Title of dissertation: ESSAYS ON EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Andrew Brudevold-Newman Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 Dissertation directed by: Professor Pamela Jakiela Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Almost all countries subsidize education. These subsidies are generally designed to account for positive social returns to education and a recognition of education as a basic human right. Without subsidies, credit constraints may preclude children from attending school. While the availability of low-cost private schooling is increasing, it is likely that governments, through these subsidy programs, will be responsible for ensuring access to a quality education for all children. The first two papers of my dissertation examine government implemented formal education policies in Kenya designed to improve access to secondary schooling and the quality of selected secondary schools, respectively. My first paper exploits the introduction of a free secondary education program to examine the demand response to a supply side government program to improve access as well as measure the impacts of secondary schooling on demographic and labor market outcomes. My second paper evaluates a school upgrade program designed to improve school quality at selected secondary schools. In many developing countries formal education is often insufficient, however, to ensure that individuals are able to enter the formal labor market. With this in mind, in my third paper, I examine a multifaceted labor market intervention implemented by an international NGO that was designed to improve labor market outcomes for young women who have already completed or dropped out of formal schooling. ESSAYS ON EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES


BACKGROUND
Students' perspective on education is of crucial importance for its effectivity, but students' opinions are seldom acknowledged by teachers and designers. Student participation in the educational design process could be a suitable tool to better take students' preferences into account. However, for effective participatory design, it is necessary to know whether students have stable preferences for the design of their education. Changeability of preferences would require a more continuing design process allowing continuous adaptations.

AIMS
This longitudinal survey study aimed to determine the changeability over time of students' preferences for different aspects of a learning environment. Additionally, causes of possible changes in preferences are investigated.

SAMPLE
The participants were 1,335 high school students of five schools for secondary education in the Netherlands, joining this study during a period of 2 years.

METHOD
Data about students' preferences were collected at three moments, using the Inventory of Perceived Study Environment Extended. Learning-related student characteristics, such as processing strategies and motivational orientations, were measured with the Inventory of Learning Styles. Additionally, data on learning performances were collected.

RESULTS
The results showed stability on preferences for almost all studied characteristics of the learning environment. Particularly remarkable was a drop in desirability for student autonomy. This was larger for students with a certificate-oriented motivation and smaller for self-regulated students. Additionally, poorly performing students had a larger decrease in preference for autonomy.

CONCLUSIONS
The stability on most aspects supports that participatory design might result in fairly stable instructional designs, although caution is needed with respect to student autonomy.


In this paper, we investigate slow light via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a room temperature optical fiber that is pumped by a spectrally broadened laser. Broadening the spectrum of the pump field increases the linewidth Deltaomegap of the Stokes amplifying resonance, thereby increasing the slow-light bandwidth. One physical bandwidth limitation occurs when the linewidth becomes several times larger than the Brillouin frequency shift OmegaB so that the anti-Stokes absorbing resonance substantially cancels out the Stokes amplifying resonance and, hence, the slow-light effect. We find that partial overlap of the Stokes and anti-Stokes resonances can actually lead to an enhancement of the slow-light delay-bandwidth product when Deltaomegapsime1.3OmegaB. Using this general approach, we increase the Brillouin slow-light bandwidth to over 12 GHz from its nominal linewidth of ~30 MHz obtained for monochromatic pumping. We controllably delay 75-ps-long pulses by up to 47 ps and study the data-pattern dependence of the broadband SBS slow-light system


3D printing is gaining popularity by providing a tool for fast, cost-effective, and highly customizable fabrication. However, little is known about the toxicity of 3D-printed objects. In this work, we assess the toxicity of printed parts from two main classes of commercial 3D printers, fused deposition modeling and stereolithography. We assessed the toxicity of these 3D-printed parts using zebrafish (Danio rerio), a widely used model organism in aquatic toxicology. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to 3D-printed parts and monitored for rates of survival, hatching, and developmental abnormalities. We found that parts from both types of printers were measurably toxic to zebrafish embryos, with STL-printed parts significantly more toxic than FDM-printed parts. We also developed a simple post-printing treatment (exposure to ultraviolet light) that largely mitigates the toxicity of the STL-printed parts. Our results call attention to the need for strategies for the safe disposal of 3D-printed parts and printer wa...


Purpose: Prior studies have examined autobiographical screening methods among medical student applicants, and demonstrated halo bias with single-rater scoring; though others have questioned its practical significance. Comparing with traditional vertical screening method, we evaluated a horizontal method for initial screening of Post-Graduate Year-1 (PGY-1) pharmacy practice resident candidate applications prior to interviews.
Methods: Our screening rubric for PGY-1 pharmacy residency candidates consisted of eight criteria, each scored using a 5-point Likert scale. During the 2014 residency recruitment season, two single-evaluators (A&B) scored all eight criteria and their scores were summed into total application scores (vertical method). Meanwhile two other evaluators (C&D) each evaluated only two criteria for all applications. The four combined-evaluators (A-D) scores, on two criteria each, were summed together into total application scores (horizontal method). For statistical comparison of single-evaluator and combined-evaluators, inter-component reliabilities were analyzed for each evaluator, while inter-rater consistency was also examined. For practical significance, actual selection differences were reviewed.
Results:Forty-six applications were evaluated to determine 24 invitations for on-site interviews. Inter-component reliability differed among evaluatorA, evaluatorB, combined-evaluators A-D (Cronbach's alpha of 0.74, 0.73, 0.58, respectively; lower better). Among raters, inter-rater consistency was excellent (0.86 by intraclass correlation, p
Conclusion: Halo bias was seen with the single-evaluators (vertical method); two interview invitations were negatively impacted. For pharmacy resident screening, a horizontal screening method appears to be rigorous in promoting fairness for applicants. As pharmacy residency applications continue to grow, a fair and time-efficient method of screening seems imperative.

Type: Original Research


Background
Travellers are at risk of acquiring infectious diseases during travel, with risks differing by destination, travel and traveller characteristics. A pre-travel health consultation may minimize this risk. However, uptake of pre-travel health advice remains low. We investigated pre-travel health preparations and disease-specific risk behaviours among notified cases of selected travel-associated infectious diseases imported into Australia.

Methods
Prospective enhanced surveillance of notified cases of typhoid, paratyphoid, measles, hepatitis A, hepatitis E, malaria and chikungunya was conducted in two Australian states between February 2013 and January 2014. Details of pre-travel health preparation and disease-specific risk behaviours were collected.

Results
Among 180 cases associated with international travel, 28% were <18 years, 65% were VFR travellers and 22% were frequent travellers, having travelled ≥5 times in the past 5 years. 25% had sought pre-travel advice from a healthcare provider, and 16% reported a pre-travel vaccine. Seeking pre-travel health advice did not differ by immigrant status ( P  = 0.22) or by reason for travel ( P  = 0.13) but was more commonly sought by first time travellers ( P  = 0.03). Travellers visiting friends and relatives were more likely to report at-risk activities of brushing teeth with tap water ( P  < 0.001) and eating uncooked food ( P  = 0.03) during travel compared to other travellers.

Conclusions
Pre-travel health advice seeking practices and vaccine uptake was suboptimal among cases of notified disease. The results of this study highlight the need for a better understanding of barriers to pre-travel health seeking, particularly among high risk travellers, to reduce the importation of infectious diseases into Australia.


BACKGROUND
Valid instruments of parenting practices related to children's physical activity (PA) are essential to understand how parents affect preschoolers' PA. This study developed and validated a questionnaire of PA-related parenting practices for Chinese-speaking parents of preschoolers in Hong Kong.

METHODS
Parents (n = 394) completed a questionnaire developed using findings from formative qualitative research and literature searches. Test-retest reliability was determined on a subsample (n = 61). Factorial validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Subscale internal consistency was determined.

RESULTS
The scale of parenting practices encouraging PA comprised 2 latent factors: Modeling, structure and participatory engagement in PA (23 items), and Provision of appropriate places for child's PA (4 items). The scale of parenting practices discouraging PA scale encompassed 4 latent factors: Safety concern/overprotection (6 items), Psychological/behavioral control (5 items), Promoting inactivity (4 items), and Promoting screen time (2 items). Test-retest reliabilities were moderate to excellent (0.58 to 0.82), and internal subscale reliabilities were acceptable (0.63 to 0.89).

CONCLUSION
We developed a theory-based questionnaire for assessing PA-related parenting practices among Chinese-speaking parents of Hong Kong preschoolers. While some items were context and culture specific, many were similar to those previously found in other populations, indicating a degree of construct generalizability across cultures.


Diagnosis of type 2 Brugada pattern (BP) (saddle-back morphology) remains challenging because it could be confused with other ECG patterns with a similar morphology of R' in leads V1-V2. This is particular important in healthy athletes where a wrong diagnosis may imply unnecessary discontinuation of physical activity at a competitive level. Aim: To evaluate new and recently published ECG criteria to differentiate type-2 Brugada pattern from incomplete right bundle branch block in athletes. Methods: Surface ECGs from 50 patients with confirmed type-2 Brugada pattern and 58 healthy athletes with R' in leads V1-V2 were compared by two independent observers. The characteristics of the triangle formed by the ascendant and descendant arms of the R' in leads V1-V2 were compared. We analyzed the β angle, the duration of the base of triangle at 5 mm from the high take-off and the duration of the base of the triangle at baseline. ROC-curves were constructed. A p-value 37o in leads V1-V2 was 85.6% and the specificity was 84.5% (p 4 mm in V1-V2 was 80.2% and the specificity was 86.4% (p 1.4 mm in V1-V2 was 89.7% and the specificity was 79.3% (p < 0.04). Conclusions: The three ECG criteria demonstrated high accuracy to distinguish both groups. However, the duration of the base of the triangle at 5 mm of take-off is the easiest method and could be used in clinical practice.. Diagnosis of type 2-3 Brugada pattern (BP) (saddle-back morphology) often presents some difficulties because may be confused with other patterns with R' in V1-V2.The aim of the study is to evaluate new ECG criteria taken from the study of the characteristics of R' in BP and athletes with the aim to recognize the best parameters to differentiate both groups


The houses in Newton Road are small, but people are very happy there. Then a civil engineer wants to knock down the houses and build a new road. The people of Newton Road are very angry. But can they win the battle?


