Like anthropologists entering the field as "outsiders," initiates to organizations need to learn new cultures as they transition to "insiders" or veterans. Organizational research has identified the role that spontaneous humor plays in this transition. However, there has been little research into "staged" humorous events. At the same time, anthropological practice has identified various ethnographic research techniques designed to expedite entrée to a social group or organization. However, there has been no research on the implications of a colleague delivering an ethnography of a group back to itself. In this article, I detail a strategy that combined humor and the ethnography genre: the delivery of a workplace ethnography back to colleagues. Through a post hoc analysis, I explore the significance of this staged humorous event. In particular, I identify the impact of the ethnographic genre, inclusive narratives, and ambiguity as devices (in addition to the satirical tone). Through these devices, I was able to invite colleagues to engage with an alternative organizational vision in which I was an "insider." I consider the effect of staged humorous events such as humorous workplace ethnographies on workplace identities and relations in general, and the initiation of new workers in particular. This auto-ethnographic article is based on 9 months of opportunistic participant-observation with an Australian research center.


Hilary Koprowski, great Polish virologist, creator the first effective polio vaccine, died at the age of 96 on 11 April, 2013 in his home in Wynnewood near Philadelphia where he lived from 1944. He was one of the outstanding scientists of our time. His research were directly connected with a variety of  significant clinical advances in human and animal immunology and virology. Since 1957 for three decades Koprowski was director of Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology transforming it into leading center of biomedical research. Koprowski has been pioneer in the development of monoclonal antibodies used to cancer diagnostics and immunotheraphy. He was the recipient of many international, also Polish, honors and distinctions. With his passion to music, literature and art Hilary Koprowski was truly a renaissance man.


Synopsis In China, thin coal seams are rich in resources but are technically challenging. The mineable reserves in these seams account for 20.4% of the total coal resources, while the current production accounts for only 10.4% of the total annual production. Characteristics such as narrow mining space, low level of mechanization, poor working environment, and high cost of mining, restrict the development of mining safety and efficiency. Recently, fully mechanized mining technology has developed rapidly for thin coal seams, the level of yield and efficiency has reached or exceeded the international standard, and some state-owned key coal mines are considering automation of their mining process. In thin coal seams with hard stone bands that contain concentrations of pyrite, a specialized software, LS-DYNA, is used to calculate the rational blasting parameters that are used in the deep-hole pre-splitting blasting. Using this method the hard stone bands are fractured effectively, and hence increasing the coal productivity. In addition, mining advance rate were increased by enhancing the level of fully mechanized equipment and safety improved by increasing gas drainage from the gas outburst prone seam located some 7 m below the coal horizon. At present, thin coal seam mining technology faces many challenges, including the low level of equipment automation, the low advance rate in mixed coal-rock ground, and the large number of the mine personnel underground. By lowering the labour intensity and improving efficiency through automation and other measures, more efficient working faces can be implemented in thin coal seams.


Natural gas storage produced waters (NGSPWs) are generated in large volumes, vary in composition, and often contain constituents in concentrations and forms that are toxic to receiving system biota. This research had three major objectives: 1) Characterize NGSPWs to discern the constituents of concern present in these waters; 2) Design and measure performance of a pilot-scale hybrid constructed wetland treatments system (CWTS) for treating NGSPWs, and; 3) Discern the reliability of the Turner Designs TD500 handheld fluorometer for measurement of oil-in-water in produced waters containing algae. Produced waters contained chlorides, metals, and organics as constituents of concern. Using simulated produced waters, specifically designed hybrid pilot-scale CWTS decreased cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc concentrations below NPDES permit concentrations and decreased aqueous toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia. The handheld fluorometer was unable to produce reliable measurements of oil-in-water, requiring further research for a simple method for field measurement of oil-in-water.


Abstract Circular economy may play a key role in the future success of modified wood products. The European Union (EU) aims toward a circular economy, i.e. increasing resource efficiency by waste minimization in production processes, cascade uses of materials, elimination of landfill wastes, and maximizing the value of raw materials. The policy has great expected impact across all sectors, and will influence countries with strong wood modification industries, such as Finland, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands. It also means considerable economic efforts and sets transformation challenges to the societies and industries. Challenges have country-wise differences depending on production structure, environmental circumstances, local policies and regulations, as well as economic resources. This paper is an outlook of the renewed waste legislation in the EU, based on which it assesses the possible impacts of circular economy development on the future of wood modification. One of the key indicators for resource efficiency is € kg−1, which allows pursuing increased efficiency by minimizing material input (and waste) and/or by maximizing the value. In the case of modified wood, both of these approaches may be considered market opportunities, while the key challenge and the consequent need for action relate to improved waste management.


We describe a framework for defining high-order image models that can be used in a variety of applications. The approach involves modeling local patterns in a multiscale representation of an image. Local properties of a coarsened image reflect non-local properties of the original image. In the case of binary images local properties are defined by the binary patterns observed over small neighborhoods around each pixel. With the multiscale representation we capture the frequency of patterns observed at different scales of resolution. This framework leads to expressive priors that depend on a relatively small number of parameters. For inference and learning we use an MCMC method for block sampling with very large blocks. We evaluate the approach with two example applications. One involves contour detection. The other involves binary segmentation.


Using a high resolution coincidence technique, we measured for the first time the angular and energy correlation of an electron pair emitted from the valence band of a single crystal upon the impact of an electron with a specified momentum. We observe a hole in the measured two-particle correlation function when the two excited electrons have comparable momentum vectors, a fact traced back to exchange and repulsion among the electrons. We find the hole is not isotropic, has a finite extension, and is strongly suppressed when decoherence is operating.


In recent decades Australian theatre has produced many well-received performances of Shakespeare using Australian settings and accents, so when Geoffrey Wright's 2006 Australian-gangland adaptation of Macbeth was first publicised hopes were high that a significant Australian Shakespeare feature-film might finally have arrived. In the event, while the film did win AFI awards for production and costume design, it did not achieve anything near the kind of critical or box-office success that attended Baz Luhrmann's 1996 Romeo + Juliet or even Wright's own 1992 Romper Stomper . Like Romper Stomper , Wright's Macbeth was inspired by Melbourne's underworld, anticipating the popular Underbelly TV mini-series that fictionalised the 1995-2004 Melbourne gangland wars and was first screened in 2008. While the experience of Wright's film as a whole might resemble – both literally and metaphorically – Coleridge's famous summation of Edmund Kean's acting as like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning, its location provides occasion for some inspired filmic responses to the dominant image patterns of Macbeth . This paper considers the evocation of locale in Wright's film and some of the ways its physical and social setting reimagines the play's key motifs in contemporary Australian terms.


ominic's decision to establish the women's communities of his Order in accordance with the Rule of St. Augustine has been understood either as simply aligning the Sisters' religio with that of the Preachers or as complying with the requirements of Lateran IV. 1 However, this misunderstands Dominic's intentions, and those of the Sisters themselves, and misrepresents the Sisters' vocation. Both women and men heeded the call to the vita apostolica in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, though the perceived unfitness of women for preaching was, and has continued to be, understood as excluding them from the realization of an apostolic vocation. This presumes that the authentic apostolic life is premised on preaching, though the call that Jesus made to his followers was much broader than this and was made to both women and men. The Dominican vocation sprang from complex historical understandings of the vita apostolica, and the Dominican women's religio should be approached as part of these same contexts and perceptions. 2 This can be most readily achieved through studying the representation of the apostolic vocation that was achieved in the yoking of the Augustinian Rule with the Dominican women's institutes. 3 In this way, the fundamental premise of the female Dominican religio may be better understood. Hence, this study takes as its focus the n ormathe normative texts that were intended to shape the Sisters' lives and to enable or authorize a particular vocation and that were cultural products springing from their particular religious and monastic environments. This is not a study of the lived experience of the Sisters or of how the rules and institutes may have been implemented or interpreted—that is an entirely different endeavor. Firstly, a brief historical overview of the steps that made possible


This paper analyses the influence of network security measures on the system behaviour of a power system protection device. In this particular case, an IP-based Ethernet protection interface of a line current differential protection system is considered. IPsec has previously been proposed to be part of the security concept of the protection interface. Therefore, the authors conduct a trade-off analysis regarding the influence of IPsec on the protection function and consequently on the system safety. This work shows that the protection function of the relay is not impaired as long as the additional CPU performance for the encryption by the protection relay is available and the necessary bandwidth on the communication channel is provided.


This study, using a hermeneutic approach, is based on data from four focus group interviews with 25 Swedish teenagers participating, ranging from 18–19 years of age. The aim is to gain a deeper understanding of teenagers' values and attitudes towards sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexual risk-taking. The teenagers seem to seek an excuse to fend off responsibility and deny their sexual risk-taking, an excuse provided by drunkenness. Under the influence of alcohol, teenagers are not too shy to have sex but remain embarrassed to talk about condom use. It seems as though the dialogue feels more intimate than the intercourse when it comes to protecting ones sexual health. To be able to act out in this sexual risk-taking the teenager often views the partner in a one-night-stand as an object, as opposed to a love relationship where they view their partner as subject, a person they care for. Engaging in sexual risk-taking often starts at a club where the teenagers go out to socialize and drink alcohol. They then play a game and a part of the game is to pretend that they do not play a game. In this game, certain rules are to be followed and the rules are set up by the girl, mainly to protect the romantic image of being carefully selected and thereby protected from being stigmatized as "sluts" or "whores".


Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is a fiscal innovation. Innovation, for the purposes of this paper, is defined as a way of transforming a new concept into tangible processes, resources, and institutional mechanisms in which a benefit meets identified problems. GRB is a fiscal innovation in that it translates gender commitments into fiscal commitments by applying a "gender lens" to the identified processes, resources, and institutional mechanisms, and arrives at a desirable benefit incidence. The theoretical treatment of gender budgeting as a fiscal innovation is not incorporated, as the focus of this paper is broadly on the processes involved. GRB as an innovation has four specific components: knowledge processes and networking, institutional mechanisms, learning processes and building capacities, and public accountability and benefit incidence. The paper analyzes these four components of GRB in the context of India. The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy has been the pioneer of gender budgeting in India, and also played a significant role in institutionalizing gender budgeting within the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, in 2005. The Expert Committee Group on "Classification of Budgetary Transactions" makes recommendations on gender budgeting--Ashok Lahiri Committee recommendations--that will become part of the institutionalization process, integrating the analytical matrices of fiscal data through a gender lens and also the institutional innovations for GRB. Revisiting the 2004 Lahiri recommendations and revamping the process of GRB in India is inevitable, at both ex ante and ex post levels.


This study aimed to explore the nature of self-efficacy among 161 Thai undergraduate EFL students through the investigation of the level of their self-efficacy and the relationship between their self-efficacy and their proficiency in listening comprehension. Learners' attributions for success and failure, which might also influence their self-efficacy beliefs, were also explored. The second aim of the study was to examine whether a programme of listening strategy instruction could improve their level of self-efficacy, the level of their listening comprehension, and their reported use of listening strategies. Finally, the study examined whether learners from different levels of proficiency benefit from the strategy instruction in a similar manner.
This research study is of a quasi-experimental, mixed method design, with one intervention group and one comparison group. Listening proficiency was measured by a free-recall listening task and a listening comprehension question task. The levels of self-efficacy and strategy use were elicited by a set of questionnaires. The manner of strategy use was also further investigated by using a stimulated-recall interview which required 14 participants to give a verbal account of how they had performed the previous listening tasks. These instruments were implemented at pre- and post-test data collection points before and after the intervention which lasted 12 weeks.
The findings of the study indicate that, at pre-test, the level of self-efficacy among the participants was rather low but correlation analyses suggest a moderate relationship between self-efficacy and listening comprehension levels. Statistical analysis revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in how much the intervention and comparison groups improved their self-efficacy levels from pre-test to post-test. However, the intervention group participants improved their levels of listening comprehension significantly more than the comparison group participants on both the free-recall and the listening comprehension question task. This was true for both high and low proficiency learners. While a 2×2 ANOVA on the strategy questionnaire items did not indicate statistically significant changes in strategy use as a result of the intervention, a Hierarchical Cluster Analysis suggested that a greater number of the intervention group participants had positive behaviours at post-test than was the case at pre-test.
The manner of the participants' listening strategy use was further explored by looking at the frequency of strategies reported in the stimulated recall interview as well as the way in which strategy combinations were employed. At post-test, the intervention group reported a much higher level of hypothesis formation, hypothesis monitoring and hypothesis formation than at pre-test, which was not the case for the comparison group. Likewise, the intervention participants also reported greater use of word or chunk identification as well as being able to combine other strategies to compensate for gaps in their bottom-upskills. Thus, there was evidence that the intervention group had changed the way in which they employed listening strategies as a result of the intervention, while the comparison group showed much fewer changes.
The study not only provides evidence of the potential benefits of strategy instruction for improving L2 listening comprehension, regardless of learners' proficiency levels, but also has methodological implications, as the strategy analyses demonstrated the value of exploring strategy use through a qualitative approach.


Vascular access dysfunction is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among end‐stage renal disease patients. Vascular access dysfunction exists in all three types of available accesses: arteriovenous fistulas, arteriovenous grafts, and tunneled catheters. To improve clinical research and outcomes in hemodialysis (HD) access dysfunction, the development of a multidisciplinary network of collaborative investigators with various areas of expertise, and common standards for terminology and classification in all vascular access types, is required. The North American Vascular Access Consortium (NAVAC) is a newly formed multidisciplinary and multicenter network of experts in the area of HD vascular access, who include nephrologists and interventional nephrologists from the United States and Canada with: (1) a primary clinical and research focus in HD vascular access dysfunction, (2) national and internationally recognized experts in vascular access, and (3) a history of productivity measured by peer‐reviewed publications and funding among members of this consortium. The consortium's mission is to improve the quality and efficiency in vascular access research, and impact the research in the area of HD vascular access by conducting observational studies and randomized controlled trials. The purpose of the consortium's initial manuscript is to provide working and standard vascular access definitions relating to (1) epidemiology, (2) vascular access function, (3) vascular access patency, and (4) complications in vascular accesses relating to each of the vascular access types.


ABSTRACT The research presented here is an examination of how child language novices (zero beginners) develop interactional competences and repertoires in a Swedish as a second language classroom. Two 7-year-old girls' learning trajectories are the focus in a yearlong study of their second language (L2) development. The girls' transition from highly repetitious and formulaic production to formally and semantically more diverse discourse is documented, along with a broadening of the girls' classroom interactional repertoires. They initiated and took part in interactions with teachers and peers and participated in a growing range of classroom discursive activities. The longitudinal analysis also documents the differences in their two learning trajectories, particularly in terms of their L2 resources and pragmatic skills, as well as their identities as successful or unsuccessful language learners (as ascribed to them by the teachers). The study illustrates an intricate and synergistic, rather than unidirectional, relationship between these two child novice learners' competences, L2 features, and identities.


Recidivism has, in the last few years, attracted much attention and controversy in the context of EU antitrust enforcement. The treatment of recidivism by the European Commission and the EU Courts has often been criticized, and the observed incidence of recidivism has led to some questioning of the overall effectiveness of EU antitrust enforcement. This article first clarifies the concept of recidivism and then analyses the treatment of recidivism as an aggravating circumstance in setting the amount of fines, the interplay between recidivism and leniency, and the difficulty of drawing conclusions as to the overall effectiveness of EU antitrust enforcement from the observed incidence of recidivism.


Aim: To investigate the action mechanism of 1-benzyl-1,4-diazepane (1-BD) as efflux pump inhibitor (EPI) in Escherichia coli mutants: ΔacrAB or overexpressing AcrAB and AcrEF efflux pumps. Materials & methods: Effect of 1-BD on: antibiotic potentiation, by microdilution method; membrane functionality, by fluorimetric assays; ethidium bromide accumulation, by fluorometric real-time efflux assay; AcrB expression, by quantitative photoactivated localization microscopy. Results: 1-BD decreases the minimal inhibitory concentration of levofloxacin and other antibiotics and increase ethidium bromide accumulation in E. coli overexpressing efflux pumps but not in the ΔacrAB strain. 1-BD increases membranes permeability, without sensibly affecting inner membrane polarity and decreases acrAB transcription. Conclusion: 1-BD acts as an EPI in E. coli with a mixed mechanism, different from that of major reference EPIs.


Background: Prosthetic precision can be affected by several variables, such as restorative materials, manufacturing procedures, framework design, cementation techniques and aging. Marginal adaptation is critical for long-term longevity and clinical success of dental restorations. Marginal misfit may lead to cement exposure to oral fluids, resulting in microleakage and cement dissolution. As a consequence, marginal discrepancies enhance percolation of bacteria, food and oral debris, potentially causing secondary caries, endodontic inflammation and periodontal disease. Objective: The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the marginal and internal adaptation of zirconia and lithium disilicate single crowns, produced with different manufacturing procedures. Methods: Forty-five intact human maxillary premolars were prepared for single crowns by means of standardized preparations. All-ceramic crowns were fabricated with either CAD-CAM or heat-pressing procedures (CAD-CAM zirconia, CAD-CAM lithium disilicate, heat-pressed lithium disilicate) and cemented onto the teeth with a universal resin cement. Non-destructive micro-CT scanning was used to achieve the marginal and internal gaps in the coronal and sagittal planes; then, precision of fit measurements were calculated in a dedicated software and the results were statistically analyzed. Results: The heat-pressed lithium disilicate crowns were significantly less accurate at the prosthetic margins (p<0.05) while they performed better at the occlusal surface (p<0.05). No significant differences were noticed between CAD-CAM zirconia and lithium disilicate crowns (p>0.05); nevertheless CAD-CAM zirconia copings presented the best marginal fit among the experimental groups. As to the thickness of the cement layer, reduced amounts of luting agent were noticed at the finishing line, whereas a thicker layer was reported at the occlusal level. Conclusion: Within the limitations of the present in vitro investigation, the following conclusions can be drawn: the recorded marginal gaps were within the clinical acceptability irrespective of both the restorative material and the manufacturing procedures; the CAD-CAM processing techniques for both zirconia and lithium disilicate produced more consistent marginal gaps than the heat-pressing procedures; the tested universal resin cement can be safely used with both restorative materials.


