Reducing fossil fuel combustion is a top priority for climate policy. For decades, policy-makers and international agreements have sought to achieve this goal through energy efficiency, lowcarbon technology, carbon pricing, and other measures designed to reduce demand for fossil fuels. Focusing on the point of combustion makes intuitive sense, but efforts have yet to put fossil fuel use on a trajectory consistent with keeping global warming below 2°C. Recognizing this shortcoming, policy-makers, researchers and activists have begun to look at the potential for policies and actions aimed at limiting fossil fuel supply. However, options for supply-side climate policies and how they might complement or replace more traditional demand side policies remain poorly understood. This paper explores reasons why supply-side policies have not been pursued and why they deserve more attention. It provides a typology of supply-side policies and frameworks for assessing their effectiveness, efficiency, and feasibility. It finds that supply-side policies, such as removal of producer subsidies, compensation of resource owners for leaving fuels "unburned", or outright restrictions on resource development, could bring important benefits. Such policies could allow for greater emission reductions at the same (or lower) cost than demandside policies alone. They could also help to reduce carbon lock-in effects, making it easier for lower-carbon alternatives to compete with fossil fuels. Many questions related to feasibility and effectiveness remain. Further research and policy development can help address these questions and explore how a new supply-side policy "toolkit" might complement demand-side approaches.


Carbofuran degrading bacteria were isolated from the soil sample. Isolate 7 was isolated
from the soil sample collected from the Marriot Hotel car park in Johor Bahru. The
sampling location is known to have no history of carbofuran application or
contamination. The Preliminary screening of the MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-
,diphenyltetrazoliumbromide) assay screened 148 isolates based on the measurement of
growth respiration of the isolated bacteria. Seven isolates as well as Isolate 2,7, 9, 13, 2 1,
72 and 138 are shown to have the highest absorbance measured by the assay. These
isolates were selected from the blue colour formation of formazan. Selected isolates were
subjected to Secondary screening which included the MTT Assay and Direct Plate Count
method. Five isolates; Isolate 2, 7, 9, 13 and 21 were chosen from the highest colony
count in CFUI mL and highest absorbance obtained from the MTT assay. The High
Performance Liquid Chromatography was used as the detector for the carbofuran
degrader which was the Isolate 7. In this study, Isolate 7 gave the reading of 92.98%
degradation of 100mgIL carbofuran in the enrichment culture on sixth day of the
incubation period. This followed by Isolate 13 which gave the measurement carbofuran
degradation reading of 55.8 %, Isolate 21; 54.09 %, and Isolate 9; 53.6%. The lowest
degradation was measured from Isolate 2 with 33.6 % of carbohan degradation. The
control without bacteria accounted only 13 % degraded carbofuran suggesting the
carbofuran underwent chemical degradation. The optimum growth conditions were
determined for Isolate 7 based on the highest colony count (CFUImL) of the bacteria on
nutrient agar. Glucose as a carbon source and 60 mg/L of carbofuran, in carbofuran
enrichment culture were used as optimum parameters for the growth of Isolate 7. The
optimum pH of c a r b o h enrichment culture was at pH 7 and the optimum temperature
was at 25"C, at room temperature. In the designed optimize conditions, the carbofuran
degradation of Isolate 7 was two days earlier, which is at 93.05% degradation on the
fourth day. Isolate 7 was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp. based on the morphological
characterization and biochemical test. The carbofuran degrading enzyme for carbofuran
showed the Km value of 0.9571 m M a,nVd at 0.1142 mmole min-' Optimum
temperature for the enzyme activity was in the range of 40°C to 45°C and pH was in the
range of 8 to 10. The Native PAGE and SDS PAGE showed a lot of protein bands
appeared suggesting that the protein was still not purified and several steps must be done
to remove the impurities.


One hundred and fifty years ago, on a sandstone cliff high above Sydney Harbour, Australia, a number of individuals began carving the rocks and making their mark upon the land. The people who made these inscriptions were amongst Australia's first migrants and free settlers who were put in quarantine. The Quarantine Station was established in 1828 to manage and control the spread of infectious diseases in the nascent colony of New South Wales. Who were these people and why were they compelled to mark their presence in stone here? In this paper we explore the words and images inscribed at the North Head Quarantine Station. They are, we suggest, an historical archive of passengers, ship's names, and ports of origin as well as markers of passage and acts of memorialisation. An evocative testimony to lives held in suspension, we discuss also the profound effect of seeing these inscriptions and realising that for some of their makers the journey remained unfulfilled.


Magneto-Rheological Elastomers (MREs) represent emerging composite materials consisting of small magnetic particles dispersed in a highly elastic polymeric matrix. Particles interactions with external fields (magnetic and electric) and external stresses result in a variation of rheological and physical properties of the material. In particular, MRE samples exhibit piezoresistivity, i.e. a change in the intrinsic material resistivity if subjected to an external stress. While literature reports experimental sessions aimed to establish the MREs piezoresistive characteristics and sensing capabilities, tests assessing the presences of hysteresis and cyclic drifts for multiple loading/unloading cycles of the MREs are not diffused. Nevertheless, these information are crucial to establish the quality and reliability of a sensing system. The presented work addresses the investigation of such parasitic phenomena for different MRE samples in order to assess their existence and relevance, to provide a more detailed and comprehensive description of the MRE piezoresistive effect as well as to enlighten further important elements useful to determine the possibility of using such materials for the realization of force or pressure sensors.


ABSTRACT This essay examines representations of migrants and asylum seekers in some recent documentaries, largely made by white Europeans. I pay particular attention to questions of agency, voice and individuation, and the mediation, distribution, or evacuation of these elements of subjectivity. In contrast to the indifference or outright hostility with which migrants and refugees have often been treated, a well-intentioned but Eurocentric trope, evident in Ode to Lesvos, is the attempt made by 'ordinary' citizens to offer hospitality to those arriving at the continent's borders. On the other hand, Les Sauteurs (Those Who Jump) presents migrants' own actions as in part a form of political resistance. Finally, I consider how Gianfranco Rosi's Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) and Thomas Østbye's Imagining Emanuel interrogate the scrutiny, discipline and control endured by asylum seekers and migrants, processes that form part of the unmarked and unremarked upon Žižekian 'objective violence' that sustains the European system. These documentaries also offer reminders of the common technologies and routine procedures shared by filmmakers and the modern state's legal apparatus, as both test veracity and attempt to produce the human subject as knowable.


Exposure to odorless, colorless, tasteless and yet lethal nerve gases could lead to paralysis of the central nervous system, organ failure or even rapid death. Hence it is of great importance to develop a convenient, portable and rapid detection method for these gaseous nerve agents. Herein, based on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics, a ratiometric fluorescent test-strip sensor (DPA-TPE-Py) for rapid, sensitive and selective detection of the gaseous nerve agent simulant diethyl chlorophosphate (DCP) has been developed. It is easy to prepare handy and portable solid test strips via direct deposition of AIE probes onto the filter paper. Moreover, when the test strips are exposed to DCP vapor, their fluorescence changes from yellow to orange red. The detection limit for DCP is as low as 1.82 ppb, lower than the reported Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health concentration (IDLH concentration). Such a strategy could provide helpful insights into designing convenient cost-effective ratiometric fluorescent sensors in the solid state as well as affording a portative method for detection of gaseous nerve agents.


Leaf biochemical traits indicating early symptoms of plant stress can be assessed using imaging spectroscopy combined with radiative transfer modelling (RTM). In this study, we assessed the potential applicability of the leaf radiative transfer model Fluspect-Cx to simulate optical properties and estimate leaf biochemical traits through inversion of two native Australian eucalypt species: Eucalyptus dalrympleana and E. delegetensis. The comparison of measured and simulated optical properties revealed the necessity to recalibrate the refractive index and specific absorption coefficients of the eucalypt leaves' biochemical constituents. Subsequent validation of the modified Fluspect-Cx showed a closer agreement with the spectral measurements. The average root mean square error (RMSE) of reflectance, transmittance and absorptance values within the wavelength interval of 450–1600 nm was smaller than 1%. We compared the performance of both the original and recalibrated Fluspect-Cx versions through inversions aiming to simultaneously retrieve all model inputs from leaf optical properties with and without prior information. The inversion of recalibrated Fluspect-Cx constrained by laboratory-based measurements produced a superior accuracy in estimations of leaf water content (RMSE = 0.0013 cm, NRMSE = 6.55%) and dry matter content (RMSE = 0.0036 g·cm−2, NRMSE = 21.28%). The estimation accuracies of chlorophyll content (RMSE = 8.46 µg·cm−2, NRMSE = 24.73%), carotenoid content (RMSE = 3.83 µg·cm−2, NRMSE = 30.82%) and anthocyanin content (RMSE = 1.69 µg·cm−2, NRMSE = 37.12%) were only marginally better than for the inversion without any constraints. Additionally, we investigated the possibility to substitute the prior information derived in the laboratory by non-destructive reflectance-based spectral indices sensitive to the retrieved biochemical traits, resulting in the most accurate estimation of carotenoid content (RMSE = 3.65 µg·cm−2, NRMSE = 29%). Future coupling of the recalibrated Fluspect with a forest canopy RTM is expected to facilitate retrieval of biophysical traits from spectral air/space-borne image data, allowing for assessing the actual physiological status and health of eucalypt forest canopies.


