The Friant - San Joaquin River litigation in the Federal courts, popularly known as Rank versus Krug, involved a wide scope of current issues in the field of water law in the Western United States, as well as court recognition of unusual geologic and hydrologic features of a stream system and its related ground water. It is also interesting as an example of water conservation to be accomplished through an engineer's physical solution incorporated in a court order. The paper states briefly the issues, the history of the case, and highlights of the decision with striking extracts from the opinions of the district and circuit courts.


The sight and sound of breaking waves and surf is so familiar and enjoyable that we tend to forget how little we really understand about them. Why is it, that compared to other branches of wave studies our knowledge of breaking waves is so empirical and inexact? The reason must lie partly in the difficulty of finding a precise mathematical description of a fluid flow that is in general nonlinear and time-dependent. The fluid accelerations can no longer be assumed t o be small compared t o gravity, as in Stokes's theory for periodic waves and the theory of cnoidal waves in shallow water, nor is the particle velocity any longer small compared to the phase velocity. The aim of this paper is to bring together s ome recent contributions to the calculation both of steep symmetric waves and of time-dependent surface waves. These have a bearing on the behaviour of whitecaps in deep water and of surf in the breaker zone . Since spilling breakers in gently shoaling water closely resemble solitary waves, we begin with the description of solitary waves of limiting amplitude, then discuss steep waves of arbitrary height. The observed intermittency of whitecaps is discussed in terms of the energy maximum, as a function of wave steepness, In Sections 6 and 7 a simpler description of steady symmetric waves is proposed, using an asymptotic expression for the flow near the wave crest. Finally we describe a new numerical technique (MEL, or mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian) with which it has been found possible to follow the development of periodic waves past the point when overturning takes place. Measurement of waves, and vertical and horizontal water particle velocities were made of spilling, plunging and surging breakers at sandy beaches in the vicinity of Monterey, California. The measured breaking waves, derived characteristically from swell-type waves, can be described as highly nonlinear. Spectra and cross spectra were calculated between waves and velocities. Secondary waves were noted visually and by the strong harmonics in the spectra. The strength of the harmonics is related to the beach steepness, wave height and period. The phase difference between waves and horizontal velocities indicates the unstable crest of the wave leads the velocities on the average by 5-20 degrees. Phase measurements between wave gauges in a line perpendicular to the shore show breaking waves to be frequency nondispersive indicating phase-coupling of the various wave components. The coherence squared values between the sea surface elevation and the horizontal water particle velocity were high in all runs, ranging above 0.8 at the peak of the spectra. The high coherence suggests that most of the motion in the body of breaking waves is wave-induced and not turbulent.


Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) currently remains incurable without stem cell transplantation, an option for only the minority of patients. Despite advances in chemotherapy, most patients relapse owing to the persistence of minimal residual disease (MRD). Substantial evidence has accrued to suggest that the tumour microenvironment is central to disease progression in CLL, with the bone marrow (BM) and lymph nodes (LN) acting as sanctuary sites for MRD. Whilst peripheral blood CLL cells are cell cycle arrested, significant rates of clonal proliferation occur in the BM/LN wherein acquisition of deleterious cytogenetic abnormalities such as 17p deletion may arise. Further, CLL cells co-cultured in vitro on stroma with CD154/IL-4 to give a proliferative signal, are chemoresistant to first line therapies. As proliferating cells require lipids for membrane synthesis, we hypothesise that proliferating CLL cells will have greater requirement for low density lipoprotein (LDL) compared to circulating CLL cells, and also that of normal resting lymphocytes providing a potentially differential cellular property to attack. Proof of concept of drug-loaded synthetic (s)LDL nanoparticles has been provided in glioblastoma and CML. We propose that drug loading into sLDL nanoparticles will allow selective targeting of proliferating CLL cells within the BM/LN proliferation centre, will protect drugs from plasma binding proteins, and will ultimately raise intracellular drug concentrations in the protective microenvironmental niche, to overcome chemoresistance. Aims. To determine (a) the extent of sLDL uptake by CLL cells compared to normal; and (b) whether sLDL uptake by CLL cells changes under proliferative conditions mimicking the proliferation centre. This will determine whether proliferating CLL cells have increased sLDL uptake compared to non-cycling CLL cells or normal B lymphocytes. Methods. sLDL uptake was assessed by flow cytometry, measuring the mean fluorescence intensity in the FITC channel owing to the stable incorporation of dioctadecyloxacarbocyanine (DiO) into the formulation. Internalisation was confirmed by deconvolution fluorescence microscopy. Primary CLL and normal donor samples were enriched for CD19+ B-lineage cells by magnetically activated cell sorting. Cells were cultured in media on tissue culture plastic or NT-L mouse fibroblasts with or without CD154/IL4. Lymphoid cells were stained with CellTrace VioletR to track cell division in response to proliferative signals (CD154/IL4 stroma). Results. HG3, a human lymphoblastoid cell line, avidly took up sLDL nanoparticles in a concentration (0-50 ng/mL cholesterol) and time (0.5-24h) dependent manner. Normal donor peripheral blood B-cells and CLL cells cultured on plastic did not actively take up sLDL but maintained their viability even in the highest concen- tration sLDL tested. Actively proliferating CLL cells on CD154/IL4 stroma could be targeted with sLDL unlike their non-cycling counterparts; interestingly even the minor population of cells that had remained undivided on stroma were also found to be sLDL positive. Summary. CLL cells can be selectively targeted by sLDL nanoparticles with respect to their non-cycling counterparts. We next will investigate the in vivo targeting of sLDL which we hypothesise, by virtue of their size, will home to lymphoreticular organs, sanctuary sites for CLL MRD.


In Brunei Darussalam, since 1985 Jawi education forms one of the components of Malay language education, whether at the primary or secondary school level. This research intends to identify some of the major variables that influence Jawi education process, identify gaps in researches undertaken till now, and explore the implications of current practices and research in Jawi education. The research methodology employed here is based on Creswell review approach. Research findings show that 13 empirical research works related to JawiMalay language education in Brunei have been done during the period from 1999 until now. This review indicates that the research on Jawi-Malay language education pertains largely to issues of Jawi spelling ability among students and teachers, students' and teachers' perceptions of Jawi as a subject and teachers' views of the Jawi subject curriculum.


Signaling undervaluation is often considered a primary motive for repurchasing stock, but insider trading activity by repurchasing firms is not always consistent with undervaluation. Net insider buying and selling are both more frequent in quarters when firms are repurchasing non-trivial amounts of stock, with the odds of observing a repurchase the highest in quarters with net insider selling. In multinomial logit models, shares repurchases associated with net insider selling are positively related to illiquidity, option exercises by insiders, and pre-repurchase returns and negatively correlated with industry-adjusted book to market ratios when compared to other repurchases. Hence, repurchases when insiders are selling stock are more likely done to support share prices or avoid dilution and are less likely undervaluation signals. We find that insider trades either validate or mitigate the undervaluation signal of the repurchase. Abnormal returns of repurchasing firms with net insider buying versus net insider selling in a given quarter are significantly higher for the quarter immediately after the repurchase and the three subsequent years. For repurchases accompanied by net insider selling, abnormal returns are negligible after only one year.


The difficulty for physicians to integrate the ethical criterion of distributive justice in their decision making is partly due to the emotions sparked off by patients' countenance. The concern for a rational distribution of sanitary resources according to the needs of the community doesn't match with the emotional intensity of compassion. The gradual integration of fixing a price scale for a given medical activity in hospitals offers the advantage of balancing the influence of spontaneous emotions in the medical decision. Yet, the drawback lies in the favouring of profitability rather than distributive justice.


BACKGROUND: Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), maximal strength (measured as one-repetition maximum (1RM)), and walking economy (Cw) have a great impact on physical work capacity, disability and mortality. The study aimed to compare the effects of aerobic high intensity interval training and maximal strength training versus moderate intensity training on VO2peak, 1RM and Cw in the rehabilitation of patients with musculoskeletal disorders aiming to return to work. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with musculoskeletal disorders (mean age 45 years) were either randomized to high intensity training at 85-95% of maximum heart rate (HRmax) and 85-95% 1RM or moderate intensity training, 5 days/week, for 4 weeks at Hokksund rehabilitation centre. Primary outcomes were VO2peak, 1RM and Cw at baseline and after rehabilitation. RESULTS: VO2peak, 1RM and Cw improved in the high intensity group (33.8±8.1 vs. 37.3±8.4 mL.kg-1.min-1, 92.9±25.6 vs. 127.2±28.0 kg, 16.0±2.2 vs. 14.4±1.8 mL.kg-1.min-1, p < .001) and the moderate intensity group (33.0±7.0 vs. 34.6±7.5 mL.kg-1.min-1, 108.0±37.7 vs. 125.8±39.1 kg, 15.3±2.1 vs. 14.0±1.4 mL.kg-1.min-1, p <0 .001), with a significance group difference (p < 0.001) in VO2peak and 1RM. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly in both groups (p < 0.01 and p <0.001), with no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSION: Four weeks of intensive endurance and strength training improved VO2peak, 1RM and Cw significantly after both high intensity training and moderate intensity training. The results show that high intensity training was twice as effective in increasing VO2peak and 1RM after 4 weeks rehabilitation. Increased physical work capacity could lead to increased quality of life and perhaps return to work.


