The issues addressed in this contribution raise the question of language choices on companies' websites and their implications for communication and access to information (fairness and equity) in the corporate sector. While the importance of the Internet as a means of communication and marketing for the corporate sector has been acknowledged, little attention has been paid to the linguistic dimension and the implications of this tool for business communication. This chapter examines the way in which companies cope with the linguistic diversity on their websites in order to identify possible models of language management as well as the eventual consequences of such choices for the structure and the content of a website. For the first stage, using a quantitative approach (statistical tools), we try to "map" the websites of fourteen surveyed companies in order to identify their degree of monolingualism/multilingualism, the sections that would be interesting to focus on with regard to understanding the policies of multilingual and multicultural content management, as well as a certain number of recurrent strategies. For the second stage, specific attention is given to conceptualizing the ways monolingual and multilingual resources have been mobilized in two website sections: job offers and the sale of products. On the one hand, job offers, being oriented towards future employees, are aimed at giving information about the company's requirements. On the other hand, the products' section is used as a market-oriented tool to accomplish the company's main objective which is to "sell".


There are a number of universities offering course material through elearning or web-based learning. The common practice is that these courses are available only for those learners who are seeking degree curriculum. Considering these rich educational resources, an approach that allows them to be utilized for supporting other types of learners, and allow such content to be managed from a single source of material would be very useful. In this paper, we propose concept-driven learning goal approach that allows these courses to be easily organized for personalized learning support, and manage from a single source of material. We then present a simple approach for personalized recommendation functionality based on the proposed representation using compulsory, elective requirements, and learner profile as the guiding parameters.


This thesis describes studies into the exchange reactivity of early transition metal species containing mono- and dianionic ligands, examining both the intermetal exchange of such ligands and the exchange to and from external substrates. Studies on the metathesis polymerisation of functionalised monomers using well-defined Schock initiators are described. Chapter 1 highlights the electronic and structural aspects of the ligands employed in this thesis (including oxo, imido, alkylidene, alkoxide and amide moieties) and briefly reviews intermetal ligand exchange reactions. In addition, applications of the olefin metathesis reaction, namely R.O.M.P and ADMET, are reviewed employing the well-defined Schrock type initiators. Chapter 2 describes the preparation of Mo(NBu(^t))(_2)(OBu(^t))(_2), and examines the reactivity of its imido ligands towards a series of organic substrates including aryl amines, benzaldehyde, dioxygen and isocyanates. Intermetal imido-imido exchange reactivity is inspected for Mo(NR)(_2)X(_2) and CpMo(NBu(^t))(_2)Cl systems. The intermetal oxo-imido exchange reaction between Mo(NBu(^1))(_2)(OR)(_2) and Mo(O)(_2)(OR)(_2) is investigated, in which the role of acid catalysis is examined. The effects of increasing the elecu-on withdrawing properties of the ancillary alkoxide ligands by progressive fluorination are probed. The favourable position of the oxo-imido exchange reaction is exploited in the synthesis of the oxo-imido complexes Mo(O)(NBu(^t))(OBu(^t))2, Mo(O)(NBu(^t))(OR(^6))(_2) and Mo(O)(NBu(^t))Cl(_2).dme. The intermetal exchange reactivity of mono-anionic X-type ligands is then explored in systems of the type MoQ(_2)X(_2) (Q = O, NBu(^t); Q(_2) = (NAr)(CHCMe(_2)Ph); X = CI, OR, NHR).Chapter 3 presents the attempted synthesis of a half-sandwich niobium bis (imido) complex of general formula CpNb(NR(^1))(NR(^2)), starting with the synthesis of imido-amide complexes CpNb(NR)(NR(^1)R(^2))Cl (R = Bu(^t), R(^1) = R(^2) = Et; R = Ar, R(^1) = Bu(^t) R(^2) = H) via the reaction of CpNb(NR)Cl(_2) with lithium amides. Further reaction of these imido-amide species with lithium amides result in the formation of CpNb(NBu(^t))(NHBu(^t))(_2) and CpNb(NBu(^t))(NHBu(^t)(NE(_t2)). The reactivity of the imido ligand in CpNb(NBu(^t))X(_2) is investigated towards aryl amines, butanol, dioxygen and H(_2)O. Complexes of the type CpNb(NBu(^t))X(_2) (X = Br, OPr(^3), OR(_f)(^3), OR(_f_(^6) and NC(_4)H(_4)) are isolated and employed in mono-anionic intermetal exchange reactions, the results from which are compared with those from analogous reactions in chapter 2.Chapter 4 outlines metathesis polymerisation studies on hetero-cyclopentenes using the well-defined molybdenum Schrock initiators. The R.O.M.P of 2,3- and 2,5- dihydrofurans are reported. A metallacycle adduct is isolated in the reaction of Mo(NAr)(CHCMe(_2)Ph)(OBu(^t))(_2) with vinylene carbonate. The reaction of l-(amino)-3- borolenes with the Schrock initiators is described and a product characterised as a 1- (amino)-2-borolene by X-ray crystallography. The factors that may effect the polymerisability of hetero-cyclopentenes are briefly considered. In addition, the reactivity of functionalised acyclic diallyl species of the type Q(CH(_2)CHCH(_2))(_2) (Q = O, NH, PPh, O(_2)CO) are explored with the Schrock initiators in acyclic diene metathesis reactions (ADMET). Diallyl ether is found to undergo catalytic ring closure to 2,5 dihydrofuran, while diallyl phenyl-phosphine gives l-phenyl-2,5 dihydrophosphole.


The availability of regular supply has been identified as one of the major stimulants for the growth and development of any nation and is thus important for the economic well-being of a nation. The problems of the Nigerian power sector stems from a lot of factors culminating in her slow developmental growth and inability to meet the power demands of her citizens regardless of the abundance of human and natural resources prevalent in the nation. The research therefore had the main aim of investigating the importance and contributions of risk management to the success of projects specific to the power sector. To achieve this aim it was pertinent to examine the efficacy of risk management process in practice and elucidate the various risks typically associated with projects (Construction, Contractual, Political, Financial, Design, Human resource and Environmental risk factors) in the power sector as well as determine the current situation of risk management practice in Nigeria. To address this factors inhibiting the proficiency of the overarching and prevailing issue which have only been subject to limited in-depth academic research, a rigorous mixed research method was adopted (quantitative and qualitative data analysis). A review of the Nigeria power sector was also carried out as a precursor to the data collection stage. Using purposive sampling technique, respondents were identified and a questionnaire survey was administered. The research hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics (Pearson correlation, Chi-square test, t-test and ANOVA technique) and the findings revealed the need for the development of a new risk management implementation Framework. The proposed Framework was tested within a company project, for interpreting the dynamism and essential benefits of risk management with the aim of improving the project performances (time), reducing the level of fragmentation (quality) and improving profitability (cost) within the Nigerian power sector in order to bridge a gap between theory and practice. It was concluded that Nigeria's poor risk management practices have prevented it from experiencing strong growth and development. The study however, concludes that the successful implementation of the developed risk management framework may help it to attain this status by enabling it to become more prepared and flexible, to face challenges that previously led to project failures, and thus contributing to its prosperity. The research study provides an original contribution theoretically, methodologically and practically which adds to the project risk management body of knowledge and to the Nigerian power sector.


Floodplain surface topography is an important component of floodplain ecosystems. It is the primary physical template upon which ecosystem processes are acted out, and complexity in this template can contribute to the high biodiversity and productivity of floodplain ecosystems. There has been a limited appreciation of floodplain surface complexity because of the traditional focus on temporal variability in floodplains as well as limitations to quantifying spatial complexity. An index of floodplain surface complexity (FSC) is developed in this paper and applied to eight floodplains from different geographic settings. The index is based on two key indicators of complexity, variability in surface geometry (VSG) and the spatial organisation of surface conditions (SPO), and was determined at three sampling scales. FSC, VSG, and SPO varied between the eight floodplains and these differences depended upon sampling scale. Relationships between these measures of spatial complexity and seven geomorphological and hydrological drivers were investigated. There was a significant decline in all complexity measures with increasing floodplain width, which was explained by either a power, logarithmic, or exponential function. There was an initial rapid decline in surface complexity as floodplain width increased from 1.5 to 5 km, followed by little change in floodplains wider than 10 km. VSG also increased significantly with increasing sediment yield. No significant relationships were determined between any of the four hydrological variables and floodplain surface complexity.


The study was conducted to assess the characteristics of partial gene of cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) of wild silkmoth Cricula trifenestrata , and to detect the diagnostic sites from these gene for evaluation as species marker. A total of fifteen larvae of C. tifenestrata were collected from Bogor, Purwakarta, and Bantul Regencies. Genomic DNA was extracted from silk gland of individual larvae , then amplified by PCR method and sequenced. DNA sequencing was done to characterize their nucleotide and amino acid contents. The results showed that 595 nucleotides at the 5 'end of COI gene of C. tifenestrata was conserved at the species level, but varies at the family level. Nucleotide dominated by thymine and adenine bases (± 70%). There were 25 diagnostic sites for C. tifenestrata , and four diagnostic sites for genus level. One hundred eigthty nine (189) amino acids were alignment, and only one percent of the genes was varied among species. The 107 th amino acid (valine) and 138 th (threonine) were diagnostics amino acid for C. tifenestrata . Based on nucleotides and amino acids sequences, the phylogeny showed that C. tifenestrata lied on the same nodes with Antheraea , so the Saturniidae family is monophyletic.