We revisit the comparison of mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) and nested fixed point (NFXP) algorithms for estimating structural dynamic models by Su and Judd (SJ, 2012). They used an inefficient version of the nested fixed point algorithm that relies on successive approximations. We re-do their comparison using the more efficient version of NFXP proposed by Rust (1987), which combines successive approximations and Newton-Kantorovich iterations to solve the fixed point problem (NFXP-NK). We show that MPEC and NFXP-NK are similar in performance when the sample size is relatively small. However, in problems with larger sample sizes, NFXP-NK outperforms MPEC by a significant margin.


The paper commented on here R. M. C. de Almeida, S. Goncalves, I. J. R. Baumvol and F. C. Stedile Phys. Rev. B 61 12992 (2000) claims that the Deal and Grove model of oxidation is unable to describe the kinetics in the thin oxide regime due to two main simplifications: (a) the steady-state assumption and (b) the abrupt Si∕SiO2 interface assumption. Although reasonably good fits are obtained without these simplifications, it will be shown that the values of the kinetic parameters are not reliable and that the solutions given for different partial pressures are erroneous. Finally, it will be shown that the correct solution of their model is unable to predict the oxidation rate enhancement observed in the thin oxide regime and that the predicted width of the interface compatible with the Deal and Grove rate constants is too large


Dewey's refusal to abandon his strong belief in the democratic ideal, which must materialize not via powerful political elites but rather through publicly created institutions and full participation of ordinary citizens, has been grossly misunderstood. Using Dewey's critics' own arguments that purport to show Dewey intentionally, or naively, disregarded the role of power in the relations of communities, Westbrook brings examples to reinforce the contrary view. Dewey's adherence to the view that war must be universally outlawed and sanctioned was targeted precisely on the international political elites in order to reduce their domination and to maintain the real power within the hands of the citizens.


We present Owens Valley Radio Observatory Millimeter Array λ = 3.4-1.2 mm dust continuum and spectral line observations of the accretion disk encircling the T Tauri star LkCa 15. The 1.2 mm dust continuum emission is resolved and gives a minimum diameter of 190 AU and an inclination angle of 57° ± 5°. There is a noticeable but, at present, poorly constrained decrease in the continuum spectral slope with frequency that may result from the coupled processes of grain growth and dust settling. Imaging of the fairly intense emission from the lowest rotational transitions of CO, 13CO, and HCO+ reveals a rotating disk substantially larger than that observed in the dust continuum. Emission extends to ~750 AU and the characteristic radius of the disk is determined to be ~425 AU (HWHM), based on model fits to the CO velocity field. The measured line ratios demonstrate that the emission from these species is optically thick, while that from C18O and H13CO+ is optically thin, or nearly so. The disk mass derived from the CO isotopologues with typical dense cloud abundances is still nearly 2 orders of magnitude less than that inferred from the dust emission, the most probable explanation being extensive molecular depletion in the cold, dense disk midplane. Thus, while CO, HCO+, and their isotopologues are excellent tracers of the disk velocity field, they are not reliable tracers of the disk mass. N2H+ 1 → 0 emission has also been detected which, along with HCO+, sets a lower limit to the fractional ionization of 10-8 in the near-surface regions of protoplanetary disks. This first detection of N2H+ in circumstellar disks has also made possible a determination of the N2/CO ratio (~2) that is at least an order of magnitude larger than those in the envelopes of young stellar objects and dense clouds. The large N2/CO ratio indicates that our observations probe disk layers in which CO is depleted but some N2 remains in the gas phase. Such differential depletion can lead to large variations in the fractional ionization with height in the outer reaches of circumstellar disks and may help to explain the relative nitrogen deficiency observed in comets.


In the medical field a vast literature has investigated on correlation between longevity and economic welfare. The debate is going on researching for attributes contributing to these KPI's. On international level longevity-convergence is evident. Countries with modest longevity levels experience life expectancy gains in the last 50 years than countries with a higher starting level. The purpose of this paper is to set up an international data and methodological context for the building industry to investigate if and to what extent longevity of buildings is also a KPI for real estate, adding to economic performance on different levels.The research approach starts with the definition (regression) of the changing relation between income and longevity for given moments in time (actual and a base year in the past). Followed by monetising the value of longevity gains by converting them into income value. This will enable the possibility to express different causes of demolition (technical underperformance, replacement, functional obsolescence) into reduction of income value. With buildings the question of longevity will always against which cost. Total life cycle cost spanning sequential economic (or technical) lifetimes, including cost of refurbishment and renovation, next to initial cost and maintenance, are added to the analysis.The first finding which is aimed for is the confirmation that life expectancy of buildings is a similar important dimension of welfare as life expectancy of people. Secondly to put a value to longevity, and finally valuing demolition as an opposite of adaptive reuse.There is rich data on the macroeconomic part of the equation through several international institutions. The research limitation, and challenge for cooperation, lies in the data collection of life expectancy for buildings on a comparable level. Dutch data reveals an approach for actual life expectancy of buildings. A base life expectancy must be constructed. Within this dataset it is possible to test the methodology for different Dutch cities, but the reflection on macroeconomic KPI's requires international comparison, for which ERES is the ideal platform.Mirroring a debate and a methodology of another field of science is not original in itself, but the effect is. In the minds of real estate people and politicians a new build CBD is a sign of desirable prosperity. However a sound mix of old and new can be found in many mature capital cities. The social and practical


The overall goal of this article is to understand the progress in implementing the New Cooperative Medical Scheme, while seeking to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the programme and, in particular, to understand its effects on the incidence of catastrophic medical payment. The study is based on two rounds of nationally representative household survey data collected in 2005 and 2008. The study found that the programme has a very high level of participation, and has increased farmers' use of medical services. However, despite efforts by both central and local governments and high household participation, the programme is only partially achieving its policy objectives. In particular, it has been able to extend to almost all of the rural population, but has failed to cover expenses for catastrophic illness, due to insufficient funds.


Hole-doped perovskites such as La1-xCaxMnO3 present special magnetic and magnetotransport properties, and it is commonly accepted that the local atomic structure around Mn ions plays a crucial role in determining these peculiar features. Therefore experimental techniques directly probing the local atomic structure, like x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), have been widely exploited to deeply understand the physics of these compounds. Quantitative XAS analysis usually concerns the extended region [extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS)] of the absorption spectra. The near-edge region [x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES)] of XAS spectra can provide detailed complementary information on the electronic structure and local atomic topology around the absorber. However, the complexity of the XANES analysis usually prevents a quantitative understanding of the data. This work exploits the recently developed MXAN code to achieve a quantitative structural refinement of the Mn K-edge XANES of LaMnO3 and CaMnO3 compounds; they are the end compounds of the doped manganite series LaxCa1-xMnO3. The results derived from the EXAFS and XANES analyses are in good agreement, demonstrating that a quantitative picture of the local structure can be obtained from XANES in these crystalline compounds. Moreover, the quantitative XANES analysis provides topological information not directly achievable from EXAFS data analysis. This work demonstrates that combining the analysis of extended and near-edge regions of Mn K-edge XAS spectra could provide a complete and accurate description of Mn local atomic environment in these compounds.


Introduction: Low back pain in pregnancy is highly prevalent and multifactorial. However, it is still unclear if the back pain is associated with functional kinetic changes that occur during pregnancy. Objective: To evaluate the occurrence of low back pain in pregnancy and to investigate the association of low back pain disability with intensity, pain origin and kinesilogic dysfunction (range of motion of the lumbar spine, lumbar flexibility and trunk mobility). Methods: Women (n = 32) with gestational age equal or less than 20 weeks, assisted in one health centers on the coast of Parana. Obstetric and historical lumbopelvic of pain, musculoskeletal discomfort, intensity lumbopelvic pain, low back disability, the source of pain through specific clinical trials, joint range of motion of the lumbar spine, the lumbar flexibility and general mobility of the trunk were evaluated. Results: The lumbar region was the most reported and higher frequency (p = 0.000) for the occurrence of musculoskeletal discomforts. The prevalence of lumbopelvic pain was 93.8%. Most reported the first episode after the 14th week of pregnancy (90%), on a daily frequency (63.3%), high intensity (50%), limiting the activities of daily living (50%) and generating low back disability (moderate to severe in 56.9%). Lumbar disability levels were significantly correlated to gestational age (r = 0.353), pain intensity (r = 0.402), positive results in clinical trials (except for the Lasegue test), range of motion for flexion (r = -0.280) and lumbar extension (r = -0.301), lumbar flexibility (r = -0.371) and general mobility trunk (r = 0.503). Conclusion: The greater gestational age, the greater intensity of pain, positivity in clinical trials, decreased range of motion, flexibility and lumbar trunk mobility constitute major lumbar disability.


Informed debate on agricultural nonpoint pollution requires evaluation of regional water quality in relation to management practices. It is prohibitive, in terms of cost and time, to run the site-specific process models for regional policy analysis. Therefore, a simplified and robust technique--metamodeling--is suggested to evaluate regional water quality. Data from an experimentally designed simulation of complex surface water and groundwater process models, PRZM and STREAM, are used to develop statistically validated metamodels. The estimated metamodels were integrated with a regional agricultural economic decision making model to evaluate the surface water and groundwater loadings of 16 major corn and sorghum herbicides. Spatial probability distributions are derived for herbicide concentrations exceeding the toxicity-weighted benchmark from the EPA. We estimate that 1.2 percent of the regional soils will lead to groundwater detection of atrazine exceeding 0.12 ?/L, which compares well with the findings of the EPA's groundwater monitoring survey. We find no-till practices to significantly reduce the surface water concentration of atrazine and other herbicides with less impact on groundwater contamination suggesting indirect gains to soil conservation policies. But we also note that an atrazine ban could lead to increased soil erosion, even with the conservation compliance provisions fully incorporated.