We describe a new software framework for fast training of generalized linear models. The framework, named Snap Machine Learning (Snap ML), combines recent advances in machine learning systems and algorithms in a nested manner to reflect the hierarchical architecture of modern computing systems. We prove theoretically that such a hierarchical system can accelerate training in distributed environments where intra-node communication is cheaper than inter-node communication. Additionally, we provide a review of the implementation of Snap ML in terms of GPU acceleration, pipelining, communication patterns and software architecture, highlighting aspects that were critical for achieving high performance. We evaluate the performance of Snap ML in both single-node and multi-node environments, quantifying the benefit of the hierarchical scheme and the data streaming functionality, and comparing with other widely-used machine learning software frameworks. Finally, we present a logistic regression benchmark on the Criteo Terabyte Click Logs dataset and show that Snap ML achieves the same test loss an order of magnitude faster than any of the previously reported results, including those obtained using TensorFlow and scikit-learn.


Patent boxes have been heavily debated for their role in corporate tax competition. This paper uses firm-level data for the period 2000-2011 for the top 2,000 corporate research and development (R&D) investors worldwide to consider the determinants of patent registration across a large sample of countries. Importantly, we disentangle the effects of corporate income taxation from the tax advantage of patent boxes. We also exploit a new and original dataset on patent box features such as the conditionality on performing research in the country, and their scope. We find that patent boxes have a considerable effect on attracting patents, mostly because of their favourable tax treatment, especially for high-quality patents. Patent boxes with a large scope in terms of tax base definition also have stronger effects on the location of patents. The size of the tax advantage offered through patent box regimes is found to deter local innovative activities, whereas R&D development conditions tend to attenuate this adverse effect. Our simulations show that, on average, countries imposing such development conditions tend to grant a tax advantage that is slightly greater than optimal from a local R&D impact perspective.


This paper first proposes a computationally efficient, pilot-aided linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) batch channel estimation algorithm for OFDM systems in unknown wireless fading channels. The proposed approach employs a convenient representation of the discrete multipath fading channel based on the Karhunen-Loeve (KL) orthogonal expansion and finds MMSE estimates of the uncorrelated KL series expansion coefficients. Based on such an expansion, no matrix inversion is required in the proposed MMSE estimator. Moreover, optimal rank reduction is achieved by exploiting the optimal truncation property of the KL expansion resulting in a smaller computational load on the estimation algorithm. The performance of the proposed approach is studied through analytical and experimental results. We then consider the stochastic Cramér-Rao bound and derive the closed-form expression for the random KL coefficients and consequently exploit the performance of the MMSE channel estimator based on the evaluation of minimum Bayesian MSE. We also analyze the effect of a modelling mismatch on the estimator performance. To further reduce the complexity, we extend the batch linear MMSE to the sequential linear MMSE estimator. With the fast convergence property and the simple structure, the sequential linear MMSE estimator provides an attractive alternative to the implementation of channel estimator.


Abstract. Isoprene and its oxidation products are major players in the oxidative chemistry of the troposphere. Current understanding of the factors controlling biogenic isoprene emissions and of the fate of isoprene oxidation products in the atmosphere has been evolving rapidly. We use a climate–biosphere–chemistry modeling framework to evaluate the sensitivity of estimates of the tropospheric oxidative capacity to uncertainties in isoprene emissions and photochemistry. Our work focuses on two climate transitions: from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 19 000–23 000 years BP) to the preindustrial (1770s) and from the preindustrial to the present day (1990s). We find that different oxidants have different sensitivities to the uncertainties tested in this study. Ozone is relatively insensitive, whereas OH is the most sensitive: changes in the global mean OH levels for the LGM-to-preindustrial transition range between −29 and +7 % and those for the preindustrial-to-present-day transition range between −8 and +17 % across our simulations. We find little variability in the implied relative LGM–preindustrial difference in methane emissions with respect to the uncertainties tested in this study. Conversely, estimates of the preindustrial-to-present-day and LGM-to-preindustrial changes in the global burden of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) are highly sensitive. We show that the linear relationship between tropospheric mean OH and tropospheric mean ozone photolysis rates, water vapor, and total emissions of NOx and reactive carbon – first reported in Murray et al. (2014) – does not hold across all periods with the new isoprene photochemistry mechanism. This study demonstrates how inadequacies in our current understanding of isoprene emissions and photochemistry impede our ability to constrain the oxidative capacities of the present and past atmospheres, its controlling factors, and the radiative forcing of some short-lived species such as SOA over time.


Improving the environmental performance of non-domestic buildings is a complex and 'wicked' problem due to conflicting interests and incentives. This is particularly challenging in tenanted spaces, where landlord and tenant interactions are regulated through leases that traditionally ignore environmental considerations. 'Green leasing' is conceptualized as a form of 'middle-out' inter-organizational environmental governance that operates between organizations, alongside other drivers. This paper investigates how leases are evolving to become 'greener' in the UK and Australia, providing evidence from five varied sources on: (1) UK office and retail leases, (2) UK retail sector energy management, (3) a major UK retailer case study; (4) office leasing in Sydney, and (5) expert interviews on Australian retail leases. With some exceptions, the evidence reveals an increasing trend towards green leases in prime offices in both countries, but not in retail or sub-prime offices. Generally introduced by landlords, adopted green leases contain a variety of ambitions and levels of enforcement. As an evolving form of private–private environmental governance, green leases form a valuable framework for further tenant–landlord cooperation within properties and across portfolios. This increased cohesion could create new opportunities for polycentric governance, particularly at the interface of cities and the property industry.


This study identifies the potential and limitations of contracting to improve health care management, accountability and quality, and expand the participation of teaching hospitals in the health service network in the context of the Restructuring Program of Teaching Hospitals in the Brazilian Unified Health System. It is a case study of four teaching hospitals and their contracting State Health Departments. According to the hospital managers, the association is weak between contracting and the presence of mechanisms for hospital insertion into the health service network with practices and structures for managerial and healthcare qualification in the hospital. More structured hospitals in managerial and healthcare terms were more structured between contracting and the State Health Department. There was an increase in production of medium complexity outpatient care and a decrease in primary healthcare procedures. The proposal is for ongoing managerial development of the hospital and of the State Health Department, review of the operational plan, budgeting, monitoring mechanisms and an incentive system, bonding in the teams, among others.


Leadership communication plays a pivotal role in the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. Successful organizations always remain concerned about every aspect of their leadership and the verbal communication being used by the leaders remains the top agenda of these organizations. This research study endeavours to investigate the model based on Sullivan's (1988) Motivating Language Theory. This study investigates the relationship and impact that the three components, i.e.; 1) Direction-Giving Language,2) Empathetic Language, and 3) Meaning-Making Language use on job performance. It also analyse the mediating role of job satisfaction, and affective commitment between the use of all three components of motivating language and job performance. A sample of all levels of teaching staff from all public and private universities in Pakistan was drawn based on the non-probability convenient technique. A total 770 questionnaires were administered to the target respondents; in return, 633 questionnaires were received and then 577 complete questionnaires in every aspect were considered for data analysis. At the dyadic level, the teachers were asked to tap their perception regarding the use of all three components of motivating language by their Deans/HoDs and also to provide information regarding their own level of job satisfaction and affective commitment. In response, to a six-item scale of job performance, the Deans/HoDs provided the perceived evaluation of the performance of their teaching staff members. The Correlation Coefficient Test was applied to ascertain the relationship between the studied variables. The use of direction-giving and empathetic language by Deans/HoDs has a positive significant relationship with the teachers' affective commitment, but the less significant negative relationship was found with meaning-making language. Direction-giving and empathetic language used by the Deans/HoDs has a positive significant relationship with the teachers' job satisfaction, but negative relationship with the use of meaning-making language. The results of CFA and SEM indicate that job satisfaction and affective commitment mediate the relationship between the use of direction-giving language and


Abstract This study extends the linear spectral‐element method (SEM) program SPECFEM3D to include nonlinear constitutive relationships. The iterations for solving the nonlinear equations are bypassed considering that the explicit integration used in the code requires a very small time increment; as a result, the high efficiency of the original linear procedure is preserved. This nonlinear code allows us to perform a deterministic seismic‐hazard analysis that considers the nonlinear behaviors of the propagation path and local site for an engineering site. After checking its accuracy against the commercial finite‐element method program ABAQUS, the extended nonlinear SEM is used to investigate the effect of noncausative faults on the seismic ground motion at the Dagangshan dam site in Southwest China. The analysis of the study case shows that the isolation effect of noncausative faults is dependent on the fault‐source relative position, and the nonlinear responses of the faults are sensitive to earthquake magnitude.


We have observed a darkening effect and the formation of permanent volume gratings in CdSSe semiconductor-doped glasses, both phenomena being certainly due to the same photochemical mechanism. This allowed us to reconcile contradictory results concerning the speed of their nonlinear response. We also studied the frequency dependence of χ(3) below the gap and the intensity dependence of the reflectivity of these phase-conjugate mirrors. Our results can be interpreted in terms of the band-filling model with Boltzmann statistics. Finally, frequency- and time-resolved luminescence measurements helped us to interpret various results.


