This thesis is concerned with the design, fabrication and investigation of InAs/InP quantum dot mode-locked lasers operating at ~1.55 μm with multi-gigahertz repetition rates. Devices with dual contact configuration operating at ~35 GHz were fabricated and mode-locking characteristics were investigated as a function of the saturable absorber length. The deposition of HR and AR coatings on the two cleaved facets provided an increase in the quantum efficiency and shifted the optimum mode-locking region to a higher injection current. This simple technological step increased the peak power of the emitted pulses by nearly a factor of 2. Furthermore, the appearance of two distinct lobes in the optical spectrum, which is a typical feature of quantum dot material systems, was also investigated. The sonogram technique confirmed the presence of two pulse trains under moderate values of current injection and stable locking of only one lobe at high injection currents. Finally, techniques for high repetition rate mode locking such as colliding pulse, asymmetric colliding pulse and double interval mode-locking were evaluated. Harmonic mode-locking at repetitions rates of ~71 GHz, ~107 GHz and ~238 GHz was demonstrated by placing the absorbers on cavity locations corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd and 7th harmonic, respectively. A monolithically integrated coupled cavity device was also explored, in which an FIB-milled intra-cavity reflector provided mode-locking at a repetition rate of ~107 GHz.


Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) experience frequent link failures caused by channel interference, bandwidth demands causes severe performance degradation in WMNs. Link failure will lead to produce a sequence of disruptions to deliver the packets to the destination. To overcome this ART rerouting the traffic via an alternative path from a node whose local link is down without the need to wait until the source node knows about the failure. This is achieved by creating a new backup routing table based on the original routing table which is computed by the dijkstra algorithm. The goal of these algorithms is to reduce loss of packets, end-to-end delay time, improve throughput.


Two recently described transforms are shown to be related. The Radon–Wigner transform is the squared modulus of the fractional Fourier transform. This new theorem may serve to translate signal and image processing results between different signal representations. Some consequences regarding moments are presented, including a new fractional-Fourier-transform uncertainty relation. Implications for processing are suggested.


The high concentration of solar radiation on the multijunction solar cells used in the highly concentrated photovoltaic modules cases a very high cell temperature. Also, high cell temperature operations overall performance and increase thermal stresses. Therefore, an efficient cooling arrangement is mandatory to achieve a higher net output power from the high concentrator photovoltaic structures. In this work, the comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) model was developed and manipulated to investigate the performance of an HCPV system under the active cooling scheme to figure out its ability to handle effective heat dissipations. Various novel cooling microchannels manifold designs were numerically investigated and compared in the term of cooling down a densely packed high concentration photovoltaic. The solar cell type is the latest product of AZURSPACE triple junction of 3 × 3 mm2 solar cell. A 64 multijunction solar cells (electrical efficiency of 42.3% at cell temperature 25 °C) module were considered in this work. The influence heat sink design, channel dimensions, and inlet flow rate on the cooling performance of the manifold heat sink device were examined. The same external dimensions are considered, and the flow was laminar and the inlet temperature 25 °C for all designs for a reasonable comparison. the heat sink material the maraging steel. The concept of dividing the heat sink area to many segments is adopted to improve the heat removal capacity. The concept of channel width variation along the flow stream length was studied. The heat sinks including rectangular channels were adopted as they are easy to be fabricated. The limitations of 3D metal printing and pumping requirements were considered for all proposed designs where the minimum channel width is 0.8 mm. The comparison between all studied designs is highlighted concerning surface average temperature surface temperature uniformity and pressure drop.


Mie calculations illustrate the dependences of scattered intensity on polarization, angle, and size for bubbles with radii ≃0.3 mm in a siloxane liquid. Computations give evidence of the axial focusing observed in recent experiments and predicted by a model. Conditions for glory rays in drops and bubbles are derived, and errors in the literature are noted.


Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations along with higher-order spin-wave theory, bond-operator and strong-coupling expansions, we analyze the dynamical spin structure factor of the spin-half Heisenberg model on the square-lattice bilayer. We identify distinct contributions from the low-energy Goldstone modes in the magnetically ordered phase and the gapped triplon modes in the quantum disordered phase. In the antisymmetric (with respect to layer inversion) channel, the dynamical spin structure factor exhibits a continuous evolution of spectral features across the quantum phase transition, connecting the two types of modes. Instead, in the symmetric channel, we find a depletion of the spectral weight when moving from the ordered to the disordered phase. While the dynamical spin structure factor does not exhibit a well-defined distinct contribution from the amplitude (or Higgs) mode in the ordered phase, we identify an only marginally damped amplitude mode in the dynamical singlet structure factor, obtained from interlayer bond correlations, in the vicinity of the quantum critical point. These findings provide quantitative information in direct relation to possible neutron or light scattering experiments in a fundamental two-dimensional quantum-critical spin system.


Machine-learning methods are becoming increasingly popular for automated data analysis. However, standard methods do not scale up to massive scientific and business data sets without expensive hardware. This paper investigates a practical alternative for scaling up: the use of distributed processing to take advantage of the often dormant PCs and workstations available on local networks. Each workstation runs a common rule-learning program on a subset of the data. We first show that for commonly used rule-evaluation criteria, a simple form of cooperation can guarantee that a rule will look good to the set of cooperating learners if and only if it would look good to a single learner operating with the entire data set. We then show how such a system can further capitalize on different perspectives by sharing learned knowledge for significant reduction in search effort. We demonstrate the power of the method by learning from a massive data set taken from the domain of cellular fraud detection. Finally, we provide an overview of other methods for scaling up machine learning.


In an attempt to detect changes in the diet and the feeding intensity of demersal fish caused by fishery discarding, two hauls were carried out 22 h apart at a depth of 90 m in an area of the Cantabrian Sea closed to trawling. Before the second haul, dead fauna that were not common in the sampling area under natural conditions, such as Micromesistius poutassou and squat lobster ( Munida spp.), which are both usually discarded by the fleet and mainly found in deeper water, were thrown overboard. A total of 319 stomach contents from 12 demersal fish species caught in both hauls were analysed. The percentage emptiness decreased in the second haul (32%) with respect to the first (43%), and at the same time the feeding intensity of scavenger species such as Trachinus draco, Pagellus acarne, Scyliorhinus canicula, Raja montagui and Leucoraja naevus increased. Discards of M. poutassou was actually found in the stomach of a typically planktophagous species, Pagellus bogaraveo . Observed changes in trophic structure of the species analysed as a response to discards are discussed.


The small cable (drop wire) providing service for individual subscribers from the aerial plant is held in place by a clamp made of a tin-coated brass body (attached to the cable) and a copper tail wire loop (attached to a galvanized steel hook or to a porcelain insulator). The tail wire is 2.6 mm (0.102 in.) diam annealed copper, and the clamp assembly must withstand a 2470 N (555 lb) load without breaking or slipping. A number of these clamps, located a few hundred feet from the ocean, have failed. The sharply broken wire indicated to weakening by abrasion. The copper tail wire failures had characteristics generally associated with corrosion fatigue. The broken wires showed multiple transgranular cracks near the failure, originating at the bases of pits. It was diagnosed that the copper tail wire failures were due to corrosion fatigue. The solution to this problem was to change the tail wire material for direct seashore exposure from annealed copper to annealed Monel.


[1] Lunar sinuous rilles have long been interpreted as features that formed as the result of surficial lava flow, though the precise mechanism responsible for channel formation (constructed versus eroded origins) is still debated. In assessing the origin of Rima Prinz, a channel interpreted to have formed by erosion, two erosion regimes, mechanical and thermal, are considered. Measurements of channel dimensions are used as inputs to analytical models to constrain the origin of Rima Prinz, including lava compositions, mechanical and thermal erosion rates, eruption durations, and lava volumes required to form the feature. Key results indicate that Rima Prinz and other large sinuous rilles could have formed as the result of thermal erosion under the weak gravity and low slope conditions characteristic of these lunar features. Further analysis indicates that lava composition has significant effects on channel formation. Model results of four considered lava compositions show that komatiite-like lava will erode a similarly composed substrate most efficiently whereas a high-Ti basalt will erode a similarly composed substrate least efficiently; ocean island basalt and low-Ti basalt erode similarly composed substrates at intermediate rates. Results indicate that Rima Prinz may have formed over 0.4–2.2 Earth years, depositing 50–250 km3 of lava over a plausible deposit area of 2450 km2. Resulting deposit thicknesses suggest that the lava that incised Rima Prinz was most likely similar in composition to a terrestrial komatiite, ocean island basalt, or lunar low-Ti basalt. Further constraints on sinuous rille formation will serve as a window into the nature of volcanic activity of the Moon's past.


Expert chick sexers are able to quickly and reliably determine the sex of day-old chicks on the basis of very subtle perceptual cues. They claim that in many cases they have no idea how they make their decisions. They just look at the rear end of a chick, and 'see' that it is either male or female. This is somewhat reminiscent of those expert chess players, often cited in the psychological literature, who can just 'see' what the next move should be; similar claims have been made for expert wine tasters and experts at medical diagnosis. All of these skills are hard-earned and not accessible to introspection.

