The effective stress principle, conventionally applied in saturated soils, is reviewed for constitutive modelling purposes. The assumptions for the applicability of Terzaghi's single effective stress are recalled and its advantages are inventoried. The possible stress frameworks applicable to unsaturated soil modelling are reassessed in a comparative manner, specifically the Bishop's single effective stress, the independent stress variables approach and the generalized stress framework. The latter considerations lead to the definition of a unified stress context, suitable for modelling soils under different saturation states. In order to qualify the implications brought by the proposed stress framework, several experimental data sets are re‐examined in the light of the generalized effective stress. The critical state lines (CSLs) at different saturation states tend to converge remarkably towards a unique saturated line in the deviatoric stress versus mean effective stress plane. The effective stress interpretation is also applied to isotropic paths and compared with conventional net stress conception. The accent is finally laid on a second key feature for constitutive frameworks based on a unified stress, namely the sufficiency of a unique mechanical yield surface besides the unique CSL. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The discovery in the 1980's of local brittle zones (LBZ's) in and near the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the fabrication welds in certain offshore platform steels caused great concern among the engineers and welding specialists of the period and led directly to the preparation and adoption of API RP2Z in May 1987 of Recommended Practice for Preproduction Qualification for Steel Plates for Offshore Structures. This recommended practice describes a procedure by which steel producers could prequalify their product in advance of purchase and delivery and thereby reduce the risk of steel plate being delivered to the jobsite which would exhibit weldability problems from the standpoint of low HAZ toughness or HAZ cracking problems when using typical and conventional welding procedures, i.e., the need for extensive fracture toughness testing by the fabricator on each weld procedure was eliminated in favor of a more sophisticated one-time test program in the laboratory of the producer. This recommended practice covers two areas: (1) testing weld HAZ for toughness using CTOD tests and (2) delayed cracking tests using the controlled thermal severity test (CTS) and Y-groove test. This RP was developed for use with API steel specifications 2H, 2Y, and 2W. Most of the effort has been toward the quantification of API 2Y and 2W steels in thicker sections = 4 (100 mm). This program has been scientifically successful albeit with a significant penalty of time and cost to the steel producer. There has been sufficient standardization that various purchasers have and will accept the same qualification performed previously for another job. This, of course, is exactly what API standards are intended to accomplish. API RP2Z was revised in 1992 and is currently being reviewed for a second revision intended to reduce some of the conservatism built into the original document by our lack of full understanding of the embrittling mechanisms in the HAZ of welded structural steels but now strongly supported by a substantial data base of good material. The paper discusses some of the proposed changes and contains data on the currently achievable fracture toughness levels.


The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), attacks a wide variety of crops but tends to prefer gramineous plants. Most of the research on plant stress by this insect has focused on field corn, grain sorghum, and Bermuda grass. During vegetative plant growth stages, larvae primarily consume leaf mass which indirectly affects yield in grain crops by reducing photosynthetic leaf area. Injury of seeding plants also may damage or destroy meristematic tissue resulting in reduced plant stands or modified plant architecture. Forage crops and vegetative-stage grain crops can tolerate moderate to large levels of defoliation before significant yield loss occurs. The fall armyworm also will directly damage developing grain of corn and grain sorghum. Quantitative studies of plant stress have permitted the calculation of economic injury levels for Bermuda grass and whorl-stage corn and grain sorghum. Plant stress by the fall armyworm in other crops has received little attention. Research is needed to quantify crop response to fall armyworm injury where quantitative data are lacking and to provide additional data where quantitative results are available. This research should take an agronomic approach that includes detailed measurements of plant growth throughout the entire growing season.


Under PASPA, disfavored States are bereft of options to address sports gambling within their borders. States without sanctuary under PASPA's grandfather clause can either (i) do nothing in a pressing area of concern or (ii) be susceptible to repeated regulatory litigation initiated by private actors. Such a Hobson's choice is unconstitutional.
The parties have positioned this case for resolution on anti-commandeering grounds under New York and Printz. Such positioning is misplaced. PASPA differs markedly from the statutes invalidated in New York and Printz. Through PASPA, Congress has directed States not to legislatively address sports gambling, while effectively leaving the regulatory enforcement of PASPA's decree to self-interested private parties. Also, via a grandfather clause, PASPA mandates that its ban on sports gambling only applies to certain States. This type of "outsourced commandeering" that applies in some States, but not others, puts PASPA in an unconstitutional territory far removed from New York and Printz.
Beyond PASPA's two-pronged unconstitutionality under the equal sovereignty doctrine and the private nondelegation doctrine, the district court also erroneously granted injunctive relief to non-litigant third parties. The lower court's misinterpretation of PASPA's text presents the Court with a nonconstitutional option to resolve the case, as the underlying injunction should be vacated and the case remanded. Amicus curiae submits that these alternatives provide the Court with the framework for deciding this case.


Self-hashing has been proposed as a technique for verifying software integrity. Appealing aspects of this approach to software tamper resistance include the promise of being able to verify the integrity of software independent of the external support environment, as well as the ability to integrate code protection mechanisms automatically. In this paper, we show that the rich functionality of most modern general-purpose processors (including UltraSparc, x86, PowerPC, AMD64, Alpha, and ARM) facilitate an automated, generic attack which defeats such self-hashing. We present a general description of the attack strategy and multiple attack implementations that exploit different processor features. Each of these implementations is generic in that it can defeat self-hashing employed by any user-space program on a single platform. Together, these implementations defeat self-hashing on most modern general-purpose processors. The generality and efficiency of our attack suggests that self-hashing is not a viable strategy for high-security tamper resistance on modern computer systems.


Language demonstrates structure while also showing considerable variation at all levels: languages differ from one another while still being shaped by the same principles; utterances within a language differ from one another while exhibiting the same structural patterns; languages change over time, but in fairly regular ways. This book focuses on the dynamic processes that create languages and give them their structure and variance. It outlines a theory of language that addresses the nature of grammar, taking into account its variance and gradience, and seeks explanation in terms of the recurrent processes that operate in language use. The evidence is based on the study of large corpora of spoken and written language, what we know about how languages change, as well as the results of experiments with language users. The result is an integrated theory of language use and language change which has implications for cognitive processing and language evolution.


Investigations involving laser-based sampling of copper into an auxiliary pulsed glow discharge for ionization and excitation are presented. The interaction of the ablated copper with the auxiliary glow discharge was studied by monitoring the copper atom emission signal at 368.744 nm. Results demonstrate the ability to time ablation appropriately to access specific temporal regions of the pulsed plasma. More specifically, laser-ablated material was introduced into the glow discharge negative glow during the afterpeak. Ionization and excitation was accomplished by collisions with a metastable argon population produced by the glow discharge (Penning ionization) followed by recombination to yield excited-state Cu atoms. The work presented investigates parameters that affect the atomic emission signal intensity of the ablated material, including cathode-to-target distance, discharge gas pressure, and relative timing of discharge and ablation. Results demonstrate that decreasing the glow discharge working gas pressure increases the transport efficiency of laser-ablated material into the negative glow. These investigations are part of an ongoing series of studies on sample introduction schemes that utilize different ionization and excitation mechanisms found in pulsed glow discharge plasmas.


Across the United States, at least 1,600 local governments in 40 states have enacted stormwater fees since the mid-1960s. Many of these local governments enacted stormwater fees to finance costly infrastructure upgrades required by increasingly stringent federal and state regulation of stormwater systems and combined sewer overflows. The sustained spread of stormwater fees across the United States over the past five decades reflects a significant shift of fiscal responsibility for operating, maintaining, and improving key public infrastructure systems to the local level. This dissertation investigates the emergence, diffusion, and form of stormwater fees enacted by local governments in the United States over the past 50 years. Structured by several theoretical frameworks and utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, this research identifies key vertical and horizontal intergovernmental dynamics influencing the enactment of stormwater fees by local governments across the country. While underscoring the strong influence that federal and state regulation of municipal stormwater systems has played in popularizing stormwater fees among local governments in the United States, my research also highlights the crucial role that state-level statutory law, case law, and administrative approaches have had on expanding or contracting the options local governments have for implementing stormwater fees individually within their own jurisdictions and collectively across metropolitan regions. My case studies of stormwater fee form suggest that the challenges to broadly scoped collective action characterizing stormwater management and finance in highly fragmented metropolitan regions may present transaction cost barriers too high to be surmounted without coercive intervention from a higher level of government, but that collective action of more limited scope can be achieved in relatively self-organized manner. This research also demonstrates the enduring and important role that consulting firms and professional industry associations have played in influencing stormwater fee enactment by local governments across the United States over the past half-century.


