Demand for autonomous multi-robot systems, where robots can cooperate with each other without human intervention, is set to grow rapidly in the next decade. Today, technologies such as self-driving cars and fleets of robotic assistants in hospitals and warehouses are being developed and used. In the future, robot swarms could be deployed in retrieval, reconnaissance and construction missions. Distributed collective systems have desirable properties, such as low cost of individual robots, robustness, fault tolerance and scalability. One of the main challenges in swarm robotics is that "bottom-up" approach to behaviour design is required. While the swarm performance is specified on the collective level of the swarm, robot designers need to program control algorithms of individual robots, while taking into account complex robot-robot interactions that allow emergence of collective intelligence. In order to be able to develop such systems, we need a methodology that aligns bottom-up design decisions with top-down design specifications. In this thesis, a novel approach to understanding and designing robot swarms that perform foraging and task allocation is proposed. Based on thousands of different simulation experiments, the Information-Cost-Reward framework is formulated, that relates the way in which a swarm obtains and uses information, to its ability to use that information in order to obtain reward efficiently. Secondly, based on the information-based understanding of swarm performance, design patterns for robot swarms are formalised. The design patterns are modular aspects of robot behaviour that define when and how information should be obtained, exchanged or updated by robots, given particular swarm mission characteristics. Multiple design patterns can be unambiguously combined together in order to create a suitable robot control strategy. The design patterns specify robot behaviour in a newly developed Behaviour-Data Relations Modeling Language, where relationships between robot behaviour and data stored in and outside of robots are explicitly defined. This allows the design patterns to define behaviour of robots that cooperate and share information.


College faculty members face increased pressure to incorporate technology into their teaching approach. However, without the support of comprehensive professional development, it is unlikely that they will adopt effective practices that enhance student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a behavioural coaching intervention comprised of goal setting, performance feedback, modeling, instructions, and rehearsal on faculty adoption of technology-enhanced teaching practices. A small group of college faculty members (n= 6) participated in weekly coaching sessions for the duration of one academic semester. A changing criterion design was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention. Results suggest that the intervention was successful. All participants adopted new technology-enhanced teaching practices over the course of the intervention. In addition, participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention and significant changes in knowledge related to incorporating technology-enhanced teaching practices within their classroom. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.


A hand-held mine detector has two modes of operation: search and localization. In search mode, the goal is to identify areas where a buried mine might be located. Since minimizing the number of misses is a top priority, many regions identified in this mode may contain clutter. To separate the clutter from the mines, the detector can be switched into the localization mode during which a more thorough interrogation of the region is performed. Because causality is not required in localization mode, the analyzed signal is not limited to a single data point, but instead can consist of the response across an entire spatial "region". Previous work has demonstrated that so called "region processing" can potentially improve the localization performance of the detector. We have used the Minelab F1A4 metal detector, an EMI-based system, to collect regional data for a variety of objects including buried mines, metallic and non-metallic clutter, and short-circuited copper loops in free space. Several physics-based processing algorithms were developed and used to predict discrimination performance. Analysis of the loops, whose physical properties were known, indicated that discrimination between objects might be possible using a feature extracted from the detector output. Subsequently, this feature was used as the basis of an algorithm which, when used to process the mine/clutter data, significantly decreased the false alarm rate. This algorithm and its performance were further enhanced by incorporating information about the entire regional response of each object.


We present the results of the search for gravitational waves (GWs) associated with γ-ray bursts detected during the first observing run of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). We find no evidence of a GW signal for any of the 41 γ-ray bursts for which LIGO data are available with sufficient duration. For all γ-ray bursts, we place lower bounds on the distance to the source using the optimistic assumption that GWs with an energy of M c 10 2 2  were emitted within the 16–500 Hz band, and we find a median 90% confidence limit of 71 Mpc at 150 Hz. For the subset of 19 short/hard γ-ray bursts, we place lower bounds on distance with a median 90% confidence limit of 90 Mpc for binary neutron star (BNS) coalescences, and 150and 139 Mpc for neutron star–black hole coalescences with spins aligned to the orbital angular momentum and in a generic configuration, respectively. These are the highest distance limits ever achieved by GW searches. We also discuss in detail the results of the search for GWs associated with GRB 150906B, an event that was localized by the InterPlanetary Network near the local galaxy NGC 3313, which is at a luminosity distance of 54 Mpc (z=0.0124). Assuming the γ-ray emission is beamed with a jet half-opening angle 30  , we exclude a BNS and a neutron star–black hole in NGC3313 as the progenitor of this event with confidence >99%. Further, we exclude such progenitors up to a distance of 102 Mpc and 170 Mpc, respectively.


The purpose of this study was to explore how allopathic and Complementary and Alternative Medicine CAM) clinicians address health literacy in their practices. The research questions guiding this study were 1.) How do clinicians convey complex health information to their patients? 2.) Do clinicians believe health literacy is the responsibility of the health care provider, the patient, or the health care system? 3.) Do allopathic and CAM clinicians think differently about where the responsibility rests? The research regarding the impact of low health literacy in the U.S. is prolific but the literature is less rich regarding what clinicians are doing to improve the literacy levels of their patients in their practices. The Institute of Medicine's Health Literacy model provided the underlying conceptual framework for this study. The data collection procedure was two focus group interviews of health care providers, one group of allopathic providers and the other group (CAM) providers. The results indicated that all clinicians used an educational strategy during their patient visits with the intent to improve their patients' health literacy. Common themes regarding the way clinicians present health information were identified based on discussions and comments during the focus groups. These themes are direct questioning, health contexts, trust development, educational materials, and analogies. The practice implications for this study include a) consider incorporating simple health literacy screening or measurement practices during every patient contact, b) openly support public health efforts to increase awareness of the prevalence and depth of limited health literacy at state and local levels c) conduct health literacy lectures in both professional and public forums to help decrease the roadblock of shame for individuals with limited literacy. The research implications of this study include a need for further research determining what clinicians and health care organizations are doing to embrace a health literacy agenda among private practitioners and the health care system. Further research exploring practical and effective ways to measure health literacy could improve clinician strategies to promote health literacy, numeracy, and language skills necessary for patients to become empowered as they navigate the health care system.


In research practice, it is possible to
observe natural selection at work by analysing fertility and mortality. Crow's
index takes into account both of these vital statistics components and allows a
quantitative estimation of the
operation of natural selection on the basis of demographic birth and death
figures. In this study, we use the classical Crow's index to determine whether
the disintegration of the Slovincian population in the second half of the 20th century was
caused by factors of a biological nature, finally leading to disturbances in
the reproductive strategy, or whether it was a result of the impact of many
factors of a cultural nature. Use
was made of measuring cards for 109 women and 38 men. The sample was divided
into two generations: 1st generation, or individuals born up to the year 1900,
and 2nd generation—those born after1900. Inthis material the
opportunity for the operation of natural selection due to differential
mortality and differential fertility was rather weak. Both generations of
Slovincians were characterized by high fertility, suggesting their
non-Malthusian type of reproductive strategy, and decreasing mortality of
sexually immatures over time.It seems, therefore, that the loss of ethnic
identity by Slovincians and their migration from the home territories was
influenced by several factors of a cultural nature rather than their biological
distinctness.


Manufacturing industries rely on automated manufacturing systems to improve the efficiency, quality and flexibility of production. Such systems typically consist of a variety of manufacturing machinery and control hardware, e.g. CNC machine tools, robots, PCs, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) etc., which operate concurrently. The cost of developing and implementing an automated manufacturing system is high, and is particularly so if the control system is found to be unreliable or unsafe during operation. Distributed Control Systems are generally used to control complex concurrent systems,At present the methods used to develop DCSs tend to follow a sequence of steps, viz. a statement of the requirements of the DCS, a functional specification of the DCS, the design of the DCS, generation of the software code for the DCS, implementation of the software. This step approach is inadequate because of the dissimilarity of techniques used to represent each step, which leads to difficulties in ensuring equivalence between the final implementation of the DCS and the initial requirements, which in turn leads to errors in the final software. To overcome this, work has been conducted to unify the specification, design, and software coding phases of the DCS development procedure by ensuring formal equivalencies between them. One particular outcome of such previous work is a tool named Petri Net - Occam Methodology, developed by Dr. P. Gray, which produces dependable Occam code for DCSs. Gray's methodology produces readable designs, directly from the specification of systems, in a graphical but formal way, and results in a Petri Net graph which is equivalent to the final Occam code. However, his methodology is not for a complete DCS but only for one containing Transputers.The PLC is widely used in industry and an integral part of DCSs for Automated Manufacture. This research has developed a methodology, named PNPLC, which produces dependable PLC control programs, in a graphical but formal way, directly from a system's specification. It uses the same tool, Petri Nets, for both designing and simulating the control system, and specifies rules which ensure the correct design, simulation and encoding of PLC programs. The PN designs are a one-to-one equivalent to PLC code and can be directly translated into Ladder Diagrams. Therefore if the simulation shows the design to be correct, the final software will be correct.PNPLC works as a stand alone tool for developing dependable PLC control programs, and also unifies with Gray's methodology to produce a complete tool for developing a resilient DCS containing Transputers and PLCs. The unification of the two methodologies is also reported in this thesis.The research work presented in this thesis contributes to knowledge in the field of DCS development. Recommendations for further work regarding the applicability of the unified methodology on a wide scale industrial basis are also given.