But is there really anything unusual about the chicken sexer, the chess grand master, the wine buff or the medical expert? I argue that there is not. In fact, we are all constantly making categorizations of this sort: we are highly accurate at categorizing natural kinds, substances, artefacts, and so on. We do so quickly and subconsciously, and the process is completely inaccessible to introspection. The question is, why is it so difficult to acquire skills such as chicken sexing, when we automatically acquire the ability to categorize other objects. In this paper, I argue that we have mechanisms for learning the cues necessary for categorization, but that these mechanisms require selective attention to be given to the relevant features. We automatically acquire the ability to categorize certain objects because we have inbuilt attention directors causing us to attend to diagnostic cues. In cases such as chicken sexing, where we do not automatically develop categorization abilities, our inbuilt attention directors do not cause us to attend to diagnostic cues, and out attention therefore has to be drawn to these cues in another way, such as through training.


Past research has shown that when predicting how a future event will make them feel, people over-estimate the intensity and duration of their emotions, a phenomenon known as the impact bias. When it comes to deciding about colorectal cancer screening, older adults face many psychological barriers related to the anticipated embarrassment, disgust, and pain of screening. Qualitative research suggests these barriers may be characterized by an impact bias. In this study, 17 older adult participants were presented with a message about colon cancer and screening. We tested whether highlighting some participants' adaptive potential would lower their expectations of intensity and duration of these barriers. Findings showed that relative to a control condition, participants who wrote about a time when they emotionally adapted to a past event gave lower maximum pain estimates and marginally lower perceived duration of pain estimates. These results have implications for the design of future adaptation exercises.


Using rain gauge and satellite-based rainfall climatologies and the NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1952–2007), this study found a statistically significant tendency for fall–winter drought conditions to be correlated with below-normal tornado days the following spring in north Georgia (i.e. 93% of the years) and other regions of the Southeast. Non-drought years had nearly twice as many tornado days in the study area as drought years and were also five to six times more likely to have multiple tornado days. Individual tornadic events are largely a function of the convective-mesoscale thermodynamic and dynamic environments, thus the study does not attempt to overstate predictability. Yet, the results may provide seasonal guidance in an analogous manner to the well known Sahelian rainfall and Cape Verde hurricane activity relationships.


63.7% of women are now in some form of paid employment in New Zealand, which is in line with the OECD average of 65%. However, of those women, approximately a third in part-time paid employment and women make up over two-thirds of all part-time workers. One of the most cited reasons for women's limited participation in, or absence from, the labour market is the cost and availability of childcare. In New Zealand, as in many other countries, mothers still undertake the vast majority of care for children. This paper examines the childcare situation in New Zealand. Taking a broad perspective of what is captured by the term 'childcare', it outlines the various types of government support currently provided to children up to age 13, and summarises the total cost of funding. The purpose of the paper is to collate information about the range of services provided by the government which incorporate an element of care. This information can be analysed by academics and policy makers to determine whether the services currently provided are efficient and effective, and meets the needs of parents. The paper also raises two issues for further consideration, which it does not address itself. Firstly, the various mechanisms for government support, in terms of demand-led and supply-side funding, and whether they should be targeted or universal. Secondly, the types of childcare which are not government funded – the informal childcare provided by family, particularly grandparents and older siblings, and friends. These areas may be of relevant future research, particularly if change to the current situation is desired.


Accuracy of intraoral scanners and conventional impressions in full-arches: A systematic review. Int. J. Odontostomat., 15(4) :835-842, 2021. ˚ ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate intraoral scanners accuracy in full-arches, comparing them with conventional impressions. A scientific research performed in MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, and SciELO databases was conducted to analyze articles published between 2015 and 2020. Clinical and in vitro studies that evaluated accuracy (precision and trueness) from intraoral scanners and conventional impressions in full-arches were included. Two tests were applied to evaluate the methodological bias from the studies. Out of the 191 articles found, seven of them were selected for a qualitativeanalysis.In clinical studies,intraoral scanners CEREC Omnicam and 3Shape TRIOS Colorhad the highest precision compared to conventional irreversible hydrocolloid impressions. In i n vitro studies, conventional polyvinyl siloxane impressions showed the highest accuracy, followed by intraoral scanners Cadent iTero and CEREC Omnicam, while irreversible hydrocolloid impressions showed the lowest accuracy. Digital intraoral impression systems do not show superior accuracycompared to highly accurate conventional impression techniques. However, they provide excellent clinical results and both methods are clinically accepted.


Abstract In accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, the competent national authority in Belgium, Federal Public Service of Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, submitted a request to modify the existing maximum residue level (MRL) for the active substance cymoxanil in beans without pods. The data submitted in support of the request were found to be sufficient to derive a MRL proposal for beans without pods. Adequate analytical methods for enforcement are available to control the residues of cymoxanil in beans without pods at the validated limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.01 mg/kg. Based on the risk assessment results, EFSA concluded that the short‐term and long‐term intake of residues resulting from the use of cymoxanil according to the reported agricultural practice is unlikely to present a risk to consumer health.


Subtitled An Anglo-American Tragedy, Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One is a witty satirical novel on artistic integrity and the British expat community in Hollywood, published in Penguin Modern Classics.The more startling for the economy of its prose and plot, this novel's story, set among the manicured lawns and euphemisms of Whispering Glades Memorial Park in Hollywood, satirizes the American way of death and offers Waugh's memento mori. Following the death of a friend, poet and pets' mortician Dennis Barlow finds himself entering into the artificial Hollywood paradise of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park. Within its golden gates, death, American-style, is wrapped up and sold like a package holiday. There, Dennis enters the fragile and bizarre world of Aimee, the naive Californian corpse beautician, and Mr Joyboy, the master of the embalmer's art...A dark and savage satire on the Anglo-American cultural divide, The Loved One depicts a world where love, reputation and death cost a very great deal.Evelyn Waugh (1903-66) was born in Hampstead, second son of Arthur Waugh, publisher and literary critic, and brother of Alec Waugh, the popular novelist. In 1928 he published his first work, a life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was soon followed by Vile Bodies (1930), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938). In 1942 he published Put Out More Flags and then in 1945 Brideshead Revisited. Men at Arms (1952) was the first volume of 'The Sword of Honour' trilogy, and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; the other volumes, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender, followed in 1955 and 1961.If you enjoyed The Loved One, you might like Waugh's Vile Bodies, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.'The master of black comedy'Sunday Times'One of the funniest and most significant books of the century'Alice Thomas Ellis, Daily Telegraph


Willem Mengelberg is undeniably the greatest conductor in Dutch music history. In his biography, Frits Zwart carefully examines a musical life lived. Mengelberg was not only one of the world's greatest, he had an excellent reputation as a trainer of orchestral ensembles, responsible for the international reputation of his own Concertgebouw as well as many others including the New York Philharmonic. A champion of numerous composers, including Mahler and Strauss, Mengelberg was the founder of the renowned tradition of annual performances of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. As Chief Conductor of Amsterdam's (now Royal) Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mengelberg developed it into one of the world's most illustrious, simultaneously forging a music life of international eminence for its city of residence. His recordings bear witness to a singular musical interpreter. In 1920, Mengelberg was even more popular than his own Queen, yet a mere thirty years later he died in exile, banned to his remote Swiss chalet. Willem Mengelberg fell from grace, becoming a despised, disputed target of gossip, jealousy and rebuke. His dubious role during World War II has since overshadowed his extraordinary career. Zwart contests that few have ever surpassed Mengelberg's international musical legend.


Races often collide in segmented markets where buyers belong to one ethnic group while sellers belong to another. This Article examines one such market: the retail of wigs and hair extensions for African Americans, a multi-billion-dollar market controlled by Korean Americans. Although previous scholarship attributed the success of Korean American ventures to rotating credit and social capital, this Article ascribes their dominance in wigs and extensions to collusion and exclusion, tactics scrutinized under antitrust.

This Article is the first to synthesize the disparate treatment of ethnically segmented markets in law, sociology, and economics into a comprehensive framework. Its primary contribution is to forge the concept of ethnically segmented and misaligned ("ESM") markets, where buyers and sellers are ethnically distinct from one another.

ESM markets challenge entrenched paradigms in antitrust. In the wigs and extensions market, the endurance of Korean American retailers confounds conventional notions of market power, which is measured at the firm level. This market suggests that numerous in-group incumbents can compete intensely with one another but collaborate to stymie out-group insurgents.


Background Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a neurotrophin crucial for the development and survival of neurons. It also acts on cells of the immune system which express the NGF receptors TrkA and p75NTR and can be produced by them. However, mouse NK cells have not yet been studied in this context. Methodology/Principal Findings We used cell culture, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and ELISA assays to investigate the expression of NGF receptors by NK cells and their secretion of NGF. We show that resting NK cells express TrkA and that the expression is different on NK cell subpopulations defined by the relative presence of CD27 and CD11b. Expression of TrkA is dramatically increased in IL-2-activated NK cells. The p75NTR is expressed only on a very low percentage of NK cells. Functionally, NGF moderately inhibits NK cell degranulation, but does not influence proliferation or cytokine production. NK cells do not produce NGF. Conclusions/Significance We demonstrate for the first time that mouse NK cells express the NGF receptor TrkA and that this expression is dynamically regulated.


This paper provides an argument for the abolition of child imprisonment in England and Wales. England and Wales is not Ireland, but the cultural and social similarities suggest that children face a great deal of the same pressures, difficulties, trials and tribulations regardless of which side of the Irish Sea they live on. Therefore, it may provide a useful analogy for Irish policy makers. The paper argues that the incarceration of children has a wide range of negative effects on children and is provided at an excessive cost to the exchequer. Restorative justice is put forward as a viable alternative which is highly cost effective and has yielded positive results in terms of recidivism.


