Purpose: The visual system achieves partial lightness constancy across illumination gradients and variations in object pose. What scene variables mediate this constancy? Here we report parametric measurements of how the slant and reflectance of a background surface affect the lightness of test spots seen against that surface. Methods: Observers looked into an experimental chamber. Two spatially separated cards provided the immediate backgrounds for a test and matching spot. The slant of the background cards could be varied using computer-controlled rotating stages. Changes in the reflectances of background cards were simulated with a hidden projector. Observers compared the apparent lightness of simulated spots projected onto the background cards. We held the slant and simulated reflectance of one background card fixed and varied the slant and simulated reflectance of the other. We obtained matching curves which related the luminance of a spot on the fixed background card to the luminance of a lightness-matched spot on the variable background card. Results: When there were minimal cues to illumination geometry, matching curves depended only the background card's luminance and were independent of the type of manipulation (reflectance or slant) used to achieve a particular luminance. In addition, the matching curves resembled those obtained previously for simple stimulus configurations where test spots where presented against spatially uniform backgrounds. Conclusion: We have developed a paradigm that allows parametric measurement of object lightness in real scene contexts. Within this paradigm we are able to reduce conditions sufficiently that we can replicate key features of classic results. For richer contexts, we expect new patterns to emerge in the parametric data. The data should address the generalizability of extant models developed with reference to much simpler viewing conditions, and allow development of quantitative models of lightness applicable to natural viewing. Supported by NIH/NEI RO1 EY10016 and P30 EY001583


The main purpose of this dissertation is to determine the influence of socio-demographic variables on the health related behaviors among NCD patients in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Statistics revealed that non-communicable diseases
(NCDs) which are chronic diseases are increasing worldwide contributing to increased mortality and morbidity. These behaviors were shown to be different according to socio-demographic factors. The socio-demographic variables identified as the independent variables were age, gender, income and education level. Meanwhile, the dependent variable that represents health related behaviors was
measured using five dimensions. Fruit and vegetable consumption, alcohol consumption, smoking, interest in health promotion programs and exercise. All these dimensions were measured using likert scale. Sabah patients may differ in terms of perception and behavior due to different socio-demographic characteristics, region and culture that can contribute to different patterns of health related
behaviors. Identifying these factors can contribute to effective counseling educational programs and creation of wellness centers tailored to the needs of local patients. This is a non-probability and purposive sampled study, conducted in Queen Elizabeth Hospital among 181 NCD patients. Questionnaire was used to interview subjects after obtaining verbal consent and collected for data analysis.
Response rate was 100 percent. Respondents' characteristics were presented using descriptive statistics and frequency table. Cronbach's Alpha was used to test the reliability of the results. The value of 0.864 obtained showed that the results were reliable. Pearson Correlation and multiple regressions were performed for hypotheses testing. The results revealed that the socio-demographic variables had
significant positive influence on health related behaviors. Socio-demographic variables influence significantly fruit and vegetable consumption, with positive influence from age. Socio-demographic variables influence significantly interest in health promotion programs, with positive influence from education level. Socio-demographic variables influence insignificantly alcohol consumption. However, gender has Significant influence on alcohol consumption with males more likely to drink. Socio-demographic variables influence significantly smoking, with significant influence from age and gender. Socio-demographic variables influence significantly exercise, with positive influence from education level. As conclusion, socio-demographic variables such as age, gender and education level were shown to influence health related behaviors.


The European Emissions trading Scheme (EU ETS) was launched in 2005. The scheme started off with a limited scope, but has gradually expanded, in terms of geographical, sectoral and gas coverage. This report analyses the possibilities for further sectoral expansion in the Nordic countries. The analysis is done in terms of barriers and solutions for inclusion of four major sectors currently outside the scope of the scheme: transport, heating, agriculture and fisheries, and waste. Focus is on the road transport sector, which is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the Nordic countries. The main barriers identified for inclusion of road transport are related to the overlap with existing policy instruments, high administrative costs of downstream inclusion, and potential loss of fiscal revenue. Experiences from other trading schemes show that the barriers can be overcome.


The skilful synthesis of nanohybrids composed of noble metals (Au, Ag, Pt and Pd, as well as AuAg alloy) and metal oxides (ZnO, TiO2, Cu2O, MnO2, Fe2O3, WO3 and CeO2) has received considerable attention for applications in photocatalysis, solar cells, drug delivery, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and many other important areas. The overall architecture of nanocomposites is one of the most important factors dictating the physical properties of nanohybrids. Noble metals can be coupled to metal oxides and metal chalcogenides to yield diverse nanostructures, including noble metal decorated-metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), nanoarrays, noble metal/metal oxide core/shell, noble metal/metal oxide yolk/shell and Janus noble metal–metal oxide nanostructures. In this review, we focus on the significant application based advances in neat and tailored nanostructures of noble metal–metal oxide nanohybrids and touched upon chalcogenides also. The improvement in performance in representative energy conversion, electrochemical water splitting, photocatalytic hydrogen generation, photocatalytic CO2 reduction, photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs) applications is discussed. Finally, we conclude with a perspective on the future direction and prospects of these controllable nanohybrid materials.


In this paper, a control-oriented soot model was developed for real-time soot prediction and combustion condition optimization in a gasoline Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) Engine. PPC is a promising combustion concept that achieves high efficiency, low soot and NOx emissions simultaneously. However, soot emissions were found to be significantly increased with high EGR and pilot injection, therefore a predictive soot model is needed for PPC engine control. The sensitivity of soot emissions to injection events and late-cycle heat release was investigated on a multi-cylinder heavy duty gasoline PPC engine, which indicated main impact factors during soot formation and oxidation processes. The Hiroyasu empirical model was modified according to the sensitivity results, which indicated main influences during soot formation and oxidation processes. By introducing additional compensation factors, this model can be used to predict soot emissions under pilot injection. Model parameters were identified using experimental data under a few representative operating points. In order to reduce the cycle-to-cycle variation resulting in the soot estimation noise, a combustion duration calculation method is proposed to estimate CA10 and CA90. This soot model presented in this paper was validated under load-transient operating conditions and agreed with the measurement results with R2 over 0.8 during transient operations, which is sufficient enough for soot prediction as a virtual soot sensor and for control purpose. (Less)


Ancient limestone-marl alternations are concentrated in settings analogous to loci of aragonite accumulation in the modern world. They typically occur on shelves in the tropical-subtropical climate belt, are far more abundant on passive continental margins than on active ones, and are rare in upwelling zones. In recent studies, aragonite was proposed to play an important role in differential diagenesis typical of most limestone-marl alternations. The coincidence of depositional settings of ancient limestone-marl alternations and modern aragonite accumulation is a strong case for this hypothesis. If confirmed, it could provide a valuable tool for broad-scale paleoenvironmental interpretations. An additional, different type of limestone-marl alternations resulted from the Cretaceous explosion in productivity of calcitic plankton: these pelagic ones are fundamentally different in their style of diagenesis.


Experimental materials made from mixtures of nickel and tin powders have shown promise for use as the negative electrodes of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical power cells. During charging (or discharging) of a lithiumion cell, lithium ions are absorbed into (or desorbed from, respectively) the negative electrode, typically through an intercalation or alloying process. The negative electrodes (for this purpose, designated as anodes) in state-of-the-art Li-ion cells are made of graphite, in which intercalation occurs. Alternatively, the anodes can be made from metals, in which alloying can occur. For reasons having to do with the electrochemical potential of intercalated lithium, metallic anode materials (especially materials containing tin) are regarded as safer than graphite ones; in addition, such metallic anode materials have been investigated in the hope of obtaining reversible charge/discharge capacities greater than those of graphite anodes. However, until now, each of the tin-containing metallic anode formulations tested has been found to be inadequate in some respect. In preparation for making experimental electrodes, Ni and Sn powders were mixed in various proportions and suspended in a solution of [poly(vinylidene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene dissolved in 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone]. (A carbon powder was also incorporated into some of the suspensions, but subsequent tests revealed that better electrode performances were obtained without the carbon.) The experimental electrodes were then made by coating nickel foils with the suspensions and drying them in air. The experimental electrodes were characterized through several tests, including cyclic charge/discharge tests in electrochemical cells of several different types that differed in their counter-electrode or positive-electrode materials. The electrolyte in each cell was a 1-M solution of LiPF6 in a mixture of 1 part ethylene carbonate with 3 parts ethyl methyl carbonate. In each cell, the positive electrode was separated from the experimental electrode by a sheet of microporous polyethylene. Positive electrodes were made, variously, of the experimental electrode materials themselves or of lithium-metal, LiNi1–xCoxO2, or LiMn2O4. Of the electrodes tested, the best results were obtained with those made from a mixture of 41.6 weight percent Ni powder and 58.4 weight percent Sn powder: These electrodes exhibited high specific charge/discharge capacity (>0.3 A⋅h/g), capacity density >2.5 A⋅h/mL (more than three times that of Li-ion-cell negative-electrode materials now commercially available), nearly zero capacity fade, low irreversible capacity (45 to 76 mA⋅h/g), and long cycle life. This work was done by Grant M. Ehrlich and Christopher Durand of Yardney Technical Products, Inc., for Johnson Space Center. In accordance with Public Law 96-517, the contractor has elected to retain title to this invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its commercial use should be addressed to: Yardney Technical Products, Inc. 82 Mechanic Street Pawcatuck, CT 06379 E-mail: email@example.com Refer to MSC-23114, volume and number of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the page number.


