Two large applied general equilibrium models, GTAP and MONASH, are used in this paper to simulate the elimination of trade barriers among the members of APEC. These models focus respectively on global trading relations and on the detailed sectoral, occupational, and regional dimensions of the Australian economy. We find that the mature industrialized members of APEC are likely to experience modest increases in real GDP from the trade reform, but that there is scope for very big advances in real GDP in some Asian member countries (especially those with high initial trade barriers against imports of capital goods). Relative to base case, Thailand/ Philippines (treated as a single aggregate in these simulations) is projected (after an adjustment period of one to two decades) to have the potential for a 39 per cent rise in GDP due to the formation of an APEC trade block. Other countries reaching double figures are South Korea (14 per cent), New Zealand (11 per cent) and Indonesia (10.5 per cent). These increases are partly at the expense of non-APEC countries which experience on average a 1 per cent fall in GDP due to lost markets and deteriorating terms of trade. A substantial limitation of these projections is that we have not been able to keep track of the ownership of assets; thus rises in GDP do not necessarily imply increases in welfare. The potential long-run increases in APEC members' GDP are highly dependent on international capital mobility. Relative to the case of full mobility, limiting capital growth to what can be financed internally within regions causes the sizes of the projected increases to fall in all member regions except North America. In the case of Thailand/ Philippines, the 39 per cent increase falls dramatically to about 2.5 per cent. The projected long-run rise in Australia's GDP when capital is mobile is about 3 per cent (relative to the no-APEC case). Considerable structural changes accompany this rise: milk and meat products do extremely well (with rises in real output of over 30 per cent relative to base case); traditionally highly protected industries (e.g., synthetic fibres, cotton yarns, footwear and motor vehicles) experience long-run falls of approximately 10 to 20 per cent. Over two thirds of the gain in the rise in the demand price for Australian milk products is due to the opening up of the Japanese market.


Natural or manmade catastrophic events place great manpower demands on communities and their health care and public health systems. This calls for ever preparedness on the part of the health care workers. Dentists are not perceived as much of help in case of any disaster event. Although the first responders are primarily looked upon for in case of any disaster response; if called upon dentists can be a source of vital support in medical surge events. Dentists and dental auxiliaries can augment the existing medical professionals, in responding to a declared medical emergency. Dentists are exposed to information in many general medical areas during their pre-doctoral education that can be useful in disaster response situations. Dentists have the clinical skills and medical knowledge that are invaluable assets in a mass casualty event. Dentists can be given the opportunity with additional targeted training to become more effective responders to natural disasters and other catastrophic events. Inculcating disaster training in the undergraduate and post graduate curriculum will better prepare the dentist for any surge event. The present article explores the various duties which dental professionals can play in a major public health disaster.


SParse Optimization Research COde (SPORCO) is an open-source Python package for solving optimization problems with sparsity-inducing regularization, consisting primarily of sparse coding and dictionary learning, for both standard and convolutional forms of sparse representation. In the current version, all optimization problems are solved within the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) framework. SPORCO was developed for applications in signal and image processing, but is also expected to be useful for problems in computer vision, statistics, and machine learning.


Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research aims to bridge the gap between what digital companies think they know about their users and the actual user experience. Individuals engaged in digital product and service development often fail to conduct user research. The book presents concepts and techniques to provide an understanding of how people experience products and services. The techniques are drawn from the worlds of human-computer interaction, marketing, and social sciences. The book is organized into three parts. Part I discusses the benefits of end-user research and the ways it fits into the development of useful, desirable, and successful products. Part II presents techniques for understanding people's needs, desires, and abilities. Part III explains the communication and application of research results. It suggests ways to sell companies and explains how user-centered design can make companies more efficient and profitable. This book is meant for people involved with their products' user experience, including program managers, designers, marketing managers, information architects, programmers, consultants, and investors. Explains how to create usable products that are still original, creative, and unique A valuable resource for designers, developers, project managers-anyone in a position where their work comes in direct contact with the end user. Provides a real-world perspective on research and provides advice about how user research can be done cheaply, quickly and how results can be presented persuasively Gives readers the tools and confidence to perform user research on their own designs and tune their software user experience to the unique needs of their product and its users


The multicellular incoherent feedforward loop (mIFFL) is an extension of the traditional intracellular IFFL gene motif where the interacting nodes no longer need to be genes inside the same cell but can be spatially distributed in different cells. We studied for the first time the spatial computing abilities of these mIFFL through in silico simulations done with individual-based models (run in Morpheus and GRO software). We observed that: 1) a genetic circuit working as a mIFFL can behaves as an edge detector of the border of an infection, and 2) a mIFFL can be the inner mechanism generating the complex 7 stripe pattern of eve in D. melanogaster embryogenesis. So, in this work, we show that multicellular IFFL architectures can produce spatial patterns and are a promising spatial computing motif that deserves to be incorporated into the toolbox of pattern generation and multicellular coordination mechanisms. This study opens several future lines of research: multi-agent IFFL applied in ecology as a tool to predict spatial position of interacting animals or in distributed robotics.


The purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency of three sperm elution methods on sexual assault swabs; factors such as solvent type, solvent volume, sperm concentration, and duration of extraction and elution method were evaluated with respect to observed sperm recovery. Swabs containing dilutions of semen ranging from 1:10 to 1:1,000 and simulated post-coital swabs were extracted via the traditional tube extraction, as well as two direct slide elution techniques, tapping and swirling. For the slide elution techniques, a swab cutting was placed directly onto a microscope slide, a small volume of water or buffer was added, and sperm were eluted by either tapping the sample with a stirring stick or swirling it around the slide with metal forceps. The tube method requires a minimum of one and one half hours for extraction, while the slide elution techniques require only ten seconds for extraction. The average sperm counts from 1:10 dilutions processed with the tapping elution method were statistically v higher than the 1:10 dilutions samples processed with tube and swirling methods. Elution by tapping also recovered a significantly higher amount of sperm cells from the 1:1,000 dilution compared to the tube extraction of the same dilution. The tapping elution method consistently resulted in the greatest number of spermatozoa observed, followed by the swirling method and then tube extraction; additionally, incidents of false negatives (no sperm observed) were observed with the tube and swirling methods. Simulated post-coital samples produced similar results to the semen samples; however, vaginal swabs from one donor resulted in an extremely high ratio of exfoliated epithelial cells that obscured the spermatozoa, especially with the direct slide elution methods. The slide elution methods resulted in similar and consistent relative standard deviations between dilutions in samples, while the tube extraction results suggest an increase in variance as the dilution increases. Overall, slide elution methods yielded the most observed sperm cells in a significantly shorter amount of time.


Moult and migration are both recognised as highly energy-demanding activities of birds. I studied moult-migration overlap in migrating goldcrests Regulus regulus to see whether birds might be trading these activities off against each other. I found that in both sexes the size of subcutaneous fat reserves were greater in birds in later stages of moult. This indicates that birds in active moult were either: (1) not able to store as much fat as birds which have completed moult, or (2) that birds in active moult used up their fat reserves quicker than birds that had completed their moult. This suggests that moult-migration overlap is costly, and there exists a trade-off between energy allocated to moult and migratory fat deposits.


The development of biocompatible two-photon fluorophores with a large absorption cross-section is challenging, despite the presence of theoretical guidelines. By rendering asymmetric PRODAN dye centrosymmetric, we designed and synthesized a novel class of two-photon fluorophores (TPZ). Their photophysical properties were investigated and their imaging potentials in cells, tissues and zebrafish were showcased.


Mercury and halogen lamps that possess mutually supplementary spectral responses are used simultaneously in an illuminator intended for phototherapy and fluorescence diagnosis. Their radiation is summed and delivered to an object through a liquid lightguide. Two summation methods--spectral and angular--are tested experimentally. The best results are given by the latter method, in which convergent beams from the lamps are directed into the lightguide at different angles. The total optical power at the lightguide output is 14.5W in the 300-800-nm range. The working spectral interval is selected by means of switchable interference filters on command from a built-in processor. The influence of the spectral width of the radiation on the efficiency with which the radiant flux is used is estimated.


NOTICE: THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTED With increasing cesarean section rates around the world, there will be a corresponding rise in morbidly-adherent placenta cases, such as placenta increta. There have been no randomized controlled trials comparing different surgical treatment of placenta increta. Conservative management of placenta increta, though largely successful, can potentially lead to significant maternal morbidity, such as sepsis, hemorrhage, and mortality. We report a rare event of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIVC) with spontaneous maternal subdural hematoma (SDH) arising from the conservative management of placenta increta. To our knowledge, there has been no such case reported in the literature. The patient was managed by a multidisciplinary team of gynecologists, anesthesiologists, neurosurgeons and hematologists when she presented with right-sided progressive headache and extensive bruising 9 weeks postpartum. Blood products were given to correct her hemodynamic status and she subsequently underwent an emergency hysterectomy, with resolution of the DIVC and her symptoms. J Med Cases. 2018;9(1):34-36 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc2989w


CD4+ T cells developing toward a Th2 fate express IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 while inhibiting production of cytokines associated with other Th types, such as the Th1 cytokine IFN- γ. IL-4–producing Th2 effector cells give rise to a long-lived memory population committed to reactivation of the Th2 cytokine gene expression program. However, reactivation of these effector-derived cells under Th1-skewing conditions leads to production of IFN-γ along with IL-4 in the same cell. We now show that this flexibility ("plasticity") of cytokine expression is preceded by a loss of the repressive DNA methylation of the Ifng promoter acquired during Th2 polarization yet requires STAT4 along with T-box expressed in T cells. Surprisingly, loss of either STAT4 or T-box expressed in T cells increased Ifng promoter CpG methylation in both effector and memory Th2 cells. Taken together, our data suggest a model in which the expression of IFN-γ by Th2-derived memory cells involves attenuation of epigenetic repression in memory Th2 cells, combined with Th1-polarizing signals after their recall activation.


