Anonymization techniques that provide k-anonymity suffer from loss of quality when data dimensionality is high. Microaggregation techniques are not an exception. Given a set of records, attributes are grouped into non-intersecting subsets and microaggregated independently. While this improves quality by reducing the loss of information, it usually leads to the loss of the k-anonymity property, increasing entity disclosure risk. In spite of this, grouping attributes is still a common practice for data sets containing a large number of records. Depending on the attributes chosen and their correlation, the amount of information loss and disclosure risk vary. However, there have not been serious attempts to propose a way to find the best way of grouping attributes. In this paper, we present GOMM, the Genetic Optimizer for Multivariate Microaggregation which, as far as we know, represents the first proposal using evolutionary algorithms for this problem. The goal of GOMM is finding the optimal, or near-optimal, attribute grouping taking into account both information loss and disclosure risk. We propose a way to map attribute subsets into a chromosome and a set of new mutation operations for this context. Also, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the operations proposed and we show that, after using our evolutionary approach for different real data sets, we obtain better quality in the anonymized data comparing it to previously used ad-hoc attribute grouping techniques. Additionally, we provide an improved version of GOMM called D-GOMM where operations are dynamically executed during the optimization process to reduce the GOMM execution time.


So far in this first decade of the 21st century, more than 1 billion people are subsisting on less than US$1 per day, and more than 800 million people are suffering from hunger. Many countries, most notably in Asia, have made spectacular success in reducing their overall rates of poverty and hunger, but these countries still have regions where poverty remains widespread. And despite its high rates of poverty reduction, South Asia still has the greatest prevalence of underweight children in the world. In Africa, the number of poor people increased during the past two decades as poverty reduction failed to keep pace with population growth. Poverty and hunger persist throughout the world, even though their eradication has held prominence on the international agenda for more than half a century. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was one of the first global institutions created at the end of World War II, because the international community recognized the need to ensure adequate food for all as a precondition for security and peace. Political declarations have continued voicing the goal of reducing poverty and hunger, most notably in the Millennium Development Declaration adopted by more than 190 nations. Given the billions of dollars invested and the commitment of the international community, why has overall progress in eradicating poverty and hunger been inadequate? Policy instruments that could be useful in reducing poverty and hunger are not in short supply. They include public investments aimed at promoting pro-poor growth, redistributive policies, and social safety nets. Thinking and practice on the appropriateness of various policy instruments have changed over time; some instruments have reappeared in different forms, such as communityoriented development, and new ones have been invented, like microcredit. Choosing the appropriate mix of policy instruments to reduce poverty and hunger is at the heart of nearly every country's effort to define its development strategy. In view of trade-offs and the need for value judgments, the choice of policy instruments is inherently political, and views on the right mix of growthpromoting, redistributive, and environmentally sensitive instruments differ across the political spectrum, especially between the right and the left. The analytical techniques to assess the combinations of policy instruments have evolved in past decades—for example, by using computable general equilibrium models. Yet analysts often ignore the reality that every option for reducing poverty comes with at least one of three major challenges: political feasibility, administrative feasibility, and fiscal feasibility. The challenge of political feasibility implies that a policy instrument is politically contested and provokes political opposition. Instruments that face this challenge, such as land reform, are either not adopted at all or are implemented half-heartedly. The challenge of administrative feasibility points to the need for a wellfunctioning and effective public administration to implement the respective policy instruments. Policy instruments that are technically complex or create scope for corruption, like large-scale infrastructure projects, are particularly vulnerable to this challenge. The fiscal feasibility challenge especially affects policy instruments that require a constant flow of financial resources and are difficult to maintain over time, especially after donor funding ends; agricultural advisory services fall into this category. Likewise, policy instruments that require high investments, such as large-scale infrastructure, face fiscal feasibility issues. The fiscal feasibility challenge can lead to political challenges: if the poor lack political voice, the financial resources needed to provide services or infrastructure are either not invested or not directed toward the poor.


In this paper, we prove that the dimension of the space span- ned by the characters of the symmetric powers of the standard $n$-dimensional representation of $S_n$ is asymptotic to $n^2 / 2$. This is proved by using generating functions to obtain formulas for upper and lower bounds, both asymptotic to $n^2/2$, for this dimension. In particular, for $n \ge 7$, these characters do not span the full space of class functions on $S_n$.


The problem of capillary flow in interior corners that are rounded is re-visited analytically in this work. By the appropriate geometric scaling, and through the introduction of a new parameter that features the roundedness of the corner, the Navier-Stokes equation is reduced to a convenient form for both numerical and analytical solution. The scaling and analysis of the problem is expected to significantly reduce the reliance on numerical data for such problems, and the design process can be both shortened and improved as a result. For capillary flows of perfect wetting fluids in the rounded corner with an advancing tip, a finite interfacial curvature related to the corner roundedness results at the tip. Accordingly, an outer and inner region of the flow is suggested based on the impact of the corner roundedness on the flow. In this study, asymptotic solutions of the geometrical 'cross-flow' problem for the outer region are sought under several constraints and are expected to narrowly bracket parallel numerical solutions. A complete understanding of the flow will be obtained only after the cross-flow problem for the inner region is solved. However, for the flow in the outer region a similarity solution is obtained and presented that reveals how roundedness retards the flow.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Rates of inter‐hot spot motion have been debated for decades. Herein we present updated predictions for the tracks of the Tristan da Cunha, Réunion, and Iceland hot spots assuming them to be fixed relative to Pacific hot spots. Uncertainties in Pacific hot spot rotations, which include uncertainties in the current locations of hot spots of 100–200 km, are combined with uncertainties in relative plate motions accumulated through the plate circuit to obtain the final uncertainty in the predicted positions (including uncertainties of 150–200 km in the current locations of the Indo‐Atlantic hot spots). Improvements to reconstruction methods, to relative plate reconstructions, to age dates along the tracks, and to the geomagnetic reversal timescale lead to significant changes from prior results. When compared with the observed tracks, the predicted tracks indicate nominal rates of motion of only 2–6 mm a−1 of these Indo‐Atlantic hot spots relative to Pacific hot spots over the past 48 Ma. Within the uncertainties, the rates range from no motion to rates as high as 8–13 mm a−1. For reconstructions prior to 48 Ma B.P., however, the apparent rates of inter‐hot spot motion are much larger, 46–55 ± 20 mm a−1, if the motion occurred entirely between 68 Ma B.P. and 48 Ma B.P. Either hot spots moved rapidly before 48 Ma B.P., and slowed drastically at ≈ 48 Ma B.P., or global plate circuits through Antarctica become less reliable as one goes increasingly further into the past. Most paleomagnetic data favor the latter explanation.


Young-of-the-year European hake ( Merluccius merluccius ) were sampled during four seasonal cruises between November 1998 and September 1999. The greatest numbers and biomass were found in spring 1999. Some 73% of juvenile fish in terms of number, and 81% in terms of biomass, were caught at depths between 60 and 160 m on the outer western Mediterranean shelf, where the water temperature ranged between 13.5 and 14°C. The length composition of samples showed there to be small hake all year around, with modes between 7 and 11 cm total length depending on the season. Otolith analysis was used to establish age at settlement (62.7 days) and to determine seasonal growth. The monthly growth rates ranged from 1.2 cm month -1 for juvenile hake captured on February 1999 to 2.5 cm month -1 for ones captured in June. The growth rates are related to survival, as was shown by the calculated hatch dates and relative abundances of recruits. This work provides information on the first year of life, recruitment and growth processes in an important species of the Mediterranean demersal ecosystem which is heavily exploited by a recruitment fishery.


"Must be judged as a landmark in medical sociology."-Norman Denzin, "Journal of Health and Social Behavior" ""Profession of Medicine" is a challenging monograph; the ideas presented are stimulating and thought provoking. . . . Given the expanding domain of what illness is and the contentions of physicians about their rights as professionals, Freidson wonders aloud whether expertise is becoming a mask for privilege and power. . . . "Profession of Medicine" is a landmark in the sociological analysis of the professions in modern society."-Ron Miller, "Sociological Quarterly" "This is the first book that I know of to go to the root of the matter by laying open to view the fundamental nature of the professional claim, and the structure of professional institutions."-Everett C. Hughes, "Science"


CONTEXT
Although interventions such as the PRACHAR project in Bihar, India, have been associated with increased contraceptive knowledge and use in the short term, less is known about whether such gains are sustained years later.

METHODS
Survey data, collected in 2013 from 2,846 married women aged 15-34, were used to compare contraceptive awareness and use between those who lived in areas where the PRACHAR project had been implemented in 2002-2009 and those who lived in matched comparison areas. Multivariate analyses assessed whether, after adjustment for covariates, outcomes differed between women in comparison and intervention areas, as well as between women directly exposed to the program and those who lived in intervention areas but had been only indirectly exposed.

RESULTS
Compared with women in comparison areas, those in intervention areas were more likely to have method-specific knowledge of oral contraceptives, IUDs, condoms and the Standard Days Method (odds ratios, 1.4-1.7); to know that oral contraceptives and condoms are appropriate for delaying first pregnancy (2.3 for each) and IUDs and injectables are appropriate for spacing births (1.4 for each); to have ever used contraceptives (2.1) or be using a modern method (1.5); and to have initiated contraception within three months of their first birth (1.8). Levels of awareness and use were elevated not only among women directly exposed to the intervention but also, for many measures, among indirectly exposed women.

CONCLUSIONS
The association of multipronged reproductive health programs like PRACHAR with contraceptive awareness and practices may last for years beyond the project's conclusion.