In order to be effective general purpose machines in real world environments, robots not only will need to adapt their existing manipulation skills to new circumstances, they will need to acquire entirely new skills on-the-fly. A great promise of continual learning is to endow robots with this ability, by using their accumulated knowledge and experience from prior skills. We take a fresh look at this problem, by considering a setting in which the robot is limited to storing that knowledge and experience only in the form of learned skill policies. We show that storing skill policies, careful pre-training, and appropriately choosing when to transfer those skill policies is sufficient to build a continual learner in the context of robotic manipulation. We analyze which conditions are needed to transfer skills in the challenging Meta-World simulation benchmark. Using this analysis, we introduce a pair-wise metric relating skills that allows us to predict the effectiveness of skill transfer between tasks, and use it to reduce the problem of continual learning to curriculum selection. Given an appropriate curriculum, we show how to continually acquire robotic manipulation skills without forgetting, and using far fewer samples than needed to train them from scratch.


We test the proposition that it is possible to train the economically vulnerable, working poor of inner cities to make entrepreneurial discoveries. We demonstrate the effective use of a model of constrained, systematic search. We employ an experimental design with a control group using the alertness approach recommended by received theory and a treatment group using systematic search. Our results indicate the systematic search approach works 25 times better among a sample of the working poor. In addition, we operationalize systematic search training protocols and implementation. We conclude by discussing special challenges inherent in training the economically disadvantaged and suggest that the lack of trust of those from outside the local community necessitates the building of bridges to targeted residents. Bridge-building, as an integral part of public policy utilizing large-scale training, might be accomplished through reliance on established community relationships.


Studies on the effect of Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) leaves extract as corrosion inhibitor for mild steel corrosion caused by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans has been carried out. The extract provides 74% inhibition efficiency and is effective up to two weeks. Potentiodynamic polarization studies show the occurrence of pitting corrosion. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies reveal that the nature of the biofilm formed changes continuously. The scanning electron microscopy studies on samples immersed for different durations indicate two layers of different morphologies formed at the end of third and fourth weeks in the uninhibited sample. Energy dispersive x-ray diffraction studies show an increase in sulfide content in uninhibited sample indicating formation of corrosion products.


The starting point for this article is the need for empirical knowledge about organizational configuration for societal risk and safety management activities in a modern welfare society. In this paper, we use Sweden as an empirical frame to analyze the administrative management structure at the local governmental level. The analysis is based on statistical analysis of information from a web‐survey with administrative chief/head officials (n = 1283) with responsibilities for different municipal functions and sectors. The sample represented 25% of the Swedish municipalities (n = 290) and the response rate was approximately 60% (n = 766). The responses to two sets of questions (25 and 45 questions) are used for statistical analyses of management structures and task distribution within the municipal organizations. Principal component factor analyses with Varimax and Kaiser's Normalization was applied as a structure detection method. The results indicate a clear and uniform way to institutionalize societal risk and safety management at the local level. Furthermore, the management course of action is found to have different types of value characters. The implications that arise from the patterns identified in this study are considered to be of general relevance and topicality for research and practice in this area.


In this paper, we document the forecasting performance of estimated basic dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models and compare this to extended versions which consider alternative expectation formation assumptions and financial frictions. We also show how standard model features, such as price and wage rigidities, contribute to forecasting performance. It turns out that neither alternative expectation formation behaviour nor financial frictions can systematically increase the forecasting performance of basic DSGE models. Financial frictions improve forecasts only during periods of financial crises. However, traditional price and wage rigidities systematically help to increase the forecasting performance.


The base-metal and PGE contents of samples from magmatic sulfide mineralization are commonly correlated with their sulfide contents, indicating that the metal contents of bulk sulfides remain approximately constant within a given prospect or part thereof. Calculated sulfide metal contents provide valuable information in mineral exploration and research, but there are few formal descriptions and analyses of the procedures. Sulfide metal contents are best calculated using an assumed value (35.7% S) for a typical pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-pentlandite mixture, and there appears to be little advantage in accounting for sulfide species separately. Regression of metal data against sulfur is probably the most rigorous approach, but is not always practical. Above 10% S, calculations are very robust, but lower sulfide contents generally demand at least some correction for non-sulfide-hosted metals. Such corrections can become significant below 5% S, and/or in olivine-rich samples. They are best accomplished by mass-balance calculations, using concentration data from unmineralized host rocks. Significant uncertainties are introduced by analytical errors for sulfur, base-metals, and PGE, which are commonly measured from separate sample aliquots. These combined errors in sulfide metal contents generally exceed ±10%, but expand further at low S contents. In general, treatment of data from samples containing <2.5% S must be approached with caution, especially for PGE, for which the exact host minerals may not be known. Application of the method in simple grade-potential assessment is straightforward, but research studies involving sulfide-poor samples are inherently more complex. Under-correction or over-correction of data for non-sulfide-hosted metals can lead to false negative or positive correlations between sulfide metal contents and sulfide content. As the latter may itself be linked to geological parameters, such as depth within an intrusive body, undue significance could be ascribed to such trends. There are also valid geological reasons for such correlations, and such data require careful assessment to separate true and artificial variations. Propagated analytical uncertainties increase significantly in sulfide-poor samples, and must also be borne in mind whenever data from different localities or units are compared and contrasted.


As a result of the financial crisis of 2008, the employment compensation policies and decisions of Wall Street corporate boards have come under close scrutiny. Specifically, the willingness to approve company-wide compensation plans that resulted in the paying out of billions of dollars in bonuses, even in the face of deteriorating financial and economic conditions, has been a highlight of the controversy. If only these firms had retained the bulk of these large annual bonuses over the last several years when the financial markets were noticeably in decline, perhaps the economic impact of the current financial crisis would have been less severe. It is now understood that board approval of compensation policies that are heavily weighted toward large bonuses can encourage the pursuit of fake alpha and that the decisions to pay out huge amounts of company capital in the form of bonuses may primarily be the result of fake alpha being successfully achieved. In terms of corporate governance, these decisions reveal how opportunistic rent seeking stakeholders can pressure the corporate board into excessively risky decisions that can jeopardize the financial health of the corporation. The question then becomes whether corporate law needs to be modified to deal with this weakness in corporate governance and if so, how should it be done. In this article, it is argued that courts should require a public company's board - a board composed of a majority of presumably independent and disinterested members - to fulfill an enhanced duty in the process of deciding to approve policies or making decisions that on their face implicate both opportunistic rent seeking behavior on the part of one or more company stakeholders and the financial health of the firm. Such board decisions would necessarily include, among others, those decisions that involve moving massive amounts of cash out of the company and into the pockets of one or more stakeholders (huge company-wide bonuses, large executive management team compensation, large dividend payouts, aggressive stock buybacks, etc.).


Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a heterogeneous family of immune cells that play a critical role in a variety of immune processes including host defence against infection, wound healing and tissue repair. Whether these cells are involved in lipid-dependent immunity remains unexplored. Here we show that murine ILCs from a variety of tissues express the lipid-presenting molecule CD1d, with group 3 ILCs (ILC3s) showing the highest level of expression. Within the ILC3 family, natural cytotoxicity triggering receptor (NCR) CCR6 cells displayed the highest levels of CD1d. Expression of CD1d on ILCs is functionally relevant as ILC3s can acquire lipids in vitro and in vivo and load lipids on CD1d to mediate presentation to the T-cell receptor of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. Conversely, engagement of CD1d in vitro and administration of lipid antigen in vivo induce ILC3 activation and production of IL-22. Taken together, our data expose a previously unappreciated role for ILCs in CD1d-mediated immunity, which can modulate tissue homeostasis and inflammatory responses.


Three-Argument Dative constructions in Hebrew include two sub constructions, each with a specific form-meaning correlation, a specific usage pattern, and a particular discursive context. Syntactically, the two sub-constructions differ in that the THEME argument can be either (i) a noun phrase, or (ii) an infinitival predicate. In particular, the verb natan 'give' represents a prototypical construal in both sub-constructions. That is, with a NP THEME argument the verb natan 'give' has its literal meaning. With an infinitival THEME argument, however, the verb has the meaning of 'allow, enable.' Analyzing corpus data of the Infinitival complement Construction (ii), I account for these uses of the verb natan 'give' in a Usage-Based Construction Grammar perspective (Bybee, 2010). Utilizing the exploratory statistics techniques of Multidimensional Scaling (Borg and Groenen, 2005), Multiple Correspondence Analysis (Greenacre, 2010), and Hierarchical Classification on Principal Components (Husson et al., 2011) on corpus data, I show that multiple factors play a role in structuring an Argument Structure Construction. Furthermore, based on the bottom-up statistical analysis I argue that the verb's morphological paradigm is one of the main cues for interpreting the relevant event frame and Dative participant roles in Hebrew.