The orientation distribution function (ODF) can be reconstructed online incrementally from diffusion-weighted MRI with a Kalman filtering framework. This online reconstruction can provide real-time feedback to the practitioner, especially appreciated for long acquisition protocols typical in Q-ball imaging. On top of the Kalman filter, we propose a method to evaluate online the reconstruction accuracy of the estimated ODF in constant solid angle. In addition, monitoring the residuals of the Kalman filter, we design, based on statistical tests, two algorithms for online detection of subject motion. The proposed techniques, tested on real and synthetic data under various experimental conditions, can detect rotation by angle less than 3°.


Students evaluate their domain-specific abilities by comparing their own achievement in a certain domain with the achievement of others (social comparison), with their own prior achievement (temporal comparison), and with their own achievement in other domains (dimensional comparison). This article is the first to analyze the simultaneous effects of social, temporal, and dimensional comparisons on students' academic self-concepts of various domains in experimental and field studies. In Study 1 (N = 120), students judged their ability self-concept after having received experimentally manipulated social, temporal, and dimensional comparison feedback. In Study 2 (N = 924), students had to rate their math and German self-concept and were asked to directly compare their achievement to social, temporal, and dimensional comparison standards. In the longitudinal Study 3a (N = 3,054) and 3b (N = 14,008), the three types of comparisons were modeled in an extended internal/external frame of reference model (Marsh, 1986) containing paths from math and verbal achievement level and achievement change to math and verbal self-concept. In all studies, social, temporal, and dimensional comparisons showed significant effects on self-concept. For each comparison process, downward comparisons with worse-off standards resulted in higher self-concepts, whereas upward comparisons with better-off standards resulted in lower self-concepts. These results are in accordance with the theories underlying social, temporal, and dimensional comparison processes and support their integration into a combined framework.


The global energy infrastructure is undergoing a drastic transformation towards renewable energy, posing huge challenges on the energy materials research, development and manufacturing. Additive manufacturing has shown its promise to change the way how future energy system can be designed and delivered. It offers capability in manufacturing complex 3D structures, with near‐complete design freedom and high sustainability due to minimal use of materials and toxic chemicals. Recent literatures have reported that additive manufacturing could unlock the evolution of energy materials and chemistries with unprecedented performance in the way that could never be achieved by conventional manufacturing techniques. This comprehensive review will fill the gap in communicating on recent breakthroughs in additive manufacturing for energy material and device applications. It will underpin the discoveries on what 3D functional energy structures can be created without design constraints, which bespoke energy materials could be additively manufactured with customised solutions, and how the additively manufactured devices could be integrated into energy systems. This review will also highlight emerging and important applications in energy additive manufacturing, including fuel cells, batteries, hydrogen, solar cell as well as carbon capture and storage.


And with these things, bury the purple dream Of the America we have not been, The tropic empire, seeking the warm sea, The last foray of aristocracy The South's secession from the Union in the winter of 1860-1861 deserves remembrance, according to most current scholarship, primarily as a defensive reaction to Abraham Lincoln's election as U.S. president and the growing political strength of his antislavery Republican Party. Fearful that America's corridors of power were dominated by hostile politicos, appalled at northern fury against and resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, aware that the free states had an unshakable grip on the western territories and would never concede to slavery's extension, outraged by John Brown's attack on Harpers Ferry and the specter of northern-inspired slave revolts, and dishonored by abolitionist diatribes against their labor system, white southerners fled such alarming trends by founding their own country. Secessionists, by this rendering, had an inchoate vision at first for their new government, devoting infinitely more thought to what was wrong with the one being forsaken than to the one being initiated. Though disunionists generally believed that the North and the South were, in the words of U.S. senator James H. Hammond of South Carolina, "distinctly separate and hostile," they sought separation mainly to preserve slavery. Confederate nationalism, thus, was more the product than the cause of the South's war for independence, gradually and consciously constructed. (1) Still, Confederate founders shared visions beyond regional security and insulating their slave labor system. An early imagining of disunion, Virginian Nathaniel Beverley Tucker's 1836 futuristic novel, The Partisan Leader, envisioned a free-trade southern nation booming in the wake of separation. Along similar lines, fellow Virginia radical Edmund Ruffin's 1860 political novel. Anticipations of the Future, imagined the South winning a war for independence and accomplishing prosperity through direct trade and treaties with European countries. Taking such aspirations into account, the historian John Majewski has dubbed the founding of the Confederacy the South's bid "to create a more modern economy." Many southern nationalists sought freedom from northern dominance of their commerce, religious institutions, education systems, and literature. Some even envisioned dramatic transformations of political institutions once secession occurred, the initiation, in George C. Rable's words, of a "commonwealth resting on social harmony, political consensus, and unquestionable legitimacy" and devoid of patronage and political parties. Recently, Michael T. Bemath has portrayed the immediate post-secession Confederacy as a "moment of possibility," when agendas of enhancing women's education, reforming and moderating slave management, and rolling back popular democracy might gain traction. (2) Secessionists' tentative aspirations included spreading Dixie's peculiar institution into Latin America, where it was banned with the exceptions of Brazil and Spain's colony in Cuba (and a few other locales), places with which many southern slaveholders sensed a natural affinity. As a Nashville, Tennessee, newspaper put it shortly after the Civil War began, southerners believed that their solution to the problem of relations between capitalists and working classes put them in a special relationship to Brazil and Cuba, both of which had "settled" on the same answer. Matthew Pratt Guterl observes along these lines that the Old South's "master class ... was connected--by ship, by overland travel, by print culture, by a sense of singular space, and by the prospect of future conquest--to the habitus and communitas of New World slaveholders." To no small degree, this confidence in post-secession expansion, which looked toward absorbing Cuba in addition to taking over and spreading slavery into free-labor parts of Latin America, drew sustenance from the confidence that southern slaveholders had in their labor system's health and future once they divorced themselves from antislavery politicians in Washington, D. …


Relationships that determine the design and size parameters of a two-mirror system are obtained on the basis of the development of a method for the construction and calculation (parametric synthesis) of optical systems composed of three reflecting surfaces. Possible versions of the construction of the fundamental layouts of three-mirror systems are considered. A relationship is obtained that determines the real value of the central-screening coefficient of an axial pencil of rays. It is shown that its value is determined by a fast primary mirror and in the limiting case can reach unity.


The dual crises facing legal education - the economic crisis affecting both the job market and the pool of law school applicants, and the crisis of confidence in the ability of law schools and the ABA accreditation process to meet the needs of lawyers or society at large - have undermined the case for not only the autonomy, but the very existence, of law school libraries as we have known them. Legal education in the United States is about to undergo a long-term contraction, and law libraries will be among the first to go. A few law schools may abandon the traditional law library completely. Some law schools will see their libraries whittled away bit by bit as they attempt to answer "the Yirka Question" in the face of shrinking resources, reexamined priorities, and university centralization. What choices individual schools make will largely be driven by how they play the status game.


Filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses with spatial chirp in air is investigated numerically. Spatiotemporal redistribution of energy occurs initially due to the spatial chirp and is subsequently reinforced by group-velocity dispersion and self-focusing. It induces spatiotemporal rotation of pulse, curved multiple filaments, delay of filament onset distance, and enhancement of supercontinuum generation. The method of introducing spatial chirp to the laser pulse offers a new way to control filaments' onset, distribution, and supercontinuum enhancement, which would be very useful in their potential applications.


Emerging 4G standards, such as WiMAX and LTE have adopted the proven technique of Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) to dynamically react to channel fluctuations while maintaining bit-error rate targets of the transmission. This scheme makes use of the estimated channel state indication (CSI) to efficiently utilize channel capacity for next transmission, but it brings with it the stale CSI problem due to the frequently channel fluctuations. As its objective, this thesis focuses on mitigating the vicious effect of stale CSI by proposing a novel framework that incorporate AMC with layered transmission through Superposition Coding (SPC) is introduced. A layered multi-step finite-state Markov chain model (FSMC) is developed under this framework, to effectively assist the system in selecting the optimal modulation and coding scheme as well as the power allocated for each layer in every multi-resolution unicast transmission. Extensive simulations are conducted to verify the proposed framework and compare its performance with other counterparts. The effects of changing key parameters, such as the complexity factor and step size, are also investigated to get close to real world performance. Results demonstrate that the proposed framework can achieve better spectrum efficiency than similar counterparts, due to its improved robustness to the stale CSI problem for each multi-resolution modulated transmission, also these show that the performance of two-layer scheme is good enough for layer allocation, without need of more layers.


