Field research was conducted to determine the influence of crop and crop sequencing on crop residue coverage of soil with 10 crops [buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), canola (Brassica napus L.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), dry pea (Pisum sativum L.), grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), oil seed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), and hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)]. Crop residue production was obtained. Crop residue coverage of the soil surface was measured with a transect technique at the time of seeding spring wheat. Crop residue coverage varied and was more clearly associated with the second-year crop than with the first-year crop of a 2-yr crop sequence. Crop sequences composed of spring wheat, proso millet, and grain sorghum had higher crop residue coverage compared with sequences composed of the other crops. When these three crops and three crops that provide lower crop residue coverage of soil the subsequent year (lentil, chickpea, and sunflower) were analyzed as a subset to compare various sequences of crops providing a range of residue coverage, for example, lower (first yr)/lower (second yr), the surface residue coverage ranged from 65% for the lower/lower combination to 93% for the higher/ higher combination in 2004 and from 56 to 94% in 2005, respectively. A producer operating on more fragile soil and concerned about reducing soil erosion hazards would be advised to grow crops that provide higher residue coverage in the year before crops that provide lower residue coverage.


Despite challenges and doomsday predictions, the Nordic welfare states with high taxes and public expenditure are still with us. This paper describes strategic choices for policy makers of the welfare state and uses the case of Sweden to argue that the high tax welfare state has survived several challenges through a process of incremental change, where the welfare state is modified in order to maintain political support from voters who would otherwise favor cutbacks. This gradual adaptation leads to heterogeneous universality characterized by flexibility, freedom of choice, and financial solutions that involve both public and private funding. While such policies may increase inequality, they play a crucial role in maintaining political support for high taxes and expenditures. Compared to likely counterfactual scenarios, this gradual adaptation may be the political strategy that minimizes inequality in the long run.


Islam and AIDS is the first book to comprehensively address the HIV/AIDS pandemic from an Islamic perspective, with contributions from a number of internationally known activists and scholars of Islam, including Kecia Ali and Abdulaziz Sachedina. With an introduction by Peter Piot, Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, this landmark work provides an insight into new possibilities of critical and progressive Islamic approaches, in both law and ethics, to one of the most urgent crises facing humankind today. Covering emotive issues such as gender, justice, poverty, health, disease, addiction, and sexuality, Islam and AIDS provides the religious analysis so essential for the communities at the forefront of the epidemic.


Two cases of obstruction of the bypassed small intestine after jejunoileal shunt for obesity are presented. These cases illustrate the possible failure of radiologic visualization of the obstructed bowel since no gas traverses this bowel, as well as two of the possible causes-internal herniation and volvulus. A third cause, intussusception of the blind loop into the colon, has been reported. Obstruction of the bypassed bowel demands surgical intervention and could lead to perforation and peritonitis if untreated. Its prevention involves the closure of all mesenteric defects at the original operation. Surgeons should be aware of the possibility of these conditions in any patient who has had a small-bowel bypass operation.


System of systems are of high complexity, and for each system, many different requirements are implemented in parallel. Systems are developed with some degree of managerial independence but later on have to work together. In this situation, many requirements are written, implemented, and tested in parallel for different systems that are to be integrated. This makes identifying bottlenecks challenging, and visualizations often used on project level (such as Kanban boards or burndown charts) have to be extended/complemented to cope with the increased complexity. In response to these challenges, the contributions of this study are to propose the following: (i) a visualization for early identification and proactive removal of bottlenecks; (ii) a visualization to check on the success of bottleneck resolution; and (iii) to provide an industry evaluation of the visualizations in a case study of a system of systems developed at Ericsson AB in Sweden. The feedback by the practitioners showed that the visualizations were perceived as useful in improving throughput and lead time. The quantitative analysis showed that the visualizations were able in identifying bottlenecks and showing improvements or the lack thereof. On the basis of the qualitative and quantitative data collected, we conclude that the visualizations are useful in bottleneck identification and resolution. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Aims. The main aim of this work was to investigate if the radiative process photoexcitation by accidental resonance (PAR) is producing Fe II lines in the UV region of NGC 4151. At the same time I searched for collisionally excited Fe II emission. While doing so, the broad line region (BLR), intermediate line region (ILR) and narrow line region (NLR) contributions to the Mg II resonance doublet were also investigated. Methods. The focus was on the 2000 to 3000 A wavelength region, in which decay from both the collisionally and PAR excited Fe II levels would form emission lines. I examined three archived Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) spectra of NGC 4151. Theoretical spectra based on calculated ranges for possible fluxes of the collisionally excited lines and pumping rates through the Fe II channels were then fitted to the observed spectra Results. I show that the UV region is influenced by PAR and that the Fe II fluorescence lines are clearly needed to explain the spectrum between 2000 to 3000 A. The best fit of the theoretical spectra to the STIS spectra was obtained by assuming a similar radiation power of Fe + ions and Mg + ions. Conclusions. The PAR is active in the BLR of NGC 4151 and the total power of the Fe II fluorescence is a significant fraction of the total emission in the 2000 to 3000 wavelength region. Therefore it is important to incorporate this in models of NGC 4151 and possibly also in models of other active galactic nuclei. There are also many collisionally excited Fe II lines that are blended by each other and are therefore not individually observable in the NGC 4151 spectra.


The open and fragmented nature of IS research has spawned a vibrant debate about sustainability of the IS discipline. Intellectually stimulating and rooted in a rich repertoire of approaches, the debate is frequently polarized along a dialectical spectrum, where advocates take positions on appropriate boundaries and audiences for the discipline. With the objective of reframing this debate, and the hope of moving it forward, this paper develops a resource-based metaphorical model for IS research. We establish that disciplines can be viewed as analogous to contemporary firms, and thus, resource-based concepts for the sustainability of contemporary firms can be extended to examining the sustainability of knowledge firms. Our central proposition is that differences in "knowledge product" heterogeneity, when positioned appropriately with the market demand, can affect the sustainability of the IS firm. In resolving the issue of boundary conditions, our analysis suggests that the likelihood of IS outperforming other competing disciplines is feasible regardless of whether a distinct identity is forged. This relation is contingent on the ability of a knowledge firm to secure resources. Distinctness is required however, when a knowledge firm is unable to generate resources. Our analysis also indicates that the debate on audiences maybe misplaced. Beyond addressing the debate, however, we conclude that an inductive approach to research with a focus on addressing problems faced by emical markets is more likely to ensure sustainability when contrasted with other perspectives.


Solute transport in groundwater is a process which has become of major importance during the last decades due to increasing contamination of ground water. This process usually occurs in a medium heterogeneous with respect to hydraulic conductivity and porosity, properties that affect the dispersion of the solutes. The present paper describes an experimental investigation of the solute transport process in heterogeneous porous media, especially the connection between the statistical properties of their hydraulic conductivity distributions and the dispersion parameters governing the spreading of the solutes. The experimental results are compared to theoretical solutions derived for the same case of a solute pulse in an average uniform flow through a heterogeneous porous medium. Generally there is good agreement between the theory and the experiments. In field applications this means that the dispersion parameters can be more readily determined from the soil properties. Furthermore, the deviations between dispersivities determined in laboratory columns and dispersitivies found under field conditions can be explained quantitatively by the differencies in the length scales and in the variances of the hydraulic conductivity distributions.


The fossil record of the genus Gavialis currently comprises nine species, many of which were erected from the mid nineteenth to the early twentieth century, sometimes on the basis of incomplete specimens. A survey of the Natural History Museum, London, collections, where many specimens were collected in the course of geological surveys in Punjab and Sindh, part of the former Indian Empire, provides a basis to reevaluate the taxonomic content of the genus Gavialis. Four species, G. leptodus, G. pachyrhynchus, G. curvirostris and G. breviceps, are not referable to the genus Gavialis. The species G. hysudricus is considered a junior synonym of G. gangeticus. The genus Gavialis includes two species, namely G. gangeticus and G. bengawanicus; two others, G. browni and G. lewisi require revisions. Several similarities are noted between the tomistomine Rhamphosuchus crassidens and G. leptodus, G. pachyrhynchus, G. curvirostris and G. breviceps. As a generality, the scarcity of information on sampling locations renders difficult a discussion on taxon provenance and age. However, a definitive revision of these taxa requires a revision of R. crassidens as well as an improved stratigraphic framework for all these taxa in a continuing effort to update the diversity of Gavialis and other longirostrine forms in the Mio‐Plio‐Pleistocene of India–Pakistan and SE Asia.


Antimicrobial activity of a Ruthenium (III) complex with N-phenyl-5-chlorosalicylideneimine ligands have been studied against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacterial strains by using disc diffusion method. The compound showed significant in vitro antimicrobial activities against community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, hospital acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212. The minimal inhibitory concentration values of the compound were found to be in the range of 11.72– 23.44 μg/mL. Additionally, minimal bactericidal concentration values and considerable sensitivity pathogenic Gram–positive microorganisms on Ru(III) compound against led to conclude the complex have prospective antibiotic properties. The compound has no activity in vitro against Gram-negative bacteria Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028.