This report synthesises the findings of six participatory national assessments carried out under IUCN's Strengthening Voices for Better Choices (SVBC) global forest governance project. The purpose of these assessments was to provide an understanding of the policy, regulatory and institutional obstacles to using forests sustainably. Each produced many valuable findings, insights and recommendations for improving forest governance, all of which were validated through broad stakeholder consultation. A number of these recommendations have been taken up and implemented by the states concerned, leading to concrete improvements in governance systems. The synthesis provides a background to the concept of governance and how it has evolved in the fields of development and conservation. Drawing on a review of different definitions of governance, it identifies 7 key elements of governance (laws, institutions, processes, accountability, transparency, participation, predictability) and uses these to synthesise the findings of the assessments.


Clinicians and policy makers are often required to make difficult decisions regarding which health technologies they use. Increasingly, government bodies, such as the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK, produce national clinical guidelines and technology assessments to direct practice.1 These assessments often consider not only the benefits conferred by alternate treatment choices but also the costs.

It is vital that clinical practitioners have a clear understanding of why economic evaluations are needed, what the results of such evaluations mean, and how these findings can inform allocation decisions. We will begin by introducing key ideas and then illustrate these ideas with examples.

Central government or federally funded services must deliver health care within fixed and limited budgets (see box). Decisions made to spend money in one way will incur an opportunity cost in terms of investment in other health services that are foregone. For example, investment in a new cancer centre may mean that a new spinal rehabilitation centre is not set up. Alternatively, the delivery of an expensive treatment to one patient may mean that 10 other patients cannot be treated with a less expensive intervention.

What is economics?

Economics is the science of allocating scarce or limited resources (ie, labour, land, raw material, or capital). Whatever the type and volume of resource available, society will always have more wants than can be met. Economic decisions aim to maximise benefits for the costs incurred between alternative interventions. However, for every decision made regarding resource use, there is an opportunity cost—the cost of failing to use a resource for the next best alternative.

In general, economic evaluation is the "comparative analysis of alternative courses of action in terms of both their costs and consequences."2 In other words, an economic evaluation compares 2 or more …


Rarity in N ew Zealand Myosotis was explored at several different levels for this thesis . Within the genus, there are many rare species, encompassing several different types of rarity, and many of these are considered threatened in some way. In addition, the genus contains species that exhibit a wide array of floral forms, each of which can be associated with a distinct form of rarity. The reproductive biology of selected Nelson taxa was investigated in several specIes covering a range of floral morphologies, including the previously unstudied brush blossom floral syndrome. Species were found to fall into one of two mating types based on the d egree of herkogamyl exhibited by the flowers . Species with flowers that are herkogamous throughout their life, require polIinators to set seed while those that are not herkogamous at some stage during anther dehiscence, are self-fertile and able t o self pollinate autonomously. All species studied were self-compatible. Considerable variation in seed production was observed under natural conditions for those species that required pollinators to set seed. For these pollinator-requiring species, local population density had strong effects on seed set, while population size had no effect. These plants were always pollen limited in Iow-density patches . For a self-fertile species, seed s et was always high and unaffected by either local density or population size and pollen was never limiting. These results indicate reproductive success in pollinator-requiring species of Myosotis is subject to Allee effects and these effects occur at a very local scale. These results have implications for the assessment and management of threatened Myosotis species in particular and rare plants generally. It is essential to know the pollination requirements and levels of density dependence for reproduction both for the assessment of threat and for determining management strategies for threatened plants. Self-compatible, but pollinator-requiring species are prone to autogamy and geitonogamy and therefore inbreeding depression. One strategy to avoid this is to increase dichogamy and synchronise inflorescence development. Pollination was studied in the geographically restricted, ultramafic endemic Myosotis monroi, a species that has a relatively large floral display and whose flowers often bear precocious styles prior to 1 A glossary of technical terms follows the appendices 11 buds opening. In general, precocious styles are assumed to be receptive and indicate protogyny. Stigmas were receptive at this stage and some pollination occurs during this precocious phase. Stylar precocity effectively lengthens the female-only phase in this species. This is the first time that precocious styles have been proved to be receptive at this stage. M. monroi also shows far greater phenological synchrony of within plant flowering than five other species of New Zealand lvfyosotis. It is thought that the impact of a large floral display on levels of geitonogamy in M monroi is alleviated to some degree by the relatively long, initial female-only phase and phenological synchrony of flowering stages. Rarity is generally considered "the precursor to extinction" (Darwin, 1 872). However, there are several different forms of rarity and not all rare species are threatened. I examined the different rarity patterns observed within New Zealand Myosotis. New Zealand Myosotis species are never common, all are rare in different ways and some species are threatened. Some species are known to occur at one locality where they may be locally common, others may occur in two or more widely disjunct geographic areas, while others may be widespread but never common where they occur. A comparative analysis was carried out to determine whether there are morphological correlates of the rarity patterns seen within the genus . Local abundance, population disjunctions and distribution patterns of 33 Myosotis taxa were compared to aspects of their morphologies, including traits related to mating systems, dispersal ability and life histories. Taxa requiring pollinators to set seed had smaller range sizes and higher local population densities than those that were able to self-pollinate. Apparent adaptations for dispersal and life-history traits were not correlated with range size. The disjunct distributions exhibited by some taxa within the genus were not associated with any of the morphological traits. My results can assist threat assessment and conservation management for New Zealand Myosotis. Locally dense, geographically restricted taxa are pollinator requiring while sparse, widespread taxa are selfing. Cases that break this general rule may be used to identify taxa at risk. In the most recent taxonomic treatment, New Zealand Myosotis is initially split into two maj or clades depending the degree of anther exertion exhibited by the flowers. This has led to the recognition of species that cannot be distinguished in any other way. S pecies limits were examined in one such species complex; the vegetatively indistinguishable M III forsteri and M. venosa. S everal floral and vegetative characters were measured and compared. Filament length was the only significant character that could be used to distinguish the species, and even this was not 1 00% reliable. Filament length determines the degree of self-pollination that can occur and whether or not reproduction is assured. The continuous variation observed in filament, style and anther lengths and corolla sizes shows that there is a lot of phenotypic variation within each taxon. Geographic dines are observed in vegetative traits that are independent of mating system. This, in addition to the continuous variation observed in floral characters, lends some strength to the proposition that this species pair may be switching between the two breeding systems. The increased knowledge provided by the studies contained in this thesis on New Zealand Myosotis has provided a much-needed boost to our understanding of the population dynamics of these rare species, which ultimately can be used to guide conservation management for those taxa considered at risk of extinction. It can assist in identifYing those populations that are not threatened and it can direct efforts towards the more pressing problem situations . It has also highlighted the necessity for a taxonomic revision for the southern hemisphere section of the genus.


The mission of business enterprises is to use their resources to create new values. It is believed that the learning from implementation through a cyclical process that continually explores the needs of customers is effective in terms of spending less resources under the unreliable conditions, which businesses operate. However, the sequence of implementation and adaption or turnabout (pivot) through the feedback of customers is only a process of trial and error and focusses strongly on linear thinking. The purpose of this study is to propose and validate the use of a systems-based methodology for creating a business model that includes a more effective learning cycle. For this, the well-proven systems-based Evolutionary Learning Laboratory is utilised and proposed as a methodology for creating a business model. The systems thinking based learning cycle has been found to be the most useful in creating a new systems-based business model. It was possible to identify the seed ideas for creating the concepts of a new business model. A systemic view and structure of the issue under consideration assisted the entrepreneurs to develop a shared understanding of the mental models of the multistakeholders, including the target customers. The systems model (integration of the mental models) serves as a 'thinking map' in the continuous learning cycle. The business ideas and strategies are identified through exploring the relationships between the different components of the model. This is followed by their validation and verification through implementation and reflection on the outcomes. The results of applying this methodology created a new business model that is based on the backgrounds and knowledge of customers and all other relevant stakeholders. The methodology does not only allow entrepreneurs to make decisions systemically but also enable them to trace the effects of the decisions after they have been implemented and to adapt where necessary in an ongoing cycle of refinement (continuous improvement). The effectiveness of the methodology in dealing with complex issues (such as developing a new business) has shown positive outcomes during an evaluation workshop. The methodology can contribute significantly to the tools that entrepreneurs are currently using. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Randy Barnett has recently argued that the individual mandate is unconstitutional because it is an improper regulation under the Necessary and Proper Clause (in conjunction with the Commerce Clause) because it improperly "commandeers" the people and thereby violates their sovereignty. In this paper, I counter that the argument from sovereignty is unavailing because it is, among other defects, hopelessly ambiguous. The variety of historically attested meanings of "sovereignty" renders the concept useless for purposes of answering questions of comparative authority, including the authority of the Congress to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance from a private market. There is no analytical help to be had from following the Supreme Court's lead and imputing "sovereignty" to the nation state, each of the fifty states, the people, the people of each state, tribes, and each individual. Sovereignty purports to be a scalar quantity, but such a quantity cannot be univocally predicated of these many different kinds of things. There is a better way forward. When the libertarian element in contemporary "conservatism" is judged against a traditional account of natural law and of the natural and positive-law rights it generates, there is room to ask whether the individual mandate is (1) within our particular government's scope and (2) good, in fact, for the people for whom the government exists. The paper argues that, in addition to being hopelessly ambiguous, claims to sovereignty are false.


