Historically, space operations, and consequently the catalogs of space objects, have been largely focused on satellite activity around the earth. The picture was only dynamic to the extent that new objects would be added, and occasionally updated, and retired objects would disappear. The picture of debris would expand with each new discovery and better capabilities to spot smaller debris objects. Even the dynamics of that level of space activity is a complex endeavor. With the addition of extra-orbital activity, constellations with autonomous formation management, maneuvers and rendezvous, short-lived cube satellites, and daily space tourist flights the things to be tracked in space will be unimaginably dynamic. This paper addresses, what must be known and how decision science and knowledge management can be leveraged to create the catalog of the future that addresses the increasing dynamic space environment. It begins by reviewing the types of interactions and behaviors that will require monitoring and decisions. Using the decisions, we shape what must be known by others and the information exchanges to represent more complex space operations. A more dynamic catalog will also need to include the relationships between objects and the function of objects in terms of transmission and maneuver. Adding dynamics and relationships will extend the catalog from a static record to a playbook that will foster collaboration on changing operations across all classes of operations and performance in orbit and beyond.


Cryptogamic crusts are important components in arid and semiarid lands and could play a vital role in the rehabilitation of mine tailings. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the occurrence of cyanobacteria and algae on gold mine tailings storage facilities in the Northwest province in South Africa that are characterized by extreme geotechnical and geochemical conditions. Samples for chemical, physical as well as biological analysis were collected from un-rehabilitated tailings as well as a chrono-sequence of biologically rehabilitated tailings materials. Results show that Chlorella (Trebouxiophyceae), Chlorococcum (Chlorophyceae) and Klebsormidium (Klebsormidiophyceae) species were present at all the rehabilitated sampling sites. The dominant genera on these sites were Chlamydomonas (Chlorophyceae), Chlorococcum, Klebsormidium and Phormidium (Phormidiaceae). No cyanobacterial or algal growth was found on freshly deposited tailings material and only a few species such as Chlamydomonas sp., Chlorella ellipsoidea Gerneck, Chlorococcum sp., Microcoleus vaginatus (Phormidiaceae) and a Phormidium species were found on un-rehabilitated material. It was evident that the time of rehabilitation did not have an influence on the algal as well as cyanobacterial species present in the tailings material and that the presence of a grass cover on the rehabilitated sites may have provided a microclimate enhancing the growth of these organisms.


While South Africans have made some significant social and political progress since the first democratic elections in 1994, there are still divisions1 in this recovering society, and the aftermath of apartheid has not subsided as quickly as we may have hoped. This conflicted socio-political history has created a confusing web in which the people of South Africa find themselves entangled as they attempt to reconcile themselves with this history, while striving for authenticity in their lived experience. In becoming more aware of how various groups of South Africans might have come to conceptualise their position in society, it may prove useful to consider a metaphorical model of morality proposed by American cognitive linguist George Lakoff2 (1990; 2002; 2008), who attempted to resolve some major difficulties in American politics by making the unconscious conscious, as the problems begin in the minds of citizens. This article interfaces a version of this metaphorical model with Johann Visagie's postural model3 of humanity in an attempt at moving beyond personal and political narratives towards opening a constructive, licensed discourse. The article was originally written in response to the 2009 and 2010 colloquia4 at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein. The colloquia served to address issues of racial conflict in society and on campus. Since then, the UFS has made huge inroads in social reconciliation. However, issues such as these remain pertinent in all levels of South African society, and this article, although presented here as a case study of the UFS, could be applied to similar situations elsewhere where problems still persist.


The subject of this lecture is the ethical responsibilities of the lawyers who advise executive branch officials on the lawfulness of actions taken in the name of national security. To even talk about this subject assumes that there is some distinction between a government that does all within its power to protect its citizens, and one that does all within its lawful power. If there are good normative reasons to care about maintaining this distinction, then we have the key to understanding the ethical responsibilities of government lawyers. The Bush administration took the position that the role of lawyers is to get out of the way in circumstances of a threat to national security, and not do anything to interfere with the most aggressive possible government response. The argument of this lecture is not based on the horribleness of torture as an ordinary moral matter. In fact, one of the arguments here is that supporters of the administration's policies have made a conceptual mistake by attempting to establish the moral permissibility of torture in some cases, those resembling the hypothetical "ticking bomb" scenario. The problem with this argument is not only that the ticking bomb case is wildly unrealistic, but that the legality of torture is distinct from the morality of torture, and it is the job of lawyers to advise in the former, not the latter.


Triple difference has become a widely used estimator in empirical work. A close reading of articles in top economics journals reveals that the use of the estimator to a large extent rests on intuition. The identifying assumptions are neither formally derived nor generally agreed on. We give a complete presentation of the triple difference estimator, and show that even though the estimator can be computed as the difference between two difference-in-differences estimators, it does not require two parallel trend assumptions to have a causal interpretation. The reason is that the difference between two biased difference-in-differences estimators will be unbiased as long as the bias is the same in both estimators. This requires only one parallel trend assumption to hold.


On the face of it, terms like 'the author,' the canon,' literature' -
and its many sub-categories, 'lyrical poetry,' Australian short fiction,'
and so on - appear simply to describe essential, objective, positive,
things. While such terms are certainly descriptive, they have a
much more fundamental function, in fact constructing the two
main properties that make up cultural activity of a text-based kind:
who can be thought of and who counts in cultural production; and
what can be thought of what counts as a cultural product.
Questions about who makes and values certain kinds of texts
are questions about the nature of the cultural field in which agents
and their products compete. They are questions which attempt to
dislodge the view that literature can be thought of as a set of cultural
products which exhibit special features (literary features) that can be
identified by disinterested users of this literature. In order to answer
such questions, as I try to do in Part 1, I have cast my net widely
across a range of literary, sociological, historical and institutional
theories to uncover some of the practices that determine how agents
operate in the cultural field, to show how 'the author' and 'the text'
are not simple, objective categories to be consumed by 'the reader.'
Rather, 'the author,' the text' and 'the reader' are the outcomes of
contests between various players, embedded for longer or shorter periods
in the practices current in the field. So-called post-structuralist theory and the cultural theory of
Michel Foucault, in problematising cultural production, provide a
useful starting point for an examination in Chapter 1 of the problem
of the author, authority and authorising as social practices. No
longer free-standing and neutral, cultural producers and the texts
they produce become interested parties in a cultural system. But
such a view opens up a new set of problems: to do with the view of a
cultural producer or text as a kind of automaton in the system; and
to do with the question of the capacity for social agents to effect
change in that system. I turn to social theory in order to explain how
it is that social agents are more than the ghosts in the machine that
post-structuralist theory might suggest, at once able to obey and to change the prescriptions that pre-exist at any particular cultural
moment in which texts are used.
To see why particular kinds of cultural agent and product
characterise and endure in the cultural field requires an understanding
of the historically constructed and institutional ways in which
the field works. Writing and reading books are institutional practices
and the agents who have, since the eighteenth century, been credited
in western culture with the central place in this cultural production
have, as I try to show in Chapter 2, continued to occupy this position
by virtue of institutions which foreground writing as a product of
the originary genius of the individual, autonomous and copyrightowning
author. Authors, that is, are products of historically particular
social practices which apply in the field of cultural production.
They occupy a social position which has been reasonably durable, my
focus in Chapter 3, because the chronically recurring commercial
and pedagogical practices embedded in institutional behaviour continue
to have a hand in the consecration of the individuals who
achieve the name 'author' and in the initial production and subsequent
valorising of particular 'literary' texts.
My method in Part 2 is to examine several case studies in order to
see how agents and institutions in the cultural field work in more
detail. My focus is to show how short story anthologies, critical studies
and other key practices construct 'Australian short fiction.'
Anthologies are a major institution in the production and reproduction
of the sub-field of 'Australian short fiction.' They help to determine
what is to count as 'Australian short fiction,' who are to
count as writers, editors and critics of 'Australian short fiction' and
how 'Australian short fiction' is to be read. Apparently objective cultural
landmarks like 'The Bulletin style,' Australian women's writing'
and 'The Balmain school' - case studies examined in Chapters 4
and 5 - each owe a great deal to short story anthologies.
Anthologies are not, of course, the only institutions that determine
the sub-field, as I show in Chapter 6. Reference guides and
critical studies function in the same way, determining, for example,
what 'fiction' or 'the work of David Malouf means and how it is to
be read. But the personnel who produce, deliver and consume
certain kinds of content, the activity that dominates the sub-field of 'Australian short fiction,' are also maintained by means of other
institutions, like 'small magazines,' Australia Council grants and
'Writers in Residence' programs, writers' festivals, and so on, my
focus in Chapter 7.
In the pages that follow I suggest that there is some kind of
bedrock 'reality,' an objective mechanism that constructs the object
called 'the cultural field' that my analysis has 'uncovered.' Besides
this archaeological trope, a favourite of mine, my 'case studies' also
imply a kind of quasi-scientific objectivity. Analytical 'study' stands
outside, usually above, the 'cases' which I scrutinise in Part Two. But
if I am right, if texts are the products of always contestable and historically
contingent social practices, then the same must be true of
my own text too: it is as much a case to be studied and, if studied, can
be shown to be equally the product of always contestable and contingent
social practices. This is not cause for panic, merely for caution.
My thesis is not an attempt to get any closer to the truth, only to suggest
how we might reorientate ourselves to some texts.


