Methodology for the successful implementation of RAFT (4-cyano-4[(dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonyl)sulfanyl]pentanoic acid (CDTPA)) iniferter polymerization of butyl methacrylate in miniemulsion using visible light (green light; λmax = 530 nm) has been developed. Under suitable conditions, the polymerization proceeds to high conversion with good control/livingness, generating polymeric nanoparticles in the approximate diameter range of 100–200 nm. The surfactant loading is a crucial parameter – if the concentration of free SDS in the aqueous phase is too high, secondary nucleation occurs, leading to ill-defined molecular weight distributions and low polymerization rates. It is proposed that this originates in the phenomenon known as "frustrated entry", whereby photoinitiation involving the original RAFT agent leads to exit of the thus generated hydrophilic radical, which in turn may lead to secondary nucleation. It is demonstrated that RAFT agents as visible light iniferters provide a useful synthetic route to polymer nanoparticles under benign solvent free conditions.


This special issue of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Volume 25, is a symposium on the anthology, Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will: Agentless Agency? (Repetti), and on the topic reflected by that title, more broadly, based on an Author Meets Critics session of the 2018 American Philosophical Association Eastern Division meeting organized by Christian Coseru. To orient readers new to the topic, I first sketch what some of the issues are regarding Buddhist perspectives on free will. Second, I briefly describe the anthology, and third, I introduce the several contributions to this symposium. As I am sympathetic to most of the papers here, I only respond briefly to them in this introduction, giving some reasons for my approval. Two papers here, however, are significantly critical of either the anthology as a whole (Brent), or critical of my contributions 1 Department of Philosophy, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. 638 Repetti, Symposium on Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will to it (Meyers). I respond separately to each of them in the last two papers in the symposium. Together with this introduction, all the included papers are original.


We used self-report surveys to gather information on a broad set of non-cognitive skills from 1,368 eighth graders. At the student level, scales measuring conscientiousness, self-control, grit, and growth mindset are positively correlated with attendance, behavior, and test-score gains between fourth grade and eighth grade. Conscientiousness, self-control, and grit are unrelated to test-score gains at the school level, however, and students attending over-subscribed charter schools score lower on these scales than do students attending district schools. Exploiting admissions lotteries, we find positive impacts of charter school attendance on achievement and attendance but negative impacts on these non-cognitive skills. We provide suggestive evidence that these paradoxical results are driven by reference bias or the tendency for survey responses to be influenced by social context.


Merck has begun the defence of its anti-arthritis drug rofecoxib (Vioxx) in the Federal Court of Australia, amid revelations that it lobbied to quash similar legal action in Britain, and as a publisher apologised for a journal sponsored by the company.

The United States based company is fighting a class action from more than 1000 Australians, led by Graeme Peterson, who had a heart attack in 2003 after taking rofecoxib for several years.

Over the past month Mr Peterson's lawyers have released many internal company documents showing, they claim, how Merck's marketing tried to minimise safety concerns about the drug and to "neutralise" and "discredit" potential critics. They also say that the company created an entire medical journal that appeared to be a legitimate peer reviewed journal but that in reality was simply a "marketing publication" ( BMJ 2009;338:b1714, 28 Apr, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1714).

Opening the …


A powerful, bold true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix America's broken system of justice - from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The prison population has increased from 300,000 in the early 1970s to more than two million now. One in every 15 people is expected to go to prison. For black men, the most incarcerated group in America, this figure rises to one out of every three. Bryan Stevenson grew up a member of a poor black community in the racially segregated South. He was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of the US's criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young black man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, startling racial inequality, and legal brinksmanship - and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted lawyer's coming of age, a moving portrait of the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of justice. 'Not since Atticus Finch has a fearless and committed lawyer made such a difference in the American South. Though larger than life, Atticus exists only in fiction. Bryan Stevenson, however, is very much alive and doing God's work fighting for the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless, the vulnerable, the outcast, and those with no hope. Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story.' John Grisham


The purpose of the study was to explore how social identity influences the construction of leadership development programmes in the Basque Region. The Basque region is recognised as having a strong social and national identity (Kaufmann and Tödtling, 2000; McNeill, 2000). Historically leadership development has been focused on practising leaders and managers and delivered by universities, consultants and other intermediaries. A recent study reported in the paper has shown managerial dissatisfaction with current provision in the region and has illustrated a need for provision to focus on `skills' for 'leadership'. What is meant by 'skills' and 'leadership' is, however, embedded within the Spanish language and Basque identity (Kasmir, 1996; Whyte, 1999). The paper introduces theories of social identity as they are applied to the study of leadership and it explores how these theories can help explain perceptions of leadership.


Objective The causes of low back pain in China and Western countries are extremely different. We attempted to analyze the risk factors of low back pain in urban and rural patients under the dual economy with the simplified Chinese version of Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (SC-RMDQ) to demonstrate that SC-RMDQ could evaluate patients with low back pain arising from different causes. Methods Roland-Morris disability questionnaire was translated into SCRMDQ according to international guidelines for questionnaire adaptation. In this study, causes of low back pain of 187 outpatients and inpatients (99 urban patients and 88 rural patients) were analyzed. All patients underwent simplified Chinese version of Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (SC-RMDQ), simplified Chinese Oswestry disability index (SCODI) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Reliability was tested using reproducibility (intraclass coefficient of correlation – ICC) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Validity was tested using Pearson correlation analysis. Results The leading causes for low back pain were sedentariness (38.4%) and vibration (18.1%) in urban patients and waist bending (48.9%) and spraining (25%) in rural patients. Although causes of low back pain in the two groups of population were completely different, SCRMDQ had high internal consistency (Cronbach's α value of 0.874 in urban patients and 0.883 in rural patients) and good reproducibility (ICC value of .952 in urban patients and 0.949 in rural patients, P<0.01). SCRMDQ also showed significant correlation with Simplified Chinese version of Oswestry disability index (SCODI) and visual analogue scale (VAS) in rural areas (SCRMDQ-SCODI r = 0.841; SCRMDQ -VAS: r = 0.685, P<0.01) and in urban areas (SCRMDQ-SCODI: r = 0.818, P<0.01; SCRMDQ –VAS: r = 0.666, P<0.01). Conclusions Although causes of low back pain are completely different in rural and urban patients, SCRMDQ has a good reliability and validity, which is a reliable clinical method to evaluate disability of rural and urban patients.


BACKGROUND
Following 7-valent conjugate vaccine introduction in the United States in 2000, invasive serotype (sero19A) pneumococcal disease (IPD) emerged rapidly. Sero19A IPD incidence increased slightly during 2005-2008 (from 2.3 cases to 2.5 cases per 100,000 population), whereas sero19A penicillin resistance (defined as a minimum inhibitor concentration [MIC] ≥2 μg/mL) increased significantly (from 28.7% to 43.7%). To better understand changes, we characterized sero19A isolates recovered during 2004-2008.

METHODS
We performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing on all 2767 sero19A IPD isolates identified through the Centers for Disease Control Active Bacterial Core surveillance during 2004-2008. We genotyped 1804 (96.3%) of 1874 sero19A isolates recovered during 2005-2007 and all 148 year 2008 sero19A isolates from children <5 years of age.

RESULTS
Resistant clonal complex (CC) 320/271(19A) increased from 20.9% (115 of 550) to 32.9% (208 of 633; P < .001) of IPD isolates during 2005-2007, which paralleled increased sero19A penicillin resistance (from 28.7% [163 of 567 isolates] to 39.5% [261 of 661 isolates]; P < .001). Total IPD due to 320/271(19A) increased during 2005-2007 and increased from 2.1 to 3.6 cases per 100,000 population during 2005-2008 in children <5 years of age. The penicillin-susceptible/intermediate, putative vaccine-escape CC695(19A) increased from 7.5% (41 of 550) to 13.6% (85 of 633) of sero19A isolates during 2005-2007 (P = .002).

CONCLUSIONS
Sero19A rates may have plateaued; however, clonal shifts are increasing resistance. Increased IPD caused by CC320/271(19A) and CC695(19A) could reflect additional selective advantages in addition to resistance.


Objective: To evaluate the diagnosis and treatment of "very high-risk" patients with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). Patients and Methods: Medical records of the CDH patientstreated in our clinic between the years 2005-2015 were reviewed, retrospectively. Before 2005, patients with 80 and higher a modified ventilation index (MVI) equals to 80 and higher were defined as high-risk patients. Later on, <28 weeks of prenatal diagnosis and the need for intubation were added as additional risk factors. In this study, cases with these three risk factors were defined as "very high-risk" patients. The gestational week of prenatal diagnosis, birth week and weight at birth, time of first intubation, MVI values, anti-pulmonary hypertensive treatment choices, operative time (surgery time?) and surgery method and survival rates were evaluated. Results: Sixteen of the 67 patients with CDH were in the "very high-risk" group. The mean prenatal diagnosis week was 25.2 (15-28) GW. The Mmean birth week was 37.4 (32-40) GW and the mean weight at birth was 2850 (1400-3315)g. All patients were intubated instantly after birth. The Mmean MVI value was 111.1(80-267) for the "very high-risk" group. In addition to the conventional "gentle ventilation" strategy, oral Sildenafil and inhaled Nitric Oxide were administered to seven patients recently. Survival rate was 19% (3/16) in the "very high-risk" group, whereas 50% (3/6) in patients who underwent surgery. Conclusion: Determination of high-risk groups is of crucial importance in CDH. Herein, risk factors for the "very high-risk" group were determined as following: MVI, prenatal diagnosis week and need for immediate intubation after birth. Despite the high mortality rates obtained, Sildenafil and inhaled Nitric Oxide treatment may have had positive effects on survival rate in this group.