Purpose: High-risk neuroblastoma remains a therapeutic challenge for pediatric oncologists. The Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is highly expressed in many human cancers and is a target of the novel small-molecule inhibitor BI 2536, which has shown promising anticancer activity in adult malignancies. Here, we investigated the effect of BI 2536 on neuroblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo to explore PLK1 as a potential target in high-risk neuroblastoma therapy. Experimental Design: PLK1 transcript levels were analyzed by microarrays in 476 primary neuroblastoma specimens, and correlation with prognostic markers and patient outcome was examined. To explore the effect of PLK1 inhibition on neuroblastoma cells, 7 cell lines were treated with BI 2536 and changes in growth properties were determined. Furthermore, nude mice with IMR-32 and SK-N-AS xenografts were treated with BI 2536. Results: PLK1 is highly expressed in unfavorable neuroblastoma and in neuroblastoma cell lines. Expression of PLK1 is associated with unfavorable prognostic markers such as stage 4, age > 18 months, MYCN amplification, unfavorable gene expression-based classification, and adverse patient outcome ( P < 0.001 each). On treatment with nanomolar doses of BI 2536, all neuroblastoma cell lines analyzed showed significantly reduced proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and cell death. Moreover, BI 2536 abrogated growth of neuroblastoma xenografts in nude mice. Conclusions: Elevated PLK1 expression is significantly associated with high-risk neuroblastoma and unfavorable patient outcome. Inhibition of PLK1 using BI 2536 exhibits strong antitumor activity on human neuroblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo, opening encouraging new perspectives these data strongly suggest that targeting PLK1 by small molecule inhibitors could represent a new promising therapeutic strategy in the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma patients.


Robust, stratigraphic control and constraints on the timing of events have
been established for the Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic
succession that hosts the Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Ag orebody in western New South
Wales. Geologically consistent depositional, intrusive, and metamorphic ages are
elucidated by means of SHRIMP U-Pb analyses of zircon and integrated field
studies. Comparisons of the new SHRIMP results with those of previous studies
clarify some previously untenable age interpretations. A range of zircon provenance ages is found in albitic metasedimentary rocks
from one of the oldest recognized parts of the Willyama Supergroup (Thackaringa
Group). The zircons indicate maximum depositional ages of 1720 to 1730 Ma, and a
minimum stratigraphic age for the lower Thackaringa Group is constrained by the
1704 ± 3 Ma intrusive Alma Gneiss. The latter is the same age as gneissic
granitoid rocks in the Redan zone (southern Broken Hill Domain: 1703 ± 3, 1705±
 3 Ma). Felsic magmatism of this age has long been known in the contiguous
Olary Domain (South Australia), but has not been recognized previously at Broken
Hill. Depositional ages in the Broken Hill Group, the upper part of which hosts the
Pb-Zn-Ag orebody, indicate that the entire package was deposited within a period
of ca. 10 m.y. An age of 1685 ± 3 Ma for felsic metavolcaniclastic rocks in the
Hores Gneiss (spatially and stratigraphically associated with the ore horizon)
corroborates previous work. This age is within error of that determined for the
hanging-wall and footwall unit (Rasp Ridge Gneiss) of the orebody (1683 ± 3
Ma). It suggests that felsic magmatism in the Rasp Ridge Gneiss was coeval with
that of the Hores Gneiss. Previous interpretations, which suggested that the
Hores Gneiss is not a single stratigraphic entity but comprises younger
intrusions having ages from 1690 to1640 Ma, are not supported by our data and
conclusions. The stratigraphic integrity of the Broken Hill Group (excluding
some mafic intrusions) is further supported by results from an older formation
near its base, where tuffaceous metasedimentary rocks from the Ettlewood Calc-Silicate
Member (Allendale Metasediments) define an age of 1693 ± 4 Ma. This is in good
agreement with the age of 1693 ± 5 Ma for the immediately overlying Parnell
Formation. Provenance ages obtained from detrital zircons in Broken Hill Group psammites
indicate a remarkable uniformity of Paleoproterozoic and late-Archean source(s).
Generally matching provenance ages are found in the overlying Sundown Group
psammopelites, suggesting a stable flux of sediment fill as the basin deepened
and matured. Similar provenance is indicated for upper Paragon Group sedimentary
rocks, and inherited zircons in most of the younger granitoids have age spectra
similar to those of the detrital zircons. The perpetuation of these age
patterns, in both clastic detritus and magmatic xenocrysts, thus broadly
fingerprints exposed and buried older crustal elements that provided material to
produce the Willyama Supergroup basin fill. Tuffaceous metasiltstones in the middle Paragon Group (Bijerkerno
Metasediments) are interpreted to have been derived partly from air-fall
volcaniclastic material and give consistent depositional ages of 1655 ± 4 and
1657 ± 4 Ma in the northern Broken Hill and Euriowie blocks, respectively.
Younger tuffaceous metasiltstones in the upper Paragon Group (Dalnit Bore
Metasediments) provide a stratigraphically consistent, maximum depositional age
of 1642 ± 5 Ma. Zircon ages from granitoid intrusions that bracket the deformation events
suggest that the D 2 and D 3 deformations are inseparable
within the interval 1597 ± 3 to 1591 ± 5 Ma. Low Th/U zircon overgrowths are
ubiquitous and, irrespective of stratigraphic position, record metamorphic ages
of ~1600 Ma. Metamorphic rutile has the same age, confirming that high-grade
metamorphic event(s) and D 2 and D 3 structural events were
approximately synchronous. We find no isotopic support for any pre-1600 Ma,
high-grade metamorphic events. Using newly acquired local age control for the galena Pb isotope growth
curve, the new data support a stratigraphic (syngenetic or diagenetic) model of
primary ore formation for the Broken Hill orebody at ca. 1690 Ma, although the
present distribution of the lodes likely reflects displacement as a result of
later structural remobilization.


A major drawback with the use of most reverse engineering tools is that they were not designed with collaboration in mind. Numerous kludgy solutions exist from asynchronous use of the same data files to working on multiple copies of data files all of which quickly diverge, leaving the differences to somehow be reconciled. These methods and existing tools[1] provided a first step towards automated collaboration amongst IDA Pro[2] users, however they suffer from several shortcomings including the fact that tools have failed to keep pace with the evolution of IDA's internal architecture. In this paper the authors present a new collaborative tool, titled collabREate[3], designed to bring nearly effortless collaboration to IDA users.


Background The reporting of non-time loss injuries in community sport can be challenging due to infrequent contact between players and team medical staff. Text messaging or short messaging service (SMS) is a possible option for players to self-report these injuries. Objective Assess the incidence, site and inciting event of self-reported match injuries using SMS in men's community rugby union players. Design Using a cohort study design, consenting English community rugby players were contacted by SMS every Monday morning over a 33-week season with a follow-up on Tuesday for non-responders. Questions ascertained whether they played on the previous Saturday, whether they sustained an injury which 'inhibited or stopped them playing', the injured body site and if the injury event was contact or non-contact related. Setting English community rugby union during season 2015/16. Participants A total of 2990 players from 81 clubs were invited to participate. Mobile telephone numbers were provided by 1178 players (39%) from 41 clubs. The weekly mean response rate of players reporting whether or not they played was 61±2%. Independent variables Player match exposure, playing position. Main Outcome Measurements Injury incidence. Results Players reported 860 injuries over 9025 matches (71.5 injuries per 1000 player-match hours; 95% CI: 66.7–76.2). Contact events accounted for 84% of injuries. The head was the most commonly injured site (11.1; 95% CI: 9.2–12.9). Injury incidence was similar in forwards (68.7 95% CI 61.8–75.6) and backs (71.7 95% CI 64.1–79.6) but forwards reported a higher incidence of shoulder injuries than backs (9.8 95% CI: 7.2–12.4 versus 5.4 95% CI: 3.3–7.5; P=0.014) and backs reported a higher incidence of thigh injuries (3.3 95% CI: 1.8–4.8 versus 10.6 95% CI: 7.6–13.6; P<0.001). Conclusions SMS is a useful tool for recording self-reported injuries in large cohorts of community team sport players and may provide additional insight into injuries which may not result in missed matches.


The wage paid to politicians affects both the choice of citizens to run for an elective office and the performance of those who are appointed. First, if skilled individuals shy away from politics because of higher opportunities in the private sector, an increase in politicians' pay may change their mind. Second, if the reelection prospects of incumbents depend on their in-office deeds, a higher wage may foster performance. We use data on all Italian municipal governments from 1993 to 2001 and test these hypotheses in a quasi-experimental framework. In Italy, the wage of the mayor depends on population size and sharply rises at different thresholds. We apply a regression discontinuity design to the only threshold that uniquely identifies a wage increase – 5,000 inhabitants – to control for unobservable town characteristics. Exploiting the existence of a two-term limit, we further disentangle the composition from the incentive component of the effect of the wage on performance. Our results show that a higher wage attracts more educated candidates, and that better paid politicians size down the government machinery by improving internal efficiency. Importantly, most of this performance effect is driven by the selection of competent politicians, rather than by the incentive to be reelected.


`Stuart does not like the manuscript. He's after a bestseller, "like what Tom Clancy writes". "But you are not an assassin trying to frazzle the president with anthrax bombs," I point out. You are an ex-homeless, ex-junkie psychopath, I do not add.' This is the story of a remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer (`a middle-class scum ponce, if you want to be honest about it, Alexander'), and Stuart Shorter, a homeless, knife-wielding thief. Told backwards - Stuart's idea - it starts with a deeply troubled thirty-two-year-old and ends with a `happy-go-lucky little boy' of twelve. This brilliant biography, winner of the Guardian First Book Award, presents a humbling portrait of homeless life, and is as extraordinary and unexpected as the man it describes.


