appear to be well attuned to the fact that legislatures and political parties prolong their lifespans. Most incorporate parties and legislatures into the regime apparatus at some point during their rule. …


A series of 4-alkoxyethoxy-N-octadecyl-1,8-naphthalimides with intense blue fluorescence were designed and synthesized as polarity and spectrofluorimetric probes for the determination of proteins. In solvents of different polarities, the Stokes shifts of two dyes increased with increasing solvent polarity and fluorescence quantum yields decreased significantly, suggesting that electronic transiting from ground to excited states was π-π(*) in character. Dipole moment changes were estimated from solvent-dependent Stokes shift data using a solvatochromic method based on bulk solvent polarity functions and the microscopic solvent polarity parameter (E(T)N). These results were generally consistent with semi-empirical molecular orbital calculations and were found to be quite reliable based on the fact that the correlation of the solvatochromic Stokes shifts with E(T)N was superior to that obtained using bulk solvent polarity functions. Fluorescence data revealed that the fluorescence quenching of human serum albumin (HSA) by dyes was the result of the formation of a Dye-HSA complex. The method was applied to the determination of total proteins (HSA + immunoglobulins) in human serum samples and results were in good agreement with those reported by the research institute.


The question "what is an international crime?" has two aspects. First, it asks us to identify which acts qualify as international crimes. Second, and more fundamentally, it asks us to identify what is distinctive about an international crime – what makes an international crime different from a transnational crime or an ordinary domestic crime.Considerable disagreement exists concerning the first issue, particularly with regard to whether torture and terrorism should be considered international crimes. But nearly all states, international tribunals, and ICL scholars take the same position concerning the second issue: an act qualifies as an international crime if – and only if – that act is universally criminal under international law. The international-law aspect of the definition distinguishes an international crime from a domestic crime: although some acts that qualify as domestic crimes are universally criminal – murder, for example – their universality derives not from international law, but from the fact that every state in the world has independently decided to criminalize them. The universality aspect of the definition, in turn, distinguishes an international crime from a transnational crime: although a transnational crime such as drug trafficking involves an act that international law deems criminal through a suppression convention, international law does not deem the prohibited act universally criminal, because a suppression convention does not bind states that decline to ratify it. This definition of an international crime, however, leads to an obvious question: how exactly does an act become universally criminal under international law? Two very different answers are possible – and the goal of this article is to adjudicate between them. The first answer, what I call the "direct criminalization thesis" (DCT), is that certain acts are universally criminal because they are directly criminalized by international law itself, regardless of whether states criminalize them. Nearly every modern ICL scholar takes this position, as does the ILC. The second answer, what I call the "national criminalization thesis" (NCT), rejects the idea that international law bypasses domestic law by directly criminalizing particular acts. According to the NCT, certain acts are universally criminal under international law – and thus qualify as true international crimes – because international law obligates every state in the world to criminalize and prosecute them. No modern ICL scholar has taken this approach, although intimations of it date back to Grotius.Which thesis is correct? This article argues that it depends on whether we adopt a naturalist or positivist approach to international law. Although every international criminal tribunal has insisted that international crimes are positivist, not naturalist, phenomena, no extant theory of positivism – not even so-called "instant custom" – is capable of justifying the idea that certain acts are directly criminalized by international law. On the contrary: if we take positivism seriously, the NCT provides the only coherent explanation of how international law can deem certain acts to be universally criminal. Maintaining fidelity to the DCT, therefore, requires rejecting positivism in favour of naturalism – with all of naturalism's inherent limitations.


The mechanical properties of agarose-derived hydrogels depend on the scaffolding of the polysaccharide network. To identify and quantify such higher order structure, we applied Raman optical activity (ROA)-a spectroscopic technique that is highly sensitive toward carbohydrates-on native agarose and chemically modified agarose in the gel phase for the first time. By spectral global fitting, we isolated features that change as a function of backbone carboxylation (28, 40, 50, 60, 80, and 93 %) from other features that remain unchanged. We assigned these spectral features by comparison to ROA spectra calculated for different oligomer models. We found a 60:40 ratio of double- and single-stranded α-helix in the highly rigid hydrogel of native agarose, while the considerably softer hydrogels made from carboxylated agarose use a scaffold of unpaired β-strands.


The genotype BRS Ana is a new potato cultivar adequate for French fries, with potential for processing into frozen French fries and flakes, released in 2007. It was developed by the Embrapa Potato Breeding Program (Embrapa Temperate Agriculture, Pelotas-RS; Embrapa Transference of Technology, Office of Canoinhas-SC; and Embrapa Vegetables, Brasilia-DF), based on tuber appearance and yield, specific gravity and French fries quality. Tubers are red-skinned, lightly rough, oval shaped with shallow eyes. The pulp is white. Cultivar BRS Ana has high yield potential. In the subtropical ecosystem, cultivar BRS Ana showed higher yield (31.2 t ha-1) than the most used cultivars in Brazil when grown in autumn, and did not differ from them in the spring. In the tropical ecosystem, under irrigation, BRS Ana did not differ from both control cultivars. It produced higher percentage of marketable tubers (55.6%) and average tuber weight (108.4 g) than the controls in the fall crop of subtropical ecosystem. In both ecosystems, cultivar BRS Ana presented high specific gravity (1.086) and dry matter content (19.7%). The sensorial analysis showed that cultivar BRS Ana is adequate for home made French fries as well as for industrial processing. It is moderately susceptible to late blight (Phytophthora infestans) and presents good resistance to early blight (Alternaria solani). The reaction to the tuber soft rot (Pectobacterium sp.) is similar to the most used cultivars. It has low seed degeneration conferred by moderate resistance to PVY and low incidence of PLRV. Susceptibility to tuber physiological disorders has not been observed. It seems that BRS Ana has lower fertilizer and water requirements than the most planted cultivars, meaning reduction of crop cost and risk. In the subtropical ecosystem, tuberization starts later in spring, therefore BRS Ana should be planted earlier in the season.