In light of the growing demand for wireless broadband spectrum, significant attention is now being devoted to more effectively utilizing federal allocations of spectrum, either by entirely repurposing for commercial use or sharing with commercial users. Spectrum sharing is believed to be one way to allow commercial users to access a band without incurring the costs of completely clearing existing federal users. While sharing avoids costs of clearing federal users, spectrum sharing has its own costs and is likely to impact the value of the shared spectrum. The purpose of this paper is to understand the economic tradeoffs associated with various spectrum sharing arrangements.This paper will begin with a brief description of current policy issues around sharing and review potential frameworks for making spectrum allocation decisions. We posit that efficient spectrum allocation decisions should maximize the likelihood of achieving the policymakers' goals. Moreover, whatever the goals of policymakers, economically efficient use of spectrum creates value for achieving those goals. Consequently, efficient spectrum use should only be sacrificed for explicit policy objectives that are considered more valuable than the forgone value of using the spectrum efficiently. In trying to achieve efficient spectrum management, or in evaluating proposed departures from efficient use of spectrum, it is crucial to know the costs and forgone opportunity associated with any allocation policy. This is especially true when evaluating spectrum sharing proposals, because any specific proposal inevitably involves a trade-off between costs and benefits of two or more competing users.To understand this tradeoff we will discuss the theoretical drivers of commercial spectrum value. The value of spectrum is essentially derived from the inherent profitability of wireless services deployed on the spectrum. In the case of shared spectrum, the total value of the spectrum is the sum of the value to each shared use. To the extent that sharing restricts the operations or increases the costs of deployment for a given user, it diminishes that users profitability. Only if the sharing arrangement increases the value to another user by a greater amount will the total value of the uses of a band of spectrum increase. Based on these principles of spectrum value, the next section will discuss how spectrum sharing will likely impact the value of spectrum to a single user and the cumulative value to all users. If the total value of the spectrum for all shared uses is less than the value for a single user, then spectrum sharing diminishes the potential value of the spectrum; likewise, when the total shared value is higher than the single user value, sharing increases the spectrum value. We will explore mechanisms through which various types of spectrum sharing might impact the value of a single user, and the resulting cumulative value of the band to all users. We will use illustrative examples to illustrate this impact of sharing. Likely examples include the geographic sharing proposed by NTIA for the 1675-1710 MHz band, the FCC's proposed small cell sharing in the 3.5 GHz band, and the sharing between TV Broadcasters and unlicensed users in the TV white spaces. While geographic sharing of the 1675-1710 MHz band could limit costs to federal reallocation, it would also diminish the economic value of the spectrum by eliminating revenues in the exclusion zones, reducing any nationwide premium on the spectrum, and potentially increasing costs to deploying wireless broadband services. To evaluate the relative value of sharing proposals in the 3.5 GHz and TV Broadcast bands, we must compare the total potential value from all shared users to the value that a single commercial user could derive from this spectrum.


This paper describes and compares the zeroth-order semi-discretization, spectral element, and Legendre collocation methods. Each method is a technique for solving delay differential equations (DDEs) as well as determining regions of stability in the DDE parameter space. We present the necessary concepts, assumptions, and equations required to implement each method. To compare the relative performance between the methods, the convergence rate achieved and computing time required by each method are determined in two numerical studies consisting of a ship stability example and the delayed damped Mathieu equation. For each study, we present a stability diagram in parameter space and a convergence plot. The spectral element method is demonstrated to have the quickest convergence rate while the Legendre collocation method requires the least computing time. The zeroth-order semi-discretization method on the other hand has both the slowest convergence rate and requires the most computing time.© 2011 ASME


Department of Exercise Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA Abstract: Type 2 diabetes is traditionally diagnosed by the use of an oral glucose tolerance test and/or HbA1c, both of which require serum collection. Various biomarkers, which are measurable biological substances that provide clinical insight on disease state, have also been effective in the early identification and risk prediction of inflammatory diseases. Measuring biomarker concentrations has traditionally been obtained through serum collection as well. However, numerous biomarkers are detectable in saliva. Salivary analysis has more recently been introduced into research as a potential non-invasive, cost-effective diagnostic for the early identification of type 2 diabetes risk in adults and youth. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to compare 6 established inflammatory biomarkers of type 2 diabetes, in serum and saliva, and determine if similar diagnostic effectiveness is seen in saliva. A lack of standardized salivary analysis, processing, and collection accounts for errors and inconsistencies in conclusive data amongst studies. Proposing a national standardization in salivary analysis, coupled with increased data and research on the utility of saliva as a diagnostic, poses the potential for salivary analysis to be used in diagnostic settings.


We address the problem of computing a sequence of dense disparity maps from two synchronized video streams recorded by slightly displaced cameras. Generating such disparity videos is becoming increasingly important in the light of new autostereoscopic displays and novel viewpoint applications. We propose a good-quality, computationally fast and easy-to-use solution to accomplish this task. This paper describes the four major steps of our 2D to 3D video conversion procedure. (1) The user segments the video into its scenes. (2) For each scene, we rectify the uncalibrated stereo pairs so that correspondences lie on the same horizontal scanline. (3) A fast and accurate dynamic programming-based stereo matcher is then applied to compute a dense disparity map for each stereo pair. (4) We perform temporal smoothing on the computed disparity sequence to reduce the disparity flickering problem. All of these functionalities can be accessed via an easy-to-use graphical user interface, which makes our conversion procedure applicable even for technical unskilled users. We demonstrate the good quality of our results using various challenging real-world stereo streams.


The purpose of the study is To find out the clustering technique is effective or not in improving students' ability in generating ideas for writing description text of the third semester of the English Department of UNINDRA in the academic year of 2017/2018". Target in this research is scholar of university. The sample of this research is thirty students. This research uses book and test as the source of data. In this case, test used in this research is writing test about writing description text. This research uses a quantitative metho, experiment.. The findings of this research are by analyzing the students' test about writing description text. After analyzing data, the result of the test applied to the students by using clustering technique showed that the highest score was 88, the lowest was 65. The mean score was 78.3. If it is consulted to the grade classification of writing, the mean achievement belongs to good grade, while for control group or by using conventional technique, the highest score was 70 and the lowest score was 35. The mean score was 52.8. If it is consulted to the grade classification of writing, the mean achievement belongs to poor grade. Based on the statement above, it can be concluded that the result of research said that there is good effect clustering technique in improving the third students' ability in writing description text. So, the technique clustering is effective for improving writing ability. keywords: technique of learning, clustering technique, writing skill and descriptive texts.


The preference of farmers between commercial and co-operative banks for borrowing has been studied with the objectives of finding (a) distribution of institutional credit across various categories of farmers and to assess the coverage and quantum of credit, and (b) socio-economic factors which affect the borrowing behaviour of farmers towards commercial and co-operative banks. In the study, based on 100 farmer borrowers, the discriminant analysis has been carried out. The study has offered some suggestions also for a better access of farmers to institutional credit


The phylogeny of the thrushes (Aves: Turdus) has been difficult to reconstruct due to short internal branches and lack of node support for certain parts of the tree. Reconstructing the biogeographic history of this group is further complicated by the fact that current implementations of biogeographic methods, such as dispersal-vicariance analysis (DIVA; Ronquist, 1997), require a fully resolved tree. Here, we apply a Bayesian approach to dispersal-vicariance analysis that accounts for phylogenetic uncertainty and allows a more accurate analysis of the biogeographic history of lineages. Specifically, ancestral area reconstructions can be presented as marginal distributions, thus displaying the underlying topological uncertainty. Moreover, if there are multiple optimal solutions for a single node on a certain tree, integrating over the posterior distribution of trees often reveals a preference for a narrower set of solutions. We find that despite the uncertainty in tree topology, ancestral area reconstructions indicate that the Turdus clade originated in the eastern Palearctic during the Late Miocene. This was followed by an early dispersal to Africa from where a worldwide radiation took place. The uncertainty in tree topology and short branch lengths seems to indicate that this radiation took place within a limited time span during the Late Pliocene. The results support the role of Africa as a probable source area for intercontinental dispersals as suggested for other passerine groups, including basal diversification within the songbird tree.


The aim of this paper is to present a novel approach to model a knowledge domain for teaching material in a Tutorial-like system. In this approach, the Tutorial-like system is capable of presenting teaching material within a Socratic model of teaching. The corresponding questions are of a multiple choice type, in which the complexity of the material increases in difficulty. This enables the Tutorial-like system to present the teaching material in different chapters, where each chapter represents a level of difficulty that is harder than the previous one. We attempt to achieve the entire learning process using the Learning Automata (LA) paradigm. In order for the Domain model to possess an increased difficulty for the teaching Environment, we propose to correspondingly reduce the range of the penalty probabilities of all actions by incorporating a scaling factor µ. We show that such a scaling renders it more difficult for the Student to infer the correct action within the LA paradigm.

To the best of our knowledge, the concept of modeling teaching material with increasing difficulty using a LA paradigm is unique. The main results we have obtained are that increasing the difficulty of the teaching material can affect the learning of Normal and Below-Normal Students by resulting in an increased learning time, but it seems to have no effect on the learning behavior of Fast Students. The proposed representation has been tested for different benchmark Environments, and the results show that the difficulty of the Environments can be increased by decreasing the range of the penalty probabilities. For example, for some Environments, decreasing the range of the penalty probabilities by 50% results in increasing the difficulty of learning for Normal Students by more than 60%.


