ACADEMIC) This thesis presents the results of an effort to quantify the implications of using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) for shear walls in tall buildings considering structural efficiency and environmental sustainability. The Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) was used to simulate the response to failure of concrete shear walls without web steel bar reinforcement under lateral loading and constant axial compressive loading. The structural efficiency of UHPC with simulated compressive strength of f'c = 231 MPa was compared to that of a high-performance concrete (HPC) with f'c = 51.7 MPa simulated compressive strength. UHPC shear walls were found to have equal uncracked stiffness and superior post-cracking capacity at a thickness 58% of the HPC shear wall thickness, and at 59% of the HPC shear wall weight. Next, the environmental sustainability of UHPC with compressive strength f'c = 220-240 MPa was compared to that of an HPC with compressive strength f'c = 49 MPa with a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach, using SimaPro sustainability software. At a thickness 58% of the HPC shear wall thickness, UHPC shear walls with 0% fiber by volume were found to have an environmental impact 6% to 10% worse than that of HPC shear walls, and UHPC shear walls with 2% fiber by volume were found to have an environmental impact 47% to 58% worse than that of HPC shear walls. The results detailed herein will allow for design guidelines to be developed which take advantage of UHPC response in shear. Additionally, this work may be implemented into topology optimization frameworks that incorporate the potential improvements in structural efficiency and sustainability through using


We develop a method for identifying and quantifying the fiscal channels that help finance government spending shocks. We define fiscal shocks as surprises in defense spending and show that they are more precisely identified when defense stock data are used in addition to aggregate macroeconomic data. Our results show that in the postwar period, over 9% of the U.S. government's unanticipated spending needs were financed by a reduction in the market value of debt and more than 73% by an increase in primary surpluses. Additionally, we find that long-term debt is more effective at absorbing fiscal risk than short-term debt.


A new CMOS active mixer topology can operate at 1 V supply voltage by use of SCM (switched current- mirror). Such current-mode mixer requires less voltage headroom with good linearization. Mixing is achieved with four improved current mirrors, which are alternatively activated. For ideal switching, the operation is equivalent to a conventional active mixer. This paper analyzes the performance of the SCM mixer, in comparison with the conventional mixer, demonstrating competitive perform- ance at a lower supply voltage. Moreover, the new mixer's die, without any passive components, is very small, and the conversion gain is easy to adjust. An experimental proto- type was designed and simulated in standard chartered 0.18μm RF CMOS Process with Spectre in Cadence De- sign Systems. Experimental results show satisfactory mixer performance at 2.4 GHz.


The deployment of Web 2.0 technologies has led to rapid growth of various opinions and reviews on the web, such as reviews on products and opinions about people. Such content can be very useful to help people find interesting entities like products, businesses and people based on their individual preferences or tradeoffs. Most existing work on leveraging opinionated content has focused on integrating and summarizing opinions on entities to help users better digest all the opinions. In this paper, we propose a different way of leveraging opinionated content, by directly ranking entities based on a user's preferences. Our idea is to represent each entity with the text of all the reviews of that entity. Given a user's keyword query that expresses the desired features of an entity, we can then rank all the candidate entities based on how well opinions on these entities match the user's preferences. We study several methods for solving this problem, including both standard text retrieval models and some extensions of these models. Experiment results on ranking entities based on opinions in two different domains (hotels and cars) show that the proposed extensions are effective and lead to improvement of ranking accuracy over the standard text retrieval models for this task.


This is a theoretical study of the acceleration of charged particles during solar flares. An attempt is made to trace the relationship between the processes of acceleration and primary flare energy release. Motion of charged particles in a reconnecting current sheet (RCS) is considered, including both the electric field and the magnetic field with nonzero transverse (perpendicular to the RCS plane) and longitudinal (parallel to the electric current) components. An analytical technique is developed to calculate particle trajectories and energy gain. The solution predicts a critical value of the longitudinal field beyond which it counteracts the effect of the transverse field that serves to eject the particles out of the sheet rapidly. A longitudinal component on the order of the reconnecting component is necessary to explain electron acceleration in RCSs up to 10-100 keV during the impulsive phase of solar flares. The acceleration time can be sufficiently short ($\approx$10$\sp{-6}$s) for the process to occur in the regime of impulsive, bursty reconnection. Particle escape turns out to be more efficient across the RCS rather than along it, placing strong requirements on the electric field necessary to accelerate the particles. Protons can interact with the RCS more than once due to the transverse electric field outside the RCS. This field efficiently "locks" nonthermal ions in the RCS, allowing their acceleration by the direct electric field to an energy of up to a few GeV in less than 0.1 s. This mechanism explains the generation of relativistic ions in large gamma-ray/proton flares. Electromagnetic ion-cyclotron waves are generated by the electrons in RCSs during impulsive flares. The resonant interaction with these waves is the most promising mechanism for selective acceleration of $\sp3$He ions. However, the observed break in the particle spectra at energies of about 1-10 MeV cannot be explained by the action of the acceleration mechanism alone. It is shown that Coulomb energy losses may be large enough to provide the observed spectral break. Its position is determined by the balance between energy gain by acceleration and the energy loss.


A great CS assignment is a delight to all, but the path to one can be most roundabout. Many CS students have had their characters built up on assignments that worked better as an idea than as an actual assignment. Assignments are hard to come up with, yet they are the key to student learning. The Nifty Assignments special session is all about promoting and sharing the ideas and ready-to-use materials of successful assignments. Each presenter will introduce their assignment, give a quick demo, and describe its niche in the curriculum and its strengths and weaknesses. The presentations (and the descriptions below) merely introduce each assignment. A key part of Nifty Assignments is the mundane but vital role of distributing the materials -- handouts, data files, starter code -- that make each assignment ready to adopt. The Nifty Assignments home page, http://nifty.stanford.edu, gathers all the assignments and makes them and their support materials freely available. If you have an assignment that works well and would be of interest to the CSE community, please consider applying to present at Nifty Assignments. See the nifty.stanford.edu home page for more information.


Abstract We present the results of a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of droplets walking on a vertically vibrating fluid bath. Several walking states are reported, including pure resonant walkers that bounce with precisely half the driving frequency, limping states, wherein a short contact occurs between two longer ones, and irregular chaotic walking. It is possible for several states to arise for the same parameter combination, including high- and low-energy resonant walking states. The extent of the walking regime is shown to be crucially dependent on the stability of the bouncing states. In order to estimate the resistive forces acting on the drop during impact, we measure the tangential coefficient of restitution of drops impacting a quiescent bath. We then analyse the spatio-temporal evolution of the standing waves created by the drop impact and obtain approximations to their form in the small-drop and long-time limits. By combining theoretical descriptions of the horizontal and vertical drop dynamics and the associated wave field, we develop a theoretical model for the walking drops that allows us to rationalize the limited extent of the walking regimes. The critical requirement for walking is that the drop achieves resonance with its guiding wave field. We also rationalize the observed dependence of the walking speed on system parameters: while the walking speed is generally an increasing function of the driving acceleration, exceptions arise due to possible switching between different vertical bouncing modes. Special focus is given to elucidating the critical role of impact phase on the walking dynamics. The model predictions are shown to compare favourably with previous and new experimental data. Our results form the basis of the first rational hydrodynamic pilot-wave theory.


Global modeling of ice clouds and the effects of aerosol-related ice nuclei (IN) changes on clouds and climate remains a significant challenge. Here, we describe a parameterization that accounts for the effects of homogeneous ice nucleation as well as two different modes of heterogeneous nucleation in the upper troposphere. The parameterization treats homogeneous nucleation by sulfate aerosol, deposition nucleation as described by the MEYERS et al. (1992) formulation, and immersion nucleation by soot aerosol. Besides air mass temperature and updraft velocity, number concentration of pure sulfate aerosol acting through homogeneous ice nucleation and number concentration of soot aerosol as heterogeneous ice nuclei are explicitly included in the parameterization so that the indirect effect of aerosols on the cirrus clouds (i.e. the effect of increases in aerosol number concentrations) can be described in a global model. In addition the transition from the heterogeneous to homogeneous-dominated nucleation and the competition between homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation in the transition regime are considered in the parameterization. The parameterization is compared to the results from air parcel model simulations of uplifting and adiabatically cooling clouds and to other recently developed ice nucleation parameterizations.


For many years, research in AI plan generation was governed by a number of strong, simplifying assumptions: The planning agent is omniscient, its actions are deterministic and instantaneous, its goals are fixed and categorical, and its environment is static. More recently, researchers have developed expanded planning algorithms that are not predicated on such assumptions, but changing the way in which plans are formed is only part of what is required when the classical assumptions are abandoned. The demands of dynamic, uncertain environments mean that in addition to being able to form plans -- even probabilistic, uncertain plans -- agents must be able to effectively manage their plans. In this article, which is based on a talk given at the 1998 AAAI Fall Symposium on Distributed, Continual Planning, we first identify reasoning tasks that are involved in plan management, including commitment management, environment monitoring, alternative assessment, plan elaboration, metalevel control, and coordination with other agents. We next survey approaches we have developed to many of these tasks and discuss a plan-management system we are building to ground our theoretical work, by providing us with a platform for integrating our techniques and exploring their value in a realistic problem. Throughout, our discussion is informal and relies on numerous examples; the reader can consult the various papers cited for technical details.


