Does the proliferation of nuclear weapons cause ongoing conflicts to diminish or to intensify? The spread of nuclear weapons to South Asia offers an opportunity to investigate this crucial question. Optimistic scholars argue that by threatening to raise the cost of war astronomically, nuclear weapons make armed conflict in South Asia extremely unlikely. Pessimistic scholars maintain that nuclear weapons make the subcontinent war-prone, because of technological, political, and organizational problems. This book argues that nuclear weapons have destabilized the subcontinent, principally because of their interaction with India and Pakistan's territorial preferences and relative military capabilities. These findings challenge both optimistic and pessimistic conventional wisdom and have implications beyond South Asia.


In this work we present two extensions to the well-known dynamic programming beam search in phrase-based statistical machine translation (SMT), aiming at increased efficiency of decoding by minimizing the number of language model computations and hypothesis expansions. Our results show that language model based pre-sorting yields a small improvement in translation quality and a speedup by a factor of 2. Two look-ahead methods are shown to further increase translation speed by a factor of 2 without changing the search space and a factor of 4 with the side-effect of some additional search errors. We compare our approach with Moses and observe the same performance, but a substantially better trade-off between translation quality and speed. At a speed of roughly 70 words per second, Moses reaches 17.2% BLEU, whereas our approach yields 20.0% with identical models.


This article contributes to the literature on cross-cultural leadership by describing the development and validation of the Leadership Effectiveness in Africa and the Diaspora (LEAD) Scale. The LEAD Scale is a culturally sensitive measure of leadership effectiveness in the understudied settings of Africa and the African diaspora. A combination of methods and four studies using samples from Africa and the African diaspora based in Canada, the USA, and the Caribbean were used to develop the measure. Using the grounded theory approach and the Delphi technique (n = 192), followed by a set of increasingly rigorous tests including exploratory factor analysis (n = 441), confirmatory factor analysis (n = 116), and a test of measure invariance (n =1384), we developed and validated a culturally sensitive measure of effective leadership. Our results demonstrate that spirituality, tradition and community-centredness are important and culturally specific components of leadership in Africa and the African diaspora. This paper provides a validated measure of leadership and offers recommendations regarding the use of the measure by managers and researchers working in Africa or with African diaspora.


Background and Objectives: Peripheral nerve blockade requires regional anesthesia skills that trainees learn in several formats. Technical proficiency has shifted from a quota to comprehensive procedural evaluation. Successful nerve blockade is the clinical endpoint validating proficiency but patient, technical and procedural factors influence this result. The purpose of this study was to determine if procedural expertise for sciatic nerve blockade influenced postoperative pain scores and opioid requirements and if patient factors, technique and repetition influenced this outcome. Method: Sciatic nerve blockade by nerve stimulation and ultrasound guidance and training level of the resident performing the procedure were recorded. Patient obesity, trauma, chronic pain, opioid use and preoperative pain scores were compared to post-procedure pain scores and opioid analgesic requirements. Results: 102 patients received sciatic nerve blockade from 47 trainees over a 36 month interval. A significant relation between training level and improved pain scores was not demonstrated but transition from nerve stimulation to ultrasound guidance lowered scores in all groups. Nerve blockade failure was frequent with chronic opioid use and trauma.


The aim of this essay is to look into the hypothesis of copyright infringement by service providers (cloud providers) in Cloud computing systems. The starting point will be a brief recognition of the essential characteristics of this new technology: interoperability, interactivity and the high level of control the cloud provider is able to exert on the information flux processed in the cloud. In particular, the high level of control the provider is technically able to exert on the information flux is due to the owner's concentration of Cloud Computing technological assets. This can be considered a centralised system, characterised by a hyerarchical organisation of technological and economic infrastructure. For this reason, Cloud computing must be differentiate from peer to peer systems, as these are less controlled by service providers both on the information flux and on the copyright infringement the final users make through the activity of file- sharing. The Author points out how the Cloud computing centralised management model cannot but influence the profiles of cloud provider secondary liability, if a copyright infringement by the final user occurs. The Author proposes a recognition of new copyright enforcement tools created by member states of the European Union: in this sense the prevailing recourse to injunctive relief – chiefly in Germany- and the development of copyright enforcement public models are analysed . These provide the creation of independent administrative authorities, enforced with wide and perceptive sanctionatory powers like the French Loi Hadopi and the three strikes policy adopted in European circle. The analysis of legislation and case law shows that the ISP secondary liability European model is based on the efficacy of safe harbours and on the application of the net neutrality principle. The Author points out the difficult problem of the possibility to subsume cloud providers in the hosting provider subjective category (art.14, Dir. 2000/31/CE), to whom the safe-harbours system can be applied. If related  with the new Web 2.0 intermediaries – including cloud providers- the hosting provider prescriptive definition is completely anachronistic, so that the secondary liability exclusion system cannot be applied to a Cloud computing intermediary. Finally, it is clear that the cloud provider figure causes the crisis of the traditional difference between content provider and passive intermediary, on which the safe- harbours system is based. This situation requires an updating of article 14, Dir. " E-Commerce" . The domestic law of European Union member states, analyzed in this paper, suggests the configuration of a new category of intermediaries ("atypical hosting") thanks to the use of presumptive elements ( advertising campaign from cloud providers, intermediary's financial interest). In this way the law rules out the cloud provider passive role, taking into consideration the economic exploitation connected to the storage activity as actual or constructive knowledge. As a result, it is easy to notice a strong tendency to objectification of internet service providers responsibility system, with reference to Web 2.0 new intermediaries. The Author, at the end of the case-law analysis, proposes for a new intervention by the European lawmaker that, by modifying the art. 14, Dir. E-Commerce , carries out an effective updating of the net neutrality principle in European circle.


Mobile payments have become an increasingly hot topic due to the wide availability of smartphones and mobile internet on the Swedish market. Banks have historically enjoyed a monopoly position in payments, but have recently seen new entrants contending for a share of the market as payments go mobile. Mobile operators, technology companies, and merchants all want to join the mobile payments space in order to find new revenue streams. Technological development is happening fast, and with many actors in the market it becomes more important than ever to have a strong strategy from the start to be able to establish a standard.
Purpose
The purpose with this thesis is to get a better understanding of the mobile payments industry with regards to actors and technologies, and to establish the key factors that drive a standard in Sweden. The work will provide a foundation for understanding mobile payments, as well as a roadmap for actors in the industry on important aspects of future development. The purpose can be summarized in two research questions:
Which technologies and services constitute the Swedish mobile payments landscape today, and what are the key success factors?
What development can be expected in Sweden the coming 5-10 years, and which technologies and services are likely to prevail and become established standards?
Theoretical Framework:
The data analysis has been based on the Standard Wars framework, in order to understand which factors that are driving a standard. Furthermore, the digital payment value chain has been analyzed to see where actors have chosen to position themselves, and to understand the possible revenue models that exist.
Methodology
The thesis uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data consists of a literature review, interviews with stakeholders, an international case study, as well as workshops with industry experts and stakeholders to validate the progress and quality of the work. The quantitative part consists of secondary data to further validate the results.
Result:
The Swedish mobile payments market consists of a range of services and actors, where the most prominent are Banks, MNOs, PSPs and EMV. Development in mobile payments will happen fast in the coming years, and already in 2013 consumers and merchants will use their mobile phones to pay to on a much larger scale.
The most important success factor is the value proposition for both merchants and customers. For merchants, the service needs to have lower total cost including investments than existing solutions, as well as be secure and fast. For consumers, the service must go beyond payments and include value added services such as loyalty, receipt management and offers. Other critical factors are convenience, easy to use, secure, and low cost.
NFC is currently the most complete available technology, but lacks merchant adoption and handset integration, which means no network effects and high investment costs. Therefore, QR is the most prominent technology at the moment, as it can be used in all smartphones and be deployed for a very low cost. Nevertheless, NFC has some transition possibilities, and the winning technology is linked to the winning actor more than the technology in itself. By supporting multiple technologies, the service can minimize technology risks, and it is likely that technologies will co-exist in the future.
Mobile payments are predicted to be used in 6% of all transactions in Sweden by 2017. The authors see four possible scenarios and the two most likely are where PSPs as SEQR continues to partner up with new merchants, and by leading the development adds new functionality and builds a customer base. The other scenario sees the banks manage to unite behind a redesigned solution, where Bart and Swish are merged with the mobile banking platform.


In Uganda, weather-related events such as prolonged dry seasons, floods, storms, mudslides, extreme rainfall, and delayed/early rains have become more frequent and/or intense. This has left most of the rural poor farmers' food insecure and their livelihoods threatened. A total of 192 sweetpotato farmer households distributed in six agro-ecological zones were interviewed to assess how farmers perceive the effects of changes in climatic variables, and how they have adjusted their farming practices to cope with the changes in climate. Gender of the household head and size of land owned significantly affected adaptation. Ninety nine percent of all households interviewed had observed a change in the climate in the last 10 years. Drought and floods had the highest impact on crop production across agro-ecological zones. Coping strategies towards extreme events included storing food, income diversification and digging drainage channels. Other strategies were planting trees; high-yielding, early-maturing, drought-tolerant, disease and/or pest-resistant varieties; planting at onset of rains; increased pesticide/fungicide application among others. The smallholder farmer households studied have a high awareness of changes in rainfall and temperature and have taken measures to cope with effects of a changing climate.