"What sort of combination of hypocrite and paradox is John Kerry?" ask the authors in this heated critique of the Democratic presidential candidate's Vietnam--era military service and antiwar activism. O'Neill, a lawyer and swift boat veteran, and Corsi, an expert on Vietnam antiwar movements, argue that Kerry misrepresented his wartime exploits and is therefore incompetent to serve as commander in chief. Buttressed by interviews with Navy veterans who patrolled Vietnam's waters, some along with Kerry, the book claims he exaggerated minor injuries, self-inflicted others, wrote fictitious diary entries and filed "phony" reports of his heroism under fire--all in a calculated quest to secure career-enhancing combat medals. They also maintain that Kerry, whom they call a "moral coward," committed atrocities that alarmed his peers and superior officers during his four-month tour of duty. Yet his activities on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War clearly raises the authors' hackles the most, and they present Kerry's post-war actions as additional, damning evidence of his "total unfitness," claiming that his testimony against the war "caused more deaths and prolonged the war in Vietnam by undermining support at home and contributing directly to a Vietnamese Communist victory." The battle that lies at the heart of this book is the decades-old feud between antiwar veterans and their my-country-right-or-wrong counterparts. The authors' conservative take on the war is palpable: the U.S. military failed to unleash "massive, indiscriminate bombing" to force North Vietnam's capitulation; the conflict was a struggle against communism, not a civil war; and the dissenting soldiers undermined homefront morale. Consequently, this overwrought and repetitive polemic seethes with a resentment that compromises the otherwise eyebrow-raising testimonies. Further, without access to Kerry's full military and medical records, the authors rely heavily on 35-year-old recollections and recent Kerry biographies by Douglas Brinkley and a Boston Globe reporting team. Those looking for a thorough, unbiased investigation into Kerry's wartime record would do best to wait for more objective, methodical chroniclers who have access to the relevant documents.


Values of various impacts associated with the concrete bridges in the State of Washington as related to the operation of trucks with configurations as proposed by Francis C. Turner have been determined. These cost estimates are presented in matrix form and are based on permutations involving four basic Turner prototype trucks, a range of values for the bridge design life and a range of values for bridge live load overload. The various cost estimates were compiled for a population of 2024 concrete bridges and were based on the assumption that each bridge in the population had a controlling maximum length simple span which was used in a failure criterion. The largest value of the cost estimate for the replacement of all deficient bridges in the population is 2.643 billion dollars, which resulted from the calculations involving the most severe Turner prototype truck loading (11AD), a 75 year design life, and a 0% live load overload. Several courses of action are postulated, and recommendations for further studies are given.


Many organizational innovations can be explained by the movement of ideas and information from one social context to another, "from where they are known to where they are not" (Hargadon 2002, p. 41). A relatively new technology, social bookmarking, is increasingly being used in many organizations (McAfee 2006), and may enhance employee innovativeness by providing a new, socially mediated channel for discovering information. Users of such systems create publicly viewable lists of bookmarks (each being a hyperlink to an information resource) and often assign searchable keywords ("tags") to these bookmarks. We explore two different perspectives on how accessing others' bookmarks could enhance how innovative an individual is at work. First, we develop two hypotheses around the idea that quantity may be a proxy for diversity, following a well established literature that holds that the more information obtained and the larger the number of sources consulted, the higher the likelihood an individual will come across novel ideas. Next, we offer two hypotheses adapted from social network research that argue that the shape of the network of connections that is created when individuals access each others' bookmarks can reflect information novelty, and that individuals whose networks bridge more structural holes and have greater effective reach are likely to be more innovative. An analysis of bookmarking system use in a global professional services firm provides strong support for the social diversity of information sources as a predictor of employee innovativeness, but no support that the number of bookmarks accessed matters. By extending the social networks literature to theorize the functionalities offered by social bookmarking systems, this research establishes structural holes theory as a valuable lens through which social technologies may be understood.


This Comment's principal goal is to explore the interplay between two adjudicatory bodies created within the Department of Defense in recent years: military commissions and combatant status review tribunals (CSRTs). A plethora of law review articles have dealt with military commissions, and the CSRTs have been covered at length in the press. There has been almost no effort, however, to analyze how the two institutions fit together or how the lessons of one could be used to solve the potential constitutional problems of the other. This Comment seeks to fill that gap. In particular, it argues that there is a serious constitutional flaw in the military commissions' procedure for establishing personal jurisdiction and that, in an ironic twist, this flaw can be mended through a modest broadening of the scope of the CSRTs' fact-finding powers.


Electric powertrain faults that could occur during normal driving can affect the dynamic behaviour of the vehicle and might result in significant course deviations. The severity depends both on the characteristics of the fault itself as well as on how sensitive the vehicle reacts to this type of fault. In this work, a sensitivity study is conducted on the effects of vehicle design parameters, such as geometries and tyre characteristics, and fault characteristics. The vehicle specifications are based on three different parameter sets representing a small city car, a medium-sized sedan and a large passenger car. The evaluation criteria cover the main motions of the vehicle, i.e. longitudinal velocity difference, lateral offset and side slip angle on the rear axle as indicator of the directional stability. A design of experiments approach is applied and the influence on the course deviation is analysed for each studied parameter separately and for all first order combinations. Vehicle parameters of high sensitivity have been found for each criterion. The mass factor is highly relevant for all three motions, while the additional factors wheel base, track width, yaw inertia and vehicle velocity are mainly influencing the lateral and the yaw motion. Changes in the tyre parameters are in general less significant than the vehicle parameters. Among the tyre parameters, the stiffness factor of the tyres on the rear axle has the major influence resulting in a reduction of the course deviation for a stiffer tyre. The fault amplitude is an important fault parameter, together with the fault starting gradient and number of wheels with fault. In this study, it was found that a larger vehicle representing a SUV is more sensitive to these types of faults. To conclude, the result of an electric powertrain fault can cause significant course deviations for all three vehicle types studied.


Focusing on the Permian-Triassic boundary, ca. 251 Ma, I explore the possibility that mass extinction can be caused by an extremely fast, explosive release of dissolved methane (and other dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide) that accumulated in the oceanic water masses prone to stagnation and anoxia (e.g., in silled basins). The mechanism of the explosive release is the same as in the Lake Nyos disaster of 1986, i.e., a water-column eruption caused by the interplay of buoyancy forces and exsolution of dissolved gas. The eruption brings to the surface deep anoxic waters that cause extinctions in the marine realm. Terrestrial extinctions are caused by explosions and conflagrations that follow the massive release of methane (the air-methane mixture is explosive at methane concentrations between 5% and 15%) and by the eruption-triggered floods. This scenario accounts well for the available data, and may be relevant to other phenomena.


The availability of electronic health record (EHR)-based phenotypes allows for genome-wide association analyses in thousands of traits, and has great potential to identify novel genetic variants associated with clinical phenotypes. We can interpret the phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) result for a single genetic variant by observing its association across a landscape of phenotypes. Since PheWAS can test 1000s of binary phenotypes, and most of them have unbalanced (case:control = 1:10) or often extremely unbalanced (case:control = 1:600) case-control ratios, existing methods cannot provide an accurate and scalable way to test for associations. Here we propose a computationally fast score test-based method that estimates the distribution of the test statistic using the saddlepoint approximation. Our method is much faster than the state of the art Firth's test ( ~ 100 times). It can also adjust for covariates and control type I error rates even when the case-control ratio is extremely unbalanced. Through application to PheWAS data from the Michigan Genomics Initiative, we show that the proposed method can control type I error rates while replicating previously known association signals even for traits with a very small number of cases and a large number of controls.


Modeling work in status construction theory suggests that interactions in small, task focused groups can lead to the spontaneous emergence and diffusion of status beliefs, which link social distinctions to assumptions about competence, in larger populations. This earlier work has focused on dyads as the smallest possible groups in which status beliefs might emerge from face-to-face interaction. In today's societies, however, many task focused interactions take place in groups larger than dyads. Our model therefore focuses on interactions in groups larger than dyads and enables us to study factors that might facilitate or hinder the emergence of status beliefs in such group contexts.


Extracting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing of shale provokes bitterly divisive reactions from New Yorkers. With such a division of opinion, the regulation of hydraulic fracturing provides an ideal case study of whether municipal home rule can mitigate the costs of deep political disagreement by letting each community go its own way. This article argues that Article IX, section 3(c) of the New York Constitution, requiring that the home rule powers of municipalities be "liberally construed," requires courts to observe a presumption against preemption. Where a state statute is ambiguous about the scope of local laws that it preempts, then the statute should be presumed to preserve local laws from preemption. Such a presumption, however, is not irrebuttable. Under the presumption defended here, even ambiguous state laws can preempt local laws where the latter impose external costs on non-residents or disrupt the settled and investment-backed expectations of the local government's own residents. Local prohibitions of hydraulic fracturing provide an illustration of how these general "home rule" principles can be used to resolve a real dispute, because such prohibitions impose neither an external cost on non-residents' interests in extracting gas nor an "internal" cost on local residents' property rights. Local political processes and fiscal instruments like property taxes and impact fees take into account the value of natural gas to non-resident purchasers, while resident landowners' expectations in extraction of their gas are matched by equally settled expectations of their neighbors in quiet enjoyment of their land.


