Abstract. The response of atmospheric chemistry and dynamics to volcanic eruptions and to a decrease in solar activity during the Dalton Minimum is investigated with the fully coupled atmosphere–ocean chemistry general circulation model SOCOL-MPIOM (modeling tools for studies of SOlar Climate Ozone Links-Max Planck Institute Ocean Model) covering the time period 1780 to 1840 AD. We carried out several sensitivity ensemble experiments to separate the effects of (i) reduced solar ultra-violet (UV) irradiance, (ii) reduced solar visible and near infrared irradiance, (iii) enhanced galactic cosmic ray intensity as well as less intensive solar energetic proton events and auroral electron precipitation, and (iv) volcanic aerosols. The introduced changes of UV irradiance and volcanic aerosols significantly influence stratospheric dynamics in the early 19th century, whereas changes in the visible part of the spectrum and energetic particles have smaller effects. A reduction of UV irradiance by 15%, which represents the presently discussed highest estimate of UV irradiance change caused by solar activity changes, causes global ozone decrease below the stratopause reaching as much as 8% in the midlatitudes at 5 hPa and a significant stratospheric cooling of up to 2 °C in the mid-stratosphere and to 6 °C in the lower mesosphere. Changes in energetic particle precipitation lead only to minor changes in the yearly averaged temperature fields in the stratosphere. Volcanic aerosols heat the tropical lower stratosphere, allowing more water vapour to enter the tropical stratosphere, which, via HOx reactions, decreases upper stratospheric and mesospheric ozone by roughly 4%. Conversely, heterogeneous chemistry on aerosols reduces stratospheric NOx, leading to a 12% ozone increase in the tropics, whereas a decrease in ozone of up to 5% is found over Antarctica in boreal winter. The linear superposition of the different contributions is not equivalent to the response obtained in a simulation when all forcing factors are applied during the Dalton Minimum (DM) – this effect is especially well visible for NOx/NOy. Thus, this study also shows the non-linear behaviour of the coupled chemistry-climate system. Finally, we conclude that especially UV and volcanic eruptions dominate the changes in the ozone, temperature and dynamics while the NOx field is dominated by the energetic particle precipitation. Visible radiation changes have only very minor effects on both stratospheric dynamics and chemistry.


The paper describes emerging strategies employed by extension and continuing education units as they adapt to changes in the university and the larger community. The cost-recovery, entrepreneurial model of continuing education, relatively greater emphasis on continuing professional development programs, less emphasis on the traditional service function, the application of distance education techniques, and the marketing of programs globally are among the strategies that are changing the definition of extension and university continuing education.


DNA cytosine methylation is one of the major epigenetic gene silencing marks in the human genome facilitated by DNA methyltransferases. DNA cytosine-5 methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) performs maintenance methylation in somatic cells. In cancer cells, DNMT1 is responsible for the aberrant hypermethylation of CpG islands and the silencing of tumor suppressor genes. Here we show that the catalytically active recombinant DNMT1, lacking 580 amino acids from the amino terminus, binds to unmethylated DNA with higher affinity than hemimethylated or methylated DNA. To further understand the binding domain of enzyme, we have used gel shift assay. We have demonstrated that the CXXC region (C is cysteine; X is any amino acid) of DNMT1 bound specifically to unmethylated CpG dinucleotides. Furthermore, mutation of the conserved cysteines abolished CXXC mediated DNA binding. In transfected COS-7 cells, CXXC deleted DNMT1 (DNMT1 (DeltaCXXC)) localized on replication foci. Both point mutant and DNMT1 (DeltaCXXC) enzyme displayed significant reduction in catalytic activity, confirming that this domain is crucial for enzymatic activity. A permanent cell line with DNMT1 (DeltaCXXC) displayed partial loss of genomic methylation on rDNA loci, despite the presence of endogenous wild-type enzyme. Thus, the CXXC domain encompassing the amino terminus region of DNMT1 cooperates with the catalytic domain for DNA methyltransferase activity.


Web usage mining has become very popular in various business areas for learning more about the users' browsing behavior and recommending the perfect product in which the user is interested in. At present there are many systems that recommend for the users on web usage mining, but most of the systems suffer from inappropriate scalability, which would lead to very weak recommendations. In this paper we proposed a new technique that gives emphasis on page view weighting based on transaction timing and building a session pattern graph for each session. This technique provides the scope for better scalability and also provides effective number of recommendations with remarkable accuracy.


As in the first part of this study impedance spectroscopy was used in this second part to characterize the influence of permanent deformation in compression on the corrosion behaviour, in the same sulphuric acid solution, of a secondmodel iron-based alloy – a ternary Fe-Ni-Cr alloy, base of many stainless austenitic steels – always for the two main orientations of surface with respect to the deformation axis. Preliminary to the EIS experiments, XRD runs and Vickers indentations showed the same effects of the plastic deformation in compression on diffraction patterns and on hardness. The Nyquist plots obtained were also similar to semi-circles and the corresponding charge transfer resistances and double layer capacitance were determined. In contrast with what was observed for pure iron in the same conditions (except the deformation rates really achieved because of the much higher strength of the simplified austenitic stainless steel studied here by comparison to pure iron) the transfer resistance rather tended here to decrease when the permanent compression deformation increased, and to be higher for the perpendicular orientation than for the parallel orientation.


The greater power of bad events over good ones is found in everyday events, major life events (e.g., trauma), close relationship outcomes, social network patterns, interpersonal interactions, and learning processes. Bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones, and bad information is processed more thoroughly than good. The self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones. Various explanations such as diagnosticity and salience help explain some findings, but the greater power of bad events is still found when such variables are controlled. Hardly any exceptions (indicating greater power of good) can be found. Taken together, these findings suggest that bad is stronger than good, as a general principle across a broad range of psychological phenomena.


Phagocytosis and cell migration are processes that both involve reorganization of the cytoskeleton. Reddien and Horvitz have demonstrated that migration of the distal tip cells of the Caenorhabditis elegans gonad and the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells involve a similar signal transduction pathway. Mutations in three genes, ced-2, -5, and -10, produce defects in apoptotic cell removal and gonad cell migration. Overexpression of Ced-10 restores normal phagocytosis of apoptotic cells and partially rescues gonad cell migration to ced-2 or ced-5 mutants. Cloning of the genes, the in vivo genetic interactions, and the in vitro protein interactions suggest a pathway whereby Ced-2 (a homolog of the adaptor protein CrkII) localizes Ced-5 (a homolog of DOCK180) to the plasma membrane, which leads to the targeted activation of Ced-10, a Rac GTPase, which, in turn, regulates the cytoskeleton in both phagocytosis and cell migration. Reddien, P.W. and Horvitz, H.R. (2000) CED-2/CrkII and CED-10/Rac control phagocytosis and cell migration in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature Cell Biol. 2: 131-136. [Online Journal]


Given the increasing problems with invasive aquatic plants in many freshwaters, more research on macrophyte acceptability by herbivores is warranted. Our study deals with the comparison of the acceptability in different seasons of a naturalised (Elodea canadensis) and a recently introduced species (Elodea nuttallii) originating from North America, for an omnivorous shredder, the amphipod Gammarus roeseli. It also compares acceptability trends of various plant parts (apex, defoliated stem and foliated stem) in the case of E. nuttallii. Two determinants of plant palatability (the plant dry matter content and the carbon/nitrogen ratio) were measured at each season for the two macrophytes. Our results show contrasting seasonal patterns for the two Elodea species. The main result is the highly contrasting acceptability of the two Elodea species in summer. Moreover, the consumption of the macrophytes tends to increase from spring to autumn. The lower acceptability of E. canadensis could be explained by a higher dry matter content, reflecting higher physical and chemical defences than those of E. nuttallii. The contrasting consumption patterns between the two macrophytes observed in summer could indicate different strategies against the herbivores that should be related to their introduction history. The lower carbon/nitrogen ratio in autumn could explain the increase of acceptability of both Elodea species in this season. The transition towards dormancy of both macrophytes and the subsequent decrease in defence mechanisms may induce colonisation by epiphytes and microbial decomposers and therefore the increase of nitrogen content.


From the early years of fur trading to today's Silicon Valley empires, America has proved to be an extraordinarily fertile land for the creation of enormous fortunes. Each generation has produced one or two phenomenally successful leaders, often in new industries that caught contemporaries by surprise, and each of these new fortunes reconfirmed the power of fanatically single-minded visionaries. John Jacob Astor and Cornelius Vanderbilt were the first American moguls; John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan were kingpins of the Gilded Age; David Sarnoff, Walt Disney, Ray Kroc, and Sam Walton were masters of mass culture. Today Oprah Winfrey, Andy Grove, and Bill Gates are giants of the Information Age. America has again and again been the land of dizzying mountains of wealth. Here, in a wittily told and deeply insightful history, is a complete set of portraits of America's greatest generators of wealth. Only such a collective study allows us to appreciate what makes the great entrepreneurs really tick. As H. W. Brands shows, these men and women are driven, they are focused, they deeply identify with the businesses they create, and they possess the charisma necessary to persuade other talented people to join them. They do it partly for the money, but mostly for the thrill of creation. The stories told here -- including how Nike got its start as a business-school project for Phil Knight; how Robert Woodruff almost refused to take control of Coca-Cola to spite his father; how Thomas Watson saved himself from prison by rescuing Dayton, Ohio, from a flood; how Jay Gould nearly cornered the gold market; how H. L. Hunt went from gambling at cards to gambling with oilleases -- make for a narrative that is always lively and revealing and often astonishing. An observer in 1850, studying John Jacob Astor, would not have predicted the rise of Henry Ford and the auto industry. Nor would a student of Ford in 1950 have anticipated the takeoff of direct marketing that made Mary Kay Ash a trusted guide for millions of American women. Full of surprising insights, written with H. W. Brands's trademark flair, the stories in "Masters of Enterprise" are must reading for all students of American business history.


