Oligonucleotide-conjugated bio-hybrid nanomaterials with a dense DNA layer on the surface have been shown to possess extraordinary selectivity and sensitivity for DNA detection as well as promising results as delivery agents, as demonstrated with the exceptional example of polyvalent oligonucleotide-conjugated gold nanoparticles. However, progress in this field has been slowed, since achieving high DNA density functionalization on the nanoparticle surface for materials other than gold is a major challenge. In this body of work, we have developed a general system to conjugate a dense layer of DNA on the surface of nanoparticles by the self-assembly of DNA block copolymer. These hybrid nanostructures demonstrated enhanced DNA binding, where the DNA strands on the surface of the nanoparticles can recognize and bind to complementary DNA strands without the addition of salt, a condition where free DNA strands do not form duplex. These assemblies are also selective in DNA recognition; they can distinguish different number base mismatches of the complementary DNA. It was determined that these assemblies possess a surface DNA density that is four times higher than that of DNA-conjugated gold nanoparticles of the same size, the highest DNA functionalization reported in the literature in this size range. These assemblies were also effectively taken up by cells without the use of a co-transfecting agent. The high DNA density also protects the degradation of the DNA, making them ideal candidates for DNA delivery and antisensing applications. Lastly, these assemblies have been tested for their antisensing capability, and found that they can effectively down regulate a targeted protein. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemistry First Advisor So-Jung Park Second Advisor Ivan J. Dmochowski


We propose a computational method for generating sequential kinoforms of real-existing full-color threedimensional (3D) objects and realizing high-quality 3D imaging. The depth map and color information are obtained using non-contact full-color 3D measurement system based on binocular vision. The obtained full-color 3D data are decomposed into multiple slices with RGB channels. Sequential kinoforms of each channel are calculated and reconstructed using a Fresnel-diffraction-based algorithm called the dynamicpseudorandom-phase tomographic computer holography (DPP-TCH). Color dispersion introduced by different wavelengths is well compensated by zero-padding operation in the red and green channels of object slices. Numerical reconstruction results show that the speckle noise and color-dispersion are well suppressed and that high-quality full-color holographic 3D imaging is feasible. The method is useful for improving the 3D image quality in holographic displays with pixelated phase-type spatial light modulators (SLMs).


The Sphere standards have been devised to ensure that people affected by disasters will receive an adequate level of assistance; these standards are used across the world and apply both to natural and complex emergencies. The latter tend to be lasting events that often create a displacement of the population and it is argued that in such situations, where prolonged assistance is required, the Sphere standards may be counterproductive. By using examples of water supply interventions, it is highlighted that in some circumstances the Sphere standards for water quality may only be achieved with systems too complex for the displaced population to operate and maintain on their own. The case of two waraffected areas of Eastern Chad are presented to illustrate the importance of the temporal aspects of the Sphere standards in complex emergencies, and raises important questions regarding the long-term sustainability of adopting such standards for displaced populations.


This paper assesses the effect of changes in solar zenith angle (SZA) and sensor changes on reflectances in channel 1, channel 2, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) Pathfinder land data set for the period July 1981 through September 1994. First, the effect of changes in SZA on channel reflectances and NDVI is derived from equations of radiative transfer in vegetation media. Starting from first principles, it is rigorously shown that the NDVI of a vegetated surface is a function of the maximum positive eigenvalue of the radiative transfer equation within the framework of the theory used and its assumptions. A sensitivity analysis of this relation indicates that NDVI is minimally sensitive to SZA changes, and this sensitivity decreases as leaf area increases. Second, statistical methods are used to analyze the relationship between SZA and channel reflectances or NDVI. It is shown that the use of ordinary least squares can generate spurious regressions because of the nonstationary property of time series. To avoid such a confusion, the authors use the notion of cointegration to analyze the relation between SZA and AVHRR data. Results are consistent with the conclusion of theoretical analysis from equations of radiative transfer. NDVI is not related to SZA in a statistically significant manner except for biomes with relatively low leaf area. From the theoretical and empirical analysis, they conclude that the NDVI data generated from the AVHRR Pathfinder land data set are not contaminated by trends introduced from changes in solar zenith angle due to orbital decay and changes in satellites (NOAA-7, 9, 11). As such, the NDVI data can be used to analyze interannual variability of global vegetation activity.


In many ways, twenty-first century Russia is the land par excellence of extreme masculinity. President Putin himself regularly indulges in spectacular performances of extreme masculinity, whether it be pledging to 'bump off' Chechen terrorists in their 'shithouses', swimming in ice-cold Siberian lakes, or posing in the pilot's seat of a supersonic strategic bomber. Men's fashion and fashion imagery is one of the rare areas of Russian culture where the kind of masculinity embodied (in a literal sense) by Putin is still challenged, and indeed subverted. Perhaps the most interesting Russian men's fashion designer working today, certainly the designer who has engaged most persistently with political change, is Gosha Rubchinskiy. In his work he foregrounds various 'extreme' forms of Russian masculinity, from the angelic youth at one end of the spectrum through the brown-shirted neo-fascist adolescent, to the shaven-headed football fan at the other end. He does so, he maintains, in order to change the way Russia is perceived in the world. Indeed, if Dostoevsky once claimed that 'beauty will save the world,' Rubchinskiy self-consciously enlists what he refers to as the 'beauty' of his models in an attempt to challenge the negative image of Russia generated by western media as part of what he has called an 'informational [sic] war' against his native country. Borrowing concepts from Bakhtin (the chronotope, carnival) and Foucault (heterotopia), I examine Rubchinskiy's extreme masculinities, and the questions they raise about masculinity, about the cultural relationship between Russia and the West, fashion as a discrete cultural practice, and the place and role of the fashion designer in society.


The chapter aims to establish the status of three salient colour terms for blue: blu, azzurro and celeste, in the standard variety of Italian. A number of experiments were performed to examine the context-free and context-sensitive behaviour of blue terms. The results, consistent with previous studies, reveal that Italian speakers tend to distinguish lighter blue(s) from darker blue in daily speech, regarding them as autonomous categories. Although blu seems to be the most prevalent term, used with high consensus, both azzurro and celeste also tend to be salient high-frequency terms. The choice between azzurro and celeste depends on speakers' dialectal background. Furthermore, it is conjectured which linguistic and non-linguistic factors tend to bias the linguistic categorization of colour terms in general.


In both the publicly-traded corporation and the private donative trust a crucial task is to minimize the agency costs that arise from the separation of risk-bearing and management. But where the law of corporate governance evolved in the shadow of capital-market checks on agency costs, trust governance did not. Thus, even more than that of close corporations, the law and study of private trusts offers an illuminating counterfactual - a control, as it were - for a playful thought experiment about the importance of capital market efficiency to the law and study of public corporations. The animating idea for this essay is that many of the differences on the agency costs frontier between the public corporation and the private donative trust can be roughly attributed to their relative positions in modern capital markets and the related disparity in their residual claimants' ease of exit. Among other things, this approach reveals a correlation between the trust law model and the views of corporate law scholars who doubt the ECMH and its implications for corporate governance. The essay also discusses the use of market data for assessing breach and damages in corporate and trust litigation and for empirical evaluation of theoretical scholarly analysis in both fields. More generally, comparison of the governance of the public corporation and the private donative trust brings into view the importance of relative price efficiency for the modern approach to corporate governance.


Passivity phenomena in schizophrenia are characterized by a sense of diminished agency. Clinical research into sense of agency has focused primarily on demonstrating impaired monitoring of self-generated actions in patients with passivity symptoms. Less attention has been paid to patients' subjective experiences and clinical correlates of their sense of diminished agency. Our aim was first to investigate sense of agency and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia, both classic passivity phenomena and more general positive symptoms; and second, to contrast the agentive experiences of patients with a previously tested sample of 370 nonclinical, hypnotized participants. Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia completed ratings of classic passivity phenomena and of involuntariness associated with a particular experience of agency alteration. Severity of positive symptoms was also rated. Correlations examined interrelations between these measures. Patients reported considerable levels of involuntariness for both body-related and thought-related symptoms. Overall involuntariness ratings from patients were similar to those of high hypnotizable participants in hypnosis. These results indicate altered sense of agency is associated with a range of experiences in schizophrenia, not just classic passivity phenomena. Moreover, the experience of altered agency in schizophrenia was similar to that seen in hypnosis, suggesting that hypnotic analogues may be a useful way to test theories of passivity-like phenomena.


Recently much work has been done analyzing online machine learning algorithms in a worst case setting, where no probabilistic assumptions are made about the data. This is analogous to the H setting used in adaptive linear filtering. Bregman divergences have become a standard tool for analyzing online machine learning algorithms. Using these divergences, we motivate a generalization of the least mean squared (LMS) algorithm. The loss bounds for these so-called -norm algorithms involve other norms than the standard 2-norm. The bounds can be significantly better if a large proportion of the input variables are irrelevant, i.e., if the weight vector we are trying to learn is sparse. We also prove results for nonstationary targets. We only know how to apply kernel methods to the standard LMS algorithm (i.e., = 2). However, even in the general -norm case, we can handle generalized linear models where the output of the system is a linear function combined with a nonlinear transfer function (e.g., the logistic sigmoid).


Volumes have been written about how managers should interact with their staff. Very little has been written on how employees should interact with management. This is particularly important for pharmacist's assistants because they always work under the supervision of a pharmacist, whether it is direct or indirect. Pharmacists may complain that pharmacist's assistants are not doing what is expected
of them. Pharmacist's assistants have expressed frustration and disappointment that they are not always given the respect or opportunities that they believe are due to them. A great deal of frustration can be avoided if pharmacist and assistant understand the different responsibilities they have. This article examines the responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacist's assistants.