Trimethoxy analogs of tripelennamine, diphenhydramine, and pheniramine were studied to determine the influences of the trimethoxy group on the pharmacological activity of known antihistamines. In this investigation, the ability of the parent compounds and their analogs to antagonize the histamine-induced contractions of guinea pig ilia were studied as well as their effects on the systolic blood pressure of male albino rats and on the central nervous system of mice as measured by the actophotometer. 'lhe trimethoxy analogs were comparatively weak competitive antagonists of histamine with the exception of N,N,-Diethyl-N'(2-pyridyl)-N'-(3,4,S-trimethoxybenzyl) ethylenediamine Dicyclamate (De-TMPBZ) and N,N,-Diethyl-N'-(2-pyridyl)-N'-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl) ethylenediamine Disuccinate (TMPBZ) which were weak noncompetitive histamine antagonists. The parent compounds and their analogs did not significantly alter the systolic blood pressure of rats, but they did cause some minor fluctuations which were of interest. Intraperitoneal injections of pheniramine in mice caused a significant increase (P:::0.05) in locomotor activity, but Drna-TMPP, a trimethoxy analog of pheniramine, did not significantly alter locomotor activity. Injections of tripelennamine produced no significant changes in locomotor activity; however, Mor-TMPBZ, a trimethoxy analog of tripelennamine caused a significant decrease in activity.


The phenomenal growth in the rate of type 2 diabetes presents an enormous burden to society. Diabetes and its complications cost billions and significantly impact quality of life in individuals with diabetes. Diabetes management has transitioned from focusing exclusively on glycemic control to an approach that addresses both glucose abnormalities and the chronic complications of the disease. Increased understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease and the multifactorial basis of diabetes complications suggest the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of all diabetes complications. Preventive approaches emphasizing risk factor reduction strategies are essential. The American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care for People with Diabetes assist both the health care provider and the individual with diabetes to appreciate the comprehensive treatment goals in diabetes and provide specific guidelines for achieving these goals. This article presents these guidelines in an easy-to-remember ABC format.


Until the issue of international criminal justice entered into Kenya's politics, following the violently disputed 2007 elections, Kenya's successive governments had never taken international diplomacy and foreign policy seriously or, at least, had never publicly appeared to do so. Never before had the two concepts been so ubiquitous in the country's political lexicon as when the Mwai Kibaki government mobilised locally, continentally and globally in an attempt to torpedo two cases facing prominent Kenyans, the highest profile being Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Kibaki, and later his successor Kenyatta, aggressively canvassed for support on the international stage against the ICC. Kenya featured prominently in regional summits, African Union summits, at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and within the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the Rome Statute as it tried to make a no-holds-barred onslaught against the ICC. This article considers whether this show of diplomatic force, which resulted in Kenya extracting concessions from the ICC, was consistent with a well thought out and coherent foreign policy or a cynical reaction meant to rescue indicted persons from the grip of the international criminal justice.


In the 1990s we witnessed wars via the mass media; death of thousands in several warring states and millions in others. We also witnessed numerous acts of terrorism for instance 9/11 in America, the 7/7 bomb blast in the British capital and several bomb blast in Malaysian neighboring country, Indonesia. In the midst of these happenings, are the media, both local and global, doing their best to cover the news for the benefits of their audiences locally or worldwide. As for the local media, and in this case the news broadcast, one may ask how does a country such as Malaysia, that does not experience war, report other peoples' war? With Malaysia's over dependence of war news from the international news agencies and global media, will the news by Malaysian broadcast media differ from those that are covered by the global media, due to news slant and editors' preferences? Moreover with the potential of the mass media to provide neutral and objective reporting of war and peace, one may ask, how do these local and global media propagate peace? For that matter, is peace journalism an option for these media. This study engages in a comparative study on the coverage of war and peace news between two Malaysian television stations, TV3 and RTM with two global television networks, CNN and Al-Jazeera. Using a quantitative content analysis study with Smetko and Valkenburg's framing theory as the theoretical platform, the study hopes to identify to what extent these four selected media are involved in propagating world peace.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the safety and efficacy of an immunogenic gene therapy using a drug designed to produce expression of a foreign class I major histocompatibility complex protein in patients with head and neck cancer.

DESIGN
Phase 1 prospective clinical trial.

SETTING
Academic medical setting.

PATIENTS
Nine patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who had failed conventional therapy and did not express HLA-B7, a class I major histocompatibility complex protein.

INTERVENTION
Patients were treated with Allovectin-7 (Vical Inc, San Diego, Calif) by direct intratumoral injection. Allovectin-7 contains a plasmid complementary DNA complexed with a cationic lipid, which results in expression of HLA-B7.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Patients were assessed for any toxic effects and for any change in tumor volume. Biopsy specimens obtained before and after therapy were evaluated by immunohistochemistry to detect HLA-B7 expression and with the terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay to detect any induction of apoptosis.

RESULTS
There were no toxic effects of the gene therapy. In 4 of these 9 patients there was a partial response to treatment, evidenced by a gradual reduction in tumor size. One patient has remained alive for more than 17 months since commencing treatment, with no clinical evidence of disease but with persistent histological evidence of cancer. Analysis of the biopsy specimens from 2 of the patients who responded to therapy demonstrated HLA-B7 expression. The TUNEL assay demonstrated extensive apoptosis in both of these patients, suggesting that this may be the mechanism of tumor reduction.

CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrate the potential efficacy and lack of toxicity of this form of alloantigen gene therapy. A multi-institutional study has been initiated to expand on these findings.


— Erythema Multiforme Exudativum Major (EMEM) is one of the drug allergy diseases. Drug allergies caused by isoniazid rarely causes EMEM. Cutaneous reactions caused by isoniazid were obtained in 0.98% of patients, but the precise occurrence of Steven Johnson's Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermolisis Necrolisis (TEN) due to isoniazid is not known for certain. We present this case to show hypersensitivity of isoniazid in a child. Based on the history of drug intake, physical diagnostic tests, drug elimination and provocation; we established the diagnosis of isoniazid hypersensitivity. The child showed improvement on skin manifestation after stopped isoniazid therapy.


Haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.) is a temperate fruiting shrub grown commercially in northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Haskap is self-incompatible and requires insect pollinators in order to set fruit; however, very little is currently known about its floral biology or pollinator specializations, particularly in North American cultivars. Here, we examine floral longevity, nectar dynamics, the timing of anther dehiscence, and stigma receptivity in flowers of greenhouse-grown 'Tundra', a Haskap cultivar developed and grown in Saskatchewan, Canada. Anthesis lasted 83.3 ± 25.9 hours (mean ± SD) in un-pollinated flowers; pollination caused early senescence within 34.3 ± 15.2 hours after pollination. Nectar was present from the onset of anthesis, and nectar volume peaked at 9-16 hours after opening. Nectar volume was maintained throughout anthesis and was not resorbed prior to abscission of the corolla from the ovary, and nectar removed during anthesis was replenished to the original volume. The stigma showed a reaction to hydrogen peroxide while still in the bud stage, suggesting it is receptive even before the flower opens. Early stigma receptivity, nectar production, and anther dehiscence maximize opportunities to be successfully pollinated, along with high floral longevity and pollination-triggered senescence. These results suggest that Haskap flowers utilize a generalist, rather than a specialized, pollination strategy. Observations that some flowers open in the evening or were already open in the morning suggest that nocturnal pollinators such as moths may be important, in addition to known diurnal pollinators.


Background: Early-stage accelerator programs teach new entrepreneurs how to identify and exploit venture opportunities. In doing so, they implicitly teach these new entrepreneurs how to develop and iterate claims. But since this function of teaching persuasion has been implicit and generally unsystematic, it is unclear how well it works. Literature review: We review related literature on the venture development process, value propositions, and logic orientation (Goods-Dominant vs. Service-Dominant Logic). Research questions: 1. Does an entrepreneurship training program implicitly teach new entrepreneurs to make and iterate persuasive claims? 2. How effectively does it do so, and how can it improve? Research methodology: We examine one such accelerator program via a qualitative case study. In this case study, we collected interviews, observations, and artifacts, then analyzed them with thematic coding. Results/discussion: All teams had received previous entrepreneurship training and mentoring. However, they differed in their problem and logic orientations as well as their stage in the venture development process. These differences related to the extent to which they iterated value propositions in the program. Conclusions: We conclude with recommendations for improving how accelerator programs can better train new entrepreneurs to communicate and persuade.


Robustness of machine learning models is critical for security related applications, where real-world adversaries are uniquely focused on evading neural network based detectors. Prior work mainly focus on crafting adversarial examples (AEs) with small uniform norm-bounded perturbations across features to maintain the requirement of imperceptibility. However, uniform perturbations do not result in realistic AEs in domains such as malware, finance, and social networks. For these types of applications, features typically have some semantically meaningful dependencies. The key idea of our proposed approach is to enable non-uniform perturbations that can adequately represent these feature dependencies during adversarial training. We propose using characteristics of the empirical data distribution, both on correlations between the features and the importance of the features themselves. Using experimental datasets for malware classification, credit risk prediction, and spam detection, we show that our approach is more robust to real-world attacks. Finally, we present robustness certification utilizing non-uniform perturbation bounds, and show that non-uniform bounds achieve better certification.