This captivating book explores the lives of the ordinary people of Pompeii and Herculaneum the two cities on the Bay of Naples that were buried by the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The plaster-cast bodies of the victims are the most vivid shocking reminders of the horrific event that made Pompeii famous, but who were these men, women and children so cruelly frozen in time? Exploring striking new discoveries and over 200 sensational artefacts, the author brings the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum back to life from the ashes and ruins of their own homes.


Curators and programme specialists from collecting institutions including the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Museum London, the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern joined museum and curatorial studies scholars to discuss queer curatorial and programming strategies. The workshop took the form of a series of short presentations followed by a moderated roundtable discussion amongst c.30 members of the UK's LGBT museums network.

Helena Reckitt chaired the session on Curating with Bernard Horrocks, Guest Curator and Copyright Officer, National Portrait Gallery.

Other panels were on Collecting, with Sarah Gudgin, Curator of Contemporary Collecting, Museum of London, chaired by Jan Pimblett, Principal Development Officer, London Metropolitan Archives; Interpretation, with Richard Parkinson, Assistant Keeper, Egyptology, British Museum, chaired by Robert Mills, Lecturer in Medieval Art, University College London; Programming, with Marcus Dickey Horley, Special Project Curator, Tate Modern, chaired by Oliver Winchester, Project Curator, Wellcome Collection.

A Keynote lecture was given by Richard Sandell, Director/Head of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, chaired by Amy Mechowski, Assistant Curator and Chair, LGBTQ Network, V&A

The workshop ended with a performance in the galleries by The Pink Singers


Introduction
 Translation from a source language into a target language has become a very important activity in recent years, both in official institutions (such as the United Nations and the EU, or in the parliaments of multilingual countries like Canada and Spain), as well as in the private sector (for example, to translate user's manuals or newspapers articles). Prestigious clients such as these cannot make do with approximate translations; for all kinds of reasons, ranging from the legal obligations to good marketing practice, they require target-language texts of the highest quality. The task of producing such high-quality translations is a demanding and time-consuming one that is generally conferred to expert human translators. The problem is that, with growing globalization, the demand for high-quality translation has been steadily increasing, to the point where there are just not enough qualified translators available today to satisfy it. This has dramatically raised the need for improved machine translation (MT) technologies.
 The field of MT has undergone something of a revolution over the last 15 years, with the adoption of empirical, data-driven techniques originally inspired by the success of automatic speech recognition. Given the requisite corpora, it is now possible to develop new MT systems in a fraction of the time and with much less effort than was previously required under the formerly dominant rule-based paradigm. As for the quality of the translations produced by this new generation of MT systems, there has also been considerable progress; generally speaking, however, it remains well below that of human translation. No one would seriously consider directly using the output of even the best of these systems to translate a CV or a corporate Web site, for example, without submitting the machine translation to a careful human revision. As a result, those who require publication-quality translation are forced to make a diffcult choice between systems that are fully automatic but whose output must be attentively post-edited, and computer-assisted translation systems (or CAT tools for short) that allow for high quality but to the detriment of full automation.
 Currently, the best known CAT tools are translation memory (TM) systems. These systems recycle sentences that have previously been translated, either within the current document or earlier in other documents. This is very useful for highly repetitive texts, but not of much help for the vast majority of texts composed of original materials.
 Since TM systems were first introduced, very few other types of CAT tools have been forthcoming. Notable exceptions are the TransType system and its successor TransType2 (TT2). These systems represent a novel rework-ing of the old idea of interactive machine translation (IMT). Initial efforts on TransType are described in detail in Foster; suffice it to say here the system's principal novelty lies in the fact the human-machine interaction focuses on the drafting of the target text, rather than on the disambiguation of the source text, as in all former IMT systems.
 In the TT2 project, this idea was further developed. A full-fledged MT engine was embedded in an interactive editing environment and used to generate suggested completions of each target sentence being translated. These completions may be accepted or amended by the translator; but once validated, they are exploited by the MT engine to produce further, hopefully improved suggestions. This is in marked contrast with traditional MT, where typically the system is first used to produce a complete draft translation of a source text, which is then post-edited (corrected) offline by a human translator. TT2's interactive approach offers a significant advantage over traditional post-editing. In the latter paradigm, there is no way for the system, which is off-line, to benefit from the user's corrections; in TransType, just the opposite is true. As soon as the user begins to revise an incorrect segment, the system immediately responds to that new information by proposing an alternative completion to the target segment, which is compatible with the prefix that the user has input.
 Another notable feature of the work described in this article is the importance accorded to a formal treatment of human-machine interaction, something that is seldom considered in the now-prevalent framework of statistical pattern recognition.


A design method for recursive space-time trellis codes and parallel-concatenated space-time turbo coded modulation is proposed that can be applied to an arbitrary existing space-time trellis code. The method enables a large, systematic increase in coding gain while preserving the maximum transmit diversity gain and bandwidth efficiency property of the considered space-time trellis code. Applying the above method to Tarokh et al. space-time trellis codes, significant performance improvements can be obtained even with extremely short input information frames. The application of space-time turbo coded modulation to the space-frequency domain is also proposed in this paper. Exploiting the bandwidth efficient orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM), multiple transmit antennas and large frequency selectivity offered by typical low mobility indoor environments, the proposed space-frequency turbo coded modulation performs within 2.5dB of the outage capacity for a variety of practical wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio channels.


This paper is a case study that identified the segmental features observable among and modeled by three professors in a state university in the Philippines (where Tagalog is the native language), in their reading of a poem. In reference to General American English (GAE) which Filipino speakers of English attempt to approximate, generalizations out of the data and pedagogical implications were offered. The sociolectal approach in describing phonological features of a particular speech community was employed in this paper. Results revealed that substitution, addition and deletion of sound segments are governed by the interference of L1 and caused by the fossilization of pronunciation "lapses" of the participants. These lapses can therefore be regarded as defining features of the variety of English spoken by speakers in the area and perhaps its neighboring provinces since the participants serve as models in the community. In view of this, teachers of English should strengthen the Communicative Competence Model in the teaching of the language in order to make students be sensitive and appreciative of varieties of English such as the one noted in this paper.


In the summer of 1953 a lecture-course organized by the British Council was given at Peterhouse, Cambridge. The Faculty of Moral Science were responsible for the programme of lectures and discussions, and Miss Margaret Master man and Dr. Theodore Red path were appointed by the Faculty as joint directors. The lectures must have been well received by the teachers of philosophy who attended and participated in the discussions— representatives from the Continent, the United States and even China were on hand; and the suggestion arose quite naturally that they be published in a single volume. However, some of the lecturers wished to redraft the papers they had read and hence the essays now presented, under the editorship of C. A. Mace, in the volume British Philosophy in the Mid-Century, A Cambridge Symposium (George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1957) are in a number of instances dressed up and greatly expanded versions of the lectures actually given. Further, it is worth noting that the essay by G. E. Moore was written specifically for this volume and is based on a discussion held with some students who attended the sessions at Peterhouse. Thus it is that the papers now published vary greatly in length from the welcome ten pages contributed by G. E. Moore to the seventy-nine pages from Miss Master man. This disparity is, of course, an anomaly in a volume explicitly designed to reflect trends in very recent British philosophy and to convey, to those relatively unfamiliar with it, some reliable picture of its condition at mid-century. But this volume records a present-day Cambridge symposium and as such it must in some measure reflect quite local interests and conditions. However, most of the contributors are very well known and the essays now presented to the public contain a good deal that will interest and profit the reader.


In October 2018, Trump, alongside his Mexican and Canadian counterparts, delivered what many have dubbed "NAFTA 2.0." But the new U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) adopts not only a new name, but also a new approach to ISDS within its Chapter 14. On November 30, 2018 the leaders of all three nations signed the USCMA and now it is up to the legislatures of each country to ratify the Treaty. It remains to be seen whether Chapter 14's ISDS scheme will remain intact during the ratification process. Regardless, NAFTA is now a historic relic and we face a new era in regional ISDS. This raises salient questions on motivation and timing. Criticisms of NAFTA are not new. Indeed they have been around since its very early days. So why the focus on renegotiating now and what does the shift from NAFTA Chapter 11 to USMCA Chapter 14 mean for the future of regional ISDS (and, indeed, global dispute resolution)?

These developments and questions are considered in three parts. Part I reviews NAFTA's Chapter 11, including its substantive protections, dispute resolution mechanisms, and general criticisms after twenty-five years of experience. Part II presents context for the emergence of USMCA, followed by an analysis of its Chapter 14 identifying key changes from the former NAFTA regime. Finally, Part III provides concluding remarks and attempts to place USCMA within broader regional and global shifts in international affairs, trade, and dispute resolution.


