It is well established that parents played an important role in their children's marital decisions in early modern England, as they could bless or condemn matches. Acting in an equally significant capacity, a young couple's friends could also bless or condemn a potential romantic match. However, few historians of early modern England have explored the role of male or female friendships during the formation of romantic relationships. This essay will examine the role that male youths played in their friend's romances and will focus on their significance during pre-marital sexual interactions, courtship, rejection, and post-marital difficulties.1 The examination of male youth's role in their friends' romantic relationships represents an intersection between the study of courtship and youth history, specifically youth masculinity and friendship. While early modern marriages have been a topic of examination since the 1960s, numerous debates have divided scholarly opinion. Disputes include whether marital relationships were oppressive or affectionate, whether they were constructed around affection or social and economic improvement, and the extent to which individuals could choose their partners. Of special relevance to this essay is the debate regarding individual choice specifically if parents and community members controlled the marriage of their children, or if couples had agency in the decision. Historian Diana O'Hara has addressed this debate with a nuanced approach by suggesting that youth had agency in marital decisions, but the opinions of family and friends were


Much have been said about metadata which is "data about data" used for classification and retrieval of information. However, metadata is not created by itself. This paper will present the design, interface and implementation of our own metadata tool called Metadata Management System, MMS that was developed to facilitate the creation, maintenance and storage of metadata. This metadata tool supports two well-known metadata models, Dublin Core and SCORM 1.2 (IEEE Learning Object Metadata). The author will also elaborate on the implementation of metadata in the Malaysia Grid for Learning, (MyGfL) portal. These would include the usage of MMS by MyGfL potential content providers, problems encountered and their feedback about the MMS.


Drying is one of the most energy intensive industrial operations, and it is well established that heat pump driers (HPDs), by recycling waste heat, may provide significantly higher drying energy efficiencies and lower net greenhouse gas emissions than conventional driers. In addition, however, in the design of the HPDs themselves, there remains significant further scope for energy-efficiency improvements. Second-law analyses of HPDs have shown previously that losses associated with the convective transfer of heat to the drying process are a significant limiting factor for energy efficiency. This thesis uses numerical simulation to explore the possibility of improving on the energy performance of HPD systems by employing conductive heat transfer from the refrigerant condenser, through a heating plate and through the product itself, to drive the drying process in an "isothermal contact" HPD (ICHPD). The duct model that is developed combines a detailed air-flow model, which solves the mass, momentum and energy balances within the drier ducts, with a detailed internal drying process model, incorporating a description of the transport phenomena occurring within the porous product medium. The whole-system dynamical HPD model, which results when the drier-duct model is integrated with a pre-existing heat pump model, is capable of describing the evolution of non-steady batch drying. It is established that for applicable products the ICHPD configuration may increase the energy efficiency of heat pump drying by as much as a factor of three compared with conventional adiabatic HPDs. This ICHPD energy efficiency gain (relative to the adiabatic mode) is, however, demonstrated to be highly sensitive to the product thickness (δ). The energy efficiency gain of ICHPD is also shown to be sensitive to any constraint on the temperature and the maximum allowable relative humidity above the product. Isothermal HPD is thus likely to be most applicable in the drying of those products, such as sludges and pastes, that can be spread into thin layers, in particular those that also are least vulnerable to quality deterioration at high temperature and humidity. Product throughput is shown to be simultaneously maximised at low δ, implying that ICHPD provides an opportunity to avoid the adiabatic mode's trade-off between drying rate and energy efficiency, by using a thin product layer. A case-study is presented of the economics of ICHPD in an industrial sludge-drying application, showing that isothermal HPD provides an opportunity to lessen exposure to risk associated with electricity-price uncertainty. System performance is found to be quite sensitive to variation in the surface area available for drying and also to the dimensioning of the evaporator. A second-law analysis of the whole system is employed to examine the reasons underlying the energy performance gain associated with the isothermal mode; ICHPD is found to reduce irreversibility equally within the refrigerant cycle and in heat transfer from the condenser to the product plus the drying process itself – a demonstration of the synergy enabled by the ICHPD design.


A field experiment was conducted during 2004–06 to study the effect of combined application of inorganic fertilizer and organic manures on yield, nutrient utilization of jute (Corchorus olitorius L.) along with soil fertility. Substitution of 25% N through water hyacinth compost or farmyard manure in recommended dose of NPK recorded significantly higher fibre yield (2.63, 2.62 tonnes/ha) over the 100% NPK treatment. Maximum N and K uptake (68.22 and 174.41 kg/ha) were observed when 25% N was replaced by water hyacinth compost while maximum P uptake (31.33 kg/ha) was recorded with 50% substitution of N through farmyard manure. Post-harvest soil analysis revealed that integrated nutrient management with water hyacinth compost enriched the fertility status of the experimental soil. Thus, substitution of chemical N-fertilizer to the tune of 25% through water hyacinth compost or farmyard manure increased the fibre productivity in jute and also maintained the fertility status of the soil under Aquic Ustifluvent.


Background: There is a small growing body of literature exploring moral
reasoning in adult male offenders with mild intellectual disabilities (ID). These
offenders have demonstrated more mature moral reasoning than their non-offending
counterparts. No published studies have explored this in females with ID, despite the
existence of sex differences in moral reasoning being widely debated. This study aims
to address this gap in the literature.
Methods: Using a cross-sectional 2 (Sex: Men vs Women) X 2 (Offence history:
Offenders vs Non-Offenders) between-subjects design, 68 adults with mild ID from
secure settings and community settings were recruited. In addition to an assessment of
intellectual functioning, participants completed the Socio-Moral Reflection Measure-
Short Form (SRM-SF; Gibbs, Basinger & Fuller, 1992) and the Emotional Problem
Scale (EPS; Prout & Strohmer, 1991). An informant version of the EPS was also used.
Results: Offenders with ID demonstrated stage 2(3) reasoning, significantly
higher than the stage 2 reasoning demonstrated by non-offenders. Offenders' moral
reasoning was higher on six of the individual SRM-SF constructs, however differences
disappeared on two constructs after controlling for Full Scale IQ. Non-offenders
reasoned below stage 2 on the Law and Legal Justice constructs, where decision making
driven by obeying authority and avoiding punishment was likely to have prevented
them offending. No significant sex differences were found. Total SRM-SF scores were
not significantly related to offence severity. A significant positive relationship was
found between moral reasoning and emotional/behavioural problems, with the study
partially supporting the prediction that offenders would have higher EPS scores.
XV
Conclusions: Offenders, irrespective of sex, engaged in more mature moral
reasoning than non-offenders, supporting previous findings. This study attempted to
address methodological limitations of previous studies, such as through using a measure
standardised for ID. Further research would be valuable to help develop suitable and
effective interventions for this client group.


The thermal behavior of free and alumina-supported iron-carbon nanoparticles is investigated via molecular-dynamics simulations, in which the effect of the substrate is treated with a simple Morse potential fitted to ab initio data. We observe that the presence of the substrate raises the melting temperature of medium and large Fe1-xCx nanoparticles (x=0-0.16, N=80-1000, nonmagic numbers) by 40-60 K; it also plays an important role in defining the ground state of smaller Fe nanoparticles (N=50-80). The main focus of our study is the investigation of Fe-C phase diagrams as a function of the nanoparticle size. We find that as the cluster size decreases in the 1.1-1.6-nm-diameter range, the eutectic point shifts significantly not only toward lower temperatures, as expected from the Gibbs-Thomson law, but also toward lower concentrations of C. The strong dependence of the maximum C solubility on the Fe-C cluster size may have important implications for the catalytic growth of carbon nanotubes by chemical-vapor deposition.


Contrary to Petitioners' assertions, not all broadcasters oppose Aereo's platform for enabling individual audience members to use an antenna to initiate their own recording and reception of over-the-air programming for personal viewing. In fact, many small and independent broadcasters (SIBs) depend heavily on such user-friendly viewing technologies to reach their audiences, especially audiences that cannot afford home viewing equipment, cable, or satellite television, audiences who only watch broadcast content via mobile networks or the Internet, or audiences who may not be technologically sophisticated enough to set up their own antenna, digital receiver, or digital video recorder, and configure their own mobile devices. In addition to furthering technological innovation, platforms such as Aereo provide cost-efficient ways for SIBs to expand their viewing audiences and maximize their content offerings, all in line with the goals of the Copyright Act of 1976.SIBs play a unique role for today's television audiences by disseminating diverse content that is commonly overlooked by larger television providers. As the Court decides whether Aereo's technology enables a private or public performance, it should take into account the important role that SIBs play and the needs of the audiences they serve. For example, Amicus Cocola Broadcasting in Fresno, California plays a key role in providing specialized content to Fresno's sizable Hmong population – content that Petitioners fail to provide. The Hmong, an ethnic group from Southeast Asia that came to the United States in large part to flee persecution, continue to speak their native language. Despite the large Hmong population in Fresno, the major network broadcasters, cable, and satellite providers in the region do not carry Hmong-language content. One of Cocola's local stations, however, not only carries Hmong-language programming, but also content created by Fresno area Hmong producers. Hmong programming can currently only be seen over the air via Cocola's independent broadcast towers. Yet not every viewer interested in Hmong programming has an antenna in their home. Were Aereo's innovative platform available in Fresno, any interested viewer could choose to tune an Aereo antenna to one of Cocola's stations, make a recording, and privately watch that program on her mobile or networked device. Such technologies provide for a dramatic expansion of the potential audience for such unique content. Also contrary to Petitioners' assertion of harm, certain broadcasters – namely Amici SIBs – feel that technologies such as Aereo improve their financial outlook by helping to disseminate diverse content and to take advantage of changing trends in viewership. By enabling audience members to initiate a recording of over-the-air television by antenna and view it via the Internet, Aereo enables individual audience members who are not currently receiving SIB content to find it, record it, and watch it. For example, once Aereo became available in Cincinnati, Ohio, small broadcaster WKRP began actively promoting the use of Aereo to expand viewership and increase interest among viewers who were otherwise unable to receive WKRP's signal clearly. This type of viewer access is particularly important for economically challenged viewers who cannot afford both Internet and expensive home viewing equipment, cable or satellite subscriptions.Copyright's "public" versus "private" distinction seeks to advance certain goals associated with copyright law – that is, broad dissemination of and access to diverse creative content, increased innovation, and individual viewer autonomy. It is important that the Court consider these underlying goals and their relationship to SIBs in interpreting the statutory language, "to perform a work 'publicly,'" so that the Court's application is aligned with the spirit of the Copyright Act.In 1984, this Court held that Sony was not liable for contributory infringement because its Betamax video recording-and-playback technology enabled and expanded private home viewing capabilities for the public at large. Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (Betamax), 464 U.S. 417, 454 (1984). The broadcast television industry faces a similar moment in time with a different new technology: Aereo. Similar to the Betamax, Aereo also expands the audience for private television viewing, not only of major broadcaster Petitioners but also of Amici SIBs. For all of the above reasons, this Court should find that Aereo enables individual audience members to initiate private recordings and viewings that further important purposes of copyright law.* This brief was prepared with the assistance of NYU Law clinical students Ilyssa Coghlan and Rafael Reyeni under the supervision of Professor Jason Schultz.


