Tribe Gloxinieae has been estimated to include 22 genera and approximately 290 species. This study presents maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer regions sequences, the chloroplast DNA trnL intron and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer region sequences, a morphological cladistic dataset, and combined analyses of these datasets. These analyses suggest that the genera Gloxinia, Phinaea, and (possibly) Diastema are polyphyletic; Kohleria is paraphyletic in relation to Capanea; Bellonia and Pheidonocarpa should be considered members of tribe Gesnerieae; and Lembocarpus is a member of tribe Episcieae. Furthermore, the historically recognized genus Seemannia, now included in Gloxinia, appears to form a strongly supported monophyletic group; several Gloxinia species from southern Brazil appear to be most closely related to Goyazia; Capanea, Kohleria, Pearcea s.l., and Diastema vexans appear to form a strongly supported clade; and Diastema, Monopyle, Phinaea (in part), and a few Gloxinia species (Gloxinia dodsonii, G. lindeniana, and G racemosa) form a clade. Classification issues and generic boundaries of these lineages are discussed in detail.


This data documentation introduces to nodal dispatch models and the literature of the ELMOD model framework, which focuses on bottom-up electricity sector models with detailed spatial representation of the transmission system. The paper provides the technical description of ELMOD-DE, a nodal DC load flow model for the German electricity sector. In alignment with this paper, the described model, including its GAMS code and dataset, is made publicly available as open source model on the website of the DIW Berlin. The dataset uses publicly accessible data sources and includes hourly system data for the German electricity sector of the year 2012. The data documentation also illustrates the variety of insights into the German electricity system, ELMOD-DE provides on nodal level, with examples for hourly nodal system states and aggregated results.


Printing with a large number of inks, also called N -ink printing, is a challenging task. The challenges comprise spectral modeling of the printer, color separation, halftoning, and limitations of the amount of inks. Juxtaposed halftoning, a perfectly dot-off-dot halftoning method, has proved to be useful to address some of these challenges. However, for juxtaposed halftones, prediction of colors as a function of ink area coverages has not yet been fully investigated. The goal of this paper is to introduce a spectral prediction model for N -ink juxtaposed-halftone prints. As the area-coverage domain of juxtaposed inks forms a simplex, we propose a cellular subdivision of the area-coverage domain using the barycentric subdivision of simplexes. The barycentric subdivision provides algorithmically straightforward means to design and implement an N -ink color prediction model. Within the subdomain cells, the Yule-Nielsen spectral Neugebauer model is used for the spectral prediction. Our proposed model is highly accurate for prints with a large number of inks while requiring a relatively low number of calibration samples.


What is our subject when discussing Ford and gender? It certainly includes the ways in which Ford deploys those basic, but shape-shifting, aspects of character and behaviour that can be critically tied to ideas about masculinity and femininity: from the weeping, golden-haired Princess Ismara of The Brown Owl (1891) through the intimate "four-square coterie" of protagonists in The Good Soldier (1915) to the partnered masculine "doubles", androgynous rich girls, New York lesbians and capitalist powerhouses of his 1930s fiction. As I have approached the subject in this chapter, it also includes exploration of some of the influences on Ford's evolving thinking about gender.

From the outset it is important to be clear that the categories with which we shall be dealing are not, in the main, biological ones (regarding which "male" and "female" would be appropriate terminology). "Gender" describes a series of associated behaviours or attitudes that are constructed within a particular society and culture, often displaying, cumulatively, an implicit or explicit drive towards "coherence". The "effect of gender", writes Judith Butler, "is produced through the stylization of the body", including bodily gestures, movements, clothes and so on. Thus it is the masculine/feminine binary which will be of more concern here than any notion of (relatively) essentialist, biological principles. This binary can sometimes itself be perceived as fixed. Critic Alan Sinfield describes the "masculine/feminine binary structure" as the "villain of the piece" in his preface to The Wilde Century: Effeminacy, Oscar Wilde and the Queer Moment , arguing that masculinity and femininity are not "normative properties of men and women respectively" Ford might well have agreed. In his book Women & Men , published in Paris in 1923, Ford claimed that, in preparation for writing, he tried to eradicate his own preconceptions as to the differences between the sexes, pointing out that he had personally experienced most tenderness and tactfulness (those supposedly feminine attributes) from "one or two men" in his life, and highlighting his belief in the role of social forces in shaping gendered behaviour. It is certainly the case that what Ford put into his characters' performance of masculinity and femininity changed over time, as has been suggested above, and as we shall see in fore detail over the course of this chapter.
While sexual behaviour must undoubtedly be considered an important part of any gender debate, for reasons of space it will feature in a limited fashion in this discussion. But it is worth briefly noting that, while sexual intrigues fuel many of his plots, desire and marriage rarely go together in Ford. And marriages rarely produce children. There is, in fact, a conspicuous lack of progeny in Ford's writing. It cannot all be down to biological ignorance - of the kind displayed by Edward Ashburnham in The Good Solder , say,, who apparently does not know how children are conceived even after his marriage (p.99); or of Alice and Henry Martin in The Rash Act , who do know enough to try and avoid conception, but give this up out of fatalistic "listlessness", accepting their later infertility, not really knowing whether they want to have children or not. Sexuality undoubtedly fascinated Ford, as any reader of The Good Soldier will know. His characters are very limited as to its positive expression inside any marriage they undertake. In his representation of gendered behaviour, Ford is also more obviously interested in exploring the experience of being parented, than that of being a parent.

Finally, a related word of introduction about genre and its relation to gender. As will have become clear in this volume so far, Ford wrote prolifically, and in several genres. My focus in this chapter will be on his fiction, but gender politics were much on his mind in 1913, for example, when he wrote a pamphlet supporting women's suffrage - women's "political equality" - for the Women's Freedom League. And autobiography and memoir are acutely significant in any approach to Ford and gender. Trev Lynn Broughton's Men of Letters, Writing Lives points out that the late nineteenth century saw "significant upheavals in what was understood by the "main story" of a life: upheavals in which issues of gender, sexuality and literary authority were implicated". I say more about this process with specific reference to Ford in the section "Gender and Creativity" below.

The chapter that follows is divided into sections which provide both an overview and some text-specific analysis of Ford and gender. It is also intended to provide suggestions for more sustained investigation of what is undoubtedly a rich and as yet under-explored subject in Ford's writing.


The dynamic mechanical properties such as storage modulus, loss modulus and damping properties of blends of nylon copolymer (PA6,66) with ethylene propylene diene (EPDM) rubber was investigated with special reference to the effect of blend ratio and compatibilisation over a temperature range -100°C to 150°C at different frequencies. The effect of change in the composition of the polymer blends on tanδ was studied to understand the extent of polymer miscibility and damping characteristics. The loss tangent curve of the blends exhibited two transition peaks, corresponding to the glass transition temperature (Tg) of individual components indicating incompatibility of the blend systems. The morphology of the blends has been examined by using scanning electron microscopy. The Arrhenius relationship was used to calculate the activation energy for the glass transition of the blends. Finally, attempts have been made to compare the experimental data with theoretical models.


The frozen Gaussian approximation provides a highly efficient computational method for high‐frequency wave propagation. The derivation of the method is based on asymptotic analysis. In this paper, for general linear strictly hyperbolic systems, we establish the rigorous convergence result for frozen Gaussian approximation. As a byproduct, higher‐order frozen Gaussian approximation is developed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


STUDIES TO IMPROVE ESTIMATION OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC BIAS IN RADAR ALTIMETRY Justin DeWitt Smith Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Science In May of 2000 Jason-1, a joint project between NASA and the French space agency CNES, will be launched. Its mission is to continue the highly successful gathering of data which TOPEX/Poseidon has collected since August of 1992. The main goal of Jason-1 is to achieve higher accuracy in measuring the mean sea level (MSL). In order to do so, the electromagnetic (EM) bias must be estimated more accurately because it is the largest contributing error. This thesis presents two di erent studies which add to the knowledge and improve estimation of the EM bias, and thus assists Jason-1 in achieving its primary goal. Oceanographic data collected from two di erent experiments are analyzed; one in the Gulf of Mexico (GME) and the other in Bass Strait, Australia (BSE). The rst study is a spatial analysis of the backscattered power versus the phase of the wave. Its purpose is to determine why the normalized EM bias stops increasing and levels out at high wind speeds (about 11 m/s) and then decreases at higher wind speeds. Two possible causes are investigated. First, it could be due to a shift in the backscatter power modulation to the forward or rear face of the wave crests. Second, it may be due to the backscatter power becoming more homogeneous throughout the wave pro le. This study is novel because it uses the knowledge of the spatial distribution of both the backscatter and wave displacement for the study of the EM bias. Both contribute to the EM bias decrease, but the latter cause seems to be the dominant e ect. This study is performed on GME data. The second study uses two di erent nonparametric regression (NPR) techniques to estimate the EM bias. A recent study of satellite data from the TOPEX/ Poseidon altimeter supports that the bias is modeled better using NPR regression. A traditional parametric t is compared to two NPR techniques with GME data. The parametric t is a variation of NASA's equation used to estimate EM bias for their Geophysical Data Records (GDRs). The two NPR techniques used are the Nadaraya-Watson Regression (NWR) and Local Linear Regression (LLR) estimators. Two smoothing kernel functions are used with each NPR technique, namely the Gaussian and the Epanechnikov kernels. NPR methods essentially consist of statistically smoothing the measured EM bias over a gridded two-dimensional plane. Satellite and tower EM bias estimates are compared in the wind and signi cant wave height plane. Another recent study has shown that wave slope is strongly correlated to EM bias. With this knowledge, EM bias is estimated over several two-dimensional planes which include wave slope in attempt to reduce the residual bias. This portion of the study is performed on GME and BSE data. It is shown that a combination of slope, signi cant wave height, and wind speed used in conjunction with these NPR methods produces the best EM bias estimate for tower data.