Aim Conventional glass ionomer cements are clinically attractive materials and have unique properties that make them useful dental restorative materials. The glass ionomer cements however are slightly brittle materials though they deform a little under load. They display high compressive strengths but slightly weak flexural strengths. Collagen type I and RGD peptides (Arg-Gly-Asp) are the most effective and widely used bioactive molecules to promote cell adhesion on a synthetic surface. This study investigates the effect of chairside addition of bioactive molecules (Collagen type I and RGD) into glass polyalkenoate cement on improving the physical properties.
Materials and methods Mechanical properties of the glass polyalkenoate cement (ChemFil Superior, Dentsply De Trey, Konstanz, Germany) were investigated both at baseline and after incorporating bioactive additions made at the time of mixing the material. The properties that are of potential significance for clinical durability were determined namely; compressive strength, diametral compressive strength, three-point flexural strength, diametral compressive fatigue limit, and biaxial flexural strength. Results: Additions of Type I Collagen and RGD to ChemFil Superior improved all physical properties measured except shear bond strength where no detriment was observed.
Conclusion Chairside additions of bioactive molecules to conventional glass ionomer restorations have potential clinical applications and represent a new paradigm in dentistry that can be utilized to improve biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and therefore, clinical durability. Improving the mechanical strength of glass ionomer restorations by optimized reinforcement strategy requires further investigation. Clinical significance: the methodology of mixing conventional glass ionomer with bioactive molecules for superior biocompatibility and reinforcement, developed in the present study, should be applicable to chairside dental procedures. The increase in physical properties of the glass polyalkenoate, achieved in the present study, may help extend its dental applications to the restoration of stress-bearing cavities.


A deliberately broad interdisciplinary collection of essays and artworks, many newly commissioned for the project, that reflect upon the plasticity of the brain, the adaptability of technology and the malleability of language, and the twisting together of these facets. The title for the book (and the subsequent publishing imprint started around it) refers to an esoteric concept by the neuroscientist Tim Crow, that the "cerebral torque", a quality of the human brain, is responsible for both language and schizophrenia. This term is detached from its clinical context to explore the wider connotations of technical aspects of language and technology. As the editors in the book's introduction (c. 1500 words) state: "We have appropriated and redirected 'torque', freeing it from the specifics of Crow's theory, but maintaining its essence as a twisting force with roots in the conjunction of the brain and language, and with the addition of a technological dimension - the twisting of wires, the torsion of the machine. In essence, Crow's use of 'cerebral torque' allows him to posit schizophrenia as 'the price homo sapiens pay for language'. Our use of the term also allows us to ask: what, then, is the price we pay for technology?" This conceit sets the stage for an interdisciplinary examination of how language, mind and technology intertwine in the contemporary sphere. The contributors and their work each offer unique models of navigating this territory, making their own artefacts, writing their own scripts, and the book collects these into a logical sequence. Important contributions to the book included the bringing together for the first time, Lambros Malafouris' concept of "expanded mind" from his cognitive archaeological research at Oxford, with the contemporary poetics work of such writers as Robert Shepard, and developing a narrative connection between the net art practices of Mez Breeze, with more recent theory on code and networks by Geoff Cox and Anna Munster, in exploring how these concepts reshape what language is and does in ways that resonate with contemporary art practices such as those of Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Cecile B Evans. As well as co-authoring the introduction, in his own chapter (c. 5000 words) Jones contributes a detailed examination of the relationship between "schizo-cultures" -- specifically the 1970s meeting of continental postmodernist thinkers and the American avant garde at a conference of this name (Lotringer 2013) -- and "convergence culture": the increasingly complex relationships formed by "media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence" (Jenkins 2014). The book was pivotal for the Torque research project, setting its thematic parameters, and opening up a specific play of live, participatory and theoretical work that have been combined in subsequent editions in this series. This book was published by Link Editions, as a freely downloadable PDF, and launched at with a series of events at FACT in Liverpool, and with a performance event at Richmix in London. Additional public impact was developed with the Torque Triptych installation at FACT's Typemotion exhibition (2015) where the book was available as an electronic edition, a leather bound book, and as a speed reader; and the Being Read Being Reading Being Read and Reading Beings exhibition at Furtherfield, where the book was broadcast to the park, and presented as a text animation and sound work inside the gallery.


For over 50 years microbiologists have been aware of a class of compounds, produced by microorganisms, called siderophores. This chapter examines the type of Iron(Fe) to which siderophores bind and the location where they do so. The assumption in the literature has been that the purpose of siderophores is to supply Fe to the cell-so often stated that this quote is rarely referenced. Even though the dissolution of Fe oxides has been reviewed extensively in the literature, it is worthwhile to briefly review dissolution mechanisms, since they apply to the potential involvement of siderophores. In a study, Fe release and siderophore production by Azotobacter vinelandii (a gram-negative, asymbiotic nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium with an absolute requirement for Fe) was investigated by using several Fe oxide minerals as sources of Fe. Undoubtedly, siderophores are used by microorganisms to acquire Fe and are produced by microorganisms in response to a limited availability of Fe. These two observations are supported by hundreds of publications in the open literature. However, the results discussed in the chapter suggest that siderophores may not be entirely responsible for Fe oxide dissolution, that the role that siderophores play in the dissolution of Fe oxides remains unclear, and thus that the microbial dissolution of Fe oxides merits further investigation.


In the spring of 1935, at Snaketown, Arizona, two Pima Indians recounted and translated their entire traditional creation narrative. Juan Smith, reputedly the last tribesman with extensive knowledge of the Pima version of this story, spoke and sang while William Smith Allison translated into English and Julian Hayden, an archaeologist, recorded Allison's words verbatim. The resulting document, the "Hohokam Chronicles", is the most complete natively articulated Pima creation narrative ever written and a rare example of a single-narrator myth. Now this extraordinary work, composed of thirty-six separate stories, is presented in its entirety for the first time. Beautifully expressed, the narrative constitutes a kind of scripture for a native church, beginning with the creation of the universe out of the void and ending with the establishment in the sixteenth century of present-day villages. Central to the story is the murder/resurrection of a god-man, Siuuhu, who summoned the Pimas and Papagos (Tohono O'odham) as his army of vengeance and brought about the conquest of his murderers, the ancient Hohokam. Donald Bahr extensively annotates the text and supplements it with other Pima-Papago versions of similar stories. Important as a social and historic document, this book adds immeasurably to the growing body of Native American literature and to our knowledge of the development of Pima-Papago culture.


South Africa's print and television media sectors have been hit hard by Eskom's power outages and load-shedding activities, but ironically enough radio has not. With generators and UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) systems in place long before power failures became a common occurrence, radio broadcasters have been relatively prepared for the disarray of blackouts. The question, however, remains: how have power outages affected radio broadcasters and ultimately their advertisers?


The performance of rail transport has increased significantly in recent decades, in particular due to the gradual introduction of high-speed rails worldwide. In 1981, the first high-speed line of the world was inaugurated; nowadays, high-speed is operating in more than 20 countries, the high-speed network covering more than 35,000 kms (with more than 25,000 additional kms under construction). Spain is the second country by total distance of railways installed (only behind China) and the first in terms relative to the population and surface. Since the installation of the first high-speed line in Spain in 1992, the elements of the superstructure have undergone a continuous evolution, in order to improve the performance, the dura-bility of the components and the comfort of the passengers. This evolution rests on an adequate selection of materials based on the characterization of their physical and mechanical properties to ensure the optimum in-service conditions. This chapter includes an overview of the different elements present in the railway superstructure of the high-speed lines in Spain. Throughout the text, the innovations incorporated over time are analyzed, as well as the methods used to validate them. In particular, a description of the mechanical characterization procedures is presented.


Serum autoantibodies from a patient with autoantibodies directed against the Golgi complex were used to screen clones from a HepG2 lambda Zap cDNA library. Three related clones, designated SY2, SY10, and SY11, encoding two distinct polypeptides were purified for further analysis. Antibodies affinity purified by adsorption to the lambda Zap- cloned recombinant proteins and antibodies from NZW rabbits immunized with purified recombinant proteins reproduced Golgi staining and bound two different proteins, 95 and 160 kD, from whole cell extracts. The SY11 protein was provisionally named golgin-95 and the SY2/SY10 protein was named golgin-160. The deduced amino acid sequence of the cDNA clone of SY2 and SY11 represented 58.7- and 70-kD proteins of 568 and 620 amino acids. The in vitro translation products of SY2 and SY11 cDNAs migrated in SDS-PAGE at 65 and 95 kD, respectively. The in vitro translated proteins were immunoprecipitated by human anti-Golgi serum or immune rabbit serum, but not by normal human serum or preimmune rabbit serum. Features of the cDNA suggested that SY11 was a full- length clone encoding golgin-95 but SY2 and SY10 together encoded a partial sequence of golgin-160. Analysis of the SY11 recombinant protein identified a leucine zipper spanning positions 419-455, a glutamic acid-rich tract spanning positions 322-333, and a proline-rich tract spanning positions 67-73. A search of the SwissProt data bank indicated sequence similarity of SY11 to human restin, the heavy chain of kinesin, and the heavy chain of myosin. SY2 shared sequence similarity with the heavy chain of myosin, the USO1 transport protein from yeast, and the 150-kD cytoplasmic dynein-associated polypeptide. Sequence analysis demonstrated that golgin-95 and golgin-160 share 43% sequence similarity and, therefore, may be functionally related proteins.