Prolonged trapezing during sailing often results in low back pain among elite sailors. Modifications of the trapeze harness have been proposed as one approach to ameliorating this problem. To evaluate six harnesses incorporating novel features that had tested well during pilot work, myoelectric activity was monitored at C5, T6, and L5 levels of sacrospinalis and at an abdominal site while five elite sailors wore the harnesses. Integrated EMG (IEMG) values were stored by a microcomputer at periodic intervals during each 10-min trial, as each subject maintained a static horizontal trapezing position in the laboratory. Factorial repeated-measures ANOVA indicated no change in IEMG values over time, but significant (p<0.001) differences among harnesses at all four electrode sites. Features of trapeze harness design that appear to minimize muscular tension include heavy, rigid padding throughout the harness, full-length shoulder-to-buttocks support of the trunk, and adjustable leg strap supports as opposed to a...


Proper planning reduces confusion and minimizes taxes. Following the phenomenal economic growth of the 1980s, investor interest in mutual funds has continued into the 1990s. Mutual funds have made it easier for small investors to have access to capital markets-- investors who otherwise lack the funds either to diversify their portfolios sufficiently or to justify hiring professionals to manage them. Because of the importance of mutual funds as an investment vehicle for both middle- and upper-income individuals, CPAs must be able to provide clients with tax strategies for buying and selling. This article reviews the rules mutual fund investors must know to minimize taxation and maximize wealth accumulation. TAX TREATMENT OF SHAREHOLDER DISTRIBUTIONS Mutual fund shareholders may receive one or more of the following distributions: * Ordinary dividends. * Capital gains dividends. * Exempt-interest dividends. * Return-of-capital (nontaxable) distributions. A foreign tax credit will be passed through to shareholders if more than 50% of the fund's assets consists of stocks or securities in foreign corporations. Distributions from short-term capital gains income are classified and taxed as an ordinary dividend. A capital gains dividend is classified and taxed as a long-term capital gain. Capital losses realized by the fund are not passed through to shareholders but are offset against capital gains. Unused losses are carried forward for up to eight years to be offset against subsequent gains. All mutual funds charge annual management fees that, along with other annual investment expenses such as shareholder servicing costs, are deducted from dividend distributions. If investment expenses exceed net investment income, no distribution is required. If a fund chooses to retain capital gains (most do not), the fund may nevertheless elect to have the gains taxed as if they had been distributed and subsequently reinvested. The fund pays the taxes on the gains and passes them through to shareholders as refundable credits. Shareholders are entitled to increase their cost bases in the fund by the amounts of the deemed dividend distributions, less the credit. Because fund distributions represent asset transfers from the fund to shareholders, the per share net asset value decreases by the exact amount of the per share distribution. A shareholder generally reports dividends in the taxable year they are received. An exception, however, is made for dividends declared in October, November or December and payable to shareholders of record during these months. If dividends actually are paid by February 1 of the following year, they are deemed to have been paid the previous year. Mutual funds typically offer shareholders the opportunity to reinvest distributions to purchase additional shares instead of receiving them in cash. Regardless of whether additional shares are purchased or a cash payment is made, the distribution is taxable to the shareholder. TAX STRATEGIES FOR ACQUIRING MUTUAL FUND SHARES Mutual fund investors can use a number of planning strategies to minimize their income tax liabilities. Avoid buying into tax liabilities. An investor who buys shares in a mutual fund also purchases part of the fund's accumulated untaxed dividends and capital gains. Consequently, when new shareholders receive distributions of previously accrued dividends and gains, they are in effect receiving a return of capital. Nevertheless, they are immediately taxed on the distribution. Rather than creating a permanent increase in taxable income the increase will be remedied if and when a shareholder redeems shares in the fund. They will have a smaller gain (or greater loss) equal to the amount of additional income from purchasing the fund before the distribution date instead of on the ex-distribution date---the date a purchasing shareholder is no longer entitled to the distribution. …


In Counter-History of the Present Gabriel Rockhill contests, dismantles, and displaces one of the most widespread understandings of the contemporary world: that we are all living in a democratized and globalized era intimately connected by a single, overarching economic and technological network. Noting how such a narrative fails to account for the experiences of the billions of people who lack economic security, digital access, and real political power, Rockhill interrogates the ways in which this grand narrative has emerged in the same historical, economic, and cultural context as the fervid expansion of neoliberalism. He also critiques the concurrent valorization of democracy, which is often used to justify U.S. military interventions on the behalf of capital. Developing an alternative account of the current conjuncture that acknowledges the plurality of lived experiences around the globe and in different social strata, he shifts the foundations upon which debates about the contemporary world can be staged. Rockhill's counter-history thereby offers a new grammar for historical narratives, creating space for the articulation of futures no longer engulfed in the perpetuation of the present.


This paper presents a study into the potential of visible spectroscopy with chemometrics as an approach to dating blue ball tip inks on paper documents. Analysis of six inks left under various conditions found that the majority of those kept in the dark could still be matched to the source pen after 32 months of ageing. Conversely, the majority of those exposed to light exhibited rapid spectral changes that continued throughout the 32 month period. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used to generate dating models for inks aged with exposure to light. Evaluation using an external test set found absolute dating to be challenging for these ink deposits within the first 2–6 months of ageing. However, predictive accuracy was found to improve for long-term ageing, with two-year old samples yielding age estimates with a maximum error of 6 months. This rapid, non-destructive methodology could assist document examiners in the relative ageing or approximate age determination of questioned documents, as well as the identification of document alterations.


Biotransformation and detoxification process in living organisms consists of two phases,
phase I and phase 11. Phase I involves in the introduction of functional group into
molecule while the phase I1 involves the conjugation of phase I metabolites. In phase 11,
glutathione S-transferases (GSTs; EC 22.214.171.124) has aroused much interest because of its
involvement in the biotransformation and detoxification of wide spectrum of xenobiotics
which can be from pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. The present study was
undertaken to puriG and characterized cytosolic GSTs from livers of Kedah-Kelantan
cattle (Bos indicus) and Malaysia water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). The glutathione Stransferases
were isolated from two important livestock livers, Kedah-Kelantan cattle
(Bos indicus) and Malaysian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) by glutathione affinity
chromatography. The affinity-glutathione chromatography successfully purifies the
GSTs isoenzymes with 14.73% yield (62.77 purification fold) and 19.71 % yield (20.44
purification fold) for KK cattle and water buffalo livers respectively. Initial methods of
purification included centrifugation and ultracentrifugation. The affinity elution with
highest activity towards CDNB was estimated for the pI values using isoelectric
focusing method via LKB-8 100 ampholyte type (LKB Bromna) apparatus. pI values for
affinity purified KK cattle liver are 5.7 (C-34), 6.9 (C-38) and 8.8 (C-42). While for the
water buffalo liver, the pI values for glutathione affinity purified isoenzymes are 6.85
(B-23) and 7.2 (B-24). The isoenzymes were then tested using SDS-PAGE method for
purity and also to estimate the molecular weight estimation. It has been estimated that
molecular weight for water buffalo isoenzymes of B-23 was 29.3 * 0.05 kDa and B-24
was 30.74 * 0.16 kDa. The KK cattle liver isoenzymes molecular weight was estimated
with C-34 was 29.9 * 0.14; C-38 was 28.3 * 0.09 and 27.7 *0.03 for C-42. The study
showed that KK cattle liver GSTs exist as isoenzymes (PI 8.8, 6.9 and 5.7), and have
high activity towards CDNB, low towards DCNB and no activity towards the ethacrynic
acid for the substrate specificities. On the other hand, the water buffalo liver GSTs exist
as isoenzymes with pI 6.85 and 7.2. For the substrate specificities, the isoenzymes also
have high activity for CDNB, but low for DCNB and could not be detected for the
ethacrynic acid.


The use of tablet in schools has been getting importance in a parallel with any change in educational policies. It can be said that the use of tablets was investigated on the variables such as success and attitude in the literature and the number of studies increased related to the applications that can be used in tablets. In this context, it was considered that analyzing the studies conducted in the field of science education, which was one of the courses where tablet use was recommended, will be important for both teacher - prospective teacher candidates who were practitioner and literature. The aim of this study was to thematically examine and analyze tablet-based science education studies. 25 articles were exposed to this thematic review via the matrix developed by Ormanci et al. (2015). The matrix consists of two parts-general properties (type of journals, years, etc.) and content (rationales, aims, research methods, etc.). The results indicated rationales of related studies were very limited. Further, there were experimental studiesexamining the effects of tablet-based science education on student success and performance. None of previous studies examined the effects of tablet-based science education on the participants' skills, which should be investigated in future studies.


