Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a highly host-specific, ubiquitous herpesvirus that results in asymptomatic infection for the majority of those infected. However, it produces serious clinical disease in neonates and immunocompromised individuals such as transplant recipients and AIDS patients. The majority of the 236 kbp genome is highly conserved, but there are a number of highly variable regions, coding and non-coding, scattered throughout the genome. Numerous studies have been published investigating the genotypes of hypervariable genes, most focussed on potential associations between genotype and clinical disease or tropism. In general, no convincing connections between genotype and disease have been found.
The present study investigated two hypervariable HCMV genes, UL146 and UL139, in a large number of clinical samples (179) from a number of locations worldwide in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. A total of 14 UL146 genotypes (G1-G14) were detected, which agrees with previous findings based on many fewer samples. For UL139, eight genotypes were detected, three of them (G5, G7 and G8) novel. The genotypes of both genes appear to have evolved under constraint rather than positive selection. Possible bias in the geographical distribution of the UL146 and UL139 genotypes was investigated. In general, all genotypes were found in all areas and any variation from the expected distribution was probably a result of small sample numbers from certain regions, specifically Asia and Australia. This general finding is in agreement with that of a previously published study on gene UL73.
No evidence for linkage disequilibrium between UL146 and UL139 genotypes was found. This is in accordance with a previously published study of linkage disequilibrium among six other genes (UL55, UL74, UL75, UL115, US9 and US28), and is consistent with the theory that recombination has played a role in HCMV evolution. The absence of linkage between highly variable genes complicates attempts to examine associations between genotype and disease, as many combinations of genotypes are possible.
Investigation of transcriptional expression of UL146 and UL139 from HCMV strain Merlin in fibroblast cell culture revealed that UL146 is expressed with late kinetics and UL139 with early-late kinetics. Northern blot and RACE data suggested that UL146 is 3'-coterminally expressed with UL147, UL147A, UL148 and UL132, and that UL139 is 3'-coterminally expressed with UL140 and UL141.
To determine whether the high degree of sequence divergence corresponds to structural divergence, the UL146 genotypes were homology modelled on the related human chemokines IL-8, gro-a and IF9S. All 14 genotypes were predicted to be structurally very similar, which suggests they may also be functionally similar. However, small differences between the structures of human chemokines are known to result in slightly differing binding affinities for cellular receptors, and therefore even small differences between UL146 genotypes could conceivably confer functional differences.
UL139 has been predicted to encode a type 1 membrane glycoprotein. No information has been published regarding UL139 function, although a short region of similarity with the cellular signal transducer CD24 has been noted previously, tentatively suggesting an immunomodulatory role. Preliminary experiments to characterise UL139 were performed utilising recombinant adenovirus vectors expressing tagged UL139 variants from three genotypes (G1, G5 and G7). The tagged UL139 variants expressed proteins that were considerably larger in mass than predicted from amino acid sequences. This extra mass may be attributable to glycosylation as well as other forms of post translational modification.
Mixed infections of HCMV strains in immunocompromised individuals, such as transplant recipients, have been associated with enhanced pathogenesis and increased risk of transplant rejection. The presence of mixed infections also further complicates attempts to establish connections between genotype and disease outcome. In the analysis of UL146 and UL139 genotypes, multiple genotypes were detected in 14% of samples and in 29% when repeated experimental results were included, and even these values may be underestimations. The utility of a QPCR-based assay using genotype-specific primers was assessed as a means of more accurately determining the occurrence of mixed infections, and showed promise.
Passage of HCMV strains in cell culture has been shown to result in various mutations. AD169, a commonly used laboratory strain, lacks 15 kbp sequence that includes UL146 and UL139. An alternative stock of AD169 (AD169varUC) was obtained that was thought to contain most or all of the deleted region and, indeed, both UL146 and UL139 were detected. Further sequencing confirmed that this stock is derived from AD169 and revealed that it contains all but 3.2 kbp of the 15 kbp absent from commonly used AD169 stocks. The 3.2 kbp deletion affects UL144, UL142, UL141 and UL140. This propensity of HCMV to undergo mutation during cell culture highlights the importance of studying characterised strains that are as close to wild type virus as possible.


Phosphorylation of the cell adhesion protein CEACAM1 increases insulin sensitivity and decreases insulin-dependent mitogenesis in vivo. Here we show that CEACAM1 is a substrate of the EGFR and that upon being phosphorylated, CEACAM1 reduces EGFR-mediated growth of transfected Cos-7 and MCF-7 cells in response to EGF. Using transgenic mice overexpressing a phosphorylation-defective CEACAM1 mutant in liver (L-SACC1), we show that the effect of CEACAM1 on EGF-dependent cell proliferation is mediated by its ability to bind to and sequester Shc, thus uncoupling EGFR signaling from the ras/MAPK pathway. In L-SACC1 mice, we also show that impaired CEACAM1 phosphorylation leads to ligand-independent increase of EGFR-mediated cell proliferation. This appears to be secondary to visceral obesity and the metabolic syndrome, with increased levels of output of free fatty acids and heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor from the adipose tissue of the mice. Thus, L-SACC1 mice provide a model for the mechanistic link between increased cell proliferation in states of impaired metabolism and visceral obesity.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand and analyze the contextualization of value co-creation in the endogenous context. Analyzing how the five activities of value co-creation process are contextualized in a specific context can provide a better and deeper understanding for co-creating value with endogenous social and cultural values and norms. In this paper, value co-creation is contextualized in the public transport context from the Chinese perspective.Methodology/approach – This paper adopts a qualitative approach to analyze and understand the contextualization of value co-creation in endogenous context, using multiple case studies of the public transport from China: Zhengzhou and Chengdu public transport services. Discussing the contextualization of value co-creation process with the five activities, i.e. customer engagement, self-service, customer experience, problem-solving, and co-designing, allows us to explain and understand value co-creation in the Chinese endogenous context.Findings – This paper illustrates that contextualization of value co-creation in the endogenous context contributes to service business development. In this paper the five activities of value co-creation is integrating the concepts of value-in-social-context and value-in-cultural-context in different specific contexts, with endogenous social and cultural norms and values. This paper reveals the importance of contextualizing value co-creation process and the significant impacts of endogenous social and cultural issues in specific context, for better, easier, and more effective value co-creation.Originality/value – This paper makes original contributions to the ongoing discussion in service research, especially service-dominant logic (S-D logic) in endogenous thinking and the concepts of value-in-social-context and value-in-cultural-context. In service research, the main theoretical challenges are understanding and integrating endogenous thinking in specific contexts, which contextualize and better co-create value by focusing social and cultural issues. This paper reveals the adoption of endogenous thinking in the service research.Research limitation –The qualitative research design of multiple case studies does not enable empirical generalizations to be made. Future research in this area should focus on generalizing the present findings by studying the endogenous thinking in contextualization of value co-creation, in other empirical settings.


Web services provide systems with great flexibility and easier maintenance which result in better ways to communicate and distribute applications. There are good procedures in place for the design, development, and management of Web services; however, there are areas in which Web service adaptation is required. To preserve the loosely coupled approach of Web services, service adaptations should be implemented appropriately.Adaptive Web Services for Modular and Reusable Software Development: Tactics and Solutions includes current research on the area of Web service adaptation while embarking upon the different aspects related to Web services. This collection provides an overview of existing solutions for service adaption in different development scopes as well as covers a wide variety of challenges which emerge. It aims to keep industry professionals as well as academic researchers up to date with the latest research results.


In this paper, we present results and experiments with several methods for bundle adjustment, producing the fastest bundle adjuster ever published. The fastest methods work with the well known reduced camera system and handle the block-sparse pattern arising in the reduced camera system in a natural way. Adapting to the naturally arising block-sparsity allows the use of BLAS3, efficient memory handling, fast variable ordering, and customized sparse solving all at the same time. We present two methods, one using exact minimum degree ordering and block-based LDL solving, and one using block-based preconditioned conjugate gradient, both on the reduced camera system. We show experimentally that the adaptation to the natural block sparsity allows both these methods to perform better than previous ones. Further speed improvements are achieved by the novel use of embedded point iterations. The embedded point iterations take place inside each camera update step, yielding a higher cost decrease from each camera update step. This is especially true for points projecting far out on the flatter region of the robustifier.


