Repetitive movements (RMs), colloquially called "stimming" among adult autistic people and "motor stereotypies" among scientists, are common in autism. These behaviors fall under the domain of restricted and repetitive behaviors in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). RMs can be socially disruptive or cause self-harm, but can also be experienced as cognitively or emotionally helpful and even enjoyable. Overt RMs are less common in females than in males, which could contribute to clinical difficulties in detecting their autism. In the social domain, autistic people with intact intelligence can often mask their social difficulties through various compensation strategies, and females appear especially skilled at it. Subjective report from verbally able adults may be useful as a first step in detecting potential camouflaging of RMs, and to provide a foundation for further studies. We founded an Internet-based outreach platform that became particularly successful in reaching female and transgender individuals. We recruited 342 individuals to an anonymous online questionnaire, collected data about self-reported RMs and probed for potential camouflaging. The cohort comprised 56% formally diagnosed participants and 44% who self-identified as autistic, and 17% of all participants reported non-cisgender identity. Thus, in addition to diagnosed women, we reached two populations that would normally be excluded from autism studies: transgender and undiagnosed participants. We found high rates of RMs in both diagnosed and self-identifying participants, and a striking prevalence of camouflaging. We suggest that camouflaging of RMs may contribute to underdiagnosis of autism, at least in females and transgender people, and that further studies on this topic are exceptionally important.


Abstract : EEG (electroencephalogram) recorded in human participants as they performed tasks that induced different mental states, including engagement, mental workload, and mental fatigue. We tested two types of atomic decomposition, each of which identifies unique EEG sources simultaneously in three dimensions: (1) atoms with dimensions of power spectral density, space (electrode position), and time (time on task or task conditions), or (2) atoms with dimensions of magnitude squared coherence, spatial relationships (electrode pairs), and time. For tasks that induced mental workload, we found atoms that combine sources in the theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha (8-12 Hz) EEG frequency bands consistently in individual participants at different times of day and on different days. The temporal variations of the atoms clearly reflected the levels of mental workload induced by varying task conditions. For a task that induced mental fatigue, we found atoms that tracked the development of mental fatigue in individual participants over time, while reflecting underlying changes in power or coherence of primarily theta-band EEG. Our results show that atomic decomposition is a valuable new approach to the identification and measurement of EEG sources for monitoring cognitive status. By comparing these results with results of prior analyses using the same data sets, we observed that atomic decomposition can supplement or overcome existing approaches based on conventional two-dimensional space-time or frequency-time decomposition of EEG.


Gas turbine development has been in the direction of increased turbine inlet temperatures to improve efficiency and power output. As a result the allowable metal temperatures of the alloys used for the turbine airfoils and endwalls are exceeded such that the surfaces have to be protected from the hot gases by cooling. Bypassed leakage flows emerging from a slot between the combustor and turbine
component endwalls can be utilized for cooling purposes. In order to improve this cooling method the complex flow structures in a turbine have to be considered as they enhance the heat transfer and convect hot core flow gases onto component surfaces.

In this thesis four film cooling configurations using this slot which differ from each other in terms of geometrical aspects are examined with the help of the flow solver TRACE (Turbomachinery Research Aerodynamics Computational Environment) developed at the Institute of Propulsion Technology of the German Aerospace Center. Furthermore, in the present study the amount of coolant ejected is varied by adjusting the blowing ratio. Additionally the shape of the leakage slot is tailored to take the pressure distribution in front of the leading edge into account. The results are analysed with respect to film cooling effectiveness and the surface heat transfer. The results are mainly influenced by the
three-dimensional flow structures visualized with the streamwise vorticity.

The results obtained for the straight slot show for all mass flow ratios an intensified ejection of coolant in the center of the passage due to the wall pressure distribution. Furthermore, the coolant is not only concentrated in the center of the passage but also "trapped" between the two legs of the horseshoe vortex, where the coolant air is scraped away from the endwall in the region of the separation lines. With increasing mass flow rate of the coolant one realizes a broader area of the endwall covered by the coolant. By adapting the contour of the slot concerning the pressure distribution in front of the leading edge the coolant is enabled to leave the slot in a much more uniform manner. This way
a better cooling around the leading edge region and the juncture of the blade's pressure side and the endwall is achieved. Thus, not only the need for complex cooling hole layouts next to the critical areas can be minimized but also the number of cooling holes and thus the amount of coolant can be reduced.


Generations of students have engaged in the (more or less artistic) practice of doodling in the margins of their notes, and yet it is rare for law students to be given crayons and be directed to colour. In this note, I describe and reflect on the experience of using the visually based pedagogy of "mapping" as a tool for exploring the Insite case. This exercise took place at the end of the Legal Process module, after students had spent nearly two days of concentrated attention on the case and the issues raised by it. The class was divided into four groups, each of which was asked to imagine themselves as a newly formed government working group charged with the task of imagining more visionary ways of dealing with the problems of the "hard to house, hard to reach and hard to treat." The first task was to work as a group to map out the terrain on which new solutions might be developed: to depict visually the hopes, fears, concerns, difficulties, convergences and possible strategic alliances created by drug use in the Downtown East Side (DTES).


One of the largest uncertainties in understanding the effect of a background UV field on galaxy formation is the intensity and evolution of the radiation field with redshift. This work attempts to shed light on this issue by computing the quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium states of gas in spherically symmetric dark matter halos (roughly corresponding to dwarf galaxies) as a function of the amplitude of the background UV field. We integrate the full equations of radiative transfer, heating, cooling and non-equilibrium chemistry for nine species: H, H+, H−,H2, H + 2 , He, He +, He++, and e. As the amplitude of the UV background is decreased the gas in the core of the dwarf goes through three stages characterized by the predominance of ionized (H+), neutral (H) and molecular (H2) hydrogen. Characterizing the gas state of a dwarf galaxy with the radiation field allows us to estimate its behavior for a variety of models of the background UV flux. Our results indicate that a typical radiation field can easily delay the collapse of gas in halos corresponding to 1-σ CDM perturbations with circular velocities less than 30 km s−1. Subject headings: cosmolgy:theory—galaxies:formation—molecular processes— radiative transfer


One of the main issues, in the specification of the 5G radio access network (RAN) technology, is the design of a new waveform, overcoming the limitations of the CP-OFDM in terms of frequency localization, spectral efficiency and robustness to users asynchronism, while keeping low latency and reduced transceiver implementation complexity. In the last decade, many waveforms have been proposed in order to achieve the best compromise between the aforementioned constraints. This paper aims at comparing, as fair as possible, the performances of promising schemes namely WOLA-OFDM and BF-OFDM in terms of spectrum confinement, transmitter complexity and robustness in a typical multi-user asynchronous scenario.


It is time to end the underappreciation of the burden of neurological disorders in global health.1

The Chairman of the Commission of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare, recently claimed that Africa now confronts the world's most dramatic public health crisis.2 Sub-Saharan Africa has become the poorest region in the world. Many countries still suffer from the legacies of colonialism and slavery. Interethnic conflicts add to the problems. With a population of about 700 million, around 45% live for less than a dollar a day. The medical infrastructure is poorly developed and has approached collapse in some areas. The AIDS situation represents an additional socioeconomic problem.

There is a lack of hospital beds for neurologic disorders in sub-Saharan Africa. The median number of neurologic beds per 10,000 population in low-income countries is 0.03, compared with 0.73 in high-income countries. Neurologists are scarce and unequally distributed. In Europe, there is one specialist per 20,000 population; in Africa, one per 3 million people. Less than 50% of the sub-Saharan African countries have neurologic societies. There is a lack of nurses and subspecialized neurologic services (neurologic rehabilitation, EEG, EMG, neuroradiology, and stroke units), facilities for postgraduate training are poorly developed, more than two thirds have no disability benefits available, and basic drugs used for neurologic disorders may not be available or are too expensive. While social insurance is the most important source of financing health service in Europe, none of the responding countries in Africa use social insurance as the primary method of financing. Out-of-pocket expenditure is still the primary method of financing in 84.2% of low-income countries. This is likely to result in further inequity of neurologic services. The major conclusion is that the available resources are insufficient to meet the global burden associated with neurologic disorders.3

Neurologic and …


Psychiatric Genetics is a forum for reporting new approaches to genetic research in psychiatry and neurology utilizing novel techniques or methodologies, publishing original research reports dealing with inherited factors involved in psychiatric and neurological disorders. This encompasses gene localization and chromosome markers, changes in neuronal gene expression related to psychiatric disease, linkage genetics analyses, family, twin and adoption studies, and genetically based animal models of neuropsychiatric disease. The journal covers areas such as molecular neurobiology and molecular genetics relevant to mental illness.