It is increasingly recognised that improving the quality and quantity of children's services is an essential part of any long-term strategy to tackle poverty and social exclusion among children. As part of its wider programme to address child poverty in England, Save The Children commissioned this review of expenditure to examine how much is spent on children, particularly poor children, on major public services – education, health, social care, and housing – as well as social security. The results give an indication of the priority this government attaches to meeting the needs of children, in particular poor children, which can be set alongside evidence on outcomes for children, including trends in child poverty, children's health and educational outcomes.


This article proposes the use of a simple, low-cost, hand-deployable pair of experimental assets to conduct geoacoustic inversion at sea. The system consists of an expendable, fully mechanical acoustic source called a rupture induced underwater sound source (RIUSS) and a new ropeless passive acoustic mooring called a TOSSIT (not an acronym). Used together, RIUSS and TOSSIT enable the collection of acoustic data suitable to perform single-hydrophone geoacoustic inversion. The method is illustrated using data collected on the New England Mud Patch in May 2021 from a relatively small (22 m) and inexpensive chartered fishing vessel. Modal time-frequency dispersion from 15 to 385 Hz is extracted from the TOSSIT/RIUSS data using warping, and used as input for Bayesian transdimensional geoacoustic inversion. The inversion results compare favorably to results obtained with data collected on the same track with traditional assets (e.g., a vertical line array) during the 2017 Seabed Characterization Experiment, even when jointly inverting for the water-column sound speed profile and seabed geoacoustic parameters. This further demonstrates inversion repeatability in a given location using data sets collected years apart, and under different (and potentially unknown) oceanographic conditions.


In the form in which it was originally expounded, the anthropic principle was presented as a warning to astrophysical and cosmological theorists of the risk of error in the interpretation of astronomical and cosmological information unless due account is taken of the biological restraints under which the information was acquired. However, the converse message is also valid: biological theorists also run the risk of error in the interpretation of the evolutionary record unless they take due heed of the astrophysical restraints under which evolution took place. After an introductory discussion of the ordinary ('weak') anthropic principle and of its more contestable ('strong') analogue, a new application of the former to the problem of the evolution of terrestrial life is presented. It is shown that the evidence suggests that the evolutionary chain included at least one but probably not more than two links that were highly improbable (a priori) in the available time interval.


We show that maturity transformation does not expose banks to significant interest rate risk---it actually hedges banks' interest rate risk. We argue that this is driven by banks' deposit franchise. Banks incur large operating costs to maintain their deposit franchise, and in return get substantial market power. Market power allows banks to charge depositors a spread by paying deposit rates that are low and insensitive to market rates. The deposit franchise therefore works like an interest rate swap where banks pay the fixed-rate leg (the operating costs) and receive the floating-rate leg (the deposit spread). To hedge the deposit franchise, banks must therefore hold long-term fixed-rate assets; i.e., they must engage in maturity transformation. Consistent with this view, we show that banks' aggregate net interest margins have been highly stable and insensitive to interest rates over the past six decades, and that banks' equity values are largely insulated from monetary policy shocks. Moreover, in the cross section we find that banks match the interest-rate sensitivities of their income and expenses one-for-one, and that banks with less sensitive interest expenses hold substantially more long-term assets. Our results imply that forcing banks to hold only short-term assets (``narrow banking'') would make banks unhedged and, more broadly, that the deposit franchise is what allows banks to lend long term.


In this paper, I address the relation between scrambling and morphological Case from an optimality-theoretic perspective. Based on empirical evidence from German, Russian, and Bulgarian, and conceptual evidence involving issues of parametrization, I give arguments against the traditional view that scrambling presupposes morphological Case. The remaining two options are (a) and (b). (a) There is no synchronically relevant relation between scrambling and morphological Case. (b) Morphological Case does in fact presuppose scrambling. I pursue the latter, more radical approach, which implies that morphological Case is not given pre-syntactically (i.e. is not part of the syntactic input), but arises in the syntax. The presence of morphological Case is forced by a constraint that requires a Case marker on scrambled items (i.e. items at the left edge of vP); but morphological Case violates a Dep constraint. The main problem with such an approach turns out to be that morphological Case in languages like German and Russian may shown up on an NP even if this NP has not undergone scrambling; in other words: the local property of a given sentence to exhibit morphological Case on its NPs is tied not to the local property of actual scrambling in that sentence, but rather to the global property that the language permits scrambling in minimally different sentences. In order to solve this problem, I develop an approach in terms of sympathy theory (Mc Carthy (1999)) according to which morphological Case can arise on an NP in situ without actual scrambling, because of a ?-constraint that demands faithfulness to a competitor that does involve scrambling (and, hence, bear morphological Case).


Purpose: To present the clinical outcome of 3 cases of ocular surface infections by Mycobacterium chelonae treated with besifloxacin (0.6%, Besivance; Bausch & Lomb, Tampa, FL). Methods: In this retrospective review of a small case series, we reviewed the medical records of 3 clinical patients with M. chelonae infection involving the ocular surface. Besifloxacin was used as an adjunct in 2 cases of keratitis and as the principal therapeutic agent in a case of nodular conjunctivitis. Results: Two patients who presented with culture-proven M. chelonae keratitis initially had been treated with topical amikacin and oral clarithromycin for 6 months in the first case and for 2 months in the second without complete resolution. Topical besifloxacin was added as an adjunct therapy to amikacin with progressive weaning of clarithromycin. Both cases of keratitis eventually resolved without recurrence after discontinuation of topical amikacin and besifloxacin. A third patient presented with nodular conjunctival inflammation, which initially had been treated with topical ciprofloxacin and corticosteroids without improvement. One nodular lesion was excised and submitted for microbial culture, which revealed the growth of M. chelonae. Marked improvement of the conjunctivitis was noted after 3 weeks of treatment with topical besifloxacin. Complete resolution of the conjunctival nodules was achieved after 10 weeks of treatment with besifloxacin. Conclusions: Topical besifloxacin seems to be a useful adjunct agent in the treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial keratitis by M. chelonae and may be viable for use as a first-line agent in cases of nodular conjunctivitis by M. chelonae.


The development of methods to correctly interpret remotely sensed information about soil moisture and soil temperature requires an understanding of water and energy flow in soil, because the signals originate from the surface, or from a shallow surface layer, but reflect processes in the entire profile. One formidable difficulty in this application of soil physics is the spatial heterogeneity of natural soils. Earlier work has suggested that the heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties may be described by the frequency distribution of a single scale factor. The sensitivity of hydraulic and energetic processes to the variation of this scale factor is explored with a suitable numerical model. It is believed that such an analysis can help in deciding how accurately and extensively basic physical properties of field soils need to be known in order to interpret thermal or radar waveband signals. It appears that the saturated hydraulic conductivity needs to be known only to its order of magnitude, and that the required accuracy of the soil water retention function is about 0.02 volume fraction. Furthermore, the results may be helpful in deciding how the total scene or view field, as perceived through a sensor, is composed from the actual mosaic of transient soil properties, such as surface temperature or surface soil moisture. However, the latter proposition presupposes a random distribution of permanent properties, a condition that may not be met in many instances, and no solution of the problem is apparent.


The design and implementation of Generalized Minimum Variance control laws for nonlinear multivariable systems that can include severe nonlinearities is considered. The quadratic cost index minimised involves dynamically weighted error and nonlinear control signal costing terms. The aim here is to show the controller obtained is simple to design and implement. The features of the control law are explored. The controller obtained includes an internal model of the process and in one form is a nonlinear version of the Smith Predictor.


The environmental problem concerns everyone. We cannot live in isolation, human activity affects the environment. The article describes the model of modern mechanisms of standardization for successful implementation of the state policy in the sphere of environmental protection in the Russian Federation. As a methodological basis, the authors considered the concept of sustainable development stimulating to implement the nature protection measures. We have analyzed the pollution level in the Russian regions by the man-made impact. The analysis is based on the Russian Meteorological Service data published in the state report. We have defined the most environmentally disadvantaged federal districts. The article considers the environmental problems at the level of the territorial subjects of the Russian Federation. We focus on the influence of demographic problems connected with environmental pollution on the growth rate of regional economy. The article reviews the Russian laws and regulations concerning standardization process, including the procedure for determining the best technology of manufacturing process and/or rendering services. This technology has to be based on the scientific and technological innovations and meet environmental objectives. We have described the international experience in this field, and defined the aspects of environmental regulation from the international practice, which can be applied in the Russian regulatory documents. We have considered the institutional structure as a part of Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology, which provides expert advice and opinions concerning the drafts of compendiums on the best available technologies. We classify compendiums, which are being currently developed. We have identified the fields of economic activity, which need the development of environmental standards and technology compendiums, which will take into account the volumes of the waste that are subject to neutralization and utilization. We have developed a universal model for the implementation of standardization mechanisms. This model may solve the environmental problems in any region within the developed technical regulation and the nature protection legislation. The universality of the presented model consists in the integrated use of the general system of measures for environment protection in any region. In summary, the results show the need to introduce the standards and the best technology compendiums. It is necessary for the successful implementation of ecologically friendly business practices including power and resource-saving.