Lawyers today are in a moral crisis. The popular perception of the lawyer, both within the legal community and beyond, is no longer the Abe Lincoln of American mythology, but is often a greedy, cynical manipulator of access and power. In "The Lawyer's Myth", Walter Bennett goes beyond the caricatures to explore the deeper causes of why lawyers are losing their profession and what it will take to bring it back. Bennett draws on his experience as a lawyer, judge and law teacher, as well as upon oral histories of lawyers and judges, in his exploration of how and why the legal profession has lost its ennobling mythology. Effectively using examples from history, philosophy, psychology, mythology and literature, Bennett shows that the loss of professionalism is more than merely the emergence of win-at-all-cost strategies and a scramble for personal wealth. It is something more profound - a loss of professional community and soul. Bennett identifies the old heroic myths of American lawyers and shows how they informed the values of professionalism through the middle of the last century. He shows why, in our more diverse society, those myths are inadequate guides for today's lawyers. And he also discusses the profession's agony over its trickster image and demonstrates how that archetype is not only a psychological reality, but a necessary component of a vibrant professional mythology for lawyers. At the heart of Bennett's eloquently written book is a call to reinvigorate the legal professional community. To do this, lawyers must revive their creative capacities and develop a meaningful, professional mythology - one based on a deeper understanding of professionalism and a broader, more compassionate ideal of justice.


Reports on crime in newspapers do not provide a neutral representation of criminals and their offences but instead construct them in accordance with societal discourse surrounding this issue. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of Linguistics, Criminology, and Media Studies and demonstrates how Linguistics can contribute to the study of crime in the media. By combining the tools offered by Corpus Linguistics and Critical Stylistics (a text-based framework for Critical Discourse Analysis), evidence is provided for predominant perceptions of crime and their underlying ideologies in both British and German society. This study names and illustrates the most significant linguistic devices used to construct offenders, victims, and crimes in two newspaper corpora compiled from the German and British press. These devices are then linked to criminological frameworks.


A hundred years ago, Andrew Crombie Ramsey as Director-General of the Geological Survey and Archibald Geikie as Director for Scotland, had a great prospect before them. The progress of the survey in Scotland as indicated by the publication of one-inch geological maps, had lagged considerably behind that in England, Wales and Ireland where primary one-inch publication was already half completed. In Scotland, only the sheets around the Firth of Forth, and two sheets (one mainly sea) south of the Clyde had been issued. The survey of the western part of the Midland Valley was in progress, to be extended south across the Southern Uplands; the Highlands remained virtually untouched until after 1880. Geikie was, however, already well acquainted with the two great problems with the solution of which his name and general directorate will always be associated: the tectonic history of the North-West Highlands and the volcanic history of its west and midland regions. If these formed the major items in Geikie's forward programme, there were a host of other major discoveries to come: the metamorphic zones in the Central Highlands (George Barrow); the unravelling of the structure of the slate and greywacke country of south Scotland, strongly influenced by Lapworth's great work at Moffat and Girvan; the interplay of facies, structure and volcanism in the central rift valley; the cauldron subsidence and ring structures of Glencoe and the volcanic centres of Arran and the Inner Hebrides (Gunn, Maufe, Bailey, Thomas, Richey); the spectacular transcurrent shift of the Great


BACKGROUND
In long-standing type 1 diabetes (T1D), loss of endogenous insulin secretion and glucose dysregulation can lead to severe hypoglycemia and associated complications. Here, we report the serial consistency and the correlation between different scores that characterize glucose dysregulation using self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), in a cohort of T1D individuals being evaluated for transplant eligibility in Clinical Islet Transplantation Consortium trials.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
In total, 152 C-peptide-negative T1D subjects with at least one severe hypoglycemia episode in the prior year documented SMBG at enrollment and every 6 months until deemed ineligible or transplanted. SMBG was used to calculate the HYPO score, Lability Index (LI), and mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE). Additionally, a blinded continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) was worn for 72 h at enrollment and every 12 months.

RESULTS
In this cohort, LI was the most consistent (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.70) over time, followed by the HYPO score (0.51), with MAGE being the least consistent (0.36). Although MAGE and LI were highly correlated with each other, neither correlated with CGMS SD or glucose coefficient of variation (CV). Subjects spent a median of 97 min/day at <54 mg/dL using CGMS. The HYPO score correlated with CGMS time below 54 mg/dL and glucose CV.

CONCLUSIONS
The HYPO score and LI are more consistent than MAGE in patients with established T1D experiencing severe hypoglycemic events and may be especially useful both for identifying subjects experiencing the greatest difficulty in maintaining glycemic control and for longitudinal assessment of novel interventions.


Although interaction is recognised as a key element for learning, its incorporation in online courses can be challenging. The interaction equivalency theorem provides guidelines: Meaningful learning can be supported as long as one of three types of interactions (learner-content, learner-teacher and learner-learner) is present at a high level. This study sought to apply this theorem to the corporate sector, and to expand it to include other indicators of course effectiveness: satisfaction, knowledge transfer, business results and return on expectations. A large Mexican organisation participated in this research, with 146 learners, 30 teachers and 3 academic assistants. Three versions of an online course were designed, each emphasising a different type of interaction. Data were collected through surveys, exams, observations, activity logs, think aloud protocols and sales records. All course versions yielded high levels of effectiveness, in terms of satisfaction, learning and return on expectations. Yet, course design did not dictate the types of interactions in which students engaged within the courses. Findings suggest that the interaction equivalency theorem can be reformulated as follows: In corporate settings, an online course can be effective in terms of satisfaction, learning, knowledge transfer, business results and return on expectations, as long as (a) at least one of three types of interaction (learner-content, learner-teacher or learner-learner) features prominently in the design of the course, and (b) course delivery is consistent with the chosen type of interaction. Focusing on only one type of interaction carries a high risk of confusion, disengagement or missed learning opportunities, which can be managed by incorporating other forms of interactions.


Carbon monoxide vertical profile retrievals from ground-based solar FTIR measurements at the Permanent Ground-Truthing Station Zugspitze (47.42° N, 10.98° E, 2964m a.s.l.), Germany are used to validate columnar CO retrieved from ENVISAT/SCIAMACHY spectra (WFM-DOAS version 0.4). The WFM-DOAS retrievals of CO include an empirical column scaling factor of 0.5. Therefore, not absolute column levels are validated, but the proper response of the SCIAMACHY retrievals to the atmospheric inter-annual variability is quantitatively assessed in comparison to the Zugspitze FTIR results. Although CO WFM-DOAS data for only 33 days were available for this study (data covering January-October 2003), it is possible to retrieve information on the CO annual cycle (≈10% amplitude) in a statistically significant fit out of the scatter of the SCIAMACHY WFM-DOAS data. To obtain this, all pixels within a minimum radius of 2000km around Zugspitze had to be averaged for each day.


The shortage of nurses who assist operating surgeons exchange surgical instruments has been chronically severe. To compensate for this shortage, we have been proposing and developed three versions of the Scrub Nurse Robot (SNR) system that is capable of functioning as a skilled human scrub nurse in endoscopic and laparoscopic surgery. In this paper, we mentioned those three versions of SNR and its features. At first, we developed 1st SNR, which was composed of two separated robots called R-1 and R-2. The R-1 was designed to have two arms and it was aimed at handling only an electric knife and a blood aspirator which are the most frequently used during endoscopic and laparoscopic surgery. The R-2 was designed to have a horizontal arm, and two hands were mounted at the both ends of the arm. R-2 also has a tool changer storing instruments. It treats the other instruments than an electric knife and a blood aspirator. After the basic evaluation of 1st SNR, we developed the 2nd version of SNR, and achieved smooth and wide movement of its arms each with 4 D.O.F‥ The 2nd SNR is able to speak several sentences and recognize some words as well as the names of surgical instruments, and is also capable of recognizing a surgeon's intraoperative actions by its real-time visual recognition system (RTVRS). The RTVRS is basically composed of both a commercially-available 3D position tracking system and the algorithm that we developed to recognize surgeon's actions during exchange of instruments from the above-mentioned positional data. Concerning the results from evaluation of 2nd SNR, we developed the 3rd version of SNR which is able to insert the tip of instrument into a small-caliber trocar cannula penetrating a patient's abdominal wall. This function is named Automatic Instrument Inserting Function (AIIF). The AIIF's algorithm termed "Kinematic based feedback control" enables the arm to insert the instrument into the cannula instead of a surgeon. We evaluated how quickly the 3rd SNR helped surgeon's stand-ins to exchange instruments in a laboratory, in comparison with human scrub nurses in real surgical operations and with the 2nd SNR that we have developed as the previous version. We defined the time for spending exchanging as 'targeting time'. The result of the evaluation showed that it was possible to exchange instruments 1.69 sec faster than that in clinical operating room between a human scrub nurse and a surgeon and 2.8 sec faster than that of the 2nd SNR.


Osmotic and diffusional permeabilities to water have been measured in internally perfused cells of Valonia ventricosa. The osmotic and diffusional permeability coefficients for the protoplast are identical, 2.4 x 10-4 centimeter per second. Thus, both osmotic and diffusional flows can occur by the same mechanism, that is, by diffusion; and there is no need to postulate the existence of water-filled pores in the membranes of this cell. Supporting evidence for this conclusion is the absence of solvent-solute interactions, that is, "solvent drag," for water, urea, and methanol crossing the protoplast of Valonia.


Summary form only given. Fault current profile on a PV dominated distribution feeder is rather different than a conventional feeder. To estimate the fault current profile on such a feeder, the paper proposes a new method which extends the capability of conventional short-circuit analysis method. The paper also shows that this time varying fault current profile makes it also more difficult to estimate the time it will take for an overcurrent relay/device to interrupt such a fault current. The paper proposes a method for estimation of this operating time also. Performance of the proposed methods has been assessed by simulations on a sample distribution feeder.