Objective: This research was aimed to prepare and characterize the ethanol extract nanoparticles of Rhaphidophora pinnata leaves by using arabic gum and dextrin. Method: The Rhaphidophora pinnata leaves extract was obtained via the percolation method using ethanol 96% and followed by evaporation process to form a thickened extract. The total water content and ash of the ethanol extract from Rhaphidophora pinnata leaves were determined. The ethanol extract of Rhaphidophora pinnata leaves was turned into nanoparticles by mixing the extract with arabic gum and dextrin. Then, it was sieved using a 20 mesh sieve. The resulting granules were dried in the oven at 40-45°C. The dried granules were milled with ball milling equipment to obtain a powder in nanometer scale. The nanoparticle powder was then characterized using a Particle Size Analyzer to investigate its particle size and Scanning Electron Microscopy to determine the morphological conditions of the powder. Result: The nanoparticle powder was brown. The total water content and ash of the extract were 0.087% and 9.672%, respectively. The characterization using PSA showed an average particle size of 306.41 nm. The SEM investigation showed that the particles morphology was uneven in surfaces, possesing irregular shapes, forming aggregates and not consistent in size. Conclusion: The nanoparticles of the ethanol extract from Rhaphidophora pinnata leaves have been prepared by using arabic gum and dextrin. Key words: Arabic gum, Dextrin, Ethanol extract, Nanoparticles, Rhaphidophora pinnata.


Ensuring efficiency improvement of banks is a priority task for Ukrainian banking system at the stage of creating the developed financial sector of economy. The study of a bank performance, which takes into account a risk factor of banking business, is particularly relevant due to the need to ensure competitiveness and stability of both individual banks and the banking system as a whole.The aim of this article is to develop a methodology for integral evaluation of the Ukrainian banks according to the efficiency and risk criteria. Ratio analysis, mathematical methods, comparison and grouping, synthesis, table, matrix and graphic methods make the methodological basis of the research. The object of the analysis is the activities of Ukrainian banks.The study was conducted to elaborate a method for risk-oriented integral estimation of efficiency of the banks functioning. One can state that high efficiency and low risk of a bank's work do not depend on the volume of assets, equity and profit for Ukrainian banks.The analysis made it possible to evaluate the strategies for the development of Ukrainian banks. The vast majority of Ukrainian banks have chosen a moderate strategy in the context of balancing the efficiency and riskiness of their activities. According to the results of factor analysis using Raiffeisen Bank Aval as an example, the main factors of gross profit growth were determined as increase in bank profitability and expansion of its active operations volume relative to its own capital.


"Learning to be Human" is the theme of the 24 th World Congress of Philosophy, to be held in Beijing in 2018, and also an important topic in traditional Chinese Confucian philosophy. Different interpretations of this theme, however, directly determine how to understand the study of Chinese philosophy in the context of world philosophy today. Changes in contemporary philosophy urge us to reconsider philosophical research in today's China. Reflecting on the status quo of research on Chinese philosophy and finding a method for solving certain existing difficulties will ultimately enhance the study of Chinese philosophy.


This paper proposes a novel power module concept specially designed for highly reliable silicon carbide (SiC) power devices for medium- and high-power applications. The concept consists of two clamped structures: 1) a press-pack power stage accommodating SiC power switch dies and 2) perpendicularly clamped press-pack heatsinks, in which the heatsinks are in contact with electrically insulated case plates of the power stage. The concept enables bondless package with symmetric double-sided cooling of the dies and allows for an order of magnitude higher clamping force on the heatsinks than what can be applied on the dies. The concept has been evaluated in a first demonstrator (half-bridge configuration with 10 paralleled SiC dies in each position). The experimental methodologies, setups, and procedures have been presented. The commutation loop inductance is approximately 9 nH at 78 kHz. The junction-to-case thermal resistance is approximately 0.028 K/W. Furthermore, a simplified 3-D finite-element thermomechanical model representing the center unit of the demonstrator has been established for the purpose of future optimization. The accuracy of the simulated temperatures is within 4% compared to the measurements. Finally, a 3-D thermomechanical stress distribution map has been obtained for the simplified model of the demonstrator.


This paper summarises the results of two research projects on the safety of children that use school buses. The first project took a "Safe System" approach to determine what options are available to improve the safety of the 100,000 children who use school buses. This NZTA funded research included safety both on and around school buses. A number of interventions, and their effectiveness were identified. For example: improvements to bus stops, installing speed limit signs on buses that are activated when children may be crossing, increased enforcement, educational/information campaigns and bus design and management improvements. The research found that the most immediate and cost-effective solution is to slow the traffic around school buses that are dropping off or picking up children. The second project, funded by the Road Safety Trust, investigated various sign options and their effectiveness in slowing the traffic down. The current legal speed limit near school buses that have stopped to pick up or drop off children is 20 km/h. Currently almost no motorists comply with this speed limit and many appear to be unaware of it. The most effective sign was an active, LED-based, speed limit sign that included flashing beacons. Major reductions in average speeds were achieved, although there was an increase in speed variation. The results suggest that a combination of active bus signs, public awareness raising and enforcement may be required to achieve compliance with the 20 km/hr speed limit past a school bus.


This thesis contributes to the understanding of young people's sexual behaviour, the
nonnative context in which it takes place, and how implicit assumptions contained in
interventions inadvertently contribute to young people's sexual risk-taking.
Fieldwork was carried out in early 2000 in Maputo, Mozambique and consisted of 71
individual and 21 group interviews with men and women aged 16-24 years old. Script theory
was used as an organising framework to show how sexual culture and the social construction of
risk influence the behaviour change process.
Nearly all young people interviewed were sexually active and most reported
involvement in a relationship with a long-standing partner. Casual sex was common; however
condom use was inconsistent with all partners. The immediate concern for young people is
pregnancy, not HIV/AIDS. Two locally defined sexual identities were found. First, the
survivor lifestyle demonstrates how gender and power relations define and control sexual
identity and determine sexual choices among young people. Second, the saca cena (one-night
stand) illustrates how and why some young people come to terms with risk, redefine their
sexuality, and adopt innovative sexual behaviour including condom use.
Without a clear understanding of how behaviour change happens and how meaning
becomes vested in practice, interventions will fail to promote healthy sexual lifestyles and
prevent HIV/ AIDS and STls among young people. The gap between knowledge and practice
is a case in point. Young people bridge this gap, but their response is mediated by the social and
sexual identities they assume, the perceived consequences of mitigating actions, and the
resources at their disposal. For the purpose of structuring effective interventions, it is important
to assess what these perceived risks are, how they become integrated into sexual identities, and
what resources can be deployed to modify them.


Since EU enlargement in 2004, Ireland has emerged as a major destination for Polish migrants. What are the particular features of this East–West migration? Based on repeat interviews with Polish migrants as part of a Qualitative Panel Study, we show that this migration is characterised by new mobility patterns. As 'free movers', Polish migrants are more mobile across national borders and within national labour markets. This affords them new opportunities beyond the employment experience. The younger and more educated of these migrants, especially, are part of a new generation of mobile Europeans for whom the move abroad is not only work-related but also involves lifestyle choices as part of a broader aspiration for self-development. The new mobility strategies of migrants become visible even in an economic downturn wherein Ireland has been hit by an unprecedented recession.


Simulating a power system with both transmission and distribution networks modeled is a challenging task. On the one hand, it is difficult to set up equivalents restituting the dynamic behavior of aggregated loads and distributed generation units. On the other hand, representing all distribution networks in detail is computationally very demanding. In this paper, the combination of a domain-decomposition approach with the exploitation of the localized nature of power system responses to disturbances is proposed. Distribution networks marginally participating to the system dynamics are automatically replaced by simple models, while the others are simulated with full detail, thereby preserving simulation accuracy.


Frustrated by the lack of instructions and documentation that came with your new iPod? Don't throw it out the window! Instead, consult Easy iPod and iTunes, a full-color, visually oriented book that covers iPod and iTunes usage from the beginner's point of view. With step-by-step instructions and visual elements on every page, you will go from opening the iPod box and installing its software, to ripping music in iTunes, syncing with the iPod and beyond. You will learn to work with music files, podcasts, audio books and Internet radio, and you'll discover the iTunes Music Store and how it works with iTunes and iPod. As long as you have a current model iPod (including the new Nano and video models), this book will work for you.


We present a new technique for parameter synthesis under boolean and quantitative objectives. The input to the technique is a "sketch" --- a program with missing numerical parameters --- and a probabilistic assumption about the program's inputs. The goal is to automatically synthesize values for the parameters such that the resulting program satisfies: (1) a {boolean specification}, which states that the program must meet certain assertions, and (2) a {quantitative specification}, which assigns a real valued rating to every program and which the synthesizer is expected to optimize. Our method --- called smoothed proof search --- reduces this task to a sequence of unconstrained smooth optimization problems that are then solved numerically. By iteratively solving these problems, we obtain parameter values that get closer and closer to meeting the boolean specification; at the limit, we obtain values that provably meet the specification. The approximations are computed using a new notion of smoothing for program abstractions, where an abstract transformer is approximated by a function that is continuous according to a metric over abstract states. We present a prototype implementation of our synthesis procedure, and experimental results on two benchmarks from the embedded control domain. The experiments demonstrate the benefits of smoothed proof search over an approach that does not meet the boolean and quantitative synthesis goals simultaneously.