The global water policy agenda has long called for a holistic approach to water resources management. However, key challenges remain in turning policy into practice, not least in managing conflict and enhancing cooperation over international watercourses. Towards such an endeavour, a better understanding of the role of watercourse treaties is needed. To date, much of the non-legal literature has failed to capture fully the unique characteristics of the international legal system. Conversely, much of the legal scholarship has failed to account for the social, economic and political context in which law operates. The paper therefore calls for a nuanced approach to the study of watercourse treaties. An approach is suggested that is sensitive to the normative content of watercourse treaties, the 'package' of norms, the multi-level governance context and the influence of treaties in shaping state behaviour throughout the entire regime building process.


It is well known that snow avalanches exhibit granulation phenomena, i.e., the formation of large and apparently stable snow granules during the flow. The size distribution of the granules has an influence on flow behavior which, in turn, affects runout distances and avalanche velocities. The underlying mechanisms of granule formation are notoriously difficult to investigate within large‐scale field experiments, due to limitations in the scope for measuring temperatures, velocities, and size distributions. To address this issue we present experiments with a concrete tumbler, which provide an appropriate means to investigate granule formation of snow. In a set of experiments at constant rotation velocity with varying temperatures and water content, we demonstrate that temperature has a major impact on the formation of granules. The experiments showed that granules only formed when the snow temperature exceeded −1∘C. No evolution in the granule size was observed at colder temperatures. Depending on the conditions, different granulation regimes are obtained, which are qualitatively classified according to their persistence and size distribution. The potential of granulation of snow in a tumbler is further demonstrated by showing that generic features of the experiments can be reproduced by cohesive discrete element simulations. The proposed discrete element model mimics the competition between cohesive forces, which promote aggregation, and impact forces, which induce fragmentation, and supports the interpretation of the granule regime classification obtained from the tumbler experiments. Generalizations, implications for flow dynamics, and experimental and model limitations as well as suggestions for future work are discussed.


The energy and entanglement spectrum of fractionally filled interacting topological insulators exhibit a peculiar manifold of low energy states separated by a gap from a high energy set of spurious states. In the current manuscript, we show that in the case of fractionally filled Chern insulators, the topological information of the many-body state developing in the system resides in this low-energy manifold. We identify an emergent many-body translational symmetry which allows us to separate the states in quasi-degenerate center of mass momentum sectors. Within one center of mass sector, the states can be further classified as eigenstates of an emergent (in the thermodynamic limit) set of many-body relative translation operators. We analytically establish a mapping between the two-dimensional Brillouin zone for the Fractional Quantum Hall effect on the torus and the one for the fractional Chern insulator. We show that the counting of quasi-degenerate levels below the gap for the Fractional Chern Insulator should arise from a folding of the states in the Fractional Quantum Hall system at identical filling factor. We show how to count and separate the excitations of the Laughlin, Moore-Read and Read-Rezayi series in the Fractional Quantum Hall effect into two-dimensional Brillouin zone momentum sectors, and then how to map these into the momentum sectors of the Fractional Chern Insulator. We numerically check our results by showing the emergent symmetry at work for Laughlin, Moore-Read and Read-Rezayi states on the checkerboard model of a Chern insulator, thereby also showing, as a proof of principle, that non-Abelian Fractional Chern Insulators exist.


An automated version of the Lamb weather type classification scheme was employed to characterize daily circulation conditions in Saudi Arabia from 1960 to 2005. Daily gridded fields of sea level pressure (SLP) from both the NCEP/NCAR and the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis data (ERA40) were used as input data for this classification. The output catalogue included 10 basic types, which describe the direction and vorticity of airflow in the region (i.e., cyclonic, anti-cyclonic and directional). In general, our findings indicate that cyclonic (C) days represent the most frequent type among all days, with 69.2% of the annual count of days from 1960 to 2005, followed by SE directional flows (21%). It was also determined that airflows originating from the Indian Ocean (i.e., S, SE and E) are more frequent than those from the Mediterranean and Red Seas (i.e., W, NW and SW). The defined weather types were assessed for the presence of inter-annual and intra-annual trends using the Mann-Kendall tau statistic. The trend analysis suggests statistically significant changes in the frequencies of a majority of the weather types from 1960 to 2005. The relationship between the daily occurrence of rainfall and the frequency of individual weather types was also described using daily rainfall data from a network of 87 weather observatories. Results demonstrate that increasing frequencies of weather types connected to easterly inflows support higher precipitation amounts over the study domain. Characterizing the association between atmospheric circulation patterns and rainfall in Saudi Arabia is important for understanding potential impacts related to climate variability and also for developing circulation-based downscaling methods.


In this Adobe Photoshop CS6 video training course expert author and trainer Andy Anderson introduces you to the basics of this graphics software from Adobe. Photoshop is a huge and complex program, but Andy breaks it down into bite sized pieces that anyone, from beginner to more experienced users can understand. This course is designed for a beginner, and no prior knowledge of Photoshop is assumed. This tutorial covers the essential features of Photoshop that everyone should be familiar with. Andy starts by taking you through the interface, including the preference setup. Once you are familiar with navigating and finding tools, you cover topics such as Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw, adjusting color, layers, blending, adjustments, the pen tool and paths, as well as dodging and burning. With over 13 hours in this software training video, you also go into detail with filters, manipulating images, selections, levels and curves, and so much more. By the conclusion of this video tutorial for Adobe Photoshop CS6, you will have a clear understanding of what Photoshop has to offer, and how you can use the available tools, and apply the demonstrated techniques to enhance your own images. Working files are included to allow you to practice alongside the author as he teaches you during this course.


This paper investigates empirically the effect of import diversity on government size and provides evidence for the love of variety effect on government spending described in Hanslin (2008). I argue that crowding out of firms is an important cost of public good provision. However, due to the access to foreign varieties, national costs of public good provision are lower and therefore, public good provision is higher. Especially for OECD countries this channel seems to exist. The diversity of imported products has a positive effect on government consumption, particularly when these goods are classified as differentiated. In addition, this positive effect is decreasing in home market size. Further, the direct effect of the share of differentiated in total imported products on the government share is negative.


In recent years, more sophisticated techniques for analyzing data and exponential increase in computing power allow high-frequency trading. This paper provides a detailed overview on pairs trading in the context of intraday data and applies different strategies to minute-by-minute prices of the S&P 500 constituents from 1998 to 2015. In the back-testing study, the best performing pairs trading approach produces statistically and economically significant returns of 50.50 percent p.a. and an annualized Sharpe ratio of 8.14 after transaction costs. Although most algorithms show declining returns over time, there still exist pairs trading strategies with favorable results in the recent past.


Drought is among the natural disaster that causes damages and affects many people's life in many part of the world including in Iran. Recently, some factors such as climate variability and the impact of climate change have influenced drought frequency and intensity in many parts of the world. Drought can be divided into four categories of meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and social-economic. In meteorological the important feature is lack of rainfall. In hydrological drought river flows and dam storage are considered. Lack of soil moisture is the key factor in agricultural droughts while in social-economic type of drought the relation between supply and demand and social-economic damages due to water deficiency is studied. While the first three types relates to the lack of some hydrological characteristics, social-economic type of drought is actually the consequence of other types expressed in monetary values. Many indices are used in assessing drought; each has its own advantages and disadvantages and can be used for specific types of drought. Therefore knowing the types of drought can provide a better understanding of shortages and their characteristics. Drought vulnerability is a concept which shows the likelihood of damages from hazard in a particular place by focusing on the system status prior to the disaster. Drought vulnerability has been viewed as a potential for losses in the region due to water deficiency at the time of drought. In this study the application of vulnerability concept in drought management in East Azarbaijan province in Iran is investigated by providing vulnerability maps which demonstrates spatial characteristics of drought vulnerability. In the first step, certain governing parameters in drought analysis such as precipitation, temperature, land use, topography, solar radiation and ground water elevation have been investigated in the region. They are described in details and calculated in suitable time series. Vulnerabilities are ranked in 5 intervals and for each parameter vulnerability maps are prepared in GIS environment. Selection of theses parameters are based on factors such as regional features and availability of data. Considering the fact that the aforementioned parameters have different level of importance in vulnerability maps, different weights are assigned to the parameters considering how critical each parameter is in the overall drought analysis. Expert's opinion is selected in assigning weights. A multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework is used to check the consistency of the provided information. Then the weighted maps are overlaid to find the overall vulnerability map. The map shows very low, low, medium, intense and very intense regional vulnerabilities. According to the results, the west part of East Azarbaijan province is the most vulnerable region to drought which is expected due to the vicinity of this part to Urumia Lake that has been lost most of its water during the last decades. The least vulnerable part seems to be the Eastern part of the province with longer lasting resources. Taking into consideration that Caspian Sea is near this part with high precipitation record, the outcome of this study is in line with the general expectations. The result of this study can be used for preparedness planning and for allocating resources for facing droughts in this region.