Abstract Military medical personnel and objects, as well as wounded and sick combatants, are protected against direct attack under the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law. However, some authors argue that they are not covered by the principles of proportionality and precautions. This opinion note explains that military medical objects constitute civilian objects under the rules governing the conduct of hostilities. It also demonstrates that, in view of the object and purpose of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, expected incidental casualties of military medical personnel and wounded and sick combatants must be included among the relevant incidental casualties under the principles of proportionality and precautions. This stems in particular from the interpretation of the obligation 'to respect and protect' as the overarching obligation of the special protection afforded to all medical personnel and wounded and sick. Support for this conclusion can be found in a number of military manuals and in the Additional Protocol's preparatory work and Commentaries. This conclusion also reflects customary law.


The intention of this paper is to offer a preliminary analysis of the migrations of professional footballers to Poland's top division – the Ekstraklasa. Based upon a series of interviews conducted with migrant players located at an Ekstraklasa club, the paper focuses specifically on the factors that influence the players' decisions to migrate to that particular league. The paper identifies that whilst the Ekstraklasa might sit outside of Europe's core football economies, it still offers much as a migration destination for certain sorts of players. Specifically, the paper shows how 'pull' factors, such as financial gain and the opportunity to play in Europe's elite club competitions, are juxtaposed with a number of structural factors that 'push' migrants from particular locations and that are contoured by the players' desires to progress in their careers. The paper concludes by showing that the motivations of the migrants cannot be reduced to any single causal factor, but rather, to be more meaningful, a series of interdependent processes should be seen to be at work.


Papillomatous digital dermatitis (PDD) is a foot disease causing lameness in dairy cattle. It is regarded as a polymicrobial infection, although its etiology is not fully understood. PDD is treated by the topical or systemic administration of antibiotics such as lincomycin (LCM); however, the milk of the cows cannot be marketed during the treatment and withdrawal period due to the residual antibiotics in milk. Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), an extract of Wasabia japonica (known as wasabi or Japanese horseradish) widely employed as a food additive, can be used as an alternative antimicrobial agent that overcomes this problem. We previously showed that AITC is as effective as LCM in PDD treatment. Here, using the samples obtained in the previous clinical study, we analyzed changes in the bacterial population in the PDD‐associated microbiota after AITC treatment and compared those with that following LCM treatment by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)‐based amplicon analysis. Both treatments induced major changes in the bacterial population, and Treponema species, which have been regarded as the major causative agents of PDD, were efficiently eliminated by both agents. However, the AITC‐treated samples exhibited higher diversity compared with pretreatment samples, but this trend was not observed for LCM treatment, probably reflecting different antibacterial activities of the two agents. Importantly, this analysis detected population changes before morphological changes in PDD lesions (clinical signs of healing) became evident, indicating that 16S rRNA‐based amplicon analysis represents an efficient strategy for analyzing and monitoring the treatment efficiency of PDD as well as other polymicrobial diseases.


CONTEXT: Studies through 6 years have shown no long-term direct effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on children's physical growth, developmental test scores, or language outcomes. Little is known about the effects of PCE among school-aged children aged 6 years and older. OBJECTIVE: We reviewed articles from studies that examined the effects of PCE on growth, cognitive ability, academic functioning, and brain structure and function among school-aged children. METHODS: Articles were obtained by searching PubMed, Medline, TOXNET, and PsycInfo databases from January 1980 to December 2008 with the terms "prenatal cocaine exposure," "cocaine," "drug exposure," "substance exposure," "maternal drug use," "polysubstance," "children," "adolescent," "in utero," "pregnancy," "development," and "behavior." Criteria for inclusion were (1) empirical research on children aged 6 years and older prenatally exposed to cocaine, (2) peer-reviewed English-language journal, (3) comparison group, (4) longitudinal follow-up or historical prospective design, (5) masked assessment, (6) exclusion of subjects with serious medical disabilities, and (7) studies that reported nonredundant findings for samples used in multiple investigations. Thirty-two unique studies met the criteria. Each article was independently abstracted by 2 authors to obtain sample composition, methods of PCE assessment, study design, comparison groups, dependent variables, covariates, and results. RESULTS: Associations between PCE and growth, cognitive ability, academic achievement, and language functioning were small and attenuated by environmental variables. PCE had significant negative associations with sustained attention and behavioral self-regulation, even with covariate control. Although emerging evidence suggests PCE-related alterations in brain structure and function, interpretation is limited by methodologic inconsistencies. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with findings among preschool-aged children, environmental variables play a key role in moderating and explaining the effects of PCE on school-aged children's functioning. After controlling for these effects, PCE-related impairments are reliably reported in sustained attention and behavioral self-regulation among school-aged children.


The rotating components in the hot sections of land-based gas turbine are exposed to severe environment during several tens thousand hours at above 1100則 operating temperature. To protect such components from high temperature oxidation, an intermediate bond coat is applied, typical of a MCrAlY-type metal alloy. Various processing methods have been studied for bond coat deposition. This study is concerned with the thermal cyclic behavior of thermal barrier coatings. The MCrAlY bond coatings are deposited by a vacuum plasma, low vacuum plasma and highvelocity oxygen fuel spray on a nickel-based superalloy (GTD-111). Thermal cyclic tests at 1100則 in still air for various periods of time were used to evaluate the thermal cyclic resistance of the TBC coating with the various processing sprayed bond coating layer. The microstructure and morphology of as-sprayed and of thermal cycled coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The order of thermal cyclic resistance was YSZ-VPS bond coat, YSZ-LVPS and YSZHVOF. The influence of bond coat spray methods on durability of TBCs is discussed.


Decreased hepcidin mobilizes iron, which facilitates erythropoiesis, but excess iron is pathogenic in β-thalassemia. Erythropoietin (EPO) enhances erythroferrone (ERFE) synthesis by erythroblasts, and ERFE suppresses hepatic hepcidin production through an unknown mechanism. The BMP/SMAD pathway in the liver is critical for hepcidin control, and we show that EPO suppressed hepcidin and other BMP target genes in vivo in a partially ERFE-dependent manner. Furthermore, recombinant ERFE suppressed the hepatic BMP/SMAD pathway independently of changes in serum and liver iron. In vitro, ERFE decreased SMAD1, SMAD5, and SMAD8 phosphorylation and inhibited expression of BMP target genes. ERFE specifically abrogated the induction of hepcidin by BMP5, BMP6, and BMP7 but had little or no effect on hepcidin induction by BMP2, BMP4, BMP9, or activin B. A neutralizing anti-ERFE antibody prevented ERFE from inhibiting hepcidin induction by BMP5, BMP6, and BMP7. Cell-free homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence assays showed that BMP5, BMP6, and BMP7 competed with anti-ERFE for binding to ERFE. We conclude that ERFE suppresses hepcidin by inhibiting hepatic BMP/SMAD signaling via preferentially impairing an evolutionarily closely related BMP subgroup of BMP5, BMP6, and BMP7. ERFE can act as a natural ligand trap generated by stimulated erythropoiesis to regulate the availability of iron.


Use of 'smart drugs' among UK students is described in frequent media reports as a rapidly increasing phenomenon. This article reports findings from the first large-scale survey of pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) among students in the UK and Ireland. Conducted from February to September 2012, a survey of a convenience sample of 877 students measured PCE prevalence, attitudes, sources, purposes and ethics. Descriptive and logistic regression statistical methods were used to analyse the data. Lifetime prevalence of PCE using modafinil, methylphenidate or Adderall was under 10%, while past regular and current PCE users of these substances made up between 0.3%–4% of the survey population. A substantial majority of students was unaware of and/or uninterested in PCE; however about one third of students were interested in PCE. PCE users were more likely to be male, British and older students; predictors of PCE use included awareness of other students using PCEs, ADHD symptomatology, ethical concerns, and alcohol and cannabis use. The survey addresses the need for better evidence about PCE prevalence and practices among university students in the UK. We recommend PCE-related strategies for universities based on the survey findings.


The story of irrevocable erasure and thoroughgoing transformation is part of the story of 'development' around Hyderabad as it is elsewhere. A case study of the transformation affecting the villages in and around the new Financial District of the Hi-tech city around Hyderabad was undertaken with the limited aim of focusing on the cultural loss due to these fast moving changes and the way the society thus impacted remembered its heritage. The reflections in this essay are about the unequal access to resources and facilities that the inner core of the settlement experiences, surrounded as it is by opulence of an unimaginable kind. While these conditions of materiality are important and deserve our attention, it is the tenacity of thoughts, emotions and social relations - all embedded in the cognitive space of people emanating out of these - that permit us to still access the cultural past of a community. This study has also prompted a questioning of the current methods of doing conventional historical research that is heavily dependent on the written word and the archive.


Business representatives and union leaders in highly industrialised countries often accuse the governments of less-developed countries of practising social dumping in the sense of deliberately neglecting work-place safety legislation, co-determination rights and other fringe benefits which define the quality of workplaces. This paper refutes this view by modelling the transition path of a less-developed small open economy that faces transactions costs when trading capital and labour with the rest of the world. It shows that competitive markets and competitive governments choose Pareto efficient transition strategies which are characterised by a sluggish development of market wages and government-imposed social standards.