Diana Boxer's Applying Sociolinguistics: Domains and Face-to-Face Interaction is an up-to-date overview of discourse studies in oral interaction. Its focus is on encounters in the various spheres of life: family, educational, social, religious, and work, with an additional chapter on cross-cultural face-to-face interaction in these domains. Each chapter reviews current research in that specific domain, with particular attention to methodological issues. For example, in-depth explanations are offered to the reader on how the various approaches to studying face-to-face discourse (e.g. ethnographic, conversational analytic, interactional sociolinguistic) lend themselves to answering different research questions. Each chapter also culminates with an original analysis by the author of face-to-face interaction in that particular domain. Topics include: nagging in family interaction; bragging and boasting in workplace interaction; sarcasm in educational interaction; joking and teasing in social interaction; rite-of-passage discourse in religious interaction; and gatekeeping discourse in cross-cultural interaction.


This paper draws on existing empirical literature and an original theoretical model to argue that globalization and skill supply affect the extent to which technology adoption in developing countries favors skilled workers. Developing countries are experiencing technical change that is skill-biased because skill-biased technologies are becoming relatively cheaper. Increased skill supply further biases technical change in favor of skilled labor. Free trade induces technology that favors skilled workers in skill-abundant developing countries and that favors unskilled workers in skill-scarce developing countries, and therefore amplifies the predicted wage effects of trade liberalization. These features aid our understanding of the observed rises in inequality within developing countries and the absence of a significant downward effect of expanded educational attainment on skill premia. They also help account for the large and differential effects of trade liberalization on inequality. These findings are pertinent for the Middle East and North Africa because of its recent increase in trade openness and remarkable rise in educational attainment.


Child safety is everybody's concern, but much professional activity is misinformed or based on a misrepresentation of the facts, and preventative action is rarely adequately evaluated. Written and edited by leading researchers with an active role in social policy, this new book challenges both our understanding of the problem of child safety and points to the impotence of "educational" approaches based on "knowledge enhancement". The strong message is that improving children's knowledge has little or no effect on their behaviour. From the physical abuse of young children to drug abuse in adolescence, this book presents a radical new perspective on a key social issue.


Stochastic Programming is a powerful modeling framework for decision-making under uncertainty. In this work, we tackle two-stage stochastic programs (2SPs), the most widely used class of stochastic programming models. Solving 2SPs exactly requires optimizing over an expected value function that is computationally intractable. Having a mixed-integer linear program (MIP) or a nonlinear program (NLP) in the second stage further aggravates the intractability, even when specialized algorithms that exploit problem structure are employed. Finding high-quality (first-stage) solutions -- without leveraging problem structure -- can be crucial in such settings. We develop Neur2SP, a new method that approximates the expected value function via a neural network to obtain a surrogate model that can be solved more efficiently than the traditional extensive formulation approach. Neur2SP makes no assumptions about the problem structure, in particular about the second-stage problem, and can be implemented using an off-the-shelf MIP solver. Our extensive computational experiments on four benchmark 2SP problem classes with different structures (containing MIP and NLP second-stage problems) demonstrate the efficiency (time) and efficacy (solution quality) of Neur2SP. In under 1.66 seconds, Neur2SP finds high-quality solutions across all problems even as the number of scenarios increases, an ideal property that is difficult to have for traditional 2SP solution techniques. Namely, the most generic baseline method typically requires minutes to hours to find solutions of comparable quality.


Live-cell imaging reveals the dynamics of the cytoskeleton in activated T cells. When T cells receive the appropriate signals through the T cell receptor (TCR) complex and the costimulatory receptor CD28, a complex rearrangement of the cytoskeleton occurs that enables the formation of the immunological synapse, a specialized structure that forms between the antigen-presenting cell and the T cell. In this week's issue, Roybal et al. used sophisticated imaging of live cells and computational image analysis to visualize the dynamic rearrangements of actin and various regulatory proteins in T cells activated through the TCR in the absence or presence of CD28 signaling. The regulatory proteins WAVE2 and cofilin were efficiently recruited to the immunological synapse only when both TCR and CD28 signaled. Fried et al. used a different fluorescence imaging approach, triple-color FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer), to visualize not the movement of proteins with the cell, but the interactions between the actin-regulatory proteins WASp and WIP in live cells. The WASp-WIP interaction is required for T cell activation. The triple-color FRET analysis revealed how changes in the interaction between WASp and WIP resulted in WASp functioning as both an on and off switch. Although most studies' focus of T cell cytoskeletal dynamics is on the changes that occur at the immunological synapse, as González-Granado et al. showed, the nuclear cytoskeleton is also important for the immune response. In this study, live-cell imaging and immunofluorescence analysis revealed that nuclear lamin-A contributed to the polymerization of actin and, thus, immunological synapse formation. These studies highlight the insights that can be obtained about molecular dynamics from live-cell image analysis. K. T. Roybal, T. E. Buck, X. Ruan, B. H. Cho, D. J. Clark, R. Ambler, H. M. Tunbridge, J. Zhang, P. Verkade, C. Wülfing, R. F. Murphy, Computational spatiotemporal analysis identifies WAVE2 and cofilin as joint regulators of costimulation-mediated T cell actin dynamics. Sci. Signal. 9, rs3 (2016). [Abstract] S. Fried, B. Reicher, M. H. Pauker, S. Eliyahu, O. Matalon, E. Noy, J. Chill, M. Barda-Saad, Triple-color FRET analysis reveals conformational changes in the WIP-WASp actin-regulating complex. Sci. Signal. 7, ra60 (2014). [Abstract] J. M. González-Granado, C. Silvestre-Roig, V. Rocha-Perugini, L. Trigueros-Motos, D. Cibrián, G. Morlino, M. Blanco-Berrocal, F. G. Osorio, J. M. P. Freije, C. López-Otín, F. Sánchez-Madrid, V. Andrés, Nuclear envelope Lamin-a couples actin dynamics with immunological synapse architecture and T cell activation. Sci. Signal. 7, ra37 (2014). [Abstract]


Six-sigma is a business-driven, multi-faceted approach to process improvement, reduced costs, and increased profit and this methodology application in SSI a big change in industrial field. The purpose of this paper is to find the implication of applying six-sigma methodology in SSI, taking a specific case of Hydraulic jack manufacturing industry. It helps to improve quality of product and cost saving. From the literature, this paper help to improve the six-sigma area of application in all types of organization, six-sigma application in Hydraulic jack manufacturing industry in SSI environment. Methodology adopted is DMAIC which is help to reduce the rejection rate of pump head of hydraulic jack set by removing error in process & method of operation. Statistical techniques Gauge R & R method, two sample test, Factorial method, control charts, Process capability analysis before & after application of six-sigma used. Six-sigma mainly implemented in large scale industries, but in this paper six-sigma methodology application in Hydraulic jack manufacturing unit a SSI to improve profit and control high rejection rate of pump head of hydraulic jack set. Application of six-sigma in SSI helps to improve Z-bench Sigma level from 2.21 sigma to5.64 sigma and cost saving of 0.01929 million/annum.


In this paper, we propose a distributed hybrid control strategy for multi-agent systems where each agent has a local task specified as a Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula and at the same time is subject to relative-distance constraints with its neighboring agents. The local tasks capture the temporal requirements on individual agents' behaviors, while the relative-distance constraints impose requirements on the collective motion of the whole team. The proposed solution relies only on relative-state measurements among the neighboring agents without the need for explicit information exchange. It is guaranteed that the local tasks given as syntactically co-safe or general LTL formulas are fulfilled and the relative-distance constraints are satisfied at all time. The approach is demonstrated with computer simulations.


Forensic entomology is the study of insects and arthropods associated with legal investigations. Forensic entomology methods have been used worldwide to deal with several different criminal matters, but in particular to assist in determining a more accurate time since death of humans and animals. Soon after the death event, the odour of the body attracts various insect species to the carcass. These organisms will reach the dead body in a predictable sequential arrival pattern which allows the identification of the insects associated to the stage of decomposition to become invaluable information during legal investigations.

Insect succession patterns have been studied largely around the world by using the predictable sequential arrival pattern of different insect species that become attracted to the decomposing carcass at various stages of the decay. The species composition in different parts of the world can be distinctive to that region or overlap across a vast area. Many factors can affect the rate of decomposition of the carcass and therefore affecting the pattern of insect succession.

Currently, in some countries there are insufficient studies detailing the seasonal variation of insect succession patterns on decomposing remains. To date, there have been no published studies detailing insect succession patterns on decomposing remains in the Tasmania. This data is essential as it can become invaluable during legal investigations, as it can be used in conjunction with existing methods to assist in determining the time since death.

The present research represents the first insect succession pattern research to be undertaken in Tasmania investigating the insect succession patterns on decomposing swine carcasses in two contrasting location sites in Tasmania, agricultural and suburban, during one summer season. This research aimed to provide a preliminary database, detailing forensically important insects on decomposing carcasses within the Tasmania geographical region during the warm season. The degree of consistency in insect succession and insect succession waves were investigated over a 39-day study during one summer season.