Terrestrial sedimentation buries large amounts of organic carbon (OC) annually, contributing to the terrestrial carbon sink. The temporal significance of this sink will strongly depend on the attributes of the depositional environment, but also on the characteristics of the OC reaching these sites and its stability upon deposition. The goal of this study was to characterise the OC during transport and stored in the depositional settings of a medium-sized catchment (111 km 2 ) in SE Spain, to better understand how soil erosion and sediment transport processes determine catchment-scale OC redistribution. Total organic carbon (TOC), mineral-associated organic carbon (MOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), total nitrogen (N) and particle size distributions were determined for soils (i), suspended sediments (ii) and sediments stored in a variety of sinks such as sediment wedges behind check dams (iii), channel bars (iv), a small delta in the conjunction of the channel and a reservoir downstream (v), and the reservoir at the outlet of the catchment (vi). The data show that the OC content of sediments was approximately half of that in soils (9.42 ± 9.01 g kg −1 versus 20.45 ± 7.71 g kg −1 , respectively) with important variation between sediment deposits. Selectivity of mineral and organic material during transport and deposition increased in a downstream direction. The mineralisation, burial or in situ incorporation of OC in deposited sediments depended on their transport processes and on their post-sedimentary conditions. Upstream sediments (alluvial wedges) showed low OC contents because they were partially mobilised by non-selective erosion processes affecting deeper soil layers and with low selectivity of grain sizes (e.g. gully and bank erosion). We hypothesise that the relatively short transport distances, the effective preservation of OC in microaggregates and the burial of sediments in the alluvial wedges gave rise to low OC mineralisation, as is arguably indicated by C : N ratios similar to those in soils. Deposits in middle stream areas (fluvial bars) were enriched in sand, selected upon deposition and had low OC concentrations. Downstream, sediment transported over longer distances was more selected, poorly microaggregated, and with a prevalence of silt and clay fractions and MOC pool. Overall, the study shows that OC redistribution in the studied catchment is highly complex, and that the results obtained at finer scales cannot be extrapolated at catchment scale. Selectivity of particles during detachment and transport, and protection of OC during transport and deposition are key for the concentration and quality of OC found at different depositional settings. Hence, eco-geomorphological processes during the different phases of the erosion cycle have important consequences for the temporal stability and preservation of the buried OC and in turn for the OC budget.


Call for papers : Int. J. of Sustainable Real Estate and Construction Economics Guest Editors: Dr. Rita Yi Man Li, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, China Dr. Gaetano Lisi, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy Recently, it has been acknowledged that the key role of the housing market is the proper functioning of the labour market. Labour market rigidities, in fact, may also arise from housing markets externalities or frictions. Therefore, the housing market analysis cannot be negle...


Indias presence in the East Asia Summit signals not only a victory for New Delhis Look East policy but also an implicit Look West policy on the part of Indias neighbors to the east. This convergence represents not only a major economic opportunity for India but also a long-term strategic shift in regional order. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that for historical, cultural, political as well as for substantial economic reasons India belongs to the East Asian table. It is time to re-center our notions of Asia so that maps and other geographic concepts reflect Indias resurgent links with eastern neighbors. Indias political role in the Asian integration movement underscores this need. One of the key opportunities for policy makers is to revive and build on Indias historical and cultural legacy in Asia without appearing to be seeking hegemony or trumpeting a chauvinist vision.


Breakthrough products and services (BTP/S) have been found to contribute significantly to corporate profits and market position. However, because such products are designed to meet needs that may not yet be apparent in the market and have no historical point of reference, traditional market forecasting techniques are unable to provide accurate predictions of market success for them. An alternative to traditional approaches is explored in this research paper. It involves combining forecasts of quantifiable environmental variables with qualitative analysis of uncertainties through scenario creation and investigation. This "umbrella approach" assesses future goals, needs, desires, and product development direction, and works backward to the present to determine what steps must be completed to reach that end state. The process of continuous monitoring allows firms to determine which pathway they are following, and to incorporate current information into their product development processes.


Introduction The chemotherapy use process is potentially risky for cancer patients. Vincristine, a "High Alert" medicine, has been associated with fatal but preventable medication errors. Consequently, there is a need to improve the use of vincristine especially in lower- and middle-income countries where there are constraints with resources and often a lack of trained personnel to administer cancer medicines. However, where there is a rising prevalence of cancer cases. These concerns can be addressed by performing proactive risk assessments using Healthcare Failure Mode Effect Analysis (HFMEA) and implementing the findings. Methods A multidisciplinary health team driven by pharmacists identified and evaluated potential failure modes based on a vincristine use process flow diagram using a hazard scoring matrix in a leading referral hospital in Kenya. Results The processes evaluated were: prescribing, preparation and dispensing, transportation and storage, administration and monitoring of the use of vincristine. Seventy-seven failure modes were identified over the three-month study period, of which 25 were classified as high risk. Thirteen were adequately covered by existing control measures while 12 including one combined mode required new strategies. Two of the failure modes were single-point weaknesses. Recommendations were subsequently made for improving the administration of vincristine. Conclusions HFMEA is a useful tool to identify improvements to medication safety and reduction of patient harm. The HFMEA process brings together the multidisciplinary team involved in patient care in actively identifying potential failure modes and owning the recommendations made, which are now being actively followed up in this hospital. Pharmacists are a key part of this process.


Of all the books currently available on legal costs, this book provides clear and practical guidance on the taxation of costs.
The author has gone to great lengths to assist and guide the reader in approaching and determining reasonable costs in accordance with the existing rules and tariffs. Although it is common knowledge that taxation entails the quantification of legal costs, there is still much debate on the underlying applicable principles in preparing the different kinds of bills of costs and the taxation of these. This is where the book excels in explaining the processes of taxation on a step-by-step basis so that the user may arrive at taxed fees and costs that are reasonable.


There is a mounting body of evidence pointing towards rising levels of public dissatisfaction with the formal political process. Depoliticization refers to a more discrete range of contemporary strategies that add to this growing trend towards anti-politics by either removing or displacing the potential for choice, collective agency, and deliberation.

This book examines the relationship between these two trends as understood within the broader shift towards governance. It brings together a number of contributions from scholars who have a varied range of concerns but who nevertheless share a common interest in developing the concept of depoliticization through their engagement with a set of theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and empirical questions. This volume explores these questions from a variety of different perspectives and uses a number of different empirical examples and case studies from both within the nation state as well as from other regional, global, and multi-level arenas.

In this context, this volume examines the potential and limits of depoliticization as a concept and its position and contribution in the nexus between the larger and more established literatures on governance and anti-politics.


Geminiviruses are insect-transmissible, economically vital group of plant viruses, which cause significant losses to crop production and ornamental plants across the world. During this study, infectious clones of three devastating begomoviruses, i.e., Cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV), Ramie mosaic virus (RamV) and Corchorus yellow vein Vietnam virus (CoYVV) were constructed by following novel protocol. All infectious clones were confirmed by cloning and sequencing. All of the infectious clones were agro-inoculated in Agrobacterium. After the agro-infiltrations, all clones were injected into Nicotiana benthamiana and jute plants under controlled condition. After 28 days of inoculation, plants exhibited typical symptoms of their corresponding viruses. All the symptomatic and asymptomatic leaves were collected from inoculated plants for further analysis. The southern blot analysis was used to confirm the infection of studied begomoviruses. At the end, all the products were sequenced and analyzed.


Abstract. To advance our understanding on the factors that affect photochemical pollution at different elevations in mountainous areas, concurrent systematic field measurements (September to November 2010) were conducted at a mountain site and at an urban site at the foot of the mountain in Hong Kong. The mixing ratios of air pollutants were greater at the foot of the mountain (i.e., Tsuen Wan urban site, TW) than near the summit (i.e., Tai Mao Shan mountain site, TMS), expect for ozone. In total, only one O3 episode day was observed at TW, whereas twenty-one (21) O3 episode days were observed at TMS. The discrepancy of O3 at the two sites was attributed to the mixed effects of NO titration, vertical meteorological conditions, regional transport and mesoscale circulations. The lower NO levels at TMS and the smaller differences of "oxidant" Ox (O3 + NO2) between the two sites suggested that variations of O3 at the two sites were partly attributed to different degree of NO titration. In addition, analysis of vertical structure of meteorological variables revealed that the inversion layer at the range of altitudes of 500–1000 m might be another factor that caused the high O3 levels at TMS. Furthermore, analyses of the wind fields, the levels of air pollutants in different air flows, ratios of different trace gases and the correlation between variability and the lifetime of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) indicated that high O3 concentrations at TMS were somewhat influenced by regional air masses from the highly polluted Pearl River delta (PRD) region. In particular, the diurnal profiles and correlations of gaseous pollutants suggested influence of mesoscale circulations, which is confirmed using the Master Chemical Mechanism moving box model (Mbox) and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. By investigating the correlations of observed O3 and NOx* and the relationships of O3 and its precursors by an observation-based model (OBM), as well as the ratios of VOC/NOx, it was concluded that photochemical O3 formation at TMS was mostly influenced by VOCs, with measurable impact of NOx, while O3 production at TW was generally limited by the concentrations of VOCs. This is the first report of the comprehensive analysis on the data of photochemical pollution obtained from concurrent measurements in mountainous areas in the PRD region.


Phytoplankton often face the dilemma of living in contrasting gradients of two essential resources: light that is supplied from above and nutrients that are often supplied from below. In poorly mixed water columns, algae can be heterogeneously distributed, with thin layers of biomass found on the surface, at depth, or on the sediment surface. Here, we show that these patterns can result from intraspecific competition for light and nutrients. First, we present numerical solutions of a reaction‐diffusion‐taxis model of phytoplankton, nutrients, and light. We argue that motile phytoplankton can form a thin layer under poorly mixed conditions. We then analyze a related game theoretical model that treats the depth of a thin layer of phytoplankton as the strategy. The evolutionarily stable strategy is the depth at which the phytoplankton are equally limited by both resources, as long as the layer is restricted to the water column. The layer becomes shallower with an increase in the nutrient supply and deeper with an increase in the light supply. For low nutrient levels, low background attenuation, and shallow water columns a benthic layer occurs; for intermediate nutrient levels in deep water columns, a deep chlorophyll maximum occurs; and for high nutrient levels, a surface scum occurs. These general patterns are in agreement with field observations. Thus, this model can explain many patterns of algal distribution found in poorly mixed aquatic ecosystems.