The US first-to-invent patent regime is unique in that it allows a patent applicant to assert priority rights back to the invention date. The level of reliance on inventorship rights is important because it informs the longstanding policy debate over whether the US should conform to a first-to-file system as well as for patent applicant strategy. Prior studies have considered the use of inter partes interference proceedings. However, that approach necessarily ignores ex parte prosecution. This paper presents a normative study of patent applicant use of invention-date rights during ex parte prosecution. Three sources inform the primary results: the prosecution history files of 21,000 patent applications filed in the past decade; a survey of 1,000 patent practitioners regarding their use of the novelty provisions of the Patent Act; and a collection of 11,000,000 prior art references cited in recently-issued patents. Additional compilations of prosecution file histories for patents identified as either (1) valuable or (2) worthless supplement these data sets and allow for an evaluation of the differential importance of the novelty rights. Finally, a set of opinions from the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) evidences the difficulty of proving a prior invention date.During prosecution, most patent applicants are faced with non-102(b) prior art that could be antedated. Yet, very few applicants actually attempt to assert prior-invention rights. A miniscule 0.1% of cases in my large sample included an assertion of novelty rights that directly led to an issued patent. The process of claiming priority to a pre-filing invention-date requires that an applicant prove prior conception and due diligence or reduction-to-practice. The difficulty of attempting to prove these elements are laid-out in a set of administrative patent appeal decisions where 77% of attempts to antedate references were rejected by the administrative court.Given the difficulty of asserting invention-date-based novelty rights, it is unsurprising that applicants are more likely to assert such rights in cases of highly valuable inventions, choosing not to waste money in less valuable cases. Furthermore and perhaps contrary to conventional wisdom, my findings suggest that individual inventors assert invention-date-based novelty rights relatively less often and less successfully than large, publicly traded companies. Lastly, a practitioner survey of 1000 patent law professionals reveals, inter alia, a shared concern that attempts to antedate prior art leave patents open to challenge during litigation by providing "fodder" for validity challenges.


Summary In several world regions, greenhouse horticultural production is characterized by the use of simple low cost structures with limited climate control. Conditions in these are especially hard for bumble bee colonies during the summer months. Several factors can limit bumble bee activity and thus fruit set, including high temperatures, high radiation and poor quality and low volumes of pollen. In 2009 we carried out experiments to determine the influence of a commercial bumble bee "pollination station" on hive climate parameters and hive performance in tomato greenhouses under extreme summer environmental conditions. We found that air temperature and humidity fluctuation during the day was lower for the hives in the pollination station compared to control hives. Final numbers of adult bees and cocoons, and daily colony traffic were significantly higher (54%, 43% and 50.5% respectively) in the pollination stations than in control hives. This is the first report of a pollination station for bumble bees.


From December 2006 to December 2016, 1093 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) individuals < 70 years enrolled in Korea human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cohort were analyzed to investigate the prevalence of HIV/HBV co-infection rate and hepatitis B virus surface antibody (HBsAb) positive rate based on birth year. The HBV co-infection prevalence rate was the highest (8.8%) in patients born between 1960 and 1964 and the lowest (0%) among those born between 1995 and 1999. A decreasing linear trend of HBV co-infection rate was observed according to the 5-year interval changes. HBsAb-positive rate was only 58.1% in our study. The national HBV vaccination programs have effectively lowered the HBV co-infection rate in HIV population. However, it is identified that the HIV population has low HBsAb positive rate. Further evidences supporting efficacy of booster immunization for HBsAb negative HIV patients are required and efforts should be made to increase HBsAb positive rates among HIV patients to prevent horizontal transmission.


Studies concerning depression consistently reveal higher levels in women than men. One explanation for this is that women and men cope with depressive emotions differently. While women tend to focus on their negative emotions and the causes and consequences of these feelings, men are more likely to engage in distracting, active behavior. The persistent self focus bn negative emotions, rumination, has been found to prolong and exacerbate feelings of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). At the same time, women tend to have more intimate and close friendships characterized by self-disclosure than men. While such intimate relationships theoretically provide social support that can alleviate the severity and shorten the length of depression, this buffering effect apparently does not lessen the prevalence of depression in women. One explanation for this lack of significant effective mediation is that women may engage in more co-rumination, or the excessive and repetitive discussion of one's problems, focusing on the causes, effects, and negative emotions associated with them (Rose, 2002). Cotumination may prolong feelings of depression. The current study attempted to examine the correlation between co-rumination and depression by examining college students and their coping styles within their close same-sex friendships. Results indicate that women tend to coruminate more than men, and that their friendships have more positive friendship features. Men report more hostility and their friendships have more negative friendship qualities. Furthermore, for all participants, co-rumination correlated significantly with depression and positive friendship


This is a landmark national report that draws on survey responses from almost 1,400 migrant and refugee women across Australia.
While the survey is not a representative sample, and cannot provide a comprehensive account of the experiences of all women from migrant and refugee backgrounds, it offers a
unique snapshot of a sample of women from across Australia who were willing to share their
experiences with us. It offers key insights to build a more nuanced understanding of the diversity
of migrant and refugee women's experiences and its findings can be used to inform policy and
other measures that may best support migrant and refugee women into the future.

 The report is organised into three parts: Domestic and Family Violence (DFV); Victimisation,
Help-Seeking and Trust in Institutions; and Employment. Across DFV and Employment we
consider 2019 (that is, prior to COVID-19) and the period from March 2020 until September–
November 2020, when the survey was available.

 The original focus of this survey was women's safety, with a spotlight on domestic and family violence. However,
given the disruption, impact and hardships caused by the global pandemic, the survey shifted to accommodate the rupture of 2020 and questions were included to examine life and safety
before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the survey was not dedicated to identifying
the depth and breadth of the repercussions of COVID-19, it captured key data on how stay-at-home directives and other policy measures related to the pandemic
impacted women's experiences of domestic and family violence, employment, and financial
security. The survey findings provide a foundation for important knowledge regarding the
experiences and needs of women across Australia's diverse migrant and refugee communities as
we look towards a post-COVID-19 future.


Satellite-based measurements provide a systematic measure of the seasonal fluctuations and general condition of forest vegetation, including that of the coast redwood region. Year-toyear variation in greenness may be caused by gradual disturbances, successional recovery or climatic variation, while within-year variation reflects disturbance events and the response of vegetation types to seasonal change. Here we show how inter- and intra-year redwood forest vigor is captured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) using a MODISbased vegetation change model developed as part of the USDA Forest Service's Threat Assessment Centers' Early Warning System. Results show how the land surface phenology of mature and young forests changed before and after wildfire. Following the 2003 Canoe Fire, the productivity of young forests reversed from being higher to lower than mature forests. The early summer 2008 wildfires in Mendocino County did not cause this reversal, presumably because fire effects in second growth were less severe. The August 2009 Lockheed Fire in Santa Cruz County experienced a sharp drop in second growth productivity, as did the early season 2008 wildfires to the south. As a coarse-filter monitoring tool, this product reflects this variation across vegetation types caused by climate and disturbances for the entire conterminous United States.


A new genus and species of the family Eugaleaspidae (Eugaleaspiformes, Galeaspida), Xitunaspis magnus gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Lower Devonian Xitun Formation in Qujing, Yunnan Province, China. The new genus displays the diagnostic characters of the Eugaleaspidae, including a slit-like median dorsal opening, no inner cornual process, developed median dorsal canals, and only three pairs of lateral transverse canals extending from lateral dorsal canals. Different from the other eugaleaspids, X. magnus possesses a large headshield with thick dermal bone and a more plesiomorphic sensory canal system. The phylogenetic analysis of the Galeaspida reveals that Xitunaspis clusters with Dunyu and Eugaleaspis to form a monophyletic clade Eugaleaspidae Liu, 1965, and has a closer relationship with Dunyu than Eugaleaspis by sharing the thick dermal bone of the headshield. The new finding represents the first convincing fossil record of the Eugaleaspiformes in the middle Lochkovian Xitun Formation and adds to our knowledge about the morphology of eugaleaspiforms and the evolutionary pattern of the sensory canal system in the Eugaleaspiformes and even Galeaspida


To aid the computer designer in addressing the proper reliability goals, an economic model is proposed in which any increase in cost for reliability is evaluated against the expected decrease in cost of failure. These criteria are applied in an example to optimize the memory configuration of a computer that has a five-year lifetime requirement in space. An internal figure of merit is developed that can be used by the computer designer when little specific spacecraft and mission data are available. A more general external figure of merit can be used when mission parameters are defined. This latter is useful both for the computer designer and the spacecraft systems engineer.


This paper analyses the general incorporation statutes for manufacturing firms adopted by the American states up to 1860. Prior to the enactment of a general law, a business could only incorporate by obtaining a special act of their state legislature; general statutes facilitated incorporation through a routine administrative procedure. A new chronology of the adoption of these statutes reveals that several states enacted them much earlier than previous scholarship has indicated. An analysis of the contents of these laws indicates that many imposed strict regulations on the corporations they created, whereas others granted entrepreneurs near-total freedom. Many Southern states enacted particularly liberal statutes, but sometimes also prohibited nonwhites from incorporating businesses or gave a government official discretion over access to the law. Finally, an analysis of the volume of incorporation through special charters reveals that the states that failed to adopt general incorporation laws tended to offer unusually generous access to incorporation through special legislative acts. Taken together, these results imply that the adoption of a general incorporation statute did not always represent a discrete transition to open access to the corporate form. Instead, general statutes sometimes included highly restrictive provisions governing access, and some states generously accommodated demands for incorporation in the absence of a general statute.