Through the early twentieth century, people in rural areas of North America either dealt with problems caused by wildlife by killing the problem species, eliminating its habitat, changing crops or husbandry practices, tolerating the damage, or moving to a new area devoid of such problem animals. However, many of these solutions are impractical today with the increase in human populations, the increased expansion of development into previously rural landscapes, the increased fragmentation of land ownership, and the increasing movement of people into metropolitan areas. Because of current local, state, and federal ordinances and regulations, along with the impacts of animal rights and activist groups on public sensitivities, there are more rigid constraints on the tools, techniques, and capabilities that an individual or community in urban or rural areas can utilize to address a wildlife damage problem. The great majority of individuals today care about the humane treatment of animals and are sensitive to some of the claims, whether correct or not, made by animal activists, but they are much more likely to expect someone else to handle their problems as a community service or for a fee. This paper provides highlights of a historical perspective on the evolution of wildlife damage management in the United States, insight about the development of the Berryman Institute, and some future challenges for the profession.


The analytical laboratory was founded in the late 1960's with the express function of ensuring strict quality control on all medicines destined for the Provincial Hospital Services of the then Transvaal. The laboratory's function remains to ensure that all products that are on Government tender and destined for use in the Provincial Hospitals and clinics in Gauteng, comply with the suppliers' and manufacturers' specifications. With the large increase in generic product availability, there is a real and urgent need for the development of a dedicated laboratory that will monitor both State and Private pharmaceutical products. This comment is prompted by the fact that while some companies produce dedicated batches for state issue only, most generic pharmaceutical companies supply both the private and public sectors with the same batches of medicine.


The meaning of the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause has long been hotly contested. For scholars and jurists who look to original meaning or intent, there is little direct contemporaneous evidence on which to rest any conclusion. For those who adopt a dynamic interpretive framework, the Supreme Court's "evolving standards of decency" paradigm has surface appeal, but deep conflicts have arisen in application. This Article offers a contextual account of the Eighth Amendment's meaning that addresses both of these interpretive frames by situating the Amendment in eighteenth and nineteenth-century legal standards governing relationships of subordination. In particular, I argue that the phrase "cruel and unusual punishment" was intertwined with pre- and post-Revolutionary notions of the permissible limits on the treatment of slaves. The same standard that the Framers adopted for the treatment of prisoners in 1787 was contemporaneously emerging as the standard for holding slaveholders and others criminally and civilly liable for harsh treatment of slaves. Indeed, by the middle of the nineteenth century, constitutional law, positive law, and common law converged to regulate the treatment of prisoners and slaves under the same "cruel and unusual" rubric. Thus, when the Supreme Court of Virginia referred to prisoners in 1871 as "slaves of the State," the description had more than rhetorical force. Going beyond the superficial similarity in legal standards, examining how the "cruel and unusual" standard was explicated in the context of slavery offers important insights to current debates within the Eighth Amendment. First, the contention by some originalists that the Punishments Clause does not encompass a proportionality principle is in tension with how courts interpreted the same language in the context of slavery. Indeed, relationships of subordination had long been formally governed by a principle of proportional and moderate "correction," even though slavery in practice was characterized by extreme abuse. Second, to the extent that dynamic constitutional interpretation supports limiting criminal punishment according to "evolving standards of decency," the comparative law frame used here raises questions as to how far our standards have evolved. This, in turn, should cause commentators and jurists to reconsider whether the twenty-first century lines we have drawn to regulate the constitutional bounds of punishment are adequate to advance the principle of basic human dignity that is thought to be at the heart of the Eighth Amendment.


The recent decline in bar exam passage rates has triggered speculation that the decline is being driven by law students taking more experiential courses and fewer bar-subject courses. These concerns arose in the absence of any empirical study linking certain coursework to bar exam failure.

This article addresses speculation about the relationship between law school coursework and bar exam outcomes. It reports the results of a large-scale study of the courses of over 3800 graduates from two law schools and the relationship between their experiential and bar-subject coursework and bar exam outcomes over a ten-year period. At both schools, the number of experiential courses or credits taken by a student did not correlate with bar passage, positively or negatively. Enrollment in bar courses correlated positively with passage, but the correlation was modest and significant only for students whose class rank placed them at heightened risk of bar failure. Even for those students, the marginal benefit of additional bar-related courses was not statistically significant once the student had taken approximately the average number of bar courses at that school. The study results indicate that efforts to improve bar passage rates by capping experiential credits are not supported by empirical evidence and that requiring bar-subject courses for students at comparable law schools would appear justified, if at all, only when targeted at students whose class rank places them at enhanced risk of bar exam failure.


Most public controversies about the effects of chemicals on human health revolve around the risk of cancer hardly surprising, considering that it is the second leading cause of death in the United States. People are concerned about the dangers of carcinogens in air, water, and food, and they expect their representatives in government to protect them from such hazards. On the other hand, the economic costs of eliminating every suspected carcinogen from the environment would cause tremendous economic hardship. How should policymakers use science to help strike a balance between the benefits of lowering the risk of cancer and the economic costs of regulation?In this important book the authors squarely address the complex interaction of science and regulatory policy. They begin by clarifying the scientific issues that are central to regulatory decisions, then explain how and why scientists can honestly disagree about these issues. They demonstrate with two cogent case studies: the heated debates about formaldehyde and benzene, both useful but potentially toxic chemicals. By examining how scientists evaluated the risks from these chemicals, and what kinds of legislative, administrative, and judicial decisions emerged from the evaluations, the authors furnish insight into the checks and balances of health-risk regulation.They point out that overselling science in this context is harmful to both science and democracy. Their final chapter proposes creative methods for constructing a bridge between the scientist and the regulator that will be invaluable to anyone concerned about health risks."


In addition to direct compensation (salaries and bonuses), fringe benefits such as employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) may also influence an individual's decisions on actual and expected employment duration. This study analyzes the potential of EPHI in job retention among documented and undocumented farm workers in the United States at a time period when the farm sector is experiencing labor shortage crisis attributed to stricter immigration controls. In this study, farm worker-level data was preprocessed using Coarsened Exact Matching and analyzed under an ordered probit model. The results indicate that documented farm workers are generally responsive to EPHI in terms of both their actual employment duration and subjective working expectations. However, the EPHI did not significantly influence the subjective work expectations of undocumented farm workers. Moreover, the results imply that EPHI could not possibly be an effective tool for retaining undocumented workers on the farm once they are legalized.


We have developed a radial basis function network (RBFN) for visual autonomous road following. Preliminary testing of the RBFN was done using a driving simulator, and the RBFN was then installed on an actual vehicle at Carnegie Mellon University for testing in an outdoor road-following application. In our first attempts, the RBFN had some success, but it experienced some significant problems such as jittery control and driving failure. Several improvements have been made to the original RBFN architecture to overcome these problems in simulation and more importantly in actual road following, and the improvements are described in this paper.


Gene marker selection from gene expression profiles has been extensively investigated in the Bioinformatics literature. The aim is usually to find a compact set of genes potentially correlated to a particular disease, which can then be candidate targets for new drugs and treatments. Available gene expression data sets are often noisy and sparse, having a low number of patient samples, for which a high number of expressed genes is recorded. These characteristics may pose challenges in finding proper gene markers. Using some available gene expression data sets for cancer diagnosis, we experimentally try to understand the influence of their sparsity in the performance of two popular gene marker selection methods.


Predicting student performance is a major tool in learning analytics. This study aims to identify how different measures of massive open online course (MOOC) data can be used to identify points of improvement in MOOCs. In the context of MOOCs, student performance is often defined as course completion. However, students could have other learning objectives than MOOC completion. Therefore, we define student performance as obtaining personal learning objective(s). This study examines a subsample of students in a graduate-level blended MOOC who shared on-campus course completion as a learning objective. Aggregated activity frequencies, specific course item frequencies, and order of activities were analysed to predict student performance using correlations, multiple regressions, and process mining. All aggregated MOOC activity frequencies related positively to on-campus exam grade. However, this relation is less clear when controlling for past performance. In total, 65% of the specific course items showed significant correlations with final exam grade. Students who passed the course spread their learning over more days compared with students who failed. Little difference was found in the order of activities within the MOOC between students who passed and who failed. The results are combined with course evaluations to identify points of improvement within the MOOC.


Aromatic components contained in coffee are the important components. Several technologies can be used to improve the aroma quality of coffee, for example with ohmic technology. This study established a specialty coffee processing system focused on ohmic-based fermentation technology. The aim of this study was to identify the aroma compound in coffee that fermented by ohmic technology. The SPME method by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is used in this study. The temperatures (30, 35, and 40°C) and fermentation time were set for this study (2, 6, 12, and 18 h). The results of the sensory test of sample coffee from Indonesia with specification of areas of origins Enrekang and Gowa in comparison with a sample of coffee from Japan can conclude that the panelist provided a rating profile liking the sample coffee from Japan, but the overall results of the quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) of the second sample are similar or nonsignificantly different. Compound pyrazine identified in GC-MS is earthy odor which has a correlation with the results of sensory taste QDA on sample coffee from Japan.