Given rising M&A deal volume across all high-tech subsectors, the ability to measure post-acquisition performance becomes critical. Despite this growth, the relevant academic literature is severely lacking (Kohers and Kohers 2000). Using an event-study approach, I find that acquirers and targets both realize statistically significant day-0 abnormal returns (1.23% [p<0.1] and 8.1% [p<0.01], respectively). As positive stock returns signal positive growth prospects in a semi-strong efficient market, AR regressions found that firms' technological relatedness, deal financing, purchase price premiums, and the relative book to market ratio, explained most variance. Overall, high-tech transactions are value-additive for both targets and acquirers.


Abstract. In this paper, we introduce a bending angle radio occultation climatology (BAROCLIM) based on Formosat-3/COSMIC (F3C) data. This climatology represents the monthly-mean atmospheric state from 2006 to 2012. Bending angles from radio occultation (RO) measurements are obtained from the accumulation of the change in the raypath direction of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. Best quality of these near-vertical profiles is found from the middle troposphere up to the mesosphere. Beside RO bending angles we also use data from the Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter Radar (MSIS) model (modified for RO purposes) to expand BAROCLIM in a spectral model, which (theoretically) reaches from the surface up to infinity. Due to the very high quality of BAROCLIM up to the mesosphere, it can be used to detect deficiencies in current state-of-the-art analysis and reanalysis products from numerical weather prediction (NWP) centers. For bending angles derived from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis fields from 2006 to 2012, e.g., we find a positive bias of 0.5 to 1% at 40 km, which increases to more than 2% at 50 km. BAROCLIM can also be used as a priori information in RO profile retrievals. In contrast to other a priori information (i.e., MSIS) we find that the use of BAROCLIM better preserves the mean of raw RO measurements. Global statistics of statistically optimized bending angle and refractivity profiles also confirm that BAROCLIM outperforms MSIS. These results clearly demonstrate the utility of BAROCLIM.


Optic flow motion analysis represents an important family of visual information processing techniques in computer vision. Segmenting an optic flow field into coherent motion groups and estimating each underlying motion is a very challenging task when the optic flow field is projected from a scene of several independently moving objects. The problem is further complicated if the optic flow data are noisy and partially incorrect. In this paper, the authors present a novel framework for determining such optic flow fields by combining the conventional robust estimation with a modified genetic algorithm. The baseline model used in the development is a linear optic flow motion algorithm due to its computational simplicity. The statistical properties of the generalized linear regression (GLR) model are thoroughly explored and the sensitivity of the motion estimates toward data noise is quantitatively established. Conventional robust estimators are then incorporated into the linear regression model to suppress a small percentage of gross data errors or outliers. However, segmenting an optic flow field consisting of a large portion of incorrect data or multiple motion groups requires a very high robustness that is unattainable by the conventional robust estimators. To solve this problem, the authors propose a genetic partitioning algorithm that elegantly combines the robust estimation with the genetic algorithm by a bridging genetic operator called self-adaptation.


Aim/Purpose The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study is to provide a preliminary examination of students' retention factors of engagement, communication, and isolation that may be affected by the introduction and use of online communities for dissertation development within an online doctoral program. Background This research is a continuation of the university's 5-year research initiative to address the high national rate of doctoral attrition by investigating whether private online workspaces provide a virtual platform to increase student interaction, enhance student communication, and reduce student perception of isolation. Methodology A quantitative descriptive study of 698 doctoral students (n1 = 355, n2 = 179, n3 = 184) in the online environment across three survey periods over a span of 30 months. Contribution In 30 months, student engagement increased, perceptions of effective communication by students with dissertation committees improved, and student perceptions of isolation remained unchanged. Findings The implementation of online workspaces for doctoral students addressed factors experienced in online doctoral programs. The introduction of private doctoral workspaces significantly improved doctoral students' perceptions of more effective communication with their dissertation committees. Perceptions of isolation remained unchanged with the introduction of the technology. Retention Factors in Private Online Workspaces 80 Recommendations for Practitioners Universities and faculty should make proactive efforts to utilize the online tools available to them to facilitate improved communication and reduce isolation within online doctoral programs. Recommendation for Researchers The implementation of online workspaces appears to mitigate some factors associated with student attrition, but the extent of these changes is unknown. Future research should continue to examine the factors of retention as a pathway to reducing attrition within the online learning environment. Impact on Society The implementation of private online workspaces appears to lessen factors associated with student attrition, providing opportunities for improved utilization of personal and university resources, improved professional standing for graduates, and an enhanced reputation for online learning programs. Future Research Further examination is needed to determine to what extent various communication methods affect a student's experience and increase connectivity between the student and the institution, as well as research to better understand the phenomenon of students' perceptions of isolation within online environments.


Conventional wisdom would suggest if a pirated product, which is cheaper than the original product, becomes more reliable then the relative demand of the pirated product or the rate of piracy will increase when consumers have different willingness to pay. However, is this always true? We address this question in a framework where the original product developer makes costly investment to deter pirate(s) in a given regime of IPR protection. We show that the relationship between the rate of piracy and the reliability of the pirated product depends on the nature of the pirate as well as on the nature of the market competition if the pirate is commercial. Under commercial piracy, when the original firm and the pirate compete in quantities, the conventional wisdom holds i.e. the more reliable the pirated product, the higher is the rate of piracy. However, the relationship is non-monotonic, hence the wisdom does not hold when they compete in prices or the pirates are the end-users.


Objectives: From 2010 through 2015, the city of Buffalo demolished over 2,000 residences. This study examines whether those demolitions resulted in crime reductions. Methods: Analysis was conducted at microplaces matching demolished parcels to comparable control parcels with similar levels of crime. In addition, spatial panel regression models were estimated at the census tract and quarterly level, taking into account demographic characteristics of neighborhoods. Results: We find that at the microplace level, demolitions cause a steep drop in reported crime at the exact parcel and result in additional crime decreases at buffers of up to 1,000 feet away. At the census tract level, results indicated that demolitions reduced part 1 crimes, but the effect was not statistically significant across different models. Conclusions: While concerns over crime and disorder are common for vacant houses, the evidence that housing demolitions are an effective crime reduction solution is only partially supported by the analyses here. Future research should compare demolitions in reference to other neighborhood revitalization processes.


Acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) is associated with multisystem organ failure and poor prognosis in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. We aimed to determine time trends in the epidemiology, economic burden, and mortality of ACLF in the United States. The National Inpatient Sample database was queried between 2001 and 2011. ACLF was defined as two or more extrahepatic organ failures in patients with cirrhosis. The primary outcomes were trends in hospitalizations, hospital costs, and inpatient mortality. The number of hospitalizations for cirrhosis in the United States nearly doubled from 371,000 in 2001 to 659,000 in 2011. The prevalence of ACLF among those hospitalizations increased from 1.5% (n = 5,400) to 5% (n = 32,300). The inpatient costs increased 2‐fold for cirrhosis ($4.8 billion to $9.8 billion) and 5‐fold ($320 million to $1.7 billion) for ACLF. In 2011, the cost per hospitalization for ACLF was 3.5‐fold higher than that for cirrhosis ($53,570 versus $15,193). The in‐hospital fatality rates decreased from 65% to 50% for ACLF and from 10% to 7% for cirrhosis. The organ failure trends in ACLF showed an increasing proportion of cardiovascular and cerebral and decreasing proportion of respiratory and renal failure. Age, male sex, and the number and types of organ failure were predictors of death in ACLF. Conclusion: Cirrhosis and ACLF represent a substantial and increasing health and economic burden in the United States; these data highlight an urgent need for research on pathophysiological mechanisms and effective therapy as well as for education of health care providers of its importance in the care of patients with cirrhosis. (Hepatology 2016;64:2165‐2172).


This thesis examines the underlying cause of social stigma towards people living with HIV, and the extent to which it discourages HIV testing and treatment. We use a discrete choice model to describe a person's decision to seek treatment for HIV (antiretroviral therapy or ART), and estimate the social cost of seeking treatment using administrative health records from southern Malawi. We show that seeking ART at a clinic where many other community members are present carries a significant cost, even after taking into account clinic quality and location. We investigate the theoretical effects of policy interventions designed to reduce stigma and other barriers to care, and demonstrate important complementarities between such policies. We next evaluate a cluster-randomized information experiment in Zomba, Malawi designed to correct a common misconception: most do not know that ART drugs have a public benefit, that is, the medication prevents HIV transmission between sexual partners. We microfound HIV stigma as sexual discrimination between sexual partners, and model the decision to seek an HIV test (and then, if required, medical treatment) as a signal of infection. We show, theoretically and empirically, that the randomized information intervention reduces this type of stigma and significantly increases the rate of HIV testing. The results demonstrate that social stigma is an important barrier to HIV testing and treatment, that stigma can be due to rational behavior by a misinformed public, and that providing new information can be an effective way to mitigate its effects.


Numerous countries have attempted to improve the performance of their railways by introducing more competition, but there is fierce debate and no consensus on how this is best achieved. This book reveals how railways were an obvious target for reform because they were often losing traffic and money, and because the government was typically deeply involved as either owner or regulator.


