Soils are the major natural source of nitrous oxide (N2O). Intensive land use increased atmospheric concentrations of this greenhouse gas. Soil microbes produce and consume nitrogen oxides (NO, N2O) during the processes of nitrification (aerobic) and denitrification (anaerobic). Micro-scale variability of controlling factors cause nitrification and denitrification to occur simultaneously in soils, resulting in high spatial variability of nitrogen oxide emissions. Fertilization increases nutrient availability and thus N2O fluxes. Forest soils in the humid tropics account for 20--50% of all N2O sources. Expansion and intensification of tropical agriculture is expected to increase atmospheric N2O concentrations. We measured N2O fluxes from secondary humid tropical forest soils in Costa Rica, followed fluxes during forest conversion and studied emissions from unfertilized and fertilized agricultural soils. We related fluxes to soil moisture dynamics and agricultural practice. Gases were measured using manual and automated chamber techniques. Soil moisture content was measured using manual (auger) and automated (Time Domain Reflectrometry; TDR) sampling techniques. A 3-phase-mixing model was found suitable to calibrate TDR technique for the studied soils. The field experiment was based on a split-plot design, comparing clay versus loam, each under fertilized and unfertilized annual and perennial crop. Soils feature relatively low bulk density, high hydraulic conductivity and high organic matter content. Mean soil moisture content was above 70% water-filled-pore-space (WFPS) in both soils and land uses. N 2O was emitted throughout the year. Fluxes from forest soils showed no seasonality. Forest conversion caused fluxes to increase temporarily. Fertilization was the dominant source for temporal variability under agricultural use, differences in flux dynamics were large between individual post-fertilization phases. N2O-loss as % of applied fertilizer-N increased with soil moisture. Spatial variability was generally high, especially post-fertilization. Repeated fertilization increased mean and variation of fluxes. Emissions simulated by regression models and by the physically based Denitrification-Decomposition model matched field measured fluxes well. Both modeling techniques confirmed that nutrient availability and soil moisture content were the dominant flux controls. In aggregated soils differences in soil structure between the surface layer and soil at 0.05 m depth may affect moisture content and consequently soil N 2O fluxes.


Objective: To assess the prevalence of, and factors associated with, vaginal penetration before condom application and following condom removal among young people in education in England. Method: A large cross sectional survey (n = 1373) was conducted in educational establishments in England and sexual event diaries were completed by a subsample of young people over a 6 month period. Results: Of the 375 survey respondents who reported having used a condom on the most recent occasion of vaginal sex, 6% had applied the condom after penetration and 6% had continued penetration after condom removal. Of the 74 diary respondents, 31% applied a condom late and 9% removed a condom early at least once over a 6 month period. The odds of "imperfect" condom use were found to decrease with overall consistency of condom use, confidence in correct condom use, positive reported relationship with mother, non-use of other contraception, and desire to use a condom. Conclusion: Given that late application and early removal of condoms fail to maximise their effectiveness as a method of STI prevention, it is important to address "imperfect" condom use and the factors associated with such use in public health policies and programmes. It is essential that young people understand the importance of using condoms consistently and correctly, and are also equipped with the skills and knowledge to do so.


Excessive phosphorus (P) is considered to be the primary cause for eutrophication in fresh waterbodies and, the increasingly stringent discharge limits have pushed wastewater facilities to achieve extremely low effluent total phosphorus (TP) levels (e.g., 10-50 μg/L). Pushing the P removal to the level of limit of technology has drawn significant attention from both regulatory agencies and wastewater utilities to the removal and bioavailability of various wastewater derived phosphorus fractions such as non-reactive phosphorus (NRP) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). As more advanced treatment processes have been applied to nearly completely eliminate the soluble reactive P (sRP, i.e., ortho-P), these P fractions (NRP and DOP) contribute an increasingly larger percentage and often become the dominant P fractions in the final effluents.

For utilities, the concern arises from the substantial capital cost that is required to research and implement more advanced treatment technologies beyond the current practices in order to remove these P fractions. On the regulatory side, current watershed protection plans (e.g., total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)) use TP for setting limits without considering the possibility that those different P fractions may differ in their bioavailability and therefore their potential to cause eutrophication. Bioavailable P (BAP) is defined as the sum of immediately available P and the P that can transform into an available form by naturally occurring physical, chemical, and biological processes. Although rarely analyzed in routine monitoring, effluents from municipal treatment plants contain various P forms, all of which may have different availabilities to algae and other primary producers. In addition, the bioavailability of different P fraction depends on the different sources of wastewater as well as the method and incubation length of the bioassay used.

Currently, little information is available about the bioavailability of various P fractions in various wastewater effluents. Particularly, there is limited information on the bioavailability of wastewater derived DOP to eutrophying phytoplankton in receiving waters. Therefore, it is critical to further identify DOP components and their bioavailability.

This study investigated and assessed:

• The bioavailability of various P fractions, particularly dissolved P fractions (DOP), in advanced wastewater effluents.

• The nature and composition of effluent DOP and its association with effluent dissolved organic nitrogen (DON).

• The link and correlation of wastewater characteristics and treatment process with bioavailable effluent DOP.

Tertiary effluents from the selected representative wastewater treatment plants were collected and subjected to a detailed and comprehensive analysis for wastewater characterization, phosphorus fractions analysis, and bioavailability assays. Standard methods were employed for the phosphorus fractionation and speciation analysis. Wastewater effluent fingerprinting was performed using fluorescence spectrum and parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis to gain insights into the nature and characteristics of the effluent organic nitrogen and phosphorus. The bioavailability of P fractions in effluents were assessed using both chemical enzymatic assays and algal bioassays. For selected effluents, simultaneous DOP and DON bioavailability assays were performed to elucidate the differential availability of wastewater effluent-derived organic nitrogen and phosphorus and their association with hydrophilic versus hydrophobic fractions.

The results provided:

• Information on the bioavailability of different P fractions, particularly the dissolved P fractions, in effluents from a range of advanced treatment processes/technologies.

• Revealed the nature of dissolved organic phosphorus in highly treated wastewater effluents via fluorescence spectrum analysis and C/N and C/P ratio evaluations.

• Elucidated the correlation between bioavailable effluent DOP and DON with different water fractions (hydrophilic versus hydrophobic), as well as with wastewater sources (humic substances versus proteinaceous matters).

• Identified the potentially bioavailable P fractions in effluent and suggested possible mechanisms for their effective removal.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series

ISBN: 9781780405568 (eBook)


Although knowledge of the microstructure of food of vegetal origin helps us to understand the behavior of food materials, the variability in the microstructural elements complicates this analysis. In this regard, the construction of learning models that represent the actual microstructures of the tissue is important to extract relevant information and advance in the comprehension of such behavior. Consequently, the objective of this research is to compare two machine learning techniques—Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Radial Basis Neural Networks (RBNN)—when used to enhance its microstructural analysis. Two main contributions can be highlighted from this research. First, a method is proposed to automatically analyze the microstructural elements of vegetal tissue; and second, a comparison was conducted to select a classifier to discriminate between tissue structures. For the comparison, a database of microstructural elements images was obtained from pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) micrographs. Two classifiers were implemented using CNN and RBNN, and statistical performance metrics were computed using a 5-fold cross-validation scheme. This process was repeated one hundred times with a random selection of images in each repetition. The comparison showed that the classifiers based on CNN produced a better fit, obtaining F1–score average of 89.42% in front of 83.83% for RBNN. In this study, the performance of classifiers based on CNN was significantly higher compared to those based on RBNN in the discrimination of microstructural elements of vegetable foods.


Human Rights, Hegemony and Utopia in Latin America explores the evolving relationship between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic visions of human rights, within the context of cases in contemporary Mexico and Colombia, and their broader implications.


In a context of growing efforts to develop sustainability strategies, energy-related issues occupy central stage in the built environment. Thus, the energy performance of housings has improved radically over the past decades. Yet other types of buildings, in particular commercial centers, haven't received the same level of interest. As a result, there is a need for effective and practical measures to decrease their energy consumption, both for heating and electricity. The objective of the paper is to demonstrate that it is possible, through coherent strategies, to integrate energy issues and bioclimatic principles into the design process of commercial centers. It analyzes the exemplary case study of Marin Commercial Center (Switzerland). The interdisciplinary approach, based on integrated design strategies, aimed at increasing the energy efficiency while keeping the cost comparable to the market cost. The main design principles include natural ventilation, nighttime cooling with energy recovery and natural lighting, as well as optimization of mechanical systems. The results of the simulations show that Marin Center attains the best energy performance observed so far among Swiss commercial centers. It also meets the Swiss Minergie standard. The paper thus questions traditional design processes and outlines the need for interdisciplinary evaluation and monitoring approaches tailored for commercial centers. Even though most crucial decisions are taken during the early stages, all phases of the process require systematic optimization strategies, especially operating stages. Recommendations include legal measures, in particular in the fields of ventilation and air-conditioning, education, professional development and technology transfer, and financial incentives for the replacement of energy intensive installations.


Boronate-affinity hollow molecularly imprinted polymers (h-MIPs) were prepared and applied to the selective enrichment of four nucleosides in traditional Chinese medicine injection samples, followed by HPLC detection. The synthesis mechanism of the h-MIPs was studied. Due to a large amount of boronic acid groups were introduced by 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) in the outermost polymer shell of the MIPs, which was of great importance for improving the enrichment efficiency of the nucleosides. Furthermore, owing to the hollow structure of the h-MIPs, more binding cavities were located on the inner and outer surfaces of the h-MIPs, which could facilitate the removal of template molecules from the polymers and the rebinding of the target molecules to the polymers. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits of the four nucleosides were in the range of 0.012–0.033 μg mL−1. At the different spiked levels, the recoveries of the nucleosides were in the range of 63.8–108.9%. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine four nucleosides in five injection samples. The boronate-affinity h-MIPs provided a promising selective enrichment platform for precise nucleoside analysis.


