Chronic hepatitis C virus infection can cause chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The Hepatitis C Antiviral Long‐term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT‐C) Trial was a prospective, randomized controlled study of long‐term, low‐dose peginterferon therapy in patients with advanced chronic hepatitis C who failed to respond to a previous course of optimal antiviral therapy. The aim of this follow‐up analysis is to describe the frequency and causes of death among this cohort of patients. Deaths occurring during and after the HALT‐C Trial were reviewed by a committee of investigators to determine the cause of death and to categorize each death as liver‐ or nonliver‐related and as related or not to complications of peginterferon. Rates of liver transplantation were also assessed. Over a median of 5.7 years, 122 deaths occurred among 1,050 randomized patients (12%), of which 76 were considered liver‐related (62%) and 46 nonliver‐related (38%); 74 patients (7%) underwent liver transplantation. At 7 years the cumulative mortality rate was higher in the treatment compared to the control group (20% versus 15%, P = 0.049); the primary difference in mortality was in patients in the fibrosis compared to the cirrhosis stratum (14% versus 7%, P = 0.01); comparable differences were observed when liver transplantation was included. Excess mortality, emerging after 3 years of treatment, was related largely to nonliver‐related death; liver‐related mortality was similar in the treatment and control groups. No specific cause of death accounted for the excess mortality and only one death was suspected to be a direct complication of peginterferon. Conclusion: Long‐term maintenance peginterferon in patients with advanced chronic hepatitis C is associated with an excess overall mortality, which was primarily due to nonliver‐related causes among patients with bridging fibrosis. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)


In this paper we evaluate the impact of two programs to support innovation in micro, small and medium enterprises in Paraguay. This article has two contributions to literature. First, the evidence on the impact of this type of programs in developing countries is still scarce. Second, we evaluate the impacts on some variables that have been largely overlooked in the literature, such as innovation activities other than R&D. The evaluation finds positive and significant effects on the probability of carrying out various innovation activities, on the probability of achieving different types of innovation and on the incorporation of technical personnel to the firms. A negative effect on R&D was found, which might be showing a displacement effect of this innovation activity by others. The most robust results are those related to the impact of the program on process and product innovation. The impacts on innovation activities and employment are less robust to alternative specifications and samples.


In this paper, we illustrate the successful implementation of pre-class reading assignments through a social learning platform that allows students to discuss the reading online with their classmates. We show how the platform can be used to understand how students are reading before class. We find that, with this platform, students spend an above average amount of time reading (compared to that reported in the literature) and that most students complete their reading assignments before class. We identify specific reading behaviors that are predictive of in-class exam performance. We also demonstrate ways that the platform promotes active reading strategies and produces high-quality learning interactions between students outside class. Finally, we compare the exam performance of two cohorts of students, where the only difference between them is the use of the platform; we show that students do significantly better on exams when using the platform.


Gambling is defined as staking something on a contingency. Many traders are gambling without even knowing it. Health professionals need to consider the harmful effects of gambling considering that gambling can destroy families and has medical consequences. A 40-year-old bank manager diagnosed initially with mood disorder with two attempts of self-harm in the past 3 years was eventually diagnosed as a case of gambling addiction using both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria and Problem Gambling Severity Index. The participant's gambling urges were not caused by any "trigger" incident, were independent of mood disorder, and were so severe to lead him to deliberate self-harm. Even after adequate trial of two mood stabilizers from different classes including lithium, the patient neither showed improvement in mood symptoms nor his gambling behavior; however, patient's gambling behavior and mood symptoms both showed marked improvement following start of naltrexone up to a dose of 100 mg/day and were maintained at 6-month follow-up with gradual decline in craving for gambling as monitored on Problem Gambling Severity Index. Gambling addiction appears to be a very serious problem and can cause significant problems in the lives of people it affects and their family members.


Aim:  To describe female consumer responses to food advertisements containing nutrition messages differentiated by use of 'scientific' and 'lay person' keywords.

Method:  'Lay person' and 'scientific' keywords were identified in advertisements from an audit of Australia's 30 top circulation magazines by people with or without formal scientific training in nutrition. Eight sample print advertisements were selected for consideration in focus group interviews. Four semistructured qualitative focus group interviews were conducted (women 25–63 years, n = 25 participants in total). Each group discussed four advertisements (two with 'lay person' and two with 'scientific' nutrition keywords). Thematic content analysis, including constant comparison and consensus, was driven by identifying types of responses and attributed meanings of keywords.

Results:  Participants' responses to the sample advertisements ranged from giving an immediate judgement, attributing meaning to keywords, responding to the keyword's novelty, describing the process of information analysis and addressing tangential issues such as photographic cues. The diversity in response occurred whether the advertisement contained 'scientific' or 'lay person' keywords and reflected the influence of multiple discourses on perceptions of the credibility and persuasiveness of nutrition messages

Conclusions:  Consumers' responses to keywords in advertisements are complex. Communications research that tests the message in its total context is needed to ensure the meaning of nutrition messages are being conveyed as is intended.


The innovative technique of building with membranes has experienced a revolutionary development over the past thirty years. The spectrum of applying these light-weight, extraordinarily versatile structures has widened considerably and today includes shelters for sports facilities, airports, recreational facilities as well as buildings for scientific and medical purposes all the way to residential buildings. The extremely thin membranes are capable of spanning great distances without supports and are highly flexible in shape. They are easily assembled and therefore not only very attractive solutions for mobile uses but also very cost effective. Last, but not least, the transparent or translucent membranes allow for natural lighting and offer climatic advantages.This book shows 30 selected membrane structures from the past decade and discusses characteristic details in the construction of each building.Construction drawings, carefully described and reproduced to scale, and photographs illustrate the building methods and the characteristics of the materials used.


Nonhost chemicals may be useful for controlling insect pests of crop plants by interfering with orientation to, and selection of, host plants. Essential oils of 27 plant species were tested in 2 different laboratory assays for evidence of arrest and repellency of neonate larvae of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella L. In an olfactometer in which larval upwind movement toward apples was assessed, greatest arrest was achieved with oils of lavender, Lavandula officinalis L.; pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium L.; and cypress, Cupressus sempervirens L. . Oil of lavender was most effective in preventing larvae from moving upwind in the olfactometer. In a barrier assay, essential plant oils were applied to the distal ends of a glass rod (15 cm long) on which larvae were placed. Larvae crossed the barrier to reach apples impaled on each end of the glass rod. The most effective repellents in this barrier assay were rue, Ruta graveolens L.; garlic, Allium sativum L.; patchouly, Pogostemom cablin (Blanco); and tansy, Tanacetum vulgare L., oils. These 4 plant essential oils were most effective in causing larvae to turn away at the oil barrier. These materials, or their active ingredients, may be useful in protecting fruit from attack by codling moth larvae by preventing larvae from orienting to and arriving at fruit.


The notion of multiple memory systems based on conscious accessibility has been supported largely by neuropsychological patient studies. Specifically, it was widely held that amnesic patients have impaired explicit memory performance but spared implicit memory performance. However, recent patient studies have called the implicit/explicit memory distinction into question. In this study, normal participants were tested on a visual search task, once after an injection of midazolam, an anesthetic that induces temporary amnesia, and once after an injection of saline. Under the influence of midazolam, participants did not show facilitation in search times for repeated configurations (contextual cuing), although there was a general speed-up in performance across blocks in both the midazolam and saline conditions. Neither the contextual-cuing effect nor the procedural-learning effect was available to subjective experience, yet only one of these was affected by midazolam-induced amnesia. These data call into question the notion that memory systems divide on the basis of subjective experience of consciousness or reportability. Rather, the findings support the contention that anterograde amnesia affects learning that depends on building novel associations in memory and that this deficit does not hinge upon accessibility to consciousness.


This paper provides an overview of methodologies used to analyze inter-regional income inequality, and a critical survey of empirical studies that deal with Russian regions. It discusses implications of the growth theory regarding dynamics of inter-economy income inequality. Methodologies for empirically analyzing income inequality are classified as the cross-section approach, distribution approach, and time-series approach. Specific methodologies are described within the framework of this classification, touching upon the subject of their applicability domains. The survey of studies on income inequality among Russian regions summarizes 30 papers grouped according to main approaches used for the analyses.


Suppliers play a major role in innovation processes. We analyze ownership allocations and the choice of R&D technology in vertical R&D cooperations. Given incomplete contracts on the R&D outcome, there is a tradeoff between R&D specifically designed towards a manufacturer (increasing investment productivity) and a general technology (hold-up reduction). We find that the market solution yields the specific technology in too few cases. More intense product market competition shifts optimal ownership towards the supplier. The use of exit clauses increases the gains from the collaboration.