This symposium piece tackles an important issue in campaign finance: the relationship between coordinated expenditures and corruption. Only one form of corruption, the quid pro quo, is constitutionally significant, and it has three logical elements: (1) an actor, such as an individual or corporation, conveys value to a politician, (2) the politician conveys value to the actor, and (3) a bargain links the two. Campaign finance regulations aim to deter quid pro quos by impeding the first or third element. Limits on contributions, for example, fight corruption by capping the value an actor can convey to a politician. What about limits on coordinated expenditures? By preventing coordination on large expenditures like television ads, the law turns very useful support into less useful support, reducing the value an actor can convey. But actors can surmount this with more money: $1 million spent on less useful ads can convey a lot of value, often more than smaller amounts spent on very useful ads or contributions. Limits on coordination may also inhibit bargaining, the third element of a quid pro quo, but again, sophisticated actors can surmount this: they can bargain without discussing the substance of any expenditures. So coordination regulations cannot deter much corruption, at least not when wealthy and sophisticated actors are involved, the very actors who cause the most concern. Consequently, coordination regulations may violate the Constitution. This is not because coordinated expenditures do not corrupt but because the regulations do not deter. Solving this problem requires more than a broader set of regulations. It requires confronting a fallacy at the heart of campaign finance: the belief that coordination relates in any operational way to corruption.


During the Japanese 'bubble' economy of the 1980's, the youth of Japan began to exert unprecedented influence on Japanese culture through their spirited patronage of certain art forms previously deemed subcultural or avant-garde. Among these were manga (Japanese comics or animation) and shogekijo (Japanese little theater). These art forms, while very unlike in the manner in which they were produced and disseminated, can be shown to exhibit a common language: manga discourse. This discourse presents the ludic, image-oriented, and seemingly infantile but simultaneously transhistorical language. The range and meaning of these discursive forms as they are related to changes in the forms of shogekijo in Japan between the 1960's and the 1980's are explored here, using the work of Noda Hideki and his troupe Yume no Yuminsha as example.Founded in the early 70's in the dark recesses of the University of Tokyo, Noda's troupe blossomed into a major component of the theater boom of the bright leisure-oriented 80's. The question which Noda's theater raises for those who seek to define Japan's modernization in the arts is how something defined as instinctively 'little' could become so big? In line with its predecessors in the avant-garde movements of the 1960's and 70's, the 1980's shogekijo borrowed from popular theater of the pre-modern period, in reaction to the western - and script-oriented shingeki, and from modern comedy in early twentieth century Japan.But unlike its avant-garde predecessors, it eschewed direct political confrontation with the power holders and consciously sought to expand its audiences through capitalistic means. Japanese youth born in the postwar generation could be led to appreciate the anti-shingeki message of shogekkijo, Noda predicted, only if it could be put in the playful and fantastic language of manga discourse. In some ways, this counterintuitive movement to youth subculture fulfilled shogekijo's mission to return theater to its Japanese roots and thereby complete the process of a truly Japanese modernization in the arts.


Norms have been extensively studied to coordinate multi-agent systems, and the literature has investigated two general approaches to norm synthesis: off-line (synthesising norms at design-time) and on-line (run-time synthesis). On-line synthesis is generally recognised to be appropriate for open systems, where aspects of the system remain unknown at design-time. In this paper we present LION, an algorithm aimed at synthesising liberal normative systems. LION's normative systems respect the agents' autonomy to the greatest possible extent, constraining their behaviour when only necessary to avoid undesirable system states. LION's norm synthesis is also driven by the need to construct compact normative systems. The key to the success of LION in this multi-objective synthesis process is that it learns about and exploits norm synergies. More precisely, LION can learn when norms are either substitutable or complementary. We show empirically that LION significantly outperforms the state of the art by synthesising normative systems that are more liberal while maintaining representation compactness.


Deep neural networks have become widely used, obtaining remarkable results in domains such as computer vision, speech recognition, natural language processing, audio recognition, social network filtering, machine translation, and bio-informatics, where they have produced results comparable to human experts. However, these networks can be easily fooled by adversarial perturbations: minimal changes to correctly-classified inputs, that cause the network to mis-classify them. This phenomenon represents a concern for both safety and security, but it is currently unclear how to measure a network's robustness against such perturbations. Existing techniques are limited to checking robustness around a few individual input points, providing only very limited guarantees. We propose a novel approach for automatically identifying safe regions of the input space, within which the network is robust against adversarial perturbations. The approach is data-guided, relying on clustering to identify well-defined geometric regions as candidate safe regions. We then utilize verification techniques to confirm that these regions are safe or to provide counter-examples showing that they are not safe. We also introduce the notion of targeted robustness which, for a given target label and region, ensures that a NN does not map any input in the region to the target label. We evaluated our technique on the MNIST dataset and on a neural network implementation of a controller for the next-generation Airborne Collision Avoidance System for unmanned aircraft (ACAS Xu). For these networks, our approach identified multiple regions which were completely safe as well as some which were only safe for specific labels. It also discovered several adversarial perturbations of interest.


Objectives This study explores the relationships to food and hunger in women living with anorexic type eating difficulties and asks how imagery-based elaborations of food and eating thoughts are involved in their eating restraint, and recovery. Design The qualitative idiographic approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used. Four in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with women self-selected as having experienced anorexia or anorexic like behaviour. Methods The data was analysed using IPA and an audit of the analysis was conducted to ensure that the process followed had been systematic and rigorous and appropriately considered reflexivity. Results Hunger was perceived positively by participants as confirmation that they were achieving their goal of losing weight, or avoiding weight gain. Hunger conferred a sense of being in control for the participants. Intrusive thoughts about food were reported as being quickly followed by elaborative mental imagery of the positive aspects of weight loss, and the negative consequences of eating. Imagery appeared to serve to maintain anorexic behaviours rather than to motivate food seeking. However, negative imagery of the consequences of anorexia were also described as supporting recovery. Conclusions The finding that physiological sensations of hunger were experienced as positive confirmation of maintaining control has potentially important clinical and theoretical implications. It suggests further attention needs to be focused upon how changes in cognitive elaboration, involving mental imagery, are components of the psychological changes in the development of, maintenance of, and recovery from, anorexia.


The proliferation of multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs) over the past years has sparked an intense debate on the political role of corporations in the governance of global business conduct. To gain a better understanding of corporate political behavior in multistakeholder governance, this article investigates how firms construct a political identity when participating in MSIs. Based on an in-depth case study of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh—an MSI established after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory complex in 2013 to improve working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment industry—we introduce the construct of a political CSR (corporate social responsibility) identity (PCSRI) and explore how firms construct their PCSRIs in MSIs. Employing a qualitative, inductive theory-building method, we analyze interviews and archival data to develop a framework that elucidates how companies construct their PCSRIs within a continuum ranging from conservative to progressive. We show that constructing a PCSRI involves enacting specific, yet interrelated, political strategies that are themselves shaped by several forces over time. This article contributes to the literature by providing a political perspective on organizational identity construction that extends the emerging integrative perspective in political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) research. We suggest that MSIs should be conceptualized as inherently political governance mechanisms that are driven by multidirectional and dynamic political processes of identity construction. Our study shows that corporate political engagement in MSIs is a more nuanced and complex phenomenon than presently theorized.


Twenty-eight states have passed Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) enabling legislation but most – including Texas – do not have fully operational PACE programs. In some instances, this failure of PACE law to translate into concrete action may be due to drafting defects or to evolving PACE best practices that have rendered early-adopted laws obsolescent. In other instances, it may stem from the chilling effect of actions by mortgage regulators.In March 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals resolved the last of a series of legal challenges against mortgage regulators, establishing a period of at least temporary regulatory stability. Meanwhile, PACE supporters have continued to trumpet the investment and environmental opportunities in commercial, industrial and multifamily real estate retrofits. Several states have tried to capture these tailwinds by adopting or amending PACE statutes in ways that facilitate non-residential PACE and incorporate lessons learned from pilot programs and recent policy debates.Texas is such a state. Bills introduced this legislative session – S.B. 385 and H.B. 1094 – would reconfigure PACE statutes first enacted in 2009 by expanding PACE to encompass water conservation and steering financing toward commercial, industrial and multifamily properties. If they pass, the bills could serve as a blueprint for other states that either have not passed PACE legislation or have PACE laws on the books that have yet to spawn actual PACE programs.


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Most of us think of punishment as an ugly display of power. But punishment also tells us something about the ideals and aspirations of a people and their government. How a state punishes reveals whether or not it is confident in its own legitimacy and sovereignty. "Punishment and Political Order" examines the questions raised by the state s exercise of punitive powerfrom what it is about human psychology that desires sanction and order to how the state can administer pain while calling for justice. Keally McBride's book demonstrates punishment's place at the core of political administration and the stated ideals of the polity."From start to finish this is a terrific, engaging book. McBride offers a fascinating perspective on punishment, calling attention to its utility in understanding political regimes and their ideals. She succeeds in reminding us of the centrality of punishment in political theory and, at the same time, in providing a framework for understanding contemporary events. I know of no other book that does as much to make the subject of punishment so compelling."Austin Sarat, Amherst College""Punishment and Political Order" will be welcome reading for anyone interested in understanding law in society, punishment and political spectacle, or governing through crime control. This is a clear, accessible, and persuasive examination of punishmentas rhetoric and reality. Arguing that punishment is a complex product of the social contract, this book demonstrates the ways in which understanding the symbolic power and violence of the law provides analytical tools for examining the ideological function of prison labor today, as well as the crosscutting and contingent connections between language and identity, legitimation and violence, sovereignty and agency more generally."Bill Lyons, Director, Center for Conflict Management, University of Akron"Philosophical explorations of punishment have often stopped with a theory of responsibility. McBride's book moves well beyond this. It shows that the problem of punishment is a central issue for any coherent theory of the state, and thus that punishment is at the heart of political theory. This is a stunning achievement."Malcolm M. Feeley, University of California at BerkeleyKeally McBride is Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco."