We recently described a mAb 3.2.3 (IgG1), that recognizes a 60-kD dimeric molecule expressed exclusively on fresh and rIL-2-activated NK cells and polymorphonuclear cells. mAb 3.2.3 enhances cytolytic activity of NK cells against selected FcR+ tumor target cells by reverse antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), indicating that it recognizes an important triggering site on NK cells. The in vivo treatment of F344 rats with mAb 3.2.3 intraperitoneally completely and selectively eliminated NK/ADCC function in the spleen and peripheral blood for up to 10 d after treatment. Total numbers and percentages of T cells, monocytes, or PMN were not decreased and T cell function, as determined by Con A stimulation, was not affected. The reduction in NK function was associated with a decrease in the numbers of LGL and the expression of other NK-related cell surface markers including CD2, CD8, and asialo GM1. Depletion of NK cells with 3.2.3 markedly decreased the survival of F344 rats injected intravenously with MADB106 mammary adenocarcinoma cells, but did not affect the subcutaneous growth of MADB106 tumors. These results indicate that mAb 3.2.3 (in contrast to anti-asialo GM1 and OX8, which are less selective markers) will be useful for studies on the functional role of NK cells in vivo as well as their in vivo differentiation and origin from 3.2.3- precursors.


The subject of intense admiration - and not a little shock, when it was first published - "The Abandoned Baobab" has consistently captivated readers ever since. The book has been translated into numerous languages and was chosen by "QBR Black Book Review" as one of Africa's 100 best books of the twentieth century. No African woman had ever been so frank, in an autobiography, or written so poignantly, about the intimate details of her life - a distinction that, more than two decades later, still holds true.Abandoned by her mother and sent to live with relatives in Dakar, the author tells of being educated in the French colonial school system, where she comes gradually to feel alienated from her family and Muslim upbringing, growing enamored with the West. Academic success gives her the opportunity to study in Belgium, which she looks upon as a "promised land." There she is objectified as an exotic creature, however, and she descends into promiscuity, alcohol and drug abuse, and, eventually, prostitution. (It was out of concern on her editor's part about her candor that the author used the pseudonym Ken Bugul, the Wolof phrase for "the person no one wants.") Her return to Senegal, which concludes the book, presents her with a past she cannot reenter, a painful but necessary realization as she begins to create a new life there.As Norman Rush wrote in the "New York Times Book Review", "One comes away from "The Abandoned Baobab" reluctant to take leave of a brave, sympathetic, and resilient woman." Despite its unflinching look at our darkest impulses, and at the stark facts of being a colonized African, the book is ultimately inspirational, for it exposes us to a remarkable sensibility and a hard-won understanding of one's place in the world.


DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION IN RESPONSE TO HYPOXIA AND ACIDOSIS IN CHEST WALL DEFORMITIES AND CHONDROSARCOMA Jamie L. Durbin Old Dominion University, 2018 Director: Dr. Chris Osgood The importance of understanding how costal cartilage chondrocytes respond to stimuli such as oxidative stress and low pH has been largely overlooked in studies involving tissue culturing due to major differences between oxygen and pH levels during incubation and the natural environment of hyaline cartilage. Hyaline cartilage is avascular and naturally hypoxic which subsequently leads to increased glycolytic metabolism and ultimately causes a decrease in extracellular pH. To examine how healthy costal cartilage responds to these extreme growth conditions, we examined responses in three hyaline cartilage diseases. Our ability to identify the disease mechanisms responsible for pectus excavatum, pectus carinatum, and chondrosarcoma are limited by our understanding of how these mechanisms operate. This study aimed to determine the roles of hypoxia and extracellular acidosis on the expression of genes related to the hypoxia response pathway in costal cartilage chondrocytes, two pectus chest wall deformities, and the hyaline cartilage producing cancer, chondrosarcoma. Cells isolated from costal cartilage were incubated under four experimental conditions, where cultures were subjected to 24 hours of either hypoxia (5% oxygen) or normoxia, and 60 seconds of acidic media (pH 5.5) or kept at neutral pH (pH 7.2) just prior to RNA extraction. Expression levels for 84 genes were tested by RT-qPCR to determine genes of interest within the hypoxia response pathway. Two genes, factor 3 F3 and lysyl oxidase LOX, were chosen based on high fold change within the preliminary study; two replicate experiments were repeated for a total of 12 patient samples. Our analysis showed no significant change in any cell type compared to the control. However, the control and PC sample groups showed significant upregulation of both F3 (Control, p=0.0001, PC, p=0.0026) and LOX (Control, p=0.0009, PC, p=0.0047) within the cell type in response to hypoxia, but PE and JJ012 samples showed no significant response. Low pH had no significant effect on expression levels in any cell type. Further study of how cellular response mechanisms to hypoxia and acidosis in healthy and diseased hyaline cartilage is required to fill knowledge gaps and create understanding for new therapies to treat pectus chest wall deformities or chondrosarcoma cancer.


Metal injection moulding (MIM) is a promising new production technology for small- to medium-sized parts with high complexity for high-temperature applications like aero engines or turbochargers. This study concerns the feasibility of manufacturing parts from nickel-based superalloy CM247LC via MIM. CM247LC poses a serious challenge for MIM processing. Because of its high aluminium content, the strength potential is very high, but the sintering capability is severely restricted. Differential scanning calorimetry and dilatometry measurements as well as ThermoCalc simulations are used to optimise the sintering step of the MIM process route. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen contents of the powder and the as-sintered specimens are measured to evaluate the pick-up of impurities during processing. The microstructure of the as-sintered specimens is characterised with respect to residual porosity, grain size, carbide content and γ′ precipitation size and morphology. Ways to further improve the microstructure and strength will be discussed.


AIMS: To date, the risk relating to the handling or allografting of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infected postmortem skin remains hypothetical. While blood screening for HIV antibodies is still the key safety procedure to detect HIV infected cadavers, false negative results are a concern. Conversely, false positive results may hamper the collection of skin allografts. Accordingly, viral culture was used to clarify skin infectivity and the nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to assess the reliability of skin PCR testing. METHODS: Viral culture and nested PCR performed with gag and pol specific primers were investigated in cadaveric skin and blood from 12 HIV-1 infected patients. Samples were collected repeatedly between one and five days in seven patients. In most cases, analyses were performed on triplicate skin samples: fresh (n = 26); cryopreserved in 5% dimethylsulphoxide (n = 21), or cryopreserved in 30% glycerol (n = 26). RESULTS: HIV was isolated in two of 26 cultures of fresh skin specimens (8%), seven of 47 cryopreserved skin specimens (15%), and eight of 26 blood specimens (31%). The nested PCR detected HIV-1 in all skin samples (n = 73), regardless of the postmortem interval or cryopreservation. In blood, a positive signal was found in eight of 12 patients but two of them had discordant results on successive samples. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that nested PCR on postmortem skin samples can detect HIV more reliably than on blood. They also demonstrate the potential viral infectivity of fresh or stored skin postmortem samples in HIV infected patients. They underscore the need for caution during the handling of skin tissue from HIV infected cadavers and confirm the potential risk related to accidental allografting of HIV contaminated skin.


The Li-stuffed garnets LixM2M3′O12 are promising Li-ion solid electrolytes with potential use in solid-state batteries. One strategy for optimising ionic conductivities in these materials is to tune lithium stoichiometries through aliovalent doping, which is often assumed to produce proportionate numbers of charge compensating Li vacancies. The native defect chemistry of the Li-stuffed garnets, and their response to doping, however, are not well understood, and it is unknown to what degree a simple vacancy-compensation model is valid. Here, we report hybrid density-functional–theory calculations of a broad range of native defects in the prototypical Li-garnet Li7La3Zr2O12. We calculate equilibrium defect concentrations as a function of synthesis conditions, and model the response of these defect populations to extrinsic doping. We predict a rich defect chemistry that includes Li and O vacancies and interstitials, and significant numbers of cation-antisite defects. Under reducing conditions, O vacancies act as colour-centres by trapping electrons. We find that supervalent (donor) doping does not produce charge compensating Li vacancies under all synthesis conditions; under Li-rich / Zr-poor conditions the dominant compensating defects are LiZr antisites, and Li stoichiometries strongly deviate from those predicted by simple "vacancy compensation" models.