Combining the approaches of three fields of scholarship - political science, law and Russian area- tudies - the author explores the foundations and future of the Russian Federation. Russia's political elite have struggled to build an extraordinarily complex federal system, one that incorporates eighty-nine different units and scores of different ethnic groups, which sometimes harbor long histories of resentment against Russian imperial and Soviet legacies. This book examines the public debates, official documents and political deals that built Russia's federal house on very unsteady foundations, often out of the ideological, conceptual and physical rubble of the ancien regime. One of the major goals of this book is, where appropriate, to bring together the insights of comparative law and comparative politics in the study of the development of Russia's attempts to create - as its constitution states in the very first article - a 'Democratic, federal, rule-of-law state'


This study aimed at comparing head Wrap Around Distance (WAD) of Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) obtained from the German In-Depth Accident Database (GIDAS), the China In-Depth Accident Database (CIDAS) and the Japanese In-Depth Accident Database (ITARDA micro). Cumulative distribution of WAD of pedestrian and cyclist were obtained for each database (AIS2+) showing that WAD of cyclists were larger than the ones of pedestrians. Comparing three regions, the 50%tile WAD of GIDAS was larger than that of both Asian accident databases. Using linear regression that might predict WAD of pedestrians and cyclists from impact speed and VRU height, WADs were calculated to be 206cm/219cm (Pedestrian/Cyclist) for GIDAS, 170cm/192cm for CIDAS and 211cm/235cm for ITARDA. In addition, this study may be helpful for reconsideration of WAD measurement alignment between accident reconstruction and test procedures. (A)


How does a telecommunications company function when its right hand often doesn't know what its left hand is doing? How do rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary organizations hold together and perform their knowledge work? In this book, Clay Spinuzzi draws on two warring theories of work activity - activity theory and actor-network theory - to examine the networks of activity that make a telecommunications company work and thrive. In doing so, Spinuzzi calls a truce between the two theories, bringing them to the negotiating table to parley about work. Specifically, about net work: the coordinative work that connects, coordinates, and stabilizes polycontextual work activities. To develop this uneasy dialogue, Spinuzzi examines the texts, trades, and technologies at play at Telecorp, both historically and empirically. Drawing on both theories, Spinuzzi provides new insights into how net work actually works and how our theories and research methods can be extended to better understand it.


This program aims is to increase the capacity of craftsmen who are economically productive micro-groups. This community problems are lack of ability to manage production schedules, lack of ability to determine product prices, lack of ability to market products that rely solely on reseller buyers, and limited production capacity. The method of implementing activities to solve community problems is to provide various training, then proceed with mentoring. Sewing machine equipment assistance is provided to increase production capacity. The specific target of this program is to improve production management capabilities, determination of selling prices, marketing and soft skills of craftsmen. The impact of program implementation is increased production capacity, increased sales and income turnover, increased partner communication skills, diversity of marketing media, and community success in penetrating foreign markets.


World Englishes (henceforth WEs) theory recognizes that English today is an international language that comprises 'a unique cultural pluralism, and a linguistic heterogeneity and diversity' (Kachru, 1985: 14). That is, WEs theory recognizes and appreciates an emerging group of English varieties worldwide (such as Australian English, Indian English, Singaporean English, etc.), seeing each as being of equal validity and legitimacy. This appreciation of the pluricentricity of English has aroused particular interest in the field of ESL/EFL teaching (e.g., Kachru, 1992; Jenkins, 2006; Kirkpatrick, 2008). It is well known that ESL/EFL teaching has long been dominated by the Inner Circle model (Kachru, 1985), also known as the native speaker (NS) model. The Inner Circle model of English teaching focuses on so-called 'Standard English' education and aims to develop 'native-like proficiency' among ESL/EFL learners. Such a monocentric approach posits the superiority of Anglo-American norms and cultures at the expense of other English varieties and cultures. However, criticisms of such an 'exonormative native speaker model' (Kirkpatrick, 2008: 184) have been frequently raised in the past decade, and a growing number of researchers (e.g., Kachru, 1986, 1992; Canagarajah, 1999; Jenkins, 2000, 2006; Seidlhofer, 2001; McKay, 2002; Kirkpatrick, 2006, 2008) have called for a paradigm shift to replace the monocentric Inner Circle model in ESL/EFL teaching. New models have also been proposed; for instance, Phillipson (1992a) argued for models in various specific English varieties that maintain international intelligibility; Kramsch (1998) proposed an intercultural speaker model, and Kirkpatrick (2008) advocated a lingua franca approach to replace the NS model; finally, Jenkins (2006) put forward the pluricentric approach to replace the monocentric approach in English teaching. Though different in some respects, these proposed new models all share the same aims for ESL/EFL teaching, that is, to promote pluralism in different cultures and English varieties, to raise ESL/EFL learners' awareness of the various English varieties, and to enhance ESL/EFL learners' confidence in their own English varieties. In this study, the term pluricentric approach is adopted because this term vividly catches the essence of the pluricentricity of English today.


The sharing of components of a cloud-hosted application and the underlying cloud resources between tenants have the potential to reduce resource consumption and running cost per tenant. However, this sharing may allow the behaviour of one component to affect the performance, resource consumption and access privileges of other components, for example, if the application fails to scale-up when the workload of one of the component increases suddenly. This problem becomes even more acute when components are associated with different or higher degrees of isolation among them. This paper presents a mathematical optimization model and a metaheuristic (based on simulated annealing) solution for providing near-optimal solutions for deploying components of a cloud-hosted application in a way that guarantees the required degree of isolation between the components. Our experiments showed that the near-optimal solutions obtained from our model had low variability and percent deviation, when compared with the optimal solution. We also provide some recommendations in deploying components associated with varying degrees of isolation.


As skills of labor-market entrants are usually not directly observed by employers, individuals acquire skill signals. To study which signals are valued by employers, we simultaneously and independently randomize a broad range of skill signals on pairs of resumes of fictitious applicants among which we ask a large representative sample of German human-resource managers to choose. We find that signals in all three studied domains - cognitive skills, social skills, and maturity - have a significant effect on being invited for a job interview. Consistent with the relevance, expectedness, and credibility of different signals, the specific signal that is effective in each domain differs between apprenticeship applicants and college graduates. While GPAs and social skills are significant for both genders, males are particularly rewarded for maturity and females for IT and language skills. Older HR managers value school grades less and other signals more, whereas HR managers in larger firms value college grades more.


The relationship between BQP and PH has been an open problem since the earliest days of quantum computing. We present evidence that quantum computers can solve problems outside the entire polynomial hierarchy, by relating this question to topics in circuit complexity, pseudorandomness, and Fourier analysis.
 First, we show that there exists an oracle relation problem (i.e., a problem with many valid outputs) that is solvable in BQP, but not in PH. This also yields a non-oracle relation problem that is solvable in quantum logarithmic time, but not in AC0.
 Second, we show that an oracle decision problem separating BQP from PH would follow from the Generalized Linial-Nisan Conjecture, which we formulate here and which is likely of independent interest. The original Linial-Nisan Conjecture (about pseudorandomness against constant-depth circuits) was recently proved by Braverman, after being open for twenty years.


Principal component analysis (PCA) is a well-established tool in machine learning and data processing. The principal axes in PCA were shown to be equivalent to the maximum marginal likelihood estimator of the factor loading matrix in a latent factor model for the observed data, assuming that the latent factors are independently distributed as standard normal distributions. However, the independence assumption may be unrealistic for many scenarios such as modeling multiple time series, spatial processes, and functional data, where the outcomes are correlated. In this paper, we introduce the generalized probabilistic principal component analysis (GPPCA) to study the latent factor model for multiple correlated outcomes, where each factor is modeled by a Gaussian process. Our method generalizes the previous probabilistic formulation of PCA (PPCA) by providing the closed-form maximum marginal likelihood estimator of the factor loadings and other parameters. Based on the explicit expression of the precision matrix in the marginal likelihood that we derived, the number of the computational operations is linear to the number of output variables. Furthermore, we also provide the closed-form expression of the marginal likelihood when other covariates are included in the mean structure. We highlight the advantage of GPPCA in terms of the practical relevance, estimation accuracy and computational convenience. Numerical studies of simulated and real data confirm the excellent finite-sample performance of the proposed approach.


This article is premised on the claim that all of the world's major religions, Buddhism included, contain within them numerous malleable doctrines and associated practices that, under certain situations and circumstances, can be reconfigured or transformed into instruments that either actively or passively condone the use of violence against those identified as threats, and/or the death of those fighting against them. What makes these doctrines and practices, designated as 'violence-enabling mechanisms', so difficult to identify is that on the surface these entities appear to have little or nothing to do with sanctioning violence. Accompanied by ample concrete historical examples, this article asserts that such enabling mechanisms are to be found in all of Buddhism's major traditions and schools, from the ancient past up through the latest newspaper headlines. It offers a challenge to all who believe that Buddhism is solely a religion of peace.


This research focuses on proposing and evaluating an optimized hybrid system of wind and tidal turbines operating as a renewable energy generating unit in New Zealand. Literature review indicates increasing worldwide investment in offshore renewable energy in recent years. Offshore energy shows a high potential as an alternative energy generation solution to that of fossil fuels. Using the capacities of wind and tidal power in renewable technologies would be a suitable alternative for fossil fuels and would help prevent their detrimental effects on the environment. It is a cost-effective procedure for the power generation sector to maximize these renewables as a hybrid system. At the design phase, turbine types appropriate to environmental conditions for an area with high wind speed and tidal flow need to be considered. When selecting which turbines should be used, horizontal or vertical axis, number and length of blades, and optimized rotational speed are all important to get maximum capacity from either the wind or tidal energy for the hybrid system. Comprehensive simulation models of the hybrid system are now being set up, using several available commercial software packages such as QBlade, Simulink, and RETScreen. Several different parameters will be required for these simulation models to run in order to test performance, capacity and efficiency of the proposed hybrid system. To decide which regions are suitable for the hybrid system, it will be necessary to analyze available wind and tide records from NIWA, and online databases such as GLOBAL ATLAS. This next phase of research will aim to create optimized scenarios for the hybrid model by considering the effect of wind and water speed on performance. After deciding which region and scenarios are suitable, it will also be necessary to evaluate the costs and returns of a hybrid system. This final phase will be performed using the RETScreen simulation model.