As part of its Green Deal, the European Union is currently preparing a "Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism" (CBAM). A CBAM applies carbon pricing to imports with the objective of mitigating concerns about carbon leakage. To reduce complexity, it is likely the EU will rely on "default" values in determining the carbon intensity of imports to which its CBAM will apply. In this paper, we suggest that a CBAM based solely on default intensities runs counter to the economic logic of carbon pricing by distorting the incentives for emissions abatement. Instead we propose a CBAM design with a voluntary "individual adjustment mechanism" (IAM) that allows producers to demonstrate that their actual carbon intensity lies below the default value. We argue that the use of an IAM captures additional economic benefits of carbon pricing—notably providing more efficient abatement incentives—and improves the overall legal prospects of a CBAM being found to comply with international law and WTO rules. We discuss practical considerations around the implementation of an IAM, and illustrate with a short case study on the steel sector.


Helium-peculiar magnetic chemically peculiar stars show variations of helium abundance across their surfaces. As a result of associated atmospheric scale height variations, the stellar surface becomes distorted, with helium-rich regions dented inwards. Effectively, on top of flux variations due to opacity effects, the depressed helium-rich surface regions become less bright in the optical regions and brighter in the ultraviolet. We study the observational effects of the aspherical surface on the light curves of a Cen. We simulate the light curves of this star adopting surface distributions of He, N, O, Si, and Fe derived from Doppler mapping and introducing the effect of distortion proportional to helium abundance. We show that while most of the optical and UV variations of this star result from flux redistribution due to the non-uniform surface distributions of helium and iron, the reduction of light variations due to the helium-related surface distortion leads to a better agreement between simulated optical light curves and the light curves observed with the BRITE satellites.


DNA mismatch repair is of considerable scientific and medical importance because of its essential role in maintaining genomic integrity, and its association with hereditary non‐polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC). Germline mutations in five mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, PMS1, PMS2, and MSH6) have been associated with HNPCC susceptibility. Our laboratory recently identified MLH3, a novel DNA mismatch repair gene. We screened the MLH3 coding sequence in 60 probands with increased genetic risk factors for colorectal cancer susceptibility and no mutations in the other candidate genes. No definite MLH3 germline mutations were found. We subsequently screened 36 colon tumors, and discovered an appreciable frequency of somatic MLH3 coding mutations in MSI‐H tumors (25%). In four of six tumors, evidence of biallelic inactivation was noted. Furthermore, MLH3 nonsense mutations were identified in two of 12 microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors with 14q24 loss of heterozygosity. While our analyses do not exclude the existence of germline MLH3 mutations in patients with increased genetic risk factors for colorectal cancer susceptibility, they suggest such mutations are uncommon in this patient population. The finding of an appreciable frequency of somatic MLH3 mutations is consistent with a possible role for this gene in the progression of colorectal cancer tumorigenesis. Hum Mutat 17:389–396, 2001. Published 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


When "Rats, Lice and History" appeared in 1935, Hans Zinsser was a highly regarded Harvard biologist who had never written about historical events. Although he had published under a pseudonym, virtually all of his previous writings had dealt with infections and immunity and had appeared either in medical and scientific journals or in book format. Today he is best remembered as the author of "Rats, Lice, and History", which gone through multiple editions and remains a masterpiece of science writing for a general readership. To Zinsser, scientific research was high adventure and the investigation of infectious disease, a field of battle. Yet at the same time he maintained a love of literature and philosophy. His goal in "Rats, Lice and History" was to bring science, philosophy, and literature together to establish the importance of disease, and especially epidemic infectious disease, as a major force in human affairs. Zinsser cast his work as the "biography" of a disease. In his view, infectious disease simply represented an attempt of a living organism to survive. From a human perspective, an invading pathogen was abnormal; from the perspective of the pathogen it was perfectly normal. This book is devoted to a discussion of the biology of typhus and history of typhus fever in human affairs. Zinsser begins by pointing out that the louse was the constant companion of human beings. Under certain conditions - failure to wash or to change clothing - lice proliferated. The typhus pathogen was transmitted by rat fleas to human beings, who then transmitted it to other humans and in some strains from human to human. "Rats, Lice and History" is a tour de force. It combines Zinsser's expertise in biology with his broad knowledge of the humanities.


We develop a model to comprehensively analyze the effects of 2014 Farm Bill wheat policies---loan deficiency payments (LDP), price loss coverage (PLC), agriculture risk coverage-county (ARC-CO), individual revenue protection crop insurance (RP), and supplemental coverage option (SCO)---on input use, yield, certainty equivalent, optimal RP insurance coverage level, expected payments, and premiums. The comparative static results show the directional impact of the coupling, wealth, and insurance effects for each policy. We calibrate the model to a representative dryland wheat farm in Kansas. The simulation results show that the expected LDP payment is zero for 2014, RP causes input use and yield to decline, and ARC-CO, PLC, and SCO result in higher input use and yield. Thus, both the theoretical and empirical results provide evidence of moral hazard associated with RP and SCO insurance. If the farmer selects only RP insurance, then the optimal coverage level is 85%, but drop to 50% if SCO is added. Based on certainty equivalent analysis, the optimal policy combination is RP with ARC-CO. The results also provide evidence that farmers would opt for crop insurance programs even without premium subsidies.


Even though social responsibility (SR) has been widely discussed as a business concept, it is still not being effectively implemented within mega-construction projects due to a range of barriers. Overcoming these barriers requires detailed information, however, there is a lack of research on the barriers to SR implementation within mega-construction projects, particularly in developing countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This study thus aims to investigate the critical barriers to SR implementation with reference to mega-construction projects in the KSA. Eleven barriers were identified from a comprehensive literature review and interviews with experts. These barriers were examined in more detail using a questionnaire survey on two current mega-construction projects in the KSA. There were no differences in the ranking of barriers between the two projects with the 136 respondents identifying the top seven SR barriers as being: (i) additional costs; (ii) lack of awareness and knowledge; (iii) lack of guidelines and coherent strategy; (iv) lack of stakeholder communication; (v) lack of law enforcement; (vi) lack of training; and (vii) unclear project requirements. The findings of this study not only contribute to deeper understanding of the critical SR implementation barriers, but could also encourage industry practitioners and stakeholders to improve SR activities for more effective SR implementation. Moreover, identification and ranking of the critical barriers allows decision-makers to prioritize and develop effective strategies to tackle them at both project and sector scale. Future studies should investigate the interrelationship between the critical barriers and their impact on SR implementation


Several studies indicate that feeding with breast milk is associated with reduction in risk of obesity later in life. Children fed with breast milk have better regulation of nutrient intake in adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of offspring's gender and age on maternal Leptin blood levels and effects of mothers' physical activity and contraceptive methods on specific gravity of breast milk.

 Materials & Methods: In this study, 115 mothers referring to health centers of Urmia were selected randomly. A questioner was filled out for each mother asking about sex, age, weight of offspring's as well as information about method of delivery and contraception of mother. Five ml of breast milk and blood sample were taken from each mother and were used to measure the Specific Gravity (SG) and blood Leptin levels (BLL), respectively.

 Results: Though changes in BLL significantly differed according to offspring's age, differences in BLL were not significant according to offspring's gender. Physical activity of mother significantly increased SG of mother's milk. Differences in SG of maternal milk were significant based on contraceptive technique. There was no significant correlation between BLL and SG of milk in mothers.

 Conclusion: Maternal BLL can change with offspring's age. Since Leptin is a major regulator of energy intake, children fed with breast milk might grow up and gain weight better than babies fed with formula. Also, that daily maternal activity in normal life affects quantity and quality of breast milk.


Geographies of violence. In his Hettner-lecture, Michael Watts asserted that violence might be understood as 'struggle over geography'. Surprisingly, geography is largely missing in the contemporary debates on the incidence of civil wars, the dynamics of war economies and "new" wars. These debates have produced universalistic, nomothetical statements about the causes and dynamics of contemporary war economies and have focused on analyzing the economic incentives of combatants and fighters, thereby neglecting the spatial contextualities and institutional ambiguities of war economies. In this paper, we suggest to bring geography back in focus and develop a conceptual framework that studies geographies of violence using three analytical concepts: governable spaces, spaces of agency and subjectivities. These categories are linked with the politics of scale. We illustrate this framework with examples from the Sri Lankan and Sierra Leonean civil wars. Our studies suggest that geographies of violence produce complex entanglements of survival and war economies that are manifested in the spatio-temporal dynamics of different actors' vulnerabilities and agencies.


There is a scant literature on personal outcomes of innovative work behaviors, whereby it motivates us to understand the role of individual and organizational factors in cognitive and motivational processes underlying individual innovative behaviors. While the role of innovative work behaviors is studied as a gain for organizations, negative contingencies or dark side are neglected. To this end, a two-step study consisting of mixed methodology is conducted to identify effects of innovative work behaviors on conflict with co-workers and intent-to-leave. At first step, a survey, in which 186 employees participated, was employed in a public institution operating in defense industry. The study indicates that there is no significant effect of innovative work behaviorson conflict with co-workers, and intent-to-leave. In order to determine the motivators, a focus group study as a qualitative research method was performed.


This article presents and evaluates best-match learning, a new approach to reinforcement learning that trades off the sample efficiency of model-based methods with the space efficiency of model-free methods. Best-match learning works by approximating the solution to a set of best-match equations, which combine a sparse model with a model-free Q-value function constructed from samples not used by the model. We prove that, unlike regular sparse model-based methods, best-match learning is guaranteed to converge to the optimal Q-values in the tabular case. Empirical results demonstrate that best-match learning can substantially outperform regular sparse model-based methods, as well as several model-free methods that strive to improve the sample efficiency of temporal-difference methods. In addition, we demonstrate that best-match learning can be successfully combined with function approximation.