The study summarizes data on the internal anatomy of the mites belonging to the parvorder Eleutherengona (Acariformes: Trombidiformes) mainly based on the families Tetranychidae, Cheyletidae, Syringophilidae, Myobiidae, and Demodicidae. The arrangement and functioning of the digestive tract, propodosomal glands, connective tissue, and reproductive system of both sexes are taken into account to reveal common features of the Eleutherengona as well as possible phylogenetically informative characters in particular families. The study shows that all the examined eleutherengone families demonstrate a mixture of relatively primitive and advanced features. The following most striking internal characters are common to all studied eleutherengone species. The postventricular midgut is represented by a simple tube-like excretory organ, which is usually in open connection with the ventriculus. The anal and genital openings of the females are close to each other and located at the terminal end of the body. The glandular component of the testicular epithelium is absent or highly reduced, as well as the male accessory glands. The number of salivary glands is reduced or these glands are lost in some parasitic forms. The coxal glands are either devoid of the proximal filter sacculus or provided by a sacculus with a considerably reduced lumen. The coxal gland epithelium does not possess a regular brush border, showing high pinocytotic activity.


P-T pseudosections were calculated with the programs THERMOCALC, DOMINO and PERPLEX in the simplified NCFMASH system in order to constrain the metamorphic path of a kyanite eclogite. Variation of rock composition, thermodynamic data set and solid solution models results in partly distinct different P-T stability fields of mineral assemblages. The rock composition was determined by XRF analyses and by combining mineral modes from thin section measurements with microprobe analyses. With other parameters kept constant, compositional variations resulting from different parts of the specimen and from zonation of garnet affect the results. THERMOCALC pseudosections suggest that the assemblage omphacite + glaucophane + chlorite ± lawsonite/zoisite/clinozoisite ± paragonite is stable at relatively low temperatures. The garnet-in isograd is placed around 500°C and garnet growth continues up to the kyanite-in isograd at about 600°C. An extended temperature interval for garnet growth is also confirmed by Fe-Mg exchange temperatures of omphacite inclusions in garnet. A tentative metamorphic path is given with a maximum P-T position at about 635°C, 21.5 kbar in the assemblage garnet + omphacite + kyanite according to THERMOCALC and additional paragonite or zoisite is calculated by DOMINO or PERPLEX. The replacement of kyanite by paragonite during the retrograde stage is predicted by THERMOCALC but the calculated formation of glaucophane is not observed, probably due to unsufficient H 2 O in the rock. Comparison of calculated and observed modal amounts and of mineral compositions is only in part satisfactory, mainly due to uncertainities in thermodynamic data and solid solution models, above all for amphiboles and to the problematic definition of equilibrium bulk composition.


ABSTRACT Final dewatering in the production of dry creped tissue is performed by Yankee drying, which includes hot pressing followed by simultaneous contact and impingement drying. The present study models Yankee drying and compares simulation results to the data obtained from trials on a pilot tissue machine. It advances models published previously by the representations developed for the transport of heat in the pressing stage and for the heat transfer involved in the dehydration of the cylinder coating spray. The model predicts an average specific drying rate within 4% in the range of the experimental data used.


OBJECTIVES
An increasing number of studies have pointed out the side effects of valproic acid (VPA), an antiepileptic drug used for the treatment of seizures in children and adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether VPA interferes with oxidative metabolism in the heart and whether edaravone, the novel free radical scavenger, ameliorates any such effects.

METHODS
Female rats were divided into four groups: intact control animals, VPA (0.5 g/kg/day), edaravone (30 mg/kg/day), and VPA+edaravone (0.5 g/kg/day+30 mg/kg/day) injected groups for seven days. On the 8(th) day the animals were sacrificed under ether anesthesia, and hearts were homogenized. Concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), sialic acid (SA), glutathione (GSH) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione -S- transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), myeloperoxidase (MPO), Na+K+ ATPase and tissue factor (TF) were evaluated in the homogenates.

KEY FINDINGS
In the VPA group, increased MDA levels and decreased GPx activities indicated heart damage compared with the control group. On the other hand, edaravone treatment in the VPA group increased the activities of GST and SOD and decreased the activities of TF and ALP.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study is the first to demonstrate the beneficial effects of edaravone on the impaired oxidant/antioxidant status of heart in VPA-induced toxicity.


The paper presents test questionnaire, developed by the author based on methodology K. Yang and allows the quantification of the severity of the degree of enthusiasm of younger teenagers playing computer games CG). The questionnaire contains 22 questions, defining five 5 major scales: emotional attitude to the CG; self-monitoring in clinical trials; goal orientation on the CG; parental relation to the CG; preference for virtual communication real. A study conducted on a sample of 304 students of Nizhny Novgorod aged 11-12 years, showed that the developed test questionnaire allows to quantify the extent of computer abuse younger teenager; allows mathematical treatment; is relatively expeditious means evaluation of a large number of respondents; contributes to the objectivity of assessments that do not depend on the subjective attitudes of the person conducting the study; ensures comparability of the information obtained by different researchers in different subjects.


Rare-earth elements in thorium-bearing veins in the Lemhi Pass quadrangle are almost as abundant as thorium, and are currently of greater potential economic importance. Total rare-earth oxide content of 31 samples from 21 veins in the area ranges from 0.073 to 2.24 percent. Rare earths and thorium commonly occur together in the same minerals, though in different proportions. The three most common of these minerals are thorite, monazite, and brockite. Some thorium is contained in goethite. Although the rare earths and thorium occur in the same minerals, the amount of rare earth found in the veins has little relation to the amount of thorium. Total rare-earth-oxide to thoria ratios in the 31 analyses range from 0.05 to 9.2.The relative amounts of the individual lanthanides commonly varies in the different veins. The most abundant lanthanides in six of the 31 samples is cerium, in 17 is neodymium, in three is gadolinium, in two is dysprosium, and in three samples two lanthanides are equally abundant. Mineral content, except where brockite predominated, could not be directly correlated to the lanthanide distribution in the veins. Gadolinium is the predominant lanthanide in the three brockite-rich samples. The yttrium content of these three samples is also relatively large. The veins in this area are unusual in that most of them have neodymium as the most abundant rare-earth element, and in that europium is also concentrated in many of them more than it is in the earth's crust. The concentration of neodymium and europium in the veins for the most part is caused by fractionation of the rare earths close to, but not at the present site of the vein. The rare-earth content of a mineral depends not only on the crystal structure of the mineral but also on which of the rare earths are available in the vein fluids. The anomalous neodymium concentration in many of the veins may be due either to the removal of much of the generally more abundant cerium or to the oxidation of the cerium in the fluids before they reached the vein site. Cerium that is oxidized from Ce (super 3+) to Ce (super 4+) will commonly be excluded from structural sites available to the Ce (super 3+) form.


Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have "legalized" the use of medical marijuana. Medical marijuana, however, remains a "controlled substance" under federal law. This puts medical marijuana businesses in a "Catch 22" situation, where their operations are legal under state law but violate federal law. Additionally, because medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law, section 280E denies medical marijuana businesses the ability to deduct their ordinary and necessary business expenses.Section 280E represents a departure from the longstanding practice of generally taxing illegal businesses in the same manner as legal businesses and effectively causes medical marijuana businesses to be taxed on their gross income rather than their net income. Medical marijuana businesses are, however, allowed to reduce their gross revenue by cost of goods sold in arriving at gross income. This puts medical marijuana businesses in the unusual position of wanting to capitalize as many of their otherwise deductible expenses to inventory as possible, unlike most businesses, which would prefer a current deduction.Medical marijuana businesses should comply willingly with the full absorption and UNICAP inventory rules, where they are required by law to do so, but most medical marijuana businesses will not be subject to these rules. Nevertheless, a medical marijuana business should voluntarily comply with these rules if not required to do so. Medical marijuana businesses should also take advantage of the provisions under full absorption and UNICAP inventory rules that permit a taxpayer to elect to include certain costs in inventory, including special allocation rules that permit the capitalization of all of an expense if a portion of the expense is subject to capitalization. Further, medical marijuana businesses should capitalize expenses entirely excepted from the full absorption and UNICAP inventory rules, such as on-site storage expenses, as properly allocable to inventory, based on the argument that the exceptions are provided to reduce the burden of these rules but that capitalization nevertheless represents a better reflection of income.The Article also addresses the dilemma that lawyers and accountants face in providing services to medical marijuana businesses — practitioners could be considered to be "aiding and abetting" a criminal enterprise, subjecting them to federal criminal sanctions. The only two state rulings on whether an attorney can ethically provide advice to medical marijuana businesses under the Model Rules are divided on the subject. Although not free from doubt, practitioners should not run into trouble for preparing the tax return of a medical marijuana business.Legislative or administrative solutions to the problems section 280E causes medical marijuana businesses appear unlikely given the unwillingness of elected and government officials to openly support the legalization of medical marijuana.


Problem definition: Deceased-donor kidney transplant candidates in the United States are ranked according to characteristics of both the donor and the recipient. We seek the ranking policy that optimizes the efficiency–equity tradeoff among all such policies, taking into account patients' strategic choices. Academic/practical relevance: Our approach considers a broad class of ranking policies, which provides approximations to the previously and currently used policies in practice. It also subsumes other policies proposed in the literature previously. As such, it facilitates a unified way of characterizing good policies. Methodology: We use a fluid model to approximate the transplant waitlist. Modeling patients as rational decision makers, we compute the resulting equilibria under a broad class of ranking policies, namely the achievable region. We then develop an algorithm that optimizes the system performance over the achievable region. Results: We show analytically that it suffices to restrict attention to priority scores that are affine in the patient's waiting time. We also show through a numerical study that the total quality-adjusted life-years can be increased substantially by allowing patient rankings to depend on the kidney quality. Last, we observe that there is almost no improvement if only the healthier patients are prioritized for certain kidney types. Managerial implications: Our results verify that ranking patients differently for kidneys of different quality can reduce the survival mismatch and the kidney wastage significantly. Consequently, the policy change in 2014, that implemented prioritizing the healthiest patients when allocating the highest 20% quality organs, is a step in the right direction. For further improvement, one may consider revising the new policy by also prioritizing the least healthy patients on the waitlist for the lowest-quality organs.