Diabetes constitutes a major health challenge. Since cardiovascular complications are common in diabetic patients this will further increase the overall burden of disease. Furthermore, stress-induced hyperglycemia in non-diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction is associated with higher in-hospital mortality. Previous studies implicate oxidative stress, excessive flux through the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) and a dysfunctional ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) as potential mediators of this process. Since oleanolic acid (OA; a clove extract) possesses antioxidant properties, we hypothesized that it attenuates acute and chronic hyperglycemia-mediated pathophysiologic molecular events (oxidative stress, apoptosis, HBP, UPS) and thereby improves contractile function in response to ischemia-reperfusion. We employed several experimental systems: 1) H9c2 cardiac myoblasts were exposed to 33 mM glucose for 48 hr vs. controls (5 mM glucose); and subsequently treated with two OA doses (20 and 50 µM) for 6 and 24 hr, respectively; 2) Isolated rat hearts were perfused ex vivo with Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 33 mM glucose vs. controls (11 mM glucose) for 60 min, followed by 20 min global ischemia and 60 min reperfusion ± OA treatment; 3) In vivo coronary ligations were performed on streptozotocin treated rats ± OA administration during reperfusion; and 4) Effects of long-term OA treatment (2 weeks) on heart function was assessed in streptozotocin-treated rats. Our data demonstrate that OA treatment blunted high glucose-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in heart cells. OA therapy also resulted in cardioprotection, i.e. for ex vivo and in vivo rat hearts exposed to ischemia-reperfusion under hyperglycemic conditions. In parallel, we found decreased oxidative stress, apoptosis, HBP flux and proteasomal activity following ischemia-reperfusion. Long-term OA treatment also improved heart function in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. These findings are promising since it may eventually result in novel therapeutic interventions to treat acute hyperglycemia (in non-diabetic patients) and diabetic patients with associated cardiovascular complications.


Superalloys tend to operate in environments where they are subjected to high-temperature corrosion, oxidation, and the erosive effects of hot gases. This chapter discusses the nature of these attacks and the effectiveness of various protection methods. It describes the primary forms of oxidation, the development of protective oxides, and the conditions associated with mixed gas corrosion and hot corrosion attack. It discusses oxidation and corrosion testing, the equipment used, and various ways to present the associated data. It describes the effect of gaseous oxidation on different alloys, discusses the formation of oxide scale in the presence of mixed gases, and explains how alloy composition contributes to oxide growth. The chapter discusses the underlying chemistry of hot corrosion, how to identify its effects, and how it progresses under various conditions. It also discusses protective coatings, including aluminide diffusion, overlay, and thermal barrier types, and how they perform in different environments based on their ability to tolerate strain.


This article discusses a support group programme initiated in response to the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 as an example of a psychosocial approach to post-disaster support. Its purpose is to highlight how a bespoke psychosocial peer-based initiative can complement and enhance mental health responses following collective trauma events. It gives an overview of psychosocial approaches to disaster aftercare and presents survey-based and other feedback gathered throughout the life of the programme. The results suggest that facilitated peer support has enabled bereaved people, survivors and responders to share and make sense of their experiences, benefit from mutual support and enhance their coping and resilience. A multidimensional psychosocial approach to peer support has culminated in the development of a self-sustaining peer support network. The case study builds on the evidence base supporting the value of psychosocial approaches as an important complement to clinically focused mental health interventions following a collective trauma event.


The Substrateless Packaging process was developed at Loughborough University as an alternative method of manufacturing electronics with an improved end-of-life materials recovery profile. The process involves injection moulding to overmould electronic components in thermoplastic polymers. Initial prototype samples manufactured in previous work exhibited undesirable small gaps around the embedded components after solidification and which were thought to be the result of adhesion problems between the thermoplastic overmould and components. The study reported here had the aims of determining quantitatively what factors affect adhesion, and to identify which thermoplastic polymers are most suitable for the process.
Following a literature survey, six engineering thermoplastics, PC, PBT, PS, ABS, PA 6 and PMMA were chosen for study as overmoulding materials, and tin as the solid adherend. The literature survey also identified the mechanisms contributing to adhesion at the metal-thermoplastic interface in insert moulding as material properties, interfacial forces between the materials, wetting at the interface, temperature of the insert (consequently temperature at the interface) and insert moulding parameters. A methodology was designed to allow investigation of all these factors, with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) force-distance measurements being used to measure room temperature interfacial forces, high temperature contact angle for wetting, and pull-out strength tests on overmoulded tin-coated wire for overall system adhesion. Excellent repeatability was seen in the measurements obtained with all three experimental methods. Moldflow finite element simulations of the insert moulding process were also undertaken.
For the AFM measurements tin particles were adhered to the probe with the aid of a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) apparatus. PA and PMMA interatomic interactions with tin were found to be noticeably stronger than the other polymers. From consideration of the different possible contributions to the measured forces, it was concluded that the trend of interatomic interactions obtained is due to a combination of electrostatic forces, capillary forces and dispersion forces acting between the materials tested.
In the high temperature contact angle measurements it was observed that the contact angles for all the materials producing drops in equilibrium reduce monotonically with rise in temperature at the interface. The work of adhesion was calculated from the contact angles for PMMA using the Young-Dupre equation and values of surface tension from the literature. It was found that it does not increase monotonically with temperature as might be expected from the contact angles. The works of adhesion at 240°C for all the materials were also calculated and it was found that the materials ranking for expected adhesive strength changed significantly from that expected from consideration of contact angle alone.
In the pull out tests, except for PC, the breaking loads for the materials tested rise then fall with rise in temperature of the insert. It was observed that peak breaking load for the amorphous polymers ABS, PS and PMMA occurred for insert temperature just below Tg of the polymer, and for semi-crystalline polymers PA 6 and PBT it was just above Tg. The ranking of materials by maximum pull out strength was found to be consistent with the ranking by mechanical strength (tensile strength at yield) of the thermoplastics.
The Moldflow simulations yielded the significant results that the thermoplastic melt comes in contact with the insert at relatively low pressure (less than 0.6 MPa), and that the temperature of the melt near the insert drops to the temperature of the insert almost instantaneously on contact. Therefore it was concluded that the efficacy of holding pressure on assisting wetting of the insert by the thermoplastic melt may depend on the temperature of the insert interface.
The results in terms of material rankings from both the material level tests (AFM force distance experiment and wetting at high temperature) did not correspond to the mechanical strength test results. It was therefore concluded that the choice of material for thermoplastic overmould cannot be made purely based on the material interactions at interface between tin and thermoplastics in solid or melt phase. It was also concluded that the observed variation in the pull-out strengths with temperature of the insert maintained during overmoulding, must be largely due to the thermo-mechanical properties of the material at the interface.
Based on the results of the study, PC, PBT and PMMA were recommended as being likely to give superior performance to the ABS which was used in early trials of the substrateless packaging process. Of these, from a process economics point of view, PBT would be the most suitable.


In human medicine, the management of care to ensure safety for the service-user constitutes an important element of the patient 'journey.' The name given to this discipline is patient safety. It is founded upon those elements of good medical practice which help avoid or mitigate human error.  Investigations in the U.S. first highlighted the alarming extent of medical error: Brennan et al. (1991) concluded that in the state of New York, the overall rate of adverse events was approximately 4% for hospitalised patients, which equated to over 13,000 deaths a year. Doctors looked to other safety critical industries and aviation in particular (Reason 1995), to address this phenomenon: there is now a wealth of research on the impact of various safety initiatives on measurable rates of harm. The World Health Organisation's 'Safe Surgery Saves Lives' initiative - a campaign that advocates the use of a surgical checklist to standardise aspects of peri-operative care - is one example of aviation methodology successfully employed in a clinical setting (van Klei et al. 2012). The critical importance of effective communication, leadership and situational awareness has also been discussed at length in the human patient safety literature. Objectives Veterinary patient safety is an analogous discipline and researchers have attempted to understand more about the topic of veterinary medical error. However, the evidence-base for veterinary patient safety is sparse.  This presentation aims to summarise the evidence to date and highlight the benefits in practice of an emerging subject.  Method A search of the terms veterinary patient safety on the PubMed database from 1990 to 2016 was performed. Findings 15 articles were identified as contributing to the veterinary patient safety literature. Outcome The available literature has addressed a number of areas. The use of checklists in a clinical setting has been proven to reduce the incidence of specific undesirable events: alterations to a standard anaesthetic protocol in light of a clinical audit led to a demonstrable improvement in one North American university hospital (Hofmeister et al. 2014). Research into the progenitors of mistakes in practice reveal the effect of poor communication and a lack of team work (Kinnison et al. 2015). Research has also investigated vets' attitudes toward error and their experiences of it. The psychological precursors to error in our industry seem to mirror those found in human medicine (Oxtoby et al. 2015). The evidence supporting a new attitude and approach to veterinary patient safety is growing.


Objectives To determine whether chronic conditions and patient factors, such as risk perception and decision-making preferences, are associated with complementary medicine and alternative practitioner use in a representative longitudinal population cohort. Participants and setting Analysis of data from Stage 2 of the North West Adelaide Health Study of 3161 adults who attended a study clinic visit in 2004–2006. The main outcome measures were the medications brought by participants to the study clinic visit, chronic health conditions, attitudes to risk, levels of satisfaction with conventional medicine, and preferred decision-making style. Results At least one oral complementary medicine was used by 27.9% of participants, and 7.3% were visiting alternative practitioners (naturopath, osteopath). Oral complementary medicine use was significantly associated with arthritis, osteoporosis, and mental health conditions, but not with other chronic conditions. Any pattern of complementary medicine use was generally significantly associated with female gender, age at least 45 years, patient-driven decision-making preferences (odds ratio [OR] 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–1.77), and frequent general practitioner visits (>five per year; OR 3.62, 95% CI: 2.13–6.17). Alternative practitioner visitors were younger, with higher levels of education (diploma/trade [OR 1.88, 95% CI: 1.28–2.76], bachelor's degree [OR 1.77, 95% CI: 1.11–2.82], income >$80,000 (OR 2.28, 95% CI: 1.26–4.11), female gender (OR 3.15, 95% CI: 2.19–4.52), joint pain not diagnosed as arthritis (OR 1.68, 95% CI: 1.17–2.41), moderate to severe depressive symptoms (OR 2.15, 95% CI: 1.04–4.46), and risk-taking behavior (3.26, 1.80–5.92), or low-to-moderate risk aversion (OR 2.08, 95% CI: 1.26–4.11). Conclusion Although there is widespread use of complementary medicines in the Australian community, there are differing patterns of use between those using oral complementary medicines and those using alternative practitioners.