A photorefractive frequency converter and phase-sensitive detector is proposed and demonstrated. Dynamic photorefractive theory is used to examine device characteristics for inputs from available types of spatial light modulator to determine which reference modulations are optimal for a given signal modulation. The output linearity is determined for pairs of signal and reference modulation types, and both spatial and temporal intensity variations are analyzed. Photorefractive response times are measured from the frequency-conversion bandwidth.


Tne object of this research was to investigate the behaviour of birdcage scaffolding as used in falsework structures, assess the suitability of existing design methods and make recommendations for a set of design rules. Since excessive deflection is as undesirable in a structure as total collapse, the project was divided into two sections. These were to determine the ultimate vertical and horizontal load-carrying capacity and also the deflection characteristics of any falsework. So theoretical analyses were developed to ascertain the ability of both the individual standards to resist vertical load, and of the bracing to resist horizontal load.Furthermore a model was evolved which would predict the horizontal deflection of a scaffold under load using strain energy methods. These models were checked by three series of experiments. The first was on individual standards under vertical load only. The second series was carried out on full scale falsework structures loading vertically and horizontally to failure. Finally experiments were conducted on scaffold couplers to provide additional verification of the method of predicting deflections. This thesis gives the history of the project and an introduction into the field of scaffolding. It details both the experiments conducted and the theories developed and the correlation between theory and experiment. Finally it makes recommendations for a design method to be employed by scaffolding designers.


A novel scalable and integrated design that supports optical multicast and burst amplification is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The powers of incoming signals can be tuned to optimize the results of burst amplification and replication. Experimental results also show that erbium-doped optical Fiber amplication (EDFA) transients can be suppressed to an equally low level regardless of the burst parameters. Extended structure designs are further proposed to satisfy the need of mass replication of multicast signals.


: A significant proportion of phototrophic species are known to be mixotrophs: cells that obtain nutrients through a combination of photosynthesis and prey ingestion. Current methods to estimate mixotroph abundance in situ are known to be limited in their ability to help identify conditions that favor mixotrophs over strict autotrophs. For the first time, we combine microscopic analysis of phototrophic taxa with immunoprecipitated bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled DNA amplicon sequencing to identify and quantify active and putative mixotrophs at 2 locations in a microtidal temperate estuary. We analyze these data to examine spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton and mixotrophs. Microscopy-based phototrophic diversity and abundances reveal expected seasonal patterns for our 2 stations, with the start of growth in winter and highest abundances in summer. Diatoms tend to dominate at the site with less stratification, while dinoflagellates and euglenids are usually more prominent at the stratified station. The BrdU-based mixotroph identifications are translated to the microscopy identification and abundances to estimate the proportion of mixotrophs (cells >10 μm in size) at both sites. The average proportion of potential mixotrophs is higher at the station with higher stratification (51%) compared to the station with lower stratification (30%), and potential mixotrophs tend to be higher in summer, although we did not conduct BrdU experiments in any of the other seasons. Combining the identification of active mixotrophs through the uptake of BrdU-labeled bacteria with robust abundance measurements can expand our understanding of mixotrophs across systems.


In June 1970, a diverse group of scientists attended the International Symposium on the Biology of the Sipuncula and Echiura at the Marine Biological Station in Kotor, Yugoslavia. Forty-two years later, in June 2012, an aspiring generation of like-minded scientists convened the Second International Symposium on the Biology of the Sipuncula (ISBS2) along the banks of the Fort Pierce Inlet to the Indian River Lagoon in Fort Pierce, Florida, USA. The primary objective of the second symposium was to convene the world's dedicated sipunculan biologists in one place for a long-overdue face-to-face communication of past, present, and future research. This proceedings volume includes a brief summary of workshop discussions and field events as well as a compilation of selected research papers presented by an international group of 16 scientists from 12 nations in attendance at the ISBS2. Herein, we highlight molecular, developmental, morphological, ecological, and biogeographic diversity of adult and larval sipunculans. In addition, we introduce several of the outstanding research challenges associated with resolving sipunculan interrelationships, establishing standard sets of taxonomic characters, refining methods for identification of cryptic species, reconstructing an evolutionary framework of developmental life history patterns, and addressing implications of recent phylogenetic and phylogenomic hypotheses that have relocated the ancient radiation of unsegmented sipunculan body plans within the predominantly segmented Annelida. Collectively, although we represent a small group of sipunculan biologists (of whom a matching number did not attend the ISBS2), we hope this volume will not only draw attention to an intriguing and notably understudied clade of marine worms but also attract new researchers to help us promote them as valuable experimental models and to include them among broader interdisciplinary efforts to better understand the biological diversity of marine invertebrate animals worldwide. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences , number 42, x + 235 pages, 151 figures, 23 tables, 2018.


Understanding consumer value preferences is important for achieving optimal performance of horticultural value chains. This paper provides insights into the value preferences of mango consumers in Pakistan, using them to suggest measures for improving the performance of domestic mango value chains. Five focus group discussions with 40 consumers drawn from different social strata were held in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Thematic content analysis was performed on the qualitative data generated through these discussions. Findings showed that mango was a popular fruit consumed in both fresh and processed forms. Consumers ascribed value to its taste, health benefits, seasonal span and socio-cultural importance. The main attributes consumers considered in buying mangoes were price, taste, freshness, and freedom from damage and blemish. Consumers expressed concerns about high mango prices, non- Availability of safely ripened mangoes, retailer malpractices and ineffective regulations by the government. These findings highlighted that businesses in mango value chains did not pay adequate attention to consumer requirements. However, as consumers become more aware and experience higher living standards, not addressing their concerns will affect the profitability of value chain participants, many of whom will need to upgrade their practices. The study also suggested that the government should ensure that consumer concerns such as those relating to food safety are adequately addressed by relevant institutions and organisations.


