An animal's energy intake must be partitioned between the requirements for growth and maintenance and the requirements of reproduction. For females in particular, a successful reproductive episode may result in an energy debt such that those animals are not able to reproduce again until energy stores are restored. Male blue-tongued lizards (Tiliqua nigrolutea) do become reproductively active every year; however females reproduce only at intervals of two, three, or even four years. Vitellogenesis occurs rapidly after spring emergence: thus reproduction depends on resources accumulated before hibernation. This implies that in females there is some physiological mechanism that signals to the reproductive system when sufficient fat reserves are available to fuel reproduction. The adrenal steroid corticosterone is a major metabolic hormone in reptiles, and appears to be important for regulating lipid cycling. In this study we compared the annual cycle of plasma corticosterone in male and female blue-tongued lizards. In males, plasma corticosterone is high during the spring mating period, lowest during summer, and rising to a significant peak during late hibernation. In both reproductive and non-reproductive females, plasma corticosterone is minimal in spring. In pregnant females corticosterone peaks during late gestation, falling sharply around the time of birth: this pattern i not seen in non-pregnant females. Both groups showed a peak during late hibernation but this was not as marked as that seen in males. We suggest that these patterns primarily reflect the role of corticosterone in the regulation of metabolic reserves.


The twenty-two-year reign of Hoboken political boss Bernard N. McFeely (including seventeen as mayor) has long been under-reported in the national press and almost completely overlooked by historians. Bernard McFeely's extensive FBI file, recently released under the Freedom of Information Act, provides an opportunity to remedy this lapse, and to consider his rule (1925-1947) alongside other post-World War I urban political machines. Unlike his over-boss, Jersey City mayor and statewide machine leader Frank Hague, or machine bosses in Boston, Memphis, and Kansas City, all of whom retained power by matching bullying with programs that gained the affection of poor and working class constituents, McFeely was stingy with public funds and mostly relied on force to secure his hold. The coercion and beatings attributed to McFeely and his cohorts in oral histories and court records are detailed in his FBI file. This article focuses on one series of documents, relating to a 1937-1938 campaign to ruin the milk business of George Harper, who was said to have displeased then-mayor McFeely by consorting with his political opponents. Harper provided the FBI with daily records of the enforced boycott of his business; they provide a blow-by-blow account of McFeely bossism in action. A version of this talk was originally delivered at the NJ Forum Conference, Kean University, on November 22, 2014.


The Mid-Cretaceous Wasia Formation represents one of the most productive hydrocarbon carbonate sequences in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, limited integrated studies have assessed the complexity and spatial distribution of its reservoir depositional systems near to an intrashelf basin margin. This study was focused on an assessment of its 3D seismic chronostratigraphy by integrating key well and seismic data to evaluate the gross depositional history of the mixed carbonate-clastic system. A seismic chronostratigraphy approach was introduced to assess the geometric relationships of depositional cycles and lithologic associations in response to relative sea-level changes. The main step entailed the correlation of well log chronostratigraphy from core and biostratigraphy interpretations with closely spaced, semiautomatically generated seismic horizons from seismic reflection data. A 3D seismic chronostratigraphy cube was built to interactively assess the basin history through the Mid-Cretaceous stages. Seismic sequences were selected to assess isopachs and gross depositional trends for demarcation of shelf, shelf margin, and slope from horizon attributes including root-mean-square amplitude and frequency decomposition. The results found the oldest Albian Safaniya member to be a generalized low-angle ramp shelf slope with thinning of sequences toward an intrashelf basin. Later, in the Albian, Cenomanian, and Turonian, carbonate factories developed distinct seismic sequences with steepened prograding systems in the Mauddud, Ahmadi/Rumaila, and Mishrif members at the intrashelf basin margin. Generally, areas immediately landward of the shelf margin possessed the most favorable reservoir lithologies of rudist-bearing platform carbonates, with source-rock distribution confined to basinal equivalents of sequences. The seismic chronostratigraphy approach proved to be fundamental to understanding the Wasia carbonate depositional system because it provided a technique to assess the varied stratal architectures of the main productive sequences. The integrated technique represents a unique methodology for exploration targeting of conventional reservoirs and unconventional source rocks.


Problem area
In many dynamical systems, the physics of the overall system can be modelled as the interaction
between several subsystems, each governed by its own laws of physics. A prime example of this
is rotorcraft
ight, where aerodynamics and structural mechanics are closely coupled. In order
to simulate the dynamics of rotorcraft
ight, a widely used approach is a Loose Coupling, in
which a structural dynamics model and a (computationally expensive)
uid dynamics model are
combined with a simpli�ed aerodynamics model. However, even with a loose coupling approach
the
uid dynamics model needs to be solved many times before a coupled solution is found. The
goal of the present work is to reduce the amount of computational work needed for accurate
rotorcraft aeroelastic simulation.
Description of work
A one-dimensional model problem is constructed that resembles the rotorcraft simulation in a
very simple way. It is expected that established techniques from time series analysis can be used
to improve the convergence of the coupled models. Using the model problem various methods
for improving the loose coupling are evaluated.
Results and conclusions
The time series resulting from the convergence of the loosely coupled procedure can accurately
be modelled as an autoregressive process. This model is subsequently used to estimate the �nal
solution of the iterative procedure, improving the overall convergence rate.
Applicability
The described methods can be applied to rotorcraft simulations in order to reduce the amount
of computational work required or, alternatively, use more accurate models for the same amount
of computational work. This Master's Thesis provides a basis for further research into the
applicability of time series analysis on rotorcraft loose coupling in particular and partitioned
procedures in general.


In the present communication, nutritional quality and levels of protein in different varieties of gram has been evaluated. For this purpose protein content of grain and dhal samples of 14 desi, 20 kabuli and 11 green seeded gram varieties were examined. The mean values of three categories of gram revealed that relatively kabuli gram (mean 21.61 %) holds significantly superior position over desi gram (mean 19.78 %) followed by green seeded gram (mean 19.78 %). The varieties containing lower values of seed coat percentage showed higher values in grain protein contents. Statistical analysis of grain protein of the three categories of chickpea varieties indicated the variations recorded by kabuli, desi and green seeded gram were significant at 5% level. The range and mean values of protein percent in dhal samples of the three categories showed that kabuli dhal samples contains highest protein content and lowest in green seeded gram varieties. It is interesting to note that the level of protein percent increased as the contents and intensity of colouration in seed coat is decreased.


In the past few years, many cities have attempted to mandate the use of hybrid taxicabs. The taxi industry, arguing that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Clean Air Act preempt such mandates, has successfully opposed them. Mandating hybrid cab use, however, is but one important aspect of a larger push by states and local governments to enact progressive environmental legislation and policies with greater breadth than those of the federal government. An example is California's battle to enact greenhouse gas emissions regulations and its conflict with the Environmental Protection Agency. Though New York City and Boston lost on preemption grounds, their attempts are important in the context of the battle over environmental federalism. In the long term, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act should be amended to allow for more progressive environmental regulations at the state and local level.


Abstract The clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa is a potent ambassador species for conservation, occurring from the Himalayan foothills eastwards to Indochina, between which Myanmar is a biogeographical land bridge. In Myanmar's Northern Forest Complex, the species co-occurs with the tiger Panthera tigris, leopard Panthera pardus, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata, golden cat Catopuma temminckii and leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis. We deployed cameras within the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary over 2 consecutive years. In 2014–2015 we deployed 82 camera stations around the Nam Pa Gon stream (Catchment 1) for 7,365 trap days. In 2015–2016 we deployed 80 camera stations around the Nam E Zu stream (Catchment 2) for 7,192 trap days. In Catchment 1 we identified five tigers from 26 detections, five clouded leopards from 41 detections (68 photographs) and 11 marbled cats from 13 detections. Using Bayesian-based spatial capture–recapture we estimated the densities of tigers and clouded leopards to be 0.81 ± SD 0.40 and 0.60 ± SD 0.24 individuals per 100 km2, respectively. In Catchment 2 we identified two tigers from three detections, nine clouded leopards from 55 detections and 12 marbled cats from 37 detections. Densities of clouded leopards and marbled cats were 3.05 ± SD 1.03 and 8.80 ± SD 2.06 individuals per 100 km2, respectively. These differences suggest that human activities, in particular gold mining, are affecting felid populations, and these are a paramount concern in Htamanthi. We demonstrate the importance of Htamanthi within the Northern Forest Complex and highlight the Yawbawmee corridor as a candidate for protection.