Orientation: Researching the impact of psychological constructs on police leadership may add value when appointing people in leadership positions or developing people for leadership roles in the police environment. Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between three constructs, namely emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and leadership effectiveness in a policing context. Motivation for this study: In the police sector, there are difficulties in linking leadership to organisational outcomes since common police-leadership measures are affected by multiple contributory factors. This study explores the psychological constructs of emotional intelligence and self-efficacy on the leadership effectiveness of the police. Research design, approach and method: This research adopted a quantitative approach to assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy as attributes of leadership effectiveness. A total of 107 police personnel in commanding positions made up the sample. The measuring instruments used were the Assessing Emotions Scale, the Self-efficacy Scale and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X). Main findings: The results confirmed a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy and leadership effectiveness. The correlations were significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Practical/managerial implications: Emotional intelligence and self-efficacy should be considered as attributes during the selection of leaders in police organisations or used for developmental purposes to enhance these attributes in police leaders. Contribution/value-add: The insights gained from the findings may be used to guide the selection of future leaders in the policing environment, and they could also be used to establish future developmental programmes and research initiatives.


The Supreme Court's jurisprudence of federalism is at best undergoing an unfinished transformation, and is at worst just troubled and unsatisfying. In a little-noticed dissent in Tennessee v. Lane, Justice Scalia proposed an approach that could be generalized well beyond the specific position that he took in that case. Thus generalized, this approach may be understood as an elaboration of a proposal made by Justice O'Connor in her dissenting opinion twenty years ago in Garcia v. San Antonio Metro. Transit Auth. If adopted by the Court, this synthesis of the O'Connor and Scalia suggestions could work a real transformation in its federalism jurisprudence, and without some of the potentially radical side-effects that have thus far made the Court timorous and inconsistent. This very short paper explains how the synthesis would work, and why the Court should adopt it.


Steeped in story-telling and endlessly curious, Reading the Country: An Introduction to Nomadology (1984) was the product of Paddy Roe, Stephen Muecke and Krim Benterrak, experimenting with what it might be like to think together about country. In the process a senior traditional owner, a cultural theorist and a painter produced a text unlike any other. Reading the Country: 30 Years On is a celebration of one of the great twentieth-century books of intercultural dialogue. Recalling a spirit of intellectual risk and respect, in this collection, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, poets, writers and publishers both acknowledge the past and look, with hope, to future transformations of culture and country.


Comparing and contrasting examples is a core cognitive process that supports learning in children and adults across a variety of topics. In this experimental study, we evaluated the benefits of supporting comparison in a classroom context for children learning about computational estimation. Fifthand sixth-grade students (n = 157) learned about estimation either by comparing alternative solution strategies or by reflecting on the strategies one at a time. At posttest and retention test, students who compared were more flexible problem solvers on a variety of measures. Comparison also supported greater conceptual knowledge, but only for students who already knew some estimation strategies. These findings indicate that comparison is an effective learning and instructional practice in a domain with multiple acceptable answers.


A hydroxyl side chain on trans-zeatin (tZ) specifies its role in promoting shoot growth in plants. Cytokinins are plant hormones that regulate the development of tissues from the shoot and root apical meristems. N6-(∆2-isopentenyl)adenine (iP)–type and trans-zeatin (tZ)–type cytokinins are the major cytokinins in Arabidopsis thaliana and differ structurally in their side chains. Kiba et al. examined the physiological role of the side-chain modification (trans-hydroxylation) that forms tZ from iP-type cytokinins (see highlight by Sheen). In double-mutant (cypDM) plants deficient in the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase CYP735A, the concentration of tZ-type cytokinins markedly decreased, whereas the concentration of iP-type cytokinins proportionally increased, confirming that CYP735A catalyzes the trans-hydroxylation of the side chain on iP to synthesize tZ, which has been previously reported from studies in vitro. The phenotype of cypDM plants, which had shorter growth of shoots, smaller and rounder leaves in circular arrangements (rosettes), and delayed bolting time (production of a flowering stem), indicated that shoot development and maturation was impaired by the loss of tZ-type cytokinins. The shoot biomass was substantially reduced in cypDM plants, but the biomass, cellular organization, and vasculature in the roots were unaffected. Additionally, the expression of cytokinin-inducible type A Arabidopsis response regulators (ARRs) was reduced in the shoots but not the roots of cypDM plants. Furthermore, complementation with CYP735A or application of exogenous tZ but not iP recovered the wild-type phenotype and restored the balance of tZ to iP cytokinins in cypDM plant shoots but did not affect the roots, together suggesting a shoot-specific function for tZ-type cytokinins. The findings show that the side-chain modification of cytokinins confers functional specificity in plant development. T. Kiba, K. Takei, M. Kojima, H. Sakakibara, Side-chain modification of cytokinins controls shoot growth in Arabidopsis. Dev. Cell 27, 452–461 (2013). [PubMed] J. Sheen, The cytokinin side chain commands shooting. Dev. Cell 27, 371–372 (2013). [PubMed]


The campaign to ban seal hunting in Canada won international headlines and achieved its aims to a large extent. Most observers felt instinctively that the campaigners were .right. but little thought was given to the cataclysmic consequences the ban would have on the way of life and economy of a traditional people, the Inuit of Arctic Canada. A distinguished anthropologist who has spent over twenty years living and working with the Inuit Community, George Wenzel provides a reasoned, in-depth, coolly written but powerful critique of this received interpretation and shows how the campaigners 'own cultural prejudices and questionable ecological imperatives brought hardship, distress and instability to an ecologically balanced traditional culture. This book is both a careful academic study and a disturbing comment on how environmental activity may oppress a whole society, which raises serious questions about the motives and methods of the animal rights' movement in a much wider context than the case here studied.


This thesis focuses on the study to investiyate the possibilities of improving natural cross ventilation (in term of intemal air velocity, mls) in high-rise low-cost residential building (HRLCRB) in Kuala Lumpur. The HRLCRB design is found complied with the minimum requirement of natural ventilation in the Uniform Building Bye-Law (UBBL) and has architectural design that could permit optimum natural ventilation. However the natural ventilation and thermal comfort performance is still not achieved with respect to its internal air velocity performance. Cross ventilation has been suggested by many researchers as one of the most effective techniques of natural ventilation for thermal comfort. However, it is also one of the least understood parts in controlling indoor climate through passive design approach. In this thesis the proposed design solution is by introducing a void at specific floor level or height ratio of the HRLCRB. The research involves three stages. First, the inventory exercises. This is to determine the most basic and typical typology of HRLCRB built by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL). Second, computer simulation using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) technique with specific software called FloVent. This software is used to estimate the vertical pressure distribution and to investigate the potential of the proposed design solution. Finally, empirical method is used to predict the intemal air velocity. The result of the simplified building configuration is used as a basis of comparison. The result shows that the void affects the vertical pressure distribution. However, the effect is insignificant to improve the internal air velocity performance at the HRLCRB.


The discovery of statistical laws of heredity by Gregor Mendel was an important advance in biological science. However, Mendel's opinion that the entire character was transmitted was not derived from his data and instead reflected prior beliefs outside the domain of science. It is argued here that Mendel, a monk and later abbot of an Augustine monastery, was influenced by St. Augustine's theory of divine creation of the rationes seminales which specified the form for all future beings in great detail. Furthermore, the continued adherence to genetic determinism among contemporary scientists is largely, despite strong evidence supporting a developmental systems or dialectical view of heredity and development.


1. The effects of jaundice on renal and circulatory function were investigated in chronic bile duct ligated (CBDL) rats 6 days after surgery. Sham operated (SO) animals served as controls. 2. Body weight was significantly reduced, whereas blood pressure remained unaltered, 6 days after bile duct ligation when serum bilirubin had risen to 169 +/- 18 (SEM) as compared with 2.8 +/- 0.3 mumol/l in SO rats. When compared with control values before surgery, urinary volume had significantly increased and absolute excretion of sodium, potassium, chloride and phosphate had decreased on day 6 after CBDL. Endogenous creatinine clearance was markedly depressed when compared with SO rats. Whereas fractional excretion of potassium remained unaltered, fractional excretion of sodium and of phosphate was significantly increased. 3. Except for a significant increase in urinary thromboxane B2 (TXB2) excretion in CBDL rats, no significant changes were observed in urinary excretion of prostaglandin (PG) E2, in the synthesis of PGE2, 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and TXB2 by isolated aortic tissue in vitro, nor in renal and cardiac adenosine triphosphatase activities or renal cortical mitochondrial function. 4. The adenosine triphosphate content of kidney cortex and cardiac mitochondrial function were significantly depressed in CBDL rats. 5. The results demonstrate that jaundice in CBDL rats is associated with functional and metabolic disturbances of the kidney and cardiac muscle, which may contribute to the renal and haemodynamic characteristics observed in jaundiced animals and humans.