The use of drones to target individuals, especially American citizens, outside of the immediate zone of hostilities has been severely questioned in the media with assertions that it constitutes the executive acting as the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner without any of the protections afforded by constitutional law. A leaked "white paper" from the administration is the only unclassified legal justification for this practice. The "white paper" raises a number of legal issues. Among these are whether the President has the authority to order such killings, whether various criminal statutes or the executive order banning assassination would prohibit such operations, and whether the operations would violate international law. This article, however, only addresses the questions: whether, and if so how, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Fourth Amendment would constrain these operations. The article begins by describing the operations in question and the procedures the administration has put in place to authorize them and relates the arguments contained in the "white paper" regarding the requirements of due process and the Fourth Amendment. The article then critically assesses those arguments and raises some additional ones. In short, the article concludes that it is doubtful that the Due Process Clause is the appropriate constitutional provision applicable to drone strikes, although, if it is applicable, the current procedure, at least as outlined in the "white paper," is constitutionally doubtful. Rather, the article asserts that it is the Fourth Amendment that is the appropriate lens under which to view drone strikes, and here the administration's justifications have greater strength but still lack a vital element to ensure the reliability of the determinations it makes. The article suggests that extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's jurisdiction to drone strikes would satisfy any Due Process or Fourth Amendment concerns, and the use of that court would neither impede the effectiveness of the drone program nor raise other constitutional concerns.


Abstract. Wave-breaking action in bodies of freshwater produces atmospheric aerosols via a similar mechanism to sea spray aerosol (SSA) from seawater. The term lake spray aerosol (LSA) is proposed to describe particles formed by this mechanism, which have been observed over the Laurentian Great Lakes. Though LSA has been identified from size distribution measurements during a single measurement campaign, no measurements of LSA composition or relationship to bubble-bursting dynamics have been conducted. An LSA generator utilizing a plunging jet, similar to many SSA generators, was constructed for the generation of aerosol from freshwater samples and model salt solutions. To evaluate this new generator, bubble and aerosol number size distributions were measured for salt solutions representative of freshwater (CaCO3) and seawater (NaCl) at concentrations ranging from that of freshwater to seawater (0.05–35 g kg−1), synthetic seawater (inorganic), synthetic freshwater (inorganic), and a freshwater sample from Lake Michigan. Following validation of the bubble and aerosol size distributions using synthetic seawater, a range of salt concentrations were investigated. The systematic studies of the model salts, synthetic freshwater, and Lake Michigan sample indicate that LSA is characterized by a larger number size distribution mode diameter of 300 nm (lognormal), compared to seawater at 110 nm. Decreasing salt concentrations from seawater to freshwater led to greater bubble coalescence and formation of larger bubbles, which generated larger particles and lower aerosol number concentrations. This resulted in a bimodal number size distribution with a primary mode (180 ± 20 nm) larger than that of SSA, as well as a secondary mode (46 ± 6 nm) smaller than that of SSA. This new method for studying LSA under isolated conditions is needed as models, at present, utilize SSA parameterizations for freshwater systems, which do not accurately predict the different size distributions observed for LSA or resulting climate properties. Given the abundance of freshwater globally, this potentially important source of aerosol needs to be thoroughly characterized, as the sizes produced are relevant to light scattering, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and ice nuclei (IN) concentrations over bodies of freshwater.


A survey was carried out amongst tertiary students in Western Australia to determine their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and concerns about the nuclear arms race. Subsidiary aims were to determine their attitudes to peace studies and their sources of information about nuclear weapons and disarmament. The results show a high level of concern amongst students about the nuclear arms race. There was strong support for a variety of multilateral disarmament initiatives, but less support for unilateral action. Most students believe that ordinary people can help to stop the arms race yet few of them are actively involved with peace or disarmament groups. Factor analysis indicates that the major common factor is a concern about the arms race together with a belief that nuclear war will occur in their lifetimes and that Perth could be a nuclear target. Other factors include support for multilateral disarmament, peace studies and opposition to involvement in the arms race. There was strong support for peace studies in schools and universities and some indication that students who were most concerned about the arms race wished to study about how to achieve a peaceful world. As in previous surveys, females indicated a greater concern about the nuclear arms race. The psychological affects of this anxiety require further analysis as they could be a major factor in determining social attitudes. No correlation was found between students' knowledge about the arms race and their concern, attitudes or beliefs. However, these last three variables were found to be highly correlated indicating that beliefs about the arms race probably determine students' attitudes and concerns. It is not clear where these beliefs originate but television and newspapers were identified as the major sources of information about nuclear issues.


Micro-sociology of violence looks at what happens in situations where people directly threaten violence, but only sometimes carry it out. This process and its turning points have become easier to see in the current era of visual data: cell-phone videos, longdistance telephoto lenses, CCTV cameras. New cues and instruments are on the horizon as we look at emotional signals, body rhythms, and monitors for body signs such as heart rate (a proxy for adrenaline level). There has been a concomitant sharpening of the ethnographic eye as to what details to look for, and theoretical frames build relevance of accumulating research. Unusually for social science, micro-sociology of violence offers some optimistic results: applications in everyday life that can reduce many kinds of violence. I will selectively summarize discoveries and theoretical advances since Collins (2008).


Foreign and security policy was not an area in which Prime Minister Cameron sought to alter the relationship between the UK and the European Union (EU) in renegotiating the terms of Britain's membership. However, security has become a key theme in the referendum debate. The airport and metro bombings in Brussels have focused particular attention on the issue of border and 'homeland' security, and whether the UK has its security enhanced, or compromised, through its membership of the EU. There are also broader questions about the EU's historic role in bringing peace to the European continent and its capacity to be a capable security and defence actor. These were raised by David Cameron in what was the most passionate speech on Europe of his Premiership delivered on 9th May.


The need to identify both digital and physical objects is ubiquitous in our society. Past and present persistent identifier (PID) systems, of which there is a great variety in terms of technical and social implementation, have evolved with the advent of the Internet, which has allowed for globally unique and globally resolvable identifiers. PID systems have, by in large, catered for identifier uniqueness, integrity, and persistence, regardless of the identifier's application domain. Trustworthiness of these systems has been measured by the criteria first defined by Butikofer (2009) and further elaborated by Golodoniuc et al. (2016) and Car et al. (2017). Since many PID systems have been largely conceived and developed by a single organisation they faced challenges for widespread adoption and, most importantly, the ability to survive change of technology. We believe that a cause of PID systems that were once successful fading away is the centralisation of support infrastructure – both organisational and computing and data storage systems. In this paper, we propose a PID system design that implements the pillars of a trustworthy system – ensuring identifiers' independence of any particular technology or organisation, implementation of core PID system functions, separation from data delivery, and enabling the system to adapt for future change. We propose decentralisation at all levels — persistent identifiers and information objects registration, resolution, and data delivery — using Distributed Hash Tables and traditional peer-to-peer networks with information replication and caching mechanisms, thus eliminating the need for a central PID data store. This will increase overall system fault tolerance thus ensuring its trustworthiness. We also discuss important aspects of the distributed system's governance, such as the notion of the authoritative source and data integrity


Current Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP)-based search against symmetric-key primitives with 8-bit S-boxes can only build word-wise model to search for truncated differential characteristics. In such a model, the properties of the Differential Distribution Table (DDT) are not considered. To take these properties into account, a bit-wise model is necessary, which can be generated by the H-representation of the convex hull or the logical condition modeling. However, the complexity of both approaches becomes impractical when the size of the S-box exceeds 5 bits. In this paper, we propose a new modeling for large (8-bit or more) S-boxes. In particular, we first propose an algorithm to generate a bit-wise model of the DDT for large S-boxes. We observe that the problem of generating constraints in logical condition modeling can be converted into the problem of minimizing the product-of-sum of Boolean functions, which is a well-studied problem. Hence, classical off-the-shelf solutions such as the Quine-McCluskey algorithm or the Espresso algorithm can be utilized, which makes building a bit-wise model, for 8-bit or larger S-boxes, practical. Then this model is further extended to search for the best differential characteristic by considering the probabilities of each propagation in the DDT, which is a much harder problem than searching for the lower bound on the number of active S-boxes. Our idea is to separate the DDT into multiple tables for each probability and add conditional constraints to control the behavior of these multiple tables. The proposed modeling is first applied to SKINNY-128 to find that there is no differential characteristic having probability higher than 2 −128 for 14 rounds, while the designers originally expected that 15 rounds were required. We also applied the proposed modeling to two, arbitrarily selected, constructions of the seven AES round function based constructions proposed in FSE 2016 and managed to improve the lower bound on the number of the active S-boxes in one construction and the upper bound on the differential characteristic for the other.


Janus is a NASA SIMPLEx mission currently in Phase B. The SIMPLEx program is designed around the idea of using secondary launch opportunities to explore interplanetary destinations. The Janus mission concept plans to take advantage of the NASA Psyche launch to send two spacecraft to fly by Near Earth Objects of interest. A specific point design has been developed that sends two spacecraft to two binary asteroid systems, (175706) 1996 FG3 and (35107) 1991 VH, both of which have been observed repeatedly with photometry, spectrometry and radar.