Exploring the main determinants of tourism participation at national and international level, the paper investigates if there are differences in tourism consumption behavior among Italian families which reflect disparities in their standard of living. To achieve this a Heckman model has been used on a huge sample of Italian households over the period 1997-2007. Results show that participation in the tourism market is strongly affected by the personal characteristics of individuals and that tourism consumption is an income sensitive good. The analysis reveals that tourism is generally a luxury good reflecting the disparities in the standard of living among Italian families. We have found that participation in the tourism market is affected not only by economic constraints, but also by cultural and territorial factors.


The opening of the South Atlantic ocean basin resulted in voluminous magmatism on the conjugate continental margins of Namibia and Brazil, including the formation of the Parana and Entendeka large igneous provinces (LIPs), the formation of up to 100 km wide volcanic wedges characterized by seaward dipping reflector sequences (SDRs) near the continent-ocean transition, as well as the formation of paired hotspot tracks on the rifted African and South American plates, the Walvis Ridge and the Rio Grande Rise. Hence, the passive margins bordering the South Atlantic are today considered as type examples for models involving hotspot related continental break-up. However,the presence of volcanic features (SDRs, LIPs) appears to be limited south of the hotspot trails. The resulting segmentation of the margins offers a prime opportunity to study the magmatic signal in space and time, and investigate the interrelation with rift-related deformation. A globally significant question to be adressed here is whether magmatism is the driving force for continental break-up, or whether even rifting with abundant hotspot related magmatism is in principle in response to crustal and lithospheric stretching.
In 2010/11, a combination of on-/offshore wide-angle seismic, marine magnetotelluric and on-/offshore seismological data were acquired around the landfall of Walvis Ridge at the Namibian passive continental margin. The set of experiments was designed to provide crustal velocity and conductivity information and to investigate the structure of the upper mantle. In particular, we aimed at identifying deep fault zones and variations in Moho depth, the presence of interleaved sediment layers in SDR sequences as well as magmatic intrusions and underplated material near the continent-ocean transition. The sedimentary portions down to the igneous basement were additionally constrained by coincident single-channel reflection seismic data.
Here, we present preliminary results for two wide-angle seismic transects and first results for a marine magnetotelluric profile. Tomographic analysis of the seismic data reveals the velocity structure of the crust down into the uppermost mantle. The probably most striking feature of our models is the sharp lateral transition in crustal structure and thickness associated with the northern boundary zone of Walvis Ridge towards the Angola Basin. Here, the rather thin oceanic crust in the basin lies opposite to the ~35 km thick igneous crustal root founding the highest elevated northern portions of Walvis Ridge. In contrast, the southern termination of Walvis Ridge and the corresponding transition towards the adjacent 25-30 km thick crustal portions further south is much more subdued. Due to the presence of a high-velocity (6.5-7.2 km/s) lower crust we argue that the Namibian shelf south of Walvis Ridge comprises a transitional igneous origin. We suggest that the northern boundary zone close to the landfall of Walvis Ridge represents an important transtensional tectonic feature which may have provoked the preferential extraction of melts into the footwall of this structure.


This article examines a school program operated by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) for Palestinian refugees in Gaza in 1949 and 1950. Drawing on historical records from organizations involved in the broader relief effort, it examines why the school program was set up and how it operated, and considers the lessons it offers for contemporary refugee education efforts. I argue that, while AFSC adopted an atypical approach to humanitarian relief that prioritized education from the outset of the crisis, the school program it developed was invariably constrained by the overarching humanitarian paradigm within which it operated. Funding for education was limited, which left the schools vulnerable to competing political objectives. This article underscores the importance of understanding the history of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in order to understand its present, and to inform contemporary education efforts for other refugee populations. The article also highlights the need for a critical appraisal of attempts to align refugee education programs with the generally accepted principles of humanitarianism.


The hydrothermal microclimate is the main component in indoor comfort. The optimum hydrothermal level can be ensured by suitable changes in the sources of heat and water vapor within the building, changes in the environment (the interior of the building) and in the people exposed to the conditions inside the building. A change in the heat source and the source of water vapor involves improving the heat - insulating properties and the air permeability of the peripheral walls and especially of the windows. The change in the environment will bring human bodies into balance with the environment. This can be expressed in terms of an optimum or at least an acceptable globe temperature, an adequate proportion of radiant heat within the total amount of heat from the environment (defined by the difference between air and wall temperature), uniform cooling of the human body by the environment, defined a) by the acceptable temperature difference between head and ankles, b) by acceptable temperature variations during a shift (location unchanged), or during movement from one location to another without a change of clothing. Finally, a moisture balance between man and the environment is necessary (defined by acceptable relative air humidity). A change for human beings means a change of clothes which, of course, is limited by social acceptance in summer and by inconvenient heaviness in winter. The principles of optimum heating and cooling, humidification and dehumidification are presented in this paper.Hydrothermal comfort in an environment depends on heat and humidity flows (heat and water vapors), occurring in a given space in a building interior and affecting the total state of the human organism.


Choosing the number of hidden states and their topology (model selection) and estimating model parameters (learning) are important problems for Hidden Markov Models. This paper presents a new state-splitting algorithm that addresses both these problems. The algorithm models more information about the dynamic context of a state during a split, enabling it to discover underlying states more effectively. Compared to previous top-down methods, the algorithm also touches a smaller fraction of the data per split, leading to faster model search and selection. Because of its efficiency and ability to avoid local minima, the state-splitting approach is a good way to learn HMMs even if the desired number of states is known beforehand. We compare our approach to previous work on synthetic data as well as several real-world data sets from the literature, revealing significant improvements in efficiency and test-set likelihoods. We also compare to previous algorithms on a sign-language recognition task, with positive results.


The way a language forms words (i.e. its morphological type) has been shown to affect the concept of formulaic sequences in a number of ways. This is especially the case if formulaic sequences are understood as fully specified sequences of word forms, e.g. as lexical bundles. Adopting a more flexible understanding of formulaicity as sequences of linguistic elements that manifest common ways of phrasing things in a speech community, this paper investigates how formulaicity is manifested formally and functionally in languages that are morphologically very different: what linguistic forms are used in the construction of formulaicity? Are the functions performed by formulaic sequences similar across those languages? To find out, a data-driven method of formulaic sequence identification was used to extract and compare relevant phenomena in a corpus of 30 million words of Wikipedia texts in Korean, German and English. Results indicate that while there are similarities, it is important to be sensitive to differing ways in which languages construct formulaicity. For example, while formulaicity is often expressed in multi-word constructs in more isolating languages, a polysynthetic language, as on might expect, features more morphological formulaicity at the sub-word level. The functions of formulaic sequences, however, turned out to be surprisingly similar across the three typologically different languages investigated, suggesting that formulaic sequences are a stable cross-linguistic concept.


Profile: Jim Toomey"Science is hard to make funny," admits cartoonist Jim Toomey. "And I don't want to be known as the guy with science predictably in the story line." Despite those caveats, the former mechanical engineer has repeatedly used his popular comic strip, Sherman's Lagoon , to champion marine conservation. One favorite topic is the Census of Marine Life, a decadal effort by scientists to catalog the diversity of life in the oceans. But Toomey, whose strip appears in 150 U.S. newspapers and 25 other papers around the world, has found a way to present the issue without violating the first rule of cartooning: Keep it light.


A collection of salt-sensitive vacuolar (ssv) Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants were selected for analysis in an attempt to reveal components of the osmosensing signal transduction pathway. A previous screen of these mutants had been used to select those with an impaired glycerol response to salt stress. In this study the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was measured in all the strains which showed reduced glycerol accumulation to demonstrate a corresponding low enzyme activity which could be caused by lack of signalling through the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) response pathway. However, enzyme activity was found to be impaired in only one of the strains tested. This demonstrated that the measurement of glycerol accumulation is not a particularly useful screening method for defects in the HOG pathway. The activity of the promoter of CTTl, another stress-responsive gene, was measured in selected ssv strains using a lacZ reporter gene attached to the CTTl promoter stress response element. This gave further information about the stress-responsiveness in the strains tested. CTTl promoter activity did not correlate with GPDH activity in all of the strains tested. As CTTl is subject to control by more than one type of stress the results imply that in at least one of the strains another stress response may be impaired. The VACl homologue (VACIH) on chromosome XIV was characterised as a candidate for one of the 55V genes, 55W7. Although it was demonstrated not to be 55W 7, a role for VACIH in vacuolar protein sorting was discovered. The Δvaclh strain also displayed class E vacuolar morphology. Sequence analysis and complementation experiments demonstrated that VACIH is identical to VPS27.


Large hydrophobic monomers stearyl methacrylate (C18) and dococyl acrylate (C22) could be copolymerized with the hydrophilic monomer acrylamide in a micellar solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). This was achieved by the addition of salt (NaCl) into the reaction solution. Salt leads to micellar growth and, hence, solubilization of the hydrophobes within the SDS micelles. The hydrogels thus obtained without a chemical cross-linker exhibit unique properties due to the strong hydrophobic interactions. They can only be dissolved in SDS solutions demonstrating the physical nature of cross-links. Results of dynamic light scattering, rheological and mechanical measurements show that the hydrophobic associations between the blocks of C18 or C22 units prevent water solubility and flow, while the dynamic nature of the junction zones provides homogeneity and self-healing properties together with a high degree of toughness. When fractured, the hydrogels formed using C18 associations can be repaired by bringing to...