A system for visual guidance in patient set-up for external-beam radiotherapy procedures was developed using augmented reality. The system uses video cameras to obtain views of the linear accelerator, and the live images are displayed on a monitor in the treatment room. A 3D model of the patient's external surface, obtained from planning CT data, is superimposed onto the treatment couch in the camera images. The augmented monitor can then be viewed, and alignment performed against the virtual contour. The system provides an intuitive method for set-up guidance, and allows non-rigid deformations to patient pose to be visualised. It also allows changes to patient geometry between treatment fractions to become observable, and can remain in operation throughout the treatment procedure, so that patient motion becomes apparent. Coordinate registration between the camera view and the linac is performed using a cube which is aligned with the linac isocentre using room lasers or cone-beam CT. The AR tracking software detects planar fiducial tracking markers attached to the cube faces, and determines their positions in order to perform pose estimation of the 3D model on-screen. Experimental results with an anthropomorphic phantom in a clinical environment have shown that the system can be used to position a rigid-body with a translational error of 3 mm, and a rotational error of 0.19, 0.06 and 0.27, corresponding to pitch, roll and yaw respectively. With further developments to optimise the system accuracy and its interface, it could be made into a valuable tool for radiotherapy clinics. The outcome of the project has been encouraging, and has shown that augmented reality for patient set-up guidance has great potential.


This paper lists 19 points that follow from results I have obtained using a structural macroeconomic model (SEM). Such models are more closely tied to the aggregate data than are DSGE models, and I argue that DSGE models and similar models should have properties that are consistent with these points. The aim is to try to bring macro back to its empirical roots.


Abstract. We present measurements acquired by the world's first airborne 3 backscatter (β) + 2 extinction (α) High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2). HSRL-2 measures particle backscatter coefficients at 355, 532, and 1064 nm, and particle extinction coefficients at 355 and 532 nm. The instrument has been developed by the NASA Langley Research Center. The instrument was operated during Phase 1 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) in July 2012. We observed pollution outflow from the northeastern coast of the US out over the western Atlantic Ocean. Lidar ratios were 50–60 sr at 355 nm and 60–70 sr at 532 nm. Extinction-related Angstrom exponents were on average 1.2–1.7, indicating comparably small particles. Our novel automated, unsupervised data inversion algorithm retrieved particle effective radii of approximately 0.2 μm, which is in agreement with the large Angstrom exponents. We find good agreement with particle size parameters obtained from coincident in situ measurements carried out with the DOE Gulfstream-1 aircraft.


The primary cell wall is a complex multipolymer system whose composite structure has been mostly determined from chemical and biochemical studies. Although the primary cell wall serves a central role, with regard to the connective properties of fibres, knowledge about the interactions among the polymers, when it comes to the mechanical properties, is very limited. The physical properties of the polymers, i.e. their elastic and viscous deformations, as well as the ultrastructure of the polymers, i.e. the interactions among the polymers in the outer fibre wall layers that lead to this behaviour, are still not fully understood. The aim of this study was to examine how the different wood polymers, viz. lignin, protein, pectin, xyloglucan and cellulose, interact in the outer fibre wall layers of the spruce wood tracheid. The initial objective was to separate an enriched primary cell wall material from a first stage TMP, by means of screening and centri-cleaning. From this material, consisting of the primary cell wall (P) and outer secondary cell wall (S1) materials, thin sheets were prepared and analysed using a number of different analytical methods. The major measuring technique used was dynamic Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy in combination with dynamic 2D FT-IR spectroscopy. This technique is based on the detection of small changes in molecular absorption that occur when a sinusoidally stretched sample undergoes low strain. The molecular groups affected by the stretching respond in a specific way, depending on their environment, while the unaffected molecular groups provide no response to the dynamic spectra, by producing no elastic or viscous signals. Moreover, the dynamic 2D FT-IR spectroscopy provides useful information about various intermolecular and intramolecular interactions, which influence the reorientability of functional groups in a polymer material. Measurements of the primary cell wall material, using dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy, indicated that strong interactions exist among lignin, protein and pectin, as well as among cellulose, xyloglucan and pectin in this particular layer. This was in contrast to the secondary cell wall, where interactions of cellulose with glucomannan and of xylan with lignin were dominant. It was also indicated that the most abundant crystalline cellulose in the primary cell wall of spruce wood fibres is the cellulose Iβ allomorph, which was also in contrast to the secondary cell wall, where the cellulose Iα allomorph is more dominant. The presence of strong interactions among the polymers in the primary cell wall and, especially, the relatively high content of pectin and protein, showed that there is a very good possibility of selectively attacking these polymers in the primary cell wall. The first selective reaction chosen was a low degree of sulphonation, applied by an impregnation pretreatment of chips with a very low charge of sodium sulfite (Na2SO3). This selective reaction caused some structural modification of the lignin, a weakening of the interactions between lignin;pectin, lignin;protein and pectin;protein, as well as an increased softening of the sulphonated primary cell wall material, when compared to the unsulphonated primary cell wall material. All this resulted in an increased swelling ability of the material.


An inadequate infrastructure for software testing is causing major losses to the world economy. The characteristics of software quality problems are quite similar to other tasks successfully tackled by artificial intelligence techniques. The aims of this book are to present state-of-the-art applications of artificial intelligence and data mining methods to quality assurance of complex software systems, and to encourage further research in this important and challenging area.


Context: Young people regularly expose themselves to leisure noise and are at risk for acquiring hearing damage. Aims: The objective of this study was to compare young adults' hearing status in relation to sociodemographic variables, leisure noise exposure and attitudes and beliefs towards noise. Settings and Design: A self-administered questionnaire regarding hearing, the amount of leisure noise exposure and attitudes towards noise and hearing protection as well as an audiological test battery were completed. Five hundred and seventeen subjects between 18 and 30 years were included. Subject and Methods: Hearing was evaluated using conventional audiometry, transient evoked and distortion product otoacoustic emissions. On the basis of their hearing status, participants were categorised into normal hearing, sub-clinical or clinical hearing loss. Statistical Analysis Used: Independent samples t-tests, chi-square tests and multiple regression models were used to evaluate the relation between groups based on hearing status, sociodemographics, leisure noise and attitudes towards noise. Results: Age was significantly related to hearing status. Although, the subjects in this study frequently participated in leisure activities, no significant associations between leisure noise exposure and hearing status could be detected. No relation with subjects' attitudes or the use of hearing protection devices was found. Conclusions: This study could not demonstrate clinically significant leisure noise-induced hearing damage, which may lead to more non-protective behaviour. However, the effects of leisure noise may become noticeable over a long-term use since age was found to be related with sub-clinical hearing loss. Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of noise exposure.