The optogalvanic spectrum of lutetium in the 5650–6250-A wavelength range was studied with a cw dye laser and a hollow-cathode lamp. The relative intensities of the observed spectral lines and the classification for some of the new transitions of Lu i are reported. With a single-frequency dye laser as the excitation source in the optogalvanic detection setup, the hyperfine structure of many excited levels of 175Lu were investigated, and the corresponding hyperfine coupling constants were measured. The hyperfine coupling constants of the 37 193.98-,37 742.56-, and 39 279.48-cm−1 levels of the 5d6s7s even configuration, the 36 952.93-cm−1 level of the 6s27d even configuration, and the 43 514.29-cm−1 level of the 6s225p odd configuration are reported here. For other configurations studied, the present results are compared with the theoretical and experimental values available in the literature.


The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is important for chiral domain walls (DWs) and for stabilizing magnetic skyrmions. We study the effects of introducing increasing thicknesses of Ir, from zero to 2 nm, into a Pt/Co/Ta multilayer between the Co and Ta layers. There is a marked increase in magnetic moment, due to the suppression of the dead layer at the interface with Ta, but the perpendicular anisotropy is hardly affected. All samples show a universal scaling of the field-driven DW velocity across the creep and depinning regimes. Asymmetric bubble expansion shows that DWs in all of the samples have the left-handed Néel form. The value of in-plane magnetic field at which the creep velocity shows a minimum drops markedly on the introduction of Ir, as does the frequency shift of the Stokes and anti-Stokes peaks in Brillouin light scattering (BLS) measurements. Despite this qualitative similarity, there are quantitative differences in the DMI strength given by the two measurements, with BLS often returning higher values. Many features in bubble expansion velocity curves do not fit simple models commonly used, namely a lack of symmetry about the velocity minimum and no difference in velocities at high in-plane fields. These features are explained by the use of a new model in which the depinning field is allowed to vary with in-plane field in a way determined from micromagnetic simulations. This theory shows that the velocity minimum underestimates the DMI field, consistent with BLS giving higher values. Our results suggest that the DMI at an Ir/Co interface has the same sign as the DMI at a Pt/Co interface.


Should policymakers incentivize electric vehicle (EV) purchases first or invest in charging stations first? This report explores this so-called chicken-and-egg dilemma and provides recommendations for growing the EV market and increasing investment in EV charging stations. The authors compare EV markets across states with a focus on New York, which falls in the middle of the 50 states in terms of EVs as a percentage of new car registrations and number of chargers per capita. The analysis suggests that the best way for policymakers to facilitate the growth of the overall market is to grow electric vehicle purchases and allow the private sector to provide charging. At the same time, there are important roles that governments can play in facilitating the development of a more robust EV charging infrastructure. This report also explores policy options for supporting a growing EV and EV charging market.


The excessive volatility of prices in financial markets is one of the most pressing puzzles in social science. It has led many to question economic theory, which attributes beneficial effects to markets in the allocation of risks and the aggregation of information. In exploring its causes, we investigated to what extent excessive volatility can be observed at the individual level. Economists claim that securities prices are forecasts of future outcomes. Here, we report on a simple experiment in which participants were rewarded to make the most accurate possible forecast of a canonical financial time series. We discovered excessive volatility in individual-level forecasts, paralleling the finding at the market level. Assuming that participants updated their beliefs based on reinforcement learning, we show that excess volatility emerged because of a combination of three factors. First, we found that submitted forecasts were noisy perturbations of participants' revealed beliefs. Second, beliefs were updated using a prediction error based on submitted forecast rather than revealed past beliefs. Third, in updating beliefs, participants maladaptively decreased learning speed with prediction risk. Our results reveal formerly undocumented features in individual-level forecasting that may be critical to understand the inherent instability of financial markets and inform regulatory policy.


The purpose of this study was to examine whether there are significant relationships between the general satisfaction of students and learner-content interaction, learner-instructor interaction, learner-learner interaction, and learner-technology interaction in 100% online courses. There were 310 responses from the students. This study did not use data from duplicate students and instructors. Excel was used to find duplicate students and instructors; therefore, 128 responses were deleted. After examination of box plots, an additional four cases were removed because they were outliers on seven or more variables. Nineteen responses were deleted because they did not answer all questions of interest, resulting in a total sample of 159 students. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the four independent variables and the dependent variable. In addition to tests for statistical significance, practical significance was evaluated with the multiple R2 , which reported the common variance between independent variables and dependent variable. The two variables of learner-content and learner-instructor interaction play a significant role in predicting online satisfaction. Minimally, the variable learner-technology can predict online satisfaction and is an important construct that must be considered when offering online courses. Results of this study provide help in establishing a valid and reliable survey instrument and in developing an online best learning environment, as well as recommendations for institutions offering online learning or considering the development of online learning courses.


Introduction. Previous search query analysis studies demonstrated that emotional perceptions and needs tend not to be sufficiently reflected in image queries. To provide a better understanding of the emotional attributes of an image, this study explored and compared such attributes obtained from related tasks. Method. This study analysed attributes of an image through sorting, describing and searching. A dataset was obtained from Flickr images tagged with one of six basic emotions (love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness and fear); fiftynine students participated. Results. The sorting and describing tasks revealed two categories of emotions, joy and sadness, which people perceive from images. They also revealed some emotional terms which were chosen frequently as labels for sorted images. Comparison of image perceptions obtained from the three tasks performed on an image demonstrated similar perceptions, but there are minor differences resulting from the unique characteristics of each task or research setting. Conclusions. The categories of joy and sadness, along with the identified frequently used emotional terms, should receive attention in designing image indexing and retrieval systems. Also, the features of each task and environment setting should be considered when developing a research design exploring emotional aspects of an image.


Tethered flight in a 3-day-old female Drosophila was sustained for 32.2 h with only short interruptions during uptake of sucrose solution. The course-control reactions derived from the difference of the wingbeat amplitudes on either side have been used to simulate the rotatory displacement of the surrounding landmarks during a comparable turn in free flight. Stabilization of a target in the preferred area of the visual field requires continuous visual attention. A rate of about 5 course-correcting manoeuvres per second was maintained throughout the experiment. Drosophila seems to be able to cover long distances in search of a favourable habitat.

Flight-specific carbohydrate consumption is equivalent to a metabolic power input per body weight of about 18 W N−1. The tethered fly produces about 40 % of the lift required to sustain hovering flight. The resulting mechanochemical efficiency of about 0.04-0.07 is within the expected order of magnitude for flying insects. Expenditure of reserve substances may account for the difference between the comparatively low power input of about 7 WN−1 derived from carbohydrate uptake in the first hours of flight (Wigglesworth, 1949), and the actual metabolic turnover of about 21WN−1 derived from oxygen consumption during this period (Laurie-Ahlberg et al . 1985).

Weis-Fogh's 'clap and fling', a widespread lift-generating process exploiting the aerodynamic wing interference at the dorsal end of the wingbeat, was in action throughout the flight. However, there were two significant modifications (as first conceived by Ellington, 1980): (1) during 'clap', there is a progress of wing contact from the leading to the trailing edge, which is likely to 'squeeze' a thrust-generating jet of air to the rear; (2) during 'fling', there is a progress of wing separation in the same direction, which is described as a 'peel' resembling the progressive separation of two plastic foils pulled apart against forces of mutual attraction. The wings of the test fly survived about 23 million such peels without damage. Increasing airspeed decreases the intensity of 'clap and fling' in Drosophila : results obtained in the wind tunnel show the transition to a 'near clap and fling', lacking mutual wing contact.


This book is based on Enid Guene Master's thesis 'Copper, Borders and Nation-building: The Katangese Factor in Zambian Economic and Political History', runner-up in the African Studies Centre, Leiden's 2014 African Thesis Award. This annual award for Master's students encourages student research and writing on Africa and promotes the study of African cultures and societies.
The Copperbelt has, for about a century, formed the economic backbone of the two countries that host it: the Republic of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Zambian and Congolese Copperbelts share long-standing economic, social and political ties, resulting in their histories being peppered with points of interconnections. Yet, there exists no integrated history of the Copperbelt. This tendency to see the Copperbelt as not one but two entities has to do with several factors, at the root of which is the Copperbelt's distribution over two countries. This created an artificial division in the eyes of many observers, a division which, crucially, was reflected in academic research. The Zambian and Congolese Copperbelt have traditionally belonged to two distinct academic traditions, one English-speaking and the other French-speaking. As a result, there has been a tendency to overlook the actual interplay that existed between them. This interplay is what the present narrative proposes to investigate, going from pre-colonial linkages to the circumstances in which the border was set up and the patterns of migrations that the appearance of two competing and neighbouring mining centres engendered. The influence of these processes on Zambian political development will also be considered.


1 Samuel 19 tells of David's escapes from attempts on his life made by King Saul. This article examines Josephus' retelling of the biblical chapter in his Ant. 6.205-223. In particular, the article addresses three overarching questions: 1) Which text-form(s) of 1 Samuel 19 did Josephus utilize? 2) What rewriting techniques did he apply to the biblical data and what is distinctive about his own version given his application of these techniques? And 3) How does Josephus's retelling of 1 Samuel 19 relates to other early Jewish and Christian references to the chapter?