Eighty-nine children with localized rhabdomyosarcoma of orofacial and laryngopharyngeal sites were treated in accordance with the first and second Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS) protocols (IRS-I and IRS-II) between 1972 and 1984. Treatment included surgery (or biopsy) and chemotherapy for all patients and radiotherapy in the majority. The actuarial estimate of the three-year survival rate for all patients was 83% and did not differ significantly by primary site, histologic findings, or presence of adenopathy. A trend for a worse survival rate was seen in clinical group III patients and in those less than 5 years of age at diagnosis. Factors associated with an increased risk of local/regional relapse included omission of radiotherapy and a radiation dose of less than 40 Gy (4000 rad). We conclude that treatment of these patients as recommended in the IRS-I and IRS-II protocols results in very good local and regional tumor control and survival rates. Salvage therapy for local/regional recurrence may yield long-term remission and possibly cure.


The main consumer trends in food sector are two: on the one hand there is a growing demand for modernity (functional foods, convenience foods, healthy foods such as low calories and low-sodium foods), on the other hand there is a increasing demands for naturalness (organic foods, natural foods, local products and typical products). Moreover, in recent years consumers' fears of novel food technologies are well documented and several psychometric scales were tested for the analysis of consumer's attitude towards new technology. Therefore the ability to identify population segments that have greater or lesser neophobia/neophilia, thus enabling identification of early adopters of innovative products, would be more and more useful. A survey which bore such considerations in mind was conducted on a representative sample of 355 people interviewed shortly after their shopping trip to super- and hyper-markets in Campania region. A questionnaire was submitted to sample in spring 2010. The questionnaire collected information about the perception of new food technologies, the perception of naturalness and their roles in determining consumer preferences for different food products. To collect information about consumers perceptions we adopted the FTNS scale (Food Technology Neophobia Scale) which represents a useful tool for assessing receptivity to foods produced by novel technologies. A specific section of the questionnaire covered a case study and gathered information about the willingness to buy food products that consumers can associate to a greater or lesser use of modern technologies and belonging to a specific set of six food categories: functional foods, low calories foods, convenience foods (ready to eat) typical foods, organic foods, short chain products. First findings confirm that FTNS scale is a good instrument for predicting individuals' willingness to try foods produced using modern technologies Moreover first results are consistent across the different types of products and technologies tested and thus provide consistent evidence of predictive validity.


The current veterinary curriculum leaves graduates ill-equipped for careers in the field of zoological and wildlife medicine. Further postgraduate training is required to be an effective zoo or wildlife veterinarian. However, whether or not students choose to specialise in this field at a later date, the veterinary curriculum should cover several issues that are related to wildlife and zoo animals, including conservation biology, zoology, behaviour, physiology and conservation medicine. These subjects are essential, as we are preparing students to work in a world in which there is a global trade in wild animals, an increasing number of emerging infectious diseases and numerous environmental threats (habitat fragmentation, climate change) linked to anthropogenic change. Veterinary students should also be exposed to new opportunities to identify field and laboratory tools for the management and possible treatment of diseases in captive and wild populations and ecosystems using both in situ and ex situ approaches to conservation.


Substantial money and energy worldwide has been invested in support services for the small- and mid-sized enterprises (SME) sector, as interest has grown in the development of small enterprises (Bolton Committee 1971; Birch 1979; International Labour Organization [ILO] 1992). For example, the World Bank alone has lent over US $3 billion between 1973 and 1989 to foster a healthy growth in this sector in developing countries (Timberg 1992). Despite this interest, evidence suggests that the majority of programs and institutions designed to support small enterprises have reached and assisted only a minority of them (Farbman and Steel 1992). There has also been an ongoing debate over what effect support services have on the development of assisted firms (ILO 1992). The evaluation of support services remains under-researched, often inconclusive, anecdotal, and ex-ante in nature (Gibb and Manu 1990). On the one hand, empirical studies from developing countries have generally highlighted a limited impact in terms of growth, profit generated, or jobs created (Kilby 1979; Little, Mazumder, and Page 1987). On the other hand, studies by Sharma (1979) and Bhatt (1988) on SMEs in India :met Tecson, Valcarcel, and Nunez (1989) on those in the Philippines reported a significant role for support services in improving the performance of assisted firms. These tend to reinforce conclusions drawn in parallel studies in developed countries that assistance can enhance the performance of small firms (Chrisman and Leslie 1989; Gibb and Scott 1985; Monk 1991). Finding contradictory evidence about the effectiveness of support services from one study to another, from one country to another, and even within countries is not totally surprising. Conditions vary considerably both between and within countries on the nature of support services, how they are delivered, and in the characteristics and needs of the of the target firms. Studies too have varied in empirical scope, methodological rigor, and in methods of analysis and interpretation. It is an important methodological debating point whether support services can be evaluated rigorously (given the numerous variables that need to be controlled for) and if so, how evaluation should be conducted. This article seeks to shed some insights on these issues. It reports results from a three-year empirical study on the effectiveness and role of support services on small firms in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Sarder 1995), one of the poorest countries in the world, where an unusually large network of support agencies, public and private, has developed (notably in the 1980s) to support SMEs (Sarder 1995). Of over 60 support organizations identified by Sarder as active in 1993, 39 were involved in supporting small enterprises in part or in whole. Eleven were exclusively directed at supporting small enterprises. Despite such substantial support, the growth and development of the small firms sector in Bangladesh appears to have been slow and unsatisfactory (Reza, Ahmed and Mahmud 1992), raising questions about the effectiveness of the support services offered (Mannan 1993; Sarder and Rosa 1994). This article takes the debate further by presenting results from a three-year research study on the nature and effectiveness of support services in Bangladesh. While it seeks some answers to this question, whether the results of this study can be generalized beyond the unique circumstances of Bangladesh's peripheral economy to wider debates concerning the effectiveness of support services on SME performance remains to be determined. Research Methodology The research design (outlined in detail in Sarder 1995) involved semi-structured interviews of the owner-managers of small firms in Dhaka. The interviews contained questions aimed at: assessing the performance of each firm; comparing the performance of assisted with non-assisted firms; and drawing comparisons among firms receiving different levels and forms of assistance. …


Completed as a series of article-length manuscripts, this dissertation reflects four interrelated aspects of my research on the topics of citizen participation, political practices of vote buying and approaches to community development in low-income urban areas, in the collection of neighborhoods known as Ciudad Peronia on the edge of Guatemala City. Together, the four articles in this thesis explore varying aspects of the social and political dynamics present in the interrelated processes of community organization and local development in Ciudad Peronia. The essays survey the complex array of contextual features that influence local outcomes, while also highlighting the important decisions of key actors. I highlight the interplay between context and agency, and in doing so, provide insight into the efforts of individuals and groups to construct meaningful citizenship rights, especially to basic living conditions, by means of a diverse array of self-organization initiatives and a variety of engagement strategies with the state. Despite the many obstacles revealed in this research, numerous individuals I encountered in preparing this work made a concerted effort to secure dignity and inclusion for themselves and members of their communities.


All of us--whether educators, researchers, health care providers, or just taxpayers--want to know that our time, effort, and money are well spent and will bring the results we desire. And the same can be said for the vast number of programs and activities carried out by schools, research institutions, community organizations, and state and federal agencies. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "While we hope that programs are selected for and survive using rational criteria, in many situations they probably survive because people like them, get used to them, or because institutional, political, or economic forces favor their survival," said William Trochim. Trochim is a professor in the college's Department of Policy Analysis and Management and a national leader in designing evaluation systems that help assess how programs function and examine whether they are actually accomplishing their intended goals. He is leading an innovative effort to develop evaluation approaches that are based on evolutionary theory from the life sciences. Trochim argues that evaluation can play a key role in both developing program variations and in providing feedback that influences selection, just as natural selection does in biological evolution. "Like evolutionary theory, evaluation can encourage program managers, decision-makers, and policymakers to use a 'trial-and-error' approach to evolving better programs that have a greater 'fitness' to their environment," he said. Trochim is creating such evolutionary evaluation systems and testing them in real-world contexts. The ecology of science Trochim's work is at the intersection of science and human ecology. "We live in a dynamic world, with complex systems of human organizations," he said. "I am an ecological systems thinker, and evaluation is a central human ecological function. It is essential to learning, because evaluation provides feedback about whether and how the things we create actually work." As we look to science to try to solve the major problems our society faces, Trochim said we need to realize that "basically, science is a human social endeavor--and that is where human ecology becomes absolutely essential to its success in the 21st century." Trochim, who has been on the Human Ecology faculty since 1980, has many roles at the college and beyond. He directs the Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation (CORE), a team that includes CORE manager Claire Hebberd and that works to develop evaluation systems for large and complex organizations and scientific endeavors. Trochim is the director of evaluation for the new Clinical and Translational Science Center, based at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. He is also the director of evaluation for Extension and Outreach at Cornell, as well as the principal investigator on a new grant to develop the next generation of evaluation approaches for assessing and improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and outreach programs funded by the National Science Foundation. Currently, Trochim is also serving as president of the American Evaluation Association. "My life is a continuous triangle trip between Ithaca, New York, and Washington," he said with a laugh. From basic biomedical science to the bedside and beyond In the last few years it has become clear that massive investments in biomedical research have not translated into desired health outcomes, according to Trochim. On average, it takes 17 years from the time a new medical treatment or device is discovered until it's used widely in practice and "that's almost certainly a lower-end estimate." "That's a system problem," he said. "We have systems of researchers and systems of health care practitioners, but we haven't been successful in connecting them effectively." Earlier on, biomedical researchers attempted to better disseminate the information about new discoveries--"we shouted louder," as Trochim put it--but that didn't significantly improve the time it took to move discoveries from lab bench to bedside and beyond to health impacts. …