Caloric restriction (CR) is a dietary regimen known to promote lifespan by slowing down the occurrence of age-dependent diseases. The greatest risk factor for neurodegeneration in the brain is age, from which follows that CR might also attenuate the progressive loss of neurons that is often associated with impaired cognitive capacities. In this study, we used a transgenic mouse model that allows for a temporally and spatially controlled onset of neurodegeneration to test the potentially beneficial effects of CR. We found that in this model, CR significantly delayed the onset of neurodegeneration and synaptic loss and dysfunction, and thereby preserved cognitive capacities. Mechanistically, CR induced the expression of the known lifespan-regulating protein SIRT1, prompting us to test whether a pharmacological activation of SIRT1 might recapitulate CR. We found that oral administration of a SIRT1-activating compound essentially replicated the beneficial effects of CR. Thus, SIRT1-activating compounds might provide a pharmacological alternative to the regimen of CR against neurodegeneration and its associated ailments.


Robert Irwin's history of Orientalism leads from Ancient Greece to the present. He shows that, whether making philological comparisons between Arabic and Hebrew, cataloguing the coins of Fatimid Egypt or establishing the basic chronology of Harun al-Rashid's military campaigns against Byzantium, scholars have been unified not by politics or ideology but by their shared obsession. "For Lust of Knowing" is an extraordinary, passionate book, both a sustained argument and a brilliant work of original scholarship.


The developments in digital television technology provide the unprecedented opportunity to drastically extend the role of television as a content delivery channel. E-health, e-commerce, e-government, and e-learning are only a few examples of value-added services provided over digital televisions infrastructures. These changes in the television industry challenge companies to adjust their strategies in order to meet the opportunities and threats in this new environment. Interactive Digital Television: Techniques and Applications presents the developments in the domain of interactive digital television covering both technical and business aspects. This book focuses on analyzing concepts, research issues, and methodological approaches, presenting existing solutions such as systems and prototypes for researchers, academicians, scholars, professionals and practitioners.


George Boole (1815-1864) is well known to mathematicians for his research and textbooks on the calculus, but his name has spread world-wide for his innovations in symbolic logic and the development and applications made since his day. The utility of "Boolean algebra" in computing has greatly increased curiosity in the nature and extent of his achievements. His work is most accessible in his two books on logic, "A mathematical analysis of logic" (1947) and "An investigation of the laws of thought" (1954). But at various times he wrote manuscript essays, especially after the publication of the second book; several were intended for a non-technical work, "The Philosophy of logic", which he was not able to complete. This volume contains an edited selection which not only relates them to Boole's publications and the historical context of his time, but also describes their strange history of family, followers and scholars have treid to confect an edition. The book will appeal to logicians, mathematicians and philosophers, and those interested in the histories of the corresponding subjects; and also students of the early Victorian Britain in which they were written.


Objectives Peptide-based immune tolerance induction is considered an attractive treatment option for autoimmune diseases. The authors have developed a novel method that can enhance the induction of protective peptide-specific T-cell responses, using a rat arthritis model. The authors focused on the Toll-like receptor 9 ligand CpG, which was shown to stimulate regulatory T-cell proliferation when added to plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) using in-vitro cultures. Methods The peptide used is a heat shock protein 60 epitope (p1) that elicits tolerogenic peptide-specific immune responses in human arthritis patients and was recently shown to have protective capacity as a bystander antigen in the rat adjuvant arthritis model. Rats were treated with three nasal doses of p1, CpG or a combination of p1 and CpG. Antigen-presenting cells were studied in nose-draining lymph nodes (mandibular lymph nodes; MLN) after nasal treatment, and T-cell responses were analysed in joint-draining lymph nodes after arthritis induction. Results Nasal co-administration of p1/CpG significantly augmented the arthritis-protective effect of p1, while CpG treatment alone did not. Co-treatment of p1/CpG increased both the number and activation status of pDC in draining MLN, which was accompanied by amplified p1-specific T-cell proliferation and interleukin (IL)-10 production. During early arthritis, p1-specific IL-10 production was identified at the site of inflammation. P1 and p1/CpG-treated rats showed a greater amount of CD4+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in the joint-draining lymph nodes, which correlated with lower arthritis scores. Conclusions These clinical and immunological data suggest the use of CpG as a potent adjuvant for mucosal peptide-specific immune therapy in arthritis.


We find new classes of exact solutions for the Einstein-Maxwell field equations. The solutions are obtained by considering charged anisotropic matter with a linear equation of state consistent with quark stars. The field equations are integrated by specifying forms for the measure of anisotropy and one of the gravitational potentials which are physically reasonable. A general feature of our models is that isotropic pressures are regained when certain parameters vanish; this behaviour is missing in most previous treatments. Particular models found in our results generalize the models of Mak and Harko, Komathiraj and Maharaj, Misner and Zapolsky, and the earlier results of Einstein. The graphical and physical analyses indicate that the gravitational potentials, the matter variables, the electric field and the mass are well behaved. In performing physical analysis we regain masses and radii of stellar objects consistent with observations. It is also shown that other masses and radii may be generated which are in acceptable ranges consistent with observed values of stellar objects. In particular we have established that our model is consistent with the stellar object SAXJ1808.4-3658. A study of the mass-radius relation indicates the effect of the electromagnetic field and anisotropy on the mass of the relativistic star.


Many practical applications require the solution of numerically challenging linear programs (LPs) and mixed integer programs (MIPs).
Scaling is a widely used preconditioning technique that aims at reducing the error propagation of the involved linear systems,
thereby improving the numerical behavior of the dual simplex algorithm and, consequently, LP-based branch-and-bound.
A reliable scaling method often makes the difference whether these problems can be solved correctly or not.
In this paper, we investigate the use of machine learning to choose at the beginning of the solution process
between two common scaling methods: Standard scaling and Curtis-Reid scaling.
The latter often, but not always, leads to a more robust solution process, but may suffer from longer solution times.