"Investing in Natural Capital" presents the results of a workshop held following the second biannual conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics. It focuses on the relation of human development to natural capital, and the relation of natural capital to environmental processes.Because we are capable of understanding our impact on the environment and the importance of managing it sustainably, humans play a special role in our ecosystem. The book emphasizes the essential connections between natural ecosystems and human socioeconomic systems, and the importance of insuring that both remain resilient. Specific chapters deal with methodology, case material, and policy questions, and offer a thorough exploration of this provocative and important alternative to conventional economics.


This study examines the meaning of adaptive snow skiing for individuals with significant visual impairment, and explores how hardiness manifests in the contexts in which participants live and recreate. Seidman's (2013) iterative three-part interviewing method was employed with five adults (three female, two male) from an adaptive cross-country skiing program in the northeast. Findings suggested three major themes. Participants (a) found meaning in being with others and having opportunities to develop relationships with other individuals who had significant visual impairment; (b) valued the freedom of being in the outdoors, the freedom of movement, and the independence that skiing provided; and (c) placed importance on the equality they experienced in their ski experiences and acknowledged the significance of others' recognition of this equality. Participants' hardiness was expressed similarly throughout their early lives and skiing experiences, suggesting that hardiness may be developed early on in life and is likely enhanced through recreation experiences. Implications for ways in which community-based therapeutic recreation (TR) programs can respond to the needs of individuals with significant visual impairment are discussed. Subscribe to TRJ


3D snapshots reveal dynamics of the spliceosome on the mRNA splicing pathway [Also see Research Article by Agafonov et al.] Look at a protein-coding gene in the genome of any eukaryote—be it animal, plant, fungus, or protist—and you will likely find the coding region fragmented by intervening sequences known as introns. When the gene is transcribed, these introns have to be removed from the pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) before a protein can be made. How these introns are removed has been studied intensively for decades without the aid of a three-dimensional map of the highly dynamic machine at the heart of the process: the spliceosome. On page 1416 of this issue, Agafonov et al. report the first molecular-resolution reconstruction of a central assembly of the human spliceosome, the U4/U6.U5 triple small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (tri-snRNP) complex, using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) (1). Together with high-resolution cryo-EM reconstructions of spliceosome assemblies from fungi (2-5) and the x-ray crystal structure of the U1 snRNP (6), these structural models of the splicing machinery launch a new era in understanding eukaryotic gene regulation.


John and Alison have shown a concern for the values of education, for the support of the disadvantaged, and for the environment. This has been done within the broad compass of planning and regulation, especially in relation to land and development. So I have chosen a striking example of some of these themes within Asia. I dedicate this to them. My ambition is to tell a success story — that States can co-operate and deliver results in a reasonable time, and that sometimes small is beautiful. My story is about the Greater Mekong Subregion, and particularly the Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement (CBTA), which supports the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC).


Efforts on consumer's empowerment in globalization and free-trade era is expected to deliver Indonesians consumers in becoming independent consumers so the position of either business actors and consumers has reach balance and no longer exist as the subject of enterprise actor's object. To protect the general interest, government has giving guarantee and legal certainty on using measurement unit and the truth of measurement particularly on BDKT truth size.
Based on this, there were several question arise such as: First, how is the test procedures on BDKT which is done by Balai Kemetrologian Surabaya. Second, how is the effectivity of legal protection on consumers about the truth size of BDKT. Third, what is the settlement effort done by Balai Pelayanan Kemetrologian Surabaya to create legal protection for consumer if there are violation concerning the truth size of BDKT.
This experiment is using sociologic juridical approach, data collection technique is interviews with respondent, documentation study by collecting data which obtained directly from the experimental sites, observation and questionnaire spread toward 25 respondent. Then it would descriptive qualitatively analyzed.
Result of the experiment on 25 random consumers through questionnaire spread, 25 people has once bought BDKT, 14 people admitted not knowing the whereabouts of Balai Kemetrologian Surabaya and only 11 people knew that there is a governmental body who guarantee the truth size of BDKT which is Balai Pelayanan Kemetrologian.
The conclusions are legal protection implementation on consumer about the truth size of BDKT still ineffectively implemented. These can be seen from a lot of BDKT still didn't fulfilling standard criteria as explained in article 22, 23 in Legal Metrology Laws, and there are still several prohibited act as explained in article 31 Legal Metrology Laws. There are also obstacles started with job range of Balai Kemetrologian Surabaya is still too vast, several limitations on human resources, fund, medium and infrastructure, and also represive act which is done by Sub-Office still didn't optimal in relation with the truth size of BDKT. In this matters, settlement efforts which is done by Balai Kemetrologian Surabaya consist of two ways, that is, preventive efforts and repressive efforts, in this matter if there are violation, Balai Kemetrologian Surabaya should made a report about the form of violation toward Office of Trade and Industry (Dinas Perindustrian dan Perdagangan) which would be managed by Sub-Office as PPNS, official with the rights to do investigation of violation of Legal Metrology Laws. Therefore, Balai Pelayanan Kemetrologian Surabaya cannot work optimally if they didn't have support from Metrology Sub-Office (Sub Dinas Metrologi). Suggestion, socialization needs to be improved toward more intense customer and there should be better cooperation between Balai Pelayanan Kemetrologian Surabaya with Metrology Sub-Office.


Histological characteristics of the gonads and the energy contents of axial muscle, liver and gonads of Antarctic notothenioid fish collected during the LAMPOS (Latin American Polarstern Study) survey in April 2002 were analysed. Ovaries and testes were staged following histological maturity criteria. Oocyte diameters frequency were established and fecundity values were estimated. The energetic values (kJ/g) of different organs were determined using a microcalorimetric bomb. Ovaries of Chaenocephalus aceratus showed a generalised atretic process. The gonadal histology of Champsocephalus gunnari, Pseudochaenichthys georgianus and Chionodracus rastrospinosus suggests that their spawnings take place in autumn. Gobionotothen gibberifrons and Lepidonotothen larseni females were in the process of maturation, with the ovaries of the former containing yolked and atretic oocytes together. Ovaries of Lepidonotothen kempi showed old postovulatory follicles, which provided evidence of previous spawning. Gonads from both sexes of Dissostichus eleginoides were immature. Absolute and relative fecundity were lower in Channichthyidae than in Nototheniidae. The energy contents of the different organs analysed were: liver > gonads > axial muscle. The highest energy density value (kJ/g wet body mass) was found in Dissostichus eleginoides .


Abstract Spectacular celestine geodes occur in a Jurassic peri-evaporitic sequence (Ardon Formation) exposed in Makhtesh Ramon, southern Israel. The geodes are found only in one specific location: adjacent to an intrusive contact with a Lower Cretaceous basaltic dyke. Celestine, well known in sedimentary associations worldwide and considered as a low temperature mineral, may therefore be associated with magmatic-induced hydrothermal activity. Abundant fluid inclusions in celestine provide valuable information on its origin: gas-rich inclusions in celestine interiors homogenized at T≥200°C whereas smaller liquid-rich inclusions record the growth of celestine rims at T≤200°C. Near 0°C melting temperatures of some fluid inclusions and the occurrence of hydrous Ca-sulphate solid crystals in other inclusions indicate that celestine precipitated from variably concentrated Ca-sulphate aqueous solutions of meteoric origin. Celestine crystallized from meteoric water heated by the cooling basaltic dyke at shallow levels (c. 160 m) during a Lower Cretaceous thermal perturbation recorded by regional uplift and magmatism. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio of geode celestine, 0.7074, is similar to that measured in the dolostones of the host Jurassic sequence, but differs markedly from the non-radiogenic ratio of the dyke. Strontium in celestine was derived from dolostones preserving the 87Sr/86Sr of Lower Jurassic seawater, while sulphur (δ34S = 19.9‰) was provided by in situ dissolution of precursor marine gypsum (δ34S = 16.8‰) indicated by relict anhydrite inclusions in celestine. Low-temperature meteoric fluid flow during the Campanian caused alteration of the dyke into secondary clays and alteration of geodal celestine into quartz, calcite and iron oxides.