Received: July 24, 2019 Accepted: August 27, 2019 Published: September 30, 2019 Volume:2 Issue: 5 DOI: 10.32996/ijllt.2019.2.5.39 Several translation experts still argue whether metaphors can be translated or not as they cannot be separated from their cultural contents. The aim of the writer of the palm-leaf manuscript of Cilinaye to use metaphors is that there are many ideas, feelings and objectives which cannot be understood if they are literally expressed, as expressed in the symbols used in the metaphorical expressions. This current study is a product-oriented translation study in which the qualitative descriptive approach was applied. This approach was used to explain the types, functions and meanings of metaphors, and the problems of metaphoric translation in the palm-leaf manuscript of Cilinaye from the Sasak language into the Indonesian language. Based on the results of analysis and discussion, several conclusions can be drawn as follows. First, the metaphors in the Sasak language using the same symbols can be used to express different meanings. As an illustration, if the prefix 'be-'is added to the expression 'lauk daye', it will become 'belauk bedaye', causing the meaning expressed in SL to be different from that expressed in TL. Second, the concept proposed by Ching. Ed. (1980) that metaphors can be divided into Human, Animate, Living, Objective, Terrestrial, Substantial, Energy, Cosmic, and Being metaphors are not complete yet. The reason is that in the text used as the data source of the current study, the researcher also found the metaphors using directions such as down-up, frontback, east-west, southnorth, and so forth. Third, several metaphors were also found to be used to express the same meaning, for example, the concept 'anak' (child) was expressed using a number of different metaphors; they are nune, Pegeran buaq ate ngaji, and Dende Pati Anaq kaji. Apart from that, the researcher also found that the concept 'gadis' (gir ) was expressed using a number of metaphors; they are Duh mas mirah kembang mete, Duh mas mirah serining kasur, Duh mas mirah buaq bulu, Neneq bini, Duh den dare masku, Dendare, dende, and Duh mas mirah dende ayu. KEYWORDS


In this paper, we describe the Distributed Cycle Minimization Protocol (DCMP), a dynamic fully decentralized protocol that significantly reduces the duplicate messages by eliminating unnecessary cycles. As queries are transmitted through the peers, DCMP identifies the problematic paths and attempts to break the cycles while maintaining the connectivity of the network. In order to preserve the fault resilience and load balancing properties of unstructured P2P systems, DCMP avoids creating a hierarchical organization. Instead, it applies cycle elimination symmetrically around some powerful peers to keep the average path length small.The overall structure is constructed fast with very low overhead. With the information collected during this process, distributed maintenance is performed efficiently even if peers quit the system without notification. The experimental results from our simulator and the prototype implementation on Planet Lab confirm that DCMP significantly improves the scalability of unstructured P2P systems without sacrificing their desirable properties. Moreover, due to its simplicity, DCMP can be easily implemented in various existing P2P systems and is orthogonal to the search algorithms


We synthesized two types of novel poly(3-alkylthiophene)-free (D)n-b-(A)m conjugated block copolymers: PTQI-block-PNDISs. PTQI-b-PNDIS is the fully conjugated block copolymer, in which the donor block is connected to the acceptor block via a π-conjugated unit. In addition, the donor block was connected to an acceptor block through a non-conjugated alkylene spacer, yielding PTQI-b-PNDISL, which is a partially conjugated block copolymer. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) was 1.54% with an open-circuit voltage of 0.79 V in the single-component polymer solar cell (PSC) based on PTQI-b-PNDISL, better performance than that of the PSC containing PTQI-b-PNDIS (PCE ∼ 0.36%). These results reveal the potential for improving the photovoltaic performance in PSCs by controlling the internal morphology with exploitation of the self-segregating behavior of p- and n-blocks in the film state.


ABSTRACT Oyster shell is a crucial component of healthy oyster reefs. Shell planting has been a main component of oyster restoration efforts in many habitats and has been carried out on scales from individual and grassroots efforts to multiagency efforts across entire estuaries. However, the cycling and lifetime of the shell that makes up the bulk of an oyster reef has only recently received attention, and most of the work to date has focused on the role of epi- and endobionts on shell degradation. Here we report findings from a laboratory study in which we manipulated pH in a flow-through control system using water from the mesohaline mouth of the Patuxent River to measure dissolution rates of intact oyster shell. Shells from the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin 1791) with three different legacies were exposed to 4 levels of pH that encompass a range typical of the mesohaline waters of the Chesapeake Bay (∼7.2–7.9 on the NBS scale). Mass loss over a 2-wk period was used to measure dissolution rate on 3 shell legacies: fresh, weathered, and dredged. We found that pH and shell legacy had significant effects on shell dissolution rate, with lower pH increasing dissolution rate. Fresh shell had the highest dissolution rate, followed by weathered then dredged shell. Dissolution rates were significantly different among all 4 pH treatments, except between the lowest (∼7.2) and the next lowest (∼7.4); however, shells lost mass even under noncorrosive conditions (∼7.9). We discuss the implications of our findings to ongoing efforts to understand shell budgets and cycling in oyster reef habitat, the interaction of biological and geochemical agents of shell degradation, and the complexity associated with shell carbonate cycling in the unique milieu of the oyster reef.


Systems Thinking, Design Thinking and Leadership have largely been developed independently of each other. More recently, there have been, ongoing initiatives to integrate Systems Thinking and Design Thinking. The main aim of this abstract paper is to suggest that the effectiveness of this integrated approach is uniquely linked to leadership. The paper will emphasise the important role played by leadership and explore how leadership has developed through the different paradigms. The benefits of viewing these transitions from a Kuhnian scientific paradigm perspective is highlighted followed by a Systemic view of leadership and then a presentation of a Design Thinking perspective noting that the attributes arising out of the two approaches will benefit leadership. This leads to a discussion of how leadership will benefit from the integrated Systems and Design Thinking approach.


Abstract. Nowadays, the digital reconstruction of vaults is carried out using photogrammetric and laser scanning techniques able to capture the visible surface with dense point clouds. Then, different modeling strategies allow the generation of 3D models in various formats, such as meshes that interpolates the acquired point cloud, NURBS-based reconstructions based on manual, semi-automated, or automated procedures, and parametric objects for Building Information Modeling. This paper proposes a novel method that reconstructs the visible surface of a vault using neural networks. It is based on the assumption that vaults are not irregular free-form objects, but they can be reconstructed by mathematical functions calculated from the acquired point clouds. The proposed approach uses the point cloud to train a neural network that approximates vault surface. The achieved solution is not only able to consider the basic geometry of the vault, but also its irregularities that cannot be neglected in the case of accurate and detailed modeling projects of historical vaults. Considerations on the approximation capabilities of neural networks are illustrated and discussed along with the advantages of creating a mathematical representation encapsulated into a function.