Take-all was severe in continuous wheat rotations throughout the study. Take-all was just as severe following millet as after soybean. Results from the 1996 and 1997 showed that a one year rotation with canola prior to wheat had a significant effect on suppression of take-all root rot. Wheat grain yield was the same, and in most rotations test weight, and 1,000 kernel weight were the same as the nondiseased controls following canola. This was a greater yield improvement than anticipated because of the severe damage from take-all in continuous wheat during all three years. Yield components were significantly lower in rotations with continuous wheat. The possibility that the rapid decline in take-all after canola may be due to compounds released during decay of canola tissues is being investigated. Assays in a controlled environment chamber for take-all on wheat seedlings grown in soil from field plots were similar to results from field trials. The incidence of infected plants and root rot severity were greatly reduced on seedlings grown in soil from rotations with canola. Data for disease incidence and severity from the field prior to wheat harvest were similar to data from seedling assays. The beneficial value of canola in wheat rotations for take-all control has been incorporated into Extension recommendations in Georgia. The population of Hessian fly on wheat was below economic thresholds during 1995. During 1996 and 1997, winter infestations were significantly lower when canola was rotated with wheat. By 1997 Hessian fly infestations were greater following millet than after soybean. Spring infestations were not affected by the previous crop. False chinch bugs were present in canola in the first season but could not be assessed in 1996 due to the severe winter freeze which killed canola. Millet stands were reduced by false chinch bugs following canola in 1996 and 1997. True chinch bugs, which often damage millet seedlings after small grains, were not found. Thrips populations were higher on soybean seedlings after canola than after wheat, but thrips are not damaging to soybean. Fall armyworm, southern green stink bug, and leaffooted bug attacked whorls and seed of millet but their populations were not influenced by crop rotation. Insect pest populations on soybeans were not affected by the preceding winter crop. Only soybean loopers and velvetbean caterpillars were above economic thresholds. More lepodopterans were found on soybeans following rye. The primary effect of rotation sequence was on seedling insect pests. The stand of soybeans was reduced 20% or more following canola each year which could not associated with insect damage. Pearl millet stands were also significantly lower after canola but not wheat. This is the first evidence that canola may have an allelopathic effect from breakdown products in canola stubble on these crops in a doublecrop rotation. Rotation effects were significant for pearl millet panicle counts, leaf blight, and stalk and neck rot during the 1996 season. There was a trend for leaf blight and stalk and neck rot to be less severe in pearl millet following canola than following wheat. Seedling stand was positively correlated with leaf blight and stalk rot. Rotation effects on pearl millet diseases may have been obscured by variation in stand density within subplots. Minor effects on pearl millet stand establishment, retention of green foliage, stalk and neck rot, smut, and yield were observed in these rotations. Seedling stands 3 weeks after planting were lower following canola than wheat in 1995 and 1997. Foliar chlorosis and necrosis were slightly less severe in pearl millet following canola than wheat in 1995 and 1996. Stalk and neck rot was also less severe following canola in 1996. Grain yield was highest following canola in 1997 but may be an artifact of excessive stand density. A trend toward increased smut severity in plots continuously planted to pearl millet was observed in 1997. Canola diseases were not significant during 1995 and could not be assessed because the crop was killed by low winter temperatures in 1996. After two seasons, there were no differences in severity of stem canker on soybeans due to crop rotation or the inclusion of canola or pearl millet in the rotation. Sclerotia stem rot and black leg did not become serious during the three-year period, probably as a result of loss of the crop in 1996. The rotations will be continued in 1998 to assess rotation effects on these diseases. Soybean yield was reduced following canola probably because of allelopathic effects from the decaying canola stems and roots. Various foliar diseases were present but did not cause economic loss in any year. Stem canker increased in severity early in the 1997 season in continuous soybean rotations but did not affect seed yields. Additional data will be collected in 1998 on rotation effects on stem canker. Canola and pearl millet were compatible with soybean in the rotation. No changes in disease management is foreseen to incorporate these crops into rotations with soybean. Analyses of the income returns from the rotations was done by developing cost and return budgets for each crop by year using plot yields and field operation and input costs realized by the Southwest Georgia Branch Experiment Station. The analysis shows that crop failure and crop prices influence rotation effects on returns. These influences can magnify negative relationships such as reduced yields of soybeans behind canola, and/or shrink positive benefits such as take-all reduction on wheat from having canola in the rotation. High soybean prices and wheat prices may make the reduction in soybean returns following canola less than the increase in wheat returns from having canola in the rotation ahead of wheat. In contrast, beneficial but costly winter cover crops with no income (rye) and/or low income potential neutral crops such as millet can make a rotation unprofitable or add no positive economic benefits. However, the low income of millet could be an improvement over soybeans after canola. The results indicate the current vulnerability of the new crops canola and pearl millet. Improvements in varieties adapted to the region and improved yield potential will make these crops more profitable. Video footage showing the results of the rotations on diseases and insect pests to date in field plots have been made. Information on the procedures used and the biology and damage caused by the various pests have been documented. Aerial footage showing the plots during May to document the effect of rotation on take-all of wheat has been recorded. Film will be edited to complete the educational video based on the study. Several training programs and presentations at various meetings have been completed and additional presentations will be made in 1998. Audiences varied from small acreage to large-scale growers, extension specialists, and researchers throughout the Southeast. Several technical and nontechnical publications have been completed. Refereed journal publications are being prepared from the research on rotation effects on take-all, insect populations, and pearl millet diseases and crop yields. A comprehensive publication on the project will be prepared as a College of Agriculture Research Bulletin.


Objective: To characterize patients misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Neurologists at 4 academic MS centers submitted data on patients determined to have been misdiagnosed with MS. Results: Of 110 misdiagnosed patients, 51 (46%) were classified as "definite" and 59 (54%) "probable" misdiagnoses according to study definitions. Alternate diagnoses included migraine alone or in combination with other diagnoses 24 (22%), fibromyalgia 16 (15%), nonspecific or nonlocalizing neurologic symptoms with abnormal MRI 13 (12%), conversion or psychogenic disorders 12 (11%), and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder 7 (6%). Duration of misdiagnosis was 10 years or longer in 36 (33%) and an earlier opportunity to make a correct diagnosis was identified for 79 patients (72%). Seventy-seven (70%) received disease-modifying therapy and 34 (31%) experienced unnecessary morbidity because of misdiagnosis. Four (4%) participated in a research study of an MS therapy. Leading factors contributing to misdiagnosis were consideration of symptoms atypical for demyelinating disease, lack of corroborative objective evidence of a CNS lesion as satisfying criteria for MS attacks, and overreliance on MRI abnormalities in patients with nonspecific neurologic symptoms. Conclusions: Misdiagnosis of MS leads to unnecessary and potentially harmful risks to patients. Misinterpretation and misapplication of MS clinical and radiographic diagnostic criteria are important contemporary contributors to misdiagnosis.


—Recently, research communities have dedicated their efforts to the development of versatile and innovative Blockchain-based application systems. These systems are usually independent and thus difficult to be integrated and cooperated with each other during cross-chain transactions in terms of the interoperability perspective. In addition, there may be potential risks once external malicious attackers desire to control or manipulate nodes in cross-chain systems. It is necessary to have a solution preventing users' misbehaviors during the process of information and value exchange among different blockchains. In this paper, we propose a dynamic reputation management scheme which can effectively detect misbehaviors and identify potential security risks during cross-chain transactions. Our scheme conducts a mechanism evaluating reputation and trustworthiness of nodes and chains, respectively, through their current state and transactions history. This characteristic can help any cross-chains system well-react and be resistant against ongoing-endangered behaviors within a reasonable computation time.


Kom el-Hisn is located near the western edge of the Nile delta, midway between Cairo and Alexandria, and about 13 km west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile. It is composed of primarily Old Kingdom deposits (Dynasties V and VI, ca. 2500-2290 BC) but the site was also occupied in the Middle and New Kingdom periods. (It has been suggested that some First Intermediate burials are included within the Old Kingdom architecture, and Kom el-Hisn clearly flourished during the height of Old Kingdom power.) After a detailed introduction, the author reviews the development of Egyptian settlement patterns and structures to provide the Old Kingdom context, before continuing to discuss the specific issues relating to the current research and some of the explanations offered by other researchers for the development of Egypt's particular brand of complex society. Chapter four describes the research programme that provided the data on which this study relies, and subsequent headings contain detailed descriptions of the deposits associated with each excavation unit in the analysis.Before the full summary in the ultimate chapter, there are statistical analyses that build the model of functional differentiation found within the excavated areas. The study as a whole places Kon el-Hisn within the larger context of the Egyptian state structure and allows some conclusions to be drawn as to how this important site functioned within this structure.


"The exhibition focuses on the ways in which we can engage with the sketchbook in a gallery context. Divided into four zones the exhibition incorporates the conventional modes of display of the Cabinet and Wall, the cutting edge of the Digital and the innovative Library. Each of these zones will offer visitors to the exhibition a different experience of engagement with the sketchbook. The Cabinet, Wall and digital zones will feature sketchbooks from contemporary artists including Grayson Perry and Simon Faithfull as well as historic sketchbooks from the Usher Gallery's collections". http://lincolnschoolofartanddesign.blogspot.com/2010/12/hold-me-touch-me-feel-me-exhibition-at.html


Background: People exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) inhale the lung carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) which is metabolized to NNAL and its glucuroniders. These urinary metabolites, termed total NNAL, can be quantified. A related compound, iso-NNAL, has been proposed as a biomarker for exposure to smoke constituent residues on surfaces (thirdhand tobacco smoke). There is limited information in the literature on levels of total NNAL in children exposed to SHS. Methods: We recruited 79 parent–child dyads from homes where the enrolled parent was a cigarette smoker and visited their homes. Parents were asked questions, home ambient air quality was evaluated, and children provided urine samples. Urine was analyzed for total NNAL, total cotinine, total nicotine, and iso-NNAL. Results: Ninety percent of the children had detectable total NNAL in urine; total nicotine and total cotinine were also detected in most samples. There were significant positive relationships between biomarker levels and exposure of children in the home. Levels were highest in homes with no smoking restrictions. African American children had significantly higher levels than other children. iso-NNAL was not detected in any urine sample. Conclusions: There was nearly universal exposure of children to the lung carcinogen NNK, due mainly to exposure to SHS from adult smokers in their homes. Impact: Homes with adult smokers should adopt restrictions to protect their children from exposure to a potent lung carcinogen. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(6); 1213–21. ©2011 AACR.