The Janus mission sends light-weight, low-cost spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin to encounter these high-science value small body targets. The science instruments are a visible and IR imager, from Malin Space Science Systems. The spacecraft will perform a rigorous remote sensing campaign when the object is a point source, and when resolved. The spacecraft will track the binary asteroid systems through closest approach, allowing for a combination of absolute surface resolution, relative resolution across the target asteroids and phase angle coverage unparalleled in previous asteroid flyby missions.

Janus science will combine flyby observations of the target binary asteroids with ground-based observations, enabling the high resolution imaging and thermal data to be placed into a global context and leveraging all available data to construct an accurate topographical and morphological model of these bodies. Based on these measurements, the formation and evolutionary implications for small rubble pile asteroids will be studied.

The science team members all have experience on asteroid missions or have made extensive ground based observations of NEAs. The industry team has extensive experience in the design, fabrication and operation of interplanetary spacecraft and instrumentation.

Acknowledgements: The Janus mission is supported by NASA under a contract from the SIMPLEx Program Office. Part of this research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA.


In a literal sense, the word ma (間) means "interval" or "gap." With considerable enthusiasm, since the early 1960s, Japanese thinkers and design practitioners have developed ma into an abstract and spiritual concept. With the use of interpretive research and ethnographic methods, this article explores how ma, commonly understood as ambiguity, has been deeply appreciated in Japanese culture. To find out more about ma, the author interviewed Nagai Kazumasa and Sugiura Kohei, the two eminent Japanese Design Movement (JDM) poster designers, in their Tokyo design offices in 2008. Specifically, from a case study research of one of Sugiura's renowned works, the author found that the concept of ma has been elevated by Sugiura to a religio-aesthetic and spiritual status. Sugiura has used ma as both medium and message in maintaining his intellectual and artistic position in Japan and Asia.


Context. The mean UV extinction law for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is usually taken as a template for low-metallicity galaxies. However, its current derivation is based on only five stars, which renders its universality questionable. More targets with measured extinction laws in the SMC are necessary to determine its possible dependence on parameters such as metallicity and starforming activity. Aims. We aim to measure the UV extinction law for several stars in the quiescent molecular cloud SMC B1-1. Methods. We obtained HST/STIS slitless UV spectroscopy of a 25 �� × 25 �� field of view and combined it with ground-based NIR and visible photometry of the stars in the field. The results were processed using the Bayesian photometric package CHORIZOS to derive the visible-NIR extinction values for each star. The unextinguished spectral energy distributions (SEDs) obtained in this way were then used to derive the UV extinction law for the four most extinguished stars. We also recalculated the visible-NIR extinction for the five SMC stars with preexisting UV extinction laws. Results. The UV extinction law for four SMC B1-1 stars that are situated within several pc of each other differs significantly from star to star. The 2175 A bump is moderately strong in one, weak in two, and absent in the fourth.


After the ideological conflicts of the 20 century, democracy was widely hailed as an ideal, or at least inherently superior, form of government. And compared to the most prominent competing system of the last century, communism, it's been a great success. But anyone would concede that our democracy isn't perfect, and as the elections approach many are calling attention to the limitations of our system. For much of human history, people didn't even conceive of a functioning democracy, thinking only in terms of anarchy or dictatorships. It could be that we just don't yet see a further, better incarnation of participatory government. Perhaps, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, democracy is simply "the worst form of government except for all the others."[1]


This consise, up-to-date survey of U.S. patent law uses examples, many from actual cases, to explain the various aspects of the patent system, including issues of patent validity, infringement, the application process, and litigation. Although many large multi-volume patent treatises are already available, this book will serve as a useful overview or starting point for further research. Patent claim interpretation, equivalence, prior art, and the extension of patent protection to non-traditional subject matter such as computer software are covered in detail. Appendixes contain sample U.S. patents. This guide is suitable as an introduction to the field for non-attorneys, including engineers or business persons with patent-related concerns. Attorneys can also use it as an introduction, a quick reference, or a case-finder. All discussions of the law are supported by citations to authority, including recent decisions by the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. While this study provides a serious and comprehensive analysis of the law, it is presented in the simplest and clearest terms possible.


Abstract Magnetic nanoparticles suspended in suitable carrier liquids can be adopted for use in biomedicine. For this to be achieved, the biocompatibility of these ferrofluids needs to be ascertained. In cancer treatment, potential applications currently under investigation include, e. g. drug targeting by using magnetic fields and the destruction of diseased cells by applying alternating magnetic fields, which cause heating of magnetic nanoparticles. To enable the use of ferrofluids in the actual biomedical context, detailed knowledge of the flow characteristics is essential to ensure safe treatment. From ferrofluids used in the engineering context, a rise of viscosity when a magnetic field is applied - the magnetoviscous effect - is well known. This effect, which leads to an increased viscosity and profound alteration of a fluid's rheological behavior, has also been demonstrated for biocompatible ferrofluids used in the aforementioned applications. In biomedical applications, ferrofluids will be diluted in the blood stream. Therefore, the interaction between whole blood and the ferrofluid has to be investigated. This is the focus of the current experimental study, which makes use of two different ferrofluids diluted in sheep blood to gain a deeper understanding of the fluid mixtures primarily regarding the relative change in viscosity if an external magnetic field is applied. The results demonstrate a strong interaction between blood cells and structures formed by the magnetic nanoparticles and show a high deviation of results compared to ferrofluids diluted in water. These findings have to be taken into account for future research and applications of similar biocompatible fluids to guarantee safe and effective use in living organisms.


Drawing on interviews with HR, finance and marketing directors, this article examines the locus of strategic decision making in organisations, who makes those decisions and the characteristics and competencies of strategic decision makers. The article finds that strategic formulation takes place in the Chief Executive Officer Group (CEOG). Board of director membership is unnecessary to be influential on the strategic decisions made in organisations. The article also concludes that even if directors are not members of the main board of directors and/or of the CEOG, there exists in organisations informal channels through which they can exert influence in the formulation of strategy. A third conclusion is that strategic decision makers are business-focused general managers rather than advocates of their management speciality. The article concludes by considering the implications of its findings for management education and for the research agenda and management academics.


Can an actor justify criminal conduct when he was criminally culpable in creating the conditions making it necessary? Virtually every American jurisdiction that has addressed the question answers that he cannot and bars the necessity defense under those circumstances. Whereas scholars have uniformly condemned that response, this Article takes the very different view that the exclusion of the defense for purposeful, knowing, and reckless criminal conduct that directly causes the allegedly justified act represents a sound retributivist check on what is an otherwise cruder evaluation of whether conduct is socially valuable, worthy of praise or, in a word, justified. Criminal "created culpability" is circumstantial data that bears crucially on the criminal law's retributivist function - that wrongful conduct deserves punishment, not praise - and its inverse relationship to justification. Failing to account for criminal created culpability renders the concept of justification itself defective because it ignores precisely what is at the heart of any plausible theory of justification: that under certain circumstances an otherwise criminal act is not wrongful and should not be punished. This Article explains the relationship between criminal created culpability and justification, and suggests a rebuttable presumption procedure to ensure that the retributivist concerns animating created culpability are incorporated and weighed appropriately in assessing whether conduct is justified.


We see the signs around us every day: the chain cafes and mobile phone outlets that dominate our high streets; the disappearance of knobbly carrots from our supermarket shelves; and the headlines about yet another traditional industry going to the wall. For the first time, here is a book that makes the connection between these isolated, incremental local changes and the bigger picture of a nation whose identity is being eroded. As he travels around the country meeting farmers, fishermen and the inhabitants of Chinatown, Paul Kingsnorth reports on the kind of conversations that are taking place in country pubs and corner shops across the land - while reminding us that these quintessentially English institutions may soon cease to exist.


Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a fundamental source of economic growth across much of Europe and are perceived as key drivers of employment (European Commission, 2010). Indeed SME finance has received considerable attention where high information opacity defines much of its idiosyncratic nature. Moreover, concerns surrounding the availability of external finance in particular bank credit are an integral feature of SME finance where such concerns have intensified given the recent economic and financial crisis. Issues surrounding bank credit availability are further heightened for SMEs given their dependency on this external source of finance (Popov and Udell, 2012). Furthermore, given the idiosyncratic nature of SME finance, much attention is placed on their capital structure.
This study seeks to evaluate in a European context the impact of country characteristics on SME bank credit availability and on SMEs capital structure. The country characteristics evaluated include that of the information, legal, judicial, bankruptcy, social, tax and regulatory environments, derived from the US conceptual model of Berger and Udell (2006). Indeed, this study utilises its own conceptual framework which incorporates much of that of Berger and Udell (2006) and reflects the impact of these country characteristics in both dimensions of the research questions.
Employing a quantitative approach, two datasets are employed, namely the EC/ECB Survey on Access to Finance of SMEs over the time period, 2010-2011 and the Bureau Van Dijk Amadeus database over the time period, 2005-2011. Moreover, a comprehensive set of proxies are employed to represent the country characteristics, obtained mainly from the World Bank and the European Social Survey (ESS).The findings indicate that country characteristics are important, namely those of the information, legal, judicial, bankruptcy and regulatory environments.
In terms of availability, SMEs appear more likely to secure bank credit when there is less sharing of credit information, greater private property protection, lower costs to enforcing a contract, higher costs in resolving a debt and more stringent capital requirements. Furthermore, bank size appears to matter for SME bank credit availability regardless of domicile. Similarly, in the context of SME firm leverage, country characteristics also prove influential having controlled for firm and industry characteristics and macroeconomic and credit supply conditions. In particular, SME debt levels appear higher when the greater the sharing of credit information, the greater the extent of private property protection, the more time required to enforce a contract, the less time needed to resolve a debt and when there are less stringent capital requirements.
This study adds to the existing body of knowledge, considering a time period when concerns surrounding the availability of SME bank credit and indeed the capital structure of SMEs have been heightened. Utilising Berger and Udell's (2006) conceptual model outside of its US origins, i.e. in a European context, this study devises a conceptual framework to test the impact of country characteristics on the landscape of SME bank credit availability and SME firm leverage.