DNA encodes the genetic instructions for the development and function of organisms and hence maintaining genomic integrity is essential for the propagation of life. However, DNA molecules are under constant threat of metabolic and environmental insults resulting in DNA damages including DNA double strand breaks (DSB), which are considered as a serious threat to cell survival. The majority of these DSB are repaired by Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Unrepaired DSB can lead to genomic instability resulting in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and mutations. Thus, delineating this DNA repair process is important in understanding the molecular mechanisms of aging and malignant progression. B lymphocytes undergo physiological DNA breaks and NHEJ-mediated DNA repair during their bone marrow differentiation and peripheral class switch recombination (CSR), thus lending them as a good model system in which to delineate the DNA repair mechanisms. To determine the effect of aging on NHEJ, B lymphocytes from old mice were analyzed. The results showed compromised DNA repair in cells from old mice compared to cells from adult mice. These results suggest that NHEJ is compromised during aging and might play critical roles in the aging process and ageassociated conditions. To delineate the role of a CT in regulating the immune system, transgenic mice expressing NUP98-HOXD13 (NHD13) were analyzed for B lymphocyte differentiation, peripheral development, CSR, and antibody production. The results showed impaired B cell development and antibody production, which worsened with antigenic stimulation, suggesting the role of NHD13 in immune regulation. These studies explored the possibility of altered NHEJiii mediated DNA repair as a contributing reason for aging process and age-associated conditions. Also, the results from NHD13 study suggested that a primary CT can result in impaired NHEJ and regulate immune cell development and function. Furthermore, the results pointed to the possibility that a primary CT may lead to secondary mutations through altered NHEJ. Thus, these studies shed insight into the molecular mechanisms of altered NHEJ and may help in developing preventive or therapeutic strategies against accumulation of DNA damage, aging process and secondary mutations.


`"Oh, my God! to think of that kind-hearted, lovely young woman, who brings happiness with her wherever she goes, bringing terror to me! Terror when her pitying eyes look at me; terror when her kind voice speaks to me; terror when her tender hand touches mind!" ' Porthgenna Tower on the remote western Cornish coast. Moments before her death, Mrs Treverton dictates a secret to her maid, never to be passed to her husband as she had instructed. Fifteen years later, when Mrs Treverton's daughter, Rosamond, returns to Porthgenna with her blind husband, Leonard, she is intrigued by the strange and seemingly disturbed Mrs Jazeph's warning not to enter the Myrtle Room in the ruined north wing. Strong-minded and ingenious, Rosamond's determined detective work uncovers shocking and unsettling truths beyond all expectation. A mystery of unrelenting suspense and psychologically penetrating characters, "The Dead Secret" explores the relationship between a fallen woman, her illegitimate daughter, and buried secrets in a blend of romance and Gothic drama. Wilkie Collins's fifth novel, "The Dead Secret" anticipates the themes of his next novel, "The Woman in White" in its treatment of mental illness, disguise and deception, and the dispossession of lost identity. Yet a series of comic figures offsets the tension, from the dyspeptic Mr Phippen to the perpetually smiling governess, Miss Sturch. Displaying the talent and energy which made Collins the most popular novelist of the 1860s, the novel represents a crucial phase in Collins's rise as a mystery writer, and was his first full-length novel written specifically for serialization.


Learning Web server administration doesn't have to be a frustrating experience, you can learn everything you need to manage IIS effectively by reading this book. To learn how to manage IIS, you need practical hands-on advice from an expert who has years of experience working with IIS. William Stanek is such an expert. By reading this book and working step by step through the essential tasks discussed, you can learn to: Install Web and application servers Enable and configure remote administration Perform administration using the command-line and Windows PowerShell Configure Web sites, servers, and virtual directories Manage the global IIS configuration settings Customize Web content, HTTP headers, and error messages Use included files, custom file types, and caching Set up logging and track usage statistics This book is designed for anyone who wants to learn how to manage IIS, including those who manage or support computers running Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Inside, you'll find comprehensive overviews, step-by-step procedures, frequently used tasks, documented examples, and much more. One of the goals is to keep the content so concise that the book remains compact and easy to navigate while at the same time ensuring that the book is packed with as much information as possible--making it a valuable resource.


Chronic diseases such as type 1 diabetes (T1D) and congenital heart disease (CHD) are lifelong conditions, need regular treatment, self-management, and health care follow-ups. Growing up with these conditions affects the children's and their parents' lives at various levels, because of the increased burden and responsibilities imposed on them. In addition, the particular socio-cultural conditions in the Palestinian West Bank can also be assumed to influence their daily life. The overall aim was to explore the experiences of daily life in children and adolescents with T1D and CHD and their parents living in the West Bank, Palestine, and to describe self-perceived health status and sense of coherence (SOC) in these children compared with a healthy reference group. In Study I and II, a qualitative descriptive design based on individual interviews was used to explore daily life experiences in children with T1D or CHD and their parents. In Study III and IV, a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design was used to measure self-perceived health status and SOC in children with T1D or CHD and to compare them with a healthy reference group. PedsQLTM 4.0, Generic Core Scale was used to measure the selfperceived health status, whereas the SOC-13 scale was used for SOC. In Study I, children with T1D and their parents struggled to place themselves within the context of the disease and within their social context because of the impact of stigmatization and social constraints on their daily life. In Study II, children with CHD and their parents described how their daily life was influenced negatively by societal stereotyping, low access to specialized care due to the political situation, and the children's perceptions of their illness. Although these factors affected almost every aspect of their lives, they referred to a reliance on God facilitating their acceptance of their fate and lives. In Study III, both children with T1D and a healthy reference group reported comparable self-perceived health status but low scores regarding SOC. In adolescents with T1D, a strong SOC was associated with better self-perceived health status and more optimal glycemic control. Boys with T1D reported higher self-perceived health status than girls. In Study IV, self-perceived health status was lower in children with CHD compared to a healthy reference group. SOC was low in both groups and no differences between the groups were found. Children with a mild CHD reported a better self-perceived health status, while children who had undergone heart surgery reported lower self-perceived health status. Furthermore, a stronger SOC was associated with higher selfperceived health status in adolescents with CHD. To provide optimum care for children with T1D and CHD and their parents, health care providers need to understand the negative consequences associated with sociocultural conditions and beliefs about chronic illness. Monitoring self-perceived health status and taking the role of SOC into consideration in children with T1D and CHD may form the basis for future health care interventions for these children.


The applicability and analytical power of political ecology is improved by study of the 'ethno-ecological context', which is based on the concept of socio-ecological systems (SES). It represents an operating principle of interactions between the ecological and social systems of a specific locality, developing under different historical, political and climatic regimes. We compare two socio-ecological systems in the high mountain regions of Georgia – the Skhalta Gorge and the Upper Svaneti. These are on the southern and northern borders of Georgia. Historically, their socio-ecological systems were similar but today the Skhalta Gorge is rapidly depopulating, whilst in the Upper Svaneti the population is stable. The comparison of the ethno-ecological context and today's state of affairs suggests that (i) "self-regulation" and conserving local culture and traditions, whilst the country undergoes rapid social and political changes, can lead to degradation or even destruction of either the ecological or the social components; (ii) conversely, sustainable development results from active intervention rather than abstaining from it; (iii) tourism appears as a mechanism that restores the ethno-ecological context by providing a source of income - under certain conditions, it supports traditional agriculture. Key words: Political ecology, ethno-ecological context, socio-ecological systems, Georgia, Adjara, Svaneti, Mulakhi community, Skhalta Gorge, sustainability, tourism.


Thanks to the draining effects of the Iraq war and the financial meltdown emanating from Wall Street, a powershift away from American dominance is taking place. Caught between a rising China and an America in relative decline, the new leadership in Japan is recalibrating its post-World War II relationships. The G-20 has usurped the role once played by the G-8 as the governing committee of globalization. And the symbiotic coupling of "Chimerica", born out of the credit bubble built up over the past two decades, is being put to the test.

In this section, the new prime minister of Japan, the president of the European Union, the president of Brazil and a leading economic historian assess these shifts.


Complexity theories have in common perspectives that challenge linear methodologies and views of causality. In educational research, relatively little has been written explicitly exploring their implications for educational research methodology in general and case study in particular. In this paper, I offer a rationale for case study as a research approach that embodies complexity, and I explore the implications of a 'complexity thinking' stance for the conduct of case study research that distinguishes it from other approaches. A complexity theoretical framework rooted in the key concepts of emergence and complexity reduction, blended using a both/and logic, is used to develop the argument that case study enables the researcher to balance the open-ended, non-linear sensitivities of complexity thinking with the reduction in complexity, inherent in making methodological choices. The potential of this approach is illustrated using examples drawn from a complexity theoretical research study into curriculum change.


In the process of language shift from the immigrant languages to English, everyday communication within the family can become increasingly problematic due to strong divergences in the linguistic competences of the older and the younger generations. This article explores the process of language mediation between different generations, as it occurs within a Sicilian-Australian family belonging to the last wave of Italian mass immigration to Australia Through a corpus of spontaneous conversations, the study focuses on the role played by a second generation woman as a mediator within her family. The linguistic analysis shows that, in order to overcome communication breakdown, she makes full use of her competence in all three languages: Italian, Sicilian and English, and employs codeswitching extensively as a conversational strategy to accommodate participants with different language abilities. Furthermore, while she maintains Dialect as the language of the most inner family circle, she shifts to Italian as the more 'learneable' language that can contribute to cohesion in the extended family.