A total of 204 K- 12 teachers were surveyed for the purpose of investigating the effect of pre-service student teaching on teachers' career goals, affective measures and classroom teaching. The study also explored whether different levels of supervision of student teaching may have had different effects on teachers" personal and professional aspects of their job, and in what areas the pre-service student teaching experience was helpful in their teaching. Among new teachers, those who had student teaching experience had a significantly higher level of job- satisfaction than those who did not have student teaching experience. Teachers who had student teaching tended to show a higher level of confidence in their ability to change student learning in positive ways. Teachers indicated that making a positive impact on students was the most important job factor in their decision to remain in teaching. Among those who had student teaching, the amount of direct supervision they received during student teaching was significantly associated with teachers" desires to remain in teaching. Teachers indicated lesson planning as the most helpful area and building professional relationships as the least helpful area in which they received help from student teaching. ********** Chapman and Green (2001) in their study on teacher credentialing program graduates identified attrition as being linked to teacher's pre-service experience. Traditionally, student teaching is a component of pre-service training. Many alternative teacher preparation programs, such as university and school district intern programs, allow candidates for permanent certification to begin regular contracted teaching assignments before they complete their supervised student teaching. Further, student teaching experience is often very different from what teachers may face during their first year in the classroom. Using data from a study of teachers by the Northwestern State University (Louisiana), Marlow and Inman (1994) found that more than one-third of teachers found their first year in the classroom to be "a disappointment or surprise, and not what they had expected" (p.282). This leads to the question of the effectiveness of pre-service student teaching: How do pre-service student teaching experiences influence teachers' career goals and teacher efficacy? And how does it help prepare pre-service teachers for their classroom teaching? Purpose of the study The purpose of the study was to investigate whether teachers with pre-service teaching experience (student teaching) have different career goals or sense of efficacy than those without the student teaching experience; and whether they were more likely to stay in the teaching profession than their counterparts who did not do student teaching prior to entering the classroom, particularly for new teachers with five or less years of teaching experience. The study also explored whether different levels of supervision of student teaching may have had different effects on teachers' personal and professional aspects of their job, and in what areas the pre-service student teaching experience was helpful in their teaching. Research Questions The research questions are as follows: 1. Was having had student teaching experience related to the credentialing status of new teachers (teachers with five or less years of teaching)? 2. Did pre-service student teaching experience influence teacher efficacy, job-satisfaction, enjoyment in classroom teaching, and confidence level in their ability to impact student learning in positive ways? 3. Did student teaching and the amount of direct supervision during student teaching have any long-term impact on new teachers' goal to remain in classroom teaching or stay in the teaching profession? 4. Were there differences in personal/ professional aspects of teaching based on the level of supervision they received during student teaching? …


Introduction: The tissue slice technique offers several benefits compared to isolated cells and cell clusters that help us understand the (patho)physiology of several organs in situ. The most prominent features are preserved architecture and function, with intact homotypic and heterotypic interactions between cells in slices. In the pancreas, this technique has been utilized successfully to study acinar and endocrine islet cells. However, it has never been used to investigate ductal function. Since pancreatic ductal epithelial cells (PDECs) play an essential role in the physiology of the pancreas, our aim was to use this technique to study PDEC structure and function in situ. Materials and methods: Eight- to sixteen weeks old C57BL/6 mice were used for preparation of pancreas tissue slices. Low melting point agarose was injected into the common bile duct and the whole organ was extracted. For morphological studies, pieces of tissue were embedded in agarose and cryosectioned to obtain 15 μm thick slices. In order to visualize pancreatic ducts, (i) the Giemsa dye was added to the agarose and visualized using light microscopy or (ii) immunostaining for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) was performed. For functional characterization, agarose-embedded tissue was immediately cut to 140 μm thick tissue slices that were loaded with the cell permeant form of the Oregon Green 488 BAPTA-1 dye and used for confocal calcium imaging. Results: Giemsa staining has shown that the injected agarose reaches the head and body of the pancreas to a greater extent than the tail, without disrupting the tissue architecture. Strong CFTR expression was detected at the apical membranes of PDECs and acinar cells, whereas islet cells were completely negative for CFTR. Stimulation with chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA, 1 mM) resulted in a robust transient increase in intracellular calcium concentration that was readily visible in >40 ductal cells per slice. Conclusion: Our results confirm that the acutely-isolated pancreas tissue slice technique is suitable for structural and functional investigation of PDECs and their relationship with other cell types, such as acini and endocrine cells in situ. In combination with different genetic, pharmacological or dietary approaches it could become a method of choice in the foreseeable future.


There is evidence that access to green spaces have positive effects on health, possibly through beneficial effects on exercise, air quality, urban heat islands, and stress. Few previous studies have examined the associations between green space and mortality, and they have given inconsistent results. This ecological study relates green space to mortality in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2011. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a measure of green space coverage, was measured for 199 small geographic areas in Hong Kong. Negative Binomial Regression Models were fit for mortality outcomes with NDVI, age, gender, population density, and area-level socio-economic variables as predictors, with Generalized Estimating Equations used to control for within-cluster correlation. An interquartile range (0.44 units) higher NDVI was significantly associated with lower cardiovascular (relative risk (RR) = 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.80, 0.98) and diabetes (RR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.60, 0.92) mortality, and non-significantly associated with lower chronic respiratory mortality (RR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.79, 1.02). Associations were stronger for males and low-income area residents. Lung cancer mortality had no significant association with green space. Better provision of urban green space, particularly in low-income areas, appears to have potential to reduce mortality in densely-populated Asian cities.


Feedback on player experience and behaviour can be invaluable to game designers, but there is need for specialised knowledge discovery tools to deal with high volume playtest data. We describe a study witha commercial third-person shooter, in which integrated player activity and experience data was captured and mined for design-relevant knowledge. We demonstrate that association rule learning and rule templates can be used to extractmeaningful rules relating player activity and experience during combat. We found that the number, type and quality of rules varies between experiences, and is affected by feature distributions. Further work is required on rule selection and evaluation.


Abstract The authors summarize the progress made in the past decade toward making homeless assistance programs more accountable to funders, consumers, and the public. They observe that research on the costs of homelessness and cost offsets associated with intervention programs has been limited to people who are homeless with severe mental illness. But this research has raised awareness of the value of this approach, such that dozens of new studies in this area are underway, mostly focused on "chronic homelessness." Less progress has been made in using cost and performance data to systematically assess interventions for families, youth, and transitionally homeless adults. The authors present case studies of promising practices from the State of Arizona and Columbus, Ohio, demonstrating innovative uses of client and program data to measure performance and improve program management toward state policy goals, such as increased housing placement rates, reduced lengths of homelessness, and improved housing stability. Abstract The authors summarize the progress made in the past decade toward making homeless assistance programs more accountable to funders, consumers, and the public. They observe that research on the costs of homelessness and cost offsets associated with intervention programs has been limited to people who are homeless with severe mental illness. But this research has raised awareness of the value of this approach, such that dozens of new studies in this area are underway, mostly focused on "chronic homelessness." Less progress has been made in using cost and performance data to systematically assess interventions for families, youth, and transitionally homeless adults. The authors present case studies of promising practices from the State of Arizona and Columbus, Ohio, demonstrating innovative uses of client and program data to measure performance and improve program management toward state policy goals, such as increased housing placement rates, reduced lengths of homelessness, and improved housing stability.


Is targeted killing an effective counterterrorism tactic? Several studies published in academic journals over the last decade differ over the answer. While some believe that it is effective as a tactic within a larger counterterrorism strategy, others believe that it has no effect or possibly a negative effect in countering terrorism. This paper argues that although current studies may be valuable for understanding the impact of targeted killing in specific case studies, they do not yet provide a basis for making general pronouncements on whether targeted killing is or is not an effective counterterrorism tactic. Problems include widely divergent definitions, a dearth of evidence, difficulties in measuring success, and the radical differences between case studies that make comparison and generalization a questionable exercise. However, while the evidence does not yet allow scholars, pundits, and policymakers to make general pronouncements on the effectiveness of targeted killing generally, it does provide grounds to begin a normative debate over whether such policies are appropriate. In addition, it suggests that researchers and policymakers should focus on gathering and improving empirical data to advance decision making on counter- terrorism tactics in the future, particularly on when targeted killing should or should not be employed.