Rather than training for overall solution time, we propose to use the attention level of a MIP solution process as a learning label.
We evaluate the predictive power of a random forest approach and a linear regressor that learns the (square-root of the) difference in attention level.
It turns out that the resulting classification not only reduces various types of numerical errors by large margins, but it also improves the performance of the dual simplex algorithm.

The learned model has been implemented within the FICO Xpress MIP solver and it is used by default since release 8.9, May 2020, to determine the scaling algorithm Xpress applies before solving an LP or a MIP.


Abstract:This article investigates the relationship between American political culture and grassroots environmentalism in the 1970s. To do so, it examines how the white working class residents of Love Canal, New York, claimed health and a healthy environment as rights of citizenship. To date, the Canal has remained a sore spot for environmental scholarship; this article demonstrates how the analytic difficulties posed by the Canal stem from the crosscurrents of American political culture in the late 1970s. Canal residents put their local experience into several larger frames of reference: the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, the plight of Cuban and Vietnamese refugees, and a culture of skepticism toward government and medical authority. Residents' use of these frameworks illustrates two broader points about American political culture in the late 1970s. First, the claim to health as a right rather than a privilege, articulated by health radicals throughout the 1960s, had by the late 1970s been decoupled from its origins in left-liberal struggles. Second, the crosscurrents of localism, nativism, racism, and anti-authoritarianism characteristic of the reactionary populism of urban working-class whites could, quite logically for their proponents, co-exist with rights-based claims to health and a healthy environment. Love Canal demands that we embed our narratives about the development of environmental politics—environmental justice in particular—within a broader story about deregulation, the rise of the New Right, and the political and economic marginalization of the working class in the United States.


This highly illustrated textbook provides an essential guide for surgeons in training. It follows a step-by-step approach to performing a surgical procedure. It includes details of positioning the patient, the approach and reduction technique, the implant to be inserted, protocols for post-operative mobilisation, complications to look for, when the patient should be seen in the outpatient clinic and whether the implant should be removed. Intraoperative pictures have been incorpoated to make the surgeon aware of all the important issues involved. It covers the most common trauma procedures that surgeons in training are expected to perform during their residency. Each procedure has been written by an expert. This will be an invaluble resource for the resident in training during the long on-call nights in the hospital while preparing for the operations necessary to help trauma patients.


Improved standards of air tightness, greater reliance on ventilation and increased
levels of insulation especially in new build low and zero carbon homes in the UK,
could lead to a rise in instances of overheating unless this is addressed during the
early stage design. Indeed recent reports from DECC and the wider industry suggest
that instances of overheating are already increasing, to be further exacerbated by
predicted warming and climate impacts. This paper uses a dynamic simulation based
approach to systematically evaluate the potential for incorporating adaptation
strategies into the designs of zero carbon homes in the UK.
The approach adopted is based on risk analysis, which involves assessing the
climate change impacts, exposure of the buildings and the needs and vulnerability of
the occupants, to arrive at technically-feasible and practical adaptable measures,
appropriate for a flagship eco-town development located in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Thermal models of ten house archetypes are built in IES and tested for current and
future overheating using IES ApacheSim. A set of future weather data derived from
UK Climate Projections 2009 is used to assess the risk of overheating under current
climate and 2030s, 2050s and 2080s under a high emissions scenario and 50%
probability. Modelling results of indoor temperature are compared with CIBSE Guide
A and BS EN 15251 Standard overheating metrics. To tackle overheating, twenty
seven individual passive design measures (ventilation, shading, fabric and
orientation) are tested in IES model and the most effective measures are combined
into three adaptation packages to conduct further testing. Detailed specifications of
selected adaptation packages are then discussed with the project team, and
incorporated into the design. The practical application of this work is that it creates a
replicable methodological approach for adapting new low energy house designs
against future climate change. It also helps policy makers and designers to
understand the effectiveness of adaption measures in avoiding overheating now, and
in the future.


We developed a robust control policy design method in high-dimensional state space by using differential dynamic programming with a minimax criterion. As an example, we applied our method to a simulated five link biped robot. The results show lower joint torques from the optimal control policy compared to a hand-tuned PD servo controller. Results also show that the simulated biped robot can successfully walk with unknown disturbances that cause controllers generated by standard differential dynamic programming and the hand-tuned PD servo to fail. Learning to compensate for modeling error and previously unknown disturbances in conjunction with robust control design is also demonstrated.


Convection is one of the basic types of the flows used in description of processes of the Earth's interior and the Earth's atmosphere. The simulation of convection of many geological systems under the assumption of an incompressible medium in the Boussinesq approximation often appears to be poor and the model of a compressible medium is used not only when simulating processes in the atmosphere, but, also, when simulating dense media of such geological systems as magmatic fluid systems, the convective upper mantle with allowance for phase transitions, dynamics of magma in deep chambers and magma-conductors, a convective warm-up of the lithosphere magmatic fluids, dynamics of liquid hydrothermal systems with allowance for magma boiling and hydrothermal solution, condensation of a gas, etc. In the given paper, a numerical model for analysis of dynamics of such media with variable kinetic and thermodynamic parameters is constructed. The choice of a numerical algorithm was determined by the necessity to ensure the physical correctness of the solution at arbitrary spatial and time scales of the system under investigation as a large spatial scale of the system and large times of its evolution make it difficult to carry out laboratory simulation as well as field measurements. The control volume method satisfies this condition.


The attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) on 9/11/2001 produced a massive dust cloud with acute exposure, and the rubble pile burning over 3 months exposed more than 300,000 residents, rescue workers, and clean-up workers. Firefighters in the New York City Fire Department had significant respiratory symptoms characterized by cough, dyspnea, gastroesophageal reflux, and nasal stuffiness with a significant 1-year decline in FVC and FEV(1). Bronchial hyperreactivity measured by methacholine challenge correlated with bronchial wall thickening on CT scans. Compared with the NHANES III data for FVC and FEV(1), 32% of 2,000 WTC dust-exposed residents and clean-up workers were below the lower 5th percentile. The most common abnormality was a low FVC pattern, a finding similar to that also described for individuals in rescue and recovery activities. Among those complaining of respiratory symptoms and normal spirometry, almost half had abnormalities detected with impedance oscillometry consistent with distal airways' disease. Follow-up with the WTC Health Registry and the WTC Environmental Health Center will help discern whether treatment with anti-inflammatory medications or bronchodilators in those with respiratory symptoms may prevent the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.


The bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and chlorobiphenyls (CBs) in sediments is largely dependent on the freely dissolved concentration of these pollutants. However, measuring these is challenging, due to the low concentrations of lipophilic contaminants in the environment and their strong affinity for particles and for traditional sampling (filtration and centrifugation) equipment. An equilibrium passive sampling device made of silicone rubber was developed in this research to measure the freely dissolved concentrations of lipophilic contaminants and other parameters (water extractable proportions and sediment-water partition coefficients) that describe the availability of these contaminants in the environment. Equilibration between sampler and sediment for PAHs and CBs was found to be adequately achieved after 20 days shaking of a silicone rubber sampler in sediment slurry on an orbital shaker at 200 rpm. The reproducibility of uptake was better than 5 %. Silicone rubber-water partition coefficients for 34 PAHs and 32 CBs were measured in the laboratory using a co-solvent method using methanol as co solvent. Strong linear correlations of log sr w K , with octanol-water partition coefficients (log ow K ) ( log 0.97 log 0.01; 2 0.94 , K = K − r = sr w ow & log 1.17 log 1.82; 2 0.90 , K = K − r = sr w ow ) were found for PAHs and CBs, with a systematic difference in correlations observed for the different classes of compounds which was attributed to structural differences of the compounds. The silicone rubber samplers were then used to measure concentrations of PAHs in the pore water of sediments from the Fladen Ground of the North Sea, Loch Shell, Firth of Forth, Firth of Clyde, Loch Etive and Aberdeen Harbour in Scotland and the Vefsn fjord, Norway. A proportion of the PAHs were found to be unavailable for exchange into the aqueous phase, and this was reflected in the high log oc K measured in all the sediments studied. The sediment-water partition coefficients also correlated positively with the octanol-water partition coefficients. Accumulation of PAHs in Nereis virens from sediments was better predicted from literature bio concentration factors and pore water concentrations obtained using the silicone rubber samplers than from sediment concentrations traditionally used in risk assessments. Participation in an International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) passive sampling trial survey using silicone rubber in sediments and water is described, and demonstrated the potential of passive sampling in monitoring environmental pollution. The log BCF (bio concentration factor) for PAHs in mussels increased with increasing log ow K at both Loch Etive and Aberdeen Harbour locations, and could be used to estimate concentrations in mussels directly. The survey data also showed the use of silicone rubber in assessing the diffusive exchange of PAHs across sediment-water interfaces.


Oxfam works with others, taking action to achieve common goals for overcoming poverty and injustice. Its aim is to achieve consistently good quality and honest relationships with all of its partners. Good partnerships are based on paying attention to ways of working and maximizing impact by delivering good financial and programme management. This guideline has been developed to help Oxfam's programme staff put its Partnership Principles into practice. It contains procedures to ensure that Oxfam is setting up the best partnerships possible €" and contains refinements to procedures already in use. A key focus is Oxfam's and its partners' shared responsibility for accountability to primary and key stakeholders, and is prompted by recent feedback and learning offered by staff and partners.


Robustness to distributional shift is one of the key challenges of contemporary machine learning. Attaining such robustness is the goal of distributionally robust optimization, which seeks a solution to an optimization problem that is worst-case robust under a specified distributional shift of an uncontrolled covariate. In this paper, we study such a problem when the distributional shift is measured via the maximum mean discrepancy (MMD). For the setting of zeroth-order, noisy optimization, we present a novel distributionally robust Bayesian optimization algorithm (DRBO). Our algorithm provably obtains sub-linear robust regret in various settings that differ in how the uncertain covariate is observed. We demonstrate the robust performance of our method on both synthetic and real-world benchmarks.


Images play a vital role in the publication and presentation of clinical and scientific work. Within clinical photography, color reproduction has always been a contentious issue. With the development of new technologies, the variables affecting color reproduction have changed, and photographers have moved away from film-based to digital photographic imaging systems. To develop an understanding of color, knowledge about the basic principles of light and vision is important. An object's color is determined by which wavelengths of light it reflects. Colors of light and colors of pigment behave differently. Due to technical limitations, monitors and printers are unable to reproduce all the colors we can see with our eyes, also called the LAB color space. In order to optimize the output of digital clinical images, color management solutions need to be integrated in the photographic workflow; however, their use is still limited in the medical field. As described in part 2 of this article, calibrating your computer monitor and using an 18% gray background card are easy ways to enable more consistent color reproduction for publication. In addition, some basic information about the various camera settings is given to facilitate the use of this new digital equipment in daily practice.


Suppose you visit an e-commerce site, and see that 50 users each reviewed almost all of the same 500 products several times each: would you get suspicious? Similarly, given a Twitter follow graph, how can we design principled measures for identifying surprisingly dense subgraphs? Dense subgraphs often indicate interesting structure, such as network attacks in network traffic graphs. However, most existing dense subgraph measures either do not model normal variation, or model it using an Erdős-Renyi assumption - but this assumption has been discredited decades ago. What is the right assumption then? We propose a novel application of extreme value theory to the dense subgraph problem, which allows us to propose measures and algorithms which evaluate the surprisingness of a subgraph probabilistically, without requiring restrictive assumptions (e.g. Erdős-Renyi). We then improve the practicality of our approach by incorporating empirical observations about dense subgraph patterns in real graphs, and by proposing a fast pruning-based search algorithm. Our approach (a) provides theoretical guarantees of consistency, (b) scales quasi-linearly, and (c) outperforms baselines in synthetic and ground truth settings.