Reduced adrenergic receptors either postsynaptically in vivo or on the cell surface of cultured cells is one result of chronic treatment with antidepressants. Bürgi et al. determined that chronic treatment of cultured rat C6 glioblastoma cells with desipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant, inhibits the reappearance of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged β1-adrenergic receptors (GFP-β1AR). Several preliminary studies were performed to show that the GFP tag did not interfere with ligand binding, with G protein coupling, or with receptor internalization or recycling in cells not exposed to desipramine. The GFP-β1AR did not accumulate in lysosomes after desipramine exposure; instead, the protein accumulated in a recycling compartment that colocalized with internalized transferrin receptors. Transferrin receptor recycling to the plasma membrane was not impaired by desipramine treatment. Thus, tricyclic antidepressants may decrease β1AR surface expression by altering receptor trafficking, instead of by prolonging agonist stimulation. S. Bürgi, K. Baltensperger, Y. E. Honegger, Antidepressant-induced switch of β1-adrenoceptor trafficking as a mechanism for drug action. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 1044-1052 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


From the early seventies on, we were in fact living the transition from a Dutch canonical theatre tradition (hierarchical structured companies, dominance of traditional textual repertoire, connections with changing society were few) towards an international performing arts practice (more or less emancipated, more and more diverse, dominance of traditional theatre ensembles is gone, emerging importance of collectives, changing training programs for actors and performers, reflective studying). We would like to share our experiences with the public of the conference in a duo-presentation. We will be on stage together and we will interview each other about our track through recent Dutch and Flemish theatre history as far as the above mentioned transition is concerned.  We have in mind to explain some dots on a timeline. It will be a track, our track in fact, that is well known and generally accepted as an established part of recent Dutch history. We will interview each other on the basis of a few marking points, we both experienced as game changing in the direction of a more open, a more equivalent, performing arts field.


Current diversity is the result of macroevolutionary processes of origination and extinction of lineages through time. Here we make use of a fossil-calibrated molecular-clock phylogeny of modern squirrel genera to estimate both rates of 'birth' and 'death', and the net rate of accumulation of lineages since the origin of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) 36 Ma. As a family, the Sciuridae have exhibited modest rates of diversification in comparison with other mammalian clades. Within the Sciuridae, lineages of squirrels have accumulated at higher rates in geographically localized subclades in the tropics of different continents. The rate is strikingly high in the Sciurini of South America, which first entered and radiated within that continent comparatively recently (less than 3 Ma). It is noteworthy that the most rapidly diversifying groups are also relatively young. Because extinctions lag behind originations, the effects of extinction are not yet detectable in relatively recent radiations. The balance of origination and extinction is fragile, and is likely to become more so if increases in extinction due to habitat destruction, climate change and other human activity are not mitigated.


Abstract : Entrepreneurship is viewed as modern issue in education. There are many positive values can be taken to improve the educational organization, as self belief, high ethos, creative, innovative, etc. the first step in educational entrepreneur ship management is an effort planning. To develop the educational institution, educational leader must define a good program. Based on the program, he can organize, coordinate or control the organization. Keywords : educational organization, entrepreneurship


Objective To characterize lesion evolution and neurodegeneration in retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukoencephalopathy and systemic manifestations (RVCL-S) using multimodal MRI. Methods We prospectively performed MRI and cognitive testing in RVCL-S and healthy control cohorts. Gray and white matter volume and disruption of white matter microstructure were quantified. Asymmetric spin echo acquisition permitted voxel-wise oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) calculation as an in vivo marker of microvascular ischemia. The RVCL-S cohort was included in a longitudinal analysis of lesion subtypes in which hyperintense lesions on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), T1-postgadolinium, and diffusion-weighted imaging were delineated and quantified volumetrically. Results Twenty individuals with RVCL-S and 26 controls were enrolled. White matter volume and microstructure declined faster in those with RVCL–S compared to controls. White matter atrophy in RVCL-S was highly linear (ρ = −0.908, p < 0.0001). Normalized OEF was elevated in RVCL-S and increased with disease duration. Multiple cognitive domains, specifically those measuring working memory and processing speed, were impaired in RVCL-S. Lesion volumes, regardless of subtype, progressed/regressed with high variability as a function of age, while FLAIR lesion burden increased near time to death (p < 0.001). Conclusion RVCL-S is a monogenic microvasculopathy affecting predominantly the white matter with regard to atrophy and cognitive impairment. White matter volumes in RVCL-S declined linearly, providing a potential metric against which to test the efficacy of future therapies. Progressive elevation of white matter OEF suggests that microvascular ischemia may underlie neurodegeneration in RVCL-S.


Study Design. Retrospective cohort study. Objective. To examine the diagnostic value of prevertebral soft-tissue swelling in the setting of cervical spine trauma. Summary of Background Data. In adult patients with trauma, an increase in the thickness of the retropharyngeal soft tissues is commonly used as a potential indicator of occult injury, but no studies have examined this parameter using computed tomography (CT) as a screening modality. Methods. A total of 541 patients with trauma with injuries at any level of the spine underwent CT. Patients with cervical injury were divided into those requiring noninvasive (observation or cervical collar, n = 142) management, and those requiring invasive (surgery or halo, n = 61) treatment. A control group of patients with isolated thoracic or lumbar injuries was used for comparison (n = 542). Retropharyngeal soft tissues were measured at the cranial and caudal endplates of all cervical levels on sagittal and axial CT. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for +1, +2, and +3 standard deviations from mean values. Results. Sensitivity for detection of injury was found to be universally poor for all measurement groups. This ranged from 14.4% to 21.2% at +1 SD to 5.3% to 8.7% at +2 SD. Positive and negative predictive values for injury were also universally poor, ranging from 38% to 75%. Soft-tissue swelling as a sentinel sign of cervical spine injury demonstrates consistently high specificity and low sensitivity, precisely the opposite of what would be desired in a screening test. This study shows at best a sensitivity of 21.6% when using this parameter for the detection of these injuries in adult patients with trauma. Conclusion. On the basis of the results of this study, we recommend against the routine use of measurement of the prevertebral soft tissues on CT as a screening tool for cervical spine injury in adult patients with trauma. Level of Evidence: 3


Mouse salivary androgen-binding protein (ABP) is a member of the newly erected secretoglobin family, no member of which has yet been assigned an indisputable function. We have suggested a role for ABP in mate selection behaviour and sexual isolation. Although this has been a particularly attractive hypothesis given the evidence for strong positive selection on its alpha subunit gene, Abpa, we have held out the possibility that there might be an as-yet-undiscovered primary function for ABP. This is particularly important in light of its membership in the secretoglobin family, and we are pursuing the broader issue of shared functions of the secretoglobins with genomic and bioinformatic studies. Here we present as complete a comparison as possible of the secretoglobins in the genomes of three species of mammals: mouse, rat and human, and we compare the protein sequences and their potential evolutionary relationships. We suggest that the secretoglobins can be divided into at least five families. In rodent and human genomes, these gene families are found in two main clusters that are syntenic between rat and mouse. Humans have only the three families that are found within the uteroglobin/clara cluster, because no ABP-containing secretoglobin cluster has yet been identified.


The experiment was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of Lernaea cyprinacea and its effects on growth, hematology and skin histopathology of Catla catla in four experimental earthen ponds (P1, P2, P3 and P4) for 90 days. The growth performance, prevalence of Lernaea cyprinacea and ulceration was recorded on a fortnightly basis. The highest final body weight was observed in P4 (413.7 g) followed by P2 (378.7 g) and P1 (359.8 g) compared to P3 (357.8 g). Increase of Lernaea cyprinacea infection in the first half of the study was from 20.51% - 36.25% in P1, 17.75% -25.25% in P2, 6.5% - 10% in P3 and 14.75% - 13.1% in P4. Ulceration percentage in fish was significantly higher during August and September than May to July. Histopathological studies of skin showed a huge difference between healthy and infected fish skin. Hematological parameters such as hemoglobin (Hb), total erythrocytes count (TEC), total leukocyte counts (TLC) and packed cell volume (PCV%) of non-infected fish exhibited significantly higher values than that of infected fish. Other parameters like erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR), neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, basophils, monocytes and thrombocytes of infected fish showed significantly higher values than those of non-infected fish. In conclusion the exposure to parasites illustrated significant decrease in the Hb, TEC, TLC and PCV% and increase in ESR and other blood cells concentration showed significant severity of parasitic infection.


The theoretically proposed add-drop multiplexer based on antisymmetric grating coupling is realised using an all-fiber geometry. Conventional grating assisted couplers are shown to exhibit two high-reflection bands, whereas antisymmetric grating couplers have a single reflection band. The latter feature improves the filter characteristics substantially.


One of the biggest challenges facing the criminal justice system is dealing with the growing tide of post-conviction petitions claiming wrongful conviction. Each year, the number of exonerees grows. In 2014, an unprecedented 125 exonerations were recorded in the United States. In analyzing how post-conviction matters are handled, it becomes apparent that one of the key roadblocks to remedying these injustices is not, as some have suggested, the attitude of young prosecutors. Rather, senior prosecutors also suffer from a type of "Cynical Prosecutors' Syndrome" that impairs their ability to play a constructive role in the exoneration process. This article discusses the role of prosecutors in the post-conviction process, analyzes current studies of prosecutorial attitudes, and proposes reforms to ensure that meritorious post-conviction challenges are handled properly.