A comprehensive
systematic method for chemical vapour deposition modelling consisting of seven
well defined steps is presented. The method is general in the sense that it is
not adapted to a certain type of chemistry or reactor configuration. The method
is demonstrated using silicon carbide (SiC) as model system, with accurate
matching to measured data without tuning of the model. We investigate the cause
of several experimental observations for which previous research only have had
speculative explanations. In contrast to previous assumptions, we can show that
SiCl2 does not contribute to SiC deposition. We can confirm the
presence of larger molecules at both low and high C/Si ratios, which have been
thought to cause so-called step-bunching. We can also show that high
concentrations of Si lead to other Si molecules than the ones contributing to
growth, which also explains why the C/Si ratio needs to be lower at these
conditions to maintain high material quality as well as the observed saturation
in deposition rates. Due to its independence of chemical system and reactor
configuration, the method paves the way for a general predictive CVD modelling
tool.


This study focuses on inferential comprehension instruction in the classroom. The overall aim is to study the way in which four teachers are designing their lessons to develop their students' ability to make inferences in literary text in the Swedish subject. The main focus is to explore what teaching modules may look like to promote students' ability to make inferences (e.g. text choice, group size and method) and how the teachers motivate their didactic work. The study is also focused on the opportunities and challenges associated with inferential comprehension instruction.The methods used are qualitative studies using observations and interviews. The material consists of observation notes and interview recordings. The concept of inference and reading comprehension is consistent in the study and focuses on the importance of explicit instruction to improve the students' inference comprehension. The models of inferential instruction are used to analyze the empirical material. The results show that teachers prefer to teach their students in groups of approximately 12 students, and they choose texts that are close to the students' everyday life and in which a lot of inferences can be made. The majority of the teachers in the study demonstrate how they use the inference strategy by the method think aloud, to show their students examples of how to think and for them to use the strategy on their own eventually. All teachers remind the students of their own background knowledge, which is proven to increase the students' ability to make inferences. This study shows that the possibilities with the teachers' inference instruction lead to a deeper understanding among the students when reading. The challenges are lack of time when preparing, impatient students, and if the students do not activate the right background knowledge from the beginning, which will lead to misunderstandings while reading the text.


Abstract : On June 10-1 1, 1991, a Fault Tolerant Systems Practitioner's Workshop was held at the Software Engineering Institute. The purpose of the workshop was to attempt to identify how fault tolerance is being applied today, why fault tolerance is under used, and what can be done to bring fault tolerant practices into wider use. Attendance at the workshop was limited to a small number of practitioners who had successfully applied fault tolerance in a systems context. This report summarizes the proceedings of the workshop which included a discussion of barriers to the deployment of fault tolerant systems, a summary of the state of the practice, and a discussion of the technology needs of fault tolerance. The report concludes with a discussion of ways the Software Engineering Institute may be able to help bring fault tolerant practices into wider use.


It is well known in the finance literature that mean-variance analysis is inappropriate when asset returns are not normally distributed or investors' preferences of returns are not characterized by quadratic functions. The normality assumption has been widely rejected in cases of emerging market equities and hedge funds. The mean-Gini framework is an attractive alternative as it is consistent with stochastic dominance rules regardless of the probability distributions of asset returns. Applying mean-Gini to a portfolio setting involving multiple assets, however, has always been challenging to business students whose training in optimization is limited. This paper introduces a simple spreadsheet-based approach to mean-Gini portfolio optimization, thus allowing the mean-Gini concepts to be covered more effectively in finance courses such as portfolio theory and investment analysis.


Shifts in phytoplankton species composition following changes in N: P ratio have been observed in artificial laboratory microcosms and natural phytoplankton communities in vitro and in situ. The experiments reported and reviewed here have shown that high N: P weight ratios (20-50: 1) can favor the development of Chlorococcales, while a reduction of the N: P ratio to values of 5 to 10 frequently leads to a community dominated by Cyanophyta. Model calculations predict that the relative abundance of different phytoplankton species depends only on the relative amounts of N and P in the environment, so that the optimal N: P ratio for a given species is equal to the ratio of its minimum cell requirements for these elements. An empirical test of this hypothesis showed that for several species of Chlorococcales and Cyanophyta the ratios of their cellular requirements for N and P determined experimentally were close to their optimal (for growth) environmental concentration ratios. For instance, an experimental increase in the N: P ratio from a value of 4:1 to 25-50: 1 by mass in the water of fish-breeding ponds led to an increased abundance of Chlorococcales. The species shift was due mainly to Scenedesmus quadricauda, which has a high optimal N: P ratio for growth.


Introduction Already, by the early twelfth century, the kind of piety practiced by Anglo-Scandinavian elites in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries was considered old-fashioned, even vulgar. The almost complete annihilation of the upper reaches of this aristocracy, both lay and ecclesiastical, in the decade following the Battle of Hastings left this group open to a set of wide-ranging critiques by the Norman victors; and AngloNorman churchmen, kings, and historians were quick to point out preConquest earls' and bishops' impious behavior, their lack of generosity toward the Church, and their worldliness. To further complicate matters, from the middle decades of the eleventh century on, Gregorian and other reform efforts were radically altering contemporary assumptions about proper pious behavior, and an unprecedented flurry of literary activity in the twelfth century both reinforced the new piety and denigrated the old. Beyond this, historians' (both modern and medieval) enthusiasm for tenth-century spirituality, in particular reformed Benedictine monasticism, and their disinterest in, even hostility toward, other forms of religious life have led them to view many great men and wealthy women of the late Anglo-Saxon period as irreligious at best. What follows is an attempt to take a fresh look at the religious practices and interests exhibited by three groups found in and around the Anglo-- Scandinavian court in the first half of the eleventh century-the bishops, the earls, and aristocratic women. It sets out to describe the religious enthusiasms and pious practices of the late Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, lay and ecclesiastical, and to reconsider its piety and its liberality toward the Church. Episcopal Piety More than thirty years ago, Dorothy Bethurum argued that the great wealth of Anglo-Saxon bishops was interpreted by contemporaries as a reflection of God's majesty on earth.1 Bethurum's article, boldly entitled "Episcopal Magnificence in the Eleventh Century,"was somewhat revolutionary in its approach to the topic of episcopal piety. While the majority of historians tended to view piety through a monastic filter, Bethurum offered a much more balanced and nuanced approach to contemporary norms and expectations as they related to ecclesiastical wealth, power, and piety.2 Despite the even-handedness of her approach, however, Bethurum's article did not alter the course of Anglo-- Saxon ecclesiastical historiography. With very few exceptions, historians have continued to privilege the cloistered church of monks and abbots over the worldly church of canons and secular bishops.3 That this imbalance persists is even more surprising given the publication of Stephen Jaeger's two masterful studies of continental courtier bishops and eleventh-century cathedral culture.4 What is missing from the modern historiography of the English Church, then, is an appreciation for the kind of piety practiced by bishops in the late Anglo-Saxon period, a piety as out of vogue in the twelfth century as it is in the twentieth.5 As Jaeger and others have demonstrated, however, piety is of tremendous significance to social as well as ecclesiastical historians since it was a defining characteristic of nobility in the early Middle Ages.6 Piety in this period was characterized by active devotion rather than intro-- spection, and it was made visible through public acts. Entrance into confraternity with an ecclesiastical community, for example, almost always entailed a reciprocal gift symbolizing the establishment of a spiritual relationship, a relationship that was often proclaimed publicly through the laying of a bit of sod or a gospel book on the altar.7 Because of their participation in the king's witan, their broad-ranging economic and judicial powers in their dioceses, and their pastoral mission centered on ordination and visitation, bishops were public figures of unrivaled magnitude. But they were also models of aristocratic behavior in their generosity to religious communities both monastic and secular. …


Accurate knowledge of the strength of soil-geomaterial interfaces is becoming of increasing importance in geotechnical engineering. Systems whose performance is heavily dependent on soil-geomaterial interfaces include deep foundations, synthetic impervious liners, trenchless technologies, and an assortment of earth retaining structures. The strength of the interface is typically estimated by applying adjustment factors to values of soil or interface strength measured in laboratory tests. These adjustment factors are intended to correct for differences between the test and anticipated operating conditions such as variations in soil type and density, strain rate, surface roughness, or confining stress and are often empirically based with little theoretical underpinnings. Of these adjustment factors, the surface roughness is considered to be of utmost importance in that it has the potential to alter the interface strength by 100% or more. This paper describes the development of a new multisleeve Friction attachment for the cone penetrometer that allows for direct in situ measurement of the relationship between interface strength and surface ronghness. As discussed herein, the ability of the attachment to quantify this relationship, in conjunction with additional ongoing research, provides the opportunity to improve the design of friction dependent systems, as well as site characterization. A key characteristic of the penetrometer attachment is the ability to obtain four individual sleeve friction (fs) measurements at each elevation within a sounding, in addition to the conventional Cone Penetration Test (CPT) fs measurement. This allows for direct in situ analysis of the effects of sleeve roughness on the fs measurement. Considerations pertinent to the development of the device including assessments of the conventional CPT fs measurement and soil geomaterial interface mechanisms are first presented. A description of the new penetrometer attachment including key characteristics and capabilities follows. Finally, validation of the operation of the device through laboratory and field tests is described, and future applications of the attachment are discussed.