Can I become a doctor? Should I? How can I find out? What is it like to be in medical school? What other careers in the health field might be right for me? What are the satisfactions and pitfalls of a career in medicine? For anyone pondering a career in medicine or a related health profession, this book is an invaluable guide. It contains the firsthand advice of men and women working in the health field today. These diverse professionals describe how and why they made their career choices and what the journey has been like. They tell their stories with candor and humor, sharing their personal circumstances, experiences, uncertainties, and triumphs. More than seventy medical and health professionals, including physicians, biomedical researchers, nurses, chiropractors, medical sociologists, and others, contribute to the volume. They represent many individual viewpoints and speak from different stages of their careers. The distilled wisdom of this group conveys more comprehensively and openly than ever before what it means to choose a career in medicine.


This year marks the ten year anniversary of first light of the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) telescope and 1.4 gigapixel GPC1 camera. In the subsequent decade, the Pan-STARRS Image Processing Pipeline (IPP) has continually evolved, culminating in our first data release of approximately three billion sources and one million image stacks at the end of 2016. In this presentation, I will talk about some of the challenges and solutions we have encountered in developing the current version of the IPP. This code base has enabled us to conduct a full reprocessing of the PS1 archive without impacting our ongoing asteroid search program. I will also discuss the additional data products in our future DR2 release.


The argument for the inclusion of real estate in the mixed-asset portfolio has concentrated on examining its effect in reducing the portfolio risk - the time series standard deviation (TSSD), mainly using ex-post time series data. However, the past as such is not really relevant to the long-term institutional investors, such as the insurance companies and pension funds, who are more concerned the terminal wealth (TW) of their investments and the variability of this wealth, the terminal wealth standard deviation (TWSD), since it is from the TW of their investment portfolio that policyholders and pensioners will derive their benefits. These kinds of investors with particular holding period requirements will be less concerned about the within period volatility of their portfolios and more by the possibility that their portfolio returns will fail to finance their liabilities. This variability in TW will be closely linked to the risk of shortfall in the quantity of assets needed to match the institution's liabilities. The question remains therefore can real estate enhance the TW of the mixed-asset portfolio and/or reduce the variability of the TW. This paper uses annual data from the United Kingdom (UK) for the period 1972-2001 to test whether real estate is an asset class that not only reduces ex-post portfolio risk but also enhances portfolio TW and/or reduces the variability of TW.


Technological advances have permitted devising new Internet-mediated psychological assessment tools for the school context. It is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of such instruments. This study analyses the validity of The Silence Reading Skills Test-On-line for assessing lexical decision skills. The study involved 451 children with mean age of 8,24 (SD=1,23) from pre-school and primary school. The test was administered through Internet with automatic result recording. Results showed that scores increased significantly over successive school levels (except from 3rd to 4th grade). Error analysis revealed that pre-school children have difficulty with orthographic lexicon. The Web-based application produced response patterns equivalent to those obtained in the typical paper and pencil application. Results corroborated the feasibility of using the Internet for collecting data of tests based on theoretical constructs.


The mainstream ecosystem has proven unsustainable in terms of livelihood, environmental stewardship, cultural heritage, and social equality. To alleviate these problems, a range of top-down strategies has been deployed, but they are often ineffective in addressing the specific needs and aspirations of diverse contexts. On the other hand, bottom-up initiatives started by communities also face organisational and resource limitations that prevent them from becoming resilient. Within this context, service design for social innovation has become a well-established human-centred, strategic and systemic approach to tackling such challenges. However, designers have put much emphasis on the use of fixed toolkits that result in one-size-fits-all outputs. Instead, this thesis argues for a more situated and embedded approach to service design. With this in mind, the aim of the research was to explore new roles, purposes and methods the service designer can adopt to activate communities to transition towards a more sustainable future. For this purpose, participatory case studies were undertaken with two textile artisan communities (in Nottingham, UK, and Cape Town, South Africa), chosen as relevant cases of design, production and consumption. As a result of both cases, the designer activated the artisans, previously working in an isolated and precarious condition, to become a community and outline a situated service proposition that embeds a shared vision for a sustainable future. Building on emerging anthropological approaches to service design, the thesis contributes an original methodological framework, which equips the service designer with cultural sensibility when entering communities, aiding in making sense of sustainable futures, facilitating the co-design of situated services and activating local legacies. In this, the investigation evidenced the diverse roles - cultural insider, storyteller, sensemaker, facilitator, and activist - the service designer can play throughout a social innovation process. Furthermore, the thesis emphasised that the mastery of the designer lies in the skill of tailoring his/her approach to specific contexts in order to craft situated services that are meaningful to the communities using them.


The increasing amount of information being produced digitally is impacting on and changing forever the expectations of users in all spheres of life. Digital access has many advantages over paper-based access in terms of convenience and functionality. However there are challenges, not yet wholly resolved, associated with ensuring that the many and varied digital resources being created will continue to be accessible. The long-term preservation of research collections in digital form is therefore an issue of increasing concern to research libraries around the world. Preservation and access to this information is dependent on impermanent media and technologies and adapting or re-engineering existing organisational and legal frameworks.


Contents: Introduction: the global financial crisis and the constitution, Xenophon Contiades Part I Constitutional Reactions in Comparative Perspective: How constitutions react to the financial crisis, Xenophon Contiades and Alkmene Fotiadou. Part II First Path: Adjustment: The constitution and the financial crisis in Ireland, David Gwynn Morgan The constitutional consequences of the financial crisis in Italy, Tania Groppi, Irene Spigno and Nicola Vizioli Financial crisis and the constitution in Latvia, Ringolds Balodis and Janis Pleps The Spanish constitution in the turmoil of the global financial crisis, Agustin Ruiz Robledo The constitution and the financial crisis in the UK: historical and contemporary lessons, John F. McEldowney. Part III Second Path: Submission: The impact of the financial crisis on the Greek constitution, Xenophon Contiades and Ioannis A. Tassopoulos The sovereign debt crisis and the constitution's negative outlook: a Portuguese preliminary assessment, Jonatas E.M. Machado. Part IV Third Path: Breakdown: Breaking and making constitutional rules: the constitutional effects of the financial crisis in Hungary, Zoltan Szente The impact of the financial crisis on Icelandic constitutional law: legislative reforms, judicial review and revision of the constitution, Bjorg Thorarensen. Part V Fourth Path: Stamina: The United States constitution and the great recession, Mark Tushnet Index.


Conventional solar cell efficiency is usually limited by the Shockley-Queisser limit. This is not the
case, however, for ferroelectric materials, which present a spontaneous electric polarization that is
responsible for their bulk photovoltaic effect. Even so, most ferroelectric oxides exhibit large band
gaps, reducing the amount of solar energy that can be harvested. In this work, a high-throughput
approach to tune the electronic properties of thin-film ferroelectric oxides is presented. Materials
databases were systematically used to find substrates for the epitaxial growth of KNbO3 thin-films,
using topological and stability filters. Interface models were built and their electronic and optical
properties were predicted. Strain and substrate-thin-film band interaction effects were examined
in detail, in order to understand the interaction between both materials. We found substrates that
significantly reduce the KNbO3 band gap, maintain KNbO3 polarization, and potentially present
the right band alignment, favoring the electron injection in the substrate/electrode. This methodology can be easily applied to other ferroelectric oxides, optimizing their band gaps and accelerating
the development of new ferroelectric-based solar cells.


This thesis discusses the efficient and accurate generation of self-similar traffic for ATM networks. ATM networks have been developed to carry multiple service categories. Since the traffic on a number of existing networks is bursty, much research focuses on how to capture the characteristics of traffic to reduce the impact of burstiness. Conventional traffic models do not represent the characteristics of burstiness well, but self-similar traffic models provide a closer approximation. Self-similar traffic models have two fundamental properties, long-range dependence and infinite variance, which have been found in a large number of measurements of real traffic. Therefore, generation of self-similar traffic is vital for the accurate simulation of ATM networks. The main starting point for self-similar traffic generation is the production of fractional Brownian motion (FBM) or fractional Gaussian noise (FGN). In this thesis six algorithms are brought together so that their efficiency and accuracy can be assessed. It is shown that the discrete FGN (dPGN) algorithm and the Weierstrass-Mandelbrot (WM) function are the best in terms of accuracy while the random midpoint displacement (RMD) algorithm, successive random addition (SRA) algorithm, and the WM function are superior in terms of efficiency. Three hybrid approaches are suggested to overcome the inefficiency or inaccuracy of the six algorithms. The combination of the dFGN and RMD algorithm was found to be the best in that it can generate accurate samples efficiently and on-the-fly. After generating FBM sample traces, a further transformation needs to be conducted with either the marginal distribution model or the storage model to produce self-similar traffic. The storage model is a better transformation because it provides a more rigorous mathematical derivation and interpretation of physical meaning. The suitability of using selected Hurst estimators, the rescaled adjusted range (R/S) statistic, the variance-time (VT) plot, and Whittle's approximate maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), is also covered. Whittle's MLE is the better estimator, the R/S statistic can only be used as a reference, and the VT plot might misrepresent the actual Hurst value. An improved method for the generation of self-similar traces and their conversion to traffic has been proposed. This, combined with the identification of reliable methods for the estimators of the Hurst parameter, significantly advances the use of self-similar traffic models in ATM network simulation.