The city of Ushuaia, located at the southern end of the world, is already one of the many regions affected by the severe consequences caused by the Global Climate Change (GCC).
 The physical evidence of GCC is shown by the gradual disappearance of the mountain glaciers that surround the city of Ushuaia, and also by others factors such as the increase of mean annual temperature in the area and a substantial decrease in winter rainfall, among others. These factors appear not to bring alert to society about the significant consequences that have derived from this situation in the short and long terms.
Our research group is trying to analyze the socio-economic consequences generated by the disappearance of glaciers around the city of Ushuaia, because they are the main source of drinking water, by using a systems approach.
Thus, we conceptualize the problem by identifying its elements, the description of the relationships between themselves and the distinction of the most relevant subsystems. We were able to establish the conceptual boundaries that distinguish our system from its environment, and the multiple relationships that operate between them.
In the other hand, we have found through these studies a series of emergent properties, which are the result of the analytical perspective we have undertaken; those emergent properties are as important as those ones that were revealed at the beginning of the investigation, including the contamination problem of the glacier water tributaries and their diminishing flow.
We will present in three stages the results that have been found so far: the first stage shows the background related to the effects of the GCC over the Patagonian glaciers, Argentina, and especially those ones that surround the city of Ushuaia, highlighting the projection about their volume; then, we will show the system behavior under analysis and its relationships with the environment, indicate the existing subsystems and describe the idea of horizon of potabilization, which will allow us to lay the foundations for further developement of a mathematic model, aiming to predict the moment when the population of Ushuaia will run out of water, at least during the summer months, by considering the current state of variables and relationships. At the end of these presentations, we will arrive at the conclusions achieved at this phase of the investigation.


"Two Chinese Philosophers", which appeared in 1958, was the first book by the late Angus Graham, who went on to establish a reputation both as one of the leading sinologists of the 20th century and as a creative philosopher in his own right. In the course of a scholarly career spanning more than 40 years, Graham became known as a thinker and interpreter of extraordinary depth and incomparable breadth. Since the initial publication of "Two Chinese Philosophers", the field of neo-Confucian studies has proliferated, yet Graham's work on Ch'eng Ming-tao (Ch'eng Hao, 1032-1085) and Ch'eng Yi-ch'uan (Ch'eng Yi, 1033-1107) has not been superseded. The Ch'eng brothers were leading exponents of the neo-Confucian revival, which became orthodox state doctrine, used thereafter for the training and ideological moulding of the Chinese ruling class.


Zingerone, 4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-butanone (Zg), a phenolic compound isolated from ginger is reported to have anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties. However, its role in the promotion of osteogenesis is not known. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of Zg on osteogenesis at the cellular and molecular levels. Zg treatment was nontoxic to mouse mesenchymal stem cells (mMSCs). At the cellular level, it enhanced osteoblast differentiation as evidenced by more calcium deposits. At the molecular level, Zg stimulated the expression of Runx2 (a bone transcription factor) and other marker genes of osteoblast differentiation in mMSCs. Recent studies indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate bone metabolism, and we identified that Zg treatment in mMSCs upregulated mir-590, a positive regulator of Runx2 by targeting Smad7, an antagonist of TGF-β1 signaling. Thus, the osteogenic potential of Zg would be beneficial for treating bone and bone-related diseases.


Corpus-based methods are now dominant in Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Creating big corpora is no longer difficult and the technology to analyze them is
growing faster, more robust and more accurate. However, when an NLP application
performs well on one corpus, it is unclear whether this level of performance would
be maintained on others. To make progress on these questions, we need methods
for comparing corpora. This thesis investigates comparison methods based on the
notions of corpus homogeneity and similarity.


Background Hydration and anticoagulation are the standard of care for cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) but some patients remain refractory to medical management and warrant more aggressive therapy. Here we present the technique of endovascular transvenous manual aspiration thrombectomy (MAT) in six patients. Objective Present an alternative technique for endovascular transvenous thrombectomy in a series of CVST patients. Methods We reviewed the records of six patients with medically refractory CVST. Transvenous access via the femoral vein was used to advance an aspiration catheter of varying internal diameter (0.044, 0.054, 0.057, 0.070, 0.072) up to and through the thrombus. Tissue plasminogen activator was administered in select cases. Manual aspiration with a 20 ml syringe applied to the catheter hub was applied as the catheter was slowly retracted. Presentation, technique, and outcome were evaluated. Results Clinical presentation included vomiting, dehydration, mental status changes, headaches, and acute motor deficits. On imaging, four of the six patients had hemorrhage, edema, and mass effect present before treatment, while two had edema only. All patients demonstrated continued deterioration despite early and aggressive medical anticoagulation therapy, warranting aggressive intervention. Aspiration of the superior sagittal sinus, transverse sinuses, straight sinus, sigmoid sinus, and internal jugular vein were performed in this series. There were no procedural complications. Revascularization was achieved in all instances. A modified Rankin Scale score of 1–3 was attained in 5/6 patients, while one patient died. Conclusions In this series, transvenous MAT was a safe, simple, and effective revascularization technique to treat patients with CVST who remained refractory to medical management.


The overarching goal of PPH control is to prevent maternal mortality [1]. In Africa and Asia, PPH accounts for 30% of pregnancy-associated mortality [2]. The incidence of PPH in cases of placenta previa is 22.3% (95% CI 15.8-28.7%) [2]. North America has the highest rate of placenta previa associated PPH at 26.3%, Asia is mid-range at 20.7%, and Europe the lowest at 17.8% [2]. Globally, placenta previa has a prevalence of 5.2 per 1,000 pregnancies (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 4.5-5.9) [3]. Placenta previa is most prevalent in Asia at 12.2 per 1,000 pregnancies (95% CI: 9.5-15.2) [3]. Thus, even though Asia does not have the highest placenta previa associated PPH rate, given the 30% PPH pregnancy-associated mortality, PPH control is reasonably the focus of studies in Asia [4]. The literature on double-balloon tamponade for PPH in cases of placenta previa reports 88% to 100% success, confirmed by a recent retrospective case series with 112 women that achieved a 97.4% success rate [4]. Mean blood loss was 1983 ? 512.2 mL. There were no postpartum infections. However, as post discharge follow-up is not given: It is unknown if any of these patients subsequently had uneventful pregnancies [4].


Temis 2D was used to study hydrocarbon migration and fluid distribution in an area of the Niger Delta. In this setting, high pressures are related to a high sedimentation rate, and pressure compartments are delineated by growth faults. A growth fault is regarded as a hydro-mechanically active zone contributing both to a release of high pressures and to hydrocarbon migration from the deep mature source rocks to shallower reservoirs. Overpressures are generated in confined systems where water flow is extremely low. The most significant parameters causing the generation of overpressures are very low shale permeability and rapid burial. In 2D modelling, pressure calibration is obtained by adjusting cap-rock permeability and by properly simulating reservoir connectivity. The accuracy of fluid flow simulation is highly dependent on lateral transmissibility across reservoirs and/or faults. When pore pressure reaches fracture pressure, the vertical permeability in the model must be increased to simulate release of the excess pore pressure by fracturing. Simulating hydrocarbon migration, which is dependent on both permeability and capillary pressure, from a high-pressure domain to a lower pressure domain without losing the pressure distribution, requires a detailed geological model and a thorough calibration. In a deltaic system, such as the Niger Delta, a growth fault behaves as a complex zone for fluid flow, due to a relatively low horizontal permeability and a significant transient vertical permeability. In detail, permeability and capillary pressures in the fault zone are dependent on clay content (clay smearing) along the fault, possible cataclasis reducing sandstone permeability, and lithology juxtaposition, forming a complex structure along which fluids have to move. In this approach the fault is considered as a permanent active zone with transient fluid and pressure transfers, implying hydro-mechanical coupling. The aim of 2D basin modelling is to simulate the geological history of a petroleum system in order to understand and quantify the hydrocarbon generation, migration and trapping. As a control of a correct simulation, the main hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs must be restored with correct temperature, pore pressure, saturation and gas:oil ratio (GOR). The results of the present simulation show that all these parameters, and particularly pore pressures and GOR, are in accordance with well data. Fluid flow modelling allows vertical migration of the hydrocarbons from the deep overpressured domain to the hydrostatic domain, and a partial lateral transfer between adjacent reservoirs, without full pressure equalization. The model correctly predicts hydrocarbons in the main reservoirs and the appropriate GOR, even though local variations are not well simulated. Abnormally high pressures are maintained within the system even though fluid flow and hydrocarbon migration are simulated in a dynamic mode. The thorough geological description of the fault zone, which allows a detailed input of petrophysical parameters, is the key to such a result.


Bacteria have a kind of adaptive immune system, which enables them to fight off repeated attacks by specific viruses, that works through precise targeting of DNA. In January, four research teams reported harnessing the system, called CRISPR, to target the destruction of specific genes in human cells. And in the following 8 months, various groups have used it to delete, add, activate or suppress targeted genes in human cells, mice, rats, zebrafish, bacteria, fruit flies, yeast, nematodes and crops, demonstrating broad utility for the technique. With CRISPR, scientists can create mouse models of human diseases much more quickly than before, study individual genes much faster, and easily change multiple genes in cells at once to study their interactions.


The growing population of Europe needs adequate and wholesome food at reasonable prices and a sufficient supply of pure drinking water. Accommodating this need and the many other pressures on land while maintaining biodiversity, ecosystems, and cultural landscapes is a matter of continuing concern and debate in Europe. The changing nature of agriculture, concerns about agricultural subsidies and surpluses, food and water quality issues, and discussion of the future of the European Union (EU)'s Common Agricultural Policy have all increased the intensity of this debate. Through its discussion of how best to achieve sustainable land use, this text tackles this wide range of issues, examining problems faced by the EU concerning the future of rural communities, and the maintenance of an attractive and diverse countryside. This work comprises papers presented at two conferences organized by groups of European Environmental Advisory Councils.


The Masters research project was motivated by a desire to explore and represent my identity as a Scottish-Australian through the visual means of collage and printmaking. I aimed to investigate diaspora, displacement, the notion of a hand-medown homeland and an imagined place-based identity, which was pursued through an exploration of the tension between cultural experiences of the authentic ("scottishry") and the kitch ("tartanry"). The topic looks back to my grandparents' arrival in Australia a century ago and considers the adherence to Scottish culture pursued by the following generations.