Almost all Western countries have recently implemented restrictive changes to their citizenship law and engaged in heated debates about what it takes to become "one of us". This article examines the naturalization process in Canada, a country that derives almost two thirds of its population growth from immigration, and where citizenship uptake is currently in decline. Drawing on interviews with recently naturalized Canadians, I argue that the current naturalization regime fails to deliver on the promise to put "Canadians by choice" at par with "Canadians by birth". Specifically, the naturalization process constructs social and cultural boundaries at two levels: the new citizens interviewed for this study felt that the naturalization process differentiated them along the lines of class and education more than it discriminated on ethnocultural or racial grounds. A first boundary is thus created between those who have the skills to easily "pass the test" and those who do not. This finding speaks to the strength and appeal of Canada's multicultural middle-class nation-building project. Nevertheless, the interviewees also highlighted that the naturalization process artificially constructed (some) immigrants as culturally different and inferior. A second boundary is thus constructed to differentiate between "real Canadians" and others. While not representative, the findings of this study suggest that the Canadian state produces differentiated citizenship at the very moment it aims to inculcate loyalty and belonging.


Widening current account deficits coupled with low private saving rates in Turkey have started a recent policy debate on how household savings can be increased. Using Household Budget Surveys from 2003 to 2008, we study the structural determinants of household savings in Turkey. We consider various different definitions for savings, including durable consumption goods, education and health. Our findings are robust across different definitions. The results indicate that dependency ratios of households are important determinants of savings. Lower shares of dependent children or dependent elderly in the household imply higher saving rates. Moreover, female labor force participation has significant effects, i.e. households with higher shares of working females, have higher saving rates as well. We also find that households in which the head is self-employed or an employer have higher saving rates. Moreover, households with where pension payments constitute a larger share of income save less. Note that pension payments are always coupled with free health benefits. These findings point to strong evidence of precautionary savings.


The author conducted two studies with predictive correlational designs aiming to contribute understanding on socio-psychological dynamics related to public participation in public activities. This study applied purposive sampling and multiple linear regression data analyses. The first study with participants of 214 University of Indonesia students found that the sense of citizenship as well as indecision dimension of decision fatigue in taking political decision played a role in predicting public political participation in students. The second study with participants of 230 participants from urban music communities in Jakarta and its surroundings as well as in Bali, Indonesia, found that trust in municipal government has a negative correlation with attachment towards city and that participation in urban music communities does not contribute to such attachment. These results provided insights that we need to study the society psychosocial reality further, as one of the fields of the battle ground of interpretations of public policy, in order to increase the efficacy of public policy.


This paper addresses the invisibility of the post-1990s irregular migration flows from Bulgaria to Turkey in the literature despite the increasingly significant number of such migrants. I suggest that this invisibility stems partially from a problem of classification that has to do with implicit suppositions about ethnicity and migration. The post-1990s Turkish immigrants from Bulgaria are not specified in accounts of irregular migrant flows directed towards Turkey since they are assumed to belong to the category of ethnic "return" migrants: Because of their ethnic identity as Turkish all Turkish migrants from Bulgaria tend to get considered as part of the intermittent "return" migration waves from Bulgaria the most notable and well-known of these being the flight of more than 300000 Turks in 1989. However while the ethnic affiliation of the post-1990s migrants from Bulgaria renders them invisible as irregular migrants within scholarly migrant typologies the same ethnic affiliation does not necessarily work to their advantage when it comes to their legal and social reception in Turkey. Based on ethnographic fieldwork that prioritizes micro-level analysis from below the paper demonstrates that the self designated ethnic affiliation of these migrants counterpoised against their social marginalization as "the Bulgarian" domestics heightens the paradoxes of belonging and affects migration strategies. The paper thus underscores the significance of ethnic affiliation as a factor that needs to be adequately taken into account in describing the present and in assessing the future of this particular migratory pattern. (authors)


Prospective memory (ProM) refers to our ability to become aware of a previously formed plan at the right time and place. After two decades of research on prospective memory and aging, narrative reviews and summaries have arrived at widely different conclusions. One view is that prospective memory shows large age declines, larger than age declines on retrospective memory (RetM). Another view is that prospective memory is an exception to age declines and remains invariant across the adult lifespan. The present meta-analysis of over twenty years of research settles this controversy. It shows that prospective memory declines with aging and that the magnitude of age decline varies by prospective memory subdomain (vigilance, prospective memory proper, habitual prospective memory) as well as test setting (laboratory, natural). Moreover, this meta-analysis demonstrates that previous claims of no age declines in prospective memory are artifacts of methodological and conceptual issues afflicting prior research including widespread ceiling effects, low statistical power, age confounds, and failure to distinguish between various subdomains of prospective memory (e.g., vigilance and prospective memory proper).


Background: Significant difference exists between clinical and ultra-sonographic liver span in the MCL in the subjects. Aim: To measure liver span in normal healthy adults clinically and by using ultrasonography. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 100 healthy subjects aged 18-65 years. Liver span was calculated by clinical examination followed by USG evaluation. Results: The mean clinical liver span measured in mid-clavicular line in males was 11.99 cm ± 1.6 cm and in females it was 11.05 cm ± 1.5 cm. Ultra-sonographic mean liver span in males was 14.16 cm ± 1.32 cm while in females it was 12.79 cm ± 1.40 cm. Conclusion: Significant difference was found between clinical and ultra-sonographic liver span in the MCL in the subjects (p<0.001).


The behavior of a symmetrical nonabsorbing multilayer in the region where the component film thicknesses are small compared with the wavelength closely approximates the behavior of a homogeneous single film. The index of the equivalent film can be made to take any value intermediate to the index values of the constituent films; and by adding together multiple periods of the basic combination, the equivalent thickness can be made as large as desired. Such combinations are shown to have useful application in the construction of wide-range antireflection coatings for high-index infrared optical materials.


This study was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs and commissioned, overseen and published by the Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs.
Social enterprises (SE) are subject to ad hoc legislation in an increasing number of EU jurisdictions and legislative initiatives in this field are under consideration by EU institutions. This paper explains why tailor-made legislation on SE is essential for the development of this unconventional form of business organization. It describes and compares existing models of SE regulation and discusses the core elements of an SE's legal identity, with the aim of providing recommendations on the potential forms and contents of an EU legal statute on this subject.


A simple bioeconomic model was specified and estimated for the central subpopulation of the northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax). Net population growth was described by a power function and harvest by the U. S. reduction fleet was modelled by an exponential production function. When incorporated into a bioeconomic model they allowed the derivation of two explicit functions, Y = O(X) and Y = O(X) which could be used to depict the bioeconomic optimum. The roots of O(X) have important economic interpretations and can be used to characterize the economic status of the fishery. The positively-sloped segment of the O(X) curve may be used as an approximately-optimal adaptive management policy. For the set of bioeconomic parameters circa 1990, anchovy biomass would need to increase to about 1 million metric tons before arousing the economic interest of the wetfish fleet. Alternatively, a price/cost ratio of 0.6 or more would imply positive net revenues at a biomass of 350,000 metric tons. The current price/cost ratio may be as low as 0.1 and the current estimate of biomass is about 300,000 metric tons. Thus, unless there is a dramatic increase in the demand for oil and fish meal or a spectacular increase in biomass, it seems unlikely that there will be a resurgence in the reduction fishery for anchovy in the near future.


Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were extirpated from Lake Champlain around 1900 and from the lower four Great Lakes by 1960. Their ecological, commercial and recreational importance has prompted extensive restoration efforts. Despite widespread evidence of natural reproduction by stocked lake trout, there is minimal evidence of survival of wild progeny beyond age-0. Various abiotic and biotic impediments may be preventing self-sustaining lake trout populations from becoming established. Unsuccessful restoration in shallow areas has recently prompted a shift to restoration efforts to offshore, deep reefs in the Great Lakes. The first objective of this study was to develop, test, and implement methods for evaluating lake trout reproduction in deep water, where previously established techniques were ineffective. The second objective addressed the recruitment bottleneck between the emergent fry and juvenile life stages in Lake Champlain, by assessing the severity of predation on lake trout fry by epi-benthic fish. In order to quantify egg density on deep-water habitats (>18 m), we paired a deep-water egg trap with egg bags to establish a relationship between the two types of gear in Lake Champlain. There was no significant difference between densities in the egg bags and deep-water traps, but there was a positive correlation of their ranks (correlation coefficient = 0.514, p<0.0001). The deep-water traps were then used in Lake Michigan to successfully acquire the first egg density data from two sites on the deep Mid Lake Reef Complex. A drop electroshocker was developed to detect fry presence and tested in Lake Champlain in conjunction with emergent fry traps. Both types of gear exhibited similar patterns of fry relative abundance. To assess fry predation in Lake Champlain, two-hour gillnet sets during the period of fry emergence to identify fry predators and to describe how predation patterns changed diurnally and temporally. Seven species of epi-benthic fry predators were identified, including five species that had not been previously identified as fry predators. Yellow perch and rock bass dominated the predator community at two study sites (83% of total catch, N=1179, 77% of all fry predators, N=57). Predator presence and fry consumption was almost entirely nocturnal. There was a linear aggregational response in predator CPUE (fish/hr) to increasing fry relative abundance (p<0.033) but confirmed predators did not exhibit a functional response. There was evidence of a threshold of fry relative abundance at 1 fry/trap/day for the onset and conclusion of fry predation. Temperature was a driving factor in the timing of fry emergence and predator abundance, allowing us to predict the relative impact of predators based on temperature scenarios. Only 5% of the potential predators consumed fry. We used empirical probabilities of consumption to model loss of fry due to predation. This consumption model revealed that predator abundances would have to be extremely high for predation to significantly reduce the population of fry. However, given the relatively high species richness of predators observed at the shallow water study sites, lake trout fry survival is likely to be higher at deep, offshore reefs. These results support the recent shift in restoration efforts to focus on deep reefs.


AbstractSince 1985 various investigators have proposed that Norwegian Sea deep water (NSDW) is formed by mixing of warm and saline deep water from the Arctic Ocean with the much colder and fresher deep water formed by convection in the Greenland Sea (GSDW). We here report on new observations which suggest significant modification and expansion of this conceptual model. We find that saline outflows from the Arctic Ocean result in several distinct intermediate and deep salinity maxima within the Greenland Sea; the southward transport of the two most saline modes is probably near 2 Sv. Mixing of GSDW and the main outflow core found over the Greenland slope, derived from about 1700 m in the Arctic Ocean, cannot by itself account for the properties of NSDW. Instead, the formation of NSDW must at least in part involve a source which in the Arctic Ocean is found below 2000 m. The mixing of various saline outflows is diapycnal. While significant NSDW production appears to occur in northern Fram Strait, large amounts of saline Arctic Ocean outflow also traverse the western Greenland Sea without mixing and enter the Iceland Sea. During the past decade, deep convection in the Greenland Sea has been greatly reduced, while deep outflow from the Arctic Ocean appears to have continued, resulting in a markedly warmer, slightly more saline, and less dense deep regime in the Greenland sea. © American Geophysical Union 1991


Summary We report in this paper the existence of seawards-dipping sub-basement reflectors along the entire E Greenland margin. The study is based on 8000 km of multichannel seismic data and a sonobuoy refraction seismic study providing information on the geographical and stratigraphical extension, internal geometry and crustal structure of the E Greenland dipping reflector sequence. A basaltic, subaerial seafloor-spreading origin of the reflector sequence is concluded from seismic stratigraphic analysis, including well information from the Rockall Plateau and the Vøring Plateau. Formation of the basaltic dipping reflector sequence off E Greenland took place within a period of a few million years along the axis of opening within the NE Atlantic. Duration of spreading above sea-level was relatively short (2 My) in areas of present-day deep basement, as opposed to 5–8 My in areas of present-day more shallow basement. On the highly elevated Iceland-Greenland Ridge, subaerial seafloor spreading continued into the Neogene and most likely into present-day subaerial spreading in Iceland. Following the mid-Tertiary westward shift of spreading towards Greenland, N of Iceland, spreading again took place above sea-level along this part of the Greenland margin until late Miocene, but this development only caused an erratic and shallow development of seawards-dipping reflectors. Application of the kinematic model for crustal formation in Iceland (Pálmason 1980) onto the E Greenland dipping reflector sequence demonstrates a striking similarity between the two structures. However, volcanic productivity rate within the oldest part of the E Greenland dipping reflector sequence may be as much as three times the volcanic productivity rate recorded in Iceland with an original rift width equal to, or somewhat less than, that in Iceland. The high volcanic productivity rate caused the development of a thick extrusive upper crust (> 5–6 km) dominated by seawards-dipping reflections arising from lava flows or groups of flows which acquired their dip through postdepositional differential subsidence towards the rift zone. Refraction seismology defines a fairly flat-lying velocity zonation of the igneous crust with an anomalously thick layer 2 (3–5.5 km) in areas of well-developed dipping reflectors. The layer 2/3 boundary is seen to cut strongly across the dipping reflectors suggesting a metamorphic origin of this boundary. Initiation of seafloor spreading above sea-level is seen as a result of early upwelling of anomalously hot asthenospheric material that was able to ascend through a relatively mechanically unstretched crust and lithosphere and create a thick extrusive upper crust. Formation of a thick extrusive upper crust above sea-level only continued beyond the early spreading phase in the area of the Icelandic hot-spot (Iceland-Greenland Ridge).


Despite the growing concern about actual on-going climate change, there is little consensus about the scale and timing of actions needed to stabilise the concentrations of greenhouse gases. Many countries are unwilling to implement effective mitigation strategies, at least in the short-term, and no agreement on an ambitious global stabilisation target has yet been reached. It is thus likely that some, if not all countries, will delay the adoption of effective climate policies. This delay will affect the cost of future policy measures that will be required to abate an even larger amount of emissions. What additional economic cost of mitigation measures will this delay imply? At the same time, the uncertainty surrounding the global stabilisation target to be achieved crucially affects short-term investment and policy decisions. What will this uncertainty cost? Is there a hedging strategy that decision makers can adopt to cope with delayed action and uncertain targets? This paper addresses these questions by quantifying the economic implications of delayed mitigation action, and by computing the optimal abatement strategy in the presence of uncertainty about a global stabilisation target (which will be agreed upon in future climate negotiations). Results point to short-term inaction as the key determinant for the economic costs of ambitious climate policies. They also indicate that there is an effective hedging strategy that could minimise the cost of climate policy under uncertainty, and that a short-term moderate climate policy would be a good strategy to reduce the costs of delayed action and to cope with uncertainty about the outcome of future climate negotiations. By contrast, an insufficient short-term effort significantly increases the costs of compliance in the long-term.


Among the key issues in smoke management is predicting the magnitude and location of smoke effects. These vary in severity from hazardous (acute health conditions and drastic visibility impairment to transportation) to nuisance (regional haze), and occur across a range of scales (local to continental). Over the years a variety of tools have been developed to aid in predicting smoke effects. This review follows the development of these tools, from various indices and simple screening models to complex air quality modelling systems, with a focus on how each tool represents key processes involved in smoke transport.


Blended learning in higher education requires the quality framework created by any given faculty dedicated to one and only aim: integration of online education into the mainstream of higher education, in our case sports second cycle master education. At the Faculty of sport in Nis, Serbia, it was established to assess online and blended learning (Lorenzo & Moore, 2002; Laumakis, Graham, & Dziuban, 2009). This framework comprises five parameters: learning effectiveness, student satisfaction, faculty satisfaction, cost effectiveness, and access (Lorenzo & Moore, 2002). Measuring sports students' progress and learning effectiveness showed 82% satisfaction with their learning and teaching experience. Conventional mode encompassed 120 sports students at the master level last year (2016). This year, 2016, the Faculty enrolled 90 students opting for a distance learning mode, making it 75% of the total students' body. As for the cost effectiveness, the tuition is the same for both modes of learning, but specifics of students body says they rather choose e-learning due to their sporting engagements abroad (most of them being highly successful renowned coaches). Finally, access included administrative and technical infrastructure and learner support services which allowed access to all learners. Namely, the purpose of the study is the description of the learning environment which includes assessment of learning outcomes as a way to demonstrate learning effectiveness. The sports sciences courses are designed to teach students at the Faculty of sport in Nis how to apply their generic and sports specific skills so as to be able to run all sports related jobs. There are six parameters in the framework: 1) mode, 2) model of integration, 3) distribution of learning content and objectives, 4) sports sciences teaching methods, 5) involvement of learning subjects (students, tutors, and teachers), and 6) location. The mode which guides learners and where they spend most of the time is called the lead mode. Sequencing and negotiation of content is also done in the lead mode. The modes are further divided into components or sub-modes (for example, different teaching methodologies in the face-to-face mode or synchronous and asynchronous communication). Neumeier finds the second parameter, model of integration, very important. Overall, integration is related to the obligatory or optional nature of activities, (at the Faculty of sport in Nis, we follow the Bologna model requiring pre and exam related activities). Moreover, level of integration is connected to sequencing of modes which can be alternating, parallel, or overlapping, to name just a few. For example, the face-to-face mode can alternate with a sub-mode (such as message board) or the message board can be available throughout the course parallel to the other sub-modes. A decision on how to sequence activities could be based on the degree of transactional distance defined as the "physical distance that leads to a communication gap" (Moore & Kearsley, 1996, p.203). Neumeier gives an example of a blended model where an activity with a low degree of transactional difference, a group face to-face discussion, was scheduled after individual work on a CD-ROM, covering for example ski techniques, with a little collaborative character. Parameter three, distribution of learning content and objectives, can be implemented in two ways: parallel or isolated. Parallel distribution allows a certain skill to be incorporated and practiced in both modes. Sports teaching methods, parameter four, are influenced by online materials, the online tutor, and the face-to-face teacher. Involvement of learning subjects, parameter five, refers to types of interaction that can take place in the blended environment. Maybe, at this point we should add a note that, according to the Serbian law on higher education, in a distance learning mode, exams are to be taken at the Faculty's premises, requiring thus students' physical presence. In addition to two major interaction patterns, human-to human and human-to-computer, there are a number of variations (for example, student-to student through computer, solving a joint task). Another descriptor of this parameter is teacher and learner roles. In the blended environment both teachers and students assume new roles so teachers can become online tutors and students more autonomous learners. The final parameter, location, refers to the physical space were learning takes place. In addition to traditional locations such as classroom and home, new technologies can allow for learning to take place elsewhere, for example, in a virtual space measuring ideal athletes' performances and thus setting standards, or using virtual force platforms in teaching biomechanics of human movement patterns.