Comparing maps of different geographical phenomena, or maps of the same geographical phenomenon at different points in time, is a frequent task in many disciplines. The process of map comparison has been studied occasionally by cartographers since the 1970s, but recent improvements in neuropsychological testing equipment and in geographical information system (GIS) technology had us review this topic in a new light. We propose a cognitive approach using eye movement recording to understand the process of comparing two static maps displayed simultaneously on a screen.

Two groups of subjects with different levels of expertise with map reading were shown pairs of maps and asked to judge their similarity or difference. We used three types of maps that differed in their spatial granularity: (A) randomly generated, 64-by-64 pixel, black-and-white images, (B) grayscale choropleth maps representing socio-economic variables for counties in lower Michigan, and (C) land-use maps of the surroundings of selected Canadian cities in different years resulting from classified satellite imagery. Subjects were asked whether two maps presented on the screen were similar (tests A and B) or different (test C).

Response times, fixation durations and fixation counts differed significantly for the three map types. Land-use maps required the longest response times indicating that they were most difficult to compare. At the same time, land-use maps required more fixations than the other two types of maps, while the duration of these fixations was not different from the other map types. When comparing two maps of the same type, saccades between the two maps provide information on the subject's decision-making process. We found that for the land-use maps, the number of these cross-saccades was significantly smaller than for the two other map types.

Pairs of land-use maps were characterized by a fine raster grid and fewer pixel-by-pixel differences between the two maps, while both, random grids in test A and county maps in test B consist of clear-cut spatial units. We conclude that whenever spatial units can be distinguished on a map and corresponding units on a second map can be found easily, subjects will tend to compare the two maps in a unit-by-unit approach. In contrast, if maps consist of smoother spatial patterns, subjects will try to memorize patterns on one map (usually the one on the right-hand side), and make fewer saccades to compare these patterns with those on the other map. The results from this experiment could be used to provide context-adaptive tools for map comparison in GIS.

The behavioral differences between groups (experts vs. novices) in this experiment were mostly not significant. This supports the notion of developing standard GIS tools that are offered to users with a wide range of expertise.


The ability of gold(I) to activate many types of unsaturated bonds toward nucleophilic attack was not widely recognized until the early 2000s. One major challenge in gold catalysis is the control over regioselectivity when there are two or more possible products as a result of complicated mechanistic pathways. It is well know that the choice of ligand can have dramatic effects on which pathway is being followed but very rarely are the reasons for this selectivity understood. The synthesis of new acyclic diaminocarbenes was developed and a study of the ligand effects on the regioselectivity of a gold-catalyzed domino enyne cyclization hydroarylation reaction and a Nazarov cyclization was undertaken. New chiral acyclic diaminocarbenes were also developed and tested along side new C3-symmetric phosphite ligands in an asymmetric intramolecular hydroamination of allenes. Structure activity correlations were developed for the potential use in further rational ligand design. The synthesis of 6a,7-dihydro-5-amino-dibenzo[c,g]chromene derivatives via a gold-catalyzed domino reaction of alkynylbenzaldehydes in the presence of secondary amines was developed. These were sent to be screened for biological activity.


The INDOT Long-Range Planning Section has developed a set of planning tools that will support the system-level analysis of the state transportation system. These tools are employed to monitor transportation system performance, identify highway needs, and provide a quantitative analysis of the impacts of transportation improvement projects. One such tool is HERS/IN (Indiana Highway Economic Requirements System). The HERS/IN model identifies deficiencies in pavement, capacity, and alignment by referring to the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data of the roadway sections. The HERS model uses a method to accommodate the curve and grade data and, based on these data, it identifies highway alignment deficiencies. The roadway curve and grade data were collected in 1994 as a part of INDOT's Pavement Management System. INDOT's Long-Range Planning Section experienced difficulty in verifying these data and breaking it into meaningful segments. Therefore, the Indiana HPMS database did not include the curve and grade data. As a result, alignment deficiencies were not considered in the initial applications of HERS/IN. The objectives of the research project are to evaluate the curve and grade data available to INDOT and suggest a methodology that allows INDOT to identify alignment improvement projects, and to prioritize these projects. During the course of the project, the authors researched the various techniques used by other states to prepare the curve and grade database. The authors also learned about how other states program alignment correction projects. The authors evaluated the curve and grade data available to INDOT and how it can be used in HERS/IN to identify alignment correction projects. The research project provides INDOT with guidelines on how to efficiently program alignment correction projects.


The partially purified enzyme of indigenously isolated Serratia marcescensstrain AQ07 was utilised to develop the best form of cyanide detoxification method that is eco-friendly and cost effective. The present study evaluates the feasibility of the enzyme to degrade high cyanide concentrations and the possible metabolic pathways involved, for which the protein concentration and cyanide detoxification activity were quantified. Bacterial cells grown in cyanide incorporated medium were disrupted by sonication and the resultant cell free extract were tested for metabolic pathway. The cell free extract was precipitated by ammonium sulphate precipitation and partially purified by ion exchange chromatography using DEAE cellulose. The maximum enzyme activity achieved was 2125 µM/min. The partially purified enzyme was found to be able to detoxify 82% of 2 mM KCN in 10 min of incubation and cyanide degradation (or depletion) rate showing a linear increase with increasing enzyme concentration. The effective accruing of ammonia as metabolite illustrated that the detoxification was ensued via the function of cyanide dihydratase. Additional confirmation through SDS-Page showed that the molecular weight of enzyme was assessed to be ~38 kDa, which is tandem with the reported cyanide dihydratases. Hence, the use of enzyme as a substitute to live bacterial cells in detoxification of cyanide illustrates various advantages such as the capacity to withstand and detoxify higher cyanide concentration and total reduction in the total cost of process since nutrient provision is immaterial.


A number of recent appellate court decisions pertaining to class certification in antitrust cases have spawned uncertainty and debate about the future course of antitrust enforcement through the class-action mechanism. One leitmotif of these decisions is that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure's 23(b)(3) "predominance" standard can only be satisfied by "rigorous analysis." Some antitrust practitioners have argued that these statements regarding rigorous analysis must indicate that many issues traditionally thought of as merits issues must now be resolved during the class-certification inquiry. Yet the same decisions by appellate courts have emphasized that the class-certification process is a limited inquiry and that plaintiffs are not required to prove the validity of their claims regarding violation and impact to achieve class certification. In this article, we propose an economic framework for interpreting the rule 23(b)(3) predominance standard. We believe that our analysis resolves the apparent conflict between the principle of conducting a rigorous analysis during the class certification inquiry and the principle of conducting an inquiry that implicates the validity of allegations at issue. Our approach also gives a specific economic meaning to the principle articulated by the Supreme Court in Amchem that class certification ultimately comes down to a question of whether a proposed class is sufficiently cohesive to warrant certification. Furthermore, our approach provides a compelling economic justification for a specific puzzle in antitrust class-action jurisprudence: Plaintiffs seeking class certification have often been successful when they have been able to prove that (1) the prices paid by all class members are linked by a common element of pricing, and (2) this common element was altered by the challenged conduct in a way that harmed plaintiffs. Despite the fact that this argument is often advanced through economic expert testimony, some antitrust practitioners have suggested that this approach lacks an economic basis. We review several cases where plaintiffs successfully used this approach to certify a class and show how our framework provides an economic basis for the court's affirmative decisions in these cases. Our framework also suggests a specific delineation of the responsibilities of class-certification experts, liability experts, and damages experts.


This study proposes an engagement model that supports acceptance and use of course-based online social networks for engaging student, hence improving the instructor's credibility. This research demonstrates that instructors who create course-based online social networks can increase student engagement in these online social networks and improve the instructor's credibility. This increase in engagement is seen when the instructor posts private information related to the course and when the instructor makes humorous posts. However, it is not seen when the instructor posts private information unrelated to the course. These results should be useful for instructors who are trying to improve student engagement and to enhance their own credibility. This research utilizes communication privacy management theory and instructional humor processing theory to expand our understanding of how instructor self-disclosure and use of humor via a course-based social network impacts student outcomes. The research also contributes to the theory by providing an engagement model that is unique to online educational settings.


Previous studies of the industrial organization field find that the relationship between firm performance and growth is weak. The objective of this paper is to test this relationship at different quantiles of the firm growth distribution. We also explore the effect of technology gaps and export status on growth. For this, we use Penalized Quantile Regression with Fixed Effects on 420 Chilean agribusiness firms. Key results show that performance, measured as technical efficiency, has a significant and heterogeneous impact on revenue growth. The effect is stronger on slow growing firms: one point increase in technical efficiency increases revenue growth by 1.2 % at the 0.10 quantile, the effect is 0.4 % at the 0.90 quantile. Hence, two key aspects shall be considered in future studies of firm growth and performance: first, to use adequate indicators for performance which capture the entirety of the production process, and second, to consider the non-linearity of their relationship.


