There's no denying it, Facebook and the larger social media age has arrived, and it's here to stay. Just as the first personal computer changed the way lawyers communicate, litigate, research, and market, so social media has irrevocably altered the landscape of the profession. In a paper drafted for The Law Society of South Africa in 2012 "Introduction to Social Media - Legal Implications for South African Law Firms" it stated that social networking is not a fad and its application is an important development in the communication technology that will shape changes in how we communicate.


We provide a comprehensive empirical analysis of the links between international services outsourcing, domestic outsourcing, profits and innovation using plant level data. We find a positive effect of international outsourcing of services on innovative activity at the plant level. Such a positive effect can also be observed for domestic outsourcing of services, but the magnitude is smaller. This makes intuitive sense, as international outsourcing allows more scope for exploiting international factor price differentials, therefore giving the establishment higher profits and more scope to restructure production activities towards innovation. We also find that international outsourcing has a positive effect on profitability, as predicted by theory, while this is not true for domestic sourcing. The results are robust to various specifications and an instrumental variables analysis.


Purpose: Generally in a factory it is not straight forward to discern the true, individual manufacturing costs. Thus, the necessity arouse for a calculation method that would collect and include relevant technical details along the way of each product. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data received could then get associated with the pertinent book-keeping records. An equation has been developed which combines the technical details of the production process with the relevant accounting data. The method is called Efficiency Based Costing (EBC). Findings: The EBC method, which incorporated essential processing details such as product recovery, production rate, volume flow velocity through the production line, manhour input, the physical size of the products, and, of course, overheads – delivered significantly differing manufacturing costs per unit volume for the individual products. Also, the exact value of wastes has been determined. Practical Implications: The efficiency based cost calculation (EBC) is a powerful tool in searching for the true individual processing costs. With the suggested equation it is possible to combine important technical details of the production process with the accounting data. Originality/Value: Using the EBC method, the minimum product selling price at any point of the production process can be computed. Product portfolio decisions and next year ́s planning shall rely on more truthful data.


Abstract. Flow duration curves are simple and powerful tools to deal with many hydrological and environmental problems related to water quality assessment, water-use assessment and water allocation. Unfortunately the scarcity of streamflow data enables the use of these instruments only for gauged basins. A regional model is developed here for estimating flow duration curves at ungauged basins in Sicily, Italy. Due to the complex ephemeral behavior of the examined region, this study distinguishes dry periods, when flows are zero, from wet periods using a three parameters power law to describe the frequency distribution of flows. A large dataset of streamflows has been analyzed and the parameters of flow duration curves have been derived for about fifty basins. Regional regression equations have been developed to derive flow duration curves starting from morphological basin characteristics.


Since the end of the Cold War, deep transformations in East Asia have begun to restructure the political, economic and security landscape of the region. Many of these transformations have been of a positive nature, in the sense that East Asian states are now interacting with each other with the purpose of enhancing their economic performance and regional politico-security stability. One such positive regional change has been the potential for a new phase of peaceful relations between China and the Southeast Asian nations (frequently referred to in this research as the "ASEAN states"), which until relatively recently remained hostile and marred by mutual suspicion. Thus, this research explores Sino-ASEAN relations from the perspective of the possibility of fostering a durable and reliable peace between these actors.

The research begins by discussing the relevance of China, ASEAN and the region of East Asia, or in other words: why do these actors matter at the regional and global level? In tandem with the latter, the research also discusses the concept of security communities, which is the central
concept permeating the whole work. An introductory note on Karl Deutsch (father of the security community concept) and the nature of war and conflict is also present. The literature review examines what has been produced to date on the topics of security communities and East Asia, China and ASEAN; which mainly encapsulates the broad areas of East Asian regionalism, Chinese foreign policy, constructivist theory and more direct relations between China and Southeast Asia. The analytical framework and methodology are also discussed. Security communities are explained in detail (e.g. types, genesis and demise) so as the framework for the study of the formation of security communities, developed by the scholar Emanuel Adler and
Michael Barnett; and which is also central to the argument of this thesis. Moreover, a comprehensive discussion ensues about the role of the main international relations theories (i.e. realism, liberalism and social constructivism) affecting the conceptualisation of security communities, as each affects the later in profound and particulars ways. The role of political elites and the units of analysis are explained as part of clarifying the methodology.

The research then divides into three main areas: China's approach to Southeast Asia (mainly expressed in China's foreign policy towards the region), ASEAN's approach to China (mainly expressed by the Association's declaratory policy towards China and the creation or regional
frameworks), and another section focusing on how each individual ASEAN states have perceived and approached China throughout the decades after the end of the Second World War. The latter covers politico-economic interactions and their relevance (which aim to stress the level of "transactions" between both actors) and how Southeast Asia's political elites have perceived China. Finally, conclusions are presented and the empirical data weighted against the theoretical framework.

The methodology of the research consists in confronting empirical data with the different tiers and sub-categories of Alder and Barnett's framework for the study of the formation of security communities. Adler and Barnett have created a "roadmap" to the formation of security communities. They have organised a succinct, clear and useful means to help political scientists to explore the possibilities of the evolution of security communities between states. Adler and Barnett's framework divides into an initial stage of creation (i.e. precipitating conditions), a process and a structural category in which elements such as power, social learning, international
organisations and transactions interact in such a way that have the potential to create a final stage in which mutual trust and a common identity might have begun to operate between the actors.

Thus, the research compares the available data between China and the ASEAN states (e.g. transactions, perceptions, regional frameworks, roles of power, etc) against Adler and
Barnett's framework. The findings are revealing. Following the framework, there are strong indications of an evolving security community (of a pluralistic type) between China and
ASEAN, particularly in some sub-categories. Though it is not possible to affirm the existence of a fully-fledged security community between them, strong elements are still evolving and because of the latter, new questions arise which provide with more interesting projections not
the future (e.g. is there the possibility of seen the evolution of a particular set of ideas between both actors?). The research sets clear too that, a new angle to the study of Sino-ASEAN relations can be followed, with the possibility of enriching and novel results.


INTRODUCTION. The Nature Of Vertebrates Morphology. SURVEY OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS: THE PRINCIPAL STRUCTURAL PATTERNS. Nature, Origins, and Classification of Vertebrates. Fishes. Tetrapods. THE PHYLOGENY AND ONTOGENY OF STRUCTURE: EVOLUTION IN RELATION TO TIME AND MAJOR TAXA. Early Development. Integument and Its Derivatives. Teeth. Head Skeleton. Body Skeleton. Muscles and Electric Organs. Coelom and Mesenteries. Digestive System. Respiratory System and Gas Bladder. Circulatory System. Excretory System and Osmoregulation. Reproductive System and Urogenital Ducts. Nervous System: General, Spinal Cord, and Perpheral Nerves. Nervous System: Brain. Sense Organs. Endocrine Glands. STRUCTURAL ADAPTATION: EVOLUTION IN RELATION TO HABIT AND HABITAT. Structural Elements of the Body. Mechanics of Support and Movement. Form, Function, and Body Size. Running and Jumping. Digging, and Crawling without Appendages. Climbing. Swimming and Diving. Flying and Gliding. Energetics and Locomotion. Feeding. Appendix: Anatomical Preparations. Glossary. Index.


This contribution proposes the usage of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC) for the establishment of a decentralised energy storage network. Due to the continually increasing amount of renewable energy within the power grid, in particular in countries of the European Union, a huge demand for storage capacities develops that can hardly be met by large-scale systems alone. Because of their high storage density and good manageability LOHC substances permit the local storage of excess energy in residential and commercial buildings. Following the approach of a CHP system ('combined heat and power' or more precisely a 'combined heat and storage' system), thermal losses from the storage processes can be used for heating (and cooling) purposes in order to increase the overall efficiency. An evaluation of the economic feasibility identifies possible approaches to generate income from storage operation. The usage of exhaust heat for heating proves to significantly support the business case by providing a considerable financial contribution that is usually not exploitable for centralised storage units.


This volume brings together thoroughly reworked versions of a selection of papers presented at the conference The Notion of Commitment in Linguistics, held at the University of Antwerp in January 2007. It is the companion volume to a collection of essays in French to be published in Langue Francaise and devoted to La notion de prise en charge. Commitment is a close counterpart toprise en charge, and two contributors, Celle and Lansari, use it essentially as a translation of the French term. However, commitment and its verbal cognates (to commit NP to and to be committed to) do not cover the exact same range of meanings as prise en charge. For a thorough assessment of the French term, we refer readers to the introduction to the Langue Francaise volume. In the present article, we focus entirely on commitment.The term is widely used in at least three major areas of linguistic enquiry:1 studies on illocutionary acts, studies on modality and evidentiality, and the formal modelling of dialogue/argumentation. In spite of its frequent use, the notion has rarely been theorised and has never been the subject of a monograph or a specialised reader. In keeping with this is the fact that none of the many dictionaries and encyclopaedias of linguistics or philosophy that we have consulted devotes a separate entry to it.Section 1 of this introduction briefly reviews what commitment means in the three fields just mentioned. Now and then, with respect to a particular issue, pointers are given to which articles in this collection have something to say about the issue. In section 2, we take a lexical and syntactic look at the ways in which the contributors to the present volume use the term. In section 3, we outline each of the contributions, with a focus on the role that commitment plays in them.