Research into the integration of optical interconnects in printed circuit boards (PCBs) is rapidly gaining interest due to the increase in data transfer speeds now required along with the need for miniaturized devices with increased complexity and functionality. We present a method that involves embedding optoelectronic components in a polymeric material and fabricating optical waveguides in one step. A silanol-terminated polysiloxane cross-linked with an acryloxy functional silane is utilized as a matrix material into which the 3D optical waveguides are inscribed by two-photon-induced polymerization. A pulsed femtosecond laser is used to directly write optical waveguides into the material, forming an optical link between lasers and photodiodes that are directly mounted on a specially designed PCB. The boards produced were characterized by monitoring the transmitted photocurrent as well as temperature-dependent data transmission properties. Data rates exceeding 4 Gbit/s were achieved.


Orange juice began as a branded product in the 1950s, but private and packer labels son became dominant. Brands gained share during the 1980s with the introduction of a third national brand and the growth of chilled juice. The large number of packer labels makes brand and private label share measures misleading for structure-performance studies. Private label appeals to manufacturers who like the lower risk, the absence of slotting allowances, and fewer entry barriers. Pasteurized orange juice, however, the newest product form to experience rapid private label growth, is uncharacteristic because of large capital investment required for efficient market entry.


The Quaternary has been a period of dramatic environmental change for the past 1.8 Myr, with major shifts in distributions and abundances of terrestrial and marine organisms. The evolutionary consequences of this have been debated since the nineteenth century. However, the lack of accurate relative and absolute time-scales for evolutions and environmental change inhibited progress. We do now have an understanding of time-scales. Palaeoecology has demonstrated the individualistic nature of species' response to environmental change, but lacks a means of determining ancestry. DNA characterization of modern populations in relation to their distributions nicely complements palaeoecological results by contributing ancestry. The chance to understand how species originate and the causal factors of speciation (environmental change or otherwise) may be within reach.


A method for verifying knowledge bases that is based on the unification of rules is discussed. One characteristic that distinguishes this approach from other verification tools is that it infers some of the rules that are not explicitly given in the rule base and considers their effect on the verification process. The method can determine conflicting, redundant, subsumed, circular, and dead-end rules, redundant if conditions in rules, and cycles and contradictions within rules. The method has been implemented in a computer program called UVT (for unification-based verification tool) and tested on sample knowledge bases.<<ETX>>


In this paper, multi-input-multi-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) is considered in the presence of multipath fading and multitone interference (MTI). The MIMO-OFDM system makes joint use of channel coding and orthogonal space-frequency block coding (OSFBC) on the transmit side and iterative processing on the receiver side for robustness and improved performance against the fading and MTI effects of the channel. The new iterative receiver is implemented by either an optimal a posteriori probability (APP) space-frequency detector or a soft-information-aided minimum-mean-squared-error (MMSE) combiner at its front end and a soft-input-soft-output channel decoder at its back end. An approximate error performance analysis is provided for the OSFBC-OFDM system under maximum-likelihood decoding to illustrate the interference mitigation efficiency of the system. Then, the two iterative receivers are compared in terms of their computational complexities and bit error rate (BER) performances. As depicted in the BER graphs, both iterative receivers provide an improvement in performance after only a few detection/decoding iterations. It is also shown that despite its suboptimality, the MMSE receiver has the potential to achieve a BER performance close to that of the APP detector at a significantly lower cost.


Abstract : SCHEME is a dialect of LISP. It is an expression-oriented, applicative order, interpreter-based language which allows one to manipulate programs as data. It differs from most current dialects of LISP in that it closes all lambda-expressions in the environment of their definition or declaration, rather than in the execution environment. This has the consequence that variables are normally lexically scoped, as in ALGOL. However, in contrast with ALGOL, SCHEME treats procedures as a first-class data type. They can be the values of variables, the returned values of procedures, and components of data structures. Another difference from LISP is that SCHEME is implemented in such a way that tail-recursions execute without net growth of the interpreter stack. The effect of this is that a procedure call behaves like a GOTO, and thus procedure calls can be used to implement iterations, as in PLASMA. A complete 'user manual' for the SCHEME language is given. Some features described here were not documented in the original report on SCHEME (for instance particular macros). Other features were added, changed, or delected as our understanding of certain language issues evolved. Annotations to the manual describe the motivations for these changes.


One of the unique features of single molecule absorption and emission is their anisotropy due to the well-defined transition dipole(s) for both processes allowing the determination of the molecule's orientation. While polarization-resolved techniques are usually capable of detecting only a projection of the transition dipole, several methods have been proposed in order to determine the full three-dimensional orientation. Here, we report on a detection scheme that allows for a shot-noise limited determination of the emission dipole orientation utilizing an annular mirror, a polarizing beam splitter in conjunction with three detectors in a scanning confocal optical microscope.


Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the third most common form of dementia across all age groups and is a leading cause of early-onset dementia. The Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) includes a spectrum of diseases that are classified according to their clinical presentation and patterns of neurodegeneration. There are two main types of FTD: behavioral FTD variant (bvFTD), characterized by a deterioration in social function, behavior, and personality; and primary progressive aphasias (PPA), characterized by a deficit in language skills. There are other types of FTD-related disorders that present motor impairment and/or parkinsonism, including FTD with motor neuron disease (FTD-MND), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal syndrome (CBS). The FTD and its associated disorders present great clinical heterogeneity. The diagnosis of FTD is based on the identification through clinical assessments of a specific clinical phenotype of impairments in different domains, complemented by an evaluation through instruments, i.e., tests and questionnaires, validated for the population under study, thus, achieving timely detection and treatment. While the prevalence of dementia in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is increasing rapidly, there is still a lack of standardized instruments and consensus for FTD diagnosis. In this context, it is important to review the published tests and questionnaires adapted and/or validated in LAC for the assessment of cognition, behavior, functionality, and gait in FTD and its spectrum. Therefore, our paper has three main goals. First, to present a narrative review of the main tests and questionnaires published in LAC for the assessment of FTD and its spectrum in six dimensions: (i) Cognitive screening; (ii) Neuropsychological assessment divided by cognitive domain; (iii) Gait assessment; (iv) Behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms; (v) Functional assessment; and (vi) Global Rating Scale. Second, to propose a multidimensional clinical assessment of FTD in LAC identifying the main gaps. Lastly, it is proposed to create a LAC consortium that will discuss strategies to address the current challenges in the field.


Existing work in language grounding typically study single environments. How do we build unified models that apply across multiple environments? We propose the multi-environment Symbolic Interactive Language Grounding benchmark (SILG), which unifies a collection of diverse grounded language learning environments under a common interface. SILG consists of grid-world environments that require generalization to new dynamics, entities, and partially observed worlds (RTFM, Messenger, NetHack), as well as symbolic counterparts of visual worlds that require interpreting rich natural language with respect to complex scenes (ALFWorld, Touchdown). Together, these environments provide diverse grounding challenges in richness of observation space, action space, language specification, and plan complexity. In addition, we propose the first shared model architecture for RL on these environments, and evaluate recent advances such as egocentric local convolution, recurrent state-tracking, entity-centric attention, and pretrained LM using SILG. Our shared architecture achieves comparable performance to environment-specific architectures. Moreover, we find that many recent modelling advances do not result in significant gains on environments other than the one they were designed for. This highlights the need for a multi-environment benchmark. Finally, the best models significantly underperform humans on SILG, which suggests ample room for future work. We hope SILG enables the community to quickly identify new methodologies for language grounding that generalize to a diverse set of environments and their associated challenges.


Received: July 2012, Accepted: October 2012 Background: Burnout, a phenomenon that is of interest for both individuals and organizations, is characterized by decreasing energy, power and resources in the presence of excessive demands. Nurses are more prone to develop burnout due to both the emotional nature of their jobs as well as patients' demand. The present study was aimed to assess burnout among nurses working in the Iranian hospital of Ali-ebn Abitaleb Rafsanjan, Iran 2010. Material and Methods: in this descriptive study, 134 nurses (working in Med-Surge, ER, ICU, CCU, and Neurology units) were randomly recruited. The data were collected in two sections. Demographic variables including age, sex, diet, work experience, marital and employment status and academic degree were asked in the first section. Maslach burnout tool was applied for measuring burnout in nurses, in the second section. Results: Most nurses (63%) were women and married (74.8%). Mean age of nurses was 33.84 ± 8.7 years with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 53 years. Mean score of burnout was 78.43 ± 15 with a minimum of 26 and maximum of 132. There was a significant association, between gender and degree of burnout (p <0.05). Higher score of burnout was reported among those with shorter duration of working in their job (0-5 years) comparing to nurses with a longer duration (more than 20 years) of working in their job (p <0.05). Conclusions: Our findings showed that burnout affected nurses significantly. Therefore, it seems that this problem must be studied and related factors should be recognized, in order to reduce burnout among nurses. Many aspects of nurse's job should be noticed and appropriate intervention should be conducted. These aspects include their salary, job security, their lesure and their dayly working hours.


Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare hereditary disease, which results from the mutation of either TSC1 or TSC2, and its clinical features include benign tumors and dysfunctions in numerous organs, including the brain. Many individuals with TSC manifest neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as learning impairments, cognitive deficits and anxiety. Current pharmacological treatment for TSC is the use of mTOR inhibitors. However, they are not effective in treating neuropsychiatric symptoms. We previously used curcumin, a diet‐derived mTOR inhibitor, which possesses both anti‐inflammatory and antiproliferative properties, to improve learning and memory deficits in Tsc2+/− mice. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides microstructural information in brain tissue and has been used to study the neuropathological changes in TSC. In this study, we confirmed that the impaired recognition memory and increased anxiety‐like behavior in Tsc2+/− mice can be reversed by curcumin treatment. Second, we found altered fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus of the Tsc2+/− mice, which may indicate altered circuitry. Finally, the mTOR complex 1 hyperactivity was found in the cortex and hippocampus, coinciding with abnormal cortical myelination and increased glial fibrillary acidic protein expression in the hippocampal CA1 of Tsc2+/− mice, both of which can be rescued with curcumin treatment. Overall, DTI is sensitive to the subtle alterations that cannot be detected by conventional imaging, suggesting that noninvasive DTI may be suitable for longitudinally monitoring the in vivo neuropathology associated with the neuropsychiatric symptoms in TSC, thereby facilitating future clinical trials of pharmacological treatments.


This thesis presents the study of organofunctional alkoxysilane coatings to prevent high temperature oxidation of Sm-Co powders. Sm-Co are important permanent magnetic alloys, owing to their high Curie temperature and large values of magnetocrystalline anisotropy. They possess stable magnetic properties in the temperature range -40 to 120 °C which makes them very attractive candidates for automobile's electric motors. However, the environmental conditions for such applications are a sum of high temperatures, humidity, fuels and salts which provide perfect breeding ground for corrosion.In this study we report the high temperature oxidation resistance of Sm2Co17 powders coated with four common commercially available organofunctional silanes; (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS), (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS).The as received powder was a multimodal mixture of many sizes and shapes which represented a typical ball milling product. The thermal analyses of the powders suggested that the powders without surface coatings had profound affinity towards oxidation. The thermal properties of sieved uncoated powders revealed that the small powders were more susceptible to oxidation than the large powders due to their large specific surface area.The isothermal properties of coated powders revealed that the powders coated with silanes had at least 10 times higher resistance to oxidation as compared to uncoated powders heated at 400 °C for 10 h. The non-isothermal tests conducted from room temperature to 500 °C also revealed that the uncoated powders gained 6 times more mass as compared to the powders coated with an ideal (MTMS) silane.The microstructural analysis of the uncoated powders heated from 400 °C to 550 °C revealed diffusion of oxygen, instable intermetallic phases which resulted in a redistribution of alloying elements, precipitation of alloying elements and formation of a featureless shell (approximately 20 µm in thickness) that surrounded the unreacted core. The coated powders on the other hand showed homogenous distribution of alloying elements, stable intermetallic phases and limited the shell thickness (1 µm).The thermo-magnetic properties of Sm-Co powders showed that the thermal instability also affected the magnetic properties adversely. It was found that the magnetic properties were deteriorated with a decrease in powder size. The energy dispersive spectroscopic (EDS) analyses showed that the small powders contained higher oxygen content than the large powders. Moreover XRD analysis also revealed that the small powders contain higher residual strains and smaller crystallite size which can play their role in deteriorating magnetic properties.It was found that surface modification by silanization improve the thermo-magnetic properties by effectively shielding the powder surfaces from surface oxidation.The rheological properties Sm-Co/PA12 composites revealed that the viscosity of the composites was increased with decreasing powder size due to the presence of rough surfaces and sharp corners in small powders. The rheological properties of the melts containing coated powders revealed that the silane layer acted as a lubricant and decreased the melt viscosity. It was found that coating the powders with silanes not only improve the rheological properties but also improve the other physical properties such as glass transition temperature the loss modulus by modifying the interfacial layer between the polymer matrix (PA12) and the powder. It results in a decrease in viscosity, a broadening of the glass transition temperature and a change in the damping properties of the composites.The dynamic mechanical properties of Sm-Co/PA12 composites showed that the storage modulus was increased with decreasing powder size. The results were expected as the rough surfaces act as local welding points between the powder and the polymer matrix. It was found that the surface modification improve the storage modulus. It is assumed that the silanes modify the interfacial properties which not only resulted in increasing the storage modulus but also broadened the glass transition temperature, Tg and damping, tanδ peaks.From the thermogravimetric, microstructural, rheological and magnetic analyses it can be concluded that the silanes are the effective coatings in preventing high temperature oxidation, stabilizing microstructure, enhancing mechanical properties, and improving rheological and magnetic properties.


Abstract This paper focuses on the extent to which everyday travel behaviour in Britain changes in relation to family responsibilities, and examines how this has altered over the past century and a half. It is argued that prior to the mid-twentieth century changes in the family such as increased child-care responsibilities barely influenced the modes of transport used for everyday travel, but that increasingly in the later twentieth century people adjusted their travel behaviour during the family formation phases of the life cycle. In particular, parents of young children have become more car-dependent and less likely to walk or cycle. Data are drawn from two separate projects, one that collected travel life histories from the past half-century as context for research on cycling in later life, and one that uses personal diaries to reveal everyday mobility strategies of people in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is argued that the observed changes are due not only to increased access to a wide range of different transport forms, especially the motor car, but also to changes in societal perceptions of risk and norms of travel behaviour. In conclusion, it is suggested that more awareness of past travel behaviours could aid the development and implementation of more sustainable transport policies in the UK.


Enterobacteria have evolved several strategies to survive the acidic environment of the gastrointestinal tract. One of the acid stress resistance systems is the Cad system in Escherichia coli, which is induced by low pH and in the presence of external lysine. It consists of CadA, which catalyzes the decarboxylation of lysine to cadaverine, the lysine/cadaverine antiporter CadB and the pH sensing transcriptional regulator CadC. Moreover, the lysine permease LysP inhibits the induction of cadBA expression when lysine is absent, and the small histon-like molecule H-NS acts as repressor for both cadBA and cadC transcription. Additionally, a random mutagenesis approach revealed that a deletion in yjeK leads to highly reduced cadaverine production. YjeK acts as 2,3-lysine aminomutase (LAM) while catalyzing the isomerization of (S)-α-lysine to (R)-β-lysine. The truncated lysyl-tRNA synthetase YjeA uses (R)-β-lysine as substrate to post-translationally modify and to activate the translation elongation factor EF-P at a conserved lysine residue (K34). EF-P and its ortholog eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) have been investigated for more than thirty years, but their roles in translation remained enigmatic.
In this work the role of active EF-P in the Cad system was investigated in more detail. Reduced cadBA expression in ΔyjeA, ΔyjeK642-1029 and Δefp mutants was linked to impaired CadC translation. As the translation of cadA and cadB was EF-P independent, a general role of EF-P in translation could be excluded.
The identification of CadC as first direct target for EF-P in E. coli allowed further investigations on the role of EF-P in translation. Determining the β-galactosidase activities of CadC´-LacZ translational fusions of increasing CadC length in efp- and efp+ cells revealed that EF-P is required for translation of the sequence found between codon 108 and 158 in cadC. This region comprises a cluster of three consecutive prolines (Pro120-Pro121-Pro122). Substitution of these prolines by alanines diminished EF-P dependency. Remarkably, cells harboring the CadC-PPPIP/AAAIS variant revealed cadBA expression even under non-inducing conditions. Thus, EF-P tightly controls the CadC copy number, which is crucial for stress dependent regulation of the Cad system.
In order to investigate the work mechanism of EF-P in more detail, EF-P independent CadC´-LacZ hybrids were employed to artificially introduce prolines. Three consecutive prolines were sufficient for EF-P dependency, regardless of the codon or the context. The proline-rich proteins AmiB, FlhC, Flk, NlpD, RzoR, TonB and UvrB also showed EF-P dependent expression. Thus, the recognition of three consecutive prolines by EF-P is a general mechanism and not limited to CadC. Dr. Agata Starosta of the group of Dr. Daniel Wilson (Gene Center, LMU Munich) confirmed ribosomal stalling at polyproline-stretches in samples lacking EF-P with in vitro translation assays.
Finally it was investigated, if EF-P expression and modification could be stress-dependently regulated. In this work first hints are given that the efp promoter contains a repressor site, and that expression of yjeA and yjeK is dependent on the pH of the medium and the presence of the small RNA binding protein Hfq. This leads to the suggestion that small regulatory RNAs are also involved in regulation of the EF-P modification enzymes.
In conclusion, the results obtained in this work reveal a new regulatory mechanism by EF-P dependent translation. 100-1000´s of polyproline rich proteins exist in bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Therefore, EF-P and its orthologs aIF5A and eIF5A most likely play an important role in the adjustment of copy numbers of proteins with different functions in all kingdoms of life.


