Scotland in Definition: A History of Scottish Dictionaries Iseabail Macleod and J. Derrick McClure. John Donald, 2012. ISBN 9781906566494, 25, 342 [pounds sterling] pp. This fine book acts as a worthy reminder both to Scots and those furth of Scotland of the great contribution which Scottish lexicographers have made to the study of the native languages of Scotland, to a greater understanding of the English language and, indeed, to the theory and methodology of lexicography itself. By the same token, it also demonstrates how one English enthusiast guided by native wit and great talent could revolutionise the lexicographical study of Gaelic. Despite the many vicissitudes through which scholarly lexicography on the languages of Scotland has passed, the reader is left with a sense of tenacity and forward thinking which is carrying the lexicographical tradition into what appears to be a bright future. Edited by Iseabail Macleod, whose association with a range of Scots dictionaries is well known and who therefore has insider knowledge for much of the recent history described in the book, and J. Derrick McClure, perhaps the most qualified person to talk about the historical development and codification of both Gaelic and Scots, Scotland in Definition demonstrates a strong sense of single purpose and orderly flow, despite the various chapters being written by different authors. These authors represent some of the most central figures in contemporary Scottish lexicography; there is a strong sense of learned practitioners describing the development and present state of their fields. The book is divided into three basic parts: Scots Dictionaries; Gaelic Lexicography; and the Scottish contribution to English Dictionaries, with the largest part of the work being devoted to the first topic. The book itself begins with a general introduction by the editors, concerned with providing an historical linguistic ecology for Scotland and also a sense of what is to follow. There are attempts throughout to bridge between different sections and to place what has been reported within the chapters in its wider context. Almost inevitably, the Scots material outweighs the Gaelic. Scots is, of course, a close relative of English which has been dialectalised under the latter for at least 400 years and, moreover, the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue was in many senses a by-product of the Oxford English Dictionary (at least in its inception) and also shared personnel in its set-up phase. But a fundamental even-handedness underlies this apparent discrepancy, with the awareness that the (historical) lexicography of Gaelic is part of the same great stream of Scottish lexicography. Although its origins lie in different, often evangelical or enthusiast traditions (even if the latter is certainly a factor in pre-Scottish National Dictionary Scots lexicography), many of the methodologies and traditions move from Scots to Gaelic (and Gaelic to Scots) apparently effortlessly as have, occasionally, personnel (including Lorna Pike, who has made a considerable impact to the production of this volume). Throughout a roughly chronological order is followed, although overlap in time and subject matter between chapters is inevitable. The Scots Dictionaries section begins with 'Lexicography of Scots before 1700', written by Keith Williamson. Williamson demonstrates how the earliest attempts at providing definition were essentially produced by the glossing tradition, before turning to the glossa collecta, the siphoning off of original word and gloss from their context. At a more sophisticated level are glossaries in Latin grammars and in profession specific glossaries, dealing with (among other things) heraldry and legal terms and concepts. Interestingly, English dominates from a relatively early period, with Scots words and phrases apparently adding local colour. J. Derrick McClure continues this discussion by focussing on 'Glossaries and Scotticisms: Lexicography in the Eighteenth Century'. …


Phylogenetic inferences in recent years have shown that the genus Peziza, in its traditional circumscription, is polyphyletic. Multigene phylogenetic analyses based on the ITS and 28S rDNA, as well as rpb2 and tef1 loci carried out on the epitype collection of Peziza sicula, suggest that it represents an isolated lineage within Pezizaceae, quite distant from Peziza s. str. To reflect phylogenetic results, the new monotypic genus Sarcopeziza is proposed, and the new combination Sarcopeziza sicula is provided to accommodate the sole representative of the genus so far. Phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships between Sarcopeziza and related genera are discussed, and an updated morphological description, including extensive macro- and micromorphological images, is provided


We demonstrate femtosecond ultrashort pulse generation by adding further positive group velocity dispersion (GVD) to compensate for the presence of positive GVD. The idea is based on the integer temporal Talbot phenomenon. The broad Raman sidebands with a frequency spacing of 10.6 THz are compressed to form a train of Fourier-transform-limited pulses by passing the sidebands through a device made of dispersive material of variable thickness.


This panel was convened at 11:15 a.m., Thursday, March 24, by its moderator, Caroline Foster of the University of Auckland, who introduced the panelists: Ronald J. Bettauer of the George Washington University Law School; Malgosia Fitzmaurice of the University of London; Natalie Klein of Macquarie Law School; and Cymie R. Payne of Lewis & Clark College of Law. ** When I was approached to participate on this panel, I said that I had difficulty both with the title of the panel and the paragraph describing it. The organizers understood this and encouraged me to explain my perspective. This panel is titled "International Environmental Law-Making and the International Court of Justice." But, of course, according to Article 38 of the Court's Statute, (1) the Court is called on to decide cases in accordance with existing international law rather than to make new international law. New international law--including international environmental law-is made by states, either through treaties or the development of customary international law. The Court has had little to do with this. The description of this panel states that the Court "remains the forum of choice for disputes involving environmental issues." I don't think this is true. Finally, the panel description asks whether the Court "is capable of meeting the growing demand for global environmental governance." But the predicate for this question seems doubtful: while some may wish for a system of global environmental governance, I don't see a demand for such a system among the states that would have to create it and live under it, and I certainly don't see the Court as the UN organ that would be the institution to meet that demand if it existed. I will begin by addressing how environmental law is developed. It is not by the Court. Taking the Pulp Mills case, (2) for example, the source of law in that case was a bilateral treaty between Argentina and Uruguay, the 1975 Statute of the River Uruguay. (3) The Court decided the case under that treaty. In passing, it did remark that customary international law requires both that a state exercise due diligence in not allowing knowingly its territory to be used contrary to the rights of other states, (4) and that an environmental impact assessment be prepared where there is a risk that a proposed industrial activity may have a significant adverse impact on a shared natural resource. (5) But I do not believe these two dicta constitute a real contribution, since I think these were customary international law requirements many years ago. By the mid-1970s, there were some 300 bilateral treaties concerning water resources shared between states. (6) Looking at those treaties and the injunction in Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration that states have "the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction," a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) legal experts group adopted principles in the mid-1970s that provided, among other things, that states have "the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction" and that states should "make environmental assessment before engaging in any activity with respect to a shared natural resource which may create a risk of significantly affecting the environment of another State or States sharing that resource." (7) Of course, the fact that such principles are reflected in a large number of bilateral treaties and adopted without dissent at an international organization does not necessarily mean that they reflect customary international law as opposed to being the lex specialis of the particular treaties and recommendations of the organization. But this congruence can be an indication that such principles have become customary law. …


This study investigated preservice teachers' perceived barriers for implementing multicultural curriculum with preservice teachers as they began their teacher education program. Preservice teachers (n = 68) were asked to identify the inherent barriers that may prevent the integration of anti-bias curriculum. It has been suggested that the study of beliefs may be a significant psychological construct for teacher effectiveness research. Many studies have investigated the role of teacher beliefs and few would disagree that the beliefs teachers hold influence them and affect their teaching practices. To determine barriers, beliefs were analyzed and themes were identified: Difficulty Discussing Sensitive Topics (including Religion in the Classroom and Creating Controversy); Policies and Practices Detrimental to Diversity (including Geography and Federal, State, and School Regulations); Difficulty Implementing Diversity Curriculum (including Developing Curriculum and Teaching Strategies, Time Constraints, and Financial Constraints); and Inability to Recognize and Accept Diversity (including Society, Teachers, Parents, and Children). ********** Teacher education programs have a responsibility to prepare preservice teachers for working with diverse populations and implementing an effective multicultural curriculum. The goal of education in the United States has been described as a "multicultural experiment unique in the history of the world: A democratic society attempting to forge peaceful and productive communities with shared interests, while at the same time honoring particular ethnic, racial, and cultural characteristics, traditions, histories, and languages" (Hill, Carjuzaa, Arambura, & Baca, 1993, p. 260). Needless to say, this is a challenging goal. Kea and Bacon (2000) stated that the achievement of this goal is not only unattainable but that teacher education has limited ideas and methods for the successful realization of this goal. The questions which guided this study included: What are preservice teachers' perceived barriers for implementing a multicultural and anti-bias curriculum with diverse groups of children? What are preservice teachers beliefs about the difficulty associated with bringing a diversity curriculum to the classroom? Teachers' knowledge-base and prior experiences help to create individual assumptions and values about diversity. These perceived barriers are a reflection of their individual attitudes, beliefs, experiences, and skills. For this reason, the present study aimed to identify the perceived attitudes and skills with which teachers would enter the classroom by asking preservice teachers to identify the perceived barriers for implementing a diversity curriculum. In this article, the relationship between teacher beliefs and teacher practices in the diverse classroom will be explored. First, the quality of teacher education preparation programs in preparing students to work with diverse classrooms will be presented. Second, a summary of the role of teacher beliefs in the classroom will be discussed. Third, the methodology and the development of themes will be presented. Finally, conclusions about the perceived barriers will be considered. Review of Literature At the end of the year 2000, children of color comprised one-third of all students enrolled in public schools and it is projected that by the year 2020 this figure will increase to 40% (Cushner, McClelland, & Stafford, 1996). Although the increasing diversity among populations of children reflects a significant change, diversity is not limited to racial composition. Changing family composition, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, and varied abilities of children have an effect on society's expectation of what should be included in the school experience (Garibaldi, 1992). Acknowledgment of these changing demographics has resulted in a great deal of attention focused on how to best prepare preservice teachers for entrance into the diverse classroom. …


Transfer zones in continental domains connect rift segments characterized by different extensional styles. We performed three sets of analogue models to investigate how transfer zones depend upon the initial configuration of the rift segments, the geometry of decollement levels and differential rates of extension along the rift axis. We used dry quartz sand to simulate the brittle behaviour of the upper crust and silicone putty for the ductile behaviour of decollement levels. Analogue models have reproduced en-echelon rift segments linked by transfer zones. The transfer zones are bordered by faults with a predominant normal motion, whose arcuate shape in map view is connected to the local perturbation of the direction of the maximum extension. Strike-slip faults are present inside the transfer zone, providing the angle alpha (between the extension direction and the major axis of the transfer zone) is less than 45 degrees : this value represents an upper boundary for the development of strain partitioning processes in transfer zones. The presence of decollement layers inhibits the development of strike-slip faults within the transfer zones, which are characterized by relay ramps. Our experimental results are compared with transfer zones from narrow rifts worldwide (East African Rift System, Rio Grande Rift, Rhinegraben), where an overall similar geometrical and kinematical pattern is observed.


