Krezhova, D., B. DiKova and S. Maneva, 2014. Ground based hyperspectral remote sensing for disease detection of tobacco plants. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 20: 1142-1150 Greenhouse experiment was conducted in the institute "n. Poushkarov", Department Plant Protection Kostinbrod, with young tobacco plants infected with TSWV (Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus). Remote sensing technique, spectral reflectance, was applied for detecting and assessing the development of the viral infection. at growth stage 4-6 expanded leaf some of the plants were inoculated with TSWv by using infected material from a pepper fruit with severe symptoms of yellow spotting. Hyperspectral reflectance data of healthy (control) and infected leaves was collected by a portable fibre-optics spectrometer in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges. The measurements were conducted on the 14th and 20th days after the inoculation. Spectral reflectance analyses were performed in green, red, red edge, and NIR regions. The differences between the reflectance spectra of control and infected leaves were assessed by means of the Student's t-criterion at ten selected wavelengths and first derivative analysis. The viral concentration in the leaves was determined by the serological method DAS-ELISA. On the 14th day no visual changes in some of the infected leaves occurred but the differences of averaged reflectance spectra against the control were statistically significant at four of the investigated wavelengths and the presence of TSWV was established, i.e. the latent infection has been occurred. Reflectance spectra of the other leaves differed statistically significantly at eight wavelengths. on the 20th day the statistical analysis indicates an increase of the number of statistically significant differences and the shift of the red edge position, i.e. the infection is deepening that is in agreement with serological analyses.


Although the security of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) has been recently receiving significant attention from the research community, undoubtedly, there still exists a substantial lack of a comprehensive and a holistic understanding of attackers' malicious strategies, aims and intentions. To this end, this paper uniquely exploits passive monitoring and analysis of a newly deployed network telescope IP address space in a first attempt ever to build broad notions of real CPS maliciousness. Specifically, we approach this problem by inferring, investigating, characterizing and reporting large-scale probing activities that specifically target more than 20 diverse, heavily employed CPS protocols. To permit such analysis, we initially devise and evaluate a novel probabilistic model that aims at filtering noise that is embedded in network telescope traffic. Subsequently, we generate amalgamated statistics, inferences and insights characterizing such inferred scanning activities in terms of their probe types, the distribution of their sources and their packets' headers, among numerous others, in addition to examining and visualizing the co-occurrence patterns of such events. Further, we propose and empirically evaluate an innovative hybrid approach rooted in time-series analysis and context triggered piecewise hashing to infer, characterize and cluster orchestrated and well-coordinated probing activities targeting CPS protocols, which are generated from Internet-scale unsolicited sources. Our analysis and evaluations, which draw upon extensive network telescope data observed over a recent one month period, demonstrate a staggering 33 thousand probes towards ample of CPS protocols, the lack of interest in UDP-based CPS services, and the prevalence of probes towards the ICCP and Modbus protocols. Additionally, we infer a considerable 74% of CPS probes that were persistent throughout the entire analyzed period targeting prominent protocols such as DNP3 and BACnet. Further, we uncover close to 9 thousand large-scale, stealthy, previously undocumented orchestrated probing events targeting a number of such CPS protocols. We validate the various outcomes through cross-validations against publicly available threat repositories. We concur that the devised approaches, techniques, and methods provide a solid first step towards better comprehending real CPS unsolicited objectives and intents.


This paper presents a decomposition-based method for timed circuit design that is capable of significantly reducing the cost of synthesis. In particular, this method synthesizes each output individually. It begins by contracting the timed signal transition graph (STG) to include only transitions on the output of interest and its possible trigger signals. Next, the reachable state space for this contracted STG is analyzed to determine a minimal number of additional signals, which must be reintroduced into the STG to obtain complete state coding. The circuit for this output is then synthesized from this STG. Results show that the quality of the circuit implementation is nearly as good as the one found from the full reachable state space, but it can be applied to find circuits for which full-state-space methods cannot be successfully applied. The proposed method has been implemented as a part of our tool Nii-Utah Timed Asynchronous circuit Synthesis system (nutas), and its first version is available at http://research.nii.ac.jp/~yoneda.


By directly affecting democratization, globalization, domestic conflict, and interstate conflict, the end of the Cold War was hypothesized to exert an indirect effect on the propensity of governments to respect the human rights of their citizens. The findings for a sample of 79 countries showed that torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings continued at about the same rate even after the Cold War ended. However, after the end of the Cold War, there was significant improvement in government respect for the right against political imprisonment. Contrary to expectations, it was found that governments that decreased their involvement in interstate conflict or experienced decreased domestic conflict did not tend to increase respect for the right against political imprisonment. As hypothesized, it was found that governments that became more democratic or increased their participation in the global economy after the end of the Cold War tended to manifest higher levels of respect for the right of their citizens not to be politically imprisoned. However, a closer look at several recent examples of democratization in Africa suggests that any human rights improvements resulting from post-Cold War democratization may be short-lived. In the cases examined, improved government respect for the right against political imprisonment resulted from short-term manipulations by the leaders of `illiberal' or `demonstration' democracies who were not committed to democratization or to the advancement of the human rights of their citizens.


This study has tested and optimized different filter media and pre-conditioning methods, extraction methodologies, cleaning techniques and solvents, concentration procedures and GC-MS parameters in order to establish the best methodology to sample and analyze particle-bound PAH collected in low volume samples (1.4 m3). The procedure developed combines the use of quartz fiber filters pre-conditioned at 400 °C for 48 h with a simple extraction procedure and optimized GC-MS parameters. The average method detection limits ranged from 4 to 15 pg m−3 for the 4–7 ring PAHs, precision (RSD) ranged from 0.3 to 9.7% and accuracy ranged from −6 to 25%. This method was validated with the extraction and analysis of the Standard Reference Material 1649a and was tested successfully on samples collected in outdoor microenvironments proving suitable for determination of particle-bound PAH concentrations without interferences in low volume samples.


Soil salinity is a widespread environmental problem, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In Pakistan, about 6.3 million hectares of land are affected by salinity and ground water in most of these saline areas is also brackish and thus unfit for irrigation. Reclamation of large areas of saline lands seems difficult due to many climatic and economic factors such as shortage of fresh water for leaching of salts, poor natural drainage, high costs for construction and maintenance of drainage systems, etc. However, salt-affected lands and brackish water could be utilized for cultivation of salt tolerant plants. Use of halophyte species, that accumulate high amounts of salt, has been reported to improve saline sodic soils. Kallar grass (Leplochloa fusca [L.] Kunth), a highly salinity-tolerant species, is used as a primary colonizer for plant establishment and biomass production on saline sodic lands. The growth of kallar grass not only provides biomass to be used as forage but also ameliorates soil conditions, thus facilitating the growth of other species in succession and improving the general environment. However, systematic studies describing successive changes in soil properties of the saline lands after kallar grass planting are scanty in the literature. Sustainability of growing plants on saline sodic soils with saline water irrigation has not been thoroughly investigated. The question of how long term use of saline irrigation water will, affect, deteriorate or ameliorate, the soil environment already degraded due to salinity still remains unanswered. Studies were, therefore, conducted to monitor the changes, in physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of a saline-sodic soil profile in reclamation fields under kallar grass.

The soil was highly saline (ECe=22 dS m-1), sodic (SAR=184.4), alkaline (pH=10.4), low in organic matter (3.3 gKg-1) with poor soil physical properties. Kallar grass was grown for five years, irrigated with saline under ground water (ECe=1.4 dSm-l, SARadj=19.5 and RSC=9.66).

The cropping of kallar grass improved appreciably physico-chemical properties of soil within a period of three years. The growth of grass increased significantly and linearly (r =0.974**) the plant available water due to increase in water retention at various applied pressure tensions. The increase in plant available water was found to be highly correlated (0.922**) to an increase in organic matter content, porosity (0.989**) and most of the soil physical properties (hydraulic permeability, structural stability. specific surface area) and was inversely correlated with soil salinity, pH sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble cations and anions. The hydraulic permeability increased exponentially (InKfs =-0.421+0.982T) with growth of kallar grass and was significantly correlated with soil porosity, water retention, structural stability and organic matter content.

Soil salinity, sodicity and pH decreased exponentially by growing kallar grass due to leaching of salts from surface (0-20 cm) to lower depths (> 1 00 cm). The reduction in soluble cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) and anions (C1-, SO42-, HCO3-) occurred due to leaching from upper to lower depths of soil. A significant decline in soil pH was attributed to release of CO2 by grass roots and solublization of CaCO3. Both soil salinity measured as electrical conductivity (ECe) and soil pH were significantly correlated with most of the chemical characteristics Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, C1-,HCO3-, and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR). Significant correlations were found between soluble cations (Na+, Ca2+ and K+), soluble anions (C1-, SO42- and HCO3-) and sodium adsorption ratio. In contrast, the results showed negative correlations between soil organic matter content (OM) and all chemical properties. The cropping of kallar grass resulted in an increase of soil organic matter content linearly (r=0.924**). The soil organic matter content exhibited highly significant relationships (r>0.820*) with available water, porosity, structural stabilty index, hydraulic permeability and specific surface area confirming its effectiveness to improve deteriorated soil physical properties.