The research appropriates a pictorial language common to the Scottish Diaspora and views it as a closed set: as having changed little since the 19th century. These images and symbols are considered in a Post-Modern and Post-Colonial context and I interrogated the role played by romanticism, myth and metaphor in the picturing of a Scottish homeland by the descendants of immigrant Scots and their descendants. Tartanry – the kitsch in Scottish culture, and Scottishry – the authentic, is discussed in this exegesis to yield insights on how attachments can be made to quite false aspects of Scottish history or culture.

The visual thesis was developed through the mediums of collage and print, often integrating the appropriation devices of remediation and detournement. The exegesis elaborates on such method and outlines a rationale for various mediums including the role of collage in the image making and soft ground steel etching and photopolymer etchings in the plate making. Two series of works, The Imagineerings and Imagineering Metaphors were made in this manner.

The third series, Field Research, was a response to a genealogical pilgrimage; a family reunion and commemorative occasion in Scotland. It was an authentic experience, but one still subject to input from my own imagination. This series features digitally enhanced prints interrupted by photopolymer etchings.

My contextual field is described through analysis of various artists from fields influencing this submission including printmaking technique, collage and appropriation, Australian multicultural art, Scottish romanticism and Scottish identity. Two exhibitions, For Auld Lang Syne: Images of Scottish Australia from First Fleet to Federation staged at The Art Gallery of Ballarat, curated by Dr Alison Inglis and Patricia Tryon Macdonald, and Scottish Identity in Art, at the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland, were also scrutinised for the purposes of contextualisation.

Formed from cultural legacy, imagined home and homecoming, Familiar Ground stands alongside contemporary research into the Scottish diaspora, the idea of a peculiar Scottish gaze and a current re -emergence of conversation in regard to Scottish identity.


A qualitative assessment on the effect of boundary layer dynamics in the estimation of clear sky black carbon (BC) radiative forcing has been made considering the debate on the lower bound and possible uncertainties in the aerosol radiative forcing estimation. Comprehensive measurements made on aerosol optical and physical properties, near surface BC mass concentrations and Lidar derived aerosol back scatter intensity profiles at three selected locations in India (Visakhapatnam, Kharagpur, and Kolkata) are utilized for this purpose. Sensitivity analysis carried out to estimate the errors in short wave (SW) BC forcing computation indicated that nonincorporation of diurnal changes in the boundary layer depth into the models may lead to over estimation of diurnally averaged (as the study is limited to short wave radiative forcing, diurnally averaged forcing refers to day-time averaged) BC forcing. The relative errors may vary between 7 to 70% depending on the season and the location changes in boundary layer depth day-time behaviour. The results reported in the present study, though specific to the study locations, clearly indicate that a more systematic approach is needed to investigate the sensitivity of aerosol radiative forcing to various atmospheric parameters and processes within the boundary layer, particularly at stations characterised by strong anthropogenic influence and large diurnal temperature variability that affect the boundary layer depth. Article history: Received 21 June 2016 Revised 2 September 2016 Accepted 29 September 2016


With the decoding of the human genome, researchers can now read the script in which evolution has written the program for the design and operation of the human body. A new generation of medical treatments is at hand. Researchers are developing therapies so powerful that there is now no evident obstacle to the ancient goal of conquering most major diseases. Nicholas Wade has covered the sequencing of the genome, as well as other health and science stories, for "The New York Times," in the course of which he has interviewed many of the principal researchers in the field. In this book he describes what the genome means for the health of present and future generations. Someday soon physicians will have access to DNA chips that, from a drop of blood, will screen a person's genes for all the diseases to which he or she may be genetically vulnerable. From full knowledge of the instruction manual of the human body, provided by the genome, pharmaceutical companies hope to develop a new generation of sophisticated drugs; one of the first genome-derived drugs is already undergoing clinical trials. Another vital tool will be regenerative medicine, a new kind of therapy in which new organs and tissues will be grown from a patient's own cells to replace those that are old or diseased. With the help of DNA chips, medical researchers will soon be able to diagnose diseases such as cancer much more precisely and to tailor specific treatments for each patient. Individualized medicine will also become an important part of the pharmaceutical world. Many drugs will be prescribed based on information from DNA chips that identify which of a range of drugs is best for each patient, as well aswhich drugs are likely to cause side effects. The medicine of the post-genomic era will be customized for a patient's genetic make-up, providing treatments based on a precise understanding of the mechanism of disease. "Life Script" describes a future in which good health, even perfect health, may become the standard for everyone -- at every age.


In recent time particular interest has been drawn to the inference of gene regulatory networks from microarray gene expression data. But despite major improvements with data based methods, the network reconstruction from expression data alone still presents a computationally complex (NP-hard) problem. In this work it is incorporated additional information – regulatory motifs from yeast, when inferring a gene regulatory network for mouse genes. It was put forward the hypothesis that regulatory patterns analogous to these motifs are present in the set of mouse genes and can be identified by comparing yeast and mouse genes in terms of sequence similarity or Gene Ontology (The Gene Ontology Consortium 2000) annotations. In order to examine this hypothesis, small permutations of genes with high similarity to such yeast gene regulatory motifs were first tested against simple data-driven regulatory networks by means of consistency with the expression data. And secondly, using the best scored interactions provided by these permutations it were then inferred networks for the whole set of mouse genes. The results showed that individual permutations of genes with a high similarity to a given yeast motif did not perform better than low scored motifs and that complete networks, which were inferred from regulatory interactions provided by permutations, did also neither show any noticeable improvement over the corresponding data-driven network nor a high consistency with the expression data at all. It was therefore found that the hypothesis failed, i.e. neither the use of sequence similarity nor searching for identical functional annotations between mouse and yeast genes allowed to identify sets of genes that showed a high consistency with the expression data or would have allowed for an improved gene regulatory network inference.


The Baltic Sea Innovation Network (BSUIN Project) is developing the Baltic Sea region by finding new uses for underground spaces and laboratories. This involves creating an innovation platform based on the facilities and research equipment in the Underground Labs (ULs) of the universities and research institutes in the region. The platform will be jointly operated by the BSUIN network in order to offer innovative services for companies and research institutes in these unique ULs. The objective of the paper is to describe the process and the challenges of developing such jointly offered services.
Service design is chosen as an approach for developing ULs, as its visual tools and customer orientation are believed to benefit also industrial service development. Furthermore, service design emphasises the importance of the lucrativeness of the services being developed for the service provider. Service design has not been applied previously in a similar industrial context. The work involves organising workshops in order to gain understanding of customers' needs in relation to service providers' activities and resources. Data from the workshops and the whole service design process will be analysed qualitatively for research purposes.
Firstly, in the exploration phase of service design, the current business models of the ULs were described and analysed, and critical aspects identified. Secondly, in the creation phase of service design, new services and their business models will be co-created in collaboration with relevant stakeholders of each UL. In addition, customer profiles, customer journeys, service blueprints and value propositions will be created for the chosen service ideas. Finally, decisions will be made about the service offering of the joint network.
Further research will be conducted through applying the case study approach to gain more theoretical and practical understanding of the use of service design in industrial contexts.


Transforming Care of the Behavioral Health Patient in an Emergency Department Setting by Theresa J. Kubiel MSN, Walden University, 2009 BSN, Bloomfield College, 2002 AAS, Ocean County College, 1992 Project Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice Walden University January 2016 Abstract Behavioral and mental health issues contribute to the needs of many patients presenting to emergency departments, and yet these needs often go unrecognized. Patient processing procedures in emergency departments may not include mechanisms to consistently identify and triage patients whose care is complicated by behavioral illness. The purpose of this project was to plan a program to improve early identification and management of behavioral health patientsBehavioral and mental health issues contribute to the needs of many patients presenting to emergency departments, and yet these needs often go unrecognized. Patient processing procedures in emergency departments may not include mechanisms to consistently identify and triage patients whose care is complicated by behavioral illness. The purpose of this project was to plan a program to improve early identification and management of behavioral health patients presenting to the emergency department. The objective of this project was to develop a rapid mental health screening tool and policies guiding use of the tool in the emergency department. A multi-disciplinary team of emergency department providers cooperated in the selection and evaluation of available screening tools. A literature search was done with the inclusion criterion of behavioral screening tools to be used at time of triage, and results were brought to the team for further consideration. The HEADS-ED pediatric screening tool was chosen through the expert opinions of the team members. The team evaluated and approved adaptations to the tool for its use in adults. Policies were developed to guide the future implementation of the screening tool in the emergency department. A plan for process and outcome evaluation was included in the developed program. Process will be evaluated by monitoring provider use of the screening tool, and patient length of stay in the emergency department will serve as the outcome measure. The program may contribute to social change through improved emergency department care of patients with behavioral illnesses. Transforming Care of the Behavioral Health Patient in an Emergency Department Setting by Theresa J. Kubiel MSN, Walden University, 2009 BSN, Bloomfield College, 2002 AAS, Ocean County College, 1992 Project Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice Walden University January 2016


Hilary Kornblith presents an account of inductive inference that addresses both its metaphysical and epistemological aspects. He argues that inductive knowledge is possible by virtue of the fit between our innate psychological capacities and the causal structure of the world. Kornblith begins by developing an account of natural kinds that has its origins in John Locke's work on real and nominal essences. In Kornblith's view, a natural kind is a stable cluster of properties that are bound together in nature. The existence of such kinds serves as a natural ground of inductive inference.Kornblith then examines two features of human psychology that explain how knowledge of natural kinds is attained. First, our concepts are structured innately in a way that presupposes the existence of natural kinds. Second, our native inferential tendencies tend to provide us with accurate beliefs about the world when applied to environments that are populated by natural kinds.