Integrated Development Planning (IDP) has revolutionized planning for government as whole, and more specifically for local government. Since 1996, IDP has become a tool for municipal planning and budgeting to enable municipalities to fulfill the developmental goals set out in Chapter 7 of Constitution of the Republic of South AjF~ca Act 108 of 1996 and the Bill of hights. The introduction of IDP and through related legislations such as Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 and Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003, sought to ensure that resources, especially budgeting, is linked to planning, so that the IDP does not become a proverbial pie in the sky or a wish list. Although, there was initially confusion on the role of the IDP and role-players in the process of developing the IDP, subsequent development of IDP Guides and practice in municipalities has improved the understanding of the role and importance of DP and the budget, and most importantly the necessity to ensure that IDP and the budget are effectively linked; and many municipalities are currently developing the LDP internally, not through the service of consultants, thereby ensuring ownership of the IDP process. Whilst many municipalities have made significant progress in effectively linking LDP and the budget, there are still many challenges that remain, and these include but are not limited to the fact that whereas IDP is supposed to be a planning tool for all spheres of government, it (IDP) is still largely seen as a local government planning tool, thereby depriving spheres of government to align planning and resources has been made by many municipalities to realise the goals and spirit of IDP. Despite the importance of the linkage between IDP and the budget and the fact that this linkage has been required of municipalities since the inception of IDPs, this (linkage) has been one of the least successful aspects of the system of Integrated Development Planning. There are also still challenges relating to linking the IDP and the budget. Some of these challenges relate to the separation of the processes of IDP and budget, lack of understanding of the importance of linking IDP and the budget, especially amongst lower levels of employees in municipalities, some councillors and community-based organisations. The implementation of IDP as a subsequent phase of planning serves to unite the total efforts of the municipality behind a strategy to link the operational activities to successful execution of strategy. This would necessitate senior oEclals to assume responsibility; cohesion among Councillors, officials and communities; integrating planning efforts; communicating with all stakeholders; aligning operational activities of the departments with the IDP as an overarching municipal plan; linking the IDP to budgetary processes; and prioritising projects and programmes. For the purpose of the study, the hypothesis was formulated that due to the inability of linking budget to planning system, the Emfuleni Local Municipality is ineffective in the successful…


EGR coolers are mainly used on diesel engines to reduce intake charge temperature and thus reduce emissions of NOx and PM. Soot and hydrocarbon deposition in the EGR cooler reduces heat transfer efficiency of the cooler and increases emissions and pressure drop across the cooler. They may also be acidic and corrosive. Fouling has been always treated as an approximate factor in heat exchanger designs and it has not been modeled in detail. The aim of this paper is to look into fouling formation in an EGR cooler of a diesel engine. A 1-D model is developed to predict and calculate EGR cooler fouling amount and distribution across a concentric tube heat exchanger with a constant wall temperature. The model is compared to an experiment that is designed for correlation of the model. Effectiveness, mass deposition, and pressure drop are the parameters that have been compared. The results of the model are in a good agreement with the experimental data.


Abstract. The Equal Earth map projection (Figure 1) is a new pseudocylindrical projection for world maps. It is similar to the popular Robinson projection, but unlike the Robinson, it is an equal-area projection. The projection shows continental outlines in a visually pleasing and balanced way. Its equations are simple to implement and fast to evaluate. The creation of this projection was motivated by a wave of news stories about Boston Public Schools switching to maps using the Peters projection. Since its online publication in August 2018, the projection has already been adopted in various software and projection libraries and it has been featured by media outlets around the world.This presentation will show the distortion characteristics of Equal Earth and compare them to the Robinson projection as well as a few other well-known equal-area projections. We will cover some of the published world maps that use Equal Earth and list the software that has adopted the projection. Finally, media reporting and the impact of rapid popularity via social media circulation will be discussed.


Deep learning is a class of machine learning techniques that uses multi-layered artificial neural networks for automated analysis of signals or data. The name comes from the general structure of deep neural networks, which consist of several layers of artificial neurons, each performing a nonlinear operation, stacked over each other. Beyond its main stream applications such as the recognition and labeling of specific features in images, deep learning holds numerous opportunities for revolutionizing image formation, reconstruction and sensing fields. In fact, deep learning is mysteriously powerful and has been surprising optics researchers in what it can achieve for advancing optical microscopy, and introducing new image reconstruction and transformation methods. From physics-inspired optical designs and devices, we are moving toward data-driven designs that will holistically change both optical hardware and software of next generation microscopy and sensing, blending the two in new ways. Today, we sample an image and then act on it using a computer. Powered by deep learning, next generation optical microscopes and sensors will understand a scene or an object and accordingly decide on how and what to sample based on a given task – this will require a perfect marriage of deep learning with new optical microscopy hardware that is designed based on data. For such a thinking microscope, unsupervised learning would be the key to scale up its impact on various areas of science and engineering, where access to labeled image data might not be immediately available or very costly, difficult to acquire. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of some of our recent work on the use of deep neural networks in advancing computational microscopy and sensing systems, also covering their biomedical applications.


Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007) and Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) are two intellectuals who in different times and places, each with his own cultural background, decided to push their artistic and intellectual research beyond the borders of pure literary expression in order to understand an increasingly indecipherable and threatening present. Two intellectuals in many ways very different from each other, but with a common passion – Africa. The Black Continent, the privileged object of their reflections, represents an original world, untouched by the capitalist and neo-imperialistic aspirations of poisoned Western society, thus becoming a mixture of romantic fantasies and dreams of unteachable regenerations.


Port policy makers rely on demand traffic forecasts to support the decisions related to operation and future port infrastructure investments. It is a challenge to match capacity to demand. On the one hand, they face the risk of costly excess capacity, and on the other hand, under-capacity causes loss of market share. In addition, the volatility and uncertainty of the global economy, and, consequently, of the maritime trade and port sector impose a challenge to modelling and forecasting container throughput. The main research question of this thesis is which model to use to forecast the container throughput at the port level? The aim of the thesis is to provide an instrument to support stakeholders in making short-term operational decisions and long-term planning and investment decisions. This is achieved by developing quantitative models using a time series approach that analyses, identifies and quantifies the relationship between economic activity and container throughput at the port level. Forecasting the number of TEUs at the port level in the short-term assists in the planning of the operational decisions such as the port capacity utilisation, loading and unloading planning, handling of containers and hinterland connections capacity. In comparison, the long-term forecasting is useful to assess the future infrastructure investment decisions. The empirical analysis is carried out for the port of Antwerp. Nevertheless, application to other ports is feasible taking into account the specific characteristic of each port's location and the country's macroeconomic indicators. Throughout the thesis, the analysis incorporates the 2008 financial crisis in the modelling process, which has the advantage of providing insight into the data generating process and the impact of the crisis. Moreover, the analysis identifies leading indicators with time lag that enable improving the monthly container throughput forecast. Combining different scenarios and the ARDL model provides reliable long term forecasts. The findings show that for the short-term, the EU18 industrial confidence indicator and the index of industrial production are leading the container throughput at the port of Antwerp. For the long-term, the elasticity of the container throughput in the Hamburg-Le Havre range to trade indices is about 1.4 on average.


The purpose of this paper is to describe internationalism and parochialism and link the impact of both using the examples provided by the European Union and the Middle East in a comparative manner. Then the role of public opinion with regard to these two approaches will be examined. The paper will conclude by arguing that examples from other regions of the world suggest that states in the Middle East are more likely to develop a secure environment for themselves if they could encourage a 'democratic culture' in domestic politics to emerge. In the short run there is, of course, the risk that a parochial public opinion encouraged by populism will become vociferous but this can be controlled by active involvement of the EU in supporting democratic transition. The benefits of globalization in terms of greater democracy, rule of law and economic prosperity will be a powerful motivating factor for such a public opinion or constituencies to emerge.


The CARD-RCA linear programming model of United States agriculture has evolved through more than a decade of detailed research at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. At the present time, the model is equipped for endogenous treatment of the production and transportation of the major crops in U.S. agriculture. An optional livestock sector is also available. The model has been used for analysis of several topics of interest to policy makers, academics, and producers in the private sector. Under contract with the Soil Conservation Service, the model is being further developed in preparation for more extensive use by the government, and several potential avenues to improvement are being explored. This paper explains the need for including rangeland and permanent pasture use as an endogenous sector in the CARD-RCA model. Also, the problems of modeling rangeland use are discussed, and a methodology for constructing the range sector is examined. This report, therefore, is preliminary in nature and intended for use of CARD, SCS, and FS personnel as they review the needs for the research project at hand. Actual documentation of the grazing sector will be prepared once the sector has been constructed and tested for use in the CARD-RCA models.


Achillea filipendulina Lam. was collected from two different sites in south-central Tajikistan. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. A total of 51 compounds were identified representing 99.0 and 98.8% of total oil compositions. The major components of A. filipendulina oil were santolina alcohol (43.6- 46.3%), 1,8-cineole (8.8-11.4%), borneol (5.3-6.0%), isoborneol (4.8-5.4%), and cischrysanthenyl acetate (6.5-9.3%).


In the wake of the 2003 mutual fund scandal, numerous lawsuits have been filed against mutual fund officers, directors and investment advisers. Many of these lawsuits allege violations of section 36(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Section 36(a) provides a federal cause of action for a breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct in respect of any investment company. The interpretation of this phrase, however, remains unsettled. After examining relevant legislative history and case law, the Article argues that the federal courts should fashion federal law as to what fiduciary duties are owed under section 36(a), drawing on analogous state law as appropriate. This approach would allow federal courts to tailor fiduciary duty standards for the unique investment company structure as opposed to simply applying state fiduciary duty standards developed for traditional corporations. The Article also argues that the involving personal misconduct standard of section 36(a) should be interpreted to include more than just self-dealing and personal impropriety, as some courts have suggested. Specifically, along the lines of the business judgment rule, the standard should encompass any decision that was not made on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the company. This interpretation strikes the appropriate balance between attracting competent individuals to serve as fund directors and holding fund directors accountable. This interpretation would also extend business-judgment-rule-type protection to investment advisers, a result warranted by the risk-taking nature of portfolio management.