The current study looks at acute and sub-lethal Copper toxicity on developing zebrafish embryos up to 96 hours post fertilisation (PSF). We allocated four-hour PSF zebrafish embryos in four groups with duplicates, and 500 mg, 50 mg, and 0.05 mg l and a control group for 96 hours PSF. All fish exposed to 500 mg l copper died within the first 6 hours PSF. Significant sub-lethal copper toxic effects on developing Zebrafish were manifested in the 0.05 and the 50 mg groups, by increased heartbeat rate within the first 25 hours PSF in the 0.05 and 50 mg group. The sub-lethal toxic effect was also manifested in the metabolism of developing embryos, with a reduced rate of utilisation of yolk and lower growth rate and anatomical malformations within the first 25 hours in the 50 mg group and after 50 hours PSF in both the 0.05 and 50 mg group. The results indicate that reduced metabolic rate and increased heartbeat rate are potential early signs of sub-lethal Cu toxicity in developing Zebrafish well before other developmental defects are visually evident.


Complex systems have a hierarchical nature and multi-level interaction, so it needs to be investigated how the conception of inter-level interacting. It requires a complex system of reasoning in order to obtain an understanding of how the various components, behaviors and interactions that occur in the system or between systems. The implications of this requires learning models to treat complex systems reasoning ability. The learning model of multiple representation supported argumentation (MRSA) was developed based on multiple representation and argumentation. Validation is done by experts through group discussion. The tests show that the MRSA model is valid in construction and content to treat complex systems reasoning ability.


"Behavioral Addictions is a timely landmark achievement and a must read for anyone interested in addictive and compulsive behavior and its treatment. Rosenberg and Feder have brought us leading addiction experts, who clearly present the growing evidence for including behavioral addictions in the DSM-5 and how best to treat them. While gambling is the first to be included in the DSM-5 chapter on substance related disorders, other behavioral addictions are likely to follow as evidence grows. This is the most important new textbook in addiction psychiatry in recent years." - Richard Frances MD, Founding President, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry DSM-V broke new ground in May of 2013, designating a new disorder called "behavioral addiction." Clinicians immediately wanted to know: how is a behavioral addiction different from an impulse control disorder? What are the criteria for determining that some behaviors are addictions rather than impulses? What, if anything, does this mean in terms of effective treatment? Behavioral Addictions is the first and most authoritative text ever written on the subject of behavioral addictions. This comprehensive work explains the criteria used to determine addiction, the evidence for identifying assorted behaviors as addictions, and the evidence-based treatment for each. With contributions from preeminent experts covering an exhaustive list of behavioral addictions, this book is unique in its coverage of behavioral addictions, their criteria, and treatment. It is a valuable and timely resource for any clinician treating addictions. * A guide to understanding the new DSM-V designation of behavioral addiction* Defines the criteria for behavior to be considered an addiction designation* Discusses the evidence for behaviors meeting addiction criteria* Identifies what is now, likely will be, and is not a behavioral addiction per evidence* Discusses behaviors formerly considered impulse control disorders* Presents evidence-based treatment for each behavioral addiction


Drug lag, also known as drug innovation lag, can be categorized into marketing lag and reimbursement lag. This study investigates the trend and factors influencing drug innovation lag in Taiwan, and makes a comparison with major countries like USA, Canada, Japan, and Europe on marketing lag. The reimbursement lag in the National Health Insurance (NHI) of Taiwan is also explored. This is a retrospective study covering a total of 347 new drugs that were reimbursed by the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) from 1996 to 2002. Data collection includes time of regulatory approval, type of innovation, country of origin, and time and price of reimbursement by BNHI. The time of new drug approvals in study countries was obtained from relevant websites for comparison. The drug lag index between Taiwan and study countries was also analyzed. Data were analyzed by SPSS software for frequency distribution and multiple regressions. We found that new drugs are predominantly imported, and predominantly imported, and the average marketing lag was up to 30.5 months in Taiwan. Most of the new drugs were of me-too nature; only very few could be classified as breakthrough new drugs. In terms of marketing lag, USA was the shortest (5.6 months), followed by European countries (8.2 months), Canada (18.0 months), and Taiwan (30.5 months). The reimbursement lag was 11.7 months on average after product license granted by DOH, yet it was not affected by the NHI reimbursement price. The drug lag index from smallest to largest was: the USA (0.14), Europe (0.21), Canada (0.45), and Taiwan (0.76). Drug marketing lag is a serious issue in Taiwan. The average marketing lag of 30.5 months could be attributed to the fact that nearly all new drugs were of foreign origins. The average time after DOH's regulatory approval to NHI reimbursement was as long as 11.7 months. The government should reexamine the current function of the regulatory and reimbursement systems. More specifically, the health authorities should focus on faster regulatory process for breakthrough medicines instead of approving only "me-too new drugs".


Flow sorting can be a very helpful tool in revealing phytoplankton and bacterial community structure and elaborating specific physiological parameters of isolated species. Droplet sorting has been the most common technique. Despite the high optical and hydro-dynamic stress for the cells to be sorted, many species grow in culture subsequent to sorting. To date, flow sorting has been applied to post-incubation separation in natural water samples to account for group-specific physiological parameters (radiotracer-uptake rates), to the production of clonal or non-clonal cultures from mixtures, to the isolaton of cell groups from natural assemblages for molecular analyses, and for taxonomic identification of sorted cells by microscopy. The application of cell sorting from natural water samples from the Wadden Sea, including different cryptophytes, cyanobacteria and diatoms, is shown, as well as the establishment of laboratory cultures from field samples. The optional use of a red laser to account for phycocyanine-rich cells is also discussed.


This chapter discusses the derivation of certain apparent cases of free word order in Serbo-Croatian, in particular those involving new information focus and neutral intonation patterns. The chapter starts by examining an apparent paradox concerning the position of the subject in Serbo-Croatian. While there are data indicating that the subject must raise to the highest position of the split IP in overt syntax, there are also data indicating that it appears in [Spec,VP] on the surface. Based on work by Franks (1998) and Boskovic (2001, 2002), among others, the chapter argues that the subject does indeed raise to the highest position of the split IP in overt syntax, but when the subject represents new information focus, a lower copy is pronounced at PF to satisfy requirements on sentential stress assignment (see Zubizaretta 1998). The proposed analysis thus captures the extremely free word order of Serbo-Croatian as well as discourse effects of scrambling, and sheds light on how copy deletion works on the PF side.


Outer cell layers of rice roots, which comprise epidermis, exodermis and sclerenchyma, have been proposed to protect the roots from various stresses in soil. Here, we report a mutant which is defective in the specification of outer cell layers, and examined the role of these layers in Al and other metal resistance. Morphological and histochemical observations revealed that the mutant isolated based on Al sensitivity frequently showed a disordered pattern of periclinal cell division in the epidermal layers at a region close to the root apical meristem. The lateral root caps in the mutant became difficult to peel off from the epidermis, and epidermal cells became smaller and irregular with far fewer root hairs. Furthermore, some exodermal cells were transformed into additional sclerenchyma cells. However, there was no difference in the inner cell layers between the wild-type rice and the mutant. The mutant showed similar root growth to the wild-type rice in the absence of Al, but greater inhibition of root elongation by Al was found in the mutant. Morin staining showed that Al penetrated into the inner cortical cells in the mutant. Furthermore, the mutant was also sensitive to other metals including Cd and La. Taken together, our results indicate that root outer cell layers protect the roots against the toxicity of Al and other metals by preventing metal penetration into the inner cells. Genetic analysis showed that the mutant phenotypes were controlled by a single recessive gene, which was located on the short arm of rice chromosome 2.


This discussion paper presents an introduction to safety management systems (SMS) as they apply to transportation organisations across modes and industries, and provides a broad overview of SMS and its processes, activities and tools. The discussion is grounded on conceptual foundations, but does not neglect the practical aspects of SMS implementation. The Discussion Paper draws to an extent – but not exclusively – on the experience of international civil aviation and the urban transit industry in the United States. The contents, however, are generic and presented in a fashion commensurate to the nature of SMS as a management system, the principles, processes and activities of which cut across inter-mode and inter-industry boundaries.


This study investigates the effectiveness of the animated storytelling in improving reading aloud ability of junior high school students in Aceh. The study concerns with 3 aspects of reading aloud, accuracy, rate, and fluency. A total of 34 male and female junior high school students were chosen randomly in SMPN 11 Banda Aceh. 17 students were selected randomly for the experimental group, and the other 17 were in the control group. The control group was taught by the regular teacher while the experimental group was supervised by the researchers.  In obtaining the data, the researchers used oral reading test, a short text consisting of 100 words, administered to students in 2 (two) classes as the pretest and posttest. The data revealed that the experimental group showed better performance that the control group on measure. The gain score achieved by the experimental group is considerably higher, 11.37, than the control group, 3.92. Also, the results also show an improvement in rate aspect that substantially rose from 10 to 28. It then indicates that the animated storytelling has a significant positive effect on the development of students' reading aloud ability, particularly in rate aspect.