This study examined school divisions in the Commonwealth whose percentage African American students in gifted education were proportionate or nearly proportionate to their representation in the general student body in order to determine if there were any commonalities in their selection criteria. The conceptual framework suggests the type of assessments, professional development, multiple criteria, and students' self-perceptions are significant factors that determine the proportionality of African American students in gifted education programs within the Commonwealth. The reader has been provided with information on the historical perspective of disproportionate representation African Americans traditionally endured in gifted education. Data collected from interviews of directors of gifted education in school divisions that reported proportional representation of African American students in the area of General Intellectual Aptitude in gifted education. An analysis of the data revealed participating school divisions provided professional development on identifying underrepresented populations, used at least six multiple criteria options, selected both achievement and aptitude assessments during the screening process, and provided support for students' self-perceptions with a variety of programs which resulted in a proportional or near proportional African American representation in their gifted programs.


Executive Summary
Child sexual abuse (CSA) in Christian Institutions continues to be of serious concern in public, criminal justice and institutional discourse. This study was conducted in conjunction with Project Kidsafe Foundation and sought the perspectives of Australian survivors of CSA by Personnel in Christian Institutions (PICIs). In total, 81 individual survivors responded to an online survey which asked them a range of questions about their current and childhood life circumstance; the nature, extent and location of abuse; grooming strategies utilised by perpetrators; their experiences of disclosure; and outcomes of official reporting to both criminal justice agencies and also official processes Christian institutions. Survey participants were given the option to further participate in a qualitative interview with the principal researcher. These interviews are not considered within this report. In summary, survey data examined here indicate that:

• Instances of abuse included a range of offences from touching outside of clothing to serious penetrative offences.
• The onset of abuse occurred at a young age: between 6 and 10 years for most female participants, and 11 and 13 years for male participants.
• In the majority of cases the abuse ceased because of actions by survivors, not by adults within families or the Christian institution.
• Participants waited significant time before disclosing their abuse, with many waiting 20 years or more.
• Where survivors disclosed to family members or PICIs, they were often met with disbelief and unhelpful responses aimed at minimising the harm.
• Where an official report was made, it was most often made to police. In these cases 53% resulted in an official investigations.
• The primary reasons for reporting were to protect others from the perpetrator and make the Christian institution accountable to an external agency.
• Where reports to Christian institutions were made, most survivors were dissatisfied with outcomes, and a smaller majority was extremely dissatisfied.
This report reflects the long-held understanding that responding to CSA is a complex and difficult task. If effective and meaningful responses are not made, however, trauma to the survivor is most often compounded and recovery delayed. This report demonstrates the need for further independent analysis and oversight of responses made to CSA by both criminal justice, religious and social institutions. Meaningful change will only be accessible, however, if family, community and institutional environments are safe places for survivors to disclose their experiences of abuse and begin to seek ways of healing. There is much to be learnt from survivors that have already made this journey.


In the automotive industry, the market share of innovative and individual product variants has increased dramatically in recent years. The vehicle-independent requirements relating to quality and equipment are growing. Summarizing, the expenditure on product development is rising, forcing car producers to reduce development times and costs. The need for reengineering of the product development process is increasingly being met by virtual product development. A key factor is the reduction of time- and cost-consuming prototype tests by pre-designing automotive components virtually. The prerequisite for this are numerical methods which meet a high quality standard and allow predictive statements to realize concept decisions on the basis of calculation results. Questions of product liability are becoming increasingly important and may also concern test results based on numerical results in future.
An example of these methods of calculation is the crash calculation using the finite elements method, which is being used increasingly to improve passive safety within the general context of reengineering. In view of the growing requirements relating to occupant safety, this method of calculation, which is established highly efficient in the design of the body-in-white, will have to be improved in a way, that realizes a virtual design of interior safety components in the future. This will include especially simulating the complex material behaviour of the materials used in the vehicle interior. Describing these materials with sufficient material models affords a high quality of reproduction, which often can only be achieved at considerable cost and effort. This paper introduces a general process for the methodical integration of these new materials in the crash calculation. The objectives of the integration process are to improve and assure detail reproduction quality, as well as to increase efficiency using standardizable material modelling procedures.
The integration process will be developed on the basis of the so-called Quality Improvement Paradigm and subdivided into four phases: the planning phase, the performance phase, the evaluation phase and the know-how acquisition phase. During the planning phase, the necessary fundamental data on the material, the areas of application of the material within the vehicle and the associated application boundary conditions will be formulated. Targets will be defined for the integration process on the basis of these fundamentals. They will include a clear definition of assumptions regarding material behaviour and requirements relating to the planned material model. Under consideration of the validity of these assumptions and requirements, further action will be described in a project plan and assessed on the basis of a risk appraisal. Material characterization, as well as material modelling and validation will take place in the performance phase of the integration process. Material characterization involves formulating all the fundamental data required for development of the model so that material behaviour can be described. The first step - material modelling - involves examining the models existing in commercial calculation programs and literature, and validating their suitability for detail reproduction of material behaviour. The objective is to select a model that can be used for crash calculation in the productive development process, or for the necessary further developments. Further development of the model will be subdivided into formulation of the materials equation, implementation of the materials equation in the finite element tool and verification of development steps. The implemented material model has to be validated. During the evaluation phase of the process, the process steps will be analyzed in detail and validated. The quality of the developed material model will be proved. This will include a definition of quality specifications for the model and for components to be designed by numerical simulation. The final step in the integration process is the know-how acquisition phase, which serves to improve the quality of material models and leads to a long-term improvement of the process efficiency. In addition to empirical process data acquisition, this phase will include saving all experimental and numeric data. In addition, know-how will be derived by using the material model in the productive development process.
The integration process will be shown for the first time within this paper by using a polymer brittle foam with high energy absorption capacity as an example. The fundamental data required for this purpose will be formulated in the process planning phase. The foams are synthetically manufactured materials with a low specific weight and a cellular. The material behaviour of the foams is affected by the properties of the basic materials and the characteristics of the cellular structure. Mechanical behaviour is characterized by the compressive plateau- or crush-stress over a large compression strain and by a low elastic recovery rate after pressure relief. The usual areas of application with regard to occupant protection are the headliner trim, the instrument panel and the side door trim. These foams are also used in bumpers for vehicle protection in lower impact collisions and for pedestrian safety. Regardless of the area of application, polymer brittle foams are primarily subjected to compressive stresses. As a result of the formulated fundamental data, it is necessary to account for the changes in mechanical properties in dependence on varying conditions, such as strain rate, temperature and the application of force - characterized by varying sample and impactor geometries - in order to characterize the material. Classifying polymer brittle foams, two representative materials are determined which are used for material characterization. The thermoplastic and closed-cell particle foam system Noryl® EF will be considered in addition to the thermoset and nearly open-cell polyurethane-based Bayfill® EA foam system. Based on the procedure defined by the integration process, the material characterization will be realized by material tests such as the uniaxial compression test and the shear test, as well as application-oriented basic tests in accordance with the actual area of application of the foams. These tests will be conducted under varying application boundary conditions. Evaluation and analysis of the test results shows that the material behaviour of the two foam systems can be described by an elastic-plastic approach. The main characteristic of
this approach is the dependence of plasticity on the first and second stress invariants which is represented by a closed yield surface the multiaxial stress space. The material behaviour observed, is heavily dependent upon the application boundary conditions strain rate and temperature, as well as the density of the foam system. Failure of the Bayfill® EA also occurred when it was subjected to tensile and shear stresses, which have a strong influence on the behaviour of components under application-oriented loads.
The examination of existing material models which have the potential to reproduce the polymer brittle foam, leads to the selection of a model developed for aluminium foams by Professor N. Fleck at Cambridge University. The material model will be improved based on the results of the material characterization. This further development necessitates adapting the flow rule, introducing a law for the strain rate dependency of the material behaviour and formulating a damage model for modelling the failure mechanism of brittle polymer foams. The modified material model will be implemented as a user material in the ABAQUS/Explicit finite elements program and validated on the basis of the material tests and application-oriented tests. The potential of the integration process will be established during the evaluation phase. Though being of a pilot nature, this process supports the quality-controlled modelling of polymer brittle foams to a high degree. This is clearly reflected in the detailed process descriptions which allow a target-oriented distribution of labour among the development partners involved. Thus, the material characterization will be performed in close cooperation with IVW GmbH and material modelling will be carried out in cooperation with HKS Inc. The transparency and reproducibility of the process are also essential for long-term quality improvement and assurance. Analysis of the model validation in the evaluation phase leads to an acceptance of the developed material model for numerical simulation of the material behaviour of polymer brittle foams. A prerequisite for use is compliance with various quality specifications for the material model and for components to be designed based on numerical simulation. The components are required to exhibit a homogeneous density distribution and little scatter within defined bounds of production. The main requirement for use of the material model is quality-controlled calibration of the material parameters. The necessary material tests must be conducted on the foam system used for the component. The parameters also have to be validated by applicationoriented basic tests. Calibration and the validation should be supervised by the component manufacturer and carried out by a test institute with the necessary equipment and experience. Following the implementation of the integration process, two different calculation models which are representative of the area of application of the foams - the bumper test according to NHTSA, Part 581 and the head impact test according to FMVSS 201 – demonstrate the productive use.


