The relationship between modernity and Islam is still a largely under-researched intellectual realm, though the erstwhile discourse defining it as a contestation between tradition and modernity, universalism and cultural particularism, or between change and stagnation, is gradually giving way to a fresher academic perspective. The 'recent' forces of modernity brought into the Muslim heartland by colonialism and highlighted by post-coloniality and mobility have intensified the debate on Muslim identity itself. The Bosnians, especially the Bosnaks/Bosniaks, have been undisputedly European, rooted in a secularist vision of Islam, pursuing modernity with full force in reference to liberalism, rationalism, feminism and, of course, pluralism. Their nationalist aspirations never hinged on religio-lingual monoethnicity, yet still they suffered from the most harrowing crimes ever committed against a human community. In other words, here it was not Islam battling against modernity, rather the latter itself became disputed and went wild, negating the entire thesis of clash of civilisations or Islam being static or pre-modern. The very core of this modernity, nationalism became the most reactionary weapon for ethnic cleansing. Subsequent upon the dissolution of communist centralism, the ideological vacuum in the former Eastern bloc is being claimed by xenophobic nationalism in collusion with religious extremism. This phenomenon largely explains the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. The Balkan tragedy is a mixture of old and new; globalisation and peripheralisation; integration and fragmentation, and a contestation between primordial and modernist loyalties.


Abstract The stunted and stumbling progress of the 'liberal peace' philosophy since 1990 tells a complex story. In this article, I give a history of the liberal peace project from its academic and activist origins to today's global application, discussing how policymakers and liberal peace architects see liberal peacebuilding, and how emerging powers such as India and China relate to these goals. I close with a discussion of the future of liberal peacebuilding, the 'Business for Peace' paradigm and how relationships between powerful states and their peripheries will still matter despite a more consolidated international aid community.


The orphan nuclear receptors Pregnane X Receptor (PXR) and Constitutive Androstane Receptor (CAR) have been proposed to play an important role in the detoxification of xeno- and endobiotics by regulating the expression of detoxifying enzymes and transporters. We showed that the combined loss of PXR and CAR resulted in a significantly heightened sensitivity to bile acid toxicity in a sex-specific manner. The increased sensitivity in males was associated with genotype-specific suppression of bile acid transporters and loss of bile acid-mediated down regulation of small heterodimer partner, whereas the transporter suppression was modest or absent in the female DKO mice. The liver X receptors (LXRs), including the alpha and beta isoforms were identified as sterol sensors that regulate cholesterol and lipid homeostasis and macrophage functions. We found that activation of LXRƒN in transgenic mice or with LXR ligands confers a female-specific resistance to lithocholic acid (LCA)-induced hepatotoxicity and bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced cholestasis. In contrast, LXR alpha and beta double knockout mice (LXR DKO) exhibited heightened cholestatic sensitivity. The LCA and BDL resistance in transgenic mice was associated with an increased expression of bile acid detoxifying sulfotransferase 2A (SULT2A) and selected members of the bile acid transporters. We also showed that genetic or pharmacological activation of the orphan nuclear receptor liver X receptor (LXR) sensitized mice to cholesterol gallstone disease (CGD) induced by a high cholesterol lithogenic diet. LXR-promoted CGD was associated with increased expression of several canalicular transporters that efflux cholesterol and phospholipids, leading to higher biliary concentrations of cholesterol and phospholipids. The biliary bile salt concentration was reduced in these mice, resulting in increased cholesterol saturation index (CSI). Interestingly, the lithogenic effect of LXR was completely abolished in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) null background or when the mice were treated with Ezetimibe, a cholesterol-lowering drug that blocks the intestinal dietary cholesterol absorption. We propose that LXRs have evolved to have dual function in maintaining cholesterol and bile acid homeostasis.


Here's a unique first-stop research tool that describes all the latest product liability cases by type of case, so you can quickly find key cases and typical issues involving similar products. The book covers the full range of products in six main categories: construction equipment and materials - consumer products - farm machinery and products - medical products - motor vehicles - workplace products. An invaluable tool for the busy practitioner, Product Liability Case Digest provides an immensely valuable head start to research by helping you quickly identify the most relevant and current decisions likely to affect your product liability case. It will save you incalculable amounts of time and money.


A highly-nonlinear theory is elaborated which describes elastic and inelastic phenomena in media with complicated lattice structure consisting of two sublattices. In the framework of this approach, the standard linear theory of acoustic and optic oscillations of a complicated lattice is generalized, taking into account internal translational symmetry of relative shear of the sublattices taken into account. As a result, the interaction between the sublattices is characterized in terms of a non-linear periodic force described, in particular, as sine of relative shear of two atoms belonging to an elementary cell. The corresponding equations in the case of solids without a central symmetry contain terms that describe the interatomic interactions. We have the situation with quasistatic loading of solids. The dependence of effective stresses on macroscopic strains is found which has a bifurcation point responsible for a structural transformation of the twinning type. It is shown that the transformation is related to a transformation of the interatomic interaction potential, the namely occurrence of both an additional minimum of the potential and a new structure (which has mirror symmetry relative to the initial structure.


Long Term Evolution (LTE) represents the cutting-edge broadband wireless access technology in providing ubiquitous and simultaneous connectivity to many users. This paper evaluates the impact that packets breaking the 1500 bytes legacy value, called Jumboframes, have in LTE networks, by exploiting and extending the network stack in the ns-3 simulator. We first provide an overview about the key features of LTE starting from a physical layer perspective, to logical functions like the adaptive modulation and coding scheme, together with a detailed description of the Radio Link Control (RLC) segmentation capabilities. A comparative evaluation is performed based on diverse network configuration criteria, such as user position, density and mobility. We aim at assessing the benefits and caveats that derive from Jumboframes usage in LTE networks. Moreover, a novel cross-layer approach is proposed to mitigate the effect of rapid buffer saturation, due to the transmission of oversized packets with scarce radio resources. To conclude, we test our framework through the analysis of realistic video traces.


Films like The Sorrow and the Pity and Lacombe Lucien, as well as recent scholarship, have replaced the old Gaullist myth of Nazi-occupied France and "a nation of resisters" with a new myth of "a nation of collaborators." John Sweets's provocative assessment challenges both stereotypes. From evidence gathered at Clermont-Ferrand, the largest town near Vichy, the Occupation capitol, Sweets found the French far less devoted to Petain than some have argued, and far more supportive of de Gaulle than has been suspected. The New Order was emphatically rejected by most of the French, he concludes, and the numbers involved in the Resistance were larger than has been recognized by previous accounts. Choices in Vichy France is a compelling work of social history. Drawing on extensive archival research, interviews, and private correspondence, Sweets reconstructs the experiences of the individual men and women in Clermont-Ferrand to understand the dilemmas that Occupation set before them. Sweets found that everything was made difficult and complex by the Occupation; few decisions were simple and many had potentially serious consequences. He concludes that our stereotyped notions of "resistance" and "collaboration" are inadequate to describe the reality of people's behavior under the extreme circumstances of war and occupation. About the Author: John F. Sweets is Professor of History at the University of Kansas at Lawrence and the author of The Politics of Resistance in France. An important revisionist study of the German occupation of France BLOverturns stereotypes about "collaboration" and "resistance" BL"His research is exemplary...clearly and forcefully written."-Robert O. Paxton


During the last decade, the scientific community has witnessed an unprecedented deployment of large-scale, federated e-Infrastructures such as Grid Computing, primarily for supporting data-intensive scientific exploration and coordinated problem solving. However, practical experience and user studies have indicated that the adoption of such e-Infrastructures is lagging behind original expectations, a fact which is mainly attributed to the limited support that available tools provide for user collaboration and information sharing. The goal of this paper is twofold, first to lay down the foundations for building a collaboration environment in the form of abstractions and second to show the effectiveness of these abstractions through g-Social, an Eclipse-based, open-source environment as an extension to g-Eclipse, that provides a powerful, user-friendly, platform-independent toolset for users, application developers and administrators of Grid infrastructures. g-Social enables user collaboration and resource sharing through Online Social Networking services, capitalizing on the success that these services have.


In this paper, we investigate the optimum received power for spectral amplitude coding optical code division multiple access (SAC-OCDMA) at different transmission distances using modified-AND subtraction detection technique and single photodiode (SPD) detection technique. We also investigate the effect of avalanche photodiode (APD) gain on the received power. Simulation results show that: 1) the received power decreases while the bit error rate (BER) increases with the transmission distance, and 2) both the received power and the BER increase with the APD gain for the same transmission distance.