The unusual magnetism exhibited by dysprosium triangles [Dy3(μ3-OH)2L3Cl2(H2O)4][Dy3(μ3-OH)2L3Cl(H2O)5]Cl5·19H2O is explained using the recently developed ab initio methodology for the simulation of magnetic properties of complexes. The local anisotropy axes on the dysprosium sites are found to lie in the plane of the Dy3 triangle and to make angles of ca. 120° with each other. The small antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between sites leads to a non-magnetic Kramers doublet in the ground state of the complex. The arrangement of the local magnetization vectors in this state is close to toroidal. By contrast, the lowest excited states are characterized by a huge magnetic moments of ca. 20 μB and show very different behavior of magnetization for fields applied along and perpendicular to the plane of the Dy3 triangle.


This publication covers PPPs with a focus on the implications for public finances in developing economies. Chapter 1 seeks to answer the question of whether PPPs are the "genie in the bottle" for governments seeking to plug the infrastructure gap: do they solve more problems than they create? This discussion lays the groundwork for further analysis. Chapter 2 explores the underlying reasons for the expansion of PPPs, the definitions and scope of PPPs in different contexts, and the historical trajectory of PPPs throughout the world, highlighting the common factors that have led to their current popularity. Chapter 3 details the multitude of institutional frameworks built to accommodate PPPs. It highlights the frameworks for national and subnational entities commissioning PPPs and deals with the involvement of state-owned enterprises. It also introduces fiscal frameworks for PPPs. Chapter 4 considers the fiscal and budgetary implications of PPPs from various perspectives. Chapter 5 covers the multiple forms of government financial support extended to PPPs and the practical implications of various countries' experiences with direct, indirect, explicit, and implicit forms of project support. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses unsolicited PPP proposals coming directly from private-sector firms that hope to service them. The publication concludes with a brief summation of the outlook for PPPs as well as concise policy recommendations.


© Cambridge University Press 2011. Core Topics in Neuroanesthesia and Neurointensive Care is an authoritative and practical clinical text that offers clear diagnostic and management guidance for a wide range of neuroanesthesia and neurocritical care problems. With coverage of every aspect of the discipline by outstanding world experts, this should be the first book to which practitioners turn for easily accessible and definitive advice. Initial sections cover relevant anatomy, physiology and pharmacology, intraoperative and critical care monitoring and neuroimaging. These are followed by detailed sections covering all aspects of neuroanesthesia and neurointensive care in both adult and pediatric patients. The final chapter discusses ethical and legal issues. Each chapter delivers a state-of-the art review of clinical practice, including outcome data when available. Enhanced throughout with numerous clinical photographs and line drawings, this practical and accessible text is key reading for trainee and consultant anesthetists and critical care specialists.


This new Policy Brief by CEPS Fellows, Noriko Fujiwara and Christian Egenhofer, discusses some of the factors that are key to understanding India's climate agenda with an emphasis on the country's challenges in development, adaptation, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The Policy Brief summarises a CEPS study and accompanies CEPS Working Document No. 325 on the Political Economy of India's Climate Agenda.


Mapping and stratigraphic analysis of the rocks adjacent to the Kaapvaal Craton east of Upington has suggested that the area previously defined as the Kheis Subprovince was deformed and metamorphosed not during the so-called Eburnean "Kheis Orogeny" but as the result of a considerably younger event. U-Pb zircon SHRIMP ages on sedimentary as well as volcanic and plutonic rocks show that the arenitic successions that dominate the area were derived from a provenance similar in geochronological make-up to the Kaapvaal Craton and laid down no earlier than ~1.8 Ga ago. Deposition of the volcanosedimentary Wilgenhoutsdrif Group is dated at ~1.3 Ga, confirming its unconformable relationship to the arenites and its co-magmatic relationship with the similarly-aged Kalkwerf Gneiss. The regional dynamothermal event is concluded to be early Namaquan, and its age is revealed by its post-Wilgenhoutsdrif character and Rb-Sr muscovite ages clustering around ~1.2 Ga. These findings confirm that the Kheis Subprovince contains no Eburnean orogenic signature and is, in fact, an integral part of the Namaqua Province. The post-tectonic Koras Group lies entirely within the subprovince and its <~1.17 Ga age is consistent with the area's early Namaquan tectonic signature. It is separated from the ~1.1 to 1.0 Ga old Gordonia Subprovince by the Trooilapspan shear zone, a terrane boundary thought to indicate significant lateral displacement.


This paper explores core concepts relating to community engagement in public libraries. It offers a new conceptual framework to help understand collaborative, productive relationships between information service providers and service users. Fundamental to this framework are two underlying variables of 'influence of authority' and 'willingness to learn'. This paper explores these variables and related elements that were shown to influence the success of community engagement in public libraries in the United Kingdom. The study has developed a model of essential elements of community engagement in public libraries, as a first step towards systematic research in this area. This paper focuses on the implications for practice and suggests a community engagement model that is grounded in the reality and perceptions of the community and the participants, rather than only from an institutional perspective.


The authors document the recent evolution of the self-employment rate in Canada. Between 1987 and 1998, the self-employment rate rose 3.5 percentage points from 13.8 per cent to 17.3 per cent. In contrast, over the 1999 to 2002 period, the self-employment rate fell by 1.9 percentage points, returning the self-employment rate in 2002 to a level only 0.2 percentage points higher than in 1992. The authors explore the possible explanations for this reversal. They describe trends in self-employment by age, gender, and types of self-employment, and then decompose the changes in the self-employment rate into the fraction due to shifts in the industrial structure and the proportion due to changes within each industry. The authors also examine the role of the business cycle and other macroeconomic factors, such as tax rates.


We study two variants of edge-coloring of edge-weighted graphs, namely compact edge-coloring and circular compact edge-coloring. First, we discuss relations between these two coloring models. We prove that every outerplanar bipartite graph admits a compact edge-coloring and that the decision problem of the existence of compact circular edge-coloring is NP-complete in general. Then we provide a polynomial time 1:5-approximation algorithm and pseudo-polynomial exact algorithm for compact circular coloring of odd cycles and prove that it is NP-hard to optimally color these graphs. Finally, we prove that if a path P2 is joined by an edge to an odd cycle then the problem of the existence of a compact circular coloring becomes NP-complete.


This brief proposes a motion planning-based adaptive control strategy for an underactuated overhead crane system. To improve the transportation efficiency and enhance the safety of the crane system, the trolley is required to reach the desired position fast enough, while the swing of the payload needs to be within an acceptable domain. To achieve these objectives, a novel two-step design strategy consisting of a motion planning stage and an adaptive tracking control design stage, is proposed to control such an underactuated system as an overhead crane. Specifically, a novel desired trajectory, which satisfies physical constraints of an overhead crane, is proposed for the trolley by fusing theoretical analysis results with the conventional empirical trajectory planning methods. An adaptive control law is then constructed in the second step to make the trolley track the planned trajectory, where some online update mechanism is introduced to ensure that the controller works well with different working conditions. As shown by Lyapunov techniques, the proposed adaptive controller guarantees asymptotic tracking result even in the presence of uncertainties including system parameters and various disturbance. Some experiment results demonstrate that the proposed control method achieves superior performance for the underactuated cranes.


Messages emphasizing scientific agreement are increasingly used to communicate politically polarizing issues. Proponents argue that these messages neutralize the effect of people's political worldviews due to the neutral scientific character of the message. Yet this argument has not undergone extensive testing. Addressing this, we measured participants' thoughts on scientists featured in messages emphasizing scientific agreement on politically dissonant issues. Our results show that readers often produce less favorable thoughts and moral judgments when scientists agree on a politically dissonant issue. As a result, messages emphasizing scientific agreement on politicized issues might not always neutralize the effect of people's political worldviews.