Nanoparticles are known to form in narrow slip zones in natural and experimental fault zones, but their possible role in dynamic weakening of faults during seismic slip remains almost unexplored. We conducted friction experiments on periclase (MgO) nanoparticles (50 nm in average size) at rates as high as 1.3 m s −1 , a typical speed of seismic slip. The nanoparticles were used as the initial gouge to avoid complexities arising from comminution and fluid release. The dynamic friction decreased with increasing slip rate and the steady-state frictional coefficient reduced to as low as 0.1 at a slip rate of 1.3 m s −1 . Flash heating is not effective for nanoparticles, and we propose that development of slickensides and dominant operation of nanoparticle rolling cause such a weakening. Nanoparticle lubrication appears to be as effective as melt lubrication and thermal pressurization, and the formation of nanoparticles in slip zones may be an important fault lubrication process.


A deterministic approach based on a modal expansion and modal receptance method has been developed to evaluate the airborne sound insulation of aircraft panels with stringer and ring frame attachments. Furthermore, this method was extended to predict the noise radiation of stiffening panel subjected to TBL excitation. This approach integrates with the fast and accurate methods in evaluating the modal excitation terms and modal radiation efficiency. Based on these advantages, the effects of the curvature, overpressure, stringers, ring frames, hydrodynamic coincidence, composite structures and structural dissipation on the acoustical properties of a typical aircraft panel are able to be investigated efficiently. Theoretic predictions were compared with laboratory measurements conducted on both model structures and aircraft panels. It was found that a small curvature may result in significant deterioration of the sound transmission loss at frequencies of interest. Unlike a flat uniform panel, the theoretical prediction for curved panels from the infinite model can not provide good agreement with the measurement close to and well below the ring frequency. However, in this frequency range, the finite model has been proved to be applicable For the large curved airplane panels studied here, it was found that the ring frames have little influence on sound transmission loss in the frequency range of interest. However the stringers may have considerable influence on sound transmission loss. The stringer improves this for a curved panel around the ring frequency, but it may result in a potential deterioration of the sound transmission loss above the ring frequency. In this study it is evident that the sound transmission loss of the composite skin attached with composite stringers is lower than that of the metallic panel attached with metallic stringers. At frequencies higher than the corresponding ring frequency of the curved panel, both experiment and theoretical prediction reveal that the overpressure at the concave side tends to reduce the sound transmission loss at the rate of about 0.5dB /10000 Pa. While at lower frequencies, say well below the ring frequency, the overpressure may increase or reduce sound transmission loss of a finite panel, depending on the shift of the resonant frequencies resulting from the overpressure. For TBL excitation, numerical investigation reveals that the panel with the ring frames behaves more like a sub-panel between two frames. Below 500Hz, the ring frames slightly enhance the sound radiation while dramatically increasing it around 1.3kHz. The TBL forcing field excites the same vibration lever for the panel with and without ring frame attachments, but the modes excited for the panel with ring frames radiate more sound. Unlike the ring frames, the stringers increase sound radiation below 1kHz. Above 1kHz, the sub-panels between two bays respond independently and the stringer effects is therefore not obvious.


Linear Friction Welding (LFW) is a relatively new process adopted by aircraft engine manufacturers utilising new technologies to produce better value components. With increasing fuel prices and economical drives for reducing CO2 emissions, LFW has been a key technology in recent years for aircraft engine manufacture in both commercial and military market sectors. For joining Blades to Discs ('Blisks'), LFW is the ideal process as it is a solid state process which gives reproducibility and high quality bonds therefore improving performance. The welding process is also more cost effective than machining Blisks from solid billets, and a reduction in weight can also be achieved with the use of hollow blades. The LFW process also allows dissimilar materials to be joined and a reduction in assembly time. The main aim of the research is to create a simulation model of a Linear Friction Welding machine and also apply systems thinking to fully understand the LFW process with a view to reduce total production costs. As this EngD focuses on systems thinking, a holistic approach will be used. The hard systems parts of this project will involve the mechanics of the system and understanding relationships between the key system interactions during the welding process in order to create an analytical model of the machine to use for fault diagnosis and prediction. The soft systems parts will focus on the machine users to gain an understanding of how to effectively implement the model with the process and its users. The benefits of the new model include the ability to execute it in a real- time environment with machine operation, allowing weld anomalies to be detected as (and in some cases before) they occur, as well as the monitoring of the machine's condition. Therefore the business benefits would be realised through a reduction in machine downtime enabling the timely supply of goods providing customer value. Further benefits will be the greater understanding of the complex operation of the whole system and the welding process. Developing a robust research investigation framework, a research hypothesis is introduced and subsequent research questions are developed. Through a combination of hard system investigation using mathematical modelling and soft systems understanding through an action case study intervention, a holistic model is developed.


Hemodynamic information has proven valuable for analysis of cardiovascular diseases. Aberrant blood-flow patterns, for instance, often relate to disease progression. Magnetic resonance imaging enables blood-flow measurements that provide three-dimensional velocity fields during one heartbeat. However, visual analysis of these data is challenging, because of the abundance and complexity of information. Explicit feature extraction can facilitate the pattern characterization, and hence support visualization techniques to effectively convey anomalous flow areas. In this work, we improve on existing pattern matching methods that characterize blood-flow patterns in volumetric imaging data. To this end, we propose a set of helical and vortical patterns that can be parameterized by a single variable. The characterization performance is validated on both synthetic and imaging blood-flow data. Moreover, we present a comprehensive visualization based on the pattern matching results, enabling semi-quantitative assessment of the patterns in relation to the cardiovascular anatomy.


The birth of modern psychotherapies—along with the birth of psychology as a science on one side and with psychoanalysis, other depth-psychological treatments and behavioral therapies in addition to medical treatments of psychological disorders on the other side—in the 19th and 20th centuries was accompanied by positivistic and mechanistic paradigms underlying empirical research and claims of scientific dignity [1]. Affirmations which could not be tested or observed empirically had to be excluded from science—including any kind of metaphysics and religious belief, notwithstanding pioneering studies by William James [2], Granville Stanley Hall, James Henry Leuba and Edwin Diller Starbuck [3] for psychology in general and for psychology of religion(s) in particular. In particular, the critique of religions by Sigmund Freud has continuously exerted a strong impact in the fields of psychiatry and psychotherapies; in addition, regarding psychodynamics and symptoms of psychic disorders, religious phenomena in the lives of patients may be just as affected as other cognitive and emotional aspects and behaviors [4]. Consequently, religious experience and religious behavior of patients in psychiatry and psychotherapies have rarely been object of research and teaching apart from predominantly symptomatic and pathogenic perspectives [5].


Due to an increased awareness of climate change and other environmental issues, methods to reduce the energy consumption of buildings has become of great importance. One way to improve the efficiency of a building is to use
thermal storage material. A recent thermal storage strategy is to use phase change material (PCM) which allows for
the storage and release of thermal energy. One of the main advantages of using PCM over traditional thermal storage
(like concrete) is that PCM can achieve the same level of thermal storage as concrete while using less material. Using PCM can also reduce and delay peak load, improve the thermal comfort, and reduce the overall energy consumption of a building.

One of the main parameters that affect the performance and effectiveness of PCM in buildings is the convective heat
transfer between a PCM wall and room air. Current convective heat transfer coefficients used in whole building simulation and in building codes (such as ASHRAE) may not be adequate for PCM applications. The present study investigates thermal performance of a vertical PCM panel. The investigation includes experiments using laser MachZehnder Interferometry (MZI) and a comparative numerical study using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The study focuses on a vertical flat plate filled with PCM (soy wax) undergoing transient convective heat transfer by natural convection while the PCM solidifies. A novel method was developed to make interferometric surface temperature measurements using partial fringes as a reference temperature. The experimental results show a deviation from predicted heat transfer coefficients from established correlation and significant subcooling was observed as a temperature jump. The subcooling effect was reproduced using CFD by implementing the speed of crystallization within the PCM cavity.


Diversified query expansion (DQE) based approaches aim to select a set of expansion terms with less redundancy among them while covering as many query aspects as possible. Recently they have experimentally demonstrate their effectiveness for the task of search result diversification. One challenge faced by existing DQE approaches is how to ensure the aspect coverage. In this paper, we propose a novel method for DQE, called compact aspect embedding, which exploits trace norm regularization to learn a low rank vector space for the query, with each eigenvector of the learnt vector space representing an aspect, and the absolute value of its corresponding eigenvalue representing the association strength of that aspect to the query. Meanwhile, each expansion term is mapped into the vector space as well. Based on this novel representation of the query aspects and expansion terms, we design a greedy selection strategy to choose a set of expansion terms to explicitly cover all possible aspects of the query.We test our method on several TREC diversification data sets, and show that our method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art search result diversification approaches.