This paper presents an overview of legal aspects of the Information Society, especially, the role of the governments and new law regulation problems. It considers also what impact has for lawyers new information technology and artificial intelligence. The paper suggests that law can support Information Society formation processes or to be the obstacle for such processes. It is necessary as soon as possible to break the monopoly of telecom and to liberalize the market of integrated services. It is also necessary to establish the legal status of electronic documents and solve legal problems in order to protect documents and data in computer networks. It is especially important to avoid the split in the society into skilled professionals and "computer unliterate" people which are unable to work and even to live in new conditions. This problem is a great challenge for Government. The Government has responsibility also for solving other legal regulation problem which hinder to form Information Society. Lawyers must change their work style too. Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an important role in this process because the legal knowledge is very complex, formalized in great degree and legal reasoning is logically based and uses precedents. AI can be helpful in order to conceptualize and to compare different law theories. It enables to use computers in knowledge management and can support the legislative engineering processes.


GENE R. NIGHOL [*] I have a good deal of interest in the topic of this panel, "Clinton Administration and Individual Rights." Given that, it was difficult to choose between the two papers for comment. There is a good deal to agree with in Professor Volokh's effort--particularly the notion that, even in these new arenas, traditional First Amendment concerns have real merit. [1] It is likely, though, that Professor Volokh and I would set up shop at different places on the slippery side of the slope. Professor Volokh himself acknowledges that the harassment issues he focuses on have not actually been major sources of attention for the Clinton Administration. [2] Indeed, it is remarkably hard to believe that one of President Clinton's principal legacies will be that Americans talk less about sex in the workplace than they did before he came to office. It might have been preferable, therefore, to explore the President's willingness to go along with the Communications Decency Act ("CDA"). [3] Alternatively, we might have delved into the Administration's efforts to defend the CDA in Reno v. that reduced Justice Stevens to sounding like he had borrowed Justice Scalia's word processor. Stevens characterized the government's position as "singularly unpersuasive," [5] seriously flawed, [6] based on "incorrect factual premises," [7] reaching "a breadth of ... coverage ... wholly unprecedented," [8] and "casting a ... dark shadow over free speech" [9] in the United States. We might also productively have criticized the President's hugely unfortunate "don't ask, don't tell" policy. [10] Even if well motivated, "don't ask" now results in about twice as many exclusions of lesbians and gay men from the Armed Forces as occurred before its implementation. [11] In stark terms, it tells people who are not unfit to serve their country that they are. [12] Now, "don't ask" is apparently being applied against a gay, Republican Arizona legislator--effectively punishing him for statements made in open debate, on the floor of the statehouse. [13] One wonders what Alexander Mieklejohn would have thought of that. [14] Unlike the harassment strains Professor Volokh decries, the embrace of the CDA and the development and enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" are clear Clinton Administration policies aimed at dramatically curtailing freedom of expression. There is also much to applaud in Professor Wax's paper. [15] She presents powerful arguments, for example, that the brief against government involvement in welfare is overblown. [16] However, as she indicates, the focus of her effort is to defeat the normative claim that a right to basic economic security should be included in the federal Constitution. [17] People can accuse President Clinton of many things, and they have, but attempting to privilege and to constitutionalize welfare entitlements is surely not one of them. I am a notoriously bad political pundit, but even I am confident that few political movements in the United States enjoy a more profound and unshakable dormancy than the effort to constitutionalize a right to subsistence welfare. The argument that Professor Wax goes to such profound lengths to defeat, partially based somehow on her reported perceptions of actual popular sentiment, has about as much vitality in American political discourse as the move to establish a monarchy on this side of the Atlantic. It is unlikely that it even rises to the level of a straw man. In my opinion, it might have been more useful to discuss the President's decisions on welfare reform. More specifically, it would have been interesting to explore the Administration's feverish efforts to defend Governor Pete Wilson's scheme to discriminate against newly arrived California welfare recipients. [18] The Wilson plan, which relegated welfare candidates who had lived in California less than one year to the amount of funding they could have obtained in their prior state of residence, was thrown out rather unceremoniously by the Supreme Court in Saenz v. …


In our study, we analyzed 30years of climatological data revealing the bean production risks for Western Amazonia. Climatological profiling showed high daytime and nighttime temperatures combined with high relative humidity and low vapor pressure deficit. Our understanding of the target environment allows us to select trait combinations for reaching higher yields in Amazonian acid soils. Our research was conducted using 64 bean lines with different genetic backgrounds. In high temperatures, we identified three water use efficiency typologies in beans based on detailed data analysis on gasometric exchange. Profligate water spenders and not water conservative accessions showed leaf cooling, and effective photosynthate partitioning to seeds, and these attributes were found to be related to higher photosynthetic efficiency. Thus, water spenders and not savers were recognized as heat resistant in acid soil conditions in Western Amazonia. Genotypes such as BFS 10, SEN 52, SER 323, different SEFs (SEF 73, SEF 10, SEF 40, SEF 70), SCR 56, SMR 173, and SMN 99 presented less negative effects of heat stress on yield. These genotypes could be suitable as parental lines for improving dry seed production. The improved knowledge on water-use efficiency typologies can be used for bean crop improvement efforts as well as further studies aimed at a better understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms of heat resistance in legumes.


Since the end of World War II, Japan has determinately remained outside the current of world events and uninvolved in the processes determining global history and politics. In Japan and the World , distinguished scholars, novelists, and intellectuals articulate how Japan—despite unprecedented economic prowess in securing dominance in the world's market—is caught in a complex dependency with the United States. Drawing on critical and postmodernist theory, this timely volume situates this dependency in a broader historical context and assesses Japan's current dealings in international politics, society, and culture.

Among the many topics covered are: racism in U.S.-Japanese relations; productivity and workplace discourse; Western cultural hegemony; the constructing of a Japanese cultural history; and the place of the novelist in today's world. Originally published as a special issue of boundary 2 (Fall 1991), this edition includes four new essays on Japanese industrial revolution; the place of English studies in Japan; how American cultural, historical, and political discourse represented Japan and in turn how America's version of Japan became Japan's version of itself; and an "archaeology" of hegemonic relationships between Japan and America and Britain in the first half of the twentieth century.

Contributors . Eqbal Ahmad, Perry Anderson, Bruce Cumings, Arif Dirlik, H.D. Harootunian, Kazuo Ishuro, Fredric Jameson, Kojin Karatani, Oe Kenzaburo, Masao Miyoshi, Tetsuo Najita, Leslie Pincus, Naoki Sakai, Miriam Silverberg, Christena Turner, Rob Wilson, Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto


This paper models campaign expenditures as bids in an asymmetric all-pay auction. It predicts intuitive mixed Nash expenditure strategies and electoral outcome probabilities. As district demographics, such as partisan voter registration statistics, favor a candidate more heavily, the mixed expenditure strategies converge pointwise to the classic Median Voter Model. The parameter of the model is then estimated based on the predicted moments of the expenditure distribution. We use the district level voter registration statistics and observed campaign expenditure behavior to estimate the value of a Congressional House seat to be about $4.5 million.


The philosophy of mind employs plenty of metaphysical concepts such as "(mental) property", "state", "event", "identity", "causation", or "supervenience". However, it has no fully fledged metaphysical theory, let alone a generally accepted one. This flaw slows down the progress of the field in that the same old problems keep being discussed over and over without much hope of resolution. Examples are the (in)famous zombie argument against materialism, and the functionalist claim that machines could develop consciousness. This paper expounds the materialist ontological theory of Mario Bunge and explores its problem-solving power.


This essay starts, after a short introduction on the importance and dimensions of "inclusive growth", with a brief empirical sketch on to what extent Europe has already succeeded with respect to this ambitious goal. The result is quite sobering and gives rise to the question: why is it so? The main part of this paper is devoted to answering this question by presenting a model based on the trade-off between comparable productive capacity (CPC) and flexibility. After the introduction of the monetary union, this trade-off sharpened for many EU member states whose CPC now falls below the fair level playing field. To compensate for the lack of comparable productive capacities, flexibility measures would be necessary (e.g. downward wage flexibility, regional mobility and cuts in social expenditures) to an extent which is unrealistic or would erode social cohesion and democracy. As alternative, the possible future role of the European Social Model could consist of the implementation of four strategies: First, investive social transfers, in particular by establishing a European Fund for Employment and Income Security (EIS) to strengthen the inclusive function and stabilisation impact of national unemployment insurance systems; second, protected flexibility, in particular the promotion of an internal functional flexibility through work sharing; third, investing in people, in particular by strengthening dual learning systems and by inducing mobility chains (making transitions pay); and fourth, efficient labour market regulation for better utilising existing capacities and restraining inefficient forms of flexibility. Examples for each strategy are presented to illustrate and stimulate the debate.


Mining settlements are typically portrayed as either consisting of purpose-built housing constructed by mining companies to house their workers, or as temporary makeshift shelters built by miners working informally and inhabited by male migrants who live dangerously and develop little attachment to these places. This paper contributes to these debates on the social and material dynamics occurring in mining settlements, focusing on those with urban rather than rural characteristics, by highlighting how misconceived these archetypal portrayals are in the Ghanaian context. Drawing on qualitative data collected in three mining settlements, we explore who is moving to and living in the mining towns, who is building houses, and how attachments to place develop socio-temporally. Through doing so, the paper provides original insights on the heterogeneous nature of mining settlements, which are found to be home to a wide range of people engaged in diverse activities. Mining settlements and their attendant social dynamics are shown to evolve in differing ways, depending on the type of mining taking place and the length of time the mines have been in operation. Significantly, we illustrate how, contrary to popular understandings of incomers to mining settlements as nomadic opportunists, migrants often aspire to build their own houses and establish a family, which promotes their attachment to these settlements and their desire to remain. These insights further scholarship on the social and material configuration of mining settlements and feed into the revival of interest in small and intermediate urban settlements.