Background Alternative teacher certification has become an increasingly popular strategy for addressing both teacher quality and teacher shortages. However, there is little agreement about what constitutes alternative certification, and there is little known about the types of programs that prepare highly qualified teachers. The debate over alternative certification has fueled a variety of assumptions about participants and programs that are based on opinion or the limited research base. Focus of Study Our research describes in detail seven programs to understand who participates in these programs and what learning opportunities the programs provide. We test proponents' and opponents' assumptions about alternative certification against national data and data from the seven programs. Research Design We employed multiple data collection activities at both the program and participant levels. We conducted case studies of seven alternative certification programs, including multiple interviews with key personnel and document reviews. We surveyed program participants twice—once at the beginning of their participation in the program, and again at the end of their first year of teaching. We also observed a sample of participants teaching and interviewed them both at the beginning and end of their first year of teaching. Findings We find that both sides of the debate fail to capture the variation in participants' characteristics and their experience in the programs. Alternative certification program participants are a diverse group of individuals who defy generalization. In addition, we find a great deal of variation between and within alternative certification programs. In contrast to simplistic characterizations, we find teacher development in alternative certification to be a function of the interaction between the program as implemented, the school context in which participants are placed, and the participants' backgrounds and previous teaching experiences. Conclusions We conclude by questioning the usefulness of comparing different alternative certification programs and instead suggest that a better unit of analysis would be a subgroup of individuals with similar backgrounds, school placements, and learning opportunities.


This article highlights some recent developments in the constitutional doctrine of the right to health care in Lithuania, and more in particular the impact of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania on the development of health law. The right to health care, enshrined in the Constitution, is both an obligation of the state and an individual right. The Constitutional Court has developed a doctrine of the right to health care, as well a doctrine of certain other constitutional social rights, which is based on the understanding of the close interrelation between the different constitutional rights, the principle of indivisibility and equal importance of these rights, and the presumption of justiciability of social rights. The analysis is based on the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. Two cases on the disputes of the legal regulation concerning the pharmaceutical activities are presented in more detail.


Aim: We aimed to compare platelet counts (Plt), plateletcrit (PCT) and platelet distribution width (PDW) values of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients with those of healthy subjects.
Methods: The records of 39 T1DM patients who were hospitalized between January 2016 and May 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Control group consisted age and body mass index matched nondiabetic patients. Subjects having history of cardiovascular disease or any other systemic disease were excluded.
Results: Compared to control group Plt (270±63 vs. 215±35 k/mm3), PCT (0.217±0.057 vs. 0.168±0.034 %) and PDW [17.4(16.2-20.4) vs. 17(12.5-19.4) %] were significantly higher in T1DM patients.
Conclusion: Platelet indices which are common, simple and inexpensive hemogram parameters are increased T1DM patients.


In response to the Children's National Service Framework and NHS modernisation agenda on the involvement of stakeholders, and to an important problem for children, families and clinicians in the local health economy, this study aims to understand and identify levers and barriers to patient-centred care in multi-cultural settings for children living with long-term illness. I carried out qualitative work with 17 children aged between 4 and 11 years-old being treated for type 1 diabetes in two clinics in East London. I synthesised findings from this with findings from 13 other studies of the experiences of school-age children living with type 1 diabetes or - in order to explore the generalisability of diabetes studies - children living with asthma.

Findings suggest that, across illnesses and ethnicities, although school-age children share their health care, usually with mothers, their care is affected by their own experiences and understandings of the illness and regimen, the relative disruption these experiences cause across physical, social and emotional spheres, and the extent that these are exacerbated by their low social status - compounded especially in multi-cultural settings, by structures at meso- and macro-levels. Disruption to precious 'free' time and social identity are a particular concern for children.

Key characteristics of patient-centred care are, therefore, engagement with school-age children's day-to-day experiences and understandings of their illness and care, and recognition of the extent to which decision-making is shared between children and adults in domestic settings. Barriers to the achievement of these include current medical and generational hierarchies, in particular their impact in the clinical encounter, and views of children which emphasise their developing competencies as adults-in-the-making as opposed to people in their own right. Unless these are tackled, technologies to ensure children have greater opportunity to set the agenda in clinical environments could become merely instruments for coercion and manipulation. To avoid this we need to disseminate new ways of thinking about children and childhood and better understandings of children's experiences of their health and health care. Particularly important are models of childhood from the social studies of children; and the 'evidence-based' paradigm where the key role of 'users' in the development of good services is recognised.

Findings have implications for our understandings of not only generational inequality on children's experiences of long-term illness and care; but also of how adult views of children as 'becomings' make it difficult for adults to relinquish control over children's lives. Findings also include reflections on new approaches to the synthesis of qualitative data, and raise issues around the distinction of 'process' from 'findings' data, and undertaking qualitative synthesis as a sole researcher.


Although the literature of modern subjectivity has its sources in the Renaissance and manifests itself in texts as early as Montaigne's Essays and Shakespeare's Hamlet, autobiography as we know it is one of the significant developments of the later eighteenth century. Indeed, the rise of writing about the self is an important indicator of the transition from the culture of the Enlightenment to that of Romanticism. Arguing that Rousseau and Goethe are the foremost practitioners of Romantic autobiography, Eugene L. Stelzig offers the first comparative study of these foundational figures. Although the term 'Romantic autobiography' has been in use for some years, there has been no developed critical or generic discussion of it, nor of Rousseau's, Goethe's, and Wordsworth's writings as the leading examples of the genre. Stelzig provides an overview of how these authors fashioned a distinctive type of self-writing at the historical moment when modern autobiography emerged in its identifiable form. Within this historical and critical context, Stelzig analyzes in depth Rousseau's and Goethe's conceptions of the genre and their autobiographical output, merging close critical reading of selected episodes with psychobiographical analysis. He shows how both writers' presentations of their relationships with others are at times defensive and self-seeking and indicate a truth more complex and ambiguous than they are willing to acknowledge. In particular, Stelzig demonstrates how Goethe exploited the resources of fiction to emphasize and highlight the subjective and personal in his work, a practice Rousseau engaged in only covertly. Stelzig analyzes the major episodes of Rousseau's Confessions in light of his philosophical writings and the biographical record and offers a revisionary reading of his brilliant but largely unknown Dialogues. Stelzig's chapters on Goethe's monumental portrait of his early years, Poetry and Truth, constitute the fullest critical discussion extant of Goethe's ambitious project and of the ideal of Bildung (education, development) that informs his life narrative. Stelzig concludes with a discussion of Goethe's presentation of his complex relationship with his parents and sister and the romantic involvements that play such a prominent role in his autobiography and in the public legend of his life.


The constitutive relationships of the rubber materials that act as the main spring of a hydraulic engine mount are nonlinear. In addition to material induced nonlinearity, further nonlinearities may be introduced by mount geometry, turbulent fluid behavior, temperature, boundary conditions, decoupler action, and hysteretic behavior. In this research all influence the behavior of the system only certain aspects are realistically considered using the lumped parameter approach employed. The nonlinearities that are readily modeled by the lumped parameter approach constitute the geometry and constitutive relationship induced nonlinearity, including hysteretic behavior, noting that these properties all make an appearance in the loaddeflection relationship for the hydraulic mount and may be readily determined via experiment or finite element analysis. In this paper we will show that under certain conditions, the nonlinearities involved in the hydraulic mounts can show a chaotic response.


Thermoelectrics are solid state devices that can convert thermal energy directly into electrical energy. They have historically been used only in niche applications because of their relatively low efficiencies. With the advent of nanotechnology and improved manufacturing processes thermoelectric materials have become less costly and more efficient As next generation thermoelectric materials become available there is a need for industries to quickly and cost effectively seek out feasible applications for thermoelectric heat recovery platforms. Determining the technical and economic feasibility of such systems requires a model that predicts performance at the system level. Current models focus on specific system applications or neglect the rest of the system altogether, focusing on only module design and not an entire energy system. To assist in screening and optimizing entire energy systems using thermoelectrics, a novel software tool, Thermoelectric Power System Simulator (TEPSS), is developed for system level simulation and optimization of heat recovery systems. The platform is designed for use with a generic energy system so that most types of thermoelectric heat recovery applications can be modeled. TEPSS is based on object-oriented programming in MATLAB. A modular, shell based architecture is developed to carry out concept generation, system simulation and optimization. Systems are defined according to the components and interconnectivity specified by the user. An iterative solution process based on Newton's Method is employed to determine the system's steady state so that an objective function representing the cost of the system can be evaluated at the operating point. An optimization algorithm from MATLAB's Optimization Toolbox uses sequential quadratic programming to minimize this objective function with respect to a set of user specified design variables and constraints. During this iterative process many independent system simulations are executed and the optimal operating condition of the system is determined. A comprehensive guide to using the software platform is included. TEPSS is intended to be expandable so that users can add new types of components and implement component models with an adequate degree of complexity for a required application. Special steps are taken to ensure that the system of nonlinear algebraic equations presented in the system engineering model is square and that all equations are independent. In addition, the third party program FluidProp is leveraged to allow for simulations of systems with a range of fluids. Sequential unconstrained minimization techniques are used to prevent physical variables like pressure and temperature from trending to infinity during optimization. Two case studies are performed to verify and demonstrate the simulation and optimization routines employed by TEPSS. The first is of a simple combined cycle in which the size of the heat exchanger and fuel rate are optimized. The second case study is the optimization of geometric parameters of a thermoelectric heat recovery platform in a regenerative Brayton Cycle. A basic package of components and interconnections are verified and provided as well.