Abstract We studied changes in the width of the symphysis pubis in 32 women examined serially by ultrasound during labor. Measurements were made at the superior border of the symphysis and at its narrowest breadth in the latent phase, the active phase, and the second stage of labor. There was a significant increase in the width of the symphysis between the first and second stages of labor at both measured levels. Widening was observed in 94% at the superior symphyseal breadth and in 59% at the narrowest. Of those cases in which the width of the symphysis increased, there was a large spectrum of change, ranging from 9 to 98% of the original width at the narrowest measurement site and from 2 to 139% at the superior breadth. There was a strong inverse correlation between maternal age and the degree of symphyseal widening in nulliparas, but not in multiparas. We conclude that labor is associated with a substantial widening of the symphysis pubis in most, but not all women.


Computation is now regarded as an equal and indispensable partner, along with theory and experiment, in the advance of scientific knowledge and engineering practice. Numerical simulation enables the study of complex systems and natural phenomena that would be too expensive or dangerous, or even impossible, to study by direct experimentation. The quest for ever higher levels of detail and realism in such simulations requires enormous computational capacity, and has provided the impetus for dramatic breakthroughs in computer algorithms and architectures. Due to these advances, computational scientists and engineers can now solve large-scale problems that were once thought intractable.


Designing for person-centered care in residential care facilitiesAuthors:Nordin S, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden; Wijk H, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden; McKee K, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden; Elf M, Dalarna University, Falun, SwedenThe physical environment is a resource for promoting health and wellbeing, and affects people's behavior and functioning. In residential care facilities for older persons, the physical environment has a particular significance, as with increasing levels of frailty many older people depend on aspects of the environment to compensate for reduced levels of functioning in order to manage their everyday life. A high-quality building design can ensure that a care facility promotes residents' quality of life and person-centered care. However, methods for evaluating design quality in residential care facilities are lacking, especially methods that adopt a person-centered approach. This paper presents a Swedish version of an instrument developed for the evaluation of residential care facilities in the United Kingdom, The Sheffield Care Environment Assessment Matrix (SCEAM).The Swedish version of the instrument, S-SCEAM consists of 215 items that indicate the presence or absence of building features. Each item belongs to one of several domains that address important aspects of residents' quality of life such as community, privacy, physical support, choice and control. The instrument can be applied to different types of care facilities and can be used as a guide when planning and designing new care buildings, to assess existing ones or to evaluate care buildings quantitatively for research purposes. For example, the relationship between design quality and quality of life of residents can be examined statistically.In Sweden, there have been no instruments evaluating residential care facilities, and the knowledge is limited regarding the relationship among the quality of the design, the quality of care and the quality of life of older persons. Evaluating care environments is an important step to achieve evidence based knowledge in this field. In the longer term such knowledge can be brought into policy on housing for frail older people and contribute to enhancing the quality of living environments and life experiences of this vulnerable section of our population.


Deep neural networks are commonly used for medical purposes such as image generation, segmentation, or classification. Besides this, they are often criticized as black boxes as their decision process is often not human interpretable. Encouraging the latent representation of a generative model to be disentangled offers new perspectives of control and interpretability. Understanding the data generation process could help to create artificial medical data sets without violating patient privacy, synthesizing different data modalities, or discovering data generating characteristics. These characteristics might unravel novel relationships that can be related to genetic traits or patient outcomes. In this paper, we give a comprehensive overview of popular generative models, like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), and Flow-basedModels. Furthermore, we summarize the different notions of disentanglement, review approaches to disentangle latent space representations and metrics to evaluate the degree of disentanglement. After introducing the theoretical frameworks, we give an overview of recent medical applications and discuss the impact and importance of disentanglement approaches for medical applications.


One of the most important factors in national economic development is the vigorous operation of financial markets. The vigorous function of financial markets depends on the operations of financial institutions such as stock exchange, banks, leasing and factoring companies in these markets. In recent years, the status and significance of factoring companies as non-bank financial institutions have been increased, especially in providing financing for the SMEs. In the present study, the financial performance of factoring companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange was assessed and multi-criteria decision making techniques ELECTRE and TOPSIS, were implemented. More objective and accurate assessments could be achieved with multi-criteria decision making techniques, ELECTRE and TOPSIS, which are used when multiple evaluation factors are present. For this purpose, six factoring companies were selected and the financial statement ratios for each company were used as evaluation criteria. The calculated financial ratios and financial ratio weights were included in analyses conducted with both methods and Yapi Kredi Factoring was determined as the factoring company with the best performance as a result of conducted ELECTRE and TOPSIS analyses.


Extensive research can be found in coping with uncertainty under Material Requirements Planning (MRP)-planned manufacture, but the under-performance of many manufacturing enterprises is still reported. To examine the reasons, a review of the literature on uncertainty under MRP-planned manufacture has been carried out. This paper presents a comprehensive review and categorisation of such research. It aims to provide a structure within which directions can be given for future research and the results of past research work are summarized to give an indication to practitioners of how to cope with uncertainty. An uncertainty categorization structure has been developed using systems theory to categorize uncertainty into input and process , and simultaneously to highlight the uncertainty that occurs in the supply and demand chain of the manufacturing process. Buffering and dampening (BAD) approaches are proposed and the experimental methods used are incorporated in the structure. A range of research gaps is identified: the lack of a detailed structure to enable the significant uncertainty to be diagnosed optimally, as most of the past research studied uncertainty discretely and only some in specific combinations; the sub-optimal approach in coping with uncertainty; and little research has examined the interactions between uncertainties. Several directions for future research are proposed: the development of a cause-and-effect structure for diagnosing uncertainty, a holistic approach to deduce to the underlying causes of uncertainty, generalization of the cause-and-effect structure, examination of the BAD approaches applied in industry and consideration of interactions between uncertainties by first diagnosing the significant uncertainty. It is found that safety stock, the use of appropriate lot-sizing rules and rescheduling are the most robust approaches to cope with uncertainty, while safety capacity is not used at all for buffering process uncertainty. Hedging/over-planning is useful for dampening process uncertainty. It can be concluded that input uncertainty has been maturely researched with external demand uncertainty dominating others, but with a range of suggested BAD approaches available. Scheduling heuristics, simulation modelling and mathematical modelling are the most applicable experimental methods in this research area. This review and categorization have identified that a structured and systematic approach is required to cope with uncertainty holistically within MRP-planned manufacture.


It was recently proved using graph covers (Ruozzi, 2012) that the Bethe partition function is upper bounded by the true partition function for a binary pairwise model that is attractive. Here we provide a new, arguably simpler proof from first principles. We make use of the idea of clamping a variable to a particular value. For an attractive model, we show that summing over the Bethe partition functions for each sub-model obtained after clamping any variable can only raise (and hence improve) the approximation. In fact, we derive a stronger result that may have other useful implications. Repeatedly clamping until we obtain a model with no cycles, where the Bethe approximation is exact, yields the result. We also provide a related lower bound on a broad class of approximate partition functions of general pairwise multi-label models that depends only on the topology. We demonstrate that clamping a few wisely chosen variables can be of practical value by dramatically reducing approximation error.


Aims and objectives: To assess and compare the efficacy of
transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy and
preemptive piroxicam administration in reducing the severity
of pain after orthodontic separator placement.
Materials and methods: It was a randomized, single-blind,
parallel arm trial. Subjects of either gender between 18 and
30 years of age, scheduled to undergo regular orthodontic
therapy with placement of two separators in each arch, were
selected for this trial. The sample size consisted of 60 patients
from whom prior informed consent was obtained. They were
assigned randomly into two categories of 30 subjects each.
• Group I: Subjects were given piroxicam (20 mg) 1 hour
before separator placement.
• Group II: Subjects were given TENS therapy immediately
after separator placement.
The treatment was administered by the coinvestigator, so
as to blind the principal investigator to the treatment group.
Perceived pain was evaluated on chewing and fitting back teeth
together at 2-, 6-, 24-, and 48-hour intervals, using the visual
analog scale (VAS).
Results: Descriptive statistical analysis revealed that the VAS
scores in the piroxicam group were marginally higher than the
TENS group at all intervals, except at 2 hours. The difference
was, however, statistically insignificant.
Conclusion: The findings of this single blind randomized,
controlled trial (RCT) suggest that TENS therapy is as effective
as 20 mg piroxicam administered preemptively, in controlling
pain felt due to separator placement. The TENS offers several
advantages over piroxicam, as it is devoid of the inherent side
effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like
an inhibitory effect on orthodontic tooth movement and also
gastric irritation.
Therefore, the use of TENS is recommended over NSAIDs
for the successful management of orthodontic pain, which is so critical both from the patient's and from the clinician's
perspective.


Section 714.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada allows for witnesses and victims to testify remotely via video link, within Canada. The legal test embedded within this provision – "appropriate in all the circumstances" – has led to inconsistent application across the country. Some jurists have embraced the flexibility provided by the video link process. Others have expressed reluctance, articulating the position that in-court testimony is to be preferred and permitting the use of video link evidence only in exceptional circumstances. R. v. S.D.L. is the first treatment of 714.1 by an appellate court. The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has provided a set of clear guiding principles for trial judges. The Court recognized that applications for testimony via video link "should be permitted" so long as they do not negatively impact upon trial fairness or the open court principle. More specifically, where reliability (rather than credibility) is the central issue with respect to evaluating a witness' evidence, video link applications should routinely be granted. The use of technology in the courtroom can thus contribute to the truth seeking function of the trial process and provide support for vulnerable victims and witnesses who may otherwise face greater personal costs through the process of testimony.