Two major problems promise to dominate economic and social policy during the twentyfirst century. These are global climate change and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. Economists are facing these issues at a time when many of the standard tools of economic analysis for example, competitive general equilibrium and the theoretical system that supports it have fallen into disfavour in analysing global issues involving uncertainty and irreversibility. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for development economics. This paper first examines economic models of human development and climate change, drawing, where possible, on the situation in Pakistan. We then outline an approach to coping with climate change based on new perspectives in behavioural and development economics, and on the likely consequences of global warming for Pakistan. We focus on adaptation to climate change rather than on mitigation strategies.


Abstract Mg-calcites commonly occur in natural environments, with Mg-contents ranging between about 0 and 32 mol% (referring to MgCO3). Often, different Mg-calcite phases occur within the same sample. The Mg-content in calcites permits the classification of the diagenetic environment (marine vs. meteoric), or the reconstruction of paleotemperatures from skeletal remains. Since the 1960s, there have been published various calibrations for Mg determination in calcites based on XRD measurements. Recently, this method has come to be superseded by wet chemical, laser ablation, and microprobe analysis, due to their higher accuracy and/or higher sample resolution of these latter methods. This study presents a new calibration for the Mg determination in calcites using XRD measurements analyzed by means of the Rietveld refinement method. The calibration is based on lattice parameters and exhibits a reliable Mg-determination accuracy of more than 0.8 mol% between 0 and 15.5 mol%. The incorporation of the calibration into the Rietveld refinement software TOPAS permits a fast, standardized workflow. This, in turn, enhances the user-friendliness and the reproducibility of results, as well as allows the simultaneous analysis of multiple Mg-calcites in a sample. Mixtures of two Mg-calcites were analyzed using this new method. The Mg-content of two co-occurring Mg-calcite phases can be reliably quantified providing the Mg-calcites differ by at least 4.9 mol% and the minor Mg-calcite phase makes up more than 2.7 wt%. If the Mg-calcite phases differ by 3.4 mol% or less, the reliable identification of different Mg-calcite phases is questionable, due to the fact that differences involved here are too small. If such XRD patterns are refined with only one Mg-calcite phase, then the systematic misfit between measured and refined pattern can be used for the identification of a second Mg-calcite phase down to a difference in the Mg-content of about 3 mol%. However, a reliable phase quantification for these patterns cannot be achieved.


Abstract This report documents a blockchain application developed for the energy sector that enables distributed market coordination for decentralized energy systems. As its core element, it utilizes Ethereum-based smart contracts to facilitate market matching between individual producers and consumers of electricity. The motive for this application was to understand the process of developing blockchain applications with industrial partners. Moreover, the purpose of this exercise was to examine whether Ethereum-based smart contracts could be effectively utilized for similar applications in industry and society at large. The application and the discussions during its development indicate that similar horizontal market structures may spring up in value chains in which the dynamicity of the market is growing and in which the roles of the market actors are shifting from fixed roles towards switch-role markets.


Cross-modal hashing has been receiving increasing interests for its low storage cost and fast query speed in multi-modal data retrievals. However, most existing hashing methods are based on hand-crafted or raw level features of objects, which may not be optimally compatible with the coding process. Besides, these hashing methods are mainly designed to handle simple pairwise similarity. The complex multilevel ranking semantic structure of instances associated with multiple labels has not been well explored yet. In this paper, we propose a ranking-based deep cross-modal hashing approach (RDCMH). RDCMH firstly uses the feature and label information of data to derive a semi-supervised semantic ranking list. Next, to expand the semantic representation power of hand-crafted features, RDCMH integrates the semantic ranking information into deep cross-modal hashing and jointly optimizes the compatible parameters of deep feature representations and of hashing functions. Experiments on real multi-modal datasets show that RDCMH outperforms other competitive baselines and achieves the state-of-the-art performance in cross-modal retrieval applications.


A method for determining the dependence of the dielectric permittivity of municipal refuse on its volumetric water content is developed and tested. The method is based on time domain transmission (TDT) measurements collected with an automated network analyzer (ANA). Measurements in variably saturated sand were first made to test the method's ability to measure the apparent dielectric permittivity. The method was then extended to samples of municipal refuse to determine whether a single calibration can be used to describe the relationship between the dielectric permittivity and the volumetric water content of refuse. The results show that the relationship between the dielectric permittivity and the volumetric water content within the refuse shows significant spatial variability. The results do show, however, that a calibration based on multiple samples collected throughout the landfill can be used to measure the volumetric water content with a root mean square volumetric water content measurement error of <0.04 cm3 cm−3 Deviations from the common calibration are not explained by variations in bulk density or porosity among samples. It is recommended that a calibration be derived from samples collected throughout a municipal landfill before a water content monitoring method based on dielectric permittivity measurements is used.


This paper presents a new algorithm for plan recognition called ELEXIR (Engine for LEXicalized Intent Recognition). ELEXIR represents the plans to be recognized with a grammatical formalism called Combinatory Categorial Grammar(CCG). We show that representing plans with CCGs can allow us to prevent early commitment to plan goals and thereby reduce runtime.


Combining formal argument with informal conversations and design proposals, Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else offers creative ideas for "thinking and acting architecture differently." What makes the book unique (apart from its lively graphic format) is the freshness of its voices--young architects and emerging practitioners who for the most part have not published before. Interwoven with their proposals are conversations among these new voices and more established authors and practitioners, including Sanford Kwinter, Sylvia Lavin, K. Michael Hays, Philippe Rahm, Liam Gillick, Teddy Cruz, and Michael Meredith. Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else investigates the inner contradictions tangling and obscuring architectural discourse. It locates architecture in a cultural, social, political, and situational landscape--the space it actually occupies in the contemporary world. Examining architecture as it comes into contact with other disciplines--including art, art history, cultural studies, curating, landscape architecture, neuroaesthetics, pedagogy, philosophy, political science, and urbanism--the book considers architecture's precarious position at the edge: at the edge of its own dilemmas and at the edge of "everything else." In different ways, all the contributors suggest how to understand the innovative possibilities and pitfalls of spatial practices--teasing, analyzing, and celebrating architecture's disciplinary ambiguity--with proposals that range from a "lo-res" architecture to one controlled by the curatorial impulse, from customizable "skins" on residential buildings to the collection of residual space for new uses. Their investigations encompass how to interpret, how to intervene, and how to imagine. Breaking out of institutional molds and reaching across generational divides, Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else marks the beginning of a new conversation about architecture and its expanded landscape.Contributors Brett Albert, Matthew Allen, Esther Choi, Teddy Cruz, Suzanne Ernst, Liam Gillick, K. Michael Hays, Sanford Kwinter, Sylvia Lavin, Michael Meredith, Yu Morishita, Trevor Patt,Philippe Rahm, Joe Ringenberg, Jonathan Tate, Marrikka Trotter, Douglas Wu


According to Greene (2005), "history is written by the victor – meaning that the voices of the defeated are often muted in the historical record, overwritten by the perspectives of the more powerful" (p. 1). However, winter counts (waniyetu wówapi), traditional pictographic calendars on animal hide, challenge this historical recount through their simple symbolic representation that captures history from the perspective of Indigenous communities. This paper proposes the re-visioning of winter counts in achieving their traditional roles of facilitating Elder and community discussions, preserving and passing on history (Burke, 2007a), assisting the "People" to know and understand their history (Scott, 2006), and acting as a "medium of moral and social instruction" (Risch, 2000). Our contention is that re-visioning of winter counts as a sound Indigenous methodology is decolonizing.


A critical question regarding the organic carbon cycle in the Arctic Ocean is whether the decline in ice extent and thickness and the associated increase in solar irradiance in the upper ocean will result in increased primary production and particulate organic carbon (POC) export. To assess spatial and temporal variability in POC export, under‐ice export fluxes were measured with short‐term sediment traps in the northern Laptev Sea in July‐August‐September 1995, north of the Fram Strait in July 1997, and in the Central Arctic in August–September 2012. Sediment traps were deployed at 2–5 m and 20–25 m under ice for periods ranging from 8.5 to 71 h. In addition to POC fluxes, total particulate matter, chlorophyll a, biogenic particulate silica, phytoplankton, and zooplankton fecal pellet fluxes were measured to evaluate the amount and composition of the material exported in the upper Arctic Ocean. Whereas elevated export fluxes observed on and near the Laptev Sea shelf were likely the combined result of high primary production, resuspension, and release of particulate matter from melting ice, low export fluxes above the central basins despite increased light availability during the record minimum ice extent of 2012 suggest that POC export was limited by nutrient supply during summer. These results suggest that the ongoing decline in ice cover affects export fluxes differently on Arctic shelves and over the deep Arctic Ocean and that POC export is likely to remain low above the central basins unless additional nutrients are supplied to surface waters.


In frequent fire forests of the western US a legacy of fire suppression coupled with increases in fire weather severity have altered fire regimes and vegetation dynamics. When coupled with projected climate change, these conditions have the potential to lead to vegetation type change and altered carbon (C) dynamics. In the Sierra Nevada, fuels reduction approaches that include mechanical thinning followed by regular prescribed fire are one approach to restore the ability of the ecosystem to tolerate episodic fire and still sequester C. Yet, the spatial extent of the area requiring treatment makes widespread treatment implementation A cc ep te d A rt ic le This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. unlikely. We sought to determine if a priori knowledge of where uncharacteristic wildfire is most probable could be used to optimize the placement of fuels treatments in a Sierra Nevada watershed. We developed two treatment placement strategies: the naive strategy, based on treating all operationally available area and the optimized strategy, which only treated areas where crown-killing fires were most probable. We ran forecast simulations using projected climate data through 2100 to determine how the treatments differed in terms of C sequestration, fire severity, and C emissions relative to a no-management scenario. We found that in both the short (20 years) and long (100 years) term, both management scenarios increased C stability, reduced burn severity, and consequently emitted less C as a result of wildfires than no-management. Across all metrics, both scenarios performed the same, but the optimized treatment required significantly less C removal (naive = 0.42 Tg C, optimized = 0.25 Tg C) to achieve the same treatment efficacy. Given the extent of western forests in need of fire restoration, efficiently allocating treatments is a critical task if we are going to restore adaptive capacity in frequent-fire forests.