In 1976, Congress devised the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (1) (HSR) to improve the enforcement of existing U.S. antitrust law. (2) One of the key elements of the scheme was a requirement that transacting parties notify enforcement agencies before launching certain major mergers and acquisitions. (3) This premerger notification, according to advocates, would enhance policing of a small number of transactions, about 150 per year, possessing particular potential to be problematic. (4) During the twenty-five years since HSR's inception, this originally modest reporting program has grown in a manner not only dramatic, but unintended. (5) By the year 2000, federal antitrust agencies were examining the majority of U.S. merger and acquisition activity (6) and dedicating an ever-expanding portion of their resources to the program. (7) As a result, practitioners and enforcement officials grew concerned that the program was weakening the effectiveness of the enforcement agencies, (8) if not wreaking substantive change in antitrust law, (9) and there were calls for its revision. (10) On December 21, 2000, President Clinton signed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Bill. (11) At first glance, this legislation appears to answer the calls for revision of HSR's premerger notification program. Buried in this 320-page omnibus bill are four pages (12) of language amending (13) the program. Most notably, the amendment institutes inflation adjustment in an attempt to slow or stop the growth of premerger notification required under the program. (14) Although it is too early to measure the full impact of the recent amendment, (15) it is not too soon to consider whether this change truly answers cries for reform, or merely mutes them. This Note asserts that the 2000 amendment does not adequately revamp the program because, although the inflation adjustment should greatly slow the growth of the program, the amendment does not reverse the substantive change induced by twenty-five years of HSR growth. Finally, this Note proposes reforms that would help restore balance to antitrust law: a return to a more limited review system and a switch to a less surrogate-based jurisdiction test. (16) This Note considers premerger notification in five sections. The first section opens the examination with a brief review of U.S. antitrust law prior to HSR and premerger notification. (17) This section discusses the statutory nature of U.S. antitrust law as first established, then it reviews the development of the field and the delicate balance achieved between agency regulation and statutory/judicial guidance. Section two discusses the creation of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act as a means of providing understanding of the Act's goals. (18) The section outlines the perceived problems leading to HSR's passage and summarizes the premerger notification provisions. Consideration of the legislative history reveals that Congress sought to cause only procedural changes, to encompass only the very largest of mergers, and to minimize the burden placed on commerce. The third section addresses the dramatic growth of reporting under the Act and outlines the causes of this growth. (19) It then considers the impact of this growth, particularly with regard to the burdens HSR creates and the substantive changes it has wrought in antitrust law. Next, the section considers how the problems with premerger notification are a product of the surrogate, i.e., dollar-based, definition of the jurisdiction test. This analysis illuminates the need for change in the jurisdiction test. With this understanding of the preamendment situation, section four examines potential solutions to the jurisdiction test problem. (20) The search for an alternative begins with discussion of the premerger notification programs of other countries. This review reveals no valuable new model, however, because all functional systems use a surrogate definition. …


Like a scene from a Wild West land grab, would-be pioneers in the wilderness of online learning are surging forward with thoughts awash with optimism, trepidation, and a profound sense of staking a claim in this new educational environment. Even for those who live and breathe this new medium, there have been a myriad of successes, failures, and truly baffling experiences. However, it is becoming clear that the educational landscape has forever changed and whatever direction this online revolution takes, it is clear that it will, in some way, affect the way all of us live and learn. The area of teacher education is one part of this wilderness that is only beginning to show signs of some settlement. As online environments become populated with "cyber homesteaders"--teacher educators developing and teaching online courses--there is a sense of groping for guidelines, models, or at best, lists of best practices, for the design and delivery of online instruction. Although teacher educators are some of the most innovative and enthusiastic pioneers in the online learning arena, many are rolling off courses from an assembly line of boundless enthusiasm. However, few are familiar with techniques and models for the design and development of instruction. As the new scenario of the online classroom emerges, it will become necessary for teacher educators to become familiar with these principles to enhance their design of computer assisted learning environments and systems. This article supports Nunan's (1999) call for "new forms of program delivery to be described and analyzed" (p. 52) by focusing on the development of a web-based teacher education methods course for teachers of language minority learners. It examines what challenges and difficulties teacher educators and other course developers face in the design and delivery of distance education and how some of the problems might be overcome through use of an instructional design process. The purpose is to show how the instructional design process can assist in developing a web-based distance teacher education course that suits the needs of participants while addressing the concerns of researchers and teacher educators. THE NEED FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION AND THE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN PROCESS The recent and ongoing expansion of online opportunities for teacher education and training are due, in part, to calls for better teacher preparation and professional development opportunities. The National Education Goals for Teacher Education and Professional Development state that for school reform to happen teachers need (a) the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needs to prepare students for the next century and (b) access to professional development programs for continued improvement of skills. Teacher educators must help their students understand how to provide opportunities for all learners and motivate learners to become lifelong learners. Teacher educators must also encourage their students to create new opportunities and solve new problems in their classrooms. To help meet the National Goals, teacher educators and education courses must provide opportunities for preservice and inservice teachers to reflect on and apply theory to classroom practice and receive feedback from experienced teachers in the field; if well designed, the distance professional development and teacher education courses proliferating on the World Wide Web (WWW or Web) may provide such opportunities for inservice and preservice teachers. The benefits of offering distance courses in which there are a wide variety of learners and where communication is supported by both asynchronous and synchronous technologies include the potential for: * more time for learners (teachers) to reflect, * increased individual participation, * more individualized feedback from the instructor, * a wider range of opinions and views, * self-paced/self-directed learning, * team learning and collaboration, and * resource-based rather than lecture-based learning. …


In 2000, my coauthors and I published an article proposing that public schools would violate no constitutional prohibition (and would improve science education) by permitting biology teachers to ―teach the controversy‖ concerning biological evolution. This proposal generated substantial academic commentary. As this article details, members of the United States Congress and education officials in a few states have expressed some support for the idea. However, most academic commentators have accused the authors of substituting a renamed but substantially equivalent form of ―creationism‖ in an attempt to circumvent existing law. Others have accused the proponents of hijacking perfectly respectable concepts—like academic freedom or viewpoint neutrality—for disreputable purposes, such as advancing religion. This article will recount the reaction to the proposal to ―teach the controversy‖ and will respond to the primary arguments raised against it.


Research indicates early reading ability influences later academic achievement. The literature remains mixed, however, with regard to the best way to implement early literacy instruction in the classroom, and whether to employ a phonics-based, whole language-based, or balanced approach. This study seeks to examine the relationship between a teacher's educational level and his or her endorsement of beliefs for specific literacy practices. It was hypothesized that a higher level of education would be connected with beliefs about a balanced approach to early literacy practices. Fifty-seven prekindergarten teachers and paraprofessionals completed the Teacher and Paraprofessional Information Form; specific questions were used to determine both highest level of education and endorsement of a particular early literacy instructional approach. Results indicated that differences do exist between education levels, yet no significant relationship was reported between employing balanced approaches and higher degree attainment. Future research should examine student outcomes in relation to these findings. INDEX WORDS: Prekindergarten, Early literacy, Phonics, Whole language, Teacher education THE INFLUENCE OF PREKINDERGARTEN TEACHER EDUCATION LEVEL ON EARLY READING INSTRUCTION BELIEFS


The sampling weight in the Current Employment Statistics Survey is determined at the time of sample selection. It depends on a unit's State, industry, and size class. However, the population of businesses is highly dynamic. Establishments constantly grow or contract; sometimes they also change their industrial classification or geographical location. Even the number of population units is not fixed but continuously changes over time. A unit may change its size class at the time of estimation or the content of the original stratum may change. Under such circumstances, application of the original survey weights may increase volatility of survey estimates. In this paper we investigate if the survey estimates can be improved by adjusting the original weights.


Research Purpose: The purpose of this research is to enlighten the public on the effective roles a project leader can play in mitigating the issues of Health and Safety faced in the Nigerian construction Industry; throwing more light in the construction industry of the country's capital (Abuja).

Methodology: Literature texts were gotten and referenced from books, journals and articles to enlighten the readers on various styles of leadership, and overview on health and safety. For the survey, a mixed methodology or triangulation technique was adopted for use in this research. The use of survey monkey software was used to collect data from selected respondents based in Abuja in the distribution of the questionnaires; and telephone call technique was used to collect data from selected professionals working in Abuja. The telephone conversation was recorded and used for analysis for this research. Also, agents where selected to observe active sites in the Abuja Metropolis, these sites were assessed using a Health and Safety checklist.

Results/Findings: The main findings were that, a significant amount of respondents feel a project leader plays a vital role in mitigating health and safety issues in the Nigerian construction industry, there is a high rate of ignorance of health and safety policies in the construction industry, and the government has done little in properly implementing safety laws which can help in mitigating the issues of health and safety in Nigeria. Based on literature texts, the combination of leadership and management can help a project leader effectively curb the menace of hazards faced on site, as other goals can be achieved using this combined method. This can be done by creating a proper safety structure and relating them directly to site activities, and communicating properly to site workers on risks involved in their various work places.

Research Limitations: Time was a relative constraint during the period of this research. Data collected during the survey directly dealt with Abuja; there is a need to discuss health and safety issues on a wider scope, Nigeria or Africa as a whole. Also, health and safety issues were only discussed as it affects the construction industry only. The public can be enlightened on health and safety issues faced in other industries.

Practical Implications: The findings show the level of awareness on health and safety policies in the Nigerian construction industry, the frequency and mitigating methods of selected hazards in the industry, Abuja-Nigeria to be precise.

Value: This research highlights the need for awareness to be created on safety issues in the construction industry and also the need for change in the safety culture of workers in the industry so as to mitigate health and safety issues in the Nigerian construction industry.

Paper Type: Dissertationd mitigate risks in construction sites.