The receptor tyrosine kinase–like receptor ROR1 binds to the oncoprotein TCL1 to promote B cell leukemia. The expression of the gene for receptor tyrosine kinase–like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) is increased in several cancers, including B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and antibody- and engineered T cell–based therapies targeting ROR1 show efficacy in preclinical models. ROR1 is a single-pass transmembrane receptor that binds Wnt ligands and lacks intrinsic kinase activity. ROR1-positive CLL cells are usually also positive for TCL1, an oncoprotein that in leukemic cells binds to and enhances the activity of AKT, a kinase that promotes cellular proliferation and survival. Transgenic (Tg) mice expressing TCL1 in B cells develop CLL-like leukemia between 13 and 18 months of age. Widhopf II et al. found that ROR1 synergized with TCL1 to promote B cell transformation. Tg mice that expressed human ROR1 in B cells had normal B cells until 15 months of age, at which point a small percentage of mice developed symptoms characteristic of human CLL patients, including lymphocytosis and splenomegaly due to accumulation of ROR1-positive malignant B cells. ROR1 and TCL1 coimmunoprecipitated from patient-derived CLL cells, and mice that expressed both ROR1 and TCL1 in B cells (ROR1 X TCL1 Tg mice) showed accelerated onset of CLL-like symptoms. Compared with B cells from TCL1 Tg mice, B cells from ROR1 X TCL1 Tg mice had increased expression of genes encoding proteins that associate with AKT, increased phosphorylation and activation of AKT, and enhanced survival, proliferation, and engraftment potential in recipient ROR1 Tg mice. Monoclonal antibodies targeting ROR1 reduced the activation of AKT in cultured B cells from ROR1 X TCL1 mice and inhibited leukemogenesis when injected into ROR1 Tg mice engrafted with ROR1 X TCL1 B cells. Thus, ROR1-based therapies may inhibit the progression of B cell CLL, and potentially other cancers, by reducing the ability of TCL1 to enhance activation of AKT. G. F. Widhopf II, B. Cui, E. M. Ghia, L. Chen, K. Messer, Z. Shen, S. P. Briggs, C. M. Croce, T. J. Kipps, ROR1 can interact with TCL1 and enhance leukemogenesis in Eµ-TCL1 transgenic mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, 793–798 (2014). [Abstract] [Full]


We report on the first engineered integral feedback control system in a living cell. The controller is based on the recently published antithetic integral feedback motif [1] which has been analytically shown to have favorable regulation properties. It is implemented along with test circuitry in Escherichia coli using seven genes and three small-molecule inducers. The closed-loop system is highly tunable, allowing a regulated protein of interest to be driven to a desired level and maintained there with precision. Realized using a sigma/anti-sigma protein pair, the integral controller ensures that regulation is maintained in the face of perturbations that lead to the regulated protein's degradation, thus serving as a proof-of-concept prototype of integral feedback implementation in living cells. When suitably optimized, this integral controller may be utilized as a general-purpose robust regulator for genetic circuits with unknown or partially-known topologies and parameters.


Many aspects of superficial varicose veins of the lower extremities complicating pregnancy have been controversial.* The present study offers explanations for some of the controversies. The superficial venous disorders of the lower extremities during pregnancy have universally been identified as the classical superficial saphenous varicosities. We recently differentiated from the well-known saphenous varix a hitherto undescribed, completely different, superficial venous disorder which is limited to the pregnant state.1 We applied to it the term "angiectid." † A review of the literature indicated that the failure to differentiate the angiectid from the saphenous varix in the past was the cause for many of the controversies. This shortcoming is unexplainable because the two


'Good communication' is often the assumed objective for the field and practice of communication design. But in attempting to facilitate 'good communication,' designers may potentially overlook the qualities of participation in communicative arenas that shape normative constructs of the publics of communication. At the same time, they might not attend to the particular political formations that emerge from and mobilise communication. I propose and develop the concept of miscommunication and the practice of miscommunication design as a way to query these assumptions from within communication design. Because communication design has become more centrally involved with socially and politically engaged design practices, approaches to communication are critical for taking account of how political engagements unfold. In this study, I explore that which diverts from 'good communication,' by exploring miscommunication as a powerful and transformative part of communication that could generate new modes of practice and recast the field of communication design as a diverse activity open to eco-political modalities of practice. I develop this research by analysing a set of creative practice projects that work through and trouble communicative actors and settings. I further support these analyses through the development of a set of exploratory practices that explore sites of political encounters and political possibilities.

Drawing from the work of Michel Serres and Isabelle Stengers, I work through three figures of miscommunication, including the parasite, the idiot and the diplomat. With these figures, I expand on distinct possibilities for a practice in miscommunication design by investigating forms of noise that interfere with good communication, by working with impasses to communication through apparent moments of nonsense, and by setting up translational encounters shaped by miscommunication. On the basis of working through these three figures of miscommunication, I propose a set of inventive practices that seek to multiply modes of encounter and political formations within the field of communication design. These inventive practices are structured as 'political scenes,' a concept and term that draws on the work of Stengers and that refers to a practical grounding of the political. Political scenes can challenge common communication design practices by working with miscommunication that emerges from specific situations. Moreover, political scenes reposition the designer as a participant in communication who is informed by the affective, performative and material dimensions of communication, and is also seen as an interfering part of communication. In this way, political scenes can foster and explore a new set of connections and communicative formations that matter to the field of communication design because they create the possibility for new qualities of participation in communicative arenas, which may in turn give rise to new political ideas and questions, along with new possibilities for collective formations.


Although high-performance computing traditionally focuses on the efficient execution of large-scale applications, both energy and power have become critical concerns when approaching exascale. Drastic increases in the power consumption of supercomputers affect significantly their operating costs and failure rates. In modern microprocessor architectures, equipped with dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) and CPU clock modulation (throttling), the power consumption may be controlled in software. Additionally, network interconnect, such as Infiniband, may be exploited to maximize energy savings while the application performance loss and frequency switching overheads must be carefully balanced. This work first studies two important collective communication operations, all-to-all and allgather and proposes energy saving strategies on the per-call basis. Next, it targets point-to-point communications to group them into phases and apply frequency scaling to them to save energy by exploiting the architectural and communication stalls. Finally, it proposes an automatic runtime system which combines both collective and point-to-point communications into phases, and applies throttling to them apart from DVFS to maximize energy savings. The experimental results are presented for NAS parallel benchmark problems as well as for the realistic parallel electronic structure calculations performed by the widely used quantum chemistry package GAMESS. Close to the maximum energy savingsmore » were obtained with a substantially low performance loss on the given platform.« less


This research aims to analyze factors that are affecting consumers choice of retail store, specifically grocery stores. This article consists of several sections describing the Problem, its background, Research Objectives and Literature Review. The Data & Analysis section describes in detail the variables identified, how they are measured and prepared for analysis. The next section illustrates all the study analysis findings, what we have concluded from our research that how variables under study are related with each other and affect consumers choice of stores. Convenience, variety, product quality, prices and store loyalty were the main factors identified through initial study and literature review as factors affecting consumers choice of retail stores and hence a research framework designed evaluated these factors and how they affect store choice. Survey questionnaire was used for data collection from 150 respondents based on which research analysis has been done.


The nearest-neighbor classifier has been shown to be a powerful tool for multiclass classification. We explore both theoretical properties and empirical behavior of a variant method, in which the nearest-neighbor rule is applied to a reduced set of prototypes. This set is selected a priori by fixing its cardinality and minimizing the empirical misclassification cost. In this way we alleviate the two serious drawbacks of the nearest-neighbor method: high storage requirements and time-consuming queries. Finding this reduced set is shown to be NP-hard. We provide mixed integer programming (MIP) formulations, which are theoretically compared and solved by a standard MIP solver for small problem instances. We show that the classifiers derived from these formulations are comparable to benchmark procedures. We solve large problem instances by a metaheuristic that yields good classification rules in reasonable time. Additional experiments indicate that prototype-based nearest-neighbor classifiers remain quite stable in the presence of missing values.


The Arctic tern is an iconic seabird, famous for its annual migrations between the Arctic and the Antarctic. Its wide geographical range has impeded knowledge of potential population bottlenecks during its annual bi-hemispheric movements. Although Arctic terns breed in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic coasts of North America, few tracking studies have been conducted on North American Arctic terns, and none in Canada, which represents a significant proportion of their circumpolar breeding range. Using light-level geolocators, we tracked 53 Arctic terns from 5 breeding colonies across a wide latitudinal and longitudinal range within North America. We compared the routes taken by birds in our study and migration timing to those previously tracked from Greenland, Iceland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Maine (USA), and S. Alaska (USA). Most Arctic terns tracked globally used one of 3 southbound migration routes: (1) Atlantic West Africa; (2) Atlantic Brazil; and (3) Pacific coastal, and one of 2 northbound migration routes: (1) Mid-ocean Atlantic and (2) Mid-ocean Pacific. Some other trans-equatorial seabirds also used these migration routes, suggesting that Arctic tern routes may be important for other species. The migration timing for southbound and northbound migrations was generally different between tracked tern colonies worldwide but generally fell within a 1-2 mo window. Our research suggests that conservation management of Arctic terns during their migration should dynamically adapt with the times of the year that terns use parts of their route. Future identification of common multi-species seabird flyways could aid the international negotiations required to conserve pelagic seabirds such as Arctic terns.


Aim We examined (1) the relationships between aboveground tropical forest C storage, biodiversity and environmental drivers and (2) how these relationships inform theory concerning ecosystem function and biodiversity. Experiments have shown that there is a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but intense debate exists on the underlying mechanisms. While some argue that mechanisms such as niche complementarity increase ecosystem function, others argue that these relationships are a selection effect. Location Eleven tropical forests in the Americas, Africa and Asia. Methods We analysed the correlates of biodiversity and carbon storage in tropical forests using data from 59 1-ha tree plots from a standardized global tropical forest biodiversity-monitoring network. We examined taxonomic and functional diversity, aboveground C storage and environmental variables in order to determine the relationships between biodiversity and carbon storage in natural (non-plantation) tropical forests. Results We found that aboveground C storage in tropical forests increased with both taxonomic diversity and functional dominance, specifically the dominance of genera with large maximum diameters, after potential environmental drivers were accounted for (final model R 2 = 0.38, P < 0.001). Main conclusions Our results suggest that niche complementarity and the selection effect are not mutually exclusive: they both play a role in structuring tropical forests. While previous studies have documented relationships between diversity and C storage, these have largely been conducted on small scales in biomes that are relatively species poor compared with tropical forests (e.g. grasslands and temperate or boreal forests). Our results demonstrate that these positive biodiversity– ecosystem functioning relationships are also present in hyperdiverse systems on spatial scales relevant to conservation and management. This insight can be used to inform the conservation and management of tropical forests, which play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and are some of the biologically richest ecosystems on the planet.