Off-policy evaluation (OPE) in reinforcement learning is an important problem in settings where experimentation is limited, such as education and healthcare. But, in these very same settings, observed actions are often confounded by unobserved variables making OPE even more difficult. We study an OPE problem in an infinite-horizon, ergodic Markov decision process with unobserved confounders, where states and actions can act as proxies for the unobserved confounders. We show how, given only a latent variable model for states and actions, policy value can be identified from off-policy data. Our method involves two stages. In the first, we show how to use proxies to estimate stationary distribution ratios, extending recent work on breaking the curse of horizon to the confounded setting. In the second, we show optimal balancing can be combined with such learned ratios to obtain policy value while avoiding direct modeling of reward functions. We establish theoretical guarantees of consistency, and benchmark our method empirically.


We firstly present a strategy that enables fabrication of both closed-cell and open-cell porous polymers (polyHIPEs) from high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) stabilized with an ionomer, namely sulfonated polystyrene (SPS). Closed-cell polyHIPEs (St-polyHIPEs) were formed with styrene as the continuous phase in "parent" HIPEs whereas open-cell polyHIPEs (BA-polyHIPEs) were obtained with butyl acrylate as the continuous phase. The average diameters of pores in closed-cell St-polyHIPEs are 91.6 and 68.9 to 42.7 μm corresponding to the increase of the dispersed phase from 75 and 80 to 83 vol% in "parent" HIPEs, respectively. The surface of these closed pores is rough with scars, and the average number of scars per pore increases from 1.6 to 5.3 with increasing the ionomer concentration from 0.2 to 1.5%. The average sizes of both pores and windows in open-cell BA-polyHIPEs increase with the increasing content of the dispersed phase. The average diameters are 39.5, 48.5 and 65.3 μm for pores and 5.3, 7.8 and 13.4 μm for windows, corresponding to 75, 80 and 83 vol% of the dispersed phase in "parent" HIPEs. Amphiphilicity of these polyHIPEs can be reversibly and simply tuned by dipping them into solutions with different pH values, demonstrating that the ionomer is not removed during the purification. Ionomer-stabilized HIPEs provide a new approach for control over the size and interconnectivity of pores as well as the surface roughness and amphiphilicity of resultant porous polymers.


µ-Opioid G protein-coupled receptors (MOR) interact with ion channels to decrease neuronal excitability. In humans, intrathecal administration of the MOR agonist fentanyl inhibits the exercise pressor reflex, an effect that can be attributed to either the opening of inward rectifying potassium channels (GIRK) or the closing of N-type calcium channels. The purpose of this study was to determine if the highly selective MOR agonist [d-Ala2, N-MePhe4,Gly-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO) attenuates the exercise pressor reflex and which of these two channels are responsible for this effect. In decerebrate rats, we determined the effect of intrathecal injection of either tertiapin-LQ, which blocks the GIRK channel or ω-conotoxin-GVIA, which blocks the N-type calcium channel on the exercise pressor reflex, which was evoked by contracting the triceps surae muscles. Initially, we established that intrathecal injection of DAMGO inhibited the exercise pressor reflex relative to no intrathecal injection or intrathecal saline injection ( P < 0.001, n = 5). We then found that intrathecal injection of two doses of tertiapin-LQ (1 and 10 µg) had no effect on the exercise pressor reflex ( n = 6 and n = 7, respectively; P > 0.05). Importantly, neither dose of tertiapin-LQ prevented the DAMGO-induced inhibition of the exercise pressor reflex. Last, we found that intrathecal injection of ω-conotoxin-GVIA markedly attenuated the exercise pressor reflex ( P < 0.001, n = 7). The cardioaccelerator response to contraction did not appear to be effected in any of the experiments. We conclude that N-type voltage-gated calcium channel inhibition appears to be the mechanism by which MOR activation inhibits the exercise pressor reflex in decerebrate rats.


Part art history essay, part experimental fiction, part theoretical manifesto on the politics of equivalence, Helicography examines questions of scale in relation to Robert Smithson's iconic 1970 artwork Spiral Jetty. In an essay and film made to accompany the earthwork, Smithson invites us to imagine the stone helix of his structure at various orders of magnitude, from microscopic molecules to entire galaxies. Taking up this invitation with an unrelenting and literal enthusiasm, Helicography pursues the implications of such transformations all the way to the limits of logic. If other spirals, from the natural to the man-made, were expanded or condensed to the size of Spiral Jetty, what are the consequences of their physical metamorphoses? What other equivalences follow in turn, and where do their surprising historical, cultural, and mechanical connections lead? This book considers a number of forms in order to find out: the fluid vortices of whirlpools, hurricanes, and galaxies; the delicate shells of snails and the threatening pose of rattlesnakes; prehistoric ferns and the turns of the inner ear; the monstrous jaws of ancient sharks; a baroque finial scroll on a bass viol; a 19th-century watch spring; phonograph discs and spooled film; the largest open-pit mine on the planet. The result is a narrative laboratory for the "science of imaginary solutions" proposed by Alfred Jarry (whose King Ubu also plays a central role in the story told here), a work of fictocriticism blurring form and content, and the story of a single instant in time lost in the deserts of the intermountain west.


Parameter inference in mechanistic models based on non-affine differential equations is computationally onerous, and various faster alternatives based on gradient matching have been proposed. A particularly promising approach is based on nonparametric Bayesian modelling with Gaussian processes, which exploits the fact that a Gaussian process is closed under differentiation. However, two alternative paradigms have been proposed. The first paradigm, proposed at NIPS 2008 and AISTATS 2013, is based on a product of experts approach and a marginalization over the derivatives of the state variables. The second paradigm, proposed at ICML 2014, is based on a probabilistic generative model and a marginalization over the state variables. The claim has been made that this leads to better inference results. In the present article, we offer a new interpretation of the second paradigm, which highlights the underlying assumptions, approximations and limitations. In particular, we show that the second paradigm suffers from an intrinsic identifiability problem, which the first paradigm is not affected by.


Automatic control of a fluidized-bed drying process depends on the availability of an inline sensor to provide accurate measurements of product moisture content. Nearinfrared (NIR) spectroscopy technology provides a potentially noninvasive and nondestructive analytical method that could serve as a sensor option for a wide range of applications. The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of NIR spectroscopy for accurate inline moisture measurements during fluidized-bed drying process and to integrate the NIR set-up as part of drying automation. Five powder mixtures consisting of lactose anhydrous, lactose monohydrate, povidone, blue color additive, and distilled water were dried in a bench-scale fluidized-bed dryer (FBD). Samples were withdrawn from the FBD for the calibration phase. A NIR moisture calibration and validation using partial least squares (PLS) was developed by analyzing statically these samples in conjunction with Karl Fisher Titration. Three probe axial positions were designed and installed in the FBD to take inline NIR measurements. Due to fluidization effects (segregation and sample density distribution along the bed), a mixedlevel factorial experimental design was performed to determine the significance of factors such as mass load, air flow and fiber optic probe axial position in the NIR prediction. The response variable to be analyzed was the residual between inline measurements and static samples taken immediately after. Data analysis indicated that all factors were significant with residuals ranging from 0.04–2.32. A mathematical correlation was determined to predict future residuals as a function of the operating conditions.


The theory of speckle in partially coherent, monochromatic light is extended to cover the entire range of object roughness. For "almost white-noise" objects it is shown how the speckle statistics are related to a Gaussian approximation of the object statistics. Within this approximation, general relations are derived for the spatial speckle correlation and the spatial Wiener spectrum. The theory is applied to calculate rms speckle contrast as function of object roughness, coherence of the illumination, and receiver plane defocusing.


In its recent Harris v. Quinn opinion the U.S. Supreme Court (in particular Justice Alito) seemed to welcome a future opportunity to reconsider the 1977 landmark Abood decision in which public sector closed shop employees were not required to join a union but could be subject to fees that cover the costs of "collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment purposes." Supporters of the Abood approach argue that it is a reasonable compromise that prevents non-members from free riding on the union's efforts (i.e. enjoying the wages and benefits negotiated by the union without sharing the costs incurred.) Detractors and the plaintiffs in Friedrichs argue that free riding concerns are insufficient to overcome serious First Amendment objections. The central idea is that all bargaining in the public sector is inherently political. Public sector pay, tenure and benefits (especially expensive retiree health care and pension promises), it is claimed, now profoundly affect the ability of state and local governments to function in many jurisdictions. This article briefly reviews the major claim in Friedrichs -- that public sector agency agreements violate the First Amendment -- and considers the implications of a decision that, but for Justice Scalia's unexpected death almost certainly would have overturned Abood. What would this mean for financially strapped state and local governments? To understand what a victory for the Friedrichs plaintiffs would mean, this paper looks at recent data from Wisconsin which dramatically constrained public sector agency agreements a few years ago and has seen public union membership, union revenue and political power plunge as a result. If Friedrichs had overturned Abood during the 2016 term, we would now expect to see national patterns similar to those observed in Wisconsin. In many places around the country a drop in public sector union political power would be expected to translate into a climate more supportive of reduced future expenditures on public pensions and health care.