AbstractThe majority of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) have an excellent prognosis, but some show poorer outcomes and would benefit from adjunctive prognostic tools. The B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase (BRAF)V600E mutation, either based on both its presence or its quantitative measurement, and ultrasound (US) features may serve as a prognostic marker. The aim of this study was to investigate (1) the association between clinical-pathologic prognostic factors and the BRAFV600E mutation found in fine-needle aspirates, based on both its presence and its corresponding cycle threshold (Ct) value, and (2) the association between prognostic factors and suspicious US features classified by the thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TIRADS) in PTC.Two-hundred fifty-eight consecutive patients with PTC > 1 cm and who underwent preoperative US-guided fine-needle aspiration were included in this retrospective study. Clinical-pathologic variables were compared between patients with and without the BRAFV600E mutation. Multivariate analyses were performed to investigate (1) the association between clinical-pathologic prognostic factors and the BRAF V600Emutation found in fine-needle aspirates, based on both its presence and corresponding Ct values, and (2) the association between prognostic factors and suspicious TIRADS US features.BRAFV600E-positive patients had a higher proportion of multiple tumors (P = 0.017). The number of suspicious US features classified by the TIRADS was an independent factor for predicting lateral lymph node metastasis, both in all 258 patients (odds ratio [OR] = 1.902, P = 0.005) and in 214 BRAFV600E-positive patients (OR = 1.686, P = 0.037). The BRAFV600E mutation status or BRAFV600ECt values were not associated with any of the clinical-pathologic prognostic factors.In conclusion, a higher number of suspicious US features classified by the TIRADS, but not the BRAFV600E mutation, are associated with lateral lymph node metastasis in patients with PTC, and can aid in the preoperative identification of patients at increased risk of lateral lymph node metastasis.


In this paper, the effect of the inducer tip clearance is studied to understand its impact on the cavitating and noncavitating performance of centrifugal pumps. Helical inducers with constant pitch and with variable (progressive) pitch are considered. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a single stage pump are conducted on each inducer type to determine the cavitating (two-phase) and noncavitating (single-phase) performance for varying inducer tip clearance. The Rayleigh–Plesset cavitation model is used to understand the bubble dynamics under the assumptions of single fluid undergoing no thermal energy transfer between each phase. Experimental tests are conducted on a pump with the variable pitch inducer to determine the true performance in cavitating and noncavitating operating conditions. Experimental results are compared to the simulations to validate the accuracy of the proposed numerical modeling. Net positive suction head (NPSH) with 3% differential head drop is used as a criterion to identify the true cavitation performance of each inducer configuration. It is found that, as the inducer tip clearance increases, excessive back leakage and larger vortex recirculation occur at the tip location. This results in pressure loss within the inducer and, consequently, degrades the cavitation performance. In addition, the change in cavitation performance with the tip clearance is much more evident for variable pitch inducer geometries as compared to the constant pitch case. Furthermore, the impact on the noncavitating performance of inducer tip clearance is found to be minimal.


The genre of laments (both individual and communal) can be traced historically, even up to today, to periods of crisis. The psalms of lament in the Hebrew Bible point to periods both of national crisis such as wars, exile, and individual crisis, namely attacks from enemies and illness among others. The crisis of the exile was typified by death (in the literal and metaphorical sense), pestilence, disease and war. It was also typified by hope as some of the prophets such as Jeremiah could prophesy both doom (read: death) and salvation (read: hope). If there is any crisis that people of African descent, particularly those located within the sub-Saharan continent, have ever come to experience it is the crisis brought by the pandemic of HIV and AIDS. The pandemic is better approached by scholars who hold the view that it is multisectoral. According to the latter view, the pandemic impacts the social, the economic, the religious or spiritual, and the psychological lives of both the affected and the infected. It is a justice issue. It can thus not be relegated to the individual because it is communal. Is it any wonder that in 2002 the members of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians set out to theologise and conduct God-talk that would be both gender- and HIV and AIDSconscious? In this article, we engage the works of Circle theologians and biblical scholars to see what kind of reading could emerge if we re-read the lament psalm, such as Psalm 6, gender and HIV and AIDS consciously. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In this article, the disciplines of biblical studies, gender studies, and HIV and AIDS studies, among others, converge as the authors draw from Circle theologies and biblical hermeneutics to re-read Psalm 6 through an HIV and AIDS lens. In the process, issues such as patriarchy, poverty and social justice are also dealt with. Keywords: Circle biblical hermeneutica; Psalm 6; HIV and AIDS; Gender-sensitive


Here, we report the development of an achromatic nanoparticle-based colorimetric sensor (achromatic nanosensor) with an on-off type color change that significantly enhances the color transition and increases the sensitivity of the sensor for naked-eye inspection. The achromatic nanosensor was prepared via a modified CMYK (CRYK) subtractive color model by combining DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs-DNA), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-DNA), and gold nanorods (AuNRs-DNA). The initially black-colored achromatic nanosensor not only allowed multiplexed detection by generating target-specific diverse color changes, but also improved the recognition of color changes by the naked eye. Thus, this on-off type color change enabled analysis near the limit of detection (LOD) with the naked eye. In addition, we developed a new image processing method adapted for this achromatic sensor. By quantifying the saturation value of the color images of the achromatic sensor, we could significantly amplify the color signal of the samples, which is difficult to achieve with general colorimetric sensors. The practical application of this achromatic nanosensor for biomarker detection was demonstrated with thrombin and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in human blood plasma. These results provide a new sensing platform that is applicable to most NP-based colorimetric sensing systems for a wide range of applications, including biomolecular diagnosis, chemical pollutant sensing, environmental monitoring, etc.


Quentin Skinner is one of the leading thinkers in the social sciences and humanities today. Since the publication of his first important articles some two decades ago, debate has continued to develop over his distinctive contributions to contemporary political philosophy, the history of political theory, the philosophy of social science, and the discussion of interpretation and hermeneutics across the humanities and social sciences. Nevertheless, his most valuable essays and the best critical articles concerning his work have been scattered in various journals and difficult to obtain. Meaning and Context includes five of the most widely discussed articles by Skinner, which present his approach to the study of political thought and the interpretation of texts. Following these are seven articles by his critics, five of these drawn from earlier publications and two, by John Keane and Charles Taylor, written especially for this volume. Finally, there appears a fifty-seven page reply by Skinner--a major new statement in which he defends and reformulates his method and lays out new lines of research. The editorial introduction provides a systematic overview of the evolution of Skinner's work and of the main reactions to it.Besides James Tully, John Keane, and Charles Taylor, the contributors include Joseph V. Femia, Keith Graham, Martin Hollis, Kenneth Minogue, and Nathan Tarcov.


Abstract There has been growing interest in the use of multi-robot systems in various tasks and scenarios. The main attractiveness of such systems is their flexibility, robustness, and scalability. An often overlooked yet promising feature is system modularity, which offers the possibility of harnessing agent specialization, while also enabling system-level upgrades. However, altering the agents' capacities can change the exploration–exploitation balance required to maximize the system's performance. Here, we study the effect of a swarm's heterogeneity on its exploration–exploitation balance while tracking multiple fast-moving evasive targets under the cooperative multi-robot observation of multiple moving targets framework. To this end, we use a decentralized search and tracking strategy with adjustable levels of exploration and exploitation. By indirectly tuning the balance, we first confirm the presence of an optimal balance between these two key competing actions. Next, by substituting slower moving agents with faster ones, we show that the system exhibits a performance improvement without any modifications to the original strategy. In addition, owing to the additional amount of exploitation carried out by the faster agents, we demonstrate that a heterogeneous system's performance can be further improved by reducing an agent's level of connectivity, to favor the conduct of exploratory actions. Furthermore, in studying the influence of the density of swarming agents, we show that the addition of faster agents can counterbalance a reduction in the overall number of agents while maintaining the level of tracking performance. Finally, we explore the challenges of using differentiated strategies to take advantage of the heterogeneous nature of the swarm.


A popular technique for nonrigid registration of medical images is based on the maximization of their mutual information, in combination with a deformation field parameterized by cubic B-splines. The coordinate mapping that relates the two images is found using an iterative optimization procedure. This work compares the performance of eight optimization methods: gradient descent (with two different step size selection algorithms), quasi-Newton, nonlinear conjugate gradient, Kiefer-Wolfowitz, simultaneous perturbation, Robbins-Monro, and evolution strategy. Special attention is paid to computation time reduction by using fewer voxels to calculate the cost function and its derivatives. The optimization methods are tested on manually deformed CT images of the heart, on follow-up CT chest scans, and on MR scans of the prostate acquired using a BFFE, Tl, and T2 protocol. Registration accuracy is assessed by computing the overlap of segmented edges. Precision and convergence properties are studied by comparing deformation fields. The results show that the Robbins-Monro method is the best choice in most applications. With this approach, the computation time per iteration can be lowered approximately 500 times without affecting the rate of convergence by using a small subset of the image, randomly selected in every iteration, to compute the derivative of the mutual information. From the other methods the quasi-Newton and the nonlinear conjugate gradient method achieve a slightly higher precision, at the price of larger computation times.


ABSTRACT:During the Pahlavi period in Iran (1925–79), poor and working-class families were more likely to expect young sons to work to support the household. These boys, in turn, were more autonomous. Middle-class families, on the other hand, protected and controlled boys. Researchers have assumed that religious zealotry was the primary inspiration for boys to enlist in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ignoring the ways in which class inflected boyhood. While religious fervor may have been a motivation for some of the poor and working-class Iranian boys (between ten and fourteen) who enlisted, the expectation that they work took precedence. Moreover, at least some of these boys were eager to participate in war-front masculine homosociality rather than remain in feminized domestic spaces. This study analyzes biographies, census data, newspaper accounts, and original oral history interviews.