In two previous articles, we hypothesize that, because consumers are subject to predictable cognitive processes that depart from rational utility maximization, manufacturers have the opportunity and incentive to manipulate consumer perceptions of product risks. We suggest in those earlier articles that enterprise liability might offer the most efficient products liability regime in response to the problem of market manipulation. This work extends the analysis by focusing more particularly on the extent to which enterprise liability can combat manufacturer exploitation of consumer cognitive processes. It does so by responding to critiques recently offered by Professors Jeffrey Rachlinski and James Henderson in their article, "Product-Related Risk and Cognitive Biases: The Shortcomings of Enterprise Liability." Those authors argue that we overstate the extent of market manipulation and underestimate the ability of existing laws to identify and redress manipulative conduct. In addition, they argue that, even if enterprise liability does offer the best theoretical response to market manipulation, it offers little hope of practical results due to certain insurmountable difficulties in implementation. Finally, they contend that enterprise liability might actually backfire if adopted, ultimately exacerbating the problem of market manipulation by enabling product manufacturers who oversell safety through fear-based marketing appeals. We respond to each of these critiques and conclude that the case for enterprise liability remains remarkably strong.


We derive a Magnus expansion for a frequency chirped quantum two-level system. We obtain a time-independent effective Hamiltonian which generates a stroboscopic time evolution. At lowest order the according dynamics is identical to results from using a rotating wave approximation. We determine, furthermore, also the next higher-order corrections within our expansion scheme in correspondence to the Bloch-Siegert shifts for harmonically driven systems. Importantly, our scheme can be extended to more complicated systems, i.e., even many-body systems.


Loope and Burberry Sheeting joints and polygonal patterns in the Navajo Sandstone ABSTRACT Sheeting joints are ubiquitous in outcrops of the Navajo Sandstone on the west-central Colorado Plateau, USA. As in granitic terrains, these are open-ing-mode fractures and form parallel to land surfaces. In our study areas in south-central Utah, liquefaction during Jurassic seismic events destroyed stratification in large volumes of eolian sediment, and first-order sheeting joints are now preferentially forming in these structureless (isotropic) sandstones. Vertical cross-joints abut the land-surface-parallel sheeting joints, segmenting broad (tens of meters) rock sheets into equant, polygonal slabs ~5 m wide and 0.25 m thick. On steeper slopes, exposed polygonal slabs have domed surfaces; eroded slabs reveal an onion-like internal structure formed by 5-m-wide, second-order sheeting joints that terminate against the cross-joints, and may themselves be broken into polygons. In many structureless sandstone bodies, however, the lateral extent of first-order sheeting joints is severely limited by pre-existing, vertical tectonic joints. In this scenario, non-conjoined sheeting joints form extensive agglomerations of laterally con-tiguous, polygonal domes 3–6 m wide, exposing exhumed sheeting joints. These laterally confined sheeting joints are, in turn, segmented by short vertical cross-joints into numerous small (~0.5 m) polygonal rock masses. We hypothesize that the sheeting joints in the Navajo Sandstone form via contemporaneous, land-surface-parallel compressive stresses, and that vertical cross-joints that delineate polygonal masses (both large and small) form during compression-driven buckling of thin, convex-up rock slabs. Abrasion of friable sandstone during runoff events widens vertical tectonic joints into gullies, enhancing land-surface convexity. Polygonal rock slabs described here provide a potential model for interpretation of similar-appearing patterns developed on the surface of Mars.


Biphasic systems based on neoteric solvents, e.g. ionic liquids (ILs), supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), fluorous solvents (FSs) and liquid polymers (LPs), represent interesting alternatives to organic solvents for designing continuous clean biotransformations methods in non-aqueous environments that directly provide pure products. The classical advantages of scCO2– its ability to extract, dissolve and transport chemicals – are complemented by the high catalytic efficiency of enzymes in liquid neoteric solvents (e.g. ILs, LPs or FSs). Enzyme behaviour in scCO2 and ILs, as well as the phase behaviour of ILs/scCO2, are key parameters for carrying out integral green bioprocesses in continuous operation. Experimental approaches, reactor designs and results are discussed in this Critical review.


Three-dimensional (3D) video and imaging technologies is an emerging trend in the development of digital video systems, as we presently witness the appearance of 3D displays, coding systems, and 3D camera setups. Three-dimensional multi-view video is typically obtained from a set of synchronized cameras, which are capturing the same scene from different viewpoints. This technique especially enables applications such as freeviewpoint video or 3D-TV. Free-viewpoint video applications provide the feature to interactively select and render a virtual viewpoint of the scene. A 3D experience such as for example in 3D-TV is obtained if the data representation and display enable to distinguish the relief of the scene, i.e., the depth within the scene. With 3D-TV, the depth of the scene can be perceived using a multi-view display that renders simultaneously several views of the same scene. To render these multiple views on a remote display, an efficient transmission, and thus compression of the multi-view video is necessary. However, a major problem when dealing with multiview video is the intrinsically large amount of data to be compressed, decompressed and rendered. We aim at an efficient and flexible multi-view video system, and explore three different aspects. First, we develop an algorithm for acquiring a depth signal from a multi-view setup. Second, we present efficient 3D rendering algorithms for a multi-view signal. Third, we propose coding techniques for 3D multi-view signals, based on the use of an explicit depth signal. This motivates that the thesis is divided in three parts. The first part (Chapter 3) addresses the problem of 3D multi-view video acquisition. Multi-view video acquisition refers to the task of estimating and recording a 3D geometric description of the scene. A 3D description of the scene can be represented by a so-called depth image, which can be estimated by triangulation of the corresponding pixels in the multiple views. Initially, we focus on the problem of depth estimation using two views, and present the basic geometric model that enables the triangulation of corresponding pixels across the views. Next, we review two calculation/optimization strategies for determining corresponding pixels: a local and a one-dimensional optimization strategy. Second, to generalize from the two-view case, we introduce a simple geometric model for estimating the depth using multiple views simultaneously. Based on this geometric model, we propose a new multi-view depth-estimation technique, employing a one-dimensional optimization strategy that (1) reduces the noise level in the estimated depth images and (2) enforces consistent depth images across the views. The second part (Chapter 4) details the problem of multi-view image rendering. Multi-view image rendering refers to the process of generating synthetic images using multiple views. Two different rendering techniques are initially explored: a 3D image warping and a mesh-based rendering technique. Each of these methods has its limitations and suffers from either high computational complexity or low image rendering quality. As a consequence, we present two image-based rendering algorithms that improves the balance on the aforementioned issues. First, we derive an alternative formulation of the relief texture algorithm which was extented to the geometry of multiple views. The proposed technique features two advantages: it avoids rendering artifacts ("holes") in the synthetic image and it is suitable for execution on a standard Graphics Processor Unit (GPU). Second, we propose an inverse mapping rendering technique that allows a simple and accurate re-sampling of synthetic pixels. Experimental comparisons with 3D image warping show an improvement of rendering quality of 3.8 dB for the relief texture mapping and 3.0 dB for the inverse mapping rendering technique. The third part concentrates on the compression problem of multi-view texture and depth video (Chapters 5–7). In Chapter 5, we extend the standard H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression algorithm for handling the compression of multi-view video. As opposed to the Multi-view Video Coding (MVC) standard that encodes only the multi-view texture data, the proposed encoder peforms the compression of both the texture and the depth multi-view sequences. The proposed extension is based on exploiting the correlation between the multiple camera views. To this end, two different approaches for predictive coding of views have been investigated: a block-based disparity-compensated prediction technique and a View Synthesis Prediction (VSP) scheme. Whereas VSP relies on an accurate depth image, the block-based disparity-compensated prediction scheme can be performed without any geometry information. Our encoder adaptively selects the most appropriate prediction scheme using a rate-distortion criterion for an optimal prediction-mode selection. We present experimental results for several texture and depth multi-view sequences, yielding a quality improvement of up to 0.6 dB for the texture and 3.2 dB for the depth, when compared to solely performing H.264/MPEG-4AVC disparitycompensated prediction. Additionally, we discuss the trade-off between the random-access to a user-selected view and the coding efficiency. Experimental results illustrating and quantifying this trade-off are provided. In Chapter 6, we focus on the compression of a depth signal. We present a novel depth image coding algorithm which concentrates on the special characteristics of depth images: smooth regions delineated by sharp edges. The algorithm models these smooth regions using parameterized piecewiselinear functions and sharp edges by a straight line, so that it is more efficient than a conventional transform-based encoder. To optimize the quality of the coding system for a given bit rate, a special global rate-distortion optimization balances the rate against the accuracy of the signal representation. For typical bit rates, i.e., between 0.01 and 0.25 bit/pixel, experiments have revealed that the coder outperforms a standard JPEG-2000 encoder by 0.6-3.0 dB. Preliminary results were published in the Proceedings of 26th Symposium on Information Theory in the Benelux. In Chapter 7, we propose a novel joint depth-texture bit-allocation algorithm for the joint compression of texture and depth images. The described algorithm combines the depth and texture Rate-Distortion (R-D) curves, to obtain a single R-D surface that allows the optimization of the joint bit-allocation in relation to the obtained rendering quality. Experimental results show an estimated gain of 1 dB compared to a compression performed without joint bit-allocation optimization. Besides this, our joint R-D model can be readily integrated into an multi-view H.264/MPEG-4 AVC coder because it yields the optimal compression setting with a limited computation effort.