ABSTRACT Given the increased heterogeneity of the transition from work to retirement, this study aimed to analyse the associations between different reasons for retirement and psychosocial wellbeing as a pensioner. The study used data from the Swedish Panel Survey of Ageing and the Elderly (PSAE), a nationally representative survey of the living conditions of older people in Sweden. The results show that almost one-half of all pensioners cited health problems as a contributory reason for ceasing work. Furthermore, those who retired for 'push' reasons, such as health problems or labour market factors, experienced lower psychosocial wellbeing than those who retired for other reasons. Moreover, the results show that those who were able to influence the time of their retirement enjoyed better psychosocial wellbeing than those who had little or no opportunity to do so. This was true when controlling for other factors relevant to the wellbeing of pensioners. The results lend support to the argument that, if a man's retirement is instigated because his skills are no longer required, there will be a decidedly negative effect on his wellbeing – and that this effect is stronger than the equivalent impact on a woman's wellbeing. In relation to previous findings in this field, the results make it clear that retirement is far from a uniform process or state.


Disputes between States belong to the realm of Public International Law. These disputes are often resolved by two basic techniques of conflict management: diplomatic procedures and adjudication. For this purpose Public International Law discusses matters as the law of international organisations, the law of treaties, human rights, humanitarian law, international courts, etc. However, where the State exercises a commercial function, either by itself or through a State entity and enters into a business relationship with a private party, any disputes which arise are likely to be referred either to the courts of the State concerned or to international commercial arbitration. Almost invariably, the private party to such a contract will prefer arbitration as it is a 'neutral' process.


While hiding in Latin America, Klaus Barbie was condemned to death for war crimes by the military tribunal of Lyon in 1952 and in 1954. The former Nazi officer, head of the Gestapo in Lyon and its environs during the Second World War, was judged again in France, this time in person, thirty-three years later. Following the trial, Barbie was condemned to a life sentence in prison for crimes against humanity. That said, Barbie's trial cannot be reduced to merely the length of time it took (between May and July 1987), to place (the Tribunal of Lyon), or to the action (of judging a man for crimes against humanity). This article analyzes the Barbie trial as a narrator of the Holocaust to the French population, from the preparation of the trial in Germany in the 1970s, then in France after the extradition of Klaus Barbie in 1983. The construction, at once juridical, political, and media-related, of such an object of transmission often came into contact with the memory of the Resistance and of its hero, Jean Moulin. The mechanisms by which the Barbie trial was thus configured enable us to do a specific case study of the interactions at work, which can be applied more generally when it is a question of judging crimes of the past, issues of collective and individual memory, the involvement of historical figures, and media discourse.


Background. The recent scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage in resource-limited settings has greatly improved access to treatment. However, increasing numbers of patients are failing first- and second-line ART. Objective. To examine factors affecting adherence to second-line ART from the perspective of clinic staff and patients, assessing both individual and structural perceived barriers. Methods. Research was conducted at a large primary care tuberculosis (TB)/HIV clinic in Khayelitsha, a peri-urban township in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants were drawn from a Medecins Sans Frontieres-run programme to support patients failing second-line ART. A qualitative research approach was used, combining multiple methodologies including key informant interviews with staff ( n=11), in-depth interviews with patients (n=10) and a Photovoice workshop (n=11). Responses and photographs were coded by content; data were transformed into variables and analysed accordingly. Results. Staff identified drinking, non-disclosure, not using condoms and pill fatigue as barriers to ART adherence, while patients identified side-effects, not using condoms and a lack of understanding concerning medication timing. With respect to service delivery, staff identified a need for continued counselling and educational support following ART initiation. Patients were concerned about missing medical records and poor staff attitudes in the clinic. Conclusion. These findings identify discrepancies between provider and patient perceptions of barriers to, and facilitators of adherence, as well as of service delivery solutions. This highlights the need for on-going counselling and education following ART initiation, improved quality of counselling, and improved methods to identify and address specific barriers concerning medication adherence.


The purpose of this research is to find out farmers group dynamics of "Madurasa" in Muneng village, Pilangkenceng district, Madiun regency. This research is case study that uses Sytimatic Random Sampling, it is taking a sample randomly systematics at certain interval. The sample that is taked randomly is only the first sample, but the next sample is taked according to the value of interval. In this research the value of interval is 2. The Population that is taked expressly from this research is "Madurasa" farmers group's members. Data analysis uses qualitative descriptive analysis, in this case, the descriptive data is the qualitative data is the data about group dynamics factors i.e. Group's goal, group structure, assignment function, group tutorial, group's spirit of teamwork, group's atmosphere, group pressure and group effectiveness. From the analysis in this research, we can conclude that " Madurasa" farmers group is dynamics, because this group has made the real changing for all of the members, for example it became first champion at Supra Insus Championship and Achievement Cooperation. " Madurasa " farmers group also improve its member's knowledge, so that it can improve farmers family's prosperity. From this research it can be concluded that : 1. We can say that " Madurasa " farmers group is a dynamics farmers group, because the goal of the group i.e. improving human resources for achieving its member's prosperity, keeping the unity of the group, making a good relationship with the external side, improving knowledge and skill in farming, using a credit which is given by the farmers group, have been achieving well. 2. Group Structure that is formed and agreed together has been recognized and approved by "Madurasa" farmers group members in order to improving "Madurasa" farmers group progress. 3. Group assignment function which has been composed in "Madurasa" farmers group has been going on its own position, so it can accelerate group dynamicization. 4. The lack of "Madurasa" farmers group's tutorial because of the limited PPL, the agent who give the tutorial. It cause the farmers group get less new agriculture information. 5. There is a good interrelationship among the members because they are neighbors, and it can accelerate farmer group's progress. 6. "Madurasa" farmers group's atmosphere is in harmony because there is a good teamwork between chief, director and members. Harmonic atmosphere will support the group's progress. 7. Group pressure in "Madurasa" farmers group is happened, because the farmers group has to face external problems like the lack of government support especially the difficulty of gabah distribution. It is inhibiting this group expectation to progress. 8. "Madurasa" farmers group effectiveness is very good. It is proved at many championships. This group became the first champion in Supra Insus champioship in East Java on 2001, and became Achievement Cooperation in Madiun regency on 2002. Keyword : dinamika kelompok tani Link terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/11/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2004-andriyanid-530-PENDAHUL-N.pdf


In a series of recent publications, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) used the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI), in conjunction with other indicators of market power (import penetration rates and relative mark-ups) often used in the economics literature, to evaluate the market structure of industries and examine the intensity of competition in several countries, including Canada. In this paper, we find that the OECD substantially overestimated the intensity of competition in Canadian industries by systematically underestimating Canada's HHI by more than 450 times in some industries. Contrary to the OECD findings, we show that the average HHI of Canadian industries was 115% higher than for U.S. industries rather than 40% lower. For reasons outlined in the paper - computation errors, systematic bias of the OECD's HHI indicator, and the use of establishment-level data - the international comparisons of HHI performed by the OECD should be dismissed and their conclusions regarding the intensity of competition in Canadian industries should be considered with great caution.


Cell adhesion mediated by integrins is coupled to intracellular signaling by direct binding to G protein. Adhesion molecules known as integrins are found on the surface of cells. When integrins adhere to components of the extracellular matrix, they act as receptors and initiate signaling events within the cell. Gong et al. show that they do so in part by partnering with a signal-transducing protein called Gα13. Such alpha subunits of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide–binding proteins are well known for transducing signals from the large class of G protein–coupled receptors but were not known to work with integrins, a different class of receptor. Gα13 appears to interact directly with the integrin αIIbβ3 and to transmit signals that regulate cell spreading. H. Gong, B. Shen, P. Flevaris, C. Chow, S. C.-T. Lam, T. A. Voyno-Yasenetskaya, T. Kozasa, X. Du, G protein subunit Gα13 binds to integrin αIIbβ3 and mediates integrin "outside-in" signaling. Science 327, 340–343 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Abstract. Marine coastal processes are highly variable over different space scales and timescales. In this paper we analyse the intermittency properties of particle size distribution (PSD) recorded every second using a LISST instrument (Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometry). The particle concentrations have been recorded over 32 size classes from 2.5 to 500 μm, at 1 Hz resolution. Such information is used to estimate at each time step the hyperbolic slope of the particle size distribution, and to consider its dynamics. Shannon entropy, as an indicator of the randomness, is estimated at each time step and its dynamics is analysed. Furthermore, particles are separated into four classes according to their size, and the intermittent properties of these classes are considered. The empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is used, associated with arbitrary-order Hilbert spectral analysis (AHSA), in order to retrieve scaling multifractal moment functions, for scales from 10 s to 8 min. The intermittent properties of two other indicators of particle concentration are also considered in the same range of scales: the total volume concentration Cvol-total and the particulate beam attenuation coefficient cp(670). Both show quite similar intermittent dynamics and are characterised by the same exponents. Globally we find here negative Hurst exponents (meaning the small scales show larger fluctuation than large scales) for each time series considered, and nonlinear moment functions.