Homomorphic Encryption (HE) is one of the most promising security solutions to emerging Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS). Several Leveled-HE (LHE)-enabled Convolutional Neural Networks (LHECNNs) are proposed to implement MLaaS to avoid the large bootstrapping overhead. However, prior LHECNNs have to pay significant computational overhead but achieve only low inference accuracy, due to their polynomial approximation activations and poolings. Stacking many polynomial approximation activation layers in a network greatly reduces the inference accuracy, since the polynomial approximation activation errors lead to a low distortion of the output distribution of the next batch normalization layer. So the polynomial approximation activations and poolings have become the obstacle to a fast and accurate LHECNN model. In this paper, we propose a Shift-accumulation-based LHE-enabled deep neural network (SHE) for fast and accurate inferences on encrypted data. We use the binary-operation-friendly leveled-TFHE (LTFHE) encryption scheme to implement ReLU activations and max poolings. We also adopt the logarithmic quantization to accelerate inferences by replacing expensive LTFHE multiplications with cheap LTFHE shifts. We propose a mixed bitwidth accumulator to expedite accumulations. Since the LTFHE ReLU activations, max poolings, shifts and accumulations have small multiplicative depth, SHE can implement much deeper network architectures with more convolutional and activation layers. Our experimental results show SHE achieves the state-of-the-art inference accuracy and reduces the inference latency by 76.21% ~ 94.23% over prior LHECNNs on MNIST and CIFAR-10.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate various combinations of land clearing method, burning of vegetation, post clearing tillage, and soil management on soil physical properties of a forested Typic Paleudult in the Amazon basin. Land clearing methods used were (i) slash, (ii) bulldozer clearing with a straight blade, and (iii) bulldozer clearing with a shear blade. Specific effects associated with clearing were mechanization, bulldozer blade type, burning, disking, and chiseling. Post clearing soil management systems isolated effects of bedding, liming, and fertilization. Soil physical properties were measured before clearing and 14, 29, and 98 weeks after clearing. Compaction increased bulk density (ρb) of the 0- to 15-cm depth for all clearing methods, but ρb of the 14- to 25-depth increased by 0.1 Mg m-3 only for the bulldozer cleared treatments. Soil texture of the 0- to 15-cm depth was not altered by land clearing. Gravimetric water content at soil matric potentials < -2 kPa was greatest for the straight blade cleared soil. The infiltration rate 14 weeks after clearing decreased 37, 96, and 90% for soil cleared by slash, straight blade, and shear blade, respectively, as compared to initial conditions. Chisel plowing and disking the newly cleared land increased the infiltration rate compared with straight blade without chiseling. Detrimental changes in soil physical properties caused by clearing were minimized when post clearing management practices of bedding, fertilization, and liming were adopted


Aldous Huxley said 'All great truths begin as heresy.' It is important for every generation to ask heretical questions. Some of the current heretical questions in the West have to do with 'growth' – both of the economy and of population. The question of growth gives rise to such other questions as sustainability, immigration and carrying capacity.


We assess the performance of a fleet of 411 utility-scale (i.e., >5 MWAC and ground-mounted) photovoltaic (PV) projects totaling 21.1 GWDC (16.3 GWAC) of capacity, which achieved commercial operations in the United States from 2007 to 2016. This fleet of projects contributed more than 50% of all solar electricity generated in the United States in 2017. Using detailed information on individual project characteristics, in conjunction with modeled irradiance data, we assess the extent to which actual first-year performance has lived up to both modeled and stated expectations. We then analyze system-level performance degradation in subsequent years by employing a "fixed effects" regression model to statistically isolate the impact of age on system performance. We find that this fleet of utility-scale PV projects has generally lived up to ex ante expectations for first-year performance but that subsequent system-level degradation—found to be −1.3%/year (±0.2%)—has, on average, been worse than both ex ante expectations (commonly −0.5%/year) and results from past studies (ranging from −0.8%/year to −1.0%/year). We emphasize that −1.3%/year is a system-level estimate that captures more than just module degradation (e.g., including soiling, balance of plant degradation, and downtime for maintenance and/or other events). A side analysis of a variety of project characteristics suggests that system-level degradation rates tend to be of lower magnitude among newer projects and larger projects and at sites with lower long-term average temperatures.


The effects of chemical enhancers and sonophoresis on the transdermal permeation of tizanidine hydrochloride (TIZ) across mouse skin were investigated. Parameters including drug solubility, apparent partition coefficient (APC), drug permeation, and degradation in skin were determined. Low frequency ultrasound was also applied in the presence and absence of chemical enhancers to assess whether drug permeation improved. APC values indicated that TIZ preferentially partitions into intercellular spaces and does not form a reservoir, with the drug also exhibiting good enzymatic stability in skin. Most of the enhancers studied significantly increased the permeation rate of TIZ through full thickness mouse skin in comparison with TIZ formulated in phosphate buffer. Maximum enhancement was observed for TIZ formulated as a suspension in 50% v/v aqueous ethanol containing 5% v/v citral. Sonophoresis significantly (p < 0.05) increased the cumulative amount of TIZ permeating through the skin at 15 and 30 min in comparison to passive diffusion. A synergistic effect was noted when sonophoresis was applied in the presence of chemical enhancers. The results suggest that the formulation of TIZ with an appropriate penetration enhancer may be useful in the development of a therapeutic system to deliver TIZ across the skin for a prolonged period, i.e. 24 hr. The application of ultrasound in association with chemical enhancers, such as the combination of 5% v/v citral in 50% v/v aqueous ethanol, could further serve as a non-oral and non-invasive drug delivery modality for the immediate therapeutic effect of muscle relaxants such as TIZ.


From its first pitch, baseball has reflected national values and promoted the idea of what it means to be American. Beloved narratives tied the national pastime to beliefs as fundamental to our civic life as racial equality, patriotism, heroism, and virtuous capitalism. Mitchell Nathanson calls foul. Rejecting the myths and much-told tales, he examines how power is as much a part of baseball--and America--as pine tar and eye black. Indeed, the struggles for power within the game paralleled those that defined our nation. Nathanson follows the new Americans who sought club ownership to promote their social status in the increasingly closed caste system of nineteenth-century America. He shows how the rise and public rebuke of the Players Association reflects the collective spirit of working and middle-class America in the mid-twentieth century and the countervailing forces that sought to beat back the emerging movement. He lays bare the debilitating effects of a harsh double standard that required African American players to possess an unimpeachable character merely to take the field--a standard no white player had to meet. Told with passion and righteous outrage, A People's History of Baseball offers an incisive alternative history of America's much-loved--if misunderstood--national pastime.


In many African countries the efficiency of public services deteriorated after independence as governments hired too many employees, allowed earnings to erode and performance standards to decline. Various explanations have been offered for this. Some have focused on the state's role as an employer of last resort of graduates from domestic colleges and universities and its effects on the payroll. Others view public employment as an instrument of patronage, arguing that it was used to reward particular ethnic groups or regions for their political support. Using a binary logistic model this paper analyses the effect of merit-based criteria (education, age/experience) and ascriptive criteria (ethnicity or region of origin) on the probability of holding a public sector job in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It finds that educational level, age and the developmental level of a respondent's place of birth have a large influence on an individual's likelihood to hold public sector employment, while ethnic identity has only a minor effect once other factors are controlled for. The findings support the first proposition that the state was a default employer of highly educated workers in the decades of independence and politicians thus exercised relatively little discretion over the allocation of skilled jobs. Moreover, graduates from peripheral and less developed regions of their respective countries were more likely to enter public employment than their counterparts from prosperous regions, suggesting that graduates from ethnically 'advantaged' backgrounds may in fact have a preference for private rather than public sector careers.


retrieval from web has been a tough task due to an increased amount of contents dynamically day by day. In that current information retrieval results are only based on syntactic description for web service which may not provide an accurate solution for all service requests. On the other hand semantic based information retrieval has been the better option for precise and accurate results for queries. This paper proposes a semantic based hybrid matching approach that comprises different kinds of matching strategies combined together with an aim of flexible and efficient service retrieval in terms of accuracy. Using semantic based web ontology language service (OWL-S) conversion of non semantic description into corresponding semantic description is proposed. We also extend prototype to support save-off pre- processed data. The proposed work showed an attractive result after experiments by considering the functions namely recall and precision.


For both new and veteran faculty, inheriting a syllabus to teach from is like being blindfolded on a long journey and being told, "Don't worry, you'll know it when we get there." There's a lot of trust required in order to follow someone else's map. There are road hazards the mapmaker may not be aware of; there may be alternate routes that might get you there more directly; and it may even be prudent to choose another mode of transportation to get there.