Pedestrian-involved crashes that occurred in the city of San Francisco, California, over 6 years from 2002 to 2007 were analyzed to evaluate two key aspects of pedestrian safety: occurrence and severity. This analysis was done to identify locations with frequent occurrences of pedestrian-involved crashes and to examine various risk factors for the injury severity of pedestrian-involved crashes. A geographical information system analysis for hot spot identification showed that the frequency of pedestrian crashes was greater in the vicinity of the central business district but that the crash rate (the number of crashes per walking trip) was higher in the periphery of the city. For injury analysis, an ordered probit model was specified to evaluate risk factors that increased the probability of severe injury and fatality. Those factors were age (<15 and ≥65), alcohol consumption, and cell phone use among pedestrian characteristics; nighttime, weekends, and rainy weather among environmental characteristics; and, among crash characteristics, the influence of alcohol, larger vehicles (pickups, buses, and trucks), and vehicles proceeding straight and striking a pedestrian. The methods discussed are readily applicable to the evaluation of safety performance in other regions where pedestrian crash data are available.


Cu2GeTe3 (CGT) is a promising phase change material for phase change random access memory (PCRAM) applications because of its high thermal stability in the amorphous phase and its capability to undergo rapid phase change. In this paper, the electrical conduction mechanism of a CGT memory device fabricated using W electrodes (W/CGT) was investigated using current–voltage (I–V) measurements and angle resolved hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-HAXPES). The I–V characteristics of the W/CGT memory device were found to display non-linear behavior in the RESET (amorphous) state, while linear behavior was observed in the SET (crystalline) state, indicating that the W/CGT memory device exhibited Schottky conduction in the RESET state, but Ohmic conduction in the SET state. The effective Schottky barrier height was found to increase linearly as the ideality factor decreased to unity with the ideal W/CGT Schottky barrier height in the RESET state estimated to be 0.33 eV, a value in good agreement with the directly measured Schottky barrier height of 0.35 eV between W and amorphous CGT by AR-HAXPES measurements. These results suggest that the interface between the metal electrode and the phase change material plays an important role in PCRAM devices, and its comprehensive understanding is necessary for future application development.


Jordan, as other developing countries in the world, is struggled by instable agricultural development due to existing various water pressures (e.g. increase in irrigation demands, deterioration of water quality, industrial pollution, water borne sewerage, etc.), climate change impacts, and biophysical and socioeconomic barriers (e.g. rapid population growth, social unsettlements, sudden refuges and migrations, limited economic resources, low levels of technology, environmental limitations and stresses, and widespread poverty). One of the adaptive key issues for the Jordanian environmental sustainable development is the awareness of farmers on the water savings and environmental protections at farm level. The aim of this study was to present a descriptive analysis for the adopted conventional farming practices at the Jordan Valley and explore potential of adoption of new technologies in agricultural management coupled with sustainable environmental performances, as pursued by the project "Improving the Environmental Sustainability of Irrigated Agricultural Production in Lebanon and Jordan (ENSIAP)". Twenty farmers were selected to represent the heterogeneity of the farming practices along the three zones (districts) of Jordan Valley: Northern, Middle, and Southern Jordan Valley. A detailed survey questionnaire was developed to investigate for the potential improvements in the conventional and the newly introduced farming practices to ensure the sustainability of all natural resources. The heterogeneity of the farmers' knowledge, experience, and capabilities were determined in addition to various components of cropping/ farming practices. Seven themes were emphasized in this study including (1) Farm characteristics, (2) Soil description and management, (3) Crop characteristics and management, (4) Water Irrigation parameters, (5) Cultivation and fertilizer use, (6) Environmental related issues, and (7) Farmer experience. Results indicated that most of the farmers are not fully aware with environmental sustainability issues. The irrigation systems, fertilizer use, and management practices currently in use are not resource-conservative and do not follow Best Agricultural and Management Practices, leading to high soil and groundwater degradation and pollution. Environmental Sustainability Journal of


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of the E-cadherin-catenin (E-cad-cat) complex in human salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and determine the effects of E-cad-cat expression on tumor differentiation, metastasis, and invasion, as well as its clinical significance.

METHODS
The expression of adhesion molecules, which included E-cadherin, alpha-catenin, and beta-catenin, on 10 cases of normal salivary glands, and 50 cases of human salivary ACC were investigated by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
Strong and stable expression of E-cad-cat complex showed in normal salivary glands tissues. However, weaker expression and even complete absence, of the positive signals were shown on all ACC cases. Coexpression of E-cad-cat were detected in 29 (58%) of the 50 ACC specimens. Positive staining of E-cad-cat complex were detected in 7 (39%) of the 18 ACC primary sites that had aggressive phenotype of nerve and vasculature.

CONCLUSION
Strong positive signals of E-cad-cat complex are shown in normal salivary glands, and the down-regulated expression were observed in ACC cases. The expression of E-cad-cat complex is associated with a more aggressive phenotype on nerve and vasculature. No association with various histopathologic subtypes was found. However, absent or low E-cad expression was observed more frequently in solid carcinomas than in cribriform or tubular carcinomas. Down-regulation of E-cad-cat complex may be associated with canceration of normal salivary glands. The expression levels of E-cad-cat were positively correlated to the differentiation of ACC tumor cells.


Ilana M. Blumberg, "Sympathy or Religion? George Eliot and Christian Conversion" (pp. 360–387) This essay argues that a postsecular moment requires our return to George Eliot to consider anew the relations between religion and secularity. Looking at her early works, in particular "Janet's Repentance" (1857) and The Mill on the Floss (1860), I suggest that Eliot offers us a counterintuitive narrative in which her heroines' ethical transformation coincides with a conversion to Christianity rather than a move away from it. Rather than imagining a thoroughly Christian England revitalized by its turn to humanist religion, Eliot depicts a nominally Christian England, attached to hollow forms and mere custom, in need of conversion to an ardent faith. In these novels, evangelicalism, for all its flaws, functions as the vessel for such conversion when human beings' own agency fails. I suggest here that what we have construed as sympathy over recent decades of critical reading may be more intelligible if we read it as grace, thus leaving us to reassess the extent to which major mid-Victorian intellectuals sought to conceive a post-Christian ethics.


This thesis proposes to address the well-know database integration problem with a new method that combines functionality from database conceptual modeling techniques with functionality from logic-based reasoners. We elaborate on a hybrid - modeling+validation - integration approach for spatio-temporal information integration on the schema level. The modeling part of our methodology is supported by the spatio-temporal conceptual model MADS, whereas the validation part of the integration process is delegated to the description logics validation services. We therefore adhere to the principle that, rather than extending either formalism to try to cover all desirable functionality, a hybrid system, where the database component and the logic component would cooperate, each one performing the tasks for which it is best suited, is a viable solution for semantically rich information management. First, we develop a MADS-based flexible integration approach where the integrated schema designer has several viable ways to construct a final integrated schema. For different related schema elements we provide the designer with four general policies and with a set of structural solutions or structural patterns within each policy. To always guarantee an integrated solution, we provide for a preservation policy with multi-representation structural pattern. To state the inter-schema mappings, we elaborate on a correspondence language with explicit spatial and temporal operators. Thus, our correspondence language has three facets: structural, spatial, and temporal, allowing to relate the thematic representation as well as the spatial and temporal features. With the inter-schema mappings, the designer can state correspondences between related populations, and define the conditions that rule the matching at the instance level. These matching rules can then be used in query rewriting procedures or to match the instances within the data integration process. We associate a set of putative structural patterns to each type of population correspondence, providing a designer with a patterns' selection for flexible integrated schema construction. Second, we enhance our integration method by employing validation services of the description logic formalism. It is not guaranteed that the designer can state all the inter-schema mappings manually, and that they are all correct. We add the validation phase to ensure validity and completeness of the inter-schema mappings set. Inter-schema mappings cannot be validated autonomously, i.e., they are validated against the data model and the schemas they link. Thus, to implement our validation approach, we translate the data model, the source schemas and the inter-schema mappings into a description logic formalism, preserving the spatial and temporal semantics of the MADS data model. Thus, our modeling approach in description logic insures that the model designer will correctly define spatial and temporal schema elements and inter-schema mappings. The added value of the complete translation (i.e., including the data model and the source schemas) is that we validate not only the inter-schema mappings, but also the compliance of the source schemas to the data model, and infer implicit relationships within them. As the result of the validation procedure, the schema designer obtains the complete and valid set of inter-schema mappings and a set of valid (flexible) schematic patterns to apply to construct an integrated schema that meets application requirements. To further our work, we model a framework in which a schema designer is able to follow our integration method and realize the schema integration task in an assisted way. We design two models, UML and SEAM models, of a system that provides for integration functionalities. The models describe a framework where several tools are employed together, each involved in the service it is best suited for. We define the functionalities and the cooperation between the composing elements of the framework and detail the logics of the integration process in an UML activity diagram and in a SEAM operation model.


A joint analysis of the clustering of galaxies and their weak gravitational lensing signal is well-suited to simultaneously constrain the galaxy–halo connection as well as the cosmological parameters by breaking the degeneracy between galaxy bias and the amplitude of clustering signal. In a series of two papers, we perform such an analysis at the highest redshift ( z ∼ 0.53 ?> ) in the literature using CMASS galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Eleventh Data Release (BOSS DR11) catalog spanning 8300 deg2. In this paper, we present details of the clustering and weak lensing measurements of these galaxies. We define a subsample of 400,916 CMASS galaxies based on their redshifts and stellar-mass estimates so that the galaxies constitute an approximately volume-limited and similar population over the redshift range 0.47 ≤ z ≤ 0.59 ?> . We obtain a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) ≃ 56 ?> for the galaxy clustering measurement. We also explore the redshift and stellar-mass dependence of the clustering signal. For the weak lensing measurement, we use existing deeper imaging data from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey with publicly available shape and photometric redshift catalogs from CFHTLenS, but only in a 105 deg2 area that overlaps with BOSS. This restricts the lensing measurement to only 5084 CMASS galaxies. After careful systematic tests, we find a highly significant detection of the CMASS weak lensing signal, with total S/N ≃ 26 ?> . These measurements form the basis of the halo occupation distribution and cosmology analysis presented in More et al. (Paper II).