The StratEx (Stratospheric Explorer) project's primary goal was to create a system that allowed an individual to travel to, explore, and return from the stratosphere analogous to how a SCUBA suit allows one to explore the ocean depths. It was a rare opportunity for a team to take a system of this scope from high level concept to world record breaking fruition in a span of 34 months. This paper is an overview of the project from beginning to end with a focus that includes requirements definition and implementation throughout the life of the program, major subsystems, the development program, the testing program, and the operations program. The major systems include the Pressure Suit Assembly (PSA) consisting of the Pressure Suit, the Equipment Module pack with all ECLSS, Thermal and Avionics equipment necessary to complete the mission, and the recovery system that safely brings the pilot back from the stratosphere; the Launch System that includes the Balloon Equipment Module for control of the balloon flight vehicle, the ground hardware and system to launch the flight vehicle; as well as the Mission Control system that coordinates all aspects of the operation pre-launch through to recovery, and the Chase / Recovery system that must promptly get to and safely recover the pilot upon landing. Additionally a focus will be on the interplay between development, testing, and operations that allowed for the rapid product life cycle needed to implement the ever-evolving design through the completion of the StratEx program.


In the summer of 1921 I had a letter from Dr Frank Springer of the United States Museum, Washington, in which, referring to the occurrence of Mespilocrinus and other crinoid genera in Fife, he suggested it would be well to make up tables to show the stratigraphic distribution of the different species. He added something might come of this, or again we might find one of those hopeless mingling of forms which upset our previously definite ideas of succession. Acting on this suggestion, I have tried to get together all the known records of Scottish Carboniferous crinoids, and propose to give them in the following paper, as well as to place on record a few additional forms which I have found in recent years. In working out the published lists, not the least of the difficulties one has to contend with is the unsatisfactory state of the nomenclature dealing with the Scottish crinoids, and the fact that some of the species require revision and others have to be described and named. Until this is remedied, work of this kind will always be laborious and imperfect. I am greatly indebted to Mr D. Tait, through whose kind offices I have been able to consult books not otherwise available. Some few works I have been able to purchase, but this has often meant a great loss of time. I am also indebted to Dr Bather, who has at various times sent me papers dealing with this interesting group of fossils, and similarly


With photovoltaic (PV) systems it is possible to create electricity generation systems for a wide range of purposes, of literally any size (microwatts to gigawatts). Solar cells deployed in large scale, grid-connected PV systems may energize millions of electric appliances connected by a utility grid. Solar cells may also be incorporated into single electronic appliances, such as calculators. In this thesis, the focus is primarily upon these Product Integrated PV (PIPV) systems. Employing solar cells to power electronic appliances could have beneficial effects in many aspects. For one, the economic enticement seems attractive, which is due to the large quantities of units involved in present-day product manufacturing. The environment could also benefit, especially when PIPV systems replace products nowadays shipped along with primary (single-use) batteries. Solar PV may also help powering electronic appliances for approximately 1.6 billion people who, as of yet, lack access to utility grids entirely. Finally, also consumer awareness toward PV technology in more general terms can be influenced. Many of the PIPV systems currently commercially available, however, show shortcomings making them non-competitive to their non-PV powered counterparts. In this thesis, the focus is on modeling the energetic performance of PIPV systems, from a physical and technological perspective. The aim is to thereby develop methods and tools and to generate data that may facilitate technical decisions during the design process of PIPV systems. The data, methods and (software) tools to be developed should in particular allow for eased energy balancing calculations. One research question addressed is whether and how the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) software environments allows for simulating PV power output and PV energy yields, respectively. It is found that the three-dimensional drawing, rendering and ray-tracing features of CAD software may provide a key tool for the simulation of the energy yield of PIPV systems. In such 'CAD-PV' simulations, 3-D irradiation conditions are ray-traced in 3-D CAD sceneries, which were created using the 3-D drawing features available in most CAD environments. Comparisons of measured to simulated PV output of the mouse showed that, also in practice, simulation accuracies can be very high. Theoretically, this concept has great potential, as it can be adapted to suit a wide range of solar energy applications, such as sun-tracking and concentrator systems, and Building Integrated PV (BIPV) or Product Integrated PV (PIPV) systems. Another research objective addressed in this thesis is solar cell performance modeling at low-light conditions. Efficiency of PV cells is usually reported only for Standard Test Conditions (STC): 1000 W/m2 irradiance intensity of perpendicular incidence under Air Mass (AM) 1.5 spectral conditions, and 25 degrees Celsius cell temperature. Indoor irradiance intensity, however, is much lower and also spectral compositions can be very different from the AM 1.5 reference spectrum for PIPV used indoors. Here, it is investigated to what extent procedures could be improved, adapted, or developed for a more detailed estimation of the PV efficiency under non-STC operating conditions. Finally, also environmental aspects of PV electricity for outdoor-operated, grid connected PV systems are addressed.


This new edition of Syntax: A functional-typological introduction is at many points radically revised. In the previous edition (1984) the author deliberately chose to de-emphasize the more formal aspects of syntactic structure, in favor of a more comprehensive treatment of the semantic and pragmatic correlates of syntactic structure. With hindsight the author now finds the de-emphasis of the formal properties a somewhat regrettable choice, since it creates the false impression that one could somehow be a functionalist without being at the same time a structuralist. To redress the balance, explicit treatment is given to the core formal properties of syntactic constructions, such as constituency and hierarchy (phrase structure), grammatical relations and relational control, clause union, finiteness and governed constructions. At the same time, the cognitive and communicative underpinning of grammatical universals are further elucidated and underscored, and the interplay between grammar, cognition and neurology is outlined. Also the relevant typological database is expanded, now exploring in greater precision the bounds of syntactic diversity. Lastly, Syntax treats synchronic-typological diversity more explicitly as the dynamic by-product of diachronic development or grammaticalization. In so doing a parallel is drawn between linguistic diversity and diachrony on the one hand and biological diversity and evolution on the other. It is then suggested that — as in biology — synchronic universals of grammar are exercised and instantiated primarily as constraints on development, and are thus merely the apparent by-products of universal constraints on grammaticalization.


This work examines if modelling agent interactions in shopping and leisure infrastructures of the multi-agent transport simulation MATSim increases simulation quality, including destina- tion choice modelling. For that purpose, an agent interaction model is developed that assumes different interaction patterns for four discretionary activity classes. The utility of performing an activity in MATSim is extended by two penalty terms, one penalising agents performing a shopping or leisure activity in locations with very few visitors and the other distributing a penal- ty for highly crowded activity settings. The agent interaction model is first tested within a syn- thetic small-scale scenario and then applied to real-world scenario of Zurich. Results of the synthetic small-scale scenario confirm that the agent interaction model is a valua- ble tool for implementing agent interaction into MATSim. Validation results of the real-world scenario show that implausibly under- or overloaded facilities are reduced, but further research on the definition of capacities as well as associated side effects is necessary. In particular, the effect of the destination choice module as well as the effect on activity performing times and durations have to be investigated.


Abstract:  The concept of the ecological trap, a low‐quality habitat that animals prefer over other available habitats of higher quality, has appeared in the ecological literature irregularly for over 30 years, but the topic has received relatively little attention, and evidence for traps remains largely anecdotal. Recently, however, the ecological trap concept has been the subject of a flurry of theoretical activity that is likely to raise its profile substantially, particularly in conservation biology. Ecological trap theory suggests that, under most circumstances, the presence of a trap in a landscape will drive a local population to extinction. A number of empirical studies, almost all of birds, suggest the existence of traps and demonstrate the difficulties of recognizing them in the field. Evidence for ecological traps has primarily been found in habitats modified by human activities, either directly (e.g., through the mowing of grassland birds' nests) or indirectly (e.g., via human‐mediated invasion of exotic species), but some studies suggest that traps may occur even in relatively pristine areas. Taken together, these theoretical and empirical results suggest that traps may be relatively common in rapidly changing landscapes. It is therefore important for conservation biologists to be able to identify traps and differentiate them from sinks. Commonly employed approaches for population modeling, which tend to assume a source‐sink framework and do not consider habitat selection explicitly, may introduce faulty assumptions that mask the effects of ecological traps and lead to overly optimistic predictions about population persistence. Given the potentially dire consequences of ecological traps and the accumulating evidence for their existence, greater attention from the community of conservation biologists is warranted. In particular, it is important for conservation biologists and managers to incorporate into conservation planning an explicit understanding of the relationship between habitat selection and habitat quality.


At the root of recurring bank crises are deeply-implanted incentives for banks and their executives to take systemically excessive risk. Since the 20082009 financial crisis, regulators have sought to strengthen the financial system by requiring more capital (which can absorb losses from risk-taking) and less risk-taking, principally via command-and-control rules. Yet bankers' baseline incentives for system-degrading risk-taking remain intact. A key but underappreciated reason for banks' recurring excessive risktaking is the structure of corporate taxation. Current tax rules penalize equity and boost debt, thereby undermining the capital adequacy efforts that have been central to the post-crisis reform agenda. This tax-based distortion incentivizes financial firms to undermine regulators' capital adequacy rules, either transactionally or by lobbying for their repeal. The resulting debt-heavy structure not only renders banks fragile but also pushes them toward further excessively risky strategies. This result is not inevitable. By repurposing tax tools used elsewhere, we show how the safety-undermining impact of the corporate tax can be reversed without affecting the overall level of tax revenue that the government raises from the financial sector. Several means to the desired end are possible, with the best trade-off between administrability and effectiveness being to lift the tax penalty on banks to the extent that they add to their loss-absorbing, safety-enhancing equity buffer above the regulatory minimum. This solution would minimize the tax impact. Revenue loss would be small and could be offset by modest tax changes targeted at the riskiest forms of financial sector debt. Existing studies indicate that the magnitude of the resulting safety benefit should rival the size of the benefitfrom all the post-crisis capital regulation to date. Thus the main thesis we bring forward is not a small or technical claim. Standard bank regulatory style is command-and-control, and while much can be and has been accomplished with the standard style, it has its limits. In


Based on the WHO's estimates for 2005, 1% of Africa's total population,1 approximately 9.67 million people need palliative care for life-limiting illnesses throughout the continent.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where infectious diseases constitute the major disease burden, AIDS is the primary determinant of this need, with HIV infections accounting for 68% (22.5 million cases) of global infections in 2009.2 In addition, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (eg, cardiovascular diseases, trauma, cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and diabetes) are also significant sources of morbidity and mortality. According to a recent WHO report, of the 57 million global deaths in 2008, 36 million (63%) were due to NCDs, with nearly 80% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.3 Moreover, NCDs are projected to exceed infectious diseases by 2030.4

Despite this need, palliative care coverage on the continent is poor. For the vast majority of Africans who currently endure progressive, life-limiting illnesses, access to culturally appropriate, holistic palliative care (that includes effective pain and symptom management) is at best limited, and at worst non-existent.