Human activity is affecting species and ecosystems all over the world. In aquatic systems negative trends can be seen for many fish stocks and potential consequences of this, for ecosystem structure and functions, are of particular concern. Overexploitation is often suggested as a major driver behind these changes but other factors such as acidification, habitat destruction, eutrophication, pollution, introduction of alien species and climate change are also considered important. Fisheries biologist are now faced with the challenge of finding suitable management for affected fish stocks but the task is difficult because the causal connections tend to be complex, involving many factors and synergistic effects as well as interactions among species that may lead to cascades of indirect effects within communities. Thus, to fully understand, ameliorate and predict the complex effects of disturbances and environmental change on ecosystems, knowledge of species and how they interact with each other and the environment is required. This has led to an increased demand for multispecies management of fisheries and ecosystem-based management and food webs are central to both these approaches. This thesis is an attempt to use a food web approach to increase our understanding of an endangered fish stock in Europe's sixth, and Sweden's second largest lake: Lake Vattern. Lake Vattern is a deep, oligotrophic lake in south-central Sweden that harbours some 30 species of fish, among these a large-bodied form of Arctic charr: great Arctic charr (Salvelinus umbla). The stock of great Arctic charr in Lake Vattern used to be of great importance for the commercial fisheries but today the stock is considered critically endangered. Suggested causes for the decline and/or problems for the stock to recover include overexploitation, decreased nutrient loading, climate change and introduction of Salmon (Salmo salar) and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). The focus of this thesis is great Arctic charr in Lake Vattern and the dramatic decline of this important fish stock during the second part of the 20th century. In a series of papers we combine field experiments, analyses of climate, commercial harvest and stock survey data, stomach content analyses and model simulations to study several of the suggested causes for the decline of the stock of great Arctic charr and discuss implications of the results for future management of the stock. In Paper I we investigate the potential effect of the introduced signal crayfish on the stock of great Arctic charr, using a controlled field experiment. More precisely, we investigate the extent of predation on eggs of great Arctic charr. We are able to partition the total loss rate of eggs into background mortality, predation mortality from introduced crayfish and predation from native fish. It has earlier been suggested that predation on eggs of great Arctic charr by fish is more important than by crayfish. However, we find that the mortality rate due to signal crayfish in our experiment is more than five times that because of native fish. We thereby conclude that crayfish predation are at least of the same magnitude, or even greater, than fish predation and that high abundance of signal crayfish on spawning sites could impair the recovery of the stock of great Arctic charr in Lake Vattern. Thus, suggests that targeted reductions of signal crayfish on selected spawning grounds are potential management options that should be considered. In Paper II we use survey data from 2006-2010 of the stock of great Arctic charr to first estimate the selection curves for the gillnets used in the survey and subsequently estimate the size-frequency distribution and relative abundance of the stock. We begin by analyzing some of the assumptions behind the so called SELECT-model, which is used to estimate selection curves, and suggest how data can be treated to better conform to these assumptions. We show that by removing potentially nonmeshed fish from the data and taking non-isometric growth into account, our approach results in narrower and less asymmetric selection curves with a significantly better model fit. Next, using the obtained selection curves, we estimate the size frequency distribution and relative abundance of great Arctic charr in different years and find that mortality of medium-sized fish have decreased and abundance of fish is increasing slightly. Likely causes for this are the new fishery regulations that were implemented in 2007. Generally speaking, our study demonstrates an approach that is expected to increase the accuracy of estimates of fish size-distributions from survey data and more specifically, this is expected to lead to better understanding the dynamics of the endangered stock of great Arctic charr in Lake Vattern. Paper III uses records of commercial catch data since 1914 to analyse the potential effects of climate change on great Arctic charr in Lake Vattern. We find that there is a positive effect of winters with ice on the stock of Arctic charr that can be seen as increasing commercial catches that peak four years after an ice-winter. Furthermore, the positive effect increases with the duration of the ice winter. It is unclear however, if this is a direct or indirect effect of ice on the stock of great Arctic charr. To analyze this, the date of different development stages in hatching for eggs of great Arctic charr is estimated using water temperature data since 1955. The results show that there is a positive correlation between the predicted date of fully consumed yolk sac and standardized catches six years later. This suggests that warmer winters, which result in early hatching of eggs and early date for when the yolk sack is consumed, will affect survival of fry and subsequent recruitment to older size classes negatively. Thus, lending support for a strong possibility for a trophic mismatch. Our study show that climate do appear to affect the stock of great Arctic charr in several ways and underscore the fear that future climate change will have negative consequences for the stock. Paper IV uses stomach content analysis to (i) describe the diets of fish and thus identify and quantify links in the pelagic food web in present day Lake Vattern, and (ii) compare the results with older diet data to see if observed changes in Lake Vattern in the last 30-40 years have led to any changes in the trophic interactions between the species. Overall, we conclude that the investigated food web structure of Lake Vattern has remained largely intact and stable during the last 50 years even if there have been introductions of non-native species and environmental changes in Lake Vattern. However, when comparing the old and new data there appear to have been some diet shifts for some species. For example, the diets during summer for both great Arctic charr and Atlantic salmon in our study suggest a possible shift to a diet dominated by three-spined stickleback, thus, indicating support that an increased interspecific competition between these species may have occurred. Finally, Paper V develops and analyzes a size-structured model of the pelagic food web of Lake Vattern. The aim is to analyze the combined effects of some of the suggested causes for the decline of the stock of great Arctic charr in Lake Vattern. We incorporate results from preceding papers to quantify trophic links in the food web and define a realistic starting size distribution of great Arctic charr. In the model we vary the stocking of salmon, the fishing pressure and the abundance of signal crayfish and study the effects on different size classes of great Arctic charr. We find that a decrease in salmon stocking into the lake has the greatest positive impact on large great Arctic charr while a decrease in fishing intensity has the greatest positive impact on smaller sizes of great Arctic charr.


The Chinese government has set an ambitious target to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions per unit GDP by 40 – 45% during 2005 to 2020. The T21 national development model for China was developed for the purpose of analyzing the effects of long-term national policies that relate to carbon emissions, loss of farm land, water shortage, energy security, and food security, and illustrating their contributions to this reduction target. The focus of this paper is on the policies that have substantial impacts on carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Four scenarios are developed with the model to simulate the future carbon emissions: 1) the BAU (business as usual) scenario which shows the likely results of continuing current policies; 2) the TECH (technology) scenario, which shows the effects of more investment in renewable energy sources and promoting more energy efficient technologies; 3) the BEHAVIOR scenario, which shows how government tax and price policies, together with public education programs, would instigate behaviour changes towards more sustainable living; and 4) the TECH&BEHA scenario, which shows the results of combining scenarios 2 and 3. The scenario results show that the 40 45% carbon emission reduction for the period 2005 – 2020 is achievable.


Exposure of mammalian cells to radiation triggers the ultraviolet (UV) response, which includes activation of activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B). This was postulated to occur by induction of a nuclear signaling cascade by damaged DNA. Recently, induction of AP-1 by UV was shown to be mediated by a pathway involving Src tyrosine kinases and the Ha-Ras small guanosine triphosphate-binding protein, proteins located at the plasma membrane. It is demonstrated here that the same pathway mediates induction of NF-kappa B by UV. Because inactive NF-kappa B is stored in the cytosol, analysis of its activation directly tests the involvement of a nuclear-initiated signaling cascade. Enucleated cells are fully responsive to UV both in NF-kappa B induction and in activation of another key signaling event. Therefore, the UV response does not require a signal generated in the nucleus and is likely to be initiated at or near the plasma membrane.


In this paper, I qualitatively examine the rise and possible fall of statutory district plans as a major tool of regional planning in Israel. Rigid statutory regional plans are a top-down means, and the Israeli case demonstrates that their days are not necessarily over in an era of 'soft spaces' and complex governance networks. The swing of the pendulum in attitudes toward these plans is not associated with centralization–decentralization trends. Rather, it reflects power relations between two centralized coalitions of stakeholders. The one led by elected politicians favors proactive-developmental goals, aiming at state-led open-ended or non-statutory planning. The other coalition, led by central state bureaucrats, favors strict regulation. NGOs, assumed to form the core of soft horizontal governance networks, paradoxically support top-down 'hard' modes of regional planning, in the name of environmental sustainability that is not necessarily best served by bottom-up soft approaches.


Brazing diamond grits onto steel substrate using a Ni-based filler alloy was carried out via laser beam in an argon atmosphere. The microstructure of the interfacial region among the Diamond grits and the filler layer were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopes (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Meanwhile, the formation mechanism of carbide layers was discussed. All the results indicated that the active element chromium in the Ni-based alloy concentrated preferentially to the surface of the grits to form a chromium-rich layer, and the hard joint between the alloy and the steel substrate is established through a cross-diffusion of iron and Ni-based alloy through parameters optimization.


Whereas electronic properties of As-bearing compounds find various industrial applications in smartphone and photovoltaic devices, or in superconductor materials, arsenic is a toxic element present in a variety of contaminated surface environments. In natural media, the knowledge of its chemical speciation and oxidation state is crucial to apprehend its mobility, bioavailability and toxicity towards the ecosystems. To that purpose, chemical selective experimental methods, such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and related techniques are powerful tools. Here, a selection of As species in the As–Fe–S system presenting various oxidation states and local structures are thoroughly discriminated using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS), high-energy fluorescence detection (HERFD-XANES), and first-principles X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) calculations, highlighting the interest of going beyond the usual fingerprint analysis of standard experimental XANES spectra. The position of maximum fluorescence on the RIXS plane is proved to be an advanced fingerprint of the As local environment. HERFD-XANES spectra are found to significantly improve the spectral resolution and to reduce the signal background at the As K-edge, but have to be interpreted carefully as they present different shifts in energy compared to their standard XANES counterparts. First-principles As K-edge XANES calculations are performed for reference compounds with arsenic oxidation states ranging from −I to +III (arsenopyrite (FeAsS), lollingite (FeAs2), realgar (AsS) and orpiment (As2S3)). Comparison with experimental spectra shows that the oxidation state of As can be retrieved from the position of the inflection point of the edge. XANES calculations are also carried out for As incorporated as an impurity in pyrite either at the S tetrahedral or Fe octahedral sites, allowing us to draw conclusions on the oxidation state of As in this mineral ubiquitous in the environment.


With hand press books, there can be variants within the same setting, as a result of corrections made while the print run is in progress. These "stop-press variants" provide important clues to reconstruct the process of book production and discover practices unique to certain printing houses. Without collation, stop-press variants are very di$cult to detect because they can be rather subtle. This article reviews methods and instruments that have been used to collate printed books in the past, such as the Hinman Collator. It goes on to describe the merits and demerits of these methods, and define the necessary and desirable requirements for collation especially for collation of early printed books in Europe. This paper proposes a new approach to precise collation that makes use of the superimposition of digital images. In addition to being less costly, this approach is more detailed, more precise, and easier to implement than previous methods. Furthermore, it provides an objective way to identify di#erences. Two methods of applying the principle of superimposition, static and dynamic, are given along with technical details and software requirements. A case study is also discussed. 原著論文 デジタル画像を用いた刊本の校合の手法


Brown spot of rice incited by Drechslera oryzae (Breda de Haan) Subramanian and Jain is the most important disease of rice. Regular occurence of disease and heavy yield losses caused by this disease in Bihar prompted us to undertake the studies. Out of seven fungicides tested Antracol 75 WP (1.5 g/l) and RIL-FA 200SC (2.5 ml/l) reduced the disease severity and increased the yield. Among the biopesticides Tricure (5 ml/l), Biotos (2.5 ml/l) and Achook (5 ml/l) were found significantly effective in checking the brown spot severity and increasing the yield.