In modern medical practice, toxicity studies are essential in assessment of safety of extracts or drugs used in clinical medicine. The interaction of the toxin or its metabolite with cellular constituents may bring about significant changes in hematological parameters. These alterations may be rapid or slow and often cause a change in structure and function of the affected tissues. In clinical laboratory setting these blood indices are assayed for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease, and for greater understanding of the disease process. Therefore, assessment of hematological indices can be diagnostic of adverse effects of foreign compounds on the blood constituents since such hematological alterations have higher predictive value for human toxicity when the data are interpreted from animal studies.


Research presented here was conducted under the following Justice Center projects:
Descriptive Analysis of Domestic Violence in Alaska (JC 0507) — Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault through Grant Nos. 2003-WF-BX-0201 and 2004-WF-AX-0033 from by the Violence Against Women Office, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice /
Epidemiological Study of Sexual Assault in Anchorage (JC 0107.02) — Grant No. 2000-RH-CX-K039 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice /
Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assaults in Anchorage, Alaska: 2002–2003 Update (JC 0107.03) /
Investigative Strategies for the Successful Prosecution of Intimate Partner Violence (JC 0601) - Grant No: 2005-WG-BX-0011 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice /
Studying the Characteristics, Processes, and Outcomes of Sexual Assault in Alaska (JC 0501) - Grant No. 2004-WG-BX-0003 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice /
Differences in the Nature and Processing of Reported Sexual Assault by Offenders' Military Affliation (JC 0701) — Grant No. 2007-WG-R-007 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice /
Spatial Patterning of Sexual Assaults in Anchorage (JC 0408) — UAA Faculty Development Grant


Pulmonary fibrosis is characterised by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins within the lung parenchyma. Activation of the coagulation cascade occurs in this condition and thrombin levels are increased in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with this disorder. In addition to its role in blood coagulation, thrombin exerts cellular effects, including promoting fibroblast proliferation, procollagen production and expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) via activation of protease activated receptor-1 (PAR-1). This thesis examined the hypothesis that thrombin plays a role in promoting lung collagen accumulation in pulmonary fibrosis, via activation of PAR-1. To address this hypothesis, the effect of a direct thrombin inhibitor, UK-156406 on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis was examined in rats. In addition, the effect of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in PAR-1 knockout (PAR-1-/-) and wild-type (WT) mice was evaluated. In rats, immunohistochemical expression of thrombin and PAR-1 were dramatically increased in the lung following bleomycin instillation, compared with saline-treated animals. Following bleomycin instillation, lung collagen doubled and was preceded by significant elevations in 1(I) procollagen and CTGF mRNA levels. In bleomycin-treated animals receiving an anticoagulant dose of UK-156046, lung collagen accumulation, 1(I) procollagen and CTGF mRNA levels were all significantly reduced. In WT mice given bleomycin, total lung collagen was increased but in bleomycin-instilled PAR-1-/- mice, lung collagen accumulation was significantly reduced biochemically and histologically. Furthermore, BALF total inflammatory cell number, total protein and CTGF mRNA levels were also significantly reduced in bleomycin-instilled PAR-1-/- mice compared with WT mice receiving bleomycin. In summary, this thesis shows that direct thrombin inhibition attenuates lung collagen accumulation in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis and also that PAR-1-/- mice are protected from bleomycin-induced lung injury. These data support the hypothesis that thrombin and PAR-1 play a critical role in experimental pulmonary fibrosis and that the pro-fibrotic effects of thrombin in this model, may be mediated, at least in part, via a CTGF-dependent mechanism.


In regulatory and risk management analyses of environmental contaminants, the vadose zone may be treated as a subcomponent within a larger environmental modeling framework. For the complexity of the larger system model to remain at manageable levels, it is desirable that subcomponent models be relatively simple and require few input parameters. In this work, we develop an advective–dispersive solute transport equation that includes plant uptake of water and solute and present an analytical solution. Assumptions underlying the transport model include linear solute sorption, first‐order uptake, and a uniform soil water content. We examine the latter assumption in detail and demonstrate the effects of rooting depth, soil texture, and leaching fraction on the uniformity of the root‐zone water content. The new analytical advection–dispersion model should be useful for estimating the transport and uptake of strongly sorbing and persistent contaminants, where the timescale relevant for assessing environmental impacts is long (decades) and short‐term fluctuations caused by, for example, precipitation can be averaged. As an illustration, model predictions are made for the uptake of cadmium (Cd) by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in sludge‐amended soil. The predictions are compared with those of a "one‐compartment" model that has been proposed previously for risk analysis and regulatory studies. The comparison shows that the one‐compartment model overestimates the long‐term, steady‐state Cd concentration in harvested wheat grain. The analytical advection–dispersion model is recommended as a tool for environmental risk assessment of strongly sorbing, persistent contaminants.


The compression behavior of Nickel has been studied to test the validity of fundamental equation of state. To validate our results five fundamental equation of states (viz. Murnaghan EOS, Birch EOS, Usual-Tait EOS, Kholiya EOS and Vinet EOS) are used to compute the pressure upto the compression ratio of 0.8286. In the present work it is observed that the result obtained for Nanocrystalline Nickel by using Murnaghan, Usual Tait and Vinet equation of state are consistently very close and in good agreement with the experimental results. However the results obtained by using Murnaghan equation of state are very close to the experimental values at higher compression but not consistent in the lower range of compression. The validity of Kholiya equation of state is limited to the lower compression range only while the Birch equation of state has no agreement with the compression behavior of Nanocrystalline Nickel (n-Ni). With the validity of Usual- Tait equation of sate for n-Ni the variation of isothermal bulk modulus of the sample has also studied and found its linear variation with pressure.


This article reports on destination development from the perspective of the field of tourism, explored by a descriptive study comparing three local Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) focusing on e-government and networks. Local DMOs are often founded by local municipalities and enterprises in conjunction to promote the tourism industry. This study includes three cases in Scandinavia, having inland water areas in common, situated in regions that are undergoing structural change. The research method is based on case study methodology with use of qualitative in-depth interviews and document studies. This research provides insight into and deeper understanding of some important aspects regarding the use of e-government and networks that contribute to destination development in an Scandinavian context.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze how purchase intention, attitude towards a new brand and brand loyalty in the Lolita fashion market are affected by the interaction between influence and cost-efficiency. Moreover, the results of this study will help to launch an actual new brand in the business world. Design: A two (influence level: high versus low) by two (cost-efficiency level: high versus low) experimental design was used. A logistical method was implemented in the survey in order to divide participants into two different groups, based upon dress style. The purpose of this is to analyze their differences more closely. We set the Chinese market as the control group, allowing us to compare it to the U.S. market. Findings: The analysis confirmed that when the influence is high, cost-efficiency has a positive impact on purchase intention in the U.S. market. The Lolita consumers in both the U.S. market and the Chinese market share the same group characteristics and notions in some aspects. Research Limitation: Future research needs to create a data collecting survey with more questions and an experimental design with more variables. This would aid in obtaining a more accurate result. Further, the participants in future studies should all be Lolita consumers, as in this research, and the focus could extend to other geographically segmented markets. Practical Implication: The following study has several managerial implications for all new brand managers and startups. First, reducing the cost will enhance cost-efficiency for your brand. Second, reconsider your brand's positioning and segment the market your trying to enter into. It's important to know your consumers and then position your business accordingly. Finally, increase your brand's influence/gain awareness by advertising, having events, etc. Social Implication: This study is very original because it is the first ever recorded academic research on the Lolita market, and all participants are real Lolita consumers, making the research a genuine representation of the Lolita market.


Software Transactional Memory (STM) stands as powerful concurrent programming paradigm, enabling atomicity, and isolation while accessing shared data. On the downside, STM may suffer from performance degradation due to excessive conflicts among concurrent transactions, which cause waste of CPU-cycles and energy because of transaction aborts. An approach to cope with this issue consists of putting in place smart scheduling strategies which temporarily suspend the execution of some transaction in order to reduce the transaction conflict rate. In this article, we present an adaptive model-based transaction scheduling technique relying on a Markov Chain-based performance model of STM systems. Our scheduling technique is adaptive in a twofold sense: (i) It controls the execution of transactions depending on throughput predictions by the model as a function of the current system state. (ii) It re-tunes on-line the Markov Chain-based model to adapt it—and the outcoming transaction scheduling decisions—to dynamic variations of the workload. We have been able to achieve the latter target thanks to the fact that our performance model is extremely lightweight. In fact, to be recomputed, it requires a reduced set of input parameters, whose values can be estimated via a few on-line samples related to the current workload dynamics. We also present a scheduler that implements our adaptive technique, which we integrated within the open source TinySTM package. Further, we report the results of an experimental study based on the STAMP benchmark suite, which has been aimed at assessing both the accuracy of our performance model in predicting the actual system throughput and the advantages of the adaptive scheduling policy over literature techniques.