This paper presents an innovative approach to designing hands-on networking exercises to support Distance Learning (DL) students. The telecom and networking curriculum requires a balance of theory and practice where students strengthen their learning of the theory through hands-on exercises at network labs. Hands-on exercise, as the name implies, requires hands on network devices for provisioning, configuration, and trouble shooting. With the significant growth of the Distance Learning students, it becomes a challenge to offer hands-on exercises to DL students. This paper presents three methods to address this need: (1) A Linux gateway for security control, (2) a terminal server for network device access, and (3) a web-based scheduling tool. The paper also discusses a major challenge which is technical support for the remote labs environment and presents solutions to address the challenge.


Abstract Tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the Eocene PY4 Sag, Pearl River Mouth Basin, reveals that the evolution of normal faulting exerted an important control on the basin infill patterns. Seismic, well log and core data jointly indicate the Eocene Wenchang Formation can be subdivided into four third-order sequences that are related to early rift (WSQ1), rift climax (WSQ2–3) and late rift (WSQ4) stages. During the early rift stage, the PY4 Sag was defined by three, small-sized depocentres; it was related to low tectonic subsidence and likely overfilled by footwall-derived fan-delta deposits. The isolated depocentres coalesced and formed a larger and more uniform depocentre during the rift climax stage. Significantly increased tectonic subsidence during the rift climax WSQ2 sub-stage gave rise to prominent deep lake deposition including nearshore subaqueous fans, turbidite fan deposits and good source rocks. Two sediment infill patterns adjacent to boundary fault are developed during the rift climax WSQ3 sub-stage: (i) a more likely sediment balance-filled pattern controlled by the low-angled fault and (ii) a sediment under-filled pattern adjacent to the relatively high-angle boundary fault. The late rift stage was characterised by a waned displacement on the NE-striking fault but an increase in displacement on E-striking rift-related faults; this non-synchronous faulting has led to the sediment overfilled pattern observed in the South Sub-sag but a more sediment balance-fill on the South-western Slope. The variability in the basin infill patterns is suggested to have resulted from the different fault displacement patterns, which are closely linked to the boundary fault angles and possible stress field transitions during the basin evolution. This study may provide potential implications for basin infill evaluations in the Eocene Pearl River Mouth Basin and other similar rift systems.


Title: The impact of agricultural irrigation on land surface characteristics and near surface climate in China Xiufang Zhu, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Directed by: Dr. Shunlin Liang, Professor Department of Geography It is well known that land cover and land use change can significantly influence the climate system by modulating surface-atmosphere exchanges. Land management, such as irrigation, also has a profound influence on the climate system. Irrigation can alter the water and energy flux from ground surface to the atmosphere and further influence near surface climate. Considering its dramatic expansion during the last century, the widespread use of irrigation has had an ongoing impact on our climate system. However, until now, this relationship between increased irrigation and its effect on climate system has not been well examined. The main objective of this dissertation is to quantify the irrigation impacts on land surface characteristics and near surface climate over China by using both observational (remote sensing and meteorological observation) and modeling studies with four specific questions: Where are the irrigated areas in China? What might have happened in the past? What will happen as a result of irrigation expansion in the future? And what is the relationship between the land cover land use change (LCLUC) impact and the irrigation impact on near surface climate in China? To answer these questions, I 1) developed three irrigation potential indices and produced a high resolution irrigation map of China; 2)analyzed and compared meteorological and remote sensing observations in irrigated and non-irrigated agriculture areas of China; 3) simulated both irrigation and LCLUC impact on land surface energy balance components (i.e., land surface temperature, latent flux, and sensible flux) and near surface climate (i.e., air temperature, water vapor, relative humidity) of China in the past (1978-2004) and also in two future time periods (2050 and 2100) by using the Community Land Model and compared the impact of irrigation with that of LUCC. Meteorological observations in Jilin Province show that the temperature differences between highly and lightly irrigated areas are statistically significant. The differences are highly correlated with the effective irrigation area (EIA) and sown area of crop (CSA). Results from satellite observations show that highly irrigated areas corresponded to lower albedo and daytime land surface temperature (LST), and higher normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and evapotranspiration (ET). The difference between highly and lightly irrigated areas is bigger in drier areas and in drier years. The modeling studies show that the irrigation impact on temperature is much less in the future than in the 20th century and that irrigation impacts more on the maximum air temperature than on the minimum air temperature. Both contemporary and future irrigation simulations show, nationally, irrigation decreases daily maximum temperature (Tmax) but increase daily minimum temperature (Tmin). Daily mean temperature (Tmean) decreases in contemporary irrigation simulations but increases in most of the cases in future irrigation simulations. In the 20 century, nationally, the spray irrigation leads to a decrease in Tmax of 0.079K and an increase in Tmin of 0.022K. Nationally, the spray irrigation leads to a decrease in Tmax between 0.022K and 0.045K and an increase in Tmin between 0.019K and 0.057K under future scenarios. This study demonstrates that the irrigation patterns (flood irrigation and spray irrigation) have statistically significant impacts on local climate. Moreover, this study suggests that, in the national respective, the impacts of changes in land management on climate are not comparable to the impacts of changes in land cover land use. This dissertation on irrigation and its impact is the first study which focuses solely on China using observational and modeling methods. The results from this dissertation contribute to a better understanding of the irrigation impact on nearsurface climate which can improve our knowledge of how human activities influence climate, guide future policies aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate change, and help design a precise model to project the impact of irrigation on the climate system and irrigation requirements in the future. It can also be useful in assessing future food and water security issues. THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION ON LAND SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS AND NEAR SURFACE CLIMATE IN CHINA


Laboratory experiments of dilute mixtures of warm talc powder in air simulate dilute pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) and show the effects of topography on current runout, buoyancy reversal, and liftoff into buoyant plumes. The densimetric and thermal Richardson, Froude, Stokes, and settling numbers for our experiments match those of natural PDCs. The laboratory currents are fully turbulent, although the experiments have lower Reynolds numbers than PDCs. In sum, our experiments are dynamically similar to natural currents. Comparisons of currents traversing fl at topography or encountering barriers show that runout distance is not signifi cantly reduced for currents that traverse barriers with height <1.5 times the current thickness, but currents do not pass taller barriers. Buoyancy reversals occur in most currents, resulting in liftoff and generation of a buoyant plume. Liftoff occurs near the maximum runout distance for currents traveling over fl at topography, but is focused near or above barriers for currents that encounter barriers. Notably, plume formation above barriers can result in reversal of fl ow direction downstream of the obstruction as portions of the current fl ow back and feed the rising plume. on November 9, 2011 geology.gsapubs.org Downloaded from


This essay asks how social enterprises like TOMS generate so much consumer affective investment in an age whose cause-related messaging fatigues shoppers. I find one answer in the energizing buy-one-give-one mode in which TOMS participates and to which it gives collective access. The mode expresses an increasingly widespread sensibility that company growth cannot proceed indefinitely without constraint by company largesse: gathering and growth must be countered by expenditure and even a kind of waste. Modal analysis of metonymic tropes within TOMS's discourse (by chief executive officer Blake Mycoskie) shows how the company gives a feel for connecting the apparently opposed concerns of self-interested acquisition and "wasteful" expenditure—doing good and doing well—without collapsing one into the other. Unfortunately, other social enterprise rhetorics have failed not only to acquire but also to "waste" consumer enthusiasm in similarly generative fashion, thereby deactivating at times the significance of social enterprise's projects. This essay concludes by discussing why modal reading of affective investments matters for rhetorical scholarship in this historical moment.


This paper describes a knowledge-based approach to automate a software design method for concurrent systems. The approach uses multiple paradigms to represent knowledge embedded in the design method. Semantic data modeling provides the means to represent concepts from a behavioral modeling technique, called Concurrent Object-Based Real-time Analysis (COBRA), which defines system behavior using data/control flow diagrams. Entity-relationship modeling is used to represent a design metamodel based on a design method, called COncurrent Design Approach for Real-Time Systems (CODARTS), which represents concurrent designs as software architecture diagrams, task behavior specifications and module specifications. Production rules provide the mechanism for codifying a set of CODARTS heuristics that can generate concurrent designs based on semantic concepts included in COBRA behavioral models and on entities and relationships included in CODARTS design metamodels. Together, the semantic data model, the entity-relationship model, and the production rules, when encoded using an expert system shell, compose CODA, an automated designer's assistant. CODA is applied to generate 10 concurrent designs for four real-time problems. The paper reports the degree of automation achieved by CODA. The paper also evaluates the quality of generated designs by comparing the similarity between designs produced by CODA and human designs reported in the literature for the same problems. In addition, it compares CODA with four other approaches used to automate software design methods.