Coping with software defects that occur in the post-deployment stage is a challenging problem: bugs may occur only when the system uses a specific configuration and only under certain usage scenarios. Nevertheless, halting production systems until the bug is tracked and fixed is often impossible. Thus, developers have to try to reproduce the bug in laboratory conditions. Often the reproduction of the bug consists of the lion share of the debugging effort. In this paper we suggest an approach to address the aforementioned problem by using a specialized runtime environment (QVM, for Quality Virtual Machine). QVM efficiently detects defects by continuously monitoring the execution of the application in a production setting. QVM enables the efficient checking of violations of user-specified correctness properties, e.g., typestate safety properties, Java assertions, and heap properties pertaining to ownership. QVM is markedly different from existing techniques for continuous monitoring by using a novel overhead manager which enforces a user-specified overhead budget for quality checks. Existing tools for error detection in the field usually disrupt the operation of the deployed system. QVM, on the other hand, provides a balanced trade off between the cost of the monitoring process and the maintenance of sufficient accuracy for detecting defects. Specifically, the overhead cost of using QVM instead of a standard JVM, is low enough to be acceptable in production environments. We implemented QVM on top of IBM's J9 Java Virtual Machine and used it to detect and fix various errors in real-world applications.


Many supervised learning approaches that adapt to changes in data distribution over time (e.g., concept drift) have been developed. The majority of them assume that the data comes already preprocessed or that preprocessing is an integral part of a learning algorithm. In real-application tasks, data that comes from, e.g., sensor readings, is typically noisy, contain missing values, redundant features, and a very large part of model development efforts is devoted to data preprocessing. As data is evolving over time, learning models need to be able to adapt to changes automatically. From a practical perspective, automating a predictor makes little sense if preprocessing requires manual adjustment over time. Nevertheless, adaptation of preprocessing has been largely overlooked in research. In this paper, we introduce and address the problem of adaptive preprocessing. We analyze when and under what circumstances it is beneficial to handle adaptivity of preprocessing and adaptivity of the learning model separately. We present three scenarios where handling adaptive preprocessing separately benefits the final prediction accuracy and illustrate them using computational examples. As a result of our analysis, we construct a prototype approach for combining adaptive preprocessing with adaptive predictor online. Our case study with real sensory data from a production process demonstrates that decoupling the adaptivity of preprocessing and the predictor contributes to improving the prediction accuracy. The developed reference framework and our experimental findings are intended to serve as a starting point in systematic research of adaptive preprocessing mechanisms for adaptive learning with evolving data.


The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is consistently increasing among Korean adults and is reported to be particularly high among older adults in Korea. This paper reports the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and identifies the association between metabolic syndrome and physical activity in Korean older adults. Subjects of this study were 3653 older adults who participated in the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during the years 2007-2009. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the study population was 46.84%. The prevalences of abdominal obesity, elevated fasting glucose, elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and elevated blood pressure were 39.51, 45.53, 39.55, 48.24, and 69.14%, respectively, in the study population. Compared to subjects who reported low levels of physical activity, the odds ratios of metabolic syndrome for those who were moderately active and highly active were 0.93 and 0.63, respectively. Nurses should develop metabolic syndrome management programs that are tailored to the needs of the targeted group and that include individually adapted physical activity programs to promote health.


After the publication of the article, the authors noted that they had made an error regarding certain data in the Results section. On page 1848 the sentence 'Thirteen of these received no salvage treatment' should be replaced by 'Nine of these stopped the diet'. The previous statement was erroneously inserted. We apologize for the mistake and possible misunderstanding. [the original article was published in the International Journal of Oncology 44: 1843-1852, 2014 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2014.2382].


The aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of grass communities in grasslands and savannas is primarily determined by precipitation quantity. Recent research, motivated by predictions of changes in the distribution of rainfall events by global climate change models, indicates that ANPP may be affected by rainfall distribution as much as by annual totals. Grazing and community composition are also known to affect grassland ANPP. The manner in which interactions between rainfall distribution, grazing, and community composition affect the relationship between precipitation and ANPP represents a critical knowledge gap. The effects of community composition and grazing on aboveground growth responses to intraseasonal variation in water availability were investigated at seven grassland sites with a nonselective clipping experiment. The aboveground growth of the dominant C4 species at each site was measured at regular intervals for 2-3 growing seasons in the presence or absence of regular defoliation. In the absence of defoliation, there was a general lack of synchrony of intraseasonal growth among co-occurring species. Variation in growth rates was high and was only partially explained by variation in rainfall. Regular defoliation increased growth synchrony at all sites, but changes in growth responses to rainfall varied between sites. These results suggest that community composition will be important in determining ANPP-precipitation relationships under conditions of altered rainfall distribution. However this effect appears to be a result of species responding differently to soil water or other resources rather than to rainfall per se. Grazing may override the effects of community composition by reducing differences in growth patterns between species and has the potential to weaken precipitation controls on ANPP.


Realization of graphene devices is often hindered by the fact that the known layer growth methods do not meet the requirements of the device fabrication in silicon mainstream technology. For example, the relatively straightforward method of decomposition of hexagonal SiC is not CMOS‐compatible due to the high‐thermal budget it requires [Moon et al., IEEE Electron Device Lett. 31, 260 (2010)]. Techniques based on layer transfer are restricted because of the uncertainty of residual metal contaminants, particles, and structural defects. Of interest is thus a method that would allow one to grow a graphene film directly in the device area where graphene is needed. Production of large area graphene is not necessarily required in this case, but high quality of the film and metal‐free growth on an insulating substrate at temperatures below 1000 °C are important requirements. We demonstrate direct growth of defect‐free graphene on insulators at moderate temperatures by molecular beam epitaxy. The quality of the graphene was probed by high‐resolution Raman spectroscopy, indicating a negligible density of defects. The spectra are compared with those from graphene flakes mechanically exfoliated from native graphite onto mica. These results are combined with insights from density functional theory calculations. A model of graphene growth on mica and similar substrates is proposed.


This is a book review essay of An Injury Law Constitution by Marshall S. Shapo (Oxford University Press, 2012). Shapo's new book introduces the concept of an "injury law constitution" to describe the distinctive values embodied by American tort law, with its emphasis on responsibility and prevention of injuries. Constitutive injury law can be described as our civil religion that levels abuses of power, whether it is the haughty power of the oil industry responsible for the gusher in the Gulf or feral governmental officials that spy on or even torture U.S. citizens. Shapo's thesis is that distinctive and virile bodies of law have evolved for determining responsibility for injuries and the prevention of injuries. These legal institutions have some of the qualities of a constitution — a fundamental set of legal and moral principles that govern relations between human persons, corporations, and governments. His work counters the simplistic arguments of corporate-funded tort reformers who claim that America's civil justice system is driving our economy into a death spiral through jackpot justice awards to greedy plaintiffs and their amoral trial attorneys. Drawing upon forty-six years of torts scholarship and teaching, Shapo demonstrates how injury law reflects our most important cultural values in curbing corporate, governmental, and individual bullies, or reckless companies that play roulette by trading safety for profits.


Adsorption experiments were carried out for the removal of Methylene blue (MB) using Palm Tree Male flower activated carbon (PTMFAC) as the adsorbent at various temperature, adsorbent and adsorbate concentration.. The kinetic data were fitted in pseudo-first order, second order models. The equilibrium data were well fitted in Langmuir isotherm and the maximum equilibrium capacities of the adsorbent were found to be 541.2, 550.4, 588.2 mg/g at 303, 313, and 323 K, respectively. Thermodynamic data for the adsorption system indicated spontaneous and endothermic process. The enthalpy and entropy values for adsorption were obtained as 10.5 KJ/ mol and 0.113 KJ/ mol K respectively in the temperature range of 303-323 K. A new mathematical model for MB transported by molecular diffusion from the bulk of the solution to the surface of PTMFAC was derived and the values of liquid phase diffusivity and external mass transfer coefficient were estimated


The medical professionalism movement, bolstered by many influential medical organizations and institutions, has in the last decade produced a number of conceptual definitions of professionalism and a number of concrete proposals for its measurement and teaching. These projects, however laudable, are misguided when they treat professionalism as a unitary descriptive concept rather than as a contested and therefore primarily evaluative one; when they conceive professionalism as a domain of medical practice separable in principle from other domains; and when they treat professionalism as, in principle, a specifiable goal or product of sufficiently well designed educational curricula. The logic of professionalism-as-product corresponds to the logic of techne (art or practical skill) in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle provides a cogent argument, however, that the moral excellences denoted by "professionalism" cannot be "produced" or even prespecified in the concrete; rather, they must be acquired through long practice under the careful concrete guidance of teachers who themselves embody these moral excellences. Phronesis (practical wisdom) rather than techne must therefore be the guiding logic of educational initiatives in medical professional formation, with particular emphasis on close mentorship and on the moral character both of students and of those who teach them.