Data replication is a key building block for large-scale distributed systems to improve availability, performance, and scalability. Because there is a fundamental trade-off between performance and consistency as well as between availability and consistency, systems must make trade-offs among these factors based on the demands and technologies of their target environments and workloads.
Unfortunately, existing replication protocols and mechanisms are intrinsically entangled with specific policy assumptions. Therefore, to accommodate new trade-offs for new policy requirements, developers have to either build a new replication system from scratch or modify existing mechanisms.
This dissertation presents a universal data replication architecture (URA) that cleanly separates mechanism and policy and supports Partial Replication (PR), Any Consistency (AC), and Topology Independence (TI) simultaneously. Our architecture yields two significant advantages. First, by providing a single set of mechanisms that capture the common underlying abstractions for data replication, URA can serve as a common substrate for building and deploying new replication systems. It therefore can significantly reduce the effort required to construct or modify a replication system. Second, by providing a set of general and flexible mechanisms independent of any specific policy, URA enables better trade-offs than any current system can provide. In particular, URA can simultaneously provide the three PRACTI properties while any existing system can provide at most two of them. Our experimental results and case-study systems confirm that universal data replication architecture is a way to build better replication systems and a better way to build replication systems.


IZA DP No. 15293 MAY 2022 Monopsony Makes Firms Not Only Small but Also Unproductive: Why East Germany Has Not Converged* When employers face a trade-off between growing large and paying low wages—that is, when they have monopsony power—some productive employers will decide to acquire fewer customers, forgo sales, and remain small. These decisions have adverse consequences for aggregate labor productivity. Using high-quality administrative data from Germany, we document that East German plants (compared to West German ones) face a steeper sizewage curve, invest less into marketing, and remain smaller. A model with labor market monopsony, product market power, and customer acquisition matching these features of the data predicts 10 percent lower aggregate labor productivity in East Germany. JEL Classification: E20, E23, E24, J20, J42, J50


As Lithuania ponders the adoption of the universal property tax on real estate, the advantages and disadvantages of property taxation are discussed in media and scholarly articles. At the heart of the property tax, there is the need for assessment, the determination of property value for taxation purposes. The importance of assessment for the equitable distribution of the total tax burden does not receive enough emphasis in research. This article attempts to fill in this gap by testing an empirical model based on the data from the USA, a country, where property taxation has a long history. The model tests what factors are contributing to the variation of the coefficient of dispersion (COD), an internationally recognized measure of assessment uniformity. The results of the analysis indicate that the economic structure and housing market conditions are the most important determinants of the property assessment uniformity, while variables related to the location of property and the level of taxation do not have a significant impact on assessment uniformity.


Supplier selection has been the focus of researchers and practitioners in the past studies on supply-chain management. Numerous multiple criteria decision-making approaches have been used to select the supplier and allocate an appropriate quota to them. This paper tries to illustrate a case of supplier selection and quota allocation under uncertain conditions for the success of Supply Chain (SC). Integration of standard scores (z-value) and linear programming are proposed in integrated form to consider both tangible and intangible factors in choosing the best vendors and placing the optimum order quantities among them using fuzzy mathematical approach. This approach can help the management in deciding the quota for different vendors under multiobjectives and uncertain conditions.


Analyzing multiple dimensions of the relationship, the author argues that contrary to some experts' predictions, a strategic partnership between Turkey and Russia is not likely to develop in the near future. The author concludes that: the key question will be how Russia will react to the reduction of its influence in the post-Soviet area. It is very likely to respond by continuing with the current aggressive stance (interference with internal affairs of post-Soviet countries and military and economic conflicts), which will inevitably collide with the interests of Turkey. In effect, Ankara will be forced to revise its previous relatively "soft" policy towards Moscow.


The purpose of this study was to explore whether repeated exposure to aerosolized ovalbumin (OVA) in the context of local expression of GM-CSF can initiate a Th2-driven, eosinophilic inflammation in the airways. On day -1, Balb/c mice were infected intranasally with an adenovirus construct expressing GM-CSF (Ad/GM-CSF). From day 0 to day 9 mice were exposed daily to an OVA aerosol. Mice exposed to OVA alone did not show any evidence of airway inflammation. Mice receiving both Ad/GM-CSF and aerosolized OVA exhibited marked airway inflammation characterized by eosinophilia and goblet cell hyperplasia. Migration of eosinophils into the airway was preceded by a rise in IL-5 and IL-4. Both IL-5 and class II MHC were critically required to generate airway eosinophilia. After resolution, airway eosinophilia was reconstituted after a single OVA exposure. Flow cytometric analysis of dispersed lung cells revealed an increase in macrophages and dendritic cells expressing B7.1 and B7.2, and expansion of activated (CD69-expressing) CD4 and CD8 T cells in mice exposed to OVA and Ad/GM-CSF. Our data indicate that expression of GM-CSF in the airway compartment increases local antigen presentation capacity, and concomitantly facilitates the development of an antigen-specific, eosinophilic inflammatory response to an otherwise innocuous antigen.


From 2005 to 2009 the National Museum of American History embarked on one of its most ambitious collecting projects, focused on documenting experiences around the Bracero Program, the largest guest worker program in American History. This article focuses on the dilemmas of documenting memory through oral history for the Bracero History Archive and the reception of the National Museum of American History's exhibit, Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942–1964. The present day political and social context in which these oral histories were collected left indelible marks on how the program is remembered. The retelling of bracero history also reveals contemporary concerns with the role that Mexican agricultural workers play in American society and sheds light on the national dilemma of immigration reform.


The aim of the study was to determine the effect of day/night temperatures (22/l6°C, 2712l oC and 33/27°C) and phosphorus levels (0, 0.12 and 1.2g per 20 kg soil) on seedling establishment and seed viability during three stages of seed development (15, 22 and 33 days after flowering) for seed of normal and quality protein maize cultivars. Soluble carbohydrate accumulation and mineral element content were determined using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) in relation to seed phytate levels and seed germination capacity at different stages of development. Leaf emergence rate and plant height during seed development were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by temperature and phosphorus nutrition. Phosphorus in seed is stored primarily in the form of phytic acid, also known as phytate. Accumulation of phytate takes place during maturation phase of seed development. Phosphorus nutrition and temperature also caused a.significant (P < 0.05) increase in seed germination at all stages of seed development. Furthermore, phosphorus nutrition and temperature influenced occurrence of soluble carbohydrates in seeds. Myo-inositol, the sugar alcohol that forms the basic structure of phytate, was increased by P nutrition and increasing growth temperature. Whereas, QPM maize was generally found to perform poorly than normal maize, with respect to phytate content, seed germination and seedling establishment, both cultivars displayed the same responses to phosphorus nutrition and temperature. In both cultivars, globoids, the sites of phytate synthesis and storage, were found only in the embryonic axis. Subsequently, there were significantly low levels of mineral elements (P, Mg and K) found in the endosperm, compared with embryonic axis. This fmding suggested that the embryonic axis plays a major role in seed performance, through its effects emanating from phyate metabolism. Myo-inositol plays a role in membrane biogenesis during stress conditions such as temperature by maintaining the integrity of the cell wall and minimizes the leaching ofcations essential during germination. Myo-inositol, although it occurs in small concentrations, could be used to indicate seed quality in maize, because its accumulation was found to be associated with enhanced phyate levels and better seed germination in a wide range of temperatures. Low vigour seeds are associated with high electrolyte leakage during imbibition. Mineral elements


The Advanced LIGO observatories detected gravitational waves from two binary black hole mergers during their first observation run (O1). We present a high-energy neutrino follow-up search for the second gravitational wave event, GW151226, as well as for gravitational wave candidate LVT151012. We find 2 and 4 neutrino candidates detected by IceCube, and 1 and 0 detected by ANTARES, within $\pm500$ s around the respective gravitational wave signals, consistent with the expected background rate. None of these neutrino candidates are found to be directionally coincident with GW151226 or LVT151012. We use non-detection to constrain isotropic-equivalent high-energy neutrino emission from GW151226 adopting the GW event's 3D localization, to less than $2\times 10^{51}-2\times10^{54}$ erg.


In this work, a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) is integrated with a free spectral range matched interrogation (FSRMI) system for temperature and strain sensing applications. The experimental data show that the peak wavelengths of the core and cladding modes of the TFBG shift linearly to longer wavelength with the increase of temperature and strain. Since the FSRMI system allows simultaneous demodulation of multiple wavelengths, the sensing system can be extended by integrating a eta-channel FSRMI with eta TFBGs for multipoint temperature and strain sensing with high precision and fast detection rate.


One of the most difficult aspects of manually controlled flight is the coupling between the control over the aircraft speed and altitude. These states cannot be changed independent of each other through the aircraft control devices, the elevator and the throttle. Rather, to effectively change an aircraft's speed and altitude, the controls have to be coordinated. The mediating mechanism that underlies the coordination of the controls is the management of the aircraft's energy state. This article shows that the abstraction hierarchy (AH; Rasmussen, 1986) framework can be effectively used to gain more insight into the underlying structure of the aircraft energy management problem. The derived AH representation is based on the analysis of the energy constraints on the control task. It reveals the levels of abstraction necessary to link the aircraft's physical controls to the speed and altitude goals and also how the aircraft energy is a critical mediating state of the control problem. Energy awareness can be increased by presenting explicit energy management information. The powerful and novel concepts of the total energy reference profile and energy angle are introduced in this article and applied in the context of a perspective flight-path display. The resulting display presents energy management information fully integrated with the tunnel-in-the-sky display and reveals 5 new and important energy cues, intuitively linking the controls and the goals.