The uncropped control soil showed a younger mineralogy with early stage of weathering. The clay fraction of control soil contained a mixture of mica, mainly illite (44.8 %) smectite (24.5 %), kaolinite (10 %), chlorite (7.5 %) with minor amounts of hematite/goethite (5.5 %), quartz (4 %) and traces of feldspar. The growth of kallar grass enhanced soil weathering with the increase in smectite, chlorite and hematite/goethite at the expense of illite and kaolinite. The elemental composition of clay fraction in control soil revealed that SiO2 dominated with an average of 53% followed by A12O3 (23%) and Fe2O3 (8%). The A12O3 increased in clay fraction due to its incorporation in the formation of depths of 1:2 expansible clay with the growth of kallar grass. The SiO2 and K2O decreased while, Fe2O3 and MgO increased with advancement of weathering by growing kallar grass compared to uncropped soil.

The illite content exhibited positive correlation with kaolinite, SAR, pH, Electrical conductivity (ECe), and inverse relations with most of the soil physical properties considered in this study. Smectite showed a high correlation with soil organic matter content and soil physical parameters and inverse relations with SAR, ECe and pH under kallar grass cropping. Smectite also showed high correlation with oxides of Mg, Ca, Al and Fe. The transformation of 1:1 type clay to 2:1 type expansible clay due to weathering improved soil physical properties and dispersed fraction of colloidal particles leached down alongwith soluble ions. The increase in smectite content may have enhanced the availability of both micro and macro nutrients due to its higher retention capacity.

The study confirmed that salt-affected soils can be improved effectively with biological approach, i.e. by growing salt tolerant plants. Kallar grass showed a tremendous potential to improve most of the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties without any adverse effects of saline water on soil properties. The growth of kallar grass enhanced leaching and interactions among the physical, chemical and mineralogical soil prope11ies and restored soil fertility The ameliorative effects on soil properties were more pronounced after three years of growing kallar grass. Soil maintained the improved characteristics with further growth of the grass up to five years suggesting that growing salt tolerant plants is a sustainable approach for biological amelioration of saline wastelands.


This programme of research consists of eight studies which sought to determine how healthcare professionals' hand hygiene practice might be improved. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was used to isolate perceived cognitive and physical factors that may explain the variance in their hand hygiene behaviour. Practice was observed and healthcare professionals' understanding of the hand hygiene policy to which they were expected to adhere was assessed. Messages on hand hygiene posters were analysed. The effect of two educational interventions on students' attitudes was tested. Achieving change will be challenging for several reasons. Healthcare professionals hold false perceptions about their hand hygiene behaviour; they think it is better than it is but their practice is unrelated to their intentions and self-reports of behaviour. Adherence to the national guideline was poor and practice was neither rational nor informed by risk assessment, even when caring for patients colonised with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Student nurses' attitudes towards the importance of hand hygiene showed progressively downward trends between three cohorts in their first, second and third years of training. The difference was particularly pronounced between first and second years. Their attitudes also showed optimistic bias and false consensus beliefs. For all but one of the 11 clinical procedures measured, they said that they value hand hygiene practice significantly more than other nurses and doctors they work alongside. A microbiology laboratory practical and a demonstration using a fluorescent cream and an ultraviolet light hand inspection cabinet were equally effective at enhancing students' attitudes towards hand hygiene, but the improvement was quickly eroded by their first experience of clinical practice. Various factors in the clinical setting impact negatively on healthcare professionals' attitudes and practice and undermine the principles taught in the pre-clinical phase of training. These include poor role models, ambiguous hand hygiene policies and inappropriately framed messages on hand hygiene posters which lead to confusion in the minds of healthcare professionals about when hands should be washed. In order to improve healthcare professionals' hand hygiene behaviour, it is necessary to disambiguate their understanding about when hands should be washed. There needs to be more emphasis on infection prevention. An active process called the Dynamic Assessment Strategy for Hand Hygiene (DASHH) offers one way of changing poor practice. It does this by teaching healthcare professionals to consider hand hygiene before and after care as separate activities requiring separate risk assessment. Such a strategy provides them with a simple mind map to make the quick informed decisions that are required on a busy ward. The effectiveness of the strategy needs to be evaluated. Observation should form part of the assessment to ensure that there is a beneficial outcome and that good practice is becoming a habit.


This research considers the prevalence of iron deficiency in children with autism and Asperger syndrome and examines whether this will influence guidelines and treatment. Retrospective analysis of the full blood count and, as far as available, serum ferritin measurements of 96 children (52 with autism and 44 with Asperger syndrome) was undertaken. Six of the autistic group were shown to have iron deficiency anaemia and, of the 23 autistic children who had serum ferritin measured, 12 were iron deficient. Only two of the Asperger group had iron deficiency anaemia and, of the 22 children who had their serum ferritin measured, only three were iron deficient. Iron deficiency, with or without anaemia, can impair cognition and affect and is associated with developmental slowing in infants and mood changes and poor concentration in children. This study showed a very high prevalence of iron deficiency in children with autism, which could potentially compromise further their communication and behavioural impairments.


Abstract Carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse has been shown to improve time trial performance. Although the exact mechanism remains un-established, research postulates that there are oral cavity receptors which increase neural drive. Increasing the duration of the mouth rinse could potentially increase stimulation of these receptors. The aim of the current investigation was to determine whether the duration of mouth rinse with 6.4% CHO affected 30-min self-selected cycling performance. Eleven male participants (age =24.1±3.9 years) performed three 30-min self-paced trials. On one occasion water was given as a mouth rinse for 5 s without being ingested placebo (PLA), on the other two occasions a 6.4% CHO solution was given for 5 and 10 s. Distance cycled, heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion, cadence, speed and power were recorded throughout all trials. The main findings were that distance cycled during the 10-s mouth rinse trial (20.4±2.3 km) was significantly greater compared to the PLA trial (19.2±2.2 km; P<0.01). There was no difference between the 5- and 10-s trials (P=0.15). However, 10 out of 11 participants cycled further during the 5-s trial compared to PLA, and eight cycled further during the 10-s trial compared to the 5 s. In conclusion, although there was an improvement in distance cycled with the 5-s mouth rinse compared to the PLA it was only significant with 10 s suggesting a dose response to the duration of mouth rinse.


Abstract. Since numerical weather prediction (NWP) models are usually used to force ocean circulation models, it is important to investigate their skill in reproducing surface meteorological parameters in open sea conditions. Near-surface meteorological data (air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction) have been acquired from several sensors deployed on an offshore large spar buoy in the Ligurian Sea (Northern Mediterranean Sea) from February to December 2000. The buoy collected 7857 valid records out of 8040 during 335 days at sea. These observations have been compared with data from NWP models and specifically, the outputs of the ECMWF analysis in the two grid points closest to the buoy position. Hourly data acquired by the buoy have been undersampled to fit the data set of the model composed by values computed at the four synoptic hours. For each mentioned meteorological parameter an analysis has been performed by evaluating instantaneous synoptic differences, distributions, daily and annual variations and related statistics. The comparison shows that the model reproduces correctly the baric field while significant differences result for the other variables, which are more affected by local conditions. This suggests that the observed discrepancies may be due to the poor resolution of the model that probably is not sufficient to appropriately discriminate between land and ocean surfaces in a small basin such as the Ligurian Sea and to take into account local peculiarities. The use of time- and space-averaged model data reduces the differences with respect to the in situ observations, thus making the model data usable for analysis with minor requirements about time and space resolution. Although this comparison is strongly limited and we cannot exclude measurement errors, its results suggest a great caution in the use of the model data, especially at high frequency resolution. They may lead to incorrect estimates of atmospheric forcing into ocean circulation models, causing important errors in those areas, such as the Mediterranean Sea, where ocean circulation is strongly coupled with atmosphere and its high variability. Key words. Oceanography; general (marginal and semiclosed seas; marine meteorology; numerical modelling)


BACKGROUND
The Intervention Nurses Start Infant Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study's responsive parenting (RP) intervention, initiated in early infancy, prevented the use of nonresponsive, controlling feeding practices and promoted use of structure-based feeding among first-time parents compared with controls.

OBJECTIVES
We sought to examine the spillover effect of the RP intervention on maternal feeding practices with their secondborn (SB) infants enrolled in an observational-only study, SIBSIGHT, and to test the moderating effect of spacing of births.

METHODS
SB infants of mothers participating in the INSIGHT study were enrolled into the observation-only ancillary study, SIBSIGHT. SBs were healthy singleton infants ≥36 weeks of gestation. Infant feeding practices (i.e., food to soothe, structure vs. control-based practices) were assessed using validated questionnaires: Babies Need Soothing Questionnaire, Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, and the Structure and Control in Parent Feeding Questionnaire.

RESULTS
SBs (n = 117 [RP: 57, control: 60]; 43% male) were delivered 2.5 ± 0.8 y after firstborns (FBs). At age 1 y, the Structure and Control in Parent Feeding Questionnaire revealed that the mothers in the RP group used more consistent feeding routines (4.19 [0.43] compared with 3.77 [0.62], P = 0.0006, Cohen's D: 0.69) compared with control group mothers. From the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, RP group mothers also used less nonresponsive, controlling feeding practices such as pressuring their SB infant to finish (1.81 [0.52] compared with 2.24 [0.68], P = 0.001, Cohen's D: 0.68) compared with controls. In contrast to our hypotheses, no differences were detected in bottle-feeding practices such as putting to bed with a bottle/sippy cup or adding cereal to the bottle, despite observing study group differences in FBs. Spacing of births did not moderate intervention effects.