: The perinatal outcome of 252 consecutive, elective, repeat cesarean section was studied retrospectively. One hundred fifty patients (60%) were scheduled for delivery within approximately seven days of their expected delivery, cesarean (EDC), designated on the basis of rigorous clinical criteria and corroborative sonographic biparietal diameters. One hundred two patients (40%) did not meet these criteria and required analysis of amniotic fluid for L/S ratio and creatinine prior to their operations. Forty-three patients (17%) labored prior to their scheduled procedure or amniocentesis and underwent cesarean section shortly after admission. No cases of the respiratory distress syndrome were noted in the electively delivered patients. The authors conclude that careful clinical assessment of gestational age will prevent the occurrence of iatrogenic hyaline membrane disease in infants born to mothers by elective, repeat cesarean section. When the EDC is in question, however, amniotic fluid phospholipid analysis is clearly advisable.


BACKGROUND
Primary health care services are the most frequently used in the health care system. Consumer feedback on these services is important. Research in this area relates mainly to doctor-patient relationships which fails to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of primary health care.

AIM
A pilot study aimed to examine the feasibility of using a patient satisfaction questionnaire designed for use with general practitioner consultations as an instrument for measuring patient satisfaction with community nurses.

METHOD
The questionnaire measuring patient satisfaction with general practitioner consultations was adapted for measuring satisfaction with contacts with a nurse practitioner, district nurses, practice nurses and health visitors. A total of 1575 patients in three practices consulting general practitioners or community nurses were invited to complete a questionnaire. Data were subjected to principal components analysis and the dimensions identified were tested for internal reliability and replicability. To establish discriminant validity, patients' mean satisfaction scores for consultations with general practitioners, the nurse practitioner, health visitors and nurses (district and practice nurses) were compared.

RESULTS
Questionnaires were returned relating to 400 general practitioner, 54 nurse practitioner, 191 district/practice nurse and 83 health visitor consultations (overall response rate 46%). Principal components analysis demonstrated a factor structure similar to that found in an earlier study of the consultation satisfaction questionnaire. Three dimensions of patient satisfaction were identified: professional care, depth of relationship and perceived time spent with the health professional. The dimensions were found to have acceptable levels of reliability. Factor structures obtained from data relating to general practitioner and community nurse consultations were found to correlate significantly. Comparison between health professionals showed that patients rated satisfaction with professional care significantly more highly for nurses than for general practitioners and health visitors. Patients' rating of satisfaction with the depth of relationships with health visitors was significantly lower than their ratings of this relationship with the other groups of health professionals. There were so significant differences between health professional groups regarding patients' ratings of satisfaction with the perceived amount of time spent with health professionals.

CONCLUSION
The pilot study showed that it is possible to use the consultation satisfaction questionnaire for both general practitioners and community nurses. Comparison between health professional groups should be undertaken with caution as data were available for only a small number of consultations with some of the groups of health professionals studied.


Objective: Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) has been shown to improve adequacy rates and reduce needle passes. ROSE is often performed by cytopathologists who have limited availability and may be costlier than alternatives. Several recent studies examined the use of alternative evaluators (AEs) for ROSE. A summary of this information could help inform guidelines regarding the use of AEs. The objective was to assess the accuracy of AEs compared to cytopathologists in assessing the adequacy of specimens during ROSE. Study Design: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reporting and study quality were assessed using the STARD guidelines and QUADAS-2. All steps were performed independently by two evaluators. Summary estimates were obtained using the hierarchal method in Stata v14. Heterogeneity was evaluated using Higgins' I2 statistic. Results: The systematic review identified 13 studies that were included in the meta-analysis. Summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity for AEs were 97% (95% CI: 92–99%) and 83% (95% CI: 68–92%). There was wide variation in accuracy statistics between studies (I2 = 0.99). Conclusions: AEs sometimes have accuracy that is close to cytopathologists. However, there is wide variability between studies, so it is not possible to provide a broad guideline regarding the use of AEs.


We reviewed the epidemiologic characteristics, diagnosis, clinical features, and management of cyto megalovirus (CMV) infection after renal transplantation. CMV, the major viral pathogen after renal transplantation, increases patient morbidity and mortality. The spectrum of CMV infection ranges from latent infection to asymptomatic viral shedding to life-threatening multisystem disease. The two major risk factors for the development of CMV infection in renal transplant recipients are (1) preexisting CMV antibody seropositivity of either the organ donor or the recipient and (2) host immunosuppression. Blood cultures (but not urine cultures) positive for CMV predict the progression of asymptomatic infection to CMV disease, characterized by fever, malaise, myalgia, leukopenia, abnormal transaminase levels, and often involvement of the lung and gut. New genomic methods of viral detection now offer diagnostic advantages, including methods of detecting only actively replicat ing CMV. No evidence shows that CMV directly causes allograft rejection or glomerulonephritis, but patients with tissue-invasive CMV disease have higher rates of allograft loss and mortality than do those without the disease. Therapy for established CMV disease includes decreasing the immunosup pressive therapy and administering the antiviral agent ganciclovir sodium. Proven prophylactic strategies include limitation of exposure to the virus from CMV seropositive blood or organ donors, administration of CMV-specific immune globulin, and use of high-dose acyclovir therapy. Preemptive therapy with ganciclovir is a promising alternative to propbylaxis for patients at highest risk for progression to symptomatic CMV disease, such as those with CMV viremia and seropositive recipients receiving antilymphocyte therapy.


In resource-constrained settings and in the context of HIV-infected patients requiring intensive care, value-laden decisions by critical care specialists are often made in the absence of explicit policies and guidelines. These are often based on individual practitioners' knowledge and experience, which may be subject to bias. We reviewed published information on legislation and practices related to intensive care unit (ICU) admission in India, Brazil and South Africa, to assess access to critical care services in the context of HIV. Each of these countries has legal instruments in place to provide their citizens with health services, but they differ in their provision of ICU care for HIV-infected persons. In Brazil, some ICUs have no admission criteria, and this decision vests solely on the 'availability, and the knowledge and the experience' of the most experienced ICU specialist at the institution. India has few regulatory mechanisms to ensure ICU care for critically ill patients including HIV-infected persons. SA has made concerted efforts towards non-discriminatory criteria for ICU admissions and, despite the shortage of ICU beds, HIVinfected patients have relatively greater access to this level of care than in other developing countries in Africa, such as Botswana. Policymakers and clinicians should devise explicit policy frameworks to govern ICU admissions in the context of HIV status.


Background Rapidly regenerating tissues need sufficient polyamine synthesis. Since the hair follicle (HF) is a highly proliferative mini-organ, polyamines may also be important for normal hair growth. However, the role of polyamines in human HF biology and their effect on HF epithelial stem cells in situ remains largely unknown. Methods and Findings We have studied the effects of the prototypic polyamine, spermidine (0.1–1 µM), on human scalp HFs and human HF epithelial stem cells in serum-free organ culture. Under these conditions, spermidine promoted hair shaft elongation and prolonged hair growth (anagen). Spermidine also upregulated expression of the epithelial stem cell-associated keratins K15 and K19, and dose-dependently modulated K15 promoter activity in situ and the colony forming efficiency, proliferation and K15 expression of isolated human K15-GFP+ cells in vitro. Inhibiting the rate-limiting enzyme of polyamine synthesis, ornithine decarboyxlase (ODC), downregulated intrafollicular K15 expression. In primary human epidermal keratinocytes, spermidine slightly promoted entry into the S/G2-M phases of the cell cycle. By microarray analysis of human HF mRNA extracts, spermidine upregulated several key target genes implicated e.g. in the control of cell adherence and migration (POP3), or endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial functions (SYVN1, NACA and SLC25A3). Excess spermidine may restrict further intrafollicular polyamine synthesis by inhibiting ODC gene and protein expression in the HF's companion layer in situ. Conclusions These physiologically and clinically relevant data provide the first direct evidence that spermidine is a potent stimulator of human hair growth and a previously unknown modulator of human epithelial stem cell biology.


Purified human PMNs secrete plasminogen activator. This secretion is stimulated by Con A and low concentrations of PMA, and is inhibited by low concentrations of glucocorticoids, and by cAMP, actinomycin D, and cycloheximide. In contrast, the release of granule-bound enzymes, such as elastase, is achieved only at higher concentrations of PMA, and is not affected by any of the inhibitors that block plasminogen activator production. These results show that the production of plasminogen activatory by PMNs is controlled by agents that affect inflammations, and that this control is not shared by other lytic enzymes known to be associated with these cells. This suggests a particular role for plasminogen activator in the response pattern of PMNs and also supports the concept, previously developed for macrophages, that the secretion of this enzyme is correlated with cell migration in vivo.


There are many approaches to reading the Hebrew Bible, from the pietistic in both
Jewish and Christian traditions to the scholarly. Gabriel Josipovici's approach is not
about seeking the reductive 'meaning' of a text, but encouraging readers into an open
relationship with the text in order to preserve the ambiguities and mysteries that adhere
to such texts. Joseph's encounter with an unnamed stranger in Genesis 37 is used as an
illustration of this approach. Standing 'face to face' with the text requires humility, and
trust in the storyteller.


Freedom HouseOs innovative publication WomenOs Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance analyzes the status of women in the region, with a special focus on the gains and setbacks for womenOs rights since the first edition was released in 2005. The study presents a comparative evaluation of conditions for women in 17 countries and one territory: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The publication identifies the causes and consequences of gender inequality in the Middle East, and provides concrete recommendations for national and international policymakers and implementers. Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights. The project has been embraced as a resource not only by international players like the United Nations and the World Bank, but also by regional womenOs rights organizations, individual activists, scholars, and governments worldwide. WomenOs rights in each country are assessed in five key areas: (1) Nondiscrimination and Access to Justice; (2) Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person; (3) Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity; (4) Political Rights and Civic Voice; and (5) Social and Cultural Rights. The methodology is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the study results are presented through a set of numerical scores and analytical narrative reports.