This study was motivated by clinical observations that dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome (DIOS) and an androgen deficiency are common features observed in obese adult men; however, the molecular mechanism underlying the effects of DIOS on androgen deficiency remains to be elucidated. We established a DIOS animal model by feeding Sprague-Dawley rats an iron/fat-enriched diet (50% fat plus 0.25, 1, or 2 g ferric iron per kg diet) for 12 weeks to induce iron dysfunction (indicated by decreased tissue iron efflux) in obese rats. Obese rats fed an iron/fat-enriched diet showed decreased levels of testicular total Testosterone (T) and iron exporter ferroportin but increased levels of testicular iron and hepcidin, and these effects were more evident with a >1 g ferric iron per kg diet. A western blot analysis showed that an iron/fat-enriched diet triggered testicular endoplasmic reticular (ER) stress but decreased mitochondrion biogenesis proteins (PGC1α and TFAM) and T-converting proteins (StAR, CYP11A, and 17β-HSD). TUNEL staining showed that >1 g ferric iron induced apoptosis mainly in germ cells and Leydig's cells. Uncontrolled testicular iron efflux may cause mitochondrial-ER dysfunction and affect T biosynthesis. Future study targeting the testicular hepcidin-ferroportin axis may offer a therapeutic tool to alleviate testicular iron retention and mitochondrial-ER stress in Leydig's cells.


Objectives—This report presents 2006 data on U.S. births according to a wide variety of characteristics. Data are presented for maternal demographic characteristics including age, live-birth order, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, and educational attainment; maternal lifestyle and health characteristics (medical risk factors, weight gain, and tobacco use); medical care utilization by pregnant women (prenatal care, obstetric procedures, characteristics of labor and/or delivery, attendant at birth, and method of delivery); and infant characteristics (period of gestation, birthweight, Apgar score, con genital anomalies, and multiple births). Also presented are birth and fertility rates by age, live-birth order, race, Hispanic origin, and marital status. Selected data by mother's state of residence are shown, as well as data on month and day of birth, sex ratio, and age of father. Trends in fertility patterns and maternal and infant characteristics are described and interpreted. Methods—Descriptive tabulations of data reported on the birth certificates of the 4.3 million births that occurred in 2006 are presented. Denominators for population-based rates are postcensal estimates derived from the U.S. 2000 census. Results—In 2006, births and fertility rates increased for most states, age groups, and race and Hispanic origin groups. A total of 4,265,555 births were registered in the United States in 2006, 3 percent more than in 2005, and the largest number of births in more than four decades. The crude birth rate was 14.2, up slightly from the previous year; the general fertility rate was 68.5, up 3 percent. Birth rates increased for women in nearly all age groups, with the largest increases for teenagers and for women aged 20–24 and 40–44 years. Teenage childbearing increased, interrupting the 14-year decline from 1991– 2005. The mean age at first birth for U.S. women was down in 2006, to 25.0 years. The total fertility rate increased to 2,100.5 births per 1,000 women. All measures of unmarried childbearing reached record levels in 2006. Women were less likely to receive timely prenatal care in 2006. The cesarean delivery rate climbed to 31.1 percent, another all-time high. Preterm and low birthweight rates continued to rise; the twin birth rate was unchanged for the second consecutive year; the rate of triplet and higher order multiple births declined 5 percent. 2006 1996


We study the adaptive influence maximization problem with myopic feedback under the independent cascade model: one sequentially selects k nodes as seeds one by one from a social network, and each selected seed returns the immediate neighbors it activates as the feedback available for later selections, and the goal is to maximize the expected number of total activated nodes, referred as the influence spread. We show that the adaptivity gap, the ratio between the optimal adaptive influence spread and the optimal non-adaptive influence spread, is at most 4 and at least e/(e-1), and the approximation ratios with respect to the optimal adaptive influence spread of both the non-adaptive greedy and adaptive greedy algorithms are at least \frac{1}{4}(1 - \frac{1}{e}) and at most \frac{e^2 + 1}{(e + 1)^2} < 1 - \frac{1}{e}. Moreover, the approximation ratio of the non-adaptive greedy algorithm is no worse than that of the adaptive greedy algorithm, when considering all graphs. Our result confirms a long-standing open conjecture of Golovin and Krause (2011) on the constant approximation ratio of adaptive greedy with myopic feedback, and it also suggests that adaptive greedy may not bring much benefit under myopic feedback.


Cancer is an out-of-control cell proliferation that can attack any cell in the human body. One of the most prevailed cancers in women is breast cancer, with elevated incidence and mortality rates, that makes it a major health threat globally. In the present investigation, we used MCF-7 breast cancer cells to identify the role of 25 different miRNAs. The study revealed that out of the 25 miRNAs profiled, 11 miRNAs were upregulated, and 14 miRNAs were downregulated. Target gene prediction was conducted using MirNet online web building tool, and results indicated that up-regulated miRNAs interact with several cancer-related genes such as FRS2, TNFRSF10B, BTBD7, MYC, and TPRG1L. The down-regulated miRNAs were also interacting with a list of tumor-related genes (e.g., GABPB2, GNB1, CCND1, ERCC1, ZNF417, GLO1, EIF4G2, DRAXIN, HOXD11, and KPNA6). Disease prediction has also been conducted to identify the relatedness of, especially, the up-regulated miRNA with common disease including cancer. This study concludes that the 11 up-regulated miRNAs could be used as biomarkers to early diagnose BC, but we can highlight hsa-miR-30d-5p as a potential biomarker for its high expression profile. However, these data need more investigations to confirm this finding.