First Contact, the first in the celebrated Highlands Trilogy of documentary films by Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson, tracks the passage in 1933 of the first Europeans to enter the largest of Papua New Guinea's highland valleys. Interviews with surviving members of the expedition and with living eyewitnesses among the Highlands communities provide a remarkable counterpoint to the original visual and textual record of this last first encounter. The Europeans act out their roles as explorers, photographing and filming their own performances along with those of the Highlanders, while Connolly and Anderson's camera and questions set the stage for a further layer of performance or re-enactment which is completed when the original footage is screened before Highlander eyewitnesses of the events of 1933. While a substantial body of secondary literature has developed around the film, there has been surprisingly little contribution to debate from historians. In their focus on capturing the mood and texture of first contact events, Connolly and Anderson depart radically from conventional historical narrative formats. The success of their approach underscores the potential of film and other non-textual media to recast our understanding of history as an act of reconstruction and re-enactment.


We consider which factors determined the price–rent ratio for the housing market in 18 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and at the national level over the period of 1975–2014. Based on a present-value framework, our proposed empirical model separates the price–rent ratio for a given market into unobserved components related to the expected real rent growth and the expected housing return, but is modified from standard present-value analysis by also including a residual component that captures non-stationary deviations of the price–rent ratio from its present-value level. Estimates for the modified present-value model suggest that the present-value residual (PVR) component is always important and sometimes very large at the national and MSA levels, especially for MSAs that have experienced frequent booms and busts in the housing market. In further analysis, we find that house prices in MSAs that have larger PVR components are more sensitive to mortgage rate changes. These are also the MSAs with less elastic housing supply. Also, comparing our results with a recent statistical test for periodically-collapsing bubbles, we find that MSAs with large estimated PVR components are the same MSAs that test positively for explosive sub-periods in their price–rent ratios, especially during the 2005–2007 subsample. Our approach allows us to estimate the correlation between shocks to expected rent growth, the expected housing return, and the PVR component. We find that the expected housing return and movements in the PVR component are highly positively correlated implying an impact of the expected housing return on house prices that is amplified from what a standard present-value model would imply. Our results also show that most of the variation in the present-value component of the price–rent ratio arises due to the variation in the expected housing return.


This Article uses an interdisciplinary approach to explain why the International Labor Organization (ILO) has been given surprisingly short shrift in recent debates over the role of IOs in addressing the many transborder collective action problems that globalization has fostered. I review the ILO's past and its present with two broad objectives in mind. First, I seek to correct a misperception among international lawyers and legal scholars that the ILO is a weak and ineffective institution. The organization's effectiveness in creating and monitoring international labor standards has fluctuated widely during its nearly ninety-year existence. Over the last decade, however, the ILO - led by the Director General and the ILO Office - has ushered in a period of innovation and reform, narrowing the organization's mandate to emphasize universal compliance with a core group of fundamental labor rights. These developments - many of which are unknown outside the organization - reveal that the ILO has learned from successful strategies of other IOs and from its own past mistakes. They also cast doubt on the widely held view that international bureaucracies seek to expand their mandates to increase their authority over member states. A second objective of the Article is to analyze the under-studied issue of how IOs change and to assess three social science theories - (1) rational design; (2) neofunctionalism; and (3) historical institutionalism - that seek to explain how change occurs. A historical study of the ILO provides two opportunities to evaluate these competing frameworks and to consider the under-examined role of IO officials in promoting change. First, the four major phases of the ILO's existence - its founding in 1919, the interwar years, the decades following World War II, and post-Cold War globalization - offer discrete domains within which to assess the theories' comparative explanatory power. The second opportunity for theoretical assessment relates to the influence of the ILO's past on recently adopted reforms. None of the theories would have expected ILO officials to revitalize the organization, more than seventy-five years after its birth, by narrowing and refocusing its authority rather than expanding it.


This chapter examines the democratic revolutions that occurred in post-Soviet Eurasia since 1989. It first considers the beginning of the decline of communism and the failed attempts to reform communist one-party states from 1970 to 1988 as stage one of democratization. It then discusses the end of communist regimes as the second stage of democratization—between 1989 and 1991. It also looks at stage three of the democratization process, which focuses on the creation of new democracies. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the main drivers of successful democratization in post-Soviet Eurasia.


At the present time, when the State punishment of
crime is constantly cited before the tribunal of science
in order to show cause why it should not be eliminated,
like other relics of barbarism, from the arsenal of modern
civilization, in which there is no room for mere supersti-
tions of the past, a critical investigation of the problem
of punishment cannot be out of place. The new doctrine
has already succeeded in insinuating some of its minor
canons into more than one legislative system, and whilst
it must be conceded that the measures hitherto adopted
under its influence, such as the probation of first
offenders, conditional sentences, and conditional liber-
ation of prisoners, have all proved highly beneficial, the
more extravagant claims of the criminological school
threaten to subvert the very foundations of the rampart
which society has laboriously erected against the on-
slaughts of crime. Indeed, one shudders at the mere
thought that the accumulated wisdom of thousands of
years may be sacrificed, in a few years of revolutionary
experiments, on the altar of a fashionable and self-
complacent, withal utterly unverified, hypothesis. If
we remember that the institution of punishment has had
its beginnings in the infancy of the human race, and that
it has accompanied mankind all along the course of its
progress from savagery to barbarism, from barbarism
to civilization, if we realize how deeply rooted it is even
in the consciousness of modern society, we cannot accept the thesis that the elaborate machinery which it has
evolved serves no useful purpose whatever without,
at any rate, attempting to ascertain its deeper meaning
in the past and in the present. I am not acquainted
with any monograph in which both these aspects of the
problem have been submitted to a critical examination.
If a further apology were required for the appearance
of this book, the extreme meagreness of the English
literature on the subject would appear to supply a suffi-
cient justification.


Although domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the financial services industry have increased steadily over the past two decades, international M&As were relatively rare until recently. This paper uses a novel dataset of over 2,300 mergers that took place between 1978 and 2001 to analyse the determinants of international bank mergers. We test the extent to which information costs and regulations hold back merger activity. Our results suggest that banks operating in more regulated environments are less likely to be the targets of international bank mergers. Hence, the lifting of regulations can spur growth in cross-border bank mergers. Also, mergers tend to be less frequent if information costs are high.


This paper describes our initial efforts to develop a 3D visualization tool that is part of an overall effort to create a Concept Generator, an automated conceptual design tool, to aid a designer during the early stages of the design process. The use of CAD software has diversified into various disciplines that have made use of simulation and software modeling tools for reasons that range from improving accuracy in design, reduction in lead times, and simple visualizations. The impacts of CAD software have been beneficial in industry and education. Described in this paper is the use of low-memory VRML models to represent components. These low memory models have been created to achieve several goals that complement the overall objectives of the concept generator. One key goal is that the concept generator be accessible via the web, thus the need for low-memory and low-data models. Additionally, as the concept generator is intended for usage during early conceptual design, the 3D visualization tool allows the creation of models upon which basic manipulations can be performed so that a designer can get an initial feel of the structure that his product is going to take. Our research has enabled us to create a basic visualization tool which, while similar in nature to most other CAD software tools, is unique, in that it represents the link, as a visual interface, between a formulated concept and the designer. The paper presents the research problem, an overview of the architecture of the software tool and some preliminary results on visual representations as an aid to concept generation.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


As part of the Expert Evidence series this chapter is intended to be accessible to lawyers, judges, police officers, and potential jury members; however, it is hoped that this chapter will also be of interest to forensic scientists, phoneticians / speech scientists, speech-processing engineers, and students of all these disciplines. It introduces forensic speech science in a relatively non-technical way, assuming a reader who has no prior knowledge of the subject. The 2010 edition had a heavy focus on acoustic-phonetic statistical approaches to forensic voice comparison. The 2018 edition has a heavier focus on automatic approaches. The 2018 edition includes examples of forensic voice comparison based on real cases. The 2018 edition also includes expended coverage of other branches of forensic speech science. Topics covered include: The likelihood ratio framework for the evaluation of forensic evidence. Approaches to forensic voice comparison. Assessing the validity and reliability of forensic-comparison systems. Speaker identification by laypeople. Disputed utterance analysis.