This paper concerns the representation of formulae which conventionally encode particular illocutionary forces. Our aim is to provide an account of illocutionary force which allows the conventionalized formulae to be regarded as interpretive shortcuts. We propose an HPSG account in which the conventional illocutionary force of utterances is represented separately from their compositional semantics. The conventional illocutionary force does not replace part of the compositional interpretation (as it might on an idiom theory of speech acts) but instead adds to it. In this way, compositional semantics and conventional illocutionary force both remain available to the interpretation, and can, for instance, license dual responses.


Li, Li M.S., Department of Economics, Wright State University, 2005. A Study of Labor Market for Registered Nurses: Wage, Job Satisfaction and the Labor Force Withdrawal. This paper examines the factors that explain differences in earnings among RN's. In addition, it also looks at the factors that determine the level of job satisfaction among RN's and examines the factors that determine the probability of leaving the nursing profession. The analysis of RN wage rates shows that nurses who have a 4-year college degree receive a wage premium. However, the results also show that the premium is reduced for nurses who are employed in hospitals. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that nursing wages are subject to monoposony power in a hospital setting. In fact, the reduction in the wage premium has increased over time which suggests that monopsony power has increased. The analysis of job satisfaction and of the probability of leaving the nursing profession reveal that subjective variables like job satisfaction contain useful information for predicting and understanding individual behavior. Job satisfaction is the most important variable in predicting the probability that a nurse will leave the nursing profession. Together these results suggest that the nursing shortage can be alleviated by policies that will result in higher wages for nurses as well as policies aimed at redesigning nurses' jobs to give them a higher level of satisfaction.


A reform of the UK education system in 2010 gave public schools the option to become academies, independent entities funded directly from the central government. Once converted, schools have to choose between remaining a standalone academy or joining an academy chain. The majority of studies to date have focused on the impact of becoming an academy on children outcomes, disregarding the possible heterogeneity arising from the adoption of alternative conversion models. Administrative records for primary schoolage students before and after conversion allow us to shed light on this channel by using a grandfathering instrument for attending a converted school. We find that students in academy chains have better standardised scores with respect to their peers in standalone academies. The use of survey data offers possible explanations for this result: schools joining a chain are more likely to make changes related to managerial practices, whereas standalone academies favour changes related to educational practices.


In 2014, the Journal of Public Deliberation published an essay, "Democracy by Design," a framework for a more aspirational, stronger democracy and approach to civic learning. Here, the authors update and reissue Democracy by Design along with a report on the status of the four foundational attributes of a strong democracy, one that is participatory, free and equal, educated and informed, and accountable and justly governed. The authors argue that American democracy faces multiple challenges reflecting declines in democratic norms and practices, for example, growing inequality, weak and unequal civic education, widening polarization, and the rise of undemocratic forces in some segments of American society that are seemingly unchecked by political leaders. Stopping democracy's decline calls for efforts - some deliberative and some more activist - by both public officials and everyday citizens. Citizen-driven efforts will prevail only if contextualized in broader knowledge and understanding of democracy's design and health.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the implementation of the kangaroo mother method in hospitals trained by the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

METHOD
Cross-sectional study, evaluating 176 (60.1%) out of 293 hospitals that were trained by the Brazilian Ministry of Health from 2000 to 2003 in Brazil. This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase consisted of sending a questionnaire to 293 hospitals; in the second phase an in loco visit was made in a sample of 29 among those hospitals. The instrument for data collection was sent to all hospitals by mail, fax or e-mail through the Ministry of Health and they addressed the three dimensions of the normative assessment: structure, processes, and results. The second phase consisted of an evaluation of the process, using a structured guide of non-participant observation. To estimate the reliability of the variable "deployment of the steps of the method" between questionnaire and site visit, we used the kappa test.

RESULTS
The first stage of the kangaroo mother method was implemented in 84.9% of the hospitals, but only 47.3% of them implemented the three stages according to the Brazilian norm. The kappa test results indicated a moderate agreement for the first stage, and substantial for the second and third stages of the method.

CONCLUSION
Hospital training was important for triggering the implementation process of the kangaroo mother method. However, they were not enough to promote the implementation of the three phases of the method.


ABSTRACT The professional development of principals is a key element in improving the quality of educational systems. Although it is common for the training of educational leaders to be associated to formal pre- and in-service principal development programmes, informal learning opportunities are increasingly common. However, research analysing informal learning processes among this professional group is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors promoting informal learning strategies, online and face-to-face, used by principals as part of their professional development. The methodology involved implementing an online self-administered questionnaire to a sample of 715 school leaders. The study begins with a univariate and bivariate descriptive analysis. Three multiple regression models are then developed, which allow to check the independent effects among the variable criteria used and the three types of learning methods under consideration. The results show that the development of formal and informal learning activities among principals clearly requires a 'learning-friendly' organisational culture, a clear motivation for the profession, a strong professional determination and a positive perception of professional competencies as principals. Schools should start promoting the transition from job-based to competence-based staff systems and structures, in which informal learning strategies become relevant as a basis for promoting innovation.


For many research purposes, scholars need reliable and valid survey measures of the extent to which people have been exposed to various kinds of political content in mass media. Nonetheless, good measures of media exposure, and of exposure to political television in particular, have proven elusive. Increasingly fragmented audiences for political television have only made this problem more severe. To address these concerns, we propose a new way of measuring exposure to political television and evaluate its reliability and predictive validity using three waves of nationally representative panel data collected during the 2008 presidential campaign. We find that people can reliably report the specific television programs they watch regularly, and that these measures predict change over time in knowledge of candidate issue positions, a much higher standard of predictive validity than any other measure has met to date.


The supergiant Obuasi gold deposit is the largest deposit in the Paleoproterozoic Birimian terranes of West Africa with 62 Moz of gold (past production + resources). The deposit is hosted in the Paleoproterozoic Kumasi Group sedimentary rocks composed of carbonaceous phyllites, slates, psammites, and volcaniclastic rocks intruded by different generations of felsic dikes and granites. A three-stage deformation history is defined for the district. The D1 Ob stage is weakly recorded in the sedimentary rocks as a layer-parallel fabric and indicates that bedding parallel shearing occurred during the early stage of deformation at Obuasi. The D2 Ob is the main deformation stage affecting the Obuasi district and corresponds to a NW-SE shortening. Tight to isoclinal folding, as well as intense subhorizontal stretching, occurred during D2 Ob , parallel with the plane of a pervasive NE-striking subvertical foliation (S2 Ob ). Finally, a N-S shortening event (D3 Ob ) refolded previously formed structures and formed a distinct ENE-striking, variably dipping S3 Ob cleavage that is domainal in nature throughout the deposit. Two economic styles of mineralization occur at Obuasi and contribute equally to the gold budget. These are (1) gold-bearing sulfides, dominantly arsenopyrite, mainly disseminated in metasedimentary rocks and (2) native gold hosted in quartz veins that are as much as 25 m wide. Microstructural evidence, such as strain shadows surrounding gold-bearing arsenopyrite parallel with S2 Ob , but folded by S3 Ob , indicates that the sulfides were formed during D2 Ob . Concentrations of as much as 700 ppm Au are present in the epitaxial growth zones of the arsenopyrite grains. Although the large mineralized quartz veins are boudinaged and refolded (indicating their formation during D2 Ob ), field and microanalytical observations demonstrate that the gold in the veins is hosted in microcracks controlled by D3 Ob , where the S3 Ob cleavage crosscuts the quartz veins in the main ore zones. Thus, these observations constitute the first evidence for multiple stages of gold deposition at the Obuasi deposit. Futhermore, three-dimensional modeling of stratigraphy, structure, and gold orebodies highlights three major controls on oreshoot location, which are (1) contacts between volcaniclastic units and pre-D 1 felsic dikes, (2) fault intersections, and (3) F3 Ob fold hinges. The maximum age for the older disseminated gold event is given by the age of the granites at 2105 ± 2 Ma, which is within error of hydrothermal rutile in the granites of 2098 ± 7 Ma; the absolute age of the younger gold event is not known.


Descriptive and spatially-explicit information on fisheries plays a key role for an efficient integrated management of the maritime activities and the sustainable use of marine resources. However, this information is today still hard to obtain and, consequently, is a major issue for implementing Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). Since 2002, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been undergoing a major development allowing now for a real time geo-tracking and identification of equipped vessels of more than 15m in length overall (LOA) and, if properly processed, for the production of adequate information for MSP. Such monitoring systems or other low-cost and low-burden solutions are still missing for small vessels (LOA < 12m), whose catches and fishing effort remain spatially unassessed and, hence, unregulated. In this context, we propose an architecture to process vessel tracking data, understand the behaviour of trawling fleets and map related fishing activities. It could be used to process not only AIS data but also positioning data from other low cost systems as IoT sensors that share their position over LoRa and 2G/3G/4G links. Analysis gives back important and verified data (overall accuracy of 92% for trawlers) and opens up development perspectives for monitoring small scale fisheries, helping hence to fill fishery data gaps and obtain a clearer picture of the fishing grounds as a whole.