In the ESPRIT II project SysMan, the EPFL was in charge of integrating the OSI and the distributed objects technologies for systems management. We worked on specification translation between IDL and GDMO (in both directions), and in the provision of gateways. Adapter-agents allow distributed applications to be managed in OSI. Conversely, proxy-agents enable OSI managed objects to be accessed as ordinary distributed objects. Our work in Sysman allowed us to uncover some of the weaknesses of the OSI systems management architecture. When integrating the worlds of distributed objects and OSI, we need to revisit the features of OSI and to adapt them. We should not blindly adopt them.


Recently prevention strategies for breast cancer are focused on lifestyle modification such as diet. Some dietary factors such as Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) can lower the risk of breast cancer, metastasis and some factors concerning this malignancy. Many studies have been established in this field, but their results are inconsistent. Therefore, we evaluated this association based on systematic review among published scientific literature. We performed an electronic search using PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, Google Scholar and Persian database (Iran Medex, magiran) to identify relevant studies. We summarized the findings of 8 papers in this review. Although, three cohort studies were not overall identified a protective effect of CLA dietary intake or CLA content in breast tissue on breast cancer incidence, metastasis and death, one of them showed an inverse association after adjusting for age. Also, among case-control studies a weak inverse association between breast cancer risk and CLA dietary intake and serum levels among post-menopausal women was reported. Besides, a clinical trial showed that some indicator of breast tumor decreased after CLA administration among women with breast adenocarcinoma. Lacking published evidence suggested inconsistent results. So, further well-designed studies are required, particularly in considering the main breast cancer risk factors.


From 1893 onward, French colonialism sponsored and restructured
Lao and Khmer Buddhism in order to create an 'Indochinese Buddhism'.
Over a span of several decades, the French promoted monastic
education, reconstructed the major temples in Vientiane, and renovated
the That Luang, the most important Buddhist relic shrine of Laos. This
article explores the motivations and strategies for this endeavor, specifically
focusing on French efforts to 're-materialize' Lao Buddhism's
religious architecture. I argue that the renovation of these monuments as
symbols and centers of power under the auspices of the École française
d'Extrême-Orient was based on mimetic processes that should be understood
as a form of ceremonial governmentality and colonial politics of
affect, whose goal was to win the 'sympathies' of the colonized.


To measure country quality performance we propose to use sixteen indicators divided into ten dimensions that compose the World State of Quality (WSQ) model. Here we will describe the first worldwide application of this model, which was previously piloted over European Union countries. For that purpose, we are now covering one hundred and ten countries, grouped according to five categorises of overall quality performance (Leading, Follower, Moderate, Lagging, and Beginning). This overall quality performance is computed based on the ranking positions achieved by each country and for each indicator. Statistical data analysis was also carried out, leading to the identification of similar country quality profiles and the identification of a diversity of ways that are being adopted by different countries to pursue their quality journey. Following this approach, the characterisation of countries in terms of quality strengths and improvement areas can be also achieved, according to the corresponding country quality profiles obtained for the one hundred and ten countries studied.


Why do public policy systems sustain chronic conditions despite general consensus that these conditions are detrimental to overall performance? The answer is because they are, in one way or another, sustainable. Systems find ways of sustaining manageable and acceptable equilibrium between demand for their services and their supply. Yet in doing so, they develop ways of coping with and normalizing situations of chronicness. This research is about chronic capacity stress (CCS) in a large and complex public policy system. CCS may be caused by excessive demand for services. It may also be caused by inadequate supply. Either way, it is a property of sustainable equilibrium between the two, and therefore must be understood in these dynamic terms rather than as just the product of one or the other. I examine overcrowding in the England and Wales prison system as an archetypal case of CCS. It starts with the assumption that the prison system should in theory be set up to deal with the demands made upon it. In doing so, it examines the way in which the system itself has coped with, normalized, and sustained crowding over the years. I have conducted in-depth interviewing with former ministers, top officials, governors, and other key actors, as well as extensive quantitative analysis covering three decades. I develop four inter-related themes as a part of a 'problematique' which explains why CCS is sustained: ambivalence towards rehabilitation, coping and crisis culture, benign resistance, and obsolescence and redundancy. Constrained autonomy of actors and their adaptive behaviours are key to understanding how the system sustains CCS, and how it is able to function despite CCS. Ultimately, I show how three groups of public policy theory – public choice, cultural theory, and governance - are vital aspects of an overall explanation, but that independently they are insufficient to explain why chronicness sustains, and therefore must be integrated into a more holistic, governance-style explanation. CCS can be seen as a function of governance dysfunction.


Processes contributing to interannual steric sea level variability are studied over the period 1993–2004 using an observationally‐constrained ocean state estimate produced by the ECCO ("Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean") consortium. The estimate's dynamical consistency allows for the comprehensive attribution of steric changes in terms of advection, diffusion, and surface buoyancy exchange processes. Steric variations are found to be owing more to oceanic transports than to local surface buoyancy fluxes. Advection is responsible for steric variability in the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans. At extratropical latitudes, advection and diffusion appear to be equally important. Local surface buoyancy fluxes can contribute in some regions (e.g., the tropical Atlantic). Analysis of the anomalous wind stress curl shows that extra‐equatorial vertical advection is driven primarily by Ekman pumping. The complexity of the interannual steric budget suggests that anomalous sea level is probably not predictable on the basis of ocean memory alone. Furthermore, proper parameterizations of mixing processes and good estimates of wind‐driven transports both appear to be very important to reliable projections of interannual sea level.


This paper constructs a tractable model of endogenous growth with financial frictions and fi rm heterogeneity. We introduce factor income tax, consumption tax as well as the government consumption into the base model and explore the growth effect of fiscal policy. We show that from the qualitative perspective, the long-run effects of fiscal actions in our model are similar to those obtained in the representative-agent models. However, the quantitative impacts of fiscal policy on long-run growth in our setting can be substantially different from those established in the model where agents are homogeneous and there is no fi nancial friction.


After two months of heated debate, the basic conditions for the joint IMF/EU rescue operation for Greece have now been decided. In this latest Commentary, CEPS Director Daniel Gros takes a closer look at the figures and shows that the magnitude of the funds under discussion can at best tide the country through a rough patch. The key issue that will remain for years to come is whether Greece is willing to undertake the huge domestic effort required to achieve a sustainable fiscal position.


In this paper we present the results of the first low frequency all-sky search of continuous gravitational wave signals conducted on Virgo VSR2 and VSR4 data. The search covered the full sky, a frequency range between 20 and 128 Hz with a range of spin-down between − 1 . 0 × 10 − 10 and þ 1 . 5 × 10 − 11 Hz = s, and was based on a hierarchical approach. The starting point was a set of short fast Fourier transforms, of length 8192 s, built from the calibrated strain data. Aggressive data cleaning, in both the time and frequency domains, has been done in order to remove, as much as possible, the effect of disturbances of instrumental origin. On each data set a number of candidates has been selected, using the FrequencyHough transform in an incoherent step. Only coincident candidates among VSR2 and VSR4 have been examined in order to strongly reduce the false alarm probability, and the most significant candidates have been selected. The criteria we have used for candidate selection and for the coincidence step greatly reduce the harmful effect of large instrumental artifacts. Selected candidates have been subject to a follow-up by constructing a new set of longer fast Fourier transforms followed by a further incoherent analysis, still based on the FrequencyHough transform. No evidence for continuous gravitational wave signals was found, and therefore we have set a population-based joint VSR2-VSR4 90% confidence level upper limit on the dimensionless gravitational wave strain in the frequency range between 20 and 128 Hz. This is the first all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves conducted, on data of ground-based interferometric detectors, at frequencies below 50 Hz. We set upper limits in the range between about 10 − 24 and 2 × 10 − 23 at most frequencies. Our upper limits on signal strain show an improvement of up to a factor of ∼ 2 with respect to the results of previous all-sky searches at frequencies below 80 Hz.