The energy content of screenings from six municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was examined. Hourly samples of separated screenings were taken over 24 hours at three of the plants to illustrate diurnal variations. To recover the chemical energy, which usually leaves the WWTP with the screenings, a screenings wash press was used to transfer organic matter from the solid into the liquid phase. The chemical energy of raw and compacted washed screenings as well as the chemical energy of washing water were determined by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD) for the six WWTPs. A mass weighted average of 1.35 gCOD/gdm (dm: dry matter) was found in the raw screenings of three WWTPs. The overall recovered energy from screenings was found to range from 0.27 to 0.62 gCOD/gdm. This washed-out COD found in the washing water could be sent for anaerobic digestion or to the wastewater treatment process as a carbon source for denitrification.


The fumigant toxicity of eight individual essential oils (EOs; basil, cinnamon, eucalyptus, mandarin, oregano, peppermint, tea tree, and thyme) and one binary combination (thyme and oregano) for control of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae, were investigated. In bioassays, all individual and combined EOs were toxic to the rice weevil. Eucalyptus EO exhibited the highest toxicity among the individual EO treatments, causing 100% mortality at a minimum concentration of 0.8 µL/mL after 24 hr of exposure. The combination treatment of oregano and thyme EO displayed higher fumigant activity than the individual oregano or thyme treatments. A stable oil-in-water nanoemulsion was evaluated using high-pressure homogenization (microfluidization [MF]) and varying the pressure and number of cycles. The droplet size of the emulsions was found to decrease from 217 to 71 nm and encapsulation efficiency increased from 37% to 84% with increasing MF pressure and number of cycles. The optimum conditions for preparing the mixture of oregano and thyme EO nanoemulsions were evaluated to be homogenization pressure of 103 MPa and three cycles. Incorporating an oregano:thyme nanoemulsion (0.75%) into cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) containing chitosan (CH/CNC), methyl cellulose (MC/CNC), and polylactic acid (PLA/CNC) composite films resulted in extended diffusion matrices causing 32% to 51% rice weevil mortality after 14 days exposure. Irradiation at 200 Gray alone caused 79% mortality and increased to 100% when combined with the bioactive chitosan film containing the oregano:thyme nanoemulsion. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: A binary combination of oregano:thyme has potential as a biopesticide against stored product pests. The encapsulation of EO nanoemulsions into biopolymeric support could be used for bioactive packaging to prevent food spoilage and extend shelf life. Combining bioactive films with irradiation can provide complete control of rice weevil in packaged rice. The system developed in this research may also be extended to explore other food-packaging films with various food models to control different types of stored pests.


Bushmeat consumption persists in urban areas in the Neotropics, yet knowledge of its scale and the relative importance of cultural and economic factors in determining consumption and preference remain elusive. Moreover, the roles of cultural beliefs, social norms, and attitudes in driving urban bushmeat consumption are rarely evaluated. Therefore, we explored in this article the factors that influence consumption and preference for bushmeat in Amazonian towns. Given the availability of other sources of animal protein and the cultural and social importance of bushmeat in the region, we hypothesized that cultural attributes should be better predictors than economic factors of bushmeat consumption and preference. Data analysis involved fitting two-level mixed-effects regressions (random intercepts) to a structured sample of 227 individuals (99 households) from four towns in the Brazilian (Tabatinga and Atalaia do Norte) and Colombian (Leticia and Puerto Narino) Amazon. The results indicate that a third of the interviewees had consumed bushmeat in the past month, which had primarily been harvested by the family or received as a gift rather than obtained through trade. In general, both economic and cultural factors predicted bushmeat consumption and preference, but the objective proxy for culture, individual origin, was unimportant. Among the tested indicators, the strongest predictor was the importance of bushmeat to social relations. Moreover, informal social norms, such as the greater importance attributed to taboos, tended to decrease the average number of wild species that a person would eat, whereas attitudes toward the illegality of hunting were less important. The two economic indicators, increased income and wealth, tended to decrease preference for bushmeat and the likelihood of consumption. Our findings highlight the importance of human beliefs, attitudes, and social norms to the understanding of bushmeat consumption and preference and may contribute to the design of more effective and locally appropriate conservation and management strategies.


Analytical psychology and Jungian psychotherapy continue to be major areas within modern psychology. This set presents a fascinating range of writing by Jungians, some of whom, like Alfred Adler or Erich Neumann, were either a friend or former student of C.G. Jung himself. Titles include Amor and Psyche, Art and the Creative Unconscious, and The Origin and History of Consciousness by Erich Neumann, as well as a key Jungian text The Secret of the Golden Flower, by Richard Wilhelm which includes a foreword and commentary by Jung. Exploring Jungian themes of consciousness, symbols, archetypes, religion and philosophy, this set will be vital reading for those interested in this important area of psychology.


In this paper a multilayer Perceptron (MLP), a Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) and a fuzzy approach are proposed in on-line sensors and actuators fault detection and isolation for systems with parameter uncertainties. The residuals obtained by analytical redundancy relations (ARRs) are used as inputs of the three systems. The MLP is trained to present for each output signal 1 in the occurrence of a fault at the associated variable and 0 otherwise, PNN has one output which is trained to present the fault index (1 in case of a fault-free context, 2 in case of a fault affecting variable 1...). These previous approaches are improved by the use of genetic algorithms (GA) to optimize the initial weights and bias in case of MLP, the spread in case of PNN and the membership functions parameters in case of the fuzzy approach. MLP, PNN and fuzzy approach are compared through a hydraulic example.


The Palatine Hill is among the main archaeological sites of Roman antiquity. Today, this place requires continuous care for its safeguarding and conservation. Among the main problems, slope instabilities threaten the southwestern border of the hill flanked by the Velabrum Valley, as also testified by historical documents. The upper part of the investigated slope is characterized by Middle Pleistocene red-brownish tuffs known as "Tufo Lionato". The rock mass is affected by two jointing belts featuring the slope edge and its internal portion with different joint frequency and distribution. The analysis of the geometric relationship between the joint systems and the slope attitude evidenced possible planar sliding and toppling failure mechanisms on the exposed tuff cliffs. Potential rock block failures threatening the local cultural heritage were contrasted with preliminary works for site remediation. In addition, stress-strain numerical modelling verified the hypothesis of a tensile origin for the jointing belts, suggested by fracture characteristics and orientation. A first modelling was limited to the southwestern edge of the Palatine Hill and analysed the present stress-strain condition of the slope, proving the inconsistency with the observed deformation. A second modelling was extended to the Palatine-Velabrum slope-to-valley system to consider the role played by the geomorphological evolution of the area on the local slope dynamics during the late Pleistocene-Holocene. Results demonstrate how original conditions of slope instability, deformation and retreat along the Palatine western edge were determined by deep valley incision, and controlled by deformability contrasts within the slope. Slope instability influenced the site occupation and development during the Roman civilization, as also indicated by the remnants of retaining walls of different ages at the slope base.


Platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh) and gold (Au) were investigated along highways of Attica, Greece, with varying traffic, like Katehaki, Messoghion, the intersection between Katehaki, Messoghion and Acharnon avenues, and residential roads, like Pindos and Navarinou roads. Platinum ranges between 110 and 960 ppb in dust samples and from 44 to 820 ppb in soils, Pd ranges between 90 and 1300 ppb in dust samples and from 36 to 1100 ppb in soils. The analysis of dust collected from parts of the roadsides closed to water sewerages reached as high as 2070 ppb Pt and 1980 ppb Pd contents. Gold ranges from 14 to 990 ppb Au (average 230) in dust samples and from 27 to 160 ppb Au (average 95) in soil ones. Any relationship between Au and Pt or Pd is not obvious. The significant fraction of the traffic-related emissions, reaching values over 4 ppm (Pt+Pd), suggest that they may be concentrated into local water systems resulting an environmental risk. Palladium was the most abundant PGE in the grasses ranging from 0.6 to 23 ppb (average 6.8 ppb), Pt ranges between 2.3 and 6.6 ppb (average 4.2 ppb) while Rh is < 0.1 ppb. Average values of the Pd/(Pd+Pt+Rh), Pt/(Pd+Pt+Rh) and Rh/Pd/(Pd+Pt+Rh) ratios decrease from 0.62 to 0.33 and 0.05 respectively, suggesting the Pd>Pt>Rh bioavailability order.


Data enhancement can help to emphasize edges that correspond to contrasts in acoustic impedance, magnetic susceptibility, or bulk density. Such contrasts often indicate the presence of important geologic boundaries. Emphasizing the edges can help with mapping and interpretation of those boundaries.


&NA; The authors interviewed 41 mothers of young boys with fragile X syndrome to determine the process by which they learned their child had fragile X syndrome. The average family had concerns about the child's development at 9 months of age. Developmental delay was determined at an average age of 24 months, and fragile X syndrome was diagnosed at a mean age of 35 months. Considerable variability was found in age of first concern, determination of delay, and diagnosis of fragile X syndrome. Three child variables (severity of delay, autistic behavior, temperament style) and four family variables (mother's age, mother's education, sibling status, social support) did not account for this variability, although birth year did (children born more recently were somewhat more likely to be identified earlier). Families often encountered physicians who initially discounted concerns or said that it was too early to determine whether a problem did indeed exist. Given current knowledge and practice, improving the early identification (under 3 years of age) of children with fragile X syndrome is likely to remain difficult if based solely on behavioral and clinical observations.