We focus on the symptom of hypothalamus controlled fever, which is in fact a problem related to non-equilibrium system. Since live human body has constant temperature, whose dissipation is easy to be figured out by observation, it is a suitable candidate for non-equilibrium system to study. In our paper, human body is regarded as a 2-compartment-system: one is the chemical-reaction network, the other is observed by mechanical motion which means the vital signs apart from body temperature. Van der Pol model is used to describe the overall effect of chemical reaction network in human body. When the parameter of mathematical model is set to guarantee the mathematical model to be in limit cycle oscillation state, the energy absorbtion and releasing is computed. With the help of body temperature, which can be observed, the energy metabolism of overall effect of chemical reaction network is figured out. We have figured out the conditions when human is at healthy and fever how the mathematical respond. This response is just the overall effect of chemical reaction network. This research may be capable of answering the question whether fever is a kind of illness or some response of body to maintain its life? From our study, hypothalamus controlled fever is beneficial to maintain life.


The Definitive Guide to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting ServicesCreate and deliver data-rich reports across the enterprise using this complete server-based reporting solution. Written by a member of the original Reporting Services development team, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services covers the entire report-building and distribution process, including data extraction, integration with desktop and Web applications, and end-user access. The book explains how to maximize all of the powerful features, including the new Tablix data format, as well as enhanced performance, scalability, and visualization capabilities. Install, configure, and customize SQL Server 2008 Reporting ServicesCreate SELECT queries to extract dataGenerate reports from the Report Wizard and from scratchAdd charts, images, and gaugesBuild reusable report templatesUse the new Tablix data format to create reports with any structureExport reports to Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, XML, and other formatsEnable end-user access to reports via the Report Server and its Report Manager web interface


The paradigm shift from traditional collaborations to E-collaborations is due to the continued developments in internet enabled communication technologies and globalization trends that have complicated supply chain management operations. Because of the dynamic environment and the need for firms to remain competitive, this study focused on establishing the significance of introducing internet technologies to increase the effect of collaboration arrangements on physical distribution service quality. Data was collected from 270 manufacturers and distributors in Kampala District and analysed using SPSS. The findings revealed that Internet technologies have a more significant relationship on collaboration arrangements than Physical Distribution Service Quality. The study also makes numerous contributions through identification of the internet technologies as an intervening variable and also provides practical implications on how to apply internet technologies in collaboration arrangements to improve PDSQ in Uganda's' beverage industry.


Despite the robust observation in macroecology that there are many small-bodied species, recent comparative studies have found little evidence for elevated net rates of diversification among small-bodied species within taxa. Here we examine the relationship between body size and species richness using the New Zealand land bird fauna, a well resolved palaeoecological Holocene assemblage. We test whether there is any evidence that net cladogenesis depended on body size in an assemblage prior to the impact of human-induced extinction. We also test whether net cladogenesis depends on the level at which taxa are endemic to New Zealand, to see whether there is evidence for bursts of cladogenesis following taxon establishment, and examine how the body sizes of New Zealand land birds relate to those in Australia, the most likely source pool for colonising taxa. Most New Zealand land bird species are small-bodied. We find no evidence, however, that this is due to higher net cladogenesis in small-bodied taxa. The body mass distributions of endemic and recent colonist species do not differ statistically, but recent colonists tend to be smaller-bodied than their closest endemic relative. This tendency is more marked for small-bodied than large-bodied taxa. More endemic taxa do not tend to be more species rich in New Zealand, although there is a positive relationship between level of endemism and species richness for forest taxa. The body mass distribution of New Zealand birds is very similar to that for Australia. Body mass does not dictate the likelihood that a family has colonised New Zealand from Australia, but the number of species in the family does: it is the species rich Australian families that have successfully colonised. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of body size distributions, and for the "island rule" of body size evolution on islands.


Two bisthienyl diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-bithiazole based copolymers were synthesised via two different direct (hetero)arylation polymerization (DHAP) routes. When a bisthienyl DPP and 5,5′-dibromo-2,2′-bithiazole were used as monomers, the resulting polymer PA-1 showed poor solubility, ill-organized chain ordering and low performance in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs). Surprisingly, the synthetic route using a dibrominated bisthienyl DPP and 2,2′-bithiazole as monomers produced a polymer PB-1 with improved solubility, much higher crystallinity and excellent charge transport performance in OTFTs. The electron and hole mobilities of up to 0.53 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 0.06 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, achieved for PB-1 are more than one order of magnitude higher than those of PA-1 and also better than the mobilities reported for a similar polymer synthesized via Stille coupling polymerization. The dramatically different carrier mobilities observed for these two polymers are accounted for by their different amounts of α–β coupling linkages and branched (and lightly cross-linked) structure defects formed in the respective synthetic routes. This work also demonstrated for the first time that 2,2′-bithiazole is a suitable monomer for the construction of conjugated polymers with good electron transport performance via DHAP.


The intensification of agricultural production is the principal way of increasing the food supply for mankind. The experience of developed countries demonstrates that the ever increasing amount of nitrogenous fertilizers applied may create serious problems with drinking water supply, because of its high nitrates content. The same problem can be expected in developing countries if the level of nitrogen loads reaches that of developed countries today. The present paper tries to assess the potential global picture with regard to nitrogen leaching in its dependence on climatic factors, which influence both directly and indirectly the processes of a local nitrogen cycle.

The Task "Environmental Problems of Agriculture" conducted most of its work at a field level. Methodologically, this is an attempt to use field level data to analyze the global situation.


Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Development of Critical Infrastructure, held in Shanghai, China, May 16-18, 2014.Sponsored by the International Cooperation & Exchange Committee of the China Civil Engineering Society (CCES) and the Council on Disaster Risk Management of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Sustainable Development of Critical Infrastructure , CDRM 8, contains 4 keynote papers and 51 peer-reviewed technical papers intended to promote and review the technologies necessary to support the development of sustainable infrastructure systems worldwide. Specific applications of sustainable engineering practices to high-rise buildings, long-span bridges, urban transportation systems; and nuclear and electrical power facilities are discussed. Topics include: impacts and adaptation to climate change; reliability and risk management; life-cycle performance and cost; and the development of more sustainable construction materials. This proceedings will be of interest to practitioners, researchers, government engineers, and operational managers of infrastructure systems.


Sensor networks potentially feature large numbers of nodes. The nodes can monitor and sense their environment over time, communicate with each other over a wireless network, and process information that they exchange with each other. They differ from data networks in that the network as a whole may be designed for a specific application. We study the theoretical foundations of such large-scale sensor networks. We address four fundamental organizational and operational issues related to large sensor networks: connectivity, capacity, clocks, and function computation. To begin with, a sensor network must be connected so that information can indeed be exchanged between nodes. The connectivity graph of an ad hoc network is modeled as a random graph and the critical range for asymptotic connectivity is determined, as well as the critical number of neighbors that a node needs to connect to. Next, given connectivity, we address the issue of how much data can be transported over the sensor network. We present fundamental bounds on capacity under several models, as well as architectural implications for how wireless communication should be organized. Temporal information is important both for the applications of sensor networks as well as their operation. We present fundamental bounds on the synchronizability of clocks in networks, and also present and analyze algorithms for clock synchronization. Finally, we turn to the issue of gathering relevant information, which sensor networks are designed to do. One needs to study optimal strategies for in-network aggregation of data, in order to reliably compute a composite function of sensor measurements, as well as the complexity of doing so. We address the issue of how such computation can be performed efficiently in a sensor network and the algorithms for doing so, for some classes of functions.


Abstract Issues related to gender (and sexuality), largely ignored in the early development of sociolinguistics, have emerged as a cornerstone of the field. Spurred on by the feminist movement and new generations of engaged scholars addressing how language use both reveals and embeds gender inequalities, scholarship on such questions is now "mainstream" across a range of disciplines. Deborah Cameron argues that the primary focus in recent decades on social identity and performance, while path-breaking in many ways, has had the unintended consequence of drawing attention away from core issues of power and patriarchy in terms of gender relations.


In the Western world, multiculturalism has become the way to view and form "nationhood," igniting the interest to understand and model identity. The complexity of identity formation, however, has been firm and ethnic and national identities have been deviating more and more. In this paper, we seek to investigate the nature, role and relationships between ethnic and national identities by using migrants as the natural innovators. The arrival of immigrants can amplify social challenges and both natives and immigrants can see their identities altering and evolving. Individuals in a country can be patriotic, nationalistic, indifferent, apathetic, or subvert and undermining. The openness of the people in the host country, their embracing of new cultures and their respect towards newcomers can play a major role in how immigrants react and how close they remain with the country of origin. The laws of the host country together with the ideals, the self-understanding and the foundation of the sovereign nation can also affect the identities of immigrants and natives at the individual level and at the nation-building level. We present empirical results concerning ethnic and national identities and we discuss the ramifications of the divergence between them. We review surveys and experimental contributions to the study of identity formation and its consequences for economic behavior. Before we conclude we debate the endogeneity issue of identity.


We examine the roles of the equant point and the eccentric deferent circle in Ptolemy's planetary theory. The necessity of these features of the model is demonstrated empirically by a study of the retrograde arcs of Mars. Finally, these results are used, together with available historical evidence, to suggest the line of investigation that probably led Ptolemy to his discovery of the equant.