CONCLUSIONS
RP guidance given to mothers of FBs may prevent the use of some nonresponsive, controlling feeding practices while establishing consistent feeding routines in subsequent siblings.


Approximately 15-20% of secondary students in Australia experience reading difficulties. For many, the cognitive effort required to decode words or the lack of automaticity in the elements that contribute to fluent reading prevents effective reading comprehension. Because reading comprehension is of critical importance across the curriculum, students with difficulties in this area are at significant academic risk. One effective method of improving reading fluency is 'repeated readings' (NICHHD, 2000). The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of repeated readings delivered via a home-based program employing voice recognition software (VRS) could improve the reading fluency and self-perception as readers of adolescent students experiencing reading difficulties. The intervention was designed to overcome the problems associated with delivering a repeated reading program within a secondary English classroom. These problems relate to the amount of time required to conduct such a program within the constraints of the existing curriculum, and the reluctance of students to participate in a program that would draw attention to their reading difficulties. A treatment group participated in a home-based repeated reading program using VRS over a 20-week period and their results were compared to a comparison group who participated in a more traditional school-based repeated reading program. Reading fluency, comprehensions and reader self-perception were measured before and after the intervention. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and case studies. The intervention reported in this study resulted in improved reading rate, accuracy and comprehension for both the home-based treatment group and a school-based comparison group, with evidence of larger gains in the treatment group. The students' perceptions of themselves as readers, however, did not show significant gains.


Free software projects are a growing and important source of software. They range in size from one develop to hundreds. Unlike traditional models of software development, they use the Internet to collaborate in a decentralized, self-organizing fashion. It is important to understand how such communities can prosper without traditional centralized control. Open Sources is a visualization that operates on existing code bases and mailing list archives in order to understand the relationship between the community's communication patterns and the code. It attempts to reveal characteristic signatures that may result in successful projects, as well as the locally hidden history behind code and mailing list archives. A proof of concept is demonstrated with an informal evaluation. CR


Background:  This article examined the effect of poverty on economic growth in Nigeria because it was discovered that the existing literature has not holistically battle against the worsening scourge of poverty in Nigeria. Aim:  The article specifically examined the relationship between poverty and economic growth, the determinants of economic growth and poverty from 1980 to 2013. Setting:  The article is structured into five sections which include introduction, literature review, methodology, discussion of results and conclusion. Methods:  The article employed an error correction model as estimation technique to analyse the time series data collected. The Solow–Swan growth methodology and the cumulative and cyclical theory were adopted as methodological approach to achieve the objectives of this article. Results:  The article revealed a positive and significant relationship between inflation, life expectancy and economic growth, while investment proved insignificant. Conversely, poverty, corruption, debt, mortality, human capital development and unemployment presented negative relationships with economic growth. Corruption, life expectancy and mortality rate were significant, while poverty, debt, human capital development and unemployment proved insignificant. Corruption, inflation, life expectancy and mortality rate were the determinants of economic growth. Finally, the article further revealed that all the variables were determinants of poverty in Nigeria except corruption and human capital development. Conclusion:  The article concluded that poverty, corruption, debt, mortality rate, human capital development and unemployment retarded economic growth, whereas other variables enhanced economic growth. The article therefore recommends that government should establish quality institutions and sincere poverty alleviation programmes to improve the level of economic growth in Nigeria.


1. Cochlear outer hair cells 20-80 microns in length were compressed axially in vitro using calibrated glass fibers mounted on a piezoelectric actuator. 2. When driven by rectangular pulses in the compression direction, the motion of the fiber tip consisted of a rapid initial compression that was complete in 10-20 ms followed by a smaller compression of slower time course. 3. The initial fiber deflections were found to be linear in amplitude for compressions up to 400 nm. The axial compliances of outer hair cells were calculated from the difference between the fiber tip motions when unattached and when in contact with a cell. Axial compliances were found to be in the range of 0.04-1.2 km/N for 149 cells. The axial compliance was an increasing function of cell length. 4. The peak forces generated by electrically stimulated outer hair cells were measured from the deflection of a glass fiber when the cells were stimulated by sinusoidal voltage commands. The slope gains of force generation (force generated per mV of command at the cell membrane) were estimated to range from 0.01 to 100 pN/mV. Most of the results fell in the range of 0.1-20 pN/mV. 5. When the apparent stiffness of the fiber was increased by moving the cell closer to the fiber base, the peak amplitude of the fiber deflection generated by the cell decreased and the peak force increased, for the same sinusoidal voltage command. 6. The results of the previous experiment were interpreted in the light of a model of outer hair cell motility in which an ideal extension generating element is in series with an internal stiffness element. This internal stiffness was then calculated for 13 cells. 7. The internal stiffnesses of cells calculated by the above procedure were found to be positively correlated with the axial stiffness measurements obtained for the same cells. 8. The implications of the above results for the effectiveness of outer hair cell motility in vivo are discussed.


When the author embarked on her study, her aim was to approach former colonial officers with a view to analyzing processes of domination in the ex-Belgian Congo. However, after establishing a rapport with some of these officers, the author was soon forced to revise her initial assumptions, widely held in present-day Belgium: these officers were not the "baddies" she had expected to meet. Exploring the colonial experience through the respondents' memories resulted in a far more complex picture of the colonial situation than she had anticipated, again forcing her to question her original assumptions. This resulted not only in a more differentiated perspective on Belgian colonialist rule, but is also sensitized her as regards the question of anthropological understanding and of what constitutes historical fact.
These two aspects of her work are reflected in this study that offers specific material on the way Belgian colonialism is remembered and reflects on its conditions of production, thus combining ethnographic analysis with a theoretical essay.


ABSTRACT A feature extraction algorithm is proposed to quantitatively assess the condition of intact and damaged carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)-wrapped concrete cylinders using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The proposed algorithm converts SAR images into a simplified representation, based on the shape, size, and amplitude of SAR images. In this approach, the shape of scatterers in a SAR image is characterized by average Gaussian curvature (K), area ratio (R), and SAR amplitude (I), and is represented by a K-R-I curve. SAR images of intact and damaged CFRP-wrapped concrete cylinders were generated by a stripmap SAR imaging radar system (10.5 GHz) at various inspection angles (0°, 15°, 25°, 30°, 45°, and 60°). From our experimental result, it is found that the K-R-I representation of SAR images is capable of distinguishing damaged SAR images from intact ones at different inspection angles. Quantitative dissimilarity between the K-R-I curves of intact and damaged specimens is assessed by coefficient of correlation and compared with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of SAR images. It is found that the dissimilarity of K-R-I curves is closely related to the SNR of SAR images, demonstrating the feasibility and potential of the proposed K-R-I representation.


ABSTRACT The strong‐motion downhole array (SMDA) in Taipei basin is examined, and the data quality, glitches, and systemic errors in its data are discussed. This seismic network is an array of arrays: the SMDA comprises a total of 32 triggered strong‐motion acceleration seismometers spanning eight sites. Each site has one seismometer at the surface and an additional two to four seismometers each collocated at the individual boreholes. Polarity reversals, swapped components, clock desynchronization, and bad components (flat‐line signal or aseismic noise) have all been observed and are shown to be occasional issues. Signal‐to‐noise ratios are generally excellent. The lack of known orientations at depth is the primary issue regarding data quality of the SMDA. Orientations of each borehole seismometer were recorded at the time of installation, but those initial values are not reliable for subsequent events. Furthermore, redetermined azimuthal orientations are inconsistent from event to event, suggesting that the borehole seismometer orientations change over time. Orientation wander is not associated with instrument maintenance. An iterative method to reliably determine borehole seismometer orientations is introduced. Data from each borehole seismometer are rotated and compared with that from a collocated reference station on the surface with known orientation until a maximum correlation is reached. This method is reliable for most events, but may become unreliable for local events in which the incidence of incoming seismic waves is near vertical and shorter wavelengths introduce complicated wave propagation within Taipei basin. Temporal analysis of borehole seismometer orientations shows not only drifting of azimuthal orientations over time, but also erratic changes in orientation in multiples of 90°. This behavior is suggestive of frequent polarity reversals and/or swapped components on one or both of the two horizontal components of each borehole seismometer.