The process of crystallization of highly concentrated emulsions of ammonium nitrate can be studied using powder X-ray diffraction. The dispersed particles comprise a supercooled aqueous solution of the ammonium nitrate salt and are dispersed in a paraffin-based oil. This results in a thermodynamically unstable system that 'ages' with time resulting in changes in rheological properties and its phase composition where the collapse of the supercooled aqueous solution forms the crystallized salt. The crystallization processes of these emulsions are kinetically slow and can take up to a few months to crystallize completely. The general approach to this type of analysis is to determine the change in crystalline diffraction peak intensities relative to the halo due to the amorphous content. However, there are a number of problems associated with this method which are addressed by using Rietveld refinement methods which can take into account factors such as preferred orientation, crystallite size variations and mixtures of solid phases. The study showed that the ammonium nitrate emulsions kept at room temperature slowly crystallize predominantly to the room temperature solid ammonium nitrate phase IV. However, depending on the formulations used some samples showed crystallization to the high temperature ammonium nitrate phase II before changing to phase IV. The crystallization change could be modelled by the well-known JMAK kinetic relationship. Keywords:  Ammonium nitrate emulsion, crystallinity, X-ray diffraction


Abstract Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) contributing to global warming, with the agriculture sector as the major source of anthropogenic N2O emissions due to excessive fertilizer use. There is an urgent need to enhance regional‐/watershed‐scale models, such as Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), to credibly simulate N2O emissions to improve assessment of environmental impacts of cropping practices. Here, we integrated the DayCent model's N2O emission algorithms with the existing widely tested crop growth, hydrology, and nitrogen cycling algorithms in SWAT and evaluated this new tool for simulating N2O emissions in three agricultural systems (i.e., a continuous corn site, a switchgrass site, and a smooth brome grass site which was used as a reference site) located at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) scale‐up fields in southwestern Michigan. These three systems represent different levels of management intensity, with corn, switchgrass, and smooth brome grass (reference site) receiving high, medium, and zero fertilizer application, respectively. Results indicate that the enhanced SWAT model with default parameterization reproduced well the relative magnitudes of N2O emissions across the three sites, indicating the usefulness of the new tool (SWAT‐N2O) to estimate long‐term N2O emissions of diverse cropping systems. Notably, parameter calibration can significantly improve model simulations of seasonality of N2O fluxes, and explained up to 22.5%–49.7% of the variability in field observations. Further sensitivity analysis indicates that climate change (e.g., changes in precipitation and temperature) influences N2O emissions, highlighting the importance of optimizing crop management under a changing climate in order to achieve agricultural sustainability goals.


In this work we present a new local, vertex-level measure of community change. Our measure detects vertices that change community membership due to the actions (edges) of a vertex itself and not only due to global community shifts. The local nature of our measure is important for analyzing real graphs because communities may change to a large degree from one snapshot in time to the next. Using both real and synthetic graphs, we compare our measure to an alternative, global approach. Both approaches detect community switching vertices in a synthetic example with little overall community change. However, when communities do not evolve smoothly over time, the global approach flags a very large number of vertices, while our local method does not.


Purpose of the research/paper: The complexities surrounding grievance activity in the workplace makes a single theoretical explanation for the entire process an unlikely achievement. As a result, researchers are taking a piecemeal approach to the investigation of the grievance phenomenon. It would offer much benefit if researchers could co-ordinate their efforts with regard to understanding the impact of the grievance process on the organisation.

Findings: The organisational behaviour model could be an optimal framework for designing future research pertaining to the impact of employee grievances in the workplace.

Implications for theory: The contribution of this paper is that it reprises the organisational behaviour model as a framework to organise a variety of social science theories that have potential to explain or predict grievance activity within the workplace.

Implications for practice: Potential for improvements in job satisfaction and citizenship behaviours and reduced absenteeism, deviance and turnover rates could occur by increasing our understanding of how grievance activity can impact on these productivity indicators.

Value of the paper: This paper provides the researcher with a map of consolidated theories which can underpin ongoing research into workplace grievance activity.


Background: Pulmonary hypertension is an independent risk factor in COPD. Echocardiographic evaluation is important for determination of prognosis in these patients. Cardiovascular manifestations in COPD include increased arterial stiffness, ischemic heart disease, chronic heart failure and cor-pulmonale. Some studies suggest that right ventricular (RV) dysfunction occurs in early stages of COPD as compared with healthy people. The aim of this study is evaluation of RV function by echocardiography in early stages of COPD in comparison with normal subjects. Material and Methods: In this case-control study, 39 COPD patients and 39 healthy controls subjects matched for age and sex and were compared with 39 healthy controls. After obtaining demographic and clinical data from the participants, they underwent detailed Doppler echocardiography to evaluate the right and left ventricular function. Findings: In this study, right ventricular diameter was significantly more in COPD patients versus control group (p<0.001). Also, TAPSE was lower in the COPD patients compared with the control group (p=0.013). On the other hand, pulmonary artery pressure was significantly higher in COPD patients (P<0.001). Seventy nine percent of COPD patients have pulmonary hypertension and Tie index (myocardial performance index) was higher in COPD patients (in patients with pulmonary hypertension it was 76±0.3 and in the patient with out PHTN: 0.76±0.2) (p-value<001). Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with COPD and no serious cardiac disorders; with or without PHTN in primary phases have RV dysfunction in compare with healthy people. Therefore, better control of respiratory qualifications may have an affective benefit in prevention and postponement of RV dysfunction in COPD patients.


Excerpt] The response to what many believe to be a serious decline in educational achievement and standards has been, so far, a spate of studies, commissions, and reports, all aiming toward reform of the education system. Most of the recommendations that have been implemented to date have come about through state-level legislation and mandates (Darling-Hammond and Berry, 1988). Education reformers disagree on the role of teacher bargaining in achieving their objectives. One wing of the reform movement believes collective bargaining is an obstacle to change and maintains collective bargaining is one reason the schools are in bad shape. But another wing holds that collective bargaining can and must be used as the vehicle of change in our schools. Although the recommendations contained in these reports are wide-ranging, covering everything from school finance to curriculum to educational technology, in this paper our emphasis will be on proposals dealing with such matters as how teachers are to be recruited, retained, compensated, and deployed. And just as the socalled reform movement is a reaction to the process of education, the reform movement has engendered a reaction among teacher organizations. As we shall see, although that reaction has been anything but wholeheartedly accepting, neither has it been uniformly hostile.


Not holy exorcism. Theological traces in cinematic adaptationsThe rite of major exorcism, which includes imperative formulas addressed at Satan, still exists in the liturgy of the Latin Church. It has become the basis for numerous film adaptations somewhat fascinated by the Christian almighty God and his eternal opponent, the fallen angel. Moreover, the character of the exorcist, a man who holds the power to expel evil spirits, also raises many questions about his faith, morality and objectives. The energumen, i.e. the possessed individual, is a character able to shape and embellish the entire picture, and even the plot. An insight into those four persons, who are the core of cinematographic reinterpretations of exorcism and an integral part for the liturgy itself, constitutes the main subject of the article, preceded by a basic explanation of the terminology and a brief historical outline of the development of the rite of exorcism.


Oil Booms and Business Busts looks at how government policymaking shapes a puzzling phenomenon in economic development--the "curse" of natural resources. It investigates how oil and mineral wealth shapes a government's policies toward the business environment, entrepreneurs, and innovative activities. Other similar work either ignores the role of government policymaking in oil wealth, treats it as another effect of the rentier state, or dismisses it as illogical and incoherent. One might expect that in light of such abundances governments would encourage entrepreneurship and new businesses to compete and grow in the market, but Nimah Mazaheri shows that resource wealth instead incentivizes policymakers to focus on satisfying the interests of existing elites. They, more than oil-poor nations, institute barriers that impede the activities of domestic firms and entrepreneurs, with the result being unimpressive economic performance over the past half-century. This is the first book to examine how oil wealth affects non-elite actors who own the small and medium-sized firms that absorb a majority of the economic and labor force of these countries. Looking at two of the most important oil-producing countries in the world, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the book provides an original theory about the factors that shape a logic of policymaking in oil producing states. To extend his theory Mazaheri also looks at India, which is one of the world's main coal producers. He does this to show the effects of the gain and loss of a massive resource windfall on state policymaking toward the private sector. Ultimately Mazaheri argues that such policymaking impedes the development of a middle class and therefore democratization--a factor that can have overarching political repercussions for governmental stability. Available in OSO:


When rock 'n' roll emerged in the 1950s, ministers denounced it from their pulpits and Sunday school teachers warned of the music's demonic origins. The big beat, said Billy Graham, was "ever working in the world for evil." Yet by the early 2000s Christian rock had become a billion-dollar industry. The Devil's Music tells the story of this transformation.

Rock's origins lie in part with the energetic Southern Pentecostal churches where Elvis, Little Richard, James Brown, and other pioneers of the genre worshipped as children. Randall J. Stephens shows that the music, styles, and ideas of tongue-speaking churches powerfully influenced these early performers. As rock 'n' roll's popularity grew, white preachers tried to distance their flock from this "blasphemous jungle music," with little success. By the 1960s, Christian leaders feared the Beatles really were more popular than Jesus, as John Lennon claimed.

Stephens argues that in the early days of rock 'n' roll, faith served as a vehicle for whites' racial fears. A decade later, evangelical Christians were at odds with the counterculture and the antiwar movement. By associating the music of blacks and hippies with godlessness, believers used their faith to justify racism and conservative politics. But in a reversal of strategy in the early 1970s, the same evangelicals embraced Christian rock as a way to express Jesus's message within their own religious community and project it into a secular world. In Stephens's compelling narrative, the result was a powerful fusion of conservatism and popular culture whose effects are still felt today.


The cession of life insurance policies as security for a debt is an everyday occurrence. However, there still seems to be uncertainty as to the precise scope of the cessionary's legal rights and duties as regards the proceeds payable on the policy on the death of the life insured, especially when a beneficiary has also been appointed in terms of the policy in question. Some light was shed on these issues in Mulaudzi v Firstrand Bank Ltd (2006 JDR 1048 (T)).