This study examines the processing of the implicature of "might" (NOT must). The literature on implicatures contains both studies that suggest rapid computation of scalar implicatures, and studies that provide evidence for extra processing costs in generating them. The present study extends existing work by comparing "might" to "must", and by adapting a paradigm that integrates experimental sentences into a natural discourse within a game. The experiment employed the visual world paradigm, using a guessing game with a confederate: in critical trials participants' eye movements were recorded while they listened to utterances (guesses) made by a confederate. Our results show a delay in incorporating the 'not must' implicature of "might", which is comparable in size to previous studies finding delays in implicature computation. Hence our results provide further support for the notion that implicatures incur processing cost, based on different implicature triggers and using an experimental paradigm based on natural dialogue. This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: http://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/ vol19/iss1/2 U. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 19.1, 2013 On the Processing of "might" Dimka Atanassov, Florian Schwarz and John C. Trueswell *


Evaluating programs is a necessary and vital function in the management of all organizations. In 1988, the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (LCES) began an intensive statewide process entitled "Issues Programming". This is a qualitative evaluation of that process. The study focused on the perceptions of extension agents and community leaders who participated in the process. Four focus group interviews were conducted, two each for agents and leaders. Geographic site selection provided for participant inclusion from all LCES administrative areas. The groups were asked a series of open ended questions designed to draw from them in-depth perceptions about the process in which they had participated. The sessions were audio and video recorded. The data consisted of the taped perceptions and moderator and researcher notes of the interviews. These data were analyzed by content analysis and individual question summaries and summary comparisons. Themes and perception patterns arose from the analysis. The process was perceived to be successful in that Extension is better recognized, has broader educational programs, has better coordination with local government, and is networking more with other agencies and organizations. Individual agent's people skills were enhanced, and agents give more value to in staff coordination and desire additional training in volunteer leadership as a result of the process. The initial perception of agents was generally negative to the issues programming process. These perceptions resulted from, low morale at the time issues programming was initiated, lack of understanding of the process, resistance to changes required in agent roles, and resistance to a process in the planning of which they had not participated. These negative feelings affected the success of the process. Leaders and agents perceive the process as unfinished and suggest that it be completed. Recommendations for study include determining effective methods to involve agents in program planning, effective agent training methods, and ways of assisting agents to be more adaptable to role changes. Case studies of successful parish programs were also recommended. Recommendations for future programs call for the inclusion of the above findings as well as more extensive extension staff training and better trainer/adm inistration coordination. Chapter


This article examines Jordan's role in the creation of the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), from its origins to its sudden demise in the turmoil of the 1990-91 Gulf crisis and war. The analysis focuses on three key factors in Jordan's foreign policy, namely, the concern with external security threats, the pressures of domestic politics, and the economic constraints on the Jordanian regime.


Corpus analysis has become established as an approach to the study of language description or for applied pursuits in language teaching, terminology, and so on. However, because of the social indexicalities of language use, corpora can also inform studies of social phenomena. This chapter draws on social semiotics to argue that, in the analysis of social phenomena, meanings that are socially significant can be read not only from what is said in corpora, but also from a range of other resources, such as names of persons and places as well as language choices made in texts. This chapter thus uses two heuristics, onomastics and discursive mono-/multilingualism, to query a diachronic corpus associated with a South African political party for evidence of whether or not the party has over time become more inclusive, contrary to its discursive positioning by a rival party as an untransformed organisation. The analysis shows evidence of the party opening up to diversity in terms of race, gender, geography, and language choice, but the finding raises the question of the relationship between semiotic evidence and reality.


Research in Computer Science (CS) education has focused on gender differences and there is high interest in increasing female participation in CS. The present study reviews important factors that influence CS students' decision to complete their studies in CS (retention), and empirically examines how these factors differ for males and females. To this end, we identify cognitive and non-cognitive gains, cognitive and affective engagement, motivation to study, and three different barriers as critical factors in CS students'. We test these factors on 236 Norwegian CS students in order to find any potential gender differences. The findings indicate a gender difference for cognitive gains, affective engagement, motivation to study, and satisfaction with learning effectiveness. On the other hand, no difference was found for non-cognitive gains, cognitive engagement, personal values/teaching quality, and students' intention to dropout from their studies. The study concludes with implications that will guide both research and practice towards a better understanding of both male and female CS students.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of the present study was to test whether or not immediate implantation leads to more biological complications, when performed at extraction sockets of teeth exhibiting periapical pathology compared with teeth not exhibiting periapical pathology.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In 17 consecutively admitted patients, immediate implant placement was planned in order to replace single teeth exhibiting periapical pathology (test group). These teeth demonstrated pain, periapical radiolucency, fistula, suppuration or a combination of these findings. Another 17 consecutively admitted patients in need of single tooth replacement in the absence of periapical pathology served as the control group. Implant placement and accompanying bone regeneration were performed according to standard clinical procedures. Implants were loaded after a healing period of 3 months. Clinical and radiographical parameters were assessed at the time of implant placement (baseline) and at 12 months thereafter.

RESULTS
Out of the 34 patients, four test and one control patient had to be withdrawn from the study due to the inability to obtain primary implant stability. The residual 29 implants revealed a survival rate of 100% 1 year after placement. Clinical and radiographical differences between 12 months and baseline comparing test and control groups showed no statistical significances for any of the parameters assessed. Within test and control groups there was a statistically significant loss of vertical bone height at the adjacent teeth (mesial test=0.4+/-0.6 mm, control=0.4+/-0.5 mm; distal test=0.3+/-0.2 mm, control=0.7+/-0.8 mm) as well as at the implant site (mesial test=1.9+/-1.4 mm, control=1.8+/-1.1 mm; distal test=1.7+/-1.4 mm, control=1.6+/-1.1 mm) and of buccal keratinized mucosa (test=-2.2+/-1.2 mm; control=-1.3+/-1.6 mm) between baseline and 12 months. During the first 13 weeks of healing, two sites of the test and one site of the control group showed signs of infection, which required intervention. Neither the incident of early exit nor of signs of infection was statistically significantly different between the test and the control group (Mann-Whitney U test).

CONCLUSION
It is concluded that for those implants where primary stability was achieved, the immediate implant placement performed at extraction sockets exhibiting periapical pathology did not lead to an increased rate of complications and rendered an equally favorable type of tissue integration of the implants in both groups. Implant placement into such sites can, therefore, be successfully performed.


Abstract Objective: There has been an increased interest in the use of "Hybrid" neuropsychological test batteries to evaluate neurocognitive functioning prior to and following sports-related concussion. Typically, these test batteries include a combination of traditional "paper and pencil" (P&P) and computerized measures. The National Hockey League (NHL) employs a Hybrid approach consisting of ImPACT and a brief battery of P&P measures. The purpose of this paper was to examine the NHL's Hybrid model by means of factor analytic techniques in order to determine the extent to which the measures included in the battery are independent of each other or share common variance. Method: Principal components analyses with promax rotations were conducted on the P&P measures alone and when combined with ImPACT. A total of 360 recently concussed NHL players underwent testing using the combined hybrid battery. Results: A principal components analysis with promax rotation of the combined hybrid battery yielded 5 factors (Verbal Learning/Memory, Visual Learning/Memory, Processing Speed/Executive Functioning, Cued/Recognition Memory and Reaction Time/Speed). The factors appear to be relatively independent of each other with the P&P measures comprising the Verbal Learning/Memory, Visual Learning/Memory, and Processing Speed/Executive Functioning and ImPACT loading on the Cued/Recognition Memory and Reaction Time/Speed factors. Conclusions: These data provide support for the Hybrid model with evidence that the P&P measures and ImPACT do not measure the same domains of cognitive functioning. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed in detail.


We present a new framework to estimate and visualize heart motion from echocardiograms. For velocity estimation, we have developed a novel multiresolution optical flow algorithm. In order to account for typical heart motions like contraction/expansion and shear, we use a local affine model for the velocity in space and time. The motion parameters are estimated in the least-squares sense inside a sliding spatio-temporal window. The estimated velocity field is used to track a region of interest which is represented by spline curves. In each frame, a set of sample points on the curves is displaced according to the estimated motion field. The contour in the subsequent frame is obtained by a least-squares spline fit to the displaced sample points. This ensures robustness of the contour tracking. From the estimated velocity, we compute a radial velocity field with respect to a reference point. Inside the time-varying region of interest, the radial velocity is color-coded and superimposed on the original image sequence in a semi-transparent fashion. In contrast to conventional Tissue Doppler methods, this approach is independent of the incident angle of the ultrasound beam. The motion analysis and visualization provides an objective and robust method for the detection and quantification of myocardial malfunctioning. Promising results are obtained from synthetic and clinical echocardiographic sequences.


Today, most object-oriented software systems are developed using an evolutionary process model. Therefore, understanding the phases that the system's logical design has gone through and the style of their evolution can provide valuable insights in support of consistently maintaining and evolving the system, without compromising the integrity and stability of its architecture. In this paper, we present a method for analyzing the evolution of object-oriented software systems from the point of view of their logical design. This method relies on UMLDiff, a UML-structure differencing algorithm, which, given a sequence of UML class models corresponding to the logical design of a sequence of system code releases, produces a sequence of "change records" that describe the design-level changes between subsequent system releases. This change-records sequence is subsequently analyzed from the perspective of each individual system class, to produce the class-evolution profile, i.e., a class-specific change-records' sequence. Three types of longitudinal analyses - phasic, gamma, and optimal matching analysis - are applied to the class-evolution profiles to recover a high-level abstraction of distinct evolutionary phases and their corresponding styles and to identify class clusters with similar evolution trajectories. The recovered knowledge facilitates the overall understanding of system evolution and the planning of future maintenance activities. We report on one real-world case study evaluating our approach.