Caesium silver bismuth halide double perovskites, in the first instance Cs2AgBiBr6, were recently introduced to the field of emerging photovoltaics as environmentally friendly, non-toxic and thermodynamically stable photoabsorber materials. However, the wide indirect bandgaps of these materials indicate the need for bandgap engineering and enhancing the light absorption to improve the photovoltaic performance. The present work demonstrates that this can be achieved via modification of the double perovskite with sulphide to obtain caesium silver bismuth sulphobromide materials, Cs2AgBiBr6−2xSx, which have been synthesised as pin-hole-free uniform films and systematically investigated herein. Notable enhancements in the intrinsic light absorption for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2 are demonstrated, as are the improvements by up to 50% in the photocurrent density of the corresponding thin-film solar cells. The devices based on the films with the nominal composition Cs2AgBiBr5.8S0.1 delivered a short-circuit current density of 3.0 ± 0.3 mA cm−2 and a power conversion efficiency of 1.9 ± 0.1% (cf. 2.1 ± 0.2 mA cm−2 and 1.3 ± 0.1%, respectively, for the control cells based on the sulphide-free Cs2AgBiBr6). Equally important, caesium silver bismuth sulphobromides demonstrate excellent stability against all common environmental stimuli, viz. heat, light, and humidity.


Although forensic services are often regarded as stressful, dangerous and emotionally demanding environments, there has been a surprising lack of research into the phenomena of stress amongst forensic healthcare professionals, especially in the UK.
There is mounting evidence to suggest that burnout influences a significant proportion of forensic healthcare professionals and can result in a range of detrimental
consequences for the individual, their organization and clients. The small body of research evidence that has examined burnout amongst forensic healthcare
professionals is reviewed. Methodological limitations are explored and questions regarding the generalisability and rigor of the available research findings are raised.
The research study investigated stress, coping and psychological well-being amongst 135 forensic healthcare professionals employed within four Medium Secure Units in
the UK. Background information and measures of psychological well-being, burnout,
occupational stress, work satisfaction and coping were collected using a postal survey.
The results showed that a substantial proportion of forensic healthcare professionals
experienced markedly elevated levels of occupational stress and psychological distress, whilst moderate levels of burnout and a range of problem-focused, emotionfocused
and palliative coping strategies were demonstrated.
Contributions to theory, research and clinical practice are discussed. The strengths and limitations of the research study are further examined. Future research directions
and potential implications for clinical practice are explored. Personal motivations and practical difficulties encountered during the research process are finally presented.


Introduction: Parkinson disease (PD) is the second frequent human neurodegenerative disease following Alzheimer. This illness is caused by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the compact part of substantia nigra (SNpc). Clinical demonstrations are observable when 70% of dopaminergic neurons in SNpc and 80% of dopaminergic terminals in striatum have been degenerated. Characterization of non-clinical bioindicators are therefore of great importance in diagnosis of the disease. This work aimed to assess the serum level of ALT, as a bioindicator of PD, following induction of the disease by 6-OHDA in an animal model. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight Wistar rats were classified in two equal control and PD-induced groups. The 6-OHDA toxin was injected into the medial forebrain bundle of rats in PD-induced group through stereotaxic surgery. Animals in control group received no such treatment. Severity and extent of Parkinsonism in both animal groups were assessed by apomorphine-induced rotational test. Blood specimens were consequently collected from all animals and the serum ALT level was determined. Results: In the PD-induced rats, ALT level was detected at much lower amounts compared to the control group (P<0.05). The severity of PD, however, was not similar between animals as severe, mild and even no-detectable clinical symptoms were observed in examined rats. The ALT level in severely and mildly affected animals was clearly lower compared to control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). Besides, no definitive difference was detected between animals with no symptoms and control group. Conclusion: Since the severity of rotations in the apomorphine-induced rotational test is in harmony with extent of degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in SNpc, the serum level of ALT is likely to be an important bioindicator of Parkinson disease.


The permeability and capillary entry pressure of chalk reservoirs are controlled by their porosity and specific surface area. Measured permeabilities are in the range 0.025–5.3 mD and are successfully predicted by use of the Kozeny equation. In this paper we focus on the factors that control specific surface area. Fifty-nine Tor and Ekofisk Formation chalk samples from five North Sea chalk reservoirs were investigated. All contain quartz and clay minerals, most commonly kaolinite and smectite, with trace amounts of illite. The contents of calcite and quartz are inversely correlated and both are independent of the content of clays. We thus infer that the main part of the silica is of biogenic origin. The specific surface area of the chalk is mainly controlled by clay content. The specific surface area of calcite is determined by the individual calcite crystal size and is not dependent on stratigraphic variations in fossil size. The specific surface area of calcite increases with increasing content of quartz and clays. These constituents may inhibit recrystallization of calcite and thus preserve high specific surface area. Our data accord with the following specific surface areas (m2 g−1): calcite between 0.5 and 3.5, quartz about 5, kaolinite about 15, and smectite about 60.


Abstract The genus Phlaeopterus Motschulsky, 1853 is revised, and a key to the 18 valid species is provided. Eight new species are described: Phlaeopterus obsoletus Mullen and Campbell, new species; Phlaeopterus kavanaughi Mullen and Campbell, new species; Phlaeopterus bakerensis Mullen and Campbell, new species; Phlaeopterus smetanai Mullen and Campbell, new species; Phlaeopterus occidentalis Mullen and Campbell, new species; Phlaeopterus olympicus Mullen and Campbell, new species; Phlaeopterus hatchi Mullen and Campbell, new species; and Phlaeopterus elongatus Mullen and Campbell, new species. Two species, Phlaeopterus kootenayensis Hatch, 1957, and Phlaeopterus stacesmithi Hatch, 1957, are transferred to the genus Unamis Casey, 1893. The monotypic genus Vellica Casey, 1885 is synonymized under Phlaeopterus, new synonymy. Phlaeopterus rufitarsus Casey, 1893 is synonymized under Phlaeopterus filicornis Casey, 1886, new synonymy. Phlaeopterus cascadiensis is demoted to a subspecies of Phlaeopterus castaneus (Casey, 1893), new synonymy and new status. Phlaeopterus brevipennis Casey, 1893 and Phlaeopterus longipalpus Casey, 1885 are synonymized under Phlaeopterus cavicollis (Fauvel, 1878), new synonymy. Lectotypes are designated for four species: Tilea castanea Casey, 1893 (= P. castaneus); Tilea cavicollis Fauvel, 1878 (= P. cavicollis); Vellica longipennis Casey, 1885 (= Phlaeopterus longipennis (Casey, 1885), new combination); and P. filicornis. Distribution data for each species are provided. Given these beetles' association with shrinking alpine snowfields, conservation concern is warranted, and some highly endemic species described herein have not been collected in over 35 years.


Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) had an AKT- and mTOR-independent role in promoting metabolism. Insulin-stimulated cells activate phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) that in turn initiates downstream signaling events to promote cell growth and metabolism. Hu et al. identified a mechanism by which PI3K signaling promoted glycolysis. Mammary epithelial MCF10A cells exposed to inhibitors targeting specific enzymes in the PI3K signaling pathway exhibited different effects on the ratio of NADH (an electron donor)/NAD+ (an electron acceptor). Whereas drugs that inhibited PI3K activity produced a sustained decrease in the ratio of NADH/NAD+, inhibitors of either the downstream PI3K-dependent kinase AKT or the AKT-activated kinase mTOR resulted in a transient decrease in the NADH/NAD+ ratio. Because the NADH/NAD+ ratio is a proxy for glycolytic rate, a decrease in this ratio indicates a decrease in glycolysis. The glycolytic metabolic intermediates glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GA3P) and dihydroxyacetone-phosphate (DHAP), which are both products of reactions catalyzed by aldolase, were reduced in HCC1937 breast cancer cells exposed to PI3K inhibitors compared with cells exposed to an AKT inhibitor. Aldolase functions not only as a metabolic enzyme but also interacts with several proteins that control actin polymerization. To explore if insulin and PI3K signaling affected the solubility of aldolase, MCF10A cells were exposed to insulin and then permeabilized to enable quantification of soluble aldolase. Exposure of the cells to PI3K inhibitors, but not to an AKT inhibitor or an mTOR inhibitor, reduced the amount of aldolase activity released from the permeabilized cells. Fractionation of MCF10A revealed that aldolase shifted from the cytoskeletal to cytoplasmic fraction in response to insulin, and PI3K inhibition prevented this shift. Immunofluorescence analysis of aldolase in mammary epithelial cell lines showed that aldolase colocalized with F-actin and insulin led to the PI3K-dependent diffuse cytosolic localization of aldolase. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy analysis confirmed colocalization of aldolase with F-actin and the lack of colocalization upon insulin stimulation in MCF10A cells, consistent with sequestration of aldolase with polymerized actin in the absence of insulin stimulation. In MCF10A cells, inhibition of PI3K, but not of AKT or mTOR, prevented insulin-mediated activation of the guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) Rac1, a protein involved in cytoskeletal rearrangement, and the binding of active GTP-bound Rac1 to p21-activated protein kinase (PAK), a kinase activated by this GTPase. In MCF10A cells, the insulin-induced phosphorylation of PAK and aldolase release from the cytoskeleton was reduced when mutated Rac1 was overexpressed or when Rac1 was knocked down. In a mouse model of breast cancer given radiolabeled glucose to enable monitoring of glycolytic metabolism, administration of a PI3K inhibitor produced a decrease in the abundance of the aldolase product DHAP in the tumor tissue compared with the abundance of DHAP in tumors from mice that were not given the inhibitor. The abundance of aldolase was unchanged by administration of the PI3K inhibitor, which is consistent with PI3K stimulating the redistribution of aldolase to promote glycolysis. This study, therefore, suggests an AKT-independent role of PI3K in altering glycolysis through spatial regulation of aldolase. H. Hu, A. Juvekar, C. A. Lyssiotis, E. C. Lien, J. G. Albeck, D. Oh, G. Varma, Y. P. Hung, S. Ullas, J. Lauring, P. Seth, M. R. Lundquist, D. R. Tolan, A. K. Grant, D. J. Needleman, J. M. Asara, L. C. Cantley, G. M. Wulf, Phosphoinositide 3-kinase regulates glycolysis through mobilization of aldolase from the actin cytoskeleton. Cell 164, 433–446 (2016). [PubMed]