The method of Seeber, White, and Ferber (2) is used to determine traces of iron in adipic acid by the measurement of the baseline absorbance of the ferric chloride complex at 360 millimicrons in a 15% solution of HCl in 95% ethanol (v/v) to which has been added a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to ensure that all the iron is in the ferric state. We have successfully applied this method to other high purity organic compounds (e.g., succinic acid) and to a few inorganic compounds (e.g., concentrated sulfuric acid). However, the method is limited to substances having little or no intrinsic absorption in the region from 330 to 400 millimicrons. Many organic compounds either display appreciable absorption themselves or contain traces of strongly absorbing impurities.


The centroid method is a common procedure for subpixel location that is applied to a large number of optical sensors. In practice, it is always accompanied by thresholding algorithms used to eliminate undesirable background that may decrease precision. We present a full analytical description of the interaction between centroiding and thresholding applied over an intensity distribution corrupted by additive Gaussian noise. An in depth analysis of the most outstanding statistical properties of this relation (mean and variance) is also presented by means of simulated and experimental data. This work provides fundamental concepts to the designers of sensors that are based on centroid measurements to allow them to use thresholding correctly before centroid computation.


Hindu descendants of Indian indentured labourers, who arrived in colonial Natal between 1860 and 1910, celebrate Ram Navami (Ram's birth) today in Greater Durban, South Africa, in diverse ways related to the Indian regions from which their ancestors came and their subsequent history after they settled locally. Hindi-speaking Hindus focus on exegesis of Rāmcaritmānas, a text-centred practice, while Telugu-speaking Hindus celebrate with bhajans by composers such as Tyagaraja and Bhadrachala Ramdas, a song-centred practice. This contrast in language and style shows how religious practice retains the imprint of the area of their ancestors' origin. In contrast, that worshippers come from far distances to join the unique celebration of Ram in his cradle at the Durban Hindu Temple, founded in 1901 across from the Railway Barracks where large numbers of Indians lived, reflects their dispersal from downtown Durban due to the Group Areas Act during apartheid. A Ram-centered dance drama based on Valmiki's Rāmayāṇa, which received funding from the National Arts Council, suggests that at times the post-apartheid state classifies Hindu dance drama as a historically disadvantaged art form. The four examples show how the circumstances of indenture and the effects of apartheid have shaped today's observance of Ram Navami in Durban.


Social capital has evolved from an interdisciplinary standpoint. Recently, interests over it have been instigated by entrepreneur literatures because of the arising need to understand its contribution to quality of resource-based management, specifically knowledge-based resources, which provides a great possibility for a successful firm performance. Nevertheless, knowledge and information, just like social capital, are multidimensional in sources and consequences. Scholars have differentiated between tacit and explicit knowledge to clearly present their argument that these two types of knowledge fit various networks of social relations for optimal performance. Therefore, an in-depth investigation of the correlation between social capital and tacit knowledge acquisition is essential to the establishment of a framework that would shed light on the implications of social relations in the corporate world.


Brown seaweeds (Fucales) produce phlorotannins that are often considered chemical defenses against herbivores. The many correlative and fewer direct tests conducted have shown effects of phlorotannins on herbivore feeding behavior to be variable. In an attempt to clarify the roles of phlorotannins versus other metabolites in defending brown algae, we conducted bioassay-guided fractionation of herbivore-deterrent extracts from the commonly studied brown alga Fucus vesiculo- sus. Feeding by the amphipods Ampithoe valida and A. longimana and the sea urchin Arbacia punc- tulata was suppressed by crude and water-soluble extracts of F. vesiculosus, but this deterrence was lost following storage or fractionation of the active, water-soluble extract. Phlorotannins in these extracts did not decompose in parallel with the loss of feeding deterrence. F. vesiculosus phloro- tannins were fed to herbivores at 3 to 12 × the isolated yield (or 4.2 to 16.8% of plant dry mass). No herbivore was deterred from feeding by concentrations of 3 or 6 ×, but A. valida (the only test herbi- vore that readily consumes F. vesiculosus in the field) was deterred at 12 × isolated yield. When juve- nile A. valida were raised on an artificial diet containing F. vesiculosus phlorotannins at 3 × isolated yield, the phlorotannin-rich diet significantly enhanced, rather than reduced, amphipod survivorship and growth relative to an equivalent diet without phlorotannins. Females ovulated only on the phlorotannin-rich diet. Compounds other than phlorotannins appear to defend the F. vesiculosus populations we investigated, but we were unable to identify these unstable compounds.


Chorea-acanthocytosis (CHAC) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by progressive neurodegeneration and unusual red-cell morphology (acanthocytosis), with onset in the third to fifth decade of life. Neurological impairment with acanthocytosis (neuroacanthocytosis) also is seen in abetalipoproteinemia and X-linked McLeod syndrome. Whereas the molecular etiology of McLeod syndrome has been defined (Ho et al. 1994), that of CHAC is still unknown. In the absence of cytogenetic rearrangements, we initiated a genomewide scan for linkage in 11 families, segregating for CHAC, who are of diverse geographical origin. We report here that the disease is linked, in all families, to a 6-cM region of chromosome 9q21 that is flanked by the recombinant markers GATA89a11 and D9S1843. A maximum two-point LOD score of 7.1 (theta = .00) for D9S1867 was achieved, and the linked region has been confirmed by homozygosity-by-descent, in offspring from inbred families. These findings provide strong evidence for the involvement of a single locus for CHAC and are the first step in positional cloning of the disease gene.


Standard disaster response involves using drones (or helicopters) for reconnaissance and using people on the ground to mitigate the damage. In this paper, we look at the problem of wildfires and propose an efficient resource allocation strategy to cope with both dynamically changing environment and uncertainty. In particular, we propose Firefly, a new resource allocation algorithm, that can provably achieve optimal or near optimal solutions with high probability by first efficiently allocating observation drones to collect information to reduce uncertainty, and then allocate the firefighting units to extinguish fire. For the former, Firefly uses a combination of maximum set coverage formulation and a novel utility estimation technique, and it uses a knapsack formulation to calculate the allocation for the latter. We also demonstrate empirically by using a real-world dataset that Firefly achieves up to 80-90% performance of the offline optimal solution, even with a small amount of drones, in most of the cases.


I fM is bothan abelian category and a symmetric monoidal closed category, then it is natural to ask whether projective objects in M are flat, and whether the tensor product of two projective objects is projective. In the most familiar such categories, the answer to these questions is obviously yes. However, the category MG of Mackey functors for a compact Lie group G is a category of this type in which projective objects need not be so well-behaved. This category is of interest since good equivariant cohomology theories are Mackey functor valued. The tensor product on MG is important in this context because of the role it plays in the not yet fully understood universal coefficient and Kunneth formulae. This role makes the relationship between projective objects and the tensor product especially critical. Unfortunately, if G is, for example, O(n), then projectives need not be flat in MG and the tensor product of projective objects need not be projective. This misbehavior complicates the search for full strengthequivariant universal coefficient and Kunnethformulae. The primary purpose of this article is to investigate these questions about the interaction of the tensor product with projective objects in symmetric monoidal abelian categories. Our focus is on functor categories whose monoidal structures arise in a fashion described by Day. Conditions are given under which such a structure interacts appropriately with projective objects. Further, examples are given to show that, when these conditions aren't met, this interaction can be quite bad. These examples were not fabricated to illustrate the abstract possibility of misbehavior. Rather, they are drawn from the literature. In particular, MG is badly behaved not only for the groups O(n), but also for the groups SO(n), U (n), SU(n), Sp(n), and Spin(n). Similar misbehavior occurs in two categories of global Mackey functors which are widely used in the study of classifying spaces of finite groups. Given the extent of the homological misbehavior in Mackey functor categories described here, it is reasonable to expect that similar problems occur in other functor categories carrying symmetric monoidal closed structures provided by Day's machinery.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Intentional asphyxiation leads to cerebral hypoxia, starving the brain of oxygen and inducing hypoxic euphoria, but carries a serious risk of accidental death, especially if practised alone. This article raises the question as to whether it could usefully be regarded as having addictive properties.

METHODS AND RESULTS
A review of the literature, together with eight case study vignettes, are presented. Intentional asphyxiation can occur with or without sexual activity. Initiation often occurs in adolescence, with development in some cases of an entrenched behaviour pattern, driven by a strong euphoriant effect, without adequate safeguarding from serious harm, and being undertaken by people with co-morbidities. There does not appear to be strong evidence of seeking support for cessation of the practice.

DISCUSSION
Intentional asphyxiation behaviours may have addictive properties and understanding this aspect of the problem may be fruitful in guiding research and interventions aimed at addressing it.