Where water resources are limited, rainwater harvesting (RWH) can provide on-site access to improved water sources. Community institutions are uniquely positioned to benefit from RWH; advocates have encouraged the installation of community-based RWH systems as a way to ameliorate water supply insufficiencies in low-income settings. However, poor quality RWH system installations and insufficient attention to management support have resulted in sustainability challenges, necessitating a commitment to higher standards for community-based RWH. Spurred on by an iterative learning cycle and commitment to innovation, the Ugandan Water Project has achieved RWH system design, installation, and management practices that are well adapted to Ugandan institutions. By investing in a professional crew, high-quality materials, and post-installation support, the Ugandan Water Project has achieved 96 per cent functionality two years after installation. The professionalized approach that the Ugandan Water Project employs can be used as a model to guide future RWH system installations in Uganda and elsewhere.


A 3-month-old male Murrah crossbred buffalo calf was presented to Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), Rampur, Chitwan with a history of anuria for the past 4 days. Physical examination was carried out to check the status of the urethra and urinary bladder. Ultrasonography revealed an intact distended bladder. Based on the history of anuria and above examinations, the condition was diagnosed as obstructive urolithiasis. Meloxicam (0.3 mg/kg) was injected intramuscularly as a preemptive analgesia and Streptomycin Sulphate (10 mg/kg) was administered intramusculary as a prophylactic antibiotic. The calf was sedated with Xylazine-HCl (0.2 mg/Kg) and analgesia was achieved with epidural administration of Lignocaine-HCl (3 ml) at lumbosacral space (L6-S1). The left ventral paramedian site was aseptically prepared and laparotomy surgery was performed. The subcutaneous tunnel was made to pass the leading edge of the catheter and outlet is affixed with skin by placing stay suture on the ventral aspect of the abdomen.  The urinary bladder is identified, isolated and decompressed by aspirating with 60-CC syringe and the 3-way Folley catheter was introduced on the dorsal aspect of the urinary bladder. Peritoneum was sutured with Catgut # 2-0 in continuous suture pattern and all the muscle layers were sutured together with Catgut # 2 using modified ford lock sutures. Subcutaneous tissue was sutured with Catgut # 1 in continuous suture pattern and skin was sutured using nylon # 1 in simple interrupted pattern. The calf was placed in sternal recumbency till it gets recovered from the anesthesia. The urinary acidifier ammonium chloride (13g) twice a day daily orally upto 30 days was prescribed.  The same antibiotic was administered once a day daily for 5 days and the wound was dressed daily with povidone iodine till complete healing of the wound. Finally, the skin suture was removed after 14 days.
Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 7(1): 120-123


Recent reports from Iraq paint a mixed picture of a country taking steps toward selfgovernance and economic recovery as well as one experiencing waves of violent internecine conflict. In this paper, we analyze weekly price data for 255 goods from the eighteen Iraqi governorates over the years 2005-2008 to assess the extent that markets are developing. The law of price one suggests that, after controlling for distance between major cities, prices should converge in the presence of relatively free trade among the governorates. Our model explores whether prices have converged across regions, over time and what might explain those dynamics. Our paper suggests four empirical regularities associated with market development in Post-War Iraq. First, the degree of price distortion (i.e. price dispersion) has been approximately two times higher than those reported using similar techniques and data in the United States and Japan. Second, the degree of price distortion drops significantly during the period commonly referred to as "the surge" and rises afterward, though at a more modest pace. Third, the degree of price distortion is significantly smaller in areas in which the United States military presence was greatest, i.e. Sunni and Kurdish regions as opposed to Shia regions. Finally, there is limited evidence to suggest that the sub-national economies (Kurdish, Shia, and Sunni) and not completely economically integrated, though the "border effects" are smaller than those reported across countries in the trade literature. Hence, we conclude there are "lines in the sand" rather than significant border impediments to trade. Taken together, these results suggest a significant role for violence and security in explaining market distortions and market integration and disintegration.


Achieving high-speed network I/O on distributed memory systems is a hard problem because their architectures are, in general, ill-suited for communication with the external world One of the problems is that messages are distributed over the private memories of the distributed memory system. This can result in poor performance since communication includes a complex scatter/gather operation. This paper presents a strategy in which the task of creating large contiguous messages is performed on the distributed-memory system, thus minimizing the overhead on the network interface. The performance results for an implementation of this strategy for an iWarp system with a HIPPI interface board are presented.<<ETX>>


Abstract Transit traffic on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) has increased considerably in the last few years, in relative terms. There is no clear pattern of transit cargo on the NSR and little indication that cargo owners or shipping companies have committed themselves to use of this sea route for the longer term. An important exception to this picture is the Yamal LNG (liquefied natural gas) project, which will be based on year-round use of the NSR. Administrative procedures have improved and escort fees have become competitive, but are not transparent. The future capacity of the icebreaker fleet is being questioned, and so is the need for icebreakers. Also, Russia lacks an integrated policy for the NSR.


Consumption expenditure declines sharply at the time of retirement for many households, but the majority maintain a smooth consumption path. A simple life cycle model with uncertainty about the time of retirement can account for this pattern. A richer version of the model is calibrated to data from the Health and Retirement Study. The median change in consumption expenditure at retirement generated by the model is zero, while the mean is negative, matching the HRS data. However, the magnitude of the drop in consumption among households that experience a decline is too small in the model compared to the data.


Overview This report on the five 'Walking Cities' was commissioned by Beelin Baxter, Senior Physical Activity Policy Officer at the Department of Health (DH). The aim was to synthesise the findings from the reports submitted to DH, highlight innovative practice and to enable learning for the future. This report was written by Sarah Hanson, Research Associate and Professor Andy Jones, both from the Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia. Executive summary and recommendations The Department of Health funded five 'Walking Cities' in 2013 – 2015 to develop walking initiatives. There was great variety in the projects and evidence of much activity. The aim was also to target the particularly inactive and those who were less well socially situated. Whilst there are useful transferable lessons to be learned from this project, the poor reporting did not allow the assessment of how well aims were achieved. Where baseline measurements were recorded it appeared that participants were already physically active. Where interventions were particularly successful, they built on 'grass-roots' community assets already in existence which took them to the heart of a community. The use of community based assets was particularly important in accessing those who are harder to reach and hence the learnings from this programme support assessing and utilising the assets in a community. There were attempts to work with health professionals with direct referrals into the walking interventions. This met with very limited success and continues to represent a major missed opportunity in reaching those who are the most inactive and in poorest health. Due to the poor project reporting the mandated and full use of the Standard Evaluation Framework for Physical Activity is recommended for the future. There was limited outcomes reporting and this limited our evaluation of how successful the programme was at increasing physical activity. We would make the following two recommendations. Firstly, that the Standard Evaluation Framework for Physical Activity is mandated for future work and that practitioners are trained in how to use it. Secondly, we would recommend that we need to understand the missed opportunity of direct referrals from health professionals; why this is the case and why health professionals do not refer to walking interventions, such as group walks.


Title of dissertation: LEARNING VISUAL PATTERNS: IMPOSING ORDER ON OBJECTS, TRAJECTORIES AND NETWORKS Ryan M. Farrell, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Dissertation directed by: Professor Larry S. Davis Department of Computer Science Fundamental to many tasks in the field of computer vision, this work considers the understanding of observed visual patterns in static images and dynamic scenes . Within this broad domain, we focus on three particular subtasks, contributing novel solutions to: (a) the subordinate categorization of objects (avian species specifically), (b) the analysis of multi-agent interactions using the agent trajectories, and (c) the estimation of camera network topology. In contrast to object recognition, where the presence or absence of certain parts is generally indicative of basic-level category, the problem of subordinate categorization rests on the ability to establish salient distinctions amongst the characteristics of those parts which comprise the basic-level category. Focusing on an avian domain due to the fine-grained structure of the category taxonomy, we explore a pose-normalized appearance model based on a volumetric poselet scheme. The variation in shape and appearance properties of these parts across a taxonomy provides the cues needed for subordinate categorization. Our model associates the underlying image pattern parameters used for detection with corresponding volumetric part location, scale and orientation parameters. These parameters implicitly define a mapping from the image pixels into a pose-normalized appearance space, removing view and pose dependencies, facilitating fine-grained categorization with relatively few training examples. We next examine the problem of leveraging trajectories to understand interactions in dynamic multi-agent environments. We focus on perceptual tasks, those for which an agent's behavior is governed largely by the individuals and objects around them. We introduce kinetic accessibility, a model for evaluating the perceived, and thus anticipated, movements of other agents. This new model is then applied to the analysis of basketball footage. The kinetic accessibility measures are coupled with low-level visual cues and domain-specific knowledge for determining which player has possession of the ball and for recognizing events such as passes, shots and turnovers. Finally, we present two differing approaches for estimating camera network topology. The first technique seeks to partition a set of observations made in the camera network into individual object trajectories. As exhaustive consideration of the partition space is intractable, partitions are considered incrementally, adding observations while pruning unlikely partitions. Partition likelihood is determined by the evaluation of a probabilistic graphical model, balancing the consistency of appearances across a hypothesized trajectory with the latest predictions of camera adjacency. A primarily benefit of estimating object trajectories is that higher-order statistics, as opposed to just first-order adjacency, can be derived, yielding resilience to camera failure and the potential for improved tracking performance between cameras. Unlike the former centralized technique, the latter takes a decentralized approach, estimating the global network topology with local computations using sequential Bayesian estimation on a modified multinomial distribution. Key to this method is an information-theoretic appearance model for observation weighting. The inherently distributed nature of the approach allows the simultaneous utilization of all sensors as processing agents in collectively recovering the network topology. LEARNING VISUAL PATTERNS: IMPOSING ORDER ON OBJECTS, TRAJECTORIES AND NETWORKS