AIDS has had a negative impact on developing countries. Because most developing countries cannot afford the new antiretroviral drug therapies, it has been suggested that preventive vaccines might reduce the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Bloom, 1998). The clinical trials of AIDS vaccines do, however, present with complex ethical issues such as informed consent. Informed consent is primarily grounded on the Western principle of respect for individuals as autonomous agents. This may be at variance, however, with African societies' emphasis on the social embeddedness of the individual. The current study forms part of the HIVNET vaccine trials to be conducted in Hlabisa, in Northern Zululand, under the auspices of the South African Medical Research Council. The main aim of the study was to explore key informants' cultural conceptions of research and informed consent in order to facilitate community consultation and cultural sensitivity. Maximum variation sampling was used to select twenty-three key informants, who are in leadership positions within Hlabisa. An interview guide was used to facilitate narrative disclosure of cultural conceptions of research and informed consent. Perceptions of research, conceptions of the informed consent process, and projected motivations for why individuals agree to participate in studies were explored during interviews. Results suggest that members of the Hlabisa community have a limited understanding of the Western research process. Community education about research is therefore warranted. Informants indicated that community members would value the establishment of a relationship characterised by mutual respect for cultural differences between researchers and participants. This was perceived as likely to facilitate shared decision-making, and the reduction of the power differentials that exist between researchers and participants. While the involvement of key community leaders and family members was recommended by most informants, a few informants felt that participants could also make individual decisions about participation. The theoretical implications of the study are considered last.


The paper examine diphosphine-based hypothesis of wetland autoignition: it supposes that Р2Н4 production in wetlands is sufficient to Р2Н4 spontaneous ignition in air which starts a chain reaction of phosphine and then methane ignition; the latter reaction is considered as a real cause of many natural forest and peat fires. The paper demonstrates that Р2Н4 autoignition under the natural conditions is hardly probable. We revealed that experimental data doesn't indicate any significant diphosphine concentrations in wetlands. Even if diphosphine autoignition was proceeded, surrounding gas mixture wouldn't sustain a combustion owing to the lack of oxidant (O2) in a peat layer or to a lower comparing to a combustion limit Р2Н4 concentration in a surface layer. Even if under some unique conditions a shortterm flash was occured, it wouldn't set fire to the peat layer. The paper was written basing on the lecture of the same name delivered in MSU workshop «Greenhouse gases: urgent questions» by one of the author.


The guidance of railway vehicles is determined by a complex interaction between the wheels and rails, which requires a detailed characterization of the contact mechanism in order to permit a correct analysis of the dynamic behavior. The kinematics of guidance of the wheelsets is based on the wheels and rails geometries. The movement of the wheelsets along the rails is characterized by a complex contact with relative motions on the longitudinal and lateral directions and relative rotations of the wheels with respect to the rails. A generic wheel–rail contact detection formulation is presented here in order to determine online the contact points, even for the most general three-dimensional motion of the wheelset. This formulation also allows the study of lead and lag flange contact scenarios, both fundamental for the analysis of potential derailments or for the study of the dynamic behavior in the presence of switches. The methodology is used in conjunction with a general geometric description of the track, which includes the representation of the rails' spatial geometry and irregularities. In this work, the tangential creep forces and moments that develop in the wheel–rail contact area are evaluated using alternatively the Kalker linear theory, the Heuristic nonlinear model or the Polach formulation. The discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of these methodologies is supported by an application to the dynamic analysis of the bogie of the railway vehicle.


With the gradual development of science and technology, computer systems become more
and more complicated. Meanwhile, computer system security is not well guaranteed. A
number of lawbreakers take advantage of computer system vulnerability, which is a threat
to computer system security. Computer system security cannot be strengthened unless
assessments and researches on computer system vulnerability are carried out. This paper
aims to cover the definition of computer system vulnerability and explain the causes of the
problem. At last, this paper will conclude several methods of doing computer system
vulnerability assessment.


The car brake system performance has to be reliable at wide range of operating conditions. The friction based braking system reliability strongly depends on cooling capability of disc. According to this, different testing is needed to assure the performance of discs during their design and prototyping phase. The contribution presents the study of cooling capacity of different vented brake disc geometries. Brake disc temperatures during thermal capacity test can exceed 600 C. The temperatures are highly dependent on disc cooling capability. Vented disc have higher cooling capability. There is an open issue which factor has the most significant impact. Is it air flow, air flow distribution, turbulence or ...? Brake discs with the same external geometry but different internal geometry were tested on brake dynamometer and subsequently air flow parameters were analysed in cold condition to attempt to explain different maximum temperatures.


Highly fluorescent and water-soluble cadmium selenide quantum dots (QDs) functionalised by thio-cyclodextrin (HS-CD) and mercaptoacetic acid (MAA) as surface coating agents (QDs-CD-MAA) were synthesised successfully. The synthesised hybrid nanomaterials, QDs-CD-MAA, were able to form water-soluble complexes with paclitaxel and folic acid. QDs and their complexes were characterised by usual spectroscopy and microscopy methods. Size and morphology of functionalised QDs were dependent on their capping agents and guest molecules. Short-term in vitro cytotoxicity tests on mouse tissue connective fibroblast adhesive cells (L929) showed that conjugation of CD molecules onto the surface of QDs increases the rate of their internalisation into the cells, more than two times, compared with that without conjugated CD molecules. To prove the efficacy of functionalised QDs-CD-MAA and their host–guest systems, we subjected them to the endocytosis inside the cancer cells (tumour cell lines c26), then it was unambiguously proved that conjugation of CD molecules onto the surface of QDs increases the internalisation of anti-cancer drugs into the cells and consequently killing of cancer cells, thereby forming a solid foundation for further investigation and development.


Many students of the Millennial generation have parents who are very involved in their lives. The parents who are involved are continuing their involvement into higher education. While positive interactions with parents exist, there are times when student affairs professionals find themselves involved in a situation that becomes negative. The negative interactions with parents tend to have more of an impact on the professional because they take more time and energy. This study used interviews and a questionnaire to further explore the issue of negative parent interaction. It examined the prevalence and severity of negative parent interactions and the student affairs professional's response to this issue. The results of this study found that parent contact with student affairs professionals was prevalent on today's college campuses. It also found that many student affairs professionals have had a negative parent interaction, particularly those who are Deans of Students/Vice Presidents of Student Affairs and those who work in Housing and Residence Life. This study found negative parent interactions ranged from receiving mean-spirited correspondence to physical assault and were found to be precipitated by a number of factors. These factors included Federal policies, campus policies/procedures, and student conduct issues. The study also found that student affairs professionals experienced stress, frustration and related issues based on these negative interactions. However, the data clearly indicated that student affairs professionals have developed strategies to cope with negative parent interaction. In addition, the data of this study indicated that student affairs professionals are satisfied with the support they received from their institutions when negative parent interactions occurred. Recommendations for research in the areas of the impact of parent involvement on student development, student perceptions, the student affairs profession, and best practices are presented.


Regularization methods have been broadly applied to bioluminescence tomography (BLT) to obtain stable solutions, including l2 and l1 regularizations. However, l2 regularization can oversmooth reconstructed images and l1 regularization may sparsify the source distribution, which degrades image quality. In this paper, the use of total variation (TV) regularization in BLT is investigated. Since a nonnegativity constraint can lead to improved image quality, the nonnegative constraint should be considered in BLT. However, TV regularization with a nonnegativity constraint is extremely difficult to solve due to its nondifferentiability and nonlinearity. The aim of this work is to validate the split Bregman method to minimize the TV regularization problem with a nonnegativity constraint for BLT. The performance of split Bregman-resolved TV (SBRTV) based BLT reconstruction algorithm was verified with numerical and in vivo experiments. Experimental results demonstrate that the SBRTV regularization can provide better regularization quality over l2 and l1 regularizations.