Welcome to the 2018 issue of the Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies. This year, my first as General Editor, confirmed for me the sweetness of respectful collaboration. The expertise of the editorial staff; the gracious mentorship by my predecessor, Inez Martinez; and the authors' and reviewers' dedication to excellence, made it possible to produce a peer-reviewed publication that demonstrates the relevance of Jungian thought in a tumultuous world.
Essays in this collection reflect the theme of the 15th annual conference held in Arlington, Virginia: "Complexity, Creativity, Action." The significance of our location—across the Potomac from the White House—was not lost on the individuals who gathered to hear papers in June 2017. Jungians, like other serious intellectuals, are challenged to engage in the heated and often dissonant cultural discourse that has only intensified since the presidential election of November 2016. As depth psychologists, we are obligated to reject simple explanations bounded by the spirit of the times. The prevailing social and political chaos is complex and requires creative thought and action—in prose, poetry, and art.
The first essay, entitled "Trump's Base, Ahab, and the American Dream" by Inez Martinez, is a compelling transdisciplinary study that uses Jungian complex theory and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick to analyze the fury and rage of Trump supporters. The erosion of white-male dominance in America has produced a victim complex, Martinez argues, that bears strong similarities to Ahab's sense of victimization by the white whale. Ahab is trapped in a losing struggle for dominance and meets his end forever bound to the thing he vowed to kill. Ishmael, on the other hand, survives by embracing diversity and interdependence. His survival, Martinez says, suggests a creative possibility for all US citizens: to re-vision the American dream so that the individual pursuit of happiness is modulated by concern for the common good.
Concern for a common good is also a theme of Jonathan Vaughn's essay, "SoulSearching at Standing Rock." Like Martinez, Vaughn uses Jungian complex theory to explore the conflict between members of over 300 Native American tribes and the private company, Energy Transfer Partners, hired to build the Dakota Access Pipeline. Vaughn argues that two cultural complexes, a Native Complex and a Pilgrim Complex, which have been continuously functioning since the nation's founding, manifested in the Standing Rock controversy. Whereas the Native Complex is characterized by the perceived invisibility of indigenous peoples, the Pilgrim Complex is characterized by a separatist drive that demands freedom at all costs (even death) and justifies destructive, genocidal behavior as a means of preserving colonial culture and community. Vaughn points out that both complexes intersect at a place where each group intensely seeks freedom, relevance, and acceptance.
The complex political conflict that Martinez and Vaughn address in their essays is the subject of Joli Hamilton's analysis of the drug abuse, sexual manipulation, and murder dramatized in the television series House of Cards. The power-obsessed central characters, Frank and Claire Underwood, are morally repugnant yet strangely enticing; audiences flock to the show's grotesque imagery. To explain this phenomenon, Hamilton creates a dialogue between Jacques Lacan's theory of the phallus and Thomas Moore's  discussion of the sadistic aspect of psyche. The intense dramatic events in the series, she argues, are the necessary sacrifice of innocence required to increase consciousness. House of Cards ravishes American political ideals and depicts a multitude of perversions possible in the bureaucratic shadows of its fictional world. Hamilton concludes that it is dangerously naïve to focus exclusively on the light aspects of psyche or passively enjoy the darkness depicted in the series as mere entertainment. She suggests instead an active and creative response to the multitude of perversions evident in fiction and in reality: the intentional psychological digestion of darkness, as necessary today as it was in the time of the Marquis de Sade.
The theme of an inclusive psyche featured in Hamilton's essay is central to Matthew Fike's analysis of Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands. Although Borderlands aligns with Jungian psychological concepts and is particularly indebted to James Hillman's Revisioning Psychology, Fike demonstrates how Anzaldúan thought re-visions that work by emphasizing expanded states of awareness, body wisdom, and the spirit world. For Anzaldúa, a more inclusive vision of the psyche is reflected in El Mundo Zurdo (the Other World) of the personal and collective unconscious, dreams, and creative imagination. El Mundo Zurdo is real, and Anzaldúa accesses it in the writing process through becoming a conduit for imagery from the collective unconscious. Fike concludes his sophisticated analysis by arguing that Anzaldúa and her text embody and enact the change that she seeks to inspire in her readers: dwelling in a third thing, a Borderland, that acknowledges but transcends binary points of view.
Anzaldúa's writing process, in which she places her conscious mind in service to imagery arising from unconsciousness, expresses a theory of creativity that Jonathan Erickson explores in his essay "Jung and the Neurobiology of the Creative Unconscious." Creativity, which has always been a mystery, has attracted numerous theories to explain it. There has been explosive interest in the interdisciplinary field of creativity studies, with more than 10,000 papers published in a single decade (1999 to 2009). The essay begins with a brief excursion on C. G. Jung, who asserts an inextricable link between creativity and the unconscious, then segues into a discussion of recent neurobiological accounts of conscious creativity. While noting our understandable cultural fascination with the brain, Erickson warns against the reductive materialism inherent in the biological perspective. We of the depth psychological persuasion, he concludes, should be mindful not to allow the current prominence of neuroscientific models to eclipse or, or even worse, devour our field.
We continue the innovative practice, begun last year, of including poetry and art in the Journal since they too furnish a creative response to complexity. A separate section includes all of the art selected for this year's issue, accompanied by the artist's statements about the work. Selected works have been paired with the essays and poems to create a conversation between image and text.
On behalf of the editorial team, wonderful collaborators all, I welcome you to Volume 13 of the Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies.
Elizabeth Èowyn Nelson,General Editor


Neuroplasticity can be defined as the ability of the nervous system to respond to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, function and connections. Major advances in the understanding of neuroplasticity have to date yielded few established interventions. To advance the translation of neuroplasticity research towards clinical applications, the National Institutes of Health Blueprint for Neuroscience Research sponsored a workshop in 2009. Basic and clinical researchers in disciplines from central nervous system injury/stroke, mental/addictive disorders, paediatric/developmental disorders and neurodegeneration/ageing identified cardinal examples of neuroplasticity, underlying mechanisms, therapeutic implications and common denominators. Promising therapies that may enhance training-induced cognitive and motor learning, such as brain stimulation and neuropharmacological interventions, were identified, along with questions of how best to use this body of information to reduce human disability. Improved understanding of adaptive mechanisms at every level, from molecules to synapses, to networks, to behaviour, can be gained from iterative collaborations between basic and clinical researchers. Lessons can be gleaned from studying fields related to plasticity, such as development, critical periods, learning and response to disease. Improved means of assessing neuroplasticity in humans, including biomarkers for predicting and monitoring treatment response, are needed. Neuroplasticity occurs with many variations, in many forms, and in many contexts. However, common themes in plasticity that emerge across diverse central nervous system conditions include experience dependence, time sensitivity and the importance of motivation and attention. Integration of information across disciplines should enhance opportunities for the translation of neuroplasticity and circuit retraining research into effective clinical therapies.


A key challenge in information retrieval is that of on-line ranker evaluation: determining which one of a finite set of rankers performs the best in expectation on the basis of user clicks on presented document lists. When the presented lists are constructed using interleaved comparison methods, which interleave lists proposed by two different candidate rankers, then the problem of minimizing the total regret accumulated while evaluating the rankers can be formalized as a K-armed dueling bandits problem. In this paper, we propose a new method called relative confidence sampling (RCS) that aims to reduce cumulative regret by being less conservative than existing methods in eliminating rankers from contention. In addition, we present an empirical comparison between RCS and two state-of-the-art methods, relative upper confidence bound and SAVAGE. The results demonstrate that RCS can substantially outperform these alternatives on several large learning to rank datasets.


This case report focuses on the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Organ Procurement Organization (UWHC‐OPO) efforts to produce a verifiable and demonstrable increase in organ donations by developing a replicable, transferable and feasible model intervention for increasing health care professionals' support for donation after cardiac death (DCD). A grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services funded a 3‐year study allowing the UWHC‐OPO to (i) identify barriers to and opportunities for increasing DCD support among those involved in the donation request process, (ii) implement this better understanding of these support factors in the creation of intervention materials designed to increase knowledge of and support for DCD and finally (iii) to track and document the progress made in increasing knowledge, support, number of hospitals with DCD protocols, actual requests made and number of DCD donors. The results of the model intervention were extremely positive, showing lasting increases in DCD knowledge and support, adoption of DCD protocols and referrals in the two tracking survey stages following the intervention. Perhaps most notably, DCD donor numbers within the UWHC‐OPO region increased 93% in the year following the intervention and 179% to date.


Magnetic reconnection occurred during merging-compression plasma start-up in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST), resulting in the prompt acceleration of substantial numbers of ions and electrons to highly suprathermal energies. Accelerated field-aligned ions (deuterons and protons) were detected using a neutral particle analyser at energies up to about 20 keV during merging in early MAST pulses, while nonthermal electrons have been detected indirectly in more recent pulses through microwave bursts. However no increase in soft x-ray emission was observed until later in the merging phase, by which time strong electron heating had been detected through Thomson scattering measurements. A test-particle code CUEBIT is used to model ion acceleration in the presence of an inductive toroidal electric field with a prescribed spatial profile and temporal evolution based on Hall-MHD simulations of the merging process. The simulations yield particle distributions with properties similar to those observed experimentally, including strong field alignment of the fast ions and the acceleration of protons to higher energies than deuterons. Particle-in-cell modelling of a plasma containing a dilute field-aligned suprathermal electron component suggests that at least some of the microwave bursts can be attributed to the anomalous Doppler instability driven by anisotropic fast electrons, which do not produce measurable enhancements in soft x-ray emission either because they are insufficiently energetic or because the nonthermal bremsstrahlung emissivity during this phase of the pulse is below the detection threshold. There is no evidence of runaway electron acceleration during merging, possibly due to the presence of three-dimensional field perturbations.