Russia unambiguously established private land ownership when it adopted the 2001 Land Code, which, although limited to urban and commercial land, clarifies the concept of land ownership in general and allows foreign ownership of those lands. The Land Code permits security interests in commercial and industrial land, which should further stimulate Russia's commercial real estate market, an important component of a functioning market economy. Perhaps the greatest strength of the new Land Code is its provision for foreign ownership, which allows foreign investors to conduct business according to the Western standards without being forced to engage in bribery or other violations of the U.S. Foreign Practices Corruption Act. Perhaps its greatest weakness is that it does not completely address all land issues in Russia; for example, it does not address the issue of agricultural land, it lacks a mechanism for land privatization, and it appears to contradict the current provisions of the Civil Code on the sale and permanent use of land. Russia urgently needs clarification of who owns what land and how it can be sold and bought. Nevertheless, while the Land Code is not a comprehensive reference guide for a foreign investor on how to purchase land, it eliminates the previous inequality between foreign and domestic land purchasers and provides foreign purchases with the security of title.


Due to the complexity of treating moisture in supraglacial debris, surface energy balance models to date have neglected moisture infiltration and phase changes in the debris layer. The latent heat flux (QL) is also often excluded due to the uncertainty in determining the surface vapour pressure. To quantify the importance of moisture on the surface energy and climatic mass balance (CMB) of debris-covered glaciers, we developed a simple reservoir parameterization for the debris ice and water content, as well as an estimation of the latent heat flux. The parameterization was incorporated into a CMB model adapted for debris-covered glaciers. We present the results of two point simulations, using both our new "moist" and the conventional "dry" approaches, on the Miage Glacier, Italy, during summer 2008 and fall 2011. The former year coincides with available in situ glaciological and meteorological measurements, including the first eddy-covariance measurements of the turbulent fluxes over supraglacial debris, while the latter contains two refreeze events that permit evaluation of the influence of phase changes. The simulations demonstrate a clear influence of moisture on the glacier energy and mass-balance dynamics. When water and ice are considered, heat transmission to the underlying glacier ice is lower, as the effective thermal diffusivity of the saturated debris layers is reduced by increases in both the density and the specific heat capacity of the layers. In combination with surface heat extraction by QL, subdebris ice melt is reduced by 3.1% in 2008 and by 7.0% in 2011 when moisture effects are included. However, the influence of the parameterization on the total accumulated mass balance varies seasonally. In summer 2008, mass loss due to surface vapour fluxes more than compensates for the reduction in ice melt, such that the total ablation increases by 4.0%. Conversely, in fall 2011, the modulation of basal debris temperature by debris ice results in a decrease in total ablation of 2.1%. Although the parameterization is a simplified representation of the moist physics of glacier debris, it is a novel attempt at including moisture in a numerical model of debris-covered glaciers and one that opens up additional avenues for future research.


In this Article, we report and analyze the results of forty-six wide-ranging interviews with corporate directors and other relevant insiders on the general topic of whether and how the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of corporate boards matters. In particular, we explore their views on the concept of "critical mass" — that is, the theory that women and racial or ethnic minorities are unlikely to have an impact in the boardroom until they grow from a few tokens into a considerable minority of the board.In contrast to other recent qualitative research on corporate boards, we find more limited support among our respondents for critical mass theory. Though some female respondents expressed the view, consistent with critical mass theory, that having more women on the board increased their comfort level and eased some of the stresses associated with being the first and only female, this narrative is in tension with our respondents' apparent embrace of their first and only status. Moreover, with the possible exception of employee relations, our interviews largely fail to support the theory that a critical mass of female directors will produce different, and distinctly feminine, boardroom outcomes.


The Plio-Pleistocene of East Africa marks a crucial yet poorly understood period for hominin evolution. To better understand hominin activities from this time, the environmental substrate on which they resided must first be understood, as changes in the environment most likely influenced hominin evolutionary developments. Detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstructions throughout East Africa have been implemented using multiproxy approaches to address this. Such records thus far are spatially and temporally limited. This thesis aims to rectify this by producing a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of two sites on the Homa Peninsula, western Kenya – a novel palaeoenvironmental setting which hosts Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary sequences containing traces of hominin activity. These sites include Nyayanga (~ 2.6 Ma) and Sare River (~ 1.77 Ma). The multi-proxy approach implemented in this research encompasses analyses of stratigraphy, particle size and phytoliths to reconstruct site sedimentary dynamics, depositional environment and palaeovegetation. End-member mixing analysis is additionally utilised to 'unmix' multimodal particle size distributions and provide more detailed information on sedimentary dynamics. Nyayanga is interpreted as an alluvial plain environment upon which deposition occurred via episodic hyperconcentrated flows and intermittent unconfined fluvial flows. During flow hiatuses, secondary processes including fluvial runoff and aeolian deposition occurred, as well as stable land surface development. Higher energy hyperconcentrated flows became absent from the record throughout time, whilst unconfined fluvial activity became more infrequent. This was likely caused by a migration of the active sector of the alluvial plain. Bushy grasslands and grassy bushlands with infrequent sedges and woodland characterised the landscape during this time. An alluvial plain is also identified as the depositional environment for sediments at Sare River. Intermittent unconfined fluvial activity deposited sediments on gentle slopes. This activity became more infrequent throughout time and flow hiatuses, characterised by the occurrence of secondary processes and stable land surface development, became more frequent. This could be attributed to a migration of the ii active sector of the alluvial plain, or to aridification at the site. Bushy grasslands with infrequent woodland characterised the landscape here. Cosmogenic nuclide dating suggests sediments here could be younger than previously thought. An interplay of both regional and local tectonics as well as climate drove palaeoenvironmental change at both sites. The development of the East African Rift System created extensive space for the accumulation of sediment, whilst also altering base-level through the formation and destruction of palaeolakes. A variable climate regime influenced variations in deposition at Nyayanga. Both sites experienced an overall trend towards greater aridity throughout deposition. Changes in palaeoclimate at Nyayanga are attributed to the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation, whilst the development of an intensified Walker Circulation is identified as the cause of aridification at Sare River. Environmental preferences of Paranthropus at Nyayanga ~ 2.6 Ma are similar to those presented at other East African sites. This suggests these hominins inhabited or frequented similar depositional settings in open landscapes characterised by bushy grasslands with infrequent wooded vegetation. Evidence from Nyayanga provides support for the pulsed-climate hypothesis linking environmental change to hominin evolution, which suggests that the long term drying trend observed in East Africa was punctuated by periods of extreme climate variability in which large lakes appeared and disappeared. During these periods evolutionary changes in hominins are suggested to have occurred. Sediments from Sare River provide support that hominin activity ~ 1.5 Ma thrived in open environments characterised by alluvial/fluvial deposition much like other East African sites. A trend towards greater aridity and an increase in hominin activity throughout the sediments at this site is interpreted. This suggests that hominin activity here might provide support for the aridity hypothesis linking palaeoenvironmental change to hominin evolution, which suggests progressive aridity across Africa initiated grassland expansion and the novel adaptations associated with these environments.


A 6-year-old neutered male, Golden retriever presented with regurgitation and excitement-induced coughing. Two years prior, extra-thoracic tracheal collapse was diagnosed and extra-luminal tracheal ring prostheses were placed. Radiographs at presentation showed mineralized and undulant cervical tracheal cartilages. A dorsally broad-based soft tissue opacity bulged into the caudal cervical tracheal lumen. Esophageal dysmotility and barium accumulation were identified at this level on contrast esophography. Computed tomography showed migration of a prosthetic tracheal ring, resulting in perforation of the esophagus. Hair, foreign material, and dynamic tracheal narrowing were identified on esophagoscopy and tracheoscopy, respectively. Esophagostomy and foreign body removal were performed.