Unlike the relative success of general Web search engines detecting important Web pages, it is not yet easy to detect potentially important events/phenomena (other than obvious major newspaper top headlines) happening outside the country from observations of news articles on the Web. Current news index sites or news provider sites such as Google News, BBC, CNN, and Reuters, try to present streams of latest news. We present a new approach to automatic detection of potentially important events/phenomena happening outside the country based on the monitoring of a number of different mostly domestic news sites.


Human activities in the Mediterranean determine, to a large extent, the availability of food and breeding sites for seabirds, the two most important ecological requirements for breeding seabirds. Food availability is highly dependent on fisheries activities and the availability of breeding sites is largely related with tourism pressure. Conservation plans necessarily need to incorporate the fact that Mediterranean seabirds and human activities are forced partners. However, solutions are complex because fishing policies are not commonly designed by environmental agencies and also because seabirds are organized in metapopulations which do not coincide with administrative borders. In this monographic volume, several authors describe the main characteristics of the Mediterranean seabird community, identify its conservation problems and suggest a number of technical solutions.


In The Basics of Psychotherapy: An Introduction to Theory and Practice author Bruce E. Wampold presents essential background necessary for understanding the role of theory in therapy, and shows how understanding psychotherapy theory is the first step to becoming an effective therapist. Psychotherapy has existed in some form since the late 19th century, and has evolved over the course of a century to include a great variety of theories. Wampold explores the history of psychotherapy theory and its role in practice, and then gives readers the tools to understand the vast array of theories in current use. This book answers practical questions: * What is the role of theory, and how does it relate to psychotherapy practice?* Are some theories more valid than others? * Does psychotherapy work? If psychotherapy works, how does it work and how do we know it works?* How does a new practitioner choose a theoretical orientation? This fascinating discussion about the basics of psychotherapy - and the theory that grounds it - provides readers with everything necessary for making sense of and finding their place in this vital and ever-changing field. Whether encountering sychotherapy theory for the first time as a student or returning as a seasoned practitioner to reevaluate the great variety of theories, this book is an indispensible guide. The Basics of Psychotherapy may be read before other books in the Theories of Psychotherapy Series as an introduction to psychotherapy and its theoretical grounding. As such, it may be considered the first book to assign in a graduate theories course, or as a book that can be read with any other books in this series to provide a general view of psychotherapeutic theory.


Since its original publication by UNC Press in 1980, this book has provided thousands of students with a concise introduction and guide to the history of the classical tradition in rhetoric, the ancient but ever vital art of persuasion. Now, George Kennedy offers a thoroughly revised and updated edition of Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition . From its development in ancient Greece and Rome, through its continuation and adaptation in Europe and America through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, to its enduring significance in the twentieth century, he traces the theory and practice of classical rhetoric through history. At each stage of the way, he demonstrates how new societies modified classical rhetoric to fit their needs. For this edition, Kennedy has updated the text and the bibliography to incorporate new scholarship; added sections relating to women orators and rhetoricians throughout history; and enlarged the discussion of rhetoric in America, Germany, and Spain. He has also included more information about historical and intellectual contexts to assist the reader in understanding the tradition of classical rhetoric. |A revised and updated edition of the popular and widely used guide to the classical tradition of rhetoric from its development in ancient Greece and Rome to the 20th-century.


Investment in improved agricultural inputs is infrequent for smallholder farmers in Africa. One barrier may be limited access to formal savings. We designed and conducted a field experiment in rural Mozambique that randomized access to a savings account through mobile money to a sample of smallholder farmers. All subjects were given access to mobile money and information about fertilizer use. We also randomized whether closest farming friends were targeted by the same intervention. We find that the savings account increased savings, the probability of fertilizer use, by 31-36 pp, and the use of other agricultural inputs. We also show that the savings account increased household expenditures, in particular non-frequent ones. Our results suggest that the network intervention decreased social pressure to share resources and that the savings account protected farmers against this network pressure. JEL codes: D14, D85, Q12, Q14


In recent years, governments are facing the challenges of climate change. Traffic is responsible for several environmental problems in urban areas. Traffic congestion poses a challenge for all large and growing urban areas. Especially Carbon Dioxide has become an increasingly serious problem due to its negative impacts on the climate change. Because of this, the municipality of Copenhagen wants to become completely CO2 neutral by 2025. Within the area of mobility, budgets have been set for the coming years. A part of this budget is reserved for the implementation of ITS solutions in Copenhagen, which among other things will contribute to a CO2 reduction. One of the This study is focused on the implementation of adaptive traffic management systems within municipality of Copenhagen.


This textbook, deals with tensors that are treated as vectors, and has a practical orientation. In addition to dealing with the classical topics of tensor books, new tensor concepts are introduced, such as the rotation of tensors, the transposer tensor, the eigentensors, the permutation tensor structure, etc. The book covers an existing gap between the classic theory of tensors and the possibility of solving tensor problems with a computer. In fact, the computational algebra is formulated in matrix form to facilitate its implementation on computers. For the first time tensor contraction is formulated in terms of matrix operations. A computer package , written in Mathematica, is available through Internet at: http://personales.unican.es/castie/tensors that complements the book. In summary, the book is not a standard book on tensors because of its orientation, the many novel contributions included in it, the careful notation and the stretching-condensing techniques used for most of the transformations used in the book.


ABSTRACTDue to economic growth in China, emissions of gaseous components from factories and automobiles have been increasing, which has resulted in severe air pollution. During the winter and spring seasons, Japan, which is on the leeward side of the Asian continent, is on the receiving end of this increasingly problematic transboundary air pollution. In this study, the mass concentration and chemical components of the particulate PM2.5 were continuously observed using an automatic analyzer at Kumamoto on the west coast of Japan from October 2014 to March 2015. A greater number of high PM2.5 days were observed in winter than in autumn. This seasonal change in concentrations was believed to be due to transboundary air pollution traveling from the Asian continent due to seasonal monsoons. The analysis of the chemical composition of PM2.5 supported this idea. The factors leading to high PM2.5 concentrations were investigated and categorized into transboundary air pollution, local air pollution, and volcanic activity based on the analysis of sulfate (SO42–) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations and model simulations. The average concentration of chemical components showed that local air pollution also influenced air quality in Kumamoto .


BACKGROUND
This study has been carried out in order to explore the effect of the growing appearance of IPV in television news items on deaths by this cause.

METHODS
Ecological study based on 340 deaths by intimate partner violence (IPV) and 3733 television news items covering this topic on Spanish television channels (2003 and 2007). Logistic regression analysis was carried out. Dependent variable: the difference between the number of IPV deaths in the 7 days following a news item broadcast and the number of IPV deaths in the 7 days before a media item. This outcome variable was conceptualised as a binary variable: increase vs. no increase.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
days with IPV news items-in general, concerning deaths, measures or other IPV crimes. Adjusted variables: day of the week, month, year and public holidays.

RESULTS
A small copycat effect was observed in the IPV murder rate (RR = 1.32, CI(95%) = 1.07 - 1.62) for IPV-related news item days compared with days without such news. This effect continued when information about deaths was broadcast (RR = 1.28, CI(95%) = 1.01 - 1.62). News items concerning measures (RR = 0.90, CI(95%) = 0.82 - 0.98) or other IPV crimes (0.84, CI(95%) = 0.82 - 0.98) were related to a lower possibility of an increase in deaths compared with days with death-related news.

CONCLUSION
Given the results observed in the case of IPV-related news, there is an evident need to develop a journalistic style guide in order to determine what type of information is recommended due to the potential positive or negative effects.


The aim of this work was the physicochemical, microbiological and microscopic evaluation of artisanal rapaduras produced in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. The determination of the proximal composition, pH and the microscopic analyses were made according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). The concentrations of minerals and toxic metals were quantified by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The Coliforms at 45°C and Salmonella sp . were determined according to the American Public Health Association (APHA). The results obtained were: moisture (6.09 to 16.34%), ash (0.07 to 1.88%), insoluble solids (0.11 to 11.3%), pH (4.73 to 5.61), proteins (0.21 to 0.47%), sucrose (13.15 to 43.89%), and reducing sugars (10.96 to 26.28%). Significant differences were found between the samples (p £ 0.05) as well as nonconformities in relation to national regulations. The mineral contents showed significant differences between lots of samples (p £ 0.05) and some lots presented Cd and Pb concentrations above the maximum values allowed by Brazilian legislation. High quantities of unwanted materials were detected and none of the samples presented microbiological contamination. The results suggest the creation of technical standards for quality control for the production of rapaduras to ensure food safety.


The idea of Rule of Law has become almost unanimously embraced in our days. For human rights advocates, Rule of Law is perceived as an indispensable tool to avoid discrimination, and arbitrary use of force. But, how does profound and persistent social and economic inequality impact the integrity of the Rule of Law? The main objective of this essay is to try to understand the effects of the polarization of poverty and wealth on the legal system, especially in relation to one of the core ideals of the Rule of Law: that people should be treated impartially by the law and by those responsible for its implementation. By revising a substantive and a formalist conception of the Rule of Law, I will try to provide some explanation about why states and people would comply with the Rule of Law standards. The article will also consider the impact of extreme and persistent inequality over the Rule of Law, using my familiarity with the Brazilian experience as an example. In the final section, the focus will be on how even an incomplete Rule of Law system can be employed or challenged to empower the invisible, humanize the demonized, and bring the immune back to the realm of law. This paper will be also published at Thomas Pogge (ed.). A human right to be free from poverty: its role in politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.