In recent years there has been an increased interest in applying non-parametric methods to real-world problems. Significant research has been devoted to Gaussian processes (GPs) due to their increased flexibility when compared with parametric models. These methods use Bayesian learning, which generally leads to analytically intractable posteriors. This thesis proposes a two-step solution to construct a probabilistic approximation to the posterior. In the first step we adapt the Bayesian online learning to GPs: the final approximation to the posterior is the result of propagating the first and second moments of intermediate posteriors obtained by combining a new example with the previous approximation. The propagation of em functional forms is solved by showing the existence of a parametrisation to posterior moments that uses combinations of the kernel function at the training points, transforming the Bayesian online learning of functions into a parametric formulation. The drawback is the prohibitive quadratic scaling of the number of parameters with the size of the data, making the method inapplicable to large datasets. The second step solves the problem of the exploding parameter size and makes GPs applicable to arbitrarily large datasets. The approximation is based on a measure of distance between two GPs, the KL-divergence between GPs. This second approximation is with a constrained GP in which only a small subset of the whole training dataset is used to represent the GP. This subset is called the em Basis Vector, or BV set and the resulting GP is a sparse approximation to the true posterior. As this sparsity is based on the KL-minimisation, it is probabilistic and independent of the way the posterior approximation from the first step is obtained. We combine the sparse approximation with an extension to the Bayesian online algorithm that allows multiple iterations for each input and thus approximating a batch solution. The resulting sparse learning algorithm is a generic one: for different problems we only change the likelihood. The algorithm is applied to a variety of problems and we examine its performance both on more classical regression and classification tasks and to the data-assimilation and a simple density estimation problems.


The use of enhanced surfaces became one of the most popular studies in order to increase heat transfer performances of microsystems. There are various techniques/processes applied to surfaces to enhance excess heat removal from microsystems. In parallel to these research efforts, various micro and nano structured surfaces were evaluated in channel flow, jet impingement and pool boiling applications. In the first study, single micro pin-fins having the same chord thickness/diameter but different shapes are numerically modeled to assess their heat transfer and hydraulic performances for Reynolds number values changing between 20 and 140. The pin-fins are three dimensionally modeled based on a one-to-one scale and their heat transfer performances are evaluated using commercially available software COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5a. Navier-Stokes equations along with continuity and energy equations are solved under steady state conditions for weakly compressible and single-phase water flows. To increase the computational efficiency, half of the domain consisting of a micro pin-fin located inside a micro channel, is modeled using a symmetry plane. To validate the model, experimental data available in the literature are compared to simulation results obtained from the model of the same geometrical configuration as the experimental one. Accordingly, the numerical and experimental results show a good agreement. Furthermore, performance evaluation study is performed using 3D numerical models in the light of flow morphologies around micro pin-fins of various shapes. According to the results obtained from this study, the rectangular-shaped micro pin fin configuration has the highest Nusselt number and friction factor over the whole Reynolds number range. However, the cone-shaped micro pin-fin configuration has the best thermal performance index indicating that it could be more preferable to use micro pin fins of non conventional shapes in micro pin fin heat sinks. In the second study, the results of a series of heat transfer experiments conducted on a compact electronics cooling device based on single and two phase jet impingement technique are reported. Deionized and degassed water is propelled into four microchannels of inner diameter 500 μm, which are used as nozzles and located at a nozzle to surface distance of 1.5mm. The generated jet impingement is targeted through these channels towards the surface of two nanostructured plates with different surface morphologies placed inside a liquid pool filled with deionized-water. The size of these nanostructured plates is 35mm x 30mm and they are composed of copper nanorods grown on top of a silicon wafer substrate of thickness 350 μm coated with a 50 nm thick copper thin film layer (i.e. Cu-nanorod/Cu-film/Silicon-wafer). Nanorods were grown using the sputter glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique. First type of nanostructured plates incorporates 600 nm long vertically aligned copper nanorod arrays grown with nanorod diameters and spacing varying between 50-100 and 20-100 nm, respectively. The second type incorporates 600 nm long tilted copper nanorod arrays grown with diameter values varying between 50-100nm and spacing in the range of 20-50 nm. Heat removal characteristics induced through jet impingement are investigated using the nanostructured plates and compared to the results obtained from a plain surface plate of copper thin film coated on silicon wafer surface. Heat generated by small scale electronic devices is simulated using four cylindrical aluminum cartridge heaters of 6.25 mm diameter and 31.75 mm length placed inside an aluminum base. Surface temperatures are recorded by a data acquisition system with four thermocouples integrated on the surface at various prescribed locations. Constant heat flux provided by the heaters is delivered to the nanostructured plate placed on top of the base. Volumetric flow rate and heat flux values are varied between 107.5-181.5 ml/min and 1-40 W/cm2 , respectively, in order to characterize the potential enhancement in heat transfer by nanostructured surfaces thoroughly. A single phase average heat transfer enhancement of 22.4% and a two phase average heat transfer enhancement of 85.3% has been realized using the nanostructured plate with vertical nanorods compared to flat plate. This enhancement is attributed to the increased heat transfer surface area and the single crystal property of the vertical Cu nanorods. On the other hand, nanostructured plate with tilted nanorods has shown poorer heat transfer performance compared to both the nanostructured plate with vertical nanorods and plain surface plate in the experiments performed. The lower heat transfer rate of the tilted Cu nanorods is believed to be due to the decreased supply of liquid jets to the base of the plate caused by their tilted orientation and closely spaced dense array structure. This leads to formation of air gaps that ultimately become trapped among the tilted nanorods, which results in reduced heat transfer surface area and increased resistance to heat transfer. In addition, non-single crystal structure of the tilted nanorods and resulting enhanced surface oxidation could further decrease their heat transfer performance. In the third study, a nanostructure based compact pool boiler cooling system consisting of an aluminum base housing the heaters, a pool and four different plates to change the surface texture of the pool is designed. Effects of nanostructured plates of different surface morphologies on boiling heat transfer performance of the system are studied. Three nanostructured plates featuring Si nanowires of diameter 850 nm and of three different lengths, 900 nm, 1800 nm and 3200 nm respectively, which are etched through single crystal p-type silicon wafers using metal assisted chemical etching (MaCE), are utilized to enhance the pool boiling heat transfer. A plain surface Si plate is used as the control sample. Constant heat flux is provided to the liquid within the pool on the surface of the aluminum base through the plate by boiling heat transfer. Existence of wall superheat gave rise to forming of vapor bubbles near the boiling temperature of the fluid, namely DI-Water. Bubbles emerged from the nanostructured plate along with the phase change. Nucleate boiling on the surface of the plate, bubble formation and bubble motion inside the pool created an effective heat removal mechanism from the heated surface to the liquid pool. Along with the enhancement in both boiling and single-phase region heat transfer coefficients, this study proves the ability of nanostructured plates in improving the performance of the cooling system.


The first study, in any language, of this German typographer and type designer. Renner's work exemplifies central themes in German culture in the first half of the twentieth century. Starting as an artist and book designer in the Munich cultural renaissance, he was an early and prominent member of the Deutscher Werkbund. In the 1920s Renner worked in Frankfurt, one of the centres of socially-engaged modernism; around this time he began work on his enduring typeface, Futura. Moving to Munich, he ran the printing school that included Jan Tschichold among its teachers. In the crisis of 1933 he was detained and then dismissed from his post. Living through the Nazi years in inner emigration, Renner emerged as a voice of experience and reason in postwar debates.


In literature, it is widely accepted that the design of Class-E Power Amplifier (PA) with finite dc feed inductance requires a long iterative solution procedure. To avoid such iterative solution methods, analytical design equations should be known. The problem associated with the finite dc feed inductance Class-E PA is usually ascribed to the fact that the circuit element values are transcendental functions of the input parameters which is assumed to prevent the derivation of exact or fully analytical design equations. Using a proper analytical method, exact design solutions for Class-E PA with any inductor value can however be derived. A mathematically exact analysis of the idealized Class-E PA with finite dc feed inductance has been done and analytical expressions showing the relation between the circuit elements and the input parameters are found. These analytical expressions have been simplified to obtain explicit, relatively simple design equations. In this paper, we present these relatively simple design equations. Using these design equations, Class-E PA with finite dc feed inductance can be designed without iterative design procedures. The current paper discusses these simplified versions of the exact solution of general Class-E PA with finite dc feed inductance Key Words- Power Amplifier, Class-E.


Immediate preconcentration and spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of trace amounts of cupric ion (Cu(II)) and nickel ion (Ni(II)) through a solid phase extraction with XAD-4-N,N'-bis-(salicylidene) cyclohexanediamine (XAD-4-SCHD) resin and a complex color reaction of the ions with 2,6-dimethyl-morpholine dithiocarbamate (DMMDTC) in Triton X-100 media. A high preconcentration factor of 125 was achieved. The spectrophotometric method was based on the measurements of the absorption of colored chelates of ions complexing with DMMDTC, and the adsorptions of the complex solutions were measured at their maximum absorption peaks at 460 and 328 nm for Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions, respectively. The impact of the complexing reaction variables including type and amount of surfactant, pH, amount of ligand, and complexation time on the sensitivity of the proposed method was optimized. Calibration graphs were found to be linear in the ranges of 0.02-3 and 0.02-2.5 mg L$^{-1}$ with detection limits of 5 and 7 $\mu $g L$^{-1}$ for Cu(II) and Ni(II), respectively. The accuracy of the developed method was calculated by recovering all Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions in synthetic and TMDA-70.2 certified reference water samples. Results of the proposed method were also compared with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry results for the determination of trace Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions in water samples.