OBJECTIVE
This retrospective study was conducted to determine the incidence of sepsis at our institution after percutaneous drainage of a hepatic abscess.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thirty-three patients with a hepatic abscess treated using percutaneous aspiration and drainage from 1995 to 2000 were identified from a search of the interventional database. The patients' charts and CT images were reviewed independently by two radiologists for clinical presentation, relevant medical history, pre- and postprocedure antibiotic regimens, and clinical course after percutaneous aspiration and drainage. The preprocedure images were reviewed for the location and morphology of the abscess. The procedure details including percutaneous approach, guidance technique, catheter size, and immediate postprocedure complications were reviewed.

RESULTS
Of the 33 patients, 14 patients underwent only needle aspiration of the abscess. In six (43%) of these 14 patients, the abscesses resolved with aspiration and appropriate antibiotic treatment alone. Eight (57%) of the patients who had aspiration of the abscess initially went on to have drainage catheters placed within a 72-hr period. Nineteen patients had drainage catheters placed from the onset. Of these, 17 patients (89%) had abscess resolution. Of the 27 patients who had catheters placed, a total of seven patients (26%) developed clinical symptoms of septicemia after catheter placement, but all patients, at least initially, responded to supportive treatment. Two patients died from septicemia 3-6 weeks after the procedure. None of the patients who underwent aspiration only developed postprocedure septicemia.

CONCLUSION
After placement of a percutaneous drainage catheter in a hepatic abscess, there is a significant risk (26%) of postprocedure sepsis. Although it appears to be a random and unpredictable event in our small series, interventional radiologists and referring physicians should be aware of the risk of sepsis after percutaneous drainage of hepatic abscess.


Research on the role of local institutions in confl ict management is still limited. This study highlights various inter-settlement confl icts over the issue of unclear resource boundaries in Danau Sentarum National Park, Indonesia. The park is home to two major ethnic groups (Dayak Iban and Malay) whose livelihoods are highly dependent on fi sh and forest resources available in the park area. We demonstrate how local institutions (adat) are used to address boundary confl icts and consider their effectiveness. The study also discusses challenges that adat face in ensuring the effectiveness of confl ict management. We argue that enhancing communication and developing a mechanism of exchange among settlements engaged in confl ict will promote better understanding of the problem and thus allows improvement in the current approaches in managing confl ict. We propose a co-management arrangement to ensure the sustainability of the park and to constructively manage the confl ict in the area.


Antitrust enforcement is back in the spotlight with advocates from both the political left and the populist political right demanding fundamental competition policy changes. While there are differences among those calling for such changes, several common beliefs generally unite them. This includes a contention that the writings and interpretations of Robert Bork and the Chicago School of economics have led antitrust astray in a manner fundamentally inconsistent with the original intent of the Sherman Act. Further, they are united by a belief that recent empirical, economic studies indicate the economy is becoming overly concentrated, that market power has been increasing dramatically, that performance in many, if not most, markets has been deficient, and that too much profit is going to too few firms. In this article, we identify and detail twelve fallacies of what we call the "neo-antitrust movement" and their associated claims. At the heart of these fallacies is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics and the consumer welfare standard that has been at the heart of competition policy since at least the 1960s. Additionally, there is a heavy reliance on studies that, upon closer scrutiny, do not support the positions of those who cite them. While competition law should be amenable to change, many of the proposals of the neo-antitrust movement would make antitrust less effective in its core mission without achieving the goal of ameliorating other possible injustices about which they are concerned.


With the development of open source community, through the interaction of developers, the collaborative development of software, and the sharing of software tools, the formation of open source software ecosystem has matured. Natural ecosystems provide ecological services on which human beings depend. Maintaining a healthy natural ecosystem is a necessity for the sustainable development of mankind. Similarly, maintaining a healthy ecosystem of open source software is also a prerequisite for the sustainable development of open source communities, such as GitHub. This paper takes GitHub as an example to analyze the health condition of open source ecosystem and, also, it is a research area in Symmetry. Firstly, the paper presents the healthy definition of GitHub open source ecosystem health and, then, according to the main components of natural ecosystem health, the paper proposes the health indicators and health indicators evaluation method. Based on the above, the GitHub ecosystem health prediction method is proposed. By analyzing the projects and data collected in GitHub, it is found that, using the proposed evaluation indicators and method, we can analyze the healthy development trend of the GitHub ecosystem and contribute to the stability of ecosystem development.


Abstract This study is aimed at understanding past 444 ka record of climate variability in the equatorial Indian Ocean using high resolution records of planktic and benthic foraminifera and pteropods from Ocean Drilling Program Hole 716A, Maldives Ridge, southeastern Arabian Sea. In total, 892 samples of 10 cm3 volume from 444 ka old sequence were analysed at 1 cm intervals to generate census data of the foraminiferal fauna and pteropods. The percent and detrended time series of mixed-layer species Globigerinoides ruber and Globigerinoides sacculifer and thermocline species Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, benthic foraminifera Cymbaloporetta squammosa, Sphaeroidina bulloides and Uvigerina proboscidea, and pteropods from ODP Hole 716A reveal significant changes in wind intensity during the past 444 ka. An abrupt decrease in the Cymbaloporetta squammosa population at c. 300 ka (across MIS 8/9) suggests a weakening of equatorial wind intensity, which could be linked to Indian monsoon and may have driven pronounced changes in the oxygen minimum zone in the Maldivian region. These changes were contemporaneous with the Mid-Brunhes Climatic Event, the beginning of aridity in the Indonesian-Australian region and the onset of a humid phase in equatorial East Africa as observed in several oceanic and continental records. This strengthens a connection between equatorial Indian Ocean wind intensity, the Indian monsoon and Indonesian-Australian-African climates. Supplementary material: Percentages of benthic and planktic foraminifera and pteropods used in the present study are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18413


ABSTRACT Forensic neuroscience has made substantial strides over the last two to three decades. As illustrated in the articles in this special issue, our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of various crime-related phenomena such as self-regulation, psychopathy, aggression, fear, anxiety and other emotions, and empathy, morality, and social decision making has been substantially progressed with wide-ranging implications for prevention, rehabilitation, and the legal system. In this commentary I argue that forensic neuroscience holds much promise for enriching our theoretical understanding of criminal and antisocial and for reducing the harm of crime in society. However, a degree of caution is warranted: In order to provide complete explanations for crime-related phenomena, neurobiological approaches need to be integrated with those from other levels of analysis (including evolutionary theory), and the implications of forensic neuroscience for reducing crime and improving outcomes in the legal system may – at our current level of knowledge – be relatively limited.


Although the functional and anatomical properties of synaptic connections hold essential clues about central nervous system processing, basic synaptic properties, such as the number of functional and anatomically identified release sites per connection and the release probability per site, remain unknown at most cortical synapses. Silver et al. combined in vitro electrophysiology with light and electron microscopy to investigate the quantal parameters of synaptic transmission between layer 4 spiny stellate cells and layer 2/3 pyramidal cells of rat somatosensory cortex. They observed a one-to-one relationship between the number of anatomically identified synaptic contacts and the number of functional release sites. The concentration of glutamate in the synaptic cleft following release was independent of release probability, the probability of release at each identified synaptic contact was extremely high, and the release sites operated independently. The properties are exactly what are required for reliable transmission of spatially distributed, timing-based signals. R. A. Silver, J. Lübke, B. Sakmann, D. Feldmeyer, High-probability uniquantal transmission at excitatory synapses in barrel cortex. Science 302, 1981-1984 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The 1990s have not been kind to the thesis that Canada is emerging as a principal power in a more diffuse international system called into being by the sustained, significant decline of the United States as a system-dominant power.(f.1) Rather, this decade has been marked by the apparent rise of the United States, in the wake of the cold war s end and a globalizing world, as the only superpower, fuelled by a 'Goldilocks economy' that inspired President Bill Clinton, at the 1997 Denver summit, to recommend to his Group of Seven (G-7) partners that they adopt the American way.(f.2) Prolonged economic stagnation in Japan and major structural problems in the German and other European economies have widened the once steadily narrowing gap in gross domestic product (GDP) between the United States and its leading economic rivals.(f.3) Canada, beset by recurrent national unity challenges, sluggish productivity growth, and a declining currency has also seen the gap widen.(f.4)The Asian financial crisis, which began in Thailand in July 1997 and went global in the summer of 1998, seemed at first to intensify these dynamics. A powerful United States appeared to act in classic hegemonic fashion, as the international lender of last resort, while a weak and paralyzed Japan formed part of the problem, and a relatively small, very open, commodity-intensive Canada was highly vulnerable to the assaults of a globalized international financial system.(f.5) As the crisis became acute in the autumn of 1998, Canada's underlying weakness seemed to overshadow its position as a long-standing G-7 member and as host in Vancouver in November 1997 to the leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum.Such appearances, however, were deceptive. To be sure, by the autumn of 1998 the Asian financial crisis had begun to slow the solid growth in the Canadian economy of the previous two years, contributed to a further weakening of commodity prices, and reduced Canada's trade with crisis-afflicted countries in Asia, with clear costs to the Canadian prairie wheat and pork economies.(f.6) However, robust domestic demand, strong exports to a vibrant United States economy at the core of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), and modest dollar depreciation protected Canada. The real threat was posed by a systemic crisis in the autumn of 1998, marked by a plunging Canadian dollar and paralysis in United States financial markets. The threat to Canada was thus global rather than regional and systemic rather than directed. And it was at these levels that Canada responded.Even in the autumn of 1998 Canada had a far more substantial impact on the crisis than vice versa. Canada was able to help contain the global threat and to use the crisis to shape a new international financial architecture and reform the affected Asian countries.(f.7) Canada used its privileged position in the most relevant global forum, the G-7, as supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), APEC, and the new Group of 22 (G-22, composed of the G-7 together with 15 developing countries), to play an effective leadership role.Specifically, Canada's intellectual leadership took the form of comprehensive programmes and initiatives for coping with the crisis and defining a new international financial architecture. Its leadership was apparent at the Halifax summit in 1995, continued with its peer supervision plan and 'roadmap' concept in the spring of 1998, and culminated with the Six-Point Plan of 29 September 1998 and the debt relief plan of March 1999. Canada also undertook policy leadership by identifying in advance and consistently pursuing to ultimate success distinct positions based on Canadian interests and values. In place of the inflation-fighting, fiscal consolidation, neo-liberal stance that dominated G-7 policy in the previous decades, it supported controlled capital liberalization; financial system surveillance and peer supervision; private-sector burden-sharing, social responsibility in adjustment and debt relief packages; fiscal stimulus and enhanced Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure. …