Hector Berlioz's Les Grotesques de la musique is the only one of his books that has never been translated into English in its entirety. It is by far the funniest of all his works, and consists of a number of short anecdotes, witticisms, open letters, and comments on the absurdities of concert life. Alastair Bruce's fluid translation brings to life this important composer and bon vivant. He does a wonderful job of conveying all the puns, jokes, and invective of Berlioz's prose as well as the nuances of his stories. He even imitates a Tahitian accent in the translation, as Berlioz does in the original. The notes will give the reader insight into the innuendos and in-jokes that fill the pages. This translation will take its place among other translations of Berlioz's prose writings, bringing to the reader more lively examples of a still misunderstood composer caught up in the musical life of mid-nineteenth century Paris. Alastair Bruce is a London-based management consultant and former treasurer of the Berlioz Society. Hugh Macdonald is General Editor of New Berlioz Edition.


The recent explosive interest on transformers has suggested their potential to become powerful"universal"models for computer vision tasks, such as classification, detection, and segmentation. While those attempts mainly study the discriminative models, we explore transformers on some more notoriously difficult vision tasks, e.g., generative adversarial networks (GANs). Our goal is to conduct the first pilot study in building a GAN completely free of convolutions, using only pure transformer-based architectures. Our vanilla GAN architecture, dubbed TransGAN, consists of a memory-friendly transformer-based generator that progressively increases feature resolution, and correspondingly a multi-scale discriminator to capture simultaneously semantic contexts and low-level textures. On top of them, we introduce the new module of grid self-attention for alleviating the memory bottleneck further, in order to scale up TransGAN to high-resolution generation. We also develop a unique training recipe including a series of techniques that can mitigate the training instability issues of TransGAN, such as data augmentation, modified normalization, and relative position encoding. Our best architecture achieves highly competitive performance compared to current state-of-the-art GANs using convolutional backbones. Specifically, TransGAN sets new state-of-the-art inception score of 10.43 and FID of 18.28 on STL-10, outperforming StyleGAN-V2. When it comes to higher-resolution (e.g. 256 x 256) generation tasks, such as on CelebA-HQ and LSUN-Church, TransGAN continues to produce diverse visual examples with high fidelity and impressive texture details. In addition, we dive deep into the transformer-based generation models to understand how their behaviors differ from convolutional ones, by visualizing training dynamics. The code is available at https://github.com/VITA-Group/TransGAN.


In this paper, I examine perceived (im)politeness practices in a specific geographical location and argue that not only do patterns and practices need to be understood in relation to particular understandings and attitudes but also in terms of participants' objectives. By examining impoliteness practices in a Mexican context, I argue that not only are interactants impolite in locally effective ways but may also hold individually differing and often conflicting views regarding the acceptability of engaging in a specific instance of impolite behaviour. Given the strong preference for positive politeness strategies in Mexican social encounters (Curco 1998, 2007, 2011), I argue that verbal and non-verbal positive impoliteness strategies are often used to exclude interactants from social groups through short-term group-coordinated strategies such as hacer la ley de hielo (to give someone the silent treatment) and fregar (to verbally annoy) and through more long-lasting measures such as no dirigir la palabra (not to be on speaking terms) or hacer la burla (to make fun of). By conducting semi-structured interviews in Guadalajara, Mexico, I identified how participants saw themselves employing a range of positive impoliteness strategies and examined how such strategies reflect interpersonal choices such as having fun or censuring others' behaviour.


One potential source of heterogeneity within autism spectrum conditions (ASC) is language development and ability. In 80 high-functioning male adults with ASC, we tested if variations in developmental and current structural language are associated with current neuroanatomy. Groups with and without language delay differed behaviorally in early social reciprocity, current language, but not current autistic features. Language delay was associated with larger total gray matter (GM) volume, smaller relative volume at bilateral insula, ventral basal ganglia, and right superior, middle, and polar temporal structures, and larger relative volume at pons and medulla oblongata in adulthood. Despite this heterogeneity, those with and without language delay showed significant commonality in morphometric features when contrasted with matched neurotypical individuals (n = 57). In ASC, better current language was associated with increased GM volume in bilateral temporal pole, superior temporal regions, dorsolateral fronto-parietal and cerebellar structures, and increased white matter volume in distributed frontal and insular regions. Furthermore, current language–neuroanatomy correlation patterns were similar across subgroups with or without language delay. High-functioning adult males with ASC show neuroanatomical variations associated with both developmental and current language characteristics. This underscores the importance of including both developmental and current language as specifiers for ASC, to help clarify heterogeneity.


Glen M. MacDonald dispels the myth that Los Angeles is a desert city. But he also warns that a desert is what Los Angeles may one day become. After defining what a desert is and then proving that Los Angeles (for now) is not a desert, Macdonald investigates the origins of the "desert city" myth. This myth has thrived despite the evidence that MacDonald culls from various archives: a missionary9s diary entries describing Los Angeles in 1769, nineteenth century newspaper reports and photographs, and a very recent MODIS satellite image of the city. If Los Angeles has yet to be described accurately as a desert, the encroachments that the ever-expanding city is making, particularly on the Mojave, along with climate change, threaten to make the desert city myth real. Nevertheless, MacDonald argues, rather than reify this old myth, perhaps it is time we create a new one.


Reflective, mysterious moments of pause punctuate portraits of musicians and artists in the Cumberland Plateau, highlighting the vacuum of time and space that separates these songs as they ring out in a rural, mountainous landscape. Old Time music traditions, faith, storytelling, and mortality all inform this portrait of place. These photographs were made along the serpentine mountain roads between Signal Mountain and Cumberland Gap, tracing the Cumberland Trail corridor in East Tennessee. They detail my own exploration of the region as I listened to its sounds and considered how they might translate to visual imagery. This journey began with a fellowship to work with the esteemed Bob Fulcher, who wears the hats of park ranger, folklorist, naturalist, and Old Time music specialist. After one summer working with Bobby as assistant producer at Sandrock Recordings, a field recordings project of the Cumberland Trail, I simply could not leave. I found these tunes infectious and became enamored with the region. I'm still out somewhere on one of those roads—and I'm still listening.


An SDN controller is a core component of the SDN architecture. It is responsible for managing an underlying network while allowing SDN applications to program it as required. Because of this central role, compromising such an SDN controller is of high interest for an attacker. A recently published SDN rootkit has demonstrated, for example, that a malicious SDN application is able to manipulate an entire network while hiding corresponding malicious actions. However, the facts that this attack targeted an open source SDN controller and applied a specific way to subvert this system leaves important questions unanswered: How easy is it to attack closed source SDN controllers in the same way? Can we concentrate on the already presented technique or do we need to consider other attack vectors as well to protect SDN controllers? In this paper, we elaborate on these research questions and present two new SDN rootkits, both targeting a closed source SDN controller. Similar to previous work, the first one is based on Java reflection. In contrast to known reflection abuses, however, we must develop new techniques as the existing ones can only be adopted in parts. Additionally, we demonstrate by a second SDN rootkit that an attacker is by no means limited to reflection-based attacks. In particular, we abuse aspect-oriented programming capabilities to manipulate core functions of the targeted system. To tackle the security issues raised in this case study, we discuss several countermeasures and give concrete suggestions to improve SDN controller security.


Background Approximately 20% of multiple sclerosis patients have a family history of multiple sclerosis. Studies of multiple sclerosis aggregation in families are inconclusive. Objective To investigate the genetic burden based on currently discovered genetic variants for multiple sclerosis risk in patients from Dutch multiple sclerosis multiplex families versus sporadic multiple sclerosis cases, and to study its influence on clinical phenotype and disease prediction. Methods Our study population consisted of 283 sporadic multiple sclerosis cases, 169 probands from multiplex families and 2028 controls. A weighted genetic risk score based on 102 non-human leukocyte antigen loci and HLA-DRB1*1501 was calculated. Results The weighted genetic risk score based on all loci was significantly higher in familial than in sporadic cases. The HLA-DRB1*1501 contributed significantly to the difference in genetic burden between the groups. A high weighted genetic risk score was significantly associated with a low age of disease onset in all multiple sclerosis patients, but not in the familial cases separately. The genetic risk score was significantly but modestly better in discriminating familial versus sporadic multiple sclerosis from controls. Conclusion Familial multiple sclerosis patients are more loaded with the common genetic variants than sporadic cases. The difference is mainly driven by HLA-DRB1*1501. The predictive capacity of genetic loci is poor and unlikely to be useful in clinical settings.