The administrative state and administrative law are commonly understood to be the product of statutes, judicial doctrines, and agency practices rather than constitutional text. In recent years, however, federal courts have been forced to confront important constitutional questions concerning the President's exercise of administrative discretion under broadly worded federal statutes. Among those questions: (1) Does the Constitution impose any independent constraints on the administrative discretion that is available to the President under the text of federal statutes? (2) If so, are judges obliged to determine whether that discretion has been abused? and (3) How should judges make such determinations?

This Article argues that the Take Care Clause of Article II, Section 3 constrains the President's administrative discretion and that judges are obliged to determine whether that discretion has been "faithfully" exercised. It then constructs a faithful execution framework that judges can use to implement the "letter" — the text — and the "spirit" — the functions — of the Take Care Clause. To that end, it makes use of a theory of fiduciary government that informed the content and structure of the Take Care Clause and draws upon well-established administrative law doctrines. It uses the faithful execution framework to evaluate President Barack Obama's 2014 Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and President Donald Trump's 2017 travel bans. By so doing, this Article shows that central components of modern administrative law rest upon sound constitutional foundations. It also provides judges with constitutionally inspired tools that can be used to promote presidential accountability, discipline presidential discretion, secure the rule of law, and thwart presidential opportunism.


The increasing power demand has led to the growth of new technologies that play an integral role in shaping the future energy market. Keeping in view of the environmental constraints, grid connected wind turbines are promising in increasing system reliability. This paper presents the impact of FACTS controllers on the long-term dynamic stability of power systems connected with wind farms based on doubly fed induction generator systems. The stability assessment is made first for a three-phase short circuit without the FACTS controllers in the power network and then with the FACTS controllers. The long-term dynamic simulation results yield information on: 1) the impact of faults and slow wind speed changes on the performance of wind driven induction generators; 2) the change in controllable parameters of the FACTS controllers following the faults and wind speed changes; 3) transient reactive power ratings of FACTS controllers for enhancement of rotor speed stability of induction generators and angle stability of synchronous generators.


This paper deals with the development of a new multi-objective evolution strategy in combination with an integrated pollution-load and water-quality model. The optimization algorithm combines the advantages of the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm and Self-Adaptive Evolution Strategies. The identification of a good spread of solutions on the pareto-optimum front and the optimization of a large number of decision variables equally demands numerous simulation runs. In addition, statements with regard to the frequency of critical concentrations and peak discharges require continuous long-term simulations. Therefore, a fast operating integrated simulation model is needed providing the required precision of the results. For this purpose, a hydrological deterministic pollution-load model has been coupled with a river water-quality and a rainfall-runoff model. Wastewater treatment plants are simulated in a simplified way. The functionality of the optimization and simulation tool has been validated by analyzing a real catchment area including sewer system, WWTP, water body and natural river basin. For the optimization/rehabilitation of the urban drainage system, both innovative and approved measures have been examined and used as decision variables. As objective functions, investment costs and river water quality criteria have been used.


Modeling and implementing dynamical systems is a central problem in artificial intelligence, robotics, software agents, simulation, decision and control theory, and many other disciplines. In recent years, a new approach to representing such systems, grounded in mathematical logic, has been developed within the AI knowledge-representation community. This book presents a comprehensive treatment of these ideas, basing its theoretical and implementation foundations on the situation calculus, a dialect of first-order logic. Within this framework, it develops many features of dynamical systems modeling, including time, processes, concurrency, exogenous events, reactivity, sensing and knowledge, probabilistic uncertainty, and decision theory. It also describes and implements a new family of high-level programming languages suitable for writing control programs for dynamical systems. Finally, it includes situation calculus specifications for a wide range of examples drawn from cognitive robotics, planning, simulation, databases, and decision theory, together with all the implementation code for these examples. This code is available on the book's Web site.


We theoretically investigate the isolated attosecond pulse generation in a pre-excited medium by using local nanoplasmonic fields with few-cycle duration. It is shown that the combined effect of the temporal ionization of the pre-excited medium and the spatial inhomogeneity of the local nanoplasmonic field can dramatically control the quantum path, leading to broadband supercontinuous harmonics with high yield. Moreover, this spatiotemporal combination is robust against the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) shift, and the broadband supercontinuum can be supported by nearly all the CEPs of the local field. It would open a route to obtain efficient isolated attosecond emission with no need for the CEP-stabilized laser technique.


Life without economic subordination is recognized around the world as a fundamental human right. When individuals are economically impoverished, they are more likely to not only offend, but also repeatedly offend, because poverty compounded with the imposed civil disabilities of a criminal conviction further socially isolate and minimize their life options. This factual inference is not only illustrated through the experiences of my family members, but is also supported by empirical data and theoretical scholarship. Because of this correlation between poverty and criminal offenses, one reason to advocate for alleviating economic subordination is to decrease criminal activity. Practitioners of community economic development (CED) and reentry lawyers are two dynamic groups of individuals who are working within predominantly inner-city communities of color to increase economic and social opportunities. This Comment argues that CED practitioners and reentry lawyers should collaborate to achieve healthy communities and neighborhoods. The reciprocal benefits that result from this collaboration make it imperative that reentry lawyers are active participants to improve the efficacy of CED initiatives.


Further in those Bantu societies where I have myself studied social structure, whether in Central or in South Africa, nothing is more remarkable than the lack of permanence of particular lineages or "segments"; the infinite variety there is in their composition, their liability to change owing to historic factors, the strength of individual personalities and similar determinants .... Nor have I ever worked in an Africa [sic] society in which status within a particular group, an age-set or a territories [sic] section, was equal. The very existence of so many principles of ranking makes for varied status of the individuals within the segment concerned. This would be revealed in a careful descriptive account of some particular ceremony or activity undertaken by one of the segments studied, but is concealed by the diagrams of this book. I therefore cannot see the distinction between domestic and political systems of segments sharply defined as Dr. Evans-Pritchard has described it. The two systems seem to me to grow one out of the other, and in the dynamics of a social situation constantly to overlap. Abstractions are obviously necessary if sociology is to develop as a science, but I think those of this book have been made too soon, at too low a level, and by too summary an exclusion of matter that did not "fit." Nevertheless, I consider the work more stimulating than many a carefully written and detailed monograph and it well repays the effort of reading and re-reading what is in some sections very difficult abstract matter. However unsatisfying in some respects, it is a brilliant, [sic] tonic, and in the best sense of the word, an irritating book. No anthropologist can afford to miss it.


With its powerful combination of visual layout tools, application development features, and code editing support, Dreamweaver MX 2004 is sure to become your tool of choice for creating and managing Web sites. This book offers the key to all of its magic. Sure, you could wade your way through a thousand-page tome to learn the ins and outs of every Dreamweaver feature, but as a Web developer or designer focused on deadlines, details, and putting across an effective message, what you really need is somebody else to do that work for you: to dig up the time-saving tips and shortcuts that will get you to your destination fast. Lucky for you, authors Joseph Lowery and Angela C. Buraglia have done just that, drawing on their own vast Dreamweaver experience to deliver a book that's nothing but those cool sidebar tips. In the process, they cover all of Dreamweaver MX 2004's new features: built-in image-editing technology that lets you edit your images without leaving Dreamweaver, painless cross-browser development, and more.


ABSTRACTExposure to airborne particulate matter is associated with a number of negative health effects ranging from respiratory diseases to systemic effects and cancer. One important factor for understanding the health effects is the individual variation in the respiratory tract deposition of inhaled particles. In this study, we describe an experimental set-up for size-resolved measurements of the lung deposited fraction of airborne particles, covering the diameter range from 15 to 5000 nm. The set-up includes a system for generating a stable aerosol with a sufficiently broad size distribution. We used a scanning mobility particle sizer and an aerodynamic particle sizer to determine particle number and size. The set-up was used to investigate individual differences in the deposition fraction (DF) of particles in the respiratory tract for a group of 67 subjects of both sexes aged 7–70 years. The measured DF was applied to two model aerosols, one representing an urban environment and one a rural environment, and the particle deposition rates were derived (i.e., the deposited amount of particles per unit time). Furthermore, the deposition rates were normalized to lung surface area and body mass – two dose measures that are considered relevant for the health effects of airborne particles. In addition to validation of the set-up, we show that there is a large individual variation in DF, with some subjects having a DF that is more than twice as high as that of others. Although we observe differences in the DF between different subgroups, most individual variation was explained neither by age nor by gender. When normalizing the deposition rates to lung surface area or body mass, the deposition rates of children become significantly higher than those of adults. Furthermore, the individual variability is larger for the lung surface area or body mass normalized deposition rates than for DF.