Seminary Wacana Bhakti is a community of teens (male, high school students) living together and having the same purpose to prepare being priests someday. Under the process of learning and experience guided by Priests as formatores, strongly intended to make them aware of their own community since the most are from different cultures, lower income families, and lack of self-esteem. Through such situation, this paper will discuss and analyze how the person having lack of self- esteem can contribute for the better community. For this reason I want to use the concept of one and many, individuation in Carl Jung theory, and the evolutionary theory. One and many can be found in the terms of collective unconscious and conscious. The consciousness in the context of Jung means bringing the unconscious to the conscious. The process of individuation happens in the consciousness itself. The process of individuation will help individual to be fruitful to the community to contribute better event they work with other race or people who are from other backgrounds. He can be unique in person but enhancing the strength of the community. Keywords: one, many, archetype, conscious, unconscious


Italy had been the theatre of war for centuries. Political fragmentation ignited dynastic rivalries, carving out powerful autonomous city-states whose leaders amassed within their courts artists, musicians and writers in order to chronicle their military, religious and political vision. The musical depictions of patticular military exploits, or battaglia, became popular springboards for colourful, programmatic compositions. These works were often performed in public in order to garner support for campaigns. Originally a vocal genre whose distant relative can be traced back to the caccia, or hunting song, the battaglie were often transcribed for instruments, in particular the lute, thus supplying an already extensive repertoire with a framework for new, highly original compositions expressed through the delicate idiosyncrasies of the most popular instrument. Battle pieces for solo lute found in both manuscript and published sources throughout Europe, and although they are rarely heard in concert today, they constitute a fascinating glimpse at an almost forgotten genre.


Chronic food shortages, political repression, and poverty have driven tens of thousands of North Koreans into China. This paper reports results from a large-scale survey of this refugee population. The survey provides insight not only into the material circumstances of the refugees but also into their psychological state and aspirations. One key finding is that many North Korean refugees suffer severe psychological stress akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. This distress is caused in part by their vulnerability in China, but it is also a result of the long shadow cast by the North Korean famine and abuses suffered at the hands of the North Korean political regime: first and foremost, perceptions of unfairness with respect to the distribution of food aid, death of family members during the famine, and incarceration in the North Korean gulag, where the respondents reported witnessing forced starvation, deaths due to torture, and even infanticide and forced abortions. These traumas, in turn, affect the ability of the refugees to hold jobs in China and accumulate resources for on-migration to third countries. Most of the refugees want to permanently resettle in South Korea, though younger, better-educated refugees prefer the United States as a final destination.


Three different techniques have been studied to evaluate the effect of topical formulations on human skin. Measurement of electrical skin impedence as a non-invasive technique for the in-vivo assessment of skin hydration is reassessed, with the aim of evaluating the moisturising effects of various therapeutic treatments. Monitoring of baseline untreated forearm skin suggests wide inter- and intra- subject variations. The equivalent circuit appropriate for modelling the skin has been elucidated. For the electrode configuration commonly used short-circuiting of the electrodes occurs during product assessment. The performance of laser Doppler flowmetry for monitoring cutaneous vasodilation has been evaluated using various nicotinic acid esters as model compounds. Results indicate that the time taken for the nicotinates to elicit a response by the flowmeter, is the most reproducible parameter. This response varies with the concentration of nicotinate applied. The importance of the physicochemical properties of the products is emphasized. The final technique examined here has been developed to assess the irritation potential of surfactants.The concentration of surfactant required to elicit human red blood cell lysis has been used as an index for measuring surfactant irritation and the results compared those obtained by human patch and rabbit eye tests. For a series of surfactants and surfactant mixtures containing different number of moles of ethylene oxide, the results suggest, the higher the concentration required to induce haemolysis, the lower will be the irritation.


This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors, editors and publishers cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and editors have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologise to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged, please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.


The liver can regenerate itself through the progenitor cells it harbors. Here we demonstrate isolation of epithelial progenitor/stem cells from the fetal human liver, which contains a large number of hepatoblasts. Progenitor liver cells displayed clonogenic capacity, expressed genes observed in hepatocytes, bile duct cells and oval cells, and incorporated genes transferred by adenoviral or lentiviral vectors. Under culture conditions, progenitor cells proliferated for several months, with each cell undergoing more than forty divisions, but they retained normal karyotypes. Progenitor cells differentiated into mature hepatocytes in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency, both when in an ectopic location and when in the liver itself. Cells integrated in the liver parenchyma and proliferated following liver injury. An abundance of progenitor cells in the fetal human liver is consistent with models indicating depletion of progenitor/stem cells during aging and maturation of organs. The studies indicate that isolation of progenitor cells from fetal organs will be appropriate for establishing novel systems to investigate basic mechanisms and for cell and gene therapy.


Although soil processes affect the timing and amount of streamflow generated from snowmelt, they are often overlooked in estimations of snowmelt‐generated streamflow in the western USA. The use of a soil water balance modelling approach to incorporate the effects of soil processes, in particular soil water storage, on the timing and amount of snowmelt generated streamflow, was investigated. The study was conducted in the Reynolds Mountain East (RME) watershed, a 38 ha, snowmelt‐dominated watershed in southwest Idaho. Snowmelt or rainfall inputs to the soil were determined using a well established snow accumulation and melt model (Isnobal). The soil water balance model was first evaluated at a point scale, using periodic soil water content measurements made over two years at 14 sites. In general, the simulated soil water profiles were in agreement with measurements (P < 0·05) as further indicated by high R2 values (mostly > 0·85), y‐intercept values near 0, slopes near 1 and low average differences between measured and modelled values. In addition, observed soil water dynamics were generally consistent with critical model assumptions. Spatially distributed simulations over the watershed for the same two years indicate that streamflow initiation and cessation are closely linked to the overall watershed soil water storage capacity, which acts as a threshold. When soil water storage was below the threshold, streamflow was insensitive to snowmelt inputs, but once the threshold was crossed, the streamflow response was very rapid. At these times there was a relatively high degree of spatial continuity of satiated soils within the watershed. Incorporation of soil water storage effects may improve estimation of the timing and amount of streamflow generated from mountainous watersheds dominated by snowmelt. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


I argue that executive equity pay in U.S. public firms is undesirable and should be replaced with cash awards for attaining long-term performance criteria.
Paying top executives in equity (stock and stock options) is the most significant reform of executive compensation in our generation, universally welcomed not only by firms but also by academics, investors, and policy makers. Yet I argue that equity compensation is undesirable. It provides perverse incentives for managers to destroy shareholder value and behave manipulatively and recklessly. It is also economically wasteful, and its wastefulness, which is exacerbated by agency costs and cognitive biases, significantly contributes to the immense explosion of executive compensation.
Instead, I suggest a radical proposal: to replace such equity pay arrangements with carefully designed cash-for-performance schemes in which executives are rewarded in cash for attaining predetermined long-term performance measures. I further recommend that this reform be implemented systemically and that the tax and disclosure rules that are applied to cash incentive remuneration be placed on a level playing field with those that are applied to equity incentive pay. This reform is expected to eliminate the significant costs of equity compensation and make incentive pay more effective, transparent, cheap, and better tied to performance, while retaining the limited incentive benefits generated by current equity compensation arrangements.


Historically, programming hasn't been considered a critical skill for biologists. But now, with access to vast amounts of biological data contained in public databases, programming skills are increasingly in strong demand in biology research and development. Perl, with its highly developed capacities in string handling, text processing, networking, and rapid prototyping, has emerged as the programming language of choice for biological data analysis. Mastering Perl for Bioinformatics covers the core Perl language and many of its module extensions, presenting them in the context of biological data and problems of pressing interest to the biological community. This book, along with Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics, forms a basic course in Perl programming. This second volume finishes the basic Perl tutorial material (references, complex data structures, object-oriented programming, use of modules--all presented in a biological context) and presents some advanced topics of considerable interest in bioinformatics. The range of topics covered in Mastering Perl for Bioinformatics prepares the reader for enduring and emerging developments in critical areas of bioinformatics programming such as: Gene findingString alignmentMethods of data storage and retrieval (SML and databases)Modeling of networks (graphs and Petri nets)Graphics (Tk)ParallelizationInterfacing with other programming languagesStatistics (PDL)Protein structure determinationBiological models of computation (DNA Computers) Biologists and computer scientists who have conquered the basics of Perl and are ready to move even further in their mastery of this versatile language will appreciate the author's well-balanced approach to applying Perl's analytical abilities to the field of bioinformatics. Full of practical examples and real-world biological problem solving, this book is a must for any reader wanting to move beyond beginner level Perl in bioinformatics.


The effect of atmospheric inputs on phytoplanktonic dynamics was investigated in the Mediterranean Sea during the season characterized by a stratified water column, low primary productivity, and low concentrations of nutrients ([nitrate] < 50 nmol L−1; [phosphate] = 20 nmol L−1; [silicate] = 0.7 µmol L−1). We report here data obtained during microcosm enrichment experiments performed on the natural assemblage using different combinations of realistic additions (Saharan dust, Fe, Fe + phosphate, and anthropogenic particles). Saharan dust and Fe + phosphate treatments significantly stimulated primary production. Anthropogenic particles and Fe + phosphate treatments increased the chlorophyll a concentrations, enhancing mainly the small cells (pico‐ and nanophytoplankton). The autotrophic community structure was significantly altered; for example, Fe and Fe + phosphate additions benefited prokaryotic populations, indicating possible nitrogen fixation. The colimitation of both phosphate and Fe was removed by these additions. Results emphasized the effect of Fe, although the ambient concentration was close to 1 nmol L−1. The addition of dust benefited eukaryotic populations, which indicates that the dust was a possible source of nitrogen. An abiotic dissolution experiment of macronutrients attached to dust confirmed this hypothesis. The dissolution of Fe attached to the dust (0.23–0.61%) and to the anthropogenic particles (0.86–1.85%) was consistent with previous studies conducted under abiotic conditions. This result suggests that the possible enhancement of the dissolution processes caused by biological activity might have been balanced by Fe consumption by the biota and its adsorption on both mineral and organic particles.