Novel patterns of iron filings (Ditchev's rings) that seem to defy any classical explanation have been reported earlier. These patterns appear when magnetic powder is floated on a liquid surface above a magnet pole. The author presents more detailed observations that reveal the presence of new open ring and lattice structures. The author then considers the subtle balance between magnetic and surface tension interactions to explain all the observed effects classically. The close packed lattice structures have been modelled by considering the forces on separated magnetic particles in a divergent external field, whilst the ring behaviour has been associated with the formation of short radial filaments under magnetic attraction. When lying in dipped fields these microfilaments crucially generate capillary dipoles, and it is the interaction of these that is thought to produce both open and Ditchev's ring structures.


Essentials of Comparative Politics introduces students to the concepts that political scientists use to study and compare political systems and the particulars of specific political systems. The text is available with a corresponding casebook of 14 country studies and a reader the three components can be used individually or in any combination. The Third Edition has been revised and updated to include the most current and relevant examples; it includes a robust suite of emedia resources for students and instructors. TheComparative Politics package provides maximum value to students the textbook/casebook/reader package is priced comparably to most standalone country studies textbooks. "


This study empirically investigates the effect of trade liberalization on tax structure in Pakistan. Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach has been used for examining the cointegration among the variables of the model and Vector Error-Correction method is used for short-run dynamics of the variables. The empirical results show that trade liberalization and trade tax revenue have a negative impact on tax structure in both short and long run. While other control variables, such as budget deficit and external debt servicing is negatively associated with tax structure. The size of the underground economy is used as a proxy for administration capacity, the level of corruption and tax evasion. The empirical results show that the underground economy has also significant negative impact on tax structure. While, real per capita growth, the urban share of population and political stability has a positive impact on tax structure.


The Nabwal Hills, northeast of Lake Turkana, contain a record of magmatism associated with the initiation and early development of the East African Rift System in northernmost Kenya. The predominantly volcanic Asille Group, 1400 m thick, directly overlies metamorphic basement and comprises a sequence of basaltic lava flows with significant intervals of rhyolitic pyroclastic units, and minor intercalations of fluviatile sediments. The basement gneisses yield K–Ar cooling ages on biotite of 510 and 522 Ma, typically Pan-African. The 40Ar–39Ar ages on alkali feldspar crystals from the rhyolitic units are concordant and show that the Asille Group spans an interval from at least 34.3 to 15.8 Ma, continuing to at least as young as 13 Ma based on previous measurements. Vertebrate fossil sites, containing primate remains, at Irile and Nabwal are shown to be 17 ± 2 Ma old, Early Miocene, based upon K–Ar age measurements on immediately overlying basalts. Variably reliable whole rock K–Ar ages, determined on basalt samples from low in the sequence, indicate that volcanism commenced as early as 34.8 Ma ago. The overall geochronological results show that magmatism in the Nabwal Hills began about 35 Ma ago in Late Eocene times, interpreted as the time of initiation of crustal extension that led to the development of this segment of the East African Rift System. The Asille Group is tilted about 6° to the SSW. This tilting occurred later than 13 Ma ago, and prior to the eruption of the flat-lying Gombe Group basalts. These basalts may have begun erupting about 6 Ma ago in Late Miocene times, although much of this volcanism occurred between about 3.9 and 4.2 Ma ago in Pliocene times. It is suggested that the main rifting, which continues today, commenced in Late Miocene times, less than 13 Ma ago, and is partly reflected in the tilting of the Asille Group.


Soil erosion is one of the major environmental problems in open-cut mines in tropical regions. It causes negative impacts including the removal of nutrient-rich topsoil, destroys aquatic habitat, dam and pond siltation, clogs river by deposition of sediment, and causes water pollution in the rehabilitation process. Soil texture is an important factor to affect soil erosion. In this study, artificial rainfall experiment in the laboratory scale was conducted to clarify the mechanism of soil erosion under the different soil composition and to discuss the methods for minimizing soil erosion. The obtained results showed that the soil seal generated due to the presence of fine particle under high rainfall intensity is the main contributor to accelerate the soil erosion. Additionally, the surface coverage by the cover crops is the most effective measure to reduce soil erosion because both the coarse and fine contents runoff can be minimized while arranging of the slope angle is effective for reducing the runoff of coarse contents and the soil compaction is effective to reduce that of fine contents. Soil erosion can be minimized by selecting prevention method considering the type of soil because the prevention effect on soil erosion is different depending on the type of soil.


The research was conducted on students studying at a public university. The entrepreneurial tendencies of the students in the survey were examined in terms of demographic variables. The data used in the research were obtained by questionnaire method. The data obtained with the participation of 2299 students were subjected to t-test, ANOVA and frequency analyzes with SPSS 18.0 statistical program. As a result of the analysis; significant relationships were found between educational status, age, gender, and entrepreneurial tendencies. It was found that there was a significant difference between educational status and entrepreneurial tendencies that entrepreneurial tendencies of associate and graduate students were higher than others. It was found that there was a significant difference between the age of students and entrepreneurship trends that entrepreneurial tendencies of those aged between 20-24 years were found to be higher than those of the other age groups. Moreover, there is a significant difference between students' genders and entrepreneurial tendencies that men's entrepreneurial tendencies are higher than women's entrepreneurial tendencies. There was no significant relationship between the income status of the demographic variables and the class of the student and entrepreneurial tendencies.


In this thesis, I investigated plant-soil interactions of range-expanding plant species. Range-expanding plant species are increasingly present in the Netherlands as a result of climate warming. Similarly to exotic plant species, the arrival of range-expanding plants may alter the composition of microbial communities in the soil, nutrient availability and important ecosystem functions such as decomposition. I show that differences in plant and soil chemistry of range-expanding plants and related natives were linked to plant species identity rather than origin. I found that range-expanding plant species recruited similar bacterial rhizosphere communities as native species when both species are grown in the same soil, and that all communities were functionally similar. However, communities in soils of range-expanding plant species in the field may be different from communities in the soils of native species. Furthermore, I show that in some specific cases range-expanding plant species may benefit from high nutrient availability in the soil and positive plant soil feedbacks from the decomposition of their own litter. Finally, in a mesocosm outdoor experiment I show that plant-soil interactions of range-expanding plants may differ most from natives under climate extreme events such as drought. Overall, the results of my thesis suggest a limited role of plant origin and specialist decomposer communities on indirect plant-soil interactions of range-expanding plant species. While it seems unlikely that range-expanding plant species may alter soil communities and their functioning when compared to congeneric natives species, local effects in the field may need to be quantified.


Since the early 1990s an unprecedented process of consolidation has taken place in the banking sector in most industrialised countries raising concern of policymakers that it may reduce access to credit for the small business sector. While most of the existing empirical studies have focused on the U.S., this paper is the first one empirically investigating the effects of banking consolidation in Germany. As small and medium sized German companies traditionally almost exclusively rely on bank credit and as they represent the vast majority of the corporate sector reduced credit availability for those companies could particularly endanger economic growth. Based on an exceptional panel dataset comprising merged data of the German credit register and balance sheet data of German firms and banks we find - contrary to public fear - that the ongoing banking consolidation in Germany does not have a significant negative impact on the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). We measure the financing opportunities of SMEs based on the bank debt/assets ratio and the logarithmized credit size and control both explicitly for bank mergers and for the increase in the average bank size in the course of the consolidation process. In addition, we observe that the concentration in the banking market is insignificant for SME financing and that there is no significant difference between commercial banks, savings banks and private banks.


While issues of social sphere efficiency are given priority today, attention is also drawn to assessment of its key performance indicators. Sociological research results regarding aspects of health care activities are discussed. There is a wide range of issues related to population health and its level of satisfaction with health care institutions performance, the problem of quality and availability of medical services invokes great interest. Prior to that conclusion, a comparative analysis of the results of the population questionnaires and interviews with the representatives of the leadership and experts in the sphere of health care was conducted. Such analysis enabled to reveal similar and distinctive features in population and experts' assessments of the public health state and health care institutions functioning problems.


Warranty law is an important supplement to tort law principles governing liability for defective products. Warranties arise from promises or assertions associated with either the sale of a product or some other transfer of a product for value. Such promises or assertions about a product may be express, made in the form of the seller's statements about the qualities or attributes of the product, or they may simply be implied as a matter of policy. Although warranty law is generally regarded as part of the body of contract law, the origins of warranty lie in tort. Important developments in contract law form a critical part of the developmental history of products liability law. Once tort law rejected privity as a limitation on the negligence law duty to foreseeable victims of personal or property injuries resulting from defective products, contract law incorporated the idea of warranties implied as a matter of law to make product manufacturers strictly liable for harms caused by defective products. This led ultimately to the recognition that the manufacturer's strict liability was not based on an agreement between the manufacturer and the plaintiff but imposed instead by law for reasons of policy. [T]he liability is not one governed by law of contract but by the law of strict liability in tort. Warranty law as it relates to the sale of products evolved as a matter of common law and then was eventually codified. In Minnesota, warranty law is expressed in chapter 336 of the Minnesota Statues, Minnesota's version of the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.), and in judicial interpretations of that statute, particularly Article 2 governing the sale of goods. Additional important sources of warranty law in Minnesota include state statutes designed to protect consumers against certain deceptive and unfair trade practices and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. There is substantial similarity between Minnesota warranty law under the U.C.C. and products liability in tort, but there are also important differences.


Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are frequently found in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Various EGFR mutations respond differently to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and several TKIs have been approved for use on common mutations but none have been approved for EGFR exon 20 insertions, indicating a need for targeted therapy for this subpopulation. A systematic literature review (SLR) and meta-analysis were conducted to synthesize epidemiological and outcome data for the uncommon EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation. Methods: An SLR was performed on August 7, 2018 following the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, using the Population, Intervention Comparators, Outcomes and Study Design (PICOS) criteria. Studies were identified based on a systematic search using key biomedical literature databases: EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane. Relevant congress abstracts published between 2015–2018 were also identified. Two independent reviewers screened all citations and full-text articles using PICOS-based criteria; any discrepancies were resolved by a third independent reviewer. Data were extracted into a predefined template for meta-analysis and summarized using the PRISMA flow diagram. Results: A total of 61 studies reporting the number of EGFR mutation−positive patients and/or NSCLC patients were identified. A meta-analysis found that 3.7% of EGFR mutation−positive patients and 0.8% of NSCLC patients harbored the EGFR exon 20 insertion, with geographic variations in epidemiology. There were 12, 10, and 12 studies, respectively, that reported overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall response rates in 2 cohorts, patients with EGFR exon 20 insertions and patients without EGFR exon 20 mutations. A Most patient populations in these studies included a mixture of treatment at various lines. A meta-analysis of outcomes across these studies showed that patients with EGFR exon 20 insertions experienced worse outcomes compared with those without the mutation (Table 1). Meta-analyses were weighted based on each study's relevant population. No economic or quality of life studies were identified. Conclusions: Exon 20 insertion mutations represent an important subgroup of EGFR mutations in patients with NSCLC, and current therapies have limited efficacy. These relatively poor outcomes indicate a need for novel treatment strategies.


Little is known about the individual factors that predict outcomes in Internet-administered psychological treatments. We hypothesized that greater cognitive flexibility (i.e. the ability to simultaneously consider several concepts and tasks and switch effortlessly between them in response to changes in environmental contingencies) would provide a better foundation for learning and employing the cognitive restructuring techniques taught and exercised in therapy, leading to greater treatment gains. Participants in three trials featuring Internet-administered psychological treatments for depression (n = 36), social anxiety disorder (n = 115) and tinnitus (n = 53) completed the 64-card Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) prior to treatment. We found no significant associations between perseverative errors on the WCST and treatment gains in any group. We also found low accuracy in the classification of treatment responders. We conclude that lower cognitive flexibility, as captured by perseverative errors on the WCST, should not impede successful outcomes in Internet-delivered psychological treatments.


As the first step, the 3D measurement is important for the Rapid Prototyping manufacture. There are many types of measurement being used, however, many qualifications also exist for using these methods. This paper proposed a method of 3D measurement based on image sequence. It only used a common digital camera as a utility. A set of coded targets designed by ourselves are putted with some circle labels on the object and some photos with different angles are taken using the camera. So the 3D information of the coded targets and circle points are gotten using the methods of image processing, pattern recognition and computer vision. Based on this, taking another images after removing the targets, a lot of match points can be taken from the gray level images. Using the circle points as the reference points, the coordinate systems are fused, so the "point cloud" is gotten and we can use it for the subsequent steps. This method is convenience, shortcut and worse demand for the measuring conditions. The results from simulate and real experiments shown that it is reliable and practicable.


Who governs international trade law regimes? Although this question has attracted much research for global regulatory regimes, very little is known about international trade law organizations which function as global legislatures. This paper focuses on hitherto invisible attributes of the inner core of global legislators - the state and non-state delegations and delegations that create global norms for private international trade law through the most prominent global trade legislature, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Based on ten years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and unique data on delegation attendance and participation in UNCITRAL's Working Group on Insolvency, the paper positions the empirical question of delegation attributes within broader theories of global norm-making and specifies these with respect to several hypotheses. The data show that the inner core of global trade lawmakers at UNCITRAL represents a tiny and unrepresentative subset of state and non-state actors. This disjunction between UNCITRAL's public face, which accords with a global norm of democratic governance, and its private face, where dominant states and private interests prevail, creates potential problems of legitimacy for UNCITRAL and the probable adoption and implementation of its trade law products.


Glyphosate is a non-selective, broad-spectrum herbicide that kills plants by inhibiting the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), which is necessary for synthesis of aromatic amino acids. A secondary mode of action involves infection of roots of glyphosate-susceptible plants by soil-borne micro-organisms due to decreased production of plant protection compounds known as phytoalexins. Varieties of several crops, including glyphosate-resistant (GR) or Roundup Ready soybean, are genetically modified to resist the herbicidal effects of glyphosate and provide farmers with an effective weed-management tool. After glyphosate is applied to GR soybean, glyphosate that is not bound to glyphosate-resistant EPSPS is translocated throughout the plant and accumulates primarily in meristematic tissues. We previously reported that fungal colonization of GR soybean roots increased significantly after application of glyphosate but not after conventional postemergence herbicides. Because glyphosate may be released into soil from GR roots, we characterized the response of rhizosphere fungi and bacteria to root exudates from GR and non-GR (Williams 82; W82) cultivars treated with and without glyphosate at field application rates. Using an immunoassay technique, glyphosate at concentrations >1000 ng plant-1 were detected in exudates of hydroponically grown GR soybean at 16 days post-glyphosate application. Glyphosate also increased carbohydrate and amino acid contents in root exudates in both soybean cultivars. However, GR soybean released higher carbohydrate and amino acid contents in root exudates than W82 soybean without glyphosate treatment. In vitro bioassays showed that glyphosate in the exudates stimulated growth of selected rhizosphere fungi, possibly by providing a selective C and N source combined with the high levels of soluble carbohydrates and amino acids associated with glyphosate treatment of the soybean plants. Increased fungal populations that develop under glyphosate treatment of GR soybean may adversely affect plant growth and biological processes in the soil and rhizosphere.


The tetrapeptide Arg-Leu-Tyr-Glu (RLYE), a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-2 antagonist, has been used previously either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs for treating colorectal cancer in a mouse model. We analyzed the half-life of the peptide and found that due to degradation by aminopeptidases B and N, it had a short half-life of 1.2 h in the serum. Therefore, to increase the stability and potency of the peptide, we designed the modified peptide, N-terminally acetylated RLYE (Ac-RLYE), which had a strongly stabilized half-life of 8.8 h in serum compared with the original parent peptide. The IC 50 value of Ac-RLYE for VEGF-A-induced endothelial cell migration decreased to approximately 37.1 pM from 89.1 pM for the parent peptide. Using a mouse xenograft tumor model, we demonstrated that Ac-RLYE was more potent than RLYE in inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and growth, improving vascular integrity and normalization through enhanced endothelial cell junctions and pericyte coverage of the tumor vasculature, and impeding the infiltration of macrophages into tumor and their polarization to the M2 phenotype. Furthermore, combined treatment of Ac-RLYE and irinotecan exhibited synergistic effects on M1-like macrophage activation and apoptosis and growth inhibition of tumor cells. These findings provide evidence that the N-terminal acetylation augments the therapeutic effect of RLYE in solid tumors via inhibition of tumor angiogenesis, improvement of tumor vessel integrity and normalization, and enhancement of delivery and efficacy of the co-administered chemotherapeutic drugs. Significant statement : The results of this study demonstrate that the N-terminal acetylation of the tetrapeptide RLYE (Ac-RLYE), a novel VEGFR-2 inhibitor, significantly improves its serum stability, anti-angiogenic activity, and vascular normalizing potency, resulting in enhanced therapeutic effect on solid tumors. Furthermore, the combined treatment of Ac-RLYE with the chemotherapeutic drug, irinotecan, synergistically enhanced its anti-tumor efficacy by improving the perfusion and delivery of the drug into the tumors and stimulating the conversion of the tumor-associated macrophages to an immunostimulatory M1-like anti-tumor phenotype. tumor angiogenesis and improved tumor vessel integrity in an animal model. These findings provide evidence that Ac-RLYE is a promising therapeutic drug for solid tumors by targeting tumor vessels.


ABSTRACT We explore the possibility of modifying the classical Gauss free energy functional used in capillarity theory by considering surface tension energies of nonlocal type. The corresponding variational principles lead to new equilibrium conditions which are compared to the mean curvature equation and Young's law found in classical capillarity theory. As a special case of this family of problems we recover a nonlocal relative isoperimetric problem of geometric interest.