A spoken question answering system that recognizes questions as full sentences performs well when users ask one of the questions defined. A system that recognizes component words and finds an equivalent defined question might be more flexible, but is likely to have decreased speech recognition performance, leading to a loss in overall system success. The research described in this document compares the advantage in flexibility to the loss in recognition performance when using component recognition.
Questions posed by participants were processed by a system of each type. As expected, the component system made frequent recognition errors while detecting words (word error rate of 31%). In comparison, the full system made fewer errors while detecting full sentences (sentence error rate of 10%). Nevertheless, the component system succeeded in providing proper responses to 76% of the queries posed, while the full system responded properly to only 46%.
Four variations of the traditional tf-idf weighting method were compared as applied to the matching of short text strings (fewer than 10 words). It was found that the general approach was successful in finding matches, and that all four variations compensated for the loss in speech recognition performance to a similar degree. No significant difference due to the variations in weighting was detected in the results.


Background: Among its many uses, Acmella oleracea (L.) R. K. Jansen as an anthelmintic agent for general intestinal helminthiasis is remarkable because of its indigenous usage in the Mizo traditional medicine. However, the rationale has not been established. Objectives: The objective of this study is to perform chemical analysis of the plant extract using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and to test the anthelmintic activity on intestinal helminths. Materials and Methods: Methanol extract of the whole plant was prepared and volatile compounds were analyzed using GC-MS. Anthelmintic activity was studied by survival test on the cestode Raillietina echinobothrida and the nematode Ascaridia galli. Anthelmintic effects were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Results: Thirteen compounds were detected, with methyl n-hexadecanoate (palmitic acid) as the major constituents. N-Alkylamides such as N-isobutyl-(2E,4Z,8Z,10E)-dodecatetraenamide and N-(2-phenylethyl) non-2(E)-en-6, 8-diynamide were present. The plant extract was significantly effective (P < 0.05) at all concentrations tested on both the parasites and showed dose-dependent activity similar to that of albendazole. On the cestode, tegumental shrinkage, erosion of microtriches, and destruction of suckers with clumping of the spines were observed. The nematode was also extensively deformed with its lips collapsed, warty surface on the head, and contracted cuticle on the main body. Conclusion: A. oleracea contains bioactive compounds that have broad-spectrum activity on cestode and nematode parasites.


The Airborne Prism Experiment (APEX) is a hyperspectral instrument built in a Swiss - Belgian collaboration within the ESA-PRODEX program. It aims at highest possible accuracy of its delivered surface reflectance image data products. The atmospheric correction of hyperspectral imagery is a critical element of a complete processing chain towards unbiased reflectance and for the creation of higher level products. As the first data of APEX is expected to become available in 2009, an appropriate processing chain for higher level processing needs to be defined and evaluated. Standard products have been identified in all application fields of hyperspectral imaging, i.e., geology, vegetation, cryosphere, limnology and atmosphere. They are being implemented at the APEX science center. The according processing procedures rely on data of well-defined processing states which range from calibrated at-sensor radiance to (bihemispherical) spectral albedo. In this paper, the atmospheric processing which is implemented as part of the automated data processing chain for level 2 in the APEX processing and archiving facility (PAF) at VITO (Mol, Belgium) is evaluated together with the ATCOR-4 atmospheric correction program. The evaluation is done regarding flexibility, reflectance output accuracy and processing efficiency. Two test data sets are taken for this purpose: a well-documented set of HYMAP data and a high resolution HYSPEX data set. Both data sets exhibit areas of overlap, which are taken for self-contained analysis of the atmospheric correction procedure. The accuracy tests include plausibility checks on selected regions of interest including a variety of known surfaces in the imagery. As some of the observed effects are related to BRDF differences, the results also give an indication for the inaccuracy related to these reflectance anisotropies. Speed measurements of the processing are then compared to the demand for operational processing of series of data acquisition. Further comparison information is drawn from the by-products of atmospheric correction such as water vapor distribution maps. The study shows performance and limitations of atmospheric correction using the state-of-the-art technology, which are mainly found in the field of BRDF effects. This points towards improvements to be implemented in course of the further development of the higher level processing chain for the APEX sensor.


ABSTRACT A hybrid photo-catalyst, TiO2-ZnO, was synthesized by immobilizing ZnO on commercial TiO2 (aeroxide P25). Activated carbon (AC) was subsequently used to support the hybrid, thus forming a TiO2-ZnO/AC composite catalyst. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis and scanning electron microscopy integrated with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) investigations revealed successful catalyst synthesis. Optical properties of the hybrid determined from photoluminescence (PL) and Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy confirmed a restrained recombination of electron-hole pairs and reduced energy band gap due to a successful heterojunction formation. The prepared catalysts were used to photodecolorise vinasse in a 12-W UVC batch photoreactor. TiO2-ZnO had improved photocatalytic activity compared with TiO2 and ZnO separately. On supporting the hybrid onto AC, both adsorption and photocatalytic activities were further enhanced with improved overall color removal of 86% from 68%. Photodecolorisation followed the pseudo-first-order reaction model with the rate constant () observed decreasing from 0.0701 to 0.0436 min−1 on increasing the initial concentration from 5,000 to 14,000 ppm. The UV process was found to be 33-fold less energy intensive for color reduction as compared to total organic carbon (TOC) reduction. Formation of nitrates during the photodecolorisation process was attributed to the mineralization of nitrogen heteroatoms in the color-causing melanoidin compounds.


Abstract Stars are the main ingredients of galaxies, and the sites of the creation of most chemical elements in our universe. The knowledge that we gain from studying nearby resolved stellar populations assists directly our ability to measure the properties of distant galaxies. The overall objective of this project is to study galaxy formation and evolution in a complete environment of the dwarf galaxies in the Local Group, by using the same methods for all of them. For that purpose, we used the INT to conduct a monitoring survey of the majority of Local-Group dwarf galaxies in order to identify the most evolved AGB stars that are long-period variables (LPV). LPV stars reach their maximum brightness amplitudes at optical wavelengths, owing to changes in temperature. They trace stellar populations as young as ∼30 Myr up to as old as ∼10 Gyr, and identifying them is one of the best ways of reconstructing star-formation history using a method that we have developed and applied successfully to other Local-Group galaxies. Since the luminosity variations span 100–1000 days, we planned observations over 10 epochs, spaced ∼3 months apart; 9 epochs of data have so far been obtained.


The Mahāvamsa, composed in Pali verse around AD 500, has sometimes been called the 'Great Chronicle of Ceylon'. It summarises the origins of Buddhism in North India and the spread of the religion to Sri Lanka, where it flourished. The Mahābhārata, India's 'Great Epic', was reaching its current written form at the start of our era, and is a foundational document in the Hindu tradition. Nevertheless, if the two texts are examined closely, they show surprising and extensive similarities. The present paper, which condenses a much longer study, tries to demonstrate this claim by selecting similarities from the introductory section of each work. The similarities are of many types ‒ for instance, of form as well as content, and call for historical explanation. Possible explanations are various, and need not be confined to interactions within South Asia; though the idea is not explored here, the similarities may have arisen before the Indo-European languages reached India.


General anesthesia impairs glutamate homeostasis at synapses by decreasing the production of glutamate transporters. Glutamate transporters in astrocytes are important to preserve cognitive function and memory in hippocampus. In this study we investigated whether ulinastatin increases the number of glutamate transporters in glial cells. We used human astrocytes to demonstrate glutamate uptake in glial cells. The cells were divided into control and ulinastatin-treated groups. After incubation for 3 hours in serum free media, ulinastatin was administered to ulinastatin-treated group, then media was changed to HBSS buffer with 0.1 mM of glutamate. And we determined glutamate absorption by astrocytes by measuring glutamate levels in the media and astrocyte lysates at a time. We also measured levels of the glutamate transporters. In the ulinastatin-treated group, the total amount of glutamate was decreased, and the amount in astrocytes was significantly increased, compared to the control group. Expression of glutamate transporter 1 and glutamate aspartate transporter was significantly increased in the ulinastatin group. In this study, administration of ulinastatin resulted in increased glutamate uptake by astrocytes. We also demonstrated glutamate transporters. Thus, we propose that ulinastatin may improve short memory impairment and cognitive disorder after anesthesia by increasing the number of glutamate transporters.