Significance Sex/gender differences in the brain are of high social interest because their presence is typically assumed to prove that humans belong to two distinct categories not only in terms of their genitalia, and thus justify differential treatment of males and females. Here we show that, although there are sex/gender differences in brain and behavior, humans and human brains are comprised of unique "mosaics" of features, some more common in females compared with males, some more common in males compared with females, and some common in both females and males. Our results demonstrate that regardless of the cause of observed sex/gender differences in brain and behavior (nature or nurture), human brains cannot be categorized into two distinct classes: male brain/female brain. Whereas a categorical difference in the genitals has always been acknowledged, the question of how far these categories extend into human biology is still not resolved. Documented sex/gender differences in the brain are often taken as support of a sexually dimorphic view of human brains ("female brain" or "male brain"). However, such a distinction would be possible only if sex/gender differences in brain features were highly dimorphic (i.e., little overlap between the forms of these features in males and females) and internally consistent (i.e., a brain has only "male" or only "female" features). Here, analysis of MRIs of more than 1,400 human brains from four datasets reveals extensive overlap between the distributions of females and males for all gray matter, white matter, and connections assessed. Moreover, analyses of internal consistency reveal that brains with features that are consistently at one end of the "maleness-femaleness" continuum are rare. Rather, most brains are comprised of unique "mosaics" of features, some more common in females compared with males, some more common in males compared with females, and some common in both females and males. Our findings are robust across sample, age, type of MRI, and method of analysis. These findings are corroborated by a similar analysis of personality traits, attitudes, interests, and behaviors of more than 5,500 individuals, which reveals that internal consistency is extremely rare. Our study demonstrates that, although there are sex/gender differences in the brain, human brains do not belong to one of two distinct categories: male brain/female brain.


The author expressed some ideas and comments on the processes of constitutional amendment, constitution-making and other important constitutional proposals which have appeared since the release of the Buthelezi Commission Report, namely the reports of the President's Council. The author acknowledged the positive aspects of the President's Councils reports, as well as their weaknesses from a constitutional law perspective. The President's Council and the government were trying to achieve a new constitutional dispensation for the whole country. It was necessary, however, to realise the basic nature of a constitution and the requirements for its making, and to discuss issues surrounding the President's Council and also the report of the Buthelezi Commission.


This paper presents a proposed expert system to identify the leaf diseases of three cereal crops (rice, maize and wheat). Keeping in view the advances in the field of agriculture and need of farmers, this expert system has been proposed. The identification of plant diseases is usually a difficult task and requires a plant pathologist or well-trained technician to accurately describe the case. Moreover, there are some diseases which have similar symptoms, thus making it difficult for non-experts like farmers to distinguish between diseases correctly. This expert system will use the colored images of the defected cereal plant leaves as well as the textual input to identify the disease. It will enable users/ farmers to identify any disease, makes the right decision and chooses the right treatment.


Due to the high lithium-ion mobility and high theoretical capacity, elemental germanium is an interesting candidate for anode materials. The layered Ge modification allo-Ge just recently obtained as a microcrystalline powder by topochemical oxidation of Li7Ge12 with ethanol has now for the first time been observed by electrochemical delithiation of Li7Ge12. The investigation of the Li-ion battery performance of allo-Ge is reported with operando PXRD phase monitoring compared to α-Ge. In addition, an alternative synthesis of Li7Ge12 by reaction of LiGe and α-Ge is presented. Cycling experiments of coin half-cells containing allo-Ge and α-Ge electrodes, respectively, show that the cycling stability of allo-Ge is inferior to common α-Ge. After an initial amorphization step, all Ge half-cells shuttle between the following phases: crystalline Li15Ge4 ↔ amorphous phase (most likely Li13Ge4) ↔ crystalline Li7Ge3 ↔ amorphous Ge. According to operando PXRD, allo-Ge capacity losses during cycling seem to be characterized by electronically disconnected Li7Ge3. The inferior cycling stability of allo-Ge, which consists of stacked Ge sheets, is therefore attributed to a morphological predisposition towards aging for consistency and contact loss in LIBs.


As the international community negotiates a successor to the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is new reason to hope that meaningful action might be taken to prevent devastating climate change. Even the more ambitious mitigation targets currently under negotiation, however, will not be sufficient to avoid a profound effect on the public's health in coming decades, with the world's poorest, most vulnerable populations bearing the disproportionate burden. The influence of historic and current emissions will be so substantial that it is imperative to reduce global emissions while at the same time preparing for the effects. Recently, the UNFCCC has begun to turn its attention to adaptation-changes to human systems to ameliorate the consequences of climate change. This Commentary proposes a new agenda for mitigation as well as adaptation approaches that emphasize the considerable health effects of climate change, which include increasingly intense and more frequent natural disasters, potential increases in vector-, food-, and water-borne infectious disease, and exacerbation of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. The effects of climate change will be experienced in every region but will disproportionately burden the global poor, exacerbating global health disparities and challenging the international community to address the inevitable questions of global social justice. Three key recommendations are proposed: (1) focus mitigation targets on broader health impacts, rather than framing climate change as a coastal issue; (2) incorporate land-use and agricultural approaches to mitigation alongside measures in the energy and transportation sectors to take advantage of co-benefits for health; and (3) fully fund adaptation projects as a global priority with an emphasis on strengthening health systems.


Eco-innovation concerns environment-informed and -driven improvements and innovations in products, services and processes that deliver more value to producers and/or consumers while progressively reducing net environmental impacts. A classification of approaches is proposed, and illustrated, in efficiency practices, design strategies and creativity templates. The efficiency practices, and to a lesser extent, the design strategies have demonstrated their usefulness in a variety of processes and products globally, often with environmental and economic benefits. The scarcity of examples where their application has resulted in highly innovative and resource-efficient products or processes, suggests that a niche remains, which can potentially be fulfilled with creativity templates.


We study infrasonic signals from large surface mining explosions in Wyoming. Detections at the Pinedale Infrasound Array (PDIAR) (obtained using a conventional array-processing technique) are automatically associated with ground- truth mining explosions at a range of 368 km. We then focus on four clear signals from mining explosions. By performing a detailed noise study and modeling the propaga- tion of infrasound using a raytracing algorithm and ground-to-space (G2S) atmo- spheric models, we assess the factors that contribute to the detectability of mining explosions. We find that we can explain most of the observations by propagation and noise effects alone, but that there are at least two notable outliers. Because of high noise levels at the PDIAR array, which places significant constraints on the sizes of mining explosions that can be detected, these results are strongly biased and must be reassessed for lower-noise infrasound arrays.


As an overseas department of France, Guadeloupe is one of a handful of non-independent societies in the Caribbean that seem like political exceptions-or even paradoxes-in our current postcolonial era. In Non-Sovereign Futures, Yarimar Bonilla wrestles with the conceptual arsenal of political modernity-challenging contemporary notions of freedom, sovereignty, nationalism, and revolution-in order to recast Guadeloupe not as a problematically non-sovereign site but as a place that can unsettle how we think of sovereignty itself. Through a deep ethnography of Guadeloupean labor activism, Bonilla examines how Caribbean political actors navigate the conflicting norms and desires produced by the modernist project of postcolonial sovereignty. Exploring the political and historical imaginaries of activist communities, she examines their attempts to forge new visions for the future by reconfiguring narratives of the past, especially the histories of colonialism and slavery. Drawing from nearly a decade of ethnographic research, she shows that political participation-even in failed movements-has social impacts beyond simple material or economic gains. Ultimately, she uses the cases of Guadeloupe and the Caribbean at large to offer a more sophisticated conception of the possibilities of sovereignty in the postcolonial era.


Computational analysis of high-throughput omics data, such as gene expressions, copy number alterations and DNA methylation (DNAm), has become popular in disease studies in recent decades because such analyses can be very helpful to pre- dict whether a patient has certain disease or its subtypes. However, due to the high-dimensional nature of the data sets with hundreds of thousands of variables and very small number of samples, traditional machine learning approaches, such as support vector machines (SVMs) and random forests, have limitations to analyze these data efficiently. In this chapter, we reviewed the progress in applying deep learning algo rithms to solve some biological questions. The focus is on potential software tools and public data sources for the tasks. Particularly, we show some case studies using deep neural network (DNN) models for classifying molecular subtypes of breast cancer and DNN-based regression models to account for interindividual variation in triglyceride concentrations measured at different visits of peripheral blood samples using DNAm profiles. We show that integration of multi-omics profiles into DNN-based learning methods could improve the prediction of the molecular subtypes of breast cancer. We also demonstrate the superiority of our proposed DNN models over the SVM model for predicting triglyceride concentrations. brief


The presence of induction motor loads in a power system may cause the phenomenon of delayed voltage recovery after the occurrence of a severe fault. A high proportion of induction motor loads in the power system can be a significant influence on the voltage stability of the system. This problem referred to as FIDVR(Fault Induced Delayed Voltage Recovery) is commonly caused by stall of small HVAC unit(Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioner) after transmission or distribution system failure. This delayed voltage recovery arises from the dynamic characteristics associated with the kinetic energy of the induction motor load. This paper proposes the UVLS (Under Voltage Load Shedding) control strategy for dealing with FIDVR. UVLS based schemes prevent voltage instability by shedding the load and can help avoid major economic losses due to wide-ranging cascading outages. This paper review recent topic about under voltage load shedding and compare decentralized load shedding scheme with conventional load shedding scheme. The load shedding strategy is applied to an actual system in order to verify the proposed FIDVR mitigation solution. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in resolving the problem of delayed voltage recovery in the Korean Power System.