Advances in processing power and memory technology have made multicore computers an important platform for high-performance graph-search (or graph-traversal) algorithms. Since the introduction of multicore, much progress has been made to improve parallel breadth-first search. However, less attention has been given to algorithms for unordered or loosely ordered traversals. We present a parallel algorithm for unordered depth-first-search on graphs. We prove that the algorithm is work efficient in a realistic algorithmic model that accounts for important scheduling costs. This work-efficiency result applies to all graphs, including those with high diameter and high out-degree vertices. The algorithmic techniques behind this result include a new data structure for representing the frontier of vertices in depth-first search, a new amortization technique for controlling excess parallelism, and an adaptation of the lazy-splitting technique to depth first search. We validate the theoretical results with an implementation and experiments. The experiments show that the algorithm performs well on a range of graphs and that it can lead to significant improvements over comparable algorithms.


Ad hoc network is a structure less network with independent nodes. In the ad hoc network, the nodes have to cooperate for services like routing and data forwarding. The routing attacks in ad hoc networks have given rise to the need for designing novel intrusion detection algorithms, different from those present in conventional networks. In this work, distributed intrusion detection system (IDS) have proposed for detecting malicious sinking behavior in ad hoc network. Detection process of that sinking behavior node is very important to do the further forwarding process in network. Intrusion detection system use linear classifiers for training the intrusion detection model. Cross -layer approach is involved to increase the accuracy of intrusion detection process in ad hoc network. A machine learning algorithm in non linear manner named as Support Vector Machine (SVM) involved for training the detection system and used together with Fisher Discriminant Analysis (FDA). The proposed cross-layer approach aided by a combination of SVM and FDA reduces the feature set of MAC layer without reducing information content.


Introduction: Ionizing radiations produce free radicals which are often responsible for DNA damage or cell death. Grape seed extract (GSE) is a natural compound having an antioxidant that protects DNA, lipids, and proteins from free radical damages. In this study, radioprotective effect of the GSE has been investigated in mouse bone marrow cells using micronucleus test. Materials and Methods: Four groups of mice were investigated in this study: Mice in Group 1 were subjected to injection of distilled water with no irradiation. Mice in Group 2 were exposed to 3 Gy gamma radiation after the injection of distillated water. Mice in Group 3 were injected with 200 mg/kg of the GSE without any irradiation. In another group, mice were exposed to three gray gamma irradiation after the injection of GSE. Animals were killed, and slides were prepared from the bone marrow cells 24 h after irradiation. The slides were stained with May Grunwald–Giemsa method and analyzed microscopically. The frequency of the micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MnPCEs), micronucleated normochromatic erythrocyte (MnNCEs), and polychromatic erythrocyte/polychromatic erythrocyte + normochromatic erythrocyte (PCE/PCE + NCE) ratios was calculated. Results: Injection of GSE significantly decreased the frequency of MnPCEs (P < 0.0001) and MnNCEs (P < 0.05) and increased the ratio of PCE/PCE + NCE (P < 0.0001) compared to the irradiated control group. Discussion and Conclusions: GSE could reduce clastogenic and cytotoxic effects of gamma irradiation in mice bone marrow cells; therefore, it can be concluded that the GSE is a herbal compound with radioprotective effects against gamma irradiation. Free radical scavenging and the antioxidant effects of the GSE probably are responsible mechanisms for the GSE radioprotective effects.


Objective: To evaluate the neonatal morbidity due to congenital malformations in the city of Petrolina-PE, from 2008 to 2013.
Methods: A descriptive study with data from the Information System on Live Births (Sinasc). The analyzes were carried out through frequency distribution and measures of central tendency and dispersion. The associations were tested by the Pearson and Kruskal Wallis chi-square tests. Significance was set at 5% and 95% confidence.
Results: 436 cases of congenital malformations were recorded in the study period, with 2011 being the highest occurrence year. The mothers of the newborns were young (25.2 years old), single, upper level of education and household. In general multiparous, with single gestation, vaginal delivery and performed up to six prenatal visits. The newborns were males, at 39 weeks or more of gestation and with normal weight (> = 2500g). The malformations of the musculoskeletal system were the most frequent followed by the genitourinary system. Congenital malformations were especially associated with neonatal characteristics such as gender and weight. In all causes the mean weight was greater than 2500g (p 0.05).
Conclusion: The present study evidenced relevant aspects in the occurrence of morbidities due to congenital malformations, directing to a greater attention the occurrence of these diseases especially in relation to the newborn.


Student teaching is arguably the most beneficial aspect of teacher preparation programs. The student teaching experience is shaped by several key components. One of the most important, yet least well defined component is the cooperating center at which a student teacher will gain his or her experiences. Very little research has been published regarding the characteristics of good cooperating centers for agricultural education. This study was designed to create a list of the key elements of cooperating centers for agricultural education student teachers. Qualitative research was conducted within the population of cooperating teachers and first-year teachers of agricultural education employed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Two nominal groups were conducted on October 15, 1998, each having ten participants. One group was comprised of ten cooperating teachers and the other of ten first-year agricultural education teachers. The responses from these participants were used to create a prioritized list of the characteristics of cooperating centers that they felt were most important for a successful student teaching experience. Agricultural education Cooperating Centers


The diffusion length of minority charge carriers in the silicon bulk Ldiff is an important characteristic of optoelectronic devices fabricated from low cost silicon wafers. In this study computer simulations have been carried out to calculate the beneficial effects of a macroscopic surface texturization on the charge carrier generation and the collection probability. Textured solar cells should be able to collect charge carriers more effectively resulting in an increased current due to the special emitter geometry resulting from the texture, decreased reflection losses, and the inclined penetration of the light. In order to prove this expected behavior, deeply V-textured solar cells have been processed and characterized on low cost silicon reaching an Ldiff of about 25 μm. Spatially resolved high resolution measurements of the internal quantum efficiency exhibit a strongly increased signal in the texture tips which is the first experimental proof of the increased charge carrier collection probability of d...


This article comments upon the episode of the dialogue between the Mytileneans and Pompey in Lucan's De Bello Civili (8,109-158) and its multiple poetic purposes are investigated. I argue that the episode in question has a significant structural value, since Lucan's emphasis on the islanders' loyalty and Pompey's reaction should be connected not only with the similar stance of the Lariseans in the previous book or the perfidy of the Egyptians later in the work, but also with many other passages and themes of the epic (as e.g. Caesar's greed, his presence at Amyclas' hut, the virtues of vetus Roma, the absence of an important tomb for Pompey). In this way the particular episode allows the poet to highlight tragic elements in Pompey's portrayal and more generally traits of his image that are in contrast with those of Caesar's, while at the same time facilitates Lucan's attempt to hint at his poetic immortality.


Systems biology aims to understand cellular behavior in terms of the spatiotemporal interactions among cellular components, such as genes, proteins and metabolites. Comprehensive visualization tools for exploring multivariate data are needed to gain insight into the physiological processes reflected in these molecular profiles. Data fusion methods are required to integratively study high-throughput transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics data combined before systems biology can live up to its potential. In this work I explored mathematical and statistical methods and visualization tools to resolve the prominent issues in the nature of systems biology data fusion and to gain insight into these comprehensive data. In order to choose and apply multivariate methods, it is important to know the distribution of the experimental data. Chi square Q-Q plot and violin plot were applied to all M. truncatula data and V. vinifera data, and found most distributions are right-skewed (Chapter 2). The biplot display provides an effective tool for reducing the dimensionality of the systems biological data and displaying the molecules and time points jointly on the same plot. Biplot of M. truncatula data revealed the overall system behavior, including unidentified compounds of interest and the dynamics of the highly responsive molecules (Chapter 3). The phase spectrum computed from the Fast Fourier transform of the time course data has been found to play more important roles than amplitude in the signal reconstruction. Phase spectrum analyses on in silico data created with two artificial biochemical networks, the Claytor model and the AB2 model proved that phase spectrum is indeed an effective tool in system biological data fusion despite the data heterogeneity (Chapter 4). The difference between data integration and data fusion are further discussed. Biplot analysis of scaled data were applied to integrate transcriptome, metabolome and proteome data from the V. vinifera project. Phase spectrum combined with k-means clustering was used in integrative analyses of transcriptome and metabolome of the M. truncatula yeast elicitation data and of transcriptome, metabolome and proteome of V. vinifera salinity stress data. The phase spectrum analysis was compared with the biplot display as effective tools in data fusion (Chapter 5). The results suggest that phase spectrum may perform better than the biplot. This work was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Program, grant DBI-0109732, and by the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute.