High consumer demand for shellfish has led to the need for large-scale, reliable shellfish supply through aquaculture or shellfish farming. However, bacterial infections which can spread rapidly among shellfish poses a major threat to this industry. Shellfish farmers therefore often resort to extensive use of antibiotics, both prophylactically and therapeutically, in order to protect their stocks. The extensive use of antibiotics in aquaculture has been postulated to represent a major contributing factor in the rising incidence of antimicrobial resistant pathogenic bacteria in shellfish. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus and determine the antibiotic resistance profile as well as to perform plasmid curing in order to determine the antibiotic resistance mediation. Based on colony morphology, all 450 samples tested were positive for Vibrio sp; however, tox-R assay showed that only 44.4% (200/450) of these were V. parahaemolyticus. Out of these 200 samples, 6.5% (13/200) were trh-positive while none were tdh-positive. Antibiotic resistance was determined for all V. parahaemolyticus identified against 14 commonly used antibiotics and the multiple antibiotic resistance index (MAR) was calculated. The isolates demonstrated high resistance to several antibiotics tested- including second and third-line antibiotics- with 88% resistant to ampicillin, 81% to amikacin,70.5% to kanamycin, 73% to cefotaxime, and 51.5% to ceftazidime. The MAR index ranged from 0.00 to 0.79 with the majority of samples having an index of 0.36 (resistant to five antibiotics). Among the 13 trh-positive strains, almost 70% (9/13) demonstrated resistance to 4 or more antibiotics. Plasmid profiling for all V. parahaemolyticus isolates revealed that 86.5% (173/200) contained plasmids - ranging from 1 to 7 plasmids with DNA band sizes ranging from 1.2 kb to greater than 10 kb. 6/13 of the pathogenic V. pathogenic strains contained plasmid. After plasmid curing, the plasmid containing pathogenic strains isolated in our study have chromosomally mediated ampicillin resistance while the remaining resistance phenotypes are plasmid mediated. Overall, our results indicate that while the incidence of pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus in shellfish in Selangor still appears to be at relatively reassuring levels, antibiotic resistance is a real concern and warrants ongoing surveillance.


ABSTRACT When expressed in Escherichia coli, the 15Klebsiella oxytoca pul genes that encode the so-called Pul secreton or type II secretion machinery promote pullulanase secretion and the assembly of one of the secreton components, PulG, into pili. Besides these pul genes, efficient pullulanase secretion also requires the host dsbA gene, encoding a periplasmic disulfide oxidoreductase, independently of disulfide bond formation in pullulanase itself. Two secreton components, the secretin pilot protein PulS and the minor pseudopilin PulK, were each shown to posses an intramolecular disulfide bond whose formation was catalyzed by DsbA. PulS was apparently destabilized by the absence of its disulfide bond, whereas PulK stability was not dramatically affected either by adsbA mutation or by the removal of one of its cysteines. The pullulanase secretion defect in a dsbA mutant was rectified by overproduction of PulK, indicating reduced disulfide bond formation in PulK as the major cause of the secretion defect under the conditions tested (in which PulS is probably present in considerable excess of requirements). PulG pilus formation was independent of DsbA, probably because PulK is not needed for piliation.


The overpressurised CO2 field Becej (Serbia) was explored in 1951. At the end of 1968, an uncontrolled gas blowout of Bc-5 well lasted 209 days resulting in 35 bars pressure drop in the reservoir until 2007. Hence, the substantial loss of reserve (> 17 billion m3) became a critical issue of the operator. Environmental friendly chemicals should be used only for well rehabilitation. Therefore, silicate-based method was recommended for the job. A triangle well pattern, inverted injection protocol and huge volume of treating solution were used to cure the problem. Placing the inorganic gel-forming chemicals into the target area, the annual decline of formation pressure was merely 0.03 bar/y compared to 0.9 bar/y prior to treatment. Thus, the uncontrolled gas flow was practically terminated, the loss of CO2 reserve minimised, CO2 emission to atmosphere was limited and the well against repeated gas blowout was also stabilised.


A framework for computer-aided analysis of mammograms is described. General computer vision algorithms are combined with application specific procedures in a hierarchical fashion. The system is under development and is currently limited to detection of a few types of suspicious areas. The image features are extracted by using feature extraction methods where wavelet techniques are utilized. A low-pass pyramid representation of the image is convolved with a number of quadrature filters. The filter outputs are combined according to simple local Fourier domain models into parameters describing the local neighborhood with respect to the model. This produces estimates for each pixel describing local size, orientation, Fourier phase, and shape with confidence measures associated to each parameter. Tentative object descriptions are then extracted from the pixel-based features by application specific procedures with knowledge of relevant structures in mammograms. The orientation, relative brightness and shape of the object are obtained by selection of the pixel feature estimates which best describe the object. The list of object descriptions is examined by procedures, where each procedure corresponds to a specific type of suspicious area, e.g., clusters of microcalcifications.


Ambient bioaerosols are ubiquitous in the daily environment and can affect health in various ways. However, few studies have been conducted to comprehensively evaluate personal bioaerosol exposure in occupational and indoor environments because of the complex composition of bioaerosols and the lack of standardized sampling/analysis methods. We conducted a study to determine the most efficient collection/analysis method for the personal exposure assessment of multiple bioaerosols. The sampling efficiencies of three filters and four samplers were compared. According to our results, polycarbonate (PC) filters had the highest relative efficiency, particularly for bacteria. Side-by-side sampling was conducted to evaluate the three filter samplers (with PC filters) and the NIOSH Personal Bioaerosol Cyclone Sampler. According to the results, the Button Aerosol Sampler and the IOM Inhalable Dust Sampler had the highest relative efficiencies for fungi and bacteria, followed by the NIOSH sampler. Personal sampling was performed in a pig farm to assess occupational bioaerosol exposure and to evaluate the sampling/analysis methods. The Button and IOM samplers yielded a similar performance for personal bioaerosol sampling at the pig farm. However, the Button sampler is more likely to be clogged at high airborne dust concentrations because of its higher flow rate (4 L/min). Therefore, the IOM sampler is a more appropriate choice for performing personal sampling in environments with high dust levels. In summary, the Button and IOM samplers with PC filters are efficient sampling/analysis methods for the personal exposure assessment of multiple bioaerosols.


Fri, 12/09/2008 14:55 The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) has a fair claim to be the largest far left organisation in Britain. It has fraternal organisations in another dozen countries. Its publications are read and respected by thousands beyond its ranks. But how exactly should we define its politics? Its founding members originated in a split from Trotsky?s Fourth International yet today the SWP claims allegiance to Trotskyism and Leninism. This workers power pamphlet shows that far from standing in this tradition the key tenets of the SWP?s politics represent a fundamental break with Trotskyism: on party building, on the analysis of the USSR and Eastern Europe, on the revolutionary programme amd on the relationship between the revolutionary vanguard and the working class. This Trotskyist critique of the SWP?s politics shows how, far from being irrelevant or purley theoretical, the SWP?s departure from revolutionary Marxism leads to systematic opportunism in practice.


Effective urban and regional planning has the potential to contribute to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, particularly in countries where land is readily available for development. Jos Metropolis has been chosen as a focus of study as it exemplifies the problem of urban sprawl in Nigerian cities.
This research seeks to evaluate the need for spatial planning and to develop a framework and guidance for addressing physical planning problems with particular reference to Jos Metropolis, Nigeria. The epistemological position of the study leans towards interpretivism while the ontological and axiological standpoints are towards constructivist and value laden respectively. The research methodological strategy employed is mixed methods involving multiple case studies of the planning authorities from Jos metropolis, Nigeria, that have used the urban master plan as a development control measure. Questionnaires, interviews (face-to-face interview) and documents reviews were the data collection methods.
This research revealed that; urbanisation and its related problems can be controlled effectively using appropriate planning approaches in regions of both developed and developing countries. Statistically, the results showed that the components of institutional framework, specifically, tiers of government (institutions), planning legislation and the administrations were not significantly affected by the culture, physical, political, institutions, financial, knowledge, analytical and legal constraints whilst the planning authorities were significantly constrained. The urban planning system in the Jos metropolis is not effective in ensuring controlled urban development and management. Hence, based on these outcomes, a spatial planning framework and guidance is developed for effective urban development and management in Jos Metropolis Nigeria.
Finally, this study recommended further research opportunities as the frameworks and guidance document developed are used in urban and regional planning and the activities of development plan /control process in the other 36 States of the Nigerian Federation including Abuja.


This paper presents the results of a meta-analysis carried out on the results of six experiments to support the claim that component-specific usability measures are on average statistically more powerful than overall usability measures when comparing different versions of a part of a system. An increase in test effectiveness implies the need for fewer participants in usability tests that study different versions of a component. Three component-specific measures are presented and analyzed: an objective efficiency measure and two subjective measures, one about the ease-of-use and the other about the users' satisfaction. Whereas the subjective measures are obtained with a questionnaire, the objective efficiency measure is based on the number of user messages received by a component. Besides describing the testing method, this paper also discusses the underlying principles such as layered interaction and multiple negative-feedback loops. The main contribution of the work described is the presentation of component-based usability testing as an alternative for traditional holistic-oriented usability tests. The former is more aligned with the component-based software engineering approach, helping engineers to select the most usable versions of a component.