Nowadays, many electrical utilities are moving towards self-healing distribution grid. This is realized by adding to distribution system various sensors, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), phasor measurement units (PMU), sequence of event recorders (SERs), reclosers, detectors, measurement units, automated controllers, and other automation equipment. Those elements provide a continuous stream of data to support grid performance and improve its reliability. Huge amount of data obtained from different smart grid sources satisfy all the Big Data (BD) characteristics. The success of future electric grid depends mainly on the effective utilization of the huge amount of the data flow. This mass of information is essential to make next generation electric grid more efficient, reliable, secure, independent, and supportive during normal conditions and contingencies. The self-healing grid requires a robust real-time computation system that monitors, processes, provides predictive analytics, performs data mining and statistics, and makes faster decisions of the diverse and complex data collected within the traditional and nextgeneration electric grid. This helps to detect, locate, and isolate various faults, reconfigure and reroute power of the distribution network to minimize service disruptions and outages.Implementation of self-healing control system is associated with big data utilization which is a persisting challenge. Computational complexity challenges is associated with processing huge amounts of data during operation of the electric power system. Therefore, this paper presents acomprehensive studies of the impact of implementing a smart real-time dynamic self-healing control strategy using BD process platform with deep learning technique on the distribution system for current grid and future smart grid. The deep learning technique is a subfield of machine learning. The deep learning is shown to be highly efficient solution for the analysis of massive amounts of data which is performed by discovering and utilizing available regularities in the inputs to help self-healing control system to network reconfiguration, and coordination of various distributed energy resourcesin the smart grid. The deep learning system complexity does notdepend on the number of grid buses, this is because the power flow solving time is approximately linear with respect to the number of system buses. However, the complexity of the system depends on the number of the system inputs. The Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network will be used in modeling sequential data such as time series data. Such network has the ability to learn contextual information over the history of the input sequence. The BD analyticswill be used as a key to deal with the uncertainties and different sizes of structured and unstructured data. The advanced analytics techniques such as predictive analytics, in addition to data mining, statistics, and faster decisions making will be utilized for data coming from sensors within the traditional and next-generation electric grid. The studies performed are based on real-time monitoring and control of the network topology and operating conditions taking into account different power sources and hybrid renewable energy sources which usually have different characteristics on the electric power grid. Finally, the real-time implementations of the proposed system will achieve dynamic resources optimization, network reconfiguration, and optimum operation of power grid using LSTM with big data platform.


Scenario After explaining the treatment plan to a new patient I was requested by her to provide clarity, regarding the various types and numbers of the radiographs that I had suggested. She said that she was very concerned about exposure to X-rays and could I not limit the number of radiographs I needed to make a diagnosis and carry out her treatment? While it is important to discuss the diagnostic requirements with my patients, I feel I may be ethically comprised by making a less than optimal diagnosis of oral health conditions, by limiting the diagnostic investigations I perform.


Complex potential and non-Hermitian hopping amplitude are building blocks of a non-Hermitian quantum network. Appropriate configuration, such as PT-symmetric distribution, can lead to the full real spectrum. To investigate the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon, we study the phase diagram of a semi-infinite non-Hermitian system. It consists of a finite non-Hermitian cluster and a semi-infinite lead. Based on the analysis of the solution of the concrete systems, it is shown that it can have the full real spectrum without any requirements on the symmetry and the wave function within the lead becomes a unidirectional plane wave at the exceptional point. This universal dynamical behavior is demonstrated as the persistent emission and reflectionless absorption of wave packets in the typical non-Hermitian systems containing the complex on-site potential and non-Hermitian hopping amplitude.


Epstein and Carrick-Hagenbarth analyze the conflict of interest that exists when academic financial economists, acting in their roles as presumed objective experts in the media and academia on topics, such as financial regulation, fail to report their private financial affiliations. The authors analyze the linkages between academia, private financial institutions and public institutions of nineteen academic financial economists who are members of two groups who have put forth proposals on financial reform. In addition, they review media writings and appearances, as well as the academic papers of these economists between 2005 and 2009, to determine the portion of the time these economists identified their affiliations with private or public financial institutions when writing about or commenting on financial policy issues. The vast majority of the time, these economists did not identify these affiliations and possible conflicts of interest. In light of these and related findings the authors call for an economists' code of ethics which would require academic economists to identify these connections in appropriate contexts. >> Download this paper as published in the January 2012 Cambridge Journal of Economics


This study examines judicial behavior under the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine by drawing on an original database of 459 state and Federal appellate cases decided between 1970 and 2009. The authors use logit regression to show that state judges are more likely to uphold state and local laws against dormant Commerce Clause attack than their Federal judicial counterparts, a result that is consistent with the interstate rivalry issues animating the doctrine. The study also finds that Republican-dominated judicial panels at the state level are more likely to side with tax challengers invoking the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine than are Democratic judicial panels. The authors found similar results on tax issues at the Federal level between the years 1993 and 2009. These results suggest that among more conservative judges, traditional anti-regulation attitudes may hold more sway than federalism and judicial restraint. These findings provide insight into the connections between forum selection, politics, and judicial behavior under the doctrine and open avenues for further research.


MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, by Adeed Dawisha. Princeton, NJ and Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press, 2003. vi + 313 pages. Index to p. 340. $29.95. Adeed Dawisha's highly readable, clear-eyed, and sober historical account of Arab nationalism is an important contribution to our understanding of its rapid rise to fame and equally rapid fall from grace. Combining the seasoned insights of a veteran Middle East scholar, recent scholarship, and the memoirs of Arab leaders and intellectuals, Dawisha has produced a major addition to the study of Arab nationalism and the politics of the region. The book is organized in the following way. Chapter One surveys the debate over what is Arab nationalism and argues that it is best understood as "the ultimate goal of Arab political unity and the desire for a unitary Arab state" (p. 8). Chapters Two through Five recount the increasingly perceptible pulse of Arab nationalism from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. Dawisha argues that Arab nationalism became the dominant ideology of the Middle East against the odds, given the history of the region - because of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the emergence of salient events such as the conflict over Palestine and the struggle for independence, and the instrumental use of Arab nationalism by political elites for personal political gain. Chapters Six through Nine examine expertly the entwined fortunes of Arab nationalism and President Jamal 'Abd al-Nasir of Egypt. Nasir and Arab nationalism rode each other to new heights after 1952, and then suffered together when the unity agreements ended in failure, and the 1967 war with Israel ended in a red-letter defeat. Chapter Ten chronicles that slow death of Arab nationalism and the unapologetic rise of wataniya (state interests). In the conclusion, Dawisha argues that Arab nationalism delivered not unity and dignity but rather fragmentation and despair. The combination of an ideology that was disconnected from either democratic institutions or economic and political interests, the existence of competing and more deeply felt local identities, and superpower hostility proved to be too much to overcome. Yet, according to Dawisha, few should struggle to say kinds words at its eulogy. He concludes that "ideas, whether dead or still alive, should be judged not by their prevailing status or health, but by what they accomplished in their days of vibrancy" (p. 312), and proceeds to proclaim that Arab nationalism will be remembered not for having delivered a modicum of dignity to the Arab world but rather disappointment and heartbreak. This is a tough but fair-minded study of Arab nationalism, and my quibbles revolve around several claims advanced in the opening and closing chapters that are not fully supported by the historical narrative. …


ABSTRACT Local chemotherapy with biocompatible drug-delivery systems prolongs survival in patients. Due to the biocompatibility and high loading capacity, bentonite nanoclay is a good candidate for the fabrication of drug-delivery vehicles. In this study, doxorubicin-bentonite nanoclay complex (DOX-Bent complex) was prepared for the first time as a sustained-release drug-delivery system for intratumoural chemotherapy of melanoma. An efficient loading of DOX on 1 mg of bentonite nanoclay as high as 994.45 ± 4.9 µg was obtained at a 30:1 DOX:bentonite nanoclay mass ratio. The DOX-Bent complex showed a low initial burst release of DOX in the first 24 h of release, followed by a sustained-release pattern for 21 days. The cumulative in vitro release of DOX from the DOX-Bent complex at pHs 6.5 and 7.4 revealed that the DOX-Bent complex can distinguish between tumour and normal tissues and express specific drug release at the tumour site. The results of cytotoxicity experiments indicated that the release pattern of DOX can supply sufficient DOX to inhibit growth of the melanoma cancer cell with an IC50 of 0.29 ± 0.07 µg/mL. It is thus suggested that the DOX-Bent complex be introduced as a drug-delivery system for effective local cancer therapy.


ABSTRACT In the past several decades, the suburbs of many U.S. metropolitan regions have seen rising levels of poverty, immigration, and racial and ethnic diversity. At the same time, suburban redevelopment has led to more "urban-like" development patterns and struggles over gentrification and displacement. In a case study of Wheaton, Maryland, this article explores how redevelopment impacted suburban immigrants and small businesses and how they fought back. Using interviews with key stakeholders and secondary documents about Wheaton's redevelopment, it shows several challenges to advancing equitable development in suburbs, including the capacity of community-based organizations, political representation, and limited government policies and programs. However, grassroots activists and grasstops policymakers have slowly built the capacity of communities to balance the scales of development. As suburbs redevelop, the article offers lessons about the consequences for socially and economically vulnerable groups and the political and community-based structures and support needed to advance equitable outcomes.


This paper explores the philosophical, political and memorial consequences of the contemporary status of law present in the work of Giorgio Agamben with specific reference to the field of legal history. My intention is to offer a genealogical reading of the relation between Agamben's theory of the state of exception animating his political and legal philosophical writings in the Homo Sacer trilogy and his earlier interest in the philosophy of language and history. While exploring this path, I shall follow his indictment of modernity construed as a drive fracturing the relation between knowledge and experience. By further analyzing the destruction of experience as a feature of modern times, I intend to map out the political and legal consequences of the crisis of authority befalling our contemporary nomos, one which is inherently connected to the decoupling between narrative and experience. In this way, I aim to provide a broader philosophical context to Agamben's concept of the state of exception which otherwise tends to be disregarded within receptions of his work in the field of legal studies. In a first part, I shall map the relevance of Agamben's concept of the state of exception as an intellectual tool for approaching the contemporary status of law as well as its historical unfolding. Secondly, I shall insist on Agamben's understanding of the destruction of experience as a feature of a modern intellectual dynamics dissolving the traditional structures of knowledge and the production of authority. In a third part, I shall explore the consequences of Agamben's reading of the dissolution of law and the destruction of experience for the writing of legal history.