A diachronic typology of relative clauses points toward two major pathways towards embedded (restrictive) REL-clauses. The first starts from chained (conjoined) clauses, the second from parenthetical non-restrictive RELclauses. In both pathways, embedded (restrictive) REL-clauses start their life as paratactic clauses under their own separate intonation contour. In both pathways, the first step in creating a complex embedded construction is merger of the erstwhile separate intonation contours of main and subordinate clause. Other dimensions of REL-clause typology, such as nominalization, demonstrative pronouns, zero anaphora, etc. intersect with these two diachronic pathways. The synchronic syntactic properties of REL-clauses are to a large extent predictable from their diachronic source, so that universals of grammar are fundamentally developmental, expressing themselves through emergence. Keywords: REL-clauses; diachronic typology; universals of grammar


Reproductive tract morbidities are reported by more than a third of the population in India. In rural areas, practitioners without a formal medical qualification are likely to be the first point of care seeking for these. The aim of this PhD thesis was to contribute to the body of knowledge on quality of care by rural private providers in India. The main objectives were to 1) examine care-seeking for genito-urinary symptoms and community perceptions of provider quality, 2) evaluate rural providers' quality of care, and, 3) examine associations between symptoms, infections and psychological health of care seekers. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods were used: focus group discussions, household interviews, observations of patient-provider interactions (60 providers; 367 patients) and laboratory investigations for common reproductive tract infections. Patients were also screened for possible psychological distress. The study found that around 90 % providers did not possess a formal qualification but were a significant source of care provision. Providers' overall knowledge and practice of syndromic management was inadequate but these guidelines alone were inappropriate in relation to the care seekers's epidemiological and socio-cultural profile. Prevalence of infections in this population was low and some symptoms were associated with possible psychological distress. Communities' perceptions of genito-urinary illnesses were imbued with culturally influenced anxieties, that could potentially confound a clinical diagnosis. Providers too, commonly attributed symptoms to non-biomedical causes but persisted in dispensing biomedical drugs including antibiotics. Providers with a recognized qualification in an indigenous system of medicine displayed greater average technical skills than informally qualified ones, but both groups displayed similar knowledge levels. Knowledge was associated with technical performance at middle but not higher levels. All providers demonstrated moderate to high levels of interpersonal skills and these were strongly associated with increasing treatment charges. Providers were more likely to provide better technical quality to men and better interpersonal quality to women. As private providers with diverse qualifications meet a vast proportion of basic health care needs in rural areas, they all must be strengthened to provide an optimum quality of basic health care. The public health system needs to recognize private providers as an important first rung of primary health care in rural areas and establish strong referral and other supportive links with them. Providers' knowledge and skills upgradation needs to be combined with concerted behaviour change communication targeted at rural communities and regulation of the pahramaceutical industry for providers' drug dispensing to be rationalized. Health services for genito-urinary problems need to be expanded to cover pathological as well as psycho-sexual etiologies and management guidelines revised and evaluated. Health related IEC campaigns must allay fears and anxieties related to masturbation and loss of genital fluids in men and local secondary schools must intitiate comperehensive reproductive health education for adolescents at the earliest.


We present a framework to train a structured prediction model by performing smoothing on the inference algorithm it builds upon. Smoothing overcomes the non-smoothness inherent to the maximum margin structured prediction objective, and paves the way for the use of fast primal gradient-based optimization algorithms. We illustrate the proposed framework by developing a novel primal incremental optimization algorithm for the structural support vector machine. The proposed algorithm blends an extrapolation scheme for acceleration and an adaptive smoothing scheme and builds upon the stochastic variance-reduced gradient algorithm. We establish its worst-case global complexity bound and study several practical variants. We present experimental results on two real-world problems, namely named entity recognition and visual object localization. The experimental results show that the proposed framework allows us to build upon efficient inference algorithms to develop large-scale optimization algorithms for structured prediction which can achieve competitive performance on the two real-world problems.


Improving Sleep in a Person with Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's Disease
Problems with falling asleep and sleeping through often occur in people with an intellectual disability [1]. Studies show that 15 to 50% of people with an intellectual disability suffer from sleep problems, and with children with an intellectual disability, this is as many as 58 to 80% [2-5]. Compared with older people in the general population, elderly people with ID (age 50 years and over) have a significantless stable, and more fragmented sleep [6]. The sleep problems can have intrinsic and extrinsic causes [7]. A common intrinsic cause in people with Down's syndrome (DS) is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in senior citizens with Down syndrome is much higher than in the general population, at between 60 and 100%. People with DS are now living longer, and as they age, they are at risk of developing an Alzheimer's-type dementia [8]. Of all people with DS between 60 and 69 years of age, 54.5% suffer from dementia [9]. In the normal population, with only 1.4% of the population suffers from dementia [10].


Parsing discourse is a challenging natural language processing task.
In this research work first we take a data driven approach to identify arguments of explicit discourse connectives.
In contrast to previous work we do not make any assumptions on the span of arguments and consider parsing as a token-level sequence labeling task. We design the argument segmentation task as a cascade of decisions based on conditional random fields (CRFs). We train the CRFs on lexical, syntactic and semantic features extracted from
the Penn Discourse Treebank and evaluate feature combinations on the commonly used test split. We show that the best combination of features includes syntactic and semantic features. The comparative error analysis investigates the performance variability over connective types and argument positions. We also compare the results of cascaded pipeline with a non-cascaded structured prediction setting that shows us definitely the cascaded structured prediction is a better performing method for discourse parsing.

We present a novel end-to-end discourse parser that, given a plain text document in input, identifies the discourse relations in the text, assigns them a semantic label and detects discourse arguments spans. The parsing architecture is based on a cascade of decisions supported by Conditional Random Fields (CRF). We train and evaluate three different parsers using the PDTB corpus. The three system versions are compared to evaluate their robustness with respect to deep/shallow and automatically extracted syntactic features.

Next, we describe two constraint-based methods that can be used to improve the recall of a shallow discourse parser based on conditional random field chunking.
These method uses a set of natural structural constraints as well as others that follow from the annotation guidelines of the Penn Discourse Treebank.
We evaluated the resulting systems on the standard test set of the PDTB and achieved a rebalancing of precision and recall with improved F-measures across the board. This was especially notable when we used evaluation metrics taking partial matches into account; for these measures, we achieved F-measure improvements of several points.

Finally, we address the problem of optimization in discourse parsing.
A good model for discourse structure analysis needs to account both for local dependencies at the token-level and for global dependencies and statistics. We present techniques on using inter-sentential or sentence-level(global), data-driven, non-grammatical features in the task of parsing discourse.
The parser model follows up previous approach based on using token-level (local) features with conditional random fields for shallow discourse parsing, which is lacking in structural knowledge of discourse.
The parser adopts a two-stage approach where first the local constraints are applied and then global constraints are used on a reduced weighted search space ($n$-best). In the latter stage we experiment with different rerankers trained on the first stage $n$-best parses, which are generated using lexico-syntactic local features. The two-stage parser yields significant improvements over the best performing model of discourse parser on the PDTB corpus.


This paper examines how much structural change there was in the U.S. economy in the last half of the 1990s. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that there was only one major structural change, namely the huge increase in stock prices relative to earnings. All other large changes can be explained by this change. There is no obvious reason for the large increase in stock prices relative to earnings. Increased productivity growth does not appear to be an answer since the data show that there was only a modest increase in long run productivity growth in the last half of the 1990s. Also, earnings growth and the share of earnings in the economy were not unusually large.


Lower antioxidant capacity of white wines is caused by a lower content of phenolic compounds. In red wine, a higher content of phenolic compounds is the result of maceration. This study deals with effects of pre-fermentation maceration on contents of some selected compounds (above all antioxidants) in juices made of grapes of white varieties 'Welschriesling', 'Green Veltliner' and 'Neuburger'. The grapevine mush was macerated for 0; 2; 4; 8; 12; 24 and 48 hours. The spectrophotometry methods was used to estimate juice antioxidant activity and content of flavanols, anthocyans, catechins, hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonols. Contents of total titratable acids and pH were estimated as well. Results of this study show increasing tendency of all parameters with length of maceration. The highest content of antioxidants were found out in the variety 'Welschriesling'. Important are increasing values of hydroxycinnamic acids. However, the main role of the phenolics acids is to contribute to the anti-oxidant capacity, the tartaric esters of hydroxycinnamic acids (particularly caftaric acid) are centrally involved in oxidation and browning reactions in white wine. Their levels increased during the whole period of maceration. In 'Welschriesling', their content increased by 74 mg·L-1. Decreasing tendency show results of titratable acids. Their contents decreased within the first 12 hours of maceration and thereafter they do not change. Longer must maceration could contribute to a decrease in contents of total titratable acids and, thus, to a better harmony of produced wine.