Common root rot of hard red spring wheat, durum and barley concurs throughout the Spring regions of the Great Plains in the USA and Canada. Cochliobiolus Sativas is fungus that primarily produces root rot. Crop losses were determined to be 10% in barley and 5% in spring wheat with losses up to 30% in some fields in some years. Crop rotation and plantings of resistant cultivars up to this point were the major disease management tools. Farmers found growing non-cereal crops to be unprofitable. Also, due to many agronomic and quality factors, many farmers continued to plant susceptible crops.Protectant fungicide formulations have ben long applied to cereal seed to prevent seed decay, damping-off and seedling blight and some seed-bore diseases such as 'smuts'. Cochliobolus Salivas may cause a seed-borne infection known as 'black point'. Older treatments hadn't been successful in reducing the soil-borne phase of common root rot in adult crops. When controlled, crop yields did not increase. This article discusses a systematic treatment of fungicides on root rot control' of spring wheat and barley in North Dakota. The Triadimenol and Difenconazole treatments produced the most promising returns on reducing CRR and increasing crop yields.


© 2014 American Cancer Society. BACKGROUND: Research on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among older adult cancer survivors is mostly confined to breast cancer, prostate METHODS: HRQOL examined the 36-Item Survey, and the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey in patients with selected cancers (kidney cancer, bladder cancer, pancreatic upper gastrointestinal cancer, cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, uterine cancer, cervical cancer, thyroid cancer, melanoma, chronic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma) and in individuals without cancer on the basis of data linked from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry system and the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey. Scale scores, Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores, and a utility metric (Short Form 6D/Veterans RAND 6D), adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and other chronic conditions, were calculated. A 3-point difference in the scale scores and a 2-point difference in the PCS and MCS scores were considered to be minimally important differences. RESULTS: Data from 16,095 cancer survivors and 1,224,549 individuals without a history of cancer were included. The results indicated noteworthy deficits in physical health status. Mental health was comparable, although scores for the Role-Emotional and Social Functioning scales were worse for patients with most types of cancer versus those without cancer. Survivors of multiple myeloma and pancreatic malignancies reported the lowest scores, with their PCS/MCS scores less than those of individuals without cancer by 3 or more points. CONCLUSIONS: HRQOL surveillance efforts revealed poor health outcomes among many older adults and specifically among survivors of multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer. BACKGROUND: Research on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among older adult cancer survivors is mostly confined to breast can- cer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer, which account for 63% of all prevalent cancers. Much less is known about HRQOL in the context of less common cancer sites. METHODS: HRQOL was examined with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, version 1, and the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey in patients with selected cancers (kidney cancer, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, upper gastrointestinal cancer, cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, uterine cancer, cervical cancer, thyroid cancer, melanoma, chronic leuke- mia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma) and in individuals without cancer on the basis of data linked from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry system and the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey. Scale scores, Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores, and a utility metric (Short Form 6D/Veterans RAND 6D), adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and other chronic conditions, were calculated. A 3-point difference in the scale scores and a 2-point difference in the PCS and MCS scores were considered to be minimally important differences. RESULTS: Data from 16,095 cancer survivors and 1,224,549 individuals without a history of cancer were included. The results indicated noteworthy deficits in physical health status. Mental health was comparable, although scores for the Role–Emotional and Social Functioning scales were worse for patients with most types of cancer versus those without cancer. Survivors of multiple myeloma and pancreatic malignancies reported the low- est scores, with their PCS/MCS scores less than those of individuals without cancer by 3 or more points. CONCLUSIONS: HRQOL surveillance efforts revealed poor health outcomes among many older adults and specifically among survivors of multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer. Cancer 2014;000:000-000. Cancer Society .


Amphiphilic molecules generally tend to organize spontaneously into spherical or cylindrical micelles/vesicles in appropriate liquid media and conditions, and seldom form two dimensional (2D) planar structures with a regular shape, due to their energetically unfavorable state. Herein, the self-assembly of a new bolaamphiphile bearing a bistriazole-pyrene unit leads to the formation of mono-molecule-layer nano-ribbons. The π-π stacking interaction between the rigid bistriazole-pyrene units and electrostatic screening contributed by the aromatic counterion tosyl groups are responsible for the 2D alignment of the molecules in the aggregate. Partial replacement of the tosyl groups causes a reduction in the width of the nano-ribbons and the coordination of triazole with Pd2+ ions results in the collapse of the self-assembled structure. This study supplies new clues for fabricating molecular level 2D nanostructures by bottom-up supramolecular assembly.


There is a lot of excellent academic, policy and practice work on the links between natural resources and conflict. There are still different viewpoints in the field of the exact relationship of resources to conflict, as people have summed up as the distinction between greed and grievance. However, I think most people would agree, the exploitation of natural resources has played a central role in the conflict in the Great Lakes region and the DRC. This paper offers a perspective on how to transform conflicts by using resources as "tools for reconciliation and reconstruction in the Great Lakes region.


Summary The subgroup J of ALV (ALV-J) has emerged as an important pathogen of meat-type chickens since 1989. This virus is responsible for economic losses due to both mortality and depressed performance in chickens. So, the objective of this study is the detection of ALV-J in the albumen of commercial and native fowl eggs using RT-PCR. Three hundred and seventy egg albumens were randomly selected from different farms of Fars province, Iran. These eggs were obtained from the flocks of two research centers on native fowl production (70 eggs), a broiler grandparent farm (60 eggs), three broiler br eeder farms (180 eggs), and a commercial layer flock (60 eggs). RT-PCR was undertaken on isolated RNA from egg samples using a pair of ALV-J specific primers H5/H7 that produced a 545 basepair fragment. RT-PCR analyses detected ALV-J in 15 of 180 (8.33%) samples from three broiler breeders farms, 17 of 70 (24.28%) samples from flocks of two research centers of native fowls production, and none of the samples of commercial layer and broiler grandparent farms. Direct sequencing using primers specific for subg roup ALV-J verified the viral subgroup in the RT-PCR amplification products. This is the first report of the ALV -J in egg albumen in Iran which indicates the necessity to apply eradication programs for ALV -J in the poultry industry and native fowls in Iran.


The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of real and imaginal
exposure-response prevention methods on the improvement of patients suffering from obsessivecompulsive
disorder.
Materials & Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted on 45 patients (from psychiatry
clinics and psychology center of Fatemi Hospital of Ardabil) with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The
samples were selected through accessible sampling and were randomly put into three groups of real
exposure - response prevention group (15 patients), imaginal exposure-response prevention group (15
patients), and control group (15 patients). In order to collect the data, Maudsely's Obsessive-
Compulsive Scale and Clinical Structured Interview based on the DSM-IV were used. The raw scores
from the pre-test and post-test were analyzed using ANOVA and Scheffe's test.
Results: The results revealed that there was a significant difference between both experimental (real
and imaginal exposure-response prevention) and control groups. It was also manifested that real
exposure-response prevention method, in comparison to imaginal exposure-response prevention
method, was more effectual in reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Conclusion: Accordingly, it can be claimed that to reduce the symptoms of obsession, real exposureresponse
prevention is more effective than imaginal exposure-response prevention. To explain this
finding it can be said that the real encounter with fear stimulating situations -in comparison to
imaginal exposure- creates more anxiety and this anxiety and apprehension caused real exposure
response prevention to overcome the imaginal exposure


Clearing and settlement of international securities transactions for indirectly held securities presents major challenges as the immense potential of blockchain technology creates the possibility of a tamper-proof consolidated audit trail, of almost infinitesimal transaction cost, and increased transactional velocity. While true real-time clearing and settlement will remain utopia for the foreseeable future, disruptive fintech innovations are being tested by major financial institutions around the globe as realization takes hold that critical mass is not a limiting criterion in a cloud-based blockchain world. But while technology develops virtually at the speed of IT-based innovation, banks realize the threat of losing control of payment systems and the notion of negative float is dwindling toward zero, exposing banks to additional risks and challenges to liquidity and collateral management in order to be able to make technologically possible instant payments. At the same time, the regulatory framework both in the U.S and the EU lags alarmingly behind the pace of technology as sudden institutional and supervisory concerns about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have showed. While blockchain technology is not only capable of revolutionizing payments, clearing, and settlement, but indeed any form of transaction processing or verifiable vote, it raises issues of data protection, BigData processing, but also of identifying systemic payment risks. While both U.S. and EU regulators have shown valuable and highly appropriate restraint so as not to throttle innovation, regulation and oversight remain conditions precedent to broad-based use and safe application.


Many of the recently proposed algorithms for learning feature-based ranking functions are based on the pairwise preference framework, in which instead of taking documents in isolation, document pairs are used as instances in the learning process. One disadvantage of this process is that a noisy relevance judgment on a single document can lead to a large number of mis-labeled document pairs. This can jeopardize robustness and deteriorate overall ranking performance. In this paper we study the effects of outlying pairs in rank learning with pairwise preferences and introduce a new meta-learning algorithm capable of suppressing these undesirable effects. This algorithm works as a second optimization step in which any linear baseline ranker can be used as input. Experiments on eight different ranking datasets show that this optimization step produces statistically significant performance gains over state-of-the-art methods.