Over the past decade, membrane technology has become a worldwide implemented, acknowledged separation process. Although membrane bioreactors (MBRs) still require further research efforts re-garding operating and economic efficiency, they offer considerable advantages compared to conven-tional activated sludge systems, such as smaller foot print, modular construction, and superior effluent quality. They are especially preferred in cases where stringent water quality requirements have to be guaranteed.
One of the main challenges in the operation of MBRs is membrane fouling, causing flux decrease and the increase of the transmembrane pressure. Its control and prevention result in high manpower re-quirements as well as in increased electrical power consumption and the need for cleaning chemicals. Therefore, most MBR researches aim to identify, investigate, and control membrane fouling.
The research on fouling reduction and permeability loss in MBRs was carried out at three MBR pilot plants with synthetic and real wastewater. On the one hand, the effect of mechanical cleaning with an abrasive granular material on the performance of a submerged MBR process was tested. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements and integrity tests (rejection measurements and water microbiology testing) were conducted to check whether the membrane material was damaged by granulates.
The results indicate that the fouling layer formation was significantly reduced by abrasion using the granular material. This technique allowed a long-term operation of more than 600 days at a flux up to 40 L/(m2h) without chemical cleaning of the membranes. However, at high flux rates (> 35 L/(m2h)) a significant decline in permeability was observed, presumably as a result of permeation drag forces that might draw the particulate and colloidal matter towards the membrane surface.
It was demonstrated that the MBR with granulate could be operated with more than 27 % higher flux compared to conventional MBR operation. SEM images and integrity tests showed that in consequence of abrasive cleaning, the granular material left brush marks on the membrane surface; however, the membrane function was not affected. Rejection measurements indicated no damaging effects by granu-late, as the rates were comparable with those of new membranes (> 90 %). Water microbiology test-ing (removal of E. coli and total coliforms) showed that granulate did not have any negative impact on the membranes and still rejected almost all bacteria in the system.
Additionally to the experiments with granulate, the impact of membrane backwash, using a salt brine solution, the impact of chemical and physical cleaning (relaxation breaks), and the effect of changed milieu conditions (aerobic, anaerobic) on membrane fouling was investigated. Among the chemical and physical methods relaxation breaks have proved to enhance membrane performance; however, this involves high specific costs due to operation interruptions, i.e. low membrane throughput.
Research on permeability loss was carried out to investigate the influence of operating conditions (temperature, sludge retention time/sludge loading, and wastewater composition) and the influence of activated sludge characteristics (mixed liquor suspended solids, colloidal matter, truly soluble matter, viscosity) on fouling. It was shown that the concentration of the colloidal fraction obviously depends on the operating temperature and sludge retention time (SRT). A nearly linear correlation between the colloidal fraction (CODcolloidal) and the concentration of biopolymers (proteins and polysaccharides) was found. However, while a relationship between the retention of biopolymers and capillary suction time (CST) of activated sludge was found, a clearly connection with the permeability of the investi-gated membranes did not exist. It was observed that the addition of polyaluminum chloride coagulant resulted in the reduction of the colloidal fraction in the supernatant by up to 80 % of the initial value. The coagulant even bound soluble matter < 0.04 μm, as the chemical oxygen demand (COD) concen-tration of permeate was slightly higher.
Fractionation tests showed that the colloidal fraction (0.04-0.1 μm) constituted the largest percen-tage of COD (71 %) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (81 %) of samples during high fouling in the MBR, whereas this fraction made up only 21 % (COD) and 20 % (DOC) of samples during low fouling. It was observed that the biological degradation of organic matter was much higher during periods of low fouling and only 41 % of organic compounds were retained by the membrane in the reactor com-pared to 84 % during periods of high fouling. This implies that most of the biopolymers (proteins, po-lysaccharides) were retained in the reactor by membrane separation.
In a parallel experimental set up, the impact of the operationally fraction 0.04 μm rather than by the dissolved fraction of wastewater and activated sludge.
The rheological measurements showed a structural viscous behavior of the investigated activated sludge samples. Moreover, it was found that with increasing mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration, the viscosity also tends to increase. The viscosity amounted to 18 mPas at a "common" MLSS concentration of 12 g/L in MBRs and a shear rate of 40 s-1. A correlation between the apparent viscosity and the retention of proteins and polysaccharides in the mixed liquor filtrate of activated sludge was observed. The coefficients of both model approaches (Oswald de Waele and Herschel-Bulkley) could be described as a function of MLSS concentration using a non-linear regression analysis, however the Oswald de Waele approach showed a better plausibility with the measured values.
It was demonstrated that the energy consumption of the coarse-bubble crossflow system for fouling control is about two times higher than the fine-bubble crossflow system for oxygen supply.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that the valuations of European real estate securities are, in part, determined by the relative liquidity in the companies' shares. Design/methodology/approach – Six groups are derived for our sample of European listed real estate companies. They are split between the UK and Europe, and then both sets are categorised by liquidity as large, medium or small. These are then tested for market depth, market tightness and difference in valuations over the cycle 2002-2012. Intuitively, it can be expected that the stock market valuation premium for companies with greater liquidity increases post the global financial crisis. Findings – The key discriminating variable that drives companies' liquidity and valuations is market capitalisation. For both the UK and Europe, the valuation premium of larger companies vs small companies has increased significantly since 2008 (by 20-40 per cent), which can be attributed to the increased value placed on liquidity p...


The green algal Dictyosphaerium morphotype is characterized by spherical or oval cells connected by gelatinized strands to microscopic colonies, which are covered by prominent mucilaginous envelopes. Combined SSU and ITS rRNA gene sequence analyses revealed that this morphotype evolved independently both in the Chlorella and Parachlorella clades of the Chlorellaceae. It was shown that strains exhibiting the morphology of the type species Dictyosphaerium ehrenbergianum Nägeli established a sister lineage to Parachlorella. The strain D. ehrenbergianum CCAP 222/1A was designated as an authentic strain for establishing the epitype of the genus Dictyosphaerium. The comparison of this strain with the authentic strain of Parachlorella beijerinckii Krienitz, E. Hegewald, Hepperle, V. Huss, T. Rohr et M. Wolf (SAG 2046) showed considerable differences in the secondary structure of the ITS region. Within the whole ITS‐1 and ITS‐2 region, 27 compensatory base changes (CBCs) were recognized. In the conserved Helix III of the ITS‐2, five CBCs/HemiCBCs were detected. This is a conclusive argument for separation of these two species. The clear definition of Dictyosphaerium is intended to be the necessary starting point of taxonomic reevaluation of Dictyosphaerium‐like algae within different evolutionary lineages of the Chlorellaceae.


This study focuses on an essential precondition for reproducibility in computational linguistics: the willingness of authors to share relevant source code and data. Ten years after Ted Pedersen's influential "Last Words" contribution in Computational Linguistics, we investigate to what extent researchers in computational linguistics are willing and able to share their data and code. We surveyed all 395 full papers presented at the 2011 and 2016 ACL Annual Meetings, and identified whether links to data and code were provided. If working links were not provided, authors were requested to provide this information. Although data were often available, code was shared less often. When working links to code or data were not provided in the paper, authors provided the code in about one third of cases. For a selection of ten papers, we attempted to reproduce the results using the provided data and code. We were able to reproduce the results approximately for six papers. For only a single paper did we obtain the exact same results. Our findings show that even though the situation appears to have improved comparing 2016 to 2011, empiricism in computational linguistics still largely remains a matter of faith. Nevertheless, we are somewhat optimistic about the future. Ensuring reproducibility is not only important for the field as a whole, but also seems worthwhile for individual researchers: The median citation count for studies with working links to the source code is higher.


The objective of the study is to examine interactive psychoeducational intervention technologies for language disorders. There were selected and analyzed studies centered on using interactive technologies in speech therapy published between 2007 and 2017. A total of 32 studies met the selection criteria. The analysis revealed a different rank regarding the use of psychoeducational intervention interactive technologies for language disorders. Most studies are based on interventions focused on web technologies according to the main delivery mode and display user interface in terms of communication tools.


This article frames the themes of the two†part Interventions section 'Bourdieu Comes to Town'. I first establish the pertinence of Bourdieu's sociology for students of the city by revisiting his youthful work on power, space, and the diffusion of urban forms in provincial BA©arn and colonial Algeria. In both cases, urbanization is the key vector of transformation, and the city, town, or camp the site anchoring the forces dissolving the social fabric of the French countryside and overturning French imperialism in North Africa. These early studies establish that all social and mental structures have spatial correlates and conditions of possibility; that social distance and power relations are both expressed in and reinforced by spatial distance; and that propinquity to the center of accumulation of capital (economic, military, or cultural) is a key determinant of the force and velocity of social change. Next, I discuss four principles that undergird Bourdieu's investigations and can profitably drive urban inquiry: the Bachelardian moment of epistemological rupture, the Weberian invitation to historicize the agent (habitus), the world (social space) and the categories of the analyst (epistemic reflexivity); the Leibnizian†Durkheimian imperative to deploy the topological mode of reasoning; and Cassirer's command to heed the constitutive efficacy of symbolic structures. The plasticity and productivity of his concepts suggest that Bourdieu can not only energize urban inquiry but also merge it into a broader analytic of the trialectic of symbolic division, social space, and the built environment. This paves a pathway for reconceptualizing the urban as the domain of accumulation, differentiation and contestation of manifold forms of capital, which makes the city a central ground, product, and prize of historical struggles.