The paper, referring to the school selection of Preseren's poems, deals with the problem of evaluating Preseren's poems. When selecting literary texts for secondary school reading books, the modern literature didactics recommend giving priority to the principles of reception and literary history. A study of the evaluation criteria of three leading experts on Preseren from the second half of the 20th century brings recognition that, in spite of significant differences between them, literary historians, above all, value formally complex and receptively demanding poems belonging to the central period of Preseren's romanticism. Although the influence of literary-historical principle is also noticed in secondary school students, these attribute the most value to Preseren's poems with simple forms and less demanding reception, predominantly those that have a story, are easier to understand and provide a complete experience.


In this paper, we investigate the performance of adaptive beamforming while using subcarrier permutation PUSC in WiMAX cellular network. In the literature, it has been shown that frequency reuse 1 is possible for beamforming capable WiMAX networks but with partial resource utilization or base station coordination. In this paper, we show however that using distributed subcarrier permutation (PUSC) offers sufficient diversity to allow full resource utilization without the need of coordination. We study an IEEE 802.16e cellular network employing adaptive beamforming per PUSC Major Group. Performance is evaluated in terms of radio quality parameters and system throughput. Results are based on Monte Carlo simulations performed in downlink. The simulation results show that even with reuse 1 and full load conditions, outage probability can be reduced to an acceptable value.


This study investigated how young children respond when asked to create spoken and written narratives. To
examine aspects of 5-year-olds' spoken and written narratives about their personal experiences, the level of
narrative, developmental stage of writing, and use of cohesive devices were analyzed. The results showed two
relationships between the spoken and written narratives. For some children, the same level was found for both
spoken and written narratives. But for other children, levels of spoken and written narratives differed. There
were more children with a higher level of written narrative compared to spoken narrative than children with a
lower level of written narrative compared to spoken narrative. Further analysis of the correlations between the
level of written narratives and developmental stage of writing showed statistical significance. Therefore, the
result of this study suggests that a child's developmental stage of writing could affect the level of 5-year-olds'
written narratives. Second, there were significant differences in 5-year-olds' usage of cohesive devices when
relating their personal experiences in their spoken and written narratives. The sum of conjunction and
anaphoric references (i.e., cohesive devices) was higher in spoken narrative expressions than in written
narrative expressions. In spoken narrative, children expressed de-contextualized language with cohesive
devices to give additional explanation, considering the listener who had no knowledge of the event the child
was relating. Further research about this aspect is proposed.


Currently available cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars support significant reproduction of the southern root-knot nematode [Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood], but they have not been evaluated for differing levels of yield suppression (tolerance) to this nematode. If nematode tolerant (low yield suppression) but susceptible (high nematode reproduction) cotton cultivars can be identified, they could be grown rather than intolerant cultivars to reduce yield loss. The objective of this study was to evaluate a collection of M. incognita-susceptible cotton cultivars for tolerance to parasitism by this nematode. The yield potential and percentage yield loss to M. incognita were measured in 12 genotypes in 2002 and 2003 by comparing yields in 1,3-dichloropropene-fumigated and nonfumi-gated plots. The percentage yield suppression caused by M. incognita differed among cotton genotypes in both 2002 and 2003. Yield suppression ranged from 18.0 to 47.3% in 2002 and from 8.5 to 35.7% in 2003. Though significant levels of tolerance were measured in our study, 2 yr of data on percentage yield suppression show that tolerance is not consistently related to specific cultivars in the absence of nematode resistance: susceptible cultivars did not consistently express tolerance, but resistant germplasm did. Thus, it appears unlikely that cotton cultivar selection for tolerance to M. incognita can be utilized to minimize yield suppression. Regression analysis based on the 2 yr of field data revealed a relationship in which percentage yield suppression caused by M. incognita increased linearly as yield potential increased. Because the absolute and percentage losses to nematodes increase as yield potential increases, nematode management becomes increasingly important and beneficial in cotton.


Over a decade, intelligent and persistent forms of cyber threats have been damaging to the organizations' cyber assets and missions. In this paper, we analyze current cyber kill chain models that explain the adversarial behavior to perform advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks, and propose a cyber kill chain model that can be used in view of cyber situation awareness. Based on the proposed cyber kill chain model, we propose a threat taxonomy that classifies attack tactics and techniques for each attack phase using CAPEC, ATT&CK that classify the attack tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) proposed by MITRE. We also implement a cyber common operational picture (CyCOP) to recognize the situation of cyberspace. The threat situation can be represented on the CyCOP by applying cyber kill chain based threat taxonomy.


Abstract. During the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME-4, October–November 2012) a large variety of regionally and globally significant biomass fuels was burned at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The particle emissions were characterized by an extensive suite of instrumentation that measured aerosol chemistry, size distribution, optical properties, and cloud-nucleating properties. The trace gas measurements included high-resolution mass spectrometry, one- and two-dimensional gas chromatography, and open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy. This paper summarizes the overall experimental design for FLAME-4 – including the fuel properties, the nature of the burn simulations, and the instrumentation employed – and then focuses on the OP-FTIR results. The OP-FTIR was used to measure the initial emissions of 20 trace gases: CO2, CO, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C3H6, HCHO, HCOOH, CH3OH, CH3COOH, glycolaldehyde, furan, H2O, NO, NO2, HONO, NH3, HCN, HCl, and SO2. These species include most of the major trace gases emitted by biomass burning, and for several of these compounds, this is the first time their emissions are reported for important fuel types. The main fire types included African grasses, Asian rice straw, cooking fires (open (three-stone), rocket, and gasifier stoves), Indonesian and extratropical peat, temperate and boreal coniferous canopy fuels, US crop residue, shredded tires, and trash. Comparisons of the OP-FTIR emission factors (EFs) and emission ratios (ERs) to field measurements of biomass burning verify that the large body of FLAME-4 results can be used to enhance the understanding of global biomass burning and its representation in atmospheric chemistry models. Crop residue fires are widespread globally and account for the most burned area in the US, but their emissions were previously poorly characterized. Extensive results are presented for burning rice and wheat straw: two major global crop residues. Burning alfalfa produced the highest average NH3 EF observed in the study (6.63 ± 2.47 g kg−1), while sugar cane fires produced the highest EF for glycolaldehyde (6.92 g kg−1) and other reactive oxygenated organic gases such as HCHO, HCOOH, and CH3COOH. Due to the high sulfur and nitrogen content of tires, they produced the highest average SO2 emissions (26.2 ± 2.2 g kg−1) and high NOx and HONO emissions. High variability was observed for peat fire emissions, but they were consistently characterized by large EFs for NH3 (1.82 ± 0.60 g kg−1) and CH4 (10.8 ± 5.6 g kg−1). The variability observed in peat fire emissions, the fact that only one peat fire had previously been subject to detailed emissions characterization, and the abundant emissions from tropical peatlands all impart high value to our detailed measurements of the emissions from burning three Indonesian peat samples. This study also provides the first EFs for HONO and NO2 for Indonesian peat fires. Open cooking fire emissions of HONO and HCN are reported for the first time, and the first emissions data for HCN, NO, NO2, HONO, glycolaldehyde, furan, and SO2 are reported for "rocket" stoves: a common type of improved cookstove. The HCN / CO emission ratios for cooking fires (1.72 × 10−3 ± 4.08 × 10−4) and peat fires (1.45 × 10−2 ± 5.47 × 10−3) are well below and above the typical values for other types of biomass burning, respectively. This would affect the use of HCN / CO observations for source apportionment in some regions. Biomass burning EFs for HCl are rare and are reported for the first time for burning African savanna grasses. High emissions of HCl were also produced by burning many crop residues and two grasses from coastal ecosystems. HCl could be the main chlorine-containing gas in very fresh smoke, but rapid partitioning to aerosol followed by slower outgassing probably occurs.


The Radon transform is an important transform to detect line feature from the noisy image. Radon transform can transform two-dimensional images (with noisy or disturbed lines) into a domain of possible parameters of line, where each line in the image will give a peak position at the corresponding parameters of the line. It has led to many line detection applications within image processing, computer vision, earthquake engineering etc. When the lines are subjected to very high background noises, Radon transform alone is not so effective. Here, in this paper, we propose dynamic stochastic resonance (DSR) based Radon transform for weak line extraction. The DSR is an iterative process that tunes the coefficient of Radon transform so that we may get the enhanced lines of the image. We compare our proposed method with the results of the Gaussian low pass filter. The proposed technique adopts local adaptive processing, and it significantly enhances the line feature of an image. Experimental results are also given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Adopting a traffic safety culture approach, this paper identifies and discusses the ongoing challenge of promoting the road safety message in Australia. It is widely acknowledged that mass media and public education initiatives have played a critical role in the significant positive changes witnessed in community attitudes to road safety in the last three to four decades. It could be argued that mass media and education have had a direct influence on behaviours and attitudes, as well as an indirect influence through signposting and awareness raising functions in conjunction with enforcement. Great achievements have been made in reducing fatalities on Australia's roads; a concept which is well understood among the international road safety fraternity. How well these achievements are appreciated by the general Australian community however, is not clear. This paper explores the lessons that can be learnt from successes in attitudinal and behaviour change in regard to seatbelt use and drink driving in Australia. It also identifies and discusses key challenges associated with achieving further positive changes in community attitudes and behaviours, particularly in relation to behaviours that may not be perceived by the community as dangerous, such as speeding and mobile phone use while driving. Potential strategies for future mass media and public education campaigns to target these challenges are suggested, including ways of harnessing the power of contemporary traffic law enforcement techniques, such as point-to-point speed enforcement and in-vehicle technologies, to help spread the road safety message.