As the lingua franca of the 21st century, English has become the main language for intercultural communication for those wanting to embrace globalization. In Portugal, it is the second language of most public and private domains influencing its culture and discourses. Language contact situations transform languages by the incorporations they make from other languages and Portugal has witnessed an increase in the pervasion of English in written communication. The aim of this study is to disclose how this sociolinguistic behavior is perceived by examining the presence of English loanwords in the Portuguese financial media to uncover its role and functions. Three Portuguese newspapers, Diario Economico, Expresso Economia and Vida Economica were chosen as the corpus of analysis over a two-week period in January 2016 corresponding to the pre and post presidential election weeks. This may reveal if the electoral results affect the presence of English. The motivations of journalists for borrowing English items and the reactions of readers complement the analysis. Results have shown English borrowing as an acceptable/accepted behavior in the analyzed Portuguese financial newspapers.


In order to develop reservoirs rationally, accurate reservoir parameters are usually obtained through well test analysis. However, a good deal of well test data with changing wellbore storage characteristics bring difficulties to the current well test interpretation, so it is important to find a valid interpretation method for changing well storage reserves data. This paper proposed an automatic well test interpretation method based on one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D CNN) for circular reservoir with changing wellbore storage. Compare with two dimensional convolutional neural network (2D CNN), 1D CNN significantly reduces the computational complexity and time cost. The CNN takes pressure change and pressure derivative data of the log-log plot as input, and reservoir parameters as output of network. This method applies two 1D CNNs respectively to fit two types of reservoir parameters, one type includes CDe2s, CαD and CΦD, the other type is boundary distance R. In addition, the training samples of the two networks are different according to different parameters. The two-network approach reduces the difficulty of extracting curve characteristics and improves interpretation ability. The effectiveness of this method is proved by the field data in Daqing oilfield. The method greatly improves the working efficiency of well test interpreters and can be widely used.


This lucid and elegantly written book is a sustained conversation about the nature and importance of literary interpretation. Distinguished critic Denis Donoghue argues that we must read texts closely and imaginatively, as opposed to merely or mistakenly theorizing about them. He shows what serious reading entails by discussing texts that range from Shakespeare's plays to a novel by Cormac McCarthy. Donoghue begins with a personal chapter about his own early experiences reading literature while he was living and teaching in Ireland. He then deals with issues of theory, focusing on the validity of different literary theories, on words and their performances, on the impingement of oral and written conditions of reading, and on such current forces as technology and computers that impinge on the very idea of reading. Finally he examines certain works of literature: Shakespeare's Othello and Macbeth, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, a passage from Wordsworth's The Prelude, a chapter of Joyce's Ulysses, Yeats's "Leda and the Swan" and "Coole and Ballylee, 1931," and Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian demonstrating what these texts have in common and how they must be differentiated through a sympathetic, imaginative, and informed reading.


Factory of the Future is an initiative of the European Commission. It is highly narrative and describes the transformation of "ordinary" manufacturing operations and structures to fully-integrated cyber-physical manufacturing systems. Basing on case study research performed in the greater area of Vorarlberg, this article aims to explore how Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the field of manufacturing can evolve to smart-service Factories of the Future. It takes a mixed-methods approach with quantitative research (questionnaire) and qualitative case study interviews and provides findings about three main topics in service system engineering: "transformation of an operational need into a description of system performance parameters", "integration of related technical parameters and assurance of compatibility of all physical, functional and program interfaces" and "integration of reliability, maintainability, safety, survivability, human and other such factors". As it turns out, increased servitization measures, service management, service performance and service quality by development of service-oriented architectures (SOA) are key to evolve to a smart-service Factory of the Future.


Tracking of infectious diseases is a public health core function essential to disease prevention and control. Each state mandates reporting of certain infectious diseases to public health authorities. These laws vary by state, and the variation could affect the ability to collect critical information. The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic served as a case study to examine the legal authority in the 50 states; Washington, DC; and New York City for mandatory infectious disease reporting, particularly for influenza and new or emerging infectious diseases. Our study showed reporting laws to be generally present and functioning well; nevertheless, jurisdictions should be mindful of their mandated parameters and review the robustness of their laws before they face a new or emerging disease outbreak.


Background and Aims
Adherent invasive Escherichia coli [AIEC] are abnormally predominant on the ileal mucosa of Crohn's disease [CD] patients. They bind to the CEACAM6 receptor expressed on the surface of epithelial cells. We aimed to assess the potential of bacteriophages, viruses infecting bacteria, to decrease the levels of AIEC bacteria associated with the intestinal mucosa.

Methods
We combined ex vivo and in vivo experiments with murine and human intestinal samples to quantify the ability of virulent bacteriophages to target the prototype AIEC strain LF82.

Results
We found that three virulent bacteriophages were able to replicate in ileal, caecal and colonic sections and faeces homogenates from murine gut samples colonised with the prototype AIEC strain LF82. A single day of per os treatment with the three bacteriophages cocktail given to LF82-colonised CEABAC10 transgenic mice, expressing the human CEACAM6 receptor for AIEC, decreased significantly the number of AIEC in faeces and in the adherent flora of intestinal sections. In addition, a single dose of the cocktail reduced dextran sodium sulphate-induced colitis symptoms on conventional mice colonised with the strain LF82 over a 2-week period. The cocktail targeted also LF82 bacteria in homogenates of ileal biopsies taken from CD patients.

Conclusions
These findings demonstrate that bacteriophages are a new treatment option for targeting AIEC in CD patients and represent a strong basis for a clinical trial evaluation.


Introns can increase gene expression levels using a variety of mechanisms collectively referred to as Intron Mediated Enhancement (IME). To date, the magnitude of IME has been quantified in human cell culture and plant models by comparing intronless reporter gene expression levels to those of intron-bearing reporter genes in vitro (mRNA, Western Blots, protein activity), using genome editing technologies that lacked full control of locus and copy number. Here, for the first time, we quantified IME in vivo, in terms of protein expression levels, using fluorescent reporter proteins expressed from a single, defined locus in Caenorhabditis elegans. To quantify the magnitude of IME, we developed a microfluidic chip-based workflow to mount and image individual animals, including software for operation and image processing. We used this workflow to systematically test the effects of position, number and sequence of introns on two different proteins, mCherry and mEGFP, driven by two different promoters, vit-2 and hsp-90. We found the three canonical synthetic introns commonly used in C. elegans transgenes increased mCherry protein concentration by approximately 50%. The naturally-occurring introns found in hsp-90 also increased mCherry expression level by about 50%. Furthermore, and consistent with prior results examining mRNA levels, protein activity or phenotypic rescue, we found that a single, natural or synthetic, 5' intron was sufficient for the full IME effect while a 3' intron was not. IME was also affected by protein coding sequence (50% for mCherry and 80% for mEGFP) but not strongly affected by promoter 46% for hsp-90 and 54% for the stronger vit-2. Our results show that IME of protein expression in C. elegans is affected by intron position and contextual coding sequence surrounding the introns, but not greatly by promoter strength. Our combined controlled transgenesis and microfluidic screening approach should facilitate screens for factors affecting IME and other intron-dependent processes.


We propose a new optical physical layer and protocol for optical Load Area Networks (LANs), which allow a large number of hosts to be connected while offering a large capacity and exhibiting a high degree of modularity and scalability. The physical layer of the optical LAN is first presented. It is based on a passive star topology and exploits the benefits of combining multichannel techniques together with coherent detection. It shows very simple emission and detection schemes requiring only one laser and one photodetector per node. The experimental setup of this physical layer has been implemented and is described. A new multichannel Ethernet protocol, tailored to the physical layer is also proposed and is presented in the second part of this paper. It results in a considerable improvement of the performance (transmission delay and packet loss), when compared to a single Fast Ethernet channel protocol with the same total capacity.


In the course of studies on the thermal stability of polymeric materials, it was of interest to follow the course of oxidative and non-oxidative degradation reactions of various functional groups in the polymers using infrared spectroscopy. In general, the method available for this type of investigation has been limited to heating the polymer sample in an oven followed by cooling of the specimen and determination of its infrared spectrum (1). By successive heating and cooling cycles with intermittent spectral evaluation a series of spectra are obtained which are indicative of changes of functionality taking place under the degradative conditions. Recently (2), the use of a heated wire cell has been reported for infrared studies of polymers up to 145°C. The advantage of this type of unit is that continuous monitoring of the sample is possible at the reaction temperature.


This paper evaluates Hayashi's conjecture that Japan's postwar saving experience can be accounted for by the neoclassical model of economic growth as that country's efforts to reconstruct its capital stock that was severely damaged in World War II. I call this the reconstruction hypothesis. I take a simplified version of a standard neoclassical growth model that is in widespread use in macroeconomics and simulate its response to capital destruction. The saving rate path implied by the model differs significantly from the path taken by actual Japanese postwar saving data. I discuss several model modifications which would reconcile the reconstruction hypothesis with Japan's postwar saving experience. For the reconstruction hypothesis to be credible requires independent evidence on the empirical plausibility of the model modifications. It is left to future research to determine whether that evidence exists.


Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of airline pilot training for abnormal in-flight events. Background: Numerous accident reports describe situations in which pilots responded to abnormal events in ways that were different from what they had practiced many times before. One explanation for these missteps is that training and testing for these skills have become a highly predictable routine for pilots who arrive to the training environment well aware of what to expect. Under these circumstances, pilots get plentiful practice in responding to abnormal events but may get little practice in recognizing them and deciding which responses to offer. Method: We presented 18 airline pilots with three abnormal events that are required during periodic training and testing. Pilots were presented with each event under the familiar circumstances used during training and also under less predictable circumstances as they might occur during flight. Results: When presented in the routine ways seen during training, pilots gave appropriate responses and showed little variability. However, when the abnormal events were presented unexpectedly, pilots' responses were less appropriate and showed great variability from pilot to pilot. Conclusion: The results suggest that the training and testing practices used in airline training may result in rote-memorized skills that are specific to the training situation and that offer modest generalizability to other situations. We recommend a more complete treatment of abnormal events that allows pilots to practice recognizing the event and choosing and recalling the appropriate response. Application: The results will aid the improvement of existing airline training practices.


Background: After the reunification of Germany, mortality among older eastern Germans converged quickly with western German levels. Simultaneously, the pension benefits of eastern Germans rose tenfold. Objective: We make use of German reunification as a natural experiment to show that, first, increasing financial transfers from the elderly to their children led to increasing reverse transfers in the form of care; and, second, this rise in the number of hours spent on care led to a reduction in old-age mortality. Method: As a first step, we calculated intergenerational transfer profiles by age for eastern and western Germany to determine whether any changes in downward and in upward transfers in the form of time and money occurred since reunification. We use generalized linear regression to test whether rising pensions led to an increase in the number of hours spent on care, and whether this increase led to a reduction in old-age mortality. We use different macro level data sources to test our hypothesis, including mortality rates and time use surveys for East and West Germany and information on private intergenerational transfers from the National Transfer Accounts project for Germany. Results: We show that since German reunification, intergenerational downward transfers more than doubled in percentage terms in the east. This was predominantly caused by the sharp increase in pension benefits since the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the same time, mortality among pensioners dropped markedly, and converged to western German levels. We further show that the rise in pension income was strongly correlated with the increase in social support and the decline in mortality among older eastern Germans. Discussion: Our result suggest that there was an interfamilial monetary transfer from the elderly to the young in exchange for social support. This mutual beneficial exchange may have helped to improve the survival of older East Germans after the reunification.


ABSTRACT Vegetative filter strips have been adopted as a common best management practice to manage soil erosion and nutrient losses from cultivated fields. New species and combinations of species are constantly being assessed based on their riparian function. A unique species that is native to southern Illinois and the southeast is giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea). Giant cane's performance as an effective filter of sediment and nutrients from surface and subsurface flows has been recently documented; however, it can be difficult to establish in riparian zones. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate a new approach for restoring giant cane in riparian buffer zones and methods that provide quick protection of critical source areas in the field. This study focused on developing a low-cost method for giant cane restoration designed to give reproductive propagules an advantage in assembling a successful canebrake while protecting critical areas bordering agricultural fields and streams/ditches. To achieve this goal, three types of sandbags (polypropylene, treated burlap, and nontreated burlap) were used as growing containers for giant cane rhizomes. Additionally, two soil mixtures and a fertilizer treatment were assessed for their influence on cane emergence, survival, and growth. Results showed that the nontreated burlap/mixed soil-media/no-fertilizer combination provided the best growing environment for newly established giant cane rhizomes. This combination provided sufficient soil moisture and bag permeability to cane. Overall, a 90% success rate for emergence, and 30% survival rate over the growing season was observed using nontreated burlap/mixed soil-media/no-fertilizer.


The cardiovascular system is typically a sterile environment; however entry of a microorganism into the circulation can cause potentially life threatening cardiac and/or vascular disease. Staphylococcus aureus endothelial cell interactions are arguably the most important interactions in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular infection. These interactions can trigger cardiac valve destruction in the case of endocarditis, multi-organ dysfunction in the case of sepsis and coagulopathy. Here, we review the interactions between S. aureus and endothelial cells and discuss the implications of these interactions in the progression of cardiovascular infection.


The relationship that soil interred human bone has with the burial environment has implications for the survival of the organic and inorganic components, including collagen and DNA. The study of both the Chapel House Farm Medieval cemetery, Poulton, Cheshire, UK, and contemporary skeletal remains from cemeteries from Liverpool, U.K. provides new data into the environmental conditions that human bone encounters in the burial environment that are either conducive to preservation or result in complete dissolution of both the organic and inorganic bone matrix.Medieval bones from Chapel House Farm cemetery were analysed to establish the relationship between the organic and inorganic matrix of preserved human bone, and the interaction these had with their burial environment. The use of FTIR and XRF techniques proved to be effective mechanisms in assessing the relationship between the organic and inorganic molecules extracted from the different types of Medieval bone to assess their preservation. These analytical methods were able to establish the degree of soil component intrusion (movement) into the bone, the collagen content, as well as the condition of the mineral matrix of soil interred Medieval bone to be quantified using 2 mg of bone, reducing the need to destroy precious human bone samples.The results from the study of both the Medieval preserved bones from Poulton and Modern contemporary dissolved human remains from Liverpool U.K., where the remains were known to have fully dissolved within 20-30 years post interment, found that the mobility of ions including: Ca, Fe, Mg, K, and P, out of the bone into the soil, does not happen at a constant or predictable rate, but is linked to the environmental soil conditions and burial dynamics. These include: hydrology, seasonal temperature, pH of the soil, burial depth as well as the initial health and age of the individual. Soil samples from two contemporary Liverpool cemeteries were taken from 14 single graves spanning seven time periods (2000- 1850AD) at four depths (0-110cm), along with control samples. They were subjected to X-ray Fluorescence semi-quantitative analysis. The results for the concentrations of five elements: Fe, Mg, Ca, P and K, were statistically tested for trends associated with interred dissolved human remains. The concentration of these ions remained at a relatively constant level in the top soil (0-50 cm) through time. The results demonstrated a clear negative correlation between the levels of Ca and Mg with time, and depth, as well as a significant difference between these components and the control samples. The levels of Fe and K, demonstrated significant trends through two time periods at 50-110 cm, with peaks during initial decomposition and the war years (70-90 years). P demonstrated peaks at 50 and 150 years post interment at all depths.There was a statistical difference in pH of the Liverpool cemetery soils in 50-110 cm depths, and a general increase in the pH from 5-7 in the cemetery soil with relation to time.The presence of ions including: Ca, Fe, Mg, K, and P, derived from human remains from both the preserved Medieval and dissolved contemporary cemeteries persisted in the soil decades after the initial bone dissolution, making this a potentially new technique to assist in the detection of older forensic and historical soil interred human remains; and in addition provides information on the rate of release through time of chemical elements from decomposing human skeletal material.


Install WordPress and go beyond blogging WordPress is so flexible that developers are now tapping it to create robust applications for content, contact, and e-mail management. Whether you're a casual blogger or programming pro, this comprehensive guide covers WordPress from the basics through advanced application development. Learn how to use custom plugins and themes, retrieve data, maintain security, use social media, and modify your blog without changing any core code. You'll even get to know the ecosystem of products that surrounds this popular, open-source tool. Enhance your blog's findability in the search engines and beyond Discover hooks and leverage the WordPress event-driven programming interface Create WordPress widgets in only a few minutes Explore alternate uses of WordPress Enhance your blog with WordPress MU Ensure your plugins maintain future compatibility Create highly customizable and dynamic themes using template tags Learn best security practices as a user and developer Companion Web Site Visit www.wiley.com/go/wordpressbible for all of the author's example files from the book. Install, secure, and maintain WordPress Extend WordPress with plugins and themes Enhance your blog with WordPress MU Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.


Moderately to well-preserved palynomorph assemblages were recorded from thirty samples of the Nukhul Formation (GH 404-2A Well), southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The taxa are dominated by highly diverse fungi, freshwater algae (e.g. Botryococcus, Pediastrum) beside a sparse record of spores and pollen. Marine palynomorphs, such as dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts), are very rare. The stratigraphy and age of the Nukhul Formation is highly debated due to lack of diagnostic fossils (e.g. foraminifera, nannoplankton). It has been referred mostly to the Early Miocene; however, some recent publications interpret it as being of latest Oligocene–Early Miocene age. A prominent fungal proliferation composed of diverse and moderately well-preserved fungal spores, fungal fragments, fructifications and hyphae is recorded. This fungi-rich interval occurs mainly from 11370 to 11430 ft in the GH 404-2A Well. Such an observation has not been noted previously within the Nukhul Formation or its stratigraphic equivalents in Egypt. This putative 'eco-event' is probably associated with the well-known eustatic sea-level fall in the latest Chattian to early Aquitanian or at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary (OMB). It also seems possible that it may represent a more local event related to the rifting of the Gulf of Suez during this period. The high diversity of fossil fungi is interpreted herein as an indication of an episodic prevalence of humid climate at the end of a regressive phase, as also indicated by a lithological change near the top of the Shoab Ali Member of the Nukhul Formation. In addition, the co-occurrence of freshwater algae, mainly Botryococcus and Pediastrum, together with some aquatic fungal genera, such as Involutisporonites, Paragrantisporites, Quilonia, Striadiporites and Reduviasporonites, suggests the temporary existence of shallow, pond- or lake-like aquatic habitats, possibly related to tectonic activity.