Many studies use shift-share (or "Bartik") instruments, which average a set of shocks with exposure share weights. We provide a new econometric framework for shift-share instrumental variable (SSIV) regressions in which identification follows from the quasi-random assignment of shocks, while exposure shares are allowed to be endogenous. The framework is motivated by an equivalence result: the orthogonality between a shift-share instrument and an unobserved residual can be represented as the orthogonality between the underlying shocks and a shock-level unobservable. SSIV regression coefficients can similarly be obtained from an equivalent shock-level regression, motivating shock-level conditions for their consistency. We discuss and illustrate several practical insights of this framework in the setting of Autor et al. (2013), estimating the effect of Chinese import competition on manufacturing employment across U.S. commuting zones.


Abstract To collect and provide periodically updated information on global forest resources, their management and use, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been coordinating global forest resources assessments (FRA) every 5–10 years since 1946. To complement the FRA national-based statistics and to provide an independent assessment of forest cover and change, a global remote sensing survey (RSS) has been organized as part of FAO FRA 2010. In support of the FAO RSS, an image data set appropriate for global analysis of forest extent and change has been produced. Landsat data from the Global Land Survey 1990–2005 were systematically sampled at each longitude and latitude intersection for all points on land. To provide a consistent data source, an operational algorithm for Landsat data pre-processing, normalization, and cloud detection was created and implemented. In this paper, we present an overview of the data processing, characteristics, and validation of the FRA RSS Landsat dataset. The FRA RSS Landsat dataset was evaluated to assess overall quality and quantify potential limitations.


Recently, wireless sensor networks have been considered as an opportunity to realize reliable and low-cost remote monitoring systems for smart grid. However, interference due to nonlinear electric power equipment and fading as a result of obstacles in various smart grid environments from generation to end-user sides make realization of reliable and energy-efficient communication a challenging task for WSNs in smart grid. In this article, spectrum-aware and cognitive sensor networks (SCSNs) are proposed to overcome spatio-temporally varying spectrum characteristics and harsh environmental conditions for WSN-based smart grid applications. Specifically, potential advantages, application areas, and protocol design principles of SCSN are introduced. The existing communication protocols and algorithms devised for dynamic spectrum management networks and WSNs are discussed along with the open research issues for the fulfillment of SCSNs. A case study is also presented to reveal the reliable transport performance in SCSNs for different smart grid environments. Lastly, different energy harvesting techniques for SCSN-based smart grid applications are reviewed. Here, our goal is to envision potentials of SCSNs for reliable and low-cost remote monitoring solutions for smart grid.


I. PROCEDURAL OPTIONS - THE NEW CHALLENGE Transnational harmonization results from either planned changes in legal systems aimed at achieving harmonization or from interaction that spontaneously occurs between different legal systems. The latter phenomenon may be described as 'osmotic' harmonization. Unique challenges and opportunities were presented to comparative and international lawyers after the transition year of 1990 generated by the collapse of the Soviet system. With the twenty-first century upon us, the globalization of the world economy continues unabated and profound geopolitical changes continue to simultaneously occur. European developments by themselves suggest the vast scope of the changes involved. The phenomenon of Eastern European countries and the former republics of the former Soviet Union moving from controlled to free economies and developing multi-party democratic governments is only an example of these changes. The unification of Germany also generated a wave of public and private comparative and international legal problems all demanding instant attention. Massive privatization and democratization issues had to be addressed. More recently the effort of the European Union to implement a constitution for twenty-five member states, with twenty-one different languages, over four hundred fifty million people, and individual national cultural traditions, continue to require coordination of the legal systems of the member states. Commenting as early as 1978 on the pervasive importance of Community Law to member states, Lord Denning stated: . . . all this shows that the flowing tide of Community Law is coming in fast. It has not stopped at the high water mark. It has broken the dykes and the banks. It has submerged the surrounding land. So much so that we have to learn to become amphibious if we wish to keep heads above the water.1 What do such developments mean for comparative lawyers? A plethora of constitutional and administrative (that is, taxation, environmental law, labor law, social security, and so on) public law issues arose as new governments were created or old governments were restructured. Simultaneously a plethora of private law issues arose with the use of new trading entities and new contract procedures as free economies replaced controlled economies. These issues have generated rethinking of traditional categories of international and comparative law. A half century ago Phillip Jessup stated: The subject to which these chapters are addressed is the law applicable to the complex interrelated world community which may be described as beginning with the individual and reaching on up to the so called "family of nations" or "society of states". . . Part of the difficulty in analyzing the problems of the world community and the law regulating them is the lack of an appropriate word or term for the rules we are discussing. Just as the word "international" is inadequate to describe the problem, so the term "international law" will not do. . . . I shall use, instead of "international law", the term "transnational law" to include all law which regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers. Both public and private international law are included, as are other rules which do not wholly fit into such standard categories.2 Are the traditional techniques and categories of law for producing harmonized international legislation responsive to the needs of the twenty-first century? A. General Considerations - Key Actors - Selecting Harmonization Areas and Procedures Primary actors in the process of producing transnational harmonized legislation such as the Hague Conference,1 UNIDROIT,4 UNCITRAL,5 the International Chamber of Commerce,6 the Council of Europe,7 the European Union,8 and so on, have attempted to identify the need for proposed legislation and the likelihood of its acceptance and adoption before allocating limited resources to such projects. …


We present an experimental technique for a complete characterization of entanglement in a two-qutrit state generated using transverse spatial correlations of two parametric down-converted photons. We verify entanglement for a particular case via entanglement witness operators which are decomposed into a sum of local observables of single path and superposition projection operators. Experimentally, these operators are accomplished by using a spatial light modulator and a polarizing beam splitter which allow to modulate the amplitude of individually chosen path states. The quantification of entanglement is computed by the negativity obtained from the expectation values of the entanglement witnesses implemented.


Political romanticism is one of the keys to accessing the intellectual debates
of the Weimar Republic. This article tries to adopt a radically historicized
approach centered on the concept of reception. Such an approach allows
it to focus on the strategic nature of the different uses that were made of
the romantic paradigm between 1918 and 1933. This article contends that
one of the main features that romanticism offers in the German context is
its interdiscursive quality that renders it able to transcend traditional political
divisions like left /right and conservative/progressive. This idea is illustrated
in this article with a series of examples covering the entire lifespan of
the Republic and the entire political spectrum therein, which can be represented
by such figures as Sigmund Rubinstein, Thomas Mann, Hans Freyer,
Carl Schmitt, Karl Mannheim, Othmar Spann, Wilhelm von Schramm, and
Paul Tillich.


A practical Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWTs) based on a Darrieus rotor has been designed and tested and found to be capable of self-starting at wind speeds above 4m/s. The self-start feature has been achieved by replacing the usual symmetrical aerofoil blade in the VAWT rotor and by using a concentric Savonius rotor or semi-cylinder turbine. A computer program was produced to compute the power coefficient versus tip speed ratio characteristics of a selected aerofoil profile employed in a VAWT. The program accounts for chord length, pitch angle, number of blades, and rotor radius at any wind speed. The published data from 40 aerofoil sections were assessed, taking into account the two main criteria — self-starting and efficiency. Computational fluid dynamics software (ANSYS, Flotran) has been used to investigate the lift and drag performance of a NACA 66-212 and NACA 4421 aerofoils in order to check the computer program predictions. Excellent agreement was obtained for the static aerofoil assessment, but only after special ICEM Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) meshing interface routines were utilised. However, agreement between the theoretical and published results was not good for the rotating aerofoils in a VAWT. Thus, further CFD work was not pursued and in preference, an experimental route was initiated. In the first series of wind tunnel tests involving three candidate profiles, good agreement was found between the experimental results and the mathematical models. The aerofoils chosen were the NACA 661-212, the 51223 and the Clark-Y standard aerofoils. A number of prototype VAWTs were fabricated and tested for the influence of the blade pitch angle, the chord length ratio, with 2 or 3 blades. The aerofoil surfaces were made from aluminium sheet with a standard surface finish. The prototype designs were tested in the Northumbria University low speed wind tunnel facility - the models were 0.4 m. high with a 0.4 m diameter. The torque versus wind speed characteristics were recorded and analysed. The S 1223 profile was found to be self-starting with high efficiency. This model generated a high power coefficient of about 0.3 at a tip speed ratio of 1.2. The second series of tests were carried out in field sites in the UK with a 2 m diameter straight—bladed Darrieus rotor prototype with 3 blades using the S1223 blade section. Three field trials were undertaken in the UK to produce realistic performance characteristics for wind conditions of 4-10 m/s. The maximum power coefficient of this machine was found to be 0.18 at a tip speed ratio of 1.2. In addition, an alternative semi-cylinder turbine combined with a Darrieus rotor was fabricated and tested in the UK. It demonstrated the advantage that it could self-start at lower wind speeds, that is 3m/s but delivers approximately 50% less power than that obtained from the first proposed design. A final phase of testing was carried out with an enlarged and modified 3 m diameter prototype installed at a shrimp farm in Thailand to demonstrate how the unit could be used to replace an equivalent 2 HP 2-stroke diesel engine and hence eliminate its inherent emission pollution problems. A Savonius rotor was fitted to the prototype to improve self-start capabilities at a wind speed of 4 m/s for a practical application which by its nature required a high starting torque. The designs are easy to fabricate, low cost, pollution free and have been demonstrated to be ideal for applications in developing countries where there are sufficient wind resources.