In an era of rapid international economic integration, how do countries interact, innovate, and compete in industries, like energy, that are fundamental to national interests? Collaborative Advantage: Forging Green Industries in the New Global Economy examines the development of wind and solar industries, two sectors of historic importance that have long been the target of ambitious public policy. As wind and solar grew from cottage industries into $300 billion global sectors, China, Germany, and the United States each developed distinct constellations of firms with starkly different technical capabilities. The book shows that globalization itself has reinforced such distinct national patterns of industrial specialization. Economically, globalization has created opportunities for firms to specialize through collaboration with others. Politically, new possibilities for specialization have allowed firms to repurpose existing domestic institutions for application in new industries. Against the backdrop of policy efforts that have generally failed to grasp the cross-national nature of innovation, the book offers a novel explanation for both the causes of changes in the global organization of innovation and their impact on domestic politics. As interdependence in global supply chains has again come under fire in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Collaborative Advantage challenges the notion that globalization is primarily about competition, highlighting instead the central role of collaboration in the global economy, particularly in clean energy industries critical to solving the climate crisis.


We document a notable change in the pattern of fintech VC investments around the world relative to other types of investments after the global financial crisis. We argue that the spike in fintech VC in certain countries is attributable to differential enforcement of financial institution rules amongst start-ups versus large established financial institutions after the financial crisis. Consistent with this regulatory arbitrage view, we show the marked increase in fintech is more pronounced in countries without a major financial center. Also, we show the fintech boom is more pronounced for smaller private limited partnership VCs that likely have less experience with prior VC booms and busts. These fintech VC deals are less likely to be successfully exited as IPOs and acquisitions, and substantially more likely to be liquidated, especially when located in countries without a major financial center.


On the third floor of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, just down the hall from the African mammals, is the new traveling exhibition Baseball As America. In museum parlance the "big idea" for the exhibit is the intimate relationship between baseball and America. I am alerted to the theme in the first salon by an oversized quotation from French historian Jacques Barzun: "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." Every baseball scholar knows barzun's words by heart. The passage is cited so often that it has become a cliche, but the point is valid. Baseball and the nation share similar values and have grappled with similar social and economic issues. They have evolved together. Initially I walk through the entire exhibit several times just trying to get my mind around it. This exhibition is much more than a collection of Cooperstown's treasured memorabilia (500 of the Baseball Hall of Fame's 35,000 artifacts are here); it looks more like a celebration of baseball's place in American culture. On each pass I notice a small crowd around a display of four bats. Some of the few artifacts that can be touched, they are the models used by Babe Ruth, Edd Roush, Rod Carew, and Mark McGwire. As replicas they have no direct connection with Ruth or the others. Rather the appeal is that visitors are able to lift, feel their heft, and compare. Rod Carew's thirty-four-inch, thirty-two-ounce seems featherweight next to Roush's thirty-six-inch, thirty-seven-ounce model. A few ounces and two inches might not seem like much of a difference, but it feels enormous in my hands. I marvel at the strength of Roush. Holding the bat I think of the D2 model, thirty-four inches, thirty-three ounces, that I used as a Minor League first baseman in the 29605. One D2 stands in the corner of my study at home, and I still occasionally take a swing and wonder how I was ever able to get it around in time to meet a fastball. I linger in the "Invention and Ingenuity" section, which examines the evolution of baseball equipment and how it has improved player performance and safety. Baseball people like to say that the game doesn't change, but the displays of early equipment, such as fingerless gloves, bottle-shaped bats, and heavy wool uniforms, tell a different story. Indeed even the gloves and spikes I wore just thirty years ago now look antique compared to the streamlined, high-tech gear used by today's players. The changes invoke a notion of historical progress. Elements of a few old designs, however, have resurfaced in the modern gear. I was surprised, for example, to see a pair 1906 high-top spikes--I had assumed that high tops did not enter the game until the 1980s. Comparing old and new in the exhibition, I see that some fashions, such as belts and button-down jerseys, run in cycles. I am struck at how often an artifact triggers a personal memory--and not just for me but for other visitors whose comments I overhear. At moments it's like looking at a family album. A medical bag from the 1960s displays the ointments, unguents, and Band-Aids that had once been applied to my own bruises and minor injuries, though not with the expertise of today's trainers. In the 1960s Minor League trainers had little training and only rudimentary knowledge of sports medicine. Jerry, the trainer on my Jamestown Tigers of the New York--Pennsylvania League, was also the team bus driver. Moving on the exhibition reminds me that not all of my baseball memories are fond ones. Although I knew of the hate letters Hank Aaron had received in 1974 as he closed in on Babe Ruth's hallowed home run record, to actually see one, in the bigot's own penmanship, means something else. I recall my youthful outrage at the racism I witnessed. Baseball had exposed me--a young, naive, California suburban boy--to a degree of bigotry I had not known before. On my first road trip in North Carolina in 1966, our team bus stopped for a late-night meal, and I watched in disbelief as my black teammates walked around to the back of the restaurant to be served in the kitchen. …


The Northern Antarctic Peninsula (NAP), located in West Antarctica, is amongst the most impacted regions by recent warming events. Its vulnerability to climate change has already led to an accumulation of severe changes along its ecosystems. This work reviews the current findings on impacts observed in phytoplankton communities occurring in the NAP, with a focus on its causes, consequences, and the potential research priorities toward an integrated comprehension of the physical–biological coupling and climate perspective. Evident changes in phytoplankton biomass, community composition and size structure, as well as potential bottom-up impacts to the ecosystem are discussed. Surface wind, sea ice and meltwater dynamics, as key drivers of the upper layer structure, are identified as the leading factors shaping phytoplankton. Short- and long-term scenarios are suggested for phytoplankton communities in the NAP, both indicating a future increase of the importance of small flagellates at the expense of diatoms, with potential devastating impacts for the ecosystem. Five main research gaps in the current understanding of the phytoplankton response to climate change in the region are identified: (i) anthropogenic signal has yet to be disentangled from natural climate variability; (ii) the influence of small-scale ocean circulation processes on phytoplankton is poorly understood; (iii) the potential consequences to regional food webs must be clarified; (iv) the magnitude and risk of potential changes in phytoplankton composition is relatively unknown; and (v) a better understanding of phytoplankton physiological responses to changes in the environmental conditions is required. Future research directions, along with specific suggestions on how to follow them, are equally suggested. Overall, while the current knowledge has shed light on the response of phytoplankton to climate change, in order to truly comprehend and predict changes in phytoplankton communities, there must be a robust collaboration effort integrating both Antarctic research programs and the whole scientific community under a common research framework.


We propose Geo-PIFu, a method to recover a 3D mesh from a monocular color image of a clothed person. Our method is based on a deep implicit function-based representation to learn latent voxel features using a structure-aware 3D U-Net, to constrain the model in two ways: first, to resolve feature ambiguities in query point encoding, second, to serve as a coarse human shape proxy to regularize the high-resolution mesh and encourage global shape regularity. We show that, by both encoding query points and constraining global shape using latent voxel features, the reconstruction we obtain for clothed human meshes exhibits less shape distortion and improved surface details compared to competing methods. We evaluate Geo-PIFu on a recent human mesh public dataset that is $10 \times$ larger than the private commercial dataset used in PIFu and previous derivative work. On average, we exceed the state of the art by $42.7\%$ reduction in Chamfer and Point-to-Surface Distances, and $19.4\%$ reduction in normal estimation errors.


At its core, an economy is about providing goods and services for human well-being. But many economists and critics preach that an economy is something far different: a cold and heartless system that operates outside of human control. In this impassioned and perceptive work, Julie A. Nelson asks a compelling question: given that our economic world is something that we as humans create, aren't ethics and human relationships—dimensions of a full and rich life—intrinsically part of the picture? Economics for Humans argues against the well-ingrained notion that economics is immune to moral values and distant from human relationships. Here, Nelson locates the impediment to a more considerate economic world in an assumption that is shared by both neoliberals and the political left. Despite their seemingly insurmountable differences, both make use of the metaphor, first proposed by Adam Smith, that the economy is a machine. This pervasive idea, Nelson argues, has blinded us to the qualities that make us work and care for one another—qualities that also make businesses thrive and markets grow. We can wed our interest in money with our justifiable concerns about ethics and social well-being. And we can do so if we recognize that an economy is not a machine, but a living thing in need of attention and careful tending. This second edition has been updated and refined throughout, with expanded discussions of many topics and a new chapter that investigates the apparent conflict between economic well-being and ecological sustainability. Further developing the main points of the first edition, Economics for Humans will continue to both invigorate and inspire readers to reshape the way they view the economy, its possibilities, and their place within it.