ABSTRACT Polymorphisms in PapA, the major structural subunit and antigenic determinant of P fimbriae of extraintestinal pathogenicEscherichia coli, are of considerable epidemiological, phylogenetic, and immunotherapeutic importance. However, to date, no method other than DNA sequencing has been generally available for their detection. In the present study, we developed and rigorously validated a novel PCR-based assay for the 11 recognized variants ofpapA and then used the new assay to assess the prevalence, phylogenetic distribution, and bacteriological associations of thepapA alleles among 75 E. coli isolates from patients with urosepsis. In comparison with conventional F serotyping, the assay was extremely sensitive and specific, evidence thatpapA sequences are highly conserved within each of the traditionally recognized F serotypes despite the diversity observed among F types. In certain strains, the assay detected serologically occult copies of papA, of which some were shown to represent false-negative serological results and others were shown to represent the presence of nonfunctional pap fragments. Among the urosepsis isolates, the assay revealed considerable segregation of papA alleles according to O:K:H serotype, consistent with vertical transmission within clones, but with exceptions which strongly suggested horizontal transfer ofpapA alleles between lineages. Sequencing ofpapA from two strains that were papA positive by probe and PCR but F negative in the new PCR assay led to the discovery of two novel papA variants, one of which was actually more prevalent among the urosepsis isolates than were several of the known papA alleles. These findings provide novel insights into the papA alleles of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli and indicate that the F PCR assay represents a versatile new molecular tool for epidemiological and phylogenetic investigations which should make rapid, specific detection of papA alleles available to any laboratory with PCR capability.


The technological advancements in computer networks and the substantial reduction of their production costs have caused a massive explosion of digitally stored information. In particular, textual information is becoming increasingly available in electronic form. Finding text documents dealing with a certain topic is not a simple task. Users need tools to sift through non-relevant information and retrieve only pieces of information relevant to their needs [14]. The traditional methods of information retrieval (IR) based on search term frequency have somehow reached their limitations, and novel ranking methods based on hyperlink information are not applicable to unlinked documents. The retrieval of documents based on the positions of search terms in a document has the potential of yielding improvements, because other terms in the environment where a search term appears (i.e. the neighborhood) are considered. That is to say, the grammatical type, position and frequency of other words help to clarify and specify the meaning of a given search term [98]. However, the required additional analysis task makes positionbased methods slower than methods based on term frequency and requires more storage to save the positions of terms. These drawbacks directly affect the performance of the most user critical phase of the retrieval process, namely query evaluation time, which explains the scarce use of positional information in contemporary retrieval systems. This thesis explores the possibility of extending traditional information retrieval systems with positional information in an efficient manner that permits us to optimize the retrieval performance by handling term positions at query evaluation time. To achieve this task, several abstract representation of term positions to efficiently store and operate on term positional data are investigated. In the Gauss model, descriptive statistics methods are used to estimate term positional information, because they minimize outliers and irregularities in the data. The Fourier model is based on Fourier series to represent positional information. In the Hilbert model, functional analysis methods are used to provide reliable term position estimations and simple mathematical operators to handle positional data. The proposed models are experimentally evaluated using standard resources of the IR research community (Text Retrieval Conference). All experiments demonstrate that the use of positional information can enhance the quality of search results. The suggested models outperform state-of-the-art retrieval utilities. The term position models open new possibilities to analyze and handle textual data. For instance, document clustering and compression of positional data based on these models could be interesting topics to be considered in future research.


Abstract. The objective of this study is the automatic extraction of the road network in a scene of the urban area from high resolution aerial image data. Our approach includes two stages aiming to solve two important issues respectively, i.e., an effective road extraction pipeline, and a precise vectorized road map. In the first stage, we proposed a so-called all element road model which describes a multiple-level structure of the basic road elements, i.e. intersection, central line, side lines, and road plane based on their spatial relations. An advanced road network extraction scheme was proposed to address the issues of tedious steps on segmentation, recognition and grouping, using the digital surface model (DSM) only. The key feature of the proposed approach was the cross validation of the road basic elements, which was applied all the way through the entire procedure of road extraction. In the second stage, the regularized road map was produced where center line and side lines subject to parallel and even layout rules. It gives more accurate and reliable map by utilizing both the height information of the DSM and the color information of the ortho image. Road surface was extracted from the image by region growing. Then, a regularized center line was modeled by linear regression using all the pixels of the road surface. The road width was estimated and two road side lines were modeled as the straight lines parallel with the center line. Finally, the road model was built up in terms of vectorized points and lines. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach performed satisfactorily in our test site.


Bio-based sorbitol-containing polyester polyols were synthesized via enzymatic polycondensation. The selectivity of the biocatalyst for primary vs. secondary hydroxyl groups allowed for the preparation of close to linear renewable polyester polyols with enhanced hydroxyl functionalities, both as pendant groups and end-groups. In some cases, the sorbitol units were homogeneously distributed in the polyester polyol chains, whereas changes in the comonomers used and experimental conditions led to inhomogeneous and unique distributions of sorbitol, implying that some polyester polyol chains contained none and others contained multiple sorbitol units. Solvent-borne coatings were prepared by cross-linking the functional polyester polyols with polyisocyanate curing agents. An increased functionality of the polyester polyols led to an enhancement of the properties of the resulting cured coatings. Furthermore, when sorbitol units were non-homogeneously distributed, a significant improvement in the chemical resistance and mechanical properties of the cured poly(ester urethane) network was noted. By employing the bio-based diisocyanate EELDI (ethyl ester L-lysine diisocyanate) as a curing agent, almost fully renewable coatings with satisfactory mechanical properties were obtained.


OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to describe school food environments and policies in US public schools and how they vary according to school characteristics. METHODS. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the third School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment study by using a nationally representative sample of 395 US public schools in 129 school districts in 38 states. These 2005 data included school reports of foods and beverages offered in the National School Lunch Program and on-site observations, in a subsample of schools, of competitive foods and beverages (those sold in vending machines and a la carte and that are not part of the National School Lunch Program). Seventeen factors were used to characterize school lunches, competitive foods, and other food-related policies and practices. These factors were used to compute the food environment summary score (0 [least healthy] to 17 [most healthy]) of each school. RESULTS. There were vending machines in 17%, 82%, and 97% of elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively, and a la carte items were sold in 71%, 92%, and 93% of schools, respectively. Among secondary schools with vending and a la carte sales, these sources were free of low-nutrient energy-dense foods or beverages in 15% and 21% of middle and high schools, respectively. The food environment summary score was significantly higher (healthier) in the lower grade levels. The summary score was not associated with the percentage of students that was certified for free or reduced-price lunches or the percentage of students that was a racial/ethnic minority. CONCLUSIONS. As children move to higher grade levels, their school food environments become less healthy. The great majority of US secondary schools sell items a la carte in the cafeteria and through vending machines, and these 2 sources often contain low-nutrient, energy-dense foods and beverages, commonly referred to as junk food.


This dissertation addresses the important challenge of efficiency in anonymous communication. Solving this challenge is essential to provide anonymity in group communication.

Every exchanged message leaks metadata: this information describes the communication itself with, among others, sender, recipients, frequency of the communication. While the law protects this information, it is often published and misused with consequences for the participants of the communication—often consequences particular for the senders of information.

Anonymous communication systems like Tor break the link between senders and recipients of messages and diminish emerging metadata. However, their design requires duplicating messages for all recipients early, mostly at the sender itself. With that, the system has to handle an unnecessary burden of processing identical messages. This dissertation contributes a novel mechanism that establishes communication groups such that the message duplication is pushed as close to the recipients as possible. This dissertation also shows that this efficiency improvement does not come at costs of anonymity.
Moreover, the group establishment mechanism increases the robustness of the communication against users that leave and join the communication system. To encounter the additional information leakage, different mechanisms to share routing information are introduced and discussed under the angle of efficiency and anonymity. To also protect senders of messages, this dissertation adapts Dining-Cryptographer networks to enable sender anonymity with an adjustable trade-off between efficiency and anonymity.

The scientific contributions of this dissertation fall into the following categories:
- Efficient Communication Overlays: A novel overlay establishment mechanism is presented. This mechanism adapts Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) to connect senders and recipients with a reduced number of connections while the anonymity remains stable.
- Reliable Communication under Churn: Churn often disrupts communication overlays, this thesis proposes a mechanism to counter this disruptions and increase the robustness of the communication. For that, the ACO-based mechanism utilizes residual pheromones to reconnect subjects to the communication overlay.
- Routing Information Exchange considering Efficiency and Anonymity: Four methods to share routing information, namely successor lists, successor lists with multi-layer encryption, Bloom filters, and distributed lookup tables, are introduced into the anonymous communication setting, discussed and evaluated with respect to their properties concerning efficiency and anonymity.
- Efficient and Effective Sender Protection: A novel mechanism based on asymmetric dining-cryptographer networks (ADCnets) is proposed to improve the efficiency of sender protection without degrading anonymity over time. Moreover, the trade-off between efficiency and anonymity can be controlled.