Abstract. We examine the circulation of heavy ions of planetary origin within Mercury's magnetosphere. Using single particle trajectory calculations, we focus on the dynamics of sodium ions, one of the main species that are ejected from the planet's surface. The numerical simulations reveal a significant population in the near-Mercury environment in the nightside sector, with energetic (several keV) Na + densities that reach several tenths cm-3 at planetary perihelion. At aphelion, a lesser (by about one order of magnitude) density contribution is obtained, due to weaker photon flux and solar wind flux. The numerical simulations also display several features of interest that follow from the small spatial scales of Mercury's magnetosphere. First, in contrast to the situation prevailing at Earth, ions in the magnetospheric lobes are found to be relatively energetic (a few hundreds of eV), despite the low-energy character of the exospheric source. This results from enhanced centrifugal acceleration during E × B transport over the polar cap. Second, the large Larmor radii in the mid-tail result in the loss of most Na + into the dusk flank at radial distances greater than a few planetary radii. Because gyroradii are comparable to, or larger than, the magnetic field variation length scale, the Na + motion is also found to be non-adiabatic throughout most of Mercury's equatorial magnetosphere, leading to chaotic scattering into the loss cone or meandering (Speiser-type) motion in the near-tail. As a direct consequence, a localized region of energetic Na + precipitation develops at the planet's surface. In this region which extends over a wide range of longitudes at mid-latitudes ( ~ 30°–40°), one may expect additional sputtering of planetary material. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (planetary magnetospheres) – Space plasma physics (charged particle motion and acceleration; numerical simulation studies)


Applications that harness the remarkable properties of graphene are unfortunately hampered by the lack of a scalable, reproducible and cost-effective synthesis method. In this study, a combination of thermal and facile exfoliation of graphite intercalated compounds (GICs) is thus, proposed. Graphite was intercalated in a mixture of sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide before being subjected to a rapid heat treatment at 900°C. The thermally expanded graphite was then exfoliated in solvents to produce graphene sheets. An optimisation of the limiting parameters was also carried out to determine the best approach. Results showed that an increase in the amount of oxidiser, extension of the thermal expansion time as well as an increase in the starting graphite flake size resulted in larger, thinner flakes. Tapping mode AFM analysis showed that the as produced flakes had minimal thicknesses ranging between 2 – 2.5 nm with average lengths ranging from 0.5 μm to 10 μm. This study has improved upon existing syntheses methods resulting in the use of lower toxicity solvents, lowered costs and increase in dispersibility concentrations of up to a 100 times improvement from current syntheses.


Oral cavity is the easiest site of entry of microorganisms during breathing, eating, drinking and brushing which can lead to several bacterial infections in oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, gastrointestinal tracts etc. Toothbrushes commonly used to maintain oral health and prevent dental disease; but unfortunately, how keeping the toothbrush is neglected. A wide range of chemicals have been added to toothpastes in order to produce a direct inhibitory effect on plaque formation and kill microorganisms. The aims of the study were to investigate the relationship between toothbrush keeping place, its microbial content determine the type of micro-flora present in toothbrush kept in different locations and to determine efficacy of toothpaste in reducing micro-flora isolated from toothbrush. Used toothbrushes were taken from 21 individuals. 2 (1 herbal and 1 regular) toothpastes were selected for the study and were collected from local market. Standard pour plate method and plate count method were performed to determine the reduction of microbial load. Out of 21 toothbrushes, 19 (90.48%) were found to be growth positive and 2 (9.52%) were growth negative. Common Gram positive organisms isolates includes Lactobacillus species (20%), Bacillus subtilis (5%), Bacillus megaterium (5%), Stahpylococcus aureus (25%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (10%), Micrococcus species (10%) and Gram negative organisms isolated include Citrobacter freundii (5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5%), Proteus mirabilis (5%), Enterobacter species (5%) and Klebsiella pneumonia (5%). Toothbrushes kept in the toilet/bathroom showed contamination with pathogens. Toothpaste T1 was found to be better at reducing microbial load compared to T2. Toilet/bathroom is the worst place for keeping toothbrushes. Toothpastes have their own patent, specialty and were found to be effective against the microorganisms. Synergistic interactions between the principal components of toothpaste can be considered to be a vital part of their efficacy.Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyVol. 13, No. 2, 2017, page: 71-78


Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.


In addition to insurance companies, pension funds, cooperative banks, investment companies, investment and share funds, and leasing companies, banks represent the most important segment of the financial sector with a stake of nearly 80% of total assets. The balance sum of the banking sector of the Czech Republic amounted to 5,476 billion CZK as of 1.3.2015. Innovative, low-cost players have become the latest trend on the banking market, presenting an alternative to traditional banking. They enforce a business mode of retail banking based on an internet platform. This paper defines and evaluates their activities compared to transnational companies in terms of business success and clients/ perception.


Abstract Large theropod tracks have previously been attributed to Tyrannosaurus rex. Most identifications however, have not been supported by either clear comparison with T. rex osteology or the stratigraphic position of the track. There is a conspicuous absence of tracks in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hell Creek, Lance, Scollard, Frenchman, and Denver Formations (Lancian, North American Land Mammal Age), where T. rex body fossils have been found. A large tridactyl track is described here from the Hell Creek Formation of Carter County, Montana, United States. This find constitutes the first record of a large theropod track from the Hell Creek Formation, which could have potentially been made by T. rex or another large theropod, based on the track morphology and stratigraphic position.


The paradigm of self-organization (SO) provides an attractive chance for the development of new ideas in management theory and practice. Thus, the current management debate is driven by at least two, partially contradicting, approaches to handle the "phenomenon" of SO: 1. SO seen as an empirical (and "practical") phenomenon. In this case SO indicates the "self-steering" potential of organizations. From this point of view, the management task can be defined as "controlling" this potential. Facing turbulent environments, this position may lead to new "balances" between formal structuring and self-organizing. 2. SO seen as a (not very "practical") scientific paradigm. The question here is: Can we explore the above mentioned problems by using SO theories and do they give us some help to find "best balances"? No, they do not! From the paradigmatic point of view SO shows "the way how organizations work". There is neither a balance nor a contradiction between "self" and "formal". The system is "self", and therefore "formal" has to be something different. The paradigm does not address our problems. Consequently, we have three options: re-defining our problem, looking for a "better" paradigm or trying to find a "third way". Current management approaches seem to be undecided between option one and option three. Our article outlines some recommendations for this decision by addressing the following focal points:


Pacific water contributes significantly to the Arctic Ocean freshwater budget. Recent increases in Arctic freshwater flux, also affected by the Pacific-derived Arctic water, impact the Atlantic overturning circulation with implications for global climate. The interannual variability of the Pacific water outflow remains poorly understood, partly due to different branches of the Pacific water flow in the Arctic Ocean. The shelfbreak current over the Beaufort Sea continental slope transports ~50% of the Pacific-derived water eastward along the Beaufort Sea continental slope towards the Canadian Archipelago. The oceanographic mooring deployed over the eastern Beaufort Sea continental slope in October 2003 recorded current velocities through depths of 28–108 m until September 2005. Data analysis revealed that these highly energetic currents have two different modes of depth-dependent behaviour. The downwelling-favourable wind associated with cyclones passing north of the Beaufort Sea continental slope toward the Canadian Archipelago generates depth-intensified shelfbreak currents with along-slope northeastward flow. A surface Ekman on-shore transport and associated increase of the sea surface heights over the shelf produce a cross-slope pressure gradient that drives an along-slope northeastward barotropic flow, in the same direction as the wind. In contrast, the upwelling-favourable wind associated with deep Aleutian Low cyclones over the Alaskan Peninsula and/or Aleutian Island Arc leads to surface-intensified currents with along-slope westward flow. This northeasterly wind generates a surface Ekman transport that moves surface waters offshore. The associated cross-slope pressure gradient drives an along-slope southwestward barotropic flow. The wind-driven barotropic flow generated by upwelling and downwelling is superimposed on the background bottom-intensified shelfbreak current. For downwelling, this flow amplifies the depth-intensified background baroclinic circulation with enhanced Pacific water transport towards the Canadian Archipelago. For upwelling, the shelfbreak current is reversed, which results in surface-intensified flow in the opposite direction. These results are supported by numerical simulations.


A transformation of our food system necessitates a revision of how we think and communicate about agriculture. In the past few decades, increasing attention has been paid to the unique requirements of teaching sustainable agriculture in general, and agroecology specifically. Approaches such as placebased learning, experiental learning, inquiry-learning and participatory action learning have been confirmed to enhance mastery of content as well as necessary skill development among students. In development contexts, participatory video (PV) – a participatory action research and social learning tool – has been shown to empower groups who are working for effective change within their communities. Can it then also be used to further develop the competencies of agroecology students? Might it provide a venue for extending farmer to farmer exchange? Could it offer a means of colearning for researchers and farmers? The present study examines the application of PV to the context of learning about agroecology to determine if PV is an effective tool for learning for both farmers and students. Three PV projects in three European countries were carried out in partnership with the Green Learning Network over the course of four months in 2015 at institutions of learning that have an emphasis on agroecological education. Participants – students, farmers and teachers – collectively designed and created their own videos about topics that were relevent to some aspect of agroecology in their communities. Through the use of questionnaires and focus-group interviews, participants' experiences and perceptions were documented and analyzed. Results show that the PV activities enhanced communication and analytical inquiry skills, and that PV was particularly effective when used as a collaborative learning tool for the exploration of values-based aspects of agroecology. Accordingly, the most valuable aspect of PV in this study was how participants deepened their understanding of agroecology by engaging in the participatory video process. Participation in the PV activities gave way to an emergant social bridge that strengthened communities over common interests and instigated connections between people who previously were strangers. The potential for the use of PV in agriculatural extension and research is great in terms of creating shared vision and building cooperative relationships between and among farmers and researchers. Further research should examine the specific needs of stakeholders in these groups to determine how PV could be of benefit to them.