Background Estimates of fishing and natural mortality are important for understanding, and ultimately managing, commercial and recreational fisheries. High reward tags with fixed station acoustic telemetry provides a promising approach to monitoring mortality rates in large lake recreational fisheries. Kootenay Lake is a large lake which supports an important recreational fishery for large Bull Trout and Rainbow Trout. Methods Between 2008 and 2013, 88 large (≥ 500 mm) Bull Trout and 149 large (≥ 500 mm) Rainbow Trout were marked with an acoustic transmitter and/or high reward ($100) anchor tags in Kootenay Lake. The subsequent detections and angler recaptures were analysed using a Bayesian individual state-space Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) survival model with indicator variable selection. Results The final CJS survival model estimated that the annual interval probability of being recaptured by an angler was 0.17 (95% CRI 0.11 - 0.23) for Bull Trout and 0.14 (95% CRI 0.09 - 0.19) for Rainbow Trout. The annual interval survival probability for Bull Trout was estimated to have declined from 0.91 (95% CRI 0.77 - 0.97) in 2009 to just 0.45 (95% CRI 0.24 - 0.73) in 2013. Rainbow Trout survival was most strongly affected by spawning. The annual interval survival probability was 0.77 (95% CRI 0.68 - 0.85) for a non-spawning Rainbow Trout compared to 0.42 (95% CRI 0.31 - 0.54) for a spawner. The probability of spawning increased with the fork length for both species and decreased over the course of the study for Rainbow Trout. Discussion Fishing mortality was relatively low and constant while natural mortality was relatively high and variable. The results are consistent with Kokanee abundance as opposed to angler effort as the primary driver of short-term population fluctations in Rainbow Trout abundance. Multi-species stock assessment models need to account for the fact that large Bull Trout are more abundant than large Rainbow Trout in Kootenay Lake.


This is a broad-ranging discussion of the role of economics and economists in the formation of government policies. The focus is on helping economists who wish to be influential in the policy process. The paper covers rationales for and against economist involvement in the policy process (market failure, government failure, economist failure), a range of theories that attempt to explain aspects of the policy process, and practical advice and insights based on the experiences of policy economists. Many challenges are highlighted, but some clear opportunities are apparent, particularly through explicit advocacy for the public interest.


ABSTRACT: This paper examines poverty and income inequality in urban China by analysing recent survey data collected in four of the largest Chinese cities(1). Using a number of quantitative measurements, including poverty indices and Gini coefficients, the paper investigates income poverty and inequality among three groups, namely urban locals, urban migrants, and rural migrants. The results strongly suggest that urban poverty and inequality are a serious issue and that rural migrants have become a major segment in the urban poor class. The results are expected to contribute to the debate on how to improve public policy on poverty alleviation, which currently focuses only on officially registered urban locals.


Succinate dehydrogenase B (SDHB) and D (SDHD) subunit gene mutations predispose to adrenal and extraadrenal pheochromocytomas, head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGL), and other tumor types. We report tumor risks in 358 patients with SDHB (n=295) and SDHD (n=63) mutations. Risks of HNPGL and pheochromocytoma in SDHB mutation carriers were 29% and 52%, respectively, at age 60 years and 71% and 29%, respectively, in SDHD mutation carriers. Risks of malignant pheochromocytoma and renal tumors (14% at age 70 years) were higher in SDHB mutation carriers; 55 different mutations (including a novel recurrent exon 1 deletion) were identified. No clear genotype–phenotype correlations were detected for SDHB mutations. However, SDHD mutations predicted to result in loss of expression or a truncated or unstable protein were associated with a significantly increased risk of pheochromocytoma compared to missense mutations that were not predicted to impair protein stability (most such cases had the common p.Pro81Leu mutation). Analysis of the largest cohort of SDHB/D mutation carriers has enhanced estimates of penetrance and tumor risk and supports in silicon protein structure prediction analysis for functional assessment of mutations. The differing effect of the SDHD p.Pro81Leu on HNPGL and pheochromocytoma risks suggests differing mechanisms of tumorigenesis in SDH‐associated HNPGL and pheochromocytoma. Hum Mutat 31:41–51, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Among the edgy, innovative, and fashionable young poets drawing crowds at popular 1960s poetry festivals was a unique attraction: Stevie Smith, over sixty years old, atonally singing her poetry while wearing clothing suggestive of a schoolgirl's uniform, complete with white stockings. Occasionally, between poems, she chattered in a form of baby talk (Sternlicht, "Introduction" 11). Her sartorial and linguistic imitation of youth suggests a current of obsessive remembering, a single-minded thirst for an imagined youth that is at once dissonant and enthralling. Although she may have startled her audiences with such displays, both her wardrobe and her chatter were entirely consistent with her poetry, for in her verse she displays the same unsettling nostalgia. Those familiar with the basic story of Smith's childhood--a saga of illness, abandonment, confinement, and death--might wonder why she invariably returns to the child-like. But the very fact of repeated injury led Smith to imagine incessantly what she did not have. Enacting a poetic spin on Freud's recently born "talking cure" in order to address a number of mental illnesses she carried with her, including obsessive neurosis and severe bouts of depression, Smith repeatedly writes through her childhood, especially in the early works A Good Time Was Had by All (1937) and Tender Only to One (1938). A pioneer in her own history, Smith adapts and sometimes abandons traditional forms in order to explore new territory. Infused with the sorrow of loss, she employs the sing-song rhythms of nursery rhymes and the haphazard violence of fairy tales to tackle the difficulties of an unwelcome adulthood. Using elusive and varied poetic voices, her poetry obsesses about an idyllic childhood even as it mourns the absence of it. Although Smith hesitated in interviews to characterize her childhood as traumatic, she did acknowledge that her early years were punctuated with harsh interruptions and painful losses. Florence Margaret Smith was born in Hull on September 20, 1902. Called Peggy by her family, she did not acquire her preferred nickname Stevie until the 1920s. (1) Smith was a fragile child, born so ill that she had to be baptized at home rather than risk the voyage to the church where her older sister, Molly, had been christened (Spalding 3). Smith's parents, Ethel Spear Smith and Charles Ward Smith, may have been in love once, but those feelings apparently had faded by the time Stevie was born, perhaps due to Charles's incessant longing to be elsewhere. As a young man, he had planned to go to sea with the Navy, but when his brother drowned pursuing the same career, his family forbade it (Spalding 6). (2) He later wanted to join the British forces in the Boer War; by that time, however, Ethel was pregnant with Molly (Sternlicht, Stevie 2). He subsequently went into business with his father, a shipping agent. He managed to travel quite a bit, thereby satisfying one of his goals, but he mishandled the financial aspects of the business so badly that he found himself deeply in debt by the time Stevie was a toddler (Spalding 7). In 1906, Charles Ward Smith ran off to sea to work on the commercial White Star Line, leaving behind his sickly wife and two daughters (Barbera and McBrien 9). Stevie's anger at this abandonment could hardly be disguised when, decades later, she spoke of this event: "I didn't like him very much... This was just after I'd been born, and poor Daddy took one look at me and rushed away to sea" (qtd. in Dick 38-39). Together with Ethel's unmarried sister, Margaret Annie Spear, the women of the Smith family moved to 1 Avondale Road, Palmers Green, London. Anxious for a sense of permanence and stability, Stevie Smith would remain in that home until her death, some seventy years later. Surely it is not coincidental that around the time of her father's departure, Stevie Smith began suffering from episodes that can only be described as fits. As biographer Frances Spalding describes it, she "had the habit of suddenly turning cold and stiff" (15). …


It is a familiar ideal that the remedy should fit the wrong — this wrong, by this wrongdoer, against this victim. Modern legal systems ordinarily pursue this kind of fit, at least in civil cases, by tailoring the remedy case by case. There is an alternative, though, which is for a legal system to announce in advance exactly what the remedy will be for all violations of a legal rule. This Article analyzes that alternative, and it offers a theory for when remedies should be announced. Announcing has important social benefits. First, announcing leads to greater equality because what a successful litigant recovers is not affected by her race, gender, or other characteristics. Second, announcing produces greater compliance with legal rules because it assures the public that remedies are not being unfairly manipulated. Third, announcing reduces the "costs of telling." When remedies are decided case by case, a plaintiff's recovery depends on how successfully she tells her story. This telling has personal costs, such as impaired hedonic adaptation, that are avoided when remedies are announced. In achieving these benefits, announcing does not operate as a unitary phenomenon. Sometimes it performs a cost-saving function, sometimes a communication function, and sometimes a precommitment function. Distinguishing among these functions is critical to proper use of announcing. Other important considerations include the interplay of rights and remedies, the need for future-proofing, and the way announcing one remedy can affect the entire system of remedies.


Soil moisture is an important indicator of the land surface environment. The combination of land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) could enhance the ability of extracting information on soil moisture conditions. In this study, we employed multitemporal Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data products of LST, NDVI, and land cover types to obtain the information about soil moisture for the greater Changbai Mountains. We selected nine time periods in 2007 for inversion of the soil moisture conditions and focused the analysis on four critical time periods. According to the spatial pattern of the LST and NDVI, we established the ¿wet-edge¿ and ¿dry-edge¿ equations and determined the relative parameters. We obtained the temperature-vegetation dryness index (TVDI) using the wet-edge and dry-edge relationships to reveal temporal changes of the land surface soil moisture conditions of the study area. We also analyzed the relationship between different land cover types in five TVDI classes. This paper demonstrates that TVDI is an effective indicator to detect soil moisture status in the greater Changbai Mountains region.