Tax elections are prevalent. They include: elections that determine how certain business entities are classified; elections by individual taxpayers to either claim the standard deduction or itemize deductions; an election that determines the tax treatment of alimony payments; an election by divorced parents to determine which parent claims a child as a dependent; and elections that affect the tax consequences of certain corporate transactions; just to name a few.Tax elections produce unfairness given that sophisticated, well-advised taxpayers will be most able to make favorable elections. Tax law is, by no means, alone in terms of benefiting sophisticated individuals. In many areas of law and of life, people who acquire relevant information and plan ahead of time will fare better than those who do not. However, despite the prevalence of societal advantages for the informed, the existence of such preferences in tax law is especially problematic. Objections to the advantages that are bestowed upon sophisticated individuals by other areas of law are often met with the response that redistribution should be relegated to the tax system. For example, those arguing for rules that facilitate economically efficient outcomes in contractual relationships will often contend that the manner in which the benefit of a contract is divided between the parties need not be addressed by contract law because any desired redistribution should be accomplished through the tax system. Because other areas of law dodge criticisms of bias against unsophisticated individuals in this manner, tax law must be less tolerant of bias against ill-informed, unsophisticated individuals. To further the aim of reducing such bias, this paper discusses how to design tax elections to mitigate the unfairness and other harms that they cause.


Over the last few years, several authors have presented contrasting models to describe the response of boulders to extreme waves, but the absence of direct observation of movements has hindered the evaluation of these models. The recent development of online video-sharing platforms in coastal settings has provided the opportunity to monitor the evolution of rocky coastlines during storm events. In September 2018, a surveillance camera of the Marine Protected Area of Plemmirio recorded the movement of several boulders along the coast of Maddalena Peninsula (Siracusa, Southeastern Sicily) during the landfall of the Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone (Medicane) Zorbas. Unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) photogrammetric and terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) surveys were performed to reconstruct immersive virtual scenarios to geometrically analyze the boulder displacements recorded in the video. Analyses highlighted that the displacements occurred when the boulders were submerged as a result of the impact of multiple small waves rather than due to a single large wave. Comparison between flow velocities obtained by videos and calculated through relationships showed a strong overestimation of the models, suggesting that values of flow density and lift coefficient used in literature are underestimated.


Delving deep into the subjects of philosophy, psychology, and astronomy, this beautifully illustrated and wide-ranging volume offers a chronological approach to understanding how artists of all kinds have dealt with the subject of nighttime. It opens with the early nineteenth century, focusing on the tension between romanticism and enlightenment, idealism and realism, beauty and science. It then goes on to explore the introduction of electricity, the subsequent illumination of urban spaces, and light pollution. Finally, it investigates contemporary images of places that come alive in the darkness - subways, mines, theaters, movie houses, and nightclubs. Filled with the works of renowned painters, photographers, sculptors and filmmakers, this volume is enhanced by a series of insightful essays that help us understand how artists' depictions of nighttime have evolved in tandem with developments in technology, science, and philosophy.


C. ternatea is a wellknown medicinal plant in ayurveda, its common names including blue pea, Cordofan pea, butterfly pea, and Asian pigeonwings, belongs to the family fabaceae. It was originated from tropical Asia and later was distributed widely in South and Central America, East and West Indies, China, India where it has become naturalized. The flowers of C. ternatea have been investigated for its cytotoxicity on cancer-origin cell lines such as hormone-dependent breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), Osteosarcoma cell line (MG-63) and in normal VERO cell line. The anti-proliferation activities of the extracts were demonstrated by employing colorimetric MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay through time periods of 24, 48 and 72 hours. Results of this study showed that the flowers of C. ternatea had significant effects (p<0.05) against MG-63 with an IC50 value of 62.5 μg/ml and with MCF-7 as 31.2 μg/ml.


A regional climate model has been used to study the transport and deposition of sulfur (SO 2 and SO 4 2- ) and PbCl 2 emissions from Indonesian volcanoes. The sensitivity of the atmospheric loss of these trace species to meteorological conditions and their solubility was examined. Two experiments were conducted: 1) volcanic sulfur released as primarily SO 2 and subject to transport, deposition, and oxidation to SO 4 2- ; and 2) PbCl 2 released as an infinitely soluble passive tracer subject to only transport and deposition. The first experiment was used to calculate SO 2 loss rates from each active Indonesian volcano producing an annual mean loss rate for all volcanoes of 1.1×10 -5 s -1 , or an e-folding rate of approximately 1 day. SO 2 loss rate was found to vary seasonally, be poorly correlated with wind speed, and uncorrelated with temperature or relative humidity. The variability of SO 2 loss rates is found to be correlated with the variability of wind speeds, suggesting that it is much more difficult to establish a "typical'' SO 2 loss rate for volcanoes that are exposed to changeable winds. Within an average distance of 70 km away from the active Indonesian volcanoes, 53% of SO 2 loss is due to conversion to SO 4 2- , 42% due to dry deposition, and 5% due to lateral transport away from the dominant direction of plume travel. The solubility of volcanic emissions in water is shown to influence their atmospheric transport and deposition. High concentrations of PbCl 2 are predicted to be deposited near to the volcanoes while volcanic S travels further away until removal from the atmosphere primarily via the wet deposition of H 2 SO 4 . The ratio of the concentration of PbCl 2 to SO 2 is found to exponentially decay at increasing distance from the volcanoes. The more rapid removal of highly soluble species should be considered when observing SO 2 in an aged plume and relating this concentration to other volcanic species. An assumption that the ratio between the concentrations of highly soluble volcanic compounds and SO 2 within a plume is equal to that observed in fumarolic gases is reasonable at small distances from the volcanic vent, but will result in an underestimation of the emission flux of highly soluble species.


Most labour economists today agree on a view of the labour market in which various types of imperfections prevent firms with unfilled vacancies and workers who want a job to meet readily. This dissertation explores several empirical aspects of the behaviour of workers and firms in search for partners to form employment relationships. The first chapter looks at the effect of the interaction between welfare programmes on the search behaviour of the unemployed. It suggests that unemployment insurance recipients, who are also entitled to some kind of social assistance, are less concerned about changes in their unemployment benefits. Empirical evidence from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) shows that the unemployed who are eligible for social assistance programmes leave unemployment at a lower rate than similar individuals who only receive unemployment compensation. The second chapter looks at the characteristics of jobs found through formal and informal methods. Data from the ECHP show that wage premiums and wage penalties to finding jobs through personal contacts are equally frequent and of about the same size. This result is rationalised with a simple model in which firms choose their optimal recruitment strategies. In labour markets where employers invest heavily in formal recruitment, matches created through this channel are of better quality than those created through informal networks. The empirical predictions of the theory are successfully tested using a combination of the ECHP and industry- level data on recruitment costs. The last chapter uses an original sample of British recruits to investigate the role of employers' recruitment strategies on labour turnover. A simple extension of the model presented in the previous chapter shows that firms invest more in recruitment for high-productivity jobs, that this leads to better matches and, consequently, to lower turnover at the top than at the bottom of the jobs' distribution.


Wild Life documents a nuanced understanding of the wild versus captive divide in species conservation. It also documents the emerging understanding that all forms of wild nature — both in situ (on-site) and ex situ (in captivity) — may need to be managed in perpetuity. Providing a unique window into the high-stakes world of nature conservation, Irus Braverman describes the heroic efforts by conservationists to save wild life. Yet in the shadows of such dedication and persistence in saving the life of species, Wild Life also finds sacrifice and death. Such life and death stories outline the modern struggle to define what conservation should look like at a time when the long-established definitions of nature have collapsed.Wild Life begins with the plight of a tiny endangered snail, and ends with the rehabilitation of an entire island. Interwoven between its pages are stories about golden lion tamarins in Brazil, black-footed ferrets in the American Plains, Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia, Tasmanian devils in Australia, and many more creatures both human and nonhuman. Braverman draws on interviews with more than one hundred and twenty conservation biologists, zoologists, zoo professionals, government officials, and wildlife managers to explore the various perspectives on in situ and ex situ conservation and the blurring of the lines between them.


Over the past 30 years, the methanol-to-olefin (MTO) process on acidic zeolites has been subject to a vast number of studies from both industrial and academic researchers, leading to numerous controversies regarding the most probable reaction mechanism. Improvement of computational facilities during the past decade led to a sudden boost of theoretical contributions that, when considered individually, all seemed to provide reasonable evidence for partial pathways of the commonly proposed direct mechanisms. Not only the reactions suggested by experimental studies were investigated, but in addition novel potential routes were discovered by theoreticians as well. However, when all of the individual reactions scattered throughout the literature were recently combined, theoretically obtained rate coefficients turned out to show the exact opposite, that is, the complete failure of the direct mechanisms to produce ethylene from methanol only. In this paper, we give a detailed overview of the theoretical contribut...


Thirteen miners died as a result of 2 explosions in the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 mine near Brookwood AL in September 2001. Both explosions were ignited in intake air entries, and both were probably ignited by electrical equipment. With few exceptions, permissible equipment is not required in intake air entries of US underground coal mines. Researchers with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, studied the electrical equipment ignition sources for the Brookwood and other disasters to develop recommendations for preventing similar disasters. Adherence to National Electrical Codereg requirements for flexible cords installed in hazardous (classified) locations may have prevented the second massive Brookwood explosion. The 30 CFR Part 7 requirements for battery assemblies should be reevaluated, taking into consideration United Mine Workers of America recommendations and the Zone 1 "increased safety" standard requirements for battery assemblies. Class I Division 2 or Zone 2 explosion protection techniques are recommended for intake air equipment so that they do not present a methane- air ignition source under normal operation, before mine power is shut down during emergencies. Battery powered circuits in intake air that are likely to remain energized during emergencies should be protected by more stringent protection techniques, to protect rescue/recovery personnel.