The ability to quantify kinematic parameters of the knee is crucial in understanding normal
biomechanics, recognising the presence of pathology and its severity, planning treatment
and evaluation of outcomes. Current methods of quantifying lower limb kinematics
remain limited in allowing accurate dynamic assessment. Computer assisted surgery
systems have been validated in quantifying kinematic parameters, but remain limited to the
operative setting. Recently, image-free computer assisted surgery technology has been
adapted for non-invasive use and validated in terms of repeatability in measuring coronal
and sagittal femorotibial mechanical alignment in extension. The aim of this thesis was to
develop and implement a set of validation protocols to quantify the reliability, precision
and accuracy of this non-invasive technology in quantifying lower limb coronal and
sagittal femorotibial mechanical alignment, anteroposterior and rotatory laxity of the knee
by comparison with a validated, commercially available image-free computer assisted
surgery system.
Pilot study confirmed feasibility of further experimental work and revealed that the noninvasive
method measured with satisfactory precision and accuracy: coronal mechanical
femorotibial alignment (MFTA) from extension to 30° knee flexion, anteroposterior
translation in extension and tibial rotatory laxity during flexion.
Further experiments using 12 fresh cadaveric limbs revealed that the non-invasive method
gave satisfactory precision and agreement with the invasive system measuring MFTA
without stress from extension to 40° knee flexion, and with 15Nm coronal stress from
extension to 30° knee flexion. Using 100N of anterior force on the tibia, the non-invasive
system was acceptably precise and accurate in measuring sagittal tibial displacement from
extension to 40° flexion. End of range apprehension, such as has been proven repeatable in
measuring tibial rotatory laxity was used and the non-invasive method gave superior
3
precision and accuracy to most reported non-invasive devices in quantifying tibial rotatory
range of motion.
Non-invasive optical tracking systems provide a means to quantify important kinematic
parameters in health and disease, and could allow standardisation of knee examination
increasing communicability and translation of findings from the out-patient to operative
setting. This technology therefore could allow restoration of individual specific kinematics
in knee arthroplasty and soft-tissue reconstruction.


CATAPAN, A., A. SOUZA, D. C. CATAPAN and J. H. HARZER, 2015. Electric energy production from swine deject: analysis of fi nancial feasibility with the use of Monte Carlo simulation for the implantation of bio-digester in Brazil. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 257–260 The goal of the research is, using technical analysis of investments, determine the point of balance, in number of animals, to enable the implantation of bio-digesters for the generation of electric energy with the use of swine deject. As methods, interviews were held with owners of farms, examination of worksheets of costs and budget control with suppliers for the cash fl ow Project. Then, it was calculated the indicators of viability and it was made the simulation of Monte Carlo to measure the sensibility of the parameters of entrance. The results of the research pointed that the point of balance are 1009 swines. Considering the premises of Monte Carlo Simulation and considering that p(Net Present Value < 0) = p(Internal Return Rate < Minimum Tax of Attractiveness) needs to be at most 0.20, it is suggested to implant the bio-digester in properties with at least 1075 swines.


It has been reported that male athletes face increased risk for low energy availability and resulting health consequences similar to female athletes. The present study aimed to reveal the energy status of Japanese male runners and to examine the association between energy deficiency and physiological characteristics such as energy metabolism, bone health, and hormonal status. Six male collegiate long-distance runners during a training season participated in this study. Energy intake (EI) was assessed using 3-day dietary records with food pictures. Exercise energy expenditure (EEE) was determined by the HR-VO2 method. Body composition and bone status were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Energy availability (EA) was calculated by subtraction of EEE from EI and normalized by fat-free mass (FFM). Energy balance (EB) was calculated EI minus estimated total energy expenditure (TEE). Resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured by indirect calorimetry using the Douglas bag technique, and blood sampling was conducted to assess hormonal status. The mean EA of the subjects was 18.9 ± 6.8 kcal/kg FFM/day, and severe negative EB (range: −1444 ~ −722 kcal/d) was observed. REE of four runners was suppressed, and moreover, bone resorption was promoted in all subjects. The data in our study suggested that energy deficiency could promote bone resorption and energy metabolism suppression in Japanese male endurance runners. Additional short- and long-term studies are needed to clarify the health risks caused by energy deficiency in male athletes and explore strategies to prevent health problems related to energy deficiency in long-distance runners.


Data-intensive science has the potential to transform scientific research and quickly translate scientific progress into complete solutions, policies, and economic success. But this collaborative science is still lacking the effective access and exchange of knowledge among scientists, researchers, and policy makers across a range of disciplines. Bringing together leaders from multiple scientific disciplines, Data-Intensive Science shows how a comprehensive integration of various techniques and technological advances can effectively harness the vast amount of data being generated and significantly accelerate scientific progress to address some of the worlds most challenging problems. In the book, a diverse cross-section of application, computer, and data scientists explores the impact of data-intensive science on current research and describes emerging technologies that will enable future scientific breakthroughs. The book identifies best practices used to tackle challenges facing data-intensive science as well as gaps in these approaches. It also focuses on the integration of data-intensive science into standard research practice, explaining how components in the data-intensive science environment need to work together to provide the necessary infrastructure for community-scale scientific collaborations. Organizing the material based on a high-level, data-intensive science workflow, this book provides an understanding of the scientific problems that would benefit from collaborative research, the current capabilities of data-intensive science, and the solutions to enable the next round of scientific advancements.


Objective The physical demands of professional tennis combined with high training/match loads can contribute to musculoskeletal injury. The objectives of this study were to (1) describe the type, location and severity of injuries sustained during a 12-month tennis season in a cohort of professional female tennis players on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour and (2) prospectively investigate associations between training/match loads and injury. Methods 52 WTA players competing at the Australian Open (2015) consented to participate. Injuries reported to WTA medical staff were classified using tennis-specific guidelines. Individual match exposure data were collected for all matches played at international level in 2015 and expressed per 1000 hours of WTA competition matchplay (MP) and 1000 match exposures (MEs). Variables associated with the number of injuries in the season and loss of time from competition were identified with regression analysis. Results The injury incidence rate (IR) was 56.6 (95% CI: 49.5 to 64.6) per 1000 hours of MP or 62.7 (95% CI: 54.8 to 71.6) per 1000 MEs, although the IR of injuries resulting in loss of time from competition was lower (12.8 per 1000 hours of MP, 92 injuries/100 players). Lower limb (51%) and muscle/tendon (50%) injuries were the most common site and type of injury. Common specific injury site subcategories were the thigh, shoulder/clavicle, ankle and knee in order of frequency. Various measures of match load were significantly associated with injury. Conclusion This study prospectively analysed injury profiles, including severity across an entire season of professional tennis, and investigated the relationship between training/match loads and injury. These data may help medical professionals develop injury risk identification and prevention programmes.


HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Env), expressed at the cell surface, induce apoptosis of uninfected CD4+ T cells, contributing to the development of AIDS. Here we demonstrate that, independently of HIV replication, transfected or HIV-infected cells that express Env induced autophagy and accumulation of Beclin 1 in uninfected CD4+ T lymphocytes via CXCR4. The same phenomena occurred in a T cell line and in transfected HEK.293 cells that expressed both wild-type CXCR4 and a truncated form of CD4 that is unable to bind the lymphocyte-specific protein kinase Lck. Env-mediated autophagy is required to trigger CD4+ T cell apoptosis since blockade of autophagy at different steps, by either drugs (3-methyladenine and bafilomycin A1) or siRNAs specific for Beclin 1/Atg6 and Atg7 genes, totally inhibited the apoptotic process. Furthermore, CD4+ T cells still underwent Env-mediated cell death with autophagic features when apoptosis was inhibited. These results suggest that HIV-infected cells can induce autophagy in bystander CD4+ T lymphocytes through contact of Env with CXCR4, leading to apoptotic cell death, a mechanism most likely contributing to immunodeficiency.


This thesis describes the development of a marker-follower
guidance system for farm tractors. With each pass of
the tractor and implement, the system leaves a furrow-marker
which is followed on the next pass. For perimeter operation,
the system can be used as the major portion of a fully automatic
guidance system; the farmer makes the first pass around the
outside of the field, and the system makes each subsequent
pass around the field automatically, working its way into the
centre of the field. For switchback operation the system can
be used in the semi-automatic mode with the farmer remaining
on the tractor; by automatically guiding the tractor between
the headlands, driver fatigue is lessened and efficiency is
increased. This guidance system, with proper adaptation, could
be used for most tillage and seeding operations.
Field tests on a cultivated field showed the system
to have good following characteristics on both straight and
curved paths. The system showed good stability at speeds up
to 6 miles per hour on straight paths, and was capable of
following a 15 foot radius turn at 2.5 miles per hour.


The digital emulation of analog audio effects and synthesis components, through the simulation of lumped circuit components has seen a large amount of activity in recent years; electromechanical effects have seen rather less, primarily because they employ distributed mechanical components, which are not easily dealt with in a rigorous manner using typical audio processing constructs such as delay lines and digital filters. Spring reverberation is an example of such a system-a spring exhibits complex, highly dispersive behavior, including coupling between different types of wave propagation (longitudinal and transverse). Standard numerical techniques, such as finite difference schemes are a good match to such a problem, but require specialized design and analysis techniques in the context of audio processing. A model of helical spring vibration is introduced, along with a family of finite difference schemes suitable for time domain simulation. Various topics are covered, including numerical stability conditions, tuning of the scheme to the response of the model system, numerical boundary conditions and connection to an excitation and readout, implementation details, as well as computational requirements. Simulation results are presented, and full energy-based stability analysis appears in an ????? .


Deadlines are a ubiquitous feature of lawmaking in contexts such diverse settings as agency rulemakings, federal appropriations, and international negotiations. Despite the expectation that these deadlines will drive conflicting parties toward agreement or overcome bureaucratic inertia, their impact on decision making is mixed, often producing only modest improvements in speed, and perhaps sometimes none at all. On the downside, deadlines can sometimes reduce the quality of decisions or encourage brinksmanship when missing a deadline would have draconian consequences. If there is a case for deadlines, then, it is an uneasy one. Game theory suggests some possibilities for to increase the effectiveness of deadlines as action-forcing strategies, such as improving information sharing between actors and providing enforcement mechanisms for negotiated outcomes.