Losing Faith: Emily Brontë's Revolutionized Religion" discusses the role of religion in her novel Wuthering Heights and her poems set in the mythical world of Gondal. Through close readings of both her prose and poetry, this paper seeks to understand the relationship between the dark, vindictive nature of Brontë's characters and their hopeful ending. The first chapter, Here's The Situation, discusses the situation as set up by the novel, focusing specifically on Catherine and Heathcliff. I discuss the violence and codependence of their relationship, their Gondal predecessors, their fascination with each other as well as their torment when apart, and the hell they create for themselves, and the characters themselves. Ultimately, this chapter answers the question: Who are Cathy and Heathcliff? And how do they effect the religion I describe? The second chapter, The Mediations, discusses the environment, both within the novel and without, which shaped these characters, looking at Haworth, England, as well as the churches, nature, and secondary characters in the novel. These things serve as mediators between the couple and their Higher Power. The third and final chapter, Another Way, discusses what we're left with at the novel's close, examining Catherine and Hareton in the wake of the first generation's passing. Born into a strange new world where God has already fallen, the second generation learns to live in this new world and, thereby, thrive.
 ©2019 by Emily Holmes All Rights Reserved


This article will attempt to show that there are at least two types of wh-doubling in
Romance. In some languages, such wh-doubling involves a complex DP of the form
[clitic wh-, wh-phrase], as in Illasi, Monno and the other North Eastern dialects of
Italy studied in Poletto and Pollock (2004), Munaro and Pollock (2005). In others, such
doubling configurations will be argued to result from merging a complex DP of the
form ['weak' wh-element, wh-phrase] in argument position. The latter we shall
show to be at the root of (some) doubling wh-structures in Mendrisiotto, the
language spoken in Mendrisio and its surroundings. Correspondingly Mendrisiotto
displays a tripartite distinction among wh-items: not only does it have clitic and
strong ('tonic') wh-items but also weak wh-words, in the sense of Cardinaletti and
Starke (1999).
As in our previous work on the Northern Italian dialects we shall show that the
structures and derivations at work in Mendrisiotto shed light on the syntax of French
questions. Just as Illasi suggested very strongly that clitic que ('what') in French was
paired with a null (strong) associate, Mendrisiotto suggests equally strongly that
French quoi ('what') is the lexical counterpart of the null associate of the weak form
cusa ('what') in Mendrisiotto.
This hypothesis will be shown to play a major part in a satisfactory explanation
of many apparently specific properties of French quoi. The rest of paper will provide
a new analysis of French embedded ce que questions, (Qu-) est-ce que questions,
'diable' questions and so-called wh-in situ constructions.


The effect of economy-wide political uncertainty on stock market returns is well documented in the literature. However, in order to take a stand on the relation between firm-specific political risk and the cross-section of stock returns, we need a measure independent of those returns. Using a machine-learning based firm-specific measure of political risk, we show that political risk is priced in the cross-section of stock returns. On average, a one standard deviation increase in a firm's political risk is associated with a 0.5% to 1.0% increase in their annual returns. Using a related non-price measure that captures the mean of a firm's political-shocks, we disentangle whether the asset pricing implications of political risk stem from news about the discount rate or future cash flows. We further show that political risk is priced only for firms that do not actively manage political risk. Finally, using a natural language processing (NLP) enabled measure of risk associated with political topics, we examine how (and to what extent) sub-components of political risk are priced.


Come Hither to Go Yonder: Playing Bluegrass with Bill Monroe. By Bob Black. Foreword by Neil Rosenberg. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2005. Pp. xiv + 188, foreword, acknowledgments, introduction, photographs, appendices, notes, biblio-discography, index. $40.00 cloth, $21.95 paper); From Every Stage: Images of America's Roots Music. By Stephanie P. Ledgin. Foreword by Charles Osgood. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. Pp. xiv + 146, foreword, preface, acknowledgments, photographs, index. $38.00 cloth) Bill Monroe was the Father of Bluegrass-and though some may argue about the extent to which this honorary title is actually warranted, it is certain that without Bill Monroe the style of acoustic country music he played for over six decades would not exist in its present form, or indeed even be called bluegrass. In the history of bluegrass music, no other band has the legendary status of the group that Monroe assembled in 1945 for WSM's Grand Ole Opry program in Nashville. This group included Lester Flatt on guitar and lead vocals, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts (also known as Cedric Rainwater) on standup bass, and of course featured Monroe on mandolin and high-tenor vocals. The band had a driving instrumental style that showcased young Scruggs's innovative rapid three-finger banjo breaks, as well as Monroe's mandolin playing, which was based on fiddle tunes he learned growing up in Rosine, Kentucky, from players such as Pendleton Vandiver, his beloved Uncle Pen. The first bluegrass band electrified audiences and inspired countless young musicians to play bluegrass. But this particular version of the Blue Grass Boys lasted only three years. By 1948, both Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs had left to form their own highly influential group. This departure set a pattern for Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, who through the years featured many young players who eventually moved on to form and play in other bands, including those fronted by Mac Wiseman, the Osborne Brothers, and Jimmy Martin and his Tennessee Mountain Boys. Banjo player Bob Black, originally from Shenandoah, Iowa, has written an enjoyable retrospective of his own two-year stint as a very young member of the Blue Grass Boys in 1975 and 1976. Bluegrass aficionados will find much insider information and engaging storytelling here-for example, the teenaged Black's audition before Monroe was immediately followed by his first road trip with the band. The book includes interesting accounts as well of Monroe's annual bluegrass festival at Bean Blossom, Indiana, and of playing for live audiences on the weekly Grand Ole Opry radio program. Black also shares stories about his bandmates, particularly longtime fiddler Kenny Baker and guitarist-singer Ralph Lewis. Black's memoir plainly shows that being a successful member of Bill Monroe's band required (beyond an extraordinary ability to learn and perform a particular style of music) endurance, character, and willingness to engage now and then in strenuous physical labor on Bill Monroe's farm outside Nashville. …


The max-product "belief propagation" algorithm has received a lot of attention recently due to its spectacular success in many application areas such as iterative decoding, computer vision and combinatorial optimization. There is a lot of ongoing work investigating the theoretical properties of the algorithm. In our previous work (2005) we showed that the max-product algorithm can be used to solve the problem of finding the maximum weight matching (MWM) in a weighted complete bipartite graph. However, for a graph with n nodes the max-product algorithm requires O(n4) operations to find the MWM compared to O(n3) for best known algorithms such as those proposed by Edmonds and Karp (1972) and Bertsekas (1988). In this paper, we simplify the max-product algorithm to reduce the number of operations required to O(n3). The simplified algorithm has very similar dynamics to the well-known auction algorithm of Bertsekas (1988). To make this connection precise, we show that the max-product and auction algorithms, when slightly modified, are equivalent. We study the correctness of this modified algorithm. There is a tantalizing similarity between this connection and a recently observed connection between the max-product and LP-based algorithms for iterative decoding by Vontobel and Koetter


Background: Like any research discipline, software engineering research must be of a certain quality to be valuable. High quality research in software engineering ensures that knowledge is accumulated and helpful advice is given to the industry. One way of assessing research quality is to conduct systematic reviews of the published research literature. Objective: The purpose of this work was to assess the quality of published experiments in software engineering with respect to the validity of inference and the quality of reporting. More specifically, the aim was to investigate the level of statistical power, the analysis of effect size, the handling of selection bias in quasi-experiments, and the completeness and consistency of the reporting of information regarding subjects, experimental settings, design, analysis, and validity. Furthermore, the work aimed at providing suggestions for improvements, using the potential deficiencies detected as a basis. Method: The quality was assessed by conducting a systematic review of the 113 experiments published in nine major software engineering journals and three conference proceedings in the decade 1993-2002. Results: The review revealed that software engineering experiments were generally designed with unacceptably low power and that inadequate attention was paid to issues of statistical power. Effect sizes were sparsely reported and not interpreted with respect to their practical importance for the particular context. There seemed to be little awareness of the importance of controlling for selection bias in quasi-experiments. Moreover, the review revealed a need for more complete and standardized reporting of information, which is crucial for understanding software engineering experiments and judging their results. Implications: The consequence of low power is that the actual effects of software engineering technologies will not be detected to an acceptable extent. The lack of reporting of effect sizes and the improper interpretation of effect sizes result in ignorance of the practical importance, and thereby the relevance to industry, of experimental results. The lack of control for selection bias in quasi-experiments may make these experiments less credible than randomized experiments. This is an unsatisfactory situation, because quasiexperiments serve an important role in investigating cause-effect relationships in software engineering, for example, in industrial settings. Finally, the incomplete and unstandardized reporting makes it difficult for the reader to understand an experiment and judge its results. Conclusions: Insufficient quality was revealed in the reviewed experiments. This has implications for inferences drawn from the experiments and might in turn lead to the accumulation of erroneous information and the offering of misleading advice to the industry. Ways to improve this situation are suggested.


This paper forms part of the second major public data release of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). In this work, we describe the identification of optical and near-infrared counterparts to the submillimetre detected sources in the 177 deg2 North Galactic Plane (NGP) field. We used the likelihood ratio method to identify counterparts in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and in the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope Imaging Deep Sky Survey within a search radius of 10 arcsec of the H-ATLAS sources with a 4σ detection at 250 μm. We obtained reliable (R ≥ 0.8) optical counterparts with r < 22.4 for 42 429 H-ATLAS sources (37.8 per cent), with an estimated completeness of 71.7 per cent and a false identification rate of 4.7 per cent. We also identified counterparts in the near-infrared using deeper K-band data which covers a smaller ∼25 deg2. We found reliable near-infrared counterparts to 61.8 per cent of the 250-μm-selected sources within that area. We assessed the performance of the likelihood ratio method to identify optical and near-infrared counterparts taking into account the depth and area of both input catalogues. Using catalogues with the same surface density of objects in the overlapping ∼25 deg2 area, we obtained that the reliable fraction in the near-infrared (54.8 per cent) is significantly higher than in the optical (36.4 per cent). Finally, using deep radio data which covers a small region of the NGP field, we found that 80–90 per cent of our reliable identifications are correct.