Phenomena and processes related to the behavior of fullerenes in solutions are reviewed. Data on the solubility of C60 and C70 fullerenes in a large number of solvents at various temperatures are presented as well as on diffusion coefficient of fullerenes in solutions. The relation between the factors controlling the behavior of dissolved fullerenes and the clustering tendency they show is analyzed. This tendency, which sets fullerenes apart from other large molecules, underlies many aspects of fullerene behavior in solutions, such as the recently discovered nonmonotone temperature dependence of fullerene solubility in various solvents, the nonlinear concentration dependence of nonlinear optical susceptibility, the sharp dependence of the color of a fullerene solution on the solution composition (the solvatochromatic effect), the concentration dependence of the heat of solution of fullerenes in organic solvents, etc. Growth mechanisms of fractal clusters in fullerene solutions are analyzed along with similarity laws determining the thermodynamic characteristics of fullerite crystals.


Democracies often go to war but almost never against each other. Indeed, "the democratic peace" has become a catchphrase among scholars and even U.S. Presidents. But why do democracies avoid fighting each other? "Reliable Partners" offers the first systematic and definitive explanation. Examining decades of research and speculation on the subject and testing this against the history of relations between democracies over the last two centuries, Charles Lipson concludes that constitutional democracies have a "contracting advantage" - a unique ability to settle conflicts with each other by durable agreements. In so doing, he forcefully counters realist claims that a regime's character is irrelevant to war and peace. Lipson argues that because democracies are confident their bargains will stick, they can negotiate effective settlements with each other rather than incur the great costs of war. Why are democracies more reliable partners? Because their politics are uniquely open to outside scrutiny and facilitate long-term commitments, they cannot easily bluff, deceive, or launch surprise attacks. While this transparency weakens their bargaining position, it also makes their promises more credible - and more durable, for democracies are generally stable. Their leaders are constrained by constitutional rules, independent officials, and the political costs of abandoning public commitments. All this allows for solid bargains between democracies. When democracies contemplate breaking their agreements, their open debate gives partners advance notice and a chance to protect themselves. Hence, agreements among democracies are less risky than those with nondemocratic states. Setting rigorous analysis in friendly, vigorous prose, "Reliable Partners" resolves longstanding questions about the democratic peace and highlights important new findings about democracies in world politics, from rivalries to alliances. Above all, it shows conclusively that democracies are uniquely adapted to seal enduring bargains with each other and thus avoid the blight of war.


We at the Environmental Science Institute are saddened by the passing of Dr. Sally Ride. Her pioneering career as an astronaut is well known to all, but she was also a pioneer in science education. Her passion for getting students interested in science was boundless. Dr. Ride was a great friend to ESI and she delivered a most memorable Hot Science – Cool Talks lecture on October 30, 2009, making a profound impression on many of us that day (see photos below). Through Sally Ride Science (www.sallyridescience.com) her passion will live on.
-- What is the Lecture About? -- Given by Dr. Sally Ride
NASA Astronaut (former),
President & CEO, Sally Ride Science

On June 18, 1983, aboard the Orbiter Challenger, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Share an evening with Dr. Ride as she discusses the challenges of space, our changing planet, and science education in the U.S.


Is there still a right to seek asylum in a globalised world? Migration control has increasingly moved to the high seas or the territory of transit and origin countries, and is now commonly outsourced to private actors. Under threat of financial penalties airlines today reject any passenger not in possession of a valid visa, and private contractors are used to run detention centres and operate border crossings. In this volume Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen examines the impact of these new practices on refugees' access to asylum. A systematic analysis is provided of the reach and limits of international refugee law when migration control is carried out extraterritorially or by non-state actors. State practice from around the globe and case law from all the major human rights institutions are discussed. The arguments are further linked to wider debates in the fields of human rights, general international law and political science. (Less)


In Left of Karl Marx, Carole Boyce Davies assesses the activism, writing, and legacy of Claudia Jones (1915-1964), a pioneering Afro-Caribbean radical intellectual, dedicated communist, and feminist. Jones is buried in London's Highgate Cemetery, to the left of Karl Marx-a location that Boyce Davies finds fitting given how Jones expanded Marxism-Leninism to incorporate gender and race in her political critique and activism. Claudia Cumberbatch Jones was born in Trinidad. In 1924, she moved to New York, where she lived for the next thirty years. She was active in the Communist Party from her early twenties onward. A talented writer and speaker, she traveled throughout the United States lecturing and organizing. In the early 1950s, she wrote a well-known column, "Half the World," for the Daily Worker. As the U.S. government intensified its efforts to prosecute communists, Jones was arrested several times. She served nearly a year in a U.S. prison before being deported and given asylum by Great Britain in 1955. There she founded The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News and the Caribbean Carnival, an annual London festival that continues today as the Notting Hill Carnival. Boyce Davies examines Jones's thought and journalism, her political and community organizing, and poetry that the activist wrote while she was imprisoned. Looking at the contents of the FBI file on Jones, Boyce Davies contrasts Jones's own narration of her life with the federal government's. Left of Karl Marx establishes Jones as a significant figure within Caribbean intellectual traditions, black U.S. feminism, and the history of communism.


BACKGROUND
Several studies in older people have shown that grip strength predicts all-cause mortality. The mechanisms are unclear. Muscle strength declines with age, accompanied by a loss of muscle mass and an increase in fat, but the role that body composition plays in the association between grip strength and mortality has been little explored. We investigated the relation between grip strength, body composition, and cause-specific and total mortality in 800 men and women aged 65 and over.

METHODS
During 197374 the UK Department of Health and Social Security surveyed random samples of men and women aged 65 and over living in eight areas of Britain to assess the nutritional state of the elderly population. The survey included a clinical examination by a geriatrician who assessed grip strength and anthropometry. We used Cox proportional hazards models to examine mortality over 24 years of follow-up.

RESULTS
Poorer grip strength was associated with increased mortality from all-causes, from cardiovascular disease, and from cancer in men, though not in women. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, including arm muscle area and BMI, the relative risk of death in men was 0.81 (95% CI 0.700.95) from all-causes, 0.73 (95% CI 0.600.89) from cardiovascular disease, and 0.81 (95% CI 0.660.98) from cancer per SD increase in grip strength. These associations remained statistically significant after further adjustment for fat-free mass or % body fat.

CONCLUSION
Grip strength is a long-term predictor of mortality from all-causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in men. Muscle size and other indicators of body composition did not explain these associations.


Machine learning-based optimization of traffic light programs has been successfully employed to reduce emissions and traffic delays. Due to the variability of traffic flows, it is common practice to optimize multiple traffic light programs tailored for specific conditions and deploy them at predetermined times of the day or days of the week. We explore an alternative to this manual set-interval methodology. We create a system to automatically select the appropriate light controller program in response to continuously changing conditions. We analyze the current traffic density and close-time traffic patterns and instantiate the correct pre-optimized light program based on current conditions. Rather than creating a small set of programs tailored for specific periods of the day, we automatically create, and select from, an over-complete set of light controllers. Based on historic observations, a combination of machine learning approaches are used to find the best representative set of traffic flows to model the system. From these, multiple traffic-light controllers are created to address each flow individually. Using the automated matching system, we achieved reductions in both emissions and travel time over previously optimized lights. We examine the robustness of the system by ensuring that the system operates under large amounts of variability in traffic.


The theme of coordination between different principles and values is becoming central to contemporary international law. This is because the latter has become a broad and complex legal system and is going through a phase of profound transformation. This also implies a paradigmatic and ideological change of the international legal order, which tends to shift from a law of rules to a law of values. In this transition phase, conflicts occur especially between the principles of 'old' international law and the principles of 'new' international law. In this paper it is claimed that, in international law, three different methods are used to try to resolve the antinomies between conflicting principles: a) a 'traditional positivist' method; b) a 'modern positivist' method; c) a 'value-based' method. These three methods are strictly linked to three different conceptions on the sources of general international law and on the means for identification of that law. This article examines separately the three methods and the practical results to which they arrive, using as a main example the conflict between principles on international immunities and principles on fundamental human rights. The conclusion is that the interpreter should today avoid the 'traditional positivist' method, because it is now unsuitable for the reality of contemporary international law. Instead, he should use both the 'modern positivist' method and the 'value-based' method, coordinating them among themselves.
 Keywords: Conflicting Principles, Antinomies, Sources of International Law, Jus Cogens, Immunities, Fundamental Human Rights, Access to Justice, Balancing


All-optical OFDM uses optical techniques to multiplex together several modulated lightsources, to form a band of subcarriers that can be considered as one wavelength channel. The subcarriers have a frequency separation equal to their modulation rate. This means that they can be demultiplexed without any cross-talk between them, usually with a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), implemented optically or electronically. Previous work has proposed networks of optical couplers to implement the DFT. This work shows that the topology of an Arrayed Grating Waveguide Router (AWGR) can be used to perform the demultiplexing, and that the AWGR can be considered as a serial-to-parallel converter followed by a DFT. The simulations show that the electrical bandwidths of the transmitter and receiver are critical to orthogonal demultiplexing, and give insight into how crosstalk occurs in all-optical OFDM and coherent-WDM systems using waveforms and spectra along the system. Design specifications for the AWGR are developed, and show that non-uniformity will lead to crosstalk. The compensation of dispersion and the applications of these techniques to 'coherent WDM' systems using Non-Return to Zero modulation is discussed.