Upper Hettangian (Lower Jurassic) marginal-marine Przysucha Ore-bearing Formation exposed at Zapniow mine and clay-pit (northwestern part of the Holy Cross Mountains area, central Poland) revealed an interesting assemblage of dinosaur tracks. Although mostly yielding poorly preserved and isolated tracks probably left in shallow water conditions, the site nevertheless indicates a diversity of early saurischian (theropods and sauropodomorphs) and ornithischian (thyreophorans) dinosaur trackmakers. This new assemblage is partly consistent with the Lower-Middle Hettangian ichnorecord from the same region. The tracks are preserved in sediments of a barrier-foreshore origin within a barrier/lagoonal depositional system, belonging to the highstand systems tract, located below a marked erosional surface (sequence boundary), which is associated with a substantial fall in sea level at the end of Hettangian times. Here we described all previously and newly collected or observed in the field dinosaur tracks from both surface and underground exposures at Zapniow. Four ichnospecies: Grallator isp., Anchisauripus isp., cf. Tetrasauropus isp., and cf. Anomoepus isp. were identified. The theropod and ornithischian tracks show distinct similarities to those described from the richest in this region and most famous Gliniany Las dinosaur track assemblage, in age approximately coeval to Zapniow. Two sizes of theropod tracks (small and medium) indicate the presence of two different size classes or species of predators in this area. The described cf. Tetrasauropus isp. from Zapniow is the first unquestioned evidence of basal sauropodomorphs in the Upper Hettangian of the Holy Cross Mountains and first record of this ichnotaxa in the Lower Jurassic of Poland. Additionally, two theropod trackways ( Anchisauripus isp.) show evidence for trotting. The new finds suggest similarities between marginal-marine environments (delta-plain and foreshore-barrier/lagoon lithofacies) association of dinosaurs containing low-browsing thyreophorans accompanied by small or juvenile sauropodomorphs and small to medium sized theropods. Presence of the ornithischian footprints suggests their prominent role as a major component in Middle-Upper Hettangian dinosaur faunas in marginal-marine environments dominating in the region


Although the Ganges River Basin (GRB) has abundant water resources, the seasonal monsoon causes a mismatch in water supply and demand, which creates severe water-related challenges for the people living in the basin, the rapidly growing economy and the environment. Addressing these increasing challenges will depend on how people manage the basin's groundwater resources, on which the reliance will increase further due to limited prospects for additional surface storage development. This report assesses the potential of the Ganges Water Machine (GWM), a concept proposed 40 years ago, to meet the increasing water demand through groundwater, and mitigate the impacts of floods and droughts. The GWM provides additional subsurface storage (SSS) through the accelerated use of groundwater prior to the onset of the monsoon season, and subsequent recharging of this SSS through monsoon surface runoff. It was identified that there is potential to enhance SSS through managed aquifer recharge during the monsoon season, and to use solar energy for groundwater pumping, which is financially more viable than using diesel as practiced in many areas at present. The report further explores the limitations associated with water quality issues for pumping and recharge in the GRB, and discusses other related challenges, including availability of land for recharge structures and people's willingness to increase the cropping intensity beyond the present level.


This chapter discusses explicit knowledge about language in second language (L2) learning from a usage-based perspective, which is here defined broadly to include theoretical approaches such as complexity theory, emergentism, cognitive linguistics and related constructionist theories of language. A definition of explicit and implicit knowledge and learning is provided, followed by a brief outline of the main claims of the theories included under the usage-based umbrella. Then ways of measuring explicit knowledge in L2 learning that are compatible with a usage-based perspective are presented. Drawing on the theoretical concepts introduced as well as empirical findings to date, the role of explicit knowledge in L2 learning including both benefits and limitations is detailed. Finally, suggestions for further research are put forward.


Each attribute stored in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
(LDAP) directory, whose values may be transferred in the LDAP
protocol, has a defined syntax that constrains the structure and
format of its values. The comparison semantics for values of a syntax
are not part of the syntax definition but are instead provided through
separately defined matching rules. Matching rules specify an argument,
an assertion value, which also has a defined syntax. This document
defines a base set of syntaxes and matching rules for use in defining
attributes for LDAP directories. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


Species are commonly segregated along gradients of microclimate and veg- etation. I explore the question of whether segregation is the result of microhabitat parti- tioning (biotic effects) or choice of differing microclimates (abiotic effects). I explored this question for four ground-nesting bird species that are segregated along a microclimate and vegetation gradient in Arizona. Birds shifted position of their nests on the microhabitat and microclimate gradient in response to changing precipitation over nine years. Similarly, annual bird abundance varied with precipitation across 12 yr. Those shifts in abundance and nesting microhabitat with changing precipitation demonstrate the importance of abiotic influences on bird distributions and habitat choice. However, nest-site shifts and micro- habitat use also appear to be influenced by interactions among coexisting species. Moreover, shifts in habitat use by all species caused nest predation (i.e., biotic) costs that increased with increasing distance along the microclimate gradient. These results indicate that abiotic and biotic costs can strongly interact to influence microhabitat choice and abundances of coexisting species. Global climate change impacts have been considered largely in terms of simple distributional shifts, but these results indicate that shifts can also increase biotic costs when species move into habitat types for which they are poorly adapted or that create new biotic interactions.


The increasing importance of location‐aware computing and context‐dependent infor‐ mation has led to a growing interest in low‐cost indoor positioning with submeter accuracy. Localization algorithms can be classified into range‐based and range‐free tech‐ niques. Additionally, localization algorithms are heavily influenced by the technology and network architecture utilized. Availability, cost, reliability and accuracy of localiza‐ tion are the most important parameters when selecting a localization method. In this chapter, we introduce basic localization techniques, discuss how they are implemented with radio frequency devices and then characterize the localization techniques based on the network architecture, utilized technologies and application of localization. We then investigate and address localization in indoor environments where the absence of global positioning system (GPS) and the presence of unique radio propagation properties make this problem one of the most challenging topics of localization in wireless networks. In particular, we study and review the previous work for indoor localization based on radio frequency (RF) signaling (like Bluetooth‐based localization) to illustrate localization chal‐ lenges and how some of them can be overcome.


Advanced equalization and coded-modulation strategies for multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) communication are considered. The focus is on techniques that are suited for the application in multiuser MIMO uplink transmission (MIMO multiple-access channel) or multiuser MIMO downlink transmission (MIMO broadcast channel). This particularly includes lattice-reduction-aided (LRA) schemes which have become popular in recent years. In LRA schemes, the MIMO channel matrix is factorized into two parts: a unimodular integer matrix and a residual non-integer matrix. Given that factorization, only the non-integer part is conventionally equalized, either by means of linear equalization or the application of the principle of successive interference cancellation (SIC). In contrast to that, the integer interference can be resolved without any performance-harming noise enhancement. From a mathematical point of view, the integer matrix describes a change to a more suited basis for channel equalization. Consequently, the channel factorization can be obtained by well-known lattice-basis-reduction algorithms, e.g., the Lenstra–Lenstra–Lovász (LLL) algorithm. However, concentrating on the treatment of the multiuser MIMO interference, LRA schemes have most often been treated uncoded, i.e., neglecting the combination with a convenient codedmodulation approach. This situation has changed with the concept of integer-forcing (IF) equalization. In IF schemes, the channel matrix is factorized, too. Nevertheless, the integer interference is resolved over the nite eld of the channel code—creating a close coupling between channel equalization and coded modulation. For the niteeld integer matrix, the unimodularity constraint as present in LRA schemes can be relaxed to a full-rank constraint. This not only brings up the question if, in classical LRA schemes, the unimodularity constraint is really necessary, but also if the LRA techniques have really been operated in an optimum or at least in a close-to-optimum way. Hence, in this thesis, strategies and approaches are identi ed that enable a performance gain over the state-of-the-art application of LRA receiveror transmitter-side equalization. First, this involves the choice of the signal constellation. In particular, constellations over the Eisenstein integers—the hexagonal lattice over the complex plane—are studied. These signal constellations as well as conventional quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) ones are combined with coded-modulation schemes that are suited for the application in multiuser MIMO communications using binary or non-binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Moreover, criteria and algorithms for lattice basis reduction are reviewed and extended for lattices over Eisenstein integers. These considerations also include the abovementioned relaxation to full-rank integer matrices, which is speci cally known as successive minima problem. A recapitulation of conventional linear and SIC-based equalization schemes is provided, where the famous V-BLAST detection strategy is regarded from the perspective of lattice theory. Following this, optimum or close-to-optimum channel factorization strategies and related algorithms


A novel unsupervised neural network for dimensionality reduction that seeks directions emphasizing multimodality is presented, and its connection to exploratory projection pursuit methods is discussed. This leads to a new statistical insight into the synaptic modification equations governing learning in Bienenstock, Cooper, and Munro (BCM) neurons (1982). The importance of a dimensionality reduction principle based solely on distinguishing features is demonstrated using a phoneme recognition experiment. The extracted features are compared with features extracted using a backpropagation network.