However, despite being a low funding priority in Africa compared with HIV and cancer treatment and prevention programmes, several milestones in palliative care have been attained since the establishment of the first hospice in Zimbabwe in 1979. These include: legislation on prescribing by nurses and clinical officers in Uganda; the adoption in 2002 of the 'Cape Town Declaration', which advanced that palliative care is the right of every adult and child with a life-limiting illness; the development of palliative care standards for the region; the launch of national palliative care policies in Rwanda and Swaziland; the integration of palliative care into the curricula of …


Microsofts Component Object Model is one of the most important concepts in software development today. Developers Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0 provides an in-depth treatment of COM and shows how to adopt a component framework, namely ATL, to help lessen the burden of repetitive code. Every chapter contains integrated lab assignments that give you numerous opportunities to build COM clients and servers using raw C++ and IDL, as well as the Active Template Library. The book is divided into five sections, each focusing on a particular aspect of COM and ATL development. The book begins with a review of object-oriented and interface-based programming techniques, then moves into the core aspects of COM, including a full examination of language independence and location transparency. The author illustrates the numerous CASE tools used during ATL development and discusses apartments, COM exceptions, object identity, and component housing, in addition to various advanced concepts such as COM categories and tear-off interfaces. The fourth section examines a number of COM patterns such as enumerators, collections, scriptable objects, and callback interfaces. The book closes with an investigation of using ATL as a windowing framework and wraps up with the development of a full-blown animated ActiveX control using ATL. Learn how to build Visual Basic, Java, C++, and web-based COM clients; use common VBA programming structures such as conditions, loops, arrays, and collections; master ATLs integrated CASE tools; dive into the details of object identity and the ATL COM map; build COM object models and leverage the ATL object map; develop full ActiveX controls with ATL.


Recent studies have shown that synaptic unreliability is a robust and sufficient mechanism for inducing the stochasticity observed in cortex. Here, we introduce the Synaptic Sampling Machine (SSM), a stochastic neural network model that uses synaptic unreliability as a means to stochasticity for sampling. Synaptic unreliability plays the dual role of an efficient mechanism for sampling in neuromorphic hardware, and a regularizer during learning akin to DropConnect. Similar to the original formulation of Boltzmann machines, the SSM can be viewed as a stochastic counterpart of Hopfield networks, but where stochasticity is induced by a random mask over the connections. The SSM is trained to learn generative models with a synaptic plasticity rule implementing an event-driven form of contrastive divergence. We demonstrate this by learning a model of MNIST hand-written digit dataset, and by testing it in recognition and inference tasks. We find that SSMs outperform restricted Boltzmann machines (4.4% error rate vs. 5%), they are more robust to overfitting, and tend to learn sparser representations. SSMs are remarkably robust to weight pruning: removal of more than 80% of the weakest connections followed by cursory re-learning causes only a negligible performance loss on the MNIST task (4.8% error rate). These results show that SSMs offer substantial improvements in terms of performance, power and complexity over existing methods for unsupervised learning in spiking neural networks, and are thus promising models for machine learning in neuromorphic execution platforms.


Sharp turns in the Supreme Court's recent Confrontation Clause jurisprudence have left scholars reeling from conflicting emotions: exhilaration, despair, denial, and soon, perhaps, cynical acceptance. While most commentators celebrated the demise of the incoherent Ohio v. Roberts framework, their excitement largely faded as the Court's decisions in Davis v. Washington and Bryant v. Michigan revealed nascent flaws in the evolving doctrine and sharply curtailed the newly revitalized confrontation right. Recent scholarship strives to reanimate the jurisprudence by expanding the doctrinal definition of "testimonial" statements – the sole form of evidence that the Court now recognizes as implicating the Confrontation Clause. This Article targets a similar objective through a less-traveled path. It accepts the Court's focus on, and definition of, "testimonial" statements as a valid, even inevitable, jurisprudential development. This Article seeks instead to expand the reach of the confrontation right to "nontestimonial" hearsay, arguing that constitutional limits – albeit less strict ones – are also warranted for this type of evidence in light of the policies, text, and history of the Confrontation Clause. The Article then details how the Supreme Court can (consistent with the overarching historical, textual, and policy arguments noted above) integrate these limits on the admission of nontestimonial hearsay into its new jurisprudence.


This study reports on different approaches to enhancing health and social care for older people in UK residential homes through up-skilling care home staff. It provides evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of such approaches, discusses barriers and facilitators, and identifies challenges for the future.
This research contributes to current debates concerning provision of a 'home for life', the funding of long-term care, better quality of life for older people with high support needs, integrated health and social care working, and inter-professional boundaries. Three approaches to workforce development involving the up-skilling of care home staff are explored in depth. Results are presented from the perspectives of local and national stakeholders, care home staff, and residents and relatives. The findings will be of relevance to: policy-makers, regulators, educators, residential home employers and staff, commissioners, community health and social care professionals, care home residents and their relatives, and older people and their representative organisations.
The report covers:
• new approaches to providing enhanced care in residential care homes;
• enhanced activities undertaken by care staff and sources of learning;
• development of a 'new role' carer professional workforce;
• ways of working in practice;
• residents' and relatives' experiences;
• implications for the future of residential care.


Background
In January 2016, the National AIDS Programme (NAP) in Oman introduced a package of interventions, including capacity building for service providers, to improve the quality of HIV services.

Aims
To report the impact of these interventions on the rate of vertical HIV transmission in the period from January 2016 to December 2019. We also describe the virological and obstetric outcomes for HIV-infected pregnant women.

Methods
This was a medical record review of 94 HIV-positive pregnant women (median age 32 years; interquartile range 25-34 years) reported to NAP in 2016-2019.

Results
There were 110 pregnancies in 94 women. The majority (75.3%, 61/81) of women were diagnosed with HIV infection from routine antenatal screening, with 60% (66/110) of pregnancies occurring in women who knew their HIV status at conception. Caesarean section was the most common (50%) mode of delivery. The preterm labour and low birth weight rates were 21.2% and 15.9%, respectively. The antiretroviral coverage during pregnancy was 95.5%, with most (87.8%) women reporting excellent or good adherence. The majority (81.6%) of women achieved HIV viral load of < 400 copies/ml at or near delivery. Almost all infants (99%) were given prophylactic antiretrovirals. The rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV was 1%.

Conclusion
The obstetric and virological outcomes for HIV-infected pregnant women delivered in 2016-2019 were favourable, with a low rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Oman is now in the process of finalizing application of World Health Organization validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.


Organisms that remove carbon from the world's carbon cycle are becoming ever more important as we try to constrain our carbon emissions to slow climate change. Marine phytoplankton, like coccolithophores, are responsible for 50 percent of global carbon fixation. Through photosynthesis, which also produces oxygen as a by-product, they fix carbon dioxide throughout their lives in the surface waters of the ocean. Even in their death, they help remove carbon from the system. Coccolithophores make armoured plates (coccoliths, hereafter referred to as 'liths') from calcium carbonate, which together form a sort of external skeleton for each organism. When they die, they sink and join bottom sediments, in effect exporting and burying carbon in deep-sea sediments. We decided to share the story of coccolithophores, including their important environmental role and their sensitivity to ocean acidification, with the public. We intentionally developed a project involving social arts practice to help people reflect on the importance of these small things. This included the beauty of the tiny liths that make up the  coccolithophore's amour, the importance of each little lith to collectively make a healthy organism (that in turn has an important global role), and the effect of our individual small actions contributing to climate change. Engaging communities in social arts practice, by involving hands-on making with cognitive activity, gives time and space for such critical reflection.5 Joining key features of the scientific narrative with congruent aspects of the art-making can serve to reinforce understanding and potential behaviour change.


This working paper is one of a series produced by IIASA discussing the practical problems of East-West Joint Ventures located in the CMEA countries.

In this paper the author discusses joint-ventures' salient managerial and personnel issues, an often overlooked but increasingly critical aspect in these cooperative ventures. Beyond analyzing relevant host-country legislation, the paper delves into actual human relations and organizational problems as discussed by joint-venture practitioners: managers, partners, rank and file employees, and government representatives. These practitioners help explain where likely trouble spots will arise in areas such as hiring, wage determination and incentivization, organizational set-up, productivity, and conflict resolution. They further explain the influential role of the host-country's general citizenry on the joint venture's success or failure. Importantly, the case studies also offer some practical solutions to these difficult issues.