This article studies the fundamental trade-off between delay and communication cost in networks. We consider an online optimization problem where nodes are organized in a tree topology. The nodes seek to minimize the time until the root is informed about the changes of their states and to use as few transmissions as possible. We derive an upper bound on the competitive ratio of O(min (h, c)) where h is the tree's height, and c is the transmission cost per edge. Moreover, we prove that this upper bound is tight in the sense that any oblivious algorithm has a ratio of at least Omega(min (h, c)). For chain networks, we prove a tight competitive ratio of Theta(min (root h, c)). Furthermore, we introduce a model for value-sensitive aggregation, where the cost depends on the number of transmissions and the error at the root.


We consider Riemann surfaces of infinite type and their reduced Teichmuller spaces. The reduced Teichmuller space admits the action of the reduced mapping class group. Generally, the action is not discrete while it is faithful. We give sufficient conditions for the discreteness of the action in terms of the geometry of Riemann surfaces.


Aims: Microglia are involved in neurodegeneration, are prime targets for anti‐inflammatory therapy and are potential biomarkers of disease progression. For example, positron emission tomography imaging employing radioligands for the mitochondrial translocator protein of 18 kDa (TSPO, formerly known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor) is being scrutinized to detect neuroinflammation in various diseases. TSPO is presumably present in activated microglia, but may be present in other neural cells. Methods: We sought to elucidate the protein expression in normal human central nervous system, several neurological diseases (HIV encephalitis, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke) and simian immunodeficiency virus encephalitis by performing immunohistochemistry with two anti‐TSPO antibodies. Results: Although the overall parenchymal staining was minimal in normal brain, endothelial and smooth muscle cells, subpial glia, intravascular monocytes and ependymal cells were TSPO‐positive. In disease states, elevated TSPO was present in parenchymal microglia, macrophages and some hypertrophic astrocytes, but the distribution of TSPO varied depending on the disease, disease stage and proximity to the lesion or relation to infection. Staining with the two antibodies correlated well in white matter, but one antibody also stained cortical neurones. Quantitative analysis demonstrated a significant increase in TSPO in the white matter of HIV encephalitis compared with brains without encephalitis. TSPO expression was also increased in simian immunodeficiency virus encephalitis. Conclusions: This report provides the first comprehensive immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of TSPO. The results are useful for informing the usage of positron emission tomography as an imaging modality and have an impact on the potential use of TSPO as an anti‐inflammatory pharmacological target.


This paper argues that the recent Asian currency crisis was caused by large prospective de...cits associated with implicit bailout guarantees to failing banking systems. We articulate this view using a simple dynamic general equilibrium model whose key feature is that a speculative attack is inevitable once the present value of future government de...cits rises. This is true regardless of the government's foreign reserve position or the initial level of its debt. While the government cannot prevent a speculative attack, it can a¤ect its timing. The longer the delay, the higher in‡ation will be under ‡exible exchange rates. We present empirical evidence in support of the three key assumptions in our model: (i) foreign reserves did not play a special role in the timing of the attack, (ii) large losses in the banking sector were associated with large increases in governments' prospective de...cits, and (iii) the public knew that banks were in trouble before the currency crises. J.E.L. Classi...cation: F31


This study used 30 years of continuous data for 135 farms in Kansas to explore changes in productivity using Malmquist productivity indices (MPI). The indices were used to determine whether there was productivity convergence or divergence in Kansas farms. The results showed there was significant divergence among the farms. The average annual productivity growth was 0.50 percent; the top farms based on MPI were larger in terms of value of farm production, crop farm income, and livestock farm income and received a larger percentage of their income from oilseeds, feed grains, and swine than the other farms on average.


In Brazil, research involving human beings must obey to ethical norms foresaw by the 196/96 National Health Council Resolution of the Ministry of Health. This paper gives account of a knowledge evaluation about some concepts and rules established by the resolution by Dental post degree students. It is concluded that in spite of the spreading and importance of the resolution most students do not know about it. In the same situation are those who work in research.


A scanned-cantilever atomic force microscope (AFM) with large scanning range is proposed, which adopts a new design named laser spot tracking. The scanned-cantilever AFM uses the separate flexure x-y scanner and z scanner instead of the conventional piezoelectric tube scanner. The closed-loop control and integrated capacitive sensors of these scanners can insure that the images of samples have excellent linearity and stability. According to the experimental results, the scanned-cantilever AFM can realize maximal 100*100 (micron) scanning range, and 1-nm resolution in z direction, which can meet the requirements of large scale sample testing.


Sorghum plays an important role in food security in Africa where it serves as the staple food for millions of people. The crop, however, is susceptible to infection by mycotoxigenic fungi such as Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, Fusarium andiyazi, F. thapsinum, F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum. This can lead to a reduction in yield and the production of aflatoxin and fumonisin that are harmful to humans and animals. Sorghum grain samples were collected from five cultivars planted at 21 localities in South Africa from 2007-2009. Each sample was subjected to quantitative (q) real-time-PCR to determine the presence and biomass of aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus spp. and fumonisin-producing Fusarium spp. Aflatoxin and fumonisin amounts were also quantified by means of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). HPLC results yielded minute amounts of aflatoxin with little or no fungal contamination determined with qPCR. The soft grain genotype NS5511 was more prone to aflatoxin contamination than the other cultivars. Fumonisin-producing Fusarium spp. were absent from sorghum samples collected in 2007. In 2008, sorghum samples from the Northwest and Kwa-Zulu Natal Provinces had small amounts of fungal contamination. In 2009, a low amount of fungi from samples from Northwest, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Free State Provinces were recorded. Although small amounts of fungi were present, fumonisin were not produced. HPLC and qPCR results indicate that Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. and their mycotoxins do not pose a threat to sorghum production in South Africa.


We introduce Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) as a way of representing what teachers need to know about technology, and argue for the role of authentic design-based activities in the development of this knowledge. We report data from a faculty development design seminar in which faculty members worked together with masters students to develop online courses. We developed and administered a survey that assessed the evolution of student- and faculty-participants' learning and perceptions about the learning environment, theoretical and practical knowledge of technology, course content (the design of online courses), group dynamics, and the growth of TPCK. Analyses focused on observed changes between the beginning and end of the semester. Results indicate that participants perceived that working in design teams to solve authentic problems of practice to be useful, challenging and fun. More importantly, the participants, both as individuals and as a group, appeared to have developed significantly in their knowledge of technology application, as well as in their TPCK. In brief, learning by design appears to be an effective instructional technique to develop deeper understandings of the complex web of relationships between content, pedagogy and technology and the contexts in which they function.


Adaptation and mitigation of climate change is receiving immense global attention. For China, the population's dynamics is both the factor and the impact receiver of the climate change. Based on the literature survey of previous studies on the global and China climate change, few effort and attention has been paid on the relationship between population dynamics and climate change. Some previous studies included the population factor, but with very primitive models only considering the total volume change of population, while overlooking the diversity within the population, e.g., quality, structure and dynamics, impact on carbon emission and climate change, and multiple effects of climate change on the population dynamic behaviors, such as how the haze could affect the birth, decease and migration of population. This study, utilizing the system dynamics, considers the climate change, population dynamics, regional sustainable development, carbon emission, capture and pricing mechanism in an integrated model, and analyzes how the climate change interact with the population volume, structure and quality. This research project is jointly funded by the P07 program of United Nations Population Fund and China's National Development and Reform Commission. This paper presents an overview of the research approach of this on-going project.


This research represent case study at Endless Co-Operation of Department Religion Sub-Province of Kediri with title " Analysis Financial Statement To Assess Monetary Performance of Endless Co-Operation of Department Religion Sub-Province of Kediri". Target of this research is to know monetary performance of Endless Co-Operation pursuant to rentability aspect, solvability aspect and likuiditas aspect which relate at standard of Department Co-Operation. Analyzer used to know the condition of monetary performance of Endless Co-Operation of Department Religion Sub-Province of Kediri pursuant to rentability aspect covering RMS, ROA, ATO, Profitability Aspect of likuiditas solvability aspect and covering capital and solvability alone by using ratio standard stared at by Department Co-Operation. Result of calculation with rentability ratio detailedly in the year 2004 until 2006 in general healthy in a condition except ratio rotation of asset ( ATO) yielding rotation of sale less than I (one) multiply in usage entire/all asset. ratio of Likuiditas of year 2004 until year 2006 continuing to experience of this improvement can be seen in the year 2004 yielding value of likuiditas 0 (nol) caused by ratio of likuiditas reached exceed maximal standard which specified by Department Co-Operation, later;then in the year 2005 although enter in indisposed category experience of the make-up of that is yielding ratio value 271,6%, for year 2006 experiencing of the make-up of good that is yielding ratio of likuiditas equal to 225% what enter in healthy category. While condition of solvability seen from ability pay [for] debt by using capital alone have good ability except solvency ratio comparing [among/between] totalizeing asset totally obligation yield value 0 ( zero). This matter because of result of reached ratio above determined by standard is Departmental pleh of Co-Operation. Become as a whole result of assessment to monetary performance of Endless Co-Operation of Department Religion of Kebupaten Kediri seen from rentability aspect, likuiditas, solvability stay in standard less than 55 and included in indisposed criterion. Which caused by ratio rotation of solvency ratio and asset in the year 2004 until year 2006 yielding ratio value 0 (zero). Pursuant to conclusion above, can be suggested by co-operation Better Be Endless of Department Religion Sub-Province of Kediri shall be more emphasize its attention at usage of asset or asset had in meaning [done/conducted] by allocation precisely, efficient and effective to be able to improve volume of effort and improve estae rate of return or capital and also profit( advantage of which can obtained). And also pay attention exploiting of capital had and minimization depend on external capital (debt) so that co-operation can more solvable. Keyword : manajemen keuangan Link Terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/252/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2008-muslimridl-12558-pendahul-n.pdf


Abstract The article presents the emigration of Polish Jewish community to the individual regions in Africa in the years 1918-1939. It is stated in it that Africa was not really popular among Polish immigrants. Before 1939 only about 4200 people who had Polish citizenship lived on this large continent. Polish Jews occupied an important place among the population. Relatively the largest colonies of Polish Jews were then in North Africa (Egypt and the Maghreb) and in South Africa. Smaller ones were created in West, Central and East Africa. The wealthiest group of Polish Jews lived in Egypt and South Africa, where they were engaged in trade. In other regions, that group dealt with craft, had small shops or livied on hired labor. Polish Jews were involved in the development of Polish and of Polish origin association life in Africa. They contributed also to establishing business contacts between Poland and African lands. Individuals received satisfactory material status and a good professional position or were engaged in political activities.