This Interim Report first appeared as a chapter in Climate Change - Socio-economic Dimensions of Mitigation Measures (Pekka Pirilae, Editor; publisher Oy EDITA AB, Helsinki, 2000). It is reprinted here, with permission, with minor revisions. Preceding chapters in the book discuss possible adverse consequences of climate change. This chapter starts by assuming that the possibility of such adverse consequences justifies action to limit climate change. Its purpose is then twofold. First, it summarizes the state of the art in modeling long-term greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, and extracts lessons for international (and national) efforts to limit emissions. Two such lessons are emphasized - the importance of technological progress to reduce the world's energy intensity, and the importance from shifting from fossil to non-fossil fuels as our primary energy sources. Given these basic objectives, this chapter next addresses "burden sharing"- the question of how the burden of limiting emissions ought to be shared among countries, particularly between rich and poor. The chapter does not advocate any particular burden sharing formula; indeed it argues that debates over formulas may generate more heat than light. Instead the chapter emphasizes efforts to implement and expand emission trading, particularly with developing countries, which are expected to have large opportunities for low-cost emission reductions. Not only will effective trading lead to efficient reductions, it could well represent large revenues for developing countries - revenues that the rich developed countries could well be more than happy to pay.


Justice is the virtue we practice by giving people what is due them. Therefore, there is a problem of assignability when we consider an unjust social order: What is due from an individual beneficiary of that order to an individual victim? That question is answered by the concept of social justice: What all of us individually owe to each individual victim of the institutions now in place is our best efforts to reform those institutions. The first half of this paper analyzes the traditional arguments for and the conservative arguments against social justice as the answer to this problem of assignability. Within that framework, it highlights the need for combating and remedying injustices in society even though different, unknown, or more difficult problems may arise from doing so. The second half of the paper enters into an eschatological reflection on the principles of social justice from a Christian liberation theology perspective. It concludes that the demands of social justice from this Christian perspective are two-fold. First, that the members of every class have enough resources and enough power to live as befits human beings, and, second, that the privileged class be accountable to the wider society for the way they use their advantages.


Recent ethical guidelines developed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research along with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans stress the importance of Aboriginal community engagement in research. Although these are positive changes meant to ensure respectful and responsive research relationships between communities and researchers, the understanding of 'community' employed by the new guidelines is problematic. In this sense, the guidelines rely on hegemonic understandings of what it is to be an Aboriginal person in Canada, as well as white spatial imaginaries of Aboriginal geographies. In this way, the guidelines codify Aboriginality and its spatiality as that of well-structured, landed, bounded and distinct rural communities. However, the contemporary Metis communities with whom the authors have worked rarely fit into hegemonic imaginaries of Aboriginality and its geographies in Canada. Rather, Metis communities are often institutionally weak, geographically dispersed and sociologically complex. Thus, we argue that the guidelines instantiate a territorialisation of society and space that risks re-marginalising Metis communities.


Abstract An important management strategy in asthma is the application of a cost-effectiveness review to the selected management principles. Efficacy, in the clinical trial setting, is the first determinant of effectiveness. However, in comparing the cost- effectiveness of two or more therapeutic strategies or drugs the determinants of cost-effectiveness may require more than the simple comparison of Rand value and clinical efficacy end-points. The Rand value of a successful outcome is vital. One of the main goals of long-term asthma management is to avoid asthma-related hospital admissions. An effective asthma education programme can resolve most, if not all of the shortcomings in asthma care. In addition, adherence to guideline recommendations would result in a a decrease in unnecessary and costly (cost-ineffective) therapies. Many asthmatics in South Africa are not being treated according to local or international guideline recommendations and lastly adherence is a serious problem in asthma therapy, significantly increasing asthma management costs.


Concerns that technological progress degrades job opportunities have been expressed over much of the last two centuries by both professional economists and the general public. These concerns can be seen in narratives both in scholarly publications and in the news media. Part of the expressed concern about jobs has been about the potential for increased economic inequality. But another part of the concern has been about a perceived decline in job quality in terms of its effects on monotony vs creativity of work, individual sense of identity, power to act independently, and meaning of life. Public policy should take account of both of these concerns, inequality and job quality.


We develop adjustments to align the NIPA measures of key household flows with cash flow concepts that better reflect household budgets and demand. The adjustments significantly change important macroeconomic time series and give different perspective on household spending and saving. Furthermore, household income aggregated from micro data sets like the CPS, SCF, and PSID differs significantly from NIPA personal income. But the micro survey data likely reflect cash flow concepts rather than NIPA imputations. Indeed the adjusted cash flow measure of income eliminates most of the shortfall of CPS, SCF, and PSID of CPS income relative to NIPA household income.


West of the Mesozoic foreland Sevier orogenic belt in northern Utah and southern Idaho, a regional detachment of inferred mid-Jurassic age occurs in Upper Mississippian shale and can be traced westward to the margin of the coeval magmatic arc, represented by spaced calc-alkalic intrusions. The detachment may be the oldest and structurally highest intrusions. The detachment may be the oldest and structurally highest thrust of the Idaho-Wyoming thrust belt. If so, it bridges the apparent spatial and temporal gap between magmatism and thrusting, thus suggesting a direct genetic link. Thin-skinned deformation is interpreted here to be driven from the heated magmatic arc toward the colder craton by lateral tectonic compression created by lateral volume increase due to intrusion, elevated crustal geotherms, and possible thickening in the arc. The metamorphic complexes occur at the crustal interface between these two thermal-tectonic regimes and may themselves be allochthonous.


To achieve sustainability, agricultural insurance is one of the main tools capable of reducing the vulnerability of farmers. This is the reason it is important to investigate the different factors that affect the farmers' agricultural insurance decision-making. The paper, using Regional panel data from Italy Regions and the GMM dynamic panel data model, examines the effect of different group variables on agricultural insurance decision making: risk perception and management, agricultural insurance recognition, trust and affordability. The aim of this paper is: (1) to analyze, through a systematic literature review, which are the main problems regarding agricultural insurance diffusion, (2) to measure which category of variables influences agricultural insurance adoption, (3) to provide different policy solutions to improve the diffusion of agricultural insurance in Italy. The results show that agricultural insurance affordability, risk perception and management are the major influencing factors; a possible solution to improve the agricultural insurance demands would be to raise household net income and find an alternative solution to subsidies.


Abstract The possibility of viable alternatives to the historical combination of liberal democracy and capitalist development is now widely acknowledged in the analysis of late industrializing countries. For example, within the transitions literature notions of hybrid regimes and closer scrutiny of institutional functioning are being employed to capture complex variations in authoritarianism. Less acknowledged is the significance of capitalist dynamics and related geopolitics for the character and performance of political institutions. We argue that late industrialization in Asia has especially militated against middle-class/labor alliances and produced a general fragmentation of social forces restricting the scope for democratic coalitions. But as well as helping to explain the consolidation and refashioning of existing authoritarian regimes, analysis of these social foundations of political institutions also helps account for strands of authoritarianism within so-called post-authoritarian polities. The Pacific Review has long fostered debate about the durability or otherwise of authoritarian regimes and alternative models to Western capitalism in Asia.


Illisarvik is a lake basin on Richards Island, NWT, that was experimentally drained in 1978. Surveys were conducted in 2016 at 110 sites within and surrounding the basin to study vegetation succession. These surveys extended previous records provided by L. Ovenden for 1985, 1993, and 2001. The vegetation at Illisarvik indicated a gradual shift towards undisturbed tundra species but was still compositionally distinct in 2016. Early colonizing species were rarely observed in 2016. Grasses and sedges have steadily increased in cover since drainage. Erect willows have become well-established since 1993, and the increased vegetation height has resulted in deeper snow packs. Surveys of other environmental characteristics in the basin indicated that volumetric water content and vegetation height were the primary factors controlling active-layer thickness and ground temperatures at Illisarvik. The vegetation height likely acts as a proxy for the insulating influence of the snow.


Pediatric anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) can be considered a safe procedure with low complication rates, provided that surgery is performed correctly. Correct timing and indication for surgery are of capital importance and should take into consideration the child's maturation process and his/her individual needs and desires. In recent years, particular attention has been given to the role of conservative treatment and follow-up visits with clinical investigation, magnetic resonance and laxity testing. This appears of special importance, since the young ACL-deficient knee can evolve with patient's growth. This article provides a synthetic overview on the state of the art of pediatric ACL tears epidemiology, diagnosis, conservative treatment and surgical approaches.


INTRODUCTION
In South Africa evidence shows high HIV prevalence in older populations, with sexual behavior consistent with high HIV acquisition and transmission risk. However, there is a dearth of evidence on older people's HIV incidence.

METHODS
We used a 2010-11 cohort of HIV negative adults in rural South Africa who were 40 years or older at retest in 2015-16, to estimate HIV incidence over a five-year period. We used Poisson regression to measure the association of HIV seroconversion with demographic and behavioral covariates. We used inverse probability sampling weights to adjust for nonresponse in 2015, based on a logistic regression with predictors of sex and age group at August 2010.