Much of the academic commentary on the patent system's dysfunctions has focused on patent quality. The considerable attention paid to quality issues, while necessary, overlooks a much larger problem — one of patent quantity. The generation, examination, management, and monetization of an ever-increasing number of patents and applications exert distortionary effects on the patent system, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's prioritization of application processing over patent quality; the growth of patent thickets; the "anticommons" that impede innovation; and the rise of patent assertion entities. In a departure from the literature, this Article argues that the patent quantity problem must be solved first in order to solve the quality problem. Solving the quantity problem may also mitigate the other distortions in the patent system. Based on a situational analysis of the behavior of the patentees' agents — who have been largely overlooked in the patent reform literature — this Article proposes that a mechanism for mitigating the patent quantity problem (and its effects) may lie in a judicially-developed de facto working requirement for patent assertions.


In 2014, an urban biodiversity study sampling primarily from private backyards in Los Angeles, California (USA) collected 43 species of Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) previously unknown to science. These species have now been described, but their life histories are completely unknown. This study used traditional rearing techniques in an attempt to reveal the food resources needed for larval development and to shed light on the ecological roles of these new species. Despite dozens of attempts at attracting and rearing the newly-described flies with various substrates, however, our work failed to fully uncover any of the 43 life histories. Examination of collection data from preserved phorid flies in the extensive collection of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County offered few clues, none of which we were able to replicate in our work. Three of the new species were collected from a soil emergence trap, but this offers only partial data for their life histories. Our inability to attract these flies to a variety of decomposing materials, the supposed generalized larval food of phorid flies, points to the exciting potential for previously unrecorded, diverse, and specialized life histories.


Biodiesels can be the best renewable alternate energy source for diesel due to its economical and eco-friendly nature. The properties of the biodiesel depend on the individual fatty esters that the biodiesel is having. Important fuel properties of biodiesel influenced by the fatty acid profile of the various fatty esters are cetane number, cold flow, oxidative stability, and viscosity. In this study cardanol oil and its ethyl ester have been chosen to find out their suitability as petro-diesel. Experimental investigations were made to find out the physico-chemical properties of cardanol biofuel extracted from cashew nutshell and their ethyl esters produced through transesterification. The cardanol ethyl ester (CEE) was characterized as an alternative diesel fuel through series of ASTM standard fuel tests. A constant speed diesel engine, which develops 5.2 kW of power, was run with biodiesels and its performance was compared with diesel fuel. The CEE had 56% reduction of viscosity at 40°C and 9.2% heat value over its crude oil. Higher cetane number, specific gravity and lower flash and fire points were observed for CEE compared with neat diesel fuel. The fatty acid composition shows 10.8% increase in saturated and 23.4% decrease in unsaturated fat after tranesterification and their values were found to be within limits set by various international standards for biodiesel.


THE ROLE OF p62 IN OSTEOCLASTOGENESIS AND PAGET'S DISEASE OF BONE by Tamer M. A. Hadi, M.S., Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Director: Jolene J. Windle, Ph.D. Irene Shaw Grigg Distinguished Professor, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics Director, VCU Transgenic/Knock-out Mouse Core Cancer Molecular Genetics Program Co-leader, Massey Cancer Center Paget's disease (PDB) is the second most common metabolic bone disease after osteoporosis, affecting up to 3% of adults over age 55. It is characterized by focal lesions of bone resorbed by hyperactive osteoclasts coupled with rapid formation of highly disorganized, low quality bone formed by osteoblasts. Such lesions cause skeletal deformity, fractures, and other symptoms that significantly decrease quality of life. In 2001, mutations in the SQSTM1/p62 gene were found in a subset of Paget's patients. The work summarized in this dissertation sought to answer two broad questions: what is the function of p62 in normal bone homeostasis and how do PDB-associated mutations alter it? These studies took advantage of two mouse models: p62 knock-out (KO) mice, and p62P394L "knock-in" (KI) mice carrying the most common PDB-associated mutation. KO, KI, and wildtype (WT) controls were aged to one year for skeletal-histological characterization. No differences were observed in a variety of bone parameters between WT and KO bones, while bones from age-matched KI mice exhibited a 33% decrease in bone volume and a 25% increase in osteoclast formation. In vivo, TNF-α caused a potent induction of osteoclastogenesis in calvariae of WT and KI, but not KO, mice. In vitro, RANKL induced osteoclast formation in a dose-dependent manner in WT and KI, but not KO, cultures. Gene expression profiling of RANKL-treated osteoclast progenitors from WT, KO, and KI mice was then performed to identify the changes in signaling pathways responsible for these effects. Surprisingly, gene expression patterns from all three groups were consistent with robust activation of NFκB signaling in RANKL-treated samples, indicating that p62 is dispensable for RANKL activation of NFκB. Interestingly, gene expression patterns in KO cells suggested impaired proliferation and response to reactive oxygen species (ROS), a finding which was confirmed in cell culture experiments. In contrast, KI cells displayed enrichment for genes associated with the unfolded protein response, consistent with p62's role in ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation via proteolysis and autophagy. These studies have therefore generated several novel hypotheses concerning the role of p62 in both normal bone homeostasis and Paget's disease of bone.


Recent advances in quantum dots (QDs) for classical and non-classical light sources are presented. We have established metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technology for InAs-based Q D lasers at 1.3 \mm and achieved ultralow threshold in Q D lasers with photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavity. In addition, single photon emitters at 1.55 µm, GaN-based single photon sources operating at 200 K, and high- PhC nanocavity have been demonstrated.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Botulinum toxin (BTX) is one of the most potent bacterial toxins known and its effectiveness in the treatment of some pain syndromes is well known. However, the efficacy of some of its indications is still in the process of being confirmed. The objective of this study was to review the history, pharmacological properties, and clinical applications of BTX in the treatment of pain of different origins.

CONTENTS
Botulinum toxin is produced by fermentation of Clostridium botulinum, a Gram-positive, anaerobic bacterium. Commercially, BTX comes in two presentations, types A and B. Botulinum toxin, a neurotoxin with high affinity for cholinergic synapses, blocks the release of acetylcholine by nerve endings without interfering with neuronal conduction of electrical signals or synthesis and storage of acetylcholine. It has been proven that BTX can selectively weaken painful muscles, interrupting the spasm-pain cycle. Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of BTX-A in the treatment of tension headaches, migraines, chronic lumbar pain, and myofascial pain.

CONCLUSIONS
Botulinum toxin type A is well tolerated in the treatment of chronic pain disorders in which pharmacotherapy regimens can cause side effects. The reduction in the consumption of analgesics and length of action of 3 to 4 months per dose represent other advantages of its use. However, further studies are necessary to establish the efficacy of BTX-A in chronic pain disorders and its exact mechanism of action, as well as its potential in multifactorial treatments.


This original and innovative textbook takes the unique perspective of introducing and solving problems in quantum mechanics using linear algebra methods, to equip readers with a deeper and more practical understanding of this fundamental pillar of contemporary physics. Extensive motivation for the properties of quantum mechanics, Hilbert space, and the Schrödinger equation is provided through analysis of the derivative, while standard topics like the harmonic oscillator, rotations, and the hydrogen atom are covered from within the context of operator methods.

Advanced topics forming the basis of modern physics research are also included, such as the density matrix, entropy, and measures of entanglement. Written for an undergraduate audience, this book offers a unique and mathematically self-contained treatment of this hugely important topic. Students are guided gently through the text by the author's engaging writing style, with an extensive glossary provided for reference and numerous homework problems to expand and develop key concepts. Online resources for instructors include a fully worked solutions manual and lecture slides.


SUMMARY This paper presents an adaptive actuator failure compensation method, which compensates for uncertainties due to unknown actuator failures for redundant manipulator systems. The method is first developed for manipulators whose joints are concurrently actuated. While physical realization of concurrently actuated manipulators and the advantages of their use have been understood before, in this paper failure modeling, controller structure, and adaptive update rules for handling uncertainties from the actuator failures are studied. The adaptive actuator failure compensation method is then expanded for a cooperating multiple manipulator system with uncertain actuator failures. Dynamic equations of such a multiple manipulator system in the task space are derived and the adaptive actuator failure compensation problem is formulated in the task space, for which a compensation controller structure is proposed with stable adaptive parameter update laws. The adaptive control scheme is able to compensate for the uncertainties of system parameters and actuator failures in a more general sense. For both cases, closed-loop system stability and asymptotic tracking are proved, despite uncertain system failures.


Hypoglycemia has been incriminated as a possible factor responsible for development of the hypoglycemia unawareness phenomenon in patients with type I diabetes. Many patients with this condition, however, do not have a history of recent hypoglycemia. Because asymptomatic nocturnal hypoglycemia commonly occurs in type I diabetes, we tested the hypothesis that such episodes might be capable of inducing this phenomenon. Accordingly, autonomic and neuroglycopenic symptoms, counterregulatory hormone responses, and cognitive function were assessed during standardized insulin-induced hypoglycemia in 10 normal volunteer subjects on two occasions—once after induction of asymptomatic nocturnal hypoglycemia and once after control studies in which saline rather than insulin was infused overnight. Compared with control experiments, asymptomatic nocturnal hypoglycemia increased the threshold (required greater hypoglycemia for initiation) and reduced the magnitude of autonomic and neuroglycopenic symptoms, counterregulatory hormone responses, and cognitive dysfunction during subsequent hypoglycemia (all, P < 0.05). These results indicate that asymptomatic hypoglycemia may induce hypoglycemia unawareness and, thus, may explain why not every patient with this condition has a history of prior hypoglycemia. Our results therefore support the concept that in type I diabetes this phenomenon may be largely attributable to antecedent hypoglycemia.