On 28-29 January 2010, senior central bank officials from emerging market economies (EMEs) met at the BIS in Basel to discuss how policymakers had responded to the effects of the international financial crisis on emerging market economies. Although hit hard, most EMEs displayed remarkable resilience. Four aspects were discussed: Capital flows and cross-border lending. Policymakers could do little to counter the sharp declines in the supply of cross-border bank financing and more broadly of capital flows at the height of the crisis. But comparatively strong macroeconomic fundamentals meant the crisis was short-lived, and capital flows recovered. Financial intermediation in EMEs during the crisis: home-owned versus foreign-owned banks. EME banks adjusted to the crisis in ways that stabilised their financial positions: they reduced (already limited) reliance on wholesale markets, curbed new lending, shifted towards less risky loans and increased holdings of government bonds, and shortened the maturity of their assets. While foreign bank affiliates and domestic banks often behaved in similar ways, it was noted that foreign banks: (i) did not always fully appreciate the risk posed by currency mismatches (eg in central and Eastern Europe); (ii) reduced their participation in domestic interbank or credit markets compared to domestic banks; (iii) sometimes provided financing to their parents during a period when funding markets in the advanced countries were experiencing stress. Foreign bank behaviour may have been influenced by the funding model, the financial condition of the parent and the strategic importance of the market. The experience has prompted a reassessment of the relative merits of foreign branches versus subsidiaries. There is now much greater emphasis on the responsibilities of host country supervisors. The impact of the crisis on local money and debt markets. The crisis adversely affected financing in foreign exchange markets (eg the swap market), and to a lesser degree the domestic interbank market. There were significant effects on domestic bond markets in some cases. Central bank instruments in response to the crisis. Central banks responded to the crisis by providing financing in foreign and domestic currencies. An important issue in the provision of foreign currency financing concerned the pros and cons of using foreign reserves as opposed to other sources, notably Federal Reserve swap facilities. The authorities changed their monetary operations or set up special facilities (eg to widen the range of securities purchased and lengthen their maturities) to support local currency funding. Policy rates and (in some cases) reserve requirements were also lowered countercyclically.


This article aims to analyze and elucidate Nietzsche's concept of decadence, which has often been mentioned in Nietzsche studies and thus feels familiar, but in fact has not been thoroughly analyzed. As Nietzsche describes many phenomena in terms of decadence and the extension of the term may be seen as too broad, some would think we cannot construct one picture of decadence from Nietzsche's various descriptions and consider that it is sufficient to say it has a general meaning of decline or decay. However, this article seeks to combine Nietzsche's scattered remarks on decadence together into a coherent picture. I argue that the essence or the fundamental principle of decadence is the lack of self in the sense of the loss of the fundamental instinct as the center within the person. Grasping this principle, we can understand how the various phenomena Nietzsche describes as decadence belong together; furthermore, we can understand why Nietzsche sees Christians or Socrates, despite their struggle for improvement, as decadents.


BACKGROUND
In a trial comparing coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) alone with CABG plus mitral-valve repair in patients with moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation, we found no significant difference in the left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) or survival after 1 year. Concomitant mitral-valve repair was associated with a reduced prevalence of moderate or severe mitral regurgitation, but patients had more adverse events. We now report 2-year outcomes.

METHODS
We randomly assigned 301 patients to undergo either CABG alone or the combined procedure. Patients were followed for 2 years for clinical and echocardiographic outcomes.

RESULTS
At 2 years, the mean (±SD) LVESVI was 41.2±20.0 ml per square meter of body-surface area in the CABG-alone group and 43.2±20.6 ml per square meter in the combined-procedure group (mean improvement over baseline, -14.1 ml per square meter and -14.6 ml per square meter, respectively). The rate of death was 10.6% in the CABG-alone group and 10.0% in the combined-procedure group (hazard ratio in the combined-procedure group, 0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.45 to 1.83; P=0.78). There was no significant between-group difference in the rank-based assessment of the LVESVI (including death) at 2 years (z score, 0.38; P=0.71). The 2-year rate of moderate or severe residual mitral regurgitation was higher in the CABG-alone group than in the combined-procedure group (32.3% vs. 11.2%, P<0.001). Overall rates of hospital readmission and serious adverse events were similar in the two groups, but neurologic events and supraventricular arrhythmias remained more frequent in the combined-procedure group.

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation undergoing CABG, the addition of mitral-valve repair did not lead to significant differences in left ventricular reverse remodeling at 2 years. Mitral-valve repair provided a more durable correction of mitral regurgitation but did not significantly improve survival or reduce overall adverse events or readmissions and was associated with an early hazard of increased neurologic events and supraventricular arrhythmias. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and Canadian Institutes of Health Research; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00806988.).


Notion of Islamic economics, although a twentieth century phenomenon, has its origins in the time of our Beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and His Rightly Guided Caliphs as well as in the writings of Muslim scholars. Throughout the history of Muslim Economic Thinking (MET), Muslims experienced various political, economic and social threats and opportunities that formed the basis for the transformation of MET on one hand, as these threats and opportunities triggered the formation of a historical consistency in MET on the other. Regardless of time, space, context, and actors, each development revealed the different aspects of consistent stance against the transformations. Thus, consistency, transformations and disintegration, in that sense, are vital to understand to what extent the contemporary Islamic economics literature constitutes consistency and integrity — in terms of Shari'ah legitimacy and methodology — with its roots formed by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and advanced by His Rightly Guided Caliphs, as systemized and elaborated throughout the history.


The first part of this thesis examines and compares the separate closure formalisms of Wyld and Martin, Siggia, and Rose (MSR). The simplicity of Wyld's perturbation scheme is offset by an incorrect renormalisation, this contrasts with the formally exact analysis of MSR. The work here shows that a slight change in Wyld's renormalisation keeps the main results intact and, in doing so, demonstrates that this formalism is equivalent to MSR. The remainder of the thesis is concerned with turbulent dissipation. A numerical solution of the Local Energy Transfer theory, or LET, is reworked and extended to compute decaying and forced turbulence at large Reynolds numbers. Using this numerical simulation, the phenomenon of turbulent dissipation is investigated. In order to use decaying turbulence to study the turbulent dissipation rate as a function of Reynolds number, it is necessary to choose an appropriate time with which a measurement can be taken. Using phenomenological arguments of the evolution of a turbulent fluid, criteria for establishing such a time are developed. An important study in turbulence is the dissipation rate in the limit of vanishing viscosity, also known as the dissipation anomaly. This thesis derives an equation for the dissipation rate from the spectral energy balance equation. Using the LET computation for both decaying and forced turbulence, results are obtained that can be used along with the equation to study the mechanisms behind the dissipation anomaly. It is found that there is a difference in the behaviour of the normalised dissipation rate between decaying and forced turbulence and, for both cases, it is largely controlled by the energy flux.


Over the past two decades, hedge fund activism has emerged as a new mechanism of corporate governance that brings about operational, financial and governance reforms to a corporation. Many prominent business executives and legal scholars are convinced that the entire American economy will suffer unless hedge fund activism with its perceived short-termism agenda is significantly restricted. Shareholder activists and their proponents claim they function as a disciplinary mechanism to monitor management and are instrumental in mitigating the agency conflict between managers and shareholders. My expansive, hand-collected dataset and unique empirical research design methodology with respect to board representation fills an important void in the literature regarding the long-term efficacy of hedge fund activists serving as a disciplinary mechanism on Target Firms by actively seeking board representation to monitor management and reduce agency cost. Moreover, my findings have important policy implications related to the ongoing debate on corporate governance and the rights and roles of shareholders. I find statistically meaningful empirical evidence to suggest that hedge fund activism generates substantial long-term value for Target Firms and its long-term shareholders when they function as a shareholder advocate to monitor management through active board engagement. Furthermore, contrary to conventional wisdom and extant literature, hedge fund activists that seek board representation are focused on long-term corporate initiatives to increase shareholder value rather than a perceived short-term agenda. It is very common for hedge fund activists to seek replacement of the incumbent management team to accomplish the activist's strategic plan as opposed to forcing a "sale of the company" ex post the board seat grant date.


"Several studies report that abnormal returns associated with short-term reversal investment strategies diminish once trading costs are taken into account. We show that the impact of trading costs on the strategies' profitability can largely be attributed to excessively trading in small cap stocks. Limiting the stock universe to large cap stocks significantly reduces trading costs. Applying a more sophisticated portfolio construction algorithm to lower turnover reduces trading costs even further. Our finding that reversal strategies generate 30 to 50 basis points per week net of trading costs poses a serious challenge to standard rational asset pricing models. Our findings also have important implications for the understanding and practical implementation of reversal strategies."