Education of deaf children in the developing world is very dire and there is a dearth of sign language interpreters to assist them with translation for sign language-dependent students in the classrooms. Illiteracy within the deaf population is rampant. Over the past several years, a unique team of Moroccan and American deaf and hearing researchers have united to enhance the literacy of deaf students by creating tools that incorporate Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) and American Sign Language (ASL) under funding grants from USAID and the National Science Foundation (NSF). MSL is a gestural language distinct from both the spoken languages and written language of Morocco and has no text representation. Accordingly, translation is quite challenging and requires representation of MSL in graphics and video. Many deaf and hard of hearing people do not have good facility with their native spoken language because they have no physiological access to it. Because oral languages depend, to a great extent, upon phonology, reading achievement of deaf children usually falls far short of that of hearing children of comparable abilities. And, by extension, reading instructional techniques that rely on phonological awareness, letter/sound relationships, and decoding, all skills proven essential for reading achievement, have no sensory relevance. Even in the USA, where statistics are available and education of the deaf is well advanced, on average, deaf high school graduates have a fourth grade reading level; only 7–10% of deaf students read beyond a seventh to eighth grade reading level; and approximately 20% of deaf students leave school with a second grade or below reading level (Gallaudet University's national achievement testing programs (1974, 1983, 1990, and 1996); Durnford, 2001; Braden, 1992; King & Quigley, 1985; Luckner, Sebald, Cooney, Young III, & Muir, 2006; Strong, & Prinz, 1997). Because of spoken language inaccessibility, many deaf people rely on a sign language. Sign language is a visual/gestural language that is distinct from spoken Moroccan Arabic and Modern Standard/written Arabic and has no text representation. It can only be depicted via graphics, video, and animation. In this presentation, we present an innovative technology Clip and Create, a tool for automatic creation of sign language supported instructional material. The technology has two tools– Custom Publishing and Instructional Activities Templates, and the following capabilities: (1)Automatically constructs customizable publishing formats; (2)Allows users to import Sign Language clip art and other graphics; (3)Allows users to draw free-hand orusere-sizable shapes; (4)Allows users to incorporate text, numbers, and scientific symbols in various sizes, fonts, and colors; (5)Saves and prints published products; (6)Focuses on core vocabulary, idioms, and STEM content; (7)Incorporates interpretation of STEM symbols into ASL/MSL; (8)Generates customizable and printable Instructional Activities that reinforce vocabulary and concepts found in instructional content using Templates: a. Sign language BINGO cards, b. Crossword puzzles, c. Finger spelling/spelling scrambles, d. Word searches (in finger spelling and text), e. Flashcards (with sign, text, and concept graphic options), and f. Matching games (i.e., Standard Arabic-to-MSL and English-to-ASL). (cf. Figure 1: Screenshots from Clip and Create) The ability of this tool to efficiently create bilingual (i.e., MSL and written Arabic and ASL and English) educational materials will have a profound positive impact on the quantity and quality of sign-supported curricular materials teachers and parents are able to create for young deaf students. And, as a consequence, deaf children will show improved vocabulary recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension. A unique aspect of this software is that written Arabic is used by many Arab countries even though the spoken language varies. Though there are variations in signs as well, there is enough consistency to make this product useful in other Arab-speaking nations as is. Any signing differences can easily be adjusted by swapping sign graphic images.


Introduction Melissa Asher Daniels and Gregory Laski African American literature has ended. Or so claims Kenneth W. Warren, whose recent book What Was African American Literature? (2011) was the topic of conversation at a special session roundtable at the 2012 Modern Language Association convention in Seattle, Washington. Arguing that "the collective enterprise we now know as African American literature is of rather recent vintage" (1), Warren seeks to historicize, and in so doing, redefine what was for many a fine wine that kept getting better with time. In his account, African American literature emerged within and against the epoch of state-sanctioned racial segregation, bookended by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 on the one end and the civil and voting fights acts of the 1960s on the other. Understanding the literary output of black Americans during this period as an "imaginative response" to both the "social and legal reality of segregation," Warren contends that a paradox lay at the heart of this project: its very success necessitated its "obsolescence" (42, 18). Indeed, given that the formal strictures of Jim Crow have been dismantled, Warren argues, African American literature can no longer be written. With such an ambitious thesis at its center, What Was African American Literature? claims a place in the genealogy of critical works that aim to give coherent shape to the literary and cultural production of black Americans, from such foundational studies as Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s The Signifying monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism (1988) and Hazel Carby's Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist (1987) to more recent reassessments of the canon, such as John Ernest's Chaotic Justice: Rethinking African American Literary History (2009) and Gene Andrew Jarrett's Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature (2011). But if Warren's book shares with these studies an attention to what we might consider the constituent components of this critical genre--an interest in crafting a particular literary/historical narrative and accounting for the relationship between aesthetics and politics, for instance--it distinguishes itself not simply in the way it articulates a position on these themes, but in the very valence it assigns to the notion of an African American literary tradition in the process. Indeed Warren, in urging us to understand African American literature as a post-emancipation phenomenon that effectively ended with the legal demise of Jim Crow, issues no lament. To the contrary, he insists that because this literature was generated by a social and legal order that demanded cultural production by elites aimed at disproving notions of "black inferiority," it is the product of a past that is best put "behind us" (18, 84). What Was African American Literature? thus forces us to rethink some of our most deeply held assumptions about this tradition. Can Phillis Wheatley and Toni Morrison accurately be classified as African American writers? What conception of history, historical process, and temporality--linear, recursive, or generally chaotic--do we bring to our readings of texts by and about black Americans? What value do the legacies of the Middle Passage, slavery, and Jim Crow have for the struggle to realize greater racial equality in the present? For that matter, how might the way we narrate literary history inflect discussions about race and politics in the public sphere? The session treated Warren's book less as a postmortem on the field than as a symptom that African American literary studies has arrived at an impasse. Though at one time considered marginal, the discipline has achieved a prominent position in the academy, as indicated by the now-standard presence of black authors on college syllabi and reading lists, and the ubiquity of scholarly work on African American texts. And yet, other signs point to a less-promising future. …


Prior analysis regarding transportation infrastructure has often focused on the aggregate effects of public investment on economic growth or activity, usually at a national or state level. Modeling efforts that attempt to treat all counties as equivalent units, while assuming a homogeneous modeling structure for all the units, may miss important information regarding the statistical and causal relationships between economic activity and transportation infrastructure. This study examines the interrelationships between infrastructure and activity using two Washington State highway infrastructure datasets in combination with county-level employment, wages, and establishment numbers for several industrial sectors for a subset of counties from 1990 to 2004. Estimates using vector autoregressions, error correction models, and directed acyclic graphs are made. The results show that the relationships between infrastructure investment and economic activity are often weak and are not uniform in effect.


The Mondaca volcano comprises a thick rhyolitic lava-field and a dome of similar composition, located near the Lontué River Valley headwaters in the northern part of the Southern Andes Volcanic Zone. It reaches a total volume of ~ 0.85 km, and it is formed by 4 subunits, named Mondaca 1, 2, 3 and 4, which correspond to successive rhyolitic blocky lava flows, emitted from a rounded dome structure. They present well-preserved flow structures and, in the surroundings, restricted to the south and east of the dome, pyroclastic fall, as well as block and ash deposits are also exhibited. Downstream, along the Lontué River, a laharic deposit is recognized. The lahar was produced after the collapse of an ephemeral ~0.44 km3 lake generated after the river obstruction by viscous lavas, during the 1762 first eruptive phase. Proximal lahar facies are well exposed between 5 and 30 km from their source. The profuse agricultural activity has completely obliterated the lahar's medium facies deposits along the Central Depression, but are well identified at the mouth of the Mataquito River, 180 km downstream, as a beige-coloured layer, interbedded within dark coastal beach-sands. The identification of overflows and super-elevation deposits formed during the debris flow emplacement along the Lontué River valley, allows to determine a high flow mobility, with estimated velocities that locally reached up to 114 km/h. Petrographic characteristics in addition to chemical composition of lavas from the volcano, pyroclasts and juvenile blocks of the laharic deposit, indicate that all they correspond to high K calcoalkaline rhyolites with subalkaline affinity. These backgrounds, together with the geographical continuity between the lavas and debris deposits along the Lontué and Mataquito rivers, verify facies correlation and common origin as the result of the 1762 Mondaca volcano eruption complex evolution. IN PR ES S Andean Geology 48 (3): xxx-xxx. September, 2021 doi: 10.5027/andgeoV48n3-3361 2 Although it was a mainly effusive eruption that could not be observed from Curicó, the collateral consequences would have been catastrophic over a vast area to the south of that city, and evidences one of the largest volcanic disasters in Chilean history. Probably because of the low density polulation at that time, the consequences could have been minor.


Optoelectronic devices operating in the mid-infrared spectral region are attracting increasing attention due to potential applications in a wide range of disciplines. For example, mid-infrared photodetectors play a key role in thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion, whereby a photovoltaic device is used to extract electrical power from heat radiation. This technology is attractive for waste heat harvesting and clean energy production in several different environments. Similarly, mid-infrared light sources are particularly useful for biochemical sensing and spectroscopy, where the distinctive absorption features of many molecular species of interest can be exploited for their sensitive identification and detection. Both devices are investigated in this thesis work. In the area of TPV energy conversion, I have studied the use of intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum cascade structures as a means to overcome the fundamental limitations of existing TPV devices using mature InP-based technology. Very efficient coverage of the incident radiation spectrum and optimal current matching can be achieved using multiple quantum-cascade structures monolithically integrated with a p-n junction, by taking advantage of their intrinsic cascading scheme, spectral viii agility, and design flexibility. Numerical simulations indicate that this approach can effectively double the present state-of-the-art in TPV output electrical power. In the area of mid-infrared light sources, my work has focused on developing efficient light emitters based on tensilely strained Germanium nanomembranes (Ge NMs). These ultrathin (a few ten nanometers) single-crystal membranes are good candidates for the development of CMOS-compatible Group-IV light sources, by virtue of their ability to sustain large strain levels and in the process become direct-bandgap materials. My research efforts have concentrated on the development of optical cavities based on Ge NMs that can satisfy the mechanical flexibility requirement of this materials platform. In particular, photonic-crystal (PhC) cavities in the form of disconnected dielectric-column arrays have been designed and fabricated based on a novel membrane assembly method, producing clear cavity-mode features in NM photoluminescence spectra.