In this paper we estimate the causal effects of conflict on dietary energy supply in Cote d'Ivoire. To identify the true impact of conflict, we use (1) pre-war and post-war household data, (2) the specific counts of conflict events across departments and (3) self-reported victimization indicators. We find robust and statistically significant evidence of households in the worst-hit conflict areas and individuals who are the direct victims of the conflict having lower dietary energy supply. The propensity score matching estimates do not alter the main findings. Other robustness checks including subsamples of households with children supports the existing findings.


Background/Context Although the Flynn effect has been recognized for 60 years and a wide range of factors has been suggested, there is still no agreement on cause. The effect is generally interpreted as a phenomenon involving changes in mental functioning as a consequence of various forms of environmental influence. Purpose The purpose of the account is to argue that at least part of the change in intergen-erational IQ scores is an artifact of the age-based scoring system of IQ tests, together with historical changes in age-grade patterns in school systems. Research Design This is a logical argument using secondary analysis to illustrate historical change in the demographic patterns at the level of the classroom, together with a survey of psychometric documents and accounts of constructing Otis-type tests to explain the role of age in calculating an IQ. A review of research focuses on whether the IQ measures age or grade and whether age change in a school population can account for an IQ change. Conclusions/Recommendations It is concluded that because the age-based scoring systems of IQ tests interact with generational changes of age by grade, a Flynn effect should not be interpreted as a massive intergenerational rise in mental functioning unless the two generations match age in grade in the case of school populations, and highest grades achieved in the case of adults.


Introduction: Serotonin is implicated in the control of sleep-wake be- haviour. A functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) has previously been associated with insomnia, although results are mixed. The present study aimed to determine whether al- lelic variation in 5HTTLPR was associated with insomnia severity in the general population, and whether the association between vulner- ability to stress-related insomnia and insomnia severity was moderated by 5HTTLPR genotype.

Methods: DNA from buccal swabs was genotyped for the 5HTTLPR polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction from 95 individuals from the general population. Of these, 77 also provided data on in- somnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index) and vulnerability to stress- related insomnia (Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test) (mean age: 25.79 years [SD = 9.22 years]; 76.6% female). High and low vulnerabil- ity groups were determined based on a median split of FIRST scores.

Results: There was no main effect of genotype on insomnia sever- ity. However, the interaction between 5HTTLPR genotype and vul- nerability to stress-related insomnia on insomnia severity showed a trend towards significance (F(1,73) = 2.93, p = 0.09). Follow-up t-tests revealed that individuals homozygous for the 'short' allele who also were categorised as high vulnerability to stress-related insomnia dem- onstrated greater insomnia severity compared to those categorised as low vulnerability to stress-related insomnia (mean insomnia severity scores for low vulnerability SS genotypes: 4.09 [SD = 4.66] and high vulnerability SS genotypes: 11.07 [SD = 6.04], t(23) = −3.16, p.00); whereas there were no significant differences in insomnia severity for individuals carrying at least one 'long' allele categorised as high or low vulnerability to stress-related insomnia (mean insomnia severity scores for low vulnerability SL+LL genotypes: 6.20 [SD = 5.56] and high vulnerability SL+LL genotypes: 8.86 [SD = 5.30], t(50) = −1.56, p.13).

Conclusion: The association between vulnerability to stress-related insomnia and insomnia severity appears to be moderated by 5HTTLPR genotype. Individuals carrying at least one 'long' allele appear to be protected from experiencing more severe insomnia despite possessing a trait-like vulnerability to insomnia.


California hotel where you feel at home away from home. Friendly staff, excellent service and pleasant atmoshpere are good conditions for a relaxed and enjoyable stay. The hotel has ideal location for leisure & business visitors. 6km to Dubai Airport..


The publication is intended to provide the reader with a sound basic knowledge of ferrocement and its potential and limitations in boatbuilding. It is assumed that those people using this document are already familiar with the construction of small fishing boats. The sections cover all stages of building a small ferrocement fishing craft from design and lofting requirements and techniques, to repairs and the preparation and painting of a ferrocement hull. Information is presented on site, workshop, equipment, tools and launching systems; materials used in construction; testing and practice of construction materials; construction of a ferrocement hull; repairs and joints in ferrocement; preparing and painting a ferrocement hull; the requirements specific to ferrocement boat construction and ferrocement/timber fitting out; and guidelines available for building a boat to classification standards. The annex contains costings, and drawings of a 12.8 m ferrocement trawler built in India with FAO technical assistance; general arrangement, hull construction, lines plans, frames, and superstructure are covered.


Objective: The additive of conventional magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI ) is evaluating the deep placed nodules and presence of distant metastases where USG might remain insufficient. DWI is noninvasive modality without using ionizing radiation and may differentiate benign and malignant nodules. Material and Methods: We prospectively evaluated 47 patients who demonstrated solitary thyroid nodules on ultrasonographic examination and underwent DWI of the thyroid gland. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of these nodules were calculated and compared to histopathology results obtained with surgery. Whether a distinction for malignanvy nodules could be achieved by using mean ADC values were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results: The mean ADC values of malignant thyroid nodules were lower than benign nodules and the difference was statistically significant. (p < 0.01). There were also statistically significant differences between the ADC values of benign thyroid nodules of different types (p < 0.05). When a mean ADC cut off value of 1.81 x 10 ̄3 mm2 / sn was used in predicting malignancy, a 85.7 % sensitivity, 69.7 % specificity and 74.47 % accuracy were obtained. Conclusion: Since the mean ADC values of malignant thyroid nodules differs lower than benign nodules, DWI may be used to differentiate benign to malignant nodules.


Deep Drilling for Earthquake Clues The 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami were remarkable in many regards, including the rupturing of shallow trench sediments with huge associated slip (see the Perspective by Wang and Kinoshita). The Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project rapid response drilling expedition sought to sample and monitor the fault zone directly through a series of boreholes. Chester et al. (p. 1208) describe the structure and composition of the thin fault zone, which is predominately comprised of weak clay-rich sediments. Using these same fault-zone materials, Ujiie et al. (p. 1211) performed high-velocity frictional experiments to determine the physical controls on the large slip that occurred during the earthquake. Finally, Fulton et al. (p. 1214) measured in situ temperature anomalies across the fault zone for 9 months, establishing a baseline for frictional resistance and stress during and following the earthquake. The Tohoku-Oki earthquake occurred along a thin, clay-rich fault zone in the basal strata of the subducting plate. The frictional resistance on a fault during slip controls earthquake dynamics. Friction dissipates heat during an earthquake; therefore, the fault temperature after an earthquake provides insight into the level of friction. The Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343 and 343T) installed a borehole temperature observatory 16 months after the March 2011 moment magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake across the fault where slip was ~50 meters near the trench. After 9 months of operation, the complete sensor string was recovered. A 0.31°C temperature anomaly at the plate boundary fault corresponds to 27 megajoules per square meter of dissipated energy during the earthquake. The resulting apparent friction coefficient of 0.08 is considerably smaller than static values for most rocks.


The body of research on law and psychology is vast, but the overwhelming proportion of it is on jury decision making, especially in criminal cases. In this chapter for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Social Cognition (D. Carlston ed.), we attempt to broaden this research agenda. We survey briefly the existing state of psychological research on jury decision making, but show that, even with respect to factual determinations, the jury is a less important decision maker than most psychologists appear to believe. Thus, further research on factual determination by judges, of which there is some but not much, could substantially enrich our understanding of the psychological dimensions of legal decision making. Moreover, the role of judges in finding, interpreting, and applying the law is itself a task necessarily involving social cognition, and we explain both this connection and how further research on the social cognition dimensions of legal reasoning and legal argument could be highly valuable. Finally, we explain how numerous issues of substantive law – questions of intent, reasonableness, and knowledge, to give just a few examples – are themselves dependent on assumptions about the social and cognitive psychological reasoning of the people affected and governed by the law. There is very little psychology research on such questions, and the agenda of law and psychology could usefully be expanded to include such themes.