The present study was an attempt to create and validate a psychoeducational group for Juvenile Correctional Officers entitled LEADERS (Listening Empathically And Discerning Empathic Relationship Skills). The review of the literature cites the need for the development for psychoeducational training for Juvenile Correctional Officers. However, there is a paucity of studies that address this established need. Based on past research and clinical experience, a group protocol was created that addresses three main content areas: adolescent development, communication skills, and empathy training. The topics of correctional roles and stress/burnout were also included. Central to the conceptualization of the LEADERS program, group process was emphasized and included in the group design. Following the development of the LEADERS program, this group protocol was implemented in a Southeastern Regional Youth Detention Center. Thirty-one Juvenile Correctional Officers completed the LEADERS group. Four separate instruments were used to evaluate the LEADERS program: a correctional role measure, an empathy measure, a measure of social interest, and a group measure. The sample as a whole showed a statistically significant increase in Empathic Concern, which is a component of empathy, and each of the individual groups showed a statistically significant increase on at least on scale utilized for the purposes of this study. In addition, Social Interest was best predicted by the Perspective Taking component of empathy (as measured by the IRI). However, Social Interest was not related to the scores on the CRI. Results from the Critical Incidence Inventory suggest that the therapeutic factors of universality and imparting information were found to be most salient in the LEADERS groups. The small sample size in this study greatly limited the power of the inferential testing that was used to evaluate the group itself. However, through a combination of moderate and large effect sizes (and several more small effect sizes), along with the results from the group measure used in this study, additional work groupwork with correctional officers is warranted.


In this study, a novel methodology was developed using a specified aggregation-induced emission fluorogen (AIEgen) to monitor and quantify the complex bioaccumulation process in a microcosm aquatic ecosystem. Mercury ion (Hg2+) was used as the pollutant and Euglena gracilis as a representative algal species in water, to develop this new methodology for understanding the processes of bioaccumulation and biorelease of a heavy metal in algae. AIEgen can easily detect Hg2+ in the environment by the "turn-on" feature, and a relationship was built among photoluminescence (PL) intensity, AIEgen concentration, and Hg2+ concentration. The AIEgen was effectively used for quantifying Hg2+ concentration in the bioaccumulation process by reading the PL intensity of the solution. Bioaccumulation, bioaccumulation efficiency, and the ratio of Hg2+ in Euglena gracilis cells and the environment were carefully characterized by this novel method and the results were further validated with the existing well-established analytical method. The quantitative detection of Hg2+ absorption and release from the algae by the AIEgen demonstrates a novel, green, and sustainable approach to understand the dynamics of Hg2+ between aquatic organisms and the environment.


In this century, global warming is one of the biggest environmental problems which is always puzzling human being. The focus of this study was to determine the potential impact of climate change on water resources in the Auckland Region. The results showed that the total amount of CO2 in the air is increased by 16.6% since 1970. It is estimated to increase to 400 ppm by 2020 in the Auckland Region. The amount of CH4 and N2O were 1739 and 322 ppb (parts per billion), respectively, in 2006. The mean temperature has increased by 1.5°C over the last century. It is estimated that the future temperature of the Auckland Region will increase by 0.15°C by 2020. The results also showed that the average annual rainfall in the Region varied between 1241 and 1276 mm since 1925. Overall trend in sea level rise is 1.4 mm per year and it is estimated that it would increase to 1928 mm by 2020. From water resources perspective, the study showed no cause for alarm. Possible impacts that may especially affect water planning and project evaluation include changes in precipitation and runoff patterns, sea level rise, and land use and population shifts that may follow from these effects.


Most modern applications deal with very large amounts of data. Having to deal with such huge amounts of data is in itself a challenge. This challenge is complicated even more by the fact that, in many cases, this data is constantly changing and evolving. For instance, relational databases that handle the data of day-to-day transactional applications often have tables with very high data change rates. It is not uncommon to even have temporary or volatile tables that get created from scratch and completely dropped over the course of one query workload. This dissertation focuses on optimizing structured queries over dynamic and constantly changing data sets. Our work address this issue, and some of the challenges related to it. We address the issue of database statistics becoming stale and inaccurate due to constantly changing data. We introduce ways to automatically analyze the existing statistics and recommend and collect the necessary statistics to optimize a single query or a query workload. We introduce a mechanism to automate the recommendation and collection of statistical views for a given query workload. We also compare two methods of using these statistical views in selectivity estimation. We evaluate our methods and techniques with experimental studies using prototypes that we built into commercial database systems.


The current emphasis by the government of Nigeria on boosting . agricultural productivity
requires actors of the agricultural sector to develop sustainable agro-allied technologies that
could enhance the quality of crop-livestock products. Aflatoxin is reported to be a major
challenge of many legume and cereal value chains with potentially negative impacts on product
marketing, and the health of people and livestock. This study presents preliminary results of
pre-emptive measures being undertaken by the International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and national partners on the management of Aflatoxin
contamination in the Groundnut Value Chain in selected States of Northern Nigeria. A
combination of complementary approaches is being used to pre-empt aflatoxin contamination
in the groundnut value chain. These include, the organization of Training of Trainers (ToT)
workshops, development of aptitudes in the detection of aflatoxin levels, demonstration of onfarm
options for managing aflatoxin contamination, production of pedagogic materials to
support awareness raising campaigns, engagement of media organs to sustain awareness on the
challenges of aflatoxin contamination, and evaluation of aflatoxin groundnut resistant
genotypes. Above all, a total of 250 samples of groundnut and groundnut-based products have
been collected from 16 out of the 19 States in Northern Nigeria to determine the prevalence and
distribution of aflatoxin contamination. This paper presents progress on the outcomes of these
interventions.


Despite broad agreement among central bankers, policy-makers and economists that creation of a 'Banking Union' is essential for the survival of the euro, progress in building this union has been painfully slow. This is largely due to the protracted fights over which government will be the payer of last resort when banks fail because of bad loans made in the past. Taking a cue from Copernicus, Thomas Mayer suggests in this new CEPS Policy Brief that the impasse may be broken by turning the whole process on its head. So, instead of trying to move from common bank supervision, over to bank resolution and then on to deposit insurance, he proposes reversing the process by starting with deposit insurance, moving from there to resolution and ending with supervision.


This chapter reports the key findings of the European AVIDICUS 3 project,1 which focused on the use of video-mediated interpreting in legal settings across Europe. Whilst judicial and law enforcement authorities have turned to videoconferencing to minimise delays in legal proceedings, reduce costs and improve access to justice, research into the use of video links in legal proceedings has called for caution. Sossin and Yetnikoff (2007), for example, contend that the availability of financial resources for legal proceedings cannot be disentangled from the fairness of judicial decision-making. The Harvard Law School (2009: 1193) warns that, whilst the use of video links may eliminate delays, it may also reduce an individual's "opportunity to be heard in a meaningful manner". In proceedings that involve an interpreter, procedural fairness and "the opportunity to be heard in a meaningful manner" are closely linked to the quality of the interpretation. The use of video links in interpreter-mediated proceedings therefore requires a videoconferencing solution that provides optimal support for interpreting as a crucial prerequisite for achieving the ultimate goal, i.e. fairness of justice.
Against this backdrop, the main aim of AVIDICUS 3 was to identify institutional processes and practices of implementing and using video links in legal proceedings and to assess them in terms of how they accommodate and support bilingual communication mediated through an interpreter. The focus was on spoken-language interpreting. The project examined 12 European jurisdictions (Belgium, Croatia, England and Wales, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Spain and Sweden). An ethnographic approach was adopted to identify relevant practices, including site visits, in-depth and mostly in-situ interviews with over 100 representatives from different stakeholder groups, observations of real-life proceedings, and the analysis of a number of policy documents produced in the justice sector.
The chapter summarises and systematises the findings from the jurisdictions included in this study. The assessment focuses on the use of videoconferencing in both national and cross-border proceedings, and covers different applications of videoconferencing in the legal system, including its use for links between courts and remote participants (e.g. witnesses, defendants in prison) and its use to access interpreters who work offsite (see Braun 2015; Skinner, Napier & Braun in this volume).