In this paper, it is proposed to take advantage of the deployed passive optical network (PON) infrastructure by overlaying a decomposed radio access network (RAN) using a very dense WDM. Coherent optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing technology is investigated for achieving the desired narrow channel spacings while minimizing the impact on the performance of legacy equipment. A practical implementation is evaluated using simulations. Within the analyzed configurations, a trade-off is found between time-division multiplexed (TDM)-PON and RAN performance. The optimum balance is found for additional losses in the TDM-PON path of less than 1 dB, ensuring simultaneous service to a maximum of 145 metro cells together with the PON customers and within a reach of 24 km.


Microblogging websites such as Twitter have gained popularity as an effective and quick means of expressing opinions, sharing news and promoting information and updates. As a result, data generated on Twitter has become a vital and rich source for tasks such as sentiment mining or newsgathering. However, a significant portion of such data is either biased, untruthful, spam or non-credible in general. Consequently, filtering out non-credible tweets when performing data analyses tasks on Twitter becomes a crucial task. In this work, we present a credibility model for content on Twitter. Unlike previous work that focused on English content or factual tweets, our work analyses the credibility of any tweet type and targets Arabic tweets, a challenging language for NLP in general. We focus on Arabic tweets due to the recent popularity of Twitter in the Arab world and due to the presence of a large portion of non-credible tweets in Arabic. We build a binary credibility classifier that classifies a tweet that belongs to a given topic as either credible or non-credible. Our classifier relies on an exhaustive set of features extracted from both the author of the tweet (user-based) and the tweet itself (content-based). To achieve our objective, we collected 36,155,670 tweets through Twitter streaming API over a period of two weeks and created an index to search our tweet collection. Three topics about the Syrian revolution were retrieved from the collection and given to annotators to annotate. Unlike previous work, we provided annotators with a unique interface that provided a real context for each tweet, such as the author profile and a Web search about the content of the tweet, which we deemed useful for annotators to judge the credibility of a tweet. Overall, 3,393 tweets were annotated for credibility using this interface. Next, we extracted 22 user-based features; such as the expertise of the author on the topic of the tweet, time spacing between her previous tweets, count of followers, etc. In addition, 22 content-based features were extracted including sentiment, count of retweets, count of URLs, etc. Finally, we trained a set of classifiers based on all the features we extracted and using our annotated corpus of tweets as training data. We evaluated our credibility classifiers using a series of carefully designed experiments. Using cross validation on our three different topics and on a combined dataset that contains all the tweets from all the topics, our classifiers surpassed the accuracy of a number of baseline approaches by significant margins. We then applied feature reduction and normalization, which resulted in an additional marginal improvement in accuracy. Finally, to test the robustness of our chosen set of features, we evaluated our model using different training and testing sets. Our classifiers continued to consistently surpass the accuracy of the baseline approaches. Furthermore, we analyzed our feature set by comparing the accuracy of the classifier when trained on user-based features only versus content-based features only. Overall, content-based features only generated better accuracies than user-based features only when tested on multiple topics.


Curiosity is a powerful tool, and combined with the ability to observe the natural world, grants humankind an unique opportunity, the opportunity to wonder why. Why do things exist?, why do they do the things they do?, why is this even possible?
Research in our lab is focused on the basic understanding and potential application of biological materials, in particular, biological adhesives produced by marine organisms such as oysters. Oysters produce a cement-like material that is able to withstand the dynamic conditions found in coastal environments. The focus of this dissertation is to lay the basis of the characterization of new biological materials by observing and analyzing its physical properties, to measure the performance of the material in natural conditions and finally to identify the basic components that give the material the properties that we observe. The end goal of this project is to understand the properties of this material so we are able to develop a synthetic system that is able to imitate, as close as possible, what we find in nature. These results, and more importantly, the new questions that emerge from this research, provide a first look at the adhesive system of oysters leading the way to new discoveries in the future.


Detailed experimental investigations of the amplitude dependence of flame describing functions (FDF) were performed using a stratified swirl-stabilized combustor, in order to understand the combustion–acoustic interactions of CH4/air flames propagating into nonhomogeneous reactant stoichiometry. Phase-synchronized OH planar laser induced fluorescence (OH PLIF) measurements were used to investigate local reaction zone structures of forced flames. To determine the amplitude- and frequency-dependent forced flame response, simultaneous measurements of inlet velocity and heat release rate oscillations were made using a constant temperature anemometer and photomultiplier tubes with narrow-band OH*/CH* interference filters. The measurements were made over a wide range of stratification ratios, including inner stream enrichment (ϕ i > ϕ o ) and outer stream enrichment (ϕ o > ϕ i ) conditions, and compared to the baseline condition of spatially and temporally homogeneous cases (ϕ i = ϕ o ). Results show that for the inlet conditions investigated, fuel stratification has a significant influence on local and global flame structures of unforced and forced flames. Under stratified conditions, length scales of local contours were found to be much larger than the homogeneous case due to high kinematic viscosities associated with high temperature. Stratification has a remarkable effect on flame–vortex interactions when the flame is subjected to high-amplitude acoustic forcing, leading to different evolution patterns of FDF (amplitude and disturbance convective time) in response to the amplitude of the imposed inlet velocity oscillation. The present experimental investigation reveals that intentional stratification has the potential to eliminate or suppress the occurrence of detrimental combustion instability problems in lean-premixed gas turbine combustion systems.


This paper studies the evolution of school segregation in Sweden in the aftermath of the 1992 universal school voucher reform, which spurred the establishment of new independent voucher schools and introduced parental choice. The empirical analysis assesses the relative importance of neighbourhood sorting, parental choice and the location of independent schools for school segregation. In particular, it exploits variation in school choice opportunities across municipalities, and provides descriptive evidence that in regions where school choice has become more prevalent, school segregation between immigrants and natives, and between children of high/low educated parents, has increased more than in regions where choice is limited. This result also holds when we account for residential sorting and focus on excess school segregation over and above the segregation that would occur if all pupils attended their assigned schools. The estimates suggest that the increase in school segregation 15 years after the voucher reform that can be attributed to choice is relatively small, and in an international comparison Sweden still ranks as a country with a low-to-medium segregated school system. Our findings are suggestive of the implications for student sorting in other settings where similar voucher schemes are introduced.


The aim of this project is to consider the effect of damage on the energy absorption potential of continuous filament random mat (CoFRM) E-glass / polyester composite tubes. Composite materials have been shown to absorb significantly higher specific energy levels than metals under axial crushing conditions. This property can be exploited in automotive crashworthiness applications. Replacing steel crash structures with composites can lead to significant weight reductions. However, damage in composite structures can be difficult to assess and may not be visible by casual inspection. There is a concern that damage may accumulate in the crash structures, as a result of in-service wear and tear or due to operator negligence. It is important to understand how much accidental damage the crash structures can sustain before they are no longer able to fulfil their requirements. Two wall thicknesses of circular and square tube geometries were tested, with over 650 samples crushed either quasi-statically at 5mm/min or dynamically at 5m/s. Damage was induced in three ways: drilled holes, delamination in the form of Melinex® inserts moulded into the samples, and out-of-plane impact damage of various energy levels.

Cylindrical samples made from this low cost composite are able to absorb up to 87 kJ/kg when tested quasi-statically. Dynamic testing was carried out as it provides a better representation of the loading conditions the parts will see in operation. Dynamically tested samples absorbed less energy than the quasi-statically tested samples (up to 18%). This was due to the viscoelastic nature of the matrix causing a greater degree of fragmentation at the higher test speed, leaving the load bearing fibres less well constrained and therefore reducing their load bearing capability.

Square section tubes absorb less energy (up to 31 %) than a circular section of the same cross sectional area and fibre volume fraction. This is due to geometric stress raisers at the comers causing intralaminar failure. This splitting at the comers leaves the fronds less constrained and allows them to splay at a lower load.

A threshold level was found for each type of damage. Below the threshold level the damage zone had no effect on the progressive failure mode or the specific energy absorption (SEA). Above the threshold level unstable compressive failure occurs in the form of a crack initiating at the damage zone and then propagating around the tube. In this situation a portion of the tube breaks off uncrushed and therefore reduces the energy absorption capability of the structure.

For this material tested, relatively small hole sizes (5mm) and relatively low impact energy levels (l.5J - 3J) can cause unstable failure to occur at quasi-static test speeds. However, it has been shown that the damage tolerance of the material increases (to 10mm and 3J - 9J) at higher test rates (5m/s).

Having observed the failure modes and damage tolerance of the tubes under various testing parameters it was important to look at ways of improving the damage tolerance of the samples. Moulding a thermoplastic interleaf into the sample to increase the interlaminar fracture toughness increases the damage tolerance of the tubes. Increasing the wall thickness and adding an interleaf increases the damage tolerance by up to a factor of 9. However, the increased damage tolerance of samples with interleaf was offset by a reduction in SEA by up to 48% due to a reduction in coefficient of friction in the crush zone from 0.36 to 0.22.

The ultimate compressive stress (UCS) increases at dynamic test speeds and the mean crush load observed decreases. Therefore the crushing stress of the dynamically tested samples is a far lower percentage of the UCS of the material than under quasi-static loading. A greater stress concentration is therefore required to cause unstable failure at higher rates. Improved damage tolerance is also seen by increasing the wall thickness of the sample, testing square rather than circular section samples, and moulding interleaves into the samples. In all of these cases the changes that lead to improved damage tolerance lead to a reduction in the crush load of samples as a percentage of the ultimate crush load.