Current biomass production and trade volumes for energy and new materials and bio‐chemicals are only a small fraction to achieve the bioenergy levels suggested by many global energy and climate change mitigation scenarios for 2050. However, comprehensive sustainability of large scale biomass production and trading has yet to be secured, and governance of developing biomass markets is a critical issue. Fundamental choices need to be made on how to develop sustainable biomass supply chains and govern sustainable international biomass markets. The aim of this paper is to provide a vision of how widespread trade and deployment of biomass for energy purposes can be integrated with the wider (bio)economy. It provides an overview of past and current trade flows of the main bioenergy products, and discusses the most important drivers and barriers for bioenergy in general, and more specifically the further development of bioenergy trade over the coming years. It discusses the role of bioenergy as part of the bioeconomy and other potential roles; and how it can help to achieve the sustainable development goals. The paper concludes that it is critical to demonstrate innovative and integrated value chains for biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower that can respond with agility to market factors while providing economic, environmental, and societal benefits to international trade and market. Furthermore, flexible biogenic carbon supply nets based on broad feedstock portfolios and multiple energy and material utilization pathways will reduce risks for involved stakeholder and foster the market entry and uptake of various densified biogenic carbon carriers. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd


The paper studies the degree of servicification (or the role of services as inputs in manufacturing) of selected 61 Asian countries in terms of global value chain (GVC) activities at the sectoral level using domestic and foreign services from 1995 to 2011. We explore empirically the possible sources of servicification of the economies in terms of the factors driving the expansion of servicification. We categorize servicification activities into two types: (a) domestic servicification using domestic services and (b) foreign servicification using foreign value-added content in domestic exports. Servicification is confirmed in selected Asian countries, particularly in 16 East Asian countries associated with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiation. However, the selected Asian countries tend to have lower domestic servicification levels, but higher foreign servicification levels as compared to the overall sample of countries in the study. Countries with higher participation rates and lower positions in GVCs tend to have higher levels of foreign servicification across the sectors. In contrast, countries with higher participation rates and higher positions in GVCs tend to use more domestic services in manufacturing exports. The effect is larger for Asian countries as compared to the developed countries in the sample. The study also highlights the role of technical improvement and institutional as key factors in the development of services in the global production value chain.


Aims: Healthcare providers are confronted with the claim that the distribution of health and healthcare provision is inherently unfair. There is also a growing awareness that the tools and methodologies applied in tackling health inequalities require further development. Evaluations as well as interventions usually focus on population-based indicators, but do not always provide guidance for frontline service evaluation and delivery. That is why the evaluation framework presented here focuses on facilitating local service development, service provider and user involvement, and the adequate representation of different population groups. Methods: A participative evaluation framework was constructed by drawing on six common success characteristics extrapolated from the published literature and policies on health inequalities. This framework was then applied to an intervention addressing women's psychosocial health needs in order to demonstrate its utility in practice. Results: The framework provides healthcare professionals with an evidence-based tool for evaluating projects or programmes targeting health inequalities in ways that are responsive to local contexts and stakeholders. Conclusion: This participative evaluation framework supports the identification of meaningful psychosocial and contextual indicators for assessing the diverse health and social needs of service users. It uses multi-dimensional indicators to assess health and social care needs, to inform local service development, and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge between researchers, service providers, and service users. The inherent responsiveness enables rigorous yet flexible action on local health inequalities.


Macrophage precursors originate from and undergo lineage commitment within designated sites of hematopoiesis, such as the mammalian bone marrow. These cells subsequently differentiate in response to stimulation with macrophage colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1). The amphibian bone marrow, unlike that of mammals, has been overlooked as a source of leukocyte precursors in favor of the liver subcapsular region, where hematopoiesis occurs in anurans. Here we report that the bone marrow rather than the liver periphery provides macrophage progenitors to the amphibian Xenopus laevis. We identified the amphibian CSF-1, examined its gene expression in developing and virally infected X. lae vis and produced it in recombinant form (rXlCSF-1). This rXlCSF-1 did not bind or elicit proliferation/differentiation of subcapsular liver cells. Surprisingly, a subpopulation of bone marrow cells engaged this growth factor and formed rXlCSF-1 concentration-dependent colonies in semisolid medium. Furthermore, rXlCSF-1-treated bone marrow (but not liver) cultures comprised of cells with characteristic macrophage morphology and high gene expression of the macrophage marker CSF-1 receptor. Together, our findings indicate that in contrast to all other vertebrates studied to date, committed Xenopus macrophage precursor populations are not present at the central site of hematopoiesis, but reside in the bone marrow.


The pedagogical challenges in preparing child and youth care (CYC) education for 21st century CYC practice, global citizenship and life cannot be rightfully addressed by an antiquated higher education system predicated on a Newtonian/Cartesian ontology that assumes a mechanistic view of the materialistic world and a solitary view of the "self†as completely autonomous, ego-based, and self-enclosed. In this article, we propose an alternative ontological stance for teaching and learning in higher education, one that is informed by the growing body of relational ontology scholarship in theology, philosophy, psychology, nursing, political theory, educational theory, and even information science. The basic contention of a relational ontology is that all relations between entities are ontologically more fundamental than the entities themselves. Within this perspective, the "self†is not so much a personal possession as it is a process of relatedness and a reflection of one's relational experiences. This view of the self has enormous implications for teaching and learning. A relational ontological approach to education will employ more holistic, collaborative, and experiential methods of teaching and learning in which the learner's (i.e., the self's) mind, body, emotions, spirit, and environment are all considered essential components of the learning process. The conversation presented in this article is an invitation to rethink the ontological foundations upon which CYC education is currently constructed and to explore the potential of an ontological revolution in CYC teaching and learning pedagogy. In CYC, as in other disciplines, it is the visionaries operating at the edges of the discipline's philosophical, theoretical, and practice boundaries who provide the critical reflection and creativity of thought to nudge the field forward. The educationists are suggested to join this adventure.


As the nation witnesses the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it might be worthwhile to assess the steps the United States has taken since the passage of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (1) and the USA PATRIOT Act (2)--to combat future acts of terrorism against the United States. Ten years ago I wrote an Essay for this Journal calling for the federal government to unleash one of its under-used resources, the CIA. (3) In the years since that Essay, the CIA has experienced some astonishing successes--spy commandos and drone warfare--and some troubling failures-extraordinary rendition and enhanced interrogation--on an operational level. Bureaucratically the intelligence community has been shuffled and reshuffled, adding new layers of management but not necessarily making the intelligence community more effective. The joint CIA and Navy SEAL operation of May 2, 2011, which resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden, (4) offers an opportunity to examine U.S. intelligence efforts to combat terrorism in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Ten years after September 11, there has not been an attack in the United States on a similar scale since that horrific day. We have experienced near misses, such as the failures of both the underwear bomber on Christmas Day, 2009 (5) and the Times Square bomber in May 2010. (6) We experienced the shootings of twelve soldiers by an Arab-American military psychiatrist at Fort Hood Army base in November 2009, (7) although it is not clear that attack was terrorist-inspired. Nonetheless, there have not been any recurrences of terrorist killing in the United States on a mass scale. Why? A simple answer is that we are no longer the unaware, unprotected country we were in early September 2001. Airport security procedures are more elaborate, and the notion of "if you see something, say something" (8) has become widespread. Nonetheless, it is important to ask if we have just been fortunate or if we are demonstrably better at international counterterrorism. Ten years after September 11, there are many new players in the world of U.S. counterterrorism. In addition to calling for the creation of a Director of National Intelligence (9) and a National Counterterrorism Center, (10) the 2004 9/11 Commission Report encouraged information sharing among government departments with access to intelligence on terrorism. (11) Indeed, the 9/11 Commission noted that the September 11 attacks were the product of a plot dreamed up in Hamburg, Afghanistan, and Madrid, within the operational jurisdiction of the CIA and the U.S. Department of State, but the action was destined to take place in the United States, where responsibility for stopping it fell largely to the FBI and local law enforcement. (12) In an age of instant communications, the CIA and FBI ought to be in constant contact about matters that relate to national security. But do the relevant elements of the U.S. Government regularly communicate with one another as the 9/11 Commission envisioned, or have bureaucratic setbacks like Wikileaks driven the intelligence community back to old information stovepiping habits? Thus, the events of September 11 led directly to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, a gigantic agglomeration of domestic law enforcement, immigration, customs, and coastal protection authorities that did not include a domestic intelligence gathering entity separate from the FBI, like the UK's MI5. (13) In addition, the United States has committed $75 billion annually to counterterrorism, (14) including the hiring of hosts of contractors holding an estimated 265,000 top secret clearances. (15) What have we to show for this extraordinary expenditure of resources? With this background in mind, I turn to the role of the intelligence community, particularly the CIA. The CIA rebounded quickly after the September 11 debacle by inserting a team of civilian special operations case officers into northern Afghanistan three weeks later. …


In this paper, we present a fully-customized AR display design that considers the user's prescription, interpupillary distance, and taste of fashion. A free-form image combiner embedded inside the prescription lens provides augmented images onto the vision-corrected real world. The optics was optimized for each prescription level, which can reduce the mass production cost while satisfying the user's taste. The foveated optimization method was applied which distributes the pixels in accordance with human visual acuity. Our design can cover myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia, and allows the eye-contact interaction with privacy protection. A 169g dynamic prototype showed a 40° × 20° virtual image with a 23 cpd resolution at center field and 6 mm × 4 mm eye-box, with the vision-correction and varifocal (0.5-3m) capability.