Using South African and Zimbabwean Demographic and Health Surveys of 1998 and 1999 respectively, findings show that about 35% and 42% women between the ages 15-24 years had given birth at least once in South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively. Of these births, 26% and 32.2% occurred to South African and Zimbabwean women before they reached their 20t birthday respectively. In addition, these births among women between ages 15-24 account for 17% and 27% of the total births in South Africa and Zimbabwe. These are indeed high levels of early childbearing. It is because of these high levels of early childbearing that this dissertation aims to examine determinants contributing to early childbearing. To achieve this, two comparable data sources are analyzed, namely South African Demographic and Health Surveys (SADHS) of 1998 and Zimbabwean Demographic and Health Surveys (ZDHS) of 1999. The results from this dissertation show that major significant determinants contributing to early childbearing are the age of sexual debut; childhood place of reSidence; highest level of education attained; socio-economic status; and ethnicity and sex of household head The results of this dissertation make an important contribution to the growing knowledge base of Sub-Saharan African early childbearing research. Its recommendations are based on the findings of the determinants contributing to high levels of childbearing, which can be used for planning and policy development towards adolescent fertility prevention.


As long as a branch of knowledge offers an abundance of problems, it is full of vitality. David Hilbert Over the last 15 years I have given lectures on a variety of problems in nonlinear functional analysis and its applications. In doing this, I have recommended to my students a number of excellent monographs devoted to specialized topics, but there was no complete survey-type exposition of nonlinear functional analysis making available a quick survey to the wide range of readers including mathematicians, natural scientists, and engineers who have only an elementary knowledge of linear functional analysis. I have tried to close this gap with my five-part lecture notes, the first three parts of which have been published in the Teubner-Texte series by Teubner-Verlag, Leipzig, 1976, 1977, and 1978. The present English edition was translated from a completely rewritten manuscript which is significantly longer than the original version in the Teubner-Texte series. The material is organized in the following way: Part I: Fixed Point Theorems. Part II: Monotone Operators. Part III: Variational Methods and Optimization. Parts IV jV: Applications to Mathematical Physics. The exposition is guided by the following considerations: (a) What are the supporting basic ideas and what intrinsic interrelations exist between them? (/3) In what relation do the basic ideas stand to the known propositions of classical analysis and linear functional analysis? ( y) What typical applications are there? Vll Preface viii Special emphasis is placed on motivation.


18 The prenatal period is of critical importance in defining how individuals respond to their 19 environment throughout life. Stress experienced by pregnant females has detrimental effects 20 on offspring behaviour, health and productivity. The sheep ( Ovis aries ) has been used as a 21 model to inform human studies; however, in a farming context, the consequences for the 22 lamb of stress experienced by the ewe have received less attention. The stressors that 23 pregnant ewes are most frequently exposed to include sub-optimal nutrition and acute and 24 chronic stressors related to husbandry and the environment. This review focuses upon the 25 young sheep, from around 100 days old until adulthood and uses material identified from a 26 systematic survey of the literature relating to production-relevant maternal stressors and lamb 27 outcomes. Overall, the results demonstrated that stressors imposed upon the ewe altered 28 progeny behavioural and physiological responses. However, detailed analysis of the literature 29 shows several deficiencies in the field as a whole which greatly limit the ability to draw 30 conclusions about how welfare may be affected by prenatal challenges in commercial sheep. 31 These deficiencies included a lack of consistency in response due to the variety of both 32 stressors imposed and responses measured. Key gaps in knowledge include the impact of ewe 33 disease during pregnancy on outcomes for their progeny and more generally how different 34 commercially relevant stressors interact. Furthermore, there is a need to develop a systematic 35 series of behavioural and physiological measures that can be integrated to provide a holistic 36 and practically applicable picture of offspring welfare.


We have provided optical simulations of the evanescently coupled waveguide photodiodes integrated with a 10 channels AWGs. The photodiode could exhibit high internal efficiency by appropriate choice of layers geometry and refractive index. Two structures have been designed for integrating the output waveguides of AWGs with the evanescently coupled waveguide photodiode array : One is a seamless joint between the AWGs output waveguide and the photodiode; the other one has a shallow trench between the AWGs top cladding layer and the photodiode p-doped layer. The simulation results show that the photodiodes have quantum efficiencies as high as 87% and 64%, respectively, at 1.55μm wavelength.


This paper studies the effect of trade facilitation on vertical firm structure using plant-level data from Switzerland. Based on the Business Census and the Input-Output table, we first calculate a binary measure of vertical integration for all plants registered in Switzerland. We then estimate the effect of a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the European Union on the plants' probability of being vertically integrated. Adopting a difference-in-differences approach, we find that this policy change reduced the treated plants' probability of being vertically integrated by about 10 percent. Our results are consistent with recent work in international trade theory.


Achieving the Millennium Development Goal to halve global poverty by 2015 looks increasingly likely, although many countries may fall far short of this goal. This study compares socio-economic characteristics of twenty-five countries that have posted exceptional progress in reducing poverty to better understand why some countries are doing better than others. Three key questions were addressed: 1) Is agriculture more important than other sources of earned income in reducing poverty? 2) Are the countries most successful in reducing poverty similar in other ways? 3) Which government policy actions seem to have contributed most? Both the overall rate and the sectoral composition of economic growth matter for poverty reduction, but remittances and other kinds of financial transfers are also important sources of income for the poor. The sectoral pattern of growth changes systematically as countries develop, posing challenges for governments searching for the best balance of macroeconomic, social and sectoral policies to foster poverty reduction.


In May 2003, after a series of complaints about the difficulty of gaining approval to export biotechnology products to the EC, the governments of the US, Canada and Argentina requested consultations under the WTO dispute settlement process.1 A dispute settlement panel was established and began to hear evidence in April 2004. Under the normal dispute settlement rules, a panel is expected to take no longer than six months after its establishment to issue its final report. Where an extension is needed, this should not extend the period to more than nine months.2 However, because of the complexity of the issues, the Panel was unable to issue its interim report until February 2006. Interim reports are supposed to be confidential while they are being reviewed by the parties. However, interest in the Biotech Products dispute was high and when the interim report was made public unofficially it became the subject of intense debate.3 The Panel issued its final report to the parties in September 2006.4 The unprecedented length of time that the process took, and the fierce public controversy over the interim findings, underline the range, scope and incommensurability of the issues raised in the conflict over GMOs.


In diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease or malaria, disease-related proteins take advantage of the heat shock protein (HSP) control system for their own activation or maturation. There is a quest to find inhibitors that specifically bind to the HSPs. Here, we report on a novel multiplexed assay system for inhibitor screening based on a protein microarray (MA) technique that was developed for routine applications with storable MAs. Purified HSPs are printed as full-length proteins on microarrays and used as a drug target for the screening of new inhibitors. Derivatives obtained by a combination of biological and chemical synthesis were tested as competitors of ATP with a suggested affinity for several HSP proteins which are hHSP from human, AtHSP83 (Arabidopsis thaliana) and HtpG from Helicobacter pylori. Some of these new derivatives exerted selectivity between human and bacterial heat shock proteins. Printed human HSP90 was used to test the binding of denatured proteins on the client binding site of human HSP90, since the full-length HSP maintains the capability to bind putative clients or cochaperones. Initial data revealed that the microarray application can be used to identify directly elevated heat-shock protein levels in cancer cell lysates. We suggest that microarray-based assaying of HSP levels can be used as a marker for determining stress levels.


Introduction: Abutilon indicum Sweet (Malvaceae) is used in Filipino folk medicine as demulcent, diuretic, sedative, aphrodisiac and antidiabetic remedy. It is also effective in the treatment of leprosy. It is also used as a laxative for patients having hemorrhoids and in the treatment of coughs, puerperal disease, urinary disorders, chronic dysentery and fever. Methods: Air-dried powdered leaves of A. indicum were initially extracted with DCM-methanol (1:1) to afford a crude extract which was fractionated on a silica gel column to afford four fractions. The first fraction which showed antimycobacterial activity was further chromatographed in a silica gel column to afford bioactive fractions from which four compounds were obtained. The crude extract, fractions and isolated compounds were screened for their inhibitory effect against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC) using the colorimetric Microplate Alamar Blue Assay (MABA) method. Results: The fractions obtained after silica gel chromatography of the crude DCMmethanol (1:1) revealed the first fraction (MIC=64 mg/mL) to exert the highest inhibition against M. tuberculosis H37Rv.Further separation of this fraction afforded sub-fractions with moderately strong inhibitory activity against the test organism (MIC up to 64 mg/mL). Chromatographic purification of sub-fraction 1 afforded four compounds which were spectroscopically identified as β-amyrin 3-palmitate (1), squalene (2) and a 1:1 mixture of the sterols β-sitosterol (3) and stigmasterol (4). Evaluation of the antimycobacterial activity of 1–4 showed insignificant inhibitory activity against the test organism (MIC = >128 mg/mL). Conclusion: The present results demonstrate the potential of Abutilon indicum as a plant source of compounds that may exhibit promising antituberculosis activity. While the known compounds isolated for this plant did not show antimycobacterial activity, the obtained results are considered sufficient reason for further study to isolate the metabolites from A. indicum responsible for the antitubercular activity.