Evaluation
The developed mechanisms have been extensively evaluated using a combination of simulations and formal arguments. For this evaluation, a graph-based simulation model has been developed enabling to analyze the improvement of the ACO-based communication overlays over conventional overlays. An extensive simulation identified valuable parameter combinations for the ACO mechanism, leading to communication overlays with an efficiency improvement of up to 40%. This efficiency improvement increases the communication delay only by up to 2 extra hops. The calculation of the achieved anonymity degree indicates no loss of anonymity in comparison to conventional overlays; even more, the anonymity degree does even improve. Under churn, the robustness of the communication also increases by 30% in comparison to conventional overlays.

The four approaches to routing information exchange are discussed and compared using formal arguments. The evaluation enables to select the appropriate mechanism based on the requirements for memory and communication efficiency and anonymity for the desired application scenario.

The novel adapted ADCnets enable sender anonymity with configurable efficiency and anonymity. As such, they are superior to current approaches implementing cover traffic. A simulation study shows that cover traffic randomization improves efficiency at the cost of anonymity. The proposed ADCnets have been evaluated using formal arguments that demonstrate the efficiency improvement and the preservation of anonymity. As both efficiency and anonymity are conflicting, they cannot be achieved at the same time; however, the proposed ADCnets enable to balance efficiency and anonymity to the requirements of the application scenario.


Recent findings suggest that thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is a negative regulator of skeletal remodeling by reducing both differentiation of osteoblasts and formation of osteoclasts. In addition, increased fracture risk in untreated hypothyroid patients has been reported to begin up to 8 years before diagnosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of subclinical hypothyroidism on bone structure by using the heel QUS. Subjects were outpatients without any past or present history of thyroid disease. Among 210 postmenopausal women, 22 of 33 patients (Hypo), who had elevated serum TSH concentration (TSH>or=4 microU/ml) with normal serum free thyroxine (FT4) concentration, agreed to join to this study. We also randomly selected 24 control subjects (Cont) from 176 postmenopausal women with normal thyroid status. Calcaneus osteo sono assessment indices (OSI) of right feet were measured using the ultrasound bone densitometry AOS-100. Serum TSH concentrations in Hypo patients (5.31 +/- 1.3 microU/ml) were higher than those in Cont patients (2.05 +/- 1.1 microU/ml), and there was significant difference of FT(4) concentrations (Cont 1.33 +/- 0.15 ng/dl; Hypo 1.19 +/- 0.17 ng/dl). OSI and its Z-score in Hypo subjects (OSI, 2.138 +/- 0.152; Z-Score -0.322 +/- 0.504 SD, Mean SD) were significantly lower than those in Cont subjects (OSI, 2.347 +/- 0.243; Z-Score 0.322 +/- 0.91 SD, Mean +/- SD). Simple regression statistical analysis showed that OSI decreased according to the increase of serum TSH concentration (n = 47, P<0.037). In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that the elevation of serum TSH concentration was associated with the decrease of OSI. These results suggest that the elevation of serum TSH concentration in subclinical hypothyroidism affects not bone turnover but bone structure as assessed by QUS.


Drawing on 63 in‐depth interviews from three American multinationals, we investigate how individual actors negotiate the interplay of insider and outsider pressures on the deinstitutionalization of four employment practices in an institutionally complex setting. Existing institutional theory highlights different degrees of deinstitutionalization, from complete abandonment of practices to partial erosion, with an underlying presumption of organizations and actors striving for stability and stasis. However, the present study finds that actor reconciliation of interacting insider and outsider pressures can result in three distinct phases of deinstitutionalization (complete, partial and negotiated deinstitutionalization), which crucially coexist, suggesting perpetual instability and change. The authors conceptualize the individual‐level enabling conditions for each of these different phases of deinstitutionalization, highlighting a range of actor responses as well as differences in how actors exercise agency across each phase. Examining actor negotiation of the interplay of insider and outsider pressures improves our understanding of how individuals engage in differential institutional work when responding to practice deinstitutionalization.


The viewing behaviour of human observers during image quality assessment is analysed. In this respect, the relative impact of image content and structural distortions is of particular interest. Two subjective experiments were conducted as a basis for analysis; a region-of-interest (ROI) experiment and an eye tracking experiment under quality assessment task. A correlation analysis and a receiver operating characteristics analysis reveal, that quality assessment takes place mainly within the ROI, indicating a higher impact of the content as compared to the distortions. This seems to be only contradicted by very strong and localised distortions outside the ROI.


Mongolia has witnessed an ongoing internal rural–urban migration and urbanization process in recent decades, resulting in families settling informally in suburban 'ger' areas and in areas with concentrations of social and environmental problems in the city of Ulaanbaatar. In social policy and social work practice in Mongolia, there is a critical lack of understanding and information regarding the experience of ger residents in shaping their lives. This article explores and examines evolving meanings and mechanisms of solidarity and senses of belonging in ger residents' internal migration pathways. It aims to contribute to a deeper understanding that may assist social work practice and policy to embrace ger residents' strengths and capability to aspire.


The nonlinear optical (NLO) and optical limiting (OL) properties of three new structures of organic NLO guest-host Poly(N-vinylcarbozole)/disperse orange 3 (PVK/DO3), PVK/disperse orange 13 (PVK/DO13), and PVK/disperse orange 25 (PVK/DO25) as a solution at different concentrations and as a thin-film sample are studied using continuous wave z-scan system at 532 nm. The open-aperture z-scan data of the NLO materials in the solution and thin-film samples displayed two-photon and saturable absorptions, respectively. The PVK/DO13 exhibites the largest and best values of the nonlinearities, such as n2, β, χ(3), compared with those of PVK/DO3 and PVK/DO25. This nonlinearity increases as the concentration increases. The results indicate that these NLO materials are good candidates for optical switching and OL devices.


Context. The present trend in a large variety of applications are ranging from the web and social networking to telecommunications, is to gather and process very large and fast growing amounts of information leading to a common set of problems known collectively as "Big Data". The ability to process large scale data analytics over large number of data sets in the last decade proved to be a competitive advantage in a wide range of industries like retail, telecom and defense etc. In response to this trend, the research community and the IT industry have proposed a number of platforms to facilitate large scale data analytics. Such platforms include a new class of databases, often refer to as NoSQL data stores. Apache Cassandra is a type of NoSQL data store. This research is focused on analyzing the performance of different compaction strategies in different use cases for default Cassandra stress model. Objectives. The performance of compaction strategies are observed in various scenarios on the basis of three use cases, Write heavy- 90/10, Read heavy- 10/90 and Balanced- 50/50. For a default Cassandra stress model, so as to finally provide the necessary events and specifications that suggest when to switch from one compaction strategy to another. Methods. Cassandra single node network is deployed on a web server and its behavior of read and write performance with different compaction strategies is studied with read heavy, write heavy and balanced workloads. Its performance metrics are collected and analyzed. Results. Performance metrics of different compaction strategies are evaluated and analyzed. Conclusions. With a detailed analysis and logical comparison, we finally conclude that Level Tiered Compaction Strategy performs better for a read heavy (10/90) workload while using default Cassandra stress model , as compared to size tiered compaction and date tiered compaction strategies. And for Balanced Date tiered compaction strategy performs better than size tiered compaction strategy and date tiered compaction strategy.


While the Neolithic expansion in Europe is well described archaeologically, the genetic origins of European first farmers and their affinities with local hunter-gatherers (HGs) remain unclear. To infer the demographic history of these populations, the genomes of 15 ancient individuals located between Western Anatolia and Southern Germany were sequenced to high quality, allowing us to perform population genomics analyses formerly restricted to modern genomes. We find that all European and Anatolian early farmers descend from the merging of a European and a Near Eastern group of HGs, possibly in the Near East, shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Western and Southeastern European HG are shown to split during the LGM, and share signals of a very strong LGM bottleneck that drastically reduced their genetic diversity. Early Neolithic Central Anatolians seem only indirectly related to ancestors of European farmers, who probably originated in the Near East and dispersed later on from the Aegean along the Danubian corridor following a stepwise demic process with only limited (2-6%) but additive input from local HGs. Our analyses provide a time frame and resolve the genetic origins of early European farmers. They highlight the impact of Late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations that caused the fragmentation, merging and reexpansion of human populations in SW Asia and Europe, and eventually led to the world's first agricultural populations.


Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enables devices to communicate wirelessly within proximity distance. These NFC devices are often embedded into smart posters that offer the ability to exchange small files, photos and contact details. The Nokia 6212 Classic is currently the most popular NFC phone. It allows users to easily exchange digital objects using the NFC interface. To do so, two phones should be within the proximity coupling distance of 5 cm. This paper shows that the NFC feature that invokes a Bluetooth connection without user consent can be abused to surreptitiously install malicious software on the phone. This results in a serious vulnerability when smart posters start installing malicious software or spreading viruses.