This paper sets off from the monetary–structural origins of the euro-area crisis, which is not a sovereign debt crisis, but a crisis due to a lack of payment finality at international level. The first section explains that international payments across the euro area are not, to date, final for the countries concerned, as the European Central Bank does not operate as settlement institution for the national central banks involved thereby. The exploding TARGET2 imbalances observed in the aftermath of the euro-area crisis are an empirical evidence of this monetary–structural flaw. The second section suggests therefore that at the euro-area level there should be an international monetary institution issuing the euro as a common (instead of a single) currency for the euro-area member countries. Thereby those countries that are currently much in trouble within the euro area may reintroduce a national currency that allows them to recover monetary-policy sovereignty as a tool that can be used, together with fiscal policy, to steer the domestic economy in the country's own interest. The third section concludes with some policy-oriented remarks, putting to the fore the major merits of transforming the euro from a single into a common currency in order to contribute to European (monetary) integration for the common good


At Moson, the river Danube ran red with blood. At Antioch, the Crusaders-- their saddles freshly decorated with sawed-off heads--indiscriminately clogged the streets with the bodies of eastern Christians and Turks. At Ma'arra, they cooked children on spits and ate them. By the time the Crusaders reached Jerusalem, their quest--and their violence-- had become distinctly otherworldly: blood literally ran shin-deep through the streets as the Crusaders overran the sacred city. Beginning in 1095 and culminating four bloody years later, the First Crusade represented a new kind of warfare: holy, unrestrained, and apocalyptic. In Armies of Heaven, medieval historian Jay Rubenstein tells the story of this cataclysmic event through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders. A thrilling work of military and religious history, Armies of Heaven will revolutionize our understanding of the Crusades.


Obesity is one of the major health concerns that has reached epidemic proportions globally. It is generally believed to be a result of interactions between genetic and environmental factors. In this thesis we investigated the role of dietary factors in modifying the genetic susceptibility to obesity (papers I to III), studied the association between genetic susceptibility to obesity and weight gain at different time-points in life (paper IV) and tried to dissect the causality between cardiometabolic traits and mortality (paper V). The work in this thesis was conducted using data from the population based prospective Malmo Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS; N= ~30,000) and the Gene-Lifestyle interactions And Complex traits Involved in Elevated disease Risk (GLACIER; N= ~5000) cohorts. In paper I, we did not observe any evidence for macronutrient, fiber or total energy intake in modifying the genetic susceptibility to obesity when genetic susceptibility was represented as a Genetic Risk Score (GRS) based upon 13 BMI associated genetic variants. In individual SNP analyses, after correcting for multiple comparisons, some of the individual obesity loci such as NEGR1 rs2815752 associated with fat, carbohydrate and fiber intakes (P≤1x10-4 for all) and BDNF rs4923461 interacted with protein intake on BMI (Pinteraction=0.001). In paper II, pooled analyses of MDCS and GLACIER suggested 0.16 (SE=0.04) kg/m2 increase in BMI (P=8x10-5) in the lowest quartile of GRS (comprised of 30 BMI-associated genetic variants) for each increment in category of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) intake vs. 0.24 (SE=0.04) kg/m2 higher BMI in the highest GRS quartile (P=1x10-7). We also observed evidence for the role of SSB intake in modifying the genetic susceptibility to obesity (Pinteraction=0.049). In paper III, a copy number variant (CNV) in the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) did not associate with obesity traits neither in men nor in women (P>0.05 for all). However, upon stratification by dietary starch intake, BMI decreased with increasing AMY1 CNV in low starch intake group (P=0.035) and increased with increasing AMY1 CNV in the high starch intake group (P=0.04) among females. These results suggest a putative role of starch intake in modifying the association between AMY1 CNV and obesity in women (Pinteraction=0.041). In paper IV, a GRS based on 31 BMI-associated genetic variants was associated with increased annual weight change (β=0.003 kg; SE=0.01; P=7x10-8) and increased odds for substantial weight gain (OR=1.01; 95% CI= 1.00-1.02; P=0.013) per risk allele from young to middle age in MDCS. However, the GRS was associated with decreased annual weight change (β=-0.005 kg; SE=0.002; P=0.002) and decreased risk for substantial weight gain (OR=0.97; 95% CI= 0.96-0.99; P=0.001) per risk allele during and after middle-age in the pooled analyses of MDCS and GLACIER. These results suggest a paradoxical inversed relationship between genetic susceptibility to obesity and weight gain during and after middle age compared to increased weight gain in younger age. In paper V, observations from multivariable Mendelian randomization analyses suggest a direct causal association of TG (P=0.017 and P=0.028) and an inverse association of HDLC (P=0.049 and P=0.005) with total- and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. In conclusion, the results from this thesis suggest a role of specific dietary factors in modifying the genetic susceptibility to obesity and that genetic variation affect weight gain differently at different time-points in life but the underlying mechanisms need to be further understood. Additionally,our findings points towards causal associations between TG and HDLC and mortality which can help to devise better treatment strategies in clinical practice.


In Le paradoxe de la morale , Vladimir Jankelevitch proposes that the moral life is a matter of balancing the demands of love, which call us to give without limit, and our natural, egoistical attachment to self, which he terms 'being'. This balancing act is ultimately paradoxical since love must both depend on and overcome being. The vision of moral life as a paradoxical balancing act of love and being, however, is implicitly challenged by another, "supernatural" vision of ethics that Jankelevitch proposes near the end of the text. In these passages, the egoism of being that marks human nature is not merely balanced but genuinely transformed by the passionate care for an other. In this paper, these two visions of the ethical life offered by Jankelevitch's text are discussed in turn, and a way to read them as complementary rather than contradictory is proposed.


The study focuses on the ethical sensitivity of university students in light of their research ethics skills and the university as a learning environment. Eighty-seven students in the behavioural sciences (psychology and educational science) responded to a questionnaire that included three vignettes and measures of empathy, socialisation, and experiences of ethical aspects of the learning climate. The vignettes were designed to measure sensitivity to ethical issues in research. The relationship between socialisation into the practices of the profession and the institution and the ability to recognise ethical issues in research suggests that students who have already 'worked out' the norms and values for themselves have committed to these ethics and are willing to apply them in practice.


Abstract:Kuwait is a democratic outlier in the Middle East. In this oil-rich Muslim Arab state, the ruling Sabah monarchy claims considerable executive authority, but it also coexists with a powerful, elected parliament and well-mobilized civil society. This oft-overlooked hybrid system is rooted in liberal norms of pluralism and openness, and enables opposition blocs to advance democratic reforms and rebuff the threat of repression. A transition towards parliamentary democracy, a rarity in the Arab world, is possible. However, this will require overcoming intense cleavages within the royal family, across social groups, and between the royal autocracy and society itself.


Large scale biometric identification systems still lack the versatility to handle challenging situations such as adverse imaging conditions, missing or corrupt data, and non-conventional operating scenarios. It is well understood that in different operating conditions, evidence of identity obtained from different sources is disparate. In such cases, additional 'situational' cues can be utilized to improve the performance and robustness. The primary emphasis of this thesis is the formulation of new methods to utilize situational cues such as quality of input biometric samples, social cues of co-occurrence, and other background information towards more inclusive biometric systems. Biometric sample quality assessment during capture and its integration into the recognition system improves performance and reduces the failure-to-enroll rates. The first contribution of this thesis is an in-depth survey along with statistical evaluation of different concepts and interpretations of biometric quality in multiple biometric modalities. The thesis also investigates the effectiveness of holistic representations of faces for classifying them into different quality categories that are derived from matching performance. The experiments on the CASPEAL and SCFace databases containing covariates such as illumination, expression, pose, low-resolution, and occlusion, suggest that the representations can efficiently classify input face images into relevant quality categories and be utilized in face recognition systems. An assessment based quality enhancement framework is also presented that showcases the effectiveness of quality assessment metrics for parameter selection in a denoising method to enhance performance and reduce computational time. Multi-modal biometric recognition systems combine evidence from multiple sources of information for improving the recognition performance. Existing multi-modal biometric recognition techniques are, however, unable to provide required levels of accuracy in uncontrolled noisy capture environments. Such algorithms do not adequately scale to variations in data distribution that occur due to changing deployment conditions. The second contribution of this thesis is an adaptive context switching algorithm coupled with online learning to address both these challenges of multimodal biometrics. The proposed framework uses the quality of input images to dynamically select the best biometric matcher or fusion algorithm to verify the identity of an individual. The proposed algorithm continuously updates the selection process using online learning to address the scalability and accommodate the variations in data distribution. The results on the WVU multimodal database and a large real world multimodal database obtained from a law enforcement agency show the efficacy of the proposed framework. Humans are efficient at recognizing familiar faces even in challenging conditions by deducing social context between individuals in group photos. The identity of the person in a photo, in such cases, is inferred based on other individuals present in the same photo; using the known or deduced social context between them. The third contribution of the thesis is a novel algorithm to utilize co-occurrence of individuals as the social context to improve face recognition. Association rule mining is utilized to infer multi-level social context among subjects from a large repository of social transactions. The results are demonstrated on the G-album and on the real-world SN-collection pertaining to 4675 identities that is prepared for the purpose of this research from a social networking website. An anonymized version of the dataset with match scores from a commercial system is also made available. The results of the proposed approach show that association rules extracted from social context can be used to augment face recognition and improve the identification performance. The availability of a large number of unlabelled images from various sources facilitates semi-supervised approaches to improve the performance and robustness of recognition systems. As the fourth contribution, this thesis introduces a novel learning based approach to face recognition towards an affordable and friendly biometric for newborns. Biometric recognition of newborns is an opportunity for the realization of several useful applications such as improved security against swapping and abduction, accurate census and effective drug delivery. The proposed approach couples learning based encoding method via deep neural networks with a one shot similarity distance metric formulated with an online SVM to match effective features with low semantic gap. To evaluate the approach, the largest publicly available database of 96 newborns is collected from various hospitals to study face recognition and is also made available to other researchers. Several existing face recognition approaches and commercial systems are also evaluated on a common benchmark protocol. The proposed approach provides state-of-the-art identification and verification performance on the newborns database. I dedicate this thesis to my late maternal grandmother, Dr. T. Mangamamba, and to my paternal grandmother, T. Sitamahalakshmi


Agricultural and livestock producers experiencing climate change and variability are simultaneously subject to other sources of environmental vulnerability, as well as political, social, and economic uncertainty. Producers' adaptive decision making takes into account short-term seasonal factors, while seeking to preserve livelihood stability over the long term. This study identifies multiple sources of vulnerability for farmers and ranchers in southeastern Arizona, and the adaptive strategies they have adopted including the use of information such as seasonal climate forecasts (SCFs). Interviews with producers and extension agents in Pima and Cochise Counties reveal that the principal climatic risks are drought, floods and frosts, and that groundwater use remains a crucial strategy despite increasing pumping costs. Low risk tolerance and uncertainty of seasonal production and marketing conditions diminish the utility of SCFs as a decision-making tool. Instead, farmers and ranchers continue to rely on past experience and short-range forecasts, hedging each year instead of taking significant risks. By examining the role of climate information in complex production decisions, the study shows that access to information is not the principal limitation to improving decision making. Comparison to other regions reaffirms common vulnerabilities among producers and highlights research and communication needs that have global relevance.