Nationalisation of the human resource is the desired and articulated policy of all rulers of countries that form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In reality, however, the policy has been dogged with difficulties in implementation from its inception as it faces seemingly insurmountable hurdles, such as a demographic imbalance caused by a high proportion of expatriates working in the region, the challenges of public and private sector employment, the role of national women in society, the reliance on expatriate employment, high rates of unemployment among poorly trained nationals, and cumulatively the need for sustainable development as well as the effective governance of human capital. Within this context, governments, including the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have decided to tackle the challenges faced by Emiratisation as a nationalisation endeavour. This paper examines 'Emiratisation', with a view to evaluating the success of the policy as well as its shortcomings to this point in time. Furthermore, the paper draws light on principles which may direct the strategy for human resource management (HRM) in this context. The outcomes of the research are of potential value, in particular to human resource departments (HRD) in the GCC seeking to nationalise a proportion of their workforce.


Passive red galaxies frequently contain warm ionized gas and have spectra similar to low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). Here we investigate the nature of the ionizing sources powering this emission, by comparing nuclear spectroscopy from the Palomar survey with larger aperture data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find the line emission in the majority of passive red galaxies is spatially extended; the Hα surface brightness profile depends on radius r as r−1.28. We detect strong line ratio gradients with radius in [N ii]/Hα, [S ii]/Hα, and [O iii]/[S ii], requiring the ionization parameter to increase outward. Combined with a realistic gas density profile, this outward increasing ionization parameter convincingly rules out active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as the dominant ionizing source and strongly favors distributed ionizing sources. Sources that follow the stellar density profile can additionally reproduce the observed luminosity dependence of the line ratio gradient. Post-asymptotic giant branch stars provide a natural ionization source candidate, though they have an ionization parameter deficit. Velocity width differences among different emission lines disfavor shocks as the dominant ionization mechanism, and suggest that the interstellar medium in these galaxies contains multiple components. We conclude that the line emission in most LINER-like galaxies found in large-aperture (>100 pc) spectroscopy is not primarily powered by AGN activity and thus does not trace the AGN bolometric luminosity. However, they can be used to trace warm gas in these red galaxies.


The conversion of atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) into plant available nitrogen (N), by legumes and their prokaryotic microsymbionts, is an integral component of sustainable farming. A key constraint to increasing the amount of N2 fixed in agricultural systems is the prevalence of symbioses which fix little or no N. The biotic factors leading to this suboptimal N2 fixation have not been extensively analysed. Using the widely studied and cultivated perennial legume Medicago sativa and the model indeterminate annual legume Medicago truncatula with the sequenced bacterial microsymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 (Sm1021) as a basis, the work presented in this thesis examined the effectiveness of N2 fixation in these associations and in other comparable systems and investigated factors which lead to the establishment of suboptimally effective symbioses.

The ability of Sm1021, S. medicae WSM419 and the uncharacterised Sinorhizobium sp. WSM1022 to fix N with M. truncatula A17, M. sativa cv. Sceptre and a range of other Medicago spp. was evaluated in N-limited conditions. As measured by plant shoot dry weights and N-content, Sm1021 was partially effective with M. truncatula A17 whereas WSM1022 and WSM419 were both effective with this host in comparison to nitrogen-fed (N-fed) control plants. In contrast, Sm1021 and WSM1022 were effective with M. sativa while WSM419 was only partially effective. Nodules induced by Sm1021 on M. truncatula A17 were more numerous, paler, smaller in size and more widely distributed over the entire root system than in the two effective symbioses with this host. On the contrary, nodule number, size and distribution did not differ between these three strains on M. sativa. WSM1022 was effective on M. littoralis, M. tornata and two other cultivars of M. truncatula (Jemalong and Caliph) but Sm1021 was only partially effective on these hosts. These data indicate that the model indeterminate legume symbiosis between M. truncatula and Sm1021 is not optimally matched for N2 fixation and that Sm1021 possesses broader symbiotic deficiencies. In addition, the interaction of WSM1022 with M. polymorpha (small white nodules but does not fix N), M. murex (does not nodulate), M. arabica (partially effective N2 fixation) and M. sphaeorcarpus (partially effective N2 fixation), and the sequence of the 16S rDNA, are all consistent with this isolate belonging to the species S. meliloti.

The colony morphology of TY, half-LA and YMA agar plate cultures of Sm1021, WSM419 and WSM1022 suggested differences in EPS profiles between these strains. Sm1021 is very dry, compared to the mucoid WSM419 and extremely mucoid WSM1022. Sm1021 is known to carry an insertion in expR rendering the gene non-functional and resulting in the dry colony phenotype. WSM419 has an intact copy of expR, while the expR status of WSM1022 is not known. Rm8530, a spontaneous mucoid derivative of Sm1021 with an intact expR, was significantly less effective with M. truncatula than Sm1021, but there was no difference in effectiveness between these strains on M. sativa. The effectiveness of Sm1021, when complemented with a plasmid-borne copy of expR from Rm8530, was significantly reduced on M. truncatula but not M. sativa, implicating a functional expR as being the cause of reduced N2 fixation observed with Rm8530 on M. truncatula. ExpR could reduce the effectiveness of Rm8530 by acting as a negative regulator of genes essential for symbiosis with M. truncatula, or by altering the quantity or structure of succinoglycan and/or galactoglucan produced. These data support the emerging view of ExpR being a central regulator of numerous cellular processes.

The timing of nodulation between Sm1021 and WSM419 on M. truncatula and M. sativa was investigated. Compared to the other symbioses analysed, the appearance of nodule initials and nodules was delayed when M. truncatula was inoculated with Sm1021 by 3 and 4 days, respectively. To explore whether events during early symbiotic signalling exchange could account for these observed delays, leading to the establishment of a suboptimal N2-fixing symbiosis, a novel system was developed to compare the response of the Sm1021 transcriptome to roots and root exudates of M. truncatula A17 and M. sativa cv. Sceptre. This system consisted of a sealed 1 L polycarbonate chamber containing a stainless steel tripod with a wire mesh platform on which surface-sterilised seeds could be placed and allowed to germinate through the mesh, into a hydroponic medium below. After germination, Sm1021 cells were inoculated into the hydroponic solution, exposed to the roots and root exudates for 16 h, harvested and their RNA extracted. Comparison of Sm1021 mRNA from systems exposed to M. truncatula or M. sativa revealed marked differences in gene expression between the two. Compared to the no plant control, when M. sativa was the host plant, 23 up-regulated and 40 down-regulated Sm1021 genes were detected, while 28 up-regulated and 45 down-regulated genes were detected with M. truncatula as the host. Of these, 12 were up-regulated and 28 were down-regulated independent of whether M. truncatula or M. sativa was the host. Genes expressed differently when exposed to either M. truncatula or M. sativa included nex18, exoK, rpoE1 and a number of other genes coding for either hypothetical proteins or proteins with putative functions including electron transporters and ABC transporters. Characterisation of these differentially expressed genes along with a better understanding of the composition of M. truncatula root exudates would yield a clearer insight into the contribution of early signal exchange to N2 fixation.

Comparison of the regulation of nodule number between Sm1021 and WSM419 on M. truncatula and M. sativa revealed nodule initials at 42 days post-inoculation (dpi) on M. truncatula inoculated with Sm1021. In contrast, no new nodule initials were present 21 dpi on any of the other interactions examined. Moreover, analysis of nodule sections revealed that the number of infected cells in M. truncatula-Sm1021 nodules was less than for comparable symbioses. These data suggest that nodule number is not tightly controlled in the M. truncatula-Sm1021 association, probably due to N2 fixation being insufficient to trigger the down regulation of nodulation. Quantification of N2 fixation activity in this and other more effective symbioses is required. The poor effectiveness of the M. truncatula-Sm1021 symbiosis makes these organisms unsuitable as the model indeterminate interaction and the implications for legume research are discussed. The recently sequenced WSM419 strain, revealed here to fix N2 more effectively with M. truncatula than Sm1021, may be a better model microsymbiont, although WSM419 is only partially effective for N2 fixation with M. sativa. The sequencing of S. meliloti WSM1022, a highly effective strain with both M. truncatula and M. sativa, would provide a valuable resource in indentifying factors which preclude the establishment of effective symbioses.