The objective of this work was to determine the duration of the effects of the mechanical interventions scarification and raised bed on soybean ( Glycine max ) grain yield on an Alfisol, as well as to evaluate, through physical indicators, if the use of cover plants during winter increases the duration of these effects. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with four replicates. Two factors were evaluated. The first consisted of types of soil preparation systems: SC14, scarification in November 2014; SC15, scarification in November 2015; RB14, raised bed built in November 2014; and RB15, raised bed built in November 2015. The second consisted of the type of cover crop used: winter fallow, oat, ryegrass, and wheat. From November 2015 to April 2016, soybean was cultivated under the different soil preparation systems. Soil density, total porosity, macroporosity, microporosity, soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil resistance to mechanical penetration, and soybean grain yield were evaluated. There was no effect of cover plants after one crop season on the maintenance of soil physical attributes. Changes in soil density, total porosity, and resistance to mechanical penetration, promoted by scarification, are noticeable up to at least 18 months. The continuance of these modifications reflects in soybean grain yield in the second harvest.


The Grippia bonebed is located at Marmierfjellet in Flowerdalen, Isfjorden area of Spitsbergen. The bonebed occurs in the Vendomdalen Member, Vikinghøgda Formation, Early Triassic (Spathian). It is unique in Spitsbergen because of the richness of chondrichthyans, osteichthyes, amphibians and ichthyopterygians. This paper focuses on the chondrichthyans with more than 550 chondrichthyan teeth studied, together with three fin spines and one cephalic spine, assigned to 7 genera and 15 species, 8 of which are new from the Grippia niveau. The Hybodontiformes represent five of the identified genera, where most of the identified species belong to Hybodus and Acrodus. Hybodus sasseniensis, previously recorded from the older Dienarian substage, and is now shown to occur in the younger Spathian substage, and suggested to be the senior synonym of H. rapax. The possibility of Acrodus scaber and A. spitzbergensis being morphospecies, and the Acrodus genus in general, is further discussed. The occurrence of Hybodus microdus in the material is uncertain since it is shown that the mesio-distal length of the teeth is much larger than described by Stensiö in 1921. The Neoselachii (modern shark), previously only known from a fin spine of Nemacanthus from the Triassic of Spitsbergen, is now described from teeth belonging to possibly two new neoselachian species. They are referred to Synechodontiformes 1 and 2, awaiting more material to be processed.


Background Plantar heel pain can be managed with dry needling of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs); however, whether MTrP needling is effective remains controversial. Thus, we conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of MTrP needling in patients with plantar heel pain. Materials and methods PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SinoMed (Chinese BioMedical Literature Service System, People's Republic of China), and CNKI (National Knowledge Infrastructure, People's Republic of China) databases were systematically reviewed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effects of MTrP needling. Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% CIs were calculated for change in visual analog scale (VAS) score, and pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% CIs were calculated for success rate for pain and incidence of adverse events. A fixed-effects model or random-effects model was used to pool the estimates, depending on the heterogeneity among the included studies. Results Extensive literature search yielded 1,941 articles, of which only seven RCTs met the inclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that MTrP needling significantly reduced the VAS score (WMD =−15.50, 95% CI: −19.48, −11.53; P<0.001) compared with control, but it had a similar success rate for pain with control (risk ratio [RR] =1.15, 95% CI: 0.87, 1.51; P=0.320). Moreover, MTrP needling was associated with a similar incidence of adverse events with control (RR =1.89, 95% CI: 0.38, 9.39; P=0.438). Conclusion MTrP needling effectively reduced the heel pain due to plantar fasciitis. However, considering the potential limitations in this study, more large-scale, adequately powered, good-quality placebo-controlled trials are needed to provide more trustworthy evidence in this area.


The 31st Annual European Meeting on Atmospheric Studies by Optical Methods was held in Ambleside in the Lake District in north-west England on 23-26 August 2004. The meeting had 41 attendees and 51 contributors. Of the 56 scientific contributions, there were 40 oral presentations and 16 posters. The range of topics was diverse, including history, in-situ and remote optical observations, artificially stimulated optical emissions, riometry, modeling, calibration and the latest technical developments. In addition, the conference was not limited to the study of the Earth's atmosphere and near space environment only. As usual, the conference proceeded in a friendly atmosphere culminating with most attendees participating actively in the Barn Dance. The 31st Annual Optical Meeting had three unique features. First, it was combined with the 1st International Riometer Workshop in order to broaden the scope and provide an opportunity for the different communities to get together. A major outcome was the Global Riometer Array initiative (GLORIA), where global riometer data will be shared via a single data base. Second, the 32nd Annual Optical Meeting was voted by the participants, as is traditional, to meet off the European continent for the first time in the meeting's history. Friends from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, will host the 2005 meeting. Third, with extraordinary forward planning, the 33rd Annual Optical Meeting will take place at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, northern Sweden in 2006. In addition, having got the ball rolling, the 2nd International Riometer Workshop will be hosted by the University of Calgary and will meet in Canada in 2006. The long, and almost unbroken, series of Annual Optical Meetings is vibrant and shows little sign of ever stopping. We hope this remains the case. The organizers of the combined 2004 meetings thank all those who participated, without whom the meeting could not have been the success it was.


It is commonly asserted, especially by people within higher education, that the American Ivory Tower is strapped for cash and tightfisted taxpayers are to blame. Taxpayer support for post-secondary education has long been in decline, this narrative goes, and has forced schools to continually raise tuition to make up for the losses. Tallying taxpayer-backed expenditures on higher education over the last quarter-century, and separately tallying 15 years of taxpayer burdens after accounting for student loans being paid back, reveals that this narrative is inaccurate. No matter how you slice it, the burden of funding the Ivory Tower has grown ever heavier on the backs of taxpaying citizens. Whether one examines taxpayer dollars in total, per enrollee, per degree, or per tax-paying citizen, real spending has gone up. Unfortunately, financial costs are only part of the story. While the evidence is not conclusive, it appears that the additional spending and the additional students and degrees it has helped to fund do not ultimately constitute a net societal gain. Instead, all the coerced, third-party support has likely produced several damaging, unintended consequences: credential inflation, sky-high non-completion rates, and rampant tuition inflation. In other words, the money taken from taxpayers, in total and on an individual basis, to "invest" in higher education has been on the rise, and it appears to be hurting both taxpayers individually and society as a whole. We have taken money from people who would have used it more efficiently than has the system to which it was given.


Bayesian statistical approaches to mixed treatment comparisons (MTCs) are becoming more popular because of their flexibility and interpretability. Many randomized clinical trials report multiple outcomes with possible inherent correlations. Moreover, MTC data are typically sparse (although richer than standard meta‐analysis, comparing only two treatments), and researchers often choose study arms based upon which treatments emerge as superior in previous trials. In this paper, we summarize existing hierarchical Bayesian methods for MTCs with a single outcome and introduce novel Bayesian approaches for multiple outcomes simultaneously, rather than in separate MTC analyses. We do this by incorporating partially observed data and its correlation structure between outcomes through contrast‐based and arm‐based parameterizations that consider any unobserved treatment arms as missing data to be imputed. We also extend the model to apply to all types of generalized linear model outcomes, such as count or continuous responses. We offer a simulation study under various missingness mechanisms (e.g., missing completely at random, missing at random, and missing not at random) providing evidence that our models outperform existing models in terms of bias, mean squared error, and coverage probability then illustrate our methods with a real MTC dataset. We close with a discussion of our results, several contentious issues in MTC analysis, and a few avenues for future methodological development. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Astrophysics and cosmology are rich with data. The advent of wide-area digital cameras on large aperture telescopes has led to ever more ambitious surveys of the sky. Data volumes of entire surveys a decade ago can now be acquired in a single night and real-time analysis is often desired. Thus, modern astronomy requires big data know-how, in particular it demands highly efficient machine learning and image analysis algorithms. But scalability is not the only challenge: Astronomy applications touch several current machine learning research questions, such as learning from biased data and dealing with label and measurement noise. We argue that this makes astronomy a great domain for computer science research, as it pushes the boundaries of data analysis. In the following, we will present this exciting application area for data scientists. We will focus on exemplary results, discuss main challenges, and highlight some recent methodological advancements in machine learning and image analysis triggered by astronomical applications.