Aerial Robotics are interesting and useful tools because they have some intrinsic advantages over ground and water based systems, like the possibility to observe things from above or to locomote without being perturbed by obstacles and rough terrain. However, research in this field is limited by the complexity and expensiveness of existing platforms. To boost the popularity of aerial robotics and provide easier access to it, we present the first steps of developing an autonomous flying platform that is unique in its way of combining simplicity, robustness and ease of operation. This will be accomplished by using only a small set of simple and reliable sensors together with a modular electronic control system. A robust and safe airframe will allow to fly almost everywhere, in particular near universities and research labs. We aim at an aerial testbed which is readily usable out of the box and targeted at a wide range of real-world outdoor experiments.


Microsoft SharePoint as a Digital Asset Management (DAM) System Harry Hurt Graphic Communication Department, June, 2010 Advisor: Dr. Harvey Levenson The purpose of this study is to determine to what degree Microsoft SharePoint can be used as a digital asset management (DAM) system. DAM systems are utilized to manage the creation, storage, utilization, and distribution of digital rich media files such as images, logos, page layouts, and in some cases video and audio files. SharePoint is a popular collaboration system that appears to have many of the attributes of a DAM system. This study develops some baseline definitions of DAM and documents some core functionality that must be present in DAM systems of varying sophistication. The study then compares the requirements of DAM systems to the documented capabilities of SharePoint to determine areas where the software does not meet the requirements of a DAM system. It also identifies some options available for extending SharePoint's feature set in order to utilize it for a true DAM system. The results show that SharePoint does, indeed, have many of the attributes of a DAM system, but that it is lacking some core functionality. Possible options for using third-party software in addition to SharePoint are identified, as well.


AbstractBased on the previous research results of the authors, this paper presents an accurate and consistent equation for determining the ultimate shear-out capacity of a structural steel bolted connection. The equation is verified against independent laboratory test results obtained by other researchers around the world. Comparisons against alternative equations found in the design specifications and literature are also included. The paper explains why certain equations appear to be accurate for particular configurations, but are grossly inaccurate for others. This paper describes the various assumptions embedded in the existing equations, some optimistic and others pessimistic. It shows that the current code equations lead to very significant errors on either side of conservatism, while the proposed equation is consistently accurate for all test specimens known to fail in shear-out. A resistance factor of 0.85 is recommended for the proposed equation in order to achieve a reliability index of 4.0. The ...


The first book in The County Guides to Murder Series.
The County Guides to Murder are a series of detective novels set in 1930s England. The books are an odyssey through England and its history. In each county, the protagonists – Stephen Sefton, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and his employer, the People's Professor, Swanton Morley – solve a murder. The first book is set in Norfolk. The murder is in the vicarage.


Legal authorities and the public live in two separate worlds. One world is suffused with law, and the other world is suffused with people's lived experiences that support their evaluations of fairness. When legal authorities discuss whether police policies and practices are desirable or not, a framework of the lawfulness of the relevant policies and practices dominates the conversation. Police departments, their policies, as well police officers' actions are viewed as right or wrong with reference to constitutional standards, as interpreted by prosecutors, judges and other legal actors. In contrast, we argue that the public is generally insensitive to the question of whether police officers are acting consistently with constitutional standards. Instead, the public evaluates the propriety of police actions primarily by assessing whether or not police officers exercise their authority consistent with "procedural fairness."We rely on the results of an innovative nationwide experimental survey involving respondents from representative American cities in which each respondent completes a questionnaire and then watches and reacts to three videos of police-citizen interaction. We argue that the actual lawfulness of police action has at best a minor influence on public evaluations of appropriate police behavior. Public judgments about whether police officers should be disciplined for misconduct are largely shaped by people's procedural justice evaluations. The actual lawfulness of police officer conduct has at best a minor influence upon people's evaluations. We believe that these findings strongly suggest the need for the police to broaden the framework within which they evaluate a variety of types of policing policy – racial profiling; zero tolerance policing; street stops; Mosque surveillance, etc. – to include an understanding of how these policies and practices impact public views about the appropriateness of police conduct. Whether policies comport with constitutional standards alone is an impoverished way to judge the rightfulness of police action. Further, our findings point the way toward creating relationships between the police and the public that first enhance cooperative efforts to maintain social order and second build people's identification with and commitment to both the communities in which they live and to law and government. That broader framework requires evaluating police policies and practices with reference to public conceptions of procedural justice.


The NBA's age eligibility rule is controversial. To examine the on-court efficacy of the NBA's age eligibility rule, we test the effect of age of entry on NBA career performance. Our data set comprises the 332 players selected in the first round of the NBA draft from 1989 to 2000. Using censored normal regression models, we found that players drafted at a relatively younger age have more successful NBA careers across three different metrics. To explore a beneficial effect of one year in college, group selection bias tests were conducted by comparing differences in career success between "one and done" players and players who entered the NBA straight out of high school. The results were consistent with our main analyses – players who moved into the NBA directly from high school generally perform better than players with a single year of college experience. We find no systematic evidence in support of the on-court efficacy of the NBA's age eligibility rule.


There is a sharp discrepancy between the emphasis being placed on active ageing and labour market participation in older age and the high unemployment rates observed among older workers. Cross-sectional data in the Czech Republic consistently present evidence of job insecurity and employment vulnerability in older age groups. Aggregated data and statistical indices do not, however, offer a suffi ciently detailed picture of the social processes (e.g. exit from the labour market, duration of unemployment, and exit from unemployment) behind the numbers. This article takes a dynamic look at the position of older workers in the labour market by investigating transitions between employment and unemployment using a sub-sample of older workers (50 year and over) from the Czech EU-SILC, who were interviewed repeatedly in a panel survey between 2004 and 2009. The authors use survival analysis methods to study the time-dependence of transitions into and out of unemployment and both with and without covariates. The results suggest that older workers are not at a higher risk of exiting the labour market (compared to other age groups), but once they are unemployed, their odds of getting back into employment are signifi cantly lower. Even when controls (such as education level) are included in the model this disadvantage persists. Interestingly, while education generally protects people from labour market exit, this protective effect is weaker among older workers.


This thesis explores the extent to which the pedagogical intentions of a social science subject introductory workshop at an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma school align with the participating students' experienced learning. The purpose is to gain an in-depth understanding of how well the IB faculty were able to implement the IB's Approaches to Learning (ATL), a comprehensive pedagogical initiative. The research is guided by the question of the extent to which the workshop's intended learning outcomes, constructed by the social science faculty at the particular IB school in focus, correspond with the perceived learning experienced by the students attending the workshop. The study initially introduces a theoretical framework including philosophy of the IB and the ATL initiative. It also describes the school setting and the teacher and student participants. Secondly, previous research is presented in order to situate the study in an academic context. Furthermore, the thesis discusses and evaluates the methods used. The results of the study indicate that the participating students' understanding of the social science subjects' interdisciplinary nature aligns well with the teachers' intentions, and that the students are able to grasp and critically engage with the workshop's focus on global issues in a local context. However, student lack understanding of the relationship between social science theories and the workshop's case study which indicate a lack of implementation of the IB:s core pedagogical approach.


We have studied the stellar and interstellar environments of two luminous X-ray sources and five ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in order to gain insight into their nature. Archival Hubble Space Telescope images were used to identify the optical counterparts of the ULXs Ho IX X-1 and NGC 1313 X-2, and to make photometric measurements of the local stellar populations of these and the luminous source IC 10 X-1. We obtained high-dispersion spectroscopic observations of the nebulae around these seven sources to search for He II λ4686 emission and to estimate the expansion velocities and kinetic energies of these nebulae. Our observations did not detect nebular He II emission from any source, with the exception of LMC X-1; this is either because we missed the He III regions or because the nebulae are too diffuse to produce He II surface brightnesses that lie within our detection limit. We compare the observed ionization and kinematics of the supershells around the ULXs Ho IX X-1 and NGC 1313 X-2 with the energy feedback expected from the underlying stellar population to assess whether additional energy contributions from the ULXs are needed. In both cases, we find insufficient UV fluxes or mechanical energies from the stellar population; thus these ULXs may be partially responsible for the ionization and energetics of their supershells. All seven sources that we studied are in young stellar environments, and six of them have optical counterparts with masses ≳7 M☉; thus, these sources are most likely high-mass X-ray binaries.


This paper consists of a detailed analysis of how the participants in a debate build their emotional position during the interaction and how such a position is strongly related to the conclusion they defend. In this case study, teenage Mexican, students, arguing about access to drinking water, display extensive discursive work on the emotional tonality given to the issue. Plantin's (2011) methodological tools are adopted to follow two alternative emotional framings produced by disagreeing students, starting from a common, highly negative, thymic tonality. Through the analysis of four parameters (distance to the problem; causality/agentivity; possibility of control and conformity to the norms) we describe how the emotional dimension of schematization ( Grize 1997 ) is argumentatively relevant. In authentic discourse, it is impossible to separate emotion from reason. The conclusion section discusses the implications for the design of argumentation-based pedagogical activities.


In a distopian world where books are banned and fossil fuels completely consumed, the ruling corporations confiscated all the books to burn them and generate energy. However, in New York City there is an underground group of ex scientists, writers and artists who remember the books and risk their lives to find and save them from being destroyed. They are are known as The Inksect, and this is the story of how Pikes, one of them, ends up finding something even more important than the books: paper and a pen.