In 2007, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) launched a performance reporting and funding policy called the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI) both to improve public accountability by more accurately describing what students achieve from enrolling in community colleges and to provide incentives to colleges through financial rewards for increasing student success. This report presents findings from a three-year evaluation of the initiative that was designed to assess how and to what extent the SAI model of performance funding encourages colleges to track trends in student achievement and improve student outcomes. The quantitative component of the evaluation was an analysis of "achievement point" accumulation by colleges over the period 2007 to 2011. The qualitative component was based on a synthesis of approximately 250 interviews with faculty, staff, and administrators at 20 of Washington State's 34 community and technical colleges that took place in spring 2012. Key broad findings include: • The SAI is viewed as one force among others pushing the colleges to improve student success. The funding is not a significant factor motivating the colleges, largely because the amount (less than one percent of the system's total operating budget) is too small to have much impact. • On average, the colleges increased their point total by 31 percent between 2007 and 2011, with the relative positions of the colleges remaining stable. Although there was evidence of some gains in momentum (i.e., forward progress) for students who were already accumulating credits and making progress, overall student momentum does not seem to have changed much during the period in which the SAI has been in effect, even as aggregate achievement points have increased. • While larger colleges earn more awards than smaller colleges, there is little evidence that colleges serving more at-risk, low-income students are penalized by the SAI awards method. Consistent with the SAI's goals, the basic skills metric appears to have encouraged enrollment from traditionally underserved groups. • The intermediate milestone framework is viewed as a helpful way to focus collective efforts on student progression and publicly account for college performance. In order to understand the impact of strategies for improving student outcomes, however, colleges have found they need to use longitudinal cohort data in conjunction with the cross-sectional SAI metrics. The funding mechanism has proved problematic and unpopular, as SAI funding has come from reallocated base funds rather than as additional funds as originally intended.


Abstract Background The extreme social circumstances caused by declared COVID-19 pandemic deeply intervene people's everyday life and should not be neglected but seen through the view of social reality pinpointing the "ordinary" people. In this paper, authors explored basic segments of everyday and their subjective perception to what extent sleeping habits, physical inactivity, physical activity, nutritional habits and smoking have changed. Methods The online survey was conducted in nine European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) in 4108 participants, aged 15-82 years. The survey took place 30 to 40 days after WHO declared COVID-19 pandemic state, from April 15th to May 3rd, 2020. Results The results have shown 30 minutes longer sleeping time, 50% longer physical inactivity time, 65% longer screen time, 43% shorter walking time, 24% shorter sport time and 37% longer physical work time. Additionally, body mass gains (0.3 kg) could be explained in 20.6% with meals sizes, unhealthy food consumption, screen time and sport time. Further, respondents reported more regular meals (44%) and healthier meals with less alcohol consumption and less smoking, which have been positive outcomes of home confinement. Conclusion The findings draw attention to negative changes in everyday praxis (inactivity, body mass gain) after such a short period. Because of possible risk to population's health (especially of countries such as Italy and Spain with serious threat and more stringent measures), findings enable development of recommendations for maintaining healthy lifestyle habits with minimal negative health consequences in similar pandemic circumstances.


At least two significant obstacles today prevent Singapore from progressing economically: a population unable to reproduce itself; and a people that generally lack creativity and entrepreneurship. Both are unintended consequences of earlier authoritarian policies of a paternalistic and patriarchal postcolonial government. Singaporeans were industrialized, militarized, disciplined by a system of punishment and reward, and administered according to a technocratic rationality seeking to eliminate 'irrational' desires and the chaos of erotic instincts. Subsequently, an Asian values campaign helped to form a conservative, censorious and electorally significant moral majority. Today, Singaporean society is described as sexually repressed and repressive. Singapore's 'new economy', however, requires not only a large enough workforce, but also a stimulating, non-repressive climate conducive to imagination, innovation and adventure, one that can also attract and retain globally mobile talent. This article explores the complications surrounding the government's 'sexing up' policies relating to procreation, creative talent and the new economy.


Every day, people all over the world leave their homes in search of a better life. On the road, many go missing. The mandate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence includes, in certain contexts, protection of vulnerable migrants. The ICRC missing migrants pilot project aims to locate or clarify the fate of Zimbabwean migrants who went missing in South Africa, on behalf of their families. The ICRC aims to work with South African and Zimbabwean authorities to support and enhance existing systems, tools and resources used for locating missing relatives, living or dead. Additionally, the ICRC carries out and supports the activities of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the region to restore contact between and where possible reunify family members, in particular children, who have been separated by conflict, migration, displacement or natural or man-made disasters. The Review has chosen to open this issue with the stories of family members of missing migrants in Zimbabwe. The section aims to show the everyday struggle, sometimes lasting for many years, of those that live with continuous uncertainty regarding the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. As a result of the disappearances associated with migration, families searching for missing relatives often face a range of needs and challenges. These persons chose to share their life stories with the Review, allowing our readers to understand the intricate balance of uncertainty, hope and the "need to know" that family members of missing migrants live with every day. The testimonies were given to the ICRC in Zimbabwe in November 2017. In order to protect the families, their names have been omitted.


In a wireless mesh network, nodes known as transit access points (TAPs) cooperatively forward traffic from users that may be multiple wireless hops apart. A limited number of TAPs also have a connection directly to the Internet, serving as gateway nodes that provide Internet connectivity to the entire mesh network. Wireless mesh networks are gaining in importance as an alternative to cable and DSL and are envisioned to provide fixed, nomadic, portable, and---eventually mobile---wireless broadband connectivity. In this thesis, I provide solutions to two important problems in wireless mesh networks and evaluate these solutions through simulation experiments. The two solutions, improving throughput and coverage, can simultaneously coexist and can complement each other in a single mesh network. Nevertheless, both the techniques can also exist independent of each other in a wireless mesh network and can individually prove advantageous.
First, I present two novel traffic-aware routing metrics that take into account existing user traffic flows in the network. Previous routing metrics have been traffic-unaware, often causing routes with poor throughput to be selected when other better routes are available. These new traffic-aware metrics use information captured through measurements at the medium access control (MAC) layer, which is then exposed to the routing layer. I compare these traffic-aware metrics with existing traffic-unaware metrics under different network scenarios.
Second, I present the design and analysis of a new technique for increasing the coverage of a wireless mesh network through deployment of small, low-cost booster TAPs (bTAPs). These bTAPs are strategically deployed and controlled by the system operator to wirelessly forward traffic between users and TAP nodes. This deployment model is especially suitable for wide area wireless access networks that use centralized management of radio resources. I analyze the use of bTAPs across different frequency reuse patterns typical of those used in multi-cell wireless environments for efficient management of costly radio spectrum. The bTAP architecture provides dramatic improvements in outage performance and a sufficient capacity gain to compensate for the radio resources required for forwarding user traffic via bTAPs.


Neurosarcoidosis has not been reported in patients with HIV infection. We present the case of a patient with AIDS in whom spinal cord sarcoidosis developed years after highly active antiretroviral therapy was initiated and her immune system was reconstituted. Treatment with prednisone resulted in resolution of MRI lesions and symptoms. Since patients with HIV-1 infection who are receiving antiretroviral therapy can survive for many years, physicians should be aware of chronic immune restoration disease involving the CNS.


Since the oil crisis of 1973 considerable interest has been shown in the production of liquid fuels from alternative sources. In particular processes utilizing coal as the feedstock have received considerable interest. These processes can be divided into direct and indirect liquefaction and pyrolysis. This thesis describes the modelling of indirect coal liquefaction processes for the purpose of performing technical and economic assessment of the production of liquid fuels from coal and lignite, using a variety of gasification and synthesis gas liquefaction technologies. The technologies were modeled on a 'step model' basis where a step is defined as a combination of individual unit operations which together perform a significant function on the process streams, such as a methanol synthesis step or a gasification and physical gas cleaning step. Sample results of the modelling, covering a wide range of gasifiers, liquid synthesis processes and products are presented in this thesis. Due to the large number of combinations of gasifier, liquid synthesis processes, products and economic sensitivity cases, a complete set of results is impractical to present in a single publication. The main results show that methanol is the cheapest fuel to produce from coal followed by fuel alcohol, diesel from the Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis process,gasoline from Mobil Methanol to Gasoline (MTG) process, diesel from the Mobil Methanol Olefins Gasoline Diesel (MOGD) process and finally gasoline from the same process. Some variation in production costs of all the products was shown depending on type of gasifier chosen and feedstock.


Based on the master-slave configuration, an adaptive feedback controller design method is proposed for the time-delay chaotic systems to realize the lag-synchronization. It is shown that the controlled uncertain slave system can adaptively synchronize the master system lagged by the propagation time. The proposed method is successfully applied to the synchronization of time-delay Chua's circuits.