Tropical cyclones expose river basins to heavy rainfall and flooding, and cause substantial soil erosion and sediment transport. There is heightened interest in the effects of typhoon floods on river basins in northeast Japan, as the migration of radiocaesium‐bearing soils contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident will affect future radiation levels. The five main catchments surrounding FDNPP are the Odaka, Ukedo, Maeda, Kuma and Tomioka basins, but little quantitative modelling has been undertaken to identify the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes across these basins. Here we address this issue and report catchment‐scale modelling of the five basins using the GETFLOWS simulation code. The three‐dimensional (3D) models of the basins incorporated details of the geology, soil type, land cover, and used data from meteorological records as inputs. The simulation results were checked against field monitoring data for water flow rates, suspended sediment concentrations and accumulated sediment erosion and deposition. The results show that the majority of annual sediment migration in the basins occurs over storm periods, thus making typhoons the main vectors for redistribution. The Ukedo and Tomioka basins are the most important basins in the region in terms of overall sediment transport, followed by the other three basins each with similar discharge amounts. Erosion is strongly correlated with the underlying geology and the surface topography in the study area. A low permeability Pliocene Dainenji formation in the coastal area causes high surface water flow rates and soil erosion. Conversely, erosion is lower in an area with high permeability granite basement rocks between the Hatagawa and Futaba faults in the centre of the study area. Land cover is also a factor controlling differences in erosion and transport rates between forested areas in the west of the study area and predominantly agricultural areas towards the east. The largest sediment depositions occur in the Ogaki and Takigawa Dams, at the confluence of the Takase and Ukedo Rivers, and at the Ukedo River mouth. Having clarified the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes, these results can assist the ongoing task of monitoring radioactive caesium redistribution within Fukushima Prefecture, and contribute to the design and implementation of measures to protect health and the environment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Bioconvection has shown significant promise for environmentally friendly, sustainable "green" fuel cell technologies. The improved design of such systems requires continuous refinements in biomathematical modeling in conjunction with laboratory and field testing. Motivated by exploring deeper the near-wall transport phenomena involved in bio-inspired fuel cells, in the present paper, we examine analytically and numerically the combined free-forced convective steady boundary layer flow from a solid vertical flat plate embedded in a Darcian porous medium containing gyrotactic microorganisms. Gyrotaxis is one of the many taxes exhibited in biological microscale transport, and other examples include magneto-taxis, photo-taxis, chemotaxis and geo-taxis (reflecting the response of microorganisms to magnetic field, light, chemical concentration or gravity, respectively). The bioconvection fuel cell also contains diffusing oxygen species which mimics the cathodic behavior in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) system. The vertical wall is maintained at iso-solutal (constant oxygen volume fraction and motile microorganism density) and iso-thermal conditions. Wall values of these quantities are sustained at higher values than the ambient temperature and concentration of oxygen and biological microorganism species. Similarity transformations are applied to render the governing partial differential equations for mass, momentum, energy, oxygen species and microorganism species density into a system of ordinary differential equations. The emerging eight order nonlinear coupled, ordinary differential boundary value problem features several important dimensionless control parameters, namely Lewis number (Le), buoyancy ratio parameter i.e. ratio of oxygen species buoyancy force to thermal buoyancy force (Nr), bioconvection Rayleigh number (Rb), bioconvection Lewis number (Lb), bioconvection Péclet number (Pe) and the mixed convection parameter ([Formula: see text] spanning the entire range of free and forced convection. The transformed nonlinear system of equations with boundary conditions is solved numerically by a finite difference method with central differencing, tridiagonal matrix manipulation and an iterative procedure. Computations are validated with the symbolic Maple 14.0 software. The influence of buoyancy and bioconvection parameters on the dimensionless temperature, velocity, oxygen concentration and motile microorganism density distribution, Nusselt, Sherwood and gradient of motile microorganism density are studied. The work clearly shows the benefit of utilizing biological organisms in fuel cell design and presents a logical biomathematical modeling framework for simulating such systems. In particular, the deployment of gyrotactic microorganisms is shown to stimulate improved transport characteristics in heat and momentum at the fuel cell wall.


A consecutive series of 352 attacks of acute pancreatitis (AP) was studied prospectively in 318 patients. AP was ascertained by contrast-enhanced CT scan in all but four cases in which diagnosis was made at operation or autopsy. Sixty-seven of these cases (19%) had normal serum amylase levels on admission (i.e., less than 160 IU/L, a limit that includes 99% of control values), a figure considerably higher than generally admitted. When compared to AP with elevated serum amylase, normoamylasemic pancreatitis was characterized by the following: (1) the prevalence of alcoholic etiology (58% vs. 33%, respectively, p less than 0.01), (2) a greater number of previous attacks in alcoholic pancreatitis (0.7 vs. 0.4, p less than 0.01); and (3) a longer duration of symptoms before admission (2.4 vs. 1.5 days, p less than 0.005). In contrast AP did not appear to differ significantly in terms of CT findings, Ranson's score, and clinical course, when comparing normo- and hyperamylasemic patients, although there was a tendency for normoamylasemic patients to follow milder courses. Serum lipase was measured in 65 of these normoamylasemic cases and was found to be elevated in 44 (68%), thus increasing diagnostic sensitivity from 81% when amylase alone is used to 94% for both enzymes. A peritoneal tab was obtained in 44 cases: amylase concentration in the first liter of dialysate was greater than 160 IU/L in 24 cases (55%), and lipase was greater than 250 U/L in 31 cases (70%). Twelve of these 44 cases had low peritoneal fluid and plasma concentrations for both enzymes. Thus little gain in diagnostic sensitivity was obtained when adding peritoneal values (96%) to serum determinations. AP is not invariably associated with elevated serum amylase. Multiple factors may contribute to the absence of hyperamylasemia on admission, including a return to normal enzyme levels before hospitalization or the inability of inflamed pancreases to produce amylase. Approximately two thirds of cases with normal amylasemia were properly identified by serum lipase determinations. AP does not appear to behave differently when serum amylase is normal or elevated, and should therefore be submitted to similar therapeutic regimens in both conditions.


Disruptive behavior, including aggression, defiance, and temper tantrums, typically peaks in early toddlerhood and decreases by school entry; however, some children do not show this normative decline. The current study examined disruptive behavior in 318 boys and girls at 2, 4, and 5 years of age and frustration reactivity, physiological regulation, and maternal behavior in the laboratory at 2 years of age. A latent profile analysis resulted in 4 longitudinal profiles of disruptive behavior, which were differentiated by interactions between reactivity, regulation, and maternal behavior. A high profile was associated with high reactivity combined with high maternal control or low regulation combined with low maternal control. Results are discussed from a developmental psychopathology perspective.


Received 31 August 2006; revised 21 August 2007; accepted 15 November 2007; published 28 March 2008. [1] This paper investigates the role that tidal and wind-driven flows and buoyant river plumes play in the development of the Holocene clinothem in the Gulf of Papua. Time series data from bottom tripods and a mooring were obtained at four locations near the mouth of the Fly River during portions of 2003 and 2004. Flows in the Gulf of Papua during calendar year 2003 were hindcast every 3 h using the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) with boundary conditions from the Navy Atmospheric Prediction System, the east Asian seas implementation of NCOM, and the OTIS Tidal Inversion System. Results show that tidal flows on the modern clinoform are strong and are landward and seaward directed. Peak spring tidal velocities can provide the shear stresses necessary to keep sediment up to sand size in motion as the wind-driven and baroclinic currents distribute it from the river mouths across and along the shelf in two circulation states. During the monsoon season, the clinoform topset is swept by a seaward surface flow and landward bottom flow, reflecting river plumes and coastal upwelling. Seaward, this structure evolves into a SW directed surface current over the clinothem foreset with accompanying landward directed near-bed currents that trend obliquely up the foreset to the WSW over much of the clinothem. During the trade wind season, the inner and outer topset are swept by NE directed, contour-parallel surface currents, underneath which lie obliquely landward near-bed currents. These modeled flows and complex gyres in shallow water coupled with wave- and current-supported gravity flows or river floods can explain the form, internal clinoform shapes, and mineralogy of the modern Gulf of Papua clinothem.


Objectives: Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most important and prevalent central nervous system diseases, causing disorders such as depression among affected patients. Positive psychotherapy is also a new approach that can be effective in reducing the depression of these people. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of group positive psychotherapy for decreasing the depression among females affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Methods: A samples of 30 females affected by Multiple Sclerosis with mild to moderate depression were participated, and were divided into two groups, intervention and control. Both groups completed Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) at the beginning, he intervention group received six sessions of positive psychotherapy. After the intervention both group completed the questionnaire again. Data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results: The result demonstrated that, the decline of depression was more in the intervention group than the control group. Moreover in the intervention group than control group, there was obtained significant reduction in both sub-scales of Beck Depression Inventory II. Discussion: Results of this study indicated that group positive psychotherapy is effective in reducing the depression of females affected by Multiple Sclerosis. This treatment can be widely used in the caring centers for treatment of people affected by Multiple Sclerosis and this can be justified because of its low cost and good efficiency.


Objective To examine whether elevated resting heart rate (RHR) is an independent risk factor for mortality or a mere marker of physical fitness (VO2Max). Methods This was a prospective cohort study: the Copenhagen Male Study, a longitudinal study of healthy middle-aged employed men. Subjects with sinus rhythm and without known cardiovascular disease or diabetes were included. RHR was assessed from a resting ECG at study visit in 1985–1986. VO2Max was determined by the Åstrand bicycle ergometer test in 1970–1971. Subjects were classified into categories according to level of RHR. Associations with mortality were studied in multivariate Cox models adjusted for physical fitness, leisure-time physical activity and conventional cardiovascular risk factors. Results 2798 subjects were followed for 16 years. 1082 deaths occurred. RHR was inversely related to physical fitness (p<0.001). Overall, increasing RHR was highly associated with mortality in a graded manner after adjusting for physical fitness, leisure-time physical activity and other cardiovascular risk factors. Compared to men with RHR ≤50, those with RHR >90 had an HR (95% CI) of 3.06 (1.97 to 4.75). With RHR as a continuous variable, risk of mortality increased with 16% (10–22) per 10 beats per minute (bpm). There was a borderline interaction with smoking (p=0.07); risk per 10 bpm increase in RHR was 20% (12–27) in smokers, and 14% (4–24) in non-smokers. Conclusions Elevated RHR is a risk factor for mortality independent of physical fitness, leisure-time physical activity and other major cardiovascular risk factors.