Er Wang Temple, in World Heritage Site "Dujiang Weirs and Qingchengshan Mountai", was severely destroyed in Wenchuan earthquake of May 2008. There are several problems at different level in every building, such as structural distortion, foundation displacement, wall fracture, roof damage, etc. The stage was completely collapsed in the earthquake. Tableland the stage situated had a huge crack and slope collapse. This article is for the stage renovation. The survey of damage in earthquake is the basis of Er Wang Temple restituting. Survey including field survey after the earthquake and the measurement and investigation for the remained construction member of the main wood structure. For field survey, the basis of pillars which had not have significantly affects in earthquake could be seem as the reference points for measurement. The investigation of remained main wood construction member, especially the size of the key structures and site and manufacture method of the joints, is the important basis for recovery stage. Our team did our utmost to restore the original appearance of stage in design, materials and craft by various tools, which include measured drawings in different times, old images collection, fine measuring by 3D laser scan, measurement of leftover pieces, logical inference.


Converting existing compression ignition engines to spark ignition approach is a promising approach to increase the application of natural gas in the heavy-duty transportation sector. However, the diesel-like environment dramatically affects the engine performance and emissions. As a result, experimental tests are needed to investigate the characteristics of such converted engines. A machine learning model based on bagged decision trees algorithm was established in this study to reduce the experimental cost and identify the operating conditions of special interest for analysis. Preliminary engine tests that changed spark timing, mixture equivalence ratio, and engine speed (three key engine operation variables) but maintained intake and boundary conditions were applied as model input to train such a correlative model. The model output was the indicated mean effective pressure, which is an engine parameter generally used to assist in locating high engine efficiency regions at constant engine speed and fuel/air ratio. After training, the correlative model can provide acceptable prediction performance except few outliers. Subsequently, boosting ensemble learning approach was applied in this study to help improve the model performance. Furthermore, the results showed that the boosted decision trees algorithm better described the combustion process inside the cylinder, as least for the operating conditions investigated in this study.


This study attempts to answer the question; does evolutionary theory provide a 'good' explanatory framework for examining the phenomenon of technological innovation? In doing so, the study critically examines mainstream marketing's in-place explanatory frameworks, offers an explanation of 'evolution' based on new insights from a broad range of (sub)disciplines, and makes the practical proposition that this explanation is a 'good' analogous representation of the technological innovation process.
As an alternative to the 'scientific empiricist' approach that dominates much of marketing's research into technological innovation, the study develops a research methodology that is based within a postmodern philosophy, adopts an epistemology of transcendental realism, bases the research design on abduction and textual explanation, and brings together a research method based on the criteria of interesting, plausibility and acceptability.
Familiarisation with mainstream marketing's explanatory frameworks for research into technological innovation identified Diffusion theory, New Product Development theory and Network theory as dominant. It is concluded that these frameworks are based on problematic theoretical foundations, a situation considered as largely due to a pre-occupation with assumptions that are atomistic, reductionistic, deterministic, gradualistic and mechanistic in nature. It is argued, that in concert with the 'socialised' dominance of mathematical form over conceptual substance, mainstream marketing's research into technological innovation is locked into a narrow range of 'preordained axiomatics'.
The explanation of 'evolution' offered within the study is based on a why, what, how, when and where format. The resultant explanation represents a significant departure from the (neo)Darwinian biological perspective that tends to dominate evolutionary explanations of socio-economic behaviour, in that the focus is on the principles (and associated conceptualizations) of 'variation', 'selection' and 'preservation' within the broader context of open and dissipative systems. The offered explanation presents a number of theoretical ideas, and in particular, that evolution can only occur in a 'multidimensional space of possibilities', denotes a process of 'adaptive emergence', and is essentially concerned with 'on-going resilience through adaptability'.
The practical proposition is made that the offered explanation of 'evolution' can be used in an 'as if' manner, that is, the principles of 'variation', 'selection', and 'preservation' (and the meanings ascribed to them through conceptualization) are analogically transferable to the technological innovation research area. The proposition is supported through reference to theoretical and empirical research, highlighting the similarity with respect to the generative mechanisms, structures and contingent conditions underpinning both 'evolution' and 'technological innovation'.


The energy efficiency ofmany products has increased markedly over the past decade. A conspicuous exception to this trend is commercialpackaged rooftop airconditioners, which have experiencedlittle to no efficiency improvement since 1992 when the Energy Policy Act of 1992 imposed federal minimum standards. Packaged rooftop units have been estimated to use on the order of76 billion kWh annually in the US, at a cost ofroughly $5.6 billion. Sales of these units are growing, and the majority of units sold have energy efficiency ratios (EERs) at orjust above the current national minimum efficiency standards. In this paper we document the static efficiencies ofcommercialpackaged air conditioners, explore the reasons behindthis efficiency gap, and assess opportunities for overcoming the barriers to efficiency improvements in these products.


This article represents a thought piece
reflecting on the interplay between
schooling, social exclusion and prison for
those with special educational needs and
its aims are two-fold. First, to outline some
of the concerns around incarcerated young
people and adults who fall into this
category. We will provide some definitional
parameters and, whilst acknowledging the,
often, obfuscatory effects of official
classifications, draw on these to outline the
proportion of the prison population who
are affected by these challenges. Second,
we will examine the role of education both
within the prison and in schools, arguing
that for young people with SENs the school
can represent the start of a 'pipeline' to
prison. 'Schooling', that is to say, is a part
of the problem. Consequently, the
presentation of current forms of prison
education as a panacea to problems that,
for many, began with education is, at best,
unrealistic.


OBJECTIVE
To establish whether or not tutor subject-matter expertise influences student achievement in content-based examinations in the problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at the University of Transkei (UNITRA) Medical School.

DESIGN
A retrospective study of MB ChB III student achievement in end-of-block modified essay questions (MEQ) examinations in microbiology, pathology and pharmacology for the years 1994-1999, inclusive. Pooled scores from the expert-tutored groups were compared with those from the groups tutored by non-experts using analysis of variance (ANOVA) or t-test. Subject expert tutors were those with postgraduate specialisation in the given discipline.

SETTING
The Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, UNITRA, Umtata.

OUTCOME MEASURES
Whether pooled mean MEQ scores in end-of-block examinations for microbiology, pathology or pharmacology differ according to the subject-matter expertise of the tutor.

RESULTS
There were no significant differences in mean scores obtained for pharmacology (51.1 +/- 0.6 versus 52.6 +/- 0.7, P = 0.109) and pathology (49.8 +/- 0.6 versus 49.9 +/- 0.8, P = 0.919). The difference between the scores in microbiology was small (3 percentage points) but statistically significant, with the groups tutored by microbiologists scoring higher than those tutored by pathologists or pharmacologists (54.1 +/- 1.0 versus 51.2 +/- 0.8, P = 0.032).

CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrating that in the UNITRA Medical School PBL curriculum tutor subject-matter expertise has little or no influence on student achievement in the discrete areas of tutor expertise.


Scholarship on Christian mysticism underwent a renaissance in Romania between 1920 and 1947, having a lasting impact on the way that Romanian theologians and scholars think about Romanian Orthodoxy Christianity in general, and mysticism in particular. Fascist and ultra-nationalist political and intellectual currents also exploded into the Romanian public sphere at this time. Many of the same people who were writing mystical theology were also involved with ultra-nationalist politics, either as distant sympathizers or as active participants. This paper situates the early work of the renowned theologian Dumitru Stăniloae within the context of mystical fascism, nationalist apologetics, and theological pedagogy in which it was originally produced. It shows how a new academic discipline formed within an increasingly extremist political climate by analyzing the writings of six key men whose work significantly shaped Romanian attitudes towards mysticism: Nae Ionescu, Mircea Eliade, Lucian Blaga, Nichifor Crainic, Ioan Gh. Savin, and Dumitru Stăniloae. The contributions of these thinkers to Romanian theology are not dismissed once their nationalism is noted, but they are contextualized in a way that allows twenty-first century thinkers to move beyond the limitations of these men and into fresh ways of thinking about the divine-human encounter.


PurposeThis article analyses the role of cluster facilitators in the Singapore maritime cluster. Singapore has been recognised for its pro-business policies and its ability to attract international shipping companies to set up the ship ownership headquarters and ship management activities in Singapore.Design/methodology/approachThe research is an empirical investigation on the approach for industrial cluster development of the Singapore maritime cluster, using the case study research methodology. The case study approach leverages on multiple sources of evidence from deep interviews (of 24 Singaporean firms and 13 Norwegian firms) related observations, documentation and archival records. As a means of contributing to the cluster renewal process, Singapore as the country embarks on the next stage of maritime cluster development, a benchmarking against the Norwegian Innovation Cluster has been incorporated.FindingsThe research findings reveals that Singapore is lacking in innovation activities that entails multi-firms collaborations and collaboration between multi-firms and research institutions. The existence of cluster organisation to facilitate collaborations between firms in the cluster and between firms in the cluster with research institutions is another contributing factor that are not institutionalised in the Singapore maritime cluster.Research limitations/implicationsThough the research is grounded primarily on the international business theory, particularly from firm- and country-specific advantages of location decisions, the economic geography theory and cluster theory also complement the theoretical grounding.Practical implicationsThe findings derived from this research aim to facilitate policy makers, maritime leaders and practitioners to develop effective courses of action in current and future maritime industry development.Originality/valueThe research provides value to maritime industry stakeholders, maritime leaders and policy makers in their firm positioning strategy. Thus, the research adds values to the maritime industry with similar country perspectives and firm values for developing policies.