It is common for parents and children to experience posttraumatic stress after a traumatic injury. Most children and parents report at least 1 severe traumatic stress reaction in the first month after a significant injury, and some have it after even a seemingly minor traffic accident without serious injury. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network defines "pediatric medical traumatic stress" as a set of mental and physical responses of children and their families to pain, injury, serious illness, medical procedures, and painful or frightening treatment experiences. About 19% of injured children develop significant posttraumatic stress symptoms that interfere with their functioning and healing after the injury. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress include: 1. Repeating thoughts about the injury. 2. Avoiding reminders of the injury, which may include avoiding people, feelings, or activities. 3. Increased arousal, which may include having an exaggerated startle response (ie, jumping in response to a loud noise) or experiencing difficulty in concentrating. 4. Changes in mood. Consequences of posttraumatic stress may be disabling and include reduced quality of life, increased use of health care services, or difficulty in staying in school. Several treatment approaches for posttraumatic stress exist and have been shown to be effective. These include promoting strategies that help with coping, safe exposure to trauma-related triggers, and building skills in handling the distress that is felt. In many cases, it is helpful for both parents and children to work together on developing coping skills. If you are worried that you or your child has symptoms of posttraumatic stress, talk with your pediatrician or physician. This month's JAMA Pediatrics included a review article that summarizes the current research and evidence on how best to recognize and treat posttraumatic stress. FOR MORE INFORMATION


South American camelids are susceptible to tuberculosis, caused mainly by Mycobacterium bovis and M. microti. Despite the tuberculin skin test being the official test for tuberculosis, it has a very low sensitivity in these species (14–20%). Serological tests present the advantages of being rapid, easy to perform and facilitate analysis of large numbers of samples in a short period of time. Novel antigen discovery and evaluation would provide enhanced detection of specific antibodies against members of M. tuberculosis complex. Here, we describe the development and evaluation of an ELISA-type immunoassays to use in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in llamas and alpacas based on P22, a multiprotein complex obtained by affinity chromatography from bovine Purified Protein Derivative (bPPD), that showed high sensitivity and specificity in mice, cattle and goats. This work was performed in two stages. First, a preliminary panel of samples collected from tuberculosis-free (n = 396) and M. bovis-infected herds (n = 56) was assayed, obtaining high specificity (100%) and sensitivity ranging from 63 to 96%. Subsequently, the use of the serological assay was tested using samples from two herds suffering from clinical M. bovis (n = 88) and M. microti (n = 25) infection to evaluate the ability of the ELISA to detect infected animals. 11 out of 88 alpacas were positive to the ELISA in a M. bovis outbreak and 7 out of 25 in a M. microti outbreak. The P22 ELISA potentially provides a sensitive and specific platform for improved tuberculosis surveillance in camelids.


Following the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, the continuing levels of emigration from Ireland came as a disappointment to many who believed that British colonialism had caused and perpetuated the emigration problem. Within this context, there was a need to explain emigration in ways that deflected blame away from the new state authorities. In this article, the author contributes to a gendered analysis of these shifting constructions of emigration. Drawing upon Irish newspapers of the period, she suggests that the figure of the 'emigrant girl' was central to post-colonial discourses on emigration. During the 1930s, the emigration of thousands of young Irish women to English cities such as London sparked widespread comment and criticism. The Irish press and the Catholic hierarchy in particular propagated an image of these vulnerable young women as lost and alone in the big, bad cities of England. The author analyses the ways in which the 'emigrant girl' embodied specific representations of place, culture and gendered identity; the 'emigrant girl' embodied an Irishness marked by religion, culture and landscape. Through her transgression of physical, cultural and religious spaces, she encountered loneliness, danger and the risk of denationalisation.


Fusarium wilt is caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceris, a major limiting chickpea productivity in Ethiopia. The present study was to validate the integrated management of chickpea Fusarium wilt. The verifications were conducted in Adea, Lume and Gimbichu districts. The experiment was laid out as a factorial combination a farmer's field was used as replications. The management package consists of two varieties (Arerti and Habru), seed treatment with protective fungicides a rate of 2 g (a.i) kg/seed) and without and two seed bed type (raised and flat). There were three verifications per site. The pod borer management consists of timely insecticide application lambda cyhalothrin. The 2016 result showed significant variations among the treatment on Fusarium wilt and hundreds of seed weight. The lowest Fusarium wilt incidence (1.5%) was found on variety Arerti by raised bed and fungicide treated seed. The optimum yield (1747.5 kg/ha) obtained on flat plot with variety Habru use moisture in field, perhaps raised bed drain moisture. The correlation revealed that there was negative relationship between Fusarium wilt and yield. While, in 2017 significant variation is on Fusarium wilt and number of pods per plant. The highest Fusarium wilt incidence (24%) was on variety Arerti by flat plot without fungicide. Whereas, the highest pod per plant (54.4%) was on variety Arerti by raised bed with fungicide treated. There was clear difference among the seasons on Fusarium wilt incidences and yield. Thus, combining resistant cultivars by raised bed and fungicides treatment will reduce the Fusarium wilt incidence and optimize planting time to obtain attainable yields and ploughing interval in severely infected field reduces primary sources of inoculum.

 Key words: Chickpea, fungicides, Fusarium wilt, incidence, yield.


The present study aims at generating the basic knowledge of hybrid technology and examines the magnitude of heterosis for yield through evaluation of eight parents along with 28 F1 hybrids and 25 F1 and 10 parents. The hybrids along with their parents were evaluated in the field-experiment carried out in Bologna, precision phenotyping platform at different levels of water stress and in near-field condition via a basket method to assess yield and root traits. The F1 hybrids were evaluated based on mid and best parent values as well as general and specific combining ability effects. The results showed >20% of mid parent heterosis, indicating the scope for exploitation of heterosis in durum wheat. Valnova x Miki was the best hybrid combination in both experiments followed by Karim x Valnova and Karim x Morocco. Based on the WSTI, three F1 hybrids (Valnova x Miki, Iride x Miki and Svevo x Miki) and one parent (Svevo) were identified as drought tolerant. These results suggest that hybrids do better under water stress but specific hybrid combinations need to be developed to realize higher performance under drought prone environments. To understand the genetic control of flowering time, 384 durum lines were assessed in 13 environments to determine five pheno-environments. Genotyping was conducted with 35K Axiom array to generate 7,740 polymorphic SNPs. In total, 47 significant QTLs were identified for flowering time consistently across the environments. The candidate gene search indicated seven novel genes, namely PRR7, GRF, SVP, RRP6L1, Hd6, TCP1, and COP1/RGA in addition to a number of already known regulatory photoperiodic genes, PPD-A and PPD-B and vernalization genes VRN1, VRN2 and VRN3. In summary, the results obtained from these experiments indicated sufficient heterosis in durum wheat and helped in physiological and molecular characterization of the best heterotic combinations and flowering time.


For the CSR movement the challenge is broadly speaking to make responsible business practices both effective and sustainable in the long run, communicate them credibly to third parties, and institutionalise them more widely in the business community. In this article, I address three main themes where I think more clarity would enable CSR to evolve to a new level and achieve its promising potential. First will be discussed the scope of corporate responsibilities. Second, the effects of the responsible business practices on governance in host countries can be multiple; some are direct and easy to grasp but others are more subtle and difficult to assess. Third, states (both home and host countries) could stimulate responsible business practices through various policy measures and even hard law; would the latter really be incompatible with corporate voluntarism? (Less)


To decrease the undesirable effects on global warming and environmental pollution, manufacturing techniques should aim to use less energy, generate less pollution to the environment and aim at higher performance in shaping and cutting materials. In this paper, a new coating technique is presented for cutting and forming tools so that they can withstand higher temperatures, preserve their surface quality and cutting edge longer and require minimum quantity of lubrication (MQL) and achieve a longer life. It is known that coolants used in manufacturing cause environmental problems and their processing raises the manufacturing cost. Therefore, MQL or dry cutting is preferred if the tool material can withstand the high temperatures. A new technology of boron nitride (BN) coating using a physical vapour deposition (PVD) system is developed. BN coatings are applied on cutting tools and forming dies. Experiments and industrial applications show an increase in tool life. MQL and manufacturing at higher temperatures can be used due to the stability of BN.


There is ample evidence that financial market development leads to economic growth. If improving labor rights can be shown to positively influence equity markets, then that, in turn, will lead to economic growth. The finance literature has examined the impact of a broader metric, namely, the Economic Freedom Index, on equity returns worldwide and the evidence is mixed. This study focuses on one dimension of economic freedom: labor rights. Specifically, the study analyzes the impact of labor rights on national equity market indexes, using the Labor Rights Index developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Fraser Institute (FI). Using panel regression analysis for 49 countries (for the OECD Index) and 76 countries (for the FI Index) over the period 1985 through 2014, the study finds that changes in labor rights have a statistically significant positive impact on equity returns, after controlling for business-cycle effects and time fixed effects. The study also finds significant differences in the Labor-Rights-Equity Returns relationship between developed and less developed economies.


Enterobacter sakazakii is an occasional contaminant of powdered infant formula that can cause rare but severe foodborne infections in infants. To determine optimal methods for the detection and identification of E. sakazakii, 38 naturally contaminated samples from infant formulae factories were analyzed by two PCR-based methods and by a method (TS 22964/RM 210) developed by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Dairy Federation (ISO-IDF) using three different commercial chromogenic agars. The ISO-IDF method includes two enrichment steps, plating of the second enrichment broth on E. sakazakii isolation agar (a chromogenic selective agar), picking of five typical colonies for transfer onto tryptone soy agar, and subsequent confirmation of yellow-pigmented colonies by biochemical characterization. Twenty-two of the 38 samples were positive by the culture method. E. sakazakii isolation agar (ESIA; AES Laboratoires), COMPASS agar (Biokar Diagnostics), and Druggan-Forsythe-Iversen agar (Oxoid) compared favorably with violet red bile glucose agar (VRBG, a selective medium for Enterobacteriaceae), with positive predictive values of 86.96, 88, and 74.07%, respectively, in contrast to 47.83% for VRBG. One additional positive sample was detected using the nonpatented real-time PCR method evaluated, and those results were in 97.3% concordance with the ISO-IDF results. Some discrepancies between the results of the DuPont Qualicon BAX system and those of the ISO-IDF method could be explained by heterogeneity of contamination and sampling. Thus, both PCR-based systems were suitable for detecting and specifically identifying E. sakazakii within 1 to 2 days, and COMPASS agar and ESIA could be used interchangeably as a first-step medium to isolate presumptive E. sakazakii colonies.