Two newly discovered manuscripts in the Biblioteca Estense provide an insight into convent culture in late sixteenth‐century Italy. They are the work of Annalena Aldobrandini, a nun at the convent of Santo Spirito in Florence. Annalena's manuscript contains eight veglie intended for performance during Carnevale and the Calendimaggio. Striking detail is preserved in the instructions for instruments, music, staging and costumes. Subject matter ranges from intellectual debates about the sciences and the arts to an appreciation of religious commitment and the difficulties of maintaining moral rectitude as part of monastic life. There is a wealth of practical information regarding music in a little‐known dramatic context as well as a unique exposition of the Divine Office as a musical, as well as a religious, experience. The veglie are testament to the creativity of the nuns, showing how they, like the Medici outside, used spectacle as a method of community bonding. Moreover, because they were transmitted in manuscript rather than in print, they are unmediated by any masculine agency. The importance of this manuscript to our better understanding of early modern monastic women, their attitudes to enclosure, education and the performing arts, and their interactions with the secular world cannot be overestimated.


Porous polymethacrylates have numerous important applications in different research and industrial fields. These materials have been used as stationary phases for separation and catalysis, as substrates for thin layer chromatography, as materials for solid-phase extraction or filtration, or for making valves in microfluidic devices. The main advantage of porous polymethacrylates is that their physical and chemical properties, such as porosity, pore and polymer globule size, stiffness, hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, as well as surface functional groups can be conveniently controlled by adjusting the composition of the polymerization mixtures. Porous polymethacrylate can be also functionalized using available surface modification strategies. This unique ability to control properties of porous polymethacrylates makes them suitable for the design and synthesis of novel functional materials. Surprisingly, most of the applications of porous polymethacrylates have been limited to their use inside columns, capillaries or microfluidic channels and their applications as open surfaces remained to a great extent unexplored. The goals of my PhD thesis were to: (1) develop methods for the preparation of (bio)functional porous polymethacrylate surfaces with well-defined surface properties; (2) characterize produced surfaces; (3) explore their unique properties in different biological applications.
Surfaces with gradient properties have been widely used in many cell-surface interaction studies because these gradient surfaces offer the possibility to avoid the difficulties associated with the one-sample-for-one-measurement approach as well as the problems with sample variations. However, up to now, there are only a few methods for the preparation of surfaces with gradient properties. Taking advantage of the tunable porous properties of polymethacrylates, porous poly(butyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) (BMA-EDMA) surfaces with gradient surface morphologies were prepared using a PDMS microfluidic chip designed and produced for this study. The produced BMA-EDMA surface possessed a gradient polymer globule size ranging from ~ 0.1 µm to ~ 0.5 µm. The surface with the globule size gradient in this range is useful for cell studies such as investigation of the effect of surface morphology on cell behavior. Porous polymethacrylate surfaces with a gradient in density of functional groups were also prepared via photografting by gradually varying the UV dosage along one direction on the surface during surface modification. The formation of the gradient was confirmed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. To show the potential of using the surface with a gradient density of functional groups, the behavior of human fibrosarcoma HT-1080 cells was studied on the surface.
Recently, bio-inspired slippery liquid infused porous surfaces have attracted much attention due to their unique liquid repellent and self-cleaning properties. In this thesis, stable slippery surfaces were prepared by infusing the porous BMA-EDMA surface with water immiscible hydrophobic poly(hexafluoropropylene oxide) or perfluorotripentylamine. The antibacterial and anti-marine fouling properties of the slippery BMA-EDMA surfaces were carefully investigated. Our results demonstrated that the slippery BMA-EDMA surfaces had good antibacterial and anti-marine fouling properties. However, the results also revealed that the antibacterial property of the slippery BMA-EDMA surface was bacterial strain dependent. In addition, Ulva sporelings (young plants) were able to firmly attach to the slippery surface although the surface is able to resist Ulva spore adhesion.
The ability to transform a superhydrophobic surface to a superhydrophilic one is essential for many applications such as creating superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic micropatterns or microarrays. Most of the existing methods for this transformation are time consuming or require harsh conditions. In this thesis, a new facile method to transform the superhydrophobic BMA-EDMA surface to a superhydrophilic one was developed. This method is based on the physisorption of an amphiphilic phospholipid on the hydrophobic surface of porous BMA-EDMA through hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions. Using this method, superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic micropatterns could be fabricated simply by printing the phospholipid "ink" on the superhydrophobic BMA-EDMA surface with a contact printer.


This paper examines the prospects for the diversification and modernization of Bhutan's economy, focusing in particular on the private sector, the IT/ICT sector, digital connectivity, the financial sector, and the strategies employed to reach this goal. At the same time, this development is juxtaposed with preserving the country's unique cultural heritage and environmental sustainability, which have been constant and consistent goals throughout all the Five Year Plans, and will be implemented in the latest twelfth Five Year Plan in 2018 as well. This paper is divided into six sections, titled as follows: Introduction; Country Overview; Diversification and Modernization; External factors; Recommendations, and Conclusion. Smaller subgroups are included in the diversification section, along with a section on Bhutan's regional cooperation.


Particulate monitoring was carried out at three amang- factories.
The monitoring was carried put both inside (at the most "dusty"
areas) and outside the factories. The levels inside were found to
be extremely high ranging from 1572 to 21,664 ug/m3 . These were
well above the WHO recommended level of 500-900 ug/m3, considered
acceptable for a work environment. The levels outside, were also
high ranging from 63 to 995 ug/m3. The recommended ambient level
is 150 ug/m3. The results also implied that the suspended
particulates were generated from the factory activities itself,
and that the size of these particulates was within the size range
that is hazardous to health. While the size of the amang and its
processed products was large and as such unlikely to be suspended
for long in the air, the fact that the suspended particulate
concentration was high suggested that during processing the
amang, impact and abrasion amongst the particles could result in
their surfaces being chipped thus producing finer particulates.


PurposeThe goal of this project is to standardize CT scanner performance across scanner models, software versions, and patient sizes. In this pilot study, we measured image quality and radiation dose for several CT systems for 3 patient sizes to determine the amount of variation that exists within our practice for our routine abdomen/pelvis scan protocol parameters. Methods4 CT scanners used in a single practice were studied. A wire phantom was used to measure the modulation transfer function (MTF), a foil phantom to measure section sensitivity profile (SSP), and semi-anthropomorphic abdomen phantoms of three sizes (15 year old, medium and large adults) to measure noise and assess automatic exposure control (AEC) performance. Scans of the abdomen phantom were performed by a clinical technologist as if the phantom were a patient, with all parameters per our clinical protocols. Wire and foil phantoms were scanned with AEC off using overlapping thin images, but with the same reconstruction kernel. ResultsThe 10% values of MTFs were 6.6, 6.4, 6.8 and 6.6 lp/cm and full-widths-at-half-maximum of SSP were 4.9, 5.0, 5.0 and 5.3 mm. The coefficients of variation of recorded CTDIvol were 18%, 20% and 24% for 15 year old, medium adult and large adult phantoms across the four scanners, with noise coefficients of variation of 11%, 6% and 19%.ConclusionFor routine abdomen scans performed in a single practice using different scanners, there were negligible differences in spatial resolution (MTF or SSP). For a 15 yo and medium adult phantoms, variations of dose and noise were present, but modest. For a large adult, a factor of 1.8 in dose and 1.6 in noise were observed between the lowest and highest dose or noise values, demonstrating an opportunity to adjust our AEC settings to make the dose and noise more consistent across scanners. This work was supported in part by NIH grant R01 EB071095 from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.


In 1994, together with several West African traditional musicians and German electronics expert Kurt Dahlke, the author founded the music ensemble Beta Foly, based in Abidjan, Cte d'Ivoire. The group explores creative musical possibilities generated through the bringing together of different cultures and traditions, placing a strong emphasis on the use of both ancient African instruments and the most recent music technology. The members of Beta Foly compose and improvise eclectic, polymetric music, trying to combine styles in innovative ways in order to find new avenues for composition, ensemble interplay and cross-cultural understanding.


Technology has been developed for a class of self-contained, long-duration power sources called beta batteries, which harvest the energy contained in the radioactive emissions from beta decay isotopes. The new battery is a significant improvement over the conventional phosphor/solar cell concept for converting this energy in three ways. First, the thin phosphor is replaced with a thick scintillator that is transparent to its own emissions. By using a scintillator sufficiently thick to completely stop all the beta particles, efficiency is greatly improved. Second, since the energy of the beta particles is absorbed in the scintillator, the semiconductor photodetector is shielded from radiation damage that presently limits the performance and lifetime of traditional phosphor converters. Finally, instead of a thin film of beta-emitting material, the isotopes are incorporated into the entire volume of the thick scintillator crystal allowing more activity to be included in the converter without self-absorption. There is no chemical difference between radioactive and stable strontium beta emitters such as Sr-90, so the beta emitter can be uniformly distributed throughout a strontium based scintillator crystal. When beta emitter material is applied as a foil or thin film to the surface of a solar cell or even to the surface of a scintillator, much of the radiation escapes due to the geometry, and some is absorbed within the layer itself, leading to inefficient harvesting of the energy. In contrast, if the emitting atoms are incorporated within the scintillator, the geometry allows for the capture and efficient conversion of the energy of particles emitted in any direction. Any gamma rays associated with secondary decays or Bremsstrahlung photons may also be absorbed within the scintillator, and converted to lower energy photons, which will in turn be captured by the photocell or photodiode. Some energy will be lost in this two-stage conversion process (high-energy particle to low-energy photons to electric current). The geometric advantage partially offsets this as well, since the absorption depth of high-energy beta radiation is much larger than the depth of a p-n junction. Thus, in a p-n junction device, much of the radiation is absorbed far away from the junction, and the electron- hole pairs are not all effectively collected. In contrast, with a transparent scintillator the radiation can be converted to light in a larger volume, and all of the light can be collected in the active region of the photodiode. Finally, the new device is more practical because it can be used at much higher power levels without unduly shortening its lifetime. While the crystal structure of scintillators is also subject to radiation damage, their performance is far more tolerant of defects than that of semiconductor junctions. This allows the scintillator- based approach to use both higher energy isotopes and larger quantities of the isotopes. It is projected that this technology has the potential to produce a radioisotope battery with up to twice the efficiency of presently used systems.