D efining the role of a mammalian nucleic acid segment can be a difficult process. The first steps involve mRNA identification, gene cloning, and nucleic acid sequence determination. A variety of cell-free and cultured cell systems have been developed (see Chapters 8 to 22, 24) that can provide important clues to the function of a particular DNA sequence in regulating gene transcription or RNA translation. Many segments of DNA appear inert or function inappropriately in these model systems; thus, an important test of any functional model of a DNA segment is to characterize the phenotype of a viable organism carrying the sequence in its genome. Today the tools exist for manipulating DNA segments in a variety of mammals, from mice and rats to sheep and cows. However, the mouse, because of its small size (30 g) and short life cycle (about 8 weeks) from birth to the production of progeny, has been selected for the vast majority of laboratory experiments. Thus, this chapter focuses on the manipulation of the mouse genome.


Interpretable machine learning has gained much attention recently. Briefness and comprehensiveness are necessary in order to provide a large amount of information concisely when explaining a black-box decision system. However, existing interpretable machine learning methods fail to consider briefness and comprehensiveness simultaneously, leading to redundant explanations. We propose the variational information bottleneck for interpretation, VIBI, a system-agnostic interpretable method that provides a brief but comprehensive explanation. VIBI adopts an information theoretic principle, information bottleneck principle, as a criterion for finding such explanations. For each instance, VIBI selects key features that are maximally compressed about an input (briefness), and informative about a decision made by a black-box system on that input (comprehensive). We evaluate VIBI on three datasets and compare with state-of-the-art interpretable machine learning methods in terms of both interpretability and fidelity evaluated by human and quantitative metrics.


In an age of overwhelming Internet competition and rampant takeovers, marketers face the very real challenge of understanding how to engage customers online. Leland Harden and Bob Heyman, online marketing pioneers and authors of the popular book Net Results, team up again to teach marketers how to use search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and all of the Web 2.0 tools they need to compete in the digital marketplace. Filled with up-to-date information on the best venues for online marketing, as well as explanations of social networking, virtual worlds, widgets, wikis, and emerging media, Digital Engagement shows marketers how to: stop burning money on web advertising campaigns that don't deliver tweak websites to improve conversions and traffic flow master proven strategies for consumer-generated media to generate buzz and improve brand recognition Featuring case studies from companies like Toyota and Tommy Hilfiger as well as lists of key vendors for online marketing software, this is the only book that offers a truly comprehensive guide to all of the new online marketing tools.


The government of almost every country has intervened in the market pricing of foodgrains to promote price stability. But the rules of the game are changing as countries abandon trade restrictions and protectionist policies in the wake of the Uruguay Round agreement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Will food prices fluctuate more or less with trade liberalization? Foodgrain Price Stabilization in Developing Countries: Issues and Experiences in Asia, Food Policy Review 3, by Nurul Islam and Saji Thomas, looks at these issues from three perspectives. The first part reviews the literature and briefly summarizes the macro and micro policies that governments in developing countries have adopted to stabilize prices. It also considers alternative policies that do not seek to stabilize prices per se but deal with the consequences of price instability for food producers and consumers, such as crop insurance or futures markets. The second part focuses on the foodgrain price stabilization experiences of five developing countries in Asia, the circumstances underlying price stabilization policy for rice and wheat over time in each country, and the design and implementation of the schemes adopted. The third part examines the implications of the policies adopted for future price stability.


Using unique personnel data from nine large firms in three industries, we document five consistent facts about hiring through employee referral networks. First, referred applicants have similar skill characteristics to non-referred applicants, both observable-to-the-firm (e.g., schooling) and unobservable-to-the-firm (e.g., cognitive and non-cognitive ability), but are more likely to be hired, more likely to accept job offers, and have higher pre-job assessment scores. Second, referred workers have similar skill characteristics to non-referred workers. Third, referred workers are less likely to quit and are more productive, but only on rare high-impact performance metrics; on most standard non-rare performance metrics, referred and non-referred workers perform similarly. Fourth, referred workers have slightly higher wages, but yield substantially higher profits per worker. Fifth, workers who make referrals have higher productivity than others, are less likely to quit after making a referral, and refer those like themselves on particular productivity metrics. Differences between referred and non-referred workers tend to be larger at low-tenure levels; for young, Black, and Hispanic workers; and in strong labor markets. No leading class of theories can alone account for all or most of these results, leading us to suggest several theoretical extensions.


Purpose: Overexpression of the proinflammatory enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is associated with the progression of various malignancies; the role of COX-2 in prostate cancer is less clear. The significance of COX-2 in prostate cancer growth and response to chemotherapy was investigated in an androgen-refractory prostate cancer cell line using a Tet-inducible antisense COX-2 expression system. Experimental Design: An antisense COX-2 cDNA construct under the control of a doxycycline-inducible promoter was transfected into a prostate cancer cell line, PC-3ML. Modulations of cell growth, apoptosis, and chemosensitivity in the presence or absence of doxycycline were analyzed. Tumor incidence, growth rate, and response to two cytotoxic drugs, COL-3 [chemically modified tetracycline-3-(6-demethyl-6-deoxy-4-dedimethylamino-tetracycline)] and Taxotere (docetaxel), were investigated in tumor xenografts. Apoptotic incidences and tumor microvessel density in tumors were determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: Conditional suppression of COX-2 in PC-3ML caused reduced cell proliferation, decreased levels of phosphorylated AKT, G0-G1 arrest, and increased apoptosis and caspase-3 activity. Suppression of COX-2 increased Bax protein and decreased Bcl-xL protein in vitro. COX-2 antisense-expressing PC-3ML tumors showed a 57% growth delay compared with nontransfected or vector controls. Oral administration of COL-3 (40 mg/kg, oral gavage) or Taxotere (2.3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally; 3× per week) in tumor-bearing mice further slowed tumor growth (65% and ∼94%, respectively). Compared with the control group, the occurrence of apoptosis in antisense COX-2 tumors was eight times higher, and the tumor microvessel density was three times lower. Conclusions: These results provide direct evidence that constitutive expression of COX-2 in prostate cancer has both angiogenic and cytoprotective functions. Suppression of tumor cell COX-2 is sufficient to enhance chemotherapy response in prostate cancer.


The Colorado River system exhibits the characteristics of a heavily over-allocated or 'closing water system'. In such systems, development of mechanisms to allow resource users to acknowledge interdependence and to engage in negotiations and agreements becomes necessary. Recently, after a decade of deliberations and environmental assessments, the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) was established to monitor and analyze the effects of dam operations on the Grand Canyon ecosystem and recommend adjustments intended to preserve and enhance downstream physical, cultural and environmental values. The Glen Canyon Dam effectively separates the Colorado into its lower and upper basins. Dam operations and adaptive management decisions are strongly influenced by variations in regional climate. This paper focuses on the management of extreme climatic events within the Glen and Grand Canyon Region of the Colorado River. It illustrates how past events (both societal and physical) condition management flexibility and receptivity to new information. The types of climatic information and their appropriate entry points in the annual cycle of information gathering and decision-making (the 'hydro-climatic decision calendar') for dam operations and the adaptive management program are identified. The study then describes how the recently implemented program, lessons from past events, and new climate information on the Colorado River Basin, facilitated responses during the major El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event of 1997-1998. Recommendations are made for engaging researchers and practitioners in the effective use of climatic information in similar settings where the decision stakes are complex and the system uncertainty is large.


The major mechanism of translation initiation in eukaryotes involves recognition of the cap structure at the 5′ end of the mRNA by the cap-binding protein eIF4E. Internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) are specialised RNA sequences that are capable of recruiting ribosomes to an internal position of an mRNA in a cap-independent manner. Many viruses have evolved this alternative pathway to initiate translation. Viral IRESs bind ribosomes by several mechanisms that require different sets of canonical initiation factors. In addition, IRES activity is modulated by IRES trans-acting factors (ITAFs). Some cellular mRNAs are suggested to contain IRESs, as they function in cells under stress and other conditions when cap-dependent initiation is inhibited. However, solid evidence for internal ribosome entry onto many of these mRNAs is lacking.

Key Concepts

In eukaryotes, the majority of mRNAs are translated by a 5′ end-dependent mechanism, in which the mRNA 5′ cap structure recruits the translation machinery.
Specific RNA elements, termed internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs), can direct ribosomes to internal positions of mRNAs to initiate translation.
IRESs in viral RNA genomes differ significantly with respect to their structure and initiation factor requirements.
In addition to some canonical initiation factors, IRES-mediated translation may require ITAFs (IRES trans-acting factors).
Many cellular mRNAs are suggested to possess IRESs, as they remain active under a number of pathophysiological stress conditions when cap-dependent translation is inhibited.
The authenticity of some cellular IRESs remains controversial as being not confirmed in recently developed stringent tests for IRES activity.