This paper uses a case study of the evolution of education and healthcare provision in Yantian Village, Guangdong Province to examine broader trends in China's evolving social policies. It makes no claims that development in Yantian is typical for rural China but it may allow some tentative conclusions to be drawn about the extent of inclusiveness of social policy and the moves towards citizenship as a basis for redistribution policies and welfare provision. Yantian is not a normal village but rather is what people refer to as an "urban village" and it has been one of the major beneficiaries of economic reform. Lying close to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, it is in the hub of the Pearl River Delta that has become a key link in the global reorganization of manufacturing and production. The economic reforms, especially the opening to foreign investment, pursued since the late-1970s have replaced the water buffalo and rice paddies with China's main export processing center. It has been a key center for foreign direct investment and, as a result, has attracted a large migrant community. The province of Guangdong is home to some 30 million migrants, 80,000 of whom lived in Yantian in 2010. The migrants work primarily in the 200 or so foreign invested enterprises vested in Yantian (there were over 400 at their peak). However, the group of migrants is not homogenous and this has consequences for how they are treated within the village. Investors are treated far better than those working in the factories. Most importantly, the migrants are not eligible for any payout from the dividends from the village collective that has provided the relative wealth for the local residents. The rapid development of Yantian with the influx of foreign investment and the large number of migrants who moved into the village put tremendous pressure on the educational services. This led to the emergence of a network of different types of schools catering to the varied needs within the community. The range of schools available did mean that all children in Yantian were able to find schooling irrespective of family background, but the quality and investment varied significantly. Most importantly, from 2008 the government budget covered the costs for migrant children helping overcome the biggest inequity of the previous years. Yet, differences remained with respect to the quality of the teachers and the infrastructure in the schools. As elsewhere in China, economic reforms had a major impact on medical insurance in Yantian. From the early-1980s, Yantian Village started to transform its healthcare system from one based on a collective, cooperative scheme to one where village clinics ran on contracts. This meant villagers no longer enjoyed any guarantees for healthcare provision. Some of the wealthier families purchased commercial medical insurance, while certain production teams set aside a partial fund from their collective revenues to subsidize members who suffered catastrophic or chronic disease and to provide a limited medical allowance. However, by 2000 Yantian Village had achieved universal coverage for its residents through a three-phase development.


Automotive transmission rattle is the noise generated due to impacts between manual
transmissions meshing gear teeth in the presence of backlash. It is considered to be a Noise,
Vibration and Harshness (NVH) phenomenon and is originated due to combustion
irregularities (engine order vibrations), especially in diesel vehicles. This thesis focuses in the
case of creep rattle for the MMT6 Ford Getrag transmission (six speeds plus reverse) with a
DW10b, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, 2.0 litres diesel engine. This particular rattle condition is
fundamentally similar to any other where an engaged gear is pertained (drive, over-run or
float), with the 1st or 2nd gear engaged at a very low engine speed.
The numerical models include an initial single degree of freedom (DoF) simulation. It
comprises either of the engaged gear pair under Hertzian contact conditions or of a loose
gear pair under hydrodynamic regime of lubrication. Once the validity of this model is
established and correlated with the results obtained from a single gear pair test rig,
simulations of increasing complexity can be envisaged. A 7 DoF numerical model is,
therefore, developed. The Hertzian contact model still prevails for the engaged gear pair,
whereas an analytical hydrodynamic solution is implemented for the remaining 6 loose gear
wheels and Petrov s law is applied to the needle bearings retaining the gear wheels.
With the aim of accommodating a fully lubricated model of all the tribological conjunctions,
an analytical elastohydrodynamic (EHL) Grubin type algorithm is employed. Also, the
energy equation is analytically solved for hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic
conjunctions, based on the assumptions dictated by the Peclet number. Therefore, under
hydrodynamic conditions, the energy equation is governed by viscous heating and
convective cooling, whereas in the EHL conjunctions the governing terms are viscous and
compressive heating, together with conductive cooling. The retaining needle bearings follow
the same heat generation mechanism as journal bearings.
The effective viscosity, as obtained from the Houpert s equation accounting for pressure and
thermal effects, is fundamental for the study of the friction in the contact. The hydrodynamic
contacts are only governed by viscous friction, whereas EHL conjunctions exhibit asperity
iv
interactions as well as viscous effects. The results obtained from this new 7 DoF model are
then compared to the experimental measurements taken from the vehicle tests and various
purpose-built drivetrain rigs.
A metric named Impulsion Ratio is hereby introduced, aiming to shed some light into the
predictions obtained by the various models presented. This metric is the ratio of driving over
resistive forces acting on each individual gear wheel. Its use is tested to predict single or
double-sided rattle scenarios and, therefore, ascertaining higher and lower rattle levels. The
13 DoF model from which these conclusions were obtained includes shafts planar
translation and rocking moments. The rolling element bearings supporting the shafts are,
therefore, modelled to capture the inherent frequencies arising from their motion.
The final model introduces the effects of transient thermo-elastohydrodynamics. This 7 DoF
dynamic model accounts for a numerical solution of Reynolds equation with Elrod s
cavitation algorithm for simultaneous teeth in mesh. The results obtained validate the
previously used Grubin assumption by comparing the predicted central film thickness along
the full mesh of one tooth. Also, the effect of starved input conditions and thermal and isothermal
solutions are studied.


Russia's institution of a ban on American adoptions of Russian orphans, an appalling response by the Duma to U.S. sanctions against officials involved in the Sergei Magnitsky case, (1) was a clear indicator that bilateral relations will assume a lower priority in the next 4 years for both capitals. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the measure despite open misgivings by some of his own key aides and against the opposition of most of Russia's civil society. The Russian Internet response was scathing, producing an instant winner for best sick joke of 2012: "An educated American family has decided to adopt a developmentally disabled Duma deputy." (2) Despite Putin's calculated pandering to anti-American sentiment, however, there are important areas of the bilateral relationship where cooperation and improvement are possible. At his last face-to-face meeting with President Barack Obama at the Los Cabos G20 summit in June 2012, for example, Putin suggested both a desire and basis for real cooperation, particularly in expanding the economic aspect of the relationship. Putin's public signals are mixed, but America remains the most important actor in the world for Russia, and Moscow by no means wishes to put the brakes on its relationship with Washington either in this or in half a dozen other key areas. Looking beyond the low point in bilateral relations, reached at the beginning of February 2013, Russia will not cease to be important to U.S. policymakers and American geopolitical interests for a number of reasons. The country retains its Soviet-era inheritance of permanent membership and veto power in the United Nations (UN) Security Council, where its cooperation or opposition can prove decisive. The Russian Federation is still the only country in the world that can obliterate the United States with a nuclear strike. This is not a fading, obsolescent capability. Instead, Russia's new rearmament program is beginning to resuscitate military challenges dormant since the collapse of the Soviet Union and to upgrade the nuclear arsenal. Finally, cooperation with Russia on nuclear issues of all sorts is crucial to U.S. nonproliferation goals, many of which Russia shares. Regional developments are altering the security architecture of the world and America's place in it. In addition, Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) may slowly change the investment climate in Russia and, with passage of permanent normal trade relations, has already opened the door to expanded U.S. access to the Russian market, the sixth (by gross domestic product [GDP] measured by purchasing power parity) or ninth (by nominal market GDP) largest in the world. (3) Despite numerous governance shortcomings, Russia's remaining great power attributes give it the ability to influence events in a number of key regions around the globe: * In South Asia, Russia will be important to the modalities of the International Security Assistance Force troop drawdown in Afghanistan, to the maintenance of any long-term U.S. presence there post-2014, and to the context of U.S. relations with adjoining countries, especially those in Central Asia. * In the Middle East, Russia is maneuvering to play a key role in the Syrian endgame and will be an important player as the P5+1 (4) engage in the next and possibly decisive set of negotiations with Iran over its troublesome nuclear enrichment program. * In the Asia-Pacific region, Russia has set in motion its own pivot and is eager to be a part of the new multipolar security architecture developing as China's rise continues to evoke a regional response. * In Europe, expanding U.S. exchanges with Russia over the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) to missile defense will determine the possibilities and shape of any post--New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and European theater arms reductions. * In the Arctic, Russia is at the forefront of exploiting the Northern Sea Route for more efficient East-West commerce, has already begun to engage major U. …


For Melitz (2003), the driving force behind a firm's decision to export is productivity. If firms pass the productivity cut-off, they all export. Nonetheless, empirical studies show that a substantial share of high-productive firms do not export. Using a dataset that covers Portuguese non-financial firms, between 2010 and 2016, we assess which factors determine the export decision, besides productivity. According to our results, firm's characteristics, such as size, turnover, import as well as export status, age, worker skills and knowledge agglomeration, are crucial in the process of internationalisation of firms.


This paper is about the performance of range queries on historic web page data set, i.e. requests into a data set of web pages that keeps record of historic versions of HTML data of URLs on the web for a subset of data, the URLs and the timestamps of which satisfy the query conditions. To keep track of all versions of every web URL, the data set could easily scale up to terabytes. Hence, systems providing query services to such a data set would require much computing resource. We show that in this scenario data storage layout has significant impact on query performance and propose storage design principles for performance improvement through quantitative approaches.