Robots for precision farming have the potential to reduce the reliance on herbicides and pesticides through selectively spraying individual plants or through manual weed removal. To achieve this, the value crops and the weeds must be identified by the robot's perception system to trigger the actuators for spraying or removal. In this paper, we address the problem of detecting the sugar beet plants as well as weeds using a camera installed on a mobile robot operating on a field. We propose a system that performs vegetation detection, feature extraction, random forest classification, and smoothing through a Markov random field to obtain an accurate estimate of the crops and weeds. We implemented and thoroughly evaluated our system on a real farm robot on different sugar beet fields and illustrate that our approach allows for accurately identifying the weed on the field.


Abstract. Hydrological extremes are amongst the most devastating forms of natural disasters both in terms of lives lost and socio-economic impacts. There is consequently an imperative to robustly estimate the frequency and magnitude of hydrological extremes. Traditionally, engineers have employed purely statistical approaches to the estimation of flood risk. For example, for an observed hydrological timeseries, each annual maximum flood is extracted and a frequency distribution is fit to these data. The fitted distribution is then extrapolated to provide an estimate of the required design risk (i.e. the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability – AEP). Such traditional approaches are overly simplistic in that risk is implicitly assumed to be static, in other words, that climatological processes are assumed to be randomly distributed in time. In this study, flood risk estimates are evaluated with regards to traditional statistical approaches as well as Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)/El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditional estimates for a flood-prone catchment in eastern Australia. A paleo-reconstruction of pre-instrumental PDO/ENSO occurrence is then employed to estimate uncertainty associated with the estimation of the 1% AEP flood. The results indicate a significant underestimation of the uncertainty associated with extreme flood events when employing the traditional engineering estimates.


Splash was shown to be an effective mechanism for short-range dispersal of conidia of Ascochyta fabae f. sp. lentis, the cause of ascochyta blight of lentil. The dispersal gradients were well described by the power law model in its linear form, 1ny = 1na - b 1nx. In still air the slope of the linearized dispersal gradient, b, ranged from 2.83 to 4.07 and was steeper for 4.9 mm than for 3.9 mm incident drops. Nevertheless, for all drop sizes tested, fewer than 50% of the conidia were splashed more than 15 cm from the source. The pattern of conidium dispersal was similar for both drop sizes when horizontal windspeeds were 2.5 or 5 mis. Wind significantly decreased the value of b (range 2.35-2.43 at 25 m/s, 1.71-1.91 at 5 m/s) and increased by about 2 m the maximum distance that conidia in ballistic droplets were deposited. In addition, the experiments suggested two other potentially important mechanisms for dispersal of the pathogen over longer distances, namely conidia in small air-borne droplets and windblown leaflets.


Abstract We observed interactions between a nesting pair of Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) and what appeared to be four pairs of Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa). Wood Ducks regularly approached and attempted to enter an active Pileated Woodpecker nest cavity that contained three fully feathered young Pileated Woodpeckers. The male Pileated Woodpecker often perched on a snag near their nest cavity to guard the entrance from Wood Ducks. Female Wood Ducks attempted to enter the Pileated Woodpecker nest cavity on at least 12 occasions and typically were intercepted by the male Pileated Woodpecker before they reached the lip of the nest cavity. On two occasions the male Pileated Woodpecker entered his nest cavity and forcibly evicted female Wood Ducks that had slipped into the cavity. These incidents suggest that large cavities in snags may be in high demand by Wood Ducks during the nesting season. Our observations suggest that some Pileated Woodpeckers may be able to resist attempts by Wood Ducks to usurp nest cavities during the breeding season.


This paper explores the effect of negative health shocks, such as heart attacks or new diagnoses of chronic illnesses, on the labor supply of both the affected spouse and his or her partner. In so doing, the paper links two important strands of the retirement literature, the large literature on health and retirement and the small but growing literature modeling retirement in a family context. This paper may also be viewed as an extension of the literature on spousal labor supply as insurance against negative events, which measures whether there is an added worker effect when one spouse becomes sick and whether it is crowded out by public insurance programs. This work uses the first five waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a recent, nationally representative survey of the young elderly with extensive information on health, labor force status, and demographics.


Turbulence within the thermocline of two thermally stratified lakes—Lake Biwa, Japan, and Lake Kinneret, Israel—was investigated using a portable flux profiler. This instrument provided high‐resolution profiles of temperature, conductivity, and two components of velocity within a measuring volume of approximately 8 mm3. Each data profile was segmented into statistically stationary segments. A range of properties of the turbulence, including direct estimates of the vertical mass flux, were then calculated for each segment. It was found that turbulence in the thermocline was generally patchy, but within a patch, dissipation levels were relatively high. The turbulent motions were found to be fine grained with small Thorpe scales and a large skewness of the distribution of the displacement scale. This is distinct to that found in the ocean, where shear instability produces large overturns. The measurement showed that the net vertical mass flux in the thermocline was negligible and less than that predicted by Osborn (1980). This is explained by noting that the net buoyancy flux consisted of two opposing parts—a down‐gradient irreversible flux due to turbulent mixing and an up‐gradient reversible flux due to restratification—that often cancel each other within a segment. The low measured net buoyancy flux within the interior of the lakes suggested that other processes, such as gravitational adjustments and benthic boundary layer processes, should be responsible for the basin‐averaged vertical transport in these lakes.


We evaluate the effects of the 2009 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that provided intermediaries with sizable financial incentives to renegotiate mortgages. HAMP increased intensity of renegotiations and prevented a substantial number of foreclosures but reached just one-third of its targeted indebted households. This shortfall was in large part due to low renegotiation intensity of a few large intermediaries and was driven by intermediary-specific factors. Exploiting regional variation in the intensity of program implementation by intermediaries suggests that the program was associated with a lower rate of foreclosures, consumer debt delinquencies, house price declines, and an increase in durable spending.


In this paper, the authors investigated and found that there were many mistakes in the current translated English tourism materials in China. Analysis of foreign tourists' responses toward different types of mistakes discovered in those materials, with the aim of offering tentative suggestions on how to improve the quality of tourism translation was conducted. To achieve this, the authors conducted a survey by interviewing 34 foreign tourists in Chongqing, China about their responses and attitude toward the mistakes in 21 translated English tickets and tourist maps (i.e. whether they think those mistakes are acceptable, misunderstanding or incomprehensible). Such errors include spelling mistakes, missing words, grammar mistakes, Chinglish, inappropriate words, expression mistakes, excessive wordiness, cultural misinterpretation etc. The results indicate that spelling mistakes, missing words, grammar mistakes, Chinglish and cultural misinterpretation are considered to be more serious as most interviewees (above 60%) feel they result in varying degrees of misunderstanding, or even lack of comprehension. As for the other two mistakes (inappropriate words and excessive wordiness), the interviewees hold a higher degrees of acceptance (20% and 50% respectively). Therefore, this paper proposes that translators in the field of tourism translation must persevere in improving their competence in terms of language levels and translation skills, while the government and local authorities should employ professional tourism translators with reasonable and satisfactory remuneration, and professional native English speakers are also needed to help proofread the translated texts. To conclude, this paper may serve as a reference for practitioners and researchers in the field of tourism to avoid translation mistakes and improve the quality of translation.


This chapter investigates the relationship between immigration and the generally high degree of phonological leveling in France in the latter part of the 20th. century. It draws together the findings of a number of studies of the pronunciation of young people of Maghrebian origin in French cities (Paris, Grenoble, Marseille, Lille) in the late 20th century, with special reference to Lille in the later sections. Some common patterns emerge. Far from exhibiting a strong migrant variety, the speech of young people of Maghrebian origin conforms, in general, to the classic sociolinguistic pattern of their metropolitan French peers, the boys maintaining marked regional features, generally as minority variants, to a greater extent than the girls.


Abstract This article discusses research carried out by the Körös Regional Archaeological Project from 2000 to 2006 at Early Copper Age Tiszapolgár Culture sites on the Great Hungarian Plain. To build a model of social organization for the period, we incorporated information from regional geomorphological studies, soil chemistry analysis, archaeological surface surveys, remote sensing, and systematic excavations at Early Copper Age sites in the Körös Valley of southeastern Hungary. Previous models characterized the transition from the Neolithic period to the Copper Age as an abrupt shift from a tell-based, sedentary, agricultural lifeway to one based on mobile cattle herding. By studying the transition between these periods on multiple geographic and temporal scales, we have identified a more gradual process with widespread regional variation in cultural patterns. Similar social processes characterize the transition between chronological periods and cultural phases in other parts of the world, and we suggest that a multiscalar approach is effective for building comparative archaeological models of long-term social change.


This thesis deals with questions on various applications using soils and sediments as sources of information in archaeological research. Human environmental impact on soils and sediments, in terms of pollution, is a well known phenomenon as the industrialisation intensified during historical times and onwards and has left strong pollutive marks. However, humans have always accumulated or emitted matter and various compounds in connection to their habitats for subsistence, but these earlier traces are not always detectable, depending on soil and sediment state of preservation. Bioessential elements are intimately linked to humans and their dwellings and especially phosphate has been evident in this respect. It was established already in the 1930s, that even Stone Age settlements could be located through elevated phosphate content in extensive soil phosphate mappings. This thesis is a compilation on results from several sites and excavations from the southern to the northern parts of Sweden. There is a wide variety of soil types and chronological setting in the material, from highly acid podzols to calcareous soils, and sediments dated to Younger Dryas to current top soils. Sites from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Early and Late Iron Age and Medieval are all represented. Methods that have been implemented are firstly various forms of analysis in regards to soil phosphate, magnetic susceptibility and organic matter. Furthermore, metal and non-metal elements have been considered, as well as lead isotopes. A multiproxy approach is applied in some examples where biological and chemical data is combined to interpret past events. In this thesis there are also five papers presented. The first paper deals with methodological issues concerning multi-element analyses of various soil samples (off-site to feature) from an archaeological excavation. The second paper is about the possibilities that may be used when analysing the soil organic phosphate in relation to prehistoric agriculture. Paper three and fourth are compilations of large scale contract archaeological project. These papers deal with theoretical, methodological and practical issues concerning environmental archaeology in relation to contract archaeology. Studies on landscape development and erosion are among the cases presented. The last paper deals with a late Mesolithic - early Neolithic settlement in Vuollerim, N. Sweden, and spatial dimensions on the human use of settlement (off-site to on-site) and house floors (intra-site), are discussed.