Abstract Levels of institutional trust in Russia are amongst the lowest in the world. As yet, however, little research has focused on this phenomenon at the sub-national level. The current study examines trust in social and political institutions among citizens in Moscow in 2004. Results showed that levels of institutional trust are extremely low and that there were only three institutions (the church, president and hospitals) that were more trusted than distrusted. Moreover, although the effects of some demographic and other independent variables on trust stretched across institutions, several variables had a unique impact in terms of trust in the president.


We argue that the vast bulk of movements in aggregate real economic activity during the Great Recession were due to financial frictions. We reach this conclusion by looking through the lens of an estimated New Keynesian model in which firms face moderate degrees of price rigidities, no nominal rigidities in wages, and a binding zero lower bound constraint on the nominal interest rate. Our model does a good job of accounting for the joint behavior of labor and goods markets, as well as inflation, during the Great Recession. According to the model the observed fall in total factor productivity and the rise in the cost of working capital played critical roles in accounting for the small drop in inflation that occurred during the Great Recession. (JEL E12, E23, E24, E31, E32, E52)


This paper presents a simple two-branch transmit diversity scheme. Using two transmit antennas and one receive antenna the scheme provides the same diversity order as maximal-ratio receiver combining (MRRC) with one transmit antenna, and two receive antennas. It is also shown that the scheme may easily be generalized to two transmit antennas and M receive antennas to provide a diversity order of 2M. The new scheme does not require any bandwidth expansion or any feedback from the receiver to the transmitter and its computation complexity is similar to MRRC.


We have studied the deactivation of the in vivo actions of insulin and biosynthetic human proinsulin (recombinant DNA) to stimulate the glucose disposal rate (GDR) and to inhibit hepatic glucose output (HGO) in man. Twelve healthy, lean, young subjects were studied using a modification of the euglycemic glucose clamp technique. Subjects received 4-h infusions on separate occasions of insulin (15 mU/m2/min equivalent to 0.54 μg/m2/min) or proinsulin (2.75 μg/m2/min), achieving steady-state serum levels of 32 ± 3 μU/ml (equivalent to 0.23 ± 0.02 pmol/ml) and 3.7 ± 0.2 pmol/ml, respectively. Suppression of HGO was similar (83–84%) with proinsulin and insulin, but stimulation of GDR above basal was greater with insulin (3.41 ± 0.43 versus 1.98 ± 0.28 mg/kg/min, P < 0.001). Following cessation of the hormone infusions, serum proinsulin concentration fell in a biphasic fashion with half-times of 25 and 146 min for the two phases. Serum half-disappearance time for insulin was 5 min. Deactivation of the hormone's effects to stimulate GDR was 50% complete by 35 min after insulin and 71 min after proinsulin. In contrast, 50% of the recovery times for the effect on suppression of HGO were 55 min after insulin and 188 min after proinsulin. Serum glucagon levels did not differ significantly after the insulin and proinsulin infusions. In summary: (1) Deactivation of proinsulin and insulin's effects to suppress HGO proceeds more slowly than deactivation of their effects to stimulate GDR; and (2) There is a markedly prolonged and disproportionately delayed deactivation of proinsulin's effects on suppression of HGO. This later finding may prove of therapeutic value in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.


Multi-view stereo relies on feature correspondences for 3D reconstruction, and thus is fundamentally flawed in dealing with featureless scenes. In this paper, we propose polarimetric multi-view stereo, which combines per-pixel photometric information from polarization with epipolar constraints from multiple views for 3D reconstruction. Polarization reveals surface normal information, and is thus helpful to propagate depth to featureless regions. Polarimetric multi-view stereo is completely passive and can be applied outdoors in uncontrolled illumination, since the data capture can be done simply with either a polarizer or a polarization camera. Unlike previous work on shape-from-polarization which is limited to either diffuse polarization or specular polarization only, we propose a novel polarization imaging model that can handle real-world objects with mixed polarization. We prove there are exactly two types of ambiguities on estimating surface azimuth angles from polarization, and we resolve them with graph optimization and iso-depth contour tracing. This step significantly improves the initial depth map estimate, which are later fused together for complete 3D reconstruction. Extensive experimental results demonstrate high-quality 3D reconstruction and better performance than state-of-the-art multi-view stereo methods, especially on featureless 3D objects, such as ceramic tiles, office room with white walls, and highly reflective cars in the outdoors.


A new antithrombogenic stent using ion beam surface modification nanotechnology was evaluated. The ion stent is being developed to inhibit acute and chronic stent-related thrombosis. Thirty self-expanding mesh stents were fabricated from Ti-Ni metal wires with a dimension of 4 mm (diameter) x 25 mm (length) x 0.15 mm (thickness). Twenty stents were coated with type I collagen and irradiated with a He(+) ion beam at an energy of 150 keV with fluences of 1 x 10(14) ions/cm(2) (ion stent group). Ten stents had no treatment (non-ion stent group). The self-expanding stents were implanted into the right and left peripheral femoral arteries of 15 beagle dogs (vessel diameter approximately 3 mm) via a 6Fr catheter under fluoroscopic guidance. Heparin (100 units/kg) was administered intravenously before implantation. Following stent implantation, no antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs were administered. The 1-month patency rate for the non-ion stent group was 10% (1/10), and for the ion stent group it was 80% (16/20) with no anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs given after stent implantation (P = 0.0004 by Fisher's exact test). Ten stents remain patent after 2 years in vivo with no anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs. These results indicate that He(+) ion-implanted collagen-coated Ti-Ni self-expanding stents have excellent antithrombogenicity and biocompatibility. This ion stent is promising for coronary and cerebral stent applications.


The integration of university performance data with the strategic goals of a university to enhance institutional efficiency is a complex process. This article aims to illustrate the importance of the alignment of performance data with decision-support needs linked to the strategic goals of a university by means of a case study from the University of Pretoria (UP). The enhancement of the capability for monitoring and evaluating faculty indicators and departmental performance against the strategic goals of the university is illustrated through the implementation of a new management information system (known as 1 HEDA) . The focus of the article is to demonstrate the importance of integration and monitoring of the university's strategic plan for improvement in institutional efficiency. The alignment of UP's operational indicators with its Annual Performance Plan submissions required by the Department of Higher Education and Training is also outlined. The practical use and process followed for the adoption of the management information software at the university is discussed as well as the lessons learnt so far, in an attempt to monitor and integrate institutional planning at all levels.


To rid the world of the evil, ten-headed Ravana, the Hindu god Vishnu appears on earth as a heroic prince, Rama. The devotion of his brother Lakshman, his marriage to the beautiful Sita, and encounters with demons, giants, sages, and holy men form favourite episodes familiar to any Hindu child. Taken from the holy text, "The Ramayana", these stories conclude with Rama's efforts to rescue the kidnapped Sita, aided by Hanuman, leader of an army of monkeys. These incidents have been retold and lavishly illustrated using original paintings from a 16th-century Mughal manuscript. Originally published in 1980 by Freer Gallery of Art, this is a completely redesigned edition.


A random variable dominates another random variable with respect to the covariance order if the covariance of any two monotone increas- ing functions of this variable is smaller. We characterize completely the covariance order, give strong sufficient conditions for it, present a num- ber of examples in concrete economic applications, and provide natural extensions for the multivariate context. In analogy to mean preserving spreads in standard stochastic dominance, we show that the covariance order is intimately linked to a comparison of median preserving spreads of random variables. Moreover, it arises naturally in a variety of im- portant economic questions like, e.g., Hansen-Jagannathan stochastic discount factor bounds, the efficient portfolios implied by semi-variance optimization problems, or the measurement of macroeconomic inequal- ity and dispersion in beliefs.


Whether located right in the heart of a metropolis or on sprawling sites in the countryside, sculpture parks and gardens have become increasingly popular destinations for art and nature lovers alike. Art Parks is a useful guide to outdoor sculpture parks throughout the United States in both urban and suburban environments. Featuring works by such important artists as Alexander Calder, Lewis DeSoto, Olafur Eliasson, William Tucker, Sol Lewitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Henry Moore, Isaumu Noguchi, Louise Bourgeois, Mark di Suvero, Jean Dubuffet, Andy Goldsworthy and Donald Judd, among others. Each park is described in detail and illustrated with beautiful photographs of the landscape and works of art displayed. From large-scale parks in a natural setting, to small sculpture gardens in urban surroundings, to corporate collections displayed a suburban environment, this useful guide contains all important outdoor sculpture collections in the United States and includes four maps group which group the parks geographically and list them both by type and location.