The overall outcome for this thesis project is to establish the use of WinCC, Profibus-DP, and Variable Speed Drives (VSD's) to the Industrial Computer Systems Laboratory (ISCE Lab) for future students to learn from. A number of students have attempted this project in the past, however due to updated software and loss of programs the project was reattempted with a different approach for current software and student needs.

The project can be separated into three distinct aims:
1. Configure Profibus-DP communication to all key devices used in the ICSE lab.
2. Set-up the WinCC SCADA system to simulate and control a process using all the equipment in the ICSE lab.
3. Create simple instructional documentation for future students to easily be able to connect Profibus devices and set-up WinCC SCADA control systems in the lab.

A total of five unique devices are available in the ICSE lab and were configured which include PLCs, control relays, VSDs, HMIs and a PC with WinCC. Very little documentation was available that detailed how the devices used in this project could be connected together, therefore it was strongly encouraged to focus on developing instructional manuals for future students to learn from, which was the primary aim of this project.

To achieve this task, the connectivity and operation of each device and the Profibus-DP protocol had to be thoroughly understood. From there, each individual connection was made, documented and tested before developing a larger network that incorporated all of the devices simultaneously.

The outcome of this project resulted in the setup of a Profibus-DP network that utilised most of the components, devices and connections that were available in the ICSE laboratory. The final network succeeded in communicating with all the connected devices and provided basic SCADA functionality such as alarm management, data logging, and HMI interfacing. Also achieved was the creation of five instructional manuals which can allow future students to learn the steps involved in configuring each device to a Profibus-DP network.


Abstract Kernel density estimation and kernel regression are powerful but computationally expensive techniques: a direct evaluation of kernel density estimates at M evaluation points given N input sample points requires a quadratic operations, which is prohibitive for large scale problems. For this reason, approximate methods such as binning with fast Fourier transform or the fast Gauss transform have been proposed to speed up kernel density estimation. Among these fast methods, the fast sum updating approach is an attractive alternative, as it is an exact method and its speed is independent of the input sample and the bandwidth. Unfortunately, this method, based on data sorting, has for the most part been limited to the univariate case. In this article, we revisit the fast sum updating approach and extend it in several ways. Our main contribution is to extend it to the general multivariate case for general input data and rectilinear evaluation grid. Other contributions include its extension to a wider class of kernels, including the triangular, cosine, and Silverman kernels, its combination with parsimonious additive multivariate kernels, and its combination with a fast approximate k-nearest-neighbors bandwidth for multivariate datasets. Our numerical tests confirm the speed, accuracy, and stability of the method.


Microsatellite alleles were used to delimit the genetic boundaries and divergence of the two relictual endemic Pyrenean taxa Borderea chouardii and B. pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae), and to infer the different life histories followed by each species. Our study was conducted on the same populations previously analyzed with allozymes and RAPD markers. The three studied data sets were congruent in the inference of a single evolutionary scenario for the split of the two Borderea taxa from a common Tertiary ancestor in the Prepyrenees, thus supporting their taxonomic treatment as separate species. However, the more variable SSR and RAPD data provided better resolution for a stepping-stone model of local colonization of B. pyrenaica populations from southern Prepyrenean refugia to the northern Pyrenees. SSR markers proved to be more robust than RAPD markers in assessing the genetic structure of recently diverged populations of B. pyrenaica and thus qualified as the best molecular markers for fine-scale evolutionary investigations of Dioscoreaceae. Furthermore, microsatellites rendered unique clues to decipher the mechanisms involved in the origin of these relictual species and their genetic background. Borderea was shown to be a tetraploid genus of hybrid origin with a chromosome base number of x = 6. Phylogenetic data, karyological evidence, and our present knowledge based on microsatellite analyses allowed us to speculate that the Pyrenean endemic genus Borderea and its sister taxon, the Mediterranean genus Tamus, represent some of the oldest paleopolyploid lineages of the mostly pantropical yam family.


Richard A. Goldthwaite, a leading economic historian of the Italian Renaissance, has spent his career studying the Florentine economy. In this magisterial work, Goldthwaite brings together a lifetime of research and insight on the subject, clarifying and explaining the complex workings of Florence's commercial, banking, and artisan sectors. Florence was one of the most industrialized cities in medieval Europe, thanks to its thriving textile industries. The importation of raw materials and the exportation of finished cloth necessitated the creation of commercial and banking practices that extended far beyond Florence's boundaries. Part I situates Florence within this wider international context and describes the commercial and banking networks through which the city's merchant-bankers operated. Part II focuses on the urban economy of Florence itself, including various industries, merchants, artisans, and investors. It also evaluates the role of government in the economy, the relationship of the urban economy to the region, and the distribution of wealth throughout the society. While political, social, and cultural histories of Florence abound, none focuses solely on the economic history of the city. The Economy of Renaissance Florence offers both a systematic description of the city's major economic activities and a comprehensive overview of its economic development from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance to 1600.


The accurate detection of changes has the potential to form a fundamental component of systems which autonomously solicit user interaction based on transitions within an input stream, for example, electrocardiogram data or accelerometry obtained from a mobile device. This solicited interaction may be utilized for diverse scenarios such as responding to changes in a patient's vital signs within a medical domain or requesting user activity labels for generating real-world labelled datasets. Within this paper, we extend our previous work on the Multivariate Online Change detection Algorithm subsequently exploring the utility of incorporating the Benjamini Hochberg method of correcting for multiple comparisons. Furthermore, we evaluate our approach against similarly light-weight Multivariate Exponentially Weighted Moving Average and Cumulative Sum based techniques. Results are presented based on manually labelled change points in accelerometry data captured using 10 participants. Each participant performed nine distinct activities for a total period of 35 minutes. The results subsequently demonstrate the practical potential of our approach from both accuracy and computational perspectives.


We used census results and radiotelemetry locations of >380 collared individuals sampled over the entire distribution of the endangered mountain ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) in British Columbia, Canada, to delineate population structure and document the size and trend of the identified populations. We also describe the spatial pattern of decline and the causes and timing of adult mortality and provide estimates of vital rates necessary to develop a population viability analysis. Our results indicate that the abundance of mountain caribou in British Columbia is declining. We found adult female annual survival rates below annual survival rates commonly reported for large ungulates. The major proximate cause of population decline appears to be predation on adult caribou. Spatial patterns of population dynamics revealed a continuous range contraction and an increasing fragmentation of mountain caribou into smaller, isolated subpopulations. The population fragmentation process predominantly occurs at the outer boundaries of the current distribution. Our results indicate that recovery strategies for mountain caribou should be directed at factors contributing to the fragmentation and isolation of mountain caribou populations as well as management strategies aimed at increasing adult survival. © 2005 NRC Canada.


Summary The mineralogy and chemistry of the amphibolitic matrix of a metamorphosed Precambrian conglomerate throw light on the derivation of the deposit from eroded basic and acid igneous parent rocks. Chemical analyses for 31 elements in 25 samples illustrate the mafic nature of the conglomerate matrix and show the influence of both basic and acid source types. Indicative of basic source rocks are high Mg, Fe, Cr, Ni, and low Si. Acid rock contributions are recognized by high K and Rb (present in K-feldspar and biotite). The conglomerate is a peculiar type of metasedimentary amphibolite quite unlike 'normal' hornblende-plagioclase amphibolites of meta-igneous origin or the para-amphibolites from Ontario and Scotland previously described. It does not however have a unique composition amongst coarse clastic rocks and similar examples from other locations are cited. Such clastic rocks are probably all first cycle alluvial or fluvial deposits from source areas rich in mafic rocks.


It is well known that the q-state clock model can exhibit a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition if q is equal to or greater than a certain threshold, which has been believed to be five. However, recent numerical studies indicate that helicity modulus does not vanish in the high-temperature phase of the five-state clock model as predicted by the KT scenario. By performing Monte Carlo calculations under the fluctuating twist boundary condition, we show that it is because the five-state clock model does not have the fully continuous U(1) symmetry even in the high-temperature phase while the six-state clock model does. We suggest that the upper transition of the five-state clock model is actually a weaker cousin of the KT transition so that it is q≥6 that exhibits the genuine KT behavior.