Chemical reaction-diffusion media represent information processing means capable to efficiently solve problems of high computational complexity. Distributed character and complex nonlinear dynamics of chemical reactions inherent in the medium is the basis of large-scale parallelism and complex logical operations performed by the medium as primitives and equivalent to hundreds of binary fixed-point operations. Photo-sensitive catalysts controlling the dynamics (modes of functioning) of the medium enable to easily perform input of initial data and output of computational results. It was found during the last decades that chemical reaction-diffusion media can be effectively used for image processing, finding the shortest paths in a labyrinth and solving some other problems of high computational complexity. Spatially non uniform control of the medium by physical stimuli and fabrication multi level reaction-diffusion systems seem to be promising way enabling low cost and effective information processing devices that meet the commercial needs.


Network models are critical tools in business, management, science and industry. Network Models and Optimization: Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm Approach presents an insightful, comprehensive, and up-to-date treatment of multiple objective genetic algorithms to network optimization problems in many disciplines, such as engineering, computer science, operations research, transportation, telecommunication, and manufacturing. Network Models and Optimization: Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm Approach extensively covers algorithms and applications, including shortest path problems, minimum cost flow problems, maximum flow problems, minimum spanning tree problems, travelling salesman and postman problems, location-allocation problems, project scheduling problems, multistage-based scheduling problems, logistics network problems, communication network problem, and network models in assembly line balancing problems, and airline fleet assignment problems. Network Models and Optimization: Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm Approach can be used both as a student textbook and as a professional reference for practitioners in many disciplines who use network optimization methods to model and solve problems.


This paper describes how new roles for instructors and learners can be integrated into course design and delivery by rethinking course design as part of a process-based staff development program. The goal of incorporating online learning tasks was to engage students with course resources prior to class time through active learning. The staff development program guided faculty to consider ways to 'rethink' the use of student and teacher time to engage students in learning tasks to prepare for class time. In this way, students were able to use class time for active discussion rather than listening to a traditional lecture in the classroom. This paper reports on the overall results of this project and provides specific suggestions on how teachers can consider technology options within an outcomes-based approach to curriculum design.


Students enjoy going to the water park where they descend water slides and swim or jump around in a wave pool. Teachers work hard to make Physics enjoyable in a classroom situation. Since the 1980's, Amusement Park Physics has been used by many physics teachers. In Edmonton, Alberta there is a large shopping center that has a large Water Park. The author decided to integrate the learning of physics with a field trip to the Water Park. Students along with their teacher spend a morning reviewing kinematics, dynamics and the principles of waves while having fun. The students or the teacher wears a vest from Pasco (Xplorer Vest PS-2520) that contains a storage device (Xplorer Datalogger PS-2000) and a sensor (3-Axis Acceleration-Altimeter PS-2136) which measures acceleration in the three axes and the altitude. The students record the measurements while they are moving down the slides. Afterwards the data is downloaded into a computer that has a program (DataStudio). Students work in groups of four answering questions on worksheets and analyzing the graphs produced. At the end, students hand in their work for evaluation purposes. They can relate to physics in this activity because they are living and playing with the concepts.


Learning long-term dependencies in extended temporal sequences requires credit assignment to events far back in the past. The most common method for training recurrent neural networks, back-propagation through time (BPTT), requires credit information to be propagated backwards through every single step of the forward computation, potentially over thousands or millions of time steps. This becomes computationally expensive or even infeasible when used with long sequences. Importantly, biological brains are unlikely to perform such detailed reverse replay over very long sequences of internal states (consider days, months, or years.) However, humans are often reminded of past memories or mental states which are associated with the current mental state. We consider the hypothesis that such memory associations between past and present could be used for credit assignment through arbitrarily long sequences, propagating the credit assigned to the current state to the associated past state. Based on this principle, we study a novel algorithm which only back-propagates through a few of these temporal skip connections, realized by a learned attention mechanism that associates current states with relevant past states. We demonstrate in experiments that our method matches or outperforms regular BPTT and truncated BPTT in tasks involving particularly long-term dependencies, but without requiring the biologically implausible backward replay through the whole history of states. Additionally, we demonstrate that the proposed method transfers to longer sequences significantly better than LSTMs trained with BPTT and LSTMs trained with full self-attention.


Abstract Prolonged computer use, especially if fatigue ensues, is associated with visual and musculoskeletal symptoms. The aim was to determine the time-course of perceived fatigue in the wrist, forearm, shoulder and eyes during a 60-min mouse task (painting rectangles), and whether object size and/or mouse use demands were of influence. Also, we investigated performance (number of rectangles painted), and whether perceived fatigue was paralleled by local muscle fatigue or tissue oxygenation. Ten women performed the task for three conditions (crossover design). At condition 1, rectangles were 45 × 25 mm, square paint cursor size 1.3 × 1.3 mm, and mouse–pointer movement ratio 1:26. At condition 2, the same cursor size and mouse–pointer movement ratio was used, but rectangles were smaller. At condition 3, the smaller rectangles were used, but the cursor size was also smaller and mouse–pointer movement ratio was 1:8. The results showed increased self-reported fatigue over time, with the observed increase greater for the eyes, but no change in physiological responses. Condition 2 resulted in higher performance and increased eye fatigue. Perceived fatigue in the muscles or physiological responses did not differ between conditions. In conclusion, computer work tasks imposing high visual and motor demands, and with high performance, seemed to have an influence on eye fatigue.


To assess the efficacy of guided oral reading as a remedy for low-achieving readers, two experiments were conducted in the early grades of primary school. In the first, poor-reading students were randomly divided between two treatment groups and a control group. In treatment groups, the intervention was delivered one-to-one, either in a repeated reading (RR) or in a continuous reading format, depending on how often students practised with the same text. In the second experiment, poor-reading students were randomly divided between a group-based guided oral reading condition and a control condition. Groups comprised three students who received an integrated version of continuous and RR. Measures included tests for fluency, reading comprehension (RC), vocabulary (VOC) and reading attitude (RA). The results demonstrate that both the individual and the group variants of guided oral reading are effective for improving fluency and RA. Transfer effects on RC and VOC could not be established.


In the wake of the news industry's digitization, novel organizations that differ considerably from traditional media firms in terms of their functional roles and organizational practices of media work are emerging. One new type is the field repair organization, which is characterized by supporting high-quality media work to compensate for the deficits (such as those which come from cost savings and layoffs) which have become apparent in legacy media today. From a practice-theoretical research perspective and based on semi-structured interviews, virtual field observations, and document analysis, we have conducted a single case study on Science Media Center Germany (SMC), a unique non-profit news start-up launched in 2016 in Cologne, Germany. Our findings show that, in addition to field repair activities, SMC aims to facilitate progress and innovation in the field, which we refer to as field advancement. This helps to uncover emerging needs and anticipates problems before they intensify or even occur, proactively providing products and tools for future journalism. This article contributes to our understanding of novel media organizations with distinct functions in the news industry, allowing for advancements in theory on media work and the organization of journalism in times of digital upheaval.


Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) belong to the family of binuclear metallohydrolases and catalyse the hydrolysis of a large group of phosphoester substrates at acidic pH. Despite structural conservation in their active sites PAPs appear to display mechanistic versatility. Here, aspects of the catalytic mechanism of two PAPs are investigated using the inhibitors vanadate and fluoride as probes. While the magnitude of their vanadate inhibition constants are similar the two enzymes differ with respect to the mode of inhibition; vanadate interacts in a non-competitive fashion with pig PAP (Ki = 40 µmol L-1) while it inhibits red kidney bean PAP competitively (Ki = 30 µmol L-1). Similarly, fluoride also acts as a competitive inhibitor for red kidney bean PAP, independent of pH, while the inhibition of pig PAP by fluoride is uncompetitive at low pH and non-competitive at higher pH, independent of metal ion composition. Furthermore, while fluoride acts as a slow-binding inhibitor in pig PAP it binds rapidly to the catalytic site of the red kidney bean enzyme. Since vanadate and fluoride are proposed to act as transition state and nucleophile mimics, respectively, the observed differences in inhibition kinetics indicate subtle but distinct variations in the reaction mechanism of these enzymes.


This paper investigates the reservation wages of unemployed persons on the basis of a job-search model with non-static reservation wages using panel data from Germany from 1987 to 1998. The results suggest that reservation wages are relatively high in Germany compared to other countries. Furthermore, pooled regression results show that most recent wages and personal characteristics of the unemployed are the most important determinants of reservation wages. In contrast neither unemployment duration nor different kinds of unemployment benefits influence reservation wages. Hence the findings corroborate the hypothesis that unemployed persons are not subject to strong financial pressure and thus have no significant motivation to find a new job.


A pan-European forest cover map (FMAP2006) was produced using a novel automated classification approach using remotely sensed data from fine resolution satellite instruments. In contrast to previous classification accuracy assessments of such continental scale land cover products, the current study aimed for a reliable assessment at different geographical levels: pan-European, regional and local level. A unique data set consisting of detailed field inventory plots was provided via a collaboration with the national forest inventories (NFIs) in Europe. Close to 900,000 field plots were available for the assessment. The fine spatial resolution of the FMAP2006 facilitated the label assignment of the field plots to subsets of mapped pixels for the accuracy assessment process, thereby overcoming scale and definition difficulties encountered in previous studies with coarser resolution products. An overall accuracy of 88% was achieved at pan-European level based on the field plots of the NFIs. It is demonstrated that important differences exist for the class accuracies in different geographical regions, particularly at the regional and local level.