Although there is evidence for a close link between the development of oral vocabulary and reading comprehension, less clear is whether oral vocabulary skills relate to the development of word-level reading skills. This study investigated vocabulary and literacy in 81 children aged 8 to 10 years. In regression analyses, vocabulary accounted for unique variance in exception word reading and reading comprehension, but not text reading accuracy, decoding, or regular word reading. Consistent with these data, children with poor reading comprehension exhibited oral vocabulary weaknesses and read fewer exception words correctly. These findings demonstrate that oral vocabulary is associated with some, but not all, reading skills. Results are discussed in terms of current models of reading development.


The distributional impact of the low-carbon transition is an increasingly important topic both for academics and policymakers. Quantifying where the costs and benefits fall can provide greater insight into the equity and cost-effectiveness of government policies, and improve our understanding of household investment decisions. This paper provides new evidence on the distribution of returns from energy efficiency measures both over time and across household-type. A range of econometric techniques are applied to a database of over four million households over an eight year period to quantify heterogeneity, persistence and how these factors impact the relative cost-effectiveness of measures. Results suggest that more deprived households experience lower energy savings, the difference persists over time, and that significantly heterogeneity may be present across levels of deprivation and income deciles that can not be explained by differences in baseline consumption. Measures have been largely cost-effective but savings are much lower than previous policy evaluations using ex-ante estimates would suggest.


Mononuclear copper monooxygenases peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM) and dopamine β-monooxygenase (DBM) catalyze the hydroxylation of high energy C-H bonds utilizing a pair of chemically distinct copper sites (CuH and CuM) separated by 11 Å. In earlier work, we constructed single-site PHM variants that were designed to allow the study of the M- and H-centers independently in order to place their reactivity sequentially along the catalytic pathway. More recent crystallographic studies suggest that these single-site variants may not be truly representative of the individual active sites. In this work, we describe an alternative approach that uses a rational design to construct an artificial PHM model in a small metallochaperone scaffold. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we constructed variants that provide a His2Met copper-binding ligand set that mimics the M-center of PHM. The results show that the model accurately reproduces the chemical and spectroscopic properties of the M-center, including details of the methionine coordination, and the properties of Cu(I) and Cu(II) states in the presence of endogenous ligands such as CO and azide. The rate of reduction of the Cu(II) form of the model by the chromophoric reductant N, N'-dimethyl phenylenediamine (DMPD) has been compared with that of the PHM M-center, and the reaction chemistry of the Cu(I) forms with molecular oxygen has also been explored, revealing an unusually low reactivity toward molecular oxygen. This latter finding emphasizes the importance of substrate triggering of oxygen reactivity and implies that the His2Met ligand set, while necessary, is insufficient on its own to activate oxygen in these enzyme systems.


Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power at the end of 2002, Turkey has increased its interactions with the Middle East. Syria has been the testing ground of this new, "neo-Ottoman" policy aimed at improving trade and political relations with all the country's neighbours. Analyzing the evolution of Turkey's policy towards Syria under AKP rule, we can distinguish three phases. The first phase was characterized by the coherent adoption of the "zero problems with neighbours" policy, which led to a general improvement of relations. The second phase started with outbreak of the Syrian civil war, which led the Turkish Government to set aside the "zero problems with neighbours" policy and pursue regime change. However, not only was Turkey unable to overthrow Bashar al-Assad's regime but its strategy also created tensions with Iran and Russia, and led to a deterioration in the country's geopolitical situation. Moreover, its inadequate response to the rise of jihadist groups and deterioration on the Kurdish issue have negatively affected its security. A final phase, begun in 2016, is characterized by a more pragmatic approach. Today, it is clear that the ambitious "zero problems" project created by Ahmet Davutoğlu has, at least temporarily, collapsed.


Lippmann color holograms are obtained by combining three component holograms recorded in different materials. In this technique, a dichromated gelatin plate coated with laboratory gelatin, is used for the blue and green components, while an 8E75HD plate is used for the red component. Ways to obtain high diffraction efficiency and to control the reconstruction wavelength are discussed for each component hologram. On the basis of these results, a Lippmann color hologram of a diffusely reflected object is recorded, and a satisfactory result is obtained.


We evaluate the ability of generational accounting to assess the potential welfare implications of policy reforms. In an intergenerational context policy reforms usually have redistributive, efficiency, and general equilibrium implications. Our analysis shows that when the policy reform implies changes in economic efficiency, generational accounts can be misleading not only about the magnitude of welfare changes, but also about the identity of who wins and who losses. In contrast, the generational accounts correctly identify welfare changes when the policy reform has only a pure intergenerational redistribution component. We illustrate and quantify this issue in the context of widely considered policy reforms (substitution of consumption for labor taxation, and the increase of retirement age) and in a more general context of optimal policy.


The aim of this study to create a comprehensive overview of factors that may influence motivation of ethnic minority students from their own perspective. A systematic review was conducted in PubMed, ERIC, and PsycINFO to find studies in which the motivation of ethnic minority students was studied. The articles reviewed were qualitatively synthesized by means of meta-ethnography, and were subjected to a quantitative meta-analysis where appropriate. Forty-five articles were included. Several factors were found to have either a positive or a negative influence on academic motivation, which can be classified into individual, family-related, school-related, and social factors. These factors should be taken into account when developing interventions aimed at enhancing motivation, which is expected to improve. However, evidence for the influence of most identified factors is weak, given that almost every factor was investigated in a single study only. Based on the outcomes of the current overview an integrative model, that provides a structure of the identified factors in relation to motivation which can be used for interventions, cannot be generated; thus, further research is needed.


Despite the increasing relevance of forecasting methods, causal implications of these algorithms remain largely unexplored. This is concerning considering that, even under simplifying assumptions such as causal sufficiency, the statistical risk of a model can differ significantly from its causal risk . Here, we study the problem of causal generalization —generalizing from the observational to interventional distributions—in forecasting. Our goal is to find answers to the question: How does the efficacy of an autoregressive (VAR) model in predicting statistical associations compare with its ability to predict under interventions? To this end, we introduce the framework of causal learning theory for forecasting. Using this framework, we obtain a characterization of the difference between statistical and causal risks, which helps identify sources of divergence between them. Under causal sufficiency, the problem of causal generalization amounts to learning under covariate shifts albeit with additional structure (restriction to interventional distributions under the VAR model). This structure allows us to obtain uniform convergence bounds on causal generalizability for the class of VAR models. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that provides theoretical guarantees for causal generalization in the time-series setting.


Proxy data and observations suggest that large tropical volcanic eruptions induce a poleward shift of the North Atlantic jet stream in boreal winter. However, there is far from universal agreement in models on this effect and its mechanism, and the possibilities of a corresponding jet shift in the Southern Hemisphere or the summer season have received little attention. Using a hierarchy of simplified atmospheric models, this study examines the impact of stratospheric aerosol on the extratropical circulation over the annual cycle. In particular, the models allow the separation of the dominant shortwave (surface cooling) and longwave (stratospheric warming) impacts of volcanic aerosol. It is found that stratospheric warming shifts the jet poleward in both the summer and winter hemispheres. The experiments cannot definitively rule out the role of surface cooling, but they provide no evidence that it shifts the jet poleward. Further study with simplified models demonstrates that the response to stratospheric warming is remarkably generic and does not depend critically on the boundary conditions (e.g., the planetary wave forcing) or the atmospheric physics (e.g., the treatment of radiative transfer and moist processes). It does, however, fundamentally involve both zonal-mean and eddy circulation feedbacks. The time scales, seasonality, and structure of the response provide further insight into the mechanism, as well as its connection to modes of intrinsic natural variability. These findings have implications for the interpretation of comprehensive model studies and for postvolcanic prediction.


This paper describes Si-micromachined two-axis beam-steering micromirrors and their performance in 256 /spl times/ 256- and 1024 /spl times/ 1024-port large optical cross-connects (OXCs). The high-reflectivity wavelength-independent mirrors are electrostatically actuated; capable of large, continuous, controlled, dc tilt in any direction at moderate actuation voltages; and allow setting times of a few milliseconds. Packaged two-dimensional (2-D) arrays containing independently addressable identical 256 and 1296 mirrors are used to build fully functional bitrate and wavelength-independent single-stage, low-insertion-loss, single-mode fiber OXC fabrics.