Responses from a national survey of U.S. organic farmers indicated dissatisfaction with the extension service. An ordered probit model was used to identify the factors influencing effectiveness ratings of extension advisors by farmers. Study findings show that part-time, higher income organic farmers who used a variety of highly rated private-sector information sources rated extension providers as more effective. Farmers in the Northeast and West regions rated extension usefulness more highly than in other regions. Not accounting for these demographic components in effectiveness ratings may result in under- or overestimation of results of organic-targeted extension programs. Extension agents can improve their usefulness to organic farmers by complementing educational and technical services offered by the private sector, and by facilitating farmer information exchanges as well as presenting relevant research findings as they have traditionally done.


This paper is an investigation of the judicial norm of consensus in four national high courts: the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Canada, the South African Supreme Court of Appeals (and Constitutional Court) and the House of Lords (Law Lords) in the United Kingdom. Research on consensual norms in the U.S. Supreme Court is outlined first. Then, after reviewing the methods of cointegration and suggesting an alternative to the Caldeira and Zorn (1998) procedure, this paper will explore the applicability of these methods to the location of consensual norms in different institutional contexts. Specifically, the importance of opinion-writing tradition and institutional legitimacy will be highlighted. Finally, aggregated opinion-writing data for each court will be analyzed. The results illustrate the importance of considering institutional variations when searching for evidence of consensual norms cross-nationally.


This chapter deals with soil moisture (SM) characterization over the Guelmim city and its neighborhood in the Southwestern Morocco that has been flooded several times over the past 50 years. To achieve this, space-borne SMOS and Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data were preprocessed to correct several radiometric anomalies, and they were used. The SMOS brightness temperature data acquired before, during, and after the storm with 1-day temporal resolution and coarse spatial resolution (25 km) were transformed to the SM maps. OLI and TIRS data with moderate spatial and temporal resolutions were converted to Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) to retrieve the Soil Moisture Index (SMI) maps. The results obtained were analyzed, intercompared, and validated against the compiled SM values from rainfall database (SM-RFE) delivered by NOAA climate prediction center Rainfall Estimator (RFE) for Africa. SMOS results show how the spatial variation of SM changes extremely at the regional scale before, during, and after the flash flood day-to-day. The SMI results con- verge toward the same conclusions showing a drastic SM change before and after flash flood highlighting the impact of inundation and the mud accumulation. By reference to the measured SM-RFE datasets, the validation of the derived SM maps exhibits a significant correlation (R 2 ≥ 0.89). Globally, we observe a good complementarity among the considered data sources and processing methods for SM spatial information extraction, and the potential of their integration for the development of a prediction and monitoring model for flash flooding at the regional and local scales.


In close co-operation with the Instituto Antartico Argentino, Jubany/Dallmann is widely used forgeoscientific studies. Due to the operation of the station the yeararound and its geographical location, at Jubany/Dallmann permanentGPS observations, tide gauge measurements and seismological studiesare carried out. With the establishment of an absolute gravity point in1998, the station will also serve as a basis for relative gravitymeasurements and related studies in this area, e.g. for studies of theuplift as an effect of glacial rebound. During the SCAR GPS campaign in1995, a tide gauge station was deployed for studying mean sea levelvariations and ocean loadings (Schone et al., 1996). The sensor wasrecovered at the end of the campaign. Based on the experience of the'95 campaign, a long term tide gauge was deployed in 1996/97.In 1998 the old tide gauge was replaced to continue the high qualitymeasurements.


Article history: Received on: 24/05/2017 Accepted on: 21/07/2017 Available online: 30/09/2017 Colistin methanesulphonate is an inactive prodrug of which only 30% is converted to the active metabolite, colistin, in the blood and the remaining drug gets excreted unchanged in the urine. The active metabolite is eliminated through non-renal mechanisms. Hence its effectiveness in urinary tract infections (UTI) can be dubious due to the notion that no active metabolite is excreted into the bladder. But colistin has been used in clinical practice for various infections, including UTI, caused by multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria and there is scarcity of specific reports on effectiveness of colistin in UTI. Hence the objective of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of colistin in UTI patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital. A prospective observational study was conducted on patients being treated with colistin for UTI. Safety of colistin was evaluated by assessing the causality of adverse dug reactions using Naranjo ADR probability scale and by the RIFLE criteria for severity of acute kidney injury. Clinical outcome was evaluated for each patient on completion of colistin therapy. A total of 80 patients received colistin therapy for UTI and 81% of the UTI were nosocomial. Fifty percent of UTI were relapses and urine cultures identified Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli as the causative organisms, all of which were MDR. Though colistin dosages were adjusted as per creatinine clearance 36.3% of patients experienced nephrotoxicity. Clinical cure was obtained in 80% of UTI cases. Colistin is effective for treatment of UTI caused by MDR gram negative bacteria but colistin should be used judiciously due to its potential to cause nephrotoxicity.


In Conley v. Gibson, 355 U. S. 41 (1957), the Supreme Court announced its commitment to a liberal pleading regime in federal civil cases, and for decades thereafter was steadfast in resisting ad hoc heightened pleading rules adopted by lower courts. Thus, from 1957 until a few years ago, most litigants could count on surviving a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim so long as their pleading provided some minimal notice to the defendant of the nature of their claim. Enter Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009) and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007). Iqbal and Twombly, on many accounts, two-stepped the Court from notice to heightened "plausibility" pleading for all civil cases. And it garnered applause and withering criticism. No one seems willing to defend the process that the Court used to abandon fifty years of pleading law - shorn as it was of any attention to the procedures contemplated by the Rules Enabling Act - but as a substantive matter, heightened pleading has many adherents. For heightened pleading advocates, it promises to reduce crowded dockets, make discovery available only to worthy litigants, and generally improve the quality of litigation to which attorneys and federal courts devote their attention. And at the bottom of it all lies a fundamental assumption - notice pleading lets in too many worthless cases and heightened pleading will keep them out. Despite this assumption, however, there has been almost no empirical analysis of the connection between merit and pleading. This Article critically intervenes in this discussion by providing empirical data to question the widespread assumption about the benefits and costs of heightened pleading. The data reported here show that pleadings that would get by under a notice pleading standard but not a heightened pleading standard - what I refer to as "thin" pleadings - are just as likely to be successful as those cases that would survive heightened pleading. Indeed, the research summarized in this Article, gathered through a novel retrospective analysis of appellate and trial court decisions from 1990-1999, suggest that there is no correlation between the heft of a pleading and the ultimate success of a case. This Article certainly does not end the debate, but it is better to begin on solid empirical footing than on supposition alone. Although there are limitations to the data reported here, they are more than we have had before, and they call attention to the costs of heightened pleading even as they suggest avenues for further research. As Congress, the judiciary, and the academy are engaged in a critical discussion as to how to respond to the Supreme Court's most recent alteration of pleading jurisprudence, relevant empirical data should be part of the conversation.


Introduction Rural communities throughout North America have relied on entrepreneurship as part of economic sustenance strategies. At the same time, tourism has increased in economic importance to rural communities as traditional industries such as mining, manufacturing, and agriculture have declined (McGehee & Meng, 2006). In the United States, rural tourism and recreation development has resulted in employment growth, higher income levels, lower poverty rates, increased education rates, and lower mortality rates (Reeder and Brown, 2006). Rural tourism can include ecotourism, cultural tourism, heritage tourism, arts tourism, agritourism, nature-based tourism, adventure tourism, volunteer tourism, culinary tourism and much smaller niches such as fly-fishing tourism, horticulture tourism, spa tourism, and within the U.S., African-American or Native-American tourism (Kline & Milburn, 2010). While rural tourism has been studied extensively in Europe and Australia, the mention of it in U.S. based studies does not gain substantial ground until the 1990's (Frederick, 1993; Luloff, Bridger, Graefe, Saylor, Martin, & Gitelson, 1994; Marcouiller, 1997). Brown's 2005 annotated bibliography on rural tourism in America summarizes the content of just over 150 journal articles, book chapters, books, conference proceedings, training manuals, technical reports, newsletter articles, and annotated bibliographies related to rural tourism and written in the last twenty years. While the document is to primarily focus on the U.S., many of the resources are from and focus on other nations. Additionally, articles from peer-reviewed journals only number forty. The research on entrepreneurship in rural tourism is especially limited, despite its contribution to economic vitality (Russell & Faulkner, 1999; Koh & Hatten, 2002). In the entrepreneurial literature, research has focused on four general areas: (a) the characteristics of the entrepreneurs themselves (Bolton & Thompson, 2004), (b) types of entrepreneurial activities or outcomes of entrepreneurial activities (Green & Wise, 2006), (c) the environments that nurture efforts of entrepreneurs (Lordkipanidze, Brezet, & Backman, 2005; Markley, Macke & Luther, 2005), and (d) entrepreneurial processes (Koh, 2006). Within the tourism literature, some studies have focused on the motivations and characteristics of rural entrepreneurs (see for example, Getz & Carlsen, 2000 and 2005; McGehee & Kim, 2004), but few have delved into the environments that nurture rural entrepreneurs. Additionally, studies in tourism development quantify the community elements needed to attract and retain tourists. These elements are sometimes called the tourism "mix" or "package," and refer to the attractions, events, and businesses involved in tourism that incite tourists to visit, stay, spend money, and revisit a destination (Wilson, Fesenmaier, Fesenmaier & van Es, 2001). This paper merges scholarly research relevant to three areas: tourism supply components (i.e., tourism mix), the entrepreneurial climate of communities (e-climate), and characteristics of tourism entrepreneurs to explore their impact on tourism entrepreneurship. While research has been conducted in each area, the confluence of the three has received limited attention. The research questions investigated in this study relate to each of these areas of influence in rural tourism entrepreneurship within the North Carolina mountain region of the United States, namely, Will a high supply of tourism entrepreneurs will result from: 1) a broad tourism mix (or package), 2) a supportive entrepreneurial climate, and 3) residents possessing entrepreneurial traits. Tourism Mix Components Scholars have studied tourism from a supply perspective for several decades. Jafari (1983) provided a strong foundation for framing thoughts about tourism supply components. Components of tourism supply, also called the tourism mix, include natural and cultural resources, destination management, infrastructure, and tourism-related businesses such as transportation, lodging, dining and visitor services. …


A monthly census of resident fishes in tide pools was made at 3 sites on the Portuguese west coast, from 1993 to 1997. A total of 43 tide pools was monitored. Results of manipulation (addition and removal) experiments are presented. There is a very high level of consistency in the numbers of species at 1 site. Experiments on removal and addition show that the number of fish in the pools returns to normal in a few weeks. The inter-annual fluctuations of recruitment are less pronounced as the fish grow, possibly due to density dependent mortality. At the other 2 sites, where the pools are disturbed by storms that reshape their contents and move large quantities of sand, there is a less consistent pattern. The agonistic behaviour of tide pool fishes is strongly related to the priority of access to holes and crevices and this may place limits on the number of fishes of a given size that can exist in each pool as a function of topographic complexity.