Background Patients with a history of COVID-19 infection are reported to have cardiac abnormalities on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) during convalescence. However, it is unclear whether these abnormalities were present during the acute COVID-19 illness and how they may evolve over time. Methods We prospectively recruited unvaccinated patients hospitalized with acute COVID-19 (n = 23), and compared them with matched outpatient controls without COVID-19 (n = 19) between May 2020 and May 2021. Only those without a past history of cardiac disease were recruited. We performed in-hospital CMR at a median of 3 days (IQR 1–7 days) after admission, and assessed cardiac function, edema and necrosis/fibrosis, using left and right ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF, RVEF), T1-mapping, T2 signal intensity ratio (T2SI), late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and extracellular volume (ECV). Acute COVID-19 patients were invited for follow-up CMR and blood tests at 6 months. Results The two cohorts were well matched in baseline clinical characteristics. Both had normal LVEF (62 ± 7 vs. 65 ± 6%), RVEF (60 ± 6 vs. 58 ± 6%), ECV (31 ± 3 vs. 31 ± 4%), and similar frequency of LGE abnormalities (16 vs. 14%; all p > 0.05). However, measures of acute myocardial edema (T1 and T2SI) were significantly higher in patients with acute COVID-19 when compared to controls (T1 = 1,217 ± 41 ms vs. 1,183 ± 22 ms; p = 0.002; T2SI = 1.48 ± 0.36 vs. 1.13 ± 0.09; p < 0.001). All COVID-19 patients who returned for follow up (n = 12) at 6 months had normal biventricular function, T1 and T2SI. Conclusion Unvaccinated patients hospitalized for acute COVID-19 demonstrated CMR imaging evidence of acute myocardial edema, which normalized at 6 months, while biventricular function and scar burden were similar when compared to controls. Acute COVID-19 appears to induce acute myocardial edema in some patients, which resolves in convalescence, without significant impact on biventricular structure and function in the acute and short-term. Further studies with larger numbers are needed to confirm these findings.


OBJECTIVE
Little is known about the effectiveness of dose reduction options according to breast thickness. The purpose of this phantom study was to compare the effects on dose and noise of bismuth shielding versus a low kilovoltage for different breast thicknesses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
CT acquisitions were performed first at 120 kVp (reference acquisition), then at 120 kVp with shielding and at 100 kVp without shielding on a phantom with three different prosthetic breast thicknesses, corresponding to the minimum, median, and maximum values first measured in a sample of 30 female thoracic CT examinations, which were randomly selected. Breast doses were measured with optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters placed on and beneath the prosthetic breast. For noise evaluation, the CT number SDs were measured within six ROIs at increasing depths.

RESULTS
Taking into account all breast thicknesses, the average breast dose was reduced by 42.1% with shielding and by 33.0% at 100 kVp (p=0.009). In-depth noise increased less with shielding (19.0% vs 32.1%, p<0.0001). For 1-cm breast thickness, the breast dose fell by 46.5% and 29.7% with shielding and 100 kVp, respectively (p=0.01), and in-depth noise increased by 19.5% and 33.9% (p=0.01). The corresponding values for 2-cm breast thickness were -38.5% and -30.1%, (p=0.02) and 16.5% and 33.5% (p=0.001), whereas those for 4-cm thickness were -40.6% and -40.5% (p=0.95) and 20.7 and 29.2% (p=0.02).

CONCLUSION
Greater breast dose reduction is achieved by shielding for breast thicknesses less than 4 cm. Regardless of breast thickness, shielding leads to a smaller increase in in-depth noise.


Detrital zircon provenance studies of Silurian flysch units that underlie the Hazen and Clements Markham fold belts of Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada, were conducted to evaluate models for northern Caledonian palaeogeography and tectonics. Llandovery flysch was deposited along an active plate margin and yields detrital zircons that require northern derivation from the adjacent Pearya terrane. If Pearya originated near Svalbard and NE Greenland, it was transported by strike-slip faults to Ellesmere Island by the Early Silurian. Wenlock to Ludlow turbidites yield Palaeozoic–Archaean detrital zircons with dominant age-groupings c. 650, 970, 1150, 1450 and 1650 Ma. These turbidite systems did not fill a flexural foreland basin in front of the East Greenland Caledonides, but rather an east–west-trending trough that was probably related to sinistral strike-slip faulting along the northern Laurentian margin. The data support provenance connections with the Svalbard Caledonides, especially Baltican-affinity rocks of SW Spitsbergen that were proximal to NE Greenland during the Baltica–Laurentia collision. Pridoli flysch has sources that include Pearya, the East Greenland Caledonides and the Canadian Shield. Devonian–Carboniferous molasse in Arctic Canada has analogous detrital zircon signatures, which implies recycling of Silurian flysch during mid-Palaeozoic (Ellesmerian) collisional tectonism or that some collisional blocks were of similar Baltican–Laurentian crustal affinities. Supplementary material: Detrital zircon U–Pb age results, isotopic data and concordia diagrams of dated samples are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18797.


OBJECTIVES
Stable isotope values for historic period human remains from Elmina, Ghana, are compared to isotope data from 18th- and 19th-century North American sites as a test case for examining African origins and identifying first generation Africans in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope values were measured in skeletal remains. Values from the cosmopolitan port city of Elmina provide the first available reference data from Africa during this time period and region. These values serve as a proxy for West African groups in general which are statistically compared to Euro-Americans and African Americans.

RESULTS
Elmina carbon isotope values are relatively higher than those of North Americans, and African Americans show greater statistical similarity to West Africans. Elmina nitrogen isotope values are higher than those of North Americans. Elmina oxygen isotope values are notably higher than those in all Mid-Atlantic North American sites in this study.

DISCUSSION
Similarity in carbon isotope values between Elmina and African Americans suggests commonalities in food availability or food preferences between these groups. Elevated nitrogen isotope values in Elmina individuals support the documented reliance of the local population on marine dietary resources at this coastal port. While carbon and nitrogen isotopes provide insight into foodways, oxygen isotope data, sourced from drinking water, provide better geographical information. The higher oxygen values from Elmina not only differentiate this group from North American Mid-Atlantic sites, but also make it possible to identify outliers at these sites as potential recent arrivals from West Africa.


According to James C. Scott, in The Art of Not Being Governed, the resistance of Southeast Asian "hill peoples" to state subordination manifested itself in their deliberate abandonment of both sedentary agriculture and literacy. He argues that "tribality" (group-generated state evasion) is the polar opposite of "peasantry" (state-controlled agriculture). The hill peoples' foraging and swiddening were thus political choices. Scott's anthropological and geographical approach to these historical studies is admirable, but, despite his book's subtitle (An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia), it lacks any reflection on the history of anarchism beyond the observation that tens of millions of persons wanted to avoid being bossed and taxed by the state. There is in the book, moreover, an absence of reflection on the oppressive nature of society: the state, Scott claims, is always repressive, whereas societies without a state are freer. This essay review asks whether the author shares with states, despite his criticism of them, a paucity of concern for the fates of individuals.


This paper addresses the use of critical loads in optimized emission abatement strategies. As deposition targets, critical loads can not be satisfied at all receptors. In Europe, consequently, there is a need for alternative criteria which still relate to ecological indicators, yet which are feasible, consistent and equitable. Two criteria are suggested: the relative critical load coverage and the relative deposition reduction. These criteria permit deposition goals to be set which guarantee that a specified fraction of ecosystems will attain critical loads, and thus be protected from adverse environmental impacts. In areas which can not achieve critical loads with the best available control measures, deposition is reduced to a specified fraction of the unabated level.

After presenting examples which demonstrate their derivation, strengths and weakness of these criteria are discussed. The criteria have been implemented in the RAINS optimization model. Some preliminary examples show the sensitivity, interactions and utility of the criteria. Results obtained indicate that optimized emission strategies based on critical loads are similar to emission strategies based on deposition reductions, at certain levels of the criteria. This suggests that it may not be necessary to utilize critical loads to formulate deposition targets. A second example shows the effect of excluding countries from European cost minimization. A country's participation can save costs with moderate deposition targets, however, significant costs can be imposed with low (stringent) deposition targets. These preliminary results have significant implications for negotiations and multilateral negotiations. Suggestions for future analyses conclude the paper.


This study explores the perceptions and experiences of senior managers regarding organisational
transformation and change. To achieve this objective, a qualitative methodology was undertaken
and twelve open-ended questions were formulated for the study. Twenty-two semi-structured
interviews were conducted. A non-probability sampling technique was utilised, along with
snowball sampling and judgement sampling methods to select participants for the study. The
sample consisted of twenty-two senior managers from different Units and Departments within
the eThekwini Municipality. The data collected were then qualitatively analysed using thematic
analysis. The findings of the study were presented under key themes that had emerged during
the study. The main findings of the study showed that the municipality had radically
transformed in response to the new political dispensation in South Africa, as of 1994. The study
highlighted the general consensus amongst senior managers that fundamental transformation of
the Municipality was imperative. The participants of the study expressed the view that the former
municipal organisation had become misaligned with its environment. It was therefore imperative
to ensure fundamental transformation of the municipality. Most senior managers, however, felt
that the transformation process was poorly managed. These negative views were attributed to,
inter alia, the long period of transformation, poor change management, and lack of a clearly
articulated organisational culture coupled with some poorly implemented systems. Although
negative views were expressed with regard to the transformation process, most senior managers
were satisfied with their specific jobs. This surprising finding was attributed to positive
personality characteristics and humanistic-existential perspectives that most senior managers
were found to possess. Existentialists believe in people taking responsibility for their lives and
the humanists stresses the importance of self-actualisation.


Pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting tumor presents with a variety of clinical features. We outlined the features of ACTH release and characteristics of corticotroph adenoma cells. We especially focused on the corticotroph adenomas in patients with no clinical features of Cushing's disease. Subclinical Cushing's disease is defined by ACTH-induced mild hypercortisolism without typical features of Cushing's disease. Silent corticotroph adenomas (SCAs) are defined by normal cortisol secretion and ACTH-immunopositive staining without autonomous ACTH secretion. Clinicians who are not well-informed about the disease may sometimes confuse SCAs (because of their clinically silent nature) with "subclinical Cushing's disease". The recent criteria for diagnosing subclinical Cushing's disease in Japan are presented. Cortisol measurement was recently standardized in Japan, so plasma cortisol cutoff level should be reconsidered for the diagnosis. In patients with uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension despite appropriate treatment, subclinical Cushing's disease may be efficiently detected. Subclinical Cushing's disease may be associated with metabolic change. In subclinical Cushing's disease, mild hypercortisolism due to autonomous secretion of ACTH contributes to metabolic change and treatment of subclinical hypercortisolism can reverse this change.


Current researchers are considering the relevant new knowledge that psychological studies in the past 100 years have produced concerning the psychology of religion. Experimental methods typically employed have the aim of producing value-neutral scientific results, especially in the arena of religion. However, methods are inextricably tied to assumptions, since how a person investigates something reflects their understanding or belief about that thing (Hood, 2013). Those methods present in psychology today take after the natural sciences in an effort to arrogate psychology to the status of a hard science. Naturalist methods are also based on naturalist presuppositions about the nature of the world; nothing exists outside of physical matter—an assumption that provides no room for a belief in God (Slife & Reber, 2009). This allows researchers a greatly limited perspective from which to approach the psychological study of religion. An argument is made for a methodological pluralism—one that begins with the assumptions of the hermeneutic tradition. Hermeneutics interpret meaning in lived experience and take the word of the individual to be a faithful account (Belzen & Hood, 2006). These assumptions are based on relationships, trust, and context, each of which will provide psychology with a more holistic understanding of religious phenomena.


In the present work, effluent organic matter (EfOM) in treated domestic wastewater was separated into hydrophobic neutrals, colloids, hydrophobic acids, transphilic acids and neutrals and hydrophilic compounds. Their contribution to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was identified. Further characterization was conducted with respect to molecular size and hydrophobicity. Each isolated fraction was dosed into salt solution to identify its fouling potential in ultrafiltration (UF) using a hydrophilized polyethersulfone membrane. The results show that each kind of EfOM leads to irreversible fouling. At similar delivered DOC load to the membrane, colloids present the highest fouling effect in terms of both reversible and irreversible fouling. The hydrophobic organics show much lower reversibility than the biopolymers present. However, as they are of much smaller size than the membrane pore opening, they cannot lead to such severe fouling as biopolymers do. In all of the isolated fractions, hydrophilics show the lowest fouling potential. For either colloids or hydrophobic substances, increasing their content in feedwater leads to worse fouling. The co-effect between biopolymers and other EfOM fractions has also been identified as one of the mechanisms contributing to UF fouling in filtering EfOM-containing waters.


The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of sports participation and race/ethnicity on violence and victimization among a sample of white, African American, and Hispanic rural-area high school girls. It was hypothesized that girls who participated in sports would report lower rates of violent behavior and fewer incidents of victimization. Using logistic regression and multivariate analysis of variance, evidence for the hypotheses was mixed and appeared to be related to the type of violence and victimization. Sports participants were less likely to engage in general violence and reported less physical and sexual victimization, but did not experience less intimate partner violence victimization. Conversely, sports participants were more likely to engage in verbal and physical reactive violence. While sports participation may have some preventative impact on violence and victimization, this relationship may also be influenced by community characteristics and not a universal outcome.


Evidence published in the scientific literature is commonly used in public health to support policy decisions. A wide variety of stakeholders consults Cadernos de Saude Publica (CSP) to assess and summarize research evidence, plan health programs, design new interventions, and identify risk factors for a particular health outcome. Thus, it is crucial that scientific articles are published transparently and accurately in order to allow evaluating the reliability of the research for future use. CSP receives more than 1,500 research manuscripts annually, and a high proportion fail to achieve acceptable quality levels for publication, either because the study was poorly conducted or reported, or both. Common flaws include lack of control of confounding in observational studies, lack of information on quality assessment for studies included in systematic reviews, and poor descriptions of clinical trial interventions. Biases due to deficiencies in the performance and reporting of health research can be dangerously misleading to policy decisions. The literature provides abundant examples, such as the erroneous belief that hormone replacement therapy protects against cardiovascular disease, a statistical relationship that was ultimately proven to be confounded by socioeconomic status (von Elm EV, Egger M. BMJ 2004; 329:868-9). CSP publishes numerous observational studies, systematic reviews, clinical trials, among others. Unfortunately, only a small portion of submitted manuscripts use appropriate reporting guidelines such as Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE), Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), or Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT). Compliance with these guidelines is a great way to improve transparency and accuracy and has proven to increase the reliability and impact of health research (Simera et al. BMC Med 2010; 8:24). The EQUATOR Network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) is "an international initiative that seeks to improve the quality of scientific publications". EQUATOR (http://www.equator-network.org/) has compiled a vast catalogue of all available reporting guidelines in its library to help authors and peer reviewers of health research. It also provides education and training. EQUATOR works with a variety of key stakeholders in the research and publication process including journal editors, peer reviewers and developers of reporting guidelines. The Pan-American Health Organization has recently established a formal agreement with EQUATOR to disseminate the initiative in Latin America. It is already possible to browse a Spanish version of the Network's website. Several reporting guidelines have also been translated into Spanish. In the near future, CSP may only publish articles that follow appropriate reporting guidelines. It is time to reduce wastefulness and fully realize the investment in health research by translating findings from high quality research into health benefits derived from evidenced-based policy decisions. Enhanced quality and transparency of health research reporting can lead to improvements in public health policy decision-making: help from the EQUATOR Network


How can we ensure high-quality public services such as health care and education? Governments spend huge amounts of public money on public services such as health, education, and social care, and yet the services that are actually delivered are often low quality, inefficiently run, unresponsive to their users, and inequitable in their distribution. In this book, Julian Le Grand argues that the best solution is to offer choice to users and to encourage competition among providers. Le Grand has just completed a period as policy advisor working within the British government at the highest levels, and from this he has gained evidence to support his earlier theoretical work and has experienced the political reality of putting public policy theory into practice. He examines four ways of delivering public services: trust; targets and performance management; "voice"; and choice and competition. He argues that, although all of these have their merits, in most situations policies that rely on extending choice and competition among providers have the most potential for delivering high-quality, efficient, responsive, and equitable services. But it is important that the relevant policies be appropriately designed, and this book provides a detailed discussion of the principal features that these policies should have in the context of health care and education. It concludes with a discussion of the politics of choice.


Education in Namibia, since independence (1990), is underpinned by learner-centred and social constructivist learning theories. Within the Polytechnic of Namibia's Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning (COLL) efforts are being made to ensure that instructional material are in line with these learning theory principles. However, for varying reasons educationalists are struggling to implement these principles in practice.

Additionally, in a world where technology is king and e-learning is rapidly becoming the norm in distance education circles, Namibia's status as a developing country is limiting its ability to electronically interact with its students. As a consequence, Namibia is at a beginner stage for e-learning, and print-based materials are still the major medium of instruction.

This paper outlines the need for COLL to rely on appropriately developed print-based instructional materials for learner support. Initial research has focused on investigating COLL's instructional materials alignment with the education principles subscribed to in Namibia and on the perspectives of writers on the support they get as writers of distance education instructional materials. Analysis of the results will help develop strategies to improve print-based instructional materials, through the support of writers.


: Gouy phase shift of q-Gaussian laser beams interacting nonlinearly with collisional plasmas with axially increasing density has been investigated theoretically. The Gouy phase shift also known as phase anomaly occurs at a fundamental level from position momentum uncertainty. Due to intensity gradient over the cross section of the laser beam redistribution of the carriers occurs on account of collisional heating of the plasma. The resulting index of refraction resembles to that of graded index fibers that stimulates the laser beam to get self-focused. The reduction in transverse dimensions of the laser beam in turn leads to spread in transverse momentum of its photons. This transverse momentum spread then modifies the axial phase of the laser beam. Following variational theory, a set of coupled differential equations for the evolution of beam width and axial phase of the laser beam has been obtained. The equations so obtained have been solved numerically so see the effect of laser and plasma parameters on the evolution of beam envelope.