Climate geoengineering has the potential to reduce global warming. However, the nonlinear responses of Earth's large‐scale circulation to climate geoengineering can exacerbate regional climate change, with potential inequality risks. We show noticeable inequality in the responses of drylands when three radiative forcing geoengineering (RFG) methodologies—cirrus cloud thinning (CCT), marine sky brightening (MSB), and stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI)—individually reduce the radiative forcing of the representative concentration pathway 8.5 scenario using a set of the Norwegian Earth system model (NorESM1‐ME) experiments. In North America, CCT and SAI alleviate drylands expansion, whereas drylands expand further under MSB. CCT induces significantly wetter conditions over the western Sahel. Wetting over Australia is enhanced and prevented by MSB and SAI, respectively. Our results suggest spatially inequal distributions of benefits and harms of individual RFGs on the projected distribution of drylands, which should be considered before any real‐world application of such RFGs.


We take a Bayesian perspective to illustrate a connection between training speed and the marginal likelihood in linear models. This provides two major insights: first, that a measure of a model's training speed can be used to estimate its marginal likelihood. Second, that this measure, under certain conditions, predicts the relative weighting of models in linear model combinations trained to minimize a regression loss. We verify our results in model selection tasks for linear models and for the infinite-width limit of deep neural networks. We further provide encouraging empirical evidence that the intuition developed in these settings also holds for deep neural networks trained with stochastic gradient descent. Our results suggest a promising new direction towards explaining why neural networks trained with stochastic gradient descent are biased towards functions that generalize well.


Molecular oxygen (O2) is a key player in many fundamental biological processes. However, the combination of the labile nature and poor affinity of O2 often makes this substrate difficult to introduce into crystals at sufficient concentrations to enable protein/O2 interactions to be deciphered in sufficient detail. To overcome this problem, a gas pressure cell has been developed specifically for the `soak-and-freeze' preparation of crystals of O2-dependent biological molecules. The `soak-and-freeze' method uses high pressure to introduce oxygen molecules or krypton atoms (O2 mimics) into crystals which, still under high pressure, are then cryocooled for X-ray data collection. Here, a proof of principle of the gas pressure cell and the methodology developed is demonstrated with crystals of enzymes (lysozyme, thermolysin and urate oxidase) that are known to absorb and bind molecular oxygen and/or krypton. The successful results of these experiments lead to the suggestion that the soak-and-freeze method could be extended to studies involving a wide range of gases of biological, medical and/or environmental interest, including carbon monoxide, ethylene, methane and many others.


This Note argues that neither the framers of the Optional Protocol ("the Framers"), nor the U.S. Senate that ratified it, intended to delegate to the ICJ the authority to interpret the Vienna Convention as a matter of U.S. law. Part I of this Note describes the role and function of international law in the U.S. domestic legal system. Part I then presents the structure and history of the Permanent Court of International Justice ("PCIJ") and the ICJ (collectively, "the World Courts"). Part I also describes the history and relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention and the Optional Protocol. Part II introduces the conflict that has arisen between the ICJ and U.S. courts regarding the interpretation of Vienna Convention Article 36. Part II then surveys some statements and decisions of the PCIJ, ICJ, and other courts that bear on the scope of the authority of the World Courts to interpret municipal law. Finally, Part II introduces the self-executing approach. In Part III, this Note argues that the Optional Protocol is ambiguous regarding the authority it confers on the ICJ. Part III then asserts that the prevailing consensus, both in the United States and abroad, held that the ICJ was not authorized to interpret municipal law. The U.S. Supreme Court should resolve the Optional Protocol's ambiguity in accordance with this prevailing consensus and hold that the Optional Protocol does not grant authority to interpret municipal law. THE ICJ AND MUNICIPAL LAW: THE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT OF THE AVENA AND LAGRAND DECISIONS IN U.S. COURTS


The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of baker's yeast as a protein source instead of soybean meal in dairy cow diets. Four dairy cows were utilized in a 4 x 4 Latin Square experiment. Diets included 0.0% (Control Diet), 6.6% (Diet 1), 13.2% (Diet 2), and 19.8% (Diet 3) baker's yeast containing 3.56 x 108 CFU/g. Forty percent of the dry matter intake of dairy cows was supplied from concentrate, and forage was offered ad libitum. The dry matter intake, milk yield, and composition of milk were similar. While the rumen NH3-N level was significantly low (p < 0.05) 3 h post-feeding, acetic acid concentration was significantly high (p < 0.05) 12 h post-feeding in cows that consumed diets containing yeast. Propionic acid concentrations were lower (p < 0.01) 3 h post-feeding in cows that consumed Diets 2 and 3 compared with those that consumed the other diets. While serum triglyceride levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in cows that consumed diets containing baker's yeast than in those that consumed the control diet, serum protein, urea, glucose, calcium, phosphorus, gamma glutamyl transferase and aspartate aminotransferase were similar in cows that consumed different diets. It was concluded from this study that there were some positive effects, such as low rumen NH3-N level and high acetic acid concentration, in cows that consumed diets containing yeast, and thus, baker's yeast can be utilized in dairy cow diets as a protein source.


With the recent advances of cloud computing, effective resource usage (e.g., CPU, memory or network) becomes an important question as application developers have to continuously pay for rented resources, even if they are not used effectively. In order to maintain required performance levels, it is currently common to reserve resources for peak resource usage or possible resource usage overlaps, if more than one task is executed on a host. While this is a reasonable approach for long-running applications or web servers, for some applications with disperse resource usage over time, this strategy causes significant over-provisioning and thus resource wastage and financial loss. In this paper we present a profiling-based task scheduling approach for factory-worker applications that schedules tasks within the defined resource limitations (e.g., Existing machine memory size or network quota) and distributes the tasks in the cloud environment in order to use resources effectively. The evaluation of our approach approved the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and minimal performance overhead. In case of the evaluated application, the presented scheduling process leads up to 33% resource savings with only 1% of performance loss.


ABSTRACT: Bees and butterflies generally favor open forest habitats regardless of forest type, geographic region, or methods used to create these habitats. Dense shrub layers of native or nonnative species beneath forest canopies negatively impact herbaceous plant cover and diversity, and pollinators. The presence of nonnative flowers as a source of nectar, pollen, or larval food can have positive or negative effects on pollinators depending on the situation, but in cases where the nonnatives exclude native plants, the results are almost always negative. Roads and roadside corridors offer an opportunity to increase open, pollinator-friendly habitat even in dense forests by thinning the adjacent forest, mowing at appropriate times, and converting to native herbaceous plant communities where nonnative species have been planted or have invaded. Efforts to improve forest conditions for pollinators should consider the needs of specialist species and vulnerable species with small scattered populations. Conservation of bees and butterflies, as well as other pollinating species, in forested areas is important for most forest plant species, and forests may serve as reservoirs of pollinators for recolonization of surrounding habitats.


Two grade six teachers, Sara and Colleen, and myself, Rhonda, a literacy coach, engaged in critical participatory action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005) to inquire into our grade six students' declining performance in science. Our research questions were: How does guided reading impact students' reading practices in science? How does our critical or praxis-based approach to professional learning impact our students as collaborative learners? At the time when we became a teacher researcher team, Sara had taught grade six for a few years at the school. Colleen was an experienced grade six teacher coming from another school, and I was an Elementary Language Arts Consultant leaving the district office to be the new assistant principal and literacy coach in the school. As a literacy coach, I shared planning, teaching and assessment responsibilities for science and English language arts with Sara and Colleen. I was also a part-time doctoral student in language and literacy, so Sara and Colleen asked me to share what I was learning in my studies by meeting regularly to read and talk about research.


This thesis consists of an introductory overview and three research papers concerned with the topic of strategic sustainable manufacturing. The research has been conducted though a combination of case studies and extensive literature studies. In this work challenges, drivers, enablers and other key factors affecting the adoption of sustainability strategies and practices have been investigated within the context of Norwegian metal processing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The business outcomes of the practices have also been explored and discussed. One of the factors investigated is the sustainability impacts of environmental management systems in accordance with the standard ISO 14001 versus the simplified model Eco-Lighthouse. Other key factors considered are size, sector, location, the manager's personal characteristics, and the company's sustainability maturity as defined based on a combination of sustainability awareness, practices and strategies adopted. Based on the findings, a conceptual sustainability roadmap has been developed for the identification of applicable tools, depending on the company's current sustainability maturity level. Suggestions for future research activities for refinement of the roadmap are also given.The performed work provides several contributions to the existing body of knowledge within the research field of corporate sustainability in SMEs. Firstly, the exploration of nine manufacturing SMEs' experiences with the adoption of environmental management systems (EMS) in accordance with ISO 14001 or Eco-Lighthouse provides new perspectives to the academic discussion on challenges and opportunities associated with EMS adoption in SMEs. It also provides useful input to the ongoing research related to the development of effective guidelines and tools for corporate sustainability in SMEs. The experiences gained from those companies with no formal EMS certification complement the body of knowledge of EMS adoption even further. Secondly, the performed research provides an overview of sustainability practices within the context of fifteen Norwegian manufacturing companies, and link these practices to relevant challenges, enablers, disadvantages, and benefits. Thus, the research contributes to the current understanding of how contextual factors affect sustainability actions and outcomes of these. Thirdly, the research hypothesizes that; although appropriate tools may exist, SMEs rarely have the competence and time available to identify which tools are most applicable to their business context and capabilities, nor to undertake necessary customization of identified tools to fit their actual needs. The study further elaborates on how contextual factors related to size, location, business sector, manager characteristics, sustainability strategy and sustainability maturity, all influence the applicability of different sustainability tools. Lastly, a conceptual example of a context-specific roadmap for the identification of appropriate sustainability tools, using maturity level as main input, has been established on the basis of the experiences gained throughout this work.