Although interest in contemplative pedagogies has grown considerably in higher education, faculty have relatively few resources available to help them make evidence-based choices about the use of different contemplative pedagogies in particular disciplinary or course contexts. We propose adapting a framework from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to serve as a heuristic for assessment of the design and implementation of these practices. After outlining this framework, we provide concrete examples from undergraduate courses to explore how a SoTL-informed design, implementation, and assessment process could be applied to the utilization of contemplative pedagogies. The examples suggest that there are many ways in which practices can be incorporated in support of deepening student learning and creating transformative learning opportunities for our students. We conclude with reflections on the potential and the limitations of this approach.


In every field of human life, automation has become more important. But there are also many areas where more common methods are being used. The restaurant ordering system is one such area.The goal of this project is to create a touch-based food ordering methd as well as a secure payment process which can be used to change the conventional ordering process. For general, the food ordering procedure as actually given in the menu card format in restaurant, then the customer will have to choose the food item, so the server would have to come back and take their orders, which is really a long method of processing. The paper recommended a completely integrated ordering system, in which a more user-friendly and touch screen menu card replaces the conventional paper-based menu ordering process. A computer consists of a microcontroller which is connected to the input and output devices. The input device has become a touch screen module placed on the monitor of the HMI (Human-Machine Interface) that takes feedback from the consumer and input from the microcontroller. The LCD output module in a kitchen and cashier or the manager system that displays the customer order. The RF transceiver module, as well as the cashier/manager system, connects to the table and kitchen system.On the HMI display, the microcontroller displays menu entries as well. At the receiving end, the chosen objects are shown on the LCD, and at the buzzer the latest order will be shown. . Payment can be made with the QR code after completion of your meals from your reserved seat. This technology requires no power from humans and saves time.


The beliefs about how to ethically treat those with mental illness have fluctuated considerably throughout the centuries in the United States. As a part of the community mental health movement, some mental health treatment is now provided in residential settings. The purpose of this study is to gain further understanding of social workers' practice of professional boundaries within this specific mental health treatment modality. Using a qualitative design, six Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSWs) employed within Minnesota Intensive Residential Treatment Services (IRTS) facilities were interviewed. Data were analyzed using inductive grounded theory and open coding which revealed the findings and suggested implications for future research and social work practice. The findings indicate that individuals' understanding of the professional boundary concept is largely socially-constructed. Social workers in residential mental health treatment settings practice professional boundaries in three main ways: 1) informing clients of their professional versus personal role, 2) using limited selfdisclosure, and 3) role modeling/teaching generalizable skills. In addition, the social workers described how their practice was influenced by the unique aspects of the treatment modality – providing 24-hour care for clients in a home-like setting. Finally, the data show that social workers believe a consensus in professional boundary practice among the IRTS facility staff is best practice, but this does not always occur due to staff's differing professional roles and levels of experience. These findings indicate both the need for continued research as well as practical implications for social work practice – namely the importance of having frequent discussions about professional boundary practice within mental health treatment teams. BOUNDARIES IN RESIDENTIAL MH TREATMENT SETTINGS 3


The influence of herbicides-pyroligneous acids mixtures on soil chemical properties, growth and grain quality of paddy rice (Japonica cv. Ilpum) was evaluated in a field experiment. There were thirteen treatments including control (hand weeding), 100% and 50% application rate of three herbicides: Azimsulfuron+cafenstrole (AC), Mefenacet+pyrazosulfuron-ethyl (MPE) and Betazone+cyhalofop-butyl (BCB) and 6 combination of three types of herbicides at 50% recommended rate (RR) diluted with two types of pyroligneous acids: wood vinegar (WV) and rice vinegar (RV) at 500× dilutions; laid out in randomized complete block design with four replications. Results showed that lower application rate of herbicides combined with WV or RV gave a comparable effect in controlling weeds and on plant growth and chlorophyll content with their respective 100% RR application rate. Among different treatments, 50% AC + WV increased the number of spikelet per panicle and improved the grain quality compared to 100% AC. Treatment 50%MPE+RV decreased the spikelet number per panicle while 50% BCB+WV also reduced spikelet number per panicle, total protein content, and whole grain yield. After harvest, soil acidity, organic matter (OM), available P and EC increased due to treatments application. Overall, depending on the herbicide type, mixing 50% RR of herbicides with 500× of RV or WV dilutions can effectively control the weeds in paddy rice such as Echinochloa crusgalli, Monochoria vaginalis and Scirpus juncoides without suppressing the growth, and yield of rice with acceptable soil impacts that promotes environment health. © 2015 Friends Science Publishers


Is monetary policy less effective in boosting aggregate demand and output during periods of persistently low interest rates? This paper reviews the reasons why this might be the case and the corresponding empirical evidence. Transmission could be weaker for two main reasons: (i) headwinds, which would typically arise in the wake of balance sheet recessions, when interest rates are low; and (ii) inherent non-linearities, which would kick in when interest rates are persistently low and would dampen their impact on spending. Our review of the evidence suggests that headwinds during the recovery from balance-sheet recessions tend to reduce monetary policy effectiveness. At the same time, there is also evidence of inherent non-linearities. That said, disentangling the two types of effect is very hard, not least given the limited extant work on this issue. In addition, there appears to be an independent role for nominal rates in the transmission process, regardless of the level of real (inflation-adjusted) rates.


Simulation can be defined as malingering, or sometimes functional visual loss (FVL). It manifests as either simulating an ophthalmic disease (positive simulation), or denial of ophthalmic disease (negative simulation). Conscious behavior and compensation or indemnity claims are prominent features of simulation. Since some authors suggest that this is a manifestation of underlying psychopathology, even conversion is included in this context. In today's world, every ophthalmologist can face with simulation of ophthalmic disease or disorder. In case of simulation suspect, the physician's responsibility is to prove the simulation considering the disease/disorder first, and simulation as an exclusion. In simulation examinations, the physician should be firm and smart to select appropriate test(s) to convince not only the subject, but also the judge in case of indemnity or compensation trials. Almost all ophthalmic sensory and motor functions including visual acuity, visual field, color vision and night vision can be the subject of simulation. Examiner must be skillful in selecting the most appropriate test. Apart from those in the literature, we included all kinds of simulation in ophthalmology. In addition, simulation examination techniques, such as, use of optical coherence tomography, frequency doubling perimetry (FDP), and modified polarization tests were also included. In this review, we made a thorough literature search, and added our experiences to give the readers up-to-date information on malingering or simulation in ophthalmology.


With ongoing collaboration among general education teachers, special education teachers, related services professionals, and parents, students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can receive a quality education alongside their typically developing peers. This article provides strategies to promote the successful inclusion of students with ASDs in general education classrooms. The suggestions provided are categorized by preventive, supportive, and corrective strategies and techniques. These strategies can provide general education teachers with a set of tools that enable them to be proactive in preventing behavior, academic, and social problems; enhance instruction and enable students to reach their full potential; and address problems if and when they do arise. Special emphasis is given to strategies to increase active engagement in instructional activities.


This paper demonstrates experimentally, theoretically, and numerically a wide-range tunability of electrothermally actuated MEMS arch beams. The beams are made of silicon and are intentionally fabricated with some curvature as in-plane shallow arches. Analytical results based on the Galerkin discretization of the Euler Bernoulli beam theory are generated and compared to the experimental data and results of a multi-physics finite-element model. A good agreement is found among all the results. The electrothermal voltage is applied between the anchors of the clamped-clamped MEMS arch beam, generating a current that passes through the MEMS arch beam and controls its axial stress caused by thermal expansion. When the electrothermal voltage increases, the compressive stress increases inside the arch beam. This leads to increase in its curvature, thereby increases the resonance frequencies of the structure. We show here that the first resonance frequency can increase up to twice its initial value. We show also that after some electro-thermal voltage load, the third resonance frequency starts to become more sensitive to the axial thermal stress, while the first resonance frequency becomes less sensitive. These results can be used as guidelines to utilize arches as wide-range tunable resonators.Copyright © 2016 by ASME


Several theorems are known concerning symmetry relations between monochromatic wave fields that propagate either into the same half-space (z > 0) or into complementary half-spaces (z > 0 and z < 0) and that are complex conjugates of each other in some cross-sectional plane z = constant. The theorems derived up to now apply only to wave fields that do not contain inhomogeneous (evanescent) components. In the present paper two of the main theorems are generalized to a wider class of fields. It is found that homogeneous and inhomogeneous components of a wave field have quite different symmetry properties under phase conjugation. The results are illustrated by a discussion of the behavior of plane waves, both homogeneous and evanescent ones, which undergo phase conjugation followed by transmission or by reflection.


The aim of this essay is to unveil the interconnection between various instances of incarnation expressed in Allen Ginsberg's seminal twentieth century poem "Howl". The Beat author seemingly plays with the theological notion of Incarnation and uses it as main analogy for the spiritual embodiment of his poetic/linguistic creation – that is the poem itself –, which is closely linked to the physical body of the prophet as well as to the sound and technique behind jazz music, particularly bebop. Firstly, a brief overview of Incarnation in Christian terms will be given in order to stress the necessary conditions for the coexistence of spirit and matter in the person of Jesus Christ, emphasizing language as a medium of expression that recalls Messianic mediation. Subsequently, Ginsberg's use of incarnational language will be linked to the act of physical consumption in remembrance and celebration of artistic incarnation. This act acquires a similar function to that of the Eucharist, while the structural and thematic composition of "Howl" – that embodies the spontaneity of bebop and the sound of the saxophone howling the suffering of Christ – will allow for a musical incarnation with the help of jazz. Keywords: incarnation, Christ, artist, poetry, jazz.