The availability of high density FPGAs has made the use of soft-core processors an attractive proposition for the low volume space market. Soft-core processors combine the power of programmable logic with the ease of use of a conventional processor to provide a highly customisable solution. However, the SRAM FPGAs used as implementation platform are especially susceptable to radiation induced single event upsets, due to the sensitivity of their configuration memory. To safely use these processors in a space environment requires the modification of the processor to safely mitigate these effects. This thesis presents the process followed to develop and test a fault tolerant implementation of an 8-bit PicoBlaze soft-core processor on a Xilinx Spartan-3 SRAM FPGA. A thorough investigation was made into the available methods that can be used to mitigate single event upsets, in order to identify the most suitable ones. Guidelines for the application of SEU mitigation techniques to SRAM FPGAs were proposed. A single event upset simulator was designed and constructed to compare the different techniques. It mimics SEUs by injecting errors into the configuration memory of an FPGA. The results of error injection were used to develop a PicoBlaze implementation with limited overhead, while it still offers a high degree of error mitigation. Three different designs were tested by proton irradiation to verify the protection afforded by the mitigation techniques. It was found that protected designs were more robust. The cross-section of the FPGA was also determined, which can be used with the SEU simulator to predict the dynamic cross-section of designs. The work contained in this thesis demonstrates the use of open-source intellectual property with commercial-off-the-shelf components to develop a robust component for use in the miniature spacecraft market. iii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za


In this thesis, the problem of probability density function estimation using finite mixture models is considered. Gaussian mixture modelling is used to provide a semi-parametric density estimate for a given data set. The fundamental problem with this approach is that the number of mixtures required to adequately describe the data is not known in advance. In this work, a predictive validation technique [91] is studied and developed as a useful, operational tool that automatically selects the number of components for Gaussian mixture models. The predictive validation test approves a candidate model if, for the set of events they try to predict, the predicted frequencies derived from the model match the empirical ones derived from the data set. A model selection algorithm, based on the validation test, is developed which prevents both problems of over-fitting and under-fitting. We investigate the influence of the various parameters in the model selection method in order to develop it into a robust operational tool. The capability of the proposed method in real world applications is examined on the problem of face image segmentation for automatic initialisation of lip tracking systems. A segmentation approach is proposed which is based on Gaussian mixture modelling of the pixels RGB values using the predictive validation technique. The lip region segmentation is based on the estimated model. First a grouping of the model components is performed using a novel approach. The resulting groups are then the basis of a Bayesian decision making system which labels the pixels in the mouth area as lip or non-lip. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the method over the conventional clustering approaches. In order to improve the method computationally an image sampling technique is applied which is based on Sobol sequences. Also, the image modelling process is strengthened by incorporating spatial contextual information using two different methods, a Neigh-bourhood Expectation Maximisation technique and a spatial clustering method based on a Gibbs/Markov random field modelling approach. Both methods are developed within the proposed modelling framework. The results obtained on the lip segmentation application suggest that spatial context is beneficial.


Not only has car use apparently peaked in the UK and other industrialised countries, with people now making fewer journeys and travelling less distance by car, but recent years have seen the biggest drop in new car CO2 emissions on record. The apparent 'peak car' trend suggests some fundamental shifts are taking place in transport, which date back to the 1990s. While we should not underestimate the significance of this trend, it is also important to recognise that with car use still so dominant, transport decarbonisation cannot be achieved without technological change. This report looks in detail at three key challenges faced by policymakers – technology (emissions and efficiency), finance (sustaining the public purse) and social justice (access for all) – and outlines a policy framework that could help to ensure these challenges are overcome.


Reduced population size can result in the loss of genetic diversity, which in turn can make organisms more susceptible to environmental challenges. In Iowa less than one percent of the original tallgrass prairie remains, isolated in a few remnant prairies. We are undertaking a long term project to assess the genetic variability in native prairie plants on remnant prairies in Northwest Iowa. We are testing six microsatellite sequences for butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) from the Steele Prairie State Preserve, Broken Kettle Grasslands, a private prairie near Cherokee IA, a prairie restoration project on the Dordt College campus and populations from suppliers in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. We hope to answer the following questions: A) Do nearby remnant prairies share alleles and have similar allelic diversity? B) Is there evidence for inbreeding in remnant populations? C) Is there evidence that plant populations found in local native prairies are genetically distinct from restored prairies and from those originating outside the state of Iowa? Preliminary results suggest that A) Essentially all of the alleles are found in at least 2 of the populations analyzed B) the degree of homozygosity is not higher than expected values and C) the four remnant prairie populations of butterfly milkweed that were tested show little genetic differentiation from each other but show moderate differentiation from commercial seed. The answers to these questions will help inform strategies for prairie conservation and restoration in Iowa and across the Midwest.


Introduction: Iran is one of the countries with the highest incidence of accident and mortality associated with road and traffic accidents. Studying the prevalence of acute post- traumatic stress disorder among the victims of traffic accidents, and also the causes and context of this type of disorder, especially in children, can help to clarify most dimensions of psychological complications of these types of accidents in the community.Method: The current study is a cross-sectional type. The determined sample was divided into classes, based on sex and age groups, by the proportional allocation method. A random selection of samples was made among victims of traffic accidents, who were referred to the hospitals covered by Tehran University of MedicalSciences, during the year 2014. Data for measuring the acute posttraumatic stress disorder in children was collected using a standard questionnaire.Results: A total of 450 participants, including 344 (76.4%) males and 106 (23.6%) females, were investigated. The mean and standard deviation of age of participants in the research were 10.90 and 4.04 years, respectively. Based on the results of principal components analysis, 121 (26.9%) and 76 (16.9%) of the studied children have had the symptoms of mild and severe post traumastress during the interviews, while 253 (56.2%) had no symptoms of post trauma- stress disorder. After removal of the effect of confounding variables, the relationship between the gender, maternal education level, and the location of accident, ethnicity and the elapsed time after the accident was evaluated with the post trauma-stress, using the logistic regression models. These results were statistically significant.Conclusion: Given the importance of effect of environmental and socially-economic factors on the incidence of complications caused by injuries and accidents related to children, especially on acute posttrauma stress, it is therefore necessary to carry out further studies on elimination of the economic, environmental and social risk factors, in order to identify these factors in a more detailed manner.


This study examines whether there are economic benefits to be gained from improving service quality in the Taiwanese banking industry. Service quality is perceived quality; and different from objective or actual quality; being a judgment usually made within a customer evoked set. Service quality resembles an attitude in many ways, and service quality is distinct from customer satisfaction. Traditional financial ratios are not appropriate for measuring the economic benefits of service quality improvement. The main single factor influence on business unit performance is goods and service quality. The author develops a framework for this paper based on service quality and profitability theoretical background. Relationships are also established among service quality, customer satisfaction, and profitability. The main conclusion of this study is that the performance scale developed in the SERVPERF model and customer satisfaction in the profitability model are confirmed in the Taiwanese banking industry. The author finds that perception quality is an antecedent of attitude, service quality is an antecedent of customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction directly affects purchase intention, and customer satisfaction is an antecedent of profitability. Finally, the author finds gap between customers and service providers and thus demonstrates that Profitability is positively affected by service quality improvement. 1. Introduction The banking industry is traditionally conservative because of its traditional management methods and legal restrictions. Because the quality of business activities is very high and price competition is easily imitated, non-price competition can reach Porter's (1980) differentiation of competitive superiority; moreover, non-price competition inevitably increases service quality and introduces new financial goods. Recent research has begun to voice suspicions regarding whether or not several of the concepts underlying quality control operationalization to improve customer satisfaction and company quality actually achieve their intended goals. Numerous set backs can occur in the guest to improve quality, causing many companies to ignore quality improvements. Consequently, limitations in the relationships among research quality, level of customer satisfaction, and banking achievements are demonstrated to be extremely important, and represented the most interesting research topics in this study. The previously mentioned research background generated two ideas for researching banking service quality. First, the assessment of banking industry achievements includes important points for scholastic and business research, but the assessment of the related management performance of both domestic and foreign banks has mainly been limited to an analysis of financial ratios, and has rarely focused on qualitative analysis of service characteristics. second, the popularity of the service quality in industry and management periodicals has gradually increased. However, questionnaires on service quality investigations merely examine the customer perspective, and generally overlook the perspectives of quality managers. Based on the research questions, this study sets several research goals: (1) This study examines the causal relationship model of service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intentions, which was developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992). (2) This study designs a model of the causal relations among customer satisfaction, market share, profitability, and investigates the relationships among the empirical evidence. (3) Utilizing gap theory, this study attempts to merge and discuss the causal relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction, and profitability. 2. Literature Review Previously, service quality was not been explicitly linked to profit. Zeithaml (2000) has found evidence about the influences of service quality on profits. Rust, Zahorik, and Keiningham (1995) provided a model of service quality improvement and profitability and the submodels, which together constitute the ROQ approach. …


The authors reflect critically on their experiences of teaching research methods/methodology/techniques (MMT) courses in human geography for the first time. Through a highly reflexive process involving journaling, they engage with the broader scholarship of teaching and learning approach. Three themes characterize commonalities in their instructional experiences: (1) prior knowledge, (2) preparation, and (3) confidence. Specifically, they were challenged by needing to teach particular MMTs that they had not previously applied in their own research, by not knowing how best to prepare for teaching such courses, and by a lack of confidence with their approaches that stemmed from numerous issues.


For many years, federal judges and others have labored to reform judicial clerkship hiring so judges might conduct a dignified, collegial, and efficient selection process. To date, however, these reform efforts have had little success. This Article endeavors to forge a solution to the problems endemic to the current judicial clerkship hiring process: lack of collegiality, cut-throat hiring methods, lack of efficiency, and hiring based on inadequate information about candidates. Part I of this Article explores the historical problems in the clerkship hiring process, reviews previously attempted but failed efforts at reform, and identifies problems with such approaches. Part II discusses key impediments to reforming the existing system, including discord in the judiciary and transaction costs, reviews these impediments during a recent hiring season, and finally suggests a behavioral explanation for these barriers to reform. Part III analyzes and critiques proposed solutions to the present process and chronicles their practical and theoretical failures. Part IV proposes a free-market system better able to withstand the failings of previous efforts and employs game theory and other economic concepts to show how the proposed system may provide a lasting solution to past and to present judicial clerkship hiring problems.