Despite extensive studies in the ERP literature, little empirical understanding has been reached in relation to ERP implementation experiences in developing markets, particularly in the UAE context. Derived from the notions of critical successful factors and multisite implementation,
two of widely researched areas in ERP studies, this paper thus seeks to provide practical insights about organizations' ERP implementation experiences in the UAE setting. More specifically, it describes and contrasts critical factors and multisite implementation experiences
in two case organizations situated in the UAE. These case organizations, one being categorized as a global company and the other local, provide interesting comparison of ERP implementation because of their complementary organizational structure and business strategies. In contrast to traditional ERP frameworks' suggestions, these case organizations' experiences reveal that contemporary ERP implementations might be more complex than previously expected since none of these case organizations' ERP experiences follows suggestions made by frameworks
based. Further discussion about how to better understand and examine maturing ERP technology in an increasingly globalized business environment such as the UAE is provided.


BACKGROUND
Recently published preconception health guidelines promote maternal health, yet adherence to those guidelines has not been documented. We hypothesized that pregnant women engaged in a healthier lifestyle than nonpregnant women, although this may vary by pregnancy intention and birth control method.

METHODS
We performed secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (2002 and 2004 datasets). The data are collected in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam through a telephone survey of 350,000 adults annually. Subjects were a representative sample of noninstitutionalized, 18-44-year-old, fertile women (n = 66,152). Based on pregnancy risk, women were grouped into one of five categories: pregnant, intending pregnancy (IP), unintended pregnancy high risk (HR), moderate risk (MR), and low risk (LR). Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted prevalence odds ratios (aPOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for behavioral characteristics using pregnant women as the referent group.

RESULTS
IP, HR, MR, and LR women were more likely to drink any alcohol (aPOR 10.85, aPOR 8.39, aPOR 11.90, aPOR 11.98, respectively), binge drink (aPOR 7.07, aPOR 6.24, aPOR 7.27, aPOR 7.17, respectively), heavy drink (aPOR 6.90, aPOR 5.67, aPOR 7.48, aPOR 5.89, respectively), and smoke (aPOR 2.89, aPOR 2.69, aPOR 2.40, aPOR 2.09, respectively). Interestingly, IP, HR, MR, and LR women were more likely to engage in leisure activity (aPOR 1.37, aPOR 1.19, aPOR 1.57, aPOR 1.17, respectively). HR, MR, and LR women were less likely to consume folic acid (aPOR 0.14, aPOR 0.21, aPOR 0.29, respectively), whereas women intending a pregnancy were equally likely to consume folic acid (aPOR 0.77 CI 0.30, 2.0), although the response rate for folic acid was low.

CONCLUSIONS
Preconceptional health goals are not being met. Pregnancy risk, as delineated by contraceptive use, can inform interventions designed to prevent adversely exposed pregnancies.


Background: Hypospadias where surgery is the only option to correct this birth defect which is usually associated with post-operative urethrocutaneous fistula formation even in best hands. The site of fistula is mostly at coronal level (80%) and less common at meatal level. Many factors are supposed to be responsible for causation of this fistula, important one is the developmentally defective ventral penile skin at and / or distal to the urethral meatus where some local healing factors like vascular and collagen tissues are insufficient. Objective: To determine histologically whether the ventral skin of hypospadiac penis at the meatal and coronal levels differ from the corresponding dorsal skin levels in terms of vascular and collagen tissue. Study design: Observational comparative study. Place of study: (1) Department of Paediatric Surgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka. Period of study: December 2008 to 15 May 2010. Materials & Methods: A total of 10 patients with mid-penile hypospadias without chordee were included in this study. Representative skin tissues were collected from ventral skin and corresponding dorsal skin of the meatal and coronal levels of every patient. Haematoxylin-eosin stained slides were prepared from each tissue specimen and were examined under microscope to determine the differences in blood vessels and collagen tissues distribution. Paired 't' test was used to test the significance of differences. Results: Significantly lower proportion of sectioned blood vessels was found in the ventral skin than in the dorsal skin at the coronal level. The proportion of sectioned collagen fibre bundles was also significantly lower in the dorsal skin than in the ventral skin at the coronal level. Conclusion: This study reveals difference in distribution of blood vessels and collagen fibre bundle in the ventral skin in comparison with corresponding dorsal skin of hypospadiac penis at meatal and coronal levels. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jpsb.v2i1.15158 Journal of Paediatric Surgeons of Bangladesh (2011) Vol. 2 (1): 17-21


The purpose of this study is to identify whether spending more money on food leads Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other low-income households to purchase and consume more nutritious foods. Specifically, the study analyzed the percentage and absolute change in diet-quality measures that are associated with a 10-percent increase in food expenditures for SNAP participants and income-eligible nonparticipants (i.e., with incomes under 130 percent of poverty). The study also seeks to identify other factors or household characteristics that may affect this relationship.


Coumarin derivatives are effective in the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases. Examples of indications are atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism. Although coumarins are on the market for decades, it is still challenging to find the optimal dosage for each patient since coumarins have a small therapeutic index. In trying to achieve the optimal anticoagulant effect, the patient constantly balances between a too low anticoagulant effect -which increases the risk of thromboembolic events- and a too high anticoagulant effect -which increases the risk of hemorrhages. In addition, there is a wide inter- and intra-patient variability in coumarin dose requirements. A dosage that provides optimal anticoagulation status in the first patient might cause hemorrhages in a second patient and thromboembolic events in a third. In this thesis, we describe studies that aimed to develop pretreatment personalized dosing strategies for coumarins. A general introduction on the history of coumarins and the pharmacogenetics of oral anticoagulant therapy with coumarins is provided in Chapter 1 and Part I, Chapter 2. In Part II, we discuss the development and usage of the nongenotype- and genotype-guided dose algorithms for phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol. The development and validation of the dose algorithms for phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol is described in Chapter 3. We include information on age, height, weight, sex, and amiodarone use in the nongenotype-guided algorithm. The genotype-guided algorithm includes next to these information on the VKORC1 genotype and CYP2C9 genotype. The genotype-guided dose algorithm explains 55.9% and 52.6% of the variance of the maintenance dose for phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol, respectively while for the nongenotype-guided dose algorithm these percentages were 17.3% and 23.7%, respectively. Validation of the acenocoumarol dose algorithms in the Rotterdam study cohort, has showed equal performance of the algorithms (Chapter 4). Subsequently, these algorithms are tested in a randomized controlled trial: the European Pharmacogenetics of Anticoagulant Therapy (EU-PACT) trial, of which the study design is presented in Chapter 5. Effects of genetic variance and comedication use on the anticoagulant therapy are described in Part III, chapter 6-9. We evaluate a possible gene-gene interaction between CYP2C9 and VKORC1 on the coumarin therapy and the effect of genetic variations in GATA-4 (the gene encoding for a CYP2C9 transcription factor), CYP3A4*1B, CYP3A4*22, CYP4F2 V433M and statin use on the phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol maintenance dose. The most promising findings are the decreased acenocoumarol, but not phenprocoumon, dose requirements for patients who use concurrently atorvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin or rosuvastatin. In Chapter 10 we elaborate on the studies that are described in this thesis. The main findings are discussed and placed in a broader perspective. It is argued how to implement pharmacogenetics in a clinical setting and which parties are involved. The facilities required for implementation are considered and the cost-effectiveness and technical developments in pharmacogenetics are discussed. Finally, recent developments regarding the new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided


A genetic approach was used to isolate and characterize Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes affecting tRNA processing. Three mutants were isolated which were able to process and utilize splicing-deficient transcripts from inactivated Schizosaccharomyces pombe suppressor tRNA genes. Extragenic recovery of suppressibility was verified by the suppression of nonsense mutations in LEU2, HIS4, and ADE1. One mutant, SPL1-1, was chosen for detailed analysis on the basis of its increased synthesis of mature suppressor tRNA over wild-type cell levels as determined by Northern (RNA) analysis. This mutant exhibited strong suppression exclusively with the defective tRNA gene used in the mutant selection. Genetic analysis revealed that a single, dominant, haplo-lethal mutation was responsible for the suppression phenotype. The mutation mapped on chromosome III to an essential 1.5-kb open reading frame (L. S. Symington and T. D. Petes, Mol. Cell. Biol. 8:595-604, 1988), recently named NFS1 (S. G. Oliver et al., Nature [London] 357:38-46, 1992), located adjacent (centromere proximal) to LEU2.