RESULTS
HIV prevalence increased from 21% at baseline to 23% in the follow-up survey. From a cohort of 1360 individuals, 33 seroconverted from HIV-negative at baseline, giving an overall HIV incidence rate of 0.39 per 100 person-years (95% CI 0.28-0.57). Rate for women was 0.44 (95% CI 0.30-0.67), double that for men, 0.21 (95% CI 0.10-0.51). The IRRs again show women's risk of seroconverting double that of men (IRR=2.04, p-value = 0.098). Past age 60 the IRR of seroconversion were significantly lower than for those in their 40s (60-69, IRR=0.09, p-value=0.002; 70-79, IRR=0.14, p-value = 0.010).

CONCLUSION
The risk of acquiring HIV is not zero for people over 50, especially women. Our findings highlight the importance of acknowledging that older people are at high risk of HIV infection and that HIV prevention and treatment campaigns must take them into consideration.


We examine three possible explanations for differences in Internet privacy concerns revealed by national regulation: (1) These differences reflect and are related to differences in cultural values described by other research; (2) these differences reflect differences in Internet experience; or (3) they reflect differences in the desires of political institutions without reflecting underlying differences in privacy preferences. Using a sample of Internet users from 38 countries matched against the Internet population of the United States, we find support for (1) and (2), suggesting the need for localized privacy policies. Privacy concerns decline with Internet experience. Controlling for experience, cultural values were associated with differences in privacy concerns. These cultural differences are mediated by regulatory differences, although new cultural differences emerge when differences in regulation are harmonized. Differences in regulation reflect but also shape country differences. Consumers in countries with sectoral regulation have less desire for more privacy regulation.


The process of provisioning healthcare involves massive healthcare data which exists in different forms on disparate data sources and in different formats. Consequently, health information systems encounter interoperability problems at many levels. Integrating these disparate systems requires the support at all levels of a very expensive infrastructures. Cloud computing dramatically reduces the expense and complexity of managing IT systems. Business customers do not need to invest in their own costly IT infrastructure, but can delegate and deploy their services effectively to Cloud vendors and service providers. It is inevitable that electronic health records (EHRs) and healthcare-related services will be deployed on cloud platforms to reduce the cost and complexity of handling and integrating medical records while improving efficiency and accuracy. The paper presents a review of EHR including definitions, EHR file formats, structures leading to the discussion of interoperability and security issues. The paper also presents challenges that have to be addressed for realizing Cloudbased healthcare systems: data protection and big health data management. Finally, the paper presents an active data model for housing and protecting EHRs in a Cloud environment.


Continuing education in Scotland underwent radical changes in the early 1980's, when the National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Scotland responded to the proposals of a working party report (Working Part 1981). They began re-designing their continuing education provision for qualified nurses, and in conjunction with this development, they commissioned two consecutive evaluations. One was to look at a course entitled 'The Experienced Charge Nurse Module', and the other was of a more complex modular development, entitled 'Professional Studies I and II'.

This thesis uses the work that was carried out by the author in executing the two evaluations, to propose a new model of evaluation for use in conjunction with continuing education courses. The need for the model became apparent in the early stages of the research, after the relevant nursing, evaluation, and continuing education literature sources were considered. No existing models appeared to completely meet the demands of the complexities of adult, continuing education courses, although it was considered that the 'Illuminative Evaluation' model of Parlett and Hamilton (1972) was a good basis to work from.

Through the initial evaluation of the Experienced Charge Nurse Module, certain methodologies - predominantly qualitative - were tested, and used in conjunction with progressive focusing (Parlett and Hamilton, 1972) and grounded theory techniques (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). This based the research strongly in the phenomenological field, and these techniques were pursued and strengthened through the second, much larger evaluation of Professional Studies I and II.

The main development at this stage, was that of a monitoring exercise. This complemented the evaluative component, and when the two elements were combined, they formed the 'Structure-Process-Outcome' model of evaluation (based on the categories used in the quality assurance field (Donabedian, 1966). This is proposed as a flexible and comprehensive model which can be adapted for use at either the macro or micro level of evaluation.


The newly-established Computer Arts Archive provides a home for The CAS50 Collection and related materials from the Computer Arts Society, plus those of individual artists. The archive was incorporated as a Community Interest Company in January 2020 and now has an office and storage facility in Leicester. This paper documents the recent additions to the archive and the exhibitions undertaken in 2019 at the Royal College of Arts in London, the LCB LightBox Gallery in Leicester and at the V&A in London. It also presents a strategy for developing the archive further that involves expanding the types of work collected and the amount of contextualising materials.


This book contains a selection of papers presented at the International Seminar "Negotiation and Market Engineering", held at Dagstuhl Castle, Germany, in November 2006. The 17 revised full papers presented in this volume were carefully selected and reviewed after the seminar. The papers deal with the complexity of negotiations, auctions, and markets as economic, social, and IT systems. The authors give a broad overview on the major issues to be addressed and the methodologies used to approach them, covering highly interdisciplinary research from computer science, economics, business administration, and mathematics.


BACKGROUND: The rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has increased significantly over the last decade. Previous cohort studies of patients with MRSA bacteremia have reported higher mortality rates, increased morbidity, longer hospital length of stay (LOS), and higher costs compared with patients with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) bacteremia. The clinical and economic impact of MRSA involving other sites of infection has not been well characterized. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical and economic implications of MRSA compared with MSSA infections across a variety of infection sites and severity of illnesses. METHODS: A retrospective, case—control analysis comparing differences in clinical and economic outcomes of patients with MRSA and MSSA infections was conducted at an academic medical center. Case patients with MRSA infection were matched (1:1 ratio) to control patients with MSSA infection according to age, site of infection, and type of care. RESULTS: Thirty-six matched pairs of patients with S. aureus infection were identified. Baseline characteristics of patients with MSSA and MRSA infection were similar. Patients with MRSA infections had a trend toward longer hospital LOS (15.5 vs 11 days; p = 0.05) and longer antibiotic-related LOS (10 vs 7 days; p = 0.003). Median hospital cost associated with treatment of patients with MRSA infections was higher compared with patients with MSSA infections ($16 575 vs $12 862; p = 0.11); however, this difference was not statistically significant. Treatment failure was common in patients with MRSA infection. Among patients with MSSA infections, treatment failure was associated with vancomycin use. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MRSA infections had worse clinical and economic outcomes compared with patients with MSSA infections.


We analyze the second-order sensitivity effects of a polarimetric temperature sensor and a strain sensor. Such effects are shown to be important for a larger temperature change or strain and are demonstrated by the analysis of the errors between the experimentally measured data and the curves of linear and second-order polynomial regressions, respectively. It is also shown that for a small temperature change or strain, higher accurate values of the two parameters can be obtained only from linear regression. The cross-sensitivity effect is also studied experimentally.


Summary This study investigates the correlates of traditional contraceptive use in Moldova, a poor country in Europe with one of the highest proportions of traditional contraceptive method users. The high reliance on traditional methods, particularly in the context of sub-replacement level fertility rate, has not been systematically evaluated in demographic research. Using cross-sectional data on a sub-sample of 6039 sexually experienced women from the 2005 Moldovan Demographic and Health Survey, this study hypothesizes that (a) economic and spatial disadvantages increase the likelihood of traditional method use, and (b) high exposure to family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) programmes increases the propensity to modern method use. Multilevel multinomial models are used to examine the correlates of traditional method use controlling for exposure to sexual activity, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and data structure. The results show that economic disadvantage increases the probability of traditional method use, but the overall effect is small. Although higher family planning media exposure decreases the reliance on traditional methods among younger women, it has only a marginal effect in increasing modern method use among older women. Family planning programmes designed to encourage women to switch from traditional to modern methods have some success – although the effect is considerably reduced in regions outside of the capital Chisinau. The study concludes that FP/RH efforts directed towards the poorest may have limited impact, but interventions targeted at older women could reduce the burden of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. Addressing differentials in accessing modern methods could improve uptake in rural areas.


Models predicting flow and transport in the vadose zone differ in their conceptual approach, their complexity, and their mathematical formulation. Four models (MARTHE, TRACE, ANSWERS, and MACRO), which differ significantly in their model concepts and complexity, were applied to a common data set to evaluate and compare the different model approaches. Five free‐draining lysimeters, cropped with winter wheat, barley, and oat were used to monitor actual evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and drainage for 627 d. One of the five lysimeters was also treated with methabenzthiazuron (MBT), and soil residues as well as leaching were experimentally determined. In Europe, MBT has been commonly used as a herbicide for almost 30 years. Generally, the use of given model inputs is recommended, apart from plant parameters, which need calibration. The use of validation criteria revealed proper simulation of water flow for the four models. After calibration, the Richards' equation–based models MARTHE, TRACE, and MACRO performed better for water flow predictions than the capacity‐based ANSWERS. A small amount of preferential flow, which is not included in the model structures of MARTHE, TRACE, and ANSWERS, did not influence the simulation of water flow significantly. But preferential flow was associated with the leaching of 0.0059% of the applied mass of MBT, causing relevant concentrations in the leachate. Leaching could be described well with MACRO after calibration. The difficulty of estimating parameters for modeling macropore transport is seen as an obstacle to common application.