Recent analyses have shown that distant orbits within the scattered disk population of the Kuiper Belt exhibit an unexpected clustering in their respective arguments of perihelion. While several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this alignment, to date, a theoretical model that can successfully account for the observations remains elusive. In this work we show that the orbits of distant Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) cluster not only in argument of perihelion, but also in physical space. We demonstrate that the perihelion positions and orbital planes of the objects are tightly confined and that such a clustering has only a probability of 0.007% to be due to chance, thus requiring a dynamical origin. We find that the observed orbital alignment can be maintained by a distant eccentric planet with mass ≳10 m⊕ whose orbit lies in approximately the same plane as those of the distant KBOs, but whose perihelion is 180° away from the perihelia of the minor bodies. In addition to accounting for the observed orbital alignment, the existence of such a planet naturally explains the presence of high-perihelion Sedna-like objects, as well as the known collection of high semimajor axis objects with inclinations between 60° and 150° whose origin was previously unclear. Continued analysis of both distant and highly inclined outer solar system objects provides the opportunity for testing our hypothesis as well as further constraining the orbital elements and mass of the distant planet.


A new approach for self-mixing interference in fiber ring laser and its application to vibration measurement is presented. Fourier transform method is proposed to improve the measurement accuracy of such an active sensing, in which the basic frequency of self-mixing interference signal is used to determine the frequency of vibration, and the stop order of the harmonic components is proportional to the amplitude of vibration. We have demonstrated this system to measure the microscopic vibration of a remote target. Some errors due to this method are discussed. The maximum error of the amplitude is about lambda/10 and the maximum error of the frequency is about 10%, showing a good agreement with the simulative results.


Network rewiring converts a survival-promoting kinase into a deadly one. Rewired for death The proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor–α (TNF-α) stimulates various kinases and can trigger cell death. Gierut et al. analyzed the kinetics of the phosphorylation of signaling proteins and the of induction of cell death in the intestinal epithelium of mice pretreated with various kinase inhibitors and then administered TNF-α. Unexpectedly, inhibitors that targeted the same kinase with equal efficiencies had different effects on TNF-α–induced apoptosis. For example, an inhibitor of a kinase enhanced cell death, whereas other inhibitors targeting this kinase reduced cell death. Mathematical analysis of the data predicted, and in vivo experiments confirmed, that the kinase Akt, which usually promotes cell survival, increased TNF-α–induced apoptosis when the network had been altered by the death-enhancing inhibitor. Together, these data illustrate that network context is just as important as drug target when predicting the response to an inhibitor. Individual signaling pathways operate in the context of the broader signaling network. Thus, the response of a cell to signals from the environment is affected by the state of the signaling network, such as the clinically relevant example of whether some components in the network are inhibited. The cytokine tumor necrosis factor–α (TNF-α) promotes opposing cellular behaviors under different conditions; the outcome is influenced by the state of the network. For example, in the mouse intestinal epithelium, inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase MEK alters the timing of TNF-α–induced apoptosis. We investigated whether MAPK signaling directly influences TNF-α–induced apoptosis or whether network-level effects secondary to inhibition of the MAPK pathway alter the cellular response. We found that inhibitors of the MAPK kinase kinase Raf, MEK, or extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) exerted distinct effects on the timing and magnitude of TNF-α–induced apoptosis in the mouse intestine. Furthermore, even different MEK inhibitors exerted distinct effects; one, CH5126766, potentiated TNF-α–induced apoptosis, and the others reduced cell death. Computational modeling and experimental perturbation identified the kinase Akt as the primary signaling node that enhanced apoptosis in the context of TNF-α signaling in the presence of CH5126766. Our work emphasizes the importance of integrated network signaling in specifying cellular behavior in response to experimental or therapeutic manipulation. More broadly, this study highlighted the importance of considering the network-level effects of pathway inhibitors and showed the distinct effects of inhibitors that share the same target.


OBJECTIVE
Rates of chronic non-cancer pain are increasing worldwide, with concerns regarding poorer access to specialist treatment services in remote areas. The current study comprised the first in-depth examination of use and barriers to access of health services in Australia according to remoteness.

METHODS
A cohort of Australian adults prescribed pharmaceutical opioids for chronic non-cancer pain (n = 1,235) were interviewed between August 2012 and April 2014, and grouped into 'major city' (49%), 'inner regional' (37%), and 'outer regional/remote' (14%) according to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification based on postcode. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine geographical differences in socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, health service use, and perceived barriers to health service access.

RESULTS
The 'inner regional group' and 'outer regional/remote group' were more likely to be male (relative risk ratio (RRR)=1.38,95%CI 1.08-1.77 and RRR = 1.60, 95%CI 1.14-2.24) and have no private health insurance (RRR = 1.53, 95%CI 1.19-1.97 and RRR = 1.65, 95%CI 1.16-2.37) than the 'major city group' (49%). However, the 'inner regional group' reported lower pain severity and better mental health relative to the 'major city group' = 0.92, 95%CI 0.86-0.98 and RRR = 1.02, 95%CI 1.01-1.03, respectively). Although rates of health service access were generally similar, the 'outer regional/remote group' were more likely to report client-practitioner communication problems (RRR = 1.57, 95%CI 1.03-2.37), difficulties accessing specialists (RRR = 1.56, 95%CI 1.01-2.39), and perception of practitioner lack of confidence in prescribing pain medication (RRR = 1.73, 1.14-2.62), relative to both groups.

CONCLUSION
Perceived communication, access, and financial barriers to healthcare indicate the need for increased efforts to address geographic inequality in pain treatment.


A Software Product Line (SPL) reuses software assets to implement products that share a significant set of their features. When a developer needs to generate a new product, the selection of features determines which components and source code are assembled together as the product. In recent years, the Database Laboratory has been working with SPL tech- nologies in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Our SPL creates products from a specification that allows, in addition to defining the data model of the application, to customize specific elements of the application such as maps and their associated layers. However, during its use with real projects we detected that this customization was insuf- ficient: since the selected features are included for the whole product, if we need a feature only for a specific element, we need to apply it to all the elements of the same type. In this paper we propose a solution that, using a Domain Specific Language, allows to associate features with specific elements of the generated application in order to achieve a greater customization of the generated GIS and to improve their quality. This way, it is possible to select a feature (e.g., clustering) for a specific element (e.g., map-viewer), thus limiting the functionalities of the application to those parts where they are really necessary.


The present study was carried out during 2006-2007 along the southern Caspian Sea. The species composition showed that the common kilka, Clupeonella cultriventris caspia, is dominant species with 89% and then anchovy, C. engrauliformis, has shown only 8.7% while it was already dominant species in the past decades. The overall results indicated that common kilka was replaced with anchovy kilka as previous dominant kilka species due to invasion of Mnemiopsis leidyi to the southern Caspian Sea. Anchovy suffered greatly from M. leidyi so that the total catch dropped from 95000 mt in 1999 to less than 20000 mt in 2007. In our survey, 1415 fish specimens were collected randomly, including 221 anchovy, 281 bigeye and 913 common kilka. The mean length of anchovy was 117.8 ± 0.27 mm, while it was about 93.0 mm during 1995 to 1998 before the invasion of M. leidyi. Analysis of age classes indicated the mean age of 4.5 ± 0.04 years for anchovy, 3.6 ± 0.03 for common kilka and 4.6 ± 0.08 for big eye C. grimmi. According to the age and the length structure of the specimens in this study, it could be concluded that in recent years, young fish population of anchovy has been decreased in comparison with the last decade. The results showed that some biological characteristics of kilka population were affected by M. leidyi. Recently fishing activities take place in shallow waters where schools of kilka are in suitable density for fishing. According to our results, ctenophore occupied the anchovy habitat where it was mainly more than 50 m depth. The fishing has moved to areas with depths less than 50 meters where it was the main reason to change in species composition.


Retinal flow, the pattern of motion caused by self-motion through a textured world, is used to control steering. Our previous work has shown that flow asymmetries influence humans steering along demarcated paths, with different textures on either side of the path causing biases consistent with participants reducing flow asymmetries (Kountouriotis et al., 2013). To test whether asymmetries in speed also bias locomotor control, participants were asked to steer a series of curved trajectories in a virtual reality simulated environment. Regions of the ground plane either side of a visible bounded path were rotated at different speeds to create flow asymmetries. The manipulation varied (i) Asymmetry Direction: whether the ground to the inside of the bend moved slower or faster than the outside of the bend, (ii) Asymmetry Size: whether the difference in speeds of the two regions was a small gap or a large gap, and (iii) Global Flow Speed: whether the average speed across both regions was slower than, the same as, or faster than the actual locomotor travel speed. The results suggest that participants did not simply equalise the flow vectors (i.e. steer towards the slower-moving region) since asymmetry size and direction did not systematically alter steering. Instead, participants were influenced by the global flow speed, whereby faster global flow led to greater oversteer (towards the inside of the bend) and vice versa. Importantly, steering biases occurred despite the visible path providing splay angle information across all conditions. We conclude that global flow speed is used to control locomotor steering even when travelling along visible paths that provide alternative useful sources of information Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Electricity is a general purpose technology and the catalyst for the second industrial revolution. Developing countries are currently making huge investments in electrification, with a view to achieving structural change. What does history say about its impact on the structure of employment? We use U.S. Census data from 1910 to 1940 and measure electrification with the length of higher-voltage electricity lines. Instrumenting for electrification using hydroelectric potential, we find that the average expansion of high-voltage transmission lines between 1910 and 1940 increased the share of operatives in a county by 3.3 percentage points and decreased the share of farmers by 2.1 percentage points. Electrification can explain 50.5% of the total increase in operatives, and 18.1% of the total decrease in farmers between 1910 and 1940. At the industry level, electrification drove 15.7% of the decline in the share of agricultural employment and 28.4% of the increase in the share of manufacturing employment between 1910 and 1940. Electrification was thus a key driver of structural transformation in the U.S. economy.