Objective—To study the effects on myocardial ischaemia of 50 mg of atenolol, 20 mg of slow release nifedipine, and their fixed combination given 12 hourly. Design—A treadmill exercise test and 24 hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring were carried out after a period of five days off treatment (control) and at the end of three weeks of each treatment period. Patients—23 patients with stable angina pectoris, documented coronary artery disease, and a positive exercise test were randomised in a double blind, three way, cross over study. Results—Compared with the control, nifedipine significantly induced an increase in resting heart rate of (mean (SEM)) 14 (2) beats/min whereas atenolol and the combination significantly reduced it by 24 (2) and 20 (1) beats/min respectively. The number of exercise tests rendered negative after each intervention was five for nifedipine, nine for atenolol, and 11 for the combination. Compared with the control the time to the start of myocardial ischaemia (1 mm ST segment depression) during exercise significantly increased by 3·2 (0·6) min after nifedipine, by 4·6 (0·4) min after atenolol, and by 4·6 (0·5) min after the combination; rate-pressure product (beats/min. mm Hg) at 1 mm ST segment depression increased by 2824 (970) after nifedipine but fell by 4436 (900) and 4501 (719) after atenolol and the combination. The weekly frequency of angina was reduced from a mean of five while taking nifedipine, to three while taking atenolol, and to two while taking the combination. The total ischaemic time during ambulatory monitoring was significantly reduced from 69 (17) min during control to 37·5 (9·8) min during nifedipine, to 15·6 (5·5) min during atenolol, and to 6·5 (2·7) min during the combination. Conclusion—The undesirable effect of a high basal heart rate induced by nifedipine was neutralised by its combination with atenolol. Whereas atenolol and the combination were equally efficacious in controlling exercise induced ischaemia, the combination was more effective in reducing total ischaemic burden.


Metastasis is a primary cause of mortality due to cancer. Early metastatic growth involves both a remodeling of the extracellular matrix surrounding tumors and invasion of tumors across the basement membrane. Up-regulation of extracellular matrix degrading proteases such as urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and matrix metalloproteinases has been reported to facilitate tumor cell invasion. Autocrine transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling may play an important role in cancer cell invasion and metastasis; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we report that autocrine TGF-β supports cancer cell invasion by maintaining uPA levels through protein secretion. Interestingly, treatment of paracrine/exogenous TGF-β at higher concentrations than autocrine TGF-β further enhanced uPA expression and cell invasion. The enhanced uPA expression by exogenous TGF-β is a result of increased uPA mRNA expression due to RNA stabilization. We observed that both autocrine and paracrine TGF-β-mediated regulation of uPA levels was lost upon depletion of Smad4 protein by RNA interference. Thus, through the Smad pathway, autocrine TGF-β maintains uPA expression through facilitated protein secretion, thereby supporting tumor cell invasiveness, whereas exogenous TGF-β further enhances uPA expression through mRNA stabilization leading to even greater invasiveness of the cancer cells.


Collection methods and/or habitats sampled influence how many and which species are captured during entomological surveys. Here we compare Coleoptera catches among three survey activities, each using a single collection method, at the same study sites in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Activities included: short-term flight intercept trapping (FITs); sifting/Berlese funneling of leaf litter and extremely decayed downed coarse woody debris; and using emergence chambers containing coarse woody debris of various decay classes. In total, 2472 adult beetle specimens, representing 217 lowest identifiable taxa within 164 genera and 42 families, were collected during the FIT survey. Each survey activity yielded more than 2000 specimens, and a combined total of 413 species was collected. A combination of all surveys yielded the highest species richness when normalized for number of specimens indicating that variation of habitat and/or collection method significantly increases species richness. Of single surveys the FIT survey had the highest absolute species richness (217) and the highest richness when normalized for number of specimens. Species overlap among survey activities was low (Sorensen's quotient of similarity was 0.20–0.27), which showed that each was about equally dissimilar from all others. Overlap of catch between FITs and emergence chambers was too low to justify substitution of emergence surveys with the FIT survey protocol used when attempting to collect saproxylic Coleoptera.


Visual concealment of important objects and information by hands or tools can make many tasks more difficult. To alleviate this problem, hands and tools can be made partially transparent, allowing users to see their tools and work area simultaneously. This paper describes our experience with a system that can control the level of transparency of hands, tools and objects. We describe how users performed with uniform transparency across objects and with selective transparency where important details of objects are made less transparent. We identify several perceptual issues with this interface and propose possible solutions.


In today's competitive marketplace, relationship marketing has become an important factor. Companies want to achieve customer loyalty through sustainable long-term relationships with customers, especially in the service industry. Thus, companies implement loyalty programs, and conduct consumer research to evaluate the success of these programs. The customer satisfaction construct, is often used by companies to measure the level of satisfaction of their customers. However, previous literature argues that this construct conceal negative emotions. Therefore, the authors have chosen to investigate one type of negative emotion, namely frustration, within frequent flyer programs.The purpose of this thesis is to explore and identify what incidents cause frustration for members within the SAS EuroBonus program. The authors' goal is to tap into customer frustration, as well as different types of sensations and the underlying incidents that create these sensations. This study will further investigate what impact customer frustrations can exert on program members' behaviour towards the SAS EuroBonus program.The research method chosen for this thesis was of qualitative nature; the primary data were collected using a single case study, with semi structured interviews, conducted with members of the SAS EuroBonus program of Silver level or higher.The findings from this research reveal that even though individuals claim to be satisfied, negative emotions and concealed frustration is evident. The incidents found in this case study concern qualification barriers, inaccessibility, no additional value, additional costs and service. These incidents resulted in both strongly and weakly felt frustration sensations, which in turn led to three categories of frustration behaviours, namely avoidance, protest and passive behaviour.


Proposals to change the regulatory framework for the legal profession to increase access to legal services have been made for decades. The organized bar frequently responds to these proposals by raising concerns about the difficulty of regulating alternative providers and corporate legal services entities with nonlawyer investors or managers. In this paper we explore the nature of the regulatory challenge. By reviewing in detail the approach developed in the U.K. under the 2007 Legal Services Act - which initiated a licensing regime for legal services entities including but not limited to lawyer‐owned law firms - we demonstrate the feasibility, and benefits, of developing an analogous regime in the U.S.


This paper discusses fundamental principles of ultrasonic gas flow meters used for measurement of natural gas and the available basic diagnostic capability to assess meter operation and performance. The basic requirements for obtaining good meter performance, when installed in the field, will be reviewed. Most of this information can be generalized to other manufacturer's transit time ultrasonic flow meters however, these examples provided, particularly with respect to some diagnostic features, are based on the Daniel SeniorSonic ultrasonic flow meter. Advanced diagnostic data, in conjunction with gas composition, pressure and temperature, that provides diagnostic benefits beyond that of other primary measurement devices is outside the scope of this paper, though these topics will be covered in the companion paper, Ultrasonic Meter Diagnostics – Advanced.