Since President Bush took office, there has been a great deal of attention focused on the future of Title IX and its application to athletic opportunities for female students.1 President Bush has made no secret that he is in favor of making some changes to this law, specifically the proportionality requirement.2 Soon after taking office, Bush created a Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, whose members include some very influential proponents and opponents of Title IX. In February of 2003, after extensive public hearings, the Commission issued its findings and recommendations regarding the viability of Title IX as it has been interpreted up to this point in time.3 The purpose of this note is to present an overview of Title IX and of how the courts, to this point, have chosen to interpret it with regard to equal opportunities for participation in athletics between the sexes. Next, this note will examine the three major cases that have shaped Title IX's application. Finally, it will discuss the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics and its findings and recommendations and reactions to them. I. WHAT IS TITLE IX? Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in education programs, both at high school and college levels, or activities that receive federal financial assistance.4 Title IX specifically provides that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."5 The Department of Education enforces these rules and regulations through its Office for Civil Rights.6 At the time of Title IX's enactment, Congress delegated regulatory authority to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW).7 The regulation implementing Title IX became effective when President Ford signed it into law in 1975.8 Schools were then given three years to achieve compliance. Rampant confusion as to the appropriate interpretation of the regulations resulted in HEW issuing a Policy Interpretation in 1979.9 The Policy Interpretation stated three means by which a school could satisfy Title IX's mandate: 1. The school provides sports participation opportunities to males and females in numbers that are substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments; 2. Where the members of one sex have been and are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, a school can show a history and continuing practice of program expansion which is demonstrably responsive to the developing interest and abilities of the members of the underrepresented sex; 3. Where the members of one sex are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, and the institution cannot show a continuing practice of program expansion, the school can show that the interests and abilities of the members of that sex have been fully and effectively accommodated by the present program.10 The proportionately requirement stated in section (1) above has emerged as the only possible means of Title IX compliance when the school is eliminating the number of athletic programs it had previously offered to male and female students.11 This is because a university that is cutting back on its sports offerings cannot therefore demonstrate program expansion as required under section (2) above. It also cannot show full accommodation under section (3) because when female sports teams are being eliminated, the members of those teams are not being fully accommodated.12 The proportionality requirement has become the dominant and most controversial for schools that attempt to eliminate sports teams to save money and at the same time try to comply with Title IX.13 An equal opportunity analysis of a school that offers interscholastic, intercollegiate or intramural athletics does not simply inquire whether there are the same numbers of female and male sports slots available. …


The year 2015 marked the fiftieth anniversary of West Virginia University's (WVU) Regional Research Institute (RRI), which has played an important role in many scientific collaboration networks. Through social network analysis (SNA) focusing on the RRI research community since its inception in 1965, this paper illustrates the role that organizations and the networks they promote can play in scientific problem domains, promoting scholarly collaborations and co-authorship in the field of regional science. We analyzed an evolving WVU RRI co-authorship network that has grown and gained in complexity over time, in terms of (1) global metrics, (2) components and cluster analysis, (3) centrality and (4) PageRank and AuthorRank. The results of these analyses depict a well-developed and influential scientific collaboration structure within both WVU and the regional science research community.


Importance
Optic neuritis (ON) in children is uncommon. There are limited prospective data for visual acuity (VA) outcomes, associated diseases, and neuroimaging findings. Prospective data from a large sample would be useful for counseling families on treatment decisions and prognosis.

Objective
To prospectively study children with a first episode of ON, describe VA after 6 months, and ascertain the network's (Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group and Neuro-Ophthalmology Research Disease Investigator Consortium) ability to enroll pediatric patients with ON prospectively.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This nonrandomized cohort study was conducted from September 20, 2016, to July 20, 2018, at 23 sites in the United States and Canada in pediatric ophthalmology or neuro-ophthalmology clinics. A total of 44 children (aged 3-15 years) presented with a first episode of ON (visual loss, pain on eye movements, or both) within 2 weeks of symptom onset and at least 1 of the following in the affected eye: a distance high-contrast VA (HCVA) deficit of at least 0.2 logMAR below age-based norms, diminished color vision, abnormal visual field, or optic disc swelling. Exclusion criteria included preexisting ocular abnormalities or a previous episode of ON.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Primary outcomes were monocular HCVA and low-contrast VA at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were neuroimaging, associated diagnoses, and antibodies for neuromyelitis optica and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein.

Results
A total of 44 children (mean age [SD], 10.2 [3.5] years; 26 boys [59%]; 23 White individuals [52%]; 54 eyes) were enrolled in the study. Sixteen patients (36%) had bilateral ON. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed white matter lesions in 23 children (52%). Of these children, 8 had myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated demyelination (18%), 7 had acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (16%), 5 had multiple sclerosis (11%), and 3 had neuromyelitis optica (7%). The baseline mean HCVA was 0.95 logMAR (20/200), which improved by a mean 0.76 logMAR (95% CI, 0.54-0.99; range, -0.70 to 1.80) to 0.12 logMAR (20/25) at 6 months. The baseline mean distance low-contrast VA was 1.49 logMAR (20/640) and improved by a mean 0.72 logMAR (95% CI, 0.54-0.89; range, -0.20 to 1.50) to 0.73 logMAR (20/100) at 6 months. Baseline HCVA was worse in younger participants (aged <10 years) with associated neurologic autoimmune diagnoses, white matter lesions, and in those of non-White race and non-Hispanic ethnicity. The data did not suggest a statistically significant association between baseline factors and improvement in HCVA.

Conclusions and Relevance
The study network did not reach its targeted enrollment of 100 pediatric patients with ON over 2 years. This indicates that future treatment trials may need to use different inclusion criteria or plan a longer enrollment period to account for the rarity of the disease. Despite poor VA at presentation, most children had marked improvement by 6 months. Associated neurologic autoimmune diagnoses were common. These findings can be used to counsel families about the disease.


OBJECT
The authors conducted a multiinstitutional, retrospective analysis to better define outcome and prognostic indicators for temporal lobe epilepsy surgery for suspected mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) in young children.

METHODS
Data were collected for all children undergoing temporal resections at four epilepsy centers over approximately 10 years. Children with a histopathological diagnosis of neoplasm were excluded. Forty-nine patients (28 boys and 21 girls) were included in the study. Their mean age at surgery was 9.1 years (range 1.25-13.9 years). The mean age at seizure onset was 3.2 years (range birth-10 years). Histopathological examination demonstrated MTS in 26 cases, gliosis in nine, dysplasia in five, gliosis with dysplasia in four, and nonspecific or normal findings in five. Forty-one anterior temporal lobectomies (nine tailored) and eight selective amygdalohippocam-pectomies were performed (28 left side, 21 right side). Twenty-nine children (59.2%) underwent invasive monitoring. Operative complications included extraaxial hematomas (two cases), cerebrospinal fluid leaks (two cases), and hydrocephalus (one case), each in children undergoing invasive monitoring. The mean duration of follow up was 26.4 months (range 5-74 months) overall and 23.9 months (range 6-74 months) for the Engel Class I subgroup. Outcomes at the most recent follow-up examination were categorized as Engel Class I-II in 31 (63.3%) of 49 children overall, 20 (76.9%) of 26 children with confirmed MTS, four (36.4%) of 11 children with gliosis, and four (57.1%) of seven children with dysplasia. All patients who underwent selective amygdalohippocampectomies had confirmed MTS and Engel Class I outcomes. Patients with more than one seizure type (p = 0.048) or moderate to severe developmental delay (p = 0.03) had significantly worse outcomes (Engel Class III or IV). Age at seizure onset, age at surgery, and duration of seizure disorder were not significantly related to outcome. There was a trend for bilateral or extratemporal findings on electroencephalography (EEG) (p = 0.157), high preoperative seizure frequency (p = 0.097), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings inconsistent with MTS (p = 0.142) to be associated with worse outcome, although it did not reach statistical significance. In only 12 (46.1%) of the 26 patients with confirmed MTS was the condition prospectively diagnosed on preoperative MR imaging.

CONCLUSIONS
Younger children with temporal lobe epilepsy have satisfying surgical outcomes, particularly when MTS is present. Magnetic resonance imaging may not be as sensitive in detecting MTS in children as in older patients. Negative predictors identified include multiple seizure types and preoperative developmental delay. Multifocal or bilateral EEG findings, high preoperative seizure frequency, and MR imaging findings inconsistent with MTS also independently suggested worse outcome.


The hotspot swell—an area of uplifted bathymetry or topography surrounding regional volcanism—is a defining hotspot characteristic, yet its origin is poorly understood. To test current ideas about swell formation, we studied the crust and shallow mantle structure of the Cape Verdes in a passive seismic experiment. The Cape Verde Islands are ∼450 km west of Senegal in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and are on the southwest flank of the Cape Verde Rise, the largest bathymetric anomaly in the oceans, rising ∼2 km above the surrounding seafloor ([Crough, 1982][1]). The archipelago occupies a unique position, an approximately stationary one in the hotspot frame of reference ([Gripp and Gordon, 2002][2]) and therefore with respect to the melting source believed to have produced it. Here we present an analysis of compressional to shear (P to S) converted seismic phases, recorded on a temporary network of seismograph stations on the Cape Verde Islands, that indicate a crust thickened to 22 km is underlain by a high-velocity, low-density layer, which overlies a zone of low shear-wave velocity starting at ∼80 km depth. We also measured shear-wave splitting delay times for teleseismic SKS phases, which are ∼0.81 s, compatible with an origin in this same layer. We interpret these observations as effects of hotspot melting, which produces a thickened crust and a depleted swell root that buoys the ocean floor and spreads laterally as it grows over time.