Under the administration of President George W. Bush, Pentagon rhetoric has increasingly articulated a more robust vision of space as a future battlefield. This analysis details some of the ongoing spending for research and development programs identified in current U.S. Air Force, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and Defense Advanced Research and Planning Agency (DARPA) planning and budget documents related to "space control" and "space force projection." This analysis finds that current support for "space superiority" and "space control" systems remains largely rhetorical—with little actual budgetary support. Unclassified technology development programs included in the six-year Future Years Defense Plan are a decade or more away from deployment. Programs related to offensive counterspace, space-based missile defense interceptors, and space-based strike total slightly less than $300 million in FY 2006 funding. We conclude significantly higher expenditures in research and development would be required to develop and deploy killer micro satellites, space-based missile defense interceptors, and military space planes.


Background: the effect of single-dose and long-term cholinergic enhancement with tacrine on regional cerebral perfusion was examined in patients with Alzheimer's disease using single-photon emission tomography (SPET). Method: 23 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (DSM-III-R and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria) were scanned before and after a single oral dose of tacrine at the start of the study and again after 12 weeks of randomized, double-blind treatment with tacrine or placebo, using high resolution 99mTc-Exametazime SPET. Patients also underwent neuropsychological testing with the CAMCOG, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test before and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results: occipital count ratios in all regions of interest declined by 3% over 12 weeks, indicating a progression of the disease. Acute tacrine challenge resulted in a 16% increase in the superior frontal and a 11% decrease in the anterior temporal cortex. The acute effects of tacrine were modified by 12 weeks of treatment, particularly in the medial frontal (cingulate) cortex where active treatment was associated with a reduced acute tacrine response. There were no changes in cognitive function associated with active treatment. Conclusion: the study demonstrates the sensitivity of cerebral perfusion measures to changes during acute and medium-term tacrine treatment.


This article studies stimulus policies in a simple macroeconomic model featuring a dynamic coordination problem that arises from demand externalities and fixed costs of investment. In times of low economic activity, firms face low demand and hence have lower incentives for investing, which reinforces their low‐demand expectations. In a benchmark case with no shocks, the economy might get trapped in a low‐output regime and a social planner would be particularly keen to incentivise investment at times of low economic activity. However, this result vanishes once shocks are considered.


This research aims to provide insights into the determinants of channel profitability and the relative power in the channel by considering consumer demand and the interactions between manufacturers and retailers in an equilibrium model.

We use the Nash bargaining solution to determine wholesale prices and thus how margins are split in the channel. Equilibrium margins are a function of demand primitives and of retailer and manufacturer bargaining power. Bargaining power is itself a function of exogenous retail and manufacturer characteristics. The parties' bargaining positions are determined endogenously from the estimated substitution patterns on the demand side. The more they have to lose in a negotiation relative to an outside option, the weaker the bargaining position. We use the proposed bargaining model to investigate the role of the three main factors that have been blamed for the power shift from manufacturers to retailers in recent years (firm-size increases, store-brand introductions, and service-level differentiation). In our empirical analysis of the German market for coffee, we find that bargaining power varies among the different manufacturer-retailer pairs. This result suggests that bargaining power is not an inherent characteristic of a firm but rather depends on the negotiation partner. We are able to confirm empirically previous theoretical findings that there can be cases where the slice of the pie that goes to one of the channel members may decrease, but the overall pie increases and compensates for the smaller share of profits.


Inter-firm communication through advanced technology such as the internet, adds value to supply chain organisations through speed of information transference at a lower cost than traditional communication modes. However, the sharing of sensitive market information relies upon a strong inter-organisational relationship presence, displaying intangible qualities such as trust and commitment. These value added relational based characteristics are not as yet easily measured. This paper introduces and explains the concept of measuring value added along the supply chain from a transfer pricing perspective. This non-conventional supply chain (value-chain) perspective invites the reader to consider measuring added value as it moves between organisations using a model which encourages congruent behaviour between supply chain partners. A proposed model adapted from the Balanced Score Card model (Kaplan and Norton, 1996) provides a tool to measure tangible and intangible value between firms using transfer pricing. It is argued that embracing and appropriately engaging with this model will enable organisations to better measure intangible interorganisational relationship qualities, thus providing organisations with the confidence to exchange sensitive information through mechanisms like the internet as a means of enhancing supply chain performance.


Various classes of exotic singularity models have been studied as possible mimic models for the observed recent acceleration of the Universe. Here we further study one of these classes and, under the assumption that they are phenomenological toy models for the behavior of an underlying scalar field that also couples to the electromagnetic sector of the theory, obtain the corresponding behavior of the fine-structure constant α for particular choices of model parameters that have been previously shown to be in reasonable agreement with cosmological observations. We then compare this predicted behavior with available measurements of α , thus constraining this putative coupling to electromagnetism. We find that values of the coupling that would provide a good fit to spectroscopic measurements of α are in more than three-sigma tension with local atomic clock bounds. Future measurements by ESPRESSO and ELT-HIRES will provide a definitive test of these models.


This paper proposes a generative model for discovering user roles and community role compositions in Community Question Answering (CQA) platforms. While past research shows that participants play different roles in online communities, automatically discovering these roles and providing a summary of user behavior that is readily interpretable remains an important challenge. Furthermore, there has been relatively little insight into the distribution of these roles between communities. Does a community's composition over user roles vary as a function of topic? How does it relate to the health of the underlying community? Does role composition evolve over time? The generative model proposed in this paper, the mixture of Dirichlet-multinomial mixtures (MDMM) behavior model can (1) automatically discover interpetable user roles (as probability distributions over atomic actions) directly from log data, and (2) uncover community-level role compositions to facilitate such cross-community studies.
A comprehensive experiment on all 161 non-meta communities on the StackExchange CQA platform demonstrates that our model can be useful for a wide variety of behavioral studies, and we highlight three empirical insights. First, we show interesting distinctions in question-asking behavior on StackExchange (where two distinct types of askers can be identified) and answering behavior (where two distinct roles surrounding answers emerge). Second, we find statistically significant differences in behavior compositions across topical groups of communities on StackExchange, and that those groups that have statistically significant differences in health metrics also have statistically significant differences in behavior compositions, suggesting a relationship between behavior composition and health. Finally, we show that the MDMM behavior model can be used to demonstrate similar but distinct evolutionary patterns between topical groups.


The hypotheses that explanatory style moderates current PTSD, depression and alcohol consumption in students who have experienced potentially traumatic events, such as child physical abuse, child emotional abuse, and child sexual abuse, was examined. Participants were 127 graduate students (aged 18-65 yrs) from a private university in Oregon. It was found that the experience of general traumatic events and child physical and/or sexual abuse predicated increased PTSD symptoms in males and females. Furthermore, it was found that the experience of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse significantly predicted depressive symptoms in females but not males. Additionally, it was found that generally traumatic events and or childhood abuse did not predict alcohol abuse in males or females. Lastly, it was found that explanatory style did not moderate depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, or alcohol abuse in males or females who had experienced potentially traumatic events, including child physical abuse and sexual abuse. Clinical implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.


A workflow consists of a set of independent tasks, while workflow scheduling in a cloud environment is a proper permutation of these tasks involving virtual machines. Selecting the permutation with minimum completion time from among all of the arrangements, in which the requests and diversity of virtual machines increase, is an NP-hard problem. Given that, in addition to the makespan, other objectives should be considered in the scheduling problem in a real environment, which, in most cases, are conflicting objectives, the scheduling problem becomes more complicated. Therefore, multi-objective heuristic algorithms represent the perfect solution to these problems. To this end, we extended a recent heuristic algorithm known as black hole optimization (BHO) and presented a multi-objective scheduling method for a workflow application based on the Pareto optimizer algorithm. Since multi-objective algorithms select a set of permutations with an optimal trade-off from among conflicting objectives, we use a decision-making method – the weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) – in the following and select a solution that offers suitable permutation from among all solutions of the Pareto optimal set. Our proposed method is able to consider user requirements, as well as the interests of service providers. Using a balanced and unbalanced workflow, we compare our proposed method with the SPEA2 and NSGA2 algorithms based on conflicting objectives: (1) makespan, (2) cost and (3) resource efficiency.


Objective: The main objectives of the present work were: 1) to securely identify the fleshy fruits of a relevant number of species of toxic vascular plants by their epicarp features; 2) to draw attention to the potential of fruit micromorphology in the identification of poisonous plants and in plant taxonomy.
Methods: The epicarp sections were bleached with sodium hypochlorite, mounted on microscopy slides and observed through light microscopy. Micrometry was done for a number of characters.
Results: A histological description for the epicarp epidermis of each taxon was provided. A dichotomous key that differentiates all the species studied was produced.
Conclusion: The qualitative and quantitative microcharacters allowed, in all cases the identification at the species level. A dichotomous key to the taxa was constructed. As the different genera and species were easily separated, the usefulness of the microcharacters in the identification of toxic plants and in plant taxonomy is supported by the present work. We believe that an increase in the number of characters and the use of new microscopy techniques (e.g. scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy) will most probably allow the identification of a greater number of poisonous species in the future.