Objective: To evaluate the anticancer effect of Carica papaya in DMBA induced mammary tumors in rats. Methods: Wistar rats were divided in to five groups (n=6), Group-I (Normal control) administered vehicle olive oil, Group-II, Group-III ,Group-IV and V induced mammary tumors by administering single dose of DMBA (7,12 Dimethyl benz(A)anthracene) orally 65 mg/kg. Group-III was administered aqueous leaf extract of Carica papaya (ALQECP) in a dose of 200 mg/kg body wt for a period of 3 months, group-IV has given ALQECP 200 mg/kg body wt for a period of 21 days post 3 months of tumor induction, group-V rats were administered a small dose of Carica papaya extract intra tumor locally in the region of tumor. Results: Values of CA15-3 were increased in group-II rats (tumor control) significantly, whereas in group-III (prevention group) the levels of CA15-3 were found to be reduced substantially and the P value < 0.001. Similarly, CA-15-3 levels were reduced significantly in group-IV (treatment group)and P<0.005. The levels of LDH were seen to be increased in group-II, where as in group-III LDH levels were decreased and P<0.001.similarly group-IV LDH levels also reduced significantly but not to the level of group-III. Conclusion: Among the various markers for the detection of cancer antigen- 15(CA15-3) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are important biochemical parameters that give a clear understanding of the progression and proliferation of cancer cells. In this study it was found that there is increase in the levels of markers such as CA15-3 and LDH and also the tumor volume in tumor control, these marker levels were decreased by the administration of aqueous leaf extract of Carica papaya in a dose of 200 mg/kg body wt. ALQECP not only prevented the progression of cancer growth but also has significant effect in reducing the both CA15-3 and LDH levels in treatment group.


A laser power feedback control system that features fast response, large-scale performance, low noise, and excellent stability is presented. Some essential points used for optimization are described. Primary optical lattice experiments are given as examples to show the performance of this system. With these performance characteristics, the power control system is useful for applications in cold atom physics and precision measurements.


INTRODUCTION: Inflammatory involvement of the anterior chest wall (ACW) impacts the quality of life in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) although involvement of the ACW is often neglected on clinical and imaging evaluation. Whole body (WB) MRI is an imaging method to assess the ACW in addition to the sacroiliac joints and spine without additional inconvenience for patients. The goals of this study were to describe the distribution of ACW inflammation by WB MRI in both early and established SpA and associations between clinical and imaging findings indicative of inflammation. METHODS: The ACW of 122 consecutive SpA patients (95 with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 27 with non-radiographic SpA (nrSpA)) and 75 healthy controls was scanned by sagittal and coronal WB MRI. The MR images were scored independently in random order by 7 readers blinded to patient identifiers. Active and structural inflammatory lesions of the ACW were recorded on a web-based data entry form. ACW pain by patient self-report, ACW tenderness on physical examination according to the Maastricht ankylosing spondylitis enthesitis score (MASES) and MRI lesions were analyzed descriptively. Kappa statistics served to assess the agreement between clinical and imaging findings. RESULTS: ACW pain or tenderness was present in 26% with little difference between AS and nrSpA patients. Bone marrow edema (BME), erosion and fat infiltration were recorded in 44.3%, 34.4% and 27.0% of SpA patients and in 9.3%, 12.0% and 5.3% of controls. MRI lesions occurred more frequently in AS patients (BME, erosion and fat infiltration in 49.5%, 36.8%, and 33.7%, respectively) compared with nrSpA patients (25.9%, 25.9%, and 3.7%, respectively). The most frequently affected joint by MRI lesions was the manubriosternal joint. The kappa values between clinical assessments and MRI inflammation ranged from -0.10 to only 0.33 for both AS and nrSpA patients. CONCLUSIONS: 26% of SpA patients showed clinical involvement of the ACW. WB MRI signs of ACW inflammation occurred in a substantial proportion of patients with AS (49.5%) and nrSpA (25.9%). There was no association between clinical assessments of ACW, including the MASES, and MRI features.


Abstract: Predation is a key biotic interaction that shapes ecological communities. Defensive morphological traits are thought to improve prey survivorship, and knowing which traits aid survivorship is critical to understanding predator-prey dynamics and their impact on community composition. Paleontological studies that use optimal foraging theory and single species experiments suggest that shell size and thickness are traits that affect the outcome of mollusk drilling predation. We analyzed the effectiveness of these morphological traits using a tropical molluscan assemblage from the One Tree Reef lagoon (southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia). Shell mass, shape, thickness, and predation frequency were measured in five bivalve species (n = 804) constituting 80% of the predators' diet. Multiple regression determined that shell mass, shell thickness, and the interaction between the two were important predictors of predation. Drilling was more likely in thinner and larger individuals. However, support for the model that included species identity was markedly stronger, indicating that the morphological traits measured are not general predictors of predation across the five prey species we studied. That is, trait-only models are inadequate for explaining predator-prey dynamics at the community level. Alternatively, active behavioral defenses related to infaunality (like burrowing) appear to be stronger drivers of morphology in this system. Care should be taken when extrapolating results from experiments to communities or large temporal scales, as species with similar traits may not necessarily elicit the same response from predators.


The effect of low salinity water (LSW) on enhanced oil recovery has been known for decades. Although much research is done on the topic, a general agreement of the prevailing mechanism for the low salinity effect has still not emerged. The present study compares the effect of LSW in secondary and tertiary mode in six Berea cores. Following tertiary mode LSW injection, low salinity surfactant polymer (LSSP) floods were conducted. In addition, measurements of density, pH, viscosity and interfacial tension was executed on the fluids used. In secondary mode, aged and unaged cores were used for injection of synthetic seawater and diluted synthetic seawater (10%). The results show a higher production (1-12% OOIP) when injecting synthetic seawater compared to the diluted synthetic seawater (10%) in secondary mode. No fines or pH variation was observed during the floods. In tertiary mode the cores were flooded with a sequence of brines with different composition (synthetic seawater without divalent ions, diluted synthetic seawater (10%) and 3000 ppm NaCl). Some enhanced production (5-9% ROIP) was observed when altering ion composition or reducing total salinity. The extra oil production was observed in some of the cores, but seems no to be reproduced in all parallel experiments. No fines or significant pH increase was observed during the floods. Combining low salinity brine with surfactants and polymers yielded varying production, ranging from 11-32% ROIP. It was observed that the aged cores generally had a higher recovery compared to unaged cores.


Why did the majority of directors prior to the financial crisis not have the foresight to predict the problems of taking on too much risk? We analyze whether executives' characteristics affect strategic choices due to bounded rationality, as proposed by the theory of upper echelons. The literature has thus far not empirically opened this black box. Relying on psychological economics, we develop hypotheses under which conditions expertise and gender can lead to biased information-processing. To test the hypotheses, we propose a two-study methodology and take the financial crisis as a natural experimental setting. In Study 1, we analyze individual phenomena and show that under conditions of uncertainty, the processing of information by financial experts and men is worse than by non-financial experts and women. In Study 2, we test these findings for organizational phenomena. We show that banks with a higher percentage of financial experts within TMTs perform better in stable environments, but are more negatively affected by the financial crisis. An important moderator within the theory of upper echelons is financial market discipline during turbulent periods, explaining why the performance of homogenous TMTs is volatile and why the performance of diverse TMTs is sustainable. The theory can be strengthened by including the insights of psychological economics as a micro-foundation. For a sustainable performance, greater TMT diversity in public companies should be instituted by the board of directors.


Copyright © 2019 Phcog.Net. This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Cite this article: Sathua KB, Patwa JK, Flora SJS. Oxidative/ Nitrosative Stress, 8-OHdG and MMP-9: The Possible Co-Links and Early Sign of Arsenic Induced Urinary Bladder Carcinogenesis in Experimental Rats. Free Radicals and Antioxidants. 2019;9(1):22-8. ABSTRACT Background: Presently arsenicosis is considered as dangerous health issues including cancer. Urinary bladder is one of the common target organs for developing carcinogenesis by arsenic exposure due to accumulation of arsenic toxic metabolites in bladder. The mechanism involving urinary bladder carcinogenesis is still mysterious. Although there are multiple studies revealed about oxidative/nitosative stress, which plays main role for carcinogenesis, but no study evaluated the associated factor that linked with it as early sign to identify bladder carcinogenesis using a rat model. This study thus will be useful in predicting early sign for arsenic exposed urinary bladder carcinogenesis. Objective: We evaluated 8-Hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and Matrix Metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9), which may be the possible associated factors along with oxidative/nitrosative stress as early sign for developing urinary bladder carcinogenesis upon arsenic and its metabolites exposure. Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to 25 ppm of sodium arsenite and its metabolite Dimethylarsinic Acid (DMA) via drinking water for a period of 16 weeks. The carcinogenic potentials were evaluated using various biochemical parameters indicative of oxidative/ nitrosative stress, ELISA of 8-OHdG as biomarker of oxidative/nitrosative stress induced DNA damage, which acts as a bridge between DNA damage and carcinogenesis. We also determined MMP-9 as potential pro-oncogenic biomarker associated with DNA damage. Results: High accumulation of arsenic was noted in tissues accompanied by a significant alteration of oxidative/nitrosative variables in liver and urinary bladder like significant changes in positive predictor of 8-OHdG and MMP-9 both in serum as well as urinary bladder tissue in animals exposed to arsenic and its metabolites. Conclusion: Early sign of urinary bladder carcinogenesis evaluated possibly by co-linking between oxidative/ nitrosative stress, 8-OHdG, MMP-9 and metal accumulation.