Influenza A/M2 is a minimalistic integral membrane protein that mediates proton transport across the viral membrane and is of interest as an antiviral drug target. This protein has been extensively studied by electrophysiologists, biophysicists, structural biologists, and medicinal chemists, but a synthesis and unified extension of the knowledge bases from these fields has not been undertaken. The principal aim of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive, quantitative, structure-based mechanism that accounts for the key functional and biophysical properties of A/M2. To demonstrate the electrophysiological equivalence of the protein's transmembrane domain (M2TM) and full length A/M2, proteoliposome flux experiments are conducted as a first step. Next, high-resolution crystals of an M2TM variant are obtained; the resulting structure and computational simulations provide a structural basis for the unusually high degree of charge stabilization inside the M2TM helical bundle, suggest a previously unseen mechanism used by Nature to stabilize charge in a membrane, and shed light on the likely pH-dependent structural transitions that the protein undergoes. Fluorescence quenching and EPR spectroscopy experiments confirm that M2 reconstituted in bilayers undergoes pH-driven changes in its conformational equilibrium that are consistent with available structures and governed by previously reported pKa values. Mechanistic models of this process are constructed and successfully fit to functional data. The fitting results show that proton transport and rectification are mediated by conformational transitions between structural ensembles with different proton affinities. Finally, the functional implications of targeted changes to the geometric and electronic properties of the key His 37 sidechain are observed, indicating that the shape of the His 37 imidazole rings is exquisitely tuned to mediate proton transport. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics First Advisor William F. DeGrado


The landmark book that defines successful product development-revised, updated, and expanded for the next generation of product leaders.. For over a decade, Winning at New Products has served as the bible for product developers everywhere. In this fully updated and expanded edition, Robert Cooper demonstrates with compelling evidence why consistent product development is so vital to corporate growth and how to maximize your chances of success. By any measure, most product concepts never make it to market, and of those that do, most fail. Winning at New Products cites the most recent research and showcases innovative practices at such industry leaders as 3M, Exxon Chemical, and Guinness to present a field-tested game plan for achieving product leadership. Cooper outlines specific strategies for assessing risk, marshalling the appropriate resources, engaging customers in the pre-development discovery phase, evaluating your project portfolio, ensuring true cross-functional collaboration, and, most importantly, applying a rigorous process for making sound business decisions at every step-from idea generation to launch.


Composite YAG/Nd:YAG/YAG transparent ceramics for planar waveguide laser were fabricated by non-aqueous tape casting and solid-state reactive sintering. The slurry made from the oxide powder mixtures shows a shear thinning behavior. The morphologies of the tapes were homogeneous in structure, and the tapes had appropriate strength and toughness. After calcining at 600°C for 10h in air, the samples contained less than 0.05wt.% of carbon. No gaps were found between the layers on the fracture surface of the green body compacted by cold isostatic pressing. The composite YAG/Nd:YAG/YAG transparent ceramics with in-line transmittance of 82.5% at 1064nm were obtained by vacuum-sintering at 1760°C for 30h, whose average grain size is 36.8μm. The diffusion distance of the Nd3+ ions was about 150μm along the thickness direction of the ceramics.


The primary goal of this project was to transcribe a 2010 interview with Raul Ceja, a resident of Santa Maria, California who had been a member of the Local 1222 of the Laborers International Union of North America. The interviewee Raul Ceja was born in Guadalupe, California, raised in Nipomo, and was a current resident of Santa Maria, California at the time of the interview. Raul Ceja is known locally and respected for facilitating the United Farm Workers Union's establishment throughout the Central Coast. The significance of Raul Ceja's interview is that he has personal reflections and perspectives on controversies specific to the Central Coast, thus providing an example of counter-memory that gives us an alternative and previously suppressed account to the established knowledge that has been propagated by those individuals and institutions with greater power.


It is not easy to isolate the damage mechanisms associated with low-velocity impact in composites using traditional experiments. In this work, a new experiment is presented with the goal of generating data representative of progressive damage processes caused by low-velocity impact in composite materials. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer test specimens were indented quasi-statically such that a biaxialbending state of deformation was achieved. As a result, a three-dimensional damage process, involving delamination and delamination-migration, was observed and documented using ultrasonic and x-ray computed tomography. Results from two different layups are presented in this paper. Delaminations occurred at up to three different interfaces and interacted with one another via transverse matrix cracks. Although this damage pattern is much less complex than that of low-velocity impact on a plate, it is more complex than that of a standard delamination coupon test and provides a way to generate delamination, matrix cracking, and delamination-migration in a controlled manner. By limiting the damage process in the experiment to three delaminations, the same damage mechanisms seen during impact could be observed but in a simplified manner. This type of data is useful in stages of model development and validation when the model is capable of simulating simple tests, but not yet capable of simulating more complex and realistic damage scenarios.


Here, we introduce an online tool for the prediction of exoplanet transit light curves. Small telescopes can readily capture exoplanet transits under good weather conditions when the combination of a bright star and a large transiting exoplanet results in a significant depth of transit. However, in reality there are many considerations that need to be made to obtain useful measurements. This paper and the accompanying website lay out a procedure based on timeseries differential photometry that has been successfully employed using 0.4 m aperture telescopes to predict the expected precision for a whole light curve. This enables robust planning to decide whether the observation of a particular exoplanet transit should be attempted, and in particular to be able to readily see when it should not to be attempted. This may result in a significant increase in the number of transit observations captured by non-specialists. The technique and website are also appropriate for planning a variety of variable star observations where a prediction of the light curve can be made.


Lower back pain (LBP) appears to be a common overuse injury in cycling. However, there are few scientific studies that report on the epidemiology and risk factors associated with LBP in cyclists. The prolonged flexed posture that a cyclist maintains may lead to increased mechanical strain of the lumbar spine, causing LBP. In this article, the epidemiology, pathomechanics and risk factors associated with LBP in cyclists will be critically reviewed.
An extensive literature review was conducted using an evidence-based approach. Using selective keywords (lower back pain, cyclists, bicycle set-up, risk factors) a search was undertaken on the PubMed database to identify all research publications that relate to lower back pain in cyclists.
Although epidemiological studies were limited, LBP was shown to be a common cycling overuse injury. The point prevalence of LBP in cyclists ranged from 10-60%. It has been suggested that LBP in cyclists may be prevented by adjusting certain bicycle parameters to match the anthropometric measurements of the cyclist. Pathomechanical hypotheses for the development of LBP in cyclists are poorly supported, and most studies were conducted over time periods shorter than one hour. Monitoring cyclists over a longer period of cycling may yield more accurate data. There is strong evidence supporting the incorrect saddle angle as an intrinsic risk factor is associated with LBP in cyclists.
In conclusion, additional research on the epidemiology of LBP in cyclists is necessary. Further research studies, such as case control and intervention studies are necessary to study pathomechanics and risk factors associated with LBP in cyclists.


Densities of 26 submergent macrophyte species were determined in situ regularly for 3 years by individuals using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba). Although most of these species grew only during the summer, ten maintained high population densities and productivity throughout the winter. Maximum winter photosynthetic activity was 10 to 20 percent of summer rates. Extensive productivity of submergent aquatic plants under winter ice cover has not been well documented.


Constructing a virtual world requires certain technical skills and the ability to make difficult decisions regarding how the world will look and feel. However, the most difficult aspect of building a virtual world has less to do with the building of the virtual spaces and more to do the conceptualisation of how teaching and learning will occur in this new type of environment. This paper examines some of the issues involved in the process of planning a virtual learning world by focusing on key design questions that need to be asked prior to building virtual instructional spaces.


Reflective practice is accepted as being a key component of professional education and practice in health and social care. However an emphasis on self reflection frequently fails to broaden the lens to take into account wider issues of power and inequality, to move beyond technical rationalism and remains at the individual level rather than being embedded within relational notions of dialogue both within teams and across professions. This paper will challenge traditional uniprofessional models of reflection through the development of an approach to interprofessional learning informed by models of critical practice that seek to critique and transcend traditional professional boundaries. Attention will also be paid to the central importance of service users as the essential focus of collaborative team working. The implications of embedding critical reflection as a key component of an integrated strategy for interprofessional learning will be discussed with reference to the development of a new interprofessional learning strategy for pre registration students
within which reflective practice is introduced as both a discrete unit and a continuing theme throughout the curriculum. The paper will conclude that a model of critical and reflective practice will enable future practitioners to respond to the transformation of previously compartmentalised ways of thinking and working and the challenge of new ways of working.