This paper presents the use of a City Information Modeling (CIM) platform composed of a GIS platform, a SQL database, a CAD design interface and a VPI used to develop the parametric models of possible development scenarios. It calculates urban indicators and measurable design properties in order to better understand and support choices while making design decisions. Such approach improves the generation of alternative scenarios projections supported by the calculation of urban properties.


Gastrointestinal dysfunction has been recognised as a major manifestation of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection usually presenting as diarrhoea which may or may not be due to the presence of an opportunistic infection of the GIT. Contrary to earlier assumptions, there is now substantial evidence to demonstrate that there are significant changes in the gut in the acute phase of HIV infection; the most significant of these being the substantial loss of the CD4+ T-cells in the GIT. Delays in the initiation of HAART (that is, once the CD4+ T-cell count drops below 200 cells/uL), is associated with a greater severity of HIV-associated GIT enteropathy, and poor clinical outcome.


This paper presents the results of a study on software documentation quality in practice. Goal of this study is identifying the current state of software documentation quality and used analysis techniques for determining software documentation quality. Moreover, we aim at finding out, whether there is a demand for a tool-based software documentation quality analysis approach. This approach consists of a documentation quality model and a document checking tool, as proposed in previous work. We developed an online survey and asked about 300 experts to answer it. The survey was completed by 88 experts and the overall results confirm the importance of software documentation quality as well as the need for better tool support. The survey shows that the most important quality attributes with regard to documentation quality are accuracy, clarity, consistency, readability, structuredness, and understand ability. Most of these quality attributes are currently covered by our software documentation quality analysis approach, some of them (e.g., accuracy, structuredness) still need more attention, i.e. better support in our quality model and tool.


Importance
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common occurrence in childhood; consequently, evidence-based recommendations for its treatment are required.

Objective
To determine whether 5 days of high-dose amoxicillin for CAP was associated with noninferior rates of clinical cure compared with 10 days of high-dose amoxicillin.

Design, Setting, and Participants
The SAFER (Short-Course Antimicrobial Therapy for Pediatric Respiratory Infections) study was a 2-center, parallel-group, noninferiority randomized clinical trial consisting of a single-center pilot study from December 1, 2012, to March 31, 2014, and the follow-up main study from August 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019 at the emergency departments of McMaster Children's Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Research staff, participants, and outcome assessors were blinded to treatment allocation. Eligible children were aged 6 months to 10 years and had fever within 48 hours, respiratory symptoms, chest radiography findings consistent with pneumonia as per the emergency department physician, and a primary diagnosis of pneumonia. Children were excluded if they required hospitalization, had comorbidities that would predispose them to severe disease and/or pneumonia of unusual origin, or had previous β-lactam antibiotic therapy. Data were analyzed from March 1 to July 8, 2020.

Interventions
Five days of high-dose amoxicillin therapy followed by 5 days of placebo (intervention group) vs 5 days of high-dose amoxicillin followed by a different formulation of 5 days of high-dose amoxicillin (control group).

Main Outcomes and Measures
Clinical cure at 14 to 21 days.

Results
Among the 281 participants, the median age was 2.6 (interquartile range, 1.6-4.9) years (160 boys [57.7%] of 279 with sex listed). Clinical cure was observed in 101 of 114 children (88.6%) in the intervention group and in 99 of 109 (90.8%) in the control group in per-protocol analysis (risk difference, -0.016; 97.5% confidence limit, -0.087). Clinical cure at 14 to 21 days was observed in 108 of 126 (85.7%) in the intervention group and in 106 of 126 (84.1%) in the control group in the intention-to-treat analysis (risk difference, 0.023; 97.5% confidence limit, -0.061).

Conclusions and Relevance
Short-course antibiotic therapy appeared to be comparable to standard care for the treatment of previously healthy children with CAP not requiring hospitalization. Clinical practice guidelines should consider recommending 5 days of amoxicillin for pediatric pneumonia management in accordance with antimicrobial stewardship principles.

Trial Registration
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02380352.


An electron reaching the detector after being backscattered from a solid surface in a reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) experiment follows a so-called V -type trajectory if it is reasonable to consider that it has only one large elastic scattering event along its total path length traveled inside the solid. V -type trajectories are explicitly assumed in the dielectric model developed by Yubero [Phys. Rev. B 53, 9728 (1996)] for quantification of electron energy losses in REELS experiments. However, the condition under which this approximation is valid has not previously been investigated explicitly quantitatively. Here, we have studied to what extent these REELS electrons can be considered to follow near V -type trajectories. To this end, we have made Monte Carlo simulations of trajectories for electrons traveling at different energies in different experimental geometries in solids with different elastic scattering properties. Path lengths up to three to four times the corresponding inelastic mean free paths have been considered to account for 80-90% of the total electrons having one single inelastic scattering event. On this basis, we have made detailed and systematic studies of the correlation between the distribution of path lengths, the maximum depth reached, and the fraction of all electrons that have experienced near V -type trajectories. These investigations show that the assumption of V -type trajectories for the relevant path lengths is, in general, a good approximation. In the rare cases, when the detection angle corresponds to a scattering angle with a deep minimum in the cross section, very few electrons have experienced true V -type trajectories. However, even in these extreme cases, a large fraction of the relevant electrons have near V -type trajectories. © 2008 The American Physical Society.


Background

Knee osteoarthritis
(OA) remains a leading aetiology of disability worldwide. Clinical assessment
of such knee-related conditions has improved with recent advances in gait
analysis. Despite being a gold standard method, gait data acquired by motion capture
(mocap) technology are highly non-linear and dimensional, which make
traditional gait analysis challenging. Thus, extrinsic algorithms need to be
used to make sense of gait data. Supervised Machine Learning (ML)-based
classifiers outperform conventional statistical methods in revealing intrinsic
patterns that can discern gait abnormalities when using mocap data, making them
a suitable tool for aiding diagnosis of knee OA.

Research question

Studies have demonstrated
the accuracy of supervised ML-based classifiers in gait analysis. However, these
techniques have not gained wide acceptance amongst biomechanists for two
reasons: the reliability of such methods has not been assessed and there is no
consensus on which classifier or group of classifiers to select. Specifically,
it is not clear whether classifiers that leverage optimal separating
hyperplanes (OSH) or artificial neural networks (ANN) are more accurate and
reliable.

Methods

A systematic review
and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the capability of such algorithms to
predict pathological kinematic and kinetic gait patterns as indicators of knee
OA. With 153 eligible studies, 6 studies met the
inclusion criteria for a subsequent meta-analysis, accounting for 273 healthy subjects and 313 patients with symptomatic
knee OA. The classification performance of supervised ML classifiers (OSH- or
ANN-based) used in these studies was quantitatively assessed and compared across
four following performance metrics: classification accuracy on the test set
(ACC), sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), and area under the receiver
operating characteristic curve (AUC).

Results

There was no
statistically significant discrepancy in the ACC between OSH- and ANN-based
classifiers when dealing with kinetic and kinematic data concurrently, as well
as when considering only kinematic data. However, there was a statistically
significant difference in their SN and SP, with the ANN-based classifiers
having higher SN and SP than OSH-based algorithms. As only one of the eligible studies reported AUC,
this metric could not be assessed statistically across studies.

Significance

This study supports
the use of ANN-based algorithms for classifying knee OA-related gait patterns as
having a higher sensitivity and specificity than OSH-based classifiers. Considering
their higher reliability, leveraging supervised ANN-based methods can aid biomechanists
to diagnose knee OA objectively.


We summarize all available locality records by us and others for the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) during 1970-99 in Wisconsin, where it is listed as endangered. Nearly all areas of regular observation (i.e., populations) occurred in clusters of sites. All historical localities and extant populations (or population clusters) were discovered by volunteers. The species' historical reputation as localized and scarce continues to appear justified, but the paucity of historical data precludes further refinement of its statewide status and trend in past decades. Regal fritillary habitat has typically been described as native prairie grassland. This appears often, but not always, to correlate with other factors more strongly associated with regal fritillary populations: larger grassland patches more likely to have topographic diversity and long-term histories of more favorable land uses (such that native flora, if present, has not been destroyed). These other factors, without regard for the "nativeness" of the vegetation, have proven useful in selecting sites to search for undiscovered populations. We also present analyses of our transect survey data from 49 grasslands in Wisconsin during 1990-99 for both regal fritillary and the closely related but more widespread and abundant Aphrodite fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite). Flight period timing varied among years by ≥3 weeks for both fritillaries. These results should be useful for designing and interpreting surveys to monitor fritillary populations.