Animals, plants, and microorganisms exhibit numerous biological rhythms that are generated by numerous biological clocks. This article summarizes experimental data pertinent to the oftenignored issue of integration of multiple rhythms. Five contexts of integration are discussed: (i) integration of circadian rhythms of multiple processes within an individual organism, (ii) integration of biological rhythms operating in different time scales (such as tidal, daily, and seasonal), (iii) integration of rhythms across multiple species, (iv) integration of rhythms of different members of a species, and (v) integration of rhythmicity and physiological homeostasis. Understanding of these multiple rhythmic interactions is an important first step in the eventual thorough understanding of how organisms arrange their vital functions temporally within and without their bodies. C © 2012 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 2:1213-1239, 2012.


Estimating plant traits in herbaceous plant assemblages from spectral reflectance data requires aggregation of small scale trait variations to a canopy mean value that is ecologically meaningful and corresponds to the trait content that affects the canopy spectral signal. We investigated estimation capacities of plant traits in a herbaceous setting and how different trait-aggregation methods influence estimation accuracies. Canopy reflectance of 40 herbaceous plant assemblages was measured in situ and biomass was analysed for N, P and C concentration, chlorophyll, lignin, phenol, tannin and specific water concentration, expressed on a mass basis (mg∙g−1). Using Specific Leaf Area (SLA) and Leaf Area Index (LAI), traits were aggregated to two additional expressions: mass per leaf surface (mg∙m−2) and mass per canopy surface (mg∙m−2). All traits were related to reflectance using partial least squares regression. Accuracy of trait estimation varied between traits but was mainly influenced by the trait expression. Chlorophyll and traits expressed on canopy surface were least accurately estimated. Results are attributed to damping or enhancement of the trait signal upon conversion from mass based trait values to leaf and canopy surface expressions. A priori determination of the most appropriate trait expression is viable by considering plant growing strategies.


Previous experimental work by Gundel and Wawner showed that the matrix alloy has a strong effect on reaction layer growth in Ti alloy/SCS-6 composite systems. A finite difference technique was used to model the reaction layer growth, which predicts the same trends as those exhibited by the experimental data. Matrix alloying elements such as Mo and Cr in metastable B alloys will affect the equilibrium compositions and diffusivities in the matrix, but matrix diffusion is not found to be rate controlling. Regular solution thermodynamic models indicate that the main affect of matrix composition is in controlling carbon-flux through the reaction layer by altering equilibrium C-TiC-Ti interfacial compositions


New factors arise in a species by the process of mutation. The frequency of mutation is generally small, but it seems probable that it can sometimes be increased by changes in the environment (1,2). On the whole mutants recessive to the normal type occur more commonly than dominants. The frequency of a given type of mutation varies, but for some factors in Drosophila it must be less than 10−6, and is much less in some human cases. We shall first consider initial conditions, when only a few of the new type exist as the result of a single mutation; and then the course of events in a population where the new factor is present in such numbers as to be in no danger of extinction by mere bad luck. In the first section the treatment of Fisher (3) is followed.


Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematologic malignancy and remains incurable, primarily due to the treatment-refractory/resistant nature of the disease. A rational approach to this compelling challenge is to develop new drugs that act synergistically with existing effective agents. This approach will reduce drug concentrations, avoid treatment resistance, and also improve treatment effectiveness by targeting new and nonredundant pathways in MM. Toward this goal, we examined the antimyeloma effects of MAL3-101, a member of a new class of non-ATP-site inhibitors of the heat shock protein (Hsp) 70 molecular chaperone. We discovered that MAL3-101 exhibited antimyeloma effects on MM cell lines in vitro and in vivo in a xenograft plasmacytoma model, as well as on primary tumor cells and bone marrow endothelial cells from myeloma patients. In combination with a proteasome inhibitor, MAL3-101 significantly potentiated the in vitro and in vivo antimyeloma effects. These data support a preclinical rationale for small molecule inhibition of Hsp70 function, either alone or in combination with other agents, as an effective therapeutic strategy for MM.


In this paper we present an overview of recent developments in discourse theory and parsing under the Linguistic Discourse Model (LDM) framework, a semantic theory of discourse structure. We give a novel approach to the problem of discourse segmentation based on discourse semantics and sketch a limited but robust approach to symbolic discourse parsing based on syntactic, semantic and lexical rules. To demonstrate the utility of the system in a real application, we briefly describe the architecture of the PALSUMM system, a symbolic summarization system being developed at FX Palo Alto Laboratory that uses discourse structures constructed using the theory outlined to summarize written English prose texts. 1


The popularity of online games highlights the need for research approaches that can increase our scientific understanding of online game play experience. This paper proposes a model for examining and evaluating the ways by which factors of game motivate players and shape psychological processes. Previously, Nick Yee has done one of the most extensive and influential empirical research on motivations for play in online games. His research provides the foundation to understand what motivates people to play games and how we can improve our designs based on those findings. His factor analysis revealed ten motivational sub-components that grouped into three overarching components of achievement, social, and immersion. However, there are a handful of empirical results that were unique and did not clearly fit into Yee"s motivational components, such as "making a difference", "the search for self", "the search for youth", and "the nurturance motivation", as Yee acknowledged in his paper. Therefore we developed a motivational theory of "reality integration" to encompass the cases that could not be explained by Yee"s theory. While his theory was implicity focused on "escapism" (escape from reality), we found that dual and integrated perspectives of "reality integration" and "escapism" of online games are very important in understanding players" behavior and improving game design. The future goal of this research is to develop a motivational design framework for educational games or serious games.


Despite the tremendous advancements in computing – computer hardware, algorithm techniques, and software, there exist numerous real-world problems in a variety of areas which are overwhelmingly difficult to understand and develop optimal solutions using the conventional CS/IT techniques and traditional software methods. A new multidisciplinary area termed Computational Science which draws upon and integrates techniques from mathematics, numerical methods, computer science, simulation, statistical methods, data science, data visualization, etc. is emerging that facilitates the understanding of complex problems, and provides tools and frameworks to solve complex real–world problems. Recognizing the need to satisfy the demand for workforce trained in elements of computational science, a several higher education institutions are offering courses, certifications, and programs related to Computational Science or Computational Science and Engineering. This paper presents an overview of computational science as a discipline, an overview of a course in computational science that we have developed, and highlights of the relevancy and benefits of computational science course(s) and program(s).


We have read with great interest the article by Yoo, et al. [1] which presents very important clinical observations. We would like to comment on this article based on our experiences and the literature review. Surgery for only hearing ear has been avoided since many years as is known. Many authors have not suggested tympanoplasty surgery in an only hearing ear [2]. However, today we have opportunity to add technological developments to the accumulated experience in ear surgery. In our day, quality of life is a very important concern. With better hearing, we can provide better quality of life to the patients. It is not good to leave the patient with tympanic membrane perforation even if it is dry or wet with some hearing loss in this hightech century. Since Cochlear implantation is a treatment option for patients with hearing loss, we should not avoid surgical interventions [3]. Surgery for only hearing ear with cholesteatoma will protect the ear from destructive effects of cholesteatoma and worse hearing level. Tympanoplasty for tympanic membrane perforation without cholesteatoma may provide better hearing or ensure to use hearing aids more effectively. Additionally, during tympanoplasty surgery, some ossicular chain defects, such as incus long process defect may be seen. These kind of problems may deteriorate hearing loss, however, can also be solved by bone cements during surgery to improve the quality of life of the patient [4]. In conclusion, we believe that surgery for chronic otitis media with or without cholesteatoma in an only hearing ear should be performed by experienced surgeons. If there is a complication like total hearing loss, we may remember the treatment options, such as Cochclear implantation which protect the patient from deafness.


Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are multiprotein complexes consisting of nucleoporins and function in transport between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. In yeast, nucleoporins have also been linked to gene expression as well as to chromatin insulating activity. Recently, we identified genomic regions that interact with nucleoporins in Drosophila using DamID technology. We found that nucleoporins in the nucleoplasm interact with active genes and stimulate gene expression. However, genes interacting with nucleoporins at the NPC itself show average gene expression and it remains unclear why they interact with the NPC. Here, we further investigated the function of the genome-NPC interactions. First, to investigate whether a different technique would lead to similar results, we compared our nucleoporin DamID data to recently published nucleoporin chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) data. Then, to further understand the function of interactions between the genome and NPCs, we analyzed the relationship between NPC-interacting genomic regions and chromatin insulators. We found that the insulator protein Su(Hw) was enriched within and near NPC-interacting genomic regions, suggesting a role of this protein in chromatin architecture close to the NPC. This suggests that the NPC may have a function in the structural organization of the genome.


Urban management is a critical aspect in the development of cities as it affects both the present and the future of the city. The concept of Urban Management has been debated and perhaps this debate reflects something, un-clarity of the concept which then affects the practice. The central argument of this paper is that cities and towns in Tanzania are facing leadership challenge which has a crippling effect to sustainable growth of urban centers. The objective of this paper was to map out how different understanding of leadership has affected the trajectory of development of cities in Tanzania. Information for this article was collected under the project UrbTan. Throughout the study sites, respondents gave their views on leadership of towns and cities. Critical in their view is the concern that urban management in Tanzania is generally weak save for few cases. Managing cities and towns in the 21st century requires skills and new approaches. It is recommended that investment should be made in training leaders of cities and towns of Tanzania. Key words : urban management, leadership, governance, politics


A stable phase of toroidal, or ringlike, supramolecular assemblies was formed by combining dilute solution characteristics critical for both bundling of like-charged biopolymers and block copolymer micelle formation. The key to toroid versus classic cylinder micelle formation is the interaction of the negatively charged hydrophilic block of an amphiphilic triblock copolymer with a positively charged divalent organic counterion. This produces a self-attraction of cylindrical micelles that leads to toroid formation, a mechanism akin to the toroidal bundling of semiflexible charged biopolymers such as DNA. The toroids can be kinetically trapped or chemically cross-linked. Insight into the mechanism of toroid formation can be gained by observation of intermediate structures kinetically trapped during film casting.