This is the first ever monograph on contemporary architectural practice in Bangladesh, dedicated to international-award-winning architect Mohammad Rafiq Azam. Rafiq Azam is a world-renowned architect. He recently received the Residential Building of the Year Award at the 2012 Emirates Glass LEAF Awards, which took place during 2012 London Design Festival. He has a holistic approach to design, which not only incorporates the elements of nature but also harnesses its beauty and potential in a practical way, in order to enhance the personal experience of a building. From his uniquely Bangladeshi perspective, the human being has two parts the body as shell and thoughts as soul; and his architecture is similar, where the building manifests as the shell and nature as its soul. Considering the socioeconomic and city planning conditions of Dhaka, Bangladeshs capital, Azam's architectural vocabulary is kept simple and essential, with traditional spaces like the courtyard, pond, ghat (steps leading into water) and ample internal and external greenery that merge both urban and rural typologies in an intensely urban context. He arranges water courts as swimming pools in the middle of homes, arranges natural light rooms and unfolding wall systems to emphasise the interrelationship between form and void. With more than 200 colour and black-and-white plates, exquisite design sketches and aerial views, as well as watercolour paintings and inspirational phrases, this exceptionally beautiful book is a unique introduction and insight into a visionary architect and Bangladeshi contemporary living and culture.


We compare the present and last interglacial periods as recorded in Antarctic water stable isotope records now available at various temporal resolutions from six East Antarctic ice cores: Vostok, Taylor Dome, EPICA Dome C (EDC), EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML), Dome Fuji and the recent TALDICE ice core from Talos Dome. We first review the different modern site characteristics in terms of ice flow, meteorological conditions, precipitation intermittency and moisture origin, as depicted by meteorological data, atmospheric reanalyses and Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics. These different factors can indeed alter the relationships between temperature and water stable isotopes. Using five records with sufficient resolution on the EDC3 age scale, common features are quantified through principal component analyses. Consistent with instrumental records and atmospheric model results, the ice core data depict rather coherent and homogenous patterns in East Antarctica during the last two interglacials. Across the East Antarctic plateau, regional differences, with respect to the common East Antarctic signal, appear to have similar patterns during the current and last interglacials. We identify two abrupt shifts in isotopic records during the glacial inception at TALDICE and EDML, likely caused by regional sea ice expansion. These regional differences are discussed in terms of moisture origin and in terms of past changes in local elevation histories, which are compared to ice sheet model results. Our results suggest that elevation changes may contribute significantly to inter-site differences. These elevation changes may be underestimated by current ice sheet models.


Traffic flow forecasting is fundamental to today's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). It involves the task of learning traffic complex dynamics in order to predict future conditions. This is particularly challenging when it comes to predict the traffic status for multiple horizons into the future and at the same time for the entire transportation network. In this context deep learning models have recently shown promising results. This models can inherently capture the non-linear space-temporal correlations (ST) in traffic by taking advantage of the huge volume of data available. In this study the authors present a LSTM encoder-decoder for multi-horizon traffic flow predictions. We adopted a direct approach in which the model simultaneously predict traffic conditions for the entire Belgian motorway transport network at each time step. The results clearly show the superiority of this model when compared with other deep learning models. In the workshop, conference attendees will learn how to process and visualize mobility data, obtain optimal features for traffic flow forecasting, build a LSTM encoder-decoder and perform predictions in an online manner.


Wind energy is the world ́s fastest-growing renewable energy source. Thus, the amount of people exposed to wind farm noise is increasing. Due to its broadband amplitude modulated characteristic, wind turbine noise (WTN) is more annoying than noise produced by other common community/industrial sources. Aerodynamic noise along the blade span is the dominant noise source of modern large wind turbines. This type of noise propagates through the atmosphere in the proximity of wind farms. However, modelling and simulating WTN propagation over large distances is challenging due to the complexity of atmospheric conditions. Real temperature, wind velocity and relative humidity measurements typically show a characteristic nonlinear behavior. A comprehensive propagation model that addresses this problem while maintaining high accuracy and computational efficiency is necessary. A Hamiltonian Ray tracing (HRT) technique coupled to aerodynamically induced WTN is presented in this work. It incorporates acoustic wave refraction due to spatial speed of sound gradients, a full Doppler Effect formulation resulting from wind velocities in any arbitrary direction, proper acoustic energy dissipation during propagation, and ground reflection. The HRT method averts many of the setbacks presented by other common numerical approaches such as fast field program (FFP), parabolic equation methods (PE), and the standard Eikonal ray tracing (ERT) technique. In addition, it is not bounded to the linearity assumptions made for analytic propagation solutions. A wave phase tracking analysis through inhomogeneous and moving media is performed. Curved ray-paths are numerically computed by solving a non-linear system of coupled first order differential equations. Sound pressure levels through the propagation media are then calculated by using standard ray tubes and performing energy analysis along them. The ray model is validated by comparing a monopole's ray path results against analytically obtained ones. Sound pressure level predictions are also validated against both FFP and ERT methods. Finally, results for a 5MW modern wind turbine over a flat acoustically soft terrain are provided. A Comprehensive Hamiltonian Atmospheric Sound Propagation Model for Prediction of Wind Turbine Noise Sterling M. McBride GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Modelling propagation of noise produced by wind turbines over large distances is a challenging task. Real temperature distributions, flow characteristics around wind turbines, and relative humidity are some of the parameters that affect the behavior of the produced sound in the atmosphere. To this end, a Hamiltonian ray tracing tool that models the propagation of wind turbine noise has been developed and is the main focus of this thesis. This method avoids many of the limitations and inaccurate assumptions presented by other common numerical and analytical approaches. In addition, current commercial noise propagation codes are incapable of fully capturing the physical complexity of the problem. Finally, validation and simulation results for a wind turbine over flat terrain are presented in order to demonstrate the superior accuracy and computational efficiency of the Hamiltonian approach.


Large Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks pose a major threat not only to end systems but also to the Internet infrastructure as a whole. Remote Triggered Black Hole filtering (RTBH) has been established as a tool to mitigate inter-domain DDoS attacks by discarding unwanted traffic early in the network, e.g., at Internet eXchange Points (IXPs). As of today, little is known about the kind and effectiveness of its use, and about the need for more fine-grained filtering. In this paper, we present the first in-depth statistical analysis of all RTBH events at a large European IXP by correlating measurements of the data and the control plane for a period of 104 days. We identify a surprising practice that significantly deviates from the expected mitigation use patterns. First, we show that only one third of all 34k visible RTBH events correlate with indicators of DDoS attacks. Second, we witness over 2000 blackhole events announced for prefixes not of servers but of clients situated in DSL networks. Third, we find that blackholing on average causes dropping of only 50% of the unwanted traffic and is hence a much less reliable tool for mitigating DDoS attacks than expected. Our analysis gives also rise to first estimates of the collateral damage caused by RTBH-based DDoS mitigation.


Bolted moment end-plate connections are extremely popular in the metal building
industry due to economics and construction ease, yet have proven to be quite complicated from the analysis and design standpoint. Past research has shown that the design of these connections is controlled by either the strength of the end-plate, determined by yield-line analysis, or the strength of the bolts, determined by the semi-empirical Kennedy method. The calculations involved in the Kennedy bolt analysis incorporate prying action, yet are complex and extensive.
This study presents a simplified method for determining the ultimate strength of
moment end-plate connections. Classic yield-line analysis is used to determine the
connection capacity based on end-plate strength, and a simplified version of the Kennedy method is used to predict the connection capacity based on bolt strength with prying action. Assumptions are made that substantially reduce the calculations involved in the bolt analysis. The simplified design procedure is verified by comparison with the results of 52 previously conducted full-scale connection tests. Design recommendations are made and examples presented.


Matrix is not a weird thing in math. Many things could be fulfilled by using matrix. Some matrix usage was to finished linear equation system, make analysis about economic with many variables easier.
Matrix also could be fulfilled to reveal problem about diagonalization. In matrix could be diagonalyzed if there is a S matrix with invers so that , with D is a diagonal matrix.
This research aimed to find out matrix which diagonalized matrix or commutative area and also to find diagonalyzed matrix in field. Matrix could be stated as matrix on commutative field when the element of the matrix were
members of commutative field where commutative field was in-empty association with two binnary operation of summation and multiplication fulfilled two commutative group and semi-group with the close-characteristic , associative , and distributic characteristic . While for matrix could be said as matrix on field when the elements of the matrix was element from field where the field was a part of commutative area.
Matrix to the commutative field could be diagonalyzed while matrix columns verctor which
would diagonalyzed matrix formed from eigen verctors of the matrix ranged and linear free or
formed basis. While field matrix could be diagonalyzed while vectors of matrix column which
would diagonalyzed matrix formed from eigen vectors from the matrix were linear free.


BACKGROUND: Several studies have indicated that patients with mild anxiety symptoms may benefit from writing about life events that they have found stressful. However, there is very little research done into the effects of this technique. AIM: To find out whether writing about stressful and/or traumatic events would also benefit patients with severe anxiety disorders. METHOD: Our sample consisted of 32 patients (24 women and 8 men) with anxiety disorders. They were randomly assigned to 2 groups, one being an experimental group, the other a control group. Eighteen patients were asked to write about the most stressful events they had experienced and 14 were asked to write about trivial topics. Each patient completed 4 writing sessions over a 2-week period. A follow-up writing session took place six weeks later. Anxiety symptoms and mood were measured by means of the Symptom Check List, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale and the Profile of Mood State. The immediate effect of writing on mood was scored by means of a simple questionnaire. RESULTS: The mood of the patients in the experimental writing group deteriorated markedly during a short time. Multivariate analyses conducted on repeated measurements did not reveal any significant effects. The interaction between the experimental group and the test scores was not significant either. At follow-up psychic functioning and mood in the experimental group were no better that in the control group. CONCLUSION: Writing about stressful and/or traumatic events is a very taxing activity for patients (pain). This has often been demonstrated in the past. The results show that simply writing about stressful events is definitely not a successful way of reducing anxiety symptoms (no gain).