Keywords:

cap structure;
eukaryotic mRNA;
initiation factors;
IRES;
ITAF;
picornaviruses;
protein synthesis;
ribosome;
translation initiation


Observations from passive microwave satellite sensors have provided a continuous and consistent record of sea ice extent since late 1978. Earlier records, compiled from ice charts and other sources exist, but are not consistent with the satellite record. Here, a method is presented to adjust a compilation of pre-satellite sources to remove discontinuities between the two periods and create a more consistent combined 59-yr time series spanning 1953–2011. This adjusted combined time series shows more realistic behavior across the transition between the two individual time series and thus provides higher confidence in trend estimates from 1953 through 2011. The long-term time series is used to calculate linear trend estimates and compare them with trend estimates from the satellite period. The results indicate that trends through the 1960s were largely positive (though not statistically significant) and then turned negative by the mid-1970s and have been consistently negative since, reaching statistical significance (at the 95% confidence level) by the late 1980s. The trend for September (when Arctic extent reaches its seasonal minimum) for the satellite period, 1979–2011 is −12.9% decade −1 , nearly double the 1953–2011 trend of −6.8% decade −1 (percent relative to the 1981–2010 mean). The recent decade (2002–2011) stands out as a period of persistent decline in ice extent. The combined 59-yr time series puts the strong observed decline in the Arctic sea ice cover during 1979–2011 in a longer-term context and provides a useful resource for comparisons with historical model estimates.


This paper examines the potentially destabilizing effects of emerging digital currencies on the international foreign currency exchange. Specifically, it examines "Bitcoin," a decentralized, partially anonymous, and largely unregulated digital currency that has become particularly popular in the last few years. The paper argues that the International Monetary Fund, the institution responsible for coordinating the stability of foreign exchange rates, is ill-equipped to handle the widespread use of Bitcoins into the foreign exchange market. It highlights the inability of the Fund to intervene in the event of a speculative attack on a currency by Bitcoin users. The paper concludes by suggesting two interpretations of the Fund's incorporating document, the Articles of Agreement, which would allow it to intervene in the event of such an attack.


There are several fixed parameters which are in common use in interpretation of heart rate variability (HRV) data. The most common time domain parameters are mean and standard deviation of the R-R intervals, and most common frequency domain parameters are intensities of very low, low and high frequency bands of power spectrum of the R-R intervals. In many studies those parameters are used as input parameters for models which are used for special tasks for example in assessment of autonomic nervous system activity. In this study applicability of artificial neural networks (ANN) for calculation of typical HRV parameters from original R-R interval data was investigated. The analysis was done with help of 24-h ECG recordings of 5 healthy subjects. The results illustrate that by ANN analysis the time domain parameters can be estimated with satisfactory accuracy (R=1.00, R=0.72), and the frequency domain parameters can be estimated with slightly lower accuracy (R=0.51, R=0.49, R=1.00), correspondingly.


This paper describes an experimental and theoretical investigation of induction in a rotating conductor surrounded by a rigid conductor of finite or infinite extent. The results are applied to a discussion of induction in rotating eddies in the fluid core of the earth as a possible origin of the geomagnetic non-dipole field. Model experiments were made with rigid rotators in a steady magnetic field; the induced magnetic field was measured outside the conductors. The results confirmed the appropriate parts of the theoretical work. In the theoretical work solutions are first obtained for a rotator embedded in a solid conductor of infinite extent; a method is then developed for extending this solution to a finite surrounding conductor. Charts are given for the induced field on the surface of the earth due to a hypothetical rotator in the earth's core. The analysis is based on integral solutions of the field equations; wherever possible the field vectors themselves are used rather than a vector potential. The induced magnetic fields depend on the relative symmetry of the rotator, the surrounding conductor, and the applied magnetic field. For an applied field parallel to the axis of rotation, the induced field is proportional to the angular velocity; for an applied field perpendicular to the axis, the induced field reaches a limit at high angular velocities. If both the surrounding conductor and the applied magnetic field have rotational symmetry about the axis there is no induced field outside the surrounding conductor. The conclusion of the geophysical discussion is that eddies must have radii of several hundred kilometres if they are to account for the observed magnitude of the non-dipole field. Because of the skin effect such large radii would not be tenable if the core material were effectively rigid. However, fluid motions must occur due to the electromagnetic forces, and the consequent magneto-hydrodynamic disturbances probably have decay lengths much larger than the rigid conductor skin depth; therefore arguments based on the rigid conductor skin depth are not applicable. Thus the eddy model might be satisfactory if the fluid motion does not seriously alter the basic induction mechanism.


The impetus for buildings to decarbonize and move towards radical energy and water efficiency is increasingly strong and identified as a priority within the green building sector. The tiny house movement offers an opportunity to both address the challenges of affordable housing and contribute to residential building decarbonization. Tiny houses de-emphasize mass consumption and excessive belongings and have potential to address equity issues such as gentrification by providing living spaces to low-income residents in desirable housing locations. This paper analyzes the Tiny House in My Backyard (THIMBY) project, investigating building sustainability concepts through the design-build-occupy process in a three-year-old structure. THIMBY demonstrates energy and water efficiency technologies inside an award-winning small living space (18.5 m2). THIMBY was designed to reduce energy and water use by 87 and 82% compared to California residential averages. In practice, it has reduced site energy by 88% and has emitted 96% fewer carbon emissions than a 2100 square foot California Energy Commission 2016 Title 24 minimally compliant home. We discuss the differences between design and performance of energy and water systems, which we find offer important lessons for the further expansion of the tiny house movement and other alternative and micro green housing types. We find that optimizing such houses through integration of energy and water saving technologies, home energy management systems, and strong communication between modelers, builders and occupants will be essential to achieving dramatic energy (87%), water (82%), and carbon (96%) savings.


Clusters of heterogeneous nodes composed of multi-core CPUs and GPUs are increasingly being used for High Performance Computing (HPC) due to the benefits in peak performance and energy efficiency. In order to fully harvest the computational capabilities of such architectures, application developers often employ a combination of different parallel programming paradigms (e.g. OpenCL, CUDA, MPI and OpenMP), also known in literature as hybrid programming, which makes application development very challenging. Furthermore, these languages offer limited support to orchestrate data and computations for heterogeneous systems.
 In this paper, we present libWater, a uniform approach for programming distributed heterogeneous computing systems. It consists of a simple interface, compliant with the OpenCL programming model, and a runtime system which extends the capabilities of OpenCL beyond single platforms and single compute nodes. libWater enhances the OpenCL event system by enabling inter-context and inter-node device synchronization. Furthermore, libWater's runtime system uses dependency information enforced by event synchronization to dynamically build a DAG of enqueued commands which enables a class of advanced runtime optimizations. The detection and optimization of collective communication patterns is an example which, as shown by experimental results, improves the efficiency of the libWater runtime system for several application codes.


Remote sensing has long been a useful tool in global applications, since it provides physically-based, worldwide, and consistent spatial information. This paper discusses the potential of using these techniques in the research field of water management, particularly for 'Water Footprint' (WF) studies. The WF of a crop is defined as the volume of water consumed for its production, where green and blue WF stand for rain and irrigation water usage, respectively. In this paper evapotranspiration, precipitation, water storage, runoff and land use are identified as key variables to potentially be estimated by remote sensing and used for WF assessment. A mass water balance is proposed to calculate the volume of irrigation applied, and green and blue WF are obtained from the green and blue evapotranspiration components. The source of remote sensing data is described and a simplified example is included, which uses evapotranspiration estimates from the geostationary satellite Meteosat 9 and precipitation estimates obtained with the Climatic Prediction Center Morphing Technique (CMORPH). The combination of data in this approach brings several limitations with respect to discrepancies in spatial and temporal resolution and data availability, which are discussed in detail. This work provides new tools for global WF assessment and represents an innovative approach to global irrigation mapping, enabling the estimation of green and blue water use.


Innovation contests are becoming popular instruments for stimulating development of digital services using open data. However, experience indicates that only a limited number of the results developed during these events become viable digital services attracting a significant user base. To further deepen our understanding of the role, design and function of innovation contests in open data markets, we conducted a survey of the websites of 33 digital innovation contests. The results of the survey show that organizers design digital innovation contests to function as intermediaries for open data innovation. By analyzing the activities performed by organizers we found several examples of how innovation contests support the participants in designing, implementing and providing services after the contests are concluded. We contribute with a key design element and attributes for the post-contest process of digital innovation contests, which adds to existing key design elements. For future research we suggest to further study open data markets and the intermediary role of digital innovation contests. Moreover we propose to develop guidelines and tools for organizers of digital innovation contests to design contests that better meet the needs of a particular open data market.


The responsibilities which civil engineers, and particularly the engineer of record, accept are considered. The interaction with other decision-makers such as the owner, stakeholders, the law and contractors results in complexity that can be partially resolved by the introduction of protocols in the form of regulations and codes of practice. However, uncertainty always exists and can result in surprises that can produce both beneficial and bad results. The sections entitled the cast, protocols and reality, advocacy and surprise, and complexity cover these topics. The nature of responsibility is analysed. Professional engineers work within an increasingly complex environment and have a responsibility to acquire and use skills beyond those applicable to traditional technical issues.


e-learning provides a relatively new method for teaching in higher education in general and in East and South East Asia in particular. Many e-learning programmes are developed using a western based pedagogy for use in the east.

However, the evaluation of these programmes is in its infancy. The current study was co-funded by the EU and adds to the body of research providing guidance for e-educators. The qualitative data collected from e learning tutors from South East and East Asia indicates that there are differences based on cultural context in the following areas of communication; within student peer groups; tutor to student, as well as variations in the willingness to discuss problems. The study provides recommendations to enhance the distance education programmes. The conclusion points to issues that should be addressed at the design and managerial levels.