ABSTRACT Adivasis(aboriginal peoples) in southeastern Gujarat, India, have been subjected to an accelerated process of accumulation by dispossession through the construction of large dams, as well as through the privatization of common property resources. Neo-Gandhian social movements, such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), have used transnational activism to gain exposure for these issues but in the process have lost local support in the state, particularly after a negative court judgment in 2000. This article identifies three major reasons for the declining support for NBA in Gujarat. The first arises from the repressive nature of agrarian relations that have emerged through the capitalization of agriculture in the state. The second is the NBA's failure to link their opposition to displacement by large dams with similar examples of accumulation by dispossession in other regions of rural Gujarat, hence precluding any unity between poor peasants and adivasis elsewhere in the state. Finally, neo-Gandhianism represented adivasis through a discourse of ecological romanticism that did not reflect existing realities and tended to privilege urban, middle-class perspectives. Pushed from above and below, the NBA movement lost the support even of the adivasis it claimed to represent.


Abstract. The zonal mean transport of ozone and carbon monoxide (CO) near the tropical tropopause is investigated using the Whole-Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 4 (WACCM4). The variability in temperature, ozone and CO in the model shows good agreement with satellite and balloon observations. Modeled temperature and tracers exhibit large and closely coupled annual cycles in the tropical lower stratosphere, as in the observations. The thermodynamic and tracer budgets in the model are analyzed based on the Transformed Eulerian Mean (TEM) framework on log-pressure coordinates and also using the isentropic formulation. Results show that the coupled seasonal cycles are mainly forced by tropical upwelling over altitudes with large vertical tracer gradients, in agreement with previous observational studies. The model also allows explicit calculation of eddy transport terms, which make an important contribution to ozone tendencies in the tropical lower stratosphere. The character of the eddy fluxes changes with altitude. At higher levels (~2 km above the cold point tropopause), isentropic eddy transport occurs during winter and spring in each hemisphere in the sub-tropics, associated with transient Rossby waves acting on strong background latitudinal gradients. At lower altitudes, close to the tropical tropopause, there is a maximum in horizontal eddy transport during boreal summer associated with the Asian monsoon anticyclone. Sub-seasonal variability in ozone and CO, tied to fluctuations in temperature, is primarily driven by transient tropical upwelling. In isentropic coordinates, the overall tracer budgets are similar to the log-pressure results, highlighting cross-isentropic advection as the main term in the time-mean balance, with large seasonality above the tropopause. However, in isentropic coordinates the tracer variability is largely reduced on both seasonal and sub-seasonal timescales, because tracer fluctuations are highly correlated with temperature (as a response to upwelling).


Disruption of cell polarity is seen in many cancers; however, it is generally considered a late event in tumor progression. Lethal giant larvae (Lgl) has been implicated in maintenance of cell polarity in Drosophila and cultured mammalian cells. We now show that loss of Lgl1 in mice results in formation of neuroepithelial rosette-like structures, similar to the neuroblastic rosettes in human primitive neuroectodermal tumors. The newborn Lgl1(-/-) pups develop severe hydrocephalus and die neonatally. A large proportion of Lgl1(-/-) neural progenitor cells fail to exit the cell cycle and differentiate, and, instead, continue to proliferate and die by apoptosis. Dividing Lgl1(-/-) cells are unable to asymmetrically localize the Notch inhibitor Numb, and the resulting failure of asymmetric cell divisions may be responsible for the hyperproliferation and the lack of differentiation. These results reveal a critical role for mammalian Lgl1 in regulating of proliferation, differentiation, and tissue organization and demonstrate a potential causative role of disruption of cell polarity in neoplastic transformation of neuroepithelial cells.


Rosenbaum et al. have uncovered an intriguing duality of function for calnexin, a calcium-binding molecular chaperone with an N-terminal domain in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and a C-terminal tail in the cytosol. The authors found that two independent Drosophila mutations in the coding region of calnexin (cnx) were associated with a decrease in the abundance of rhodopsin (Rh1), the G protein-coupled receptor that activates the visual transduction pathway. The expression of other photoreceptor proteins [including Rh3, Rh4, and Rh5 opsins; chaoptin; the TRP and TRPL channels; phospholipase C-β (PLC-β); arrestins 1 and 2; and Gαq] was not affected. Although the abundance of RH1 transcripts was not affected, RH1 maturation was impaired. Cnx formed a stable complex with Rh1, and immunocytochemical analysis confirmed that, in Drosophila photoreceptors, Cnx localized to the ER. Cnx mutants also showed age-dependent retinal degeneration, which was enhanced by light and slowed by mutation of PLC-β. PLC-β, which is activated during the phototransduction cascade, stimulates the opening of TRP and TRPL, thereby eliciting the influx of calcium, which can be toxic at high concentrations. Calcium imaging revealed that the increase in intracellular calcium concentration in response to illumination was markedly greater in cnx mutant photoreceptor cells than in wild-type cells or cells with a mutation in another chaperone required for Rh1 maturation that does not have a calcium-binding domain. Thus, the authors conclude that Cnx plays a dual role in photoreceptor cells, serving not only as a Rh1 chaperone but also as a calcium buffer. E. E. Rosenbaum, R. C. Hardie, N. J. Colley, Calnexin is essential for rhodopsin maturation, Ca2+ regulation, and photoreceptor cell survival. Neuron 49, 229-241 (2006). [PubMed]


Herein we report a novel design philosophy of tandem OLEDs incorporating a doping-free green phosphorescent bis[2-(2-pyridinyl-N)phenyl-C](acetylacetonato)iridium(III) (Ir(ppy)2(acac)) as an ultrathin emissive layer (UEML) into a novel interface-exciplex-forming structure of 1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) and 1,3,5-tri(p-pyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene (TmPyPB). Particularly, relatively low working voltage and remarkable efficiency are achieved and the designed tandem OLEDs exhibit a peak current efficiency of 135.74 cd/A (EQE = 36.85%) which is two times higher than 66.2 cd/A (EQE = 17.97%) of the device with a single emitter unit. This might be one of the highest efficiencies of OLEDs applying ultrathin emitters without light extraction. Moreover, with the proposed structure, the color gamut of the displays can be effectively increased from 76% to 82% NTSC if the same red and blue emissions as those in the NTSC are applied. A novel form of harmonious fusion among interface exciplex, UEML, and tandem structure is successfully realized, which sheds light on further development of ideal OLED structure with high efficiency, simplified fabrication, low power consumption, low cost, and improved color gamut, simultaneously.


Artificial diet studies were used to differentiate among physical and chemical mechanisms affecting the suitability to diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.), of 16 food substrates obtained by growing four different brassicas in the glasshouse or field and measuring the pest's performance on either leaf discs or a diet incorporating leaf powders. Leaves of Chinese cabbage and the cabbage cultivar 'Minicole' were, respectively, the most and least suitable leaves for the insect, but this ranking was reversed on artificial diet. Leaves of glasshouse-grown plants were more suitable than those of plants grown in the fields. Differences in the suitability of leaves to diamondback moth appeared to be largely determined by leaf toughness and surface wax load. Concentrations of individual glucosinolates in the brassicas probably acted as phagostimulants, so increasing their intrinsic susceptibility to diamondback moth, but the effect of the physical factors appeared more important.


Background The clinical utility of a new biomarker should ideally be established in a prospective randomized clinical trial. However, such trials are not always practical. As such, it is common for investigators to identify promising biomarkers using archived specimens and clinical data collected from previously completed therapeutic trials. Simon et al. defined such biomarker studies as prospective–retrospective studies and proposed specific conditions to satisfy for such evaluations to be more than hypothesis generating. One condition they proposed is that archived tissues must be available on a sufficiently large number of patients from the pivotal trials to ensure adequately powered analyses. Purpose The purpose of this article is to provide a new perspective on how to estimate power for assessing the prognostic and predictive values of a single binary biomarker in prospective–retrospective biomarker studies. Computer programs are provided to facilitate the use of these methods in practice. Methods The proposed methods utilize additional information that becomes available during the course of the treatment trial including sample size, accrual time, additional follow-up time, and the observed number of events at time of biomarker analysis. These methods involve solving for the exponential hazard rates that give rise to the event numbers that are consistent with those observed while satisfying other design parameter constraints. Conclusion Simon et al. proposed a new paradigm for biomarker design, conduct, analysis, and evaluation in prospective–retrospective studies that offers a more efficient alternative than fully prospective biomarker studies. As a general rule, they suggest that samples from at least two-thirds of the patients be available for analysis. In this article, I expand on this issue and provide a methodological tool useful for estimating study power in prospective–retrospective biomarker studies. It is my hope that these incremental efforts to improve the quality and statistical rigor in biomarker studies will hasten the introduction of useful tumor biomarkers into clinical practice.


Rigorous electromagnetic theory is utilized to characterize the partial spatial coherence and partial polarization of a two-mode field consisting of the long-range and the short-range surface-plasmon polariton at a metallic nanofilm. By employing appropriate formulations for the spectral degrees of coherence and polarization, we examine the fundamental limits for these quantities associated with such a superposition field and explore how the degrees are influenced when the media, frequency, and slab thickness are varied. It is in particular shown that coherence lengths extending from subwavelength scales up to thousands of wavelengths are possible and their physical origins are elucidated. In addition, we demonstrate that for ultra-thin films the generally highly polarized two-mode field can be partially polarized in close vicinity of the polariton excitation region. The results could benefit cross-disciplinary electro-optical applications in which near-field interactions between plasmons and nanoparticles are exploited.