This thesis discusses a series of experimental and theoretical studies on fast control and decoherence in superconducting quantum circuits. These two subjects are complementary aspects of the problem of improving the gate fidelities in quantum information processing devices based on superconducting circuits. In the first part of this thesis, we present experiments on fast control of a superconducting flux qubit using strong driving. We explore driving with short pulses and a driving strength significantly exceeding the transition frequency. The observed dynamics is described in terms of quasienergies and quasienergy states, in agreement with Floquet theory. We observe the role of pulse shaping in the dynamics, as determined by non-adiabatic transitions between Floquet states. In addition, based on adiabatic perturbation theory in the Floquet picture, we propose a control scheme for fast and high-fidelity single-qubit operations with strong driving. These results pave the way to quantum control with a fidelity beyond the threshold of fault-tolerant quantum computation. In the second part of this thesis, we discuss experimental methods and present the characterization of decoherence in superconducting resonators and superconducting qubits. Firstly, we present an analysis method on the measurements of photon loss in superconducting resonators. We use this method to characterize the microwave loss of aluminum oxide, an important material in superconducting circuits. The power and temperature dependence of the measured loss is consistent with loss due to two-level defects in amorphous materials. Secondly, we present experimental results on decoherence and noise spectroscopy of a superconducting flux qubit. Using the qubit as a noise spectrometer, we perform detailed measurements on the power spectral density of the flux noise in superconducting circuits over a wide range of frequencies, from 10−3 to 10 Hz, and over a temperature range from 35 to 130 mK. We also present measurements of frequency and temperature dependence of the qubit energy relaxation.


Four types of media [coir, 1 coir: 1 peat (by volume), peat, and sandy loam soil] were evaluated for their effects on plant growth and nitrate (NO 3 - )leaching in the production of oriental lilies (Lilium L.) 'Starfighter' and 'Casa Blanca'. Twenty-five bulbs were planted in perforated plastic crates and placed on the ground in temperature-controlled greenhouses. The potential for NO 3 - leaching was determined by placing an ion-exchange resin (IER) bag under each crate at the beginning of the study. After plant harvest (14 to 16 weeks), resin bags were collected and analyzed for NO 3 - content. Plant tissues were dried, ground, and analyzed for N content. Results indicated that the use of coir and peat did not significantly influence plant growth (shoot dry weight) relative to the use of sandy loam soil; however, substrate type influenced the amount of NO 3 - leached through the media and N accumulation in the shoots for 'Starfighter', but not 'Casa Blanca'.


This study examines the influence of DNA evidence on prosecutorial decisions in sexual assault cases. Thirty-eight prosecutors experienced with prosecuting sexual violence cases were surveyed regarding the use of biological evidence in sexual assault cases, including the ways in which it is generally used, the cases in which it is most critical to have, and factors impacting case attrition. Results indicate that prosecutors perceive DNA evidence to be extremely valuable in prosecuting sexual assault cases. Several themes related to the perspective, context, process, and conditions under which DNA evidence plays a vital role in sexual assault case processing are identified.


The bark of black spruce was thermo-mechanically refined and used to manufacture binderless bark-based fiberboard with various pressing temperatures, times, and panel structures in order to utilize an abundant bark resource for a better value-added application. The test results indicated that it is technically feasible to manufacture binderless fiberboard with refined black spruce bark through self-bonding under elevated temperatures over a reasonable period of pressing time. Binderless bark-based fiberboards with a homogeneous structure had very poor flexural properties due to the poor strength of bark itself; however, by using a sandwich structure with 30wt% wood fiber in the surface layers and 70wt% bark in the core layer it was possible to sufficiently improve panel flexural properties so that the manufactured binderless bark-based fiberboards was able to meet the mechanical property requirements of 115-grade fiberboard according to ANSI A208.2 (2009). Refining conditions had a great impact on the mechanical properties of binderless bark-based fiberboard.


Quantitative tools are needed to characterize active clusters in three-dimensional brain activity maps that result from statistical parametric mapping of fMRI time-series images. Extracting volumetric features contributes unique quantitative information not yet available with existing software packages. In this work, we present an algorithm that counts clusters and assigns each a numerical identifier. The results of this algorithm were then used to calculate various volumetric features. This algorithm was developed using MATLAB and applied to three regions of interest (ROI) and their homologues: The Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (LIFG), the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus (RIFG), the Left Middle Frontal Gyrus (LMFG), the Right Middle Frontal Gyrus (RMFG), the Left Superior Temporal Gyrus defined by Brodmann's areas 21, 22 and 39 (Left Wernicke's area) and Right homologue to Wernicke's area. These regions process distinct expressive and receptive aspects of language. This algorithm shows robustness and scalability to regions of different shapes and sizes.


Open innovation is a paradigm for knowledge sourcing among organizations. Extant literature argues that organizations should take advantage of both external and internal ideas for innovation in organizations. For open innovation to be effective, however, organizations must be able to source knowledge to partners as well absorb the ideas and knowledge from external parties. It is critical to share the knowledge in the organization, and then both the external and internal knowledge can be applied to help the business. We argue that information systems (IS) play a key role in assimilation of knowledge and are critical to adoption of open innovation. In this research, we investigate how IS can facilitate the adoption of open innovations and knowledge sharing, and whether knowledge sharing affects organizational research and development (R&D) performance. In this Research-in-Progress we will test our research model with a matched-pair response survey involving two respondents from each organization. We expect that IS strategies will have direct effect on the level of open innovation adoption and that knowledge sharing will play a mediating role between open innovation and R&D performance.


As the demand for energy in general and renewable energy in particular grows, so does the wind energy industry. As the more easily accessible sites available for wind turbines are exhausted, new sites must be found elsewhere. Therefore, offshore wind farms have to be built further from shore, leaving them more exposed to rough weather and less accessible for maintenance. Traveling times and the cost of maintenance are both increased. This increases the potential for savings and the importance of proper routing and scheduling of maintenance vessels. In this thesis a model for such routing and scheduling is developed. It allows for leaving maintenance technicians at wind turbines to pick them up later, which gives it a structure similar to a pickup-and-delivery problem with time windows. Maintenance operations are divided into two classes, corrective and preventive maintenance. The model includes time-dependent downtime costs, and the preventive operations create some extra challenges when it comes to modeling since costs are dependent on both start and end time of the operation. Two alternative approaches for solving the wind turbine maintenance routing problem are explored, an arc-flow and a path-flow formulation. Both models are tested on instances of varying number of vessels and operations. The arc-flow model is solved with commercial software using branch-and-bound. The path-flow model is solved using a labeling algorithm to enumerate feasible paths and using dominance to eliminate less promising paths, before selecting the optimal paths by solving a set partitioning problem. The path-flow model is not exact for instances involving preventive operations, but produces objective function values at or very close to optimum. Both methods are able to solve small and medium-sized instances in satisfactory time, and the path-flow heuristic is substantially quicker and can handle a few more maintenance operations than the arc-flow model.


An attempt has been made in this paper to determine the factors which resulted in preference for Institutional and Non-Institutional deliveries in slum areas of Shillong city. Cross-sectional study was conducted in slums of Shillong City. From a total of 17605 slum dwellers distributed in different proportions in sixteen wards in Shillong city a representative sample of 1300 slum households was selected from thirty one localities using an appropriate statistical formula. From these 1300 households 1417 women were identified as married women eligible for the study. Information of 1417 married women was analyzed to interpret the place of delivery of slum women in relation to respondent's religion education occupation family income age at marriage etc. SAS/STAT software was used to analyze the data. The method is based on the well-known statistical technique of factor analysis by which we essentially find out the principal component of the group consisting of various indicators in descending order of their importance. Results from factor analysis show that the total number of ever born children demand for male child economic status and customs and religious practices influence both institutional and non-institutional deliveries.