Since Zen Buddhism first captivated the attention of Western seekers the dominant discourse about this sect has been romantic, idealistic, and utopian. The essence of Zen has been described as ineffable, wholistic, and promoting social harmony. In recent years, however, some scholars have begun to examine Zen through the lenses of historical and cultural criticism, producing a sharp challenge to the traditional view. These clashing viewpoints are now entrenched in two warring camps, and their exponents talk past each other with virtually no constructive interaction. In this book, Steven Heine argues that a constructive compromise is possible. He focuses on three principal areas of disagreement: (1) the role of language and discourse in a tradition that claims to be 'outside words and letters,' yet has produced a voluminous body of texts, (2) the function of rituals and objects of worship to gain world benefit in a tradition supposedly founded on unmediated experience attained in an iconoclastic and ascetic environment, (3) the impact of a tradition that espouses peace and harmony on social issues such as class and gender discrimination and on nationalism and imperialism in Japan. Avoiding the stagnant polarization that characterizes most encounters between Zen traditionalists and their critics, he suggests ways in which these two perspectives can complement each other in a more balanced and nuanced alternative position.


The "post-truth" age of "alternative facts" suggests both the urgent need for effective science communication and also its failure over the past thirty years. Two sessions at the Science in Public conference explored what could be done. Responsible Research and Innovation is presented as one possible way forward with the NUCLEUS project offered as an example. The result would be to transform "science communication" so that public engagement shares not only knowledge but the power that goes with it. Abstract


The task of judging has been described as the art or science of making discrete choices among competing courses of action. Charged with the mandate to administer justice fairly and equitably, judges are said to have discretion to pursue any lawful course. In both criminal and civil cases, and regarding matters profound and trivial, the exercise of discretion is a core judicial function. The exercise of discretion is often characterized by vivid metaphors: judges confront a frame of possibilities, a zone, a range, a doughnut hole, two paths or a fork in the road, a fenced pasture. Above all else, such metaphors convey that the exercise of discretion is about choice. For example, under certain circumstances a judge hearing a motion for a mistrial could have the discretion to grant or to deny the motion; the judge could choose either of two paths. In other instances, there might be a range of available courses of action from which to choose: for instance, upon a motion to exclude, as cumulative, the testimony of four additional witnesses, the judge could have discretion to exclude none, one, two, three, or all four of them. Or the discretion in a given instance could be a function of two determinants, such as when a sentencing range includes various combinations of prison terms and probationary periods - a set of options that the fenced pasture metaphor captures perhaps too well. The adversarial process encourages litigants to take extreme positions, and judges may be generally or somewhat persuaded by an advocate's argument in support of a motion yet prefer some intermediate or compromise position. By conferring discretionary authority, the judicial system entrusts judges with the authority to make sound and informed judgments about the relative merits of all the various lawful courses of action that fall within the frame of possibilities. The grant of authority is premised, first, on the notion that the trial judge is in the superior position to see, hear and evaluate the situation with firsthand knowledge. A second (albeit less exalting) justification recognizes that efficiency and finality in adjudication may be more important than accuracy in every instance. The "abuse of discretion" standard of review insulates certain exercises of discretion from rigorous reconsideration on appeal. Metaphors notwithstanding, the exercise of judicial discretion does not always involve a choice among discrete, identifiable options. Consider, for example, the structural injunction: desegregating a school system, reforming a prison, or disassembling a monopoly demands ingenuity and inventiveness, rather than the wisdom to choose from among a finite set of options. The notion of so-called managerial judging presents another example; allocating system resources efficiently and shepherding litigants through the process expeditiously encourages proactive innovation. Similarly, judicial exercise of the authority to impose nonmonetary sanctions may require much creativity. In these examples, however, the tabula rasa must not be confused with carte blanche. Indeed, fear of judicial activism and of "individualism run riot" has made the exercise of judicial power in these and similar contexts especially suspect and highly controversial. This article focuses on conditional orders - another exercise of the judicial imagination. As used here, conditions refer to provisions included in court orders that contemplate the performance of some other act or the occurrence of some event. For example, a judge might grant a motion to amend to add a new claim upon the condition that the movant agree not to seek a postponement of the approaching trial date; or a condition might require that the nonmoving party be compensated for all costs and attorney's fees associated with the new claim. By incorporating conditions into their orders, judges can impose tailored or compromise solutions that ensure a more individualized justice. Conditions are thus an effective and very popular device to mediate a host of competing concerns and interests. Crucially, however, conditions also test the boundaries of judicial authority. I demonstrate that even in circumstances where a judge's discretion might be sufficiently broad either to grant or to deny a particular motion, that discretion is not necessarily so broad as to permit a conditional grant (or conditional denial). Put another way, the greater does not includes the lesser. This notion that a condition could impose or induce obligations beyond a court's authority has gone largely unnoticed. Although a few courts and commentators have touched upon discrete aspects of this phenomenon, no one has evaluated the authority to impose conditions as such. This essay begins to bridge that gap in the literature. The first half of the essay familiarizes the reader with judicially-imposed conditions. Infinite in number and scope, such conditions can arise in every phase of any litigation matter. I chart this boundless universe of conditions using an analytical framework that explores the four primary incentives for judges to impose or induce conditions. This discussion includes conditions that are routinely applied by judges as well as those that may be only hypothetical. Later parts of the essay then evaluate the use of conditions more broadly and consider the potential sources of authority for judges to impose them. Given the utility and ubiquity of conditions, the three sources of authority are surprisingly deficient or unclear: legislative authorizations are limited in scope and kind; the inherent authority of courts is largely preempted by legislative regulation; and party autonomy is a dubious source because consent may be only nominally voluntary. This want of coherent comprehensive authority to support the contemporary practice of conditional orders is a curious phenomenon. The final parts of the essay locate that phenomenon within a larger jurisprudential context. Conditional orders offer judges a creative escape from rigid rules and predictable outcomes. This interplay between the norms of uniformity and individualized justice evokes the traditions of law and equity. That conditional orders are a contemporary manifestation of equity is, itself, an important observation. But even more significant is the suggestion that, in many instances, the forces of equity are at work even without formal authority. In a merged system of law and equity, conflict between the goals of certainty and individual justice has created an ambivalent attitude in the law toward equity, to which the law is attracted because of the identification of equity with a general sense of justice, but which the law ultimately rejects because of the law's concern for certainty. In form, equity is preserved and codified as discretion, which reflects a shift toward fixed options and boundaries. However, in practice the spirit of equity may innovate and create, whether or not authorized. This dissonance invites an exploration of both cause and cure.


The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which controls diverse cellular processes, is regulated by the integration of many signals. Rapamycin strongly inhibits the proliferation of many cancer cell lines and there is a high level of interest in its potential use as an anti-cancer agent. However, some tumours and cancer cells are resistant to rapamycin. This has prompted the development of mTOR kinase inhibitors (mTOR-KIs), such as PP242 and AZD8055, which compete with ATP for binding to the kinase domain in mTOR. In this research, I have studied whether the effects of mTOR-KIs on cell signalling and protein synthesis differed in comparison to those of rapamycin. My data shows that mTOR-KIs have strikingly different effects on proteins (including formation of the eIF4F translation factor complex) that control mRNA translation. Furthermore, while rapamycin only has a very small inhibitory effect on the rate of protein synthesis, mTOR-KIs have a much bigger effect. A new mass spectrometric approach, ?pSILAC', was applied to explore the effects of rapamycin and mTOR-KIs on the synthesis of specific proteins. The data from pSILAC reveal (i) mTOR-KIs impair synthesis of many proteins; (ii) rapamycin always inhibits less than mTOR-KIs; (iii) their effects are strongest for proteins encoded by 5'-TOP mRNAs, but mTOR-KIs again inhibit more strongly; (iv) synthesis of some other proteins which are not encoded by known 5'-TOP mRNAs shows a similar pattern of inhibition to 5'-TOP mRNAs. These data show that pSILAC is a valuable tool for studying the control of the synthesis of specific proteins. I have also investigated the effects of disruption of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) phosphorylation on (i) its modification by SUMO-1 (ii) TNF? biosynthesis in macrophages and (iii) the interaction with specific mRNAs encoding protumourigenic factors.


The effects of solo and combinatorial exposure to ethanolic extract of Annona squamosa Linn. leaves and mercuric acetate (MA) were studied in gestating ICR mice and their fetuses in-utero. Results show that mercuric acetate significantly increased maternal mortality and fetal resorption index while inducing decreased fetal size. Exposure of mercuric acetate and leaf extract doses significantly enhanced this effect. Solo exposure of ethanolic extract at 25 mg/kg body weight induced abortion and resorption of embryos to a lesser extent than combinatorial exposure. Lipid peroxidation assay reveal lower MDA values in liver and brain of maternal mice exposed to solo and combinatorial exposure but not with their fetal counterpart. Maternal mice and fetuses exposed to leaf extract of A. squamosa with MA show marked hepatic and neurologic histological injury similar to positive control. The results suggest that A. squamosa leaves have the potential to protect against mercuryinduced oxidative stress in maternal mice but may not be applied during gestation * Corresponding Author: Joycelyn C. Jumawan  firstname.lastname@example.com. International Journal of Biosciences | IJB | ISSN: 2220-6655 (Print), 2222-5234 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 255-267, 2016


Reinforcement learning holds the promise of enabling autonomous robots to learn large repertoires of behavioral skills with minimal human intervention. However, robotic applications of reinforcement learning often compromise the autonomy of the learning process in favor of achieving training times that are practical for real physical systems. This typically involves introducing hand-engineered policy representations and human-supplied demonstrations. Deep reinforcement learning alleviates this limitation by training general-purpose neural network policies, but applications of direct deep reinforcement learning algorithms have so far been restricted to simulated settings and relatively simple tasks, due to their apparent high sample complexity. In this paper, we demonstrate that a recent deep reinforcement learning algorithm based on off-policy training of deep Q-functions can scale to complex 3D manipulation tasks and can learn deep neural network policies efficiently enough to train on real physical robots. We demonstrate that the training times can be further reduced by parallelizing the algorithm across multiple robots which pool their policy updates asynchronously. Our experimental evaluation shows that our method can learn a variety of 3D manipulation skills in simulation and a complex door opening skill on real robots without any prior demonstrations or manually designed representations.