Abstract
Topic:
Review of transitional care programmes in various health settings to determine the relevance of transitional case management for individuals with severe enduring mental illness released from custodial environments.
Purpose:
Transitions, such as discharge or transfer from one service to another or between levels of care can be problematic. In some health and social care sectors such as obstetrics, cardiology, and older age services; transitional care programmes have been introduced to improve continuity of care. Examination of the various forms of transitional care, availability of programmes and associated outcomes in a range of health contexts, could provide important lessons for improving services for mental health service users leaving custodial settings.
Sources Used:
Published health, social care and criminal justice literature
Conclusion and Implications for Practice:
Poor transitional care is evident across health sectors and service domains. The consequences for service users can be far reaching such as interrupted, duplicated or omitted interventions, which may have a detrimental or damaging impact on their health and wellbeing. The resultant effects include increased use of emergency care, readmission to hospital and in extreme cases, death. Recent health policies have substantiated the importance of transitional care programmes. However, these are yet to be fully realised within mental health settings. Transitional case management may optimise offenders? engagement with mental health services and provide more effective and sustainable strategies for managing their complex health and social care needs in the community.


Bioelectrodes have been widely used to effectively mediate electrical signals with biological systems for various biomedical applications, such as biosensors and prosthetic probes. However, the electrical properties of bioelectrodes are frequently degraded in the biological milieu due to biofouling of bioelectrode surfaces. Hence, the development of simple and effective strategies for bioelectrode surface modification is important for the mitigation of biofouling. To this end, we electrochemically modify electrodes with dopamine-conjugated hyaluronic acid (DA-HA); the modified electrodes exhibit highly hydrophilic surfaces. In addition, the electrochemical impedance of the DA-HA-modified electrodes remains similar to those of bare electrodes. The DA-HA-modified electrodes showed reduced non-specific protein adsorption and minimal adhesion of fibroblasts. Our novel electrochemical passivation of electrodes using DA-HA will contribute to the further development of fouling-resistant and biocompatible bioelectrodes. The electrodeposition of DA-HA can also be potentially applied for general surface modification of other metallic and conducting materials for various applications.


Seismic-reflection data and historical accounts suggest that a large submarine slump in the Dead Sea was produced by the most recent large earthquake along the Dead Sea-Jordan transform plate boundary, the M L 6.25 Jericho earthquake of July 11, 1927. The correlation supports the use of seismically triggered slump, landslide, and other sediment failures in lakes to infer the timing of paleoearthquakes. Furthermore, the location of the submarine slump adds to evidence that the 1927 earthquake was caused by rupture on a fault segment beneath the north basin of the Dead Sea. This fault rupture implies that the strain accumulation on the Jordan fault north of the Dead Sea is higher than previously recognized. Older seismically triggered slumps buried beneath the 1927 slump show that a record of ancient Jericho earthquakes can also be found in the sedimentary record. The estimated number and age range of these slumps suggest a long average earthquake recurrence time.


The content of this report is property of HTceramix and subject to restrictive distribution The goal of the project "Oxygen membranes for the partial oxidation of natural gas" was the pre-industrial evaluation of the concept of an electroceramic reactor, capable of converting natural gas into synthesis gas (H2+CO) by partial oxidation with pure oxygen. This project was the continuation of the pre-project on the fundamental principle (FOGA 085) accomplished with success at EPFL and which was co-financed by FOGA (50'000 CHF). In the present second Phase, FOGA supported with 250'000 CHF the spin-off company HTceramix SA, which is specialised in the development and fabrication of electroceramics for an effective conversion of natural gas. HTceramix has managed the project in close collaboration with EPFL. The goal of this second Phase was to give proof of the feasibility of a future reactor. This ambitious project was divided into 5 stages defined by milestones, all clearly fulfilled. The first milestone gave the proof of the mechanical, thermo-mechanical and chemical stability of a material selected in the 1st Phase, stability required for an operational reactor. During the next stage, ceramic tubes of this material were fabricated in collaboration with external partners. Both compaction and extrusion were successfully applied for the product processing; extrusion was preferred because it lead to a thinner wall thickness, a better mechanical stability and a reduced raw material consumption. In parallel with the tube fabrication, a catalyst compatible with the ceramic membrane was developed for the promotion of partial oxidation (POX, stage 3). A noble-metal-free oxide satisfied the requirements of 90% conversion of methane and 98% CO-selectivity. For the proof of concept, the natural gas should be converted into synthesis gas by the combination of ceramic tubes and the POX-catalyst (stage 4). The tubular reactor operated over 1'400 hours with a methane conversion of 95% and a CO-selectivity of 92%. The oxygen permeation flux across the tubular membrane was enhanced by a factor 10 compared to Phase 1 project. In stage 5, the concept of a heat integrated tubular reactor was studied. It was calculated that 1 kWth natural gas can be converted in a 0.15 litre volume reactor (consisting of 12 tubes 20cm long and of 5mm diameter each). The required surface for integrated heat exchanger is 70 cm2/kW. All formulated goals were fulfilled, respecting both the financial and time limits.


This paper presents the development and initial results of a controller based on a novel rate-dependent hysteresis model. The controller has been developed for "Micron," a microsurgical instrument designed to sense and actively cancel tremor and other undesired motion during vitreoretinal intervention. To accomplish this, Micron uses a three-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator with piezoelectric actuation. In order to achieve high accuracy it is necessary to deal with the hysteresis of the piezoelectric actuators. Most hysteresis models are based on elementary rate-independent operators and are not suitable for modeling actuator behavior across a wide frequency band. This work proposes a rate-dependent controller, based on a modification of the rate-independent Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) model, to counteract hysteresis during open-loop control of piezoelectric actuators tracking multifrequency motion profiles. In experiments tracking real tremor, it consistently outperforms its rate-independent counterpart.


Recently, in the city of La Rioja, the Microbiologically-Induced Corrosion (MIC) phenomenon has been confirmed. The last studied case corresponds to the water well of the La Rioja Regional Faculty of the National Technological University (UTN), where the water well facilities showed signs of this phenomenon.These microorganisms catalyze the iron (and magnesium) oxidation reactions, solubilizing or solubilizing and precipitating the metal. Confirming the existence of the MIC phenomenon is essential to mitigate or solve the problem.The laboratory work consisted in processing pipe and pump samples extracted after the well ceased to be used, at three initial temperatures and with different culture media, trying to cultivate, reproduce, and isolate and identify the different species.Thus, through culture methodology, the existence of a mixed flora featuring iron bacteria and sulfate-reducing bacteria was confirmed.Complementary Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) spectroscopy scans allowed to visualize the bacteria, the damage to the analyzed material, and the morphology of the bioprecipitation.This little-known phenomenon causes significant economic losses and should therefore be taken into account in the execution as well as the maintenance of wells. Keywords: Metal Corrosion, Microbiologically Induced Corrosion, Water Well, Bacteria.


In this first book-length study of the internationally renowned Canadian artist Char Davies, Laurie McRobert examines the digital installations Osmose and Ephemere in the context of Davies' artistic and conceptual inspirations. Davies, originally a painter, turned to technology in an effort to create the effect of osmosis between self and world. By donning a head-mounted display unit and a body vest to monitor breathing and balance, participants are immersed in 3D-virtual space where they interact with abstract images of nature while manoeuvring in an artificial spatial environment. Char Davies' Immersive Virtual Art and the Essence of Spatiality explores spatiality through a broad scope of disciplines, including philosophy, mythology, biology, and visual studies, in order to familiarize the reader with virtual reality art - how it differs from traditional artistic media and why immersive virtual art promises to expand our imaginative horizons. This original study provides us with an important exposition of two of Char Davies' acclaimed projects and an exploration of the future impact of digital virtual art on our worldviews.


Long-term trends in Portuguese fisheries landing profiles of biodiversity, assemblage composition, trophic groups and marine trophic index (1950-2009) were studied to understand the evolution of the fisheries from an ecological viewpoint and evaluate the effects of fisheries on stocks. The number of species landed has increased considerably since the 1980s. This indicates an expansion of the fisheries and also a better use of the marine biodiversity for redistributing effort. Changes in the ecological composition of fisheries catches have occurred since the 1950s, with a significant shift in the middle 1980s (anchor point). Deep-sea resources and higher trophic levels (cephalopods, large benthopelagics, flatfishes, demersal invertebrates, small-medium and large rays, medium bathydemersal, shrimps, small benthopelagics large sharks) have increased while traditional commercial species captured by nearshore fisheries (medium and small pelagics) have decreased. Despite the decreasing trend in catches since 1988, the marine trophic index (MTI = 3.04) increased by approximately 0.2 units per decade (MTI in 2009 = 3.46). The number of collapsed, overexploited and fully exploited stocks has increased considerably over the last 20 years (>50%). Overall, the data indicate that redistributing fishing effort and targeting of deep-sea resources may have been driven by depletion of inshore fishery stocks, which signals concern for the fishery. Marine biodiversity indexes and ecological structure of landings profiles should be considered by fishery managers when redefining new marine fisheries policy.