BACKGROUND
Impetigo is a common clinical problem seen in general practice. Uncertainty exists as to the most effective treatment, or indeed if treatment is necessary.

AIM
To determine the most effective treatment for impetigo in a systemically well patient.

DESIGN OF STUDY
Systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHOD
Databases were searched for relevant studies. The Cochrane highly sensitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) search string was employed and combined with the word 'impetigo' as the MeSH term and keyword. The bibliographies of relevant articles were searched for additional references. RCTs that were either double- or observer-blind, and involved systemically well patients of any age in either primary or secondary care settings, were included. Studies that selected patients on the basis of skin swab results were excluded, as were studies that were not in English. Cure or improvement of impetigo reported at seven to 14 days from start of treatment was the primary outcome measure. Meta-analysis was performed on homogeneous studies.

RESULTS
Three hundred and fifty-nine studies were identified, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis demonstrated that topical antibiotics are more effective than placebo (odds ratio [OR] = 2.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.49 to 4.86). There is weak evidence for the superiority of topical antibiotics over some oral antibiotics, such as erythromycin (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.23 to 1.00). There is no significant difference between the effects of mupirocin and fusidic acid (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 0.77 to 4.03).

CONCLUSION
This review found limited high-quality evidence to inform the treatment of impetigo. From that which is available, we would recommend the use of a topical antibiotic for a period of seven days in a systemically well patient with limited disease. Further research is needed on the role of flucloxacillin and non-antibiotic treatments for impetigo.


Abstract Seed germination requirements of Viburnum lantana were investigated by experiments both in the laboratory and outdoors. Embryo length, radicle emergence and shoot emergence were analysed to determine the level of morphophysiological dormancy (MPD) of seeds. Mean embryo length in fresh seeds was 1.30 mm, and required growth to at least 2.51 mm to germinate. The critical embryo length was 4.1 mm. In the laboratory, the embryo reached 3 mm length after 20 weeks of warm-temperature incubation (20/7 or 25/10°C), which in fact represents a combination of warm + cold stratification. In seeds subjected to cold stratification (1.5 or 5°C) for 24 weeks, embryos hardly grew. Gibberellic acid stimulated embryo growth and germination. In the outdoor phenology test, the embryos grew from 1.30 mm, i.e. fresh seeds sown in September, to 2.98 mm at the end of the following March. In the 'move-along' test (laboratory), starting with temperatures of warm stratification [i.e. 25/10°C (4 weeks) → 20/7°C (4 weeks) → 15/4°C (4 weeks) → 5°C (12 weeks) → 15/4°C (4 weeks)], and in the outdoor phenology study on seeds exposed to a similar temperature sequence, radicle emergence percentages reached 73% after 28 and 35 weeks, respectively. V. lantana does not exhibit a delay between root and shoot emergence, dismissing any kind of epicotyl dormancy. Seeds of V. lantana have non-deep simple MPD, a level not detected previously in the genus Viburnum, with the physiological dormancy component overcome by a combination of warm and cold stratification, preferably in that order.


At the Institute of Public Health Iasi, bioelectromagnetic research started late 1992, with epidemiological studies of health effects due to occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields. Later, biological experiments have been carried out on animals and various vegetal systems. To achieve electromagnetic exposure of biological bodies, an exposure system has been designed and built: a transverse electromagnetic cell optimized for biological experiments. Our group also got involved in health protection issues like measurement of environmental levels of electromagnetic fields and assessment of human exposure. Research activities concerning characterization and limitation of electromagnetic exposure included calculation and optimization of exposure metrics and exposure limits. To help good practice in the domain of electromagnetic exposure determination, we developed methodologies for electromagnetic field evaluation and measurement. The results of our research also contributed to the development of national and international exposure standards and of standardized methods for compliance testing.


Linear two-timescale stochastic approximation (SA) scheme is an important class of algorithms which has become popular in reinforcement learning (RL), particularly for the policy evaluation problem. Recently, a number of works have been devoted to establishing the finite time analysis of the scheme, especially under the Markovian (non-i.i.d.) noise settings that are ubiquitous in practice. In this paper, we provide a finite-time analysis for linear two timescale SA. Our bounds show that there is no discrepancy in the convergence rate between Markovian and martingale noise, only the constants are affected by the mixing time of the Markov chain. With an appropriate step size schedule, the transient term in the expected error bound is $o(1/k^c)$ and the steady-state term is ${\cal O}(1/k)$, where $c>1$ and $k$ is the iteration number. Furthermore, we present an asymptotic expansion of the expected error with a matching lower bound of $\Omega(1/k)$. A simple numerical experiment is presented to support our theory.


The California Department of Transportation has been using open-graded mixes to reduce traffic noise levels and to improve wet weather safety. There is a need to identify how long open-graded mixes last in terms of permeability, skid resistance, roughness, and noise reduction and to compare their lifetime with other asphaltic mixes. In 2005, Caltrans initiated a long-term program to investigate and monitor field performance of different asphalt concrete mixes. A total of 72 field pavement sections with different asphalt mix surfaces that were at that time less than 8 years old were included in the study. Regression models were developed for performance variables of permeability, skid resistance, roughness, and noise. The lifetimes for different asphalt concrete mixes under different traffic and climatic conditions were estimated.


Power saving is one of the most important features that extends the lifetime of portable devices in mobile wireless networks. The IEEE 802.16e mobile broadband wireless access system adopts a power saving mechanism with a binary truncated exponent algorithm for determining sleep intervals. When using this standard power saving scheme, there is often a delay before data packets are received at the mobile subscriber station (MSS). In order to extend the lifetime of a MSS, the battery energy must be used efficiently. This paper presents a dynamically alternating sleep interval scheduling algorithm as a solution to deal with the power consumption problem. We take into account different traffic classes and schedule a proper sequence of power saving classes. The window size of the sleep interval is calculated dynamically according to the packet arrival rate. We make a tradeoff between the power consumption and packet delay. The method achieves the goal of efficiently reducing the listening window size, which leads to increased power saving. The performance of our proposed scheme is compared to that of the standard power saving scheme. Simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of our power saving scheme and its ability to strike the appropriate performance balance between power saving and packet delay for a MSS in an IEEE 802.16e mobile broadband wireless access system.


Graded-Gate-Oxide(GGO)-MOSFETs with various degrees of gate-drain(source) overlap (and grading thickness of the gate oxide near the polysilicon-gate edge) have been investigated for hot-electron generation. Compared with a conventional MOSFET, the GGO-MOSFET exhibits higher substrate and gate currents when the gate voltage is raised above a critical value(Vgc). Vgc is found to be dependent on the drain voltage. It is also a smooth function of the degree of gate-drain(source) overlap which can be controlled by the fabrication process. These experimental findings are supported by results obtained from the two-dimensional analysis of a similar device structure. Implications of the GGO phenomena on MOS technologies are discussed. Possible use of the GGO-MOSFET in EPROM is proposed.


The Lorentzian-shape filter response of a microring resonator filter is not suitable for practical use in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems because of the lack of passband flatness, high crosstalk, and the large wing in the rejection band. Therefore, the tailoring of filter response shape is required to improve the performance. The series coupled microring resonator is one of the solutions. We designed and fabricated vertically triple coupled microring resonator add/drop filters with a stacked configuration. A box-like filter response with a flat passband was successfully obtained, and the free spectral range (FSR) was expanded to 25.8 nm owing to the Vernier effect.


The construction design industry involves multiple stakeholders who may
carry out their job from widely distributed locations. Therefore, the interaction
between those participants is often the cause of mistakes and misunderstandings due
to a lack of interoperability. The UK Government will require all those engaged in
the design, construction and management of publicly funded buildings and
infrastructure to share that process by 2016 (Cabinet Office 2011). However, as stated
by UK government reports, the lack of collaboration and interoperability causes not
efficient benefit in the business context in the AEC industry.
This research identified unstructured data, information consistency, data and
information mapping and knowledge evaluation as the key challenges on the level of
interoperability which professionals face constantly in the UK construction industry.
This research has been structured using the interpretivist philosophy and qualitative
approach to thoroughly explore the challenges of using unstructured data in
construction engineering design in the UK. The data collection method of this
research will employ semi-structured interviews with structured engineering in the
UK and two different cases have been selected to conduct a cross-case analysis that
will compare and contrast cases.


Increased focus has been placed on the issues of energy access and energy poverty over the last number of years, most notably indicated by the United Nations (UN) declaring 2012 as the "International Year of Sustainable Energy for All". Although attention in these topics has increased, incorrect assumptions and misunderstandings still arise in both the literature and dialogues. Access to energy does not only include electricity, does not only include cook stoves, but must include access to all types of energy that form the overall energy system. This paper chooses to examine this energy system using a typology that breaks it into 3 primary energy subsystems: heat energy, electricity and transportation. Describing the global energy system using these three subsystems provides a way to articulate the differences and similarities for each system's required investments needs by the private and public sectors.