For a long time, EU institutions have emphasized the connection between one of the most important concepts of the integration method, mutual recognition, and the presence of mutual trust between EU Member States. Only recently, the ECJ reaffirmed in its Opinion 2/13 that mutual trust is at the heart of the EU and a "fundamental premiss" of the European legal structure. But can law really restore, advance or even govern by trust? This question is crucial for the EU of today, which finds itself in the midst of a severe crisis of trust. For the EU as a community "based on the rule of law" generating trust through law might seem the natural, maybe the only politically viable response to a crisis of trust. Nevertheless, even if one agrees that the rule of law requires people to place trust in legal rules, and that courts and administrative agencies need to trust each other in order to work efficiently and consistently, how would legal rules be able to generate or promote trust? Moreover, isn't it deeply rooted in our ideas about constitutional government that democratic law must institutionalize mutual distrust rather than govern by trust? These conceptual and normative objections did not stop the European Union from pursuing the project of trust-building through law in one of the most sensitive areas of EU law, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters. This Article will ask whether the project to promote trust through law is a promising one, and, eventually, how to reinterpret statutory provisions and legal principles that purport to generate trust amongst their addressees.


We discuss here the polymer specificities which completely govern in a non-trivial manner the effective ion transport in polymer gel electrolytes, an important class of soft matter electrolytes. Confinement of a lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI)–pyrrolidinium-cation based ionic liquid solution inside a polymer physical network composed of two different polymers with different functionalities is achieved. A physical network of two polymers with different functional groups, viz., one with acrylate and another with acrylonitrile (PAN) leads to multiple interesting consequences. Due to chemical differences between the acrylate-based polymer (formed from (3-trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MSMA) monomers) and PAN, the physical knots in the PAN network unlock, leading to a decrease in the elastic modulus with improved mechanical compliance and chain flexibility in the gel. Additionally, ion–polymer interactions increase, resulting in higher free charge carrier density in the gel compared to the unconfined ionic liquid solution. Thus, ion transport is no longer assisted by the ionic liquid and polymer relaxations, as it would be in conventional polymer electrolytes, but fully driven by the chemical characteristics of the polymer physical network. Notably, the polymer matrix significantly influences the anion mobility and transference number. Contrary to the unconfined ionic liquid electrolyte where cations (predominantly due to the pyrrolidinium cation) and anions contribute to the ionic conductivity, the ionic conductivity in PN gels is predominantly due to anions. The gel ionic conductivity is nearly half an order of magnitude higher than that of the unconfined ionic liquid electrolyte and displays good dimensional stability and electrochemical performance in a separator-free battery configuration. Most importantly, this work may revitalize research on single-ion conductors and stimulate new and simple chemical designs of polymer electrolytes displaying high single-ion conductivity.


Coexisting medical traditions operate at different levels of scale. In rural eastern Africa there are diviners and herbalists whose clients are drawn from the immediate neighbourhood. Some develop healing reputations more widely over a region or nation, sometimes with prophetic and witch-finding powers. Biomedical clinics and hospitals are also interlinked regionally, nationally and internationally. Patients or carers may seek healthcare by moving through these different levels, sometimes beginning with a neighbourhood healer and sometimes trying out different therapies simultaneously. Sicknesses and misfortunes are often first discussed within a family or homestead, with concern for the victim extending to all its members. The talk is based on assumed trust among its members. However, if unresolved, the affliction may trigger a crisis that breaks the trust, so that healers beyond the neighbourhood are sought, whether prophetic/witch-finding or biomedical. Taken out of the context of family and homestead intimacy, the talk blames the ailment on the malevolence or negligence of individuals in the community. Talk about sickness among sufferers and between them and healers, is thus transformed from that which seeks resolution in amity to that which seeks culpability and, sometimes, retribution. A similar process of sickness talk changing through its appropriation by wider scale and more powerful medical authority also occurs in western biomedical hospitals and clinics.


In this work, we address the problem of coordinating the distributed execution of plans and schedules by multiple agents subject to a number of different execution uncertainties. The coordination of multi-agent teams in uncertain, dynamic domains is a challenging problem requiring the fusion of techniques from many disciplines. We describe an approach based on the dynamic and selective use of a family of different problem-solving strategies that combine stochastic state estimation with repair-based and heuristic-guided planning and scheduling techniques. This approach is implemented as a cognitive problem-solving architecture that combines (i) a deliberative scheduler, which performs partially-centralized solution repair, (ii) an opportunistic scheduler, which locally optimizes resource utilization for plan enhancement, and (iii) a downgrader, which proactively guides the execution into regions of higher likelihood of success. This paper characterizes the complexity of the problem through examples and experiments, and discusses the advantages and effectiveness of the implemented solution.


Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is increasingly used to detect Pneumocystis jirovecii for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), but there are differences in the nucleic acids targeted, DNA only versus whole nucleic acid (WNA), and also the target genes for amplification. Through the Fungal PCR Initiative, a working group of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology, a multicenter and monocenter evaluation of PCP qPCR assays was performed. For the multicenter study, 16 reference laboratories from eight different countries, performing 20 assays analyzed a panel consisting of two negative and three PCP positive samples. Aliquots were prepared by pooling residual material from 20 negative or positive- P. jirovecii bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs). The positive pool was diluted to obtain three concentrations (pure 1:1; 1:100; and 1:1000 to mimic high, medium, and low fungal loads, respectively). The monocenter study compared five in-house and five commercial qPCR assays testing 19 individual BALFs on the same amplification platform. Across both evaluations and for all fungal loads, targeting WNA and the mitochondrial small sub-unit (mtSSU) provided the earliest Cq values, compared to only targeting DNA and the mitochondrial large subunit, the major surface glycoprotein or the beta-tubulin genes. Thus, reverse transcriptase-qPCR targeting the mtSSU gene could serve as a basis for standardizing the P. jirovecii load, which is essential if qPCR is to be incorporated into clinical care pathways as the reference method, accepting that additional parameters such as amplification platforms still need evaluation.


Fire frequency, extent, and size exhibit a strong linkage with climate conditions and play a vital role in the climate system. Previous studies have shown that the frequency of large fires in the western United States increased significantly since the mid‐1980s due to climate warming and frequent droughts. However, less work has been conducted to examine burned area and fire emissions of large fires at a national scale, and the underlying mechanisms accounting for the increases in the frequency of large fires are far from clear. In this study, we integrated remote‐sensed fire perimeter and burn severity data sets into the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model to estimate carbon emissions from large fires (i.e., fires with size larger than 1000 acres or 4.05 km2) in conterminous United States from 1984 to 2012. The results show that average area burned by large fires was 1.44 × 104 km2 yr−1 and carbon emissions from large fires were 17.65 Tg C yr−1 during the study period. According to the Mann‐Kendall trend test, annual burned area and pyrogenic carbon emissions presented significant upward trends at the rates of 810 km2 yr−1 and 0.87 Tg C yr−1, respectively. Characteristic fire size (fire size with the largest contribution to the total burned area) in the period of 2004–2012 increased by 176.1% compared to the period of 1984–1993. We further found that the larger fires were associated with higher burn severity and occurred more frequently in the warmer and drier conditions. This finding implies that the continued warming and drying trends in the 21st century would enhance the total burned area and fire emissions due to the contributions of larger and more severe wildfires.


Catalytic nanomaterials play a major role in chemical conversions and energy transformations. Understanding how materials control and regulate surface reactions is a major objective for fundamental research on heterogeneous catalysts. In situ environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM) is a powerful technique for revealing the atomic structures of materials at elevated temperatures in the presence of reactive gases. This approach can allow the structure–reactivity relations underlying catalyst functionality to be investigated. Thus far, ETEM has been limited by the absence of in situ measurements of gas-phase catalytic products. To overcome this deficiency, operando TEM techniques are being developed that combine atomic characterization with the simultaneous measurement of catalytic products. This article provides a short review of the current status and major developments in the application of ETEM to gas-phase catalysis over the past 10 years.


Feature Models (FMs) are the de-facto standard for documenting, model checking, and reasoning about the configurations of a software system. This paper introduces WebFML a comprehensive environment for synthesizing FMs from various kinds of artefacts (e.g. propositional formula, dependency graph, FMs or product comparison matrices). A key feature of WebFML is an interactive support (through ranking lists, clusters, and logical heuristics) for choosing a sound and meaningful hierarchy. WebFML opens avenues for numerous practical applications (e.g., merging multiple product lines, slicing a configuration process, reverse engineering configurable systems).


We elaborate upon a bijection discovered by Cools, Draisma, Payne, and Robeva (2012) between the set of rectangular standard Young tableaux and the set of equivalence classes of chip configurations on certain metric graphs under the relation of linear equivalence. We present an explicit formula for computing the $v_0$-reduced divisors (representatives of the equivalence classes) associated to given tableaux, and use this formula to prove (i) evacuation of tableaux corresponds (under the bijection) to reflecting the metric graph, and (ii) conjugation of the tableaux corresponds to taking the Riemann-Roch dual of the divisor.