In recent years, platform-based service marketplaces emerged as a new way of software and service deployment which radically changed the mobile service domain. Today, platform-based service marketplaces like Apple's App Store dominate the field of mobile service deployment and have proven to be an enormous competitive advantage. At present, this concept is diffusing into other domains like the automotive industry. Desiring to make use of this competitive advantage, car manufacturers strive to explore its possibilities. However, to date there is no thriving platform-based service marketplace in this industry. Thus, this paper aims to describe the identified challenges in designing an automotive service marketplace. The authors present the results of a Delphi study based on a qualitative study, embedded in an industry research project, exploring the design of an automotive service marketplace. The results emphasize on the identified critical design issues in the automotive domain and provide evidence that imitating platform-based marketplace design from one domain to another has limits. Therefore, the authors suggest addressing the open issues by implementing an independent management body that can dynamically adjust the design.


Abstract Experiments on thermomechanics interactions between clad and pebble beds have been performed with overstoichiometric lithium orthosilicate pebbles (pebble diameters between 0.25 and 0.63 mm) at temperatures of 700-800°C. The experimental results show that the thermal deformation of our pebble bed system is nonlinear and when the operating temperature is higher than 600°C, thermal creep deformation is generated. In this paper, constitutive equations of the elastic and creep deformation are derived from the experimental results. Incorporating the effective constitutive equations in finite element method (FEM), numerical investigations presenting the elastic and plastic deformation characteristics of pebble bed system are comparable to the experimental behaviors. In addition, discrete element method (DEM) is underdevelopment to derive constitutive equations for different pebble beds. The preliminary results of DEM show the stress distribution inside the pebble beds at steady or transient states, which helps us to identify the destructive region in a pebble bed system.


In Jailbreakers, Villains, and Vampires: Representations of Criminality in EarlyVictorian Popular Texts, I analyze moments of discursive dissonance that emerge through the juxtaposition of early-Victorian theories of criminality and representations of criminals in popular culture. In the 1830s and 1840s in England, methods for managing criminals underwent a series of revisions that corresponded to shifts in prevailing theories about the nature and course of criminal behavior. Assumptions that criminality was volitional, or that it originated in an individual's deficient self-discipline, gradually shifted into perceptions that criminality was pathological, and that malefactors were naturally brutish and incorrigible. Predominant conceptions of criminality as stemming from character flaws or biological predispositions influenced depictions of criminals in a variety of Victorian popular texts including novels, plays, and, importantly, "penny bloods," which were cheap publications marketed to lower-class readers. Such popular lower-class texts are rife with criminals and crimes yet their representations of criminality remain understudied. This penny literature often reproduces prevailing middle-class discourses about criminality, but these texts do so in ways that simultaneously disrupt those discourses. Specifically, popular culture tends to locate the origins of crime not in criminals but in the very institutions and social structures designed to regulate them. Analyzing popular representations of criminals in lower-class texts at a transitional moment in penal history demonstrates how conflicts between legitimate and subordinate cultures activated antidisciplinary potentialities. While historical and literary scholarship on middle-class crime fiction has flourished, crime literature popular with the lower classes has been largely neglected. Understanding how both dominant and subordinate literatures responded to and portrayed significant shifts in cultural theories and practices is, however, necessary to gain a fuller, more nuanced understanding of Victorian literature and culture. There is plenty of evidence available that suggests ways in which middle-class commentators interpreted the beliefs of the lower-classes, but much less is known about the views and narratives that were attractive to and so consumed – via this literature – by these audiences. Studying literature read by the lower-classes, especially those texts that were tremendously popular, is one step toward gaining insight into the possible interpretations of a largely inaccessible audience. JAILBREAKERS, VILLAINS, AND VAMPIRES: REPRESENTATIONS OF CRIMINALITY IN EARLY-VICTORIAN POPULAR TEXTS


We describe a beam splitter for polar neutral molecules. An electrostatic hexapole initially confines and guides a supersonic expansion of ammonia, and it then smoothly transforms into two bent quadrupole guides, thus splitting the molecular beam in two correlated fractions. This paves the way towards molecular beam experiments wherein one beam is modified through interactions with, e.g. a laser beam or another molecular beam, while the other one remains unmodified and serves as a reference. Because both beams originate from the same parent beam, such differential experiments can dramatically enhance the sensitivity. The highly complex electrode structure required for the beam splitter would be very difficult to build by traditional means. Instead, we introduce a new method of production: 3D printing of a plastic piece, followed by electroplating. The 3D printed piece can take any desired shape and, since the entire structure can be printed as a single piece, provides inherently precise alignment. Electroplating produces atomically smooth metal surfaces that allow the application of electric potentials. The simple and powerful fabrication method introduced here opens a plethora of new avenues for research, far beyond molecular beams experiments, since 3D printing imposes practically no limitations on possible shapes, and the metal-plating produces chemically robust, conductive construction elements. It has the added advantage of dramatically reduced production cost and time: all components used in the present study were printed within less than 48 hours; electroplating is completed in one day, and the bottle neck of the entire process was the shipping to and from the plating company.


Health care fraud is a major policy concern. In this paper, we report the results of applying fraud and abuse analytical detection technology with a predictive algorithm to identify and extrapolate the extent of Medicaid fraud and abuse in terms of prevalence and expenditures from 2008 to 2012. Using Medicaid claims
from the State of Louisiana, we estimate approximately $61 million per year in potential savings from the initial entry of the program. Long-term savings are estimated to be $97 million per year by 2019.  Implementation of this technology, and the associated technology, can begin immediately in order to start realizing these savings.


A series of field studies was conducted at highrvay work zortes where low-output radar transmissions were emitted (by rnotion detection devices) without the presence of visible larv enforcement. Data were collected on vehicle speeds upstream ancl within the work zones, on speed changes made by vehicles as they approached the work zones, and on vehicle conflicts occurring in the 1,500-ft approach to the work zones. The results indicated that radar signals had only a srnall effect on average speeds within the work zone and on the change in speeds by motorists as they approached the work zone. However, the radar signals did appear to have a slightly greater effect on vehicles approaching the work zone at speeds greater than 65 mph and on trucks. Such results appear plausible, given the likelihood of greater radar detector use among these types of driver. The vehicle conflict study performed on the approach to the work zones found that severe braking-vehicle conflicts may increase in the presence of radar signals. There was an indication that increases in vehicle conflicts at a given work zone may depend on the amount that the average speed in the work zone (without radar) exceeds the posted work zone speed lirnit.


I will argue that the Late Middle Indo-Aryan period (7–11th c.) was the crucial period for the establishment of ergative alignment as known from contemporary West Indo-Aryan languages (Bubenik 1998). I will demonstrate that the syncretism of case leading to the appearance of the absolutive case in the nominal system was caused by phonological change, while the way case marking alignment was distributed over the pronominal system can primarily be attributed to the effects of animacy. On the verbal side the increase in ergativity came as a consequence of the ultimate demise of the old aspectual forms. I will endorse a 'contingency view' of alignment (Dixon 1994, Haig 2008) which considers the increase in ergativity as a mere 'by-product' of the restoration by analytic means of the old aspectual triad.


This article explains how large-value payment systems work, using either gross or net settlement. The author discusses risk control in a real-time gross settlement system and analyzes the pricing of credit to provide intraday liquidity. She argues for distinguishing between consumption/investment debt and payment debt. A theoretical model suggests that, under the assumption that there are no opportunities for intraday optimization of consumption and production, the risk-free rate on intraday payment credit should be zero. This is because the cost of intraday liquidity is a transaction cost of the underlying goods/assets trade and, thus, should be minimized.


This paper presents the results obtained from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of Sicilian artichokes (Cynara scolymus) with the aim of reducing impacts, interpreting the results, suggesting possible improvements and enriching the sustainability knowledge already existing in the agro food field. Artichokes represent one of the excellent Italian agricultural products even if still not well-known and not appreciated despite their nutritional and functional quality. According to FAOSTAT (2013) data, Italy is the world leader in artichokes production, grown mainly in the central and southern regions of Italy, in particular in Sicily, Apulia and Sardinia. In particular, among all the Italian regions, Sicily, which is highly suited for this type of cultivation, is ranked first in terms of quantity produced: the reason for this lies in the excellent combination of climate and geological conformation of the soils. The study was conducted in accordance with the ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (2006), with the functional unit of 1 ha of land and, as the system boundaries being the phases of: pre-implantation preparation of the field; artichoke implantation; and harvesting. The most impacting phases are those related with the consumption of fuel and fertilizers as well as with the use of the PVC pipes for irrigation. Possible improvements could be the use of methanol instead of the naphtha (reduction of the total damage of about 13%) and the possibility of recycling the PVC pipes once the field is dismantled (furthermore reduction of the damage of about 3%).