While the economic environment of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe changes daily, this analysis of how Eastern and Western management systems and personnel mesh in joint ventures is likely to continue to be relevant as the two systems move closer together.


Abstract In situ X-ray diffraction measurements on almandine, (Fe0.86Mg0.07Mn0.07)3Al2Si3O12, were performed using a heating diamond-anvil cell instrument with synchrotron radiation at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facilityup to 27.7 GPa and 533 K. The pressure-volume-temperature data were fitted to a third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. The isothermal bulk modulus of K0 = 177±2 GPa, a temperature derivative of the bulk modulus of (∂K/∂T)P = −0.032±0.016 GPaK−1 and a thermal expansion coefficient (α0) of (3.1±0.7) × 10−5 K−1 were obtained. This is the first time that the temperature derivative of the bulk modulus of almandine has been determined at high pressure and high temperature. Combining these results with previous results, the compositional dependence of the bulk modulus, thermal expansion, and temperature derivative of the bulk modulus are discussed.


We report the synthesis and pharmacological characterization of a new series of adenosine derivatives on the four adenosine receptors (ARs). In radioligand binding assays, some of the compounds (1, 4, 6 and (R)-6) display a potent affinity for the A2AAR (Ki values < 10 nM) with high A1/A2A and A2B/A2A selectivity, moderate for the A3AR and low for the A1AR. The affinity of the epimeric mixture 6 was similar to that of the corresponding (R)-6 stereoisomer and 10-fold higher than that of the (S)-6 stereoisomer. The phenylethylamino group appears to play a key role on the activity, but introduction of groups of different sizes and electronegativity does not induce a substantial change in affinity for the A2AAR. In functional assays, most of the compounds produced similar amounts of cAMP compared to NECA, thus behaving as full A2AAR agonists. In addition, compounds 1, 2, 3, 5, (S)-6 and 9 resulted to be good antagonists for A3AR with KB in the 6–14 nM range. Docking studies on the A2AAR showed a conserved binding mode consistent with previous A2AAR agonist-bound crystal structures, allowing for a rational interpretation of the SAR of this compound series.


The outer heliosphere is a dynamic region shaped largely by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. While interplanetary magnetic field and plasma observations by the Voyager spacecraft have significantly improved our understanding of this vast region, modeling the outer heliosphere still remains a challenge. We simulate the three-dimensional, time-dependent solar wind flow from 1 to 80 astronomical units (au), where the solar wind is assumed to be supersonic, using a two-fluid model in which protons and interstellar neutral hydrogen atoms are treated as separate fluids. We use 1 day averages of the solar wind parameters from the OMNI data set as inner boundary conditions to reproduce time-dependent effects in a simplified manner which involves interpolation in both space and time. Our model generally agrees with Ulysses data in the inner heliosphere and Voyager data in the outer heliosphere. Ultimately, we present the model solar wind parameters extracted along the trajectory of the New Horizons spacecraft. We compare our results with in situ plasma data taken between 11 and 33 au and at the closest approach to Pluto on 2015 July 14.


Abstract As an alternative to conventional Group I and II separation methods (such as adding a chemical agent and ion exchange), melt crystallization processes, zone freezing, and layer melt crystallization were tested for the separation (or concentration) of cesium and strontium fission products in a LiCl waste salt generated from an electrolytic reduction process of a spent oxide fuel. In these melt crystallization processes, impurities (CsCl and SrCl2) are concentrated in a small fraction of the LiCl salt by the solubility difference between the melt phase and the crystal phase. As experimental variables, initial molten salt temperature, crucible rising velocity in the zone freezing case, and cooling air flow rate in the layer crystallization case were used. In the zone freezing process, although the operating time is long (1.7 mm/h of crucible rising velocity) when assuming a LiCl salt reuse rate of 90 wt%, >90% separation efficiency for both CsCl and SrCl2 was shown. In the layer crystallization process, the crystal growth rate strongly affects the crystal structure and therefore the separation efficiency. At a 25 to 30 [script l]/min cooling air flow rate, 700 to 710°C initial molten salt temperature, and <5 g/min crystal growth rate, the separation efficiency of both CsCl and SrCl2 exceeded 90% by the layer crystallization process, assuming a LiCl salt reuse rate of 90 wt%.


Abstract In the wake of limited knowledge on verbal fluency performance in typically developing children, the present study aims at investigating the semantic fluency performance of Malayalam speaking children across age, gender and tasks. Using a cross-sectional study design, semantic fluency performance (on food and vehicle fluency tasks) was investigated in 1015 Malayalam speaking typically developing children aged 5 to 15 years. The findings revealed the positive influence of age and task with no substantial difference between gender groups, with good inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. The study outcomes depicted a distinct pattern of continuous and linear developmental trend in organizational strategies, with no specific age band showing any dramatic increase in performance. Semantic fluency as a task has great potential within the developmental context for understanding the highly language, culture, and task based word retrieval mechanism.


The American Bar Association is going to change the accreditation standards for law schools to require more emphasis on each student's professional formation. Professional formation refers to the fostering of students' formation of an ethical professional identity. This change from a focus on educational inputs like a course on professional responsibility to a focus on clearly-articulated learning outcomes relating to each student's ethical development that are assessable is a major paradigm shift in legal education. Legal educators and the profession itself can learn a great deal from the five Carnegie studies of higher education in medicine, nursing, clergy, engineering, and law concerning professional formation. From the turn of the century to 2010, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching conducted dozens of site visits to study how professional schools educate physicians, nurses, clergy, engineers, and lawyers. From these studies, the president of the Carnegie Foundation, Lee Shulman, found that "the most overlooked aspect of professional preparation was the formation of a professional identity with a moral core of service and responsibility," while the Carnegie foundation's final study, Educating Physicians, found that "formation [is] the fundamental goal of the learning process," and "professional formation [is] the purpose that should guide medical education." This paper provides an analysis of the five Carnegies studies that will guide law faculties in defining learning outcomes for professional formation that are assessable and in selecting the pedagogies most effective to achieve the defined learning outcomes.


Start-up companies face difficulties in raising finances, and the situation has intensified since the global financial crisis in 2008. As a result, crowdfunding has made its appearance as an attractive alternative capital-raising mechanism by harnessing technology (primarily the Internet) to access funding from the "crowd."In this chapter, we explore the core question of how should one regulate equity crowdfunding in a manner that enhances its appeal to engender the development of small and new-age businesses through accessible funding opportunities and at the same time protect investors against undue risks, such as fraud, which arise from the activity. We analyse the regulatory conundrum on equity crowdfunding by examining the legal regime for crowdfunding in India. The rules relating to fundraising by companies in India have been considerably tightened under the Companies Act, 2013 that limits crowdfunding activity. However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a consultation paper that proposes a framework for ushering in crowdfunding in India. We find that the unduly onerous conditions imposed by SEBI have the effect of deterring rather than promoting the growth of crowdfunding. The existing (and proposed) legal framework in India have erred on the side of caution and sought to emphasise more on investor protection than to engender the market for crowdfunding.


Charlie Wales is a young man who wants everything. Fresh from University, he's seduced by the excitement of a new life in London and all that it promises. There's Vero, the beautiful French girl who might finally fall for him. There's the lure of art, but also the promise of fast money in the City. And his friends, who are spiralling into a world of non-stop parties and unchecked greed. But as the choices begin to tear him apart, there's also the danger that all the things he desires are on the brink of crashing around him ...

This debut novel, written by a 30-year-old trader, does not merely pick over the carcass of the financial markets in the wake of the recent crash. It is also a heartbreaking love story, a withering study of the years of excess, and a timely reminder of how good people end up doing terrible things.


Flexible manufacturing puts high demands on industrial automation in terms of affordable and competitive solutions and is of key importance for short-lot production typically found in small and medium sized enterprises, situations where today manual labour is extensively used despite environmental issues and harsh working conditions. Key factors in the successful introduction of new robot automation concepts are that they provide both the desired performance and quality (technical capability), but also that they enable fast deployment and extend available task repertoire. The Gantry-Tau manipulator is a new robot concept which in contrast to other high-performance parallel kinematic manipulators (PKM), has a large, open working range. Its high stiffness makes it ideal for a wide range of tasks such as grinding, deburring, and cutting. An additional aspect of such a PKM is the modularity, which in this work has been studied in terms of possibilities for assembly and mechanical reconfiguration at the end-user site, integration of such a kinematically different robot with a standard industrial controller, and new needs for methods/tools to support simple (re)configuration. A range of software tools and methods were found to be useful and necessary for efficient engineering and integration of the concept in typical SME manufacturing scenarios. For experimental evaluation, two full-scale prototype robots were designed and built, the kinematic software was developed and integrated into a couple of different robot control systems, robot CAD software was adapted to the configuration needs, and both simulations and physical experiments were carried out. Our findings make us believe that enhanced software tools should be integrated on a higher symbolic (or meta-) level to better support transformation of data and code generation, but also that the Gantry-Tau type of robot (with adequate software support) will bring a new dimension of flexibility into SME manufacturing.