A new layout-based document image retrieval system is presented in this paper. The system is specifically designed for commercial form retrieval and uses mathematical morphology to extract structural components from the document image. Document layout description is performed by the Radon Transform whereas Dynamic Time Warping is used for matching. The experimental results have been carried out on both real and simulated data sets. They demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and their robustness with respect to different classes of commercial forms and shifted/rotated document images.


The evolution of a single raindrop falling below a cloud is governed by fluid dynamics and thermodynamics fundamentally transferable to planetary atmospheres beyond modern Earth's. Here, we show how three properties that characterize falling raindrops—raindrop shape, terminal velocity, and evaporation rate—can be calculated as a function of raindrop size in any planetary atmosphere. We demonstrate that these simple, interrelated characteristics tightly bound the possible size range of raindrops in a given atmosphere, independently of poorly understood growth mechanisms. Starting from the equations governing raindrop falling and evaporation, we demonstrate that raindrop ability to vertically transport latent heat and condensible mass can be well captured by a new dimensionless number. Our results have implications for precipitation efficiency, convective storm dynamics, and rainfall rates, which are properties of interest for understanding planetary radiative balance and (in the case of terrestrial planets) rainfall‐driven surface erosion.


Scenes from a Marriage (1973) marked a breakthrough for Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), reaching a wide audience both nationally and internationally. Scenes from a Marriage is also Bergman's first television series and today his most performed play in theatre around the world. Productions of Scenes from a Marriage in different media, such as television series, feature films, a book and in the theatre, has made it Bergman's most widespread work. Scenes from a Marriage was also of great importance to many individuals, influencing them to make crucial changes in their lives and relationships. Bergman's story of the marriage of two people, a marriage in crisis, divorce and reconciliation has obviously something to say to many of us who have watched, listened to, or read the story. What then does it tell us, and in what way is the story told? This question is addressed in an analysis of the work's composition, with particular emphasis on narrative techniques, motifs and the underlying theme, based on the Swedish book version. The six scenes in the book all take a dramatic form and present the same basic literary motif in different ways: a relationship based on love between two people in a very difficult situation. This motif, in turn, unfolds within the overall theme of the work: the human search for truth. This transforms the scenes into something more than just a story about a marriage crisis, becoming a story about two people's search for meaning in life. This aspect of the story is perhaps the main reason why Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage has reached out and touched so many people and still does. There is also a critical dimension to the search for truth, questioning the conventions and traditions of marriage and society. This analysis is the first in a series of analyses of Ingmar Bergman's written works.


The local hemodynamic effect of pindolol, a nonselective beta-blocker with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity, was investigated in 17 healthy volunteers. Changes in forearm blood flow (FBF) in response to infusion of drugs into the brachial artery were measured by plethysmography. Pindolol increased FBF dose dependently to a maximal value of 62 +/- 8% (mean +/- SEM, p less than 0.001) without inducing changes in heart rate or blood pressure. For a single dose of pindolol the maximal effect on FBF was seen after approximately 4 minutes of infusion, and this effect persisted for at least 12 minutes after the infusion. The pindolol-induced increase in FBF was reduced by concomitant infusion of propranolol (p less than 0.001). Intra-arterial infusion of practolol did not influence FBF. No significant influence of pindolol was found on the vasoconstriction induced by the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor agonist methoxamine, the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor agonist BHT-933, or angiotensin II. Measurement of plasma pindolol concentrations in the venous effluent of the forearm suggested that vasodilatation occurred at drug levels within the therapeutic range. These results indicate that the beta-blocker pindolol has vasodilatory properties owing to stimulation of vascular beta 2-adrenergic receptors and that this effect may be of therapeutic relevance.


Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) are native to the Coosa River drainage in northwest Georgia but have been widely introduced outside of this range including Lake Oconee, a 7677-ha impoundment on the Oconee River in central Georgia. Blue catfish abundance and growth rates have increased dramatically since their introduction in Lake Oconee, but their food habits are unknown. Therefore, food habits of blue catfish in this impoundment were determined by examining the stomachs of 808 specimens in the reservoir's upper and lower regions across all seasons from summer 2012 to summer 2013. Diet was summarized using the Relative Importance of specific prey by weight. In the upper region of the reservoir, Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) were the dominant prey item during the summer (75.7%), fall (66.4%), and winter (37.6%); whereas crappie (Pomoxis spp.) was the dominant prey item in the spring (38.7%). Asian clams also were the dominant prey items in the lower region during the fall (68.4%), winter (33.9%), and spring (36.4%). Blue catfish seemed to feed opportunistically on seasonally abundant prey items in both the upper riverine and lower lacustrine portions of the reservoir. Of the many sportfishes in the reservoir, only crappie was an important prey item, and then only in the upper region during the spring. Our results do not support concerns that blue catfish are an apex predator that would decimate the sportfish assemblage in this recently colonized reservoir.


Some restaurants allow guests to decide how much they would like to pay for their meals, depending on how much they enjoyed the experience. It is not counterintuitive to think that such a mechanism would set a deserved wage. After all, one might think that how much one deserves depends on how much value one creates for others and that individuals can adequately judge how much value they derive from some good or service. Hence, letting consumers decide what they think certain goods or experiences are worth would result, in the aggregate, in a deserved and just wage. In this paper, I will explore and defend this argument.


The surfaces of influenza A virus (IAV) particles are packed with hundreds of homo‐trimeric hemagglutinins (HAs). Monovalent sugars have low affinity for HA, but distance‐optimized bivalent sialyl‐LacNAc (SLN) conjugates bind it with 103‐fold enhanced potency. Herein, we describe the oligomerization of distance‐optimized bivalent binders by branched and linear hybridization on long repetitive DNA templates. The most effective complexes fully inhibited IAVs at a DNA template concentration of 10−9 m. Although a 10−2 m concentration of free trisaccharide ligand is required for full inhibition of the virus, DNA templating enables a 104‐fold reduction in the amount of sugar required. Notably, hybridization‐induced rigidification of the DNA templates increased the serospecificity. Cryo‐TEM analysis revealed that both spaghetti‐type linear forms and cotton‐ball‐like clusters are able to bridge several adjacent HA molecules on the IAV surface. Programmed self‐assembly of ligand–nucleic acid conjugates on long DNA templates might provide generic access to target‐specific, high‐affinity binders of proteins on globular objects such as cells and viruses.


Following on from the companion volume Principles of Magnetohydrodynamics, this textbook analyzes the applications of plasma physics to thermonuclear fusion and plasma astrophysics from the single viewpoint of MHD. This approach turns out to be ever more powerful when applied to streaming plasmas (the vast majority of visible matter in the Universe), toroidal plasmas (the most promising approach to fusion energy), and nonlinear dynamics (where it all comes together with modern computational techniques and extreme transonic and relativistic plasma flows). The textbook interweaves theory and explicit calculations of waves and instabilities of streaming plasmas in complex magnetic geometries. It is ideally suited to advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in plasma physics and astrophysics.


This paper presents important aspects and issues related to the merging of six regional library delivery services in a single statewide system that serves more than 550 libraries, that together circulate more than 15 million items annually throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The purpose of marrying the six distinct systems was to reduce redundancies and incorporate innovative features to improve library processing efficiency. Most libraries are members of one of nine separate shared integrated library systems. The paper covers the background, objectives, benefits, issues, lessons learned, and a successful request for proposal procurement process for this complex project. Author keywords: library; logistics: physical delivery; label-less; shipping; delivery; materials; trucks; sorting; sort; sort-to-light; pick-to-light; rfp; request for proposal


The regulations governing human subjects research (45 CFR 46) remain largely unchanged since their adoption. As a first step in their revision, the federal government published the Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) in 2011. The public responded with over 1100 comments. We selected a random sample of 300 comments, examining whether they addressed biospecimen research in terms of views on mandated consent, waivers of consent, use of a short general consent form, or identifiability of biospecimens. We conducted content analysis on the 109 comments that fulfilled these criteria Findings reveal little support for the proposal to mandate consent, strong support for the current waiver system, confusion about use of a standard general consent form, and disagreement about the implications of biospecimen identifiability. As the government moves ahead in its rulemaking process, it is important to consider what the public comments reveal about support and/or concerns for proposed changes.


Silicified woods are common in the upper D1 (Paleocene – Puercan and Torrejonian) and D2 (Eocene – Wasatchian) sequences of the Denver Basin. Almost all derive from angiosperms. Woods from the upper D1 sequence are the second set of angiosperm woods described from Paleocene strata of the Rocky Mountain region. Wood assemblages from the upper D1 sequence differ from Paleocene wood assemblages of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico and the Big Bend region of Texas, indicating variation within the Western Interior. Lauraceous woods with oil cells are common in the Denver Basin assemblages while they are not known from the San Juan Basin or Big Bend. This initial survey suggests that the early Paleocene D1 (7 wood types) and early Eocene D2 (5 wood types) wood assemblages differ. Lauraceous woods with oil cells apparently are not common in the D2 sequence. The early Eocene Denver Basin wood assemblages differ from the early Eocene Yellowstone Fossil Forest wood assemblages in which conifers are common and phyllanthoid woods are rare. Growth rings are present but not well defined in the D1 and D2 sequence woods. The Denver Basin angiosperm woods are neither semi-ring porous nor ring porous, features that are common in present-day northern temperate forests and in angiosperm woods from the late Eocene Florissant Fossil Beds.