Mayada was born into a powerful Iraqi family. One grandfather fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia. The other is acclaimed as the first true Arab nationalist. Her uncle was Prime Minister for nearly 40 years, her mother an important politician. When Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath party seized power, and instituted his reign of terror, Mayada found herself alone in Baghdad, a divorced parent of two children, earning a meagre living printing brochures. Until one morning in August 1999 she was summarily arrested and dragged to the notorious Baladiyat Prison, falsely accused of printing anti-government propaganda. There she was thrown into a cell with 17 "shadow women". Like latter-day Sherezades, these women passed their days, while waiting for the next interrogation and torture session, telling each other their stories. They were eager to hear Mayada's stories of her privileged former life, of the history of her proud family, of kings and queens, of meetings with Saddam himself. Not only the story of a woman intimately connected to Iraq's cultured, ancient history, this book also offers a powerful witness to the terror and horror wrought by Saddam on the lives and souls of its ordinary citizens.


Tradecraft is a term used within the intelligence community to describe the methods, practices, and techniques used in espionage and clandestine investigations. Whether the practitioner is a covert agent for the government or an identity thief and con man, the methods, practices, tactics, and techniques are often the same and sometimes learned from the same sources. Advanced Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Operations: Tradecraft Methods, Practices, Tactics, and Techniques reveals how intelligence officers and investigators conduct their tradecraft. Youll learn how to plan an operation, how to build an identity and cover story for deep cover operations, and how to detect those who have created false identities for illegal purposes. Youll also get insight into the technical aspects of intelligence (the INTs), counterintelligence, and criminal investigations, and legal considerations for conducting intelligence investigations. Topics include: A discussion of black bag operational planning HUMINT (human intelligence)the gathering of information from human sources DAME (defenses against methods of entry), forced entry into buildings, safes and combination locks, and automobile locks PSYOPS (psychological operations) and the use of social networks ELINT (electronic intelligence) and SIGINT (signals intelligence)electronic interception of intelligence, bugs, wiretaps, and other communications interceptions EMINT (emanations intelligence), which concerns the emanation of data, signals, or other intelligence from C4I systems IMINT (imagery intelligence), involving any intelligence gathered using images Intelligence files and analytical methods Based upon the authors training and experience over more than three decades as a law enforcement investigator and military officer, as well as research conducted as an attorney and in academia, the book provides you with an insider perspective on sensitive covert and overt operations and sources. Supplemented with roughly 140 illustrations and photos, this collection of special skills and reference materials is essential to the professional investigator and intelligence operative.


This Article calls for a comprehensive reform of public tort law with respect to law enforcement conduct. It articulates an effective and equitable remedial regime that reconciles the aspirational goals of public tort law with the practical realities of devising payment and disciplinary procedures that are responsive to tort settlements and judgments. This proposed statutory scheme seeks to deter law enforcement misconduct without disincentivizing prudent officers from performing their duties or overburdening them with extensive litigation. Rather than lamenting the dissolution of Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics or the insurmountability of qualified immunity, reform advocates should acknowledge that the very distinction between constitutional and common-law torts is arbitrary for purposes of individual officer deterrence and accountability. By examining the relationship between Fourth Amendment excessive force jurisprudence and the common-law torts of assault, battery, and negligence, this Article highlights that the analytical distinction between those legal doctrines imposes an improper demarcation for civil liability. If law enforcement agencies concern themselves solely with the constitutionality of their employees' conduct, training concentrates on the instant moment in which deadly force is used without substantial reflection on the conduct, including antecedent negligence, that led to the confrontation. At the same time, whether an officer can be held personally accountable should not be based on the intentionality of the conduct; rather, the reprehensibleness of the conduct is a more appropriate benchmark for individual liability. By acknowledging that tort law addresses various types of law enforcement activity that do not necessarily rise to the level of constitutional or criminal infractions, legislative bodies can begin conceptualizing public tort law as an important component of criminal justice reform. But to do so, we need tort justice reform.


Following Ghana's December 2012 elections, there was a protracted election petition process at the nation's Supreme Court challenging the declaration of the winner as the duly elected presidential candidate. Even though the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the declared winner, it made several recommendations that paved the way for numerous interventions aimed at putting together proposals for electoral reform to finetune Ghana's electoral processes. Several such reform proposals were submitted to the Electoral Commission by the end of 2013. Nevertheless, these were not implemented to guide the 2016 general elections. The successful conduct of the 2016 elections has therefore been described as a "miracle." Why were the reform proposals not implemented? What is the current state of reform proposals submitted to the Electoral Commission? What is the way forward? This article addresses these questions.


Colostrinin(TM) (CLN) is an 18KDa polypeptide originally isolated from ovine colostrums in early milk. The polypeptide was initially of interest because of its effects on the immune response which include inducing B lymphocyte differentiation [1] and increasing skin permeability [2]. CLN has also been found to be a modest cytokine inducer with psycho-stimulatory effects [3]. The effects of CLN in Alzheimer's disease patients were therefore examined, and the polypeptide was found to delay disease progression as assessed by cognitive tests [4]. In addition, CLN has been found to improve spatial memory in rats [5].
The aim of this project is to elucidate the mechanism/s that may lead to these beneficial effects of CLN in the nervous system. Two primary cell culture preparations are being used; dissociated cultures of enteric ganglia and hippocampus. Initially cultures of enteric ganglia from P7 rat were used in order to investigate any beneficial effect of CLN on neuronal survival in culture. A range of CLN concentrations were tested (1 ng/ml-20 microg/ml) with 4-6 replicates for each condition. Neuronal survival was quantified by counting neurons immunolabelled with an antiserum against the neuronal marker PGP-9.5. Preliminary results from these experiments (n=2) suggest that at fairly high concentrations (20 microg/ml) CLN appears to have a beneficial effect on the survival of enteric neurons in culture. The project is now focused on investigating possible protective effects of CLN against beta-amyloid toxicity on hippocampal cells in culture.


Prior research has demonstrated that cravings for substances, such as cigarettes and food, impair performance on basic cognitive tasks. This experiment examined whether these effects translate to impaired cognition on an important task in an applied setting: jury duty. Forty-six smokers were randomly allocated to a high-craving or control condition of an in vivo procedure designed to invoke cigarette cravings. Participants were then asked to act as mock jurors and read a written legal transcript based on evidence presented in an actual civil case. Later, participants were tested on their recall and recognition of information from the transcript. Participants in the high-craving condition recalled fewer correct facts from the transcript than participants in the control condition, but cravings did not significantly affect the recognition of trial information. These results are consistent with cognitive models of cravings, highlight the importance of providing jurors with sufficient breaks, and suggest that cravings may impair cognition in a variety of important applied settings.


Modern software should satisfy multiple goals simultaneously: it should provide predictable performance, be robust to failures, handle peak loads and deal seamlessly with unexpected conditions and changes in the execution environment. For this to happen, software designs should account for the possibility of runtime changes and provide formal guarantees of the software's behavior. Control theory is one of the possible design drivers for runtime adaptation, but adopting control theoretic principles often requires additional, specialized knowledge. To overcome this limitation, automated methodologies have been proposed to extract the necessary information from experimental data and design a control system for runtime adaptation. These proposals, however, only process one goal at a time, creating a chain of controllers. In this paper, we propose and evaluate the first automated strategy that takes into account multiple goals without separating them into multiple control strategies. Avoiding the separation allows us to tackle a larger class of problems and provide stronger guarantees. We test our methodology's generality with three case studies that demonstrate its broad applicability in meeting performance, reliability, quality, security, and energy goals despite environmental or requirements changes.


This document describes TCP SYN flooding attacks, which have been
well-known to the community for several years. Various countermeasures
against these attacks, and the trade-offs of each, are described. This
document archives explanations of the attack and common defense
techniques for the benefit of TCP implementers and administrators of
TCP servers or networks, but does not make any standards-level
recommendations. This memo provides information for the Internet
community.


Documentation resulting from an international workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, 30 March - 2 April 1996. The following themes were addressed by the working groups:
1. "Role of ecology and hydrology for the sustainable development in mountain regions" (the "human dimensions").
2. "Coupled ecological and hydrological studies along altitudinal gradients in mountain regions", with a sub-group dealing with the "Assessment of the spatial distribution pattern of basic water balance components."
3. "Impacts of global change on the ecology and hydrology in mountain regions", with a sub-group on the "Identification of global change impacts on hydrology and ecology in high mountain areas."


ADP013015 TITLE: 2D Symmetry and Pinning of Quantum-Hall "Strip Phase" DISTRIBUTION: Approved for public release, distribution unlimited Availability: Hard copy only. To order the complete compilation report, use: ADA407315 The component part is provided here to allow users access to individually authored sections f proceedings, annals, symposia, etc. However, the component should be considered within-he context of the overall compilation report and not as a stand-alone technical report.


In order to understand the nature of the two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensed (BEC) phase in BaCuSi2O6, we performed detailed Cu-63 and Si-29 NMR above the critical magnetic field, H-c1 = 23.4 T. The two different alternating layers present in the system have very different local magnetizations close to H-c1; one is very weak, and its size and field dependence are highly sensitive to the nature of inter-layer coupling. Its precise value could only be determined by "on-site" Cu-63 NMR, and the data are fully reproduced by a model of interacting hard-core bosons in which the perfect frustration associated to tetragonal symmetry is slightly lifted, leading to the conclusion that the population of the less populated layers is not fully incoherent but must be partially condensed.