Little is known about the origin of the high-energy and sustained emission from solar long-duration gamma-ray flares (LDGRFs) identified with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Solar Maximum Mission, and now Fermi. Though the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has identified dozens of flares with LDGRF signatures, the nature of this phenomenon has been a challenge to explain due to both extreme energies and long durations. The highest-energy emission has generally been attributed to pion production from the interaction of ≳300 MeV protons with the ambient matter. The extended duration suggests that particle acceleration occurs over large volumes extending high in the corona, either from stochastic acceleration within large coronal loops or from back precipitation from coronal mass ejection–driven shocks. It is possible to test these models by making a direct comparison between the properties of the accelerated ion population producing the γ-ray emission derived from the Fermi/LAT observations and the characteristics of solar energetic particles (SEPs) measured by the Payload for Matter-Antimatter Exploration and Light Nuclei Astrophysics spacecraft in the energy range corresponding to the pion-related emission detected with Fermi. For 14 of these events, we compare the two populations—SEPs in space and the interacting particles at the Sun—and discuss the implications in terms of potential sources. Our analysis shows that the two proton numbers are poorly correlated, with their ratio spanning more than 5 orders of magnitude, suggesting that the back precipitation of shock-acceleration particles is unlikely to be the source of the LDGRF emission.


We describe an all-optical circuit that recognizes by a packet the header [virtual channel identifier (VCI): 16 bits and virtual path identifier (VPI): 8 bits] extracted from a cell for self-routing. The circuit's operation is confirmed by an experiment in the recognition of four header bits, and an all-optical routing experiment is carried out with a sequence of four cells, which are composed of two header bits. The output from the header recognition circuit appears in a signal assigned In the time axis according to the header information. The signal controls the switch in the switching system. The proposed header recognition and self-routing circuits are successfully demonstrated by the experiments.


The United States use of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) or drones for targeted killings of terrorists has been on the rise in recent years and the method has become the core element of president Obamas strategy in the war against terror. This study examines the deterrent effect of targeted killings on terrorism using UCAV/drones as a method of counterterrorism. Building on the literature on counterterrorism, UCAV, targeted killings, deterrence theory and statistics on terrorism the study provides a case study of the CIA drone operations in Pakistan between the years 2004-2010. The goal has been to analyze drone operations and the extent of terrorism from the beginning of the drone campaign until 2010. This as a means of identifying possible trends in terrorism activity due to the occurrence of drone strikes. Findings suggest that the possibility of a deterrent effect is far from evident and that there are some indications of increased terrorism.


Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a powerful micro-analytical tool that has been widely used in geoscience because of its ability to rapidly and precisely analyze isotopes in situ with a typical spatial resolution of 30–80 microns. Here we present a new method for U–Pb dating of zircon with a higher spatial resolution at a scale of 5.8–7.4 μm in diameter and <3 μm in sampling depth (<0.5 ng of zircon material consumption), using a 193 nm ArF excimer laser ablation system coupled with multiple ion counting inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MIC-ICP-MS). Ion counters have an obvious advantage when using a small ion beam (<12.5 mV) and make it possible to date zircons with a 238U signal of <0.5 mV with improved spatial resolution. The new technique was evaluated by investigating six zircon standards with various known ages ranging from 32 Ma to 2060 Ma. Using this technique, we obtained a precision (2s) for the weighted mean 206Pb/238U age within 1% and an accuracy of <1% offset to the nominal reference age. We then further demonstrated the utility and robustness of the new high spatial resolution technique for its application to the real geological problem of complexly zoned zircons, to determine the age of the famous Dabie ultrahigh pressure metamorphism. We anticipate that the method will have a wide range of applications in high-resolution U–Pb dating of tiny or complex zircon grains with small cores or relatively narrow zones, with high efficiency and throughput in the geological research community.


This paper studies the consequences of parallel import (PI) on process innovation of firms heterogeneous in their production technology. In an international setting where foreign markets differ with respect to their intellectual property rights regime, a move by a technologically inferior firm to exploit a new unregulated market can result in imitation and PI. The impact of PI on innovation is determined by the degree of heterogeneity between firms and trade costs. Increasing trade costs shifts from the market share losses brought by PI from the more to the less productive firm. This induces the former to invest more in R&D. At this point, sales in the foreign market become a determinant of the R&D decision by the technologically inferior firm. For low levels of firm heterogeneity, PI increases output by this firm targeted for the unregulated market, hence increases its innovation efforts. A tariff policy accompanied by opening borders to PI only increases welfare when the technological gap between the two firms is sufficiently large.


Starches isolated from twenty samples of Dioscorea rotundata L. (Dioscoreaceae) comprising ten local and hybrid cultivars each, were studied using micromorphological and chemical techniques. There is a marked polymorphism of granule shapes in all the samples, while the dimensions are more clear-cut, with granules exhibiting sizes >40 ?m accounting for 42.2% and 12% in local and hybrid cultivars, respectively. Solubility and swelling power are characteristic in the cultivars and follow similar increase patterns along the temperature gradient under investigation. However, the swelling power was relatively higher in the hybrid, than in the local cultivars, that suggest the chemical properties of D. rotundata starches are less affected by granule micromorphology, but more by the molecular and associative forces, which are intrinsic in the particular cultivar. The intergrading nature of granule morphology makes it an unsuitable attribute for discrimination among the cultivars. Therefore, solubility and swelling power, in combination with granule dimensions, may provide a secure technique for yam cultivar diagnosis, to be used in quality control and assurances, as well as in forensics. Okun, Sasanbula, Efuru and TDr97/00940 cultivars, which show lower solubility values could be important to diabetics and other health-conscious individuals while, Kokumo, Odo, Amula, Amuo, TDr98/01230, TDr95/18544, TDr95/9177, TDr8902565, TDr98/01217 cultivars which display higher solubility and swelling power may be important for dietary improvement and uses in pharmaceutical formulations.


Realizing the importance of developing an integrated approach for effective Product Life Cycle (PLC) Management this paper examines the use of the system dynamics approach to capture the market evolution structure. After going through a review on Product Life Cycle Management and the System Dynamics approach a holistic model of market evolution is developed involving the most important components of the business environment problem situation such as the buying process, PLC characteristics, Customer Satisfaction and plausible Marketing Strategies. The model is further assessed on a number of dimensions such as its ability to emulate the evolution of the product through the stages of the PLC, and the ability of the model to provide valuable information for formulating effective strategies.


Transportation fuels derived from imported fossil fuels are subjected to the price fluctuations of the global marketplace, and constitute a major expense in the operation of a vehicle. Emissions from the evaporation and combustion of these fuels contribute to a range of environmental and health problems, causing poor air quality and emitting greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Alternative fuel created from domestic sources has been proposed as a solution to these problems, and many fuels are being developed based on biomass and other renewable sources. Natural State Research, Inc. proposes a different alternative hydrocarbon fuel which is produced from abundant waste plastic materials. This fuel burns more efficiently and cleaner than commercial gasoline and diesel. The process exists to efficiently convert waste plastic into a reliable low cost source of fuel.


The inclusion of women in the public sphere delineates the last century from the previous ones. This thesis investigates three key aspects of the gender revolution.
At the turn from the 18th to the 19th century, countries began to grant women equal voting rights to men. Equality in the act of voting, however, failed to ensue. To address this conundrum, the first essay argues that elites and organizations had greater incentives to mobilize women to vote under a proportional representation (pr) than a plurality electoral system. I test the argument empirically by studying a reform which required half of the about 600 Norwegian municipalities to replace plurality with pr before the 1919 election. The difference-in-difference design reveals the reform increased women's share of the votes cast by about ten percentage points, thus notably reducing gender inequities in political participation.
Women's inclusion in voting did, however, not imply women's inclusion in employment, education, and political offices. Indeed, after World War II, the social partners and political parties favored policies aimed at male-breadwinner families. The second essay studies the puzzle of why unions, employers, and parties nonetheless, from the 1970s and onwards, went from opposing to proposing work-family policy reforms, such as daycare services and paid parental leave. My
argument is that, as women have become an increasingly important part of the membership base for unions and source of high-skilled labour for employers, the social partners have come to push for the expansion of work-family policies. Yet, centralised corporatist institutions,
which give policy influence, are needed for unions and employers to succeed with their policy demands. Both a time-series crossnational quantitative analysis and an in-depth case study of Norway and shadow case studies of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden support the argument.
By the new millennium, women made up half of the labor force but only one-third of managers, indicating that significant gender inequities remain. The third essay therefore examines whether the introduction of full-time daycare services increase mothers' possibility and willingness to invest a professional career. Empirically, the essay exploits a staggered, large-scale expansion of daycare centres across Norwegian municipalities in the 2000s. Analysing registry data on the whole Norwegian population, the instrumental variable estimates
indicate that the availability of daycare services made women more likely to enter into occupations requiring longer hours and leadership positions.
In sum, the thesis demonstrates that reforms of political and public policy institutions can impact both the pace and the direction of theongoing gender revolution.


The image quality of an uncoated fiber bundle is influenced by light leakage between neighboring fibers. The point-spread function due to light leakage between neighboring fibers is used to calculate the static and dynamic frequency response of an uninsulated fiber bundle. The static and dynamic frequency response is also measured for a bundle of uncoated fibers. The possibility of optically insulating smaller diameter fibers by depositing a thin coating of low refractive-index plastic material is well known. A process for drawing glass fibers with a core of high refractive-index glass and a 1–2-μ thick coating of low refractiveindex glass has been developed. This method is also used for depositing a second metal coating on fibers and drawing "multiple fibers." A discussion on the dependence of the coating thickness on various parameters of the over-all optical system is given.