In this article the author raises a few ideas concerning jurisprudence, academic friendship and community, and the university as heterogenous public space. She warns against overzealous belief in and reliance on a kind of rationality that results in functionalism. In following the distinction between 'optimal' and 'true' philosophy an argument for jurisprudence as a continuous engagement with complexity is proposed. Drawing on aesthetic examples she reflects on the becoming of a post-apartheid jurisprudence with reference to notions of slowness, memorial constitutionalism, transformative constitutionalism and refusal.
Concerning friendship, the author discusses the significance of friendship, democracy and community for not only academic teaching and research but also academic interaction and collegiality. In connection with the argument on jurisprudence and against the background of Derridean insights, a philosophical engagement with friendship and democracy is supported. Finally an argument is made for the university as a heterogenous public space that should encourage ongoing deliberation and contestation. It is contended that a certain understanding of democracy and friendship is crucial for the functioning of a university as a truly heterogenous space and not one that continues hegemony. In conclusion the author, following Hannah Arendt, calls for jurisprudence in particular and the university on a wider level to engage with complex thinking.


The Great Barrier Reef is regarded as one of the natural wonders of the world and is
recognised as having World Heritage significance. The wealth and complexity of its
natural attributes form the basis of a rich and complementary human history. However,
management of the region is focused on the conservation of natural attributes,
sometimes at the cost of human interests and cultural values. This is symptomatic of the
way in which many heritage properties are managed and is a source of problems in the
identification and interpretation of heritage. There is a need to better understand the
human dimensions of such 'natural wonders' to ensure effective management. In order
to address some of these issues, this thesis explores visitor experiences and knowledge
of the Great Barrier Reef with a particular focus on the non-local experiences and
knowledge that underpin the region's global recognition.
One of the major issues for management is the mutable nature of heritage values. This
research therefore seeks to develop an understanding of how such heritage values are
formed, transformed and sustained over time. It takes an historical approach to
understand the ways in which visitor knowledge of the Reef has been constructed and
transmitted both temporally and spatially. Methods novel to heritage assessments are
developed and implemented to identify and contrast visitor experiences in the past and
those of the present.
The study focuses on visitor sensory experiences of the Reef as a means to understand
knowledge of place. A concept of sensuousness is defined and used to understand how
knowledge of place is constructed through the human senses, and communicated within
and between generations.
The research identifies a number of significant changes in the way in which visitors
have constructed and understood the Great Barrier Reef. These include the creation of
idealised Pacific islands at the expense of an Australian location and character; the
transformation of the dangerous underwater world into a controlled and benign coral
garden; and the synecdoche of the coral garden as representative of the Reef as a whole.
Central to these constructions is the way in which simulacra are used to create
experiences that are increasingly both dislocated and disembodied. As a consequence
visitor knowledge of the Reef has shifted from sensuous perception of the Reef as a
place or series of places, to the construction of imaginative and photographic simulacra
that manifest as experiences of space and non-place.
Through the exploration of this case study, the thesis makes a contribution to both
theoretical and methodological issues in heritage studies.


A nonlinear symmetric stability theorem is derived in the context of the f-plane Boussinesq equations, recovering an earlier result of Xu within a more general framework. The theorem applies to symmetric disturbances to a baroclinic basic flow, the disturbances having arbitrary structure and magnitude. The criteria for nonlinear stability are virtually identical to those for linear stability. As in Xu, the nonlinear stability theorem can be used to obtain rigorous upper bounds on the saturation amplitude of symmetric instabilities. In a simple example, the bounds are found to compare favorably with heuristic parcel-based estimates in both the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic limits.


Abstract Since 1980, northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) range-wide populations declined 3.9% annually. Within the West Gulf Coastal Plain Bird Conservation Region in the south-central United States, populations of this quail species have declined 6.8% annually. These declines sparked calls for land use change and prompted implementation of various conservation practices. However, to effectively reverse these declines and restore northern bobwhite to their former population levels, habitat conservation and management efforts must target establishment and maintenance of sustainable populations. To provide guidance for conservation and restoration of habitat capable of supporting sustainable northern bobwhite populations in the West Gulf Coastal Plain, we modeled their spatial distribution using landscape characteristics derived from 1992 National Land Cover Data and bird detections, from 1990 to 1994, along 10-stop Breeding Bird Survey route segments. Four landscape metrics influenced detections of northern bobwhite: detections were greater in areas with more grassland and increased aggregation of agricultural lands, but detections were reduced in areas with increased density of land cover edge and grassland edge. Using these landscape metrics, we projected the abundance and spatial distribution of northern bobwhite populations across the entire West Gulf Coastal Plain. Predicted populations closely approximated abundance estimates from a different cadre of concurrently collected data but model predictions did not accurately reflect bobwhite detections along species-specific call-count routes in Arkansas and Louisiana. Using similar methods, we also projected northern bobwhite population distribution circa 1980 based on Land Use Land Cover data and bird survey data from 1976 to 1984. We compared our 1980 spatial projections with our spatial estimate of 1992 populations to identify areas of population change. Additionally, we used our projection of the spatial distribution and abundance of bobwhite to predict areas of population sustainability. Our projections of population change and sustainability provide guidance for targeting habitat conservation and rehabilitation efforts for restoration of northern bobwhite populations in the West Gulf Coastal Plain.


This paper examines conceptions of gender identity and gender relations among youth in rural northern Namibia to see whether or not real life practices are meeting the requirements of legislationthat supports gender equality including the right to work in all spheres for equal pay and benefits, discouragement ofgender-based violence and marginalization, and equality with regard to property inheritance. More specifically, we describe the attitudes and behaviour regarding sex and male/female relationships among these youth. Qualitative research methods based on focus group discussions (FGD) were the core of the data collection techniques in this exploratory study. Our findings indicate that male respondents feel that males are superior to females. Both 15- to 19-year old and 20- to 24-year-old boys confirmed this. Girls affirm this finding but feelings of inferiority were more marked among girls aged 15 to 19 than among 20 to 24 year olds. All these groups regard sexual intercourse as normal, contributing to a sense of powerlessness when girls are in the presence of boys. Males initiate sexual behaviour (as it is culturally unacceptable for females to do so) and seem to have many more partners than girls. The gap between existing laws and what is culturally desirable (in sex practices) seems real and must be addressed in extended sex education forums whose curriculum challenges long held cultural beliefs aboutmasculinity and femininity.


: Purpose: As part of the study, the authors assessed and compared the digital competences of teachers in selected European countries. The research was carried out as part of the project "Adult Social Inclusion in a Digital Environment (ASIDE) Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education - Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices" No. 2019-1-PL01-KA204-065689, between 01-09-2019 and 31-08-2021. Approach/Methodology/Design: The value of each index has been determined based on answers to several questions (for details see the appendix). The variables analyzed in the study were defined based on a set of parameters assessed by the respondents on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 - a low level and 5 - a high level. They were defined as the mean values of the answers to each question regarding a given index. Since the variables identified above are based on the answers to several questions, they were analyzed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients to verify their reliability. Findings: The lowest value of all indexes can be observed in the case of teachers from Poland. This group also has the highest percentage of persons with the lowest values of the analyzed indexes. In the case of teachers from Spain and Turkey, the level of four of the indexes is similar. In the case of the last two indexes, the value indicated by teachers from Turkey is significantly the highest. Practical Implications: The results are of key importance and should be used to formulate assumptions, regulations, and guidelines for the creation of policies, instruments, and tools to support educators in the use of digital technologies as part of the education process. The results can contribute to the achievement of the European goal of creating new operational curricula through active and responsible development of digital competences.


The polarization-dependent photon-number squeezing of 1.5 dB from a grating feedback locking quantum-well laser in a cryostat has been experimentally detected with a balanced homodyne detector including an imperfect nonpolarized-beam splitter. The great influence of the birefringence induced at low temperature on the determination of the shot-noise-limit and on the detection of photon-number squeezing is discussed in detail. Birefringence is compensated for by insertion of a half-wave plate of adjustable inclination into the output beam before the polarization components of the optical system.


The purpose of this article is to analyze the effects of thermal mass on heating and cooling energy in Nordic climate and for modern, well-insulated Nordic buildings. The effect of thermal mass is analyzed by calculations made by seven researchers and by seven different calculation programs. Six of these programs are simulation programs (Consolis Energy, IDA-ICE, SciaQPro, TASE, VIP, VTT House model) and one monthly energy balance method (maxit energy) based on the standard EN 832, which is the predecessor of ISO DIS 13790. It is purpose to evaluate the reliability of the monthly energy calculation method and especially its gain utilization factor compared with the simulation programs. In addition some sensitivity analysis concerning e.g., the effects of the size and the orientation of windows and the weather data on the energy consumption are made.The results show that the simplified standard methods of EN 832 and of ISO DIS 13790 generally give accurate results in calculating the annual heating energy, e.g., in the context of energy design and energy certification. However, the gain utilization factor of these standards is too low for very light buildings having no massive surfaces resulting in a too high energy consumption. The study shows, that the differences in input data cause often greater differences in calculation results than the differences between various calculation and simulation methods.