Innovations in healthcare have led to survival of a higher proportion of critically-ill, elderly and immuno-compromised patients. Intravascular devices (IVDs) are indispensable in providing safe, reliable vascular access and continuous haemodynamic monitoring of these patients in the intensive care unit. Unfortunately, many healthcare-acquired or nosocomial infections in severely ill patients can be caused by the very medical devices that are implanted to provide life-sustaining care.
IVDs comprising peripheral arterial catheters (ACs), non-tunnelled short-term central venous catheters (CVCs) and peripherally-inserted central catheters (PICCs) breach the skin and provide a potential avenue for external micro-organisms to invade the tissue or bloodstream. All IVDs are associated with a risk of both local and systemic catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI).
Few studies have been conducted on colonization rates of ACs and their potential to cause CRBSI. Therefore, in a preliminary study, we compared the colonization rates of ACs with CVCs which were concurrently managed in a defined cohort of patients. This study revealed that both AC colonization and CRBSI rates were comparable to those in concurrently-sited and identically managed CVCs. Therefore, ACs should be accorded the same degree of importance as CVCs as a potential source of sepsis. This observation led to the development of 3 studies to critically examine a number of aspects of this problem.
Study 1: To determine the predominant mechanism of ACs colonization by comparing ACs accessing frequency to colonization rate
Study 2: To determine the degree of microbial colonization on the external and internal surfaces of concurrently-sited IVDs and to establish if microbial growth is greater on a particular segment of the IVDs at the time of removal.
Study 3: To determine the degrees of concordance of nursing care and management of IVDs with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and institutional protocols, and how the deficit in adherence to these protocols may impact on IVD colonization.
There are currently three explanations for the process of microbial colonization in IVDs. The first suggests colonization by micro- organisms occurs on the outside of the catheter, either via downward colonization of micro-organisms from the patient's skin surface on the outside surface of the catheter, or via upward colonization where the micro-organisms are inoculated on the tip of the IVD at the time of insertion. The second suggests micro-organisms are introduced via the inside surface of the IVD, either via a contaminated infusate, or via contamination of the port or hub connected to the IVD. The third suggests that microorganisms are disseminated from some other part of the patient's body, and carried via the bloodstream to both the inside and outside surfaces of the catheter.
A common assumption is that the more frequently an IVD is accessed, the greater the likelihood of contamination and colonization. My first study sought to determine if accessing frequency had an influence on the rate of colonization in ACs, thereby testing the influence of the second mechanism (i.e. contamination of hub or infusate) on IVD colonization. In this study we used some of the data from the prior surveillance cohort with additional data collection. No significant differences were found between the rates of accessing the ACs and their colonization when adjusted for confounding, continuous variables. Accessing frequency of an AC did not appear to be a major predisposing factor for the likelihood of colonization, suggesting that the second mechanism of IVD colonization via the intra-luminal route was less common in the context of reasonable application of aseptic practices.
My next study focused on determining the degree of microbial colonization on the external and internal surfaces of concurrently-sited IVDs, and to establish if a relative difference in microbial growth existed on a particular segment of the IVD at the time of removal. This involved determining the colony count at six different sites on each individual IVD, allowing repeated-measures comparison of each IVD with itself. Degree of colonization was greatest at the proximal, external surface of the intravascular segment of all IVD types compared to the middle or distal segments. Overall degree of colonization on the IVDs' internal surfaces was also less than on the external surfaces. This suggests that the wound site created by IVD insertion may be a significant source of colonization and CRBSI. This finding raised the question if IVD wound-site care practices might contribute to the likelihood of colonization.
It is apparent that IVD colonization is caused by multiple factors, one being the environment in which these IVDs are managed and cared for on a daily basis. Practice guidelines and institutional infection control protocols provide a reference point for nurses involved with the care and management of IVDs to implement best practice. However, little is known about how closely nurses adhered to the guidelines and protocols when caring and managing IVDs, and if any variations in practice contributes to increased microbial colonization in IVDs.
Therefore, the final study sought to determine the degree of concordance of current nursing practice to evidence-based practice guidelines, as a proxy for actual adherence to protocols, and how partial or non-adherence to protocols may impact on colonization. This study showed that there was less than ideal adherence to practice protocols, and that for some aspects of practice, adherence to protocol by intensive care unit nurses (who manage IVD care daily), was less than those who had less experience of IVD care. Clearly, nurses had different preferences for sourcing advice and information about IVD care practices. Future research would be required to determine whether this differential adherence to protocols and guidelines was associated with poorer outcomes, better outcomes, or no outcome differences.
In summary, the major findings of this work are:
1) Establishing that AC colonization rates and CRBSI rates were similar to CVCs, reiterating the need to accord the same degree of importance to ACs as CVCs as a potential source of sepsis.
2) Dispelling the notion that the more frequently an IVD is accessed, the greater the likelihood of contamination and colonization.
3) IVD colonization via the intra-luminal route was less common when compared to the mechanism of microbial colonization on the external surface of the IVD.
4) Microbial colonization is heaviest on the external surface of the proximal segment of all IVD types compared to the middle or distal segments, and that overall degree of colonization on the IVDs' internal surfaces was also less than on the external surfaces.
5) Discrepancies in concordance between the CDC guidelines and current nursing practice exist
6) A knowledge-practice gap exists because the access to evidence-based protocols intended to provide vital information and guide nursing practice may be hindered by the choice of end-users who may not use these protocols.


The impact of computer systems that can understand natural language will be tremendous. To develop this capability we need to be able to automatically and efficiently analyze large amounts of text. Manually devised rules are not sufficient to provide coverage to handle the complex structure of natural language, necessitating systems that can automatically learn from examples. To handle the flexibility of natural language, it has become standard practice to use statistical models, which assign probabilities for example to the different meanings of a word or the plausibility of grammatical constructions. This book develops a general coarse-to-fine framework for learning and inference in large statistical models for natural language processing. Coarse-to-fine approaches exploit a sequence of models which introduce complexity gradually. At the top of the sequence is a trivial model in which learning and inference are both cheap. Each subsequent model refines the previous one, until a final, full-complexity model is reached. Applications of this framework to syntactic parsing, speech recognition and machine translation are presented, demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach in terms of accuracy and speed. The book is intended for students and researchers interested in statistical approaches to Natural Language Processing. Slavs workCoarse-to-Fine Natural Language Processing represents a major advance in the area of syntactic parsing, and a great advertisement for the superiority of the machine-learning approach. Eugene Charniak (Brown University)


Regionally traceable paleosols in the lower Moodies Group of the Barberton greenstone belt (ca. 3.22 Ga, northeastern South Africa and Swaziland) contain locally abundant silicified nodules, originally composed of pedogenic carbonates and sulfates, interbedded with heavy-mineral laminae dominated by pyrite. Pyrite grains show rounded detrital cores and secondary idiomorphic rims with trace element concentrations and δ 34 S ratios clearly different from those of the cores. While cores have low Co and Ni concentrations and high Co/Ni ratios, rims show as much as 5.5 wt% of these elements and low Co/Ni ratios, reflecting the weathering of nearby ultramafic rocks. In-situ sulfur isotope analyses of pyrite cores show δ 34 S VCDT (Vienna Canyon Diablo troilite) values between +5‰ and −5‰, while the rims show δ 34 S VCDT values between −20‰ and −24.5‰, suggesting biogenic fractionation of sulfur. The close spatial association and microtextural evidence for nearly contemporaneous formation of the pedogenic sulfate nodules and the secondary pyrite rims suggests microbial processing of sulfur in the paleosols, which provided reduced and 34 S-depleted sulfur for the growth of authigenic pyrite. This indicates that vadose-zone soil-forming processes in the Archean involved not only physical and chemical modification of moist, unconsolidated sediment in a terrestrial environment but also already included its microbiological modification.


A feeding trial was conducted to enhance the utilization of Gliricidia sepium (Kakawate) and Samanea saman (Acacia) as protein supplement for goats. Fifteen (is) dairy goats of Saanen breed were randomly allotted to three rations: Ration 1 -grass and Gliricidia leaf meal at SO% of the ration on dry matter basis; Ration 2 - grass and Samanea leaf meal at 50% of dry matter ration; and Ration 3 - grass plus concentrate (control). The milk yield of goats fed with concentrates was higher than that of those fed without concentrates, however milk yield means of the three treatments did not differ significantly (P>0.05). Milk composition of goats fed different rations also showed no significant difference, although milk obtained from goats fed concentrate supplementation had the lowest protein and the highest butterfat. Income over feed cost was favorable in treatment groups feeding on leaf meals (P15.46 and P16.04) than that of those feeding on concentrates (P9.84). All the rations were profitable assuming that feed cost represents 60% of the total cost to produce a liter of milk.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major cause of progressive joint damage and disability, and is associated with decline in quality of life, reduced ability to work and increased health care utilisation. The economic consequences of the disease are substantial for the individuals and their families and for the society as a whole. This thesis describes a 5-year follow up of 320 patients with early RA, enrolled between January 1996 and April 1998 in the Swedish multi-centre inception cohort TIRA (early interventions in rheumatoid arthritis). Health status, function and costs were investigated. Predictors of high costs were calculated, and an algorithm was constructed to predict future need for TNFinhibitor treatment in patients not responding to traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Clinical and laboratory data, measures of functional capacity and self-reported assessments were collected regularly. In addition, patients completed biannual/annual questionnaires concerning all health care utilisation and days lost from work due to the disease. Within 3 months, improvements were seen regarding all variables assessing disease activity and functional ability, but 15% of the patients had sustained high or moderate disease activity throughout the study period. The scores of 'health assessment questionnaire' (HAQ) were similar for men and women at baseline, but had a less favourable course in women, who also had DMARDs more frequently prescribed. Ambulatory care accounted for 76% of the direct costs during the first year. Women had more ambulatory care visits and higher usage of complementary medicine compared to men. Men ≥65 years had low costs compared to younger men and compared to women of all ages. In multiple logistic regression tests, HAQ, high levels of IgM-class rheumatoid factor (RF), and poor hand function increased the odds of incurring high direct costs. Poor hand function and pain increased the odds of incurring high indirect costs. Indirect costs exceeded direct costs all three years. The average direct costs were €3,704 (US$ 3,297) year 1 and €2,652 (US$ 2,360) year 3. All costs decreased over the years, except those for medication and surgery. The indirect costs were €8,871 (US$ 7,895) year 1 and remained essentially unchanged, similarly for both sexes. More than 50% were on sick leave or early retirement at inclusion. Sick leave decreased but was offset by increase in early retirement. 14 patients (5%) were prescribed TNF-inhibitors at the 3- year follow up, thus increasing drug costs substantially. However, they incurred higher costs even before prescription of anti-TNF therapy. At the 5-year follow-up (2001-2003), 31 patients (12%) were prescribed TNFinhibitors. Baseline values of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, anti-CCP antibodies and morning stiffness were significantly higher in this group. These patients were also to a larger extent RF-positive and carriers of the 'shared epitope' (SE). Anti-TNF treated patients were significantly younger and more often women. For men, a predictive model was constructed using baseline data including SE+ and IgA-RF >100 U/L and anti-CCP >240 U/L yielding a specificity of 98% and a sensitivity of 71%. For women, disease activity score (DAS28) at the 3-month follow-up proved to be a better predictor, and the final model comprised SE+ and 3-month DAS28>5.2, giving a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 59%.