Background: Chronic gingivitis is the most prevalent in all dentate animals. Regular methods for controlling it have been found to be ineffective, which have paved the way for the use of herbal products as an adjunctive to mechanical therapy as they are free to untoward effects and hence can be used for a long period of time. Objective: The antigingivitis effect of a gel containing pomegranate extract was evaluated using a 21-day trial in patients with chronic gingivitis. Materials and Methods: Forty patients participated in this randomized clinical study, carried out in four phases of 7 days each over 21 days. The patients were randomly assigned to four groups: First group was treated with mechanical debridement and an experimental gel and the second group with mechanical debridement and a control gel; the third group wasn't subjected to mechanical debridement and only experimental gel was used. The fourth group was treated with control gel only. All the groups were subjected to various clinical and microbiological parameters to evaluate the antiplaque and antigingivitis effect of the pomegranate extract. Results: The group which used the pomegranate gel along with mechanical debridement showed significant improvement in all the clinical and microbiological parameters included in the study when compared with the other three groups. Conclusion: Hence it can be concluded that the pomegranate gel when used as an adjunct with mechanical debridement was efficient in treating gingivitis.


CBS-QB3 calculations have been used to determine thermochemical and kinetic parameters of the isomerisation and decomposition reactions of the acetonylperoxy radical, CH3C(O)CH2OO* , which has been formed via the reaction of acetonyl radical with O2 leading to the formation of an energised peroxy adduct with a calculated well depth of near 111 kJ mol(-1). This species can undergo subsequent 1,5 and 1,3 H-shifts to give the primary and secondary radicals: C*H2C(O)CH2OOH and CH3C(O)C*HOOH, respectively, or rearrange to give a 3-methyl-1,2-dioxetan-3-yloxy radical. Rate constants for isomerisation and subsequent decomposition have been estimated using canonical variational transition state theory with small curvature tunneling cvt/sct. The variational effect for the isomerisation channels is only moderate but the tunneling correction is significant at temperatures up to 1000 K; the formation of a primary radical by a 1,5-shift is the main reaction channel and the competition with the secondary one starts only at around 1500 K. The fate of the primary acetonylhydroperoxy radical is predominantly to form oxetan-3-one while the ketene and 1-oxy-3-hydroxyacetonyl radical channels only compete with the formation of oxetan-3-one at temperatures >1200 K. In addition, consistent and reliable enthalpies of formation have been computed for the molecules acetonylhydroperoxide, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, methylglyoxal and cyclobutanone, and for some related radicals.


The feasibility of determining low levels of organic solvents in water by near-infrared (near-IR) spectroscopy is investigated. Mixture samples of tributyl phosphate (TBP) and methyl iso-butyl ketone (MIBK) are determined in aqueous solutions over the concentration range of 1–160 ppm. Through the use of C–H combination bands in the region of 5000–4000 cm−1, sufficient selectivity is obtained to determine each compound in the presence of the other. Separate multivariate calibration models are computed for each compound by use of a combination of bandpass Fourier digital filtering and partial least-squares (PLS) regression with both analysis of absorbance and single-beam spectra. A genetic algorithm is used to implement a joint optimization of the parameters governing the filtering and PLS calculations. Through the use of this procedure, a calibration model based on absorbance spectra is computed for MIBK with a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 3.82 ppm over the 1–160 ppm range. This five-term model utilizes the spectral range of 4495–4335 cm−1. A similar nine-term model based on absorbance spectra is computed for TBP over the 4620–4320 cm−1 range. For the range of 1–100 ppm, an SEP of 4.84 ppm is achieved. The results obtained from the analysis of single-beam spectra are comparable with those obtained in the analysis of absorbance data. Calibration models computed with samples prepared in natural water are also found to have a similar level of performance. These results establish the feasibility of using near-IR spectroscopy to screen water samples for solvent contamination.


Land use and land cover changes are important processes that influence the ecological integrity of wildlife dispersal areas and the dynamics of human-wildlife conflicts in rangelands around protected areas. This study investigated trends in both land use and land cover changes in Taveta District.   Remote Sensing imageries for Taveta District were analysed for the years 1987, 2001, and 2011. Percentage changes in land use and land cover types for the years 1987 to 2001, 2001 to 2011 and 1987 to 2011 were determined. Between 1987 and 2011, significant (p < 0.05) changes occurred in woodlands, sisal plantations, rainfed and irrigated agricultural areas. Shrublands, forests and water bodies showed no significant changes. Wildlife habitats are expected to further decrease significantly due to agricultural expansion. Land use and cover changes resulted from agricultural expansion and human population growth. The land use and cover maps produced can be used as input to decision making that balances restrictions on human land use while maintaining the ecological function of the landscape, through designation of Zones of Interaction as a first step to identifying opportunities that satisfy conservation and livelihood needs. Proper land use planning and community awareness of the implications of these land use and land cover changes are necessary.

 Key words: Land use change, land cover change, rangelands, Taveta district, human-wildlife conflicts.


A previously healthy 66-year-old woman living in the Mid-Atlantic USA presented to the hospital with lethargy, ataxia and slurred speech. 2 weeks prior she had removed a tick from her right groin. She reported malaise, fevers, diarrhoea, cough and a rash. Physical examination revealed a maculopapular rash on her chest, and lung auscultation revealed bi-basilar rales. Laboratory tests were remarkable for hyponatraemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Chest X-ray demonstrated bilateral pleural effusions with pulmonary oedema. She was treated with ceftriaxone and azithromycin for possible community-acquired pneumonia but declining mental status necessitated intensive care unit transfer. Vancomycin and doxycycline were added. Her course was complicated by seizures requiring antiepileptic therapy. Peripheral blood smear demonstrated morulae in monocytes. Serum Ehrlichia chaffeensis DNA was positive confirming the diagnosis of human monocytic ehrlichiosis. She recovered without residual neurological deficits after 10 days of doxycycline therapy.


In these notes, I will sketch a new approach to Khovanov homology of knots and links based on counting the solutions of certain elliptic partial differential equations in four and five dimensions. The equations are formulated on four and five-dimensional manifolds with boundary, with a rather subtle boundary condition that encodes the knots and links. The construction is formally analogous to Floer and Donaldson theory in three and four dimensions. It was discovered using quantum field theory arguments but can be described and understood purely in terms of classical gauge theory.


0930–1015 H. VON BOEHMER Thymus and autoimmunity 1015–1100 A. TRAUTMANN The diversity of immunological synapses 1100–1145 E.M. SHEVACH Control of T-cell responses by regulatory/suppressor T cells 1145 Winners of fellowships 1230 Cocktail and lunch 1430–1500 E. VIVIER Tm1 cells, a subset of T cells with NK cell and memory CD8 T-cell features 1500–1530 S. BEISSERT T cells in cutaneous autoimmunity 1530–1600 M. AKDIS T-cell responses in atopic eczema Break 1630–1700 J.C. PRINZ T cells in psoriasis 1700–1730 H. BACHELEZ Immunotherapyof skin diseases by targetingTcells


Systems development of wind turbine control is competitive with respect to innovation, time and cost. So how can learning possibly occur under such circumstances? Dewey's pragmatist approach to learning is adopted, emphasising reciprocity between the systems developer's individual experience and the sociotechnical practice. The framework involves the concepts of sociotechnical practice, anchoring of indeterminate situation, and strip of doings towards determinate situation. An ethnographic study was made of four cases of systems development and learning do occur in the cases, enabled by converging anchoring of the indeterminate situation and the systems developers different experience. However, an extreme case reveals initiated learning processes and that the interchanges between materiality of the artefacts and systems developers block the learning processes due to a customer with imprecise demands and unclear system specifications. The specific contribution of the paper is the understanding of the individual systems developer's learning, complemented with the possibility for collective learning and the mechanisms of blocked or derailed learning processes. The practical implications are that managers of systems development should ensure that constitutive means are present, and specifications, are sufficiently obdurate. Too ductile means, such as customers with unclear demands, can block or derail learning processes


The question of this thesis is what does it mean to write under the temporal categories, or categories of understanding of, repetition, recurrence and return. Naturally, before the question can be dealt with, these categories must be investigated, as well as set off against the traditional categories which they aim to expand. The method of exposition utilized within the thesis is meant to walk, as it were, hand in hand with its content. The content being largely the "three R's" mentioned above, the thesis accordingly repeats, recurs and returns to the same ideas and the same metaphors, throughout. The materials incorporated within the thesis include, but are not limited to, the philosophical writings of Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Jacques Derrida, as well as the literary writings of William Faulkner, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Cees Nooteboom. There are no acknowledged borders between literature and philosophy within the thesis; instead I work from the tautological premise that a text is a text. The conclusion of the thesis is, at best, inconclusive. My methods of elucidation may be quite foreign to some readers. Through working as a tutor with Japanese exchange students for several years, I have found that rather than stating and continually restating the thesis throughout the course of the essay, starting away from the goal and from there slowly circling in upon it, in an elucidatory spiral, with the thesis, or center, being reached substantially for the first time only at the end, is more to my liking as a method.