Understanding the work in this thesis will enable the design of damage tolerant composite crash structures for the automotive industry. Such a part will, even with the inclusion of accidental damage, be able to absorb the energy required in the event of a collision.


Large vagile mammals typically exhibit little genetic structuring across their range, particularly when their habitat is essentially continuous. We investigated the population genetic structure of a large vagile Australian macropodid, Macropus fuliginosus, which is continuously distributed across most of southern Australia, using nine highly polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci. Five distinct genetic units were identified across the range, four on the mainland and one on Kangaroo Island. In addition to the predicted historic Nullarbor Plain Barrier, two unexpected mainland barriers to gene flow were identified. Both were associated with landscape discontinuities (Swan River, Flinders Ranges), which appear within the dispersal capabilities of M. fuliginosus. Typical of large vagile mammals, M. fuliginosus displays high genetic diversity (with the exception of an insular population) and weak genetic structuring (within genetic units). However, the expansion of M. fuliginosus from southwestern Australia during the Pleistocene has resulted in significantly reduced genetic diversity in eastern populations. No significant sex‐biased dispersal was detected, although differences in habitat, densities and climatic conditions between the eastern and western regions of the range appear to influence dispersal with the effects of isolation by distance only evident in the west. These results suggest that the biogeography of southern Australia is more complex than previously thought and reveal that seemingly minor landscape features can significantly impact genetic structuring in large vagile mammals.


This paper introduces wavelets and shows that they may be efficient and useful for power distribution relaying. The wavelet transform of a signal consists in measuring the "similarity"between the signal and a set of translated and scaled versions of a "mother wavelet". The "mother wavelet" is a chosen fast decaying oscillation function. Wavelets are used to analyse transient earth faults in a 20 kV resonant grounded network as generated by EMTP. It is shown that wavelets may be employed for analysing records to study efficiently the faulted network. Moreover, this new technique can actually be implemented in real time for protection devices. Thus, it is suitable for application to protective relays.


Three aspects of the experimental observation of self-written waveguides are analyzed. The evolution of the self-written waveguide is compared quantitatively with a model that incorporates saturation and an exposure-dependent attenuation, giving excellent agreement. The spatial features of the self-written channel that are observable by luminescence are qualitatively explained by the same model. Even though the channel is multimoded at the blue writing wavelength, it is demonstrated to be single moded at the wavelength 1550 nm, consistent with predictions.


The static state of an electric power system is defined as the vector of the voltage magnitudes and angles at all network buses. The static-state estimator is a data processing algorithm for converting redundant meter readings and other available information into an estimate of the static-state vector. Discussions center on implementation problems associated with computation time requirements, dimensionality resulting from a large number of buses, and the actual time-varying (nonstatic) character of power systems. Various potentially useful approaches are discussed and compared.


A sense of spatial presence as a feeling of "being there" is an important part of the virtual experience. Navigation is a fundamental task in virtual environments and the specific navigation methods that are employed influence a user's sense of presence. In this paper we investigate how different metaphors for vertical navigation impact spatial presence. We introduce a new elevator metaphor for vertical navigation in virtual environments which includes a multimodal simulation. In a user study our approach is compared to the existing flying and teleportation metaphors with respect to spatial presence, comfort, real world awareness and other parameters. The results show that our elevator simulation increases the sense of presence and is more natural and realistic for vertical navigation in multilevel virtual environments than previous methods.


Inequalities that exist between the indigenous Mayans of Guatemala and the white population have received minimal international or domestic attention. Dominated by Ladinos, a minority group of westernized Mayans, and Mestizos, who are people of mixed indigenous and European ancestry, the indigenous Guatemalan community suffers from exclusion in the political and economic spheres of their governance. In Guatemala, there are 23 recognized Amerindian languages spoken by 40 percent of the population. Hundreds of years have not erased the Mayan identity from many Yucatan groups in Guatemala and its neighboring countries. Many Mayan women continue to weave the same patterns and symbols of their ancestors, and most of the Mayan people live in rural, traditional communities. These Mayan descendants have established close-knit communities that rarely interact with the other ethnic groups in Guatemala. Some Guatemalans have even discriminated against the indigenous groups for their ethnic exclusivity. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic majority looks on native religious practices and the mixture of ancient and Protestant tradition practiced by the rural Mayan communities with disdain. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Like the American Indians in the United States during the 19th century, the indigenous peoples of Guatemala are facing lives of isolation and poverty. According to the United Nations, 70 percent of all Guatemalans living in extreme poverty are indigenous people. In Latin America, Guatemala is second only to Brazil in the magnitude of the socioeconomic disparities between the rich and the poor. Much of this income gap results from past internal conflict. Frequent fighting between far-right military groups and leftist radicals made Guatemala the battleground for one of Latin America's longest civil conflicts. After the failed overthrow of General Ydigoras Fuentes by junior military officers in 1960, a sect of leftists took shelter in Cuba for a few decades and conducted a guerilla war against the government. Of the 200,000 people killed in the conflict that lasted from 1960 to 1996, 140,000 were Mayan natives. Today, 250,000 people are considered "displaced." Most of those "displaced" are members of indigenous communities devastated by land seizure and scorched earth policies of the government during the 1980s. Entire indigenous villages, like Plan de Sanchez in 1982, were destroyed by paramilitary troops who sought to suppress leftist insurgencies. In 1999, the UN-sanctioned committee--the Historical Clarification Commission--found evidence that a majority of the individuals who were raped, tortured, or killed during the conflict were indigenous and that 85 percent of the perpetrators were members of the Guatemalan army. Victims were children, elders, and pregnant women. In 1995, directly preceding the end of the conflict, former Guatemalan President Ramiro de Leon Carpio promised to reform Guatemala's human rights record with the indigenous peoples. His peace process and the resultant 1996 Peace Accord included signed agreements on human rights, indigenous rights, and resettlement of displaced victims of the war. …


The consanguineous
 marriages are strongly favored in many human populations but their
 prevalence and structure vary depending on culture, religion, and
 socioeconomic conditions of respective population. These marriages
 are reported as the leading cause of enhancing the prevalence of
 autosomal recessive genetic disorders.
 The challenge of genetic disorders burden in the population calls
 for the development of prevention programs. But the strategies for
 their implementation require the information about types and
 prevalence of genetic disorders and family system in population.
 These achievements are possible by thorough understanding of the
 determinants of human population genetic structure that is mainly
 determined by the marriage pattern. Furthermore, the pattern of
 close marriages in population along with other factors leads to
 develop the isolated groups having typically confined,
 welldocumented, extended and multigenerational pedigrees. The
 extended pedigrees with rare disorders are used by geneticists for
 their linkage studies. Present study focuses on consanguinity and
 genetic disorders in the population of District Dera Ghazi Khan,
 Punjab, Pakistan because of its unique geographical location and
 population structure.
 The district Dera Ghazi Khan is situated in the center of Pakistan,
 bounded on the North by Dera Ismail Khan District of N.W.F.P; on the
 West by Musa Khel and Barkhan districts of Baluchistan, on the South
 by Rajan Pur, and on the East by river Indus that separates it from
 all other districts of Punjab province. The population of Dera Ghazi
 Khan is mainly a tri-ethnic mixture of Baloch, Natives (Non-Baloch)
 and Indian Migrants (Muhajirs). Social and cultural activities vary
 in the area but marriages are mostly endogamous within caste or
 tribes. The harsh and adverse environmental condition restricts the
 movement of people that result in development of extended families
 /founder population.
 The present study showed 70.52% endogamous marriages in the general
 population and 71.62%, 69.62%, and 70.42% in Baloch, Migrant, and
 Native populations, respectively. Furthermore high rate of
 consanguinity (53.57%) with 0.0301 mean coefficient of inbreeding
 was observed in general population. The first-cousin marriages were
 found more prevalent. The results were also discussed on the bases
 of educational status, occupation, and socioeconomic condition and a
 strong link with these factors was observed.
 Furthermore, statistically significant effect of consanguinity on
 pregnancy loss (miscarriages, abortions, prenatal deaths), and
 perinatal deaths (still births, birth of dead child and early
 neonatal deaths) were found. In addition, the effect of marriage
 types on specific group of genetic disorders like skin disorders
 (Albinism, EDs, Alopecia, Aposthia, etc), non-syndromic deafness,
 and thalassemia were also studied.
 Five families (A, B, C, D, and E) clinically showed the presence of
 abnormal nails and skin. In the affected individuals, nychodystrophy
 of fingernails and toenails started at the same time but
 differentially lead to anonychia on toenails and onycholysis on
 fingernails. The skin was abnormal, which bruises and blisters
 easily. The affected individuals of these skin families showed
 abnormally high sweating, missing finger-prints and palmoplantar
 keratoderma. Two families (F, G) exhibited typical features of
 congenital alopecia including absence of hair on the scalp, axillae,
 pubic, and other parts of the body. In Family F, linkage was
 established to hair loss locus on chromosome 8p21. Sequence analysis
 of HR gene revealed a single base pair deletion mutation at position
 431(431delC) in exon 2, leading to frameshifts and premature
 termination codon 68 bp downstream in the same exon. In family G,
 genotyping with microsatellite markers failed to detect linkage to
 any of the known alopecia / ED locus.
 In three families (H, I, J) affected individuals had pre-lingual,
 severe to profound hearing loss, with no associated abnormality. The
 mode of inheritance of the hearing loss was autosomal recessive.
 Analysis of the genotypes revealed the linkage of the family H to
 the DFNB35 on chromosome 14, family I, to the locus DFNB44 on
 chromosome 7, and family J to the DFNB1 locus on chromosome 13. In
 family J, sequence analysis of the coding exon of GJB2 gene led to
 the identification of a G-to-A substitution at nucleotide position
 71, resulting in a premature stop codon (W24X).
 For studying the spectrum of -thalassemia mutations in the
 population, 164 -thalassemia chromosomes obtained from 82 different
 families were analyzed and nine different mutations [IVS I-5,
 FSC8/9, FSC-5 (-CT), IVS-I-1(G-T), CD41/42 (-TTCT), IVS-II-848 (C-A)
 and CD 15 (G-A), CD16 (-C) and CD30 (G-C)] in the -globin gene were
 detected. Interestingly, frequencies of these mutations vary among
 different ethnic groups as well as castes/ tribes.