. Until recently, very little progress had been made in understanding the relationship between small-scale variability of topography, soil, and rainfalls and the storm response seen at the catchment scale. The work reviewed here represents the first attempt at a systematic theoretical framework for such understanding in the context of surface runoff generation by different processes. The parameterization of hydrological processes over a range of scales is examined, and the concept of the "representative elementary area" (REA) is inlroduced. The PEA is a fundamental scale for catchment modeling at which continuum assumptions can be applied for the spatially variable controls and parameters, and spatial patterns no longer have to be considered explicitly. The investigation of scale leads into the concept of hydrologic similarity in which the effects of the environmental controls on runoff generation and flood frequency response be investigated independently of catchment scale. The paper reviews the authors' initial results and hopefully will motivate others to also investigate the issues of hydrologic scale and similarity.


We present a new approach for learning to solve SMT formulas. We phrase the challenge of solving SMT formulas as a tree search problem where at each step a transformation is applied to the input formula until the formula is solved. Our approach works in two phases: first, given a dataset of unsolved formulas we learn a policy that for each formula selects a suitable transformation to apply at each step in order to solve the formula, and second, we synthesize a strategy in the form of a loop-free program with branches. This strategy is an interpretable representation of the policy decisions and is used to guide the SMT solver to decide formulas more efficiently, without requiring any modification to the solver itself and without needing to evaluate the learned policy at inference time. We show that our approach is effective in practice - it solves 17% more formulas over a range of benchmarks and achieves up to 100x runtime improvement over a state-of-the-art SMT solver.


AIM
Oral anticoagulants are the most common used substance for treatment and prophylaxis of warfarin venous and arterial thromboembolic disorders in the world. Therapeutic index of warfarin is narrow. CYP2C9 is a hepatic microsomal enzyme and has a primary role in metabolism of warfarin and genetic variations of CYP2C9 may cause a serious effect on the response to warfarin in patients. The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of CYP2C9 gene polymorphisms on drug metabolism in patients who had upper gastrointestinal system bleeding while using warfarin.

METHODS
There was a total of 67 patients in this study, 37 of whom had upper gastrointestinal system bleeding when INR was above 3 while using warfarin (group 1), 30 of whom had no bleeding and INR was stable under 3 (group 2).

RESULTS
There was no difference in terms of warfarin dose used among the groups (p>0.05). Mutant genotype, INR and aspirin usage were found significantly different in the group with bleeding (p less 0.05). When analyzed in terms of drug interaction, there was no difference between the two groups (p>0.05). Logistic regression analysis was made in order to determine the risk factors that may cause bleeding. Aspirin usage (p= 0.016) and genetic polymorphism (p= 0.024) were related to the increased risk of bleeding.

CONCLUSION
CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3 polymorphisms were related to the increase of excessive anticoagulation and bleeding risk in the patients who used warfarin.


The study has two aims. Firstly, to examine the impact of specific emotional factors on gambling expenditures and, secondly, to examine the impact of these emotional factors on problematic gambling behaviours (controlling for socio-economic determinants). Findings are based on a survey of 1196 gamblers in Sardinia, Italy. Using a bivariate probit approach, findings indicate that emotions associated with positive events (win) are related to the amount of money allocated for gambling (gambling expenditure). Findings also indicate the influence of negative emotional factors (experiencing disappointment, guilt and frustration) in gambling loss is related to self-awareness of problematic gambling. Furthermore, feelings of euphoria, anxiety and excitement during the gambling event is also related to self-awareness of problematic gambling. Analysis provides support for the notion that gambling behaviour is strongly associated with both positive and negative emotions.


The signal transduction pathways regulated by somatostatin receptor subtype 1 (sst1) have been difficult to define because of the variability observed when this receptor is expressed in different cell types by transfection and because pharmacological approaches are inadequate to distinguish sst1 receptor subtypes. To study the sst1 receptor in its endogenous environment, we developed a polyclonal antibody to a 15-amino acid peptide corresponding to a unique sequence in the receptor carboxyl terminus. The peptide antibody routinely precipitated 70% of the soluble [125I-Tyr11]somatostatin/receptor complex prepared from Chinese hamster ovary-K1 cells expressing the sst1 receptor but precipitated < 1% of the complex from cells expressing other sst receptor subtypes. Photoaffinity-labeled sst1 receptor was also specially immunoprecipitated and migrated as a broad 60-kDa band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. The observation that sst receptors from GH4C1 pituitary cells were immunoprecipitated by the antibody and that receptors from AR4-2J pancreatic acinar cells were not indicated that only the former expressed sst1 receptor protein. Because reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction showed that GH4C1 cells contained both sst1 and sst2 receptor mRNA, immunoprecipitation permitted the sst1 receptor to be separated from the other receptors present. Two observations showed that G proteins were coprecipitated with sst1 receptors from GH4C1 cells. First, pertussis toxin pretreatment markedly decreased hormone binding in the immunoprecipitate. Second, the addition of 20 microM guanosine-5'-(gamma-thio)triphosphate to the immunoprecipitated [125I-Tyr11]somatostatin/receptor complex stimulated the rate of dissociation of bound ligand by 10-fold. Interestingly, however, the dissociation rate of approximately 30% of the ligand/receptor complex was unaffected by guanosine-5'-(gamma-thio)triphosphate. In summary, we have developed an sst1 receptor-specific antibody and used it to show that sst1 receptors endogenously expressed in GH4C1 pituitary cells couple primarily to pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins. Furthermore, these receptors exist in two distinct high affinity states distinguished by their GTP sensitivity.


We report a numerical study of the free energy barrier for crystallization and melting of a single homopolymer chain. The simulations show that the free energy barrier separating the crystalline and molten states at the same free energy level strongly depends on the chain length. However, at a fixed temperature the barrier for single-chain crystallization is independent of chain length. This observation is in agreement with recent experiments on multichain bulk-polymer systems and can be understood theoretically if we assume that the primary nucleation of polymer crystals is determined by intramolecular nucleation. If we further assume that the subsequent growth of polymer crystals is controlled by two-dimensional intramolecular nucleation on the growth front, we can even account for the experimentally observed molecular segregation during crystal growth as well as the chain-length independence of the free energy barrier for secondary nucleation.


The structures of the lipooligosaccharides from Brucella melitensis mutants affected in the WbkD and ManBcore proteins have been fully characterized using NMR spectroscopy. The results revealed that disruption of wbkD gives rise to a rough lipopolysaccharide (R-LPS) with a complete core structure (β-d-Glcp-(1→4)-α-Kdop-(2→4)[β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)-β-d-GlcpN-(1→4)[β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)]-β-d-GlcpN-(1→3)-α-d-Manp-(1→5)]-α-Kdop-(2→6)-β-d-GlcpN3N4P-(1→6)-α-d-GlcpN3N1P), in addition to components lacking one of the terminal β-d-GlcpN and/or the β-d-Glcp residues (48 and 17%, respectively). These structures were identical to those of the R-LPS from B. melitensis EP, a strain simultaneously expressing both smooth and R-LPS, also studied herein. In contrast, disruption of manBcore gives rise to a deep-rough pentasaccharide core (β-d-Glcp-(1→4)-α-Kdop-(2→4)-α-Kdop-(2→6)-β-d-GlcpN3N4P-(1→6)-α-d-GlcpN3N1P) as the major component (63%), as well as a minor tetrasaccharide component lacking the terminal β-d-Glcp residue (37%). These results are in agreement with the predicted functions of the WbkD (glycosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of the O-antigen) and ManBcore proteins (phosphomannomutase involved in the biosynthesis of a mannosyl precursor needed for the biosynthesis of the core and O-antigen). We also report that deletion of B. melitensis wadC removes the core oligosaccharide branch not linked to the O-antigen causing an increase in overall negative charge of the remaining LPS inner section. This is in agreement with the mannosyltransferase role predicted for WadC and the lack of GlcpN residues in the defective core oligosaccharide. Despite carrying the O-antigen essential in B. melitensis virulence, the core deficiency in the wadC mutant structure resulted in a more efficient detection by innate immunity and attenuation, proving the role of the β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)-β-d-GlcpN-(1→4)[β-d-GlcpN-(1→6)]-β-d-GlcpN-(1→3)-α-d-Manp-(1→5) structure in virulence.


In recent years a growing number of countries have adopted constitutional provisions requiring that state law respect Islamic law (sharia). Muslims today are deeply divided, however, about what types of state action are consistent with sharia. Thus, the impact of a "Sharia Guarantee Clause" depends to a large degree on questions of constitutional design -- on who is given the power to interpret and apply the provision and on what procedures that they follow when making their decisions. This article explores the trends that gave rise to SGCs and provides a history of their incorporation into national constitutions. It then surveys a number of the remarkably varied schemes that countries have developed to interpret and enforce their SGC's, and it considers the impact that different schemes have had on society. Building on this background, the article considers what type of SGC enforcement scheme, if any, are likely to permit (and ideally promote) a state to pursue democratic policies. As it notes, SGC's are often found in authoritarian or imperfectly democratic constitutions. Unsurprisingly, the designers of SGC enforcement schemes in non-democratic countries have generally tried to ensure that their SGC will be interpreted and applied in a way that permitted or even promoted non-democratic policies. Nevertheless, we can draw from the experience of these countries some important lessons about the types of SGC enforcement scheme that will allow more democratic states to promote both democratic political participation and rights. At the same time, recent debates have erupted in Western liberal democracies about how best to reconcile rights enforcement with democracy. These debates clarify some issues that aspirational Islamic democracies will face as they try to develop SGC enforcement schemes for a democratic society, and they provide insight into the qualities that an institution must possess if it is to address such issues effectively. A number of Muslim countries are currently debating how best to square a constitutional commitment to respect Islam with parallel commitments to democracy and rights. Acknowledging that these countries will need to tailor their SGC enforcement schemes to very different local conditions, this paper describes some basic design features that effective democratic SGC enforcement schemes are likely to share.