The relationship between the fungus-growing ant Trachymyrmex septentrionalis, its symbiotic cultivar fungus, and the transient and residential community of microorganisms is a diverse and complex symbiosis that has evolved over space and time. The fungus garden, comprised primarily of the cultivar fungus belonging to the family Leucocoprineae, provides an environment that hosts many bacteria, which may also play an important role in this symbiosis. Although it is known that Pseudonocardia bacteria defend the ant host against fungal pathogens, other species of bacteria that are present in these fungus gardens also likely contribute to this symbiosis. Previous studies of this system have revealed the importance of secondary metabolites in mediating the interactions between microorganisms and their hosts. In collaboration with Dr. Sarah Kopac, I have sequenced the genomes of several of these bacteria that were isolated from T. septentrionalis fungus gardens using Pacific Biosciences sequencing technology through a collaboration with the Joint Genome Institute. I also sequenced the genomes of three Delftia isolates through services provided by the UConn MARS facility to identify the biosynthetic gene clusters for secondary metabolites that these strains produce. By assembling and annotating these genomes, I have identified genes for the biosynthesis of these metabolites to support collaborators who are characterizing the metabolomes of these strains. This will provide a better understanding of the role that these resident bacteria play in T. septentrionalis fungus gardens and provide a next step for the isolation of the secondary metabolites that they produce.


This is a full-colour visual feast that novice and experienced collectors alike will treasure. Scattered throughout the book are trivia facts that test the reader's knowledge of this favourite doll. Plus, accompanying each photo is a handy identification and value info bar - facts readers need at a glance. With complete descriptions, 300 magnificent colour photos and more than 1,200 price listings, collectors, appraisers, buyers and fans will have the tools to identify the most influential Barbie Dolls including Barbie no.1 Ponytail Style, Bubblecut Barbie, Barbie Fashion Queen, American Girl and many more. Features: Over 300 outstanding photographs of Barbie Dolls from 1959 to 2000; Fun-to-read and lively history of this favourite doll; An exhaustive price guide listing the value of every doll.


The simple gesture of pointing can greatly augment one's ability to comprehend states of the world based on observations. It triggers additional inferences relevant to one's task at hand. We model an agent's update to its belief of the world based on individual observations using a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP), a mainstream artificial intelligence (AI) model of how to act rationally according to beliefs formed through observation. On top of that, we model pointing as a communicative act between agents who have a mutual understanding that the pointed observation must be relevant and interpretable. Our model measures "relevance" by defining a Smithian Value of Information (SVI) as the utility improvement of the POMDP agent before and after receiving the pointing. We model that agents calculate SVI by using the cognitive theory of Smithian helping as a principle of coordinating separate beliefs for action prediction and action evaluation. We then import SVI into rational speech act (RSA) as the utility function of an utterance. These lead us to a pragmatic model of pointing allowing for contextually flexible interpretations. We demonstrate the power of our Smithian pointing model by extending the Wumpus world, a classic AI task where a hunter hunts a monster with only partial observability of the world. We add another agent as a guide who can only help by marking an observation already perceived by the hunter with a pointing or not, without providing new observations or offering any instrumental help. Our results show that this severely limited and overloaded communication nevertheless significantly improves the hunters' performance. The advantage of pointing is indeed due to a computation of relevance based on Smithian helping, as it disappears completely when the task is too difficult or too easy for the guide to help.


OBJECTIVES
Polyanionic polymers, including lipoteichoic acid and wall teichoic acid, are important determinants of the charged character of the staphylococcal cell wall. This study was designed to investigate the extent to which teichoic acid contributes to protection from anionic azo dyes and to identify barriers to drug penetration for development of new antibiotics for multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

METHODS
We studied antimicrobial activity of azo dyes against S. aureus strains with or without inhibition of teichoic acid in vitro and in vivo.

RESULTS
We observed that inhibition of wall teichoic acid expression resulted in an ∼1000-fold increase in susceptibility to azo dyes such as Congo red, reducing its MIC from >1024 to <4 mg/L. Sensitization occurred when the first step in the wall teichoic acid pathway, catalysed by TarO, was inhibited either by mutation or by chemical inhibition. In contrast, genetic blockade of lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis did not confer Congo red susceptibility. Based on this finding, combination therapy was tested using the highly synergistic combination of Congo red plus tunicamycin at sub-MIC concentrations (to inhibit wall teichoic acid biosynthesis). The combination rescued Caenorhabditis elegans from a lethal challenge of S. aureus.

CONCLUSIONS
Our studies show that wall teichoic acid confers protection to S. aureus from anionic azo dyes and related compounds, and its inhibition raises the prospect of development of new combination therapies based on this inhibition.


Traffic congestion in Northern New Jersey imposes a substantial time operational penalty on bus service. The purpose of a project was to quantify the additional travel time that buses need because of traffic congestion. A regression model was developed to estimate the travel time rate (in minutes per mile) of a bus as a function of car traffic time rate, number of passengers boarding per mile, and the number of bus stops per mile. The model was used to estimate the bus travel time rate if cars were traveling under free-flow conditions, and the results were compared with the observed bus travel times.


K Underhill

Correspondence to: Ms K Underhill, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; firstname.lastname@example.com

Do sexual abstinence (SA) only programmes prevent HIV infection in high-income countries?

### Data sources:

Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, CENTRAL, Catalogue of US Government Publications, and 25 other databases (1980 to February 2007); libraries of agencies involved with HIV prevention (eg, WHO); relevant conference proceedings (after 2000); experts; and cross-referencing articles on pregnancy prevention and HIV prevention.

### Study selection and assessment:

randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs in any language that evaluated any intervention or programme for SA as the only means of HIV prevention in high-income countries (ie, gross national income/capita ⩾$10 726, £5450, or €8035). Trials of pregnancy and HIV prevention, or HIV prevention alone were included. Trials of people who were HIV positive, programmes explicitly promoting condom use or safe sex, SA only programmes not evaluating HIV prevention, and RCTs that did not report biological or behavioural …


Abstract. Coherent mesoscale features (referred to here as eddies) in the tropical northeastern Atlantic Ocean (between 12–22° N and 15–26° W) are examined and characterized. The eddies' surface signatures are investigated using 19 years of satellite-derived sea level anomaly (SLA) data. Two automated detection methods are applied, the geometrical method based on closed streamlines around eddy cores, and the Okubo–Weis method based on the relation between vorticity and strain. Both methods give similar results. Mean eddy surface signatures of SLA, sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS) anomalies are obtained from composites of all snapshots around identified eddy cores. Anticyclones/cyclones are identified by an elevation/depression of SLA and enhanced/reduced SST and SSS in their cores. However, about 20 % of all anticyclonically rotating eddies show reduced SST and reduced SSS instead. These kind of eddies are classified as anticyclonic mode-water eddies (ACMEs). About 146 ± 4 eddies per year with a minimum lifetime of 7 days are identified (52 % cyclones, 39 % anticyclones, 9 % ACMEs) with rather similar mean radii of about 56 ± 12 km. Based on concurrent in situ temperature and salinity profiles (from Argo float, shipboard, and mooring data) taken inside of eddies, distinct mean vertical structures of the three eddy types are determined. Most eddies are generated preferentially in boreal summer and along the West African coast at three distinct coastal headland regions and carry South Atlantic Central Water supplied by the northward flow within the Mauretanian coastal current system. Westward eddy propagation (on average about 3.00 ± 2.15 km d−1) is confined to distinct zonal corridors with a small meridional deflection dependent on the eddy type (anticyclones – equatorward, cyclones – poleward, ACMEs – no deflection). Heat and salt fluxes out of the coastal region and across the Cape Verde Frontal Zone, which separates the shadow zone from the ventilated subtropical gyre, are calculated.


The title page to a compilation of sketches Charles Bell put together after the Andrew Smith expedition. Depicts four tribesmen and a woman with a baby on her back and a small child hanging on to her cloak, showing surprise at a drawing of a warrior being held up for them to see by a man (possibly Charles Bell?) whose face is obscured by the drawing. Title taken from original painting.


Viewing neural network models in terms of their loss landscapes has a long history in the statistical mechanics approach to learning, and in recent years it has received attention within machine learning proper. Among other things, local metrics (such as the smoothness of the loss landscape) have been shown to correlate with global properties of the model (such as good generalization performance). Here, we perform a detailed empirical analysis of the loss landscape structure of thousands of neural network models, systematically varying learning tasks, model architectures, and/or quantity/quality of data. By considering a range of metrics that attempt to capture different aspects of the loss landscape, we demonstrate that the best test accuracy is obtained when: the loss landscape is globally well-connected; ensembles of trained models are more similar to each other; and models converge to locally smooth regions. We also show that globally poorly-connected landscapes can arise when models are small or when they are trained to lower quality data; and that, if the loss landscape is globally poorly-connected, then training to zero loss can actually lead to worse test accuracy. Our detailed empirical results shed light on phases of learning (and consequent double descent behavior), fundamental versus incidental determinants of good generalization, the role of load-like and temperature-like parameters in the learning process, different influences on the loss landscape from model and data, and the relationships between local and global metrics, all topics of recent interest.


Spectral measurement of gaseous optical masers has been made by photomixing techniques and noise distribution measurement. Particularly, low-frequency beat components were verified to occur between spatially independent transverse modes of the same order in an experiment of mode control. Frequency-spread of beat components is also discussed.


De Buen's goby, Buenia affinis , is a very small Mediterranean goby (38.8 mm TL) inhabiting sandy infralittoral bottoms and known only from a few published records. Some aspects of reproduction and growth of B. affinis were investigated from a population collected in the Kvarner area (north-eastern Adriatic Sea). Sampling was carried out by SCUBA diving between May 2003 and April 2004. The sex ratio did not differ significantly. The estimated length at sexual maturity was 26.1 and 27.4 mm for females and males, respectively. The spawning season extended from February to July. The absolute fecundity (F) ranged from 457 to 714 eggs per individual (mean ± SE, 556 ± 25). Based on the length frequency distribution analysis throughout the year and seasonal growth bands on sagittal otoliths, B. affinis was assumed to be an annual species.