The purpose of our paper is to examine the profitability and social desirability of both domestic and foreign mergers in a location-quantity competition model, where we allow for the possibility of hollowing-out of the target firm. We refer to hollowing-out as the situation where the target firm is shut down following a merger with a domestic or foreign acquirer. Our analysis shows that mergers have ambiguous effects on the profitability of merged firms and on social welfare. Hollowing-out occurs in very few instances in our framework. One such instance is the case of firms located side-by-side in the same cluster and only if it is very costly to transfer the more efficient technology of the acquirer to the domestic target firm. This happens regardless of the origin of the acquirer, domestic or foreign. We also show that there are instances when a cross-border merger with hollowing out is not profitable but it is socially desirable.


Aim: To check the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) chain length on PEGylation of dendrimers. Materials and Methods: In the present work, we have synthesized different PEGylated polyamidoamine dendrimers using six different PEG chains, i.e., PEG - 200, 300, 400, 600, 2000, and 6000. The PEGylated dendrimers were evaluated for color reaction ultraviolet, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance studies and compared with standard data. Results and Discussion: The plain dendrimers give violet color due to free NH2 groups. The intensity of violet color of 4.0 G dendrimers decreases on PEGylation, due to attachment of PEG chain on free NH2 groups which is responsible for violet color. The change in λmax values from 283 to 353 nm was observed, which shows the change in structure of dendrimers. On comparing, it was found that PEG 400 and 600 shows value near their expected values, i.e., 19,150 and 19,780, respectively. Conclusion: From the results of the present study, it can be concluded that PEGylation using PEG 400 and 600 gives a considerable level of attachment of PEG to dendrimers as compared to other PEG chains.


Do you remember the earlier days of Facebook, when a group dedicated to a man, who wanted to collect 1 million likes so he could convert his house into a pirateship with the blessing of his girlfriend, went viral? And the girlfriend ended up having to (principally) yield to his wish because of the massive number of likes he got? This is one example of what one might term global "banal" content, that is viral content which cannot be described as breaking or political news in any way, but nevertheless include elements which for a fleeting moment encourages users to share it globally. This research project, the framework of which this paper seeks to describe, aims at understanding more closely Facebook user engagement with this form of shared content. The "viral content" which I will examine is closely related to the principles of"virality", defined by Hahon and Hemsley as an "information flow process" during which many people spread the same item of information over a short period of time and beyond their own personal networks (Nahon and Hemsley 2013: 16). This "piece of information" is often a meme, an infectious and attractive cultural "idea" in the very broad sense. During the viral spread of the meme, it can be either copied without intervention or "repackaged" and altered by its sharers (cf. Shifman 2014). I understand the "pieces of information" analysed in this project as memes, vis a vis their apparently infectious (viral) nature, even if they are passed forward without alterations. Constine (2009) refers to this type of meme as as "discrete" memes, whereas the template meme type can be described as "symbiotic".


In the 1950s American painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) took a dramatic turn away from his early work, exploring new vocabularies of both abstract and representational styles, which would come to be known as the artist's "Berkeley period." This era has long been recognized as one of the most interesting chapters in postwar American art, yielding many of Diebenkorn's best-known works. Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966 examines Diebenkorn's process and output during this decisive period. Three original essays explore the artist's evolving conceptions of abstraction and representation, emphasizing the interrelationships between the abstract paintings and drawings and related landscapes, figurative works, and still lifes, as well as Diebenkorn's ongoing interest in aerial views. Featuring several significant works that have rarely been on view, as well as previously unpublished photographs from the Diebenkorn archives, this important publication is the first comprehensive look at this critical period.


Abstract. Dynamic ice discharge from outlet glaciers across the Greenland Ice Sheet has
increased since the beginning of the 21st century. Calving from floating ice
tongues that buttress these outlets can accelerate ice flow and discharge of
grounded ice. However, little is known about the dynamic impact of ice tongue
loss in Greenland compared to ice shelf collapse in Antarctica. The rapidly
flowing (∼1000 m a−1) Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland
has one of the ice sheet's last remaining ice tongues, but it lost
∼50 %–60 % (∼40 km in length) of this tongue via two large
calving events in 2010 and 2012. The glacier showed a limited velocity
response to these calving events, but it is unclear how sensitive it is to
future ice tongue loss. Here, we use an ice flow model (Úa) to assess the
instantaneous velocity response of Petermann Glacier to past and future
calving events. Our results confirm that the glacier was dynamically
insensitive to large calving events in 2010 and 2012 (<10 % annual
acceleration). We then simulate the future loss of similarly sized sections
to the 2012 calving event (∼8 km long) of the ice tongue back to the
grounding line. We conclude that thin, soft sections of the ice tongue
>12 km away from the grounding line provide little frontal buttressing,
and removing them is unlikely to significantly increase ice velocity or
discharge. However, once calving removes ice within 12 km of the grounding
line, loss of these thicker and stiffer sections of ice tongue could perturb
stresses at the grounding line enough to substantially increase inland flow
speeds (∼900 m a−1), grounded ice discharge, and Petermann
Glacier's contribution to global sea level rise.


Article abstract-We studied 19 symptomatic female carriers of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene. Most of these dystrophinopathy patients had had an erroneous or ambiguous diagnosis prior to dystrophin immunofluorescence testing. We assessed clinical severity by a standardized protocol, measured X-chromosome inactivation patterns in blood and muscle DNA, and quantitated the dystrophin protein content of muscle. We found that patients could be separated into two groups: those showing equal numbers of normal and mutant dystrophin genes in peripheral blood DNA ("random" X-inactivation), and those showing preferential use of the mutant dystrophin gene ("skewed" X-inactivation). In the random X-inactivation carriers, the clinical phenotype ranged from asymptomatic to mild disability, the dystrophin content of muscle was >60% of normal, and there were only minor histopathologic changes. In the skewed X-inactivation patients, clinical manifestations ranged from mild to severe, but the patients with mild disease were young (5 to 10 years old). The low levels of dystrophin (<30% on average) and the severe symptoms of the older patients suggested a poor prognosis for those with skewed X-inactivation, and they all showed morphologic changes of dystrophy. The random inactivation patients showed evidence of biochemical "normalization," with higher dystrophin content in muscle than predicted by the number of normal dystrophin genes. Seventy-nine percent of skewed X-inactivation patients (11/14) showed genetic "normalization," with proportionally more dystrophin-positive nuclei in muscle than in blood. In 65% of the skewed X-inactivation patients, dystrophin was not produced by dystrophin-positive nuclei; an average of 20% of myofiber nuclei were genetically dystrophin-positive but did not produce stable dystrophin. Biochemical normalization seems to be the main mechanism for rescue of fibers from dystrophin deficiency in the random X-inactivation patients. In the skewed X-inactivation patients, genetic normalization is active, but production failure of dystrophin by dystrophin-normal nuclei may counteract any effect of biochemical normalization. In the skewed X-inactivation patients, the remodeling of the muscle through cycles of degeneration and regeneration led to threefold increase in the number of dystrophin-competent nuclei in muscle myofibers (3.3 +-\4.6), while dystrophin content was on the average 1.5-fold less than expected (-1.54 +-\3.38). Our results permit more accurate prognostic assessment of isolated female dystrophinopathy patients and provide important data with which to estimate the potential effect of gene delivery (gene therapy) in DMD. NEUROLOGY 1995;45: 677-690


International society and agreements on how the sustainable development is to be achieved influenced the principles of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an international multi-stakeholder organisation set up to regulate the growing palm oil industry voluntarily. The protection of third generation rights under formal RSPO documents is quite advanced, but there remains a wide gap between the principles of RSPO and realities on the ground. Power relations are thus reflected in the issues and proceedings of the legal case brought by a number of NGOs against the Wilmar Group, a leading member of RSPO. This is an example of how conflicting stakeholders with very unequal resources and power inequalities are able – or unable – to resolve their differences to mutual benefit and to promote the wider values of sustainable development.


The paper proposes to examine artistic transmutations in Senegalese musical poetry (1970s and 2000s) in relation to social and political transformation. It draws mainly from Jacques Attali's (1985) development that music is both a mirror and a prophecy because, as he argues, not only does its mode of organization (or code) replicate current social organization, but also because once we know where music is heading, we can tell what the next social order will be. By focusing on the poetic essence of contemporary Senegalese music, the paper argues that the two predominant musical genres in the country, Mbalax (born from a mixture of Senegal's musical traditions and Latin-American beats) and Hip Hop Galsene (born from artistic influence of American Hip Hop culture), have emerged as two forms of 'national' artistic expressions in that they reflect 'hybridized' artistic features through which the Senegalese artist simulates a political effort towards transcending ethnic boundaries, while replicating a broader national order. Finally, by providing an aesthetic analysis of two songs taken as example, the paper shows how musically rendered political dialogs between artists can also displace and restructure features of a musical genre.


Auto-scaling mechanisms are an important line of defense against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) in the cloud. Using auto-scaling, machines can be added and removed in an on-line manner to respond to fluctuating load. It is commonly believed that the auto-scaling mechanism casts DDoS attacks into Economic Denial of Sustainability (EDoS) attacks. Rather than suffering from performance degradation up to a total denial of service, the victim suffers only from the economic damage incurred by paying for the extra resources required to process the bogus traffic of the attack. Contrary to this belief, we present and analyze the Yo-Yo attack, a new attack against the auto-scaling mechanism, that can cause significant performance degradation in addition to economic damage. In the Yo-Yo attack, the attacker sends periodic bursts of overload, thus causing the auto-scaling mechanism to oscillate between scale-up and scale-down phases. The Yo-Yo attack is harder to detect and requires less resources from the attacker compared to traditional DDoS. We demonstrate the attack on Amazon EC2 [4], and analyze protection measures the victim can take by reconfiguring the auto-scaling mechanism.