Abstract In the DIII-D electron heating and current drive installation, up to six gyrotron microwave generators in the 1-MW class at pulse lengths up to 5 s have been operated simultaneously. The frequency for all the gyrotrons is 110 GHz, corresponding to the second harmonic of the electron gyrofrequency at 2 T. The peak generated power has been >4 MW with peak injected power slightly greater than 3 MW. The radio frequency (rf) generators are located remotely and are connected to the tokamak by up to 100 m of evacuated circular corrugated waveguide carrying the HE1,1 mode with overall transmission efficiency, including coupling to the waveguide, of up to 75%. Ancillary equipment for polarization control, beam switching, power monitoring, control of launch direction, and system protection has been developed. The system has been used to support a wide variety of physics experiments, including control of magnetohydrodynamic modes, current density profile modifications, basic plasma heating and current drive, transport studies, and rf-assisted start-up. The gyrotron complex is being upgraded by the acquisition of additional tubes with 5- to 10-s pulse length capability.


Many politicians, gerontologists, and editorial writers have come to deplore the trend toward early retirement. This trend, which began after World War II and accelerated in the 1960s and 1970s, has led to a dramatic decline in work effort and earnings among the elderly. Opponents of early retirement believe that keeping people in the work force longer will raise the nation's output, reduce the costs of Social Security, and improve the well-being of older Americans. ; This article takes a closer look at the economic arguments behind the widespread call for continued employment of older workers, particularly in view of the substantial aging of the population. The conclusion that emerges from the analysis is straightforward. Once social insurance costs are insulated from individual retirement decisions and individuals and their employers make their own provisions for support before the official Social Security retirement age, no strong economic reason exists to resist the trend toward early retirement, if that trend reflects the preference of the retiring individuals for more leisure and fewer goods.


Abstract. Estimating the aerosol contribution to the global or regional radiative forcing can take advantage of the relationship between the spectral aerosol optical properties and the size and chemical composition of aerosol. Long term global optical measurements from observational networks or satellites can be used in such studies. Using in-situ chemical mixing state measurements can help us to constrain the limitations of such estimates. In this study, the Absorption Angstrom Exponent (AAE) and the Scattering Angstrom Exponent (SAE) derived from 10 operational AERONET sites in California are combined for deducing chemical speciation based on wavelength dependence of the optical properties. In addition, in-situ optical properties and single particle chemical composition measured during three aircraft field campaigns in California between 2010 and 2011 are combined in order to validate the methodology used for the estimates of aerosol chemistry using spectral optical properties. Results from this study indicate a dominance of mixed types in the classification leading to an underestimation of the primary sources, however secondary sources are better classified. The distinction between carbonaceous aerosols from fossil fuel and biomass burning origins is not clear, since their optical properties are similar. On the other hand, knowledge of the aerosol sources in California from chemical studies help to identify other misclassification such as the dust contribution.


We explore the use and usefulness of the hybrid open access publishing model in agricultural sciences using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. To ascertain the level of usage of the paid open access option in hybrid open access journals in agriculture, we studied the agriculture-related journals published by six commercial publishers. These publishers offer authors the option of paying a fee, often close to $:000 per article, to make their article immediately freely available, usually with a Creative Commons license. We defined agriculture broadly but also assigned each journal to a subspecialty (e.g., animal science) in order to see if there were differences based on these subdivisions. For each journal we gathered data for 2014-2015 and noted the total number of research articles and the number of those that were made freely available by authors paying the open access fee. To give context to our results we also surveyed local faculty in agricultural sciences, asking their reasons for considering the paid open access options and the sources of the funds to pay for it. Survey respondents were asked about their academic position and rank to see if there were differences to be noted. We also investigated the findability of the open access articles, noting if each individual publisher offered a way to easily locate all the freely available articles in a particular journal and if there are other avenues to easily locate these articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


The Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit have repeatedly emphasized the public interest in testing the validity of patents, weeding out patents that should not have been issued. But there is one important group of people the law systematically prevents from challenging bad patents. Curiously, it is the very group patent law is supposed to support: inventors themselves. The century-old doctrine of assignor estoppel precludes inventors who file patent applications from later challenging the validity or enforceability of the patents they receive. The stated rationale for assignor estoppel is that it would be unfair to allow the inventor to benefit from obtaining a patent and later change her tune and attack the patent when it benefits her to do so. The Supreme Court has traditionally disfavored the doctrine, reading it narrowly. But the Federal Circuit has expanded the doctrine in a variety of dimensions, and applied it even when the benefit to the inventor is illusory. Further, the doctrine misunderstands the role of inventor-employees in the modern world. More important, the expansive modern form of assignor estoppel interferes substantially with employee mobility. Inventors as a class are put under burdens that we apply to no other employee. If they start a company, or even go to work for an existing company in the same field, they will not be able to defend a patent suit from their old employer. The result is a sort of partial noncompete clause, one imposed without even the fiction of agreement and one that binds anyone the inventor comes in contact with after leaving the job. Abundant evidence suggests that noncompetes in general retard innovation and economic growth, and several states prohibit them outright, while all others limit them. But assignor estoppel is a federal law doctrine that overrides those state choices.It is time to rethink the doctrine of assignor estoppel. I describe the doctrine, its rationale, and how it has expanded dramatically in the past 25 years. I argue that the doctrine is out of touch with the realities of both modern inventing and modern patent law, and that it interferes with both the invalidation of bad patents and the goal of employee mobility. Should the Supreme Court take up the doctrine, it is unlikely to survive in its current form. Rather, it should – and will – return to its much more limited roots.


The study was performed to investigate the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of different thyme species on performance, intestinal morphometry, nutrient digestibility and immune response of male broiler chickens. A total of 160 day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allotted to five treatments including a control basal diet or diets supplemented with 0.1% of four thyme extracts (Thymus daenensis, T. kotschyanus, T. lancifolius, and T. transcaspicus) with four replicates of eight birds each. The experiment was lasted for 28 days. There were no significant effects of treatments on broilers performance during the first three weeks of age. At fourth weeks of age and throughout the experimental period, the chickens on T. daenensis extract showed the best weight gain among the treatments (P<0.05), while feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not affected by the treatments throughout the experimental period. The birds receiving T. daenensis extract had higher jejunal villus height and villus height to crypt depth (P<0.05) than those on the control. All thyme extracts increased villus surface area (P<0.05). Supplementation of diet with T. daenensis extract improved digestibility of organic matter, dry matter, crude carbohydrate, crude ash and ether extract (P<0.05). The immune response to Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine and sheep red blood cell (SRBC) were not affected by the treatments. The results indicated that the response of broiler chickens to thyme extract depends on birds' age and genotype of the plant.


Abstract The difference in species diversity on different substrates and the effect of both substrate (ground, logs, rocks, trees, and fallen branches) and site variation (such as disturbance history, aspect, slope) on bryophyte and lichen diversity were investigated in eastern Australian forests. Thirty-five sites in forest types ranging from dry sclerophyll to riparian were surveyed using a 50 m × 20 m area. Despite strong differences between the different substrates in species richness and composition for both bryophytes and lichens, differences within each substrate were limited. On examining each substrate separately, we found that variation in substrate quality, such as degree of log decay, was not strongly correlated with species diversity, explaining no more than 16% of richness and 5% of composition. Despite both bryophytes and lichens showing high fidelity for particular substrates, the quality of that substrate was not an important factor in determining species diversity in this study. Site environmental variables explained larger variation in both bryophyte and lichen species diversity, in particular species richness, with individual site variables explaining up to 41% of richness (topographic position) and 6% of composition (time since fire). For some site variables, notably some of the disturbance variables, there were no overall trends, but significant results for particular substrates, such as logging being significant only on logs and trees.


The negative impact of climate change may be reduced with mitigation strategies in developing countries. Some studies project that developing countries in the Tropics will be worse off than developed countries under different scenarios of global climate change, due to warmer climates, increased droughts and floods. Their populations are poorer, and therefore more vulnerable to climate stresses and shocks. Bolivia is an example: A country that experienced climate variability, political change and structural adjustment throughout the nineties. These forces have an effect on rural livelihood strategies. Canonical correlations identify the elements of strategies that impact on both income and diversity of the household portfolio. The ability of rural people to access resources, accumulate assets, and engage in certain activities allow some to adapt to variability in the short run, providing insights into characteristics or traits of technologies, markets, and policies that may contribute to long term adaptation.


We conducted a qualitative study of Nokia to understand its rapid downfall over the 2005–2010 period from its position as a world-dominant and innovative technology organization. We found that top and middle managers' shared emotions during the smartphone innovation process caused cycles of behaviors that harmed both the process and its outcome. Together, organizational attention structures and historical factors generated various types of shared fear among top and middle managers. Top managers were afraid of external competitors and shareholders, while middle managers were mainly afraid of internal groups, including superiors and peers. Top managers' externally focused fear led them to exert pressure on middle managers without fully revealing the severity of the external threats and to interpret middle managers' communications in biased ways. Middle managers' internally focused fear reduced their tendency to share negative information with top managers, leading top managers to develop an overly optimistic perception of their organization's technological capabilities and neglect long-term investments in developing innovation. Our study contributes to the attention-based view of the firm by describing how distributed attention structures influence shared emotions and how such shared emotions can hinder the subsequent integration of attention, influencing innovation processes and outcomes and resulting in temporal myopia—a focus on short-term product innovation at the expense of long-term innovation development.