Stimulated emission depletion (STED) can achieve optical superresolution, with the optical diffraction limit broken by the suppression on the periphery of the fluorescent focal spot. Previously, it is generally experimentally accepted that there exists an inverse square root relationship with the STED power and the resolution, but with arbitrary coefficients in expression. In this paper, we have removed the arbitrary coefficients by exploring the relationship between the STED power and the achievable resolution from vector optical theory for the widely used 0-2π vortex phase modulation. Electromagnetic fields of the focal region of a high numerical aperture objective are calculated and approximated into polynomials of radius in the focal plane, and analytical expression of resolution as a function of the STED intensity has been derived. As a result, the resolution can be estimated directly from the measurement of the saturation power of the dye and the STED power applied in the region of high STED power.


Ekkehard Kraft. Moskaus griechisches Jahrhundert. Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des ostlichen Europa, Band 43. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1995. 223 pp. DM 68.00, paper. Ekkehard Kraft's masterful study of what he aptly terms "Moscow's Greek century" has much to offer the specialist in seventeenth-century Russian and southeast European ecclesiastical, cultural and political history. It is not a study of the sources, but primarily a critical reevaluation and reinterpretation of scholarly writing about the influence of Greek religious and political figures on seventeenth-century Russian society. That fact should not dissuade prospective readers for Kraft alerts scholars to many dimensions of this complex century that deserve further research, including the Greek role in the union of Ukraine with Russia, and the significance of Moldavia and Wallachia for the religious and political history of southeastern Europe to name just two. Taking his cue from George Ostrogorsky, Kraft successfully demonstrates that the Greek presence in seventeenth-century Russia was much more than the afterglow of Byzantine influence and shows that its impact was felt far beyond the usual parameters of tsar and patriarch (Alexis Mikhailovich and Nikon) within which Muscovite grecophilism frequently is confined. He describes how ordinary and influential Greek personages, both at home in the Ottoman empire and on site in Moscow itself, successfully swayed Russian foreign and domestic policy in favour of Greek interests, attaining a zenith in the establishment of the Greco-Slavic academy in Moscow in 1687. Kraft points out that at the moment of its greatest triumph the Greek party in Moscow suffered its most damaging setback, as Peter the Great piloted his nation into western instead of eastern harbours. Yet is was under Peter the Great that Russia began in earnest its protracted military involvement in the affairs of the Ottoman empire, seeing itself as the defender and liberator of Greek and subsequently other Orthodox Christians residing there. In that sense, Kraft may be justified in holding that the Greek influence in Russian society only ended decisively with the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. The introduction to the book is every bit as informative as the chapters themselves, giving a brief and incisive summary of scholarship on Greco-Russian relations in the seventeenth century. Particularly noteworthy is Kraft's drawing attention to the underresearched history of Greece during the Turkocracy. Then Kraft discusses the situation of Greek Orthodox Christians living under Ottoman rule and paints a much more favourable picture than one might expect. He rightly points out that the Greek Church quickly accepted the permanence of Muslim rule and sought ways of accommodating itself without, however, ever abandoning the hope of achieving liberty in the future. The next section deals with the encounter of Greeks and Russians in the seventeenth century. …


Previous European guidance for environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants emphasized the concepts of statistical power but provided no explicit requirements for the provision of statistical power analyses. Similarly, whilst the need for good experimental designs was stressed, no minimum guidelines were set for replication or sample sizes. Furthermore, although substantial equivalence was stressed as central to risk assessment, no means of quantification of this concept was given. This paper suggests several ways in which existing guidance might be revised to address these problems. One approach explored is the 'bioequivalence' test, which has the advantage that the error of most concern to the consumer may be set relatively easily. Also, since the burden of proof is placed on the experimenter, the test promotes high-quality, well-replicated experiments with sufficient statistical power. Other recommendations cover the specification of effect sizes, the choice of appropriate comparators, the use of positive controls, meta-analyses, multivariate analysis and diversity indices. Specific guidance is suggested for experimental designs of field trials and their statistical analyses. A checklist for experimental design is proposed to accompany all environmental risk assessments.


The effect of norspermidine and its structurally related triamines on the cell‐free polyphenylalanine synthesizing system from Vibrio parahaemolyticus was examined in connection with the requirement of the system for monovalent cation. In the absence of norspermidine, the maximal incorporation of [14C]phenylalanine into hot trichloroacetic acid insoluble material was observed under ionic conditions of 12 mM Mg2+ and 50 mM NH4+. K+ could partially substitute for NH4+, but Na + could not. The addition of norspermidine to the polyphenylalanine synthetic reaction mixture not only lowered the optimal Mg2+ concentration, but it also stimulated the polyphenylalanine synthesis up to 2‐fold with no significant increase in misin‐corporation of [14C]leucine. Other triamines having one or two methylene chains more than norspermidine were also effective in eliciting these effects. Furthermore, Na+ could not support the polyphenylalanine synthesis even in the presence of norspermidine and, on the contrary, inhibited the polyphenylalanine synthesis induced by NH4+ regardless of whether norspermidine was present or not. These findings are discussed in comparison with the properties of other bacterial cell‐free systems.


Micropore-dominated carbonate reservoirs remain challenging for accurate hydrocarbon evaluation and production as conventional reservoir models using depositional textures and petrophysical properties to distribute porosity and permeability cannot be applied. Nevertheless, understanding the distribution of pore systems and predicting the fluid flow behavior of microporous reservoirs is fundamental as micropores constitute a significant percentage of the total porosity and storage capacity. We present the results from an integrated study on the producing micropore-dominated Word Field characterized by a facies independent, diagenetically controlled pore system that approaches 100% microporosity. Four cored wells through the Albian Edwards Formation were described and correlated using stacking patterns and vertical facies trends; pore type characterization was done through thin section petrography, routine core analyses, SEM and MICP data. This study is an example of a permeable reservoir in which intergrain pores are cemented during burial diagenesis and micropores, being more resistant to cementation, remain open to depths greater than 4000 m (13,000 ft). A unique relationship exists between porosity, permeability, median pore-throat size and microcrystalline textures, independent of facies and fabrics. Cumulative gas production data show there is a correlation between the total porosity and the structural position of the wells – wells high on the structure have the highest production. We demonstrate that an equally well-connected micropore network exists in mud-dominated rocks via the matrix, and via grain-to-grain contacts in grain-dominated rocks. The here described intragrain micropore network through grain-to-grain contacts in cemented grainstones is a new carbonate flow path that will likely become more important as more unconventional carbonate reservoirs are explored.


Developing vocational education is an important strategy in current Chinese education. However, vocational teachers are in a shortage and there isn't a sound system of training and cultivating these teachers. Especially, there hasn't formed any effective standard of vocational teachers. These three factors are the main reasons to hinder the development and increase of its quality and level. Therefore, establishing national standard of vocational teacher training is becoming very necessary. In this paper the author explores the standard and system of vocational teacher training from two aspects, namely, grasping professional skills and professional teaching competence. National standard of vocational teacher training will become a basis for vocational teacher qualification. According to this standard, vocational teacher qualification curriculum will be built and implemented by vocational educational institutions. We will share our experiences and measures in building vocational teacher qualification system in China and explore some key issues.


We present a new tree based approach to composing expressive image descriptions that makes use of naturally occuring web images with captions. We investigate two related tasks: image caption generalization and generation, where the former is an optional subtask of the latter. The high-level idea of our approach is to harvest expressive phrases (as tree fragments) from existing image descriptions, then to compose a new description by selectively combining the extracted (and optionally pruned) tree fragments. Key algorithmic components are tree composition and compression, both integrating tree structure with sequence structure. Our proposed system attains significantly better performance than previous approaches for both image caption generalization and generation. In addition, our work is the first to show the empirical benefit of automatically generalized captions for composing natural image descriptions.


Exploring large-scale pretrained foundation models is of significant interest in computer vision because these models can be quickly transferred to many downstream tasks. This paper presents Contrastive Captioner (CoCa), a minimalist design to pretrain an image-text encoder-decoder foundation model jointly with contrastive loss and captioning loss, thereby subsuming model capabilities from contrastive approaches like CLIP and generative methods like SimVLM. In contrast to standard encoder-decoder transformers where all decoder layers attend to encoder outputs, CoCa omits cross-attention in the first half of decoder layers to encode unimodal text representations, and cascades the remaining decoder layers which cross-attend to the image encoder for multimodal image-text representations. We apply a contrastive loss between unimodal image and text embeddings, in addition to a captioning loss on the multimodal decoder outputs which predicts text tokens autoregressively. By sharing the same computational graph, the two training objectives are computed efficiently with minimal overhead. CoCa is pretrained end-to-end and from scratch on both web-scale alt-text data and annotated images by treating all labels simply as text, seamlessly unifying natural language supervision for representation learning. Empirically, CoCa achieves state-of-the-art performance with zero-shot transfer or minimal task-specific adaptation on a broad range of downstream tasks, spanning visual recognition (ImageNet, Kinetics-400/600/700, Moments-in-Time), crossmodal retrieval (MSCOCO, Flickr30K, MSR-VTT), multimodal understanding (VQA, SNLI-VE, NLVR2), and image captioning (MSCOCO, NoCaps). Notably on ImageNet classification, CoCa obtains 86.3% zero-shot top-1 accuracy, 90.6% with a frozen encoder and learned classification head, and new state-of-the-art 91.0% top-1 accuracy on ImageNet with a finetuned encoder.