Water law in Victoria has its origins in arrangements made during the gold rush to satisfy the needs of miners and towndwellers on the goldfields. Rights of access to water and diversion practices were worked out in the peculiar circumstances of the new colony during the 1850s and 1860s, where economic and social conditions were transformed by the discovery of gold. Miners needed abundant, reliable supplies of water to wash gold from the earth and to power steam engines and processing machinery. Laws regulating access to water, however, were poorly defined during this period, with a mix of English common law and American legal doctrine drawn on and adapted to local conditions. This was in response to disputes that quickly emerged over the nature and scale of water diversions, priority of access and the sale of water rights. Conflict was exacerbated by the highly variable nature of rainfall in Victoria and frequent dry seasons which often disrupted mining activity. Out of this confusion, colonial officials gradually fashioned rules to regulate access to water. The State asserted increasing authority over the distribution of water in this period, laying the foundations for the effective public ownership of water rights by the 1880s. The Victorian experience provided leadership in establishing water regulations which the other Australian colonies later followed.


"I have no time for lies and fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy or die."--John Lydon Punk has been romanticized and embalmed in various media. It has been portrayed as an English class revolt and a reckless diversion that became a marketing dream. But there is no disputing its starting point. Every story of punk starts with its idols, the Sex Pistols, and its sneering hero was Johnny Rotten. In "Rotten," Lydon looks back at himself, the Sex Pistols, and the "no future" disaffection of the time. Much more than just a music book, "Rotten "is an oral history of punk: angry, witty, honest, poignant, and crackling with energy.


To date, about two dozen low-mass embedded protostars exhibit rich spectra with lines of complex organic molecules (COMs). These protostars seem to possess a different enrichment in COMs. However, the statistics of COM abundance in low-mass protostars are limited by the scarcity of observations. This study introduces the Perseus ALMA Chemistry Survey (PEACHES), which aims at unbiasedly characterizing the chemistry of COMs toward the embedded (Class 0/I) protostars in the Perseus molecular cloud. Of the 50 embedded protostars surveyed, 58% of them have emission from COMs. 56%, 32%, and 40% of the protostars have CH3OH, CH3OCHO, and N-bearing COMs, respectively. The detectability of COMs depends neither on the averaged continuum brightness temperature, a proxy of the H2 column density, nor on the bolometric luminosity and the bolometric temperature. For the protostars with detected COMs, CH3OH has a tight correlation with CH3CN, spanning more than two orders of magnitude in column densities normalized by the continuum brightness temperature, suggesting a chemical relation between CH3OH and CH3CN and a large chemical diversity in the PEACHES samples at the same time. A similar trend with more scatter is also found between all identified COMs, which hints at a common chemistry for the sources with COMs. The correlation between COMs is insensitive to the protostellar properties, such as the bolometric luminosity and the bolometric temperature. The abundance of larger COMs (CH3OCHO and CH3OCH3) relative to that of smaller COMs (CH3OH and CH3CN) increases with the inferred gas column density, hinting at an efficient production of complex species in denser envelopes.


The HOX homeodomain is a large family of transcription factors involved in gene regulation, both as transcriptional activators and repressors, at many stages in development. Interactions with other proteins, such as PBC homeodomain proteins, can increase HOX protein affinity and specificity for DNA binding. Shen et al. show that HOX proteins also interact with CBP, a transcriptional regulator with histone acetyltransferase activity. Different members of the HOX family interacted with CBP through the NH2-terminus and the homeodomain, which has a putative consensus acetylation motif. However, the HOX proteins were not acetylated by CBP, instead they inhibited CBP HAT activity in vitro and in vivo. In vivo, this inhibition blocked CBP-mediated increases in reporter gene expression. Addition of CBP to HOX, PBC, and DNA complexes promoted the disassociation of the HOX from DNA based on electrophoretic mobility gel shift assays. Shen et al. suggest that the repressive effects of HOX proteins may be the result of inhibition of CBP HAT activity. W.-f. Shen, K. Krishnan, H. J. Lawrence, C. Largman, The HOX homeodomain proteins block CBP histone acetyltransferase activity. Mol. Cell. Biol. 21, 7509-7522 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Over the past two years, a series of research projects involving the formal use of contexts applied to information system modeling in general and computer security in particular has been supported by the Communications Security Establishment in Ottawa, Canada. The notion of context we have evolved is implemented in a language we call TENSAR (Taxonomies, ENtities, Sets and Relations). present, the context mechanism in TENSAR allows abstract models constructed from a general set theoretic foundation to have distinct context-dependent specifications. The TEWSAR interpreter stores all model information in a semantic frame knowledge-base that is partitioned by context. We have conjectured that an algebraic lattice of contexts would be appropriate for the applications envisaged, and the current implementation of TENSAR supports this.


Objective To estimate the risk of pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism in pregnant women after in vitro fertilisation. Design Cross sectional study. Setting Sweden. Participants 23 498 women who had given birth after in vitro fertilisation between 1990 and 2008 and 116 960 individually matched women with natural pregnancies. Main outcome measures Risk of pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism (identified by linkage to the Swedish national patient register) during the whole pregnancy and by trimester. Results Venous thromboembolism occurred in 4.2/1000 women (n=99) after in vitro fertilisation compared with 2.5/1000 (n=291) in women with natural pregnancies (hazard ratio 1.77, 95% confidence interval 1.41 to 2.23). The risk of venous thromboembolism was increased during the whole pregnancy (P<0.001) and differed between the trimesters (P=0.002). The risk was particularly increased during the first trimester, at 1.5/1000 after in vitro fertilisation versus 0.3/1000 (hazard ratio 4.22, 2.46 to 7.26). The proportion of women experiencing pulmonary embolism during the first trimester was 3.0/10 000 after in vitro fertilisation versus 0.4/10 000 (hazard ratio 6.97, 2.21 to 21.96). Conclusions In vitro fertilisation is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism during the first trimester. The risk of pulmonary embolism is low in absolute terms but because the condition is a leading cause of maternal mortality and clinical suspicion is critical for diagnosis, an awareness of this risk is important. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01524393.


'Green jobs' help reduce negative environmental impact ultimately leading to environmentally, economically and socially sustainable enterprises and economies. More precisely green jobs as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are jobs that: *Reduce consumption of energy and raw materials *Limit greenhouse gas emissions *Minimize waste and pollution *Protect and restore ecosystems The above definition covers activities related to both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. It implies in its inclusivity and breadth that every job can potentially become greener and can help to resolve global environmental issues. Four areas of change have been identified as necessary for green jobs: physical changes in the environment itself; environmental policy and regulation; technology and innovation; and changes in prices, markets and consumer habits. These areas are interrelated but their relative importance differs among countries. In developed countries consumer behaviour and hence market forces are seen as critical for change, whereas in developing countries environmental changes and policy and regulation remain more important. Lessons from viewing early change patterns in the take up of environmentalism in industrialized countries may be useful in deepening our understanding of the policy-making and incentives necessary for appropriate investment, business development and technology transfer. Countries like Australia and Qatar are currently coping with a host of environmental challenges, particularly in the areas of construction and tourism and their impact on the environment. To take on this challenge, Australia and Qatar have produced strong policies designed to enhance environmental conservation. However, without developing supporting job skills, knowledge and abilities in the labour force, this challenge remains difficult to achieve. In view of this, the project will focus on identifying and understanding the role of particular skills, knowledge and abilities to build and sustain a green economy within these sectors. The project is to meet the following objectives: *To identify the necessary green skills, knowledge and abilities needed to develop and sustain an environmentally engaged construction and tourism industry; *To identify and describe existing and emerging 'green jobs' in the building and tourism industries to assist in the creation of a database of 'green skills'; *To analyse and describe the skills gaps/weaknesses of current 'green jobs' in the construction and tourism industry; *To review the current skills and training system, in particular institutional capacities and skills/competency standards in relation to their ability to create and support an environmentally engaged construction and tourism industry; *To propose 'skills for green jobs' responses (in terms of policies and programmes) to support the creation of new qualifications and to adjust existing qualifications in the construction and tourism industries; and *To provide recommendations on the best way to integrate green skills/green jobs components into existing skills/competency standards for selected priority occupations within the construction and tourism sector and other industry sectors.


Due to their proven efficiency, machine-learning systems are deployed in a wide range of complex real-life problems. More specifically, Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) emerged as a promising solution to the accuracy, resource-utilization, and energy-efficiency challenges in machine-learning systems. While these systems are going mainstream, they have inherent security and reliability issues. In this paper, we propose NeuroAttack, a cross-layer attack that threatens the SNNs integrity by exploiting low-level reliability issues through a high-level attack. Particularly, we trigger a fault-injection based sneaky hardware backdoor through a carefully crafted adversarial input noise. Our results on Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) and SNNs show a serious integrity threat to state-of-the art machine-learning techniques.