The global drive to provide universal access to sustainable and modern energy by 2030 is creating numerous opportunities for energy users and suppliers. However, men and women do not benefit equally from these opportunities. Women's contribution to energy planning, supply, and policymaking is limited, as the energy sector is heavily dominated by men. Therefore, universal energy access cannot be achieved without women being able to use the modern energy services they need. Despite these stark gender differences in the energy sector, there has been a lack of evidence to inform more equitable policymaking.
This issue of the IDS Bulletin aims to fill some of these evidence gaps through five original papers, produced as part of ENERGIA's Gender and Energy Research Programme. Carrying out research in 12 countries in Africa and Asia, the programme delivered nine studies on gender and energy under the following thematic areas: electrification, productive use of energy, energy sector policy dynamics, energy subsidy reform, the role of the private sector in scaling up energy access, gender mainstreaming approaches, and global trends in gender and energy.
The IDS Bulletin issue starts with an article that identifies global trends that could help catalyse the closing of energy access gaps around the world and shows how these trends relate to gender inequality. Three further articles go on to discuss gender and entrepreneurship, reinforcing the argument that women's engagement in the energy sector can improve access and distribution of energy for those most underserved. The final article highlights wider findings and policy implications from the nine research projects of ENERGIA's Gender and Energy Research Programme.


This volume presents a zooarchaeological study of eleven Gallo-Roman bone assemblages retrieved over the past fifteen years from rescue excavations in Paris. The Roman occupation of Lutecia is divided into four periods (1st c. BC - 4th c AD). The limits of the antique city on the left bank of the Seine are situated within the 5th and 6th districts of todays city of Paris. Only a restricted area of the right bank is occupied. Two Necropolises are known and are located at the south and south east of these limits. Until now, no Iron-age occupation has been found under the Roman city. Eight of the studied assemblages are habitat contexts, two are located in dump areas of the city, and the last specialized in ceramic production. The finds help to improve our understanding of Gallo-Roman society while emphasizing the influence of the conquest on native peoples. Considerable progress has been made towards a more comprehensive understanding of the provisioning of urban contexts, the hierarchy of food and the status of consumers. In addition, light is shed on some aspects of butchery and meat redistribution and the post-conquest orientation of agriculture. This work increases the resolution of zooarchaeology in the analysis of antique societies and these advances will further increase the interest of classical archaeology in the collection and study of animal bones.


Background A common procedure in human cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) adoptive transfer immunotherapy is to expand tumor-specific CTLs ex vivo using CD3 mAb prior to transfer. One of the major obstacles of CTL adoptive immunotherapy is a lack of CTL persistence in the tumor-bearing host after transfer. The aim of this study is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of stimulation conditions on proliferation and survival of tumor-specific CTLs. Methodology/Principal Findings Tumor-specific CTLs were stimulated with either CD3 mAb or cognate Ag and analyzed for their proliferation and survival ex vivo and persistence in tumor-bearing mice. Although both Ag and CD3 mAb effectively induced the cytotoxic effecter molecules of the CTLs, we observed that Ag stimulation is essential for sustained CTL proliferation and survival. Further analysis revealed that Ag stimulation leads to greater proliferation rates and less apoptosis than CD3 mAb stimulation. Re-stimulation of the CD3 mAb-stimulated CTLs with Ag resulted in restored CTL proliferative potential, suggesting that CD3 mAb-induced loss of proliferative potential is reversible. Using DNA microarray technology, we identified that survivin and ifi202, two genes with known functions in T cell apoptosis and proliferation, are differentially induced between Ag- and CD3 mAb-stimulated CTLs. Analysis of the IFN-γ signaling pathway activation revealed that Ag stimulation resulted in rapid phosphorylation of STAT1 (pSTAT1), whereas CD3 mAb stimulation failed to activate STAT1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that pSTAT1 is associated with the promoters of both survivin and ifi202 in T cells and electrophoresis mobility shift assay indicated that pSTAT1 directly binds to the gamma activation sequence element in the survivin and ifi202 promoters. Finally, silencing ifi202 expression significantly decreased T cell proliferation. Conclusions/Significance Our findings delineate a new role of the IFN-γ signaling pathway in regulating T cell proliferation and apoptosis through upregulating survivin and ifi202 expression.


By using a geo-coded disaggregated dataset in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1997–2013, we exploit year-to-year rainfall variation as an instrumental variable to estimate the causal effect of economic shocks on civil conflict conditional on governance quality. We confirm earlier findings that adverse rainfall shocks increase the likelihood of conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. We also investigate the role of governance quality on conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. The results underscore that improvement of governance quality can effectively mitigate the detrimental effect of negative income shocks on regional peace. However, due to the limited penetration of countrywide governance structures, this effect of governance quality is more significant in areas closer from the capital cities than in the remote areas.


With the global growth of public concern about environmental issues over the last several decades, environmental legal norms have become increasingly internationalized. This development has been reflected both in the surge of international environmental agreements as well as the growth and increased sophistication of national environmental legal systems around the world. The result is the emergence of a set of legal principles and norms regarding the environment, such that one can arguably describe it as a body of law. After exploring the diverse forces that are contributing to the emergence of what we call "global environmental law," this Article considers the implications of this emergence for the implementation, practice, and development of environmental law worldwide.


Does Islamic terrorism have an effect on the general attitudes towards Muslim minorities? We use the murder of Theo van Gogh as an event study to address this question. Specifically, we use the hedonic-market model and test for an effect on listed house prices in neighbourhoods where more than 25% of the people belong to an ethnic minority from a Muslim country (type I). Relative to the other neighbourhoods, house prices in type I neighbourhoods decreased in 10 months by about 3%, with a widening gap over time. We use a unique weekly data set from a multi listing service that contains over 70% of all houses for sale and obtain the actual transaction prices from the registers office. Our results are robust to several adjustments including changes in the control group. There is no significant difference in the time it takes for houses to be sold in type I versus other neighbourhoods. Finally, we find evidence that segregation increased. People belonging to the Muslim minority were more likely to buy and less likely to sell a house in a type I neighbourhood after the murder than before.


An amorphous monomeric glass is defined as a mixture of compatible organic monomeric molecules with an infinitely low crystallization rate under the most favorable conditions. These mixtures can be formed in a one-part reaction of a multifunctional nucleus with a mixture of substituents. The "noncrystallizability" of the mixture is controlled by the structural dissymmetry of the nucleus and/or the substituents and the number of components making up the mixture. We have developed an equation to calculate the number of components in a given mixture, knowing the structure and functionality of the nucleus and the number of substituents. An HPLC characterization method was developed and used to investigate the effects of various reaction conditions on the component concentration distributions and physical properties of the resulting materials. A dissymmetry number defined as the total weight percent of odd-substituted components is believed to be a potential measure of the "noncrystallizability" of the mixture. Physical properties such as glass-transition temperature can be dramatically increased through controlled oligomerization at the price of a moderate increase in melt viscosity. The organic monomeric glasses, like amorphous polymers, have good film-forming properties. However, unlike polymers, they display extremely low melt-viscosities and large positive entropy-of-mixing values and can be ground easily into extremely small particles. These properties make them ideal for certain applications where compatibility, melt-flow, and small particle size are important.


Based on light field reconstruction and motion recognition technique, a
 penetrable interactive floating 3D display system is proposed. The system consists
 of a high-frame-rate projector, a flat directional diffusing screen, a high-speed
 data transmission module, and a Kinect somatosensory device. The floating
 occlusion-correct 3D image could rotate around some axis at different speeds
 according to user's hand motion. Eight motion directions and speed are detected
 accurately, and the prototype system operates efficiently with a recognition
 accuracy of 90% on average.


This paper is devoted to homogenization of different models of flow in thin domains with a microstructure. The focus is on applications connected to the effect of surface roughness in full film lubrication, but a parallel to flow in thin porous media is also discussed. Mathematical models of such flows naturally include two small parameters. One is connected to the fluid film thickness and the other to the microstructure. The corresponding asymptotic analysis is a delicate problem, since the result depends on how fast the two small parameters tend to zero relative to each other. We give a review of the current status in this area and point out some future challenges.


Frontal view gait recognition for people identification has been carried out using single RGB, stereo RGB, Kinect 1.0, and Doppler radar. However, existing methods based on these camera technologies suffer from several problems. Therefore, we propose a four-part method for frontal view gait recognition based on the fusion of multiple features acquired from a Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera. We have developed a gait data set captured by a ToF camera. The data set includes two sessions recorded seven months apart, with 46 and 33 subjects, respectively, each with six walks with five covariates. The four-part method includes: a new human silhouette extraction algorithm that reduces the multiple reflection problem experienced by ToF cameras; a frame selection method based on a new gait cycle detection algorithm; four new gait image representations; and a novel fusion classifier. Rigorous experiments are carried out to compare the proposed method with state-of-the-art methods. The results show distinct improvements over recognition rates for all covariates. The proposed method outperforms all major existing approaches for all covariates and results in 66.1% and 81.0% Rank 1 and Rank 5 recognition rates, respectively, in overall covariates, compared with a best state-of-the-art method performance of 35.7% and 57.7%.