A family-based substance abuse prevention program was evaluated which emphasizes family cohesion, school and peer attachment, self-esteem, and attitudes about adolescent use of alcohol and tobacco. The program was implemented in rural communities and targeted families with students entering middle or junior high school. Baseline surveys were conducted with students and parents in four schools and were readministered one year later. Because the program was voluntary, a quasi-experimental design was used to compare participants (29 students and 28 parents) and nonparticipants (268 students and 134 parents). Analyses of covariance indicated that student participants, as compared to nonparticipants, had higher family cohesion, less family fighting, greater school attachment, higher self-esteem, and believed that alcohol should be consumed at an older age at the one year follow-up. There were fewer significant results for parent participants. Strategies for involving parents in prevention programs are discussed.


This comprehensive and up-to-date book explains the economic rationale behind the production, delivery and exchange of electricity. Creti and Fontini explain why electricity markets exist, outlining the economic principles behind the exchange and supply of power to consumers and firms. They identify the specificities of electricity, as compared to other goods, and furthermore suggest how markets should be optimally designed to produce and deliver electricity effectively and efficiently. The authors also address key issues, including how electricity can be decarbonized. Written in a technical yet accessible style, this book will appeal to readers studying power system economics and the economics of electricity, as well as those more generally interested in energy economics, including engineering and management students looking to gain an understanding of electricity market analysis.


The purpose of this investigation was to study and determine types of objectives selected by teachers of beginning speech courses in Western Kansas high schools and to compare these selections with those of certain college speech instructors. An information blank was employed to obtain data from 44 high school speech teachers. Thirteen instructors from colleges and universities in Kansas and bordering states participated in the study also. Sixty percent of the high school group returned completed information sheets, while 50 percent of the college instructors supplied data. Institutions and personnel participating comprised a representative sample of the population. Analysis of the completed information blanks revealed that almost half of both groups in the study attempted to pursue each of the 21 objectives listed in the information blank. To help the student realize the key role effective speech can play in his life was the single objective ranked most frequently as being of prime importance to a basic course in speech. Objectives dealing with course outcomes and purposes were rated as being the most important objective types by high school teachers. Purpose type objectives were believed to be of most importance by the college group. Teachers having both speech and general method training felt outcome objectives to be of prime value, while teachers experiencing only one type or no method training voted course purpose objectives most important. Inspection of the total times each type of objective appeared in the top five ranks exposed outcome type objectives as being most important to a majority of the high school and college participants. It would appear from evidence provided by the study that the majority of speech teachers attempt to fulfill a multiplicity of goals in teaching a fundamental speech course. Furthermore, study data suggests that the objective, To help the student realize the key role effective speech can play in his life is of prime importance to a substantial number of speech teachers. It was concluded also that teachers and instructors believe types of objectives dealing with course purposes and course outcomes are most important. Finally, the study indicated a definite relationship between the amount of methods training experiences by the teacher and the type of objective he felt to be most important.


This thesis approaches the contemporary horror film from a number of directions. Firstly, it is considered in relation to the historical roots of horror fiction, the tradition of the literary Gothic which stretches back as far as the late eighteenth century. The same chapter elaborates the broad outline of a methodology, drawing upon an established body of genre theory in both literary and film studies, which is then applied to the gradual diffusion of the Gothic legacy into the related genres of detective stories/thrillers, horror, and science-fiction, the inter-relatedness of these three genres forming part of the cultural context for modern horror. Chapter 3 considers Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) in relation to the structures and iconography of the original Gothic, and in the light of its fusion of conventions drawn from the horror film and the thriller. Chapter 4 compares this film with a similarly influential movie - Halloween - made almost two decades later, assessing some of the changes which the genre has undergone in the intervening period. The following five chapters (5-9) discuss a number of films of the period 1968 - 80, paying particular attention to works that have figured prominently in the established critical literarure around the genre, both as an appraisal of existing approaches and as an indication of the immediate context for developments over the last decade. The remaining four chapters (10 - 13) consider some developments of the 1980's, disputing the critical construction of the "body horror" category and providing an account of the horror-comedies which have generally been neglected by critics. The conclusion involves a synthesis of the material covered and a return to the Gothic tradition in order to conceptually situate the findings. There is an extensive biblography involving a variety of material ranging from popular magazines and newspapers to influential academic works, drawn more or less equally from the fields of literary criticism and film studies.


The emergence of intelligent technologies, sophisticated natural language processing methodologies and huge textual repositories, invites a new approach for the challenge of automatically identifying personality dimensions through the analysis of textual data. This short book aims to (1) introduce the challenge of computational personality analysis, (2) present a unique approach to personality analysis and (3) illustrate this approach through case studies and worked-out examples. This book is of special relevance to psychologists, especially those interested in the new insights offered by new computational and data-intensive tools, and to computational social scientists interested in human personality and language processing.


Counterfactual thinking typically follows an unexpected event and involves the mental simulation of an alternative outcome which can be either better or worse than the original one. In general, exceptional and controllable events are selected for change over those that are routine and uncontrollable, and actions are likely to be changed over inactions. Importantly an individual's social role is thought to be critical in determining what is changed and how. Counterfactual thoughts have been associated with causal thinking and more recently with missed opportunities to prevent an unwanted outcome.

Accidents at work are unwanted outcomes and are likely to generate counterfactual thoughts. As slips and trips continue to cause a significant number of injuries they are the focus of this research. Safety Professionals, Managers and Accident Subjects are most commonly involved in accident investigations and the study asks whether their different social roles or the type of accident influences how they use counterfactual, prevention and causal thoughts.

612 respondents were recruited representing Safety Professionals, Managers and Accident Subjects. After reading a slip or trip scenario they completed a counterfactual, prevention and causal sentence and these were analysed against 14 structural dimensions, seven of which were used for the first time in this study.

The respondent's job group and the type of accident were found to influence certain structural dimensions of the counterfactual, prevention and causal thoughts more than others. The respondent's job group strongly influenced counterfactual direction, and the addition or subtraction of antecedents based on actions or inactions, whilst the type of accident strongly influenced the temporal location of the antecedent.

Norm Theory (Kahneman & Miller, 1986) proposed that exceptional antecedents were selected for counterfactual change and a categorisation of types of exceptional events has been developed and applied in this study.

The implications of these types of thoughts by Safety Professionals, Managers and Accident Subjects are considered.


Temporal variations in the amplitude of a sound waveform are an essential information-bearing attribute of all natural sounds. Temporal cues are critical for basic auditory percepts of pitch, rhythm and timbre and are essential for sound recognition and speech intelligibility. In this study, we examined the neuronal representation to modulated broadband noises in the cat central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CNIC), a structure believed to be crucial for encoding temporal cues. Traditional models for temporal coding in the IC assume that sound periodicity information is represented either by the firing discharge of tuned modulation filters or synchrony in the discharge pattern. Although IC neurons exhibit tuning to amplitude modulations, this model is limited because it does not account for how non-periodic yet important features of sounds such as the envelope shape are encoded. To address this, we developed a sound paradigm that allows us to study how envelope periodicity and shape temporal cues are concurrently encoded in the CNIC. We demonstrate that sustained and onset neuronal responses are complementary response patterns by which CNIC neurons can encode envelope shape and repetition information in natural sounds. We examine the role of precise spike timing and firing reliability using information theoretic and shuffled correlogram techniques. Spike timing precision extends from sub-microseconds for brief transient sounds up to tens of milliseconds for sounds with slowly varying envelope shape. Surprisingly, spike-timing precision is largely independent of the sound periodicity a prominent cue for pitch. In contrast, firing reliability decreased systematically with increasing periodicity. This suggest that single neurons employ a proportional spike timing code in which spike-timing precision co-varies with the sound envelope shape and reliability co-varies with the periodicity to provide an efficient representation of the stimulus. Overall, these findings demonstrate that sound envelope shape and periodicity greatly impact the spike-timing precision, firing reliability, and consequently, the temporal discharge pattern of IC neurons in a manner that allows for efficient and complementary temporal codes.


This paper examines whether the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments caused the decline in ambient concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) in California over the 1990–2000 period. Consistent with previous studies, we find that PM10 nonattainment status at the county level is not a significant factor in explaining the reductions in PM10. However, when we allow for spatially heterogeneous treatment effects within nonattainment counties, and incorporate measures of community characteristics, climate, geography, transboundary pollution, and industrial composition and scale, we find that nonattainment designations at the city level account for a 6% reduction in ambient PM10 concentrations. (JEL Q53, Q58)