In this study, I investigated the ritualized fights of male Nannacara anomala to show that each distinct phase (lateral display, tail beating, and mouth wrestling) of the fight is used to assess a different aspect of resource holding potential (aggressiveness, body size and swimming performance). When animals go into an agonistic encounter, they often have little or no previous knowledge of their opponent's fighting ability (or resource holding potential). Assessment is the process by which strangers gain information about each other through repetition of informative behaviors. Generally fights are ritualized so that specific behaviors are associated with distinct phases within the fight. Aggressiveness of fish was established by measuring response time to an aggressive conspecific. Weight was used as a measure of body size. Swimming performance (stamina and maximum swimming speed) was determined by swimming each fish in a variable speed flow tank. If all fights are taken into consideration, weight is the only factor for which winners were significantly different from losers (p = 0.009). However, if the fights are classified by the phase in which they ended, fights ending in tail beating have larger winners (p = 0.003) and fights ending in mouth wrestling have faster winners (p = 0.008). Opponents are using early stages of fights to assess body size and escalated stages to assess performance characteristics. iii Acknowledgements


Developments of the new ocean engineering technologies enhance the feasibility of the offshore port system construction projects. The offshore port systems have an increasing interest depending on ever-growing container trade and vessel size. In the literature, there are some existing proposals which aim to analyse the offshore port system in terms of technical and economic evaluation aspects. Although, applied examples of the offshore systems for liquid and dry bulk cargo shipping are in practice, there is no large scale implementation for container shipping industry. An ongoing study at University of Strathclyde examining location analysis of the offshore container port system is an inspiration of this research. According to this research point of view, offshore of West Coast of the North America may be considered as a potential location to construct a fixed or floating offshore container port system. In direction of this perspective, the target of this research work is to optimise door-to-door delivery of the container cargoes between several route alternatives. In this respect, container transport network for case of West North America Coast is analysed with the aid of the linear optimisation tools. The concept of offshore container port system is settled at the centre of the transportation network alternatives integrated to intermodal connections. By utilisation of an offshore port system, it would be possible to give a better logistical response to ship size enlargement trend of the liner container shipping industry. The adaptation of the short sea shipping and the intermodal connection alternatives to the offshore container port system concept have significant influence to optimise freight transport from shipper to consignee on the determined route alternatives. The objective function of the optimisation model aims to minimise time and cost of door-to-door transport for this specific case. Operational challenges helps to determine the constraints of the linear optimisation model. The assumed constraints for the mentioned optimisation problem are ship and port drafts, docking capacity of ports, intermodal integration limits, and maximum handling capacity of port equipment. The fundamental decision variables may be considered as speed, service frequency, port handling capacity, number of handling equipment, vehicle cargo capacities, and port prices affecting to reach time and cost based minimisation. The data collection is going to established based on real container traffic statistics and future forecasts. The present study targets to determine the impact of the proposed offshore container port on West Coast of North America. Therefore, it is going to be possible to provide a more energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and time and cost efficient freight transport through West Coast of North America.


The temporal structure of speech is highly variable. Speaking rate, stress among other factors influence the duration of speech sounds. A number of speech cues are by their nature temporal. This holds, e.g., for voice onset time as well as for duration as a cue to phonemic quantity. The highly ''elastic'' nature of speech would seem to pose a problem for the listener: How does he or she achieve an invariant percept in the face of this great temporal variability? Data for two Icelandic speech cues under different speaking rates are reported. Results show that manipulations of rate have the effect of slightly blurring the distinction between unaspirated and aspirated stops. In spite of great changes in the absolute durations of long and short vowels and consonants the two categories of syllables, V:C and VC:, are in fact kept totally distinct. In perceptual experiments it is shown that the ratio of vowel to consonant duration is the primary cue to quantity and remains invariant at different rates. Perceptual experiments show a small effect of rate on the boundaries for VOT. The two temporal speech cues of VOT and quantity are thus shown to behave quite differently under transformations of rate.


A study of the adsorption of sulfur on the GaAs(100) surface after in situ thermal desorption of a protective As capping layer is presented. The sulfur flux was generated by the decomposition of silver sulfide in an UHV-compatible electrochemical cell. Use of As-capped samples provided a means to study the interaction of sulfur with both the c(2×8) and (4×1) surface reconstructions. Scanning-tunneling-microscopy images of the sulfur-covered surface indicated the formation of disordered surface layers which display a diffuse (1×1) low-energy-electron-diffraction pattern. This (1×1) phase is attributed to the symmetry of the bulk structure visible through the disordered surface overlayer, caused by the adsorbed sulfur breaking the surface dimer bonds. Synchrotron-radiation core-level photoemission spectra indicate evidence of sulfur bonding to both gallium and arsenic at room temperature, but that the relative magnitude of these bonding interactions depends on the Ga/As ratio of the clean surface. Sulfur 2p photoemission spectra from the annealed surfaces show that sulfur diffuses into the topmost atomic layers as well as bonding to the surface. Annealing the sulfur-covered surface above 400 °C results in the formation of a (2×1) low-energy-electron-diffraction pattern with a dimer-row structure clearly visible in scanning-tunneling-microscopy images. Our results would suggest that the adsorption of sulfur on the c(2×8) clean surface results in dimer rows consisting of both arsenic and sulfur dimers, while only sulfur dimers are observed after adsorption on the (4×1) surface. The degree to which the clean surface band bending is altered on these respective surfaces appears to be related to the precise chemical composition of the dimer rows.


Throughout the world there have been several epidemics of food-borne diseases (FBD) about which there is lack of sufficient information for public health institutions to take appropriate measures. This study was conducted for the purpose of contributing to the dissemination of information on these diseases and their etiologic agents, epidemiology, and control. The study was based on data from 61 sources, including review articles, reports of outbreaks, and databases. Results reveal considerable underregistration and lack of data on FBD throughout the various countries, with viruses being the second most important cause of FBD in the United States of America. Two agents, Norwalk virus and hepatitis A virus, were the fifth and sixth most frequent causes, respectively, although the former was the single most frequent cause of FBD in 1982 and the second most frequent cause of water-borne diseases during the period from 1986 to 1988. Despite the scarcity of information on the problem, rotavirus, poliovirus, hepatitis E virus, astrovirus, and small gastroenteric viruses are also important causes of FBD. We also discuss the importance of viral zoonoses, especially hemorrhagic fevers transmitted by contact with rodent feces and tick-borne viral encephalitides (Lassa fever). There is discussion of the controversial mad cow disease and its potential transmission through food products, as well as of dietary aspects of the management of AIDS and other viral infections. Finally, measures for the prevention and control of FBD are described.


We claim that the proper method of interpreting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure — civil rules interpretive theory — should be recognized as a distinct field of scholarly inquiry and judicial practice. Fundamentally, the Rules are not statutes. Yet the theories of statutory interpretation that are typically imported into Rules cases by the courts rely upon a principle of legislative supremacy that is inapplicable in this context. That said, we recognize the Rules as authoritative law that is generally amenable to a form of jurisprudential purposivism. Working from this newly elucidated normative foundation, we reject the Rules-as-statutes interpretive approach so often forwarded by the Supreme Court. We turn next to the two alternative interpretive approaches to the Rules in the nascent scholarly literature. We reject the inherent authority model, which views the Court as an unconstrained policymaker in Rules cases, as failing to respect rule-of-law values. We also decline to adopt the regime-specific purposive model because it fails to recognize that the Court faces a question of policymaking form in Rules cases and disregards the institutional advantages provided by the court rulemaking process. Rather, we advocate for an administrative-law model of Rules interpretation that respects the rule of law and promotes the institutional advantages appertaining to purposive textual interpretation by the high court, Advisory Committee policy setting, and lower court application of discretion.


Abstract The Markagunt Plateau, in southwestern Utah, lies at an altitude of about 9,500 feet and is capped primarily by Quaternary-age basalt that overlies Eocene-age freshwater limestone of the Claron Formation. Over large parts of the Markagunt Plateau, dissolution of the Claron limestone and subsequent collapse of the overlying basalt have produced a terrain characterized by sinkholes as much as 1,000 feet across and 100 feet deep. Numerous large springs discharge from the basalt and underlying limestone on the plateau, including Mammoth Spring, one of the largest springs in Utah, with a discharge that can exceed 300 cubic feet per second. Discharge from Mammoth Spring is from the Claron Formation; however, recharge to the spring largely takes place by both focused and diffuse infiltration through the basalt that caps the limestone. Results of dye tracing to Mammoth Spring indicate that recharge originates largely southwest of the spring outside of the Mammoth Creek watershed, as well as from losing reaches along Mammoth Creek. Maximum groundwater travel time to the spring from dye-tracer tests during the snowmelt runoff period was about 1 week. Specific conductance and water temperature data from the spring show an inverse relation to discharge during snowmelt runoff and rainfall events, also indicating short groundwater residence times. Results of major-ion analyses for samples collected from Mammoth and other springs on the plateau indicate calcium-bicarbonate type water containing low (less than 200 mg/L) dissolved-solids concentrations. Investigations in the Navajo Lake area along the southern margin of the plateau have shown that water losing to sinkholes bifurcates and discharges to both Cascade and Duck Creek Springs, which subsequently flow into the Virgin and Sevier River basins, respectively. Groundwater travel times to these springs, on the basis of dye tracing, were about 8.5 and 53 hours, respectively. Similarly, groundwater travel time from Duck Creek Sinks to Lower Asay Spring was about 68 hours. Dye-tracer studies conducted at the Mammoth Creek fish hatchery along the eastern margin of the Markagunt Plateau indicate that water losing through the channel of Mammoth Creek 3,000 feet upstream of the hatchery discharges from the hatchery springs in about 7.5 hours. Results of studies using soil bacteria and club moss spores as surrogate particle tracers for the whirling disease parasite also indicate that the potential exists for transport of the parasite to the springs from Mammoth Creek.


While breathing air at rest, aquatic Taricha torosa consumed 0.054 cm³O₂ g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which represent oxygen metabolism twice that of the terrestrial phase. There was no significant difference in the rate of oxygen consumption between phases upon submergence. Aquatic newts accumulated a significantly higher lactate debt than the terrestrial phase while underwater. Aquatic newts had a higher emerged heart rate and exhibited a significantly greater bradycardial response after 40 min of dive. Although initiation of the response was relatively slow in both phases, lowest heart rates were realized after 60-120 min. The reduced oxygen uptake and increased blood lactate levels during a dive by aquatic newts suggest that skin permeability may be a limiting factor for oxygen uptake. Data from this study do not indicate cutaneous changes to have respiratory consequence. Aquatic T. torosa skin exhibited significantly lower in vitro rates of water transfer in an osmotic gradient of 210 mOsm/liter and a significantly greater rate of sodium transport when compared to the terrestrial phase. The results of these experiments imply an osmoregulatory function for seasonal morphological skin changes displayed by T. torosa.