This study examines and analyses the decision-making processes used by companies in the transport industry when making a warehouse location decision. Previous research has looked at location decision-making in many industries and at location decisions specifically in the retail and
manufacturing sectors but not at the managerial decision process regarding warehouse location by transport companies.
The conceptual model developed indicated that there are three specific decisions required; first the need for a new warehouse; secondly the need to determine an appropriate regional location, and finally the specific site within the region. When making a location decision the companies
interviewed used a process that comprises the three phases of identification, collection and evaluation for each of the sequential decisions required in each case. In many cases the requirement for a new warehouse was driven by a new business opportunity and in many cases the client requirements drove the regional decision. Of primary consideration in determining the specific site for a warehouse is the access to freeways and other transport
infrastructure. The locations of current and potential customers together with the building quality, configuration and flexibility were other major factors in the decision.
The current research makes a contribution by applying a case study method to eight warehouse location decisions made by 7 companies in Victoria between 2003 and 2005. The case studies provide a depth and quality of data previously not found regarding location decisions in transport companies and provides an understanding of how these
Victorian transport companies have made warehouse location decisions in recent years and the findings contribute a conceptual model and listing of managerial actions in the location decision making process The ability to use the developed model and the listing of management
actions will encourage a more informed understanding of decision making for participants and provide for enhanced warehouse location decision making by transport companies in the future.


The influence of γ-irradiation on high density polyethylene/ ethylene—vinyl acetate copolymer composites consisting of ammonium polyphosphate and nylon 6 as intumescent flame-retardant additives is investigated. Cone calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared have been performed to characterize their flammability and thermal properties. The irradiated samples show slight reduction in peak heat release rate at suitable irradiation dose levels but exhibit less efficiency in fire protection in comparison with the non-irradiated sample. Thermogravimetric analysis results indicate that the irradiated samples have a higher thermal-oxidative stability than that of the non-irradiated sample. The intermolecular cross-links of the composites induced by γ-rays are suggested to be responsible for these behaviors.


In the paper presented are the results of calculations using authors own model to predict heat transfer coefficient during flow boiling
of carbon dioxide. The experimental data from various resea rches were collected. Calculations were conducted for a full range of quality variation and a wide range of mass velocity. The aim of the study was to test the sensitivity of the in-house model. The results show the importance of taking
into account the surface tension as the parameter exhibiting its importance
in case of the flow in minichannels as well as the influence of reduced pressure. The calculations were accomplished to test the sensitivity of the heat transfer model with respect to selection of the appropriate two-phase flow multiplier, which is one of the elements of the heat transfer model. For that purpose correlations due to Muller Steinhagen and Heck as well as the one
due to Friedel were considered. Obtained results show a good consistency with experimental results, however the selection of two-phase flow multiplier does not significantly influence the consistency of calculations.


Bacterial abundance, DOC concentrations, and bacterioplankton community structure (using PCR-based techniques) were measured in 5 seawater culture experiments conducted near the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site in the northwestern Sargasso Sea. Cultures were amended with inorganic and organic nutrients, alone or in combination, to test the existence of the 'malfunctioning microbial loop' during late spring and summer at BATS. Objectives of the study were to determine whether (1) alleviating grazing pressure and inorganic nutrient limitation stimulated DOC remineralization by bacterioplankton; (2) a combination of organic and inorganic nutrients affect bacterial production and utilization of seasonally accumulated DOC; and (3) shifts in bacterioplankton community structure are associated with nutrient amendment and DOC utilization. In unamended cultures natural assemblages of surface bacterioplankton did not utilize detectable amounts of naturally occurring 'semi-labile' DOC over time-scales of days to weeks. Neither bacterial production nor utilization of DOC was enhanced with the addition of inorganic N or P (alone or in combination). Labile DOC amendments stimulated bacterial production and DOC utilization, even in the absence of measurable inorganic nutrients, indicating that the bacterioplankton assemblage was initially energy limited, but did not stimulate utilization of seasonally accumulated DOC. The combination of inorganic N and P with labile DOC enhanced both bacterial production and utilization of 'semi-labile' DOC. Changes in bacterioplankton community rDNA gene profiles were minor in the control and inorganic treatments; however, utilization of 'semi-labile' DOC in the organic plus inorganic nutrient treatments coincided with significant changes in bacterioplankton community structure. These data suggest that bacterioplankton community structure, as well as nutrient regime, may be important factors governing the utilization of recalcitrant DOC substrates in the northwestern Sargasso Sea.


Increasing efforts in water conservation have prompted home and business owners to learn more about water reuse. One reuse application of interest is separating graywater (all wastewater excluding kitchen and toilet water) from other wastewater to supplement irrigation demand or toilet flushing. Some states including California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas already allow graywater reuse and many other states are considering it. But graywater reuse is not right for every situation; it is vital to safely separate graywater from blackwater using a dual plumbing system. This manual provides guidance on the appropriateness of graywater reuse for homeowners and business owners system. For those homes and business that are good candidates, this manual provides information, guidance and advice on separating graywater from blackwater for the purpose of graywater reuse. Included in this manual are the technologies and equipment necessary for graywater reuse systems, known maintenance requirements for graywater systems, and best management practices to ensure safe reuse of graywater.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series .

ISBN: 9781780400082 (eBook)


The purpose of this evidence-based quantitative quasi-experimental project was to compare presenting information of the evidence-based Stoplight Diet and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) exercise recommendations, to parents' reports of initial changes of healthier foods and drink choices and changes in exercise level of their child. Participants included families of children ages 6-9 at a pediatric primary care office in southeast United States (U.S.). The theory of planned behavior is the theoretical framework often used to assess health awareness and promote healthy food and drink choices in addition to increased levels of exercise. The clinical questions are: does implementation of a family-based behavior treatment of presenting information on the evidence-based Stoplight Diet lead to parental reporting of initial changes in healthier food and drink choices of their child? Does implementation of a family-based behavioral treatment of presenting information on CDC exercise recommendations lead to parents reporting initial change in their child's exercise level? A quantitative pre-intervention and post-intervention design was used and data was analyzed through SPSS using paired t-tests. The intervention had a significant effect of increasing the servings of fruits and vegetables (p=0.001), decreasing the number of times a week a child eats take out (p=0.016), and increasing the time of active play (p=0.049). This project influenced awareness of healthy foods and drinks and exercise of families. Future considerations may include a longer duration of the intervention for evaluations of sustainability.


The release of the Multilateral Instrument constitutes an important step towards the most significant re-write of international tax rules in a `century. It is the multilateral convention enabling the simultaneous amendment of more than 3,000 existing bilateral conventions for the avoidance of double taxation. It aims at eliminating loopholes and mismatches among them, which are susceptible to allow aggressive tax planning. In thirty-nine articles, it implements measures indicated in Actions 2, 6, 7 and 14 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, regarding hybrid mismatches, treaty abuse, artificial avoidance of permanent establishment status and dispute resolution of international tax disputes.


Computer addition is a groupoid. If an additive identity exists it is unique. If(and only if) addition is defined with the compute through the overflow (CTO) property, then a finite ring of integers is the homomorphic image of the computer number system and addition. Stated another way, the necessary and sufficient condition for CTO is a congruence relation on the integers. Also, if the number system has CTO capabilities for addition, it also has extended CTO properties for addition. A technique is presented for determining the correct sum in the extended compute through overflow (ECTO) mode of computation.


Correlated secret randomness is a useful resource for many cryptographic applications. We initiate the study of pseudorandom correlation functions (PCFs) that offer the ability to securely generate virtually unbounded sources of correlated randomness using only local computation. Concretely, a PCF is a keyed function $F_{k}$ such that for a suitable joint key distribution ($k_{0}, k_{1}$), the outputs $(f_{k_{0}}(x), f_{k_{1}}(x))$ are indistinguishable from instances of a given target correlation. An essential security requirement is that indistinguishability hold not only for outsiders, who observe the pairs of outputs, but also for insiders who know one of the two keys. We present efficient constructions of PCFs for a broad class of useful correlations, including oblivious transfer and multiplication triple correlations, from a variable-density variant of the Learning Parity with Noise assumption (VDLPN). We also present several cryptographic applications that motivate our efficient PCF constructions. The VDLPN assumption is independently motivated by two additional applications. First, different flavors of this assumption give rise to weak pseudorandom function candidates in depth-2 $\text{AC}^{0}[\oplus]$ that can be conjectured to have subexponential security, matching the best known learning algorithms for this class. This is contrasted with the quasipolynomial security of previous (higher-depth) $\text{AC}^{0}[\oplus]$ candidates. We support our conjectures by proving resilience to several classes of attacks. Second, VDLPN implies simple constructions of pseudorandom generators and weak pseudorandom functions with security against XOR related-key attacks.


Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of acquired epilepsy. Initially described in 1989, lateral fluid percussion injury (LFPI) has since become the most extensively used and well-characterized rodent traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic epilepsy model. Universal findings, particularly seizures that reliably develop after an initial latent period, are evident across studies from multiple laboratories. However, the LFPI procedure is a two-stage process, requiring initial surgical attachment of a skull fluid cannula and then reanesthesia for delivery of the epidural fluid pressure wave. We now describe a modification of the original technique, termed 'rapid lateral fluid percussion injury' (rLFPI), which allows for a one-stage procedure and thus shorter operating time and reduced anesthesia exposure. Anesthetized male Long–Evans rats were subjected to rLFPI through a length of plastic tubing fitted with a pipette tip cannula with a 4-mm aperture. The cannula opening was positioned over a craniectomy of slightly smaller diameter and exposed dura such that the edges of the cannula fit tightly when pressed to the skull with a micromanipulator. Fluid percussion was then delivered immediately thereafter, in the same surgery session. rLFPI resulted in nonlethal focal cortical injury in all animals. We previously demonstrated that the rLFPI procedure resulted in post-traumatic seizures and regional gliosis, but had not examined other histopathologic elements. Now, we show apoptotic cell death confined to the perilesional cortex and chronic pathologic changes such as ipsilesional ventriculomegaly that are seen in the classic model. We conclude that the rLFPI method is a viable alternative to classic LFPI, and – being a one-stage procedure – has the advantage of shorter experiment turnaround and reduced exposure to anesthetics.


Vampire literature is an amazingly varied genre of writing, providing elements of everything from the penny dreadful horrors to powerful doses of myth and eroticism. Because it contains its own mythology and its own set of rules, it has also proved a psychologically attractive genre for many writers from its Romantic inception to the present day. This anthology includes Bram Stoker's detailed research notes for "Dracula", the culmination point of vampire literature. The author has written a full introduction, exploring the historical and imaginative implications of vampire mythology in the arts from the medieval Count Vlad to President Ceaucescu.


This paper examines the liberalization process in the context of reflecting on the challenges facing China's financial system and possible lessons that can be learned from the experiences of other emerging market economies. Section 1 begins with a brief look at the characteristics of the Chinese financial sector at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It then turns to selected country experiences from two emerging regions: Latin America and East Asia (excluding China). Section 2 presents the framework and hypotheses for studying liberalization. Section 3 examines statistics on financial liberalization. Section 4 turns to the relationship between financial liberalization and crisis. Section 5 analyzes short-term rescue mechanisms, their fiscal and other costs, and their degree of success. Section 6 concludes with some lessons that China might draw from its Asian neighbors and Latin America. This paper was presented at the Latin America/Caribbean and Asia/Pacific Economics and Business Association (LAEBA)'s First Annual Conference, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China on December 3rd-4th, 2004.


Jet-like eruptive events have been detected in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. Some jet-like events are shown and for one event, that of January 22 2000, we provide a detailed analysis of the EUV observations. The January 22 observation was part of an on-going campaign to observe the onset of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy. A high-temperature fan-like jet was first detected in emission lines from plasmas at one million K and over, and it appears to be the onset of a narrow mass ejection identified later in coronagraph data. This was followed by a dramatic jet or finger of cool ($\le$250 000 K), rotating plasma which extended vertically, high into the corona. It extended well beyond the field of view of the instrument and appears to relate to a small ejected cloud which is detected in subsequent coronagraph data. The spectroscopic characteristics are used to provide plasma diagnostic information for these two events, and this combined with images for a wide range of temperatures allows a thorough investigation of the processes leading to such eruptions. A simple accreting magnetic field model is used to descibe the basic features of the jet activity.


Contemporary feminist hard-boiled detective fiction has been studied as an adaptation of the traditional masculine hard-boiled detective genre. Writers such as Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller create compelling feminist protagonists to fill the role of detective. The successes and failures of these feminist detectives have then been measured against the standards created in the classic genre by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain. The classic hard-boiled masculine genre came of age in the 1930s and 1940s at the same time as proletarian literature. The two genres share many characteristics including reliance upon first person narrative, the tough guy voice, an awareness of political and social hierarchies, and the utilization of realism. While women writers such as Josephine Herbst and Catherine Brody were drawn to the political cause of the proletarian, they were separated from the working class by their socioeconomic ties and from the literary proletarian hero by its masculine conception. Consequently, their fiction often included the middle-class woman intellectual struggling to help the oppressed worker. In these works, gender, class, politics, and social order are intertwined. The characters explore these concepts and what avenues of rebellion and power were open to women at the time. The struggles explored in the writing of women proletarian writers from the 1930s have much in common with the issues examined in contemporary feminist hard-boiled detective fiction. Both genres show women characters with an awareness of the power of language to include and exclude, the importance of physical presentation and performance, the prestige of being associated with specific social classes, the power found in ties to communities and family, a problematic relationship with violence, and the power of revealing and interpreting


The presence of a microgastropod identified as Potamopyrgus sp. was detected previously in the Maracaibo System; nevertheless, a detailed morphological analysis identified this snail in other genera. The objective of this work is to update the distribution and taxonomy of Pyrgophorus platyrachis in the Maracaibo System, Venezuela in samples obtained between 2001 and 2009. The presence of hundreds of individuals of P. platyrachis were observed in the estuary, indeed in the localities of the Gran Eneal lagoon (4 111 snails), Peonías lagoon (229 snails), Punta Capitán Chico (758 snails), San Francisco (2 517 snails), Curarire (240 snails), Apon River mouth (173 snails), Ojeda City (240 snails), Bachaquero (128 snails) and Tomoporo de Agua (385 snails). We performed a taxonomical analysis, and emphasized in ecological aspects, such as the distribution of the species and habitat features, as near vegetation and type of associated sediment. We found three morphotypes of the species, one smooth, another with spiral striations and the other with spines. Smooth morphotype was exclusive of the Gran Eneal lagoon, Peonías lagoon, Punta Capitan Chico and Apon River mouth localities, whereas the other two morphotypes were found together in the remaining localities. According to our detailed anatomical and taxonomical analysis we propose a synonymy between P. platyrachis and the other species described like Pyrgophorus parvulus and Pyrgophorus spinosus.


Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF) is a potent mediator of blood vessel formation throughout the body. Intraocular diseases characterized by inflammation, hypoxia or neoplasia induce new blood vessel formation within the eye. The end result of such blood vessel formation may be blinding sequellae such as glaucoma from outflow obstruction or hyphema from intraocular hemorrhage. Elevated VEGF concentrations in the aqueous humor and vitreous are documented in a number of human intraocular disease processes, including tumors, retinal detachment and uveitic glaucoma. Pharmacotherapy inhibiting VEGF expression demonstrates promise for control of some of these ophthalmic conditions. We quantified and compared VEGF concentrations in canine aqueous humor samples from 13 dogs with normal eyes and 226 eyes from 178 dogs with a variety of ophthalmic diseases by ELISA. Dogs with primary cataract, diabetic cataract, primary glaucoma, uveitic glaucoma, aphakic/pseudophakic glaucoma, retinal detachment, lens luxation and neoplasia were evaluated. Elevated VEGF concentrations were found in all disease conditions tested as compared to normal dogs excepting cataracts and diabetic cataracts. Elevated aqueous humor VEGF concentrations were found in dogs with pre-iridal fibrovascular membranes (PIFM) as compared to dogs without PIFM. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that VEGF has a role in the causation or progression of a variety of canine ocular disorders.


As suggested by previous results, whether, when designing robots, we should make use of social stereotypes and thus perpetuate them is question of present concern. The aim of this study was the identification of the specific conditions under which people's judgments of robots were no longer guided by stereotypes. The study participants were 121 individuals between 18 and 69 years of age. We used an experimental design and manipulated the gender and strength of robots, and we measured the perception of how a robot could be used in automotive mechanics for light and heavy tasks. Results show that the technical characteristics of robots helped to anchor people's judgments on robots' intrinsic characteristics rather than on stereotypical indicators. Thus, stereotype perpetuation does not seem to be the sole option when designing robots.


Abstract The long term success of revegetation efforts will depend upon the planted species' resilience to climate change. Many widespread species grow across a range of climatic conditions and, thus, may possess adaptations that could be utilised to improve climate resilience of restored ecosystems. Species can achieve a widespread distribution via two main mechanisms; (1) by diverging into a series of specialised populations, or (2) through high phenotypic plasticity. The extent to which populations are specialised or plastic in response to climate will determine the seed-sourcing strategy required for optimal restoration outcomes under a changing climate. We examined genetic divergence and phenotypic plasticity in two widespread Eucalyptus species (E. tricarpa in southeastern Australia, E. salubris in southwestern Australia), to determine the nature of adaptation to climate in these species, and whether genomic screening might be a useful tool to assess climate adaptation. We examined nine populations of each species across climate gradients and, for E. tricarpa, trees originating from the same populations were also studied in two common garden field trials. We characterised responses in functional traits relevant to climate adaptation, including leaf size, thickness, tissue density, and carbon isotope ratio (δ13C). Genetic variation was assessed with genome scans using DArTseq markers, and 'outlier markers' were identified as being linked to regions of the genome that are potentially under selection. Evidence of both plastic response and genetic specialisation for climate was found in both species, indicating that widespread eucalypts utilise a combination of both mechanisms for adaptation to spatial variation in climate. The E. tricarpa common garden data suggested high plasticity in most of the measured functional traits, and the extent of plasticity in some traits (e.g. leaf size and thickness) varied among provenances, suggesting genetic variation for plasticity itself. In E. salubris, most functional traits showed little variation across the gradient. However, water use efficiency appeared highly plastic, as determined from the strong correlation between δ13C and recent precipitation (R2 = 0.83). Both species showed spatial partitioning of genetic variation across the gradient, and data for E. salubris revealed two distinct lineages. The genome scans yielded 16,122 DArTseq markers for "Lineage 1" of E. salubris, of which 0.1% were potentially adaptive 'outlier loci', and 6,544 markers for E. tricarpa, of which 2.6% were outliers. Canonical Analysis of Principal Coordinates (CAP) analysis showed that the outlier markers were correlated with climatic variables, and some were also strongly correlated with functional traits. An 'Aridity Index' was also developed from the CAP analysis that has potential as a tool for environmental planners to use for matching seed sources to target climates. Widespread eucalypts are likely to possess a capacity to respond plastically to a changing climate to some extent, but selection of seed sources to match projected climate changes may confer even greater climate resilience. Further study of the mechanisms of plasticity in response to climate may improve our ability to assess climate adaptation in other species, and to determine optimal strategies for ecosystem restoration and management under climate change.


People overestimate their knowledge, at times claiming knowledge of concepts, events, and people that do not exist and cannot be known, a phenomenon called overclaiming. What underlies assertions of such impossible knowledge? We found that people overclaim to the extent that they perceive their personal expertise favorably. Studies 1a and 1b showed that self-perceived financial knowledge positively predicts claiming knowledge of nonexistent financial concepts, independent of actual knowledge. Study 2 demonstrated that self-perceived knowledge within specific domains (e.g., biology) is associated specifically with overclaiming within those domains. In Study 3, warning participants that some of the concepts they saw were fictitious did not reduce the relationship between self-perceived knowledge and overclaiming, which suggests that this relationship is not driven by impression management. In Study 4, boosting self-perceived expertise in geography prompted assertions of familiarity with nonexistent places, which supports a causal role for self-perceived expertise in claiming impossible knowledge.


Objectives: We examine whether offenders are at greater risk of violent victimization than non-offenders because of their disputatiousness; that is, their tendency to become involved in verbal conflicts. We also examine whether offenders are more disputatious because of their low self-control, alcohol use, and honor-based attitudes and whether disputatiousness can explain the effects of these individual differences on violent victimization. Method: A series of regression models examine self-reported data from 503 male inmates and 220 men (N = 723) they know from the community who have never been arrested. Results: Disputatiousness accounts for a substantial portion of the relationship between victimization and offending (i.e., inmate status). Disputatiousness also mediates the relationships between victimization and frequent intoxication, low self-control, and honor-based attitudes. Low self-control and heavy alcohol use account for a substantial portion of the relationship between offending and disputatiousness. Disputatiousness and victimization are associated with a history of assaultive offenses but not a history of robbery. Conclusions: The tendency to become involved in verbal conflicts can partly explain high victimization rates among male offenders, and among men who lack self-control, are frequently intoxicated, and have strong concerns about protecting their honor.


Desert ants forage individually and without the use of chemical trails, yet can efficiently relocate their nest or a food source over long distances in barren or complex environments. Thus, they are an inspiration to engineers wishing to develop robust yet parsimonious navigational algorithms, and neuroscientists seeking to understand how tiny brains can perform such seemingly complex tasks. A range of navigation mechanisms have been hypothesised, but systematic models shown to account for and predict the ant's behaviour are still lacking. This can be traced to two gaps in current knowledge: a log of the exact movements of the animal leading to the development of a known route, and an accurate reconstruction of the sensory information perceived throughout. Coupling such data with the known optics of the ant eye would allow researchers to reconstruct the entire visual history of the animal the first such data-set for any animal – providing a gold standard test-bed for those seeking to understand the insect brain or develop autonomous navigation systems. In this study we sought to address both identified issues by firstly tracking individual desert ants as they traversed their natural surroundings, and then performing a high precision mapping of their visually rich habitat. Custom recording equipment was developed to augment three Leica DGPS units secured through a GEF equipment loan allowing the position and orientation of individual ants to be observed. In a separate collaboration the animal habitat was mapped using 3D laser mapping techniques allowing the sensory input experienced by the animal to be recovered.


We performed a scaling analysis of programmable hexagonal two-dimensional (2D) waveguide meshes with different shapes. We show that the shape of the meshes can impose restrictions such as high path losses or large foot-prints for certain configurations and applications. We use the graph-based strategy to guide our applicationspecific scaling analysis. The design practices are discussed for implementing the programmable mesh for beam splitters and N ×N switches. This will provide a guideline of the shape and size for the future programmable photonic circuits.


Recent advances in high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (3C) technology, such as Hi-C and ChIA-PET, have demonstrated the importance of 3D genome organization in development, cell differentiation and transcriptional regulation. There is now a widespread need for computational tools to generate and analyze 3D structural models from 3C data. Here we introduce our 3D GeNOme Modeling Engine (3D-GNOME), a web service which generates 3D structures from 3C data and provides tools to visually inspect and annotate the resulting structures, in addition to a variety of statistical plots and heatmaps which characterize the selected genomic region. Users submit a bedpe (paired-end BED format) file containing the locations and strengths of long range contact points, and 3D-GNOME simulates the structure and provides a convenient user interface for further analysis. Alternatively, a user may generate structures using published ChIA-PET data for the GM12878 cell line by simply specifying a genomic region of interest. 3D-GNOME is freely available at http://3dgnome.cent.uw.edu.pl/.


Purpose of review The growing obesity epidemic is associated with an increased demand for bariatric surgery with Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy as the most widely performed procedures. Despite beneficial consequences, nutritional complications may arise because of anatomical and physiological changes of the gastrointestinal tract. The purpose of this review is to provide an update of the recent additions to our understanding of the impact of bariatric surgery on the intake, digestion and absorption of dietary protein. Recent findings After bariatric surgery, protein intake is compromised because of reduced gastric capacity and aversion for certain foods. A minority of patients reaches the recommended protein intake of minimal 60 g per day, which results in the loss of fat-free mass rather than the desired loss of fat mass. Despite inadequate protein intake, protein digestion and absorption do not seem to be impaired suggesting that other mechanisms could counteract the reduced secretion of digestive enzymes and their delayed inlet. Summary After bariatric surgery, protein supplementation or diet enrichment could attribute to achieve the minimal recommended protein intake and benefit the amount and composition of postoperative weight loss. Video abstract http://links.lww.com/COCN/A12


Every business is a software business, and every business can profit from improved software processes Leadership, Teamwork, and Trust discusses the critical importance of knowledge work to the success of modern organizations. It explains concrete and necessary steps for reshaping the way in which software development, specifically, is conducted. A sequel to Humphreys influential Winning with Software, this book presents new and copious data to reinforce his widely adopted methods for transforming knowledge work into a significant and sustainable competitive advantage, thereby realizing remarkable returns. Humphrey addresses here the broader business communityexecutives and senior managers who must recognize that today, every business is a software business.


Extraction, representation, organisation and application of metadata about audio recordings are in the concern of semantic audio analysis. Our broad interpretation, aligned with recent developments in the field, includes methodological aspects of semantic audio, such as those related to information management, knowledge representation and applications of the extracted information. In particular, we look at how Semantic Web technologies may be used to enhance information management practices in two audio related areas: music informatics and music production. In the first area, we are concerned with music information retrieval (MIR) and related research. We examine how structured data may be used to support reproducibility and provenance of extracted information, and aim to support multi-modality and context adaptation in the analysis. In creative music production, our goals can be summarised as follows: O↵-the-shelf sound editors do not hold appropriately structured information about the edited material, thus human-computer interaction is ine cient. We believe that recent developments in sound analysis and music understanding are capable of bringing about significant improvements in the music production workflow. Providing visual cues related to music structure can serve as an example of intelligent, context-dependent functionality. The central contributions of this work are a Semantic Web ontology for describing recording studios, including a model of technological artefacts used in music production, methodologies for collecting data about music production workflows and describing the work of audio engineers which facilitates capturing their contribution to music production, and finally a framework for creating Web-based applications for automated audio analysis. This has applications demonstrating how Semantic Web technologies and ontologies can facilitate interoperability between music research tools, and the creation of semantic audio software, for instance, for music recommendation, temperament estimation or multi-modal music tutoring.


Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a common element of oasis agriculture in the Middle East; however, germplasm from this region has not been widely used in alfalfa breeding elsewhere. Previous research in Arizona showed that ecotypes from the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula possess traits that may be useful in breeding very nondormant cultivars. The objectives of this research were to describe morphological and agronomic variation among 41 accessions from Oman, Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia, and eight accessions representing basic germplasm group from elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. Results of this research will be useful in preservation and utilization of these germplasm resources. Data collected from a 2-yr field trial at Tucson, AZ, were evaluated by average linkage cluster and principal components analyses. Southern Arabian accessions collected below elevations of 1000 m were distinct from those collected at higher elevations. The most distinctive accessions were from low-elevation oases in Yemen and were extremely susceptible to frost damage. Accessions from the Salalah Coastal Plain in Oman were especially variable, perhaps reflecting recent importation. Based largely on poor response to low winter temperatures, accessions from low elevations in Yemen were show to be separable from those from Oman. Germplasm from the Batinah Coastal Plain and the Hajar Foothills in Oman could not generally be separated. The Saudi Arabian ecotype Hasawi was similar to germplasm from northern Oman. Utilization of alfalfa germplasm from subtropical environments in southern Arabia may be complicated outside this region by its adaptation to intensive management under frost-free conditions.


From their ancestral heartland by the shores of the Aral Sea, the medieval Oghuz Turks marched westwards in search of dominion. Their conquests led to control of a Muslim empire that united the territories of the eastern Islamic world, melded Turkic and Persian influences and transported Persian culture to Anatolia. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the new Turkic-Persian symbiosis that had earlier emerged under the Samanids, Ghaznavids and Qara-Khanids came to fruition in a period that, under the enlightened rule of the Seljuq dynasty, combined imperial grandeur with remarkable artistic achievement. This latest volume in The Idea of Iran series focuses on a system of government based on Turkic 'men of the sword' and Persian 'men of the pen' that the Seljuqs (famous foes of the Crusader Frankish knights) consolidated in a form that endured for centuries. The book further explores key topics relating to the innovative Seljuq era, including: conflicted Sunni-Shi'a relations between the Sunni Seljuq empire and Ismaili Fatimid caliphate; architecture, art and culture; politics and poetry


A numerical assessment of a dry-sump oil system was performed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Unlike conventional cars, race cars are subjected to high accelerations that induce oil sloshing. Hence, dry-sump oil systems are required to collect the oil outside of the engine prior to be pumped inside of it again. To avoid engine malfunctions, the dry-sump must guarantee continuously oil suction in every maneuver. To perform such simulations, the model was subjected to different car maneuvers extracted from data acquisition available from real race car, showing that single and combined maneuvers, such as acceleration, braking and turnings can induce downward, upward and lateral accelerations higher than 2g during several seconds. Therefore, four different single maneuvers (acceleration, deceleration, turn right and turn left) as well as a set of contaminated maneuvers (braking and turning) were studied. Simulations were achieved by mean of the Volume of Fluid Method (VOF) for a air-oil system. The influence of the turbulence modeling was also investigated. First a forerunner design was analyzed and both the race car tests and CFD simulations showed that for the most extreme maneuvers (pure braking and combined with braking with turning right) the original design failed before the end of the maneuvers by air suction in the pump inlet. In consequence, the dry-sump was redesigned and assessed under these extreme conditions until to ensure stable oil aspiration.


Abstract In recent times whole-genome gene expression analysis has turned out to be a highly important tool to study the coordinated function of a very large number of genes within their corresponding cellular environment, especially in relation to phenotypic diversity and disease. A wide variety of methods of quantitative analysis has been developed to cope with high throughput data sets generated by gene expression profiling experiments. Due to the complexity associated with transcriptomics, especially in the case of gene regulation phenomena, most of these methods are of a probabilistic or statistical nature. Even if these methods have reached a central status in the development of an integrative, systematic understanding of the associated biological processes, they very rarely constitute a concrete guide to the actual physicochemical mechanisms behind biological function, and the role of these methods is more on a hypotheses generating line. An important improvement could lie in the development of a thermodynamic theory for gene expression and transcriptional regulation that will build the foundations for a proper integration of the vast amount of molecular biophysical data and could lead, in the future, to a systemic view of genetic transcription and regulation.


The emergence in the United States of large-scale "megaregions" centered on major metropolitan areas is a phenomenon often taken for granted in both scholarly studies and popular accounts of contemporary economic geography. This paper uses a data set of more than 4,000,000 commuter flows as the basis for an empirical approach to the identification of such megaregions. We compare a method which uses a visual heuristic for understanding areal aggregation to a method which uses a computational partitioning algorithm, and we reflect upon the strengths and limitations of both. We discuss how choices about input parameters and scale of analysis can lead to different results, and stress the importance of comparing computational results with "common sense" interpretations of geographic coherence. The results provide a new perspective on the functional economic geography of the United States from a megaregion perspective, and shed light on the old geographic problem of the division of space into areal units.


Evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected women's reproductive health remains scarce, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. Deleterious indirect effects seem likely, particularly on access to contraception and risk of unwanted pregnancies, but rigorous evaluations using quasi-experimental designs are lacking. Taking a diachronic perspective, we aimed to investigate the effects of the pandemic on four indicators of women's reproductive health: history of recent adverse events during pregnancy (past), use of contraception and unwanted pregnancies (present), and childbearing intentions (future). This study was conducted in four rural health districts of Burkina Faso: Banfora, Leo, Sindou and Tenado. Two rounds of household surveys (before and during the pandemic) were conducted in a panel of 696 households using standardized questionnaires. The households were selected using a stratified two-stage random sampling method. All women aged 15–49 years living in the household were eligible for the study. The same households were visited twice, in February 2020 and February 2021. The effects were estimated by fitting hierarchical regression models with fixed effects or random intercepts at the individual level. A total of 814 and 597 women reported being sexually active before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. The odds of not wanting (any more) children were two times higher during the pandemic than before (2.0, 95% CI [1.32–3.04]). Among those with childbearing intention, the average desired delay until the next pregnancy increased from 28.7 to 32.8 months. When comparing 2021 versus 2020, there was an increase in the adjusted odds ratio of contraception use (1.23, 95% CI [1.08–1.40]), unwanted pregnancies (2.07, 95% CI [1.01–4.25]), and self-reported history of miscarriages, abortions, or stillbirths in the previous 12 months (2.4, 95% CI [1.04–5.43]). Our findings in rural Burkina Faso do not support the predicted detrimental effects of COVID-19 on the use of family planning services in LMICs, but confirm that it negatively affects pregnancy intentions. Use of contraception increased significantly among women in the panel, but arguably not enough to avoid an increase in unwanted pregnancies.


Objective: This paper investigates the relationship between health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and health literacy in the population of older Australians. Methods: Data was obtained from the Adults Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) Survey conducted in 2006. Health literacy was assessed using a specific scale designed to measure health literacy proficiency. Internet usage for health information seeking purposes was elicited from responses to a direct question. Data were analysed using simple unweighted logistic modelling techniques with stratification by education levels. Results: Older people with medium level of education and had a higher health literacy proficiency were 4 times as likely to be frequent users of the Internet for the purposes of searching for health information (OR=3.7, 95%C.I.=1.3-10.3), and about 3 times as likely to be infrequent users, (OR=2.6, 95%C.I.=1.6-4.4) when compared to non-users. For higher education levels, only infrequent usage was significantly associated with health literacy. No relationships were found for lower education levels. It is important that health-related information for older people is offered according to their comprehensive ability. Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that there is a significant interaction effect between health information-seeking behaviour on the Internet and education levels, on health literacy. For those who had attained a post-secondary education level, there were significant associations between the exposure and outcome variables in a progressive manner with the strength of associations increasing from infrequent users to frequent users. This suggested a dose-response relationship between exposure and outcome.


In this study, an automated cable monitoring system using a NDE technique and a cable climbing robot is proposed. MFL (Magnetic Flux Leakage- based inspection system was applied to monitor the condition of cables. This inspection system measures magnetic flux to detect the local faults (LF) of steel cable. To verify the feasibility of the proposed damage detection technique, an 8-channel MFL sensor head prototype was designed and fabricated. A steel cable bunch specimen with several types of damage was fabricated and scanned by the MFL sensor head to measure the magnetic flux density of the specimen. To interpret the condition of the steel cable, magnetic flux signals were used to determine the locations of the flaws and the level of damage. Measured signals from the damaged specimen were compared with thresholds set for objective decision making. In addition, the measured magnetic flux signal was visualized into a 3D MFL map for convenient cable monitoring. Finally, the results were compared with information on actual inflicted damages to confirm the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed cable monitoring method.


Background: Depression is considered the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Aim: To describe the clinical characteristics and the evolution of major depressive disorder (MDD) in secondary care. To evaluate the association between socio-demographic and clinic variables with the first or recurrent major depressive events (MDE). Material and Methods: Clinical features, treatment, remission and duration of MDE were evaluated during a follow up lasting 12 months in 112 participants aged 44 ± 15 years (79% women). Patients were assessed as outpatients every three months at three psychiatric care centers of Chile. Clinical interviews were carried out using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria checklists and the Hamilton Depression Scale was applied. Results: Most patients were referred from primary care. The mean time lapse for referral to the secondary level was 10.8 months. Most patients had episodes that were recurrent, severe, with a high rate of psychosis, with suicide attempts and melancholic features and with psychiatric and medical comorbidities. Remission rate was 27.5%. In only 16 % of patients, the episode lasted six months or less. The group with recurrent episodes had different age, sex and clinical features. Conclusions: MDD treated at the secondary care level is severe and its symptoms are intense. The time lapse prior to referral was prolonged. Primary care management and referral of these patients should be studied more closely.


In this thesis we have performed core-electron spectroscopy studies of gas phase molecular systems starting with smaller diatomic, continuing with triatomic and extending our research to more complex polyatomic ones. We can subdivide the results presented here into two categories: the first one focusing on electronic fine structure and effect of the chemical bonds on molecular core-levels and the other one dealing with nuclear dynamics induced by creation of a core hole. In our research we have mostly used synchrotron radiation based techniques such as X-ray Photoelectron (XPS), X-ray Absorption (XAS), normal and Resonant Auger (AES and RAS, respectively) and Energy-Selected Auger Electron PhotoIon COincidence (ES-AEPICO) spectroscopies.We have demonstrated that resonant Auger spectroscopy can be used to aid interpretation of the features observed in XAS for Rydberg structures in the case of Cl2 and C1s−1π*1 states of allene molecules. The combined use of high-resolution spectroscopy with ab initio calculations can help the interpretation of strongly overlapped spectral features and disentangle their complex profiles. This approach enabled us to determine the differences in the lifetimes for core-hole 2p sublevels of Cl2 which are caused by the presence of the chemical bond. We have shown that contribution in terms of the Mulliken population of valence molecular orbitals is a determining factor for resonant enhancement of different final states and fragmentation patterns reached after resonant Auger decays in N2O.We have also performed a systematic study of the dependence of the C1s resonant Auger kinetic energies on the presence of different substituents in CH3X compounds. For the first time we have studied possible isomerization reaction induced by core excitation of acetylacetone. We could observe a new spectral feature in the resonant Auger decay spectra which we interpreted as a signature of core-excitation-induced keto-enol tautomerism.


The aim of this dissertation is to explore whether or not the current performance management process is effective in Irish Post-Primary Schools, paying particular attention to how this process has been modified over time.

The researcher, when carrying out the primary research on this dissertation topic will adopt an inductive interpretivist approach. An exploratory design will be selected and implemented by using a qualitative method; this approach will include a number of in- depth interviews. Purposive sampling will then be applied; the sample will consist of four industry experts including two experienced principals and two teachers.

There is no motivational approach put in place to increase the productivity of an underperforming teacher. It is entirely up to the individual, they must have an element of self-motivation in order to be a high performing teacher. The promotional opportunities are restricted in this profession and if selected the promotion is typically a transition from a teaching role into an administrative role. With the Department making cutbacks, the idea of a rewards or recognition programme seems to be completely out of the question.

There is a shortage of academic literature and research done on this topic within Ireland, by merging the relevant primary and secondary research it will benefit any current professionals operating in this industry, or any individual searching for information into it in the future.


Published estimates on the paleoclimate of the Florissant fossil beds site of Colorado (34.1 Ma) have led to extremely different estimates of paleoelevation. The purpose of this paper is to review the paleoclimate methods used and to add the coexistence approach (CA) method to estimate paleotemperature for the Florissant site. The basis of the CA method is the dependence on overlapping climatic requirements for different taxa in the flora and their nearest living relatives. These relationships tie the fossil identities to the actual plant habitats and climatic requirements of close relatives. Based on the CA method, we conclude that the mean annual temperature ranged between 14.3 and 18.2 °C. These results support the conclusions offered by several other studies that the Florissant was a warm temperate to subtropical flora, and they are consistent with recent conclusions by structural geologists as well as other studies, indicating that the Florissant site was deposited at a relatively low elevation, prob...


In some ways, a 2012 symposium on "Dilemmas of State Debt" may seem a bit behind the news curve. At the end of 2010, municipal bond markets were in a deep funk. Analysts predicted that countless municipalities and perhaps one or more of the United States might default on their debt obligations. Newspapers and the blogosphere teemed with comparisons to the ongoing disaster in the European Union — if Greece could default, why not California or Illinois? Several states toughened laws dealing with insolvent municipalities, and proposals to legislate a federal bankruptcy procedure for states received considerable attention.What a difference a year seems to make. Greece and other members of the Euro Zone escaped disorderly default only by a series of improvised, increasingly desperate interventions by E.U. institutions and the International Monetary Fund, and no good end to the nightmare appears in sight. In the United States, by contrast, the crisis atmosphere has abated. The city of Vallejo, California, went through bankruptcy, and municipal authorities in Birmingham, Alabama, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Flint, Michigan, and a handful of other places are in bankruptcy or state receivership, but the predicted financial collapse failed to materialize. Municipal bondholders registered solid gains in 2011. Many states are still in dire fiscal straits, and there is wide agreement that even a robust economic recovery cannot cure their long-term, structural deficits. In that sense, the crisis continues. The risks, however, do not seem acute or systemic. For example, it seems unlikely that a fiscal collapse of Illinois or even California — with an economy many times the size of Greece and an equally dysfunctional government — could wreak havoc of European magnitude.Even so, the strikingly different trajectories provide no cause for American "we-do-federalism-right" triumphalism. In the United States, as in Europe, subordinate governments are beset by unsustainable financial commitments. Those obligations differ in form and immediate urgency, but they share a common source: an inability on the part of the central government to maintain a credible commitment against bailing out spendthrift junior governments. That commitment was once the glory of American federalism. Over the past decade, however, the no-bailout commitment has effectively collapsed. Its demise entails fundamental changes in American federalism, none of them encouraging.After a brief account of the transatlantic differences (Part II), this article traces the history of the anti-bailout commitment in American federalism, including its origins (Part III), erosion (Part IV), and recent collapse, as exemplified by a seemingly unrelated object of agitation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Part V). It then compares American federalism's emergent pathologies with Argentina's, a federal system that exhibits them in full flourish (Part VI). The concluding part (Part VII) suggests that our political institutions may no longer possess the capacity to reform our dysfunctional federalism in any meaningful way.


Fatigue related problems in Francis turbines, especially high head Francis turbines, have been published several times in the last years. During operation the runner is exposed to various steady and unsteady hydraulic loads. Therefore the analysis of forced response of the runner structure requires a combined approach of fluid dynamics and structural dynamics. Due to the high complexity of the phenomena and due to the limitation of computer power, the numerical prediction was in the past too expensive and not feasible for the use as standard design tool. However, due to continuous improvement of the knowledge and the simulation tools such complex analysis has become part of the design procedure in ANDRITZ HYDRO. This article describes the application of most advanced analysis techniques in runner safety check (RSC), including steady state CFD analysis, transient CFD analysis considering rotor stator interaction (RSI), static FE analysis and modal analysis in water considering the added mass effect, in the early design phase. This procedure allows a very efficient interaction between the hydraulic designer and the mechanical designer during the design phase, such that a risk of failure can be detected and avoided in an early design stage.The RSC procedure can also be applied to a root cause analysis (RCA) both to find out the cause of failure and to quickly define a technical solution to meet the safety criteria. An efficient application to a RCA of cracks in a Francis runner is quoted in this article as an example. The results of the RCA are presented together with an efficient and inexpensive solution whose effectiveness could be proven again by applying the described RSC technics. It is shown that, with the RSC procedure developed and applied as standard procedure in ANDRITZ HYDRO such a failure is excluded in an early design phase. Moreover, the RSC procedure is compatible with different commercial and open source codes and can be easily adapted to apply for other types of turbines, such as pump turbines and Pelton runners.


While vaccination rates in the United States are high – generally over 90 percent – rates of exemptions have been going up, and preventable diseases coming back. 2014 is shaping to be one of the worst years for measles since 1994, with outbreaks generally starting from unvaccinated individuals and affecting primarily the unvaccinated. While pertussis is a more complex story, communities with high rates of exemptions are more vulnerable to outbreaks. Aside from their human cost and the financial cost of treatment imposed on those who become ill, outbreaks impose financial costs on an already burdened public health system, diverting resources from other areas. This article examines the financial costs of non-vaccination, showing how high they can be and what they include. It makes a case for requiring those who do not vaccinate to cover the costs of outbreak caused by their choice. Such recouping is justified because the choice not to vaccinate can easily be seen as negligent. But even if it is not, that choice involves imposing costs on others, and there are good reasons to require the actors to internalize those costs. The article proposes alternative statutory and regulatory schemes to cover the costs imposed on the public purse, focusing on no-fault mechanisms. We consider both ex ante mechanisms like a tax or a fee that will go into a no-fault fund to cover the costs and ex post mechanisms like a statutory authorization for recoupment of those costs by health officials, modeled on statutes allowing government to recoup costs of other types of harms, detailing the strengths and challenges of the various mechanisms.


The New Zealand Spreadmark test which although proven to accurately measure the Coefficient of Variation (CV) of spreading equipment, entails a laborious procedure which is expensive to implement. This study aims to validate the accuracy of a newly developed test method based on the current one that hastens the process, making it increasingly cost effective. The proposed solution reduces the amount of trays used to collect and measure the fertiliser spread pattern. The proposed method reduces the number of trays by half, placing them one meter apart compared to the current industry standard of half a meter. An electronic tray weighing system developed by EuroAgri streamlines the process. This allows the scales to be, zeroed, after each pass by removing the need to empty trays. Collated data of previous Spreadmark tests sourced from certified Spreadmark testers. This had the support of the Fertiliser Quality Council that manages the scheme used in the study. Tray weights of each successive 0.5 and 1.0 metres were, averaged to imitate tray spaces of 1.0 metre. The 1.0 metre tray spacing showed a strong correlation to the 0.5 meter spaces, maintaining the normal distribution pattern of the spread fertilizer albeit in a slightly lower definition. Coupled with the electronic scales that reduces human error, this forms an accurate and efficient method of undertaking testing. This new system could have marked effects upon the future of spreader testing in New Zealand, including higher proportions of conforming spreaders (due to increased time and cost effectiveness) leading to lower field coefficient of variation (CV). As a result, fertiliser efficacy would increase, as would financial returns.