 [1]: #ref-5
 [2]: #ref-11


We developed a new fluorene-based chromophore for a degradation-recoverable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) dye laser. The chromophore has dimethylsiloxane chains to enhance its solubility in the PDMS matrix. The spectroscopic and mobile characteristics were evaluated, and the attaching of the siloxane/silyl chains improved solubility in PDMS without influencing the laser property. It extended the durability by a factor of 20 for shots in an index-type Bragg grating/PDMS complex laser waveguide compared with a similar fluorene-based chromophore in PMMA laser waveguides. This molecular diffusion not only increased durability but also provided detailed information about dye degradation in waveguides.


Retroviral vectors have been widely studied as vehicles for hepatocyte gene therapy, but they are limited by an inability to infect nondividing cells and the need for prolonged cell culture. Two replication deficient herpes simplex viral vectors (HSV) were constructed with the marker genes lac‐Z/β‐galactosidase (HSVlac) or human‐growth hormone (HSVhGH) to determine the efficiency of HSV gene transfer into adult human hepatocytes. Hepatocytes were isolated by collagenase perfusions and density centrifugation from liver wedge biopsy specimens obtained from six patients. After exposure to HSV (0, 50,000, and 500,000 viral particles/106 hepatocytes) for 20 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours, the hepatocytes were washed and placed in culture. Hepatocytes transduced with HSVlac were fixed at 24 hours and histochemically stained with X‐gal, and media from HSVhGH‐transduced cells were assayed at 48 hours by radioimmunoassay for hGH. After a 20‐minute exposure at a multiplicity of infection of 0.5 (1 viral particle per 2 hepatocytes), greater than 35% of the hepatocytes expressed the lac‐Z gene (>70% efficiency). hGH was also detected in the media from HSVhGH‐transduced cells, showing that proteins coded for by foreign genes are not only expressed by transduced cells but are also secreted. Isolated liver perfusions using HSVlac were also performed in Fischer rats. A 20‐minute isolated perfusion using 5 × 106 viral particles resulted in expression of the β‐galactosidase gene in the rodent livers 72 hours later without histological signs of tissue injury. HSV vectors are potentially powerful tools for gene therapy of human liver disease, because they are efficient and rapid vehicles for gene transfer. Ex vivo modified hepatocytes theoretically may be ready for reinfusion within 100 minutes of liver resection. Efficient in vivo delivery of foreign gene may also be accomplished using these vectors. (Hepatology 1995; 22:723–729.)


Seed germination is a complex process which occurs by the successful regulation of different factors necessary to regulate germination in a coordinated and sequential way, such as phytohormones. Among three phases of seed germination, the second phase is the most important due to reactivation of metabolic pathways. DELLAs accumulation in seed resulted in the expression of gene related to F box protein. Gibberellins receptor, GIBBERELLIN INSEN-STIVE DAWRF1 (GID1) protein in rice, and F box are involved in Della degradation in the nucleus. In this mini-review, we summarize the protein related to the rice seed germination, such as protein related to energy and carbohydrate metabolism. In spite of several studies conducted to understand the genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomics data still we are unable to understand the mechanism of seed germination. To uncover the underlying mechanism of germination, current challenges and future perspectives we write this review, which might be helpful to understand the complex process of seed germination.


This thesis presents a detailed analysis of the thought of the leading nineteenth century Anglican Evangelical theologian Thomas Rawson Birks (1810-1883). It is organised on a broadly chronological basis and discusses Birks's dogmatic and philosophical theology, sermons, and journalism. It also takes full account of his contributions to contemporary debates on social, political and scientific issues, considering them in relation to their cultural and ideological context.

The study presents an assessment of the nature and importance of B irks's theological output. It also considers Birks's thought in relation to the changing character of nineteenth-century Evangelicalism itself and to the wider question of the relationship between cultural influences and theological change.

The thesis will argue that B irks's distinctive interpretations of central Evangelical doctrines represented an original and important contribution to the Evangelical tradition. B irks's career also reflects some prominent ideological tendencies and concerns through which the religious character of the Evangelical movement as a whole can be better understood. Finally, this thesis aims to demonstrate that Birks's intellectual and scientific interests, philosophical outlook and religious sensibility reveal him to have been a representative product of mainstream Victorian culture.


This article presents the Event Data on Conflict and Security (EDACS) dataset, discusses the inherent problems of georeferenced conflict data, and shows how these challenges are met within EDACS. Based on an event data approach, EDACS contributes to the growing number of novel georeferenced datasets that allow researchers to identify causal pathways of violence and the dynamics of (transboundary) violence through spatiotemporal disaggregation. However, the unreflected use of any of these datasets will give researchers unjustified confidence in their findings, as the pitfalls are many and propagating errors can result in misleading conclusions. To identify and handle the different challenges to overall event data quality, we argue in favor of transparency in the data collection and coding process, to empower analysts to challenge the data and avoid cascading errors. In particular, we investigate how the choice of news sources, the handling of geographic precision, and the use of auxiliary data can bias event data. We demonstrate how the EDACS dataset design enables the analyst to deal with these issues by providing a set of variables indicating the news sources, possible sources of bias, and detailed information on geographic precision. This allows for a flexible use of the data based on individual analytical requirements.


Remote detection of forest disturbance remains a key area of interest for scientists and land managers. Subtle disturbances such as drought, disease, insect activity, and thinning harvests have a significant impact on carbon budgeting and forest productivity, but current change detection algorithms struggle to accurately identify them, especially over decadal timeframes. We introduce an algorithm called Edyn, which inputs a time series of residuals from harmonic regression into a control chart to signal low-magnitude, consistent deviations from the curve as disturbances. After signaling, Edyn retrains a new baseline curve. We compared Edyn with its parent algorithm (EWMACD—Exponentially Weighted Moving Average Change Detection) on over 3500 visually interpreted Landsat pixels from across the contiguous USA, with reference data for timing and type of disturbance. For disturbed forested pixels, Edyn had a mean per-pixel commission error of 31.1% and omission error of 70.0%, while commission and omission errors for EWMACD were 39.9% and 65.2%, respectively. Edyn had significantly less overall error than EWMACD (F1 = 0.19 versus F1 = 0.13). These patterns generally held for all of the reference data, including a direct comparison to other contemporary change detection algorithms, wherein Edyn and EWMACD were found to have lower omission error rates for a category of subtle changes over long periods.


This research examined the role of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a partnership that was formed between an educational psychology course for preservice teachers, eight professors from the university's teacher education program, and eight practicing teachers from diverse public schools from across two states. Participants communicated via chat rooms and threaded discussion lists. The use of computer-mediated communication as a viable means of supporting collaboration and reflection in teacher education is described. Results from qualitative and quantitative analyses support the notion that CMC enhanced learning outcomes as measured by reflective capacity. Using the Developmental Model of Reflection as a Cognitive Outcome Scale (Crotty, 2001), results from an ANOVA indicate significant growth in the preservice teachers' reflective comments across the semester.


The importance of a collaborative environment to achieve success in projects has been widely discussed in the literature and different mechanisms have been developed and introduced to support a collaborative approach to construction projects, i.e. new forms of agreement, new office arrangements, financial incentives, a shared risk and reward approach, the development of shared goals, etc. However, the literature related to these mechanisms is predominantly prescriptive, with little evidence and justification on why some of these mechanisms might be important to support collaboration. In this paper, we focus on discussing the development of shared goals as a means to support collaboration. We collected findings from two case studies in which an explicit process for goal setting and tracking was used to emphasize a collaborative environment. The technique used in these projects are not new and have been documented elsewhere. However, the benefits of these kind of techniques to support collaboration have not been fully explored in the lean construction community. Thus, the intent of this paper is to report some of the benefits that a goal setting exercise brought to two construction projects while having a theoretical discussion to explain why such process can be beneficial and should also be considered along with other mechanisms as an important element to support collaboration.


The huge success of eBay has proven the demand for customer-to-customer (C2C) electronic commerce. eBay is a centralized infrastructure with all its scalability problems (network bandwidth, server load, availability, etc.). We argue that C2C e-commerce is an application domain that maps naturally onto the emergent field of P2P systems simply by its underlying interaction model of customers, i.e., peers. This offers the opportunity to take P2P systems beyond mere file sharing systems into interesting new application domains. The long-term goal would be to design a fully functional decentralized system which resembles eBay without eBay's dedicated, centralized infrastructure. Since security (authenticity, non-repudiation, trust, etc.) is key to any e-commerce infrastructure, our envisioned P2P e-commerce platform has to address this adequately. As the first step in this direction we present an approach for a completely decentralized P2P public key infrastructure (PKI) which can serve as the basis for higher-level security service. In contrast to other systems in this area, such as PGP which uses a "Web of trust" concept, we use a statistical approach which allows us to provide an analytical model with provable guarantees, and quantify the behavior and specific properties of the PKI. To justify our claims we provide a first-order analysis and discuss its resilience against various known threats and attack scenarios. In support of our belief that C2C E-commerce is one of the potential killer applications of the emerging structured P2P systems, we provide a layered model for P2P E-commerce, demonstrating the dependencies of various security related issues that can be built on top of a decentralized PKI.