Sandra Zagarell has described Elizabeth Stoddard's The Morgesons as a feminist bildungsroman that borrows gothic conventions, particularly from the Bronte sisters' Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, to articulate female discontent with the confining sphere of domesticity in the nineteenth century.(1) However, recent critical re-examinations of nineteenth-century domestic novels have recognized a connection between the representation of the private, feminine sphere and the possession and strong articulation of an individual self in representations of women's lives. Both Nancy Armstrong's Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel and Gillian Brown's Domestic Individualism: Imagining Self in Nineteenth-Century America powerfully articulate this relationship, though in different ways.(2) Their contributions to our current understanding of domestic fiction complicate the impulse of critics such as Zagarell and Stacy Alaimo to see the domestic sphere in the nineteenth century and particularly in The Morgesons as unquestionably a place of social, economic, and psychic imprisonment for women. These recent re-examinations call for a new look at how the domestic functions in Stoddard's bizarre novel, one that has mysteriously resisted much substantive critical commentary beyond Zagarell's and Alaimo's. Armstrong's theory of the birth of the bourgeois subject through the construction of the desiring domestic heroine in the late eighteenth-century novel invites new interpretations of the relation between the female self and the domestic sphere she inhabits. Her reading of Jane Eyre, in particular, highlights crucial connections between the novel's romantic elements, its ambivalence about the domestic sphere, and its heroine's search for self-possession. These same connections are highlighted in The Morgesons. Brown's focus on the importance of the domestic as a source of American individualism and as a stabilizing force in opposition to the U.S. market economy also creates new interpretive possibilities for domestic scenes, not only in domestic fiction but also in so-called canonical novels. Her focus is particularly helpful in approaching a novel as difficult to assign a generic label as The Morgesons. Stoddard's first novel tells the story of a New England family who acquire and then abruptly lose great wealth through the shipping ventures of the father, Locke Morgeson, Jr. Narrated by the eldest daughter, Cassy, the novel loosely follows the pattern of the traditional bildungsroman. Cassy focuses on her desire for self-possession through childhood; school; her disastrous first romance with her married cousin, Charles Morgeson; the death of her mother and re-marriage of her father to Charles's widow, Alice; and finally ends with her decision to marry and return to domestic life in her parent's former home. Throughout the novel, she describes a strange sense of disconnection between the family members, particularly between Cassy, her reclusive younger sister, Veronica, their mother, Mary, and their father, Locke Jr. The disconnection evident in the Morgesons' domestic sphere in the beginning of the novel appears to sets a tone of discord and confusion that dominates the rest of the novel. As we will see, that discord appears to have a basis, at least in part, in the instability introduced into the domestic by the father's economic ventures. Despite my feeling that economics play an integral part in setting the bizarre tone of Stoddard's novel, I am also interested, like Zagerell, in the echoes of Jane Eyre's romanticism that pervade The Morgesons. Stoddard herself insisted that she was by no means a realist author, but rather a romantic one.(3) Stoddard's imitation of Jane Eyre's mixture of realism and gothic romance results in a much more complicated representation of the social and economic functions of the domestic in The Morgesons than its critics have to date articulated.(4) Despite huge differences in the socio-economic and geographic positions of their heroines--Jane is (or appears to be) an orphan left destitute by her Yorkshire parents, and Cassy comes from a newly wealthy New England family--Jane Eyre and The Morgesons present their heroines' struggles to attain and give voice to their own desires in a fairly similar manner. …


This paper describes the application of the Weibull methodology to the analysis of a shallow-flaw cruciform bend specimen tested under biaxial loading conditions. The cruciform bend fracture mechanics specimen was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to introduce a far-field, out-of-plane biaxial bending stress component in the test section that approximates the nonlinear stresses resulting from pressurized-thermal-shock or pressure-temperature loading of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Tests with the cruciform specimen demonstrated that biaxial loading can have a pronounced effect on shallow-flaw fracture toughness in the lower transition temperature region for an RPV material. High-constraint deep-flaw compact tension C(T) and low-constraint shallow-flaw cruciform fracture toughness data were used to assess the ability of the Weibull methodology to predict the observed effects of biaxial loading on shallow-flaw fracture toughness. A new hydrostatic stress criterion along with five equivalent-stress criteria from the literature were selected to serve as candidate kernels in the integral formulation of the Weibull stress. Among these candidates, the hydrostatic stress criterion, derived from the first invariant of the Cauchy stress tensor, was determined to have the required sensitivity to multiaxial-loading states. In addition, a new calibration technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois for determining the necessary Weibull parameters is applied to the C(T) and cruciform data. A three-parameter Weibull model based on the hydrostatic stress criterion is shown to predict the experimentally observed biaxial effect on cleavage fracture toughness by providing a scaling mechanism between uniaxial and biaxial loading states. In summary, the conclusions that can be drawn from this study are as follows: (1) With respect to its effect on fracture toughness, the biaxial effect is a constraint effect. (2) A Weibull statistical fracture model has been successfully calibrated with uniaxial toughness data obtained from a conventional high-constraint C(T) specimen and a uniaxially loaded shallow-flaw cruciform that is effectively equivalent to a conventional shallow-flaw SE(B) specimen. (3) The calibrated fracture model was able to successfully predict the intermediate constraint-loss effects associated with two levels of biaxial loading. (4) These preliminary results at a single test temperature offer encouragement that complex multiaxial loading effects on transition region fracture toughness can be predicted with statistical fracture models developed using data obtained from conventional specimens. (5) Future work is required to investigate these effects at other temperatures within the transition region.


The causes of unethical behavior in society, and among lawyers specifically, are the subject of significant interest in legal and psychological academia. Among the hypothesized causes of unethical behavior is class distinction. This research offers a preliminary inquiry into whether the structure of law school education leads to greater unethical behavior because it imposes an additional level of class distinction among lawyers through class rankings and coveted spots on law review and other "elite" organizations. Empirical results suggest possible correlation between ethical standards and various indications of law school "class" status. While the results are not statistically significant to a high confidence level, the small number of observations may have led to the lack of statistical significance, indicating a need for further research to verify the results.


Democratic governance is increasingly focused on active citizenship. Governments in the Global North seek to make residents responsible for improving their communities. Democracy, however, is not solely experienced in abstract terms, it also materializes through more informal everyday interactions with public officials. This article explores the significance of routine and performative street-level encounters that shape people's experience of belonging or exclusion in a democratic state through a methodology of narrative mapping. Two ethnographic vignettes reveal the disjuncture between formal policy strategies that seek to foster citizenship and residents' informal tactics to perform citizenship in an urban neighborhood in the Netherlands. The article underscores a paradox: the fact that formal strategies can inadvertently disrupt informal citizenship tactics, and thereby undermine the goals of an inclusive project.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common problem in premature infants. Indomethacin is the first effective drug used to treat this problem and due to the side effects of this drug, intravenous ibuprofen is one of the recommended drugs in this field. Due to the unavailability of intravenous form of these drugs in Iran, this study was conducted to compare therapeutic effects and side effects of the oral form of ibuprofen and indomethacin on the closure of PDA in premature infants. METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, 80 premature infants (less than 32 weeks) with symptomatic PDA, who required treatment were randomly divided into two groups of 40 and were treated with indomethacin or oral ibuprofen. Results (changes in PDA size and percentage of recovery) and complications (changes in creatinine and serum bilirubin, intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis and death) of treatment were recorded and compared between the two groups. (IRCT: 2015111024977N1) FINDINGS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of confounding variables. The treatments had to be repeated for ten percent of patients (four patients) in both groups. PDA size did not change in ten percent of patients (four patients) in indomethacin group and did not change in seven point five percent of patients (three patients) in ibuprofen group. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of probable side effects. None of the patients in the two groups needed surgery. CONCLUSION: Considering that in this study, the response rate and side effects of oral ibuprofen and indomethacin did not differ significantly, this drug could be an appropriate alternative for indomethacin when necessary.


The Papuan conflict has been on the international radar screen since Indonesia became an independent state in 1945. Since the surrender of the territory of Papua to Indonesia in 1962, a low-intensity military conflict has been building. Most Papuans believed that their right to self-determination was sacrificed on the altar of geopolitics. Later, when East Timor seceded peacefully from Indonesia, Papuans expected the same right. When this did not happen, the conflict intensified. In this pivotal work, Bilveer Singh examines the history of the Papuan struggle, and approaches to conflict resolution through the framework of its geopolitical implications. Asserting that the Papuans were treated unjustly by Indonesia and the international community, it is not surprising that many have come down squarely on the side of Papuan independence as a way out of the imbroglio. While to some extent the Papuan's case cannot be denied, definite political and strategic realities should not be ignored. Unfortunately for the Papuans, their territory has immense geopolitical, geostrategic, and economic significance - not only for Indonesia, but also for others such as the United States, China, Australia, and a number of European countries. Papua is wealthy, under-populated and backward in terms of human resource development. Its future as a distinct entity is in real danger as the Papuans are becoming the minority in their own homeland. Due to the asymmetry of power, the Papuans' struggle has not made a breakthrough that would force Indonesia to rethink the future of the territory in any fundamental way. In order to unravel the dynamics involving Papuan separatism, this study describes the Papuan political landscape. Singh explains what makes Papua unique, and how its makeup has affected the territory's political dynamics. He analyzes the emergence of Papua as a geopolitical trophy, calling into question the degree to which Papuan nationalism has crystallized. Finally, he questions whether Papua is emerging as a regional flashpoint, and, in view of its geopolitical importance, the various options available. "Papua: Geopolitics and the Quest for Nationhood" will be of interest to scholars of international relations, comparative politics of Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific, and policymaking.