Numerical simulations are used to study the near-field properties of nanocylinders. Specific attention is given to surface-plasmon-polariton resonances and field localization in dielectric cylinders with partial metal coating. Conditions for observing local-field enhancement are investigated as well as the degrees of freedom that are available to customize the wavelength response of the nanosystem.


We report transient photocurrent measurements on solar cell structures based on dye-sensitized, porous TiO2 films filled with a liquid electrolyte. The measurements are interpreted as ambipolar diffusion; under most measurement conditions, the ambipolar diffusion coefficient is dominated by electrons diffusing in the TiO2 matrix. We report a strong dependence of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient upon the photoexcitation density, as has been proposed previously. The coefficients vary from 10-8 cm2 s-1 at low density to 10-4 cm2 s-1 for densities of 1018 cm-3. At a specified photoexcitation density, ambipolar diffusion coefficients measured using weak laser pulses and optical bias are about 10 times larger than coefficients measured using large-intensity laser pulses. We describe trapping models for these effects based on an exponential distribution (T0 = 650 K) of electron trap levels in TiO2. We infer an electron recombination cross section less than 2 × 10-27 cm2; this value is nearly 10 orders of magn...


Addressing complex challenges facing social-ecological systems (SES) requires the integration of knowledge from a diversity of disciplines and stakeholders. This requirement has resulted in the establishment of many integrative research programmes, both globally and locally, aimed at coproducing knowledge relevant to solving SES challenges. However, despite the increase in integrative projects, there has been little research on the nature and extent to which these projects acknowledge and integrate information from diverse disciplines or knowledge types. In this study, we explored the extent to which the integration of different disciplines has occurred, using a case study of the South African invasive species management programme, Working for Water (WfW). Here we provide an overview of the research produced under the auspices of WfW, and how it came to be. Additionally, we assess the extent to which research associated with the programme addressed the research priorities and how these priorities relate to one another. Findings show that WfW-associated research is primarily focused on the ecological processes and impacts associated with invasive alien plants and biological control. Social science and applied research are, however, under-represented, infrequent in nature and inadequately address the research priorities set in the programme. To address these shortcomings, we recommend the development of a detailed research strategy and action plan conducive to integrative research and transdisciplinary collaboration, and relevant to solving complex SES challenges such as those associated with biological invasions.

Significance:

We provide a reference point by which we can assess research progress and guide integration of diverse knowledge systems.
The results can help guide research decision-making as it relates to invasive species management.


Agricultural restructuring is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, recent decades have seen substantial changes, not only to the number and types of farmers and farm businesses, but also to ownership structures and to the relationship between land holding and management control. The Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), together with the UK Countryside Agencies, has commissioned a body of research in recent years which, taken together, offer important insights into the nature, speed and extent of restructuring in the UK and of the potential for further, accelerated change in the years to come. From this body of work it is clear that a prolonged and difficult process of disengagement from agriculture as a mainstream income source is beginning to take place, with evidence of both adaptation and resistance to change by a land management community which is becoming increasingly diverse in its social composition and behaviour. The adjustment to farming practice, living standards and lifestyles which all of this implies is not without personal cost and, while claims of an agricultural crisis may be exaggerated, it is clear that large numbers of farmers are finding they have to make difficult adjustments against a shifting background of policy reform and market change. Moreover, given the traditional centrality of farmers in rural communities, both as employers and as participants in many of the key institutions of rural life, there may be wider social implications of agricultural restructuring which now deserve to be more closely investigated. What, for example is the nature, extent and wider significance of the personal costs and social implications of agricultural restructuring.


Data described by econometric models typically contains autocorrelation and/or heteroskedasticity of unknown form and for inference in such models it is essential to use covariance matrix estimators that can consistently estimate the covariance of the model parameters. Hence, suitable heteroskedasticity consistent (HC) and heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent (HAC) estimators have been receiving attention in the econometric literature over the last 20 years. To apply these estimators in practice, an implementation is needed that preferably translates the conceptual properties of the underlying theoretical frameworks into computational tools. In this paper, such an implementation in the package sandwich in the R system for statistical computing is described and it is shown how the suggested functions provide reusable components that build on readily existing functionality and how they can be integrated easily into new inferential procedures or applications. The toolbox contained in sandwich is extremely flexible and comprehensive, including specific functions for the most important HC and HAC estimators from the econometric literature. Several real-world data sets are used to illustrate how the functionality can be integrated into applications.


Understanding the principles involved in visually-based coordinated motor control is one of the most fundamental and most intriguing research problems across a number of areas, including psychology, neuroscience, computer vision and robotics. Not very much is known regarding computational functions that the central nervous system performs in order to provide a set of requirements for visually-driven reaching and grasping. Additionally, in spite of several decades of advances in the field, the abilities of humanoids to perform similar tasks are by far modest when needed to operate in unstructured and dynamically changing environments. More specifically, our first focus is understanding the principles involved in human visuomotor coordination. Not many behavioral studies considered visuomotor coordination in natural, unrestricted, head-free movements in complex scenarios such as obstacle avoidance. To fill this gap, we provide an assessment of visuomotor coordination when humans perform prehensile tasks with obstacle avoidance, an issue that has received far less attention. Namely, we quantify the relationships between the gaze and arm-hand systems, so as to inform robotic models, and we investigate how the presence of an obstacle modulates this pattern of correlations. Second, to complement these observations, we provide a robotic model of visuomotor coordination, with and without the presence of obstacles in the workspace. The parameters of the controller are solely estimated by using the human motion capture data from our human study. This controller has a number of interesting properties. It provides an efficient way to control the gaze, arm and hand movements in a stable and coordinated manner. When facing perturbations while reaching and grasping, our controller adapts its behavior almost instantly, while preserving coordination between the gaze, arm, and hand. In the third part of the thesis, we study the neuroscientific literature of the primates. We here stress the view that the cerebellum uses the cortical reference frame representation. The cerebellum by taking into account this representation performs closed-loop programming of multi-joint movements and movement synchronization between the eye-head system, arm and hand. Based on this investigation, we propose a functional architecture of the cerebellar-cortical involvement. We derive a number of improvements of our visuomotor controller for obstacle-free reaching and grasping. Because this model is devised by carefully taking into account the neuroscientific evidence, we are able to provide a number of testable predictions about the functions of the central nervous system in visuomotor coordination. Finally, we tackle the flow of the visuomotor coordination in the direction from the arm-hand system to the visual system. We develop two models of motor-primed attention for humanoid robots. Motor-priming of attention is a mechanism that implements prioritizing of visual processing with respect to motor-relevant parts of the visual field. Recent studies in humans and monkeys have shown that visual attention supporting natural behavior is not exclusively defined in terms of visual saliency in color or texture cues, rather the reachable space and motor plans present the predominant source of this attentional modulation. Here, we show that motor-priming of visual attention can be used to efficiently distribute robot's computational resources devoted to visual processing.


This paper discusses finding of combustion research carried out using Ricardo hydra research diesel engine with varying renewable fuels. The primary fuel of investigation is rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and marine diesel fuel (MDO) was used as the primary reference fuel (PRF). The results of the PRF have been acquired by experiment and have been used to characterize the heat release rates, brake fuel conversion efficiency (BFCE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake fuel energy consumption (BSEC), exhaust temperature; Oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions have also been studied. Empirical correlations have been developed and used to predict the corresponding results with several blends of renewable fuels. The analysis of the results showed a good correlation between the results of the MDO and the blends of the renewable fuels. The results showed that the difference between mean BSFC of the MDO and the predicted values of the blend of the liquefied petroleum and 10% rapeseed (LGO-10) was only 0.82%. Predicted values for B20, B40 and B100 were 1.65%, 3.33% and 8.53% respectively. At maximum load the predicted lost in power for LGO-10 ranges from 0.88% at maximum speed to 0.85% at low speed. The predicted lost in power for B20, B40 and B100 were 1.61%, 3.21% and 7.86% respectively at maximum speed and 1.71%, 3.13% and 7.86% respectively at low speed range. The mean increase between the measured mean NOx emission from MDO and the LGO-10 was 0.98%, while CO and CO2 emissions fall by 6.35%. There was also a mean reduction of HC emission by 10.59%. Similar changes have been predicted in B20 and B40 emissions.


(a) The purpose of the regulations in this subpart is to implement the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and sections 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 614 and 616 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Public Law 101–549. The Protocol and section 604 impose limits on the production and consumption (defined as production plus imports minus exports, excluding transhipments and used controlled substances) of certain ozone-depleting substances, according to specified schedules. The Protocol also requires each nation that becomes a Party to the agreement to impose certain restrictions on trade in ozone-depleting substances with non-Parties. (b) This subpart applies to any person that produces, transforms, destroys, imports or exports a controlled substance or imports or exports a controlled product.