Abstract The European Commission asked EFSA for a scientific opinion on the risks for animal and human health related to the presence of glycoalkaloids (GAs) in feed and food. This risk assessment covers edible parts of potato plants and other food plants containing GAs, in particular, tomato and aubergine. In humans, acute toxic effects of potato GAs (α‐solanine and α‐chaconine) include gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. For these effects, the CONTAM Panel identified a lowest‐observed‐adverse‐effect level of 1 mg total potato GAs/kg body weight (bw) per day as a reference point for the risk characterisation following acute exposure. In humans, no evidence of health problems associated with repeated or long‐term intake of GAs via potatoes has been identified. No reference point for chronic exposure could be identified from the experimental animal studies. Occurrence data were available only for α‐solanine and α‐chaconine, mostly for potatoes. The acute dietary exposure to potato GAs was estimated using a probabilistic approach and applying processing factors for food. Due to the limited data available, a margin of exposure (MOE) approach was applied. The MOEs for the younger age groups indicate a health concern for the food consumption surveys with the highest mean exposure, as well as for the P95 exposure in all surveys. For adult age groups, the MOEs indicate a health concern only for the food consumption surveys with the highest P95 exposures. For tomato and aubergine GAs, the risk to human health could not be characterised due to the lack of occurrence data and the limited toxicity data. For horses, farm and companion animals, no risk characterisation for potato GAs could be performed due to insufficient data on occurrence in feed and on potential adverse effects of GAs in these species.


The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of silymarin (SMN), an antioxidant, on methotrexate (MTX)-induced damage in rat testes. Thirty-two Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups (n = 8): control, MTX (20 mg/kg, i.p. on days 1 and 5), SMN (200 mg/kg, orally), and MTX + SMN (20 mg/kg, i.p. on days 1 and 5 and SMN 200 mg/kg orally) groups. At the end of the 6-week trial period, histopathological, immunohistochemical, biochemical, and spermatological analyses were performed on testes tissues. Histopathologically, MTX-induced damage, including depletion of germ cell and loos of spermatozoa, was significantly improved with SMN treatment. Immunohistochemically, the immunoreactivity of glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) and manganese superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) were detected more intensely in the MTX + SMN group than in the MTX group. Biochemical examinations revealed that SMN supplementation decreased the lipid peroxidation and increased enzymatic antioxidants in the SMN-treated rats. Spermatologically, significant differences were found in the density, motility, dead-to-live sperm ratio, and abnormal sperm rate in the MTX + SMN group compared to the MTX group. In conclusion, SMN seems to have protective effects as an antioxidant against MTX-induced damage in rat testes.


We examined impacts of future climate scenarios on flow regimes and how predicted changes might affect river ecosystems. We examined two case studies: Cle Elum River, Washington, and Chattahoochee–Apalachicola River Basin, Georgia and Florida. These rivers had available downscaled global circulation model (GCM) data and allowed us to analyse the effects of future climate scenarios on rivers with (1) different hydrographs, (2) high future water demands, and (3) a river–floodplain system. We compared observed flow regimes to those predicted under future climate scenarios to describe the extent and type of changes predicted to occur. Daily stream flow under future climate scenarios was created by either statistically downscaling GCMs (Cle Elum) or creating a regression model between climatological parameters predicted from GCMs and stream flow (Chattahoochee–Apalachicola). Flow regimes were examined for changes from current conditions with respect to ecologically relevant features including the magnitude and timing of minimum and maximum flows. The Cle Elum's hydrograph under future climate scenarios showed a dramatic shift in the timing of peak flows and lower low flow of a longer duration. These changes could mean higher summer water temperatures, lower summer dissolved oxygen, and reduced survival of larval fishes. The Chattahoochee–Apalachicola basin is heavily impacted by dams and water withdrawals for human consumption; therefore, we made comparisons between pre‐large dam conditions, current conditions, current conditions with future demand, and future climate scenarios with future demand to separate climate change effects and other anthropogenic impacts. Dam construction, future climate, and future demand decreased the flow variability of the river. In addition, minimum flows were lower under future climate scenarios. These changes could decrease the connectivity of the channel and the floodplain, decrease habitat availability, and potentially lower the ability of the river to assimilate wastewater treatment plant effluent. Our study illustrates the types of changes that river ecosystems might experience under future climates. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This research contributes to the understanding of how Australian sugarcane farmers conceive of their management of the impacts of the highly variable climate in which their businesses are situated. The historical group extension and information communication environment which support farmer discussions and consideration of climate information is described, particularly in the way in which participative Managing for Climate Risk workshops have been delivered in Queensland, Australia. The decline in the provision of traditional extension services is discussed, and the consequent opportunity that improvements in digital networks provide to augment and or replace extension services with different communication tools. Novel discussion support tools (a series of four machinima, animations produced in a virtual world format) are developed, evaluated and tested in a farmer workshop, delivered in a collaborative, social learning environment, using adult learning principles. Developmental phenomenography is used as the principal qualitative research methodology to understand and describe farmer conceptions of managing and discussing climate risk. Post-workshop survey and semi-structured interview data are analysed phenomenographically within the research to articulate the variation in farmer conceptions to related phenomena. Conclusions and recommendations for the climate science and communication community are developed which may lead to improvements in the ways that farmers are engaged and supported in their learning about managing the impacts of climate variability in the future. Additionally, the opportunity to use phenomenography as a qualitative evaluation methodology in agriculture extension programs is discussed.


Thermoacoustic instabilities in rocket engines have been studied for decades and models have been attempted, however, the heat release fluctuations and overall responseis still poorly understood. To understand the heat release mechanism in a rocket combustion chamber the effect of hydrodynamics and chemical kinetics on the mode/s of combustion need to be studied. Using prior simulations of the CVRC, an initial design for a new model rocket combustor was proposed. The new design improved on past experiments by having better control of all important boundary conditions; facilitate higher fidelity pressure and optical measurements with emphasis on quantifying the results and using them to validate simulation models of the design; and allow good control over the characteristic parameters of the injection mechanics. A prior simulation was done on the proposed design to allow fine tuning of thedesign elements. Three distinct modes of self-excited instability were observed in the experiment, two of which transitioned between one another with a sweep in oxidizertemperature. A number of configurations and operating conditions were tested, but the primary focus was on three oxidizer rich cases, at different oxidizer temperatures. The two extreme cases were compared to the simulations conducted. At low oxidizer temperatures there was good agreement, where at high oxidizer temperatures therewas a fairly good agreement in the type of mechanics observed, but there were a few discrepancies. The vortex shedding off of the fuel collar was captured using chemiluminescence measurements and compared quite well with the simulations. It was found that the fuel collar vortex shedding did not directly contribute to the generation ofinstabilities.


Cutaneous drug eruptions are to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used for seizure prophylaxis can range from a maculopapular eruption to severe Stevens-Johnson syndrome or toxic epidermal necrolysis. The aromatic drugs: phenytoin, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, phenobarbital, primidone, zonisamide and lamotrigine are the most common offenders. In contrast, the second generation AEDs like valproate, topiramate, gabapentin, tiagabine and levetiracetam are rarely associated with a rash. Doses of AEDs are often started low and gradually increased to decrease the risk of allergic reactions. Herein, the authors report a 46-year-old woman with malignant brain tumor, who developed a levetiracetam induced dose-related reticular eruption only after the initial post-operative dose 500 mg twice a day was increased to 1000 mg twice a day, and upon re-challenge when the slower titrated levetiracetam dose reached 750 mg twice a day.


Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an internationally recognized and scientifically based methodology to quantify the environmental impact of a product or service, typically from cradle-to-grave. The life cycle performance of housing is influenced by the interdependent nature of material and energy use, and dwelling location and service life. While much research has been conducted building LCA, its incorporation into regulation has been difficult to implement.

This research outlines the methodology used to create an LCA database of new Canadian construction for the purpose of building stock modeling and benchmarking national construction practice, two key tools for higher level decision making. A software program has been developed to handle data storage and calculations. Results presented include general performance trends at various sector scales, and analysis comparing LCA to traditional environmental performance measurement, and sensitivity analysis of building material and operating energy fuel choice and energy efficiency measures.


This paper proposes a generic model for a government-backed interplay between the private and public sectors; academic and research institutions, non-governmental and international bodies in implementing STI for development
in Africa. In presents a discipline-independent approach to forming synergies capable of yielding tangible outcomes
for improving the peoples' quality of life. Based on an empirical analysis of the current STI state on the continent and
the growing wave of globalisation, the paper recognises spontaneous realisation of STI-driven socio-economic development and prosperity as a major challenge. It thus, makes two-fold recommendations – negotiating and/or embedding Research, Development and Knowledge Transfer clauses within the Foreign Direct Investment and external aid
contracts and embedding STI promoting activities within the general STI-related curricula. The model's input and
output are clearly stated and the arising issues are addressed with respect to the continent's geo-ethnic, socio-economic,
technological and cultural heterogeneity. Roles for all stakeholders in ensuring the model's legality and universality
through regulatory, legislative, technical, financial and logistical support are clearly outlined.

Key words: Globalisation, Intellectual Property (IP), Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), Private-Public-Partnerships (PPP), Research and Development (R&D), Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).