Age composition is fundamental to understanding the population dynamics and productivity of a fish stock. The use of scales to estimate age can result in large errors in
age data for long-lived species, usually due to compression of scale circuli with age. Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is considered to be a long-lived species whose age has been estimated using both scales and otoliths. We estimated the age of D. eleginoides caught off South Georgia usil~go toliths and scales. For scales, we made impressions on acetate slides; for otoliths, we used transverse sections prepared by baking and grinding the posterior and anterior sides. Using ANOVA, we compared data obtained from the two structures to test the hypothesis that otoliths and scales give the salvie age estimates, and compared the precisioli of age estimation for both structures and between readers.
Ages estimated using scales were significantly less than those estimated using otoliths. For scales, bias occurred for both readers between readings; for otoliths, only one reader was biased. Residual variances indicated one reader was relatively more precise than the other in estimating age using otoliths, but less precise using scales. This reflected the comparative experience of the two readers in estimating the age of D. eleginoides using otoliths and scales.


The reflection from and transmission through a semi-infinite chiral medium are analyzed by obtaining the Fresnel equations in terms of parallel- and perpendicular-polarized modes, and a comparison is made with results reported previously. The chiral medium is described electromagnetically by the constitutive relations D = ∊E + iγB and H = iγE + (1/μ)B. The constants ∊, μ, and γ are real and have values that are fixed by the size, the shape, and the spatial distribution of the elements that collectively compose the medium. The conditions are obtained for the total internal reflection of the incident wave from the interface and for the existence of the Brewster angle. The effects of the chirality on the polarization and the intensity of the reflected wave from the chiral half-space are discussed and illustrated by using the Stokes parameters. The propagation of electromagnetic waves through an infinite slab of chiral medium is formulated for oblique incidence and solved analytically for the case of normal incidence.


There are more than 100 clinically distinct types of cancer, each having their own symptoms and requiring a different method of cancer treatment. Despite current advances, the positive effects from treatment are often matched and outweighed by negative effects. One of the most prevalently reported symptoms is chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). CRCI has been reported to negatively affect memory, concentration, reaction time, attention, cognition, organizational skills, linguistic abilities, executive function, and activities of daily living. Purpose: To examine the effects of a 12-week aerobic and cognitive training on cognitive function in cancer survivors who have undergone or are currently undergoing adjuvant treatment for cancer. Methods: A total of ten patients who either were going through chemotherapy or had just finished the treatment participated in this pilot study. Groups were composed of cancer-aerobic (n = 2), cancercognitive (n = 2), cancer-aerobic and cognitive (n = 2), cancerflexibility (n = 2), and non-cancer controls (n = 2). Each subject completed an initial comprehensive physical assessment, cognitive assessment, Quality of Life (QOL) assessment, Piper Fatigue Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory. Following these assessments, a 12-week computer-based aerobic training, cognitive training, and flexibility training intervention was completed by every participant. Upon completion of the intervention, all of the variables were reassessed. Results: Friedman's 2-way non-parametric ANOVA revealed significant (p< 0.05) differences in QOL, depression, Piper fatigue subtest-B, the plank test, and the Weschler Memory Scale LMII. However, follow-up dependent measures t-tests only confirmed significant decreases in fatigue in the cancer-cognitive group. Conclusion: Although results are preliminary and sample sizes are small, the data would suggest that both cancer survivors and non-cancer controls respond favorably toward aerobic and/or cognitive training and that cognitive training alone may be specifically beneficial for cancer survivors suffering from CRCI.


The U.S. home building industry has been in a financial crisis fueled by a rise in construction defect litigation. During the past two decades, insurance carriers have pulled out of the market in many areas of the country or raised premiums precipitously, blaming increased risks from construction defect litigation. With insurance either unavailable or prohibitively costly, many builders have gone out of business, stopped building certain types of housing projects, or passed the increased costs along to consumers - all of which threatens the availability and affordability of housing. State legislatures have attempted to address the crisis by prohibiting homeowners from bringing legal action until after they have provided the builder with notice of a construction defect and an opportunity to repair it. More than two dozen states have jumped on this industry-driven legislation since 2000.This article critiques the efficacy of "notice and opportunity to repair" (NOR) as a response to the industry's problems. After examining the history and causes of the crisis, the article concludes that NOR statutes are, at best, only a partial remedy to a problem of multiple dimensions and that legislatures need to develop a more comprehensive solution. The article discusses some of the most promising strategies, which include enactment of a statutory warranty with clear liability and performance standards.


Studies across a broad range of drainage basins have established a positive correlation between mean slope gradient and denudation rates. It has been suggested, however, that this relationship breaks down for catchments where slopes are at their threshold angle of stability because, in such cases, denudation is controlled by the rate of tectonic uplift through the rate of channel incision and frequency of slope failure. This mechanism is evaluated for the San Bernardino Mountains, California, a nascent range that incorporates both threshold hillslopes and remnants of pre-uplift topography. Concentrations of in situ–produced cosmogenic 10 Be in alluvial sediments are used to quantify catchment-wide denudation rates and show a broadly linear relationship with mean slope gradient up to ∼30°: above this value denudation rates vary substantially for similar mean slope gradients. We propose that this decoupling in the slope gradient–denudation rate relationship marks the emergence of threshold topography and coincides with the transition from transport-limited to detachment-limited denudation. The survival in the San Bernardino Mountains of surfaces formed prior to uplift provides information on the topographic evolution of the range, in particular the transition from slope-gradient–dependent rates of denudation to a regime where denudation rates are controlled by rates of tectonic uplift. This type of transition may represent a general model for the denudational response to orogenic uplift and topographic evolution during the early stages of mountain building.


This thesis addresses the London Underground in the light of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of cinema. The first chapter gives an overview of the aspects of Deleuze's philosophy, which are of particular interest in the context of architectural theory. The main postulates of transcendental empiricism are explained, followed by the four major concepts: space, time, image and event. The second chapter deals with Deleuze's understanding of the cinematic frame. The relationship between the frame and the content of framing is shown as possibly inherently dynamic. A description of the major points regarding the Underground corridor follows, with the explanation of the condition of the walking body and its relation to the surrounds. Finally, the notion of the cinematic frame and acts of framing are utilised for the conceptualisation of the Underground corridor, showing the notion of movement to be of crucial importance. Chapter three regards the platform event in relation to the cinematic shot, which is explained to be a matter of conversion of movement. The specificity of the Underground platform is related, and the relationship between the body and the moving object of the train explained. The conjunction between the platform and the shot is then proposed, to show that the platform stands at a point of conversion of movement, transforming body's relationship to its environment. Chapter four is the discussion of the Underground carriage, and its understanding in the light of Deleuze's conceptualisation of the cinematic close-up. The close-up is shown to represent a specific, qualitative transformation, which marks the shift of movement in the direction of expression. The concept of any-space-whatever is then related as an example of Deleuze's transformation of the close-up of the face to the object and then to a spatial figure. The specifics of the Underground carriage are related, introducing the notion of the motionless body inside a moving confinement, as well as the presentation of 'facialisation.' The third part of the chapter sees the explanation of the carriage event in the light of the close-up/affection-image, and it pays special attention to the transformation of movement into expression. Finally, Chapter Five sees the discussion of the Underground in general, and its relation to the city. Deleuze's understanding of the concept of montage is explained in particular its relationship to time and construction of continuities and wholes across ruptures. The Underground is discussed as an urban system and its relation to the city that harbours it addressed. Finally, a particular understanding of urban montage is proposed, one wholly dependent on the presence of the Underground system.


The decision of whether to retain forest or convert to another land use is affected by uncertainty over future land use returns. This paper examines the design of conservation payments to landowners under uncertainty. Payments are either indexed to the returns from deforestation (agriculture), or to a market value associated with forest nonuse benefits. Payment size depends on the degree of correlation between payments and agricultural returns, and their relative volatility. Market-based payments for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) are simulated for Brazilian soybean growers. Payments indexed to carbon prices are larger than those indexed to international soybean prices. (JEL Q23, Q24)


Combining inorganic–organic perovskites and crystalline silicon into a monolithic tandem solar cell has recently attracted increased attention due to the high efficiency potential of this cell architecture. Promising results with published efficiencies above 21% have been reported so far. To further increase the device performance, optical optimizations enabling device related guidelines are highly necessary. Here we experimentally show the optical influence of the ITO thickness in the interconnecting layer and fabricate an efficient monolithic tandem cell with a reduced ITO layer thickness that shows slightly improved absorption within the silicon sub-cell and a stabilized power output of 17%. Furthermore we present detailed optical simulations on experimentally relevant planar tandem stacks to give practical guidelines to reach efficiencies above 25%. By optimizing the thickness of all functional and the perovskite absorber layers, together with the optimization of the perovskite band-gap, we present a tandem stack that can yield ca 17.5 mA cm−2 current in both sub-cells at a perovskite band-gap of 1.73 eV including losses from reflection and parasitic absorption. Assuming that the higher band-gap of the perovskite absorber directly translates into a higher open circuit voltage, the perovskite sub-cell should be able to reach a value of 1.3 V. With that, realistic efficiencies above 28% are within reach for planar monolithic tandem cells in which the thickness of the perovskite top-cell and the perovskite band-gap are highly optimized. When applying light trapping schemes such as textured surfaces and by reducing the parasitic absorption of the functional layers, for example in spiro-OMeTAD, this monolithic tandem can overcome 30% power conversion efficiency.