ACRL and other academic librarians are currently re-examining the tough questions of learning, literacy, and education -- and the librarians' role in addressing these issues. They can use AASL's learning standards as one springboard for thought, particularly in terms of articulating learning. The result is a developmentally appropriate set of standards that reflects lifelong engagement with, and creation of, recorded information.


In the past, environmental concerns were mostly addressed using piecemeal evaluation that redirected the crop production and management decisions in favor of achieving a single objective (such as soil conservation or a water quality goal) which may worsen the desirable levels of other objectives. Lakshminarayan's research develops and implements a conceptual framework for integrated agricultural economic and environmental modeling using a multicriteria decision-making approach grounded in multiattribute utility and social welfare theory. Developing a theory for the integrated modeling method and a statistically consistent approach to integrate spatial variability is what distinguishes the present work from other studies on economic-environmental modeling. Readers will find this to be an excellent summary of impacts of alternative crop production systems on soil and water quality and crop yields. The monograph includes color maps. $20.00


On July 5, 2002, starting at about 8 a.m., the southern half of the eye of Typhoon Chata'an passed directly over the northern part of the island of Guam. Data collected on Guam indicate that the typhoon had sustained winds of 85 to 90 miles per hour (mi/hr) with gusts of up to 115 mi/hr (Charles Guard, National Weather Service, written commun., 2003). Storm rainfall totals exceeded 21 inches (in.) over the mountainous areas in south-central Guam. During the peak of the storm, rain fell at rates of up to 6.48 inches per hour (in/hr). Because of the damage caused by Typhoon Chata'an, the President signed a major disaster declaration on July 6, 2002. Damages associated with Typhoon Chata'an, while considered moderate relative to other storms that have affected Guam, amounted to several tens of millions of dollars. In excess of 1,000 single-family and multi-family homes were either extensively damaged or destroyed. Electrical power was out for several days over most of the island and no potable water was available through public distribution systems (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002). The extreme rainfall led to flooding in southern Guam and caused numerous landslides and severe erosion along water courses. The most significant evidence of these effects could be found in the Fena Valley Reservoir, where elevated sediment concentrations made the water unsuitable for use as a domestic water supply for several days. During normal operation, Fena Valley Reservoir supplies most of the drinking water for the military and some of the general public in southern Guam. All of the stream-gaging stations operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on Guam were damaged to some extent during the flood and three of the stations were totally destroyed. Peak flows in many rivers in southern Guam reached record levels during Typhoon Chata'an. New record peak stages and/or flows of record occurred at 14 of 15 sites where the USGS has collected data. In some areas, the magnitude of flood peaks exceeded previous records significantly. Peak flows had recurrence intervals of 80 years or more at 9 of the 13 sites where sufficient data were available to make the computations. Four of the 9 sites had recurrence intervals that were determined to be greater than 100 years. In this fact sheet, storm rainfall totals and maximum rainfall totals for durations of 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-hours are summarized for 12 rain gages on Guam. Peak stages and/or flows were computed at 15 USGS streamflow-gaging stations and recurrence intervals for the peaks determined. Rainfall and streamflowgaging stations operated by the USGS on Guam are supported by funding provided by numerous agencies including the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the University of Guam through the Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI). The USGS Office of Surface Water, as part of a national program to document the effects of extreme floods in the United States, provided funding to support the preparation of this fact sheet.


The distribution of copper, lead, mercury and
zinc in the Kelang River estuary were studied. Six
stations were selected for sampling. Two of these stations
were in the fresh waterregme while the rest were in the
estuarine zone. The dissolved and total copper, lead
and zinc concentrations in the water column were determined by meatomic absorption spectrophotometer after
chelat on and extraction with solvent. The total man
ganeseandir on concentration in wateraswell as the
extract ablecopper,lead and zinclevelsin the sediment
were studied. The total mercury content in the water
column, sedimentand fishes was determined by cold -vapour atomicab sorptions pectropho to metric method.
The heavy met alcontents in six species of fishes, namely
P1otos usanguil1aris, Ariusthal assinus, Dasyatiszugei,
Gastrophysu slunaris, Setipinna and Johnius carutta
were studied. some physico-chemical parameters of the
water column such as salinity, dissolved oxygen content,
watervelocityand pH were determine at different depths
and stations.


This paper provides an up-to-date analysis of recent trends in the housing market, using unit-record data from CoreLogic on housing and mortgage transactions in New Zealand. Increased housing market activity in recent months has been driven by strong investor demand, both within and outside of Auckland, as reflected in increased investor purchases and significant growth in investor-related mortgage credit. Increased investor activity is primarily due to small investors, who are generally more reliant on credit. This suggests the incoming changes to the LVR restrictions could have a significant dampening effect on Auckland housing market activity and house price inflation.


The debate on personal identity tends to conflate or ignore two different usages of the word 'person'. Psychological-continuity proponents concentrate upon its use to refer to human psychology or personality, while animalist critics prefer its use to refer to individual human beings. I argue that this duality undermines any attempt to see 'person' as a genuine sortal term. Instead, adopting suggestions found in Dennett and Sellars, I consider personhood as an ascription rather like an honorific title or achievement-marker. I show how the questions of identity for a regular honorific title like 'genius' inevitably supervene on identity-questions concerning the more basic entity of 'person'. I then argue by analogy that, if 'person' be regarded as an honorific on a par with 'genius', questions of personal identity over time necessarily collapse into questions of the continuing identity of human beings. Attempts to separate the continuity of a person from that of the human being who embodies it then founder on conceptual and referential incoherencies. Room is left for increasing the extension of personhood ascriptions to non-humans in the future, while much that was previously puzzling about its behaviour as a concept is explained. At least some of the revisionist debate can now be seen more profitably as a debate about the moral and pragmatic considerations underlying non-paradigm human continuity.


Relics of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, two of the Buddha's closest disciples, were discovered by Fred. C. Maisey and Alexander Cunningham in a stūpa at Sānchī in 1851 and were re-enshrined at the same place in November 1952. The exact whereabouts of the relics between these two dates has been uncertain, partly because both Buddhists and scholars have assumed, incorrectly, that the relics that were brought back to India had been in the possession of Mr Cunningham. The purpose of this article is to give a detailed account ot the relics of Sāriputta and Moggallāna found at Sānchī. The account is based on correspondence and notes about the relics found in archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and on relevant sources published by the Maha Bodhi Society. I argue that the quarrel over the relics was an important part of the revival of Buddhism from the end of the nineteenth century. I also discuss how the relics of the two saints were used by the government of India as nationalist symbols.


We investigate the most plausible stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the main origin of the tilt of the fundamental plane (FP) for old, massive early-type galaxies. We consider a sample of 13 bright galaxies of the Coma cluster and combine our results with those obtained from a sample of 57 lens galaxies in the same luminous mass range. We estimate the luminous mass and stellar mass-to-light ratio values of the sample galaxies by fitting their Sloan Digital Sky Survey multiband photometry with composite stellar population models computed with different dust-free, solar-metallicity templates and IMFs. We compare these measurements and those derived from two-component orbit-based dynamical modelling. The photometric and dynamical luminous mass estimates of the galaxies in our sample are consistent, within the errors, if a Salpeter IMF is adopted. On the contrary, with a Kroupa or Chabrier IMF the two luminous mass diagnostics differ at a more than 4σ level. For the massive Coma galaxies, their stellar mass-to-light ratio scales with luminous mass as the corresponding effective quantities are observed to scale on the FP. This indicates that the tilt of the FP is primarily caused by stellar population properties. We conclude that old, massive lens and non-lens early-type galaxies obey the same luminous and dynamical scaling relations, favour a Salpeter IMF, and suggest a stellar population origin for the tilt of the FP. The validity of these results for samples of early-type galaxies with different age and mass properties still remains to be tested.