It has been recently discovered that heavy-tailed completion times can result from protocol interaction even when file sizes are light-tailed. A key to this phenomenon is the use of a restart policy where if the file is interrupted before it is completed, it needs to restart from the beginning. In this paper, we show that fragmenting a file into pieces whose sizes are either bounded or independently chosen after each interruption guarantees light-tailed completion time as long as the file size is light-tailed; i.e., in this case, heavy-tailed completion time can only originate from heavy-tailed file sizes. If the file size is heavy-tailed, then the completion time is necessarily heavy-tailed. For this case, we show that when the file size distribution is regularly varying, then under independent or bounded fragmentation, the completion time tail distribution function is asymptotically bounded above by that of the original file size stretched by a constant factor. We then prove that if the distribution of times between interruptions has nondecreasing failure rate, the expected completion time is minimized by dividing the file into equal-sized fragments; this optimal fragment size is unique but depends on the file size. We also present a simple blind fragmentation policy where the fragment sizes are constant and independent of the file size and prove that it is asymptotically optimal. Both these policies are also shown to have desirable completion time tail behavior. Finally, we bound the error in expected completion time due to error in modeling of the failure process.


The 'comfort women' issue is perhaps Japan's most contentious present-day diplomatic quandary. Inside Japan, the issue is dividing the country across clear ideological lines. Supporters and detractors of 'comfort women' are caught in a relentless battle
 over empirical evidence, the validity of oral testimony, the number of victims, the meaning of sexual slavery and the definition of coercive recruitment. Credibility, legitimacy and influence serve as the rallying cry for all those involved in the battle. In addition, this largely domestic
 battleground has been shifted to the international arena, commanding the participation of various state and non-state actors and institutions from all over the world. This film delves deep into the most contentious debates and uncovers the hidden intentions of the supporters and detractors
 of comfort women. Most importantly, it finds answers to some of the biggest questions for Japanese and Koreans: were comfort women prostitutes or sex slaves? Were they coercively recruited? And, does Japan have a legal responsibility to apologize to the former comfort women?


IEEE 802.15.4a impulse radio-time hopping ultra wide
band (IR-TH UWB) physical layer, due to small duty cycle and very
short pulse widths is robust against multipath propagation. However,
scattering and reflections with the large number of obstacles in indoor
channel environments, give rise to dense multipath fading. It imposes
serious problem to optimum Rake receiver architectures, for which
very large number of fingers are needed. Presence of strong noise
also affects the reception of fine pulses having extremely low power
spectral density. A robust SRake receiver for IEEE 802.15.4a IRTH
UWB in dense multipath and additive white Gaussian noise
(AWGN) is proposed to efficiently recover the weak signals with
much reduced complexity. It adaptively increases the signal to noise
(SNR) by decreasing noise through a recursive least square (RLS)
algorithm. For simulation, dense multipath environment of IEEE
802.15.4a industrial non line of sight (NLOS) is employed. The power
delay profile (PDF) and the cumulative distribution function (CDF)
for the respective channel environment are found. Moreover, the error
performance of the proposed architecture is evaluated in comparison
with conventional SRake and AWGN correlation receivers. The
simulation results indicate a substantial performance improvement
with very less number of Rake fingers.


Reflected in the more than three thousand entries in this reference work is the rigorous professional training and the maturity of a lifetime of learning by an eminent scholar. Through judicious selection, Professor MacGregor has produced an essential and highly accessible reference book While no dictionary can pretend to cover every conceivable aspect within its field, the scope of this one makes it a unique desk companion for students at every level of religious studies. In addition to its extensive presentation of religious and philosophical ideas of the Judeo-Christian heritage, the Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy also treats vast numbers of concepts that span philosophical and religious ideas from Egyptian and Indian antiquity to the Bogomils and the Druze, from the Zoroastrians to contemporary movements as diverse as scientology and the Rastafarians, from Neoplatonism to the Vienna circle, from the varieties of Buddhism to the schisms in Islam, from bioethical questions in ancient India to contemporary American discussions on euthanasia. All told, this is the most expansive one-volume desk reference work available for religious studies. Extensive bibliographies, organized by subject at the end of the book further its value as a reference work.


We present a novel passive satellite remote sensing approach for observing the three-dimensional distribution of aerosols emitted from wildfires. This method, called AEROS5P, retrieves vertical profiles of aerosol extinction from cloud-free measurements of the TROPOMI satellite sensor onboard the Sentinel 5 Precursor mission. It uses a Tikhonov–Phillips regularization, which iteratively fits near-infrared and visible selected reflectances to simultaneously adjust the vertical distribution and abundance of aerosols. The information on the altitude of the aerosol layers is provided by TROPOMI measurements of the reflectance spectra at the oxygen A-band near 760 nm. In the present paper, we use this new approach for observing the daily evolution of the three-dimensional distribution of biomass burning aerosols emitted by Australian wildfires on 20–24 December 2019. Aerosol optical depths (AOD) derived by vertical integration of the aerosol extinction profiles retrieved by AEROS5P are compared with MODIS, VIIRS and AERONET coincident observations. They show a good agreement in the horizontal distribution of biomass burning aerosols, with a correlation coefficient of 0.87 and a mean absolute error of 0.2 with respect to VIIRS. Moderately lower correlations (0.63) were found between AODs from AEROS5P and MODIS, while the range of values for this comparison was less than half of that with respect to VIIRS. A fair agreement was found between coincident transects of vertical profiles of biomass burning aerosols derived from AEROS5P and from the CALIOP spaceborne lidar. The mean altitudes of these aerosols derived from these two measurements showed a good agreement, with a small mean bias (185 m) and a correlation coefficient of 0.83. Moreover, AEROS5P observations reveal the height of injection of the biomass burning aerosols in 3D. The highest injection heights during the period of analysis were coincident with the largest fire radiative power derived from MODIS. Consistency was also found with respect to the vertical stability of the atmosphere. The AEROS5P approach provides retrievals for cloud-free scenes over several regions, although currently limited to situations with a dominating presence of smoke particles. Future developments will also aim at observing other aerosol species.


Asthma is a common inflammatory disease of the airway caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and characterized by airflow obstruction, wheezing, eosinophilia, and neutrophilia of lungs and sputum. Similar to other proinflammatory cytokines, IL-6 is elevated in asthma and plays an active role in this disease. However, the exact molecular mechanism of IL-6 involvement in the pathogenesis of asthma remains largely unknown and the major cellular source of pathogenic IL-6 has not been defined. In the present study, we used conditional gene targeting to demonstrate that macrophages and dendritic cells are the critical sources of pathogenic IL-6 in acute HDM-induced asthma in mice. Complete genetic inactivation of IL-6 ameliorated the disease with significant decrease in eosinophilia in the lungs. Specific ablation of IL-6 in macrophages reduced key indicators of type 2 allergic inflammation, including eosinophil and Th2 cell accumulation in the lungs, production of IgE and expression of asthma-associated inflammatory mediators. In contrast, mice with deficiency of IL-6 in dendritic cells demonstrated attenuated neutrophilic, but regular eosinophilic response in HDM-induced asthma. Taken together, our results indicate that IL-6 plays a pathogenic role in the HDM-induced asthma model and that lung macrophages and dendritic cells are the predominant sources of pathogenic IL-6 but contribute differently to the disease.


Nutrient losses from agricultural land constitute an important part of the total flow of nutrients to lakes and seas in Sweden and the Baltic region. With the Water Framework Directive, to be implemented shortly throughout Europe, emphasis is increasing on the role of stakeholder participation and decentralisation of various responsibilities from authorities to groups in the civil society. This paper investigates a Swedish case where local watercourse groups (WCGs) have formed in order to be involved more actively in the efforts to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural lands. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of the institutional landscape surrounding WCGs, goals, goal formulation and space of action.


The restructuring of the natural gas markets in the 1980s and 1990s has fundamentally changed the way the natural gas industry conducts business. This structural change, in turn, has reignited old disputes between lessors and lessees over which revenues that lessees receive are subject to the royalty obligation.The thesis of this article is that the current controversy over whether royalty is due on take-or-pay benefits is closely related to litigation of a generation ago about the meaning of "market value." The principles developed in the market value litigation are likely to be applied to resolve current royalty disputes, such as the issue of royalty on take-or-pay benefits.The article first examines the background of the royalty on take-or-pay disputes, including the interpretative principles applied by the courts in market value royalty cases. The article traces the controversy over royalty on take-or-pay benefits, analyzing the cases and their theories in an attempt to rationalize the developing lines of precedent. After determining that the lines of cases are irreconcilable, it predicts the likely direction of future case law and suggests limits to the logic of the case law.The article concludes by considering the implications of the royalty on take-or-pay benefits cases for other disputes about the extent of the royalty obligation. This article examines only whether the royalty clause of the typical oil and gas lease includes take-or-pay benefits and some other benefits provided by the deregulated gas markets. This analysis does not examine the related, but conceptually distinct, issues of what deductions may be made in calculating royalty and the scope of the implied covenants to market or to operate diligently and properly.


Heart disease is the leading cause of the death in the United States, and those who experience cardiac events suffer a wide range of psychological sequelae. Yet, few books show psychotherapy practitioners how they can modify their techniques to accommodate the unique needs of this population. The author, an experienced hospital-based psychologist, provides an orientation to this specialization and, drawing on a variety of therapy models, describes empirically-supported intervention strategies. After providing an overview of the cardiovascular system, she discusses lifestyle and psychological risk factors for heart disease. Subsequent chapters cover practical techniques for helping patients overcome depression, anxiety, and hostility, all facotrs that complicate recovery. A final group of chapters addresses factors that affect treatment effectiveness, such as substance abuse problems, overweight, and sex differences. Case illustrations are provided throughout.