The study uses Behavioral Tendencies Scales tests to examine how employment as a correctional officer affects personality change, particularly neuroticism. We found a significant and conclusive increase in the neuroticism factor among correctional officers and a significant decrease in the comparison groups, as well as higher levels of neuroticism among longer serving officers than among newly employed officers. A significant increase in neuroticism was also revealed among correctional officers after 3 to 4 years of employment. Our findings led us to conclude that employment in prison is linked to changes in correctional officers' personalities and levels of neuroticism, unlike the trend seen in the comparison groups and in that age group in the wider population. This highlights the distinctive and stressful nature of correctional facilities as a workplace that generates particular, negative personality changes.


Aim: The aim of this study was to determine if topical atropine, used to retard axial length elongation and myopia progression, had any effect on ocular astigmatism. Methods: Data collected from subjects enrolled in the Atropine in the Treatment of Myopia (ATOM) study were analysed. In this study, 400 myopic children (aged 6–12 years) were randomly assigned to administer atropine 1% or a placebo daily to a randomly selected eye for 2 years. Cycloplegic autorefraction and keratomy readings were measured using a Canon RK5 autorefractor. The refractive error was then split into its power vector components: J0 and J45. Results: Astigmatism increased by 0.12–0.16 D per year in both treated and placebo groups. There was no difference between groups (p = 0.182). The increase was mirrored by an increase in corneal astigmatism of 0.10–0.13 D per year, suggesting that most of the change was corneal in nature. There was an increase in J0 vector (with-the-rule astigmatism) with no change in the J45 (oblique) vector over time. The change in the J0 vector was significantly larger in the atropine-treated versus atropine-untreated eyes during the 2-year treatment period (p = 0.011), but this difference disappeared after atropine was stopped. Conclusion: The use of atropine on a daily basis over 2 years did not have any clinically significant effect on astigmatism.


Abstract. The cumulative atmospheric nitrogen deposition has been found to profoundly impact the nutrient stoichiometry of the eastern China seas (ECSs: the Yellow Sea and East China Sea) and the northwestern Pacific Ocean (NWPO). In spite of the potential significance of dry deposition in those regions, shipboard observations of atmospheric aerosols remain insufficient, particularly regarding the compositions of water-soluble nitrogen species (nitrate, ammonium and water-soluble organic nitrogen – WSON). We conducted a cruise covering the ECSs and the NWPO during the spring of 2014 and observed three types of atmospheric aerosols. Aluminum content, air mass backward trajectories, weather conditions, and ion stoichiometry allowed us to discern dust aerosol patches and sea-fog-modified aerosols (widespread over the ECSs) from background aerosols (open ocean). Among the three types, sea-fog-modified aerosols contained the highest concentrations of nitrate (536 ± 300 nmol N m−3), ammonium (442 ± 194 nmol N m−3) and WSON (147 ± 171 nmol N m−3); furthermore, ammonium and nitrate together occupied  ∼  65 % of the molar fraction of total ions. The dust aerosols also contained significant amounts of nitrate (100 ± 23 nmol N m−3) and ammonium (138 ± 24 nmol N m−3) which were obviously larger than those in the background aerosols (26 ± 32 for nitrate and 54 ± 45 nmol N m−3 for ammonium), yet this was not the case for WSON. It appeared that dust aerosols had less of a chance to come in contact with WSON during their transport. In the open ocean, we found that sea salt (e.g., Na+, Cl−, Mg2+), as well as WSON, correlated positively with wind speed. Apparently, marine dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was emitted from breaking waves. Regardless of the variable wind speeds from 0.8 to as high as 18 m s−1, nitrate and ammonium, by contrast, remained in narrow ranges, implying that some supply and consumption processes of nitrate and ammonium were required to maintain such a quasi-static condition. Mean dry deposition of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) for sea-fog-modified aerosols (1090 ± 671 µmol N m−2 d−1) was 5 times higher than that for dust aerosols (190 ± 41.6 µmol N m−2 d−1) and around 20 times higher than that for background aerosols (56.8 ± 59.1 µmol N m−2 d−1). Apparently, spring sea fog on the ECSs played an important role in removing atmospheric reactive nitrogen from the Chinese mainland and depositing it into the ECSs, thus effectively preventing its seaward export to the NWPO.


Introduction Modern mass communication plays a large role in solving today's most violent crimes. Televised news stories, newspaper articles and law enforcement databases all aid in spreading information about crime, and today's police departments across the country are more able to work together. In the 1800s, however, technologies that we take for granted today had not yet been discovered or widely used in solving crime. Innovations like fingerprinting, ballistics, hair and fiber analysis, and blood evidence had not yet been developed, and crimes were solved quickly or not at all. As America became more urbanized, crime rose steadily, with only a few noteworthy increases or decreases in the national homicide rate. In response to the rise in violent crime, the U.S. spent more money on law enforcement in the 1840s than almost any other country in the world. i Despite this increase in funding, these systems were unable to curb the steady rise in violence that continued until the late 1930s. I will examine many of the trends in homicide and attempt to assess popular theories on the changes in homicide rates.


Proxima b is a planet with a minimum mass of 1.3 MEarth orbiting within the habitable zone (HZ) of Proxima Centauri, a very low-mass, active star and the Sun's closest neighbor. Here we investigate a number of factors related to the potential habitability of Proxima b and its ability to maintain liquid water on its surface. We set the stage by estimating the current high-energy irradiance of the planet and show that the planet currently receives 30 times more EUV radiation than Earth and 250 times more X-rays. We compute the time evolution of the star's spectrum, which is essential for modeling the flux received over Proxima b's lifetime. We also show that Proxima b's obliquity is likely null and its spin is either synchronous or in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, depending on the planet's eccentricity and level of triaxiality. Next we consider the evolution of Proxima b's water inventory. We use our spectral energy distribution to compute the hydrogen loss from the planet with an improved energy-limited escape formalism. Despite the high level of stellar activity we find that Proxima b is likely to have lost less than an Earth ocean's worth of hydrogen before it reached the HZ 100-200 Myr after its formation. The largest uncertainty in our work is the initial water budget, which is not constrained by planet formation models. We conclude that Proxima b is a viable candidate habitable planet.


"Chemists familiar with conventional quantum mechanics will applaud and benefit greatly from this particularly instructive, thorough and clearly written exposition of density functional theory: its basis, concepts, terms, implementation, and performance in diverse applications. Users of DFT for structure, energy, and molecular property computations, as well as reaction mechanism studies, are guided to the optimum choices of the most effective methods. Well done!" Paul von RaguE Schleyer "A conspicuous hole in the computational chemist's library is nicely filled by this book, which provides a wide-ranging and pragmatic view of the subject.[...It] should justifiably become the favorite text on the subject for practioneers who aim to use DFT to solve chemical problems." J. F. Stanton, J. Am. Chem. Soc. "The authors' aim is to guide the chemist through basic theoretical and related technical aspects of DFT at an easy-to-understand theoretical level. They succeed admirably." P. C. H. Mitchell, Appl. Organomet. Chem. "The authors have done an excellent service to the chemical community. [...] A Chemist's Guide to Density Functional Theory is exactly what the title suggests. It should be an invaluable source of insight and knowledge for many chemists using DFT approaches to solve chemical problems." M. Kaupp, Angew. Chem.


Two separate groups, González et al. and Miller and Hurley, described the three-dimensional structure of the catalytic region of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase (IP3-3K), which catalyzes the transfer of phosphate from ATP to the second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) to produce inositol 1,4,5,6-tetrakisphosphate. González et al. crystallized residues 187 to 461 of the human IP3-3K A isoform, whereas Miller and Hurley crystallized residues 185 to 459 of the rat IP3-3K A isoform. Both groups described N- and C-terminal lobes with a cleft in between where ATP binds, which resembles the structures of other protein kinases, and a unique four-helix substrate-binding domain that determines IP3-3K's substrate specificity and its inability to phosphorylate membrane-associated phosphoinositides. B. González, M. J. Schell, A. J. Letcher, D. B. Veprintsev, R. F. Irvine, R. L. Williams, Structure of a human inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase: Substrate binding reveals why it is not a phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Mol. Cell 15, 689-701 (2004). [Online Journal] G. J. Miller, J. H. Hurley, Crystal structure of the catalytic core of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase. Mol. Cell 15, 703-711 (2004). [Online Journal]