Global health and poverty reduction discourses have recognised immunisation as one of the most affordable and effective means of reducing child mortality and in a broader sense, as an essential contribution to poverty reduction efforts. While immunisation comes with countless benefits, it is potentially a complex and difficult health strategy to enforce. Decisions on broader health as well as immunisation goals are often made at a global level to be incorporated and adapted in to national health plans and budgets. Evidently for immunisation campaigns, the journey from the global to the local is a vulnerable and unpredictable one. Indeed 'anti-vaccination rumours' have been defined as a major threat to achieving vaccine coverage goals. This is demonstrated in this paper through a case study of responses to the Global Polio Eradication Campaign (GPEI) in northern Nigeria where Muslim leaders ordered the boycott of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). A 16-month controversy resulted from their allegations that the vaccines were contaminated with anti-fertility substances and the HIV virus was a plot by Western governments to reduce Muslim populations worldwide. Through desk and field research, this paper explores the political and cultural angles of this controversy revealing deeper dimensions and complex factors that have contributed to the rejection of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) in northern Nigeria. Through the lens of the local northern Nigerian communities, this paper examines and brings to question the roles, responsibilities and actions of global and national actors in implementing effective immunisation campaigns with a view to curbing and managing 'antivaccination rumours' and informing better practices for international health partnerships. I will argue that while the polio vaccine boycott has proved costly in both economic and human terms, it has opened up important lines of communication at both global and national levels, deepening dialogue, participation and sensitivity.


OBJECTIVE
Most patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) require second-step treatments to achieve remission. The Treatment with Exercise Augmentation for Depression (TREAD) study was designed to test the efficacy of aerobic exercise as an augmentation treatment for MDD patients who had not remitted with antidepressant treatment.

METHOD
Eligible participants in this randomized controlled trial were sedentary individuals (men and women aged 18-70 years) diagnosed with DSM-IV nonpsychotic MDD who had not remitted with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment. Participants were recruited through physician referrals and advertisements. A total of 126 participants were randomized to augmentation treatment with either 16 kcal per kg per week (KKW) or 4 KKW of exercise expenditure for 12 weeks while SSRI treatment was held constant. Supervised sessions were conducted at The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas, with additional home-based sessions as needed to fulfill the weekly exercise prescription. The primary outcome was remission (as determined by a score ≤ 12 on the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Clinician-Rated). The study took place between August 2003 and August 2007.

RESULTS
There were significant improvements over time for both groups combined (F₁,₁₂₁ = 39.9, P < .0001), without differential group effect (group effect: F₁,₁₃₄ = 3.2, P = .07; group-by-time effect: F₁,₁₁₉ = 3.8, P = .06). Adjusted remission rates at week 12 were 28.3% versus 15.5% for the 16-KKW and 4-KKW groups, respectively, leading to a number needed to treat (NNT) of 7.8 for 16 KKW versus 4 KKW. Men, regardless of family history of mental illness, and women without a family history of mental illness had higher remission rates by week 12 with higher-dose (women, 39.0%; men, 85.4%) than with lower-dose exercise (women, 5.6%; men, 0.1%) (women: t₉₅ = 2.1, P = .04; men: t₈₈ = 5.4, P < .0001) (NNT: women, 3.0; men, 1.2).

CONCLUSIONS
There was a trend for higher remission rates in the higher-dose exercise group (P < .06), with a clinically meaningful NNT of 7.8 in favor of the high exercise dose. Significant differences between groups were found when the moderating effects of gender and family history of mental illness were taken into account and suggest that higher-dose exercise may be better for all men and for women without a family history of mental illness.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00076258.


This exploratory research examines how we might nudge consumers towards making healthier food choices in online grocery shopping or other digitally mediated food consumption contexts. Our pilot study investigated how different forms of social comparisons could be used to encourage consumers to reduce the number of calories contained in their online grocery basket. Our findings show that participants who were less interested in trying new diets were more willing to reduce calories when presented with a comparison to people unlike them, an out-group member comparison, while those who were interested in trying new diets were more willing to reduce calories regardless of social comparison type. These findings imply that one size does not fit all when nudging. More research is needed to see how social comparisons influence the effectiveness of digital health behavior projects.


CuS is an important p-type semiconductor material with many interesting properties and potential applications. CuS (covellite) has been synthesized by solvothermal, hydrothermal, microwave irradiation, sol-gel, electrodeposition, solid state reaction, chemical bath decomposition, mechanochemical, sonochemical etc methods. We have taken an initial interest to synthesize CuS with Zn as dopant in different concentrations using co-precipitation technique at room temperature. The synthesized sample was structurally, chemically, optically and electrically characterized. Structural analysis shows that the particles synthesized were nanocrystals. Chemical studies show the high purity of the sample prepared. Optical studies show that these nanocrystals could be used for coatings as sun glasses and poultry roofs. Measurements of dielectric parameters confirm this nanocrystals could be used as an electrical material.


A method is presented for applying a null-model analysis to the verification of the significance of the input neurons of Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP). This method was applied to a problem from ecology, namely the establishment of invasive insect pest species. Previous work has described how the MLP were trained to predict species establishment from climate data, and to identify which climatic factors are significant. The null-model analysis method described here was used to validate these predictions.


Liberalism has occupied the central place in economics in Romania during the transitional period, indeed from the traditional economy (Middle Age) to modern economy especially in the first decades of the existence of modern Romania. Given these conditions, it is thoroughly justified the enhanced interest, shown both by the experts as well as by the public opinion regarding the history, its contents and the practical role, fulfilled by the economic liberalism within the context of the progress of the Romanian society. In this paper differentiated conclusions for Romania are drawn in a duplicate matter. On the one hand, bearing in mind the economic processes in real life and on the other the controversies of ideas among the aspects and the economic thinking, respectively in the process of materializing and clarifying the political and ideological profile of different ideas of economic thought during a very long period of over half a century


I wanted to investigate how history is taught in the Ghanaian education systems at various levels and specifically in Cape Coast schools. I believe that history teaches people who they are and where they come from and thus equips them to learn from their past and prosper due to the analysis of the accomplishments and faults of their ancestors. I was curious to see how and what Ghanaians are taught about their past since their Western style education system has been structured after the British education system. I also wanted to find out how much is taught about the African Diaspora in the lower and upper levels of education. History is not a separate subject until senior secondary school (SSS) so that was the level at which I focused on most. I wanted to discover all the aspects of teaching history in Ghana by looking at the curriculum, teaching strategies, the syllabus, and textbooks to see if History is a subject relating to Ghanaian students live and futures.


Background: More than 70 million Americans are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), with high upfront cost-sharing to encourage strategies such as price shopping to mitigate out-of-pocket spending. Recent research suggests HDHP enrollees are reluctant to engage in these consumer strategies, but there is little information on why. Objectives: To describe associations between HDHP enrollees' attitudes about and intent to engage in consumer strategies. Research Design: We conducted a nationally representative web survey of 1637 HDHP enrollees that included 2 hypothetical scenarios amenable to consumer strategies. For each scenario, we asked participants whether they would compare price or quality information, discuss cost with a provider, or try to negotiate a service price. We measured participants' ratings of the difficulty of each strategy, its effectiveness at reducing cost or increasing the likelihood of getting care, and how likely participants would be to actually engage in each strategy. Results: Fewer than half of HDHP enrollees intended to engage in any of the surveyed strategies. Enrollees who viewed a consumer strategy as helpful were more likely to engage in that strategy; no associations were found with perceived difficulty of a strategy and intent to engage in it. Conclusions: HDHP enrollees may not pursue consumer strategies because they believe they are not helpful for getting care or lowering costs. Providers and payers should ensure these strategies are actually helpful to HDHP enrollees and that enrollees understand how they could use these strategies to reduce their out-of-pocket costs.


The utility of collaborative manipulators for shared tasks is highly dependent on the speed and accuracy of communication between the human and the robot. The run-time of recently developed probabilistic inference models for situated symbol grounding of natural language instructions depends on the complexity of the representation of the environment in which they reason. As we move towards more complex bi-directional interactions, tasks, and environments, we need intelligent perception models that can selectively infer precise pose, semantics, and affordances of the objects when inferring exhaustively detailed world models is inefficient and prohibits real-time interaction with these robots. In this paper we propose a model of language and perception for the problem of adapting the configuration of the robot perception pipeline for tasks where constructing exhaustively detailed models of the environment is inefficient and inconsequential for symbol grounding. We present experimental results from a synthetic corpus of natural language instructions for robot manipulation in example environments. The results demonstrate that by adapting perception we get significant gains in terms of run-time for perception and situated symbol grounding of the language instructions without a loss in the accuracy of the latter.


Simulating the performance behavior of complex software systems, like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, is a hard task due to the high number of system components when using a white box simulation approach. This paper utilizes a black box approach for establishing a simulation model for SAP ERP systems on the basis of real world performance data, which is gathered by using a synthetic benchmark. In this paper we introduce the benchmark, called Zachmanntest, and demonstrate that by using an evolutionary algorithm basing on the results of the Zachmanntest, the exact performance behavior of the ERP system can be modeled. Our work provides insights on how the algorithm is parameterized e.g. for the mutation and crossover probability, to receive optimal results. Furthermore we show that the evolutionary algorithm models the performance and scalability of an ERP system with an error less than 3.2 system with much less effort than required when using a white box simulation approach.