The future wireless communications systems should be able to offer wide variety of applications, which have vastly different quality of service (QoS) requirements. The time-variable QoS may require the support of variable bit rates on the wireless links to the individual users. Multi-rate DS/CDMA is a promising basis on which to support the variable bit rates on the individual wireless links. Currently, the study on channel estimation and multiuser detection for multi-rate DS/CDMA, which makes full use of the nature of multi-rate signals, is still at its early stage. The thesis deals with the application of subspace-based techniques to blind channel estimation and multiuser detection for multi-rate DS/CDMA, including single-carrier and multicarrier scenarios. For the single-carrier case, space-time blind linear multiuser detection is investigated for synchronous dual-rate systems over the AWGN channel. The performance is evaluated analytically. The multi-rate generalization and the asynchronous extension are discussed. Two-stage space-time dual-rate blind detectors are also presented. Furthermore, blind adaptive channel estimation and detection schemes for asynchronous dual-rate systems over frequency-selective multipath channels are developed. In the context of multicarrier DS/CDMA, based on a finite-length truncation approximation on the band-limited chip waveform, blind timing acquisition and channel estimation scheme is proposed for multi-rate systems. The channel estimation error due to the finite-length chip waveform truncation is analyzed by exploiting a first-order perturbation approximation.


This paper explores the opportunities for a 'just transition' to low carbon and sustainable energy systems; one that addresses the current inequities in the distribution of energy benefits and their human and ecological costs. In order to prioritize policies that address energy poverty alleviation and sustainability concerns, national action and higher levels of international cooperation and coordination are required to steer public policy towards a broader range of public interests. This also implies re-directing the vast sums of private energy finance that currently serve a narrow set of interests. This paper considers how national and global energy governance must adapt and change to ensure a just transition to low carbon and sustainable energy systems. Creating a low carbon and sustainable energy transition will face significant challenges in overcoming opposition from a broad array of interest groups. The challenges of guiding a just transition are amplified by the relinquishing of government control over the energy sector in many countries and the current weak and fragmented state of global energy governance. The necessary changes in energy decision making will entail complex trade-offs and rebound effects that make strong, participatory and transparent institutional arrangements essential in order to govern such challenges equitably. In this respect, procedural justice is critical to achieving distributive justice and to creating a simultaneously rapid, sustainable and equitable transition to clean energy futures.


ABSTRACT The aim is to analyse how policy decisions about assessment practices influence what it means to be a student in a performative system. We examine an occasion where a previously mandatory national test became optional, and how students took the opportunity to try to change the school's decision about this. The study is based on student group interviews in year 6, and uses Conversation Analysis to examine how they use discursive resources to co-construct fabrications of the ideal student. The findings show how neoliberal rhetoric has worked its way into the students' everyday lives, and how they display a deep knowledge about how to use arguments that work inside the system. We argue that there is a need for more knowledge about contemporary education policies from a student perspective.


The prevalence of primary hyperhidrosis (PH) is reported to be as high as 6.1% by different studies. It is a rather prevalent disease in eastern Asia and the Middle East. Treatment of PH is either medical or surgical, but each of these has its own problems. Diverse medical treatments include hygiene protocols (such as absorbent powders, cotton gloves and socks, etc), topical agents such as aluminum salts, systemic anticholinergics, antidepressants, antianxiety agents, iontophoresis, Botox injections, microwave thermolysis, and topical laser. However, these therapeutic options are not sufficiently effective. Moreover, their effects are transient, requiring the repetition of treatment, and accompanied by bothersome side effects that leave patients dissatisfied; ultimately, many patients abandon treatment...


This paper assesses the impact of variable investment-linked deferred annuities (VILDAs) on lifecycle consumption, saving, and portfolio allocation patterns given stochastic and systematic mortality. Insurers have taken two approaches to manage systematic mortality risks, namely self-insurance and risk transfer to purchasers of the annuity products. We demonstrate that self-insurance leads to high loadings, so that households offered a choice would favor the risk transfer scheme. Reservation loadings on the actuarially fair VILDA price for non-participation are 0.5-8%; if insurers cannot hedge within this range, they will transfer systematic longevity risks to the annuitants. Our findings have implications for new payout products that may be attractive to older households seeking to protect against retirement shortfalls.


Some drilling operators have experienced a loss of pressure from drilling riser auxiliary lines during operations. In some instances the loss of pressure has been as a result of auxiliary line seals experiencing excessive wear at the pin-box connection.In the case described within this paper, the failure was investigated and attributed to Vortex Induced Vibration of the main drilling riser. The rigid interface between the main riser and the outer auxiliary lines results in transfer of main drilling riser dynamic curvature motions directly into vertical axial motions at the pin-box connection. In the case considered, a high degree of VIV excitation was experienced through the drilling campaign which resulted in excessive wearing and ultimately failure of the pin-box seal.This paper presents a methodology to compute the auxiliary line axial displacement resulting from the drilling riser displacement and curvature. This methodology provides a means of estimating the relative axial motion of the pin-box connection when the main drilling riser is under VIV lock-in. It will also assist in identifying if excessive seal wear will be a concern during a drilling campaign. In this case it suggested that the limiting condition for the drilling riser was not fatigue of the main drilling riser, but wear of the pin-box seal.As a consequence of this investigation, it is recommended to include checks for excessive relative axial motion in general analysis methodology for deepwater drilling risers. As with VIV fatigue issues, the issue may be mitigated through VIV suppression.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


The investigation of Ni2MnGa ferromagnetic shape memory alloys relies on
accurate and complete phase diagrams for the various phase transitions
these materials exhibit. However, very little work has been performed to
investigate the high temperature order/disorder phase transitions. This
project tries to fill some of the gap in the phase diagram through a systemic
composition based investigation of Ni2-XMn1+XGa (X=-0.2, 0.0, 0.2, 0.8 and
1.0) using high temperature specific heat measurements. The work has
produced a phase diagram in the composition range measured and
demonstrated that the order/disorder transition temperatures and Curie
temperatures follow the predicted trend as seen in similar studies of different
alloy compositions. This work has also characterised the melt temperature of
the five compositions measured.
As part of the investigation of the high temperature phase transitions, a 'High
Temperature Adiabatic Calorimeter" was developed, which was
commissioned using four reference samples (copper, Stainless steel, graphite
and molybdenum). The developed system used a linearly drifting baseline to
improve the speed, accuracy and stability of the system. This modification to
the standard adiabatic calorimeter measurement scheme required extensive
development of the analysis techniques and development of new approaches
(e.g. heating phase analysis and finite element modelling analysis). The
system was demonstrated to operate well between room temperature and
1350 K, producing accurate specific heat data that compared well with the
standard data for the commissioning samples. Due to time constraints this
system was not used for the Ni2MnGa investigation.


We develop a model of neural networks to study the bankruptcy of U.S. banks. We provide a new model to predict bank defaults some time before the bankruptcy occurs, taking into account the specific features of the current financial crisis. Based on data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, our results corroborate that distressed banks undertook higher credit risks and were more heavily concentrated on real estate. Interestingly, the distressed banks do not show lower cost efficiency than their wealthy counterparts, suggesting that bank failures are a consequence of careless bank strategies rather than low cost efficiency. After drawing the profile of distressed banks, we use our model to predict future bankruptcies and test the performance of the model by comparing our predictions with the actual bankruptcies between January-June 2010. Our model shows a high discriminant power and is able to differentiate correctly wealthy and distressed banks. Specifically, our model would have been able to predict in December 2009 around 60% of failures that occurred in the first six months of 2010.


Recently, a new paradigm in wireless power transfer based on cavity mode resonance has experimentally shown the ability to efficiently deliver power to multiple receivers over large 3D volumes of an enclosed metallic cavity. However, existing analytical models based on coupled mode theory and finite element simulation tools are complicated to use, relatively slow to converge, and fail to give researchers and system designers the intuition to optimize wireless power transfer performance. In this work a general circuit model for the cavity resonant wireless power system is introduced and validated against simulated and measured results. Results show an average agreement between the circuit model and measured transfer efficiency are within +/−5%. Thus, cavity mode enabled wireless power transfer can be analyzed with an equivalent circuit model allowing for fast design iteration and a better understanding of how to optimize system performance. We used the circuit model developed herein to design a simple impedance matching network for 52 LED receivers and transferred power wirelessly to all of them simultaneously with approximately 30% efficiency, by combining two cavity modes, TE011 and TE012. However, under optimal load condition, which requires more complicated matching circuit, a minimum efficiency of 50% can easily be achieved at the same positions, we instead here we focused on a simple and fast design solution.


High silica CHA zeolite plays an important role in selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 (NH3-SCR), but its synthesis is not highly efficient due to the use of a relatively high-cost structural directing agent (SDA) N,N,N-trimethyl-adamantammonium hydroxide (TMAdaOH) and relatively long crystallization time under hydrothermal conditions. Herein, we report an efficient and rapid synthesis of a high silica CHA zeolite possessing good crystallinity and uniform crystals (CHA-ST). The method includes interzeolite transformation of high silica FAU zeolite in the absence of water but the presence of zeolite seeds and a bromide form of the SDA. The absence of water in the synthesis significantly improves the zeolite yield by avoiding dissolution of aluminosilicate species in aqueous media, while the addition of zeolite seeds remarkably enhances the crystallization rate under solvent-free conditions. In addition, this route allows the use of a low-cost bromide form of the SDA. Catalytic tests in the NH3-SCR show that copper-exchanged CHA-ST (Cu-CHA-ST) exhibits comparable catalytic properties to